67 Broken Ideals...
(A/N: The two different titles are alternate titles I couldn't decide between the two...)
Chapter 33 - The Shinigami And The Shinobi...
Nifheim…
In front of an army consisting of powerful thousands of thousands of Weiss, a certain Shinobi charged at full might towards the army of Darkness right after arriving from the Physical World using his own space-time Ninjutsu (Ninja Art)…
"I don't need to fight at full power against the likes of you…!" Naruto yelled with both his hands equipped with Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God)kunais. Glaring at the army of Weiss… most of them were at least Bijuu (Tailed Beast)-level in power, he threw his Hiraishin kunai from his left hand charged with Lightning Chakra, then used Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Kunai Shadow Clone Technique) to multiply the dashing kunais into thousands of number as well… He then bit the handle of the other Hiraishin kunai on his right hand to use the right hand to clap with his left hand.
"RAITON: RAIMEI TENJIN NO KUSABI (Lightning Release: Thundering Chains of the Lightning God)" In that instance, the dashing thousands of Hiraishin kunai, each equipped with Bijuu-level Lightning Chakra, emitted powerful lightning that vaporized everything that it touches. The emitted lightning of the kunais then slowly connected in a form of net-like lightning chains, then exploded in a Chou Bijuu Dama (Super Tailed-Beast Ball) sized explosion with potency that could vaporize the moon several times over.
Half of the Weiss Army became mere miasma due to the power of the explosion… creating a massive, seemingly bottomless, several kilometer-wide crater. However, with the atmosphere and the air around the region still polluted with potent lightning Chakra produced by Naruto's jutsu, the Weiss weren't able to use their regenerative abilities to quickly recover themselves from the damage due to them being stunned by the powerful lightning…
Naruto then performed a single hand seal, projecting mammoth amounts of particles from thin air composed of Fine Sand, Gold Dust and Iron Sand. He immediately covered the entire huge crater produced by his earlier jutsu with the said particles, expanding above the atmosphere while absorbing the miasma thru the magnetic force of Magnet Release, creating a near country-sized pyramid clad with Shukaku's cursed seal and Uzumaki seal, sealing all the Weiss that weren't able to regenerate within it…
Naruto then reappeared right on the top of the Chakra-projected gigantic pyramid, then released a massive, potent Chakra that could be felt all over the region. The other Weiss that weren't hit by the earlier Raiton jutsu and sealing jutsu then trembled due to the terrifying presence of the being on top of the pyramid. And due to even with just sheer intimidation from the Shinobi, those Weiss slowly lose their demonic form… transforming almost in a liquefied miasma form…
"MOKUTON: SHINJUKAI KOUTAN (Wood Release: God Nativity World of Trees)!" Before the terrified Weiss could even comprehend what's happening to them due to fear for Naruto's mere presence, gigantic tree branches sprouted from the Chakra-projected pyramid, then crawl in massive speed on the ground. Each gigantic branch released multiple threads to wrap all the damaged and deformed Weiss while also absorbing the paralyzed miasma mid-air. The Weiss tried to escape however, due to the power of absorption and nigh-invulnerable binding of the Shin Jukai Koutan, the Weiss weren't able to escape and became fertilizers to the now growing gigantic tree created from miasma…
Naruto then tapped the gigantic tree where all the Weiss that he just battled was sealed, then used Kamui to warp the giant tree away into another dimension… literally sealing the fate of all the Weiss after being sealed in a Fuinjutsu and also being thrown into another dimension…
Naruto then looked towards one specific direction…
"I know I should hurry over to the Nidheig, remove the Daimakaicho's curse, then purge the Nidheig System. But… I can't just leave the others while they fighting like this…" Naruto muttered seriously. He then disappeared using an Instant Movement technique and head towards the direction where Gohan and Nightmare God were fighting… as he can clearly sense the pained emotion of the hybrid Mystic Saiyan while fighting a Weiss God with seemingly cheat ability…
-Scene Change-
Using the powers of Dr. Fate to nullify the effects of Fuzetsu, the Justice League head towards the coordinates where the entities known as Goddesses were traced from the Watchtower. With their Javelin destroyed just by the mere shockwave of the appearance of this Primordial Weiss God known as Armitael, Phantasm of Chaos, all of them got no choice but to fly directly towards their target direction with Green Lantern carrying Batman, Batgirl and the Flash thru his Lantern Ring Projection.
However, they still can't help but feel wary, as they look towards the looming giant Primordial God over the horizon. With its sheer size alone that was at least that of a planet with only few visible parts of its body acting like mere giant demonic mirages, the League just decided to regroup with the Shinobi's and his comrades in hopes of helping them to defeat this titanic threat…
"How are we supposed to fight such thing?" Supergirl muttered as she literally shiver in fear.
"Or rather, we should be asking, 'How come that the Shinobi and his comrades were fighting such a thing right under our noses?'" Batman growled, trying to compose himself despite having the same feeling as of the rest of the League. "Demons, Primordial Gods, Goddesses, damn… They literally were hiding a lot of things from us!"
"Mother said that physical and ethereal realms shouldn't be meddling with each other. But I doubt if she meant it at this scale." Wonder Woman muttered, psyching herself for a difficult battle that may begin anytime from now…
"Look… we came here to help whatever battle the Shinobi and his comrades were getting into. Even if we are not sure if they will tell us everything that's happening right now, we can just toss it aside for now and do what we can. Remember how the Shinobi always tried to help us on our difficult missions and crisis that we've been through…" Superman said, trying to calm down his doubting fellow League members.
"…!" Martian Manhunter immediately saw an unfamiliar being, levitating to block them towards the direction where they were supposed to meet with the Shinobi and the Goddesses. "Watch out…!"
The entire League stopped on their tracks as they saw a humanoid cat with purple complexion just a few meters levitating right in front of them. He was smirking towards them rather confidently. Of course, it's no other than the God of Destruction of the 7th Universe… Hakaishin Beerus…
"Hi there… Super Heroes…" Beerus said with rather taunting expression and sarcastic voice, his tail wagging playfully.
"It shouldn't be possible that I weren't able sense someone like him… unless…" Dr. Fate muttered as he realized something… "It can't be… you're… a God?!"
"It seems you're quite educated… shiny one." Beerus crossed his arms in front of his chest. "A God's presence cannot be sensed by anyone, unless that someone is also a God…"
"You're a God…?!" Green Lantern said with offensive tone, as if not believing the statement of this peculiar being in front of them.
"Hey… Gods should be… somewhat shiny with halo or something, just like the female silhouettes that we saw earlier?" The Flash said while remembering the silhouettes of the Norse and Jupiter Sisters after seeing them from Dr. Fate's projection in the Watchtower. "And here I am expecting to see beautiful Goddesses… only to see a human cat?" The Flash said in joking tone.
"Hmm… It seems that I need to introduce myself properly to the likes of you… kids…" Beerus then lightly glared while releasing a tiny fraction of his godly ki. In that instance, the Justice League felt a suffocating power that numb their entire bodies, making them lose their concentration, losing their ability to levitate, and then fall to the ground.
However, Dr. Fate managed to recover himself on the last second as he used his magic to create a magic projection. The projection then caught the falling members of the Justice League before they violently fall to the ground…
"You shouldn't have said something like that against a God, Flash…" Dr. Fate said towards the red-clad speedster.
"And to think that he damaged us just by glaring casually… he might really be a God." Hawkgirl muttered as she and the rest of the Justice League sweat heavily while trembling on the ground. Even their knees seemed to have trouble to acquire the appropriate strength to stand up. Superman and the other League members present during the battle against Hades can't help but feel something similar to déjà vu after seeing an all powerful God right in front of them once again.
"Justice League… a team dedicated to fight for 'Justice, the American Way'… was it…?"Beerus said as he gently landed on the ground, in front of the League that were trying their best to stand up and prepare a fighting stance against him. "Why are you trying to meddle on things that were out of your reach?"
"You're not the one to decide about that." Batman, the person with the most powerful will among the League, was the first one to recover from Beerus' glare. "The Justice League protects the world against unknown threats, regardless of cause and effect. And everything that's happening right now, including your very own existence, is a serious threat against the world."
"I see… That's a very arrogant way of thinking, doesn't it?" Beerus replied to the Dark Knight. "So you will fight against anything that the heck of you deemed as threat? And you call that as 'Justice'?"
"That's not the point here." Superman replied fiercely. "Who are you? Are you one of the Shinobi's comrades?"
"Just like what the golden one had said, I'm a God… but from another Universe… And my name is something that I'm not to tell to those that I don't acknowledge." Beerus muttered as he slowly stepped forward, approaching the League. "However, let's just say that I am acquainted to the Shinobi kid. And the battle that's occurring here is a war that we need to fight on our own. All of you aren't allowed to meddle here."
"Why? We might have different reasons, but I believe that our own goal is the same as that of yours! All of us here are willing to fight together with the Shinobi!" Kal-El tried to reason out.
"All of you won't be of any help. You should have already known it by now." Beerus said darkly as he took a glance towards the now attacking Armitael. Superman and the League then followed Beerus gaze, only to see the three shiny figures levitating in distance to stop the incoming attack from the planet-sized monster.
"The two Saiyans… and the Shinobi…?!" Supergirl yelled after seeing Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku and Vegetta with Six Paths Sage Mode Naruto preparing to intercept the attack with planet-shattering power…
"You'll never know until we try!" Wonder Woman then used his willpower to fly past Beerus. However, Beerus simply grabbed her right leg with his left hand right before she was able to get pass through him…
"Everything that's happening here right now doesn't have anything to do with this thing that you call 'Justice'. This battle will determine the fate of the entire equilibrium. Only those who are directly involved on it are the only ones allowed to fight. You're meddling here will only cause you your own demise." Beerus said in intimidating expression as he threw Wonder Woman towards Superman, but was caught by the combined projection of Dr. Fate and Green Lantern.
"You…!" Batman growled against Beerus. However, Beerus just lower his head and pointed his index claw to the ground, then drew released a tiny portion of his godly ki. But that simple movement created a long trench with unknown depth reaching both the opposite sides of the horizon with Beerus standing on the other side while the Justice League on the other…
"However… if you still insist to join that battle, then all that you need to do is to get pass this trench line." Beerus smirked rather evilly. "This won't be that much of a problem to you, isn't it?"
"You intend to toy around against us… on this kind of situation?" Batgirl muttered while composing herself.
"I'm not toying around. I'm actually saving your lives from throwing it away. However, I just want to have fun while doing so. You won't have any problems with that aren't you, Super Heroes?" Beerus said, once again in taunting tone.
"So you're belittling us…" the Martian spoke as he transformed into a hulking figure that increased his already impressive physical strength. "…then don't say that once we have beaten you… We have already fought against a God after all…"
"Don't insult him any longer! Or else…" Dr. Fate tried to warn the entire League, however, he felt Beerus presence releasing a terrifying battle aura…
"Arrogant kids…" Beerus then positioned himself in backwards stance, his right arm extended forward with palm facing the League. "…you should understand that there will always be a huge distance between Heroes… and Gods…"
-Scene Change-
The Naruto Kage Bunshin along with theNorse and Jupiter Goddesses, finally regrouped with the Bijuu-cloaked Shadow Clones, Goten, Trunks, and Raizen, on the location where Whis and the Tanemakaicho were projecting a barrier to protect Haqua and Keiichi. Finally becoming a single but powerful force to that will fight against the still thousands of thousands of Weiss being buffed by the mere presence of Armitael, the group then also braced themselves after seeing that Armitael already launched its continent-sized Demonic fist towards the two Saiyan Gods and the Six Paths Sage Mode Naruto Kage Bunshin. As the latter three prepared to intercept the attack with anticipated powerful shockwave that can still shatter the Earth…
"Just do what you need to do. I'll protect this planet with my power…" Tanemakaicho Anzasu whispered in angelic tone, making her voice travel thru a divine spell to make Naruto, Goku and Vegetta hear her words. She was now chanting a Heavenly Spell using her divine power as a medium…
"KYRIE ELEISON…!"Anzasu yelled. The half of planet Earth then became clad with multiple layers of plate shield created from pure, potent divine power to protect it from the incoming clash…
Naruto, Goku and Vegetta then nodded to each other after hearing Anzasu's voice. Releasing their powerful auras, the three of them then also launched a right straight at the same time on the exact moment that Armitael's punch was about to land against them…
…then… a booming sound echoed with shockwave that could be felt all over the Solar System. Goku, Vegetta and Naruto's fists landed simultaneously towards the continent-sized Demonic fist of Armitael, then battled for dominance for a moment. However, the combined force of the trio somehow overpowered the Primordial God's Demonic fists and shattered it up to its elbow…
However, despite the planet being protected by the Kyrie Eleison spell of the Tanemakaicho, the shockwave can still be felt within the divine shield with enough force to shatter a huge number of the Weiss Army. The shockwave leveled the surface of the Fuzetsu'd planet's entire half, to the point of creating new multiple mountain ranges circling the center of impact…
"This… is the real battle between the Gods…" Haqua muttered as she was being protected by the Jupiter and the Norse Goddesses from the impact and shockwaves.
Before the Justice League could even dash to attack Beerus, all of them got caught by the powerful impact of the colliding fists in the atmosphere. Dr. Fate and Green Lantern created a combined projection to protect themselves and the rest of the League, but the projection got shattered like nothing. This made the League being blown away for a few hundred meters, except for Batman who caught Batgirl and used his grappling hook on the most durable debris planted on the ground. After all, if he do let his guard down even on a single tiny moment, that could easily spell death for the both of them since they are only regular human without any resistance against such powerful impact…
However, Beerus didn't even bother to protect himself from the impact. Or rather, he was unaffected by the powerful impact, as if he's treating it like a mild wind that's blowing away his cat-ears and tail. He then took a side-glance towards the three who were fighting against Armitael, then smirked…
"Show me… your potential that could rival that of the Saiyan Gods… Chosen Child…" Beerus smirked mysteriously towards his chosen successor…
"We can't have another clash like that within the planet's radius! A few more will definitely destroy it even with Tanemakaicho's protection!" Goku yelled as he flared his Super Saiyan Blue aura.
"Then all that we need to do is to push it back, aren't we?" Vegetta smirked cockily. "Just try to catch up, Naruto…!"
"You don't need to remind me!" Naruto replied back as he drew a Hiraishin kunai.
Goku then immediately crossed both his arms in front of his body,Vegetta then used him as his stepping plane to dash in light-speed towards the now regenerating Armitael. Naruto then threw the Hiraishin kunai towards Goku. The two then smirked towards each other after the Saiyan caught the kunai, then exchange mutual nods.
Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegetta's punch landed on Armitael's Eurasia-sized abdomen, creating an impact that sent the planet-sized demonic being flinging backwards on space. Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku then also used Instant Transmission to reappear right on the same spot where Vegetta's punch landed, then punched Armitael with the same force as of his archrival. And due to the two successive attacks in less than a second, Armitael's body got further blown away from Earth's orbit… now in space in the same distance as that of the moon from Earth…
Goku then threw Naruto's Hiraishin kunai on the same spot where their earlier attacks landed against Armitael. And on that instance, Naruto used Hiraishin Level 2 to flash right on the direction where the Hiraishin kunai was thrown, then projected multiple Chakra Arms equipped with potent Six Paths Chakra. Then…
"SENPOU: UZUMAKI NINTAIJUTSU: TAJUU KAZERYUJIN NO SENPUKEN (Sage Art: Whirlpool Battle Style: Multiple Wind Dragon Gods Tornado Fist)!" Naruto released a Nintaijutsu variant of Senpuken barrage with power further amplified with Six Paths Senjutsu. The multiple impacts along with the power of the multiple Chakra Arms created a moon-sized gaping hole on Armitael's abdomen.
Armitael growled in pain as he tried to regenerate the damaged abdomen. But before he could even be able to do so, Goku appeared right beside its Demonic head with cheek about large-country-size, then punched it with enough force to blow away the Primordial Weiss God's head into smithereens.
However, the Uria-clad left arm charged a powerful Demonic Beam aimed towards Earth with enough potency to vaporize the planet. Vegetta however just fired a Big Bang Attack to easily overpower the Demonic Blast, destroying Armitael's left arm.
But Armitael wasn't a Primordial God for nothing, as he can still move even with some of his body parts were shattered parts of his boy. As Naruto, Goku and Vegetta once again tried to aim for another combination of attacks, Armitael swung its massive Demonic Tail against the trio.
"…!" The three just realized that if they tried to evade the Demonic Tail Slash, the pressurized power that'll be generated by the tail will slash the Earth along with the other planets lined behind it in half. But if they do tank the pressurized slash, the three of them will receive enormous amounts of damage with Naruto's Clone possibly even dispelling right after the attack land…
But the Shinobi of the Six Paths' power isn't about just for fire power. Naruto commanded three (Truth-Seeking Ball), then projecting a continent-sized shield with enough radius to protect the planet. Armitael's Tail Swing pressed thru, thinking that such a mere shield won't be able to do anything against his mighty power.
However, the very moment that its Demonic Tail landed on the Gudou Dama shield, the Tail itself got vaporized down to atomic level due to the unique power of the Gudou Dama. After all, the Gudou Dama itself has the power to vaporize and disintegrate the existence of anything that it touches…
"This thing became too powerful… but I doubt it can do anything against us." Vegetta said with his usual smirk while levitating in space. However, The Six Paths Naruto Clone and Super Saiyan Blue Goku didn't respond, as they can feel that the presence of the Primordial Weiss God didn't weaken after their successive attacks despite having its body parts being shattered…
"…!" The three of them then sensed a massive power being concentrated on the remaining parts of Armitael that wasn't destroyed by their earlier attacks. In a few moments, the remains then emitted streams of black light from within, then…
"It'll gonna self-destruct…!" Goku yelled as he immediately covered his face with his arms, as if sensing how powerful the self-destruction technique of this Primordial God will cause. Vegetta gritted his teeth while doing the same gesture as of his rival Saiyan.
While on the surface, with the rest still fighting the Weiss Army, saw the powerful concentrated explosion that Armitael was about to execute…
"If nothing is done to stop that, it'll going to blow-up the Earth and even the Sun..." Whis said rather casually without any sense of urgency.
"It can't be…!" Skuld muttered.
"Don't worry." The Naruto Clone that was with them simply smirked without any hint of worry from his face. "Everything will gonna be alright."
Back to space, Six Paths Sage Mode Naruto, on the other hand, then simply stretched his left hand with the Moon Seal from Indra glowing…
"As if I'd let you…!" Naruto muttered then flew in sub-relativistic speed towards the expanding remains of Armitael.
And as expected, the remains of Armitael exploded with enough potency to vaporize the sun and the other planets within its radius. The explosion continued to expand, vaporizing all the smaller planetoids without any trace. Goku and Vegetta then charged their own signature attacks to repel the expanding self-destruct orb of Armitael to at least protect themselves and the Earth, but after seeing Naruto diving right into the explosion, they freeze their charged attacks and wonder what Naruto was about to do…
"That idiot… I know he's just a Cloning Technique, but what can he possibly do against that kind of power?" Vegetta gritted his teeth once again.
Naruto then pulled his left hand, then slammed it at full might towards the expanding orb of explosion using an open-palmed thrust. This allowed contact between the self-destruction orb of Armitael with Naruto's Moon Seal. Then…
"INTON: GENSO GOROSHI (Yin Release: Imagine Breaker)!" In that instance, the moment that the Moon Seal and the expanding orb made contact, the self-destruct orb began to crack like a damaged egg… then the crack expanded in multiple random directions… until the cracks themselves reached the entire circumference of Armitael's expanding orb of explosion. Naruto then closed his left fist in crushing gesture. And in that instance, the expanding orb of explosion from Armitael got shattered, then disappeared into thin space like nothing…
"He… dispelled such powerful explosion like nothing…?" Goku muttered in dumbstruck but excited expression.
"The power of Sun Seal is regeneration and amplification… symbolizing the Six Paths power of Creation. In that case… the power of the Moon Seal is that of dispel and negation… symbolizing the Six Paths power of Destruction…" Kaguya muttered within Naruto. "It seemed like Ashura and Indra trained you very well."
'Yeah. That's the first thing that they taught me… to maximize the full power Yin and Yang Release of the Six Paths…' Naruto replied to the Chakra Goddess.
"What kind of power is that? Since when did you get such ability to dispel such powerful explosion like nothing?" Goku immediately asked. "I bet you can even dispel attacks from Beerus-sama if you liked to!"
"It's an ancestral thing… I guess." Naruto grinned in response. "My left hand can dispel any energy-type techniques in contact, regardless of how powerful it might be."
However, due to the Weiss physiques of the Primordial God allowed him to regenerate completely thru the gathered miasma of his shattered remains. Armitael then glared towards Naruto, now with the two Super Saiyan Gods levitating behind him.
"I see. Even as a Clone, you have formidable skills." Vegetta then stepped forward. "In that case, it'll be better if you will act as support for the two of us against this Primordial thing. Unlike the two of us, you have vast array of support techniques to protect the planet while we're going all out against this Primordial Weiss. And we'll do so until the real you were able to do what he needs to do in the Nidheig of Nifheim."
"Yeah." Six Paths Sage Mode Naruto nodded as the Primordial God roared towards him, Goku and Vegetta…
-Scene Change-
Using his super-speed, Superman dashed in light-speed towards Beerus. But the Hakaishin simply ducked to evade the Man of Steel's punch. However, it was followed by Wonder Woman's downward kick from above, creating a massive shockwave from the impact. But the impact didn't came because of the Themyscira's Princess' kick landing on Beerus, but because the God of Destruction blocked the kick with his tail effortlessly.
Beerus then grabbed Superman's cape with his left hand, then slammed him to the still airborne Wonder Woman. This made the two heroes being thrown away into multiple debris of destroyed buildings within the Fuzetsu'd world. Batman and Batgirl, on the other hand, each immediately threw an exploding Batarang. But Beerus caught the first Batarang, then threw it towards the incoming second Batarang, making them explode in contact midway.
From the smoke created by the explosion of the Batarangs, Supergirl and Martian, the latter shape-shifted in a hulking serpent figure, appeared dashing towards the God of Destruction. But despite the two heroes' attacks that caused massive shockwave behind Beerus, the Hakaishin actually just blocked their attacks his the index finger from both his left and right hand. Beerus then grabbed the wrists of both heroes, then slammed their bodies against each other and flicked them away with his tail…
The Flash then used his super-speed in his attempt for a barrage of light-speed punches against Beerus. But much to the speedster's surprise, Beerus was able to dodge them rather casually without any hints of efforts, making him realize that this God has at least the same speed as of him. And with a proper timed flick on the abdomen, Beerus sent Flash being slammed in the nearest debris rather violently, making the speedster vomit blood.
Green Lantern and Hawkgirl then dashed at the same time, with Lantern projecting a massive hammer about the size of a building to slam Beerus flat on the ground. Beerus however didn't bother to dodge as he stopped the incoming overhead hammer projection with his left hand. Hawkgirl took advantage of the situation and aimed to slam her electric-charged Nth Mace to Beerus face, believing that Beerus don't have the leisure to dodge her attack now that Lantern had kept him occupied.
But much to her surprise, Beerus caught the spiked sphere of her Nth Mace with his right hand without being affected by the mystical power of her mace. He then threw Hawkgirl towards Green Lantern, but not before punching the massive hammer projection upwards. This broke the projected hammer, and the impact of Beerus power dispersed the clouds of the Fuzetsu'd atmosphere…
"He did all that against the Justice League without moving an inch from where he's currently standing?" Dr. Fate muttered after seeing how the Justice League fell in less than 10 seconds against this unknown God. He actually wanted to help them fight against this God, but after seeing such effortless feat to toy around the Justice League, even with his help, he knew that the results won't change.
"…!" Beerus tilted his head after seeing how Superman emerged out of the debris where he was thrown away. Superman's eyes were now flaring red while levitating… Beerus then also found himself suddenly being tied by Wonder Woman's Lasso, binding his body, left and right arm.
Superman then fired his Heat Vision, but Beerus didn't even move to dodge. After all, Superman's Heat Vision was actually aimed just to nick the God of Destruction on his cheek.
"If I wanted, I could have hit you with that!" Superman yelled in threatening tone towards Beerus, as if implying that Beerus won't be able to dodge the Heat Vision if he actually aimed it on his head directly because Wonder Woman was restraining him. "Now let us through!" The rest of the Justice League also recovered despite some pained expressions on their faces, then also prepared to attack Beerus at the same time to back-up Superman's claim…
Beerus just sighed in disappointment. After all, he knew that all of these attempts were just empty threats for him. He then released his purple-colored godly ki… emitting real intimidation that once again made the entire Justice League shudder.
And before Wonder Woman could react, Beerus channeled his godly ki to the Lasso of Truth, striking the Princess of Themyscira similar to that of lightning effect, making her lose her binding to Beerus. After casually removing the Lasso, Beerus then pointed his right index finger towards Superman who has having trouble levitating due to the potency of his intimidating godly ki…
And in an instant, Beerus fired a bullet-sized ki blast towards Superman's direction. The ki blast barely grazed Superman, not that Beerus was actually aiming at him. The League then followed the track of the ki blast as it exit the Earth's atmosphere in terminal speed. The ki blast dashed in light-speed and in a matter of moments, hit the planet Venus, making the planet explode into mere nothingness without any trace of debris left…
The entire League have their mouth hanging in wary and fear after seeing how such a tiny amount of energy projection can easily vaporize a planet. They then looked towards Beerus at the same time, most of them gulping on their dried throat…
"If I wanted, I could have also hit you with that…" Beerus smirked darkly while imitating Superman's line from earlier…
-Scene Change-
Multiple craters were formed all over the region as two aura's clashing at each other in beyond massively hypersonic speed continued to exchange their attacks. Seikouki Mazoku Yusuke Yurameshi and Hollowfied Ichigo Shirosaki continued to exchange blows, each exchange of attacks can literally vaporize an entire country with continent-busting potency. Each damage dealt against each other easily healed within seconds, and with seemingly infinite supply of power, neither gave an inch while trying to overpower their rivaling enemy…
Ichigo, after distancing himself against Yusuke, charged and fired a continent-vaporizing Cero between his horns. But Yusuke simply charged Seikouki and Mazoku-amplified punch to counterattack against the near-instantaneous Cero blast. The collision shook the entire location, splitting the landscape and clouds behind Yusuke in global scale. Yusuke then used his speed to reappear right in front of Ichigo, grabbed both of his horns, then pull Ichigo's face, landing a violent knee blow to the face of the Hollowfied Shinigami.
However, Ichigo stuck all the fingers on his right hand in the same direction. And using his fingers' razor-sharp claws, he stabbed Yusuke on the chest exactly on the same moment when Yusuke kneed him on the face. Ichigo's arm pierced Yusuke's chest, making Yusuke cough blood. However, the former Spirit Detective applied additional force on his hand, increasing the strength of his grip, breaking the Hollow Horns of the former Substitute Shinigami.
Ichigo pulled out his hand from piercing Yusuke's chest on the exact moment that the latter broke his Hollow Horns. Yusuke then thrust the both broken Hollow Horns on Ichigo's chest violently, followed by a Spirit Shotgun attack that sent Hollow Ichigo skidding backwards.
Ichigo was able to properly maneuver himself despite having the same pained expression as that of the silver-haired Mazoku descendant. After pulling the stabbed horns on his chest, he dashed like a mad beast towards Yusuke, leaving a massive crater where he stepped in. Ichigo then once again tried to stab him, but this time, with his long-sword Zanpakuto. But the human Hollow only was only able to slash the after image of his target, as the long, silver haired Mazoku hybrid reappeared right behind him…
Yusuke grabbed Ichigo's leg, then punched right on the joint of his knee. This broke the leg of the former Substitute Shinigami while yelling in pain. Yusuke then used the broken leg for an overhead slam against Hollow Ichigo to the ground, creating a massive impact. Yusuke do the same again, slamming Ichigo on the other side while also creating another humongous crater…
Ichigo roared in anger as he used his Zanpakuto to cut his entire broken leg, detaching it from his body. This made himself land on the ground with only one leg. He then only realized that Yusuke was now once again dashing towards him like a man of no reason. Ichigo used his Hollow powers to immediately regenerate his lost right leg, thus being able to out-maneuver the Mazoku descendant on the last moment. The very moment that Yusuke passed thru his sides, Ichigo then attempted to slash Yusuke with his Zanpakuto from left shoulder to right lower torso.
Yusuke was able to distance himself on the last second, but the pressurized wind slash still gave him a massive cut that spilled a lot of his blood. However, with each other still in point blank range, both of them charged their signature attacks against each other, creating a massive explosion with moon-busting potency…
As the smokes and rubbles created by the explosion disappeared, it displayed a city-sized crater with tunnel-like depth with both of the damaged fighters standing on the opposite ends of the crater. Ichigo have destroyed left arm and leg, pierced wounds on his chest and with broken Hollow Horns. Yusuke, on the other hand, have gaping hole on his chest, severe cut on his body and burned skin that covered more than half of his entire skin. However, the two of them released their own respective power, then in a matter of seconds, regenerated all their damages, making their bodies as good as new…
"…!" The two opposing warriors then glared towards one specific direction, as if mutually sensing something…
"The Chosen Child…" Ichigo narrowed his eyes dangerously. "…he finally makes his way here in Nifheim…"
"Yeah… you might be able to prevent me from approaching Nidheig. But with him finally arriving right now, I doubt you will be able to stop him from doing whatever is needed to be done on Nidheig." Yusuke said seriously. "And unlike what you did to me, you won't be able to stop him because if you dare try to turn your back on me to just to stop him, you know what will happen to you…"
"As if I care about such thing…" Ichigo replied. "Both of you and the Chosen Child will suffer the same fate… and fall by my hand… Vintage cannot be stopped… especially now that almost everything was already in place…" Ichigo muttered mysteriously…
"Then so be it…" Yusuke said seriously…
-Scene Change-
The Weiss Army continued to attack the Goddesses however, with them having the power being able to protect themselves and each other along with the powerhouse assistance from the other Saiyans and Bijuu-clad Naruto Clones, they were able to fight back against the swarming Weiss Army...
However, despite keeping their guard up, they still can't help but continue watching the battle against Armitael as it unfolded on space. And due to the distance between the battling Gods from the planet's orbit, all that they can see were tiny orbs of light valiantly fighting against the giant demonic silhouette figure…
"Fighting against beings with Edo Tensei-like regenerative abilities really is annoying, especially now that they were powered-up by Nidheig…" The Naruto Shadow Clone muttered on his allies.
"The real you are already on his way to Nidheig, right? All that we need to do is to protect each other until Nidheig was purged for real!" Goten said towards Naruto while firing a ki blast to a Weiss army on the right side.
"But still, with you being able to fight alongside father and Uncle Goku was quite something, especially against such Primordial Demon." Trunks muttered as well to the Kage Bunshin.
"Power isn't everything. No matter how powerful we are, if we're fighting against beings with cheat regenerative capability, our powers are useless except if we have the appropriate sealing techs!" Skuld replied.
"Nidheig's current configuration is disrupting any possible sealing spell that me and my sisters can possibly cast. And Naruto forbid us to use the Heavenly Sealing Spell that we use to end the Almage Machina War until the Nidheig was properly purged. So right now, all that we can do is to fight back without overexerting ourselves." Tenri, thru Diana's Goddess knowledge, explained on behalf of her fellow Jupiter Sisters.
"But despite everything that already happened and what's currently happening right, I can feel that this is just the surface of something much grander…" Tanemakaicho Anzasu muttered while standing on the middle of the allied battling beings. "Whether the Shinobi was able to purge the Nidheig or not, I can feel that we were already playing right in the palm of the enemies' hands…"
"…!" Everyone got surprised and felt a bit wary on everything that's happening around them… After all, the person who just talked was the Tanemakaicho… and her words, even if it's just a random foreshadowing, can reflect whatever was truly happening and might happen since she was the mother of the Norse Goddesses of Fortune…
"You mean… after getting this far… we're still expecting any other possible worst scenario from this…?" Haqua muttered with difficult expression…
-Scene Change-
Gohan continued to dodge the attacks from the Nightmare God Yubel. He was trying to avoid any physical contact with the Nightmare Weiss since the damage was already taking too much toll on him, physically and mentally. He can hit the God Weiss if he wanted to… but the damage was reflecting to him instead. It's just like he was beating his own self down… And even right now, he can't even think of a way on how to remove Yubel's Curse on him despite his continuous attempts to severe that Curse from the Demon physically…
However, the Demon suddenly stopped attacking Gohan, much to the Mystic Saiyan's surprise. Nightmare Yubel then smirked maliciously, then charged a demonic beam from his serpent-shaped Demons attached on his back. Gohan prepared to block the Demonic Beam, but much to his surprise, the Demon fired the beam to his own gigantic physiques. This created a massive gaping hole on Yubel's body… making Gohan feel the same pain as if he was the one who got a gaping hole on his own body…
Yubel then aimed to punch a non-moving Gohan with power that could shatter a planet at full force… Gohan gathered all his will power to brace himself despite the feeling of pain, then punched the incoming demonic fist to protect himself. Yubel's arm was shattered on the collision however, Gohan felt that same pain as well of having his entire arm being shattered….
"GGGAAAHHHH…!"Gohan yelled in pain… his eyes going blank… The pain made his entire body half feel numb… but Yubel simply regenerated his lost limb, then once again aimed to attack Gohan…
The attack landed at full force, creating a massive shockwave with potency that could wipe-out an entire large country. However, both Yubel and Gohan got surprised after the expected outcome of the attack didn't actually happened…
After all, Yubel's punch left a kilometer-wide crater with indefinite depth, but the God Weiss didn't felt the impact that he was expecting once he hit the Mystic Saiyan…
Gohan, on the other hand, found himself a kilometer away from the source of impact of Yubel's punch… It is then that he realized that someone literally teleported him away before the impact hit him…
"That was close… -ttebayo…" The familiar voice of a Shinobie choed behind Gohan along with a tri-pronged kunai pinned on the ground in front of him. The hybrid Saiyan sighed in relief, then smirked towards the blonde Shinobi…
"You're late, as always…" Gohan smirked towards Naruto.
"Maybe I subconsciously inherited Kakashi-sensei's habit within me…" Naruto replied with his own grin, then noticed Gohan's current state of condition. "You seemed to be in pain, but I can't see any traces of visible damage on your body physically…" He then immediately stated his observation…
"Yeah… That Weiss, despite its already godlike powers, have this broken ability to transfer any damage that he will accumulate during battle into his opponent just after taking a drop of my blood. So aside from the gradual damage that I continuously acquire during our battle, all the damage and pain that he got also reflected on me…" Gohan explained in the most precise way possible…
"I see… so this Weiss has Hidan-like ability with Edo Tensei regenerative capability…" Naruto muttered. And since he already had anintel fighting such kind of opponent, he already had an idea on how to deal with it…
"But regardless, don't hold back and use all your powerful techniques against that Weiss… I'll deal with it as much as I can… as long as you can defeat him for good…" Gohan said with determination, trying to hide the pained feeling after taking huge toll of damage during his fight with Yubel…
"Hmm…" Naruto simply tilted his head. He then kneeled his right knee to the ground, as if aiming to picked-up his Hiraishin kunai from the ground and then glared towards the roaring Nightmare God.
The Nightmare God, Yubel, roared dangerously towards the two, shaking the entire region rather violently. Despite its raging instinct, Yubel actually acknowledged Son Gohan's power, that's why he used his unique, damage-reflecting ability against the hybrid Saiyan. However, with this new blonde kid arriving out of nowhere, he knew that this battle will once again going to drag on…
But this battle will be simple…
Just like what he did to the Mystic Saiyan, all that he needs to do is to distract the Shinobi and get a drop of his blood to activate the curse, making the two of them suffer on the same accursed pain just by attacking him.
They won't be able to fight back anymore… while he can continue beating the two of them down…
Yubel smirked evilly in realization… As a God Weiss with nigh-infinite regenerative capabilities along with his godly demonic powers, he will have a plenty of time trying to find an opening to get the Shinobi's blood and defeat him using the agony of pain…
The Nightmare God then stretched his demonic arm, then shape-shifted it into a spear… He then charged it with potent demonic energy, then aimed to stab himself with it…
"Damn it…! Not again!" Gohan gritted his teeth, already familiar with that suffocating pain that Yubel will reflect once the spear-shaped limb pierced the Nightmare God. He can move to destroy the demonic arm, but if he do so, he will feel the same pain of his own arm being destroyed… and also, all the pain he experienced from the battle against the God Weiss has already taken toll on him, physically and mentally. So before he could even step forward, he found himself collapsing on the ground…
Naruto narrowed his eyes… as if understanding what's about to happen to Gohan if this little stunt from the Nightmare God literally pierced through. That's why...
On that fraction of the moment, Yubel smirked after seeing the Shinobi's determined eyes. Just simply looking on those eyes, he immediately knew that the Shinobi will react and do something to protect the Mystic Saiyan from the pain that he will reflect to him physically. And that's what he was actually aiming for… to have the Shinobi react carelessly… and take advantage of the opening to damage the Shinobi and acquire his blood and activate the curse against him…
But much to the Nightmare God's surprise… on the last second that before the shape-shifted demonic spear landed on his gigantic demonic physiques…
He saw the Shinobi having both his palms slammed on the ground… smirking towards him without any care in the world…
It is then that he realized that his shape-shifted spear didn't land right on the expected moment when it should… as if the time itself stopped on its tracks…
Not really… especially after seeing the surprised reaction from the Mystic Saiyan that's standing beside Naruto…
"UZUMAKI FUINJUTSU OUGI: KONGO FUSA (Whirlpool Sealing Technique Secret Art: Adamantine Sealing Chains)!" Naruto muttered…
It is then that the Nightmare God realized that his entire body, including his demonic limbs, tails and serpent-like appendages got wrapped by extremely durable giant chains created from potent Chakra. Thus, the gigantic chains not only bind Yubel, but also literally remove any freedom of mobility from the Demon...
The gigantic Chakra Chains sprouting from the ground further increased the strength of its bind as Naruto slowly stood up, then positioned his right hand a feet away from his face, as if gripping something. He then threw the Hiraishin kunai towards Yubel's abdomen, then slammed his right arm after performing the Flying God Technique to the chest.
The very moment that Naruto's right palm hit Yubel's demonic chest, it sprouted complex insignias that spread all over the Demon's body... After sensing that he already have done what he needs to do, he then charged his right palm with potent Chakra, then fired a Hyuuga-based jutsu right on the chest of the Demon…
"SENPOU: JUKKEN: HAKKE HASANGEKI (Sage Art: Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher)!" Naruto released the charged Chakra in a single instance, creating a powerful vacuum that followed the Demon's chest. The impact also made the Demon skid forward in pain, then slammed on the nearest mountain range that was also hollowed by the track of the Hakke Hasengeki…
Gohan braced himself after seeing the attacks from the Shinobi, thinking that he will also feel the same pain as the Nightmare God felt. However, he didn't feel any pain at all, much to his confusion. Naruto then landed a few meters in front of Gohan while returning the Hiraishin kunai on his weapon summoning vault.
"Contract Seal… a sealing technique that dispels the contract between the user and the target… one of the techniques I learned from my father's scrolls…" Naruto muttered before Gohan could ask the question on his head. "That Demon reflects the pain inflicted on his body to his target after consuming a drop of your blood, establishing the contract. So all that we need to do is to destroy the contract to destroy his curse against you."
"I see… you really seem to know quite a lot about seals…" Gohan said with a nod. "Thanks… I owe you one…" He said with appreciative smile.
Naruto then approached Gohan, then tapped him with his right hand's Sun Seal. In that instance, all of Gohan's pain and damage all over his body vanished like nothing while also revitalizing his lost ki during his current battle…
"Now, you're good as new." Naruto grinned towards Gohan. "We don't have much time, so we need to destroy that Demon God right now-ttebayo!"
"Yeah. Payback time." Son Gohan then charged at full-power, Mystic Super Saiyan 4. Naruto then activated his blue Sharingan from left eye and blue Byakugan on his right eye…
Yubel tried to immediately regenerate himself, surprised on the skills of the Shinobi that just attacked him. But before he can comprehend on what he should do, the Mystic Saiyan already landed a massive uppercut on the Demon, followed by multiple combinations of attacks all over the Demon's body. Each attacks created powerful shockwaves, destroying each parts of the Demon's body without giving it time to regenerate back… sending the gigantic Demon airborne…
Gohan then distanced himself away from the Demon, seeing how Naruto charged Inton: Rasenshuriken (Yin Release: Spiral Shuriken) on his left hand and Yoton: Rasenshuriken(Yang Release: Spiral Shuriken) on his right hand, then having a pair of Susanoo skeletal arm charging Indra's Arrow in front of him… Even the Mystic Saiyan can feel the powerful aura of the combined power of the Shinobi's attack…
"Hey Gohan! I'll seal that Demon God once and for all! Vaporize him into a miasma with your strongest attack!" Naruto yelled towards Gohan.
"On it! KAME HAME HA!" Gohan charged and immediately fired a multi-large planet destroying beam attack towards the severely damaged Weiss, completely disintegrating the God Weiss after being engulfed by the potent ki blast. The disintegrated parts of the Weiss God turned into miasma, completely stagnant in the atmosphere due to the massive damage it received.
Naruto then saw the current state of the God Weiss' miasma, then fired his charged attack…
"RIKUDO SENPOU: SHINRA TENKYO (Six Paths Sage Art: Almighty Scream)!" Naruto fired the combination jutsu of Six Paths: Ultra Big Ball Rasenshuriken and Indra's Arrow aimed towards the Demon God. And on that exact moment of contact, the jutsu created a massive cataclysmic, about planet-sized explosion on the atmosphere of Nidheig…
"…!" Ichigo and Yusuke were forced to brace themselves in the middle of their brutal fight against each other after almost being blown away by the explosion from a devastating beam of Son Gohan, followed by the massive orb of destruction created by Naruto's jutsu despite the fact that they were fighting a few hundreds of kilometers away from each other…
"Damn… that Naruto seemed to acquire some power on an entirely different level…" Yusuke smirked even though he himself was having trouble holding his ground…
'The Shinobi… he is indeed a worthy adversary that will no doubt force me to release my full power… even if I don't want to…' Ichigo muttered to himself…
"Gohan brace yourself! The true effect of that jutsu might affect you!" Naruto yelled towards the Saiyan.
Gohan nodded without any second thought as he flew towards Naruto's direction. In that instance, the planet-sized sphere of explosion got sucked by a vacuum in a shape of a wormhole created right in the middle of the explosion in a matter of seconds. The vacuum of the wormhole further expanded now sucking everything around it, including several mountains to island-sized debris… including the entire shattered miasma of the Nightmare God… Yubel…
"That's… a black hole…!?" Gohan muttered as he landed right beside Naruto…
"Not really… just a vacuum wormhole that works quite similar to a black hole…" Naruto commented without even budging despite the powerful force created by his jutsu…
(Basically, the explosion of Shinra Tenkyo and the black hole-like ability of Six Paths: Ultra Big Ball Rasenshuriken in Ninja Storm 4 game).
"What the hell?!" Grimmjow yelled as he used the full power of his Segunda Resurreccion form along with the other Nifheim Generals to brace themselvesfor them not to be sucked into the powerful Chakra vacuum produced by Naruto's jutsu.
"Even on this distance, despite the small size… that vacuum still have such effect against us…?!" Nnoitra complained as well.
The former and current generations of Makai Kings however just positioned themselves within Yomi's transparent orb shield for to protect themselves against the current ongoing destructive phenomenon…
"So this is the power of the Chosen Child…" Yomi muttered, concentrating to his fullest to ensure the protection of his barrier orb.
"Now I can understand why Raizen treated him as such threat…" Mokuro said with narrowed eyes…
"And I'm afraid that this can't be even considered as his full-powered attack…" Hiei added, making Yomi and Mokuro somehow look at him in disbelief.
"That's right." Yoko stated, clarifying Hiei's assumption. "Despite fighting together on few occasions until now, I have never seen the Shinobi go all out. And now that he acquired some transcended power, I don't even know if I can comprehend what he can actually do at full power…"
Yomi and Mokuro narrowed their eyebrows… somewhat feeling wary due to his power, but at the same time somewhat thankful that they were fighting on the same side…
After a few more seconds, the wormhole vacuum created by Naruto's jutsu dispersed into nothingness, along with the entire miasma of the Nightmare God that was sucked within it…
"One down…" Naruto smirked towards Gohan. "I'll go and purge the Nidheig system. I'll leave the Makai guys to you…"
"Yeah…" Gohan nodded. Naruto then used the Six Paths power to levitate, then flew in high speed towards the direction of Nidheig…
Gohan then dispelled his Mystic Super Saiyan transformation to reserve his energy. Because of Naruto's Chakra, he can now feel his lost ki revitalizing similar to the effects of the Senzu Beans from his home world. He then looked towards the direction where Naruto flew…
"I know that you're still barely using your awakened full power, Naruto… but I'm pretty sure that right now, the potency of your power can already rival that of the Gods…" Gohan said seriously, acknowledging the power of the Shinobi. "He's catching up to us pretty fast… And I can even sense that his potential can clearly surpass that of mine in due time…"
"…And at this rate, he can surpass even father and uncle Vegetta…"
Gohan then released his regular Mystic ki, then flew in hi-speed to catch up with the flying Shinobi…
-Scene Change-
Mazoku Yusuke clad with Seikouki power fired a massive Seikouki Reigan towards Hollowfied Ichigo. The Hollow-Shinigami however charged a Cero between his two horns to counterattack. The two Spiritual Energy attacks collided midway while the two combatants used their beyond massive hypersonic speed to attack each other, each aiming to brutally kill the other…
"…!" Hollowfied Ichigo then glared towards a specific direction… "…the Chosen Child already going straight to Nidheig after defeating the Nightmare God?" He then kicked punched Yusuke at full force with Reiatsu-clad fist, making the former Spirit Detective being slammed on an Everest-sized rock debris, shattering it to pieces. Ichigo followed the attack with a Cero-enchanced Getsuga Tenshou to inflict further damage to Yusuke.
Yusuke however released a massive amount of Seikouki-enhanced Mazoku aura to grab the incoming blast. Planting his feet on the ground, he grit his teeth to deflect the attack with just sheer physical strength, sending the blast upwards to the sky before exploding with potency that could wipe out an entire large country. Yusuke prepared to counter attack, only to realize that the Shinigami hybrid already disappeared, heading towards the direction where the Nidheig was located, as if aiming to protect Nidheig before Naruto could ever reach it…
"That bastard…!" In that instance, Yusuke disappeared on his current location, leaving nothing but a massive crater where he was previously standing, speeding towards the location where his opponent is heading…
-Scene Change-
After clash of blows and techniques, the Makai Kings and the Arrancar Generals immediately separated away from each other. It is then that they sensed the approaching presence…
And right on the middle where the two fighting groups separated, landed Naruto with his right knee kneeling on the ground… And as if in slow motion sequence, Naruto took a side glance towards Yoko and Hiei, whom both simply replied with a light nod. On the other hand, the Arrancars prepared from a sudden attack from the newly arrived powerful adversary. However…
Naruto simply dashed in blinding speed, passing through the four Arrancars before they could even react, entering the Daimakaicho's Castle in a flash. The speed itself created a blowing gush of wind that even swept the Arrancars away from their current location, making them surprised and at the same time felt frustrated after the Shinobi doesn't seemingly even bother to treat them as a threat.
In that instance, the Arrancar Generals immediately prepared to chase the Shinobi inside the Daimakaicho's Castle using their own Instant Movement Technique. However, another powerful impact right in front of the Castle stopped the Generals from chasing the Shinobi… as if the source of the impact itself intended to stop them from what they plan to do…
"Stop right there…" Son Gohan muttered, flaring his Mystic ki, its potency intimidating the Arrancars…
"Denied." Ulquiorra muttered coldly despite the visible difference in terms of power between them. After all, Ichigo entrusted them to protect the Nidheig, so regardless of their predicament, they need to fulfill what they needed to do…
In that instance, the Arrancars used Sonido and appeared right in front of Gohan, preparing to strike the hybrid Saiyan. However, Gohan simply retaliated by moving faster than the Arrancars could comprehend, striking each of them with blows before the Arrancars could even react. The blows from the Mystic Saiyan sent the Arrancars flying in separate directions, landing with pained expressions on their faces…
The Makai Kings then saw the sudden development in a matter of seconds on the battlefield, so they immediately moved using their own Instant Movement techniques and reappeared right beside the Mystic Saiyan. Yomi, Mokuro, Hiei, Yoko and Gohan then stood right in front of the Daimakaicho's Castle, blocking the path for the Arrancar Generals for them to chase the Shinobi within the country-sized Castle…
"So this guy is one of the all-powerful Saiyans that Botan has been talking about…" Mokuro said emotionlessly while taking a side-glance towards the hybrid Saiyan.
"Pleased to meet you." Gohan tried to answer politely without removing his serious gaze towards the Arrancars.
"I believe this isn't the appropriate place to introduce ourselves properly…" Yomi replied while preparing a fighting stance.
"Hnn…" Yoko and Hiei simply nodded in response, preparing for any possible counterattack from the Arrancar Generals…
On the other hand…
"It seemed like we no longer have any other choice. Either that, or Ichigo will be in big trouble because of the meddling of the Chosen Child…" Neliel whispered, while looking towards his fellow Segunda Ressureccion transformed Generals. And that instance was more than enough for them to mutually agree on the same plan. After all, even with just the single Saiyan present on the battle alone, they already knew that they'll no longer stand a chance against him. So they need to do their last resort to not let Ichigo Shirosaki down…
…because they have already agreed to carry the same burden as of him... to fight for him for his own goals…
-Scene Change-
Naruto continued to dash in Hiraishin-level speed within the Daimakaicho's temple using his highly advanced sensory perception to sense the location of Nidheig. While indeed Nidheig don't have life force for him to track, he deduced that all that he needs to do is to sense the tiny presence of the curse-sealed Daimakaicho… since he knew that the Daimakaicho was cursed during the time that she was protecting the Nidheig against the Vintage…
…that's why he knew that if he'll be able to locate the Daimakaicho, then that'll also be the very same location where he can find the Nidheig…
Several Weiss tried to stop him on his tracks, but the Shinobi easily defeated them without slowing down. He continued to dash his way through, even leaving traces of molten rocks on his tracks created due to the friction of his overwhelming speed as he dashed on the ground.
Naruto then saw a two-way door with height similar to that of a skyscraper. Along with the weakened presence of the Daimakaicho, that was more than enough for the Shinobi to realize that this is the room where the Nidheig was located. He was then attempted to be stopped by several four-digit-Capture Level Weiss, each of them charging a collaborated Demonic beam that could incinerate the half of Daimakaicho's country-sized Castle…
However, Naruto simply activated his Mangekyou in Kamui pattern, then created several regular-shuriken sized Kamui Shuriken. He then accurately fired the Shuriken pin-pointedly with complex trajectory, each shuriken landing on separate Weiss…
"KAMUI: SHURIKEN KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU (Authority of the Gods: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)!"
And the very moment that the black Chakra shurikens came in contact with the Weiss, each of them distorted the space in spiral manner, warping the powerful Weiss into another dimension… ignoring their conventional durability. Since Kamui is more of a space-time distortion than actual attack, the warping power of the technique ignored the Weiss ability to regenerate, shattering them completely into mere miasma while being warped into the Kamui dimension…
And with a casual punch, Naruto broke the Daimakaicho's door, sending its debris flying all over the place. It was then that he saw the statue like figure of the cursed Daimakaicho… and behind her… was the system the governed all of Nifheim… the Nidheig, warped with malicious energy that seemingly fueled the system responsible for their current predicament…
"Time's running out…" Naruto immediately used Kamui warp to disappear and reappear right beside the Nidheig a fraction of a second. After dispelling his Mangekyou, he immediately created some handseals to dispel the malicious energy flooding the Nidheig system. However, before his palm could reach the Nidheig system…
*Clang*
A powerful collision between two metallic objects echoed on the room, creating a massive gust of wind that even inflicted cuts on the walls of the vicinity. The owner of the first metallic weapon was no other than from Naruto who instinctively blocked an attack filled with overwhelming killer intent from behind with his Chakra Blade…
…the other one… was from a black large sword swung from above by humanoid demon-like creature with white complexion, demonic horns and orange, waist-length hair…
The most powerful Nifheim General… Shirosaki Ichigo… in Hollowfied form…
Ichigo immediately followed-up his sudden attack by a quick swing using his shorter Zanpakuto, making Naruto dock to evade. The Shinobi then slammed his left hand on the floor, then attempted to kick Ichigo with a full swing right leg. The former Shinigami blocked the kick with his elbow, but the force of the kick still sent the Hollowfied human skidding backwards, piercing two massive pillars until being slammed on one of the walls of the room…
Naruto then turned around, then continued performing hand seals to seal the malicious energy within Nidheig, but he felt a sudden surge of energy from the being that he just sent flying…
"Don't touch that… you damn Shinobi…!" Ichigo roared as he channeled potent Reiatsu on both his black long and short-sword Zanpakuto while at the same time charging a very powerful Cero between his two horns…
"This guy…" Naruto muttered as he narrowed his eyes towards the orange-haired General. Using his Empathic Tracking, he can sense overwhelming turmoil and desperation… the very same emotion that he felt within Sasuke and Obito...
"GETSUGA JUJISHO (Moon Fang Cross Shaped Piercer)… and… GRAN RAY CERO OSCURAS (Hollow King's Lightning Flash)!" Ichigo fired the strongest possible variant of his Cero while combining it with the amplified power of his Getsuga attack. The attack has potency that could chunk out a huge part of earth on global scale if executed on the real world… however…
Naruto charged some Six Paths Chakra on his right hand, then dashed towards the incoming powerful beam. He pulled his right hand, formed a fist, then punched the continent wrecking beam.
"What the…?!" Ichigo reacted as he braced himself from the impact while covering his face with both his arms…
The Cero-Getsuga collaboration then got split in half, destroying a huge part of the Daimakaicho's Castle, and the shockwave was felt all over the continent-wide area, splitting the black clouds of Nifheim on global scale (basically similar to what happened during Saitama vs Boros fight from One-Punch Man). Even the Makai Kings and the other Arrancar Generals even braced themselves while Gohan, while not budging due to the sudden impact out of nowhere, simply looked towards the direction where the source of the explosion originated with wariness on his expression…
"It's all in your hands now, Naruto…" Gohan said seriously.
The rubbles and shockwave disappeared slowly… displaying that more than half of the Daimakaicho's Castle was destroyed from the attack. Ichigo waved his hollow hand to disperse the remaining smoke-gust created by the explosion, displaying the Shinobi who's looking towards the Daimakaicho's cursed figure and Nidheig with relief on his face…
"Good… they're not affected." Naruto muttered.
'So this… is the power of the Chosen Child…' Ichigo thought with glaring eyes. 'I knew that he's strong… but I didn't expect to grow this strong after what happened during his awakening…'
"Now then…" Naruto spoke, getting the Hollowfied Shinigami's attention… "…what should I do to you…?" He said while emitting overwhelming killing intent, shaking the scattered debris all over the place…
'His power was clearly beyond that of Aizen and the Squad Zero, combined… and his pressure and intimidation will make that of Kenpachi's feel like that of a little child…' Hollow Ichigo gritted his teeth. Then followed by a confident smirk… 'In the end, I might even consider using those powers within me, even if I don't have any intention to do so… against him…'
"Wait up!" Another person landed right in front of Naruto. "He's my opponent. And I'm still in the process of kicking his ass…!"Yusuke, still on his silver-haired, Mazoku tattooed form while emitting golden potent Seikouki.
"Yusuke… you just looked like your old man." Naruto said with somewhat surprised expression on his face after seeing Yusuke's form.
"I used his power that I inherited… of course I'll look like him." Yusuke said in a side smirk. "How about you? It may not look like it, but I can feel some insane ancestral power suddenly awakening within you…"
"Yeah… kinda." Naruto said with a casual smirk.
Yusuke then returned his attention to the Hollowfied Shinigami, now with an intimidating glare…
"How dare you turn your back against me… bastard…!" Yusuke muttered while emitting a much powerful Mazoku-Seikouki within him…
"I don't have any obligation to finish my battle against you. My role is to protect Nidheig until the Operation Ragnarok is over." Ichigo muttered.
"Yeah… yeah…" Yusuke said in annoyed expression. "But you'll no longer be able to protect Nidheig anymore. Either of us will fight you while the other one will purge the Nidheig. It's all over…"
"Really…?" Ichigo growled as his Reiatsu slowly released bright white-colored aura, melding with his already active Fullbring and Hollow powers…"There's a saying from my home world… that the power of Hollows are poison to the Quincys… however…"
"…!" Yusuke got surprised at the new power that was surging out from his opponent… while Naruto simply narrowed his eyes… as if already understanding what's about to happen…
"…What if someone had acquired both powers thru his heritage… allowing that someone to acquire the proper body to use the polar opposite powers and meld them into one… what do you think might happen…!?" Ichigo continued as his Fullbring and Hollow-powered black Reiatsu melding with the white Reiatsu from what now known as Quincy power…
"Then that power will evolve into something much more potent and powerful… making that someone become a being with power of an entirely different dimension from his original heritage…" Naruto muttered, fully understanding what this Arrancar General meant. Similar on how Indra and Ashura's combined power can awaken the Rinnegan… and on how Spiritual Energy and Physical Energy melded into a power called Chakra, this Nifheim General was now evolving his power beyond his own kind…
"Birds of the same feathers can really understand each other, doesn't it?" Ichigo smirked darkly towards Naruto, as if implying the similarities between him and the Shinobi. "I am a Shinigami with power of both Hollow and Quincy… three existences that shouldn't be able to meet eye to eye… but by combining these powers, I can acquire the power so powerful that it can be compared to that of the gods…"
Ichigo's attire then became clad with Reiatsu, changing its appearance from that of a Shinigami to that of a Quincy's while donning black tattered cloak (literally similar attire to that of Yhwach) while still retaining his horned-Hollow, long orange-haired appearance. He then wrapped both his short and long-sword Zanpakuto magically and placing both of them behind him, emptying his hands…
"Yeah… we are the same, yet at the same time… very different…" Naruto muttered. "But that statement of yours simply meant one thing…"
Yusuke took a side glance towards Naruto while Ichigo simply looked towards him in interest…
"…you're also a human… once…" The Shinobi said seriously.
"You realize that… without me even telling you…?!" Yusuke said. After all, before they fight, Ichigo himself told Yusuke that he was once a human similar to him…
"Yeah… that guy's emotions was clouded by hatred and regret… as if he lost something important to him, resulting on him being who he is right now…" Naruto said. After all, he knew very well those emotions and pain… as he had already met and even fought a lot of people with the same emotions, such as Nagato, Obito and even Sasuke.
"Hou… you can even sense emotions huh?" Ichigo perked. "Interesting… but that doesn't matter now, doesn't it?!" The Shinigami hybrid then disappeared on his current location, then reappearing a few meters away behind Naruto, using the combined speeds of Hierenkyaku, Sonido and Shunpo… with charged Quincy bow and arrow created from combined Hollow and Quincy Reiatsu…
"…!" But on the last second, Naruto unwrapped his Nunoboku no Ken, then without swinging, pointed its tip towards the incoming powerful Spiritual Arrow.
The sword tip and the arrow collided, creating a massive gust comparable to a shockwave that even made Yusuke brace himself. However, the collision was only for a very brief moment as the arrow simply got shattered into multiple Spiritual particles, much to the surprise of the current Quincy-Hollow hybrid Shinigami…
"An arrow like that can easily bore a hole on Yhwach's body… How come?!" Ichigo said with visible surprise on his expression. He then immediately distanced away from Naruto before the Shinobi could counter-attack him…
"This is the Nunoboku no Ken… a Gudou Dama weapon…" The Shinobi muttered while looking towards his dark-red colored, daito-shaped, arm-length sword. After all, the original Gudou Dama can disintegrate anything it touches with non-Senjutsu properties. That's why dispelling such powerful arrow with potent Reiatsu will be nothing more than child's play against Naruto's strongest sword… "Now let me ask you. Why are you doing all these despite the fact that you were once a human?" The Shinobi spoke without letting his guard down.
"Like what you have said, I am once a human. So you should have known already by now why I became like this, right?" Ichigo replied with serious expression. This made Naruto raise a brow. Ichigo then continued. "Let's just say that like you, I also have important people that I wish to protect before… However, we were walking down a separate path. You succeed in protecting your people, while I failed to do so."
"And what good will it bring you by siding with Vintage?" The Shinobi continued his questioning, still with his Nunoboku's tip pointing towards Ichigo despite their few tens of meter difference in distance.
"Two things…" Ichigo replied by showing a two-signed finger. "One, Vintage's goal will acquire power that I need for the sake of my own goal. Second, I like to prove that everyone is bound to fail regardless of how hard you try to obtain whatever you wish or dream. Everything will not go according to your wishes."
"That twisted son of a bitch keeps on babbling about his own failures, and all of us will end up like him." Yusuke said towards Naruto. "I can't stand the likes of him. He's much worse than Hiei way back before…"
"I see." Naruto muttered as he once again sheathed his Nunoboku no Ken with Chakra cloth. He then channeled Chakra on both his hands, projecting the married twin swords, Kanshou and Byakuya. After acquiring the power of the Six Paths, the Shinobi can now project a weapon created from pure Chakra due to the powers of both his Byakugan and Sharingan. The Byakugan meticulously traces the construction and composition of a weapon, while the Sharingan will copy all the data and store it on the user's brain. And with the Six Paths Chakra, he can now project an identical copy of any weapons that he can imagine as long as it has logical composition and construction.
And due to his knowledge about powerful ancient and divine swords used by different heroic figures from different myths and ages on the current world where he was currently residing, Naruto acquired appropriate knowledge on these weapons so he can now project them anytime he needed, just like what he just did right now with Kanshou and Byakuya… the same married pair of short swords that he used to fight against Kaguya…
"That's some nasty new ability that you got…" Yusuke muttered in amazement.
"Hou, dual weilding huh… just like me…" Ichigo then once again grabbed his short and long-sword Zanpakuto. "Let me tell you one thing… Even if the two of you team-up, you will never reach the Nidheig as long as I am alive…"
Naruto however didn't react. He has a lot of space-time techniques that he can use to reach Nidheig before this Nifheim General could even do anything. However, there's something that's bugging him while looking towards the eyes of the Hollow-Quincy hybrid…
"So you really have lost everything, aren't you?" Naruto muttered towards the former Substitute Shinigami.
After hearing that, something snapped within Ichigo's head, making him attack Naruto in blinding speed. However, Naruto was able to parry the incoming attacks from the two Zanpakuto's with his Kanshou and Byakuya…
"I knew you'll realize that." Ichigo snickered as he applied additional force and Reiatsu on booth of his swords. The Shinobi, while still in base without activating any power-ups, also does the same to counter the charging Shinigami.
"Did you really lose everything… or you're just throwing away everything?" Naruto shot back, further increasing the force of his block. The two clashing forces once again created a massive gust of wind.
"…!" Yusuke then realized that the Nidheig and the petrified Daimakaicho will get caught on the powerful clashing forces so instead of complaining he just jumped in front of the figures and charged his Seikouki Mazuko aura to protect them from the clash. "If I only knew how to purge this Nidheig, then I already have done it!"
"How will I possibly throw away everything if I no longer have anything in the first place?" Ichigo maneuvered himself and charged a Cero from his horns in point-blank range. Naruto then immediately activated the Overedge form of his Kanshou and Byakuya, slightly overpowering the two Zanpakutos, then elbowed the Shinigami's chin upwards to shot the powerful Cero towards the ceiling of the castle. The Cero pierced the ceiling, then exploded in the sky…
"From what I'm seeing right now, you're just being blinded by your own failures! You're just running away from something that you need to accept!" Naruto yelled towards the Shinigami hybrid.
"You don't have any right to talk to me about something that you haven't experienced yet..!" Ichigo maneuvered himself and attacked the Shinobi with a properly timed right kick. Naruto was able to block it with his elbow, but still sent him flying and pinned against several walls.
However, much to Ichigo's surprise, he saw a Hiraishin kunai pinned on the floor, right where he was currently standing. And before he could even react, Naruto reappeared right in front of him in a flash, then punched him with Eight Gates-level striking power, now sending the Shinigami flying with matching shockwaves.
"Don't talk as if you're the only one who experienced losing everything…" Naruto said with a serious glare.
Yusuke just saw how Naruto retorted back against the nonsense that Ichigo had been saying. He remembered the fragment of memory from Naruto that they saw during the Daimakaicho's meeting, and he can clearly understand why Naruto reacted like this. Despite being a hero, he was thrown into a dimension rift with his existence completely disappearing from his home world after fighting a very powerful adversary… that's why…
'It seems Naruto is the right person to fight against that bastard.' Yusuke sighed while looking towards the location where the Shinigami had landed. He then sensed a sealing tag being thrown towards him, thrown by the Shinobi without looking at him.
"Place the tag on the Daimakaicho's body. That seal will absorb and dispel the curse that was casted on her." Naruto said. "With this guy around, we cannot just purge Nidheig on our own. Only the Daimakaicho has the power to do that."
"Sure do." Yusuke said as he slammed the sealing tag to the Daimakaicho's chest.
The ground then suddenly shook with debris slowly levitating all over the Daimakaicho's Castle. The Shinobi then narrowed his eyes…
In that instance, the rubbles that buried Ichigo disintegrated into nothingness after the Shinigami released a very potent amount of Reiatsu…
"That white guy's power was currently beyond that of Rikudo-old man's level at the very least…" Juubi Kurama commented.
"His power was fueled by despair and regret… He is more like us… like you from before… Naruto…" Kaguya gave a challenging smile towards Naruto. "But that wasn't you're after, aren't you?"
"I don't know…" Naruto replied to the powerful beings within him. "While we may both have lost everything, I still don't understand why siding with Vintage's goal will make up for everything that he lost…"
"No more talking. The likes of you will never understand everything that I've been through… you're the splitting image of my old self… always striving his best to become stronger to acquire power to protect those people who are very important for us. Yet we were now walking on a mirrored path. You have yet to fail… while I already failed… And for you to experience the equilibrium of everything that I have experienced… then…"
"…I will be the medium to send you to your own despair… by fulfilling Vintage's goal…!"
Ichigo then charged directly towards Naruto, preparing to attack with both his short and long Zanpakuto. The Shinobi prepared his Overedge-formed Kanshou and Byakuya once again while also activating his Sharingan and Byakugan, then dashed towards Ichigo. The two sets of swords collided in a deafening sound of metal clashing metal. Each clash between the pair of swords produced a blinding spark that could easily blind a regular person. Every impact between each collision created a crater under their feet while producing shockwaves that shaking the entire castle of the Daimakaicho…
The former Shinigami then increased his speed, combining the properties of Shinigami's Shunpo, Hollow's Sonido, and Quincy's Hierenkyaku. Each of his attacks was aiming towards the Shinobi's vitals, attempting to kill the Shinobi in the quickest way possible. Naruto, on the other hand, automatically adjusted himself on each variations of speed changes done by his opponent… taking advantage of his godly precognition skills granted to him by his passive Senjutsu, Sharingan and 360 degree Byakugan vision.
At first, they were only clashing on the ground… until the Shinigami and the Shinobi disappeared on their current location, clashing everywhere on speed that cannot even be recognized by ordinary speedsters. Even Yusuke was having trouble catching the two's movements, except for the fact that each clash was ripping the Daimakaicho's Castle apart like that of a butter being sliced with hot butter-knife.
"You're my flawed ideal! All that I need to do is to cut you down to continue walking forward down to this new path that I chose!" Ichigo yelled while equipping Getsuga Tenshou on both his Zanpakutos to increase its power…
"And you kept on saying that everyone was bound to fail… if that's the ideal where everyone will lead to, then I'll gonna defeat you by destroying that stupid ideal of yours! HIRAISHINGIRI NITORYU: TSUBAME GAESHI (Flying Thunder God Sword Style: Return of the Swallow)!" Naruto yelled back to counter Ichigo's attacks.
The collision between two sword attacks produced a shockwave that showered multiple wind blades created from sheer concentrated wind pressure. Parts of the Castle slowly crumbled and collapses as the two continued to clash…
Naruto jumped away from the clash, only to see that Ichigo pinned both his Zanpakutos on the ground while now projecting a Quincy Bow and Arrow from both his hands. The Shinobi immediately dispelled the Kanshou and Byakuya on both his hands, then casted a Rasengan in a flash. Ichigo fired the Spiritual Arrow towards Naruto. The Shinobi retaliated by firing the Rasengan as a beam. The two attacks once again collided, creating another massive explosion inside the Daimakaicho's temple.
The Shinobi waved his hands to create a powerful gust that cleared the rubbles and dust from explosion. However, his expectations were somehow caught off-guard after seeing the thousands of thousands of Quincy Arrows charging towards him…
"What do you think you're doing?" Kaguya said with somewhat annoyed expression. "Even your past self that fought against Madara can put a good fight against that boy. Now that you acquired so much power, why are you still holding back? You still haven't used any of your power-ups! Remember, your comrades from the material world were relying on you purging Nidheig!"
"You're right. As of now, I know that I can beat him in submission if I want to…" Naruto muttered to his ancestor. "But I can't just do that… Sure do, I can beat or seal him, but that won't solve anything! I might be able to stop Nidheig, but that will only mean temporary victory against Vintage! Unless we understand what their true motives are, then there's no way we can formulate anything to totally defeat them… and that same goes for this guy were fighting against!"
"Then take him down, and use your Rinnegan to access information out of him!"
"This guy has given up on everything. That's why I'll need to beat some sense out of him first." Naruto replied stubbornly.
"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Kaguya sighed in defeat.
"Yeah.A very big idiot. But that idiotic brain of his made us redeem ourselves." Juubi Kurama snickered.
"I can't argue against that." Kaguya lightly smiled. "After all, he's the Child of Prophecy of the Shinobi World…"
Returning his psych on the outside world, Naruto projected two Chakra Shurikens, then threw them sharply towards the incoming uncountable amounts of Spiritual Arrows. He then performed Shuriken Kage Bunshin, creating thousands of thousands of Shuriken Clones charged with potent Chakra to clash against the rain of Arrows….
Most of the Shurikens pin-pointedly clashed against each Arrows, while the minimum number of Arrows that weren't countered by the Shurikens was blocked by the Hiraishin kunais now equipped on both of Naruto's hands, each kunai now applied with additional Chakra, making them look like a Chakra long sword.
Ichigo then reappeared right behind him and aimed to bisect Naruto's head. But the Shinobi created a Chakra Arm to block the sword since both his hands are busy blocking the arrows aimed against him (Naruto did create a Chakra Arm while in base after being stabbed by Shin Uchiha), much to Ichigo's surprise and amusement. The Chakra Arm then grabbed the blade of the Larger Zanpakuto to stop Ichigo'g blade, but the former Shinigami let go of his sword and charged potent Reiatsu on his hand, now aiming to punch Naruto's head. But that's more than enough for Naruto to realize that he can't take this opponent lightly…
And on the blink of an eye, Naruto immediately performed his Wind variation of Hyuuga's Kaiten before the Quincy-Hollow hybrid's punch landed, blocking the other incoming arrows and also repelling Ichigo away from him… and with the Wind Chakra's power and the additional Chakra blades channeled on his Hiraishin kunai, the Kaiten created shockwaves equipped with powerful pressurized Wind blades that pierced several layers of the Daimakaicho's Castle…
Ichigo, while in mid-air, then muttered some fast incantation while charging Reiryoku, than casted…
"BAKUDOU 61: RIKUJOKORO (Way of Binding No. 61: Six Rods of Light Prison)!" Ichigo then projected six thin but wide blades of light and slammed it to the mid-section of Naruto's Kaiten, dispelling the jutsu while pinning Naruto in place. But Naruto simply shattered the beams of light by releasing massive amounts of Rikudo Sennin-level Chakra.
The Shinobi then charged a grape-sized Rasengan, but casted with immensely potent Chakra that even create a huge crater under Naruto's feet due to its massive density. Naruto then literally grabbed the Rasengan, and threw it like a baseball towards Ichigo.
The mere shockwave from the grape-sized Rasengan shattered multiple walls of the Castle while dashing towards Ichigo in light-speed. That made Ichigo realize that a single Bakudou won't be enough to protect himself from the incoming attack. That's why…
"BLUT VENE (Stilled Blood Guise)…" Ichigo muttered to activate the defense amplifying ability of Quincy powers, then… "RENZOKU BAKUDOU 81: DANKU (Multiple Way of Binding No.81: Splitting Void)!" The Shinigami-hybrid then erected multiple barriers in domino formation in front of him in his attempt to block the incoming Rasengan.
The Rasengan and the first Bakudou: Danku collided, but the Rasengan easily shattered it without losing momentum. The Rasengan then increased its size into that of a basketball, colliding with the second Bakudou shield. It also got shattered albeit with more resistance than the first one as Ichigo applied additional Reiryouku and Blut Vene on it. The Rasengan increased its size again until colliding with the next-in-line Bakudo shield. And the same process continues until the Rasengan became that of a size of a fully-charged Juubi Dama while shattering all the other Bakudou shields, making the Shinigami-hybrid skid backwards violently despite the amplified defensive properties of his casted shields with his Blut Vene…
Upon shattering of the last shield…
"BLUT VENE ANHABEN (Shell of Stilled Blood Guise)!" Ichigo casted a much powerful version of Quincy's Blut Vene, creating a dome of forcefield that protected him against the now gigantic Rasengan that's pushing him away thru sheer powerful force.
"He's still pushing me back despite the fact that I'm already using the combined Hollow and Quincy powers?" Ichigo muttered in disbelief.
Naruto then clasped his hands in praying motion, making the now gigantic Rasengan skid upwards the sky with Ichigo still being protected by his Blut Vene Anhaben.
"Detonate…!" The Shinobi yelled, making the Rasengan further grew into that of mountain-sized one, then exploded in the atmosphere. The explosion illuminated the entire region, once again dividing the clouds in global scale…
"That explosion could've erased the entire Daimakaicho's Castle." Yusuke muttered while looking towards the moon-sized explosion above. However… "…!" He then saw that the cracks on the Daimakaicho's curse were now slowly being purged due to Naruto's unique sealing tag.
"QUINCY: VOLLSTANDIG!" A powerful voice said over the atmosphere, dispelling the massive Chakra Dome of the Rasengan in a matter of seconds. In the middle of the dispersing Chakra Dome levitated Ichigo, still on his Vasto Lorde Hollow Form and Quincy attire, now possessing a much powerful Spiritual Energy than before.
"Another power-up?" Naruto muttered, somewhat not surprised after seeing the new power of his opponent.
"Hollowfication and Vollstandig… a combined power of my current self that even Yhwach can't possibly handle… I never thought that there will come a time that someone will once again force me to fight on this level…" Ichigo muttered as he landed with a massive slam on the ground, now facing the Shinobi. "…because I can't just ignore your power anymore."
"You surely were something else…" The Shinobi muttered, doing a stance from combined form of Strong Fist and Gentle Fist.
"Indeed, both of us were something else." Ichigo replied. "We have all these power-ups, but in the end, we are as powerless as we could possibly be. We always strive for the best possible outcome, but the reality will always show us that we're just nothing."
"That's right. But that will only happen if you choose to bow down to reality." The Shinobi replied.
"You really were nothing but a child." Ichigo replied in a hoarse tone. "You can't protect everyone, especially when those who you wanted to protect were also mere pawns of the reality that you need to face. If you gain something, then you will lose something more in return. You can never run away from that very fact."
Ichigo then closed his eyes, remembering his past as being a Substitute Shinigami. After meeting Rukia, being friends with Sado, Uryuu and Orihime, his life changed drastically… especially after knowing an entirely different world of spirits… believing with the power that he acquired, he can make a difference, and protect everyone who's important for him…
But it is then that he unknowingly realize that the power he desired slowly became more of a burden for him than an actual blessing…
He fought within Soul Society to protect Rukia against her execution… save Orihime and battled Aizen that cost him on losing his powers… became a Fullbringer… only to be betrayed by his fellow Fullbringers… further losing power to point that he almost lost himself…
After acquiring power… he further felt his own powerlessness after losing them…
He then regained his powers once again thru the support of the Soul Society. Once again, the power that he acquired made him feel that this is his true self. He need power… not only to protect everyone against any threats… but also to protect himself for losing his own self… because he hated being powerless…
But of course… the more power he has, the more threat will surround him…
The Thousand-Year Blood War between Quincies and Shinigamis erupted, a brutal battle that made him lost a lot of his comrades and friends. He gained more power during the entire course of war, but he still hadn't been able to protect everyone…
…the more power he acquire… the more powerless he came to realize…
…everyone was bound to fail… regardless of reason for fighting…
Once a power is acquired, that power will make a person change. That power will either make the person bloom into a beautiful tree, or became part of the weeds that pollutes the actual flow of reality. However, even the beautiful tree can easily overrun by the weeds… slowly making the tree rot, decay, then become part of the same weeds that destroy itself…
That's the harsh truth of reality… the feeling of ineffectiveness and powerlessness despite the best intentions and best efforts. Ichigo realized these after his brutal battle against Yhwach and the Sternritters… including all his past battles… realizing that no matter how hard he continues to fight, he can never end a hopeless battle against the reality…
And on his quest to restore his former world regardless of the price that he needs to pay… here comes a child… the Shinobi from another world… possessing the very same will as of his former self… possessing the power that could easily stomp Yhwach if he wanted to… yet just used his power to protect those who are important for him…
…the child that represents hope… kindness… and absolute good…
…someone that shouldn't have existed… or someone who will soon turn corrupted by power… similar to Aizen… to Yhwach… to him…
Ichigo, himself, can attest it… that there's no absolute good… because even as himself who believe that he can always continue to stand for absolute good, got corrupted by his own power… due to ironic reason of feeling powerless…
Sooner… similar to him… this Shinobi will realize that no matter how powerful he might be, it will never be enough… he will soon realize that he can never protect everyone… everything… and the same feeling of powerlessness will slowly corrupt him… making the Shinobi… turn as someone like him…
That's why Ichigo believes that the Shinobi will fail… just like what happened to him. Sooner or later, he will become like him… and if what it takes for the Shinobi to fail are his full power to put him down… then so be it…
Because the Shinobi is the walking incarnation of all his failures…
"You sure like to think a lot…" Naruto muttered while observing the Shinigami's gesture.
"Yeah, I do…" Ichigo replied as he dashed and reappear right in front of Naruto in a fraction of a second. "…and I'm thinking of how I will make sure that the cycle of reality will also fall down upon you!" Ichigo then attempted to slash Naruto with his long-sword Zanpakuto, only to be blocked by Naruto Hiraishin kunai channeled with Chakra, making the blade look like that of a long sword.
"Don't force your twisted ideals on me…! If you're so attached to that despair clouding yourself, then drown yourself with it for all I care!" Naruto tried to knee Ichigo, but the Shinigami blocked the knee with his own knee. The impact however, shook the surroundings once again.
The Shinobi and the Shinigami once again began their battle dance with Yusuke watching the scene, still on his Mazoku Seikouki mode. He can now realize that this isn't just a normal battle of pitting skills against each other, but a fight of ideals between two beings with mirroring pasts…
"…!" Yusuke then immediately reacted after feeling a hand being placed on his shoulder. He attempted to distance away from the presence behind him, but stopped himself after realizing that the weakened presence from behind was no other than from the…
"Looks like the three of you really trashed my Castle big time…" The same sinister voice from the Ruler of Nifheim echoed within the eerie environment…
"You're back…! The curse against you has finally been sealed!" Yusuke smirked while looking towards the weakened being…
"Of course… There's no way that I'll allow myself to be out of commission, especially on this current situation where a lot of things were happening… for I am… the great Daimakaicho Hild…"
The Operation Ragnarok Arc… is now finally reaching its final climax…!
