16 Chapter 16: The Mystery Of Naruto Uchiha
"SUSANOO!"
The entire ground shook violently sending a very big shock wave across the entire base. Many of the walls cracked due to the sheer force of Naruto's Jutsu.
The Root forces just stood there in shock, their eyes couldn't believe what they were saying.
The entire skull like structure was developing with each passing moment.
At first it was just a skeleton but now slowly veins had started to form over the bones, and now it possessed two sharingan eyes that had a shuriken in each of them.
In the right hand of the structure soon some light started to glow and to the Root forces shock soon a large 20 feet sword came out of it. The sword was sparkling with so much electricity that the sound was starting to get unbearable.
The humanoid monster underwent another change and now its face was covered in a knight armor helmet, only its red sharingan eyes could be seen which were looking at the Root forces murderously.
Naruto was in an unbelievable pain.
His entire body was on fire, each and every cell of his body was burning like hell. He couldn't describe in words how painful this process was.
He suddenly coughed up a lot of blood from his mouth.
"This Jutsu is really harmful for my body." thought Naruto tiredly
"Take my chakra, it would decrease the pain your body is in and will not drain your chakra completely." said Kurama seriously
"Thank you." said Naruto gratefully
The pain started to decrease as Kurama's chakra started to flow across Naruto's entire body. The effect was instantaneous, Naruto's Susanno that was white in color now started to have large shades of orange across its entire body.
The muscle of the Susanoo became even more hard and two horns of orange color developed on the Susanoo's helmet.
All in all it looked as a demonic monster of hell.
"Today I'll show you the legendary power of the Uchiha. You shall see why we were feared in the shinobi world!" said Naruto loudly
Soon a large spear started to form in the Susanoo's left arm, the spear was very sharp but the most dangerous thing was that it was entirely made up of black flames.
"Damn." said a young Root Anbu
"What is this?" asked another Anbu hesitatingly, his legs were shaking very badly
"It's out of our league." said another Anbu defeatedly
"Is this the power of a devil!" said an Anbu with a little fear and took a step back.
"Is this really Ninjutsu?"
"We cannot defeat such a monster!"
"This is not good..."
Naruto's Mangekyo Sharingan spinned wildly and soon the entire spear looked like a blazing inferno that would burn and destroy anything in its path.
"Enton: Susanoo Kagutsuchi (Blaze Release: Susanoo Kagutsuchi)"
Naruto's Susanoo raised the now burning spear high in the air, it then moved its hand a little back and then with great force threw the spear straight towards the Anbu forces.
"Fuck, this is it!" thought all the Anbu in fear as they saw the enormous spear ready to destroy all of them in one precise strike.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique)"
Naruto suddenly felt someone take over his body, but before he could do something the attacker was already gone from his mind.
"So you are here...Fu Yamanaka." said Naruto with a grin
Naruto's spear had totally missed its target and had now struck the ceiling, there was a large hole in the ceiling and black flames were spread on the entire ceiling.
As the smoke cleared Naruto could clearly see Fu as well as his partner Torune Aburame standing side by side in their Anbu gear.
"Formation C soldiers!" barked Fu loudly
The Root Anbu forces that had previously lost their morale quickly got into the said formation, the appearance of two of their strongest Anbu captains was a relief for them.
"Don't give up no matter what. We must fight for Konoha, even if it costs us our lives." said Fu commandingly
"We are the roots that support this village. We shall not fall." said Torune firmly
The Root Anbu's morale increased further and they tightened their grip on their tanto, their KI increased greatly and they now looked ready to kill.
Naruto started chuckling which then fully transformed into a mad laughter.
"HAHAHA...You two are a good team. Now let's begin the fun!'' said Naruto with a murderous glare.
Fu and Torune's danger senses immediately kicked in as they felt the severe increase in Naruto's chakra.
Both of them back flipped towards the Anbu forces and were now standing in front.
They could clearly see a dark shuriken being formed in the right hand of Naruto's Susanoo, it looked to be very devastating.
"Everyone form a defensive wall right now!" yelled Torune loudly
All the Root Anbu performed a quick set of hand seals in order to defend themselves. It didn't matter if their defense was strong or not but they had to do something or they were all dead.
"Doton Doryuuheki (Earth Release: Mud Wall Jutsu)"
Several walls of mud started forming one after the another. They looked like a domino and were huge in heights and were already reaching the ceiling.
Fu and Torune knew that their defense was not absolute because not every Anbu had a Earth affinity, so their defense was weak.
But they had to fight with quantity against quality.
They sensed a large chakra being gathered and a very loud noise could be heard in the entire corridor.
"These walls must hold or we are dead!" thought Fu worriedly
"Yasaka no Magatama"
There was huge explosion and the entire corridor was blinded in its light. There were several explosions and Fu and Torune could hear their numerous earth walls collapsing and getting destroyed one after the another rapidly.
The could hear the explosion coming their way, the temperature was increasing with every millisecond and soon they saw a light approcahing their position.
They both knew they had just used a major portion of their chakra to form the defensive walls.
The both looked back and saw their men too had anxious looks in their eyes, some were calm and looked as if they were ready to die and had made their peace.
Both the captains looked at each other and gave a firm nod.
"If we are going down, we shall be beside our men till the end." thought both of them at the same time.
Both the captains were quite shocked when 20 Root Anbu jumped in front of them. Fu could sense they had gathered every last bit of chakra they had.
"Doton Doryuuheki (Earth Release: Mud Wall Jutsu)"
A strong earth wall was formed in front of both the captains and as soon as it was formed a great explosion occurred.
The force was such that both Fu and Torune along with majority of the Anbu forces crashed several meters back with a sickening thud.
The entire corridor was covered in smoke and the only thing that remained was the buzzing noise in every Root Anbu's ears.
Fu's head was badly injured and blood was leaking from it. He looked around for his best friend Torune and found him a few meters away.
He immediately rushed towards him and saw him crushed under a few small debris, he checked his pulse and found that Torune was alive but was unconscious.
He looked around and saw many of the Root Anbu were now unconscious while some were trying to get back on their feet but were miserably failing in their attempt.
Suddenly Fu remembered those 20 Anbu that had gotten in between them and the attack.
He looked around and saw many bodies in front of him at some distance.
He ran towards that position and to his utmost horror, all of the 20 men were dead. Their bodies were badly burned and Fu could see third degree burns on their entire bodies.
Fu dropped his head and gave a short bow to his deceased comrades who had willingly sacrificed their lives to save the others and him.
The dust started to clear and to Fu's surprise there stood Naruto with his humanoid monster. He was without a scratch on his body.
"How could he not be injured at all?" thought Fu frustratingly
Naruto looked at the devastating corridor in front of him and all the dead bodies of the now deceased Root members.
"Ah, this does bring back memories." said Kurama with a dark chuckle
"Are you fucked up in the head?" asked Naruto in confusion
"Says the one who is the most mad person in this world." retorted Kurama quickly
"Okay, okay. Jeez don't get your panties wet just yet." said Naruto with a smirk
"You little-" yelled Kurama but Naruto cut the connection off.
In truth he never was in any mood to laugh, or to joke. He felt sick, twisted, all the dead bodies and all the horrors that were in front of him were breaking his heart.
He just was trying to divert his mind from all the guilt that had built up in his heart. He just felt like commiting suicide but there was no peace for people like him.
His time had just not come yet.
He had to endure all this pain. This was the path of a true shinobi.
But still...
He was the one who had done all this.
He had brought hell on earth.
He was the Sharingan Devil of Konoha.
Another person landed right beside him, he was panting quite heavily and there was blood all over his body.
Naruto sighed in relief on seeing his friend still being alive.
"You're late...Whitey-chan." teased Naruto deviously with a smirk
Sai's eyebrows twitched in annoyance, he hated when someone called him that. Naruto really was an asshole, he knew just how to piss of people.
"Sorry to make you wait...dickless!" said Sai with a smirk
Now it was Naruto who felt irritated, but as people always say tit for tat.
"Oh, you have no idea." said Naruto deviously
Sai edged a little away from his friend, some very bad images had already come to his mind.
"I don't think I want to know." said Sai hesitantly
Naruto just gave a nod, it was enough now.
Sai nodded too, he knew what his friend was doing. He was trying to make both of them feel normal and not like murderers. They were only half way through and the feeling of guilt was killing both of them.
And why shouldn't they feel guilty.
Some would say they were heroes for killing Root Anbu and saving the village.
But only Sai and Naruto knew how they felt.
They were not heroes.
They were murderers. They were butchers, they were just sick twisted souls in a human form.
They had killed their friends, their comrades, their superiors, their teachers and so much more.
Had they killed the enemy?
Yes.
Were they not humans?
No, they were humans too.
Did killing them in the name of protecting Konoha was the right thing to do?
There never was any right or just thing in this mission.
All that was spilled was blood.
Blood of hundreds of soldiers.
The Root Anbu were not at fault, they were just twisted for the greed of one man. All this madness, all this hell, all this bloodshed. All for the sake of one mad man.
DANZO!
Sai's blood boiled when he thought about Danzo. Every cell in his body was burning with immeasurable passion to kill that man, to make him feel pain. To cut his body to pieces, then stitch them back and cut them all again.
Sai had just killed nearly 30-35 of the Root forces, and the guilt and sorrow he had in his heart was killing him.
He looked at Naruto, he didn't even want to think about how much suffering his friend was in.
Naruto's eyes were hard and he looked as a killer shinobi but Sai could see the sadness that was hidden behind his sharingan eyes.
His friend was broken, dead, the only thing that was keeping him going was just his sheer will.
Sai knew Naruto was a kind and gentle person and for him to do such things, he must have really sealed away all his feelings.
In the end both of them were just sacrificial pawns in a world full of lies and deception.
"What took you so long?" asked Naruto silently
Sai just looked at his friend sadly.
(Flashback)
He jumped at the Anbu on his right and tried to stab him with his Tanto. Sai's opponent was very quick and before Sai could realize he was given a large gash that tore a major portion of his uniform and drops of blood started flowing from his now wounded chest.
He looked closely and now he could see flow of chakra in his opponent's sword.
Before Sai could react further he suddenly felt something cold pierce his chest.
He looked down and saw two sword sticking out of his chest.
He looked back and saw another Anbu had pierced his chest from behind while the one in front of him had stabbed him straight through his heart.
It was over.
Both the Root Anbu were shell shocked when both of them felt something cold pierce their chest.
They looked down and saw two identical Tanto had pierced their heart.
In their last moment they tried to look at the enemy they had just killed.
And to their utmost horror, the person they had stabbed bursted into ink.
"Sumi bunshin!"
These were the last thoughts of both the Root Anbu before they dropped dead on the floor.
Their bodies were lifeless, their heart was shattered to pieces and their eyes were now dead.
The real Sai and his clone slowly stepped out of the shadows.
All this time the Root were fighting his clone and when the time was right Sai had struck and killed his enemies.
Sai's bunshin was quite surprised when Sai gave a curt bow to the deceased two Root Anbu.
The only explanation that the clone got from his caster were just 6 words but the message was clear.
"Even the dead deserve some respect." said Sai sadly
Sai's ink clone just gave a small nod indicating that he understood his original.
They both were interuppted from their thoughts when they heard silent footstpes coming their way.
Sai looked at his clone quite tiredly.
This wasn't going to be easy.
(Flashback end)
Naruto just looked at his friend sadly.
He didn't need any more explanation from Sai, he understood the message clearly when he saw Sai dropping his head in shame.
"I see" thought Naruto tiredly
Both the teenage boys now looked towards their enemy who were now standing together.
Well only half of them were in any fighting condition, while the rest were barely standing on their feet.
"GAHHHHH"
Sai was shocked when Naruto dropped to his knees and coughed up a lot of blood from his mouth.
"Are you injured?" asked Sai worriedly
"(pant)...(pant)...I'm...fine." said Naruto with a ragged breath
"You don't look fine. You look like shit!" said Sai heatedly
"So do (pant)...you" said Naruto tiredly
"Not yet...Not yet" thought Naruto tiredly
Naruto shakily got up, his Susanoo was trying to maintain its form but was shaking badly.
"I SAID NOT YET!" yelled Naruto angrily
To Sai's amazement, the Susanoo that was shaking started to grow again and now something strange started to form in its left hand.
"Sai...stay back. Things are going to get very ugly now" said Naruto tiredly as he saw the remaining Root forces ready to charge at them.
"But-" said Sai in protest.
"THAT'S AN ORDER. I'M YOUR CAPTAIN AND I'M ORDERING YOU TO STAY BACK!" yelled Naruto loudly
Whatever protest Sai was going to raise died in his throat when he saw how fierce and serious Naruto was about his order.
Naruto was his captain and Sai knew he had to obey his orders at any cost.
"Hai" said Sai defeatedly
"CHARGE!"
Sai heard Fu's voice across the corridor and his eyes widened in shock when he saw Fu charging towards them with 90-95 of his remaining Anbu forces.
Almost all of the Anbu were going through their specific hand seals.
This was going to get very ugly.
Naruto soon jumped in front of Sai, his Susanoo flared heavily and soon something round started to form in its left hand.
"Fuuton Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu)"
"Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki (Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu)"
"Fuuton Reppushou (Wind Release: Gale Wind Palm Jutsu)"
"Fuuton Kazekiri (Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu)"
"Fuuton Suraisu no Tatsumaki (Wind Release: Slicing Tornado Jutsu)"
"Fuuton Kaiten Shuriken (Wind Release: Rotating Shuriken Jutsu)"
"Fuuton Juuyouseigun (Wind Release: Gravity Force Jutsu)"
"Fuuton Atsugai (Wind Release: Pressure Damage Jutsu)"
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)"
"Doton Doryuudan (Earth Release: Mud Dragon Projectile Jutsu)"
"Doton Ishihassha (Earth Release: Stone Catapult Jutsu)"
"Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Violent Water Wave)"
"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)
"Kawara Shuriken (Tile Shuriken)"
"Katon Hosenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)"
"Raiton Rakurai no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Thunderbolt Jutsu)"
Sai's eyes widened in shock and fear when he saw an entire sea of elemental ninjutsu attacks heading towards them.
Now he knew why Anbu were not to be taken lightly, he doubted even Naruto's Susanoo could bear so many attacks at the same time.
He could see even Naruto was shocked on seeing so many attacks ready to kill them but he didn't back down.
The attacks were heading closer and Sai's entire life flashed in front of his eyes.
His waking up in a house, meeting Danzo, meeting Naruto and Shin, their training, their pain, their joy and everything else all up till now.
He closed his eyes and accepted his death.
"This is it" thought Sai calmly
The attacks were heading closer and Sai could hear the sound of the Jutsu within a few feet from them.
Five
Four
Three
Two
One
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
There was such a violent noise in the entire base that was unbearable. Walls started collapsing, the ceiling which was burning with black flames collapsed in some areas and fell on some of the unlucky Root Anbu and burned their bodies to nothing.
Smoke and dust was everywhere, violent coughing could be heard in the entire base, and there was a very bad sound that was buzzing in everyone's ears. It was as if they were hit by a grenade right beside their ears.
"Am I dead now?" thought Sai slowly
He opened his eyes and could see dust everywhere around him.
"Is this Hell?" thought Sai in confusion
He was brought out of his thoughts when slowly the dust and smoke started to clear, Sai could clearly see the roof was almost blown to pieces and the moon could be seen in the sky now.
Bad cracking noises could be heard from the walls indicating they were badly damaged.
But what Sai saw next shocked him.
Naruto stood in front of him, his shoulders were slumped but he was still standing. But Sai could clearly see the pool of blood that was dropping from his mouth, but the most shocking thing was that there was some sort of shield that Naruto's Susanoo was holding. It was completely orange in color.
Naruto soon dropped on his knees again and coughed up blood again, his Susanoo lost some of its structure but the sword in its right hand and the shield in the left hand still remained.
Sai immediately rushed towards his close friend, he could clearly see Naruto's skin was burning due to his Susanoo but the Kyubi's chakra was healing them at the same time.
Sai couldn't even imagine how much horrible pain Naruto was feeling right now.
"Naruto..." said Sai worriedly
There were black markings all over Naruto's body, Sai put a hand on Naruto's chest and he realized these markings were severely harming his body.
"Stop this Kurama, it burns!" said Naruto sickly
"This is some sort of curse mark, but this is..." said Kurama in shock, he couldn't even believe what he just found.
"This is not Danzo's regular curse mark, this is..." said Naruto but was cut off as he coughed up more blood.
"There is her chakra that is keeping this mark alive and is destroying your cells at a very alarming rate, you little shit!" said Kurama angrily
"(cough)...(cough)...(cough)" Naruto continuously kept coughing up more blood.
Sai had already taken guard position in front of him in order to protect him. Fortunately the smoke and dust was still there so the Root Anbu were not attacking.
For now.
"What is going on here Naruto?" demanded Kurama angrily
"This (cough)...mission...(cough)...was...never...just.. .about...stopping (cough)...Root." said Naruto and vomitted a lot of blood again.
"I realize that...what are you hiding Naruto?" asked Kurama furiously
"This is...Operation Ghost." said Naruto tiredly
"What is this mission? I have never understood why you think you will be known as a traitor for stopping these idiots. You would become a fucking hero for saving this pathetic village." said Kurama in confusion
"Hn" said Naruto stubbornly
"So you will not tell me?" asked Kurama tiredly
Naruto just remained silent and was trying to wipe the blood that was coming from his mouth.
"Just stop this pain...Kurama, please!" begged Naruto.
His body was tearing itself from inside, he didn't know how he got this mark. It must be some sort of last resort Danzo would have put to stop him if he ever went rogue.
"I'll stop it for now...but I can't keep it under control forever. It has her chakra." explained Kurama briefly
"I know." said Naruto silently
"Do you know whose chakra this is...one that even I am helpless against?" asked Kurama suspiciously, he had a very bad feeling about this.
"Yes" said Naruto truthfully
"Who is it?" asked Kurama, but something told him that Naruto already knew about this.
There were certain times when Naruto completely used to block Kurama.
Kurama felt suspicious but he believed Naruto wanted some personal space so he didn't ask any questions.
Now he regretted that.
So many questions were rising in the Biju's mind, and the only one who knew the truth was Naruto.
Naruto always was a very mysterious person.
Kurama had not seen such a man since the Rikudo Sennin, Naruto always believed in shouldering everything alone. He didn't share anything even with his close friends and not even Kurama.
It was as if he didn't trust other people.
Kurama could understand that because Naruto had a very troubled early childhood and many people mistreated him.
Those trauma's had changed him and the effects could clearly be seen now.
Kurama always had a nagging feeling that things weren't what they seemed. Something really fishy was going on in Naruto's life, the boy was a puzzle and no one seemed to figure him out.
He was unpredictable.
This mission was the most fishy thing that had happened in Naruto's life.
Kurama really didn't understand how Naruto would be known as a traitor or a murderer when he was stopping a civil war.
He would become the greatest hero of Konoha, even a much bigger hero than his own father.
Worst of all why was he leaving the village?
He had asked Naruto about it so many times but the boy never gave him any answer. He would just divert the topic, Kurama had tried numerous times but then he had lost hope and had given up.
What was this mystery?
What was the real truth?
Was Naruto really a hero or a monster in hiding?
So many questions and no answers in sight.
Kurama's head exploded in anger, he couldn't bear this anymore. He would get his answers now.
"ANSWER ME HUMAN!" yelled Kurama angrily at the top of her lungs.
Naruto just stood calm, he could feel the cool breeze that was touching his body.
He could hazily see Sai standing guard and telling him to stay awake and get up quickly.
His vomiting had stopped for now.
But it was time for some answers.
He took in a deep breath to reveal the most shocking truth of his life.
"Kushina Uzumaki."
