105 Tick Tock

Fifty hours to go and I am starting to feel the pressure.

Typically, I can go days, maybe even weeks without sleep. I have food and water in my seal plenty enough to feed me for years, since I keep enough packed in case I need to feed a group for a length of time.

But for the past twenty two hours I have been running around, keeping an eye on my surroundings and not letting my guard drop.

It's not so much physical exhaustion that is starting to plague me, but mental.

Almost a full day without letting my focus slip, there is only so long I can keep my attention from waning, and with the periodic attacks from Kumo-nin, I haven't exactly had a chance to rest.

Even now, though I cannot sense them, I am sure that there is a number of Kumo-nin tailing me, staying just out of reach, just far enough away that I cannot kill them fast enough that they wouldn't be able to react.

Something that they now know for certain after I surprised them by turning on my heel and running the way I came from one time, slaughtering the Shinobi that were running behind me at the time.

When I tried to do so again, they had already backed off enough that I couldn't get to them without running through a literal wall of fire and being pelted by lightning strikes.

So I gave up on that and kept running.

Every now and then another group of around twenty or so will approach me and launch Jutsu from afar, not having the guts to meet me in close combat, not that they would have any guts left if they did so.

To be fair, it is a sound tactic so I can't be mad about it, if any of them got close then the others wouldn't be able to pelt me with so many Jutsu.

Almost all of the men who did try to get closer to hit me with Jutsu tended to not live very long, receiving a Railgun to the face for their bravery.

It was all too late that I realised that they were testing the limits of my Railgun.

Fire rate, range, power, accuracy.

Now, when they show up to harass me, they make it out alive more often than they don't.

I blame mental exhaustion for being so slow on the uptake.

I have tried making shadow clones, but it turns out that since the curse is connected to my chakra, any clone I make is just as visible as I am.

Which, now that I think about it, can be a good thing.

I will still blame the fact that I only thought of this now on my mental exhaustion, as it would just be embarrassing if I simply didn't think about it until now.

My chakra reserves are not full, in fact they are less than I would like them to be.

That little stint that revealed my true face cost me quite a bit of chakra, most of it wasted in the defence that did the opposite of helping me.

Obviously my chakra has been regenerating, but with the fact that I have been using my Railgun Jutsu a few times every hour, my regen is hardly beating my usage, resulting in a very slow increase in my reserves.

If I had to estimate, I would say I have about four fifths of my chakra, a good amount but I would really rather have more.

Still, it's enough for this delaying tactic, I think as I mould my chakra once more.

I am no Jinchurriki, but four fifths of my chakra is still an impressive amount, which is how I can easily make twenty four shadow clones.

Really, Naruto has way too much chakra with the Fox inside of him. Didn't he make like, three thousand clones or something. When he was a kid at that.

Stupid Fate chosen bullshit. Most Jonin can't make more than ten shadow clones, that's why the multi shadow clone is a Kinjutsu.

I shake my head clear of these distracting thoughts and instead focus back on the matter at hand.

Each of my clones and I split off in different directions, I take the spot to the left of the clone that is taking my original route.

A great thing right now is that shadow clones work by splitting your chakra evenly, which means they can't detect the real me based on chakra quantity.

A less great thing is that I can't just blast them all with Sage mode, since even if I can gather natural energy really fast, I can't do the same with normal chakra.

At this point, I'd say that from a full tank I could keep up Sage mode in a fight for approximately ten hours. Which is way better than Minato can do, but way worse than what I need right now.

Naturally, they can't continue keeping their distance now that I have split up with my clones, as they would have to stretch their forces too thin, which is why I am met with two hundred Shinobi.

Wait, two hundred?

Quick maths time, if they have sent two hundred men and women to each of my clones, which they probably haven't, then that would be around five thousand Shinobi.

Ok, actually that is perfectly plausible, if a little unreasonable, since that should make up like, half their total forces just to deal with me.

I mean, think about it, the Shinobi alliance in canon had eighty thousand men, composed of Ninja from each village as well as the Samurai, that makes out to about thirteen thousand fighters from each group.

Well, realistically it wouldn't have been even, Suna for example has a hilariously small population compared to the other villages.

But still, sending half your military after me alone?

Well, I. Am. Flattered.

Seriously, this is like, the single greatest compliment I have ever received. It makes me want to kill them all out of gratitude, to show that they were right in treating me as such a threat, like I want to live up to their expectations of me.

Not the first time I've felt compassion for my enemy, and it's not the first time I will express that compassion via murder.

I know that I am insane, and that this thought process of mine is considered fucked up. I know this because Yamada said so before I graduated therapy.

Anyway, I'm getting distracted, I have a whole lot of people in front of me expecting a good performance after all.

As I am about to charge forward, I pause as a group of memories flood into my head.

It can never be simple, can it.

Then again, it wouldn't be any fun if it was easy.

Though, it would be nice if my clones stopped flooding my head with philosophical and ethical ponderings.

[Clone 14 POV]

It's strange coming into existence absolutely certain of your purpose.

We clones are not born in this world, fumbling for meaning.

We are created with a distinct purpose in mind, and when that purpose is fulfilled, we die.

Or perhaps the original is simply more fucked up than we already think, and the thoughts of us clones is reflective of his own damaging thoughts and mental state?

It's hardly like any of that matters here though, we all know what is happening, and we know that we need to do what we can to keep the original alive, otherwise we can never come back into existence.

Not that we are sure if we are the same clones, but we do all have the memories of the original, who has the memories of every clone.

It really fucks with your head.

Anyway, the original is in a bad spot right now, and we all need to buy as much time as possible, as we are fighting the clock here.

With that in mind, I run away at the same time as everyone else and it only takes ten minutes for me to find a group of our pursuers.

It doesn't sound like a lot, but I can cover a whole lot of distance in ten minutes.

Coming to a stop in front of the group, I smile, ready to monolog or whatever is needed to keep them distracted and buy time.

But then I see something unexpected, as a man suddenly appears in front of the two hundred Shinobi, who is easily more dangerous than all of them combined.

Well, shit.

The man that appears has dark skin and is very tall and muscular, easily visible due to him not wearing one of the straps on his vest. He has long white hair that goes down to his lower back in a long mane, with a good, long beard to match.

Not to mention that oddly thematic scar on his chest.

"Hey hey Raikage-chin, fancy meeting you here, lovely weather? Say, you don't think we can simply forget about all of this and you can let me go eh?"

My chipper voice doesn't seem to please the Raikage, if the way his face darkens is anything to go by.

"Such disrespect. Forget? You have killed over one hundred of my men, and even before that, you have assassinated the Daimyo of these Lands. Forget. Like I could ever forget such actions, let alone forgive them. You will die here."

Oh yeah, he's supposed to be the honourable type isn't he?

Then again, he is still a Shinobi, so who knows what he considers honourable.

"Well, if I'm going to be killed, at least you could be fair about it and come at me one at a time? Maybe starting with that guy over there, with the stupid hairstyle. See? If you know I am talking about you when I say that, then you know it looks stupid, change it or you'll never get married."

The guy I pointed at looks abashed and his friends next to him are all laughing and pointing at him.

I am just about to mentally celebrate my buying of time when A appears in front of me and grabs me by the throat, lifting me up into the air.

"I am aware you are buying time, and that you are likely a clone, but that doesn't mean you can't be used to pass a message."

A says before pulling my head close to his and staring me in the eye.

"I am coming for you." Then he leans back out and looks plainly at me. "Any last words?"

Huh, didn't think anyone would give the offer to a lowly clone like me, it's actually kind of heart warming, so I should give him a proper response, even if I have to struggle to do so through the grip he has on my neck.

"W-what kind of a name is A? Was your mother such a whore that she wanted to go through the whole alphabet, or is it just that she couldn't decide whether to call you A Disappointment or A Failure and just went with the common factor?"

I choke out my words with a massive shit eating grin, and the way his face darkens in anger just makes my smile wider.

Then I feel my throat get crushed and darkness.

Heh, worth it.

[Original Hana POV]

Heh definitely worth it.

[Clone 15 POV]

A large part of me wants to make some philosophical musings, but I'm pretty sure at least half of the other clones will all be doing that anyway and I don't want to be overwhelmed with thoughts about existentialism.

Even if it won't technically be 𝘮𝘦, I will still have these memories and more, so it will technically be me.

It's confusing and we haven't come to a proper decision yet on how clones work in terms of consciousness.

Do we even have souls?

We should do if we have Yin chakra.

Hey, maybe that's why people die from the multi shadow clone Jutsu, not because of chakra exhaustion, but because they are splitting their soul into pieces.

Like a phylactery.

Eh, doesn't matter.

I come across a group of two hundred Shinobi.

Wait, isn't that too many?

If this is consistent then that's like, five thousand Shinobi just to deal with me.

Damn, I'm flattered, now I want to kill you all properly.

Unfortunately, I do need to buy time, but don't worry. I'm sure the original will show you our gratitude properly.

"Hello! Would you please consider simply leaving? I've heard that the Land of Hot Water is great this time of the year."

The Shinobi across the valley from me all look confused as to why I am talking so casually with them.

But then I hear an ungodly sound.

"Yo! My names B, and I'll kill ya, see!?"

What the fuck is that.

Standing before me is who I know to be Killer B, he has dark skin and white hair in dreads slicked back. He's wearing oval sunglasses and the standard Kumo ninja uniform in white and with an added white scarf. He also has far too many swords strapped around hi body.

But all I can focus on is that I never thought his rapping would be so bad.

It's not even that it's just the lyrics either, he just has no talent for singing and his pitch is all over the place.

"Why do you have so many swords?"

I mean, even if I know it works out well for him, who the hell decides to use eight swords?

Despite his casual posture, I can tell that he's ready to fight, but too bad for him I won't be fighting. After all, it would be a waste of chakra to fight this guy, it's not like I can win as a clone without our greatest asset and only a small portion of our chakra.

Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to care about what a supposed clone has to say, and quickly tries to kill me.

I dodge the first two blades by stepping back and block the next pair with summoned kunai, I would use tanto normally, but the original won't be able to get these back and I only have so many tanto.

Unfortunately, I quickly see why he chose to have so many damn blades as I have to disengage, stepping back again to avoid another blade and then when I raise my arms to block the next set of blades, I find that it is actually three strikes coming for me at once.

I manage to twist enough that I block two and only get scratched by the third, but I am only a clone, so that is enough.

The now familiar darkness greets me once again, but I know that when I open my eyes again, I will once more be alive.

______________________________________________

A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

2.5k chap this time, cuz I didn't want to end in the middle of a scene.

Also, I am trying to get a better understanding of the fourth war, cuz idk naruto canon and it is so annoying. There is a vid on youtube that is the whole war combined into a 5 hour video and I have been jumping through it with no idea whats going on.

Literally hours of research later and I barely understand the situation, I'm going to need to look even more shit up on the wiki.

I swear, I have to spend more time researching this shit than I spent figuring out how to become immortal without aging yourself.

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