NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 98: Fighting Fate
“Fuck me dead…” Rito mutters with a stunned look on his face. “How’d we survive that bloody hellscape for 15 years? I would’ve defo become as mad as a meat ax in a month.”
After Jin extracted Echo’s soul, the team was overcome with a quiet horror as they digested the memories and knowledge the now late Echo possessed. The Onikage silently stares at his future-counterpart with an immense sense of empathy; he notices the peaceful yet faint smile on the time-traveler’s motionless face.
Messaging her temples, Ayanami looks at Jin with mixed emotions. “You just watched your own death, are you alright?”
“I-I… I don’t k-know…” Jin answers, stammering.
Due to all the intense emotions the Onikage experienced when fighting Menma, Madara, Moryo, and Kaguya, his brain turned off his ability to feel emotions; he is unable to feel anything unless it is related to something he already has strong emotions for. While Jin continues to observe his deceased counterpart, he sees Mileena separate from him; the symbiote reaches for Echo’s face and with great speed and precision, she carefully plucks out his eyes.
“Well, that’s not morbid and ghoulish.” Disgusted by her actions, Rito shakes his head.
Mileena meekly looks at the young genius and shrugs. “What? He said to take his eyes.”
“Where are you going to put them?” Rito asks.
The symbiote simply reaches into her biomass and pulls out a small jar, containing an incubation fluid. “Obito had tons of these.”
Jin just looks on as Mileena places both the Rinnegan and Byakugan in the container and puts the container itself back into her biomass to be hidden away until the eyes are needed again.
“*YAWN*”
The team's attention immediately shifts toward Rito, they see bags form under the young genius’ eyes while his body sways back and forth; his eyelids steadily grow heavier as the seconds pass by until he can no longer stand and collapses, but Mileena quickly catches him before he touches the ground.
“Is he okay?” Ayanami asks with a concerned look.
“…zzz…zzz…zzz…”
Mileena examines the boy and replies, “He’s fine, he just crashed.”
“Oh, right…” Jin breathes a sigh of relief and facepalms. “I keep forgetting that he’s trapped in the body of a prepubescent child.”
The team is reminded of the fact that they just fought in a three-day-long war with little to no sleep and fought numerous battles that decided the fate of the world. Anyone would pass out after enduring all of that, especially an eleven-year-old boy.
“…about you, Sasuke? The answer you gave back then…” The Sage of Six Paths queries.
Upon hearing these words, Jin and Ayanami’s attention returns to the main plot of the story; they turn around and watch history unfold with intent expressions.
“…I don’t mind if you free them. But only after…” While answering, Sasuke’s facial expression changes from stoic to one of cold determination. “I execute the 5 Kage while they’re still hypnotized.”
“What?! Sasuke! Are you still planning on getting revenge?!” A bewildered Kakashi gasps, his eyes wide like saucers.
With a clear voice, the last Uchiha calmly responds, “It’s true that up until now, destruction and revenge were my only goals. But that’s changed.”
Here we go… Jin sits through his former teammate’s monologue; he is just too tired to care, either way.
“I’m going to destroy, and then rebuild. I’m going to create a village… a world without darkness. In other words, what I wish for is…” Sasuke continues with sinister undertones. “Revolution. And you tailed beasts… I’m putting all of you under my control and eventually I’ll get rid of you as well!”
“What did you just say?!” Kurama growls.
Tensions rise once more as the Nine-Tailed Fox prepares to strike at Sasuke. However, with a single glance, the rogue ninja puts Kurama and the rest of his ilk under a genjutsu; the tailed beasts are all frozen in place with their eyes glowing purple.
“Kurama!” Naruto shouts with worry.
With a forlorn look, Hagoromo faces the Child of Prophecy. “Naruto, it has ended up as I feared… I’ve no choice, but to trust you to handle this. I can’t stay in this world for much longer, I shall soon fade away.”
“Yeah, and I’ll apologize for this too, Six Paths Super Gramps… But it ain’t gonna go like it did with your kids.” Naruto wears a look of fierce tenacity. “That’s because I’m not Asura, and Sasuke isn’t Indra either.”
“This is so stupid…” Ayanami quietly mutters; she shakes her lowered head and facepalms.
Jin looks over to the kunoichi and sees that she is very much annoyed at what they are currently bearing witness to; he finds himself somewhat agreeing with her.
Infusing chakra, Sasuke claps his hands together. “Catastrophic Planetary Devastation!”
The ground trembles as the nine tailed beasts rise into the air with sections of the terrain breaking off and clinging onto them. The debris and rubble continue to cling to them until they are trapped in nine small, perfectly round satellites.
“It’s up to you, Naruto!” Kurama yells just before being sealed away.
“Because of this war, I’ve become quite familiar with the power and abilities of the Rinnegan,” Sasuke says aloud. “And all those in my way are gone… Except for you, Naruto.”
Jin looks on as the two protagonists face each other; he feels his skin crawl the moment he realizes the tension has risen to the point where it overshadows the battles with Madara, Moryo, and Kaguya.
With a fire in his eyes, the hero takes a deep breath before uttering, “This battle between brothers is gonna end here and now.”
“As expected. I’ll have to deal with you first.” Sasuke says before walking off in that direction.
“Wait, Sasuke! What about Sakura?!” The exhausted Copy Ninja cradles the medic ninja’s body; the pain in his eyes is clear for all to see. “Even at the end, all she wanted was to save you. She continued to shed tears for YOU… because loving you was torturing her!”
Sasuke continues walking, dismissing him. “A chain from our failed past. And nothing more.”
The rogue ninja runs away, his destination is his and Naruto’s chosen spot for their final battle.
“Long ago… I made a promise to Sakura… that I would bring Sasuke back. And I never go back on my word, that’s my ninja way.” Naruto says firmly. “Here I go!!”
“Naruto! Wait!” Ayanami speaks up, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Not only did we just come out of a war, we fought a literal god and a demon lord… And you two still look for an excuse to keep fighting?”
“I’m sorry, Ayanami, but… it’s something I have to do.”
As the hero storms off, chasing after his self-proclaimed best friend, the Onikage sees Ayanami cringing in annoyance; his friend is clearly unsatisfied with Naruto’s response.
“Love and affection are difficult things… I too had two children at one time, I loved both of them, and they both loved and revered me, but entrusted everything only to the younger brother…” Hagoromo begins to monologue out loud as to impart some form of wisdom or hope. “That became the catalyst for the older brother to begin hating me and his brother, love had transformed into hate. What formed the current Sasuke is none other than the loss of love in the past, Madara is the same.”
“Are you saying that Sasuke will suffer the same fate as Madara?” Kakashi asks, gently setting Sakura on the ground.
“No, not at all. I also want to make the future a better place in–”
“Lord Hagoromo, with all due respect… PLEASE stop talking.” Ayanami interrupts the Sage of Six Paths with a firm tone. “You’ve been dead for thousands of years, yet had the power to intervene at any point during that time… And all you did was WATCH. You have no right to talk about the living world’s future. No right at all.”
“Hmm?” Jin’s interest has been piqued by where this conversation is going.
“If you have the power to enact meaningful change on the world then do it.” The young Hyuga continues to speak truth to power. “By being a bystander, you’ve allowed evil to win time and time again.”
Hagoromo’s brow furrows. “Oh, then let me ask you: What is needed for peace? Love or power?”
“What a stupid question… It’s BOTH, the answer is both.” Jin exclaims, he can’t help but scoff at the Father of all Shinobi’s naivete. “Power is needed to protect those you care for and your ideals while love is needed to temper power. For without love, power enables you to be the worst version of yourself.”
“That’s… surprisingly philosophical of you.” Ayanami finds herself agreeing.
The Onikage shrugs. “I have my moments.”
Hagoromo’s eyes widened at their words. “Hmmm… It would appear that a new path has potentially made itself known in these 2.”
“Mileena? Did any of those chakra pills on Rito’s person survive the battle?” The leaf kunoichi asks.
Confused, Jin watches as the symbiote creates hordes of small tendrils that envelop Rito’s body, searching vigilantly through his possessions.
“There are 2 left.” Mileena curtly responds.
“Hey, Ayanami? What’re you up to--OH, never mind, I see where you’re going with this… I’m game if you are!” Jin understands what his friend is plotting and is all for it. …Eh, I have nothing else going on at the moment. Why not? Now that I think about it… somewhere deep down inside, I’m genuinely curious as to which of us is stronger…
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“I learned everything from people of the past! It’s because I had my friends that I was able to move forward!” The stubborn hero declares, balling his fists. “They’re what created the me that’s here now! I’m never going to let you cut that away!!”
Choosing the Final Valley as the site of their final battle, Naruto Uzumaki stands tall atop the statue of Hashirama Senju as he stares down his so-called friend, Sasuke Uchiha, who stands firmly on Madara Uchiha’s carving; both ninjas are unyielding in their dreams and ambitions.
Seeing their debate going nowhere fast, the last of the Uchiha stoically responds with, “Then… you must know what you need to do.”
The two boys go silent as memories flash in their minds; they see the moments when they first met, when they became members of Team 7, when they departed, and lastly, when they reunited after three years had passed. The only thing that can be heard is the roaring of the waterfall which runs betwixt the two giant statues. Two leaves slowly sink into the lake but are blown away by a gust of wind.
Just as the former teammates prepare to jump and charge at each other, Naruto senses two powerful chakras converging on their location. The oblivious Hero of the Leaf looks to his left and sees Ayanami rocketing toward them; she reactivates her Tenseigan Chakra Mode as she lands a devastating right hook on Sasuke, sending him flying; the shockwaves cause cracks to form the statue’s head. The Hyuga quickly chases after the Uchiha.
“Ayanami, stop! I’m the one to–?!” The hero is cut off by the sensation of a hand grabbing his leg.
Naruto lowers his gaze and sees a red chakra arm holding onto his leg; it has a tight grip. The confused hero’s gaze follows the length of the arm until he spots a smug Jin, standing on the lake at the base of the waterfall and statues.
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“GET OVER HERE!!!” Jin roars.
With one great heave, the Onikage pulls Naruto off the statue, dragging him down to his level. Once he’s fallen close enough, Jin jumps into the air and swiftly kicks Naruto square in the jaw; he loses a tooth on impact. The Onikage carries on with his assault by continuing to boot the hero more and more, his feet moving in a circular motion like they are pedaling a bicycle.
I’ve always wanted to do that…! Jin grins with excitement. “I can see the headlines now: Ayanami Hyuga thwarts Sasuke Uchiha’s assassination attempt, and Naruto Uzumaki gets his ass kicked by Jin Uzumaki! TMZ’s got the video!”