Chapter 100 - FINAL ARC: Part 4

All of a sudden, the Pains stopped moving. Konan kept attacking at first, but she froze when she realized the Pains had stopped moving. Sasuke took the opportunity to launch a fire jutsu at Konan, catching her on the left side of her upper chest and face. It did enough damage to at least stun her.

“Let’s go!”

Jiraiya wasn’t patched up yet, so Shizune, Sakura, and Tsunade stayed behind to deal with him in case the Pains began to move again. It would be up to Naruto, Sasuke, and Yuji to stop the rest of this invasion. Well, actually, that wasn’t true.

“Shizune, I’m going to get Katsuyu in there. The wounded should be healed as quickly as possible.”

Tsunade prepared for a summoning jutsu. In a flash, her slug summon Katsuyu had appeared.

“Split off and heal the wounded, Katsuyu.”

“Understood,” came the surprisingly gentle reply from the giant summon. She split off into hundreds of tiny versions of herself. They slithered toward the village, moving around the frozen Pains and the downed Konan like a river around boulders.
--

The Leaf group gradually got their courage back. Upon seeing the frozen Pains, they all rushed forward, weapons in hand. They all wanted a measure of revenge for the destruction.

“STOP!” Yuji bellowed, halting everyone in their tracks. “They’re far from helpless! Stay back! Attack from a distance!”

He was beginning to strain with the effort of holding six Pains with just his regular chakra. But he couldn’t tie up his ‘Heaven’s Temper’ chakra. Not yet.

Tendo faced Yuji’s approximate direction. “Not being able to see is, at most, an annoyance.”

All of a sudden, the two Pains Yuji could see dropped to the ground. He could feel a massive surge of chakra coming from Tendo. That only got worse as Tendo jumped skyward, floating imperiously over the village (in the process painfully freeing Yuji from his sword). He spread his arms wide.

Yuji didn’t know what was happening, but he pulled his fire clone back into himself, feeling his power surge again. He flew upward toward Pain.

This chakra!- Oh no! I won‘t make it in time to stop him!

“ALMIGHTY PUSH!”

“I won’t let you!” Yuji shouted back. He spread his wings wide and pushed all his remaining chakra into one last effort. He flew headlong into Tendo’s jutsu, ‘catching’ it with his arms and pushing it back. He spread his chakra in a web all around Pain, redirecting all of Pain‘s force into himself. His wings pumped furiously with the effort of holding the monstrous power back.

For a full five seconds, the stalemate was held. The chakra from Pain died down, and he began to fall.

Yuji’s wings flickered, then shattered outward like glass. He fell, too. It wasn’t a controlled fall, either- Yuji was plummeting head first.

Then a black sword thrust by Pain from below him pierced his chest from behind, through his back and to his heart. When he fell, the sword fell with him. The force of him hitting the earth knocked the butt end of the sword into his chest, doing further damage. The resounding tremor shook the entire Leaf village. But no worries- Yuji was going to get up. That couldn’t defeat him…could it? When Yuji’s hair went from it’s powerful obsidian color to it’s natural dark brown, the village began to realize what had happened. The fade in color made the injury seem so…final.

Tendo looked down dispassionately at Yuji’s body.
“It seems he died from using up all his chakra before my sword ever touched him.”
Leaning over the fallen Yuji, something like pity crossed Tendo’s features. He simply stared down at Yuji’s face. It was settled in a peaceful expression. He had died trying to save the village, and he had succeeded. At least for the time being.

The Konoha shinobi were awed at what had just happened. They had literally felt their destruction coming. Pain’s chakra had leaked through Yuji’s in mini hurricane-like pockets of wind. The embattled shinobi didn’t bat an eye at that. Instead, they watched as one man flew in the face of a false god and took the worst he had to offer. ‘Ten no Kishootsu’ Yuji Itou had died…it didn’t seem possible, but at the same time it made sense. How far had death ever been away from him?

“As a god, I can admire his sacrifice for all of you. He truly knew pain,” said Tendo, almost solemnly. He stood over Yuji for a moment before reaching for his sword and pulling out of the dead boy’s chest.

It was bizarre, seeing an enemy deliver a eulogy like this. But if Tendo thought it odd, it didn’t register on his face. Not even as he wrapped up his speech.
“As a god, I have the right to declare him equal to a legend. Certainly he deserves that much acknowledgement…
…
Though his efforts were indeed futile.”

Pain had recharged. All of them. They could see again now. The downed pains began to stir, and once again the Leaf seemed to be on the verge of destruction.
==
-

Akari had been sitting in a trance, monitoring Yuji’s vital signs. That was one advantage of being a sensory type. But it was also a disadvantage. She had been the first- besides Yuji and Pain- to know when ‘Miko’ Lady Uzume had perished. The mental anguish had left her stricken for days. In this case, when waiting for death, the wait itself was worse.

Akari opened her eyes calmly. “Lady Uzume, Yuji has died.”

For a moment, Asuna faltered. She allowed a tear or two to fall.
Shoki didn’t make it in time.
She wondered if her selfish insistence for a long goodbye had done it. Would those few seconds have made an difference? No, and she knew better to begin with. Yuji was going to die because of that damned prophecy. The only difference was who was supposed to kill him.

How cruel, she mused, resuming her work. And how odd. A prophecy that chose to endow a boy with such magnificent powers chose a human whose own self preservation wasn’t first on his list. And the power, awesome though it may be, would never be sufficient. Yuji defied it to the last, of course. Typical of him. But one wonders…why was he chosen for this role?

That didn’t matter either. Only her work mattered at this point. Death had a different meaning to someone like Asuna. As the Fourth Lady Uzume, she knew that death could be tamed if one’s intentions were pure. Oh, sure, you could always summon malevolent spirits. Orochimaru’s twisted kinjutsu proved that. But to bring back all of a person; to restore their vitality, free will, and even emotions- THAT was no mean feat.

“Akari, these two are ready. I’ve only to collect the souls. Yuji will find his way back. ‘His’ chakra is gone. But that of the ‘Heaven’s Temper’ does not die so easily.”

With that, Asuna descended once more into the hellish stomach of the Shinigami. Her body stayed in place while her soul roamed. She ignored the fire that blazed all around her, reaching a ceiling somewhere above that was so high it had no apex within sight. She disregarded the demons and the damned pawing her, reaching out to her. Even the worst of the fiends sealed here could see how pure Asuna was. Their hands were repelled as they reached toward her, a fierce white light burning them.

At last, she stopped. There were only a few souls in this place that clearly did not belong. Two of those souls had been waiting for Asuna.

Ever since I helped Yuji realized his ‘TenShin Ten no Kishootsu’ abilities at that festival they’ve waited. Yuji had no idea that I marked him. I knew his fate. For whatever reason, once I was allowed to reach inside his stomach in his private genjutsu to undo the seal inside him, his future suddenly became obvious. He, too, was destined to die as Miko did. But no one would kill him- it would be by his own hand. Now that that has proven true, I have to use this unholy ability to save him. And not just him- more lives on him than he may be allowed to realize. His fate is not his own. It has always been tied with the fates and lives of others. He must not be allowed to die!
--
--

The Leaf wanted nothing more than to avenge Yuji. Little by little, his story had leaked out. What he had done for the village; what he had wanted to do back when the Third Hokage fought Orochimaru. How he was ready to perform the jutsu that had killed the Third Hokage. How he held the village together behind the scenes until Tsunade had been found. And then how he had been cast into a role of servitude.

“I will not forgive you for this!” Lee shouted, taking an attack stance against Pain. “Gai-sensei! We must!”

“Right, Lee! To cut down such a man with at the pinnacle of his power of youth is unforgivable! Let’s do it! Tenten, Neji- back us up!”

Together, Lee and Gai released their ultimate jutsus. Both opened the Gates of Chakra. Five Gates…Six Gates…Seven Gates. And finally- Shimon. The Eight Gate.

Lee and Gai attacked the Pains with a blinding fury. They had only seconds before their power consumed them. They had discussed this last option, and had chosen to target the Pain that had focused on defense.

As one, they barraged the Pain mercilessly. Within five seconds they had each landed more than ten thousand blows with power that would have fallen any Kage in one shot.

This Pain was destroyed beyond repair, finally. And Lee and Gai with it. For when you opened the Eighth and final gate of chakra, you gained a nearly unsurpassable power- but you paid the ultimate price. The being that uses the gates is under tremendous strain from only one gate. Eight gates…there was no surviving it. The body was destroyed at a cellular level.

Lee and Gai were no more.

Tenten and Neji stomached their grief and went on the offensive. Neji struck Ningendo right over the heart, disrupting his chakra supply in a way that would have killed an ordinary person.. But for that, Neji died as well, as Ningendo pulled the soul right from his body before collapsing; unable to operate any further.

Tenten was the last one left, but she was left without any idea as to how she could be useful. All her weapons…what could she do? Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Kakashi and Yamato. They were waiting for an opening. After the sacrifices the rest of her team made, Tenten knew that this was the best thing to do. She charged at Pain, releasing every weapon at her command at every Pain within range. Several of the Pains turned toward her. She was brutally ripped apart, pierced by swords and then blown apart by an Almighty Push.

The retaliatory strike by Yamato and Kakashi was quick and severe.

“Now, Tenzo!”

“Understood!”

A wooden dome encompassed the Pains. Yamato’s Wood-Style Ninjutsu was a mix of water and earth chakras. Using that to the end that water conducts electricity, Kakashi used a variation of his Lightning Blade. He ran it through Yamato’s wooden dome, electrifying all inside.

There was a dubious silence. Some more experienced jonin called for the ranks to reform; for civilians to run for it. It seemed as if the Pains attacking had fallen. Gradually, Konoha cheered again.

Then the dome ripped apart from the inside out. When all was said and done, half the Pains were destroyed. The ones left standing were the Gekido, Tendo, and Jigokudo.

I knew better than to hope to get them all. All right, now we-What? What’s it doing?

Jigokudo’s purple tendrils shot out and pulled the three ‘dead’ Pains into the King of Hell’s mouth. Kakashi analyzed the situation quickly, though it became unnecessary. What this Pain did was obvious; Kakashi had seen it’s offensive capabilities. Now he knew it could heal as well. Even it’s own kind.

“Tenzo, get the word out: Attack the Pain with three piercings in the ears from a distance, but take him out first! He can heal-!”

Whatever Kakashi had planned to say after that was left to question, as the odd black sword of Tendo pierced him through the neck. Yamato saw this, considered retaliation, and knew that was the wrong move. He turned to run for it, splitting off a Wood Clone. The clone was only half-formed when Pain pulled him back in. The sword through the back spelled the end of Yamato.

The village turned back to despair. Kakashi, Yamato, and all of Gai’s cell had been destroyed in a matter of maybe two minutes. Even Yuji in his most powerful form had fallen. The Leaf’s defeat seemed to be inevitable.

And then, their salvation came.

Naruto. Sakura. Sasuke.

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