Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 1: The Consumer of Worlds

.

Chapter 38 - The Daitengu's Revival

.

"What did you say?" Isami Kurama says, just as he wakes up.

Having come to his senses, he looks around him. He sees the pale horned man in front of him, with a fruit in his hand. When he tries to move, he feels the hold of Kinshiki's enormous hands on his shoulders behind him. The giant lets go off him to let him step forward. Momoshiki analyzes the old traveler, and notices his sorry and pitiful state.

"Is this what just 10 years in a closed location does to a stupid life form like humans?" he asks to Kinshiki, not much caring about Isami being awake and listening. "How ridiculous! A simple decade. There are gods who spent 50 times more than this kept away from light, and came out still sane."

Kinshiki doesn't answer. He doesn't agree. He knows the people Momoshiki is referring to, and he doesn't think they went unaffected by their years of captivity. Isami, still confused, unsure of whether what he sees is real or not, takes a close look at the one standing before him and wonders who these people are. Momoshiki sighs and repeats himself.

"Isami Kurama, you have been freed from your cage, to carry the power of the Daitengu for me." he says again. "The fruit that I'm holding in this hand was conceived by myself not longer than a week ago. It was made from the empty living shell of this creature."

The prisoner stares agape at the fruit. He isn't sure if he understood well just now, but he assumes this odd person just told him that eating this fruit will gift him the powers of not only a Tengu, but the Daitengu itself. Momoshiki hands him the fruit, that he first hesitates to take. In this flower looking seed, in its shiny skin, he sees his reflection, but not only. He sees the one he's to become if he accepts this offer.

Laying on the ground nearby, Tsubai Minamoto is the only one to wake up from the four Kiri-nin that are present. The screams of his Tengu in his head forced him to open his eyes and see what is happening. The veteran wanderer receiving the Otsutsuki's gift. Isami takes the gifted fruit handed to him by the stranger celestial being, and immediately consumes every piece of it.

As he expected, it tastes good, incredibly good. So good that it could drive him crazy, addict, and seeking for another taste of it. Together with this awesome taste, he feels it, true power flowing through his blood, nerves, skin, every single molecule of his body. At the same time, he feels an immeasurable satisfaction and joy that make him uncontrollably laugh. Having the time of his life, he gazes aside to see Tsubai who's watching, lying on the ground, unsure of what is going on.

"Minamoto!" shouts Isami. "Do you see it? I've been locked up here for seeking your worthless power, and how am I rewarded for it? This prison is just where fate chose to sen me, in the wait of my destiny! The power I feel, the power I own now,… IT GOES FAR BEYOND ANYTHING YOU COULD IMAGINE!"

"Isami?" quietly, slowly, and fearfully whispers Tsubai.

At this moment, Takeshi, lying on the ground like Mei and Mizuno, suddenly wakes up and yells out, while looking around, lost and confused. Tsubai stares at his son frenetically and wonders what is happening to him. In his mind, Daikoku panics.

"It's Tentoki!" he exclaims. "He's telling the kid what is happening. He knows something."

"What is it?" ask Kasha and Tsubai together.

"Look at Isami!" adds the floating cape. "Something's not right!"

The freed prisoner is still laughing out maniacally, when suddenly his body starts to heat up and shine. The two Otsutsuki step away from him, as if they knew something they didn't care to tell. Something that is going to happen that they voluntarily didn't mention. As they do, Isami feels his body heat up, and his skin fall off. He keeps laughing, but now nervously, unable to stop. Inside of him, he feels his spirit and body being consumed, taken over beyond his control.

"They didn't offer him power." explains Daikoku, who thinks he understood. "They are using him as a live sacrifice. His body serves as a vessel, for…"

Isami looks around, in pain, and sees Kinshiki who simply steps a bit further away, with the same straight unemotional face as usual. The man in pain then turns around to see Momoshiki, who just makes a slightly goofy, hyped face, like a child at the zoo. Isami screams at the top of his lungs, hurting his own self as his body swells with chakra and his soul breaks up. His bones and skin start to crack, like a hatching eggshell.

He implodes, then explodes. A bright light shines through the area, so bright it is visible from up above in space. The two Minamoto and the two Otsutsuki, seeing the flash's source illuminate cover their eyes. Everyone else in the whole village and its surroundings is blinded in all direction by this light.

After this flash, Takeshi and Tsubai uncover and open their eyes, no longer blinded. They watch in horror as, standing where Isami was a moment ago, is now the Daitengu, the Curse of Time in the flesh, Sojobo himself.

"How… How can this be?" stutters Tsubai, in anguish. "We… We killed that damn…"

Sojobo squints his eyes, curious and confused, like he woke up from a years long coma. From the top of his 2.50 meters of height, he quickly gazes around. Feeling a strong presence and incredible chakra, he lowers his head and watches down, where he finds Momoshiki, calmly standing there. With his shoulders slightly moving around, and his third eye watching in his back, he also sees Kinshiki, almost as tall as him, standing behind him. After a silence, he turns around and looks down to Momoshiki again.

"I see." says the Daitengu. "So you, sir, only wanted to offer me a body that I could take over and make my own, in order to come back to my true form."

Takeshi, who's still lying on the ground, doesn't understand who this tall, thin creature is. Tentoki, paralyzed by fear in the boy's mind, still manages to say a few words to his Yamabushi.

"Takeshi… We have to compromise. Just this once…"

Before the Otsutsuki and before anyone else says anything more, hundreds of people run and jump out from between the surrounding debris, buildings and trees to surround the area. The ninjas of Kiri, leaded by Chojuro, started to gather as soon as the fire started in the prison. Arriving a bit late, some are still a bit fuzzy from the flashing light from earlier.

They all encircle and secure the perimeter, to stop anyone from attempting to escape. Chojuro, firmly holding Hiramekarei in both his hands, sees the 5th Mizukage, laying passed out on the ground. He then looks at the three invaders. Able to feel the disturbing power that emanates from them, he hesitates to engage.

"Chojuro!" yells Tsubai. "Don't try anything! It's too dangerous!"

The Mizukage's right-hand looks at Tsubai, who's still lying on the ground. Sojobo, who was looking around t see the ninjas, also has his attention brought to the one who just screamed.

"Tsubai and Daikoku? And Kasha?" wonders Sojobo, slowly remembering what last happened to him, over 10 years ago.

Momoshiki turns his back and gazes around to see the hundreds of Kiri-nin. He boringly raises a hand to take care of them. Sojobo sees the tiny hand of the tiny man, compared to him, enter his sight. He steps forward and in front of him, as to say he's taking care of it.

Meiton – Kurayami

From the feet of the white, red eyed creature, a ripple of black chakra spreads in all direction on the ground and passes through every living thing standing in the area. Tsubai, Momoshiki, Kinshiki and Takeshi feel the wave pass, not much affected. It reaches the ranges of ninjas standing in formation around them and hits them all, too fast for them to react in time.

At its touch, they all feel their chakra and spirit being disturbed, like forced to escape their body. Some of them faint, others fall down. Chojuro trembles and falls on his knees, crossed by a feeling of incapacity, but stays conscious. Momoshiki witnesses this and nods as to acknowledge the impressive power that the one he just resurrected carries. He looks up to see Kinshiki.

"We're done here."

Just as he says this, a bright light passes by him and Kinshiki. A silhouette, the size of a child, blitzes through space at a fraction of the speed of light, and aims for the Daitengu. Takeshi Minamoto, with power handed over by Tentoki, attempts to strike down the one who just returned, by surprise.

Sojobo, moving way faster, and using the exact same jutsu to accelerate his own movements, catches the kid's hand and holds him immobile mid-air.

"You're… the last born?" asks Sojobo to the boy. "Takeshi, Tentoki, and… Makura? But still not completely awake… It truly is a pleasure to meet you."

Takeshi doesn't respond anything and just looks, frightened, at the 3 red eyed monster's empty face. Momoshiki sighs and raises his hand to catch the child and take all his chakra, to dispose of him right now. When he does, Sojobo lowers his loose hand and grabs on Momoshiki's, stopping him from doing anything.

The Otsutsuki looks up to see the serious expression on the Daitengu's face. He guesses what he is thinking, and understands that he seems to care for this young human. The two stare at each other in the eyes, for a solid 2 seconds, before Momoshiki sighs again and violently brings his hand back, a bit frustrated.

Sojobo looks back at the boy he's holding. Takeshi stares back, but doesn't know how to feel. On this creature's empty, mouthless, noseless, traitless face, he still manages to see a glad smile. He can guess it, just by the expression in its red glowing eyes. The Daitengu gently puts the boy back on the ground, but keeps holding his hand.

Takeshi, still looking up to see the creature's face, feels an odd feeling through his flesh, coming from the Daitengu's fingers on his arm. He promptly falls down, asleep, but at ease. Sojobo, standing back to Kinshiki and Momoshiki, gets on his knees and delicately lies the kid down on the ground next to him.

Momoshiki Otsutsuki, frustrated by the creature's sudden opposition to his action, frowns. He tries not to care. The Daitengu is just not yet aware of what awaits him. He turns around and raises a hand with the Rinnegan in the palm open to create a space rift.

"We're done here." he says, hiding his anger.

Before he can open his own gate, he feels a rapid chakra accumulation very close to where he was about to make it appear. This chakra isn't his, but still acts the same as when a portal is being created. There, a black rift, not from his making, opens quickly. Soon enough, Momoshiki realizes who is at cause of this.

A bit stressed and in a hurry, he turns his hand for it to face this gate and uses the counter jutsu to force its closing, but too late. Before it shrinks enough to be closed, a thunder blitz runs out of it, over lightning speed, and reaches for the Otsutsuki's neck. Momoshiki, surprised, just watches Sasuke Uchiha draw his sword in front of him. To this sudden entrance, the first and only one to react in time is the Daitengu.

Jikanteido

All goes still as time freezes. Sasuke is in the middle of his rush, in front of his target. Sojobo, who rapidly triggered a time pause without any movement needed, walks around, being the only living thing able to move. He gets closer to the floating Uchiha and recognizes the one who tracked him down years ago. Judging by how different this guy looks, he tries to find out how many years it has been. After a quick look back at Takeshi lying on the ground, he then turns to see Momoshiki who holds a hand up with the eye in his palm wide open.

Sojobo inspects the scene, and takes his distance. This is a cowboy fight. Both of them have Rinnegan and can see each other, even in the frozen space and time. As soon as he'll break the pause, the fastest of these two will take the lead. For the enjoyment of it, he gives them a moment to prepare. Sasuke understands what game Sojobo's playing with them. He knows that in terms of speed, he loses, so he rather prepares for defense. The Daitengu dispels his jutsu.

As soon as time resumes, Momoshiki slightly moves his hand to face Sasuke and releases the last jutsu absorbed to his face, but stronger.

Takami Musubi

He gases the Uchiha with the fog he stole from the Mizukage and ejects him away with it. Prepared, Sasuke summons the Susanoo's rib cage around his whole body, to avoid the corrosive effect of the mist. Having greatly improved over time to become far stronger and durable, the Susanoo is only barely affected by the melting, but is pushed far away by the strength of the propulsion.

As he flies away, Sasuke spreads his Chidori's lightning on his sword and throws it back and up, to no target at all. Momoshiki and Kinshiki don't pay attention to this pointless action, but Sojobo, still recalling his latest fight from over 10 years ago, widely opens his eyes, as he knows what Sasuke will attempt to do again.

Ameno Tejikara

Takeshi Minamoto, who was lying asleep on the ground behind Momoshiki, vanishes and appears inside the Susanoo ribs, under Sasuke's arm. Momoshiki feels something hit his loose hand and looks down. He sees the lightning covered sword that just pierced through his hand and the eye in his palm. Sasuke, having switched Takeshi's position with his blade, placed his weapon right in Momoshiki's blind spot to surprise him with this hit. Kinshiki sees it, and panics.

Chimatakami

Sasuke, still being repelled by the mist's blow, can only wait to hit the ground again. In this while, Kinshiki, the old giant, makes a large space rift that engulfs him, Momoshiki and the Daitengu, transporting them back to a safer place, before the Uchiha can interfere again.

Sasuke lands on the ground, holding the passed out kid against him with his only arm. After leaving him on the ground and making sure he is okay, he looks at the portal disappearing. The Uchiha hurried to this place when he sensed the chakra he's been tracking for a month. There was, as expected Momoshiki, but also Kinshiki who, to his surprise, regrew his horn leaving no trace their first encounter. And most notably, the one who stopped time must have been Sojobo.

He stands up and walks to Tsubai. Chojuro, now that the area is safe, hurries to help the Mizukage, who's just now coming back to her senses. Tsubai sits on the ground and stares at Sasuke who comes to him.

"What happened?" asks the Uchiha. "This was the Daitengu, wasn't it? How was he here?"

"They brought him back to life, man." says Tsubai, startled. "They gave some damn fruit to this guy and he turned into Sojobo, just like that."

Sasuke just looks at where the three enemies were standing a minute ago. This makes it all way more complicated. He spent the last months searching for Momoshiki and expecting to encounter him somewhere he won't be at a disadvantage. But that the Daitengu could be brought back… He couldn't anticipate this.

He does remember Sojobo's last words, that strongly suggested this possibility, but he didn't expect this to somehow relate to Momoshiki. How can this be? Was it really the one and only Sojobo? The creature he fought with Kobo and Naruto 11 years ago? The threat of the Otsutsuki is already too much right now. If he has to handle the Daitengu again, it'll get complicated.

Sasuke sighs, and walks toward the burning building. He lifts his hand up and absorbs all the flames with his Rinnegan, to end the fire. He could have used water release, like the ninjas of Kiri would certainly have done, but by absorbing the flames, he avoids harming anyone who could still be trapped in the arson, and also gets to collect the chakra that makes this fire.

.

In Shin no Kuni, in the village of Hikari, on one of the roofs of the leading castle, The two Otsutsuki and the Daitengu stand. From the door to this roof come the 5 young selected hosts. The 4 young boys and the young woman come running, intrigued by the sound caused by their master's landing. They see their two lords standing along with a weird creature by their sides, even taller than Kinshiki. This creature is currently in some kind of trance, not even noticing them.

Kinshiki looks at his partner's severed hand, with the Uchiha's sword still stabbing through. Momoshiki removes the sword and carelessly breaks it, even angrier than before. Kinshiki stares at him, worried.

"It is unexpected." says the old man. "I believe it is the first time you are harmed since your battle with the prince."

"Pff! That dwarf ass idiot!" answers Momoshiki, extremely frustrated, referring to this said prince. "The Uchiha is nowhere near his level." he adds before raising a hand toward Kinshiki.

Sentan

He absorbs his natural energy with the rinnegan, which the old man lets him do without complain. Once absorbed, he turns this chakra into red little pills that he gulps down as soon as made. When he does, his injury and his eye both completely regenerate, leaving no mark of this encounter. He now looks in his back to see what he and Kinshiki went to find.

Sojobo is standing still, just weirdly jiggling as he is getting up to date. He is feeling, smelling, tasting, hearing, seeing and sensing in a few seconds everything that the living Yamabushi did for the last 10 years. Curious, Momoshiki activates his Byakugan to gaze at the Daitengu.

Unmeishin

He is rather surprised to find out that he seems unable to read this creature's fate. Kinshiki looks to the hosts, the children and the young woman, and hurries them back inside. Before he accompanies them down the stairs, he silently watches at his partner, with a concerned look on his aged face, then leaves him alone on this roof with the Daitengu.

Momoshiki stands still and just waits for Sojobo to wake up. When he does, he looks around again to find the average sized thing that reincarnated him. He looks down to see him, a pale young looking man with horns on his head, and eyes in his palms. He looks a bit similar to Katashiki. According to what Tsubai heard and saw this last year, they are inter dimensional beings that seek the power and chakra of Earth. Quickly, Sojobo understands that he wasn't brought back just out of courtesy.

"I see. You brought me back to my best form, only for you hope to harvest my power, and make it yours." he says, frankly, to the Otsutsuki. "What makes you believe that your body can handle me? You know and saw what happens to who tries to control me." he adds, as he bends over to impose his height over him.

Momoshiki slightly smiles, and answers, in all honesty.

"I did see it. I do know that a Daitengu can rule over the spirit and body of his cell, even if it's one of my kind. So I won't risk to take you in now. But I do know that you become incapable of acting by yourself, and are forced to commit all your powers to your host, if he happens to carry the One-eyed creature's power."

Sojobo suspiciously looks at him. Does he mean the Juubi? He wasn't aware of these facts about himself. He doesn't know much about the connection he seems to have with the Biju, But this man, Momoshiki Otsutsuki seems to be well aware of more than his own self about him.

"And what do you intend by this?" asks the Daitengu. "Did you bring me back to life right now, and expect me to gently wait until you get to control me?"

"I wish to keep my spirit, and to not become Shinju's puppet." he answers. "I don't need you to wait until I absorb you. I just want to steal your chakra and power, but this after I'm done with the rest of the planet."

"And you expect me to agree?" angrily says Sojobo, raising a hand to attack the Otsutsuki.

Meiton – Black Hole

Unpleased by this man's plan, the Daitengu creates and throws a black hole at him. The same kind of object that he threw at Sasuke Uchiha back then, but bigger. Momoshiki, who was expecting hostility, raises his two hands. With one hand, he absorbs the extremely dense object as soon as it appears, and with the other…

Chimatakami

With the other hand, he opens a portal that quickly grows and swallows he and Sojobo, bringing them to a complete void. No ground, no air, just enough light for them to see each other. As he feels his inside gulf and his eyes oddly popping out, the Daitengu instinctively hardens his shell skin, which protects him and cancels this vacuum effect.

Now safe, he looks around and sees stars in the far distances. He recognizes the sun, but it appears bigger than usual. In front of him, Momoshiki floats like him, unbothered. Confused, Sojobo tries to say something, to ask where they are, but no sound comes out. Unsettled by this inconvenience, he quickly gets over it and decides to speak directly in the Otsutsuki's mind instead, with the Shindenshin Jutsu.

"What is this place?" he asks.

"This is just just one of the countless empty spots of this universe." responds Momoshiki, in the Daitengu's mind. "Still, we're not far away from your planet." he adds, looking down.

Sojobo follows the celestial's gaze and sees planet Earth and the Moon revolving around it, looking extremely small under their feet, what seems to be millions of kilometers away. Sojobo looks back at Momoshiki, surprised and shocked by this experience. The Otsutsuki stares at him with a judging stare.

"I'm gonna destroy your world and anything you think you know anyway,…" he says. "So just commit to me already, Daitengu of Earth."

"Of Earth?" asks Sojobo, surprised by this uncommon adding. "What do you mean, of Earth?"

"… You have no idea how insignificant you are…" mysteriously answers Momoshiki.

The Daitengu takes this as an insult, and decides to end the discussion. He lengthens his claws and tries to strike his opponent, but Momoshiki simply flies back and away from him, to get out of his range. Sojobo tries to follow him by leaning forward, but doesn't manage to move even just an inch forward. He unleashes the chakra wings of Tenshi to push himself toward the enemy. He flaps them as hard as he can, with no result. He just can't move. Stuck on this place, he sees Momoshiki freely moving around him to mock his problem.

"You fly by pushing against air, which is useless here, as there is nothing but emptiness around us." he says. "What I do is bend the fabric of reality and space around me, so I can move around regardless of what surrounds me. This is one of many differences between you, a devilish creature, and me, a god."

Sojobo just stares silently at the divine being floating to come closer to him. Momoshiki raises his hand toward the helpless Daitengu.

Takami Musubi

He throws back the black hole that Sojobo threw at him earlier, but bigger and stronger. Sojobo now feels the absolute strength of his own jutsu's pull, ready to crush his spiritual and physical form at this very moment. In an attempt to save his self, he quickly gathers Light chakra in hand.

Koton – White Hole

To oppose this almighty pull, he uses Koton, the antithesis of Meiton, to make a similar object that counters the black hole just enough for him to not be swallowed. He survives, but is doomed to stay trapped in this position, experiencing the pull of the black hole and the push of the white hole as time and space lose all grip around him. Witnessing this spectacle, Momoshiki, just slowly flies away and opens another gate behind him.

"To use a white hole against a black hole… What good instinct you have." he says. "I've been traveling through universes for nearly 1200 years, and even caused others' birth. It was foolish of you to think you could surprise me with such a low trick… I'll leave you here until I'm done with the preparation and the fox's chakra. When I'm back for you, I'll finally let you die."

Momoshiki floats back through the portal and disappears, leaving the Daitengu alone in the emptiness of space, having to suffer a cosmic cataclysm of his own making.

.

End of Chapter 38 – Next Chapter: Momoshiki's hatred