Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Street Fighter. Well, now that Street Fighter V seems to have released all of its shit, I guess I'll pick it up now. That was what I did with Street Fighter IV, which was a great decision. I'll be playing catchup in online play, but hey, what the hell. Why not?

Chapter 63: The Power Around You


Putting up a guest was no issue for Karin. After all, her manor had plenty of space, and it was nice to have company every so often. Ibuki needed it, as well. After the Illuminati had attack the Glade of Ninjas, the survivors had scattered. At this point, Ibuki was waiting on word to rejoin her clan in a safe place. Until then, she had to go it alone. At least, she would have, if she didn't have friends who could help her.

She wasn't in a good place emotionally, however. And how could she have been? She had watched the place she called home burn. She had seen friends and fellow ninja dead in front of her. No amount of comfort or amenities provided to her by way of Karin's hospitality could make up for such a thing. Karin couldn't even use her money to try and make things easier for those who had made it out, because they had no idea where any of the others had gone to hide.

Ibuki's tanuki Don had found his way to safety and to Ibuki at Karin's manor. He rested at Ibuki's feet as she sat in a tree, knees pulled to her chest, staring out at the vast expanse of land around the sizable home. There was a blank look in her eyes, eyes that were red and puffy.

This was the sight that met Karin when she located Ibuki in her garden. She didn't know what to say at first. Matters of emotion were difficult for her, "You know, I imagine it would be more comfortable to sit on a bench," She said, trying to break the ice.

Ibuki didn't say anything in response, only letting out a hum acknowledging that she had heard her. Karin bemoaned her own situation for a moment. She wasn't the warmest individual, specifically lacking a gift for comforting others. She couldn't even relate to Ibuki. She couldn't contemplate losing everything she had ever known, or seeing many of her loved ones die in front of her.

Ibuki was one of Karin's loved ones though, and seeing her in pain hurt. She just didn't know what she could do about it. This was one of the worst things to befall the little group the two girls had found themselves in. Neither was equipped to deal with it.

"I was given one last order from my village leader, Karin," Ibuki eventually said, "He gave me one last mission – recover the G-File. I don't even know what that is."

"We don't know what that is," Karin corrected, alluding to her throwing in her lot against Illuminati, "I told you once before, I will not sit by and allow this transgression against you and yours to go unpunished," She said sternly. Again, Ibuki didn't react, eliciting a sigh out of the wealthy girl, "In any event, our friends have been informed of the current situation. It is not ideal to share a matter that could be perceived as personal, but-."

"-No, no. That was the right thing to do. It's not like it's something to hide," Ibuki said, not willing to let Karin treat the proper course of action as something that should have been avoided. She perked up slightly at the thought of seeing a certain someone, "Did you call-?"

Karin shook her head before Ibuki could finish, "I was not able to reach him. Wherever Naruto-san is, I cannot get access to him through technological means," That brought the mood down again, for the both of them, "...In any event, I called Cammy. Chun-Li is with her, apparently. And she was very eager about sharing something with us. They should arrive soon."

This was news to Ibuki, "Chun-Li is here?" She asked with honest surprise, "I figured she would be busy working on some kind of case."

"She is," Karin nodded with a smirk, "Chun-Li is also investigating the Illuminati."

XxX

(With Naruto – Brazil – Isolated Mountainside)

It took a lot to impress Oro. In his long life and many experiences in martial arts, he'd seen it all. But never had he seen a person take to Senjutsu as quickly as Naruto had. It had taken him decades to unlock the secrets of the art and master it.

Over the years, rumors of his power and skill attracted disciples and apprentices from time-to-time. Men and women of different nationalities and disciplines, who thought themselves capable of learning from him. All of them dropped out, unable to handle his extreme training regiments. And yet, a teenage boy was capable of handling the strain of his training and thriving through it.

In a handful of months, Naruto could draw upon the energy of the environment around him to utilize and maintain Senjutsu. His familiarity was such that he no longer needed to sit and meditate in order to do so.

He had caught the boy using his unique clones to get familiar with the process early in his training, but had not stopped him. Instead, he watched and allowed Naruto to exploit the advantage given to him by another hard-earned technique in his repertoire that he was the undisputed master of.

First as few as two or three, then more, then dozens, then hundreds, then around a thousand, where he topped out. All focused on studying and developing Naruto's Senjutsu for a minimum eight hours a day, while the original worked tirelessly at Oro's back-breaking physical tasks. Math wasn't his strong suit, but at the peak of his clone training, Naruto gave himself 27 years of daily spiritual practice, condensed into a month's time.

27 years of experience and familiarity with Senjutsu in a month. And it had been something he'd been a natural at using in the first place.

Naruto had told Oro that he didn't plan on hanging around for decades to learn Senjutsu. Oro had originally interpreted that as impatience, as Naruto saying he would quit if Oro had been telling the truth. Now, he could look back on it and laugh. Oh, how he had underestimated the young man. It seemed to be something that the older generation did quite often. Even he had fallen prey to it.

Oro controlled a telekinetic barrier, meant to keep raging flames from spreading beyond the intended area. Within the intended area, Naruto stood meditating on a spike, ignoring the flames that licked at his bare body. The training Oro had put him through had enhanced his durability, combined with the added effects of his active Senjutsu, he was even tougher.

"Remember that Senjutsu is an energy discipline that allows you to borrow strength from grass and trees, from people and animals, even from inanimate objects, and from the atmosphere," Oro lectured as Naruto continued to focus, "Even from the sun itself, if your reach is great enough. At that point, the potential would be nearly limitless."

The idea of limitless potential went well above Naruto's head. Even when people started acknowledging that he had skill, to the extent of being one of the world's finest fighters, there had always been a 'yeah, but' attached. It wasn't that he ever believed there was a cap on how good he could be, just that there would always be a ceiling that would take increasing amounts of effort and time to break through.

In the end, that was the same thing as limitless potential, even if he didn't recognize it himself. Still, he continued to train, day in and day out. The amount of energy he could gather improved day-to-day. The reach of his senses improved day-to-day, and the latter was what wound up affecting him on this given day.

In the middle of the exercise, Naruto's Senjutsu senses came across something... foul. It was dark. Evil. It was... something familiar to him, only more intense than he'd felt it at its worst. From thousands of miles away, it seemed to lash out at him. No, not at him. At everything. Every living thing.

A pulse of chakra burst from Naruto's body, forcing him off of the spike and extinguishing the fire that surrounded him. He landed on his feet, looking around wildly, as though that feeling would reach out and grab him at any moment. It felt like waking up from a nightmare.

Oro simply watched Naruto, his expression grim, "So you feel it now?" He asked, getting Naruto's attention, "That is what I sensed – what made me seek you out in the first place."

Naruto rubbed at his own throat. That had been the Satsui no Hadou. In particular, Akuma's. But that couldn't be true. Ryu pulverized his skull, "How is he alive? How is he stronger? How is he that much stronger!?"

"He can't really be considered human anymore," Oro said.

Despite what he really wanted to do, Naruto reached out again to try and hone in on the dark beacon signaling out from all the way around the world, "...I mean... why do you say I have to do this now?" He eventually asked after getting a better handle on what he was feeling, "He's not doing anything. He's just... holy shit."

There was something else. Akuma was alone, but it was his location that was the problem. He wasn't just hiding on some desolate island, or underground. There was energy all around him. The energy of the planet itself.

Oro stood and apologized, "I am sorry, Naruto. I didn't explain everything before. The only way I could think of to truly get you to understand was once you could do this and see for yourself. Do you understand now?"

Naruto nodded slowly, "What is he doing?"

"The creature is not used to its strength yet. It is consolidating its power," Oro explained, "I guess you can call it training. You are familiar with the training method of meditating underneath a waterfall, aren't you?"

"Training in a volcano?" Naruto said to himself, "Wait... that's why I had to reach to sense it before! He's stopping the flow! He can do that?"

Oro chuckled at Naruto's surprise and awe, "Don't underestimate yourself. You can too, once you learn how. But just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. I shudder to think how he will choose to test this power once he is finished."

Naruto looked at his own fist, feeling the natural energy flow through him and enhance his already potent chakra, "I've learned how to maintain Senjutsu now. That's what you wanted me to learn, right? I can-."

Oro cut him off, "-I did not teach you Senjutsu so that you could use it to fight. I taught you Senjutsu so that you could come to peace with yourself," He placed a hand on Naruto's belly, right where his seal was located.

The Kyuubi within him. He had never said anything to Oro about that, "…You know about it. What do you know?"

It was only half of what Oro had been referring to, "You have an understanding with the being inside of you, but you only have a compromise with yourself," the old hermit said, "Find peace with yourself, and I feel you will have more power at your disposal than any living being on this planet."

He believed in Naruto's potential. He had to. If he didn't, there wasn't anyone else he could envision who would be able to stand against what was coming.

"To battle the strength of a true demon, you will have the power of the world at your disposal."

But first, he needed a test.

XxX

(Japan – Outside of Aohura City – Karin's Manor)

With Cammy and Chun-Li's arrival, they cooperated with Karin and Ibuki on what they had learned in their respective experiences with the Illuminati thus far. Chun-Li and Cammy listened quietly as they were told the firsthand accounts of the attack on Ibuki's village.

Chun-Li wasn't surprised by the brutality and callousness of their new enemy. It wasn't the first time she'd seen such a thing happen. However, it had been some time since she'd seen it affect someone close to her, and to someone as young as Ibuki.

"Another day, another monster masquerading as a human being," Chun-Li muttered to herself once the tale was complete. She really hoped the day never came where she truly got used to such things, "By this point, I'm pretty sure you kids should draw a check from the U.N. or something," She tried to joke. It fell flat.

Everyone else was too busy with their own thoughts. Karin was merely the first to bring them up aloud, "There is something about this, however. It just does not feel right/ The Illuminati never operate in a way that can be traced to them."

To attack in force in such a way was more brazen than she ever thought they would be.

"They're being too open?" The chance to get people above her paygrade involved to handle things themselves got Chun-Li excited, "If we can get a concrete way to pin them down, I can make a few calls and get-."

"-I don't think so," Ibuki said, interrupting Chun-Li glumly, "It may seem like they took a chance, because we all know about what happened, but the Glade of Ninjas doesn't exactly interact much with the outside world."

True enough. The destruction of the Glade of Ninjas mattered to them because they knew Ibuki. But if they didn't know her, it was likely none of the rest of them would have ever learned about it. It was likely Ibuki wouldn't have survived either

Just from the glum look on her face and her defeated body language, protective instincts made Chun-Lin want to wrap Ibuki up and give her a hug. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. It wouldn't do to have her break down in the middle of what was more or less a debriefing. Ibuki probably wouldn't have appreciated it at the moment either.

Cammy sat cross-legged on her own sofa, idly rocking in place as she tried to think, "I don't understand what this has to do with making people like Necro, or like that thing that tried to kill me," A frown crossed her face – a rare expression on the usually impassive little soldier, "It might not have anything to do with it at all."

And yet, that didn't leave anyone feeling any more secure, "Super soldiers. I can't believe this," Chun-Li spat, "We have to deal with this again? S.I.N. tried this already with BLECE," Only this time, the Illuminati seemed to have something that worked in the field without backfiring.

Cammy shook her head, "This isn't the same. This feels... bigger. We're missing too much," She said, "They made Necro, so why would they make the creature that I had to fight?"

Chun-Li scoffed, "Well, Necro ran away from them. And from what I saw when you introduced me, Necro's kind of a prick. Probably not the type to follow orders when he thinks he doesn't have to."

Karin nodded. That kind of individual would never work out for the Illuminati, "The best foot soldiers for such an organization would be ones that know their place and follow their orders to the letter," Obedience and capability above all. The most useful soldier the Illuminati could have was one that wouldn't question an order, and would carry it out with brutal efficiency.

The soldiers she and Ibuki fought during the attack on the Glade of Ninjas were good, as far as foot soldiers went. Karin could admit that they were better than the security detail she employed. However, out of the lot of them, Kolin was easily the strongest; the rest mere cannon fodder by comparison.

However, the thing that Cammy had fought did her quite a bit of harm. If it was capable of that, and the Illuminati had the ability to make more, just how many more could they make? Could Cammy fight and win against more than one at the same time? Could any of them?

If the Illuminati were militarized, "In any case, they were capable of getting to Ibuki-san's village. They know I'm involved now. My home can no longer be considered a safe place," If it ever really could have, "I don't know where could be considered safe."

It wasn't like there was anywhere the enemy couldn't reach if they tried. As much as Karin didn't want Aohura City to turn into some kind of battleground, it would likely happen no matter where they went.

"So... nowhere to run. Fine," Chun-Li seemed to be fine with having a target potentially on her back, "That only leaves moving forward then. Cammy. Tell them what you told me."

"Necro was light on details," Cammy said, remembering her debriefing of her client. He was just a specimen, so he wasn't allowed to know or see a lot. He did give me a name that Chun-Li was interested in. The man that according to Necro was behind his modifications."

A large grin spread across Chun-Li's face, "Dr. Woo. A famous Chinese scholar and scientist. That name doesn't mean anything to you guys, but he went missing years ago," It was a case that had been of interest to Interpol. Even without the Illuminati involved, if she could somehow crack that case, it would do wonders for her career.

Having a direction to strike back at those who had hurt her home caused Ibuki to perk up just a little, "I'm up for tracking this guy down, but if he's missing, where do we start?"

Cammy held up her phone, which was in the middle of tracking something, "After my fight with the creature, I placed a tracker on it before we left the scene. I assume following this signal would be a good place to start for something."

That was all Karin needed to hear, gracefully standing from her seat, "Then we haven't a moment to lose. I will arrange for transport."

Ibuki was quick to follow, eager to exact some kind of revenge, "You think the four of us will be enough?"

Karin gave her a confident smirk in return, "The four of us together may be too much."

XxX

(Elsewhere – Outside of Aohura City)

Sakura's arms shook as she stood before a massive trench of her creation. She'd found that it was easier to try and feel both extremes of her energies when she used more of it. Once she figured out the proper blend, she would work on more precise control.

Still, to make it to the point that she had was encouraging. Even a little bit of progress meant that there was merit to her idea. It could work. She just had to figure out how. Whether it took a week, a month, a year, or longer, it didn't matter. She refused to give up.

'Naruto wouldn't give up,' Sakura thought to herself, trying to will her exhausted body to obey her, 'He would find a way to make this work, even if everyone told him it was impossible.'

She knew he was working his butt off, even at that moment, so she had to as well. They both had their own 'impossible' tasks to achieve, and she wasn't going to be the one of the two of them accused of slacking.

"You're hard at work," The voice of a wizened old man pierced Sakura's eardrums, breaking her focus, "Away from the city, for a day out training, I see."

Sakura turned to find Gouken, dressed in clothing more reminiscent of a monk than the gi than she had become accustomed to seeing him in, "Master Gouken!" She said slightly breathlessly, face flushed in surprise and fatigue, "What are you doing here?"

Gouken smiled at the young girl before him. Despite Sakura not quite adhering to his attempt to guide her previously, he did have a soft spot for her, "I have some business away from the mountains to attend to. I just wanted to stop in and check on you before I did so," He looked around at the destruction wrought by Sakura's strength, "I had to go a bit out of my way to say hello, but I can see why."

Sakura knew full well what she'd been doing out there to the landscape. While it was regrettable, she didn't have much of a choice, "Well, Naruto and I would train at a junkyard whenever we wanted to work on anything heavy-duty. I'm kind of beyond the point where I can do that now."

Trying to train anywhere in Aohura City while doing something as potentially dangerous as she was attempting was a recipe for disaster. Something could go wrong, and if it did, being in the heart of town was a bad idea. Finding a good spot, somewhere safe and isolated, to work on things away from the metal, the concrete, and the squishy, fragile people was a necessity.

"That's for the best, given what I know you're working on," Gouken said. Sakura momentarily looked bashful before Gouken clarified, "I'm not here to judge you, child. You wouldn't be doing this if you weren't certain you had a handle on it. I just wanted to see how you were progressing firsthand."

Sakura channeled the Satsui no Hadou, and then quickly transitioned over to the Kyomu no Chikara to demonstrate, "I can control both, but not together. They're opposite ends of the spectrum."

The way she spoke, it sounded like she considered it a failure. But to Gouken, it was something he had never seen before. Not only did she have access to both, but she could control them. It was just that her ambitions were so lofty that falling short of them kept her from recognizing what kind of an achievement she'd made in the process.

Sakura quickly realized that her using the Satsui no Hadou, even just to show something, could have made Gouken uncomfortable, given his experiences with it, "Master Gouken, I-," She tried to apologize.

Gouken quickly cut her off before she could try to apologize, "You don't need to say anything. I feel I've troubled you enough in my attempts to guide you. You are free to make your own decisions."

"I... don't hold any grudges," Sakura mumbled, before speaking with more life and confidence, "You want me to achieve my potential, the way Ryu-san did. But who says I can't do that my way?"

"I am beyond the point where I have any say in the future," Gouken said, "That is up to you. And I have a good feeling about it... but there are things I must do first to make sure of that for you and yours."

The cryptic statement left Sakura feeling a bit uneasy. It was as though she weren't meant to hear the last part, "Master?"

Gouken realized what he'd said and chuckled disarmingly, "Don't concern yourself the ramblings of an old man. I simply left the mountain to attend to some personal business. I just wanted to stop in and say hello before I did so."

Sakura didn't quite believe that it was something inconsequential, but Gouken was at a level of strength where he could tend to his own affairs. If anyone was permitted to handle their own troubles, it was him, "Well, make sure you come back through soon. I want you to see it when I finish my training."

Gouken reached out and placed his large hand on top of Sakura's head, "We never finish our training, little one. We just achieve our goals and set new ones for ourselves," Sakura pouted at his response, getting him to chuckle a bit more, honestly this time, "But that, I would love to see."

He was still wary of the Satsui no Hadou. Extremely so. But in Sakura, he saw something that she had, something that Akuma didn't have. It was something that he didn't have. It was something that even Ryu didn't have.

A life outside of martial arts.

School, friends, outside interests. While fighting was one of the most important things in her life, it wasn't the most important. It definitely wasn't the only thing, the way it was for them. She applied herself as much as any of them had before, but the need to grow would never consume her. Even if she was the obsessive type, those around her would never allow it.

If you only had one thing in your life that gave you meaning, you gave it your all. For those that only had fighting, the need to be the best, to obtain strength and test oneself to feel alive was everything. Gouken had made attempts to prevent this in Ryu, by training Ken and having the two become friends, but it hadn't been enough.

In the last few months, it hadn't just been Sakura coming into her own with the Satsui no Hadou. Ryu had as well... and unlike her, he had lost himself to it.

Every day, he could feel his pupil, his adopted son, growing stronger. Sakura likely couldn't feel it the way she could because she herself basked in the Satsui no Hadou for the sake of her own training. That was fine, as none of this was her concern. But it was to the extent that Gouken couldn't ignore it.

Now, he had to find Ryu and deal with him. Sakura had no need to know about it. She had her own problems, and for better or for worse, it was Gouken's responsibility.

XxX

(Mongolia)

It had been around six months since Sasuke had set out on his training venture in the wake of Akuma's challenge to Naruto. Since he'd left Aohura City, his travels took him extensively across Asia, completing contracts that came his way to maintain cash flow and working on himself.

The last he'd heard, the idiot was still alive, and according to Akira, Sakura was still bouncing around Aohura City, so Naruto must have won somehow.

That just made him want to fight Naruto again. The last two times they'd met had been undecided. He'd have to try and worm that fight out of him once he returned... not that it would be very difficult. Naruto probably wanted another go-around just as badly.

Just another thing to tend to once he got back into regular contact with people. A secondary priority after Akira.

...Did he actually miss that woman's company?

Yes. Yes, he did. It was hard to stay motivated to train, knowing that anytime he wanted to, he could turn around and go back to managing Genhanten, working contracts from there, and spending time with a girl he actually liked.

The thoughts of his solitude kept him awake, staring up at the ceiling of his tent. It was annoying enough to rouse him from his attempts to rest. Instead, he ventured outside to his campsite on the windy, night steppe. Cool air chilling his bones might drain him of enough extra energy to get him to sleep.

Sitting at the long extinguished fire was a shadowy silhouette. Sasuke's Sharingan didn't have the ability to see in the dark, but with the light of the moon overhead, it could make out enough of the figure's features to determine that it was the man who had served as his master, his debtor.

"Gen," Sasuke hissed in hated recognition.

Gen turned and rose, his fists placed behind his back, "Sasuke. You certainly made me search high and low for you, you troublesome brat."

"I wasn't looking to be found," Sasuke said, his now red eyes glowing in the dark, "What are you doing here? I told you, the next time I saw you would be the last."

"Yes," Gen replied disinterestedly, "Yes, I remember a lot of hot air and noise taking the form of that sound in my ears," He ignored Sasuke's angry seething to show him a tablet he'd brought along, "I came to bring you this."

Sasuke didn't get any closer, instead appraising the symbol of a pyramid with an eye atop it on the screen, "What is this supposed to be, old man?"

"Your ticket out," Gen revealed cryptically, "This is the last mission I have for you," At first, Sasuke didn't react. It was as if he hadn't heard him, so he continued on, "It's an invite to a tournament. It came for you, but I received it, so I came all this way to find you-."

"You came all this way to give me a mission?" Sasuke interrupted, his voice eerily calm, despite how he truly felt, "You said you remember what I told you – that I was going to kill you. Did you think I was joking? That I didn't mean it?"

Gen casually set the tablet aside, "I was hoping that you were serious, boy. Because it's the only way you're going to get this from me."

Sasuke's face twisted in confusion, "You said that came for me."

Gen nodded, "It did. But possession is nine-tenths of the law... and the only part of the law that matters for people like you and I. Are you really that soft? After all I've taught you?"

Just like that, whatever veneer of calm Sasuke had been trying to maintain broke entirely.

"You didn't teach me anything!" Sasuke snapped, the tomoe of his Sharingan spinning wildly, "You used me as your own personal killer, to do your dirty work!"

"I gave you shelter. I gave you purpose," Gen said, challenging Sasuke's point of view, "I took the raw anger of a foolish child and refined it, pointed it in a direction where it could be productive. Face it, Sasuke. Without me, you would have cannibalized yourself."

"Shut up, already," Sasuke whispered.

"Feh! All bark and no bite," Gen said, needling his protege further, "If you hated it so much, why didn't you leave?"

"Because you would have killed me! I was a child-!" Sasuke stopped when he acknowledged that he'd gone along with Gen because the old man had been more powerful than him. But with all he had done, that couldn't have still been the case... could it have? "...Gen."

A massive smile grew on Gen's face as he could feel the killing intent focused directly onto him. It was different from all of the other times he'd felt it from the young man, "Yes, Sasuke?"

"...I'm going to kill you now," Sasuke declared. There was no anger. There was no fear. There was no joy in the way he said it. He simply spoke as though it were already a recorded fact, "I'm going to kill you for the last five years of my life. I'm going to kill you for trying to control me. I'm going to kill you because I've always wanted to."

Gen chuckled at Sasuke's brazen statement, "Don't think it will be so-," Before he could finish speaking, he had to flip to avoid a knife-handed strike intended to rip his throat open, "Oh-ho... perhaps this will be more amusing than I thought."

Sasuke didn't respond, glaring hatefully at the elderly man before him, or his silhouette at least. This was clearly all by design. Sasuke hadn't ever told anyone how the Sharingan worked, but Gen had clearly gleaned enough by watching him to have figured out some of its most important aspects.

"Your eyes are tailor-made to fight against my preferred style... but did you ever stop to think about how a battle with me would go if you couldn't use them?"

What little moonlight there had been was gone. The clouds were covering it all up, with no reprieve in sight. Now, Sasuke's greatest strength was all but useless to him.

"You can't see me either," Sasuke said, more for his own sake than to try and get to Gen.

"No, I can't," Gen freely admitted, his voice seemingly coming from all around, "But if you think that this levels the playing field... you're sadly mistaken, boy."

Sasuke's instincts told him to cover up his vitals, his arms receiving slashes that had been intended for the arteries at his throat. If just one of those got through, it didn't matter what kind of skills or jutsu he possessed, he would be dead.

'Enough of this,' Sasuke thought to himself rolling through quick hand-seals. He wasn't going to drag this out. He'd long since had enough of Gen's games to play them for even one more moment, even if his life was on the line, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!"

Sasuke wildly sprayed small fireballs from his mouth all around him, lighting up the dark night as they flew. He caught little glimpses of Gen dodging them, edging ever closer to him as he did so. When he got close enough to strike, Sasuke substituted himself, getting his distance.

He had never intended to hit Gen with any of the fireballs. His intention had been something else.

The dry grass on the plains easily sparked ablaze with the help of Sasuke's jutsu. Soon, the flames spread wildly, illuminating the entire area around the campsite.

Gen began to clap his hands slowly and laugh as the field around them burned, "That's the spirit! You always had to win at someone else's game! Shed that worthless pride and fight for your life, Sasuke!"

"Okay-," Sasuke said, allowing the curse mark to spread over his body. His skin greyed as he skipped straight to level two, much to Gen's surprise, "-If you insist."

The smile fell from the old man's face as Sasuke pressed him directly. Without the cursed seal, Sasuke's strength and speed were easily superior. Not only that, but Sasuke had seen and copied most of Gen's fighting techniques. It was only due to guile and experience that Gen could do him any harm at all. Once Sasuke had decided to throw out his own limitations on his strength, the fight was entirely one-sided.

Gen could hardly protect his own vital areas as Sasuke moved all around him, striking at will wherever he saw an opening. Unlike Gen's attacks, Sasuke didn't bother aiming specifically for vitals. He could hit Gen hard enough wherever he landed to do damage by attrition, and it wouldn't take long.

He never let up. Gen was experienced enough to come up with something to turn the tide if he did. But not here. Sasuke was too relentless, too talented, with too much raw power at his disposal.

After decades of combat experience, Gen was at a loss, and it was only a matter of time.

"Chidori (One Thousand Birds)!"

Sasuke didn't know what he expected. Some kind of trick, some sleight of hand, some crotchety old man magic that would keep Gen safe from the deadly jutsu. Definitely something more than him shoving his hand through Gen's chest, just like that.

Gen gasped, a horrible, rattling breath shaking from what was left of his devastated respiratory system. Sasuke stared at him, unblinking the entire time, even when Gen reached up and clutched at his Chidori arm.

The words came with much difficulty for the dying man, "From the moment I was diagnosed with this cursed illness, all I ever wanted were two things. To fall at the hand of a worthy enemy, and to find a successor."

Sasuke had no pity or understanding to offer, "If you wanted a good fight, you waited too long," By now, Sasuke was too powerful, and Gen had been weakened far too greatly from his disease. He had missed the point of their stars rising and falling to get a true clash between them. Sasuke going on his journey likely had much to do with that, "...And, I'm not your successor."

Gen grinned, still infuriating as ever, even with his teeth stained red by his own blood, "But you are. Even if you never intended to be. Those eyes of yours. You've copied my styles. You've copied every technique I've ever learned, and you'll use them in the future as you find use for them."

He was right. Even if it was just something that Sasuke would draw upon once every blue moon, even if it was something Sasuke never touched again, he had the ins and outs of how Gen fought burned into his brain thanks to the Sharingan. If he wanted to, he could pass it down and teach it to someone himself.

This was what Gen had wanted all along.

...Sasuke never would though. He hated Gen. His styles could burn, for all Sasuke cared. If someone wanted to fight like Gen, they could master the Mantis and Crane martial arts styles themselves and build from the ground up.

"Just die already," Sasuke remarked coldly.

Gen wheezed weak laughter, "If you want me dead so badly, finish the job."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and yanked his hand out of Gen's chest with a wet sucking noise. Gen fell backwards to the ground like a tree and didn't move again once his body hit the ground.

The Devil of Hong Kong was dead. Felled in a burning field, far away from anyone who would know or care. It was somehow a fitting for a man who made his reputation as an assassin.

As Sasuke returned to his tent to collect his things and his prize from the victory, he stared at his bloody hand, sparing a glance back at the man he had been yoked to in one way or another for years.

He thought when the time came, he would feel a certain way when he ended Gen's life. He had certainly thought about it and threatened it enough for years. And yet, in that moment, he didn't feel anything. He felt as empty as the seemingly endless plains that surrounded him.

One of two men whose demise he sought the most in the world, and he didn't even enjoy it. It felt anticlimactic, more than anything else.

Would it feel like that if he ever got his hands on Itachi? Would he prefer a long, painful fight, or to defeat his brother quickly and decisively? Would it matter?

In the end, Sasuke shook his head, trying to clear his mind of such thoughts, "This wasn't really revenge," He reasoned aloud, clenching his fist, covered in Gen's blood, "If anything, this was a mercy kill."

The real thing felt different. Better. It had to.

XxX

(With Naruto – Brazil – Isolated Mountainside)

While Naruto continued his training, Oro had departed in order to head to town for a spell. Such a journey would take him at least two days, one to get to civilization, and another to return, minus however long he decided to spend there, partaking in the luxuries of modern civilization. He'd left Naruto with the instructions to continue the tasks that he had set out for him.

Naruto had to admit, he was jealous of such freedom. But he had something more important to take care of, and he wasn't afraid of a little hard work.

'I can do whatever I want back in Japan when I'm finished!' Naruto thought to himself as he and his clones pushed through their current task, 'I can go home, and see everyone again! I'll be back in no time! I just have to keep going!'

Sitting shirtless under a massive waterfall, the original worked to try and reverse the falling water and the flow of the river behind it with nothing more than his chakra. As he did this, his clones were at work experimenting with what he was capable of with the Senjutsu he had available to him.

He didn't know how far along he really was, because Oro never told him. He would always just say that Naruto was showing progress. But he'd at one time said it would take Naruto a few years to even be capable of feeling Senjutsu. That had been vastly underestimating what he was capable of.

All he had to do was keep plugging away. The fruits of his labor would show themselves, just so long as he kept applying his best effort. Harder work just meant greater gains in the long run.

"Wait," Naruto heard from the Kyuubi inside of him. The tailed beast had been mostly quiet since Naruto had begun his training, "Do you feel that?"

It didn't take much for Naruto to reach out with his senses and find exactly what the Kyuubi was referring to.

His eyes snapped open when he located it. A massive power, slogging its way through the jungle towards him. In fact, so potent it was, Naruto could feel animals in the vicinity of it clear out of its way.

"Whoa," Naruto said to himself, putting a pause to his training. He dispelled his clones and leapt out from underneath the waterfall, "That doesn't feel right at all."

It was a dark power, but unlike that of the Satsui no Hadou or his use of the Kyuubi's chakra entirely. It felt more unnatural; he felt sick trying to comprehend it, but there was only so much he could understand it without confronting it directly. And from how it continued to head his way, it didn't seem like he would have a choice. With that in mind, he headed out to meet it.

Despite what he'd felt, Naruto couldn't help but feel a swell of eagerness in his chest. It had been a while since he'd fought anyone other than himself. Even Oro didn't spar with him, saying there would be a time and a place for that. It left him feeling quite stir crazy, which couldn't have had a good effect on his progress.

Eventually, Naruto came to a stop in a rocky river valley and waited, making it a point to flare his chakra every so often to serve as a beacon to those sensitive enough to notice. It didn't take long for someone to join him.

With a powerful crash, a figure landed on the solid rock of the valley floor, breaking through it on impact.

Naruto didn't flinch as dust and debris flew past him. His primary concern was sizing up the new arrival. And there was much to unpack there.

The man had four black streaks on his face, and very long black hair that bled into dull shades of red. The hair was tied into locks, held together by gold ringlets. He stared Naruto down with yellow eyes. Only wearing a tattered white kilt adorned with a gold and brown snake patterned loincloth, a golden belt, and brown open-toed boots, several massive crisscrossing scars covering his chest and arms were visible on his shirtless body.

When he stood to his full height, he towered over Naruto by several inches, "Devour-our-our..." He growled unstably. His body language was volatile, as though he were barely able to control himself.

"If you're looking for old man Oro, he's not gonna be back for a few days," Naruto said. The man only shook his head, "You're not looking for Oro?"

The man slowly lifted his arm, pointing right at Naruto, "Look-Looking for you... warrior," It wasn't as though Naruto had expected any less, "I am Necalli. I consume a-all before me. Your soul wi-will fill my stomach!"

Without warning, he lunged at Naruto, swinging his open hands like claws. Naruto went wide-eyed at the ferocity and decisiveness of the attack, dodging just before his face would have been taken off. Necalli and Naruto's faces were so close, Naruto could note the animalistic snarl from his enemy.

The two of them froze in place as everything around them also seemed to go still. Determined blue eyes stared into hateful yellow. Just as Naruto went to clench his fist to strike, Necalli began swinging rapidly, with blinding speed, faster than Naruto had been counting on him moving.

It was hard to try and figure out the trajectory of Necalli's attacks. He fought like an animal, but he didn't just instinctually try to go for Naruto's vitals. He tried to swipe at anything he could reach, just as long as it would help him take Naruto down in the process. Only reflexes specifically honed over years of battle with a myriad of different foes kept Naruto a step ahead.

He'd only seen Blanka fight a handful of times, but something about Necalli reminded him of the Brazilian wildman. His malice, however, was on another level. There was no comparison for the killing intent between the two of them, and he refused to give Naruto even a measure of space to breathe.

He was able to form the hand-sign to make two Shadow Clones that lunged at Necalli, both smashing punches into both sides of his face, sandwiching his jaws between their fists. Necalli's face warped under the impact, but he otherwise didn't flinch, growling hatefully. Reaching up, he twisted the arms of the clones until they dispelled.

"Hurt you..." Necalli gurgled out, "HURT!" As he bellowed, his hair burst loose from its bonds, lengthening and glowing bright red. The scars on both his body and face glowed red, his skin darkened noticeably, and the sclera of his eyes turned from white to ghastly black.

Black began to creep from Necalli's body, staining the ground around him, steadily creeping farther away from where he stood – towards Naruto. Towards everything.

If that was the game he wanted to play, Naruto was more than willing to oblige him, "Oh, you really want to get serious? Fine with me," His eyes turned red, his lips darkened, his whisker-marks deepened,and most importantly, red chakra flowed from his body in the outline of a fox with three tails, "...I've got training to get back to."

XxX

(Elsewhere in Brazil – 139 Miles Away)

Walking the nighttime roads of the nearest town to his home in the wilderness of the jungle, Oro stopped and turned back in the direction of his home. Massive flocks of birds flew away from that general direction due to the massive amount of negative energy polluting the atmosphere.

Even as far away as he was, Oro could see that people who weren't sensitive to such a thing could even feel it, though they had no idea what it was.

But he knew. He had known for days. In fact, he had guided it to Naruto's location intentionally.

"That creature is an ancient being. An emissary of darkness, only seen once every few hundred years in times of great warriors," Oro muttered to himself, eyes cast to the ground, "He only pursues the strongest the world has to offer. Just the fact that I was able to set him on you instead of just having him come after me shows what you are capable of Naruto."

However, this was not the darkness that Oro had been preparing the boy for. Merely, it was a test. If Naruto couldn't stand against this with the results of his training thus far, he wouldn't be ready for what was to come. And it was a challenge that Naruto could overcome, but only if he approached it the right way.

From what Oro could sense from afar, he was not fighting Necalli the right way. And what was meant to be a test would quickly spiral into a fight for his very soul.

Oro shook his head, as worry continued to grow for his pupil. He was falling back on his old method, and that would not win him the day, "You were better off not using that power at all if this is how you were going to fight that creature. I fear you will make things worse on yourself than you could possibly imagine."

XxX

(With Naruto)

Something was off.

Necalli pumping out all of his dark energy hadn't been enough to match Naruto. All he needed was three tails to utterly overwhelm the feral fighter. Even at his most unbridled and violent. Naruto proceeded to beat him from pillar to post.

"GOOOOUAAA!" Necalli gutturally snarled, as he found himself slammed into the rock wall behind a waterfall. Water and debris flew far and wide.

On the other side of the waterfall, Naruto pounded away with heavy, rapid-fire punches, dislodging large chunks of rock from the cliff face. Thus far, he hadn't even had to resort to using any offensive jutsu to take the upper hand. Necalli's use of brute force was an inferior method when pitted against Naruto's own.

For the last few minutes, it had been a cycle of Necalli launching himself at Naruto as though he wanted to chow down on him, and Naruto brutally rebuking him and responding ten-fold; full contact smashing him in the face with force that he was certain would have destroyed anyone else's skull.

If nothing else, Necalli could absorb an ungodly amount of punishment. Naruto could at least relate with him on that. Something was different about it though.

From behind the waterfall, where he had absolutely felt his enemy's body shatter under the force of his blows, Naruto watched his body contort back into place, bones realigning before he pounced out, ready to fight once more.

"What the fuck?" Naruto verbalized his confusion aloud, "If someone had beaten me like that it would have taken at least a week or something to get over it."

Healing aside, getting beaten to paste was getting beaten to paste. There was only so much of that anyone could take, even Naruto. So, why was Necalli still standing? Why did he seem just as fresh as he did when the fight started?

And when he launched himself and bullied his way through two of Naruto's chakra arms to reach his body directly, he made the most of the tide turning move. Sending Naruto flying back with a shoulder-strike that hit the jinchuuriki in the nose with solid muscle and bone, he kept pressing straight forward, swinging with his open hands, carving into Naruto's clothing and flesh through his chakra cloak, "Fight-ight-ight! The more you fight, the more I crave your soul-oul-oul!"

A nasty trench, tainted with burns from Naruto's chakra and the dark energy of Necalli went back a tenth of a mile before Naruto used a chakra tail to grab Necalli by the face and squeeze, "Raaagh!"

It stopped him, but not for the reason that Naruto wanted, nor expected.

At first, Naruto thought his mouth was wide open in horror and pain, until he felt a tug on his chakra and noticed the movement of Necalli's throat. The red in Necalli's hair had grown bright, and now encompassed all of it, from the ends to the roots.

Naruto pulled back and got some distance, but Necalli kept pursuing him, hungry and ravenous for even more, "So you're hungry, huh? Well, I've got something you can chew on, 'ttebayo!" Naruto shouted, preparing to up the ante further.

"-Don't!"

Naruto hesitated at the sudden command from the Kyuubi within him, 'Huh?' The distraction led to Naruto taking a hard punch that spun him around like a top. He quickly righted himself and kept fighting his relentless foe, 'What do you mean 'don't'?' Naruto thought to the Kyuubi, 'I'm still stronger than him! I'll just go six-tails and put him down.'

The Kyuubi growled at the simple-mindedness of such an approach, "That's what you thought when you went three-tails, and now what!? He's just as strong as you! Don't fall back on my strength!" It said, so bitingly that even Naruto felt it, "He's absorbing it! The more you put out, the more he'll take!"

Naruto grimaced, ducking a swing for his head that downed an entire line of trees behind him, 'How the hell is he absorbing it?'

"Questions for later! Now stop powering him up!"

They were both in agreement that further speculation could wait. The pace that Necalli fought at was utterly inhuman. It was like he didn't even need to stop to take breaths, he simply kept coming. Naruto couldn't even find the time to gather chakra for an attack. All hands were on deck to stop Necalli's rampage, which was tearing up the immediate landscape.

For the first time in a very long time, he was against an opponent that was making him fight their pace, instead of the other way around. Necalli may have had a human form, but that was where his humanity ended.

Naruto quickly turned off his connection to the Kyuubi's chakra, but that didn't outright solve the problem. In fact, as the red cloak of protection and empowerment left him, it created the new problem of slowing him down and lowering his strength.

Necalli delighted in the shift of momentum, reaching out and grabbing Naruto by his face, palming it like a ball. He jumped up into the air, raising Naruto up with him, and forcefully slammed him into the ground.

A rattling gasp left Naruto's lungs as he bounced off of the earth, his body breaking the surface beneath him. Necalli landed and lifted a leg high into the air before stomping down with earth-rattling force, burying Naruto underneath the softened dirt. He repeated the attack, stomping again and again, each time sending Naruto deeper down.

'Fox?' Naruto thought as he felt himself get stomped, 'I turned off your juice, but he ain't getting any weaker.'

"He's already absorbed my chakra, genius. It isn't just going to go away on its own. You have other options, so get up and beat it out of him already."

'Yeah,' Naruto thought to himself, closing his eyes despite the thrashing he was taking, 'Yeah, alright, that sounds like a good idea.'

Topside, Necalli continued to stomp down on his intended prey. Naruto had not yet been tenderized enough for his tastes. He could still sense plenty of life coming from the boy. Too much to allow him to devour his soul. Now that Naruto had turned off that delicious stream of pure malevolent energy he had been gorging himself on, he had to get his meal the old-fashioned way.

During one of his stomps, however, his foot stuck fast. Despite pulling with all of his might, Necalli couldn't free himself, and soon thereafter found himself dragged underground.

Across the battlefield, large lumps of land would periodically raise up, forming new hills, until finally the ground ripped open, "Rasenshinsen (Spiraling Tremor)!"A badly thrashed Necalli was thrown high into the air, body flailing like a rag doll.

Naruto emerged from the hole in the ground, clothes more akin to rags now than proper combat attire. His blue eyes were glued to Necalli's form in the sky - entirely solid blue eyes. The windows to the soul were instead windows allowing an outside observer to see the clouds of foreign energy drifting through his body.

Taking a moment, Naruto looked at his hands, flexing out his fingers experimentally, "Whoa," He said to himself, "...I'm gonna be honest, I didn't expect this big of a kick from Senjutsu," He had never actually tried it in a fight. Again, Oro had never sparred with him.

Oro had been right. As he was now, Naruto felt... everything. He had to really concentrate in order to hone in on exactly what it was he wanted to focus on.

His body felt light and durable in a way that he had only felt when he had used the Kyuubi's chakra, only this didn't come with the ever-present distraction of near-crippling bloodlust.

Necalli didn't care about whatever had changed with his target. Naruto still had a soul worth devouring. If anything, it was even more valuable now. Righting himself in midair, he stalled and began falling back down, intent on crashing into Naruto, "Urrraaaagh!"

Naruto formed a Rasengan in his right hand and held it up in the air, taking aim at Necalli, instead of leaping up to clash with him in the air, he took another route.

"Rasendangan (Spiraling Bullet)!" From the palm of his hand, the spinning ball shot out, using its own locomotion to propel it. It appeared more solid than a normal Rasengan, and kept its complete form as it flew through the open air.

As he was, Necalli could see it coming, yet was entirely unable to contort his falling body in order to dodge it. It hit him dead-center in the belly, grinding into and through flesh, muscle, and bone.

When a Rasengan normally struck, this was the expected occurrence.

The Rasengan would grind into an enemy's body on contact, causing massive internal injuries in relation to the external ones. When it set itself against the greater mass of a human body that couldn't keep itself planted, that body would then be sent flying, or if the body could endure while the structure of the Rasengan was compromised, the jutsu would eventually burst.

It was why a person would be sent flying after being hit with a proper Rasengan, but a stone obelisk would be destroyed if it was impacted instead.

Necalli's body couldn't really be sent flying when he was falling at top speed onto the Rasengan as it was going up. Not only that, but this Rasengan was reinforced by Naruto's use of Senjutsu. It didn't just lose its structure as it did its work. The Senjutsu shell meant the Rasengan kept its form and its spinning motion, eventually drilling a hole straight through Necalli.

Even Naruto had to wince at the brutal outcome of his own attack, "I... didn't see that coming," He admitted aloud as Necalli's body continued to fall. Black blood and pieces of entrails descended from the sky behind him, "Ew. Man."

"End this already, would you?"

Naruto had to admit, the Kyuubi had a point. He could marvel over Senjutsu's effectiveness later. At the moment, he had a fight to finish. He could still feel the malice and dark power coming from Necalli. Even if he was severely weakened, Naruto didn't put it past him to heal if he didn't wipe him out then and there.

"If it makes you feel any better, from what you've been sensing, whatever that thing is, it definitely isn't a living being."

It did make a difference, actually. With this in mind, Naruto created dozens of clones who all leapt into the air, surrounding Necalli's broken body. He swiped at them in defiance as many moved past him and above him, but wasn't able to injure any before they completed their plan.

Every Naruto clone, powered by Senjutsu, formed an Odama Rasengan and aimed them all at Necalli, "Senpou: Chouodama Rasen Tarengan (Sage Art: Many Ultra-Great Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres)!"

Underneath the force of so many super-charged Rasengans, Necalli's body was ground down to its basest composition - a black sickly substance, akin to nothing that could be related to human beings.

When the Rasengan barrage collided with itself, the entire thing detonated in the sky, spreading whatever was left all over the jungle.

Silence reigned, as Naruto tried to feel out any sign of Necalli surviving. After a minute or so of sensing nothing but the wildlife slowly beginning to return to the immediate area, he let go of a breath he had been holding, and allowed himself a victorious grin.

That had felt... amazing. A different kind of rush of power. One that he hadn't been used to ever in his life. No wonder Oro wanted to take him so far away from civilization. He wanted to surround Naruto with as much nature as possible, so that when he worked with Senjutsu, he had every advantage to get a feel for it.

Shrewd old jerk. He could have just told Naruto that at any time before or during their training. All the same, he couldn't feel upset. Not after the successes of today.

Even the Kyuubi couldn't help but feel a measure of satisfaction at what its host had managed to accomplish, "Congratulations, brat. You've learned how to use that old man's Senjutsu nonsense."

Even if Oro said he didn't teach Naruto Senjutsu so that he could use it to fight, there was no question that it was really good for fighting!

Finally being able to put it in action made him want to improve on it further.

XxX

(Elsewhere in Brazil – 139 Miles Away)

Oro was all smiles, and it had nothing to do with the movie he was watching on the theater screen in front of him. His attention had been entirely on keeping track of his pupil's battle, and if he were pressed he would have admitted that he had been concerned for much of it. But in the end, Naruto had succeeded with flying colors.

'A fine start, but like I told you before, this is only the first step,' Oro thought to himself, 'Now, we have to use this as an opportunity to master your own darkness for good. Only then can you stand against the darkness that threatens the world.'

His faith wasn't misplaced. Now once he returned, the next step was to refine what was there now. There would be time for that in a day or two, however.

Rome wasn't built in a day after all. Of course, if the Romans had Shadow Clones, it might have reached its heights much faster.


Alright guys, that's the chapter.

Necalli is a Street Fighter V character. I had to take some time to try and work a little bit of that content in, because some of it is useful to help me bridge the gap to the end of my story.

Anyway, it's been a while, yes, obviously. The Kenchi618 express is over ten years old and ain't what it used to be production-wise. However, it stalls, but it goes!

Okay, we're done here for now. Later, all.

Kenchi out.