A/N: And here's the reboot of "King of the Elemental Nations". As usual, your reviews will determine whether or not it's worth doing over, so do read and review, would you kindly?

{Play: "Mt. Moon" from "Pokemon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony"}

[Somewhere in Hi no Kuni…]

The rain clouds had drawn in very quickly. A bummer to young Uzumaki Naruto as he stood at the mouth of the cave. He'd accidentally found it not too long ago when he was exploring the wilderness and falling into a sinkhole. Not exactly the most painless way of exploring, but it got him somewhere.

Since then, he'd been secretly making trips to the cave, hoping to find something new within. It just so happened that the opening of the cave he was looking out of gave him a pretty good view of a fairly large pond nearby, and there were a lot of really big trees outside. Once, he'd seen a lot of rather large animals pass on by; at first, he thought they were going to go in and eat him. But upon seeing where he was, they seemed to try and steer away from the mouth of the cave. Weird.

Naruto let out a roar of frustration. "If I'd known it was going to rain, I would've brought my rain jacket ahead of time!" he said to himself, before letting out a cathartic sigh. "Well, might as well take a deeper look. It doesn't look like the rain's letting up anyway."

He pulled out an electric lantern, and switched it on-allowing the high-powered LED's to illuminate his way. As Naruto took steps to go further in, he began to think back on his life thus far: things had been different since he'd left the orphanage. The apartment complex he lived in was smack-dab in the middle of the red-light district, the slums, and the marketplace. It wasn't exactly an ideal place to live, given the amount of crime that went on in the former two, but at least he knew each area enough that he could catch pursuers from a mile away. Plus, the marketplace was the perfect place for him to practice the art of stealth, as he managed to get revenge on the people that did worse than glare at him. This was how he was able to get his hands on fresh fruit.

It was thanks to this…training that he was able to sneak into the wilderness, and find this cave. He'd only hoped that nobody explored it any further than he did; Naruto was crossing his fingers that he would be able to find something cool before he had to go home. Plus, there came the matter of school starting up again next week; the Ninja Academy had a two-week break in between each three-month semester.

He soon found himself at a chamber with many entrances. At each entryway, there were large X's scratched into each portal. Naruto tried three of them, and found that they were all empty. This was probably the best way of telling which way was explored already, and which was not; and so he decided to focus his attention on the ones that weren't marked. So far, his discoveries had included several large treasure chests, which were filled with jewels and gold; a hidden stash with white powder; and several dead-ends which he marked to never come back.

This time, he found another entrance he'd never been to before. Whatever was in there, he'd only hoped that it would be very cool. As he took steps further down the hall, he kept his lantern on to keep an eye open; there were supposed to be bats in caves, but he hadn't heard any flapping. "I guess even bats are too scared to live here. But so what? I'm still going to see what's in this cave that even animals are too scared to come in, or my name's not Uzumaki Naruto!"

After nearly half an hour of walking, Naruto found himself walking into a chamber. Deciding to investigate the chamber even further, he decided to take a look around. As he waved his lantern around, while taking very cautious steps, he found his attention drawn to something reflecting the light from his lantern.

Taking closer steps towards the source of the reflection, Naruto could only yelp in surprise and stumble backwards. After getting over his moment of fear, he moved closer and carefully to get a better look at whatever it was that he was looking at: the first thing he saw was some kind one-eyed creature with a blade-like metallic shell wrapping its fleshy tendrils around a fancy-looking glass sword that was driven into the eye, with the lids closed over it. It looked like it was forever locked in combat with the sword, as the tendrils seemed to be frozen in the middle of trying to pull the sword out.

Behind the eternal battle, Naruto saw a glass statue of a man that knelt to the ground. While many details about him were obscured, there were quite a few things that he could make out: he had a large, streamlined, and half-naked body composed of lean muscle that evoked the image of a majestic bird of prey. This was supported by the fact that his fingers and toes were tipped in very deadly points, and his feather-like hair was blown backwards to give him an even more avian appearance. Even though he was kneeling, Naruto eyeballed him to be at least 6 feet in height (quite possibly the tallest man he'd seen so far), and the man was looking upwards with a very regal and defiant expression on his face, which seemed to be backed up by the gold bracelets and anklets he wore, the tassels, and the clip holding the cloth around his neck together

However, all those descriptions of the man flew out the window when Naruto took an even closer look at the statue. "It's so life-like," he said, studying it even closer. He was no expert on art, but even he could tell that whoever sculpted this statue had to be really skilled and dedicated (and probably crazy detailed) to have been able to pull this off: every hair fiber on his head, every weave of the cloth, every wrinkle on his body, even the scar running down over the left eye and the battle damage looked very realistic. Come to think of it, Naruto thought he could see bones and organs under layers of red 'muscles'. "Talk about overkill."

Naruto followed the man's gaze. He seemed to be looking up at the sculpture in front of him, as though daring whomever it was to even touch it. "So you don't want me to pull the sword out of that thing, eh?" snarked Naruto, "Well I ain't going to be intimidated by a statue!"

He walked around, and had to jump to get a good grip on the sword by its hilt. After a few tugs, the glass sword just wouldn't budge. "C'mon, sword!" grunted Naruto, "Work with me here!"

Half an hour had passed until Naruto noted that the sword had started to budge. Sensing his imminent victory, he made one final tug at the hilt of the sword, and wound up having it flip in an arc over his head. He then had a good look at the thing. It had a deep blue sphere in the middle, and it had an overall crystalline appearance, with crystals growing from it. The sword looked like it had to be wielded in both hands, and was way too heavy for him to handle.

Naruto lifted the sword by the hilt, and raised it slightly above his head. "Ha! I finally did it!" Tired from the effort spent on pulling out the sword, he leaned against the creature with one hand on the metallic shell. "What do you think of me now, tough guy?"

All he had in response was silence, and the statue still seemed to be staring defiantly at him. However, Naruto suddenly had the strange feeling that he was being watched. He turned around to see the creature looking at him with its cat-slit eye focused upon him. Before he could push off, the creature used its fleshy tendrils to pierce his arm, eliciting a moan of pain from Naruto as it started to dig into his flesh to get into his bloodstream. On the other hand, the glass sword was glowing a bright whitish color as it began to crystallize his other arm, causing him to yelp in fright.

From that moment on, all Naruto could feel was agony. Both of the things in his hands were trying so very hard to kill him that his moans were starting to die down, and his vision began to darken…

[Unknown location…]

All was quiet. The entire area gave the impression of a sewer that ended in an L-shaped junction with a left-turn. There was a trench in the middle of the hall that was filled with water, and pipes lined the ceiling. Darkness had obscured much of the entire area, but it was clear that the floors were made of concrete, and there were brick walls.

In the left turn, a large metal cage had taken up the entire area. The gates were held together using a slip of paper with the character "封" written upon its surface. Snoring could be heard from the bars of the cage, which gave a very obvious indication that something lived here.

The serenity and monotony of the prison was broken when a quake had rocked the entire area. Crimson eyes had opened from behind the bars upon feeling the tremors, shaking through the prison. They searched the area, hoping for an answer when something shot through the walls in front of the cage. A bluish crystal had spiked its way past the masonry, the tip almost penetrating the paper. It was soon followed by a red crystal erupting through the floor, and making cracks in the cement. From that point on, blue and red crystals began to grow at accelerated rates.

"At last, a new body for me to inhabit!" called out a growling, masculine voice, causing the red crystals to pulse in rhythm with the words, "It shall be mine!"

"No! This body shall be my vessel!" shot back a feminine voice coming from the blue crystals, "There will be no room for you."

"You are the one that is not welcome here! I will gain control of this body, and all souls in the world will be mine!"

"And I shall do my part in opposing you. Under my guidance, the boy shall be a proper king!"

Ignoring the quibbling of the two voices, the prisoner watched as crystals continued to burst through the walls and the floor, and even through the ceiling. They also continued to grow, utterly destroying he environment.

Whatever was going on, one thing was clear to the prisoner: whether for good or for bad, this place would be changed forever. And from this point on, things would be interesting. Now if only it could get the two voices to stop fighting…

[Unknown location─long ago…]

When Naruto came to, he sat up. He soon began to massage his head in an attempt to relieve the pain. However, as he looked at the ground, he noted that the ground was lit up. He then turned his head to notice that he was in a different location. He saw the skies around him, which meant that he was outside in the daytime. "Where am I?" he asked himself, continuing to take in his surroundings, "Why am I not in the cave?"

The area he was in had a stone floor, and was surrounded by multiple pillars that had some cloth fluttering in between them. Naruto also noted that there seemed to be a fleshy substance that crept across the floor, and led to a closed eye. The darkening golden hues that the skies seemed to be taking however, told him that it was at dusk…or dawn. But the appearance of the moon rising up in the distance told him that it was the former.

Naruto then saw someone approaching. It was a woman that was floating towards him. She was quite a looker, and the amount of white on her person seemed to give her an ethereal quality to her appearance: ridiculously long and snowy hair that floated and trailed behind her, flowing with the winds of her power. Her body was wrapped up under smooth and bright skin that had a pearly complexion to it. The kimono she wore was a one-piece article of clothing with wide sleeves and was an off-white, with a dark crimson trim on the sleeves, tail, and collar, with deep red magatama motifs on it. What really made her stand out were the two horns on her head, the slit going down the middle of her forehead, the two red spots above her eyebrows, and cold white eyes that held a very terrible power. "Where have I seen those eyes before?" he muttered to himself.

At first, Naruto thought she was coming for him, until he noted that her gaze was on someone behind him. He then turned to see that sitting in a slouched position on a stone throne with a snake motif was the bird-man he'd seen back in the cave; only this time, he was not made of glass (Or was it crystal?), as his entire body seemed to have reverted back to soft tissue and actual cloth. There was a serious expression on his face as he watched the woman float towards him, but he made no move to extricate his head from the hand that was holding it up on the armrest of his throne. The words that came out of his mouth were spoken with a flange that added 'oomph' to his booming and regal voice: "You've come. And for my power, I take it?"

"I have come to put an end to your reign, King of Heroes," said the woman, "you will not be able to escape now that we've dealt with your followers and heirs. Now, it is time to put an end to your rule, and to our rivalry."

The man known as the King of Heroes simply smirked. "I don't expect you to understand me. I've lived and suffered through enough; and have guaranteed that my rule was just. I suppose it was only fitting that there would eventually be people that desired more than they had."

"Be that as it may; with your death, there will be a new beginning. One where there will be peace in the world, and nobody needs to suffer. It will be a united world where everyone will feel love, and have a chance to become happy, and where we can begin our relationship with nature anew."

"A noble goal indeed," sighed the King, "but I wonder…will your ideals still hold true when you dethrone this king as you have others?"

The horned woman's glare intensified as she heard that; it was clear, she was insulted by the insinuation. "They will never change. I, Ōtsusuki Kaguya, of the Ōtsusuki Clan swear by it!"

The King scoffed lightly. "At least your resolve is still as strong as when I first met you. But you still haven't answered the question I've asked you: must the king be alone in his superiority?"

There was a bit of silence as the woman named Kaguya seemed to consider her answer. "Yes. The king must indeed be alone."

A half-smile had found its way on the King's face. "Wrong answer," he teased, standing up and folding his arms together. As soon as he stood to his full height, the throne vanished into thin air. "but regardless; you are a rebel worthy of judgment. I will show you how true kings fight. And I, Algol, the King of Heroes, shall be the one to teach you!"

{Play: "The Final Showdown! VS Champion Rival" from "Pokemon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony"}

The now-named Algol took a few steps towards Kaguya, before he formed an aura around himself and started levitating above the ground. His slight grin had turned serious and determined as he looked upon his opponent. The slit on Kaguya's forehead had opened to reveal a red eye with something three rings expanding outward from the iris and three magatama rotating lazily in concentric circles. There was a moment of silence between the two of them as they stared each other down. All of a sudden, the two of them vanished with a loud, 'whoosh'.

Naruto could not see anything, but he heard the sound of blades swinging around, as well as some strange sound, as well as cutting into the ground. He saw white sticks with pointy ends digging themselves into the ground at high speeds. Once in a while, he caught glimpses of the two of them fighting before they vanished back into thin air too quickly for his eyes to follow. Is this how gods fight? he asked himself, as he studied the duel carefully.

While the destruction that came from their battle left hard evidence of the fight between them, Naruto could see how the two of them fought, and the differences were clear. Kaguya was keeping Algol from getting close to her, periodically firing those white spikes at him from below her wrists. Algol on the other hand had a pair of blue and red crystal blades on his hands that he tried to use to stab and slash at his opponent, along with other bladed weapons that were hidden in his body. Both were teleporting, with Algol chasing after his opponent in an attempt to land a deadly blow upon her, and Kaguya quickly moving away to get in a better position to take potshots at him.

When it was clear that the match had come to a stalemate; neither fighter was gaining the advantage. Naruto watched the fight continued to escalate as Algol began to do something weird: he formed a pair of cylindrical cages around his forearms, and began to fire slow-moving spheres of energy at his opponent, and then moving in to stop her from escaping. This had the effect of pushing her into his shots. Very tricky indeed. This did not stop the attacks from moving quickly. In fact, it seemed to make every attack more desperate.

However, even though the battle was going on too fast for the eye to see, Naruto knew that something had to give. It was going on for far too long and too fast to last forever, and it would eventually end with the two fighters slowing down. True to form, the two fighters had finally come to a stop, and Naruto saw Algol and Kaguya staring each other down. It was clear from her stance that while Kaguya was the victor here, but she did not escape the battle unscathed: she had numerous scratches, bruises, and scorch marks on her body that cut through her clothes, revealing deep gashes that seemed to be slowly sealing themselves. She also had bones sticking out of her body in certain places, likely from Algol using the power generated from his muscles to sucker-punch her.

She was panting heavily as she looked down upon Algol, who was on one knee. He looked up at her with a defiant look in his eyes. He seemed to have fared even worse than Kaguya, and it looked like Naruto had just learned how he had the battle-damage on his statue, coupled with what amounted to internal bleeding if there was blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. What was even more telling about the king's fate was that as he was kneeling, he started to crystallize from his feet. "My reign has ended…for now," he growled, in between pants as the crystallization had started creeping past his knees and to his thighs, "you have defeated me, but your victory won't last," At this point, his abdomen had crystallized, and it was starting to move up to his pecs. "when I see that your rule has darkened, and you have fallen from your ideals of peace and love, my successor will come. They shall gain my power and my weapons, and they incorporate them with your own witchcraft against you. They shall defeat you and rule this world from my throne. And with your end, a truly new beginning shall rise from your ashes."

Now, the creature that Algol was looking at had begun sprouting from the ground, its eye looking around wildly as it tried to get free. Before it could even move, the glass sword had begun to form in the air, and stabbed it in the eye, causing it to continuously try to break free. "Remember this, Ōtsusuki Kaguya, Princess of the Ōtsusuki clan," continued Algol, with the crystallization having reached halfway up his neck, "for if you falter in your ideals, my successor shall be the one to crush you once and for all. This I swear, upon my throne as king of this world!"

After having said his last words, Algol had turned into the statue that Naruto knew of him as. He watched as Kaguya stood over his body. There was no malice in her expression, not even a hint of taunting; just a moment of sympathy for him. "Rest now, King of Heroes; there will be no need for you to find a successor," she claimed, "for I will never falter. And I will not stop until I've made the world better under my rule."

Naruto's vision began to darken. He had no idea what was happening, but had no intention of letting whatever it was to consume him. Unfortunately, there was no escape; the darkness had already devoured him…

{Play: "Rise" by Hans Zimmer, from "The Dark Knight Rises"}

[Cave…]

…and had caused him to awaken with a start. Naruto's head began to throb at ungodly speeds, causing him no end of pain. He remembered what he saw in that dream, and hazarded a glance to see that the metallic creature and the glass sword were nowhere to be seen.

Was it all a dream?

And yet, why was the statue of Algol all that remained?

"Child, walk your own path to kingship."

Naruto let out a yelp of surprise as he started looking around. He knew that that voice belonged to Algol, but where did it come from? He then watched as the statue of Algol had shattered into what looked like diamond dust. "If I'm going to be king, then I'll be the best king this world's ever seen!"

A/N:

Vocabulary:

封─this is the character for 'seal'.

Cameos/References

"must the king be alone in his superiority?"-these words come straight from Iskandar from "Fate/Zero", shortly before he uses his Noble Phantasm "Ionian Hetairoi".