Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 1: The Consumer of Worlds

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Chapter 33: Momoshiki and Kinshiki

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Next morning in Konoha, Sasuke Uchiha is lying in a hospital bed. He's kept asleep by his memories of Kobo. His days with him, the opportunity to see him grow more power and more humane, after all the troubles he's lived through… After spending his youth being treated as a killing machine.

He recalls what words his fellow Uchiha had told him, when they were facing Sojobo. "You can't afford to die here, there are people waiting for us outside."… His last words to him, from yesterday, have the exact same meaning. "You're alive. Don't waste it"

Sasuke would have been ready to sacrifice for him, but it had to happen the other way. Judging by Kobo's firm belief about the link that connects Sasuke's fate with the rest of the world, to him, it's as if he gave his life away to save the world. With his mind filled with good memories of his late brother, guilt takes over.

Just like for Z, 11 years ago, Sasuke had told them that following him didn't put them under his protection, but only in the same dangerous situations as him. He may have warned them, it doesn't stop him from feeling guilty. Until now, he still can't look at Minaa without thinking of Z's sacrifice. He'll now have to face the same feeling with Sana and Teru, about their family's father figure.

As these negative thoughts drown his mind, he wakes up to break free of his anxiety. Back to reality, he sees his dear wife taking care of him.

"You're finally awake." says someone else, standing next to the room's window.

Sasuke looks there and sees Kakashi, resting his back against the wall, reading a book. The Uchiha lets his head fall back on his pillow and sighs.

"You need to know what happened. That's why you're here." says Sasuke, acting mistrustful.

"Don't be so leery." says Sakura who sits next to him and takes his hand. "Don't worry about Tsubai. He's in this hospital too, and will also wake up soon. How do you feel?"

"I feel… pissed…" says Sasuke. "This is all my fault…"

"Don't say that. Guilt won't change anything." she answers.

"She's right." adds Kakashi. "The 7th Hokage is on his way. You'll tell him everything, not to me."

"The 7th? Right,… Naruto is Hokage…"

"He did,… 2 years ago. We just returned from his first council."

Sasuke doesn't say anything more. He just stares at the ceiling, and thinks of his enemies. Those he met in this other world. This Momoshiki Otsutsuki… He was referred to as the Consumer of Worlds in Katashiki's notes. It was a mistake to consider he could be taken lightly.

"I really missed you." says Sakura, still holding her husband's hand.

Sasuke stares at her, and still says nothing, doesn't even smile. He just keeps thinking.

"When you get home, I'll introduce you to Izuna, and Sarada." adds his wife.

"Sarada?" says Sasuke, suddenly curious.

"Yes, our daughter. She was born 5 months ago, last March. You couldn't be here, so I gave her this name. Do you like it?"

"It's good…" he quietly says.

From the door, Shizune gets in, followed by the young Izuna. Sakura looks disappointed, since she didn't expect her son to be there. She lets go off Sasuke's hand and stands up, with a serious look on her face. Izuna just looks suspiciously at the man lying on the bed, who lifelessly looks back.

"We'd like some assistance with Tsubai Minamoto, he'll wake up soon, but is still low on chakra." says Shizune. "It's like he was completely empty when he arrived…"

"Come home, once you're well." gently says Sakura to Sasuke before leaving with her son and Shizune.

The two medics leave the room, leaving their husbands alone. Izuna follows, and looks confused at his mother, thinking about the guy on the bed, that he remembers from yesterday, when he learned about Teru's father's death.

"What's with this weirdo in there?" he asks his mom.

"Weirdo?" exclaims Sakura, before slapping the back of his head. "Don't talk about your father like that!"

"WHAT? MY FATHER?" yells Izuna. "That's him?"

"It's really a shame that you have to meet in such conditions… But yes it's him. Sasuke, your dad. We'll talk about this later."

While they go down the hallway of the hospital, they walk passed the 7th Hokage heading for Sasuke's room, followed by his loyal right hand, Konohamaru Sarutobi, leader of the Sarutobi clan.

"Lord Hokage!" quietly says Izuna, contemplating his hero with sparkles in his eyes.

Naruto just walks by, and nods when he sees Sakura and his assistant. He gets to his best friend's room and sees him, lying there in such a sorry state. The two old rivals just stare at each other for a moment, without a word. Naruto then looks at Kakashi, to try and guess if Sasuke already said anything. The wanderer in his bed looks at Konohamaru, trying to figure out who he's supposed to be. He looks back at Naruto and notices his new style. He's wearing an orange vest, as always, but also the 7th Hokage's cape, wrapped around his body. His hair also grew back to their length from the 4th war.

"I'm a clone. The real me is with Sana and the kid, to present my condolences." says the Hokage while walking to Kakashi, then leaning against the wall next to hi sensei. "So… Tell me everything. Who was it?"

Sasuke remains silent for a moment, recalling these events one last time in his mind, before explaining it to his friend.

"We… were heading for a piece of architecture, a castle. It seems like Kaguya used to build these in her worlds to store notes, like Katashiki."

"These guys sure liked to write a lot." says Naruto. "Good for us. Go on."

"We ran into 3 men, from the Otsutsuki clan who were looking for the same thing."

"3? Just like that? That's the first time we see more than one alone. Were they all like Katashiki or Kaguya?"

"Did you know them?" asks Kakashi, before Sasuke can process Naruto's question. "Are they those Katashiki had written about?"

"For one of them, yes…" answers Sasuke to Kakashi, before looking back at Naruto. "2 of them, one called Kinshiki, I think, and I don't know the other's name. They were far too strong for Tsubai and Kobo, but nothing I couldn't handle myself. We managed to eliminate the weaker of the 3, and when we were about to dispose of this Kinshiki, the last one, Momoshiki, got involved."

"Momoshiki, it is, uh?" thinks Kakashi, aloud. "The one Katashiki Otsutsuki referred to as a Consumer of Worlds."

"Consumer of Worlds?" asks Naruto, intrigued by this intimidating nick name.

"The two others…" says Sasuke. "I don't think they were even at Katashiki's level. At least, I'm certain they were far from Kaguya or the Daitengu. Up to this date, Naruto, Kaguya still is the strongest of them you've faced. But that Momoshiki, for the first time since I've fought her, made me feel seriously inferior."

"What about that?" asks Naruto again. "Could you notice the abilities of these Kinshiki and Momoshiki guys?"

"Kinshiki is some kind of boulder man. He's huge and wide, but still really fast. He's the first Otsutsuki I see actually using weapons. He creates them out of his chakra, like I do with Susanoo, except he can control the shape and type of them at will. He also absorbs Ninjutsu, I don't know how… But I can handle this one."

"And this Consumer guy?"

"He… has a lot of resources. I'm sure I didn't even get to see half of it. He has a pair of Rinnegan in the palms of his hands. In the little time we fought him, he proved he was on par with me… No, better than me at Taijutsu. He can manipulate his hair like Kaguya did, and uses a lot of ninjutsu elements and Kekkei Genkai abilities, like Explosion Release,… which he used to…" Sasuke pauses for a moment, remembering the sound of the explosion, and the hole carved through Kobo's body… "His most troublesome ability is that he can throw back the jutsus he absorbs with the Rinnegan, but stronger and bigger."

"On par with Kaguya, but way too much for you?" says the Hokage. "You're either underestimating yourself, or him… About Kaguya, she had impressive jutsus for sure. But mostly, she used natural energy, and a unique form of Senjutsu, just like I do. Isn't any of these 3 able to do so?"

"That… I forgot to mention, seems to be a basic for them." answers Sasuke. "I've found a lot of information about them, their nature. Jugo's clan's Kekkei Genkai, which makes him continuously receive natural energy that he stores in his body and can use later in battle, is one among many common traits in this clan."

"So they're all able to use Senjutsu, uh?… Tell me more about about these common abilities?"

"Momoshiki had rinnegans in his hands, but his real eyes were, just like for his two partners, a pair of Byakugan. So all of them have at least one of the 3 great Dojutsu. They also all seem to have the ability to levitate. Most of them also are able to travel through dimensions in some way, but I'm not sure if this is mandatory… I've never seen any of them perform, or even just mention, hand seals. And finally, they're all naturally far above the average human. Each individual from this clan is a pure chakra creature. They have sensory capabilities surpassing those of the Yamanaka, Taijutsu skills above those of the Hyuga and the Suicide Corps. Their speed rivals that of your father. Their raw strength beats Tsunade's. Their durability is enough to make them blade-proof… And they all have chakra reserves on par with your fox at least."

"Talk of super beings… They're like the human shape of a Biju, But with flight and Senjutsu, uh?… About that, can your left eye absorb their jutsus?"

"Yes. Senjutsu isn't all that complicated to handle as long as it doesn't overtake my own chakra. Moreover, a Rinnegan user with Senjutsu should be able to absorb it without any drawback or risk."

"So you can… Which means it is nothing more than natural energy. They're not using Rikudo Senjutsu, or just Rikudo chakra, I mean."

"… Yes…" answers Sasuke, not sure of understanding what his friend tries to say. "Rikudo Senjutsu, as far as I know, should not be manipulable by anyone else than its user. So it is impossible to absorb."

"Which means I could fight this Momo guy without the risk of seeing my jutsus thrown back at me." confidently adds Naruto. "Is there any risk that these guys come to Konoha, or will they stay in their other dimension?"

"I don't know…" answers Sasuke, unsettled by the Hokage's reaction to hearing the enemy's abilities.

Everyone in the room goes silent for a moment, until Konohamaru gets curious about something.

"Sasuke Sir, you didn't report anything for the last 8 years, but you just gave exclusive information about this clan." he says. "What did you discover about them. Are there any other specificity, members, or weaknesses?"

"There's a lot." answers Sasuke.

"Like what? Just to give an idea."

"There's other members. We already met Kaguya, and heard of her children. We fought against Katashiki, and I've met those 3. But Katashiki and Kaguya wrote about many others. Naruto do you remember the soul puppets that Katashiki used against us?"

"How could I forget?" answers the Hokage.

"He called them Tsukumogami, and 3 of them were actually Otsutsuki clan members in the past. Katashiki also mentions an Inashiki in his notes that I already mentioned to Kakashi. He also mentions a woman called Saraya Otsutsuki, but judging by his notes, it could be that these last two are already dead."

"I remember Katashiki telling me that his shadow monster was once a living woman… So with those 3 soul puppets, we've met 10 members of this clan, and there are two more that are already dead?" asks Naruto. "There's a lot of them. What about the black dragon that destroyed Ryuka 10 years ago? He was using a form of chakra that we couldn't even feel. Was he one of the 3 puppets that were Otsutsuki in the past?"

"Not this one. The shadow form, and the dinosaur were. The third Otsutsuki had his soul separated into many of these bodies, but that dragon was something else. However, Kaguya and Katashiki both made reference of something in their notes…. Like not just a dragon, but some kind of higher power."

"A higher-power? Compared to Kaguya? That sounds interesting." exclaims Naruto. "You know what? You should rest now and bring a complete report to my office later. If possible, just hand over the scrolls and notes that you found."

"I'll do so." simply says the Uchiha, kind of relieved by his friend's hopeful behavior.

Naruto turns around and leaves, followed by Konohamaru and Kakashi.

"Naruto!" calls Sasuke, before the Hokage walks through the door frame.

The 7th looks back at his friend lying in this bed, and waits a moment to hear what he has to say.

"As soon as I'm out of here,… I'll leave again, and go after him, you know that?"

"I understand. But don't waste your life. You should stay here for at least a day, with Sakura and your kids." answers Naruto. "What would Kobo think, if he saw you throw everything away in the name of vengeance… again?"

After these words, Naruto exits the room, leaving Sasuke alone to think about it. In another room in the hospital, Tsubai Minamoto finally wakes up, after losing consciousness against Momoshiki. As he opens his eyes, Tokiwa, sitting next to him gets startled and catches his hand.

"He's awake!" she says to alert her son, in the room with her.

Takeshi comes closer to his parents. Tsubai opens his eyes wide and looks at his wife, like he just woke up from death.

"Toki… wa?" he says, still half asleep. "Did I ever tell you about Himari?"

"Yes… Yes you did, Tsubai." she answers. "At least a hundred times now."

"Welcome back, Dad." quietly says Takeshi, just standing next to his mom.

Tsubai moves his head to see his son, in a Genin uniform.

"Oh, if it isn't the damn devilish kid!" he says.

Tsubai, after all these years, still only associates his son with the incident that happened 9 years ago. He still has no idea of what his son's tengu is, or what his powers are. All he knows is what Tentoki said, about his son being special. Still looking around, Tsubai sees his wife's worried and saddened face, on the verge of shedding tears. He looks to the ceiling and understands where he is. The reason why the first person he thought of when waking up is Himari, is because he's in the same hospital in which he woke up after his fight with Katashiki. This ceiling was the first thing he saw after he passed out, following his best friend's death. Now, he can very distinctively sense Sasuke's chakra in this hospital, but not Kobo.

"Sharingan boy died, is it?" he asks his wife, who just slowly nods her head to answer. "So he knew about the future… What a man… It should have been me, not him."

"What do you mean?" asks Tokiwa.

"You know… When I first met that boy, I though he'd make a good pair with Saori, my sister." tells Tsubai. "This was, of course, before we met Sana."

Takeshi and Tokiwa don't say anything. They just let Tsubai externalize his thoughts.

"But those damn Otsutsuki bastards are still alive. So for now, his sacrifice's still meaningless. We still have to beat them out of life." he says, before turning his head again to look at his son.

He just now consciously notices the uniform. He's now figuring out what his son has been up to this last year, while he was gone.

"What about you? You're a Mininja now? Aren't you just 10 years old?" he asks, trying to stay cool.

"Yes, I'm 10." answers the young man. "Tentoki says you look like shit."

"Well, tell this damn lizard light thing that I'm thankful for this compliment."

"Dad?" asks Takeshi. "Who did this? Who killed Teru's father?"

"Oh… Some creepy godlike human fly. Why? Do you want to kill him yourself?"

"I'd like to. He deserves it." answers Takeshi, seriously.

"Forget it. I'm not even sure if Sasuke could beat this one." says Tsubai, worried for the future, and for his friend.

The Minamoto stops speaking and looks at the ceiling again. He recalls his battle with the Otsutsuki with a fishing rod like thing. He trembles just of the thought of how unreachable these beings seemed to be. To think Sasuke could beat them with ease, but also that their boss, the third one, is too strong even for his Uchiha friend…

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Somewhere else on this blue planet, the threat that Sasuke and Naruto just discussed about, Momoshiki Otsutsuki, is roaming above a land under the great continent, the land of Heart, Shin no Kuni.

He and Kinshiki spent the last hours scouting around the land of Fire and the land of Lightning with their chakra hidden from any possible perception. They're now flying over Shin no Kuni, the land that once was the place of a war between the Onikuma and the Kurama clans, but was united as one by the Tomoe clan.

Kinshiki follows his partner but is intrigued by his strategy, and unsure. The two beings speak together, but whitin their minds, without moving their lips, to avoid being overheard or read on

"Momoshiki, what are your intentions exactly? Why are we standing upon this land, and why were we roaming around the ninja continent earlier?"

"We'll return to these lands later… First we need a place to settle." answers Momoshiki.

"A garden, you mean? To plant the trees."

"Yes, but not yet. If I just threw a root of the Shinju here and let it consume all this world's chakra, it would indeed create a fruit that bares all of Earth's power, but since all this chakra together would make Kaguya's chakra, it could also just reincarnate this dumb bitch. That's not what I want."

"You could just revive and defeat the princess to consume her as the fruit, don't you?" suggests Kinshiki.

"Yes, but it would make me nothing more than a host to the Deidarabocchi's power, which I is not what I aim to become. Moreover, I'm not sure of how much she was changed by her betrayal. I don't know how powerful she became, and if I really bring her back to life again, they wouldn't let me get away with killing her."

"The princess had already been revived a few years ago, but was immediately defeated by the fox and the Rinnegan user. Ashihara didn't get involved back then."

"Back then, Kinshiki, she was there, but not me. They probably trusted the human weaklings to defeat her. This time, I'm the problem. You and I both know how it is set to end for now. Did you forget why we came to this shit world?"

"No, you're right. I understand. I am sorry… But how will you proceed then? Is it possible to retrieve all this world's chakra without becoming the Beast's Jinchuriki?"

"It is. It is no different from every other world I consumed until now. There is simply more chakra, so all that we need is more trees. All this energy as one makes a Juubi, but split into many fruits, it would just be like many of other worlds: Power wielding fruits, not dense enough to force Shinju's soul onto you."

"But eating all of these fruits would have the same result as just eating a single one that contains all the chakra at once. So we'd avoid the princess' return, but not Shinju's burden."

"Not if each of those fruits is eaten by a different individual first. Each of the fruit eater will see its body evolve and become a demigod. Their power will be no more than their own. Their fusion won't result in Kaguya anymore, as they will technically be as evolved as her."

"Oh I see. So you intend to feed those fruits to human beings. And once every fruit has been eaten, you'll absorb the eaters. This way, you'll collect all their chakra and powers without becoming the Beast."

"And instead become the most powerful being in this universe." he says, before looking up to the sky and address to a mysterious being. "How are you gonna parry this, Dragon Sage?"

Kinshiki just stares at Momoshiki, with a sorry look in his eyes. He knows the reason of their plan on Earth. Momoshiki is resolved to rewrite his fate, and the only way for him to do so is to destroy all his rivals once and for all. Momoshiki turns around to look at Kinshiki and resumes his explanation.

"This land, the land of Heart, will be the place where we will unite and hide the hosts, and then grow the trees. Since I don't know how long it may take, and because humans have ridiculously short lifespans, I'll take young ones."

"Do you aim for any specific host, or just any random human kid?" asks Kinshiki.

"While we're at it, let's make it fun and look exclusively for interesting brats. I already have two of them ready… Kinshiki, do you remember what we did on this planet with your younger sister's power a decade ago? That thing Inashiki told us about."

"Oh, the child you secured. So that was the reason for this… I see. You truly secured your way through this harvest, Momoshiki."

"He'll be the first one. The second one will be… Inashiki's vessel."

"He won't like it."

"Whatever, my actions will result in this world's destruction. This kid's gonna die with it anyway. And Inashiki's not gonna be able to worry about it any longer after I'm done."

"Agreed… So it makes two. How many hosts do we need?"

"I'd say 5 should be enough. After these two, I'll just select the remaining ones among the population of this land."

Momoshiki looks down at the land of Heart and makes a sadistic smile. Kinshiki looks at his partner and then down at the land like him.

"We'll get the hosts later. First let's make this holy garden ours. We'll re rename this land… Shin no Kuni, the land of Gods."

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End of Chapter 33 -Next Chapter: The strongest of all Kunoichi