The two tornadoes continued to clash, the sheer force of their collision distorting the very air around them. Sparks of flame and razor-sharp gusts of wind spiraled outward, carving deep scars into the battlefield. The pressure was immense—so great that the ground beneath them trembled, cracks forming beneath their feet.
For a moment, it seemed as though Mizuki's wind was overpowering the flames. The fire cyclone flickered, struggling to hold its form against the relentless, cutting force of the raging tempest.
Mizuki's laughter rang out through the chaos.
"Haha, Ashen Blade!" he shrieked, his voice twisted with glee. "You don't talk big anymore, huh?! What happened to all that confidence?!"
His wind surged, pressing further against the flames, forcing them back inch by inch. The howling gusts roared like a beast unleashed, carving through the battlefield with relentless fury.
Naruto's eyes widened as he watched the wind tornado push back Hiroshi's flames.
"Fuck! Your father's losing, Shin!" Naruto shouted, his voice laced with panic. His fists clenched as he watched the scene unfold, his usual excitement replaced with unease.
Shin didn't respond immediately. His jaw tightened, his hands trembling slightly at his sides. He was worried—deeply so—but at the same time, something inside him refused to believe it was over.
He had never seen his father fight seriously before, but... he wanted to believe in him.
So even as the flames wavered, even as Mizuki cackled with cruel delight, Shin kept his eyes locked on the battlefield, waiting.
And inside the raging inferno—
Hiroshi stood still, unshaken.
Despite the overwhelming pressure, despite the incredible energy he was expending to maintain the clash, his expression remained eerily calm. His breathing was steady. His grip on his sword never wavered.
Because he wasn't out of options.
Not yet.
Mizuki's cruel laughter rang through the battlefield, his monstrous face twisted in sadistic glee as his wind tornado pushed closer and closer toward Hiroshi.
"Haha, Ashen Blade! What's happening now, huh?!" Mizuki shrieked, the storm around him raging stronger. "Did you finish your chakra perhaps?!"
Naruto and Shin watched in mounting horror. Hiroshi's flames were receding. The once-roaring inferno that had swallowed Mizuki whole was shrinking, as if being snuffed out by the overwhelming winds.
"Shin, this isn't good!" Naruto shouted, his heart pounding. "Why is your father's fire disappearing?!"
Shin didn't answer. His fists clenched, his breathing uneven. Was this really it? Was his father—
Suddenly—
Rumble—
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
But this was different.
This was stronger.
More intense.
The sheer pressure in the air became suffocating. The battlefield itself seemed to bow under the weight of something terrifyingly powerful.
Naruto and Shin's eyes widened as the truth dawned on them.
The flames hadn't receded because Hiroshi had run out of chakra.
No.
They had receded because Hiroshi had inhaled them.
A deep, calculated breath—one that had gathered every ember, every flickering wisp of fire, absorbing them into his body.
And now—
He was releasing all of it at once.
"Blazing Flame Sword…" Hiroshi's voice rumbled through the battlefield like an impending storm.
He exhaled.
And the flames exploded outward.
Fwoosh!
Like a volcanic eruption, the fire surged forward, ten times more intense than before. It didn't just return—it multiplied.
The inferno, which had once been contained, now expanded into a cataclysm of crimson and gold, a hurricane of destruction roaring with newfound fury.
"Secret Sword…"
The fire devoured Mizuki's wind tornado in an instant.
The howling winds that had once seemed unstoppable now vanished—eaten, consumed, overwhelmed by the sheer might of Hiroshi's flames.
Mizuki's laughter was gone.
His eyes bulged with terror.
"W-What… What the fuck is happening?!" Mizuki's voice cracked, his previous satisfaction vanishing in an instant. His monstrous body trembled as the raging inferno once again surrounded him, stronger than before.
"This… this can't be! How are you so strong?!"
He thrashed inside the flames, but it was useless.
The fire, now infused with something far beyond just raw chakra, wrapped around him like an unbreakable prison, sealing off every escape.
Outside the inferno, Naruto's jaw hung open in pure awe.
"Shin, your father's amazing!" he shouted, his eyes shimmering with excitement. "I've never seen flames this strong before! They're—" He paused, his voice lowering. "They're beautiful…"
Shin, however, was frozen.
His eyes locked onto the battlefield, onto the inferno that had once again taken complete dominance. But this time…
This time, the fire felt different.
It wasn't just raw destruction.
It wasn't just a weapon.
It was warm. It was powerful. It was protective.
He could feel it.
The sheer depth of his father's will poured into these flames.
They weren't just meant to burn.
They were meant to shield, to guard, to defend.
Shin's breath hitched.
"Father…" he whispered, eyes wide with realization.
"Is this… your real power?"
The battlefield trembled as the flames erupted once again, rising to heights that made even the night sky seem ablaze. The air twisted and warped under the sheer heat, the once-distant inferno now an all-consuming storm of destruction.
Hiroshi stood at the heart of it all, his sword raised high, fire coiling around its blade like a living entity. The flames surged, spiraling upward, condensing into a single, blinding sphere of scorching heat.
"Secret Sword…"
The flames, no longer wild and uncontrolled, gathered atop his blade, forging themselves into something far more dangerous—a core of pure, concentrated destruction.
A sphere of flame, pulsing with lethal energy.
Mizuki's monstrous eyes widened, his pupils shrinking in terror. The heat alone was unbearable, but that thing—
That thing could kill him.
"What's that now?!" Mizuki's voice cracked, sweat pouring down his grotesque face. Then, suddenly—panic. "Fuck!"
His instincts screamed at him.
Run!
And so he did.
Mizuki turned on his heels, his monstrous tail propelling him forward at breakneck speed. He tore through the battlefield, his mind racing, his heart pounding.
He had to escape. He had to survive.
But—
"Trying to run away?"
Hiroshi's voice was low. Cold.
Unforgiving.
The moment he spoke, it was as if the flames themselves responded, surging even higher, turning the very air into an oppressive, inescapable force.
"No matter where you go…" Hiroshi's grip on his sword tightened, the fiery sphere in his grasp burning with unrestrained fury. "You dared to harm my son… You threatened what I hold dear… You think you can escape my wrath?"
His gaze was sharp as a blade, his presence towering.
"You cannot run from my flames."
And then—
Hiroshi thrust his blade forward.
The blazing sphere shot through the air, streaking like a falling star, its heat igniting the ground beneath it.
But it did not remain a mere sphere.
No—
It transformed.
Fwoosh!
The fire twisted, taking shape mid-flight. The scorching mass expanded, coiling and stretching, its form shifting into something greater.
A dragon.
A massive, serpentine beast of pure, unrelenting fire.
Its elongated body coiled through the air, its shimmering scales composed entirely of roaring flames.
Golden-red eyes blazed with primal fury.
Its mighty jaw opened, flames licking between its fangs as it surged forward, its very presence an unstoppable force of destruction.
Mizuki barely had time to react.
The moment he looked back—
The dragon was already upon him.
"Dragon's Jaw!"
Hiroshi's voice thundered like a deity pronouncing divine punishment.
The dragon's jaws snapped shut.
Boooom!
Mizuki vanished within the inferno, his monstrous form swallowed whole by the dragon's maw.
A blinding explosion of flames erupted upon impact, a towering pillar of fire consuming everything in its wake. The earth trembled violently, the very sky illuminated by the sheer might of the attack.
Screams echoed from within.
Mizuki's agonized roars—twisted, desperate, full of pain—were drowned by the raging inferno.
"Ahhhhhh! Fuck! Orochimaru-sama! You... you said that I would have been... I would have been invincible! Ahhhhhhh!"
There was no escape.
No mercy.
Only fire.
To be continued...
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Also, did you like this little arc of mine? I've tried my best to make something original and interesting, so I hope you liked it.
Be sure to check out my original novel Hyperborea!