The night was split apart by a thunderous crack. The football field, once quiet under the sickly glow of floodlights, now churned with demonic energy so oppressive that even the shadows seemed to writhe. Damien Veyl's body shook as he laughed, veins glowing a sinister crimson and pulsing across his flesh like molten fire beneath cracked stone. His once human-like features warped—jagged teeth, bulging muscles, and black eyes rimmed with red that gleamed with triumph.
"You feel it, don't you?" Damien's voice boomed, layered with something not entirely his own. He raised his clawed hands as if exalting in the chaos. "This is what it means to ascend! To throw away weakness, to spit on the shackles of mortality, to become power itself."
Naruto stood steady, Purgatory strapped across his back, golden-blue eyes narrowing. His breath misted in the chill air, but his stance was calm, unshaken. "Power, huh? Looks more like desperation to me."
"Desperation?" Damien sneered, red light bleeding from the corners of his mouth as though his words themselves leaked blood. "No, boy… this is sacrifice. The souls of the weak, the forgotten, the nameless—burned into fuel for my ascension. Their screams are the chorus of my triumph! You think saving them gives your life meaning? No. Only by consuming them do they serve a purpose."
He spread his arms wider, the field groaning beneath the aura radiating from him. Cracks spread through the turf as if the earth recoiled.
Naruto's jaw tightened, but his voice was steady. "You sacrificed people… innocent people. And you're proud of that? You call that strength? You're just a parasite dressed up in borrowed power."
Damien's grin widened, his face a grotesque mask of fervor. "Innocent? There is no innocence. Only predators and prey. Those who cannot claw for survival exist only to be consumed. Tell me, 'hero'—when the demons of this city would have feasted on them anyway, what is the difference if I reaped them first? At least their essence paved the road to true power."
A silence followed, broken only by the crackle of Damien's seething energy. Naruto's hand slid to Purgatory's hilt, drawing it free in one smooth motion. The blade hissed in the night, its jagged edges catching the dim light with a predatory gleam.
"You talk too much," Naruto said, his tone firm but not unkind—like a man who had long outgrown the need for pointless shouting. "You can dress it up however you want. At the end of the day, you're just another coward who hides behind stolen strength. And people like you… I cut down."
Damien's laughter shook the field, guttural and mad. "Then cut me down, boy! Show me your conviction! Prove to me that the souls I've devoured scream louder than your resolve!"
With a roar, Damien lunged, his body a blur of demonic muscle and crimson light. The ground exploded beneath his step, sending chunks of dirt and metal goalpost fragments flying into the air.
Naruto pivoted, blade flashing up just in time to catch Damien's clawed swipe. The clash rang like iron striking iron, sparks and demonic aura exploding outward. The sheer force drove Naruto back several feet, his boots cutting trenches into the turf.
"Not bad," Naruto muttered, twisting Purgatory to redirect the blow. His calm eyes glimmered with a quiet intensity. "But you'll have to do better."
"Gladly!" Damien roared, spinning with inhuman speed. His claws carved arcs of crimson energy that tore gouges in the field. Naruto ducked low, weaving under the strikes, his blade humming in sharp counters. Steel and claw rang again and again, every strike like thunder clashing with lightning.
For every precise slash of Purgatory, Damien answered with raw brutality—overhead hammering blows, slashing backhands, wide arcs that sought to overwhelm. Naruto flowed between them, measured and steady, his style a blend of fluid grace and devastating precision. He moved like water, redirecting force, letting Damien's rage burn itself against his composure.
"You fight like a machine," Damien spat mid-combat, eyes wild. "Calculated, clinical… Tell me, where's your fire? Where's your hunger? Have you lost it, devil-hunter? Or have you grown too comfortable playing human?"
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Fire isn't about hunger. It's about control."
Their blades locked again—claw against jagged steel, energy screaming between them. Naruto held his ground, muscles straining, his dark-gold chakra faintly sparking at the edges of his form though he refused to fully unleash it yet. Damien's red veins pulsed brighter, his aura crushing, the field trembling with each heartbeat.
"You cannot stop me," Damien snarled through gritted teeth. "My power is bought in blood, and blood never runs dry. Cities fall, mortals die, and I endure. I am the beginning of the new order, the herald of what is to come!"
Naruto pushed back, forcing their blades apart with a surge of strength. He slashed, a sharp arc that nicked Damien's chest and left a smoking wound.
"You're not a herald," Naruto said coldly. "You're just a warning."
Damien's wounds smoked as his veins bulged and pulsed, glowing like molten rivers beneath his skin. He spread his arms wide, tilting his head back, and screamed. A wave of demonic energy burst outward, flattening everything in its path—the bleachers twisted into scrap, goalposts snapped like twigs, and the very turf peeled back as though the field itself were recoiling.
His body warped, claws elongating, shoulders spiking with bone-like protrusions. His grin stretched grotesquely, eyes blazing scarlet.
"Do you feel it?!" he roared, his voice now a distorted chorus. "The countless souls that burn within me! Innocent blood, sacrificed for my ascension! This is true power—the kind that no god, no devil, no hunter could hope to rival!"
Naruto's jaw tightened. The stench of death was heavy, pressing into his senses like rot. His fingers flexed around Purgatory's hilt as Damien hurled himself forward, faster than before, a storm of claws and teeth.
Each strike rang like thunder on steel as Naruto parried and slashed back, Purgatory a blur of steel aura. Sparks danced with every clash, the shockwaves splitting the ground beneath their feet. Damien fought like a beast unleashed—wild, reckless, unstoppable. And yet Naruto matched him, calm in the chaos, eyes narrowed with razor focus.
But then Damien's strike landed clean—a claw raked across Naruto's chest, tearing through his coat and drawing a deep line of blood. Naruto stumbled back, clutching the wound, but his face never twisted in fear or rage. Only determination.
Damien licked his claws, savoring the blood. "You're weakening… and I'm only getting stronger!"
Naruto's eyes hardened, but his voice was steady. "You call butchering innocents power? That's not strength. That's fear wearing another face."
Damien laughed, a ragged, booming sound that carried across the field. "Fear? No—fear is what binds the sheep! Fear is what keeps fools like you clutching at ideals, at people, at… love. I cut all that away. I offered them up. And in return, I was given clarity." He gestured to the black ichor dripping from his arms, the energy pulsing beneath his skin. "This is evolution. The gods of old fed on worship—why should I be different? Why should I not build an empire of bones and ash?"
His power spiked, the ground splitting beneath his feet. The air smelled of sulfur and smoke, like a battlefield drenched in blood.
Naruto straightened, breath heavy but calm, Purgatory gleaming at his back. "You're wrong. Real strength isn't stolen—it's earned. It's protecting others even when it costs you everything."
"I'll show you what true strength is"
Naruto said as his hand began to glow. Chakra flared in a violent swirl, blue energy spinning into existence. The Rasengan. But not just any Rasengan. The very air around it howled as though a storm had been born. Grass tore itself from the earth, dust lifted in a cyclone, and the shadows themselves seemed to bend away from the sheer pressure of the sphere.
The power in his palm nearly buckled his arm. His breath came heavy, sweat trailing down his temple. Half of his chakra was burning away, fueling the sphere into something monstrous. The glow bathed the ruined field, casting his shadow long and sharp across the torn grass.
Even Damien froze for a moment, his grin twitching. "That… that is no ordinary trick of yours…"
Naruto said nothing. His clones surged into existence, ten in all, throwing themselves at Damien with blades of chakra aura. They intercepted his charge, locking him in a violent storm of combat. The field became a frenzy—clones slashing, Damien tearing through them with bursts of demonic might, bodies bursting into smoke one after another.
But with every second bought, Naruto's Rasengan grew denser, brighter, fiercer. It screamed in his hand, a sun of destruction.
Finally, Damien smashed through the last clone, his body dripping ichor, claws raised high. "I'll devour you, boy!"
Naruto moved.
In a single blur, he stepped inside Damien's swing. Purgatory slashed across Damien's abdomen, spraying black ichor, staggering him for the briefest instant. That was enough.
Naruto thrust his hand forward.
"Full-Power Rasengan!"
The sphere slammed into Damien's chest, and the world exploded.
The impact was apocalyptic. The Rasengan tore into Damien with the force of a raging maelstrom, the howling wind shredding the air itself. The ground cratered instantly, entire goalposts ripped free and sent cartwheeling into the night. Shockwaves thundered outward, flattening everything for hundreds of feet.
Damien screamed, his body convulsing as the sphere devoured him. The red veins along his skin burst, spilling light and ichor, his demonic energy unraveling like frayed threads. The cries of the souls within him echoed outward, rising, then fading as the Rasengan's storm consumed them.
Naruto's arm shook violently as the chakra sphere drilled deeper, grinding Damien down. His knees threatened to buckle, sweat pouring, teeth clenched. Half his chakra reserves had already burned away, but he refused to let go—not until it was done.
Damien shrieked, "No! My power—the souls! They were mine! Mine!"
Naruto's voice cut through the chaos, calm, resolute.
"No. They were never yours to take."
With one final surge, he shoved the Rasengan deeper—and the sphere detonated in a blast of light and wind that swallowed Damien whole.
When the light faded, Damien knelt in the smoking crater, body shattered, red veins flickering weakly. His laughter was a wet, rattling rasp.
"Heh… impressive… truly. But you're blind if you think this ends here." His bloodied grin widened, jagged teeth glistening. "I was only a piece… a pawn in the grand design. The abyss stirs, hunter. The one slumbering beneath the veil will awaken soon. And when he does…" His voice cracked into a cackle. "…your victories will crumble, and this world will drown."
His body finally slumped, dissolving into smoke and ash, leaving only silence in the ruin of the field.
Naruto stood still, chest heaving, half his chakra burned away, Purgatory glinting faintly on his back. He looked out over the destruction, jaw set, Damien's final words echoing in his mind
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