For a moment, neither of them moved.
The air between them had went still.
Dust curled around Naruto's feet as chakra burned low and steady in his limbs. No Kurama. No cloak. Just his own strength, flaring beneath the surface like coal catching fire.
His muscles buzzed. His breath slowed. Across from him, Teōtl rocked side to side like a beast about to pounce, drool spilling from his cracked mask as his club twitched with anticipation.
"TEŌTL SMASH NOW?" the giant asked, wide-eyed and grinning.
Naruto rolled his neck. "I mean, sure. If you're in the mood to embarrass yourself."
The laugh that followed was deep and broken, like a mountain trying to breathe.
And then Teōtl moved.
He didn't charge and instead he launched. The valley floor cracked under the pressure of his legs as he lunged forward, swinging the club overhead like he was trying to split the sky open.
Naruto stepped forward and then vanished.
The club hit nothing.
It slammed into the ground like a meteor, detonating a shockwave that rippled out in all directions. The stone floor fractured. Dust exploded. Teōtl blinked, confused.
"WHERE SNACK GO?"
Naruto's foot smashed into the back of his ankle.
The giant stumbled.
"Down here, Toe-turd."
Teōtl howled, spinning too late. Naruto ducked under the follow-up swing, wind from the club slicing past his hair. He darted in again, fists glowing faintly with blue chakra.
A right hook to the knee. A jab to the thigh. Then he leapt and drove a two-legged kick into the side of the beast's stomach. The impact shook Naruto's bones but it moved the giant.
Not much.
But enough.
Teōtl bellowed and brought the club sweeping across the ground.
Naruto jumped.
He didn't leap high, just high enough to let the swing pass beneath him. Mid-air, he spun, landed on the club itself, and ran up it, chakra sticking to the surface. Teōtl's eyes crossed as Naruto closed the distance with inhuman speed, each step echoing like thunder in his ears.
Then,
CRACK
A punch to the face. It was like punching a boulder.
Naruto felt his knuckles scream from the impact, but Teōtl reeled back, teeth clacking together.
"SNACK HIT TEŌTL?!"
"You make it sound like a surprise," Naruto muttered, dropping back to the ground with a roll.
His body ached. Chakra burned through his arms and legs to keep them steady. Every dodge was instinct. Every hit was learned in motion. He couldn't brute-force this. Not without Kurama. Not without a full tank.
But he could outsmart it.
Teōtl charged again but slower this time. Wounded pride, sluggish joints. Naruto met the rush with a blur of movement, sidestepping just before the giant's club came down. A quick chakra burst to his legs let him dash up the beast's forearm as it passed beneath him.
He sprinted along Teōtl's arm, then pivoted at the shoulder and dropped low, kicking the back of the elbow joint hard enough to make the beast snarl in pain.
"STOP MOVING!" Teōtl shrieked. "TEŌTL WANT TO EAT YOU!"
"Then try harder."
Naruto kicked off his shoulder and landed in a crouch, breath ragged. He could feel his chakra getting thinner and thinner like pulling water from a well that was starting to dry up.
Teōtl spun, swinging wide again.
Naruto jumped, barely clearing the edge of the club. The wind knocked the breath from his lungs, but he managed to land hard on his feet and dash forward again. He ducked low, dashed in, and drove a chakra-enhanced uppercut straight into Teōtl's gut.
It didn't knock him over, but the impact left a dent.
Teōtl staggered back, mouth wide in disbelief.
"OW! TEŌTL FEEL THINGS! TEŌTL NO LIKE FEELINGS!"
"Yeah, well, welcome to my life."
The giant roared, slamming the club into the ground and cracking the earth wide. The stone under Naruto's feet buckled, nearly dropping him into a pit. He leapt back, sliding across the dust, panting harder now.
Too slow. I need to end this quickly.
He tightened his fists. Every muscle screamed. His body was catching up to the damage as bruises bloomed on his skin and joints began creaking. But he didn't dare back down.
He couldn't if he wanted to see his friends again.
Teōtl raised the club again. "TEŌTL MAKE YOU FLAT LIKE MUDCAKE!"
"Then I hope you brought syrup."
He sprinted forward again, this time weaving in a zigzag. The club came down,and missed by mere inches. He slipped past the swing, planted one foot on the giant's shin, and launched upward, chakra flaring in his heel.
One step, two steps.
He reached the chest of the giant and punched.
It was a chakra-enhanced strike to the solar plexus.
The beast shuddered in anger and pain.
Teōtl stumbled.
"STOP! HITTING! TEŌTL!"
Naruto slid down the front of the beast and landed, knees buckling, but still standing.
He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
His grin hadn't faded.
"Sorry," he muttered. "But you're in my way, idiot."
Teōtl raised the club one more time.
Naruto planted his feet, shoulders square, fists clenched.
One more shot.
One clean hit.
That's all he needed.
Teōtl raised the club for what felt like the hundredth time. His arm trembled. His breathing was ragged. That manic hunger in his eyes had dulled slightly, replaced with frustration, then confusion, and now fear. Even he seemed to realize something was wrong with the situation.
Naruto didn't move.
He stood still, chakra pulsing faintly through his skin like mist off a forge, his eyes locked forward and unmoving.
This time, when Teōtl swung down, Naruto didn't dodge.
He stepped forward.
One precise step, too fast to track, and the club missed entirely.
Teōtl blinked and Naruto was already on him.
A blur of motion. One punch, enhanced with chakra, cracked straight into the beast's wrist. The club flew from his grip. It hit the ground behind him and shattered into three massive chunks of splintered wood and rusted iron.
Then came the follow-up.
Naruto's knee drove into Teōtl's chest like a battering ram. The force lifted the giant a full foot off the ground.
Teōtl wheezed, stumbled, and fell back-first onto the earth with a crash that shook the mountainside. Cracks split the stone in every direction. The valley trembled as dust rolled over the hilltops in waves.
Silence followed.
Naruto stood at the center of it all, chest rising and falling steadily. Not a drop of fear in his expression. Just cold focus.
Teōtl groaned and tried to sit up. One eye had gone dim. His breathing was erratic.
"Y-You… strong," he rasped, voice no longer booming but choked with disbelief. "Little snack... strong…"
Naruto didn't respond.
The giant raised a hand, shaky and trembling.
"Teōtl no want to fight anymore," he croaked. "Teōtl give up. Please don't make Teōtl into smear."
Naruto stared at him.
It wasn't pity in his eyes. Just clarity and measured, quiet judgment.
Then, finally, he exhaled.
"I didn't come here to kill anyone," he said. "I just need to get inside the tower and speak with Tiboro"
Teōtl blinked slowly. "You… let Teōtl live?"
Naruto nodded once. "For now."
The giant slumped in relief, his body sinking further into the cracked earth. He looked almost smaller now. Less like a god and more like a scared animal. Naruto turned from him and began walking toward the gate.
Then something changed.
His senses twitched.
The air shifted.
The bloodlust was back.
He didn't hear Teōtl move but he felt it at the back of his neck.
That spike of negative intent. That gut-deep wave of murderous hunger, sharp and filthy, twisting the space behind him like spoiled heat.
"LITTLE SNACK MAKE BIG MISTAKE!" Teōtl roared.
Naruto didn't turn around, he simply raised a hand and caught the massive, broken club mid-swing.
Teōtl's eyes widened in fear.
"Wha..?"
Naruto's blue eyes began to glow even brighter and more ethereal as he channeled more of his chakra.
The iron groaned in his grip. Rusted metal bent like clay. Then it crumpled—folding inward with a screech as Naruto's fingers closed around it.
The club collapsed into twisted scrap and hit the ground in pieces.
Teōtl tried to backpedal, scrambling like a wounded animal, but Naruto was already there.
His footsteps made no sound and he was without wasted motion.
He appeared in front of the beast in a blink, one hand glowing faintly with blue focused chakra. Not blazing. Not wild.
Instead it was controlled and deadly.
"You should've stayed down," Naruto said quietly.
Then he drove his palm straight into Teōtl's chest center mass, above the heart. Not a punch. Not a blast. Just pure, precise, reinforced chakra driven forward like a stake of will.
There was no scream. Just a final shockwave as Teōtl's body seized, arched and then dropped like a falling statue.
The giant hit the ground with a thunderous boom, eyes wide, and mouth frozen mid-snarl.
He was dead.
The dust hung in the air for a long time.
Naruto stood there, hand still lowered, his breath calm.
He didn't speak.
Didn't gloat..
Teōtl's crumpled body lay behind him like a broken mountain. The valley was quiet again, save for the soft hiss of wind sweeping through cracked stone.
Naruto approached the gate, muscles still humming and adrenaline fading.
He stopped at the base of the massive slab.
A towering, seamless block of ancient stone. Bone-colored. Covered in weird carvings. It looked heavy.
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
This was the moment.
He was finally at the entrance to the Tower of Tiboro.
All of his answers lay beyond this gate.
The truth behind this strange world
The next phase of his journey and how to get back home to his friends.
He raised his hand… and placed it dramatically on the stone.
Nothing happened.
He waited.
Still nothing.
"…Huh."
He tapped the gate.
Thunk.
"…Okay."
Naruto stepped back, brow furrowed. "Is it voice-activated?"
He straightened up, rubbed his hands together, cleared his throat, and said loudly, "OPEN. SESAME."
Silence.
He glanced around. "Tower of Tiboro? This is Naruto Uzumaki. I beat up your doorman. I come in peace."
Nothing.
Not even a magical hum. The runes didn't light up. The wind didn't change. The gate stood there, proud and immovable, like it was judging him.
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "…Maybe I missed the lever. There's usually always a lever."
He turned and started checking nearby rocks.
No levers.
He crouched and ran his fingers along the bottom edge of the wall. Still nothing.
"I really wish Kurama was here, he's really good at things like this.." he muttered.
He stood up, looked around again, then dramatically pointed at a cluster of runes on the left.
"Maybe I press these in order," he muttered. "Like a puzzle door. Yeah. That feels like something a magic tower would do."
He poked one of the runes.
Nothing happened.
He poked three more in rapid succession.
Still nothing.
He grinned, slapped them all in a random rhythm, then stepped back like he'd cracked the code.
Still absolutely nothing.
"…Tch. Of course it's cursed."
He crouched low in front of the slab again, peering at the base.
The stone was perfectly smooth at first glance, but now, up close, he saw faint scuff marks. Deep-set grooves. Drag lines. Like something massive had slid across the earth over and over again.
Then it hit him.
"Oh."
He stood.
Squinted at the gate.
Paused.
"…Wait."
He walked up, crouched slightly, and pressed his fingers underneath the bottom edge.
The space was narrow, but there was just enough room to slip a hand in.
"…No way."
He pressed harder. His muscles flexed, chakra flowing through his arms.
The stone began to lift.
Slowly. Groaning under its own weight.
Naruto's jaw dropped.
"Seriously? That's it?! You just lift it?!"
The entire valley echoed with the low grind of stone-on-stone as he hoisted the slab up like a garage door that hadn't been used in centuries.
The moment it cleared head height, he stopped, panting slightly. His hair was a mess. His sleeves were torn. His knees were dust-covered.
He stared into the darkness of the gate beyond, breathing heavy, voice flat.
"I just killed a giant… dodged like fifteen tons of club swings… almost broke my spine five times… and this door was a lift to open the whole time."
He walked inside, muttering to himself.
"Stupid magic towers and their stupid magic gates. Next time, put a sign. Something like 'Lift to Enter.' Not that hard." he cursed.
He turned back to look at the gate once more, still holding it with one hand.
"…You better not fall on me."
Then, with a final grunt, he slid underneath, ducked into the darkness, and let the gate slam shut behind him with a deep, earthshaking boom.
The wind outside howled once.
The valley went still again.
And Naruto disappeared into the tower.
____
Naruto stepped through the gate and immediately stopped.
The doorway into the tower wasn't just a regular door.
It was a mouth.
An actual, carved-stone skull mouth with teeth as tall as he was and a tunnel stretching out beyond its throat, dark and echoing. The walls curved inward like ribcages made of brick.
He squinted.
"…Is this really the entrance?"
Silence.
The wind blew.
The skull didn't answer.
Naruto stared at the jagged teeth hanging above the tunnel like a jaw ready to slam shut. He took a cautious step forward. Nothing moved.
Another step.
Still nothing.
Then he looked up and saw the detail carved into the stone above him, two hollow sockets for eyes, cracked at the corners, and a long split down the forehead like someone had once tried to crack the skull open from the inside.
He nodded slowly.
"Yep," he muttered. "Totally normal. Definitely not cursed. Great design choice."
He approached the threshold.
The wind whispered through the tunnel like the tower was breathing.
Naruto paused.
"Do I knock?"
He raised a hand… then stopped.
"…No. That's stupid. Who knocks on a skull?"
He exhaled and stepped through the mouth.
The moment his foot touched the floor inside the tunnel, the temperature dropped.
A long hallway stretched out ahead, slowly sloping downward. The stone was damp. Each of his footsteps echoed a second too long, like something down there was waiting to answer back.
Naruto rubbed his arms. "Okay. Not spooky at all. Definitely not entering the digestive tract of a demon tower."
He took another step.
The tunnel seemed to stretch longer the farther he went. The walls pulsed faintly, just enough to feel like the whole place had a heartbeat.
He looked back.
The entrance had already shrunk behind him, distant and swallowed by shadow.
Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "...Yeah, this is how most people die in horror movies."
He kept walking.
At one point, he stopped and tapped the wall.
Thud-thud.
Solid stone.
Then he tapped the floor.
Thunk.
Also solid.
He waited.
Nothing jumped out.
He shrugged. "Honestly, I expected ghosts or something."
Naruto kept walking.
The tunnel sloped downward for a while, stone underfoot polished so smooth it was almost slippery. The torches continued lining the walls, flickering in exact intervals like they were afraid of misbehaving. The air grew warmer and dense with smoke and something metallic. The smell of old blood, maybe.
He couldn't tell.
Naruto sniffed once and grimaced.
"Why do these towers always smell like someone left a battlefield in the microwave?"
The path finally leveled out into a long corridor that was lined with black pillars and narrow gold accents, stretching on in eerie silence. His footsteps echoed in perfect rhythm, and each echo came back a little too late, like it had to crawl its way back.
He glanced at the nearest column.
"Note to self, if I ever build a mysterious tower, remind me to put in a lobby and a couch. And an instant ramen chef. Maybe a water fountain too."
He kept walking. So far there were no traps. No puzzles. No enemies. Just a long stretch of shadow and silence. And somehow that felt a lot worse.
__
Eventually, the hallway opened into something massive.
A grand chamber, tall and cathedral-like, lit by a deep red glow that pulsed from the torches above. Shadows arched high across the ceiling like stretched ribs. The walls were carved with symbols.
Some he recognized from the runes outside, others older and more rougher. At the center of it all, at the far end of the hall, sat a throne.
Naruto slowed.
It wasn't gold or ornate. Just tall, black stone etched with markings and tribal patterns that glowed faintly. No fancy jewels or anything.
On it however stood a man, if he could even be called just that.
He sat relaxed, bare-chested, legs spread wide and elbows resting on the arms of the throne. His body was all taut muscle and scarred skin, marked by hundreds of battles.
Tattoos spiraled down his arms like ink forged in fire. His hair, long and wild, hung like a mane of blood-red thread down his shoulders. Eyes closed and breathing calm and steady.
There were no weapons lay in sight
Naruto frowned and scratched his head.
"Is he… asleep?"
As if on cue, the man opened one eye.
Then the other.
The silence cracked like glass.
The man rose.
And even from across the room, Naruto could feel it.
The weight of his power.
This wasn't like Teōtl's brute force. This was power forged through violence and refinement.
He was taller than Ares. Broader. More beast-like and uncontrolled.
The man stepped down from the steps of the throne one heavy footfall at a time.
When he spoke, his voice echoed with unrestrained power, deep and sharp like thunder behind mountains.
"You're not from this land."
Naruto shrugged. "That's what everyone keeps telling me."
The man stopped several feet away, arms at his sides.
"You managed to get past the gate."
"Yup."
"Which means you tricked that fool Teotl, or he has been felled."
"More like he faceplanted. Hard."
The war-god narrowed his eyes. "I am Coyotl. Youngest of the sons of Xolotl. God of Battle and all things earned through strength."
He tilted his head slightly.
"And who are you, strange boy?"
Naruto blinked.
Then exhaled.
"Oh no. Not again."
Coyotl's brow rose.
Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Look, no offense, but can we skip the whole 'I am the god of war' speech? You're like the second one this month. There's too many of you at this point.. Like you guys need a group chat."
Coyotl's expression didn't change.
"I have never met one who disrespected me so boldly to my face."
Naruto shrugged. "I'm tired, underfed, and running on fumes. You'll get over it."
A slow silence passed between them.
Then Coyotl's lips curled into something almost like a grin.
"You're funny."
"And you're shirtless," Naruto said. "Lot of that going around too."
Coyotl stepped forward.
"Why are you here?"
Naruto's smile faded.
"To find Tiboro."
Coyotl's grin sharpened.
"Then you must earn the right, outsider."
He didn't raise his fists. He didn't pose. He just stood there, calm and brimming with raw, divine energy.
Naruto sighed, cracking his knuckles.
"Have you people ever heard of, like… a nice conversation first?"
He crouched low, chakra rising slow and steady beneath his skin.
"Guess not."
___
AUTHOR's NOTE: If you're enjoying American Alien and want to read up to 40 chapters ahead, come support the story (and me) over on Patreon: at patreon.com/banmido
I update daily, so there's always something new to read! More fights, more chaos, more Naruto being in a world that has no idea what to do with him.
Your support means everything. It helps me keep writing, keep improving, and honestly just makes this thing possible. Thank you for reading. Thank you for being here.
What is it with Naruto and War Gods?? This is becoming a reoccuring theme.