Naruto: The Otherworldly Cultivator

Disclaimer:

Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 228: Mercy

While Naruto remained in the same spot, his clones jumped into action and began to engage the several members of Danzo's secret army.

Each of these members was an expert ninja at the jonin level, but each one of them had to deal with a dozen clones or more, so they quickly began to fall, one by one.

His clones only had a fraction of Naruto's chakra, so they couldn't use any of his most destructive techniques. However, this was of little consequence since they still had access to his wind manipulation and various Rasengans. Not to mention, each single clone was a martial arts expert of the highest caliber and could compete with the likes of Maito Gai.

Naruto left around thirty clones for Danzo. He estimated that it would be enough for this opponent.

"Rip his eye out," was the first order he gave them. He did not want to take any risks against an awakened Sharingan that he didn't understand.

Danzo fought with everything he had. The man was an expert in taijutsu and wind jutsu. He took down several clones with blades made of wind or just with his own fists.

"No!!" he screamed when two clones grabbed onto him from behind while another tried to rip his right eye from its socket.

Just then… branches appeared from underground and destroyed the clones in an instant.

"Wood element?… You are truly full of surprises," Naruto commented.

"How?… Only the Senju can use that jutsu," Ino asked.

"There are several strange chakra signatures coming from that bandaged arm of his… I believe that is the source of that power," Naruto said. Danzo was giving Naruto a similar feeling to Orochimaru, and he couldn't help but wonder if those two had been involved in some shared experiments.

"Argh!" Danzo pushed his wood element further, creating more destructive branches that destroyed the rest of the clones. But in the process, he also removed the bandages that were covering his right arm.

Ino gasped when she saw this inhuman limb of his. "What did you do…are those eyes?!"

Naruto frowned. "It seems like I was correct in my assumptions… Did you take them during the Uchiha massacre?"

He asked as he observed the many Sharingans embedded in Danzo's arm. Three of the eyes were closed, leaving seven open.

The arm itself was also unusual, and instead of flesh, it appeared to be made of some white organic material.

Danzo took this short moment of peace to examine his surroundings. His soldiers kept falling from across the room as Naruto's clones continued to kill them.

Eventually, only one was left, and that one landed right in front of Naruto and Ino. A young man with black hair and black eyes was now staring at them.

"Isn't that?…" Ino noticed that the man's mask had been broken, revealing his face.

"The one you saved the other day," Naruto recalled.

One of his clones moved in for the finishing blow but was dispelled by Naruto.

"Leave that one…" he said.

There were less than a hundred clones left after the battle. They all landed on the ground and waited for his instructions.

Danzo was about to make an attempt to escape the chamber. Naruto saw this and snapped his fingers.

The elder was prepared this time. "Not again!" He used his own Wind Release to create a shield in front of him and block the attack, but he was still pushed back a good distance.

This was all Naruto had wanted… to make some room.

Chakra erupted around him, and his eyes shone like beacons of piercing blue light.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu."

This time, it wasn't hundreds, but thousands of clones that came out, almost filling the chamber with their presence.

"I told you to rip his eye out," Naruto ordered them, even though it was unnecessary, as the clones already knew exactly what he wanted.

He then placed Ino back on the ground.

"Naruto?" she wondered why he did that.

He pointed at the injured but still alive ROOT ninja on the ground…the black-haired boy whose life she had saved and who had then taken part in her kidnapping.

Sai glanced at Naruto and Ino and stood up with difficulty. He was already hurt before this battle even started. Then, several Naruto clones had rushed at him, beaten him black and blue, and launched him to the ground.

He had lost his painting tools in the process, leaving him only with a kunai and a little bit of chakra to defend himself.

"Do you see, Ino?" Naruto asked her.

She turned around to look at him.

"This is what happens when you show mercy to your enemies. You give them another chance to kill you," Naruto said while pointing at Sai.

"But…" She was still hesitant, even though she knew that Naruto was right. Her insistence on saving that young man had ended up putting her in a lot of danger.

She had told herself that she only did it to protect Naruto, but the truth was that she didn't really like to see anyone dying in front of her.

Naruto saw her hesitation. "If you save someone's life, you are responsible for them… forever."

"Naruto?"

"I'm not saying that you should never show mercy to others or try to save their lives. I'm saying that you should choose carefully who you save… and only choose those who truly deserve it," Naruto pointed at Sai. "Do you think he does?"

"No," Ino said with less hesitation this time.

"Then take it back… the life you saved. It is yours to take."

Ino looked at Sai. Naruto was telling her to kill this ninja in front of her.

The memories of the previous night came back to her. How this person, whom she had saved, came to her home in the middle of the night to kidnap her so she would be brainwashed and used against the person she cared about the most in the world.

The temperature around her dropped by several degrees as she moved her chakra. "You are right…" Her turquoise eyes became locked onto Sai's black ones, and he got on guard

, knowing that he would have to fight for his life.

Ino was not going to show him mercy again.

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