Authors Note: Anyone excited for the new Fantastic Four movie? Heres to hoping it's good. (Even though we've had like 4 of them now lol) And Thunderbolts was amazing, so sad that it ended up losing money :( Hopefully they can recoup their loses and they try again with a sequel.
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Thank you for reading. It truly means a lot.
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Ares struck first.
His fist crashed into Naruto's ribs like a war hammer, lifting him clean off the ground. The impact cracked through the air like thunderclap.
Naruto hit the dirt hard, back skidding across stone brutally.
But he bounced back up just as quickly as he fell.
The scrape on his jaw vanished mid-rise, skin reknitting in real time. His shoulder, the one that took the brunt of Ares' last blow, popped back into place with a sharp twist and a roll.
He grinned through the blood still in his mouth, his canine teeth more pronounced.
Ares noticed.
"You're healing," the god said flatly.
"Yeah," Naruto said, rolling his neck. "I tend to do that."
Ares didn't hesitate. He launched in again, no wasted movement, just cold, brutal technique. Every strike was precise and calculated, the opposite of Naruto's flashy and wild style of fighting.
He wasn't swinging like a berserker.
He was fighting like a soldier. A general. A god of discipline and centuries of perfect muscle memory.
And Naruto?
Naruto despite his tenacity was just trying to keep up.
He blocked high, only to catch a knee to the gut.
He tried to block low, just to take an elbow across the cheek.
He twisted around a hook, only to get slammed with a backhand that left his ears ringing.
But he stayed on his feet regardless.
Even when his legs buckled. Even when the air was knocked out of his lungs. Even when Ares caught him in the stomach so hard the stone beneath him cracked he still stood.
And smiled back at him like he wasn't getting beat.
Like this battlefield was exactly where he wanted to be.
Kurama growled low in his chest. "You're smiling."
"Yup."
"You're losing."
Naruto wiped his mouth and spat blood to the side. "Not the point."
"You'll run out of chakra at this rate if you don't finish soon."
Ares pressed in eagerly.
Blows came faster now. Hooks and jabs, knees and shoulder checks, delivered with the power of a tank and the precision of a surgeon.
Naruto stumbled again.
Bruised and bleeding.
Then he healed. Again.
The swelling faded. Cuts sealed. Bones aligned with soft clicks beneath the skin.
He blocked a hook. Duck, weave, sidestep. He threw a punch and grazed Ares' jaw.
The god didn't even flinch.
Naruto grinned wider.
"You're not used to people getting back up, huh?"
Ares' eyes narrowed. "I've put down monsters, titans, and gods. Do you really think you're special?"
"No," Naruto said.
Then launched upward, foot driving into Ares' chest with a shockwave that sent dust spiraling out in all directions as he used his chest as a springboard to flip backwards.
"I know I am."
Ares skidded backward only a couple steps, then rolled his shoulders and came right back. The blow hadn't rattled him. If anything, it made him sharper.
He rushed in and dipped low, catching Naruto across the jaw with a brutal uppercut.
The boy's head snapped back. Blood sprayed from his mouth mid-air before he slammed into the side of a ruined wall and hit the ground with a bounce.
From the ground, Naruto pushed himself up, cracking his neck with one hand and wiping his mouth with the other. He was breathing harder now, chest rising fast but his smile hadn't faded.
It had grown wider.
He stood upright.
Hair messy. Face bloodied.
Slitted eyes bright red like they were on fire from the inside.
"I've never had this much fun," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
Ares paused. Fists still raised.
"Fun?" he repeated.
Naruto took one slow step forward, energy rising around his feet like heat waves.
"You know how hard it is to find someone who won't break in the first ten seconds? Someone who doesn't cry when they get thrown through a wall?"
He bounced slightly on the balls of his feet. Letting his arms go loose again.
"You hit like you mean it. That's rare for me."
Ares growled. "And you fight like a fool."
"Yeah?" Naruto tilted his head, and cracked his knuckles. "Well, this fool's still standing."
He charged.
No hesitation.
And this time it wasn't just brawling.
Naruto moved with intention.
He ducked low, sliding beneath Ares' punch and popping up behind him as he landed a spinning heel kick to the god's ribs.
The moment his foot touched the ground, he was moving again. Forward shoulder-checking Ares into a half-buried pillar.
The god grunted, but caught himself in the impact.
He answered with a slam to Naruto's gut that sent him reeling back, coughing and windless.
Naruto dropped to one knee.
Blood hit the ground like paint.
But nonetheless his wounds receded.
Ares watched as the damage undid itself in front of his eyes.
"This healing trick won't save you," he said, stepping forward. "I've fought beasts who could regenerate their heads. You know what I did?"
Naruto looked up.
Ares smiled.
"I made them wish they could die"
And he came again, fists raised, wrath burning hot and visible.
Naruto didn't back down.
He surged forward, laughing as he met the blow head-on.
Ares struck low and fast.
His fist smashed into Naruto's midsection like a cannonball. The breath left Naruto's lungs in a single choked grunt. His feet left the ground, his body folding slightly as the force carried him backward.
Then came the follow-up.
Ares stepped in and spun, elbow crashing down like a meteor. It connected clean across Naruto's jaw.
The boy hit the ground like a ragdoll.
Hard.
A web of cracks splintered out beneath him. His back bounced off the stone once before he landed face-first on the ground, unmoving.
LIVE FEED:
AsgardianVibez: HOLY SHIT HE JUST GOT LAID OUT
OdinsonFan69: THAT'S IT. GG. BOY'S DONE.
ConspiracyTruthers: nah nah nah he's gettin up trust
VillainWatchDaily: replay that elbow in slo mo please
godofWARship: THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T CHALLENGE THE GOD OF WAR
valforpresident67: shoulda stayed in school kid!
The battlefield fell still.
Only the sound of fire crackling from Ares' armor.
Only the soft hiss of ash drifting through the fractured New Asgard air.
Naruto didn't move.
Face-down. Sprawled in the crater his body had made. Dust coiled around him like steam off a cooling forge.
Ares lowered his fists, muscles tight. His eyes lingered on the boy's motionless form for a second longer than necessary.
SKY CAM 7 – LIVE FEED
"We are watching what appears to be the aftermath of a brutal hit by Ares. Yes, that Ares, the God of War against the young metahuman Naruto, confirmed member of the newly formed Young Avengers."
"I... I think he's down. We're zooming in now."
The drone feed tightened on the still body lying in fractured stone.
And then, a flicker of movement.
Naruto pushed himself up.
One breath. Then another. Each ragged, scraped raw from the inside.
His hands pressed into the earth, fingers curling into dirt. His spine rose slow and deliberate, like something ancient waking in the shell of a boy.
Steam bled off his skin in waves. Not white. Red. Dense and war-tinted. It poured from his shoulders, coiling like smoke from a battlefield pyre.
He stood.
Unsteady. Head down. Blood matting his hair, hanging over his eyes in dark ropes.
But the air shifted.
Heavier now. Tighter. As if the world itself paused to listen.
Blue flame licked at Naruto's fingertips, dancing up from his skin like it had been waiting.
He lifted his shirt with one hand.
His voice came low, steady, and seemingly ancient.
"Vessel of flesh. Gate of bone.
Fox of Pandemonium, bound by chain of malice.
O, heart once silenced. RELEASE!"
The words struck the earth like falling stones.
Then he pressed his fingers into the center of his chest
And the seal began to turn.
And then it appeared.
Not just to Ares. Not just to those watching.
To the world.
Behind Naruto, a red shadow rose.
Towering. Twenty feet tall, if not more.
It wore the shape of a man. But no one mistook it for a human.
A red oni spirit loomed overhead, silver hair whipped behind it like storm clouds caught in motion. Its skin burned like kiln-fired clay, pulsing with black seals etched into muscle and heat.
It had six arms.
One held a kanabo, spiked and stained. Another, a broadsword cracked down the center.
The third carried a severed head, its face frozen in eternal scream.
The fourth, a trishula, still dripping blood.
The fifth gripped a torch whose flame burned blue.
And the last, a monk's ringed staff that rang softly without wind.
Its eyes bled fire. Its mouth smoked ruin.
And it stood behind Naruto like a wrathful god made manifest.
Ares didn't dare speak.
Didn't move.
Not in fear.
In reverence.
He recognized it.
Naruto's head lifted. His eyes burned crimson. And the smile that tugged at his lips wasn't cruel.
It was calm.
"Round two," he said. "Let's make it count."
SKY CAM 7
"What... is that?"
"Are we seeing a projection of some kind? This red figure behind Naruto, it looks demonic, armed, and... enraged. Viewers, if you're watching this, we are currently unaware of what we're witnessing. This is unprecedented."
"And Ares hasn't moved."
"He looks... rattled!"
Ares spoke, voice low.
"You've manifested your Battle Spirit."
He said it with reverence.
"Your battle spirit... born of war and survival. From the fire in your blood."
Naruto didn't answer.
He raised his head slowly.
His eyes were glowing red now, slitted like a beast's, flickering with the same fire as the spirit behind him.
He exhaled, and smoke left his mouth like the oni itself was breathing through him.
Ares stood tall, fists still raised but no longer out of arrogance.
"I've fought gods, monsters, and kings. But only a few..." he trailed off, grin rising.
"Only a few ever earned my respect."
He stepped forward, hands curling into tight fists.
"You're one of them, which is why I shall give you a purposeful death.
Naruto grinned, crooked and bloodstained.
"Let's finish this."
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Hey, Banmido here
If you're enjoying the story and want to support my work (and get early access to advanced chapters), head over to Patreon and search for banmido.
Thank you for reading. It truly means a lot.