Injustice Book 2: Darkness in the Light (Naruto + Young Justice Crossover)

Chapter LXXXVIII - New Technique

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought.'

"Demon Speech."

'Demon Thought.'

"Other Speech variants."

Location/Time.

-X- Line Break -X-

Turning to face Aquaman, Naruto rose his guard, shifting his stance as he looked upon the Atlantean with a frown of concentration. He'd struggled against Hawkman and Hawkgirl, there was no doubt he was going struggle with this guy as well. 'To think I once made fun of him as the fish guy. Perhaps this is karma.'

Despite that moment of levity with himself, Naruto was quickly forced to burst backwards as Aquaman charged towards him. Leaning back, Naruto barely avoided the trident strike, a trident that cut cleanly through his cloak.

'Great, and now I face another powerhouse that possesses a weapon that negates one of my greatest assets.' He thought to himself with a scowl, rolling backwards only to raise his guard as Aquaman lashed out with a powerful kick. A kick forced his guard to burst open as he was thrown back, bouncing and rolling across the ground. Luckily his cloak had protected him, but that single kick had knocked him down to a single tail.

"Ow." He groaned out, two tails quickly forming back as Naruto watched Aquaman rushing towards him. Naruto matched him, rushing to close the gap before Aquaman built up too much momentum. As fast as he was, Naruto was at least able to track his movements and that had to count for something. Yet for every stride he took, Aquaman was taking five or sometimes six.

Another thrust of the trident came his way and Naruto once again avoided by stepping to the side, feet skidding to a stop as his tails whipped round to strike at Aquaman's exposed back. Yet a skilful flick of his trident and the back end of it knocked the first of course. A little spin and the trident cut through the tops of the next two.

Naruto had expected as much as he closed the distance between the two, fist lashing out and smashing against Aquaman's face. The Atlantean King to Naruto's credit actually took a step back, but he was largely unfazed, easily catching Naruto's next fist, bringing him in for a headbutt. Something Naruto blocked by moving his free hand in the path, bones within shattering upon impact.

Grunting in pain, Naruto fell back, spinning to land a sidekick into Aquaman's sternum from his kneeling position upon the ground. It didn't do much, only serving as a decoy as with his now broken hand, Naruto flipped up, landing a kick upon the underside of Aquaman's chin.

Landing in a crouch, Naruto spun and dived towards the slightly off-balance Aquaman and tackled him. It felt like running into a steel wall, but Naruto ignored the pain and with a shout, lifted Aquaman cleanly off the ground before slamming him back into it with a thud.

Quickly taking top position, Naruto used his tails to pin Aquaman's hand left hand and his feet to the ground while with his own left, pinned the Atlantean right hand to the ground. Drawing back his newly healed right hand, Naruto unleashed a plethora of fast and powerful strikes to Aquaman's face. Each one sounded like a gunshot that rang across the area, the ground beneath them buckling under the strikes.

'He's gonna break free any moment now.' Naruto knew that much, he was outmatched in strength so hoping that Aquaman was dazed enough, pulled out a third chip, his last one. But it was at that moment that Aquaman did so. 'Fuck I should have expected!'

Cursing himself, Naruto jumped away, landing in a crouch as Aquaman got to his feet quickly. Obviously whoever was controlling the Justice League was back in full control and they were being extra careful of their chips. It was one reason Naruto had wanted to make sure that Aquaman was dazed enough that his gamble would pay off.