The first punch was faster than it had any right to be.
Naruto blocked it only barely. Coyotl's fist slammed into his forearms with the force of a battering ram, chakra crackling throughout Naruto's arms to absorb the worst of it. But even so, the impact launched him backward like a missile.
"Gaah!" Naruto said.
He hit the floor, skidding across the polished stone and carving a groove into it with his heels. Sparks flew and his hair flapped in the wind with the gust of power trailing behind him.
Coyotl didn't follow after him.
He just lazily rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck again, the sound echoing throughout the chamber like snapping trees.
But Naruto didn't mind, it gave him more time to plan and recoup.
Naruto dug his heels in and came to a stop, breathing slow and ragged.
"Okay," he muttered. "He obviously earned that title of God of War, no doubt."
Regardless, Naruto surged forward again.
They clashed in the center of the chamber striking each other blow for blow.
Naruto ducked a hook and answered with a knee to the gut, then spun low trying to sweep the war god's legs from up under him. Coyotl hopped over it and stomped down with brutal precision. Naruto rolled away, flipped up into a handstand, and launched himself into a wild flying kick.
Coyotl casually caught it with one arm and hurled him across the room like he weighed nothing.
CRACK.
Naruto slammed back-first into a column, bounced off, and coughed as he hit the floor of the throne room.
"Damn," he muttered, spitting blood. "You're not even trying."
Coyotl's voice was calm, flat. "And you will die if you do not stop me here."
Naruto stood again.
His chakra flowed steadily, but he felt the difference. Against Ares, he'd had Kurama backing him. Giving him accelerated healing, and his overwhelming strength. But now? He just had his own reserves.
But his opponent was overwhelmingly fast, strong, and smart.
He fought like a man born in war, raised in pain, and perfected by centuries of bloodshed.
Still, Naruto smirked. Despite the overwhelming odds he liked a challenge.
He rushed forward, faster now, chakra lighting his legs and fists ablaze. They traded again with elbows, knees, and close-range blows. Naruto ducked under a backfist and drove his fist into Coyotl's ribs.
The god grunted and retaliated with a palm to Naruto's chest that sent him flying again.
Naruto hit the ground hard and rolled, bones screaming as he dug his hands into the polished floor to stop himself from skidding any farther. His shoulder cracked from the impact and his back screamed.
Coyotl didn't press, he never did, he just circled him like a predator.
He moved with measured steps, bare feet thudding against the stone floor, calm and terrifying. He wasn't rushing, just closing in with the patience of someone who had crushed a thousand warriors before breakfast.
Naruto forced himself upright, his breathing uneven.
"Damn," he muttered, spitting blood. "You're faster than you look for such a big body."
Coyotl's face didn't change. "And you're slower than you think despite your small body."
Naruto surged forward again but slower this time. Chakra burned through his legs, flaring off his skin like steam. His fists flew in a blur, aiming for weak points. Mainly the jaw, throat, and sternum.
Coyotl caught the first punch clean, turned his hip, and rammed his elbow into Naruto's chest.
The breath left Naruto's lungs.
He stumbled back, clutching his ribs. But this time Coyotl didn't let him recover.
A hook smashed into Naruto's temple, followed by a knee to the stomach. The war god moved like a beast in human form, relentless, precise, and no wasted motion. And each blow felt heavier than the last.
Naruto flew into a column with a crack, slumped to the floor, then quickly rolled to avoid the follow-up stomp that shattered the ground where he'd been.
He gasped, wiping sweat and blood from his brow, and tried to steady his legs.
"If I don't do something soon I'm going to die." he muttered.
This wasn't just pure brute strength like Teōtl.
Coyotl was something else entirely.
He didn't just swing harder. He fought smarter. He read Naruto's rhythm, adjusted to his stance, and punished every opening he saw.
Naruto staggered up again.
"You always this chatty?" he asked snarkily, coughing.
Coyotl's voice was like stone scraping steel. "You're the only one who keeps talking."
Naruto grinned faintly and lunged again.
"Ahh, my mistake."
They clashed mid-step. Naruto ducked a right cross, and slipped inside Coyotl's guard, landing a solid shot to the ribs. Coyotl grunted, then snatched Naruto by the forearm and whipped him overhead into the floor.
The chamber rang with a BANG from the impact.
Naruto lay there for half a second too long, then groaned and tried to get to his knees. His vision blurred at the edges. He blinked hard.
Coyotl stood a few paces back, breathing steady, arms loose.
Watching.
Waiting.
He didn't need to rush, he would soon devour his prey.
Naruto struggled to his feet.
His arms were heavy. His breath burned in his chest. And he knew, he wasn't winning this. Not like this.
He needed something else. Something more to give him an edge.
And then it changed.
The air shifted, and became denser and warmer. The light in the chamber dimmed, just enough to notice. The torches flickered unnaturally.
He realized Coyotl's posture didn't move, but the pressure coming off of him did.
Naruto's stomach dropped.
The floor beneath his feet seemed to pulse once, like a second heartbeat in the stone.
Then Coyotl stepped forward, and this time, Naruto felt the difference.
His presence was deeper. Wilder. Like the world itself had leaned closer to him. It wasn't just strength anymore. It was connected.
Naruto backed up a step, hands tightening into fists.
"What did you just do?"
Coyotl didn't answer.
He just moved towards Naruto like a wild beast.
A punch grazed Naruto's shoulder before he even saw it coming. He tried to counter, but Coyotl spun, swept his legs, and drove a knee into his back as he fell.
Naruto crashed to the floor, coughing up blood.
Something had changed.
He pushed off the ground again, muscles screaming. Coyotl wasn't just hitting harder. His attacks carried weight. Not just physical, but something else. Something that pressed against Naruto's skin with every movement.
Not chakra, Naruto thought. But closer, and deeper. Connected maybe.
He braced himself for another hit but Coyotl didn't move.
He was still watching.
Letting Naruto feel it.
His presence and power.
Naruto's hands trembled but not from fear.
But from recognition.
He couldn't explain how, but something in his gut understood this feeling. Coyotl wasn't just stronger than him, he was drawing in energy from around them. From the atmosphere.
It was the same exact energy that Ares used.
Naruto closed his eyes and tried to reach for it.
Tried to feel whatever Coyotl had tapped into.
He inhaled.
Focused.
Nothing.
He exhaled. Inhaled again.
Still nothing.
"Fuck!" he groaned in frustration
Coyotl tilted his head.
"You're trying to copy me?" he said finally, voice flat.
Naruto opened one eye, coughing. "Yeah. Not going so great though."
"You shouldn't even be able to tell what I'm doing."
Naruto smirked, blood on his teeth.
"Yeah, well," he said, steadying himself. "People tell me I've got a bad habit of doing things I shouldn't."
He wiped his mouth, flicked the blood aside, and raised his fists again.
"But you seem worried, which just means I'm getting closer."
The chamber fell silent.
Naruto's breath slowed as he began to focus.
His vision narrowed, not from exhaustion, but clarity. Noise fell away. His pain dulled. Everything outside of Coyotl no longer mattered.
The stone beneath him felt steady. His heartbeat slowed. His chakra, once raw and burning, began to hum, there was no wasted flare, no jagged flow.
He stepped forward, and the movement was fluid and quiet. No wasted motion.
Coyotl's eyes narrowed.
Naruto's stance had changed.
He wasn't fighting desperately anymore, but instead he was moving with purpose.
"Something's different about you," Coyotl muttered.
Naruto didn't answer.
He darted forward, a blur of motion, and struck at the demigod.
Coyotl blocked the first punch, but felt the pressure behind it. It was a ripple of force that cracked the very air around him. He grunted and retaliated with a knee, but Naruto had already weaved low and countered with an uppercut to the ribs.
Coyotl staggered back a step.
His chest throbbed. That was new.
For the first time, his brow furrowed.
This wasn't just a child swinging wildly anymore. This was calculated precision. Naruto's chakra had surged with terrifying control. Becoming tight, compact, and more efficient. He wasn't leaking energy anymore. Every breath, every twitch of muscle, every flick of chakra had purpose.
His eyes burned like sapphire jewels.
He had entered a state of flow.
Coyotl smirked, then lunged. His body blurred in a flurry of hooks, jabs, knees, and palm strikes. The kind that broke spines of lesser beings and shattered mountains.
Naruto parried each one, not with brute force, but with rhythm.
His body moved in tune with the world itself, just fast enough, just strong enough. He was fighting like the wind on a razors edge, unrelenting, but graceful.
Coyotl gritted his teeth.
"How is he able to do this?!"
He twisted mid-punch and feinted low. Naruto reacted too slowly and caught a glancing blow to the temple and reeled backwards. Coyotl seized the opening and slammed his elbow toward Naruto's collarbone.
But Naruto turned with the blow and redirected it.
The strike slid past him, missing by a mere hair's breadth.
And then Naruto struck.
One punch. Just one, but it drove Coyotl back with such force that he skidded across the stone floor, heels digging furrows into polished obsidian.
He stopped just short of his throne.
A single bead of blood rolled from his lip.
Coyotl touched it with two fingers and stared.
"…You made me bleed. A mere mortal.."
Naruto didn't reply.
He stepped forward again. His body moved with eerie calm, like he was possessed by something deeper than instinct.
He had entered a zone Coyotl hadn't seen in centuries.
Not since the old days, not since he had warred against the rival gods.
Not since he last fought someone like himself.
The war god grinned. Then roared like a wild beast.
He threw himself at Naruto again, his fists like wild thunder. The chamber shook with every blow. Stone cracked and the wind howled. The very air itself screamed with the pressure of a god.
And still Naruto kept pace with him.
They moved like chaotic storms, crossing the chamber in bursts of lightning-fast motion.
Coyotl slammed a fist down.
But Naruto sidestepped, swept his leg, and landed a blow to the war god's side.
Coyotl staggered.
He moved to counter but Naruto was already behind him.
Another clean and precise hit.
Coyotl turned again, but this time, Naruto was waiting for him.
His eyes were sharp and focused.
His body twisted, his chakra coiled.
And then,
CRACK!
A single punch laced with sparks of power, the sound was like space tearing itself in half.
Coyotl's body spasmed and blood sprayed from his mouth.
The blow hadn't just connected but reverberated throughout his sturdy body.
Coyotl crashed into the far wall, breathless.
He slumped to a knee.
The war god's mouth opened slightly in disbelief. His hand trembled against the ground. Blood dripped freely from his side now. Thick, dark, and real.
"What… was that?" he breathed.
Naruto didn't answer.
His eyes were distant, and his expression was unreadable.
He wasn't even looking at Coyotl anymore.
He was listening to the rhythm and flow of the world. Letting it guide his breath. His heartbeat. His strikes.
Coyotl looked up, and for the first time since the battle began, he saw it.
The boy before him was no mortal, but a god in living flesh.
And he felt fear for the very first time.
___
AUTHOR's NOTE: If you're enjoying American Alien and want to read up to 20 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.