Chapter Two: Setting Up the Chess Board


Naruto was calmly leaning against a wall in the back of the airship that was carrying him towards Beacon Academy with his arms folded across the chest. He was silently observing the two dozen hunters-in-training that were locked inside of the aircraft with him and trying to rate them in terms of threat-level. So far, he could only see a few people that could be truly considered a threat to him in combat. The others were a minor nuisance at the very most and could easily be eliminated by a single Genin that had just graduated from the Academy.

"I'll have to gather information on the different type of Grimm that live in the Kingdom of Vale and send it back to the village." The Jinchūriki mentally noted before turning his attention on a hologram that was tuned onto a news channel.

It had been very surprising for him to learn that the four kingdoms didn't have any censorship laws on the media outlets. Ozpin had told him that restricting the press' freedom was the first step towards having a government that was ruled by a dictator. However, Naruto disagreed with the headmaster's assessment as Hoshido had censorship laws in place and they weren't a dictatorship. Then again, Ozpin was thinking about it from a point of view that came with living in the Kingdom of Vale for years.

The hologram showed a woman with white-hair and amber eyes sitting next to an image of animal-eared demonstrators that were holding signs saying "We're not animals!" followed by a logo of a growling red wolf's head with three scratch marks behind it. At seeing the mark of the White Fang on the hologram, Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted..." the woman spoke before Naruto tuned her out.

It seemed like White Fang was actively trying to ruin the lives of other people in the four kingdoms. During the war, a large number of faunas had immigrated to the land of Hoshido and volunteered to fight against the four kingdoms of Remnant. While a little hesitant to trust outsiders with fighting their battles, the newly-established emperor of Hoshido had authorized them to join the military. It was a decision that would come back to haunt everybody in the future.

"I need to ask permission from the Kage to hunt down and eliminate any members of White Fang that I come across." Naruto muttered as he recalled how Kiba's mother had been murdered by a member of white fang that had enlisted in a volunteer regiment.

It was at this moment that the news reporter was replaced by a middle-aged woman with light blonde-hair that was tied into a bun with a single curl hanging over the right side of her face. Her emerald-green eyes and glasses helped to make the woman look more mature. For clothing, she was wearing a white long-sleeved suit that exposed part of her chest, and came with puffy sleeves that tighten near the wrist before spreading back out near her hands. Her lower body had on a black business skirt with copper buttons running in a vertical line up the front of it and lighter black-brown stockings. She was also wearing a pair of black boots that had brown heels. For some very odd reason, she had a tattered black and purple cape draped over her shoulders. Overall, she looked a lot like a younger version of Tsunade Baa-chan that didn't drink alcohol and actually took her job seriously.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon Academy!"The woman spoke in a polite and courteous manner.

Naruto could hear several people question others about the identity of the mysterious woman. He wanted to scoff at the stupidity of some people as there was a pretty good chance that the woman was going to introduce herself in a few seconds.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch." The now identified woman commented.

The jinchūriki could only shake his head in amusement as several people showed signs of blushing in embarrassment at asking such a stupid question. It was kind of like the old saying went: you ask a dumb question then you'll get a dumb answer.

"You are among a privileged few that have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." Glynda spoke in a serious manner.

At hearing this proclamation, Naruto could only roll his eyes. It was pretty clear that this was simply a prerecord message from before the war and somebody had forgotten to update it. The casualties from the war between Remnant and Hoshido were estimated to be around eighteen million lives. If that weren't a major conflict, then he would hate to see what Remnant considered to be one. He would acknowledge the fact that all of the fighting had taken place on a single the continent. However, the ninja coalition had been preparing to launch a series of attacks on the four kingdoms before the ceasefire had gone into effect.

"Atlas and Schnee Corporation had definitely lucked out as ero-sennin had just finished the super explosive seals as we were almost ready to deploy." The Jinchūriki mentally mused as he looked around the airship's main compartment to observe the other would-be students.

It was at this very moment that Naruto took notice of a girl with long and curly blonde-hair that looked to be around his age. However, what really captured his attention was the shape of the girl's face as it was similar to the face of a huntress that he had fought in the war. While most ninja tended to forget about the people that they've fought, he had taken a different approach with memorable people. Out of the countless people that he had fought, only four of them could be considered noteworthy.

"Perhaps, she's the daughter of Raven Branwen?" He whispered in a low tone.

Whatever the case, he was going to keep a close eye on her in the hopes of having a rematch with the black-haired woman wearing red and black clothing.


If there was ever a reason for Ozpin to take up drinking, it would be dealing with Glynda and Ironwood criticizing his decision to allow a ninja to attend Beacon Academy. Both of them were opposed to allowing somebody from Hoshido to learn the skills that hunters used in the field. Neither of them could see the reason behind his decision as they were wrapped up in grudges that were caused by the war.

"The both of you need to keep your hatred in check and listen to the reasons as to why I did this without consulting anybody." The headmaster calmly spoke as he tried to urge his friends to see reason.

Both Glynda and Ironwood shot the grey-haired man with a nasty look that demanded a sound explanation for this madness.

"As the two you know, I had interrogated dozens of civilians from the various ninja villages that been captured during the war." Ozpin started to explain to his colleagues.

Ironwood and Glynda nodded their heads as they recalled the dejected expressions that would be on their friend's face following a long interrogation. Both of them would agree that he didn't have the stomach to use the enhanced methods to gain information.

"In a couple of the sessions, something that is called a Jinchūriki was mentioned by accident. Curious about the term, I asked Bartholomew develop something to allow me to figure out its meaning." The headmaster spoke as he turned his chair around to watch an airship dock at a landing pad.

Glynda remembered that the good doctor had spent weeks trying to develop a system that could translate Hoshido's unique language. Ironwood nodded his head as Doctor Oobleck's device had made policing the occupied territories a lot easier for Atlas. In many ways, the device helped prevent any significant linguistic misunderstandings between the locals and the troops.

"Anyways, I discovered that the word roughly translates to power of human sacrifice. With a firm understanding of the definition, I had Oobleck research the mythological stories from Hoshido that focused on Jinchūriki and anything connected to the term. What he found is both fascinating and horrifying." Ozpin commented as the information on Jinchūriki flashed in his mind.

General Ironwood raised a neatly-trimmed eyebrow as he had a terrible gut feeling that he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear. With the war over, he needed to shift his focus on rebuilding the Atlesian military as discipline and morale had completely collapsed. The last thing that he needed was having the knowledge that Hoshido had super weapons at its disposal.


Okay, a new chapter for you to enjoy. I decided to change the story from adventure/humor to a story that focuses on adventure/hurt/comfort.