When Kakashi woke, it was to sudden shouts and exclamations from the village. Being ANBU trained, Kakashi was used to waking up at the slightest sounds, and this was a veritable racket. Immediately donning his signature mask and strapping his kunai pouch to his person, the copy-nin leaped out of the window and onto Tazuna's roof with ease. He then froze in place when he felt faint wisps of chakra in the air… very familiar chakra. He gazed towards to source, and his jaw fell open despite the mask being in place.

Towering above the trees, a bluish-white construct that clearly looked like a kunai was extremely visible. And considering the distance at which it was, it truly had to be monstrous in size. Only one person he knew had this chakra signature, so he leapt forward and use a ninja-wire-attached-kunai to swing into Naruto's room through his open window.

He spotted the blonde on the bed, sleeping as if dead to the world. Kakashi's visible eye narrowed, then noted that the window was open for him to be able to swing through in the first place.

'Naruto… what did you do?' he thought, before leaping out of the window and into his room again. If he was going to check out the site, he needed to be prepared for any outcome, and thus needed his gear.

The deathly quiet that surrounded the village of Kirigakure was only accented by the near tangible cloud of despair that hung over the village. Despite the fact that there was no structural damage, the mist that hung in the air that was almost comforting at first, induced claustrophobia in many. Despite this, or maybe because of, no one noticed a simple grey-brown shape emerge from the cloudy sky. The shape came closer to the village, revealing itself to be a young blonde boy. Said boy did not stop his approach as he neared the ground, sinking deep within.

'Reaching Kirigakure was a breeze with Zabuza's memories and Haku's Makyo Hyousho,' thought Naruto, amused, 'but Yagura's chakra signature isn't in the Mizukage's tower anymore. Using a stronger Chakra ping will cause me to be detected. While identifying who is a sensor in this village would be useful in the long run, now it would be detrimental for me, especially since I don't want to be discovered…'

To that end, he raised the cape he wore to cover his face nose-down, and made his way towards the coast.

"Naruto, come see me for a minute." The Kyuubi's voice suddenly sounded, halting Naruto's advance. "I have something that may interest you."

Tempted to ignore the bijuu, Naruto instead sighed and stopped his advance, staying beneath the ground but drifting into a meditative state.

His eyes were physically closed, but they now saw a wide room, encrusted with ice. He was brought in front of the Kyuubi.

"Hai, Kyuubi-sama?"

"The way I see it, you're only interesting as long as you're strong." The kyuubi drawled in a bored tone. Naruto seethed, but let nothing show. "Thus, I thought about your primary bloodline, the Uzumaki Fuinkusari, and I have come to an... epiphany."

"Oh?"

"The activation of the bloodline is directly linked to the emotional centers of your brain, which is unusual. In my previous host, an Uzumaki like you, the kekkei genkai was even able to manifest outside of emotional upheaval, thus granting the user another weapon in the form of the chains. However, you seem to have inherited only the impression assimilating aspect of it. As such, manifesting the ability would take a toll on you, but the regenerative capability you seemed o have adopted from me keep it at bay. What if I were to tell you that I could grant you control of it whenever you wished?"

Without skipping a beat, Naruto asked, "What is the catch?"

The bijuu laughed uproariously. "Runt, life is a catch! But indeed, to be able to access that capability, you will have to give me a tiny bit more control – you'll have to erode a portion of the seal. This will allow me to influence your emotions – inducing phantom sensations where there aren't, and lift you into intense feelings almost instantaneously. However, I can only influence your anger, and nothing else."

Naruto thought on it for all but a fraction of a second. Assimilating more ninja meant precious more abilities. He could assimilate a ninja adept in the mind arts and deal with the repercussions later. For now…

In a fluid moment, Naruto walked straight up the center bar where the two 'doors' of the prison closed. Carefully, he ripped of a quarter of the seal from the upper right corner.

"I accept, Kyuubi-sama." He said, voice filled with anticipation in spite of himself.

"Very well. I'd recommend trying this out before you go on to face Isobu, as any advantage you have will be vital ton your success."

"Isobu?"

"The sanbi no kyodaigame, Isobu, is sealed within Mizu no Yagura, the Mizukage. As all tailed beasts share a collective deeper conscious, this I know. However, as of late his node has… corrupted. It is as if something is shielding him – or separating him – from the rest of us."

Naruto digested that information, then narrowed his eyes at the Kyuubi. "You wish for me to assimilate him."

"But of course!" Th darkness beyond the cages was suddenly pierced by a wide row of teeth grinning. "Isobu being eliminated and then assimilated into us will only make us both stronger! Additionally, I wish to see what effect does your kekkei-genkai have on us tailed beasts, and whether or not possessing his Yin chakra will allow me to somehow recall my own."

Naruto weighed the argument. The current Mizukage was known for his Suiton, and using its reflective properties in battle. Combining those with his Hyouton… "I accept. But in return, you must promise to not influence my emotional center unless needed. If that promise breaks, Kyuubi-sama, instead of wreaking havoc externally, I will end my own life, causing you to fade from existence."

As Naruto left his mindscape, he only heard laughter. "You are certainly interesting, gaki."

Back in Nami no Kuni, Kakashi sighed as he observed the damage. The entire region of the forest was blown apart, as if by a great force. In the frosted ground, the Konoha Jounin could easily spot wood wreckage, amongst the odd limb or head here and there. And in the center of it all, the towering kunai made of ice. It didn't seem to melt at all. The man was stunned, that Naruto could do… this. Clones were something else – they evenly divided chakra only, and returned half the amount on dispelling, so that should have been easy for Naruto. Incorporating chakra into his clones could be something he picked up from Shiro. But manipulating a relatively new element into a shape outside of a jutsu? Unless, of course, this was simply a supersized version of something in the Hunter nin's arsenal.

Sasuke and Sakura would not be able to keep up at this rate. Naruto, at least now, could give Kakashi a run for his money if he really wanted to. How much would he progress more?

Sakura had yet to awaken the Kurama clan's bloodline capability of manifesting the damage of their illusions as reality. The dangerous situation Sasuke was in yesterday should have awoken with his sharingan, but the famed eye could not copy bloodline abilities, only the basic elemental ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. As such, Kakashi could only do so much to accelerate their training.

Aside from teaching genins shinobi knick knacks, jounin instructors shouldn't do much to teach their genin. That was the basic rule of being a ninja, one had to do their own training on their own time and of their own volition.

However… there was something he could teach them. Usually, this was done after team members reached chunin rank, but he threw that notion out of the window. A shinobi must use everything in their disposal, and Kakashi would be damned if he wasn't going to expand on what they knew.

With a resolve, he leapt away from the ground and towards Tazuna's house as he spotted the first civilians through the trees. When they returned to the village, Kakashi would outfit them with one of the last dregs of his knowledge.

'There, that one would make a good first test.'

Naruto, currently under the cover of trees, studied the man who had followed his largest chakra pulse. A blue-haired individual, garbed in a green haori and a black eyepatch currently had his eye closed and hands in a ram hand-sign.

"You can come out now. I know you're there, Konoha nin." The man said, raising his head.

'What kind of an idiot gives up an advantage like that?' Naruto scoffed. Instead of complying however, he took in a steady breath. 'Now, Kyuubi-sama.'

"Kukukukuku, let go, Gaki."

Suddenly, Naruto was filled with an unbridled amount of rage. Memories were brought to the forefront of his mind – how the village treated him, Shiro's words, the Sandaime's lies…

There was a sudden gurgle, and Naruto opened his eyes to see his Fuinkusari stabbing straight through the blue-haired man. With a frown of concentration, he mentally grasped the end of the chain and tugged.

"I think I can ease the flow of his abilities into you." The Kyuubi said, and for a while Naruto simply closed his eyes, until he heard a deep chuckle within the recesses of his mind. "Gaki, the guy had a dojutsu!"

Naruto frowned. "Kirigakure isn't known for any dojutsu."

"Hmm… His Byakugan was a spoil of battle against a pure Hyuuga, in the past Shinobi World War. Due to it being an implantation, the DNA strain is really weak, but I can regenerate it to its full potential with time."

"Very well. In the meantime, I will apprehend Isobu-sama."

"Be careful. During the duration of assimilating this man, you will not be able to create or maintain any clones. However, I will push more chakra into you through the weakened seal to compensate."

"No clones?" Naruto asked, then sighed. "They'll know, now."

There was a sudden squawk of surprise from Sakura as 'Naruto' dispelled with in poof of smoke and slight pebbles.

Sakura, in the middle of performing a water-walking and leaf levitating exercise, lost concentration for a mere moment, yet that was enough to see her fall into the lake outside Tazuna's house. Sasuke and Kakashi, who were discussing bomb techniques, snapped their heads towards the familiar technique dispersal sound. The Uchiha seemed surprised, if anything. The jounin's visible eye narrowed.

'If that was not the original then… Naruto… where are you?'

With Ao's reconnaissance knowledge at his disposal, Naruto made his way to the reef visible in the sea from the northern shores of Kirigakure. As to protect his identity, he had removed his clothes and tossed them through a Makyo Hyousho into Tazuna's room, keeping only his leggings. He pulled on Ao's haori over him, and unfolded his headband so that it's with was enough to cover his lower face from the tip of his nose to his mouth.

Seeing no other way to scan his surroundings, he sent out a weak chakra pulse, and it impacted something very… familiar.

Naruto shot out of the ground just as something gigantic impacted it. From his stationary position in the air, he saw it to be a gray scaled tale with a rough appearance. It soon retracted into a rather young looking individual, but he wasn't surprised with all the intel he had on him.

"Mizu no Yagura." Naruto intoned, vice void of any emotion. "I have come to ask that you let down your foolish crusade against bloodlines."

The voice that emanated from the boy in front of him was nearly in tone with his own. "And just who are you?"

"I… my name is unimportant." Naruto said, tilting his head to the side. "What is important is that-"

"Bloodlines are tools." Yagaura said, raising his right hand. With a single half-dragon hand-sign, a black staff-like weapon with a hook-like structure and flower on its one end materialized in a poof of smoke. "When tools may harm their user in accident, they must be discarded."

"You are talking about the deaths of many. The complete neutering of raw potential that could be unmatched."

"I care not for such trivialities. I alone am enough for Kirigakure to prevail."

"I need a few more minutes before you can assimilate him, gaki. Keep him busy till then."

"Then it is my duty to prove you wrong." Naruto intoned, floating higher into the air.

All was silent for a few moments, while the two ninja sized each other up. Two sets of eyes met, wills indomitable, and then, just like that, the moment broke.

Naruto charged forward, intend on ending this as quickly as possible. However, he stopped midair and tensed when the Mizukage rotated his staff a full 360 degrees and materialized a perfectly circular mirror made of water.

"Suiton: Mizukagami no Jutsu!"

'Ah, the famed mirror manipulation.' Naruto thought, then charged when his reflection emerged as some sort of construct. He Clashed with his doppelganger, already calculating new strategies.

Meanwhile, Yagura produced three water clones, who took up a triangle formation and brandished their staves in a threatening manner. Slamming their staves on the ground, one by one they intoned, "Suiton: Suichu Hoi no jutsu! Suiton: Suijinheki! Suiton: Mizu Kekkai no jutsu!"

While Naruto dodged the attacks of his doppelganger, he spotted one clone melting into a near spherical water dome, one clone transforming into a circular wall of water, and another dispersing into eight pillars of water than began encircling the outer barrier.

"Deal with this pathetic excuse of yourself and break those protections! He's gathering a lot of chakra, almost half of what Isobu has! You won't be able to deal with a jutsu like that without delaying everything significantly!"

Naruto growled, mentally seething. This doppelganger knew all his jutsus and movements, and dealing with it was becoming a real headache. Unless he developed a new jutsu…

Naruto walked through all the ideas he had so far. With his new Hyouton, had require a lot of water…

Well, he was on the shores of the sea after all.

He broke off mid-combo and gave an acute kick to the doppelganger's midsection, but wasn't able to dispel it. In any case, he shushined to a few hundred meters into the sea, and stood upon the water. Being the first time he was creating and then utilizing a new jutsu in combat at once, he attempted to pour every ounce of his concentration into the formation of this new jutsu.

Before he could complete it however, he heard a deeper voice intone, "Suiton: Hyaku Suiryuukagami no Mai!"

His eyes snapped open, concentration falling short. His opponent was now cloaked in familiar crimson bijuu chakra with two tails behind him. The fluctuations that the cloak induced in his network must have interfered with his previous jutsu, for the doppelganger had dispelled. The protections remained however, and no further changes in the surroundings were made.

When he felt shifting behind him however, he turned, gasped, and took a reflexive step back, for the gazes of a hundred reflective water dragons were trained on him from the ocean.

"Hajime!" Yagura intoned, and himself leapt forward, and with him the water around him as well.

Naruto poured a lot of chakra into his limbs to dodge, and oh boy, dodge he had to. For every time one of the dragons reflected him, another doppelganger emerged. Now he knew why Yagura had allowed the other to dispel. After all, now he had several more! Naruto dodged to the best of his ability, but accumulated a lot of cuts from Hyouken and bruises from Kengan.

"Naruto! I have finished catalyzing the Byakugan, what was taking a majority of the time. Activate it now! Your shadow clones are now available, and in another few minutes, you may assimilate him!"

Naruto faltered in dodging while the flood of information on the Byakugan and the ability itself overwhelmed his mind. Normally, implanted users do not have much information on their inductions, but Kurama had managed to snag the DNA of the pure Hyuuga from the bloodline impression from the eye, and was thus able to procure a Main House Hyuuga's knowledge.

The combined force of a Doppelganger's Iwakami no Unarigoe and the crushing force of three dragons would have been enough to crush his bones. However, now armed wth Hyuuga techniques, Naruto simply spun midair and sent out chakra from all his tenketsu, creating a sphere of pure rotating chakra using the Hakkeshou Kaiten.

He closed his eyes, and sent chakra to them.

When they next opened, the sclera was black, with pale orange irises. The veins on the outer sides of his eyes were bulging in the normal Hyuuga manner.

He catalogued the doppelgangers, and realized that if he simply didn't let his reflection linger long enough on the dragons, there would be no doppelganger to fight at all. Overloading his Keijugan with Kyuubi's chakra, he moved backwards so fast that one would think he was never there in the first place.

"You are within the field of my Hakke." He whispered, and a hundred shadow clones appeared around him, falling into an approximate midair variant of the Jyuuken stance.

They all then shot forwards.

"Hakke Niishou!

Yonshou!

Hachishou!

Juu Rokushou!

Sanju Niishou!

Rokuju Yonshou!

Hyakku Niju Hachishou!

Hakke Sanbyaku Goju Rokushou!" They all proclaimed as one.

For a moment, everything was still, then the doppelgangers and dragons all fell into the water below.

Naruto's clones vanished, but the boy in question was far from being even lightly winded.

Yagura, who was also hit twice by the set, collapsed to one knee, completely free of bijuu chakra. Normally, even a flicker of bijuu chakra would be enough to reopen one's tenketsu, albeit temporarily and painfully, but Yagura had expended a lot of Isobu's chakra. As such, the man was left with a bare sliver of Isobu's power, only enough for…

Suddenly, he was enveloped in a gigantic sphere of crimson chakra.

'Anytime now, Kyuubii-sama!' Naruto mentally growled, creating five hundred kagebunshin.

'I need thirty more seconds, gaki!' The Kyuubi answered, voice sounding … haggard. 'I'm giving you more of my chakra, use it to hold him off!'

Feeling the sudden influx of Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto could barely even feel his eyes changing, the near transparent pale orange pupil of his mutated Byakugan transforming into black slits. Instead, he made the kage bunshin cross-seal again, transferring some Hyouton chakra into his clones, who then began to transform into ravens. This happened in the span of two seconds.

The original Naruto closed his eyes in concentration as the ravens sped forth towards the sphere of chakra, intent on killing Yagura before it exploded, Sanbi be damned. The raven clones all morphed into ice midflight using their hyouton chakra in combination with his Mofuku bloodline, mad possible with the addition of Kyuubi's chakra. The ravens then seemed to freeze midflight, before glowing.

"Hijutsu: Hyouton : Hyouhane Danmaku!"

The ravens suddenly exploded in a shower of feathers. Naruto, using the Byakugan that each raven possessed, was able to direct his feathers appropriately into the spiraling sphere of malevolent chakra to impact Yagura, the knowledge of the Hakkeshou Kaiten helping him tertiarily.

The sphere slowed, halted, and then dispersed, showing a blood-soaked Yagura. The transformation was incomplete, but he had the skin color of Isobu with the same right eye. Additionally, three scaled tails laid limp on the ground behind him.

Seemingly shocked, the Yondaime Mizukage fell to the ground on one knee, driving several ice needle-like feathers deeper into his leg.

'Now, gaki!'

A single chain shot out of Naruto's outstretched hand, and sped right through the stomach of the Yondaime Mizukage. Another shout out of his left, and shot through right the small space between his brows.

'The added presence of Isobu will see you knocked out for quite a while. As soon as you finish pulling, phase back to where you think you will be safe. You will awaken mentally when I have dealt with the giant turtle.'

Mentally nodding, Naruto braced himself, and pulled. At the ends of the chain, along with Yagura's white silhouette, was another blood-red silhouette of a similar shape. When it reached Naruto, he gasped and coughed, getting the impression he was drowning.

'I won't be able to hold back the unconsciousness for long, and I don't fancy dying. People are approaching, so leave now!'

"Halt there! Who goes?"

"He defeated the Mizukage!"

"He's got to be the one who killed Ao!"

"That's a leaf headband!"

Naruto roared with the effort it took to create a Makyo Hyousho, and fell into it, almost passing out in the dimension in between. Not knowing what would happen if he were to sleep here, he expended all of his effort into creating another mirror into Tazuna's house, but instead opened it to the forest nearby.

The last thing he remembered seeing was a flash of untidy white hair and a red eye.