Author's Note: Yo. Chapter 10 here for your reading pleasure.
As you have undoubtedly guessed, I have changed my update schedule to only updating once a week, on a Wednesday. This is so I can write chapters without overworking myself.
Now, some of you have been wondering about Naruto's seemingly-limited chakra pool compared to canon. His current CP represent the chakra that he can actually access, which is a small part of his actual capacity. To lay fears to rest, he will get up to his canon chakra levels by the time Graduation rolls around.
Read, Review and check out my other stories!
Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or The Gamer.
"Sakura-chan!" - Regular Speech
'Baka!' - Thoughts
:Shannaro!: - Inner Sakura
[Quest Announcement] - Gamer Ability/Notification
Chapter 10: Blades and Shadows
One Month Later
Higurashi's Weapon Shop
"Whoa…!" Naruto said in awe. He was looking at the pair of tantō lying on the counter of the shop. The blades shone brightly in the light reflected from the illumination provided by the lamps.
The blades were simple, but the distinctive ripple along the edge, the hamon, spoke of blades produced by a master smith. The blades had obviously had a horimonoshi at them, as one had a flower pattern engraved that looked like camellias and the other had patterns that looked like violets.
"I see you noticed the engravings." Higurashi Tatsuhiko observed with a smile, "That's Kanae's work. She's good -really good- at that sort of fine detail work. Ordinarily, we would let you name them and then engrave a horimono to match it, but with these, we named them for you. This one is Tsubaki and this one is Sumire. In hankotoba, Sumire means Honesty and Tsubaki, when they're red, means perishing with grace."
"Cool." Naruto said. He meant it.
The hilts of the blades were wrapped in coloured tsukamaki bearing their respective colours, while the small tsuba had more fine engraving work on them.
"Now Naruto-kun, are you sure that you want to give us most of the remaining chakra?" he asked with a look of concern.
Before Naruto could answer, a box popped up.
[Karmic Choice!]
[This question will determine the end result of your relationship with the Higurashi family. Choose carefully, because words once spoken cannot be taken back!]
Choice 1(Righteous): [Sure. It's yours.] -Immediate advancement to [Honoured] Reputation with [Higurashi Weapons and Apparels], [Higurashi Kanae] and [Higurashi Tatsuhiko]. Advancement to [Well Liked] Reputation with [Higurashi Tenten].
Choice 2 (Pragmatic): [On second thought, no. I might need it.] -50 Relationship with all Higurashi Family members, receive all remaining chakra metal.
The choice, for Naruto, was obvious.
"Sure thing." Naruto said with a nod, "You might need it for something for the village."
[Righteous] Choice made! +10 to [Righteous] Alignment!
Title: [Righteous Acolyte] obtained!
[Guide] updated! [Titles] and [Alignment] added!
Received tantō [Sumire]!
Received tantō [Tsubaki]!
"That's very good of you Naruto-kun!" Tatsuhiko boomed with a smile, "I can't thank you enough. Take these as a token of gratitude."
Reaching under the counter, the blacksmith pulled out a set of black fingerless gloves with metal over the back of the hand. The emblem of the Hidden Leaf was engraved on them metal and it shone as if it had just been freshly polished.
Which was actually very likely.
"Wow…thanks!" the blond boy said in awe.
"Ha-ha! No problem." the man grinned, "Now, in addition to the blades, I can give you a set of sheaths for them. How do you want to carry them?"
"At the small of my back." Naruto replied, miming drawing the blades from that location.
"Hmmm…I see…." Tatsuhiko nodded seriously, "I think I have what you're looking for over here."
He walked over, grabbed a set of sheaths for a nearby rack, and brought them back to show the boy. They were plain black and had built in sharpening stones. What was special about them was that they were designed to be able to be crossed over one another and secured tightly.
"These will serve you well." Tatsuhiko said as he carefully sheathed each blade into each sheathe, "I'll give you a care package as well; whetstones, cloths and a manual on how to sharpen your blades."
Saying so, he placed all of the above-mentioned items, plus the tantō, into a storage scroll and handed it to Naruto.
"Remember, you aren't allowed to carry weapons openly until you become a genin." the man cautioned Naruto sternly.
"Hai!" Naruto accepted the scroll carefully and put it into his pocket.
"Wanted to ask you something about your kodachi." Tatsuhiko said gruffly, "Now, I can do a standard design…or I can alter it somewhat."
"Alter it how?" Naruto asked.
"For example, adding an edge on the flat of the blade, about five inches long near the tip." the blacksmith replied, drawing a display kodachi and gesturing at where he meant, "Not many blades are double-edged, especially not kodachi, so it'll be a nasty surprise for anyone you cross blades with. I could also make the hilt extra long and add a kaiken into it for emergencies. Hidden arrays to store weapons…there's a lot of things I could do if you want me to. As for payment, the chakra metal you've given my family means that the sky's the limit."
The blond boy was stumped as he thought about it. He really had no idea about what he wanted for his blade. Being given basically a free hand to customise it with no limit on his finances was such a novelty that he had not expected it.
"Ummm…can I leave it up to you to decide?" Naruto asked, "I…really have no idea what to choose."
Tatsuhiko nodded understandingly. "That's fine. I have the metal heating up in the back right now, so I'll get started on it right away. Is there anything else you want to buy before I get started?"
"Three standard sets of shuriken." Naruto replied, "I ran out the other day."
"Still clearing out Training Ground 13, eh?" Tatsuhiko asked as he grabbed the requested items, "How far are you in?"
"Still just the first two sub-areas." Naruto scowled, "I go away for two days and the chakra mutations reappear. It's gotten to the point that it's ridiculous. But I didn't want to try my luck further in until I had some proper weapons."
He patted the scroll meaningfully and the blacksmith nodded approvingly.
"Always know when you might be in over your head. A good trait for a shinobi to have." he said, "As for the resurgence of the chakra mutations, it's because the chakra saturation seeps back into the area from the rest after a short while if cleared. You're going to have to kill all of the chakra mutations in all of the areas before the saturation will be removed completely."
"Something to work towards." Naruto said with a shrug as he pulled on his new gloves, "These look kick ass! Thanks, Tatsu-oji-san."
"No problem!" he chuckled, "Now I'd better get back to my forge. I'll let Ten-chan know you were here. She's going to be thrilled about the chakra metal. I'm going to make her a katana out of some of it."
"Glad to help!" Naruto grinned, "See ya later!"
As the blond boy trotted off, Tatsuhiko chuckled. He really was just like his mother.
Heading to his forge, he watched as Kanae worked the bellows.
"I take it he liked the tantō?" she said without missing a beat.
"Yep. He even reaffirmed that we can keep the excess chakra metal." Tatsuhiko replied, "He also left exactly what to do with his kodachi up to me. The poor boy looked stunned at the idea that I would let him tell me what to do with his sword."
"This village…has a lot…to answer for." Kanae grunted as she fanned the flame higher, "So what…are you gonna do?"
"Remember the plans I've been refining for Ten-chan's sword?" he asked, "I was thinking about using Naruto-kun's weapon as a beta test for it."
"Is that wise?" his wife asked as she paused to check the forge, "Or ethical?"
"Nothing will go wrong." Tatsuhiko assured her, "I've worked things out so all the additions and modifications come together smoothly. I've already done an alpha test with regular weapon-grade tamahagane and, aside from some minor issues that I've fixed; it turned out pretty damn good."
"Yes, but that was a katana, not a kodachi." Kanae pointed out reasonably.
"A few calculations and minor adjustments and it'll be fine." Tatsuhiko said firmly, "A kodachi is pretty much the same as a katana, aside from being slightly smaller. It won't be hard to adjust for that."
"If you are certain." Kanae sighed, "You start hammering the metal out, and I'll have a look over your plans."
"Yes dear." Tatsuhiko said, "They're in my planning office."
Later
Naruto's Apartment
Naruto used [Observe] on his new equipment as soon as he finished his lunch.
[Konoha Battle Gloves] (Black)
High quality gloves used by Chunin-rank shinobi and higher in Konohagakure. Offering protection for the knuckles in taijutsu and protection for the back of the hand to block weapons, they are emblazoned with the leaf of Konohagakure.
Def +15
Durability: 50/50
[Sumire]
A tantō crafted by Master Blacksmith Higurashi Tatsuhiko, the blade has been engraved by a horimonoshi with violets. Made of chakra metal, which is stronger than steel and is able to channel chakra through it naturally, it is a very good weapon.
LV15
Short Weapon, Mastercrafted, Chakra Weapon
Durability: 95/95
Piercing Damage: S+10
Slashing Damage: S+25
Bludgeoning Damage: S+1
[Tsubaki]
A tantō crafted by Master Blacksmith Higurashi, the blade has been engraved by a horimonoshi with camellias. Made of chakra metal, which is stronger than steel and is able to channel chakra through it naturally, it is a very good weapon.
LV15
Short Weapon, Mastercrafted, Chakra Weapon
Durability: 95/95
Piercing Damage: S+10
Slashing Damage: S+25
Bludgeoning Damage: S+1
"Nice…" Naruto whistled, "Wonder what being Mastercrafted does to the blades?"
When he tapped the word, another screen popped up.
[Mastercrafted]
Items that have been [Mastercrafted] have been carved, forged, built or otherwise created by a master craftsman at the peak of their skill. As such, all [Mastercrafted] items receive a bonus towards a random stat.
Do you wish to have all such bonuses shown?
Y/N
"Uh…obviously." Naruto muttered. He hit 'Y' and looked at Sumire and Tsubaki's screens again. Tsubaki received a +10 bonus to Piercing Damage, while Sumire got +15 to Slashing Damage.
Naruto felt a bit giddy. These weapons would make his life so much easier when it came to clearing out Training Ground 13.
"Now then…where am I at…?" he muttered and checked his status.
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Class: The Gamer
Level: 12 Next Level: 30.84%
Title: Academy Student (+25% EXP to LV10)
Age: 12
HP: 1500/1500
CP: 1500/1500
STR: 39
STA: 44 (+10)
DEX: 30
INT: 30
WIS: 34
LUK: ?
His stats were, pardon the lack of modesty, pretty damn good in his opinion. He had finally gotten rid of the [Malnourished] status, which had added the missing five points to all his physical stats. He had also raised his INT and WIS by quite a bit, which was nice. His weights were on Level 2 now as he had adjusted after the last month and they were no longer a burden at Level 1.
As for his skills…he had trained hard and all of his [Self-Taught] styles were at Level 10, at which point they had hit was his ability classed as a 'Level Cap,' meaning they couldn't go any higher. The same had applied to his [Basic Hakage Taijutsu], but he had solved that problem by absorbing the [Intermediate Hakage Taijutsu] book.
The [Self-Taught] styles were more problematic. Sure, the Bōjutsu wasn't as important, but the Nitō Ryū Tantō style and the Kodachi Kenjutsu style were. Iruka-sensei had said he would have a look in the Shinobi section of the library, but that still meant he couldn't improve them yet.
And graduation was six whole months away!
On a more positive side of things, thanks to the drops made by the Mokujin in Sub-Area 1 and the Ninmenju in Sub-Area 2, he had a healthy stock of bokken, practice dummies and practice spears.
A big downer was that, once he had passed level ten, he no longer received the 25% extra EXP that his [Academy Student] Title had granted him, which made levelling up somewhat tedious.
'Come to think of it, didn't I get a new title earlier on?' Naruto thought with a frown. He opened the titles section and winced, as it was row upon row of question marks. Scrolling down, the boy spotted two titles that he had access to.
- [Academy Student]: Grants 25% extra EXP while under LV10. Signifies the bearer is a student at a Shinobi Academy. Only removable at graduation.
- [Righteous Acolyte]: Increases Ninjutsu power by 1% while possessing more than zero, but less than 100, Righteous Alignment. Signifies that the bearer has taken the first step down a righteous path.
"This sucks ass…" Naruto pouted. He then decided to find out what this 'Alignment' business was all about by checking the guide.
[Alignment and You]
Alignment is your moral and ethical perspective. Basically, if you act in a moral fashion, you can be considered 'lawful' or 'good,' whereas if you act in an amoral fashion, you can be considered 'unlawful' or 'evil.'
Your words and actions influence which Alignment you go down. Unlike in other worlds, you, Uzumaki Naruto, reside in a world where nothing is cut and dried. Morality is very much in flux, especially for Shinobi.
To represent this, there are various different paths of alignment that you can go down simultaneously. Very few paths exclude the ability to travel down others until very far down a path, but there are those that preclude another path immediately.
The various Alignment Paths you discover will be added here as and when you find them, not before.
Righteous - This path has also been known as Paragon, Lawful Good and various other epithets of a similar nature. One who strides down this path is one who will try to do what is right, regardless of the cost to themselves. Current Alignment: 10/1000.
Pragmatic - Known as Neutral or Unaligned in various universes, one who follows this path follows an expedient path. They will act in the most grounded fashion possible, saving only those who they feel can be saved and not trying for more. Current Alignment: 0/1000.
"Huh…" Naruto said with a shrug. He personally didn't think he suited either of those stances completely. He also felt mildly offended that his ability was trying to compartmentalise him.
"Moving on…new skill!" Naruto grinned as he closed the window and grabbed the book regarding weapons care and maintenance.
[You have acquired the [To the Point and Along the Edge] Skill book.]
Do you wish to learn this?
Y/N
"Hell yes!" Naruto grinned as he hit the appropriate button and watched the book dissolve into blue light and enter him.
[Edged Weapon Maintenance] (LV1, 00.00)
Having a sword or dagger is all very fine and dandy, but if it's blunt as a stick, you'd be better off with a club. This skill allows you to oil, sharpen and otherwise maintain any edged weapon, from a kaiken to the head of a spear. It also grants a buff to any weapon you treat with this skill.
- Sharpens a weapon for 2 days.
- Grants +5 to Piercing and Slashing Attacks for the duration of the [Sharpening].
- Restores 5 Durability for each [Sharpening], [Oiling] and [Maintenance] action carried out on edged weapons.
- Requires [Weapon Maintenance] materials to use.
"Kick ass!" Naruto declared. If this skill was this good at Level 1, he couldn't wait to see what the higher levels were like.
Heading down to the training room, Naruto pulled a practice dummy out of his inventory. It was one of the common drops he received for killing Ninmenju, the human-faced trees, and their weaker spawns, Ninmenka, the human-faced fruit.
The dummies were basic wooden human shapes and were actually meant for taijutsu practice, but as Naruto had fifty of the things in his inventory, he could spare one for training how to infuse his blades with chakra.
Drawing his weapons from their sheaths, Naruto closed his eyes and focussed. He tried to guide his chakra into the blades, but was stymied by an uncomfortable feeling. Frowning, he tried again, this time being a bit more forceful, thrusting the chakra into the tantō he held.
"You're doing it wrong." a voice said from behind him. Naruto jumped and whirled around. A bearded man in a standard Jonin's outfit and a sash with the kanji for fire around his waist stood leaning against the doorframe.
[The Smoking Guardian]
LV?-?-? Sarutobi Asuma
"Ossan, who're you?" Naruto asked, keeping up the façade that he didn't know who the man was.
"The name's Sarutobi Asuma, kid." the bearded man said, "My old man sent me over here today to teach you how to use those blades properly."
"You're Jiji's son?" Naruto asked, "You do look a lot alike."
That made Asuma guffaw loudly.
"Hah! Does he know you call him Jiji?"
"Yup. He seems to find it refreshing." Naruto replied with a grin.
"I'll bet." the Jonin grinned back, "Oyaji told me that your primary affinity is Fūton, right? That's my primary affinity as well and I use the same jutsu you were trying there with my trench knives."
He took an odd-looking knife from his rear shuriken pouch and held it up. Seen from the side, it resembled a fang, with holes for the fingers and the wickedly sharp blade was made more dangerous by the serrated section just in front of the finger holes. Naruto was curious and used [Observe] on it.
[Trench Knife]
A Mastercrafted blade forged by Higurashi Tatsuhiko in his youth, this blade has seen wear, tear and blood through the years and has never failed its wielder. Used in a pair.
Durability: 150/150
Knuckleduster/Short Weapon, Mastercrafted, Chakra Metal Weapon, Paired Weapon
Piercing Damage: S+10
Slashing Damage: S+15
Bludgeoning Damage: S+15
"That looks dangerous." the blond boy observed.
"It can be." Asuma agreed, "Watch what happens now."
Suddenly, a blue aura enveloped the blade and Naruto's hearing could pick up a faint noise, a mild shrieking sound.
"That's the sound of two opposing chakra currents grinding together, sharpening each other to form the blade." Asuma explained. He stepped over to the practice dummy and slashed it diagonally with his trench knife, the top half sliding off the lower half a few seconds later.
"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed with shock.
"Wind is known as the war element." Asuma said as he released the jutsu, "In my opinion, it is the best mix of offence and defence at short to mid range, especially when you use the Chakra Nagashi no Jutsu (Chakra Flow Jutsu) in a bladed weapon. What was your secondary element?"
"Earth."
"Ah. Well, from what I've gathered, using Chakra Nagashi with Doton chakra ups the durability and hardness of the weapon to ridiculous levels." Asuma nodded, "One guy I saw used it to smash his opponent's weapon into smithereens with one blow."
"Again, whoa." Naruto said with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Asuma said modestly, "Now try to do as I described with your tantō. Imagine in your mind two streams of chakra colliding with each other, sharpening themselves into one single blade that covers the entirety of your blades…but not the hilts."
Nodding, Naruto closed his eyes and focussed on what Asuma had told him. He imagined his chakra reaching down, two channels per weapon, wrapping around the blades of the tantō and clashing into each other, forming a blade along the edge of the weapons.
"You've got it." Asuma said proudly.
Naruto opened his eyes and saw that both tantō were covered in the blue chakra of the Chakra Nagashi no Jutsu. He swiped them at the remains of the dummy, cleaving it into three pieces.
"Damn…this is lethal." he said in disbelief. Naruto ignored the numerous screens that had popped up around him, saving them until he was alone.
"Yep. So not using it unless you're out on a mission outside the village." Asuma said sternly.
Naruto nodded as he ended the jutsu, returning his tantō to normal blades.
"Mind if I have a look at your weapons?" Asuma asked.
"Uh…sure." Naruto nodded. He flipped the weapons around so that the hilts were facing the jonin and offered them to him.
Asuma took them carefully and examined them with an experienced eye.
"Looks like Ol' Tatsuhiko outdid himself with these beauties." the bearded man observed, "They're almost as good as my Trench Knives. Tatsuhiko works best when he's creating unique weapons, but even these are top quality."
Carefully, he slid the blades back into their sheaths and handed them back to Naruto.
"Thanks...umm…" Naruto said, "Why'd you teach me? Active duty Shinobi aren't allowed to teach Academy students."
This made Asuma smirk slightly. "Ah, but there's the thing. I am a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, a group of Shinobi who are the Shinobi Guard of the Fire Daimyo. I finished my tour of duty with them last week and arrived here two days ago. Oyaji gave me a month off before I have to officially return to active duty and as I need an apartment, he suggested seeing the landlord of the Amekage Apartments, one Uzumaki Naruto. Sound familiar?"
It certainly did; the official story was that the Hokage had purchased this building and had assigned one of the apartments to Naruto. What was actually the truth was that Naruto was a part owner of the building, and the Hokage was the other. Sarutobi handled the paperwork, while Naruto was the on-site landlord.
"OK. Do you want an apartment here, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto asked, "And if so, is there anything you look for in an apartment?"
"I would like a place with a view of the Hokage Monument, if at all possible." Asuma replied.
"Ah. Got just the place for you." Naruto smirked, "Follow me."
Resealing his tantō into the scroll and pocketing it, Naruto led the younger Sarutobi to a room on the opposite side of the building and one floor down from Naruto's own apartment. It was just as big as Naruto's own apartment and had a very good view of the Hokage Monument.
"Nice." Asuma said with an appreciative look around the room, which was clean as a whistle. "I was expecting the place to look messy and dusty, but it isn't."
"I can use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, so I have them cleaning the place while I'm away at the Academy." Naruto explained.
Doing so had helped to raise the level of his Shadow Clones by quite a bit. The Iwa Bunshin…not so much, as they crumbled to pieces if Naruto moved more than a block away from them. Still useful when he was closer than that though.
He had also developed the skill [Housework] because of it. Combining the experience of all his clones had raised him to level two…on the second day. His current Level with [Housework] was Level Ten, and it showed no signs of slowing down either.
"Good tactic." Asuma said approvingly, "Well, now we need to talk money. Most places charge monthly rent, as I'm sure you know."
Naruto nodded glumly. He had paid over two-thousand Ryo a month for his former shitty apartment, when the place had only been worth less than half of that.
"Considering how this place is in pretty good nick considering it was left alone for so long, how does two-thousand a month sound?" Asuma asked.
"That's as much as I paid my old landlord!" Naruto exclaimed.
"For that place?" Asuma sounded slightly incredulous, "Pops told me about it. You shouldn't have paid more than 1200 Ryo a month."
"Meh. I'm used to it." Naruto shrugged indifferently, "Anyway, 2000 Ryo sounds good. Shake on it?"
The two shook hands and sealed the deal.
"I'm having dinner with the Sarutobi Clan tonight, my official 'welcome back' party." Asuma informed Naruto, "I'll have my brother, Asahi, draw up a rental agreement afterwards and bring it with me so we can sign it tomorrow."
The Jonin looked around the empty room again. "By the way…what happened to the furniture?"
"It was either taken when the entrance to ANBU HQ was moved or left to rot." Naruto grimaced at the memories his clones had given him of the furniture that had been left, "I've had to throw them all out. I would go furniture shopping to replace them, but the likelihood that anyone would be willing to sell me anything isn't high."
Asuma frowned at that.
"You aren't required to provide furniture for a tenant, Naruto." he informed the blond, "All that's required is that the water and power be working properly and that the apartment is in good condition."
"Jiji told me the water works in all apartments and the power works; all I have to do it go down to the basement and turn it on." Naruto supplied, "When'll you want to move in?"
"I'm staying at the Sarutobi Compound at the moment, but I'll have to move out in three days." Asuma replied, "That OK with you?"
"Sure. I'll turn the power and water on the day before and get everything sorted." Naruto nodded.
"OK then. See you later, Yanushi-san." Asuma nodded politely at Naruto before departing.
As Naruto walked back to his apartment, he mused at how odd it felt to be called a landlord. He immediately resolved not to be a pain in the ass like his old landlord.
Sitting down, he examined the windows that had popped up in order of appearance.
[Skill Created!]
As a result of repeated specific actions, the skill [Lesser Chakra Control] has been created!
[Lesser Chakra Control] (Passive) [LV1, 00.00 EXP]
Chakra Control allows the user to control their chakra. Although some jutsu can be used with barely any chakra control, most average jutsu and other chakra tricks will require at lest this level of skill.
- Allows the use of D-Rank Jutsu and Chakra techniques.
- Gains EXP from Chakra control exercises.
- Reduces the cost of jutsu by 1%.
- Increases Chakra Point Regeneration by 1%.
"FINALLY!" Naruto yelled in delight.
[Do you wish to apply unused Chakra Control Exercise EXP from [Tree Climbing Exercise] to [Lesser Chakra Control]?]
Y/N
"Duh!" Naruto snorted as he hit the 'Y' button.
[Calculating…Done]
[Lesser Chakra Control] has risen to LV3!
"Eh?" Naruto mentally calculated that. His [Tree Climbing Exercise] skill was Level 10. Shouldn't that yield a higher level up?
Shrugging, he moved on to the next notice.
[Skill Created!]
As a result of a specific action, the skill [Chakra Nagashi no Jutsu] has been created!
[Chakra Nagashi no Jutsu] (Active) [Level 1, 00.00 EXP]
The Chakra Flow Jutsu is the ability to coat a weapon with chakra and bestowing some sort of special effect to it via the elemental affinity that the chakra possesses. Physical contact is with the target weapon is required in order to use this jutsu.
- Wind chakra can turn any blade into a lethally sharp weapon.
- Earth chakra increases the density and hardness of the weapon.
- Fire chakra surrounds the weapon in a burning aura, incinerating all it touches.
- Lightning chakra acts similarly to wind chakra, with the added effect of numbness, although both effects are due to causing intense vibrations in the weapon.
- Water chakra extends the length of the weapon and adds a cutting effect only slightly inferior to wind chakra.
In addition, Neutral chakra merely forms a protective cover over the weapon, reducing any harm to the weapon.
Handsigns: None.
Wielder Chakra types usable: Wind, Earth, Neutral
Fūton Chakra Nagashi:
- Usable on edged weapons only.
- Creates a blade over the weapon that adds a +20 increase to Slashing and Piercing Damage.
- Grants +10 Durability for duration of activation.
- Costs 25 CP/minute to use.
Doton Chakra Nagashi:
- Usable on any weapon.
- Grants an increase of +20 to the weapons' Bludgeoning and Piercing Damage. (Piercing Damage only added if an edged weapon)
- Increases the weapon's Durability by +15.
- Grants +20 Def to the weapon.
- Costs 28 CP/minute to use.
Neutral Chakra Nagashi:
- Usable on any weapon.
- Grants an increase of +10 to the weapon/s Bludgeoning, Slashing and Piercing Damage, applied depending on the weapon.
- Grants +5 Def to the weapon.
- Costs 30 CP/minute to use.
Naruto had to raise his eyebrows at that. The differences between the various CP costs of the three Chakra Nagashi were fairly obvious. He had the greatest affinity for wind chakra, so the cost was the least, with earth chakra second because he had worked hard at it. Neutral chakra couldn't be worked on, so it had what he assumed was the basic cost.
Still, the effects of all three were useful. He would have to think about something to use for the Doton Chakra Nagashi. A collapsible baton made of chakra metal, maybe?
Shaking his head, he looked at the other windows.
[Quest Alert!]
A Man's Home is His Castle: Sarutobi Asuma, the son of your surrogate grandfather, and former member of the Twelve-Guardian Shinobi, is going to rent an apartment from you in the Amekage Apartment building.
Prepare the room, get the water and power on and sign all the necessary documents before he arrives in three days.
Quest Reward: +1000 EXP, +2000 Ryo, Sarutobi Asuma as a tenant, random Fūton Ninjutsu scroll.
Quest Failure: Sarutobi Asuma as a Tenant.
Accept?
Y/N
Hitting the 'Y' button, Naruto catalogued everything that had to be done and in what order. Most of the preliminary stuff had already been filed by his Jiji, so all he had to do was inform the water and power companies that he would be ramping up the consumption of their respective resource.
Making two Shadow Clones, he sent one to each company before he made another couple to go over the Asuma's chosen apartment with a fine toothcomb and make repairs as and when required.
Settling down again, he realised that Sakura was going to be over soon for her taijutsu practice. This was the pinkette girl's least favourite thing to do, but she did keep her word, so she came nevertheless.
One thing that had changed was that Sakura's tutoring sessions had ceased adding anything to his INT or WIS except at very long intervals. Checking the mission in the quest log, he discovered that it had updated itself, saying that he now required fifteen tutoring sessions with Sakura in order to get +1 WIS and +1 INT, although the amount needed to improve his relationship had decreased from five sessions to three.
Naruto guessed that the amount that his INT and WIS had risen by had prompted whatever being that governed his [Gamer] ability to balance it out. The higher your stats are, the harder it is to improve them.
Sakura, on the other hand, was finding it hard going with regard to her training. She was getting training from the Academy, training from Naruto AND training from her father. She was very much exhausted.
He had been sneaking looks at her stats and she had only gained a single point in STR and STA in the last month and a few days, which was slightly worrying for his [Growing a Cherry Blossom] quest.
When Sakura arrived, he asked her exactly what exercises she did other than sparring.
"Callisthenics." Sakura replied, "You know…sit ups, push ups, star jumps…that sort of thing."
"You should try jogging." Naruto suggested, "Shinobi do a lot of that, so it would be useful to get into the swing of things."
His pink-haired training partner sighed at that, but was unable to refute it.
Over the next couple of hours, Naruto helped Sakura alter the Hakage Style she had been taught so it suited her body. Stances and kata had to be changed and then Sakura had to experiment with the various punches, kick, blocks and the like so she could use them effectively.
After all of that, she would spar with Naruto, who didn't pull any punches in regards to his speed. He was way faster than Ino was, if not quite as acrobatic, so if Sakura got used to his level of speed, she'd be able to deal with Ino more easily.
Or so he hoped anyway.
"Damn." Sakura said mildly as she got up again after being knocked back onto her butt again, "I'm not getting any better at this."
"Considering you've only been at this for just over a month, you're doing very well." Naruto assured her.
"Why haven't you ever won any spars if you're this good at taijutsu?" Sakura asked with a frown.
"Because almost every single time, I've been up against Sasuke." Naruto replied, "He's a teme, but he is very good at hand-to-hand combat. Just about the only thing he's better at is ninjutsu."
"How can you tell?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"See how he wears his clan symbol on his back?" Naruto asked, "According to Iruka-sensei, only adult Uchiha are allowed to wear their Clan symbol on their back like that, meaning they have to be able to use Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu)."
"Sasuke-kun can use a C-Rank Elemental Jutsu?!" the pinkette yelped in shock.
"From what I can remember, he started wearing it just before the Uchiha Massacre." Naruto continued, "So that means he's been able to use it for six years or thereabouts."
"He used it at SIX?!" Sakura gawked.
"He has talent. Shame Itachi screwed his head up." Naruto said with a shrug.
"That's a bit cold, Naruto." Sakura said with a frown, "He had his entire Clan massacred by his own brother. Anyone would be screwed in the head after that."
"I know." Naruto sighed. He really didn't want to talk about the Teme. "It's just…other people have had difficult lives as well, you know? And they haven't cut themselves off from all human contact."
Sakura nodded slowly. "I get your meaning, but cut him a little slack, OK?"
"Because it's you asking, I'll try." Naruto sighed, "Now, have you thought about your genin outfit?"
"Ummm…not really." Sakura replied, "Isn't what I have good enough?"
"For D-Ranks, yeah." Naruto said, "But for C-Ranks, where you'll be facing enemy combatants, albeit just bandits? Not so much. No armour, no weapons other than kunai and shuriken…yeah, let's just say not good and leave it like that."
Sakura winced. "I'll talk to my dad about it."
"Cool. Oh. I have to give you something." Naruto said, "Wait here."
He trotted out and up to his apartment so he could access his inventory and pull out the [Chakra Strength Enhancement] Scroll he'd gotten from that spar with Sasuke before heading back. He'd tried to learn it before, but it required [Average Chakra Control] Level 20, so he was out of luck.
Sakura though…
"Here you go." he said as he entered the dojo, "A reward for your hard work."
"This is…a jutsu scroll?" Sakura asked as she gingerly accepted it.
"Yup. For Ninpō: Chakra Kyōdo Kyōka no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Chakra Strength Enhancement Jutsu)." Naruto replied, "My chakra control's too shaky to use it, but you? I think it'll work out."
Sakura was speed-reading the scroll. "This…this is what incredible!" she exclaimed, "Where'd you get it from?"
"I found it…in a Training Field I'm working at." Naruto replied, mixing truth and lies, "It's been abandoned for a while and Hokage-Jiji told me anything I found that didn't have someone's name burned or signed onto it was mine to keep."
"Wow…well…thank you, Naruto." Sakura said, still reading the scroll avidly, "This is…wow. It isn't Tsunade of the Sannin's Chakra Enhanced strength, but it is a step up from regular muscle power, that's for sure."
Naruto nodded. The Chakra Kyōdo Kyōka no Jutsu was a heavily watered down version of the Shodaime Hokage's Kongōriki no Jutsu (Adamantine Power Jutsu), one that every shinobi with sufficient chakra control could learn, unlike the parent jutsu. When he discovered that he couldn't learn the jutsu, he had read it physically.
"Don't use it instead of your muscles in training." he cautioned her.
"Hai, Hai…" Sakura said wearily, putting the scroll into her pouch, "Are we done for today, Naruto? I'm still tired from earlier."
"Sure thing, Sakura-chan." Naruto nodded, "See you tomorrow."
The pinkette bade him farewell and headed for home. Naruto looked at the scroll over by the remains of the dummy and grinned. Tomorrow, after the Academy, he would go and kick ass in Sub-Area Three of Training Ground Thirteen and break-in his new weapons.
He couldn't wait.
Elsewhere
In a room barely lit by stuttering candlelight, a masked individual, clothed so that their gender was undeterminable, knelt before a desk covered in papers. Behind that desk sat a man clad in a black and white kimono, with one arm and one eye bound in bandages.
"Report, Agent #35." the bandaged man ordered, his voice inflectionless.
"The Jinchūriki has been progressing well." the kneeling man replied tonelessly, "Each time he faces Uchiha Sasuke, he draws closer to achieving victory over him. He trains with Haruno Sakura three times a week and is otherwise spotted heading towards Training Area 13."
The bandaged man gave no indication that he was either pleased or displeased by this information. "I see. Have we acquired any leverage on the ANBU who guard the former HQ Entrance?"
"Negative." Agent Thirty-Five replied, "They are part of the current Hokage Guard section of the ANBU and their identities are classified beyond the ability of any of our agents to acquire."
This time a distinct look of displeasure flashed across the bandaged man's face. "Anything else to report?"
"Sarutobi Asuma has returned from his tour of duty with the Twelve Guardian Ninja." the kneeling agent stated, "He is currently residing in the Sarutobi Compound, but plans to move into the Amekage Apartments within the next three days."
A scowl crossed the bandaged man's face. "Curse that old monkey!" he hissed, "Arrange for an accident to occur to Sarutobi Asuma tomorrow; nothing fatal, but it has to put him out of commission for at least a week. Prep Squad One for an abduction mission in Training Ground Thirteen in two days time."
"Hai…Danzō-sama…" the agent said before fading out into the encroaching darkness.
Shimura Danzō, the Yami no Shinobi, allowed himself a small grin before turning his attention back to his paperwork.
The Weapon was as good as his.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Next Chapter: The Root of the Problem
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN