The False Apocalypse

by Master Xeion

A dimension hopping adventure where a man from a dying world is flung into the multiverse and finds purpose as it's protector on his journey back home. With powerful allies and stronger enemies, can there be any hope for saving his begotten home or the multiverse? The rewrite is now active.

38. Like Shifting Sands

The False Apocalypse

Shinobi Saga

Chapter 38

Like Shifting Sands

Days had passed since the meeting of the Shinobi world begun. Each day brought them closer and closer to fulfilling their new goal of creating a republic. The end result was coming closer by the hour though all involved knew it would take weeks for consensus and months for final fruition. Most of the more difficult to convince had warmed to the republic concept over the days. Still Danzo and a few others had proved remarkably difficult to deal with. There was fear of many things. One of the more prominent fears was how much power each representative stood to lose. That was the fundamental problem with moving from a feudal system to a democratic one. Several countries had left the table completely or were leaning heavily towards it for those very reasons. A few like Danzo on the other hand remained only so he could attempt to rip it apart or at least steer it closer towards his advantage than it would go without his involvement. He was never one to let matters work out on their own, not when there was so much at stake.

Despite all the progress yesterday's negotiations had broken down when the old war hawk began making demands of the Zate's technology, treating it as a bargaining chip in exchange for giving up so much power. It took quite a long time to fully explain how dangerous a lightsaber could be to those without knowledge of the Force, a point that was heavily argued against because of the Nidaime Hokage's Raijin no Ken, a chakra weapon that greatly resembled a lightsaber. The point that entirely changed the debate was the fact that focusing crystals had to be infused with the Force to function stably. The Raijin no Ken on the other hand was formed and stabilized by chakra and had nowhere near the raw destructive power of a lightsaber. In the end, that was when matters became truly interesting. Danzo questioned why the Zate could not teach this energy. The answer was blatant and frightening.

"The Force is not some toy or something that can be controlled. You look upon your chakra as little more than a simple tool. Anyone to look at the Force with such a simplistic view is doomed to be consumed by it. Chakra doesn't speak to you, does it? No, but the Force is sentient and as such it is capable of both good and evil. It speaks to us as much as we can speak to it. That's why anyone with any real degree of Force sensitivity must be trained at least in the basics, from as young an age as possible. Anything less and it would be like throwing an infant into the ocean, expecting it to swim. Attempting to train someone without enough Force sensitivity would be as bad or worse. You may have blocked us from your mind Danzo but we can see your intentions clearly enough. If someone with your mindset were to tap into the Force…" Windu paused and shook his head utterly stupefied by the ramifications of such a thing.

"… Knowledge, emotion, and will are the catalyst through which the Force can be formed and directed. If you act out of anger it will fill you with anger. When you act out of hate, it will fill you with hate. It is so easy for one emotion to lead to another. Years ago Anakin was consumed by the dark side. At first he acted out of love but that love turned obsession when he felt he could no longer protect it. Out of that obsession grew fear which soon turned to hatred. Once the hatred took hold he was no longer in control of himself. The Dark side of the Force went from being symbiotic with him to being a parasite. Blinded by his hatred the Force turned him on his friends and he became one of the most powerful dark lords my universe had ever seen. The atrocities he committed would sicken even the most experienced warrior. It took decades for him to see how far he had fallen. It was a miracle he ever came back from that place. We will never teach anyone we cannot trust with absolute certainty."

"If it's so dangerous then how come all of you can use it so fluently? Why haven't the rest of you 'fallen' like this Anakin." Danzo questioned firmly. With a grunt Yoda stood from his hover chair and hobbled over to the center of the room. He turned his focus to the many in the room, but Danzo most of all.

"One, all things are. Think a leaf is separate from the tree do you? Speak you of grains of sand or of deserts, hmm? A desert, a desert is, but a desert it cannot be if trillions of grains of sand there are not. Grains of sand are we, leafs on a tree, all bound by energy, by life. Come and go seasons do but live on the tree does. Leafs die, spread to the wind their energy, and fall to the ground their bodies do. Become nutrients for the tree do the leaves and rain from a larger world… falls... The earth, the universe, life it is." Yoda emphasized with his intense gaze focused on Danzo.

"I asked you how you can use it not some philosophy about existence." Danzo replied with anger evident in his voice. He was not in the mood to be lectured by some old creature who thought himself wise.

"Understand you do not. Existence… the Force reflects it, the Force is. In balance is everything. When understand that one does then live in harmony with it one can. Day and night, two sides of the same existence they are. If push to the dark you do, then to the dark you will fall. If too the light you push then in the light, stay will you. If in balance your emotions you keep, then fall not will you. Love, hate, anger, serenity, all sentient emotions are they not? When on one you dwell then consume you it will. A sad path of solitude and betrayal it is, betrayal to friends and self alike. When in the Force you live, all thoughts, magnified are they. Express our emotions the Zate do but let them control us we do not. Train and help each other we do. An extended family the Zate is. Say the same can you? No, cold and calculating you are Danzo. Your subordinate's emotions kill off you do. For murderers, for assassins, a valuable trait perhaps? Without emotion, cut off to much of the Force are you, light and dark. Without emotion, a weapon only can the Force be. As a weapon, only void, darkness in its purest form is it." Master Yoda added.

This came as quite a shock to Danzo, in such a setting that final statement was tantamount to calling out an enemy. The old man had never thought of himself as evil, merely practical, realistic. That green fool had long since worn on his nerves. Still before Danzo could gather his thoughts to rebuke the green warrior Master Windu decided to clear the tension in the air with some news that would hopefully calm Danzo's nerves.

"If you need it laid out so blatantly, the universe is very much alive. We are as much part of a living existence as cells are living things that make us up. The Force is like… the collective mind, the collective will of all things living and otherwise across the universe. It has its good moods and its bad moods. Diving into the Force is diving into an ocean of knowledge and emotion. We are just… so small … in comparison. What do you think would happen if you linked an ant to the mind of a human? It couldn't possibly begin to comprehend everything moving through our minds. The slightest hint of annoyance we would feel would be like filling every synapse of the ant with fury and range a hundred times greater than could fill the ant in one moment.

All the other points aside the Force can't simply be taught to just anyone. They need to be Force sensitive and we've only found a handful of people in this world with Midiclorian levels at all, much less high enough for them to actually sense and use it. The way we measure Force sensitivity, is comparable to measuring the brain of an ant vs a dog or a human, only instead of measuring intelligence it is how connected we naturally are to the Force. The more Force sensitive someone is the more capable of delving deeper into the Force they are without losing themselves, less likely to fall until they delve far deeper into the force." Windu replied once more while attempting to hide the fact that they could make some people Force sensitive with their dimension crystals. If that got out too soon there would no end to what Danzo demanded. No, that little truth needed to be hidden for the time being. Besides there were more important things to deal with.

"Need I remind you our goal here is to forge a republic, not a military alliance? I would like to point out that you will all see a great number of our technologies become available to you. We have already shown you the concept of the Holonet and that is just the beginning. We're building healing tanks and turning over the technology to replicate them What we are offering you is technology to improve the lives of your people; technology that will spur economic growth and medical knowledge that will cure tens of thousands diseases and injuries. I'm afraid I agree with Master Yoda, even if we could, some things are simply too dangerous to place in the hands of anyone without very specific training, regardless of their intentions. Like the forbidden techniques you all have hidden away in your villages the Force is a double edged sword. Even within the Zate the training is taken in stages. Nothing is taught until one has proven themselves ready in mind, body, and intent. We will not make exceptions on this topic for the sake of negotiation."

-Osaka Port, the Inn, a few days into training - studying time-

Every night when the trio entered 'study period' Nazomishi used a small holoprojector to provide visuals as he explained numerous important points in history. His primary focus however, was significant points in history with distinct lessons that had to be learned. Over the course of an hour he had explained the gist of the Mandilorian wars and the battle with Reven and Malak. There was no specific order to what he taught; they didn't have enough time to teach everything. However, the events did have important points that spoke towards the way of the Zate and why they thought that way.

"So Naruto, what would you say can be learned from the story of Reven and the Mandalorian wars?" Nazomishi asked after giving an hour long story/ lecture/ overview of the historic event.

"Well, he did turn to the dark side but he had good intentions. I don't know why he turned but he was right in fighting the Mandalorians. They would have killed millions if he did nothing."

"Trillions as an understatement, Naruto. What about you Hinata? What's your take on it?" Nazomishi emphasized the number of people involved. The universe was far more than anyone who hadn't seen the republic to comprehend.

"Well, I thought the Jedi were right, sure Reven and Malik put an end to the war but there had to be something more behind it. Sure the Mandalorian were aggressive but they couldn't have acted so aggressively like that forever. It's not like they were at war with the Republic since the beginning. Someone had to be manipulating them. If they had trusted in the council they might have turned the tables on the real threat.

"Very good, I'm surprised you caught on to that. However, you are both wrong." The two students blinked, shocked at the blatant statement.

"What?" Both pupils replied in unison, Naruto a little more shocked than Hinata.

"Yet, at the same time you are both correct." Nazomishi added. Oh how Naruto hated it when Nazo did this.

"But that doesn't make any sense how can we…" Naruto tried to argue when Nazomishi decided to explain himself.

"You see the Jedi should have done something. You can't leave your home undefended while you strategize. Yes the planets had their own militaries, and yes they were defending themselves, but they were losing badly. They needed the Jedi, their power, and most of all their wisdom. You defend your home with everything you've got and designate people to do research. Look at Jiraiya; he's spent years researching foreign countries. He's as skilled an infiltrator as you will ever meet. Still when it came time for the war with Akatsuki he was ready for battle.

However, one point the Jedi do bring up that we must remember is that all sentient beings are just that, sentient, no matter how evil they are. There have been times, many times when I've forgotten this, times when the dark side was more a part of me than I would like. Life is sacred, even the Mandalorians were living beings, though at the time they cared for honor more than life. This goes to show us, even from good things can come much evil.

Even love can make the best of us do the worst possible things. From petty competition to cold blooded murder even the best of emotions can lead to the worst in us. The Jedi knew there had to have been more to the Mandalorian wars that what could be seen. You don't live in relative harmony with an entire race for millennia and suddenly break out into full scale war for no real reason. Yes they thought heavily of war and the honor of battle. Yes, there were skirmishes and resentment. But what was the catalyst? What caused them to attack the republic in full scale assault? In truth it wasn't the Mandalorians that was the true problem. They were just the puppets."

"The Sith…" Hinata spoke in realization.

"Precisely, the Dark Lord of the Sith was pulling the strings from deep outside the outer rim, in unknown space, using the honor code of the Mandalorians against both them and the Republic. Reven and Malik caught on to this in their battles and went out in search of the Dark Lord. By the time they found him they had been lead on a quest so dark and consuming that their minds were tainted by the dark side of the Force. They had become the puppets of the Dark Lord himself. Endowed with powers only few could dream of they broke off from the Dark Lord planning to replace him as was the way of the Sith. Sadly, even this was in his plans. They returned to Republic space and entered into a civil war with the Jedi and the Republic. Had it not been for Bastila and a handful of supposed strokes of luck… the Jedi would have died and the Sith would have controlled the Galaxy.

This is why the Zate follow neither the teachings of the Sith, nor the Jedi. Granted our teachings more closely resemble that of the Jedi. We believe that the absolute teachings of both lead to extremes that cannot be maintained. The Jedi believe we are to serve the Force, and through it we can know and carry out its will. The Sith believe the Force a thing to be manipulated by us and used to carry out our will with our own supposed power. The Zate believe neither of these things. Energy, like the Force, like chakra is part of the world, part of existence. Without it, we could not exist. Without us, it could not exist. Energy is in all things living and otherwise, part of it, even things we wouldn't normally consider to be living have an active connection to it. In truth life and energy is symbiotic…

"Uh…what is simbio…?" Naruto asked, having never heard the word before.

"Symbiotic, we rely on one another. It gives us what we need to survive and we give it what it needs to survive. It is the give and take of life. Weather we realize it or not we could not live as we do without the energy our world thrives with. So much of this world is made of chakra, yet there are so many who know so little of it. Still all of the physics in this world is based around it at a fundamental level. Without energy in its base forms fire would not exist, earth would not gravitate to itself to create planets and all there would be is an empty void of sub-atomic dust. It may manifest itself differently in different worlds but in the end energy is energy. Everything we use is conserved. We eat and gain the energy to live; it leaves us and nourishes the ground and the plants in the ground. They use it and it is passed on to the beings that eat it. In return the energy resides in all of us. So in a sense we are all one. No different than individual cells which make up our skin or our organs. Some even believe that our souls are manifestations of different personalities within that energy, different levels combinations of its emotions."

"Wait, so you're saying even those Reish things are connected to me and some other guy on the other end of the planet?" Naruto replied, shocked at the sudden realization of the ramifications.

"Yes, and as strange as it may sound, even they have a right to exist. The problem is that they don't seem to care for such philosophical concepts. As far as I can tell they seem to take after the Sith, taking everything they can and returning nothing, given a choice. The one you fought thought of nothing beyond experiencing the emotions of battle, and destroying his enemies. The question we have to ask ourselves is what can we do about that? Who are we to decide whether it should live or die? Who are they to decide? If it were possible, how could we change them? Would it be right? It's a tough decision, but when it comes down to it we are left with little choice if we are to spare those who the Reish would otherwise kill mercilessly. We are left with two choices at this point. Either we flat out kill them to spare the lives of those we assume to be innocent or we find a way to trap and imprison them… permanently, essentially sentencing them to a living death. That in itself brings up a whole new philosophical debate. Is a living death really any better than an absolute death? How cruel is it to bind someone in a hole, or a void, incapable of anything but thought?

These are difficult questions to answer and many of them simply have to be left to the culture because there is no absolute answer. What may seem cruel from one point of view could easily be seen as mercy from another. The only absolute that we can legislate in the end is that no being should be able to take freedom from another unless that freedom would cause the hindrance of another's freedom; examples being murder, slavery or rape to name only a few. Such things force the beliefs and experiences of one onto another. Sadly, those are very stark examples. Reality has few areas not bathed in gray."

-A Few Days Later-

Days had passed since Naruto, Nazomishi, and Hinata began training heavily. It had taken a good amount of work for Nazomishi to be able to utilize his new puppet arm. It was simple and designed to resemble a human arm. His wrappings made it indistinguishable until someone felt of it. Its range of motion was pathetic to say the least when compared to a real arm. As he trained with Naruto and Hinata the poor thing kept on splintering due to the weak materials used in its creation. Frustrated with the arm he took it upon himself to start carving a new arm, using the technology presented in the one he bought. The result was far from ideal but a significant improvement over the virtually pulverized arm it replaced.

"No, no, no, you need to accelerate through your strike. The power of your strike relies on the acceleration of the Bo not its speed. Increase the speed of your strike so that the moment of greatest acceleration is the same as the moment you connect with your opponent. Simply relying on speed weakens your strike wastes your own energy." Nazomishi corrected Naruto as he went through the first few sets of his new Kazegumo style. For days Nazomishi had sat on the sidelines, leaning against a tree as he watched his students train. He tried to split his time between watching them and working on the details on his new style and the seals he could incorporate into it.

"Alright, alright." Naruto replied with annoyance. He had been practicing this strike for two days and that's all Nazomishi seemed to be capable of saying. 'Accelerate, accelerate' God what he would give to get this set down?

Naruto thrust with his bo and leaped into the air. Bringing his shoulders in close he rotated with ever increasing speed before bringing the whole bo to the edge of his hands and striking a nearby pole with the full force of the technique. He came to an abrupt stop in midair and used the recoil of his bo to swing his body around for another strike.

"Better, but you need to bring your shoulders in quicker, the faster you do that the more you will accelerate your strike." Before Naruto had a chance to reply Hinata came flying in from behind, attempting to strike Naruto over the shoulder with her tonfa. She had been progressing in the style with astonishing success over the past few days. This style was truly made for her and it built off many of the principles of the Juuken. It was an interesting maneuver Nazomishi had pulled. While Naruto was working on his set Nazo had told Hinata to attack Naruto after his set was done to test their progress. The results made Nazomishi grin with Joy.

Naruto just barely heard the air moving behind his back. Alerted to the attack he raised his bo to block the first strike and ducked under the second. One of the primary focuses of meditation training was to predict oncoming attacks. From their experience as shinobi these senses were far above what 'normal' people were capable of, but still far below anywhere they needed to be for the use of the Shingan. It would be months before they could even begin to see, much less feel the spiritual energy's around them. For now they had to rely on their ability to feel the movement in the wind and hear the fluttering cloth and whistling movement of a stick.

Ducking under another blow, thrown as Hinata landed, Naruto swept at her legs with his bo and lunged off of his arm touched ground. Nazomishi had told him it would be a highly airborne style but Hinata could never have guessed how often he would be in the air. For most styles time in the air was the most vulnerable for anyone. With the Kazegumo Naruto was learning how to use his body and staff to manipulate his trajectory. As Nazomishi had told him before, when they finally got to use chakra again, seals could be used to produce bursts of wind that to many would make him appear to fly, if only for a few moments. With this style Naruto would become a hawk, a fast striking warrior, capable of unparalleled aerial maneuvers.

Nazomishi could see their progression as plain as day. Once mastered, Naruto would become a heavy front line fighter. He would be capable of the most precise one strike kills and the most devastating mass annihilation techniques. Hinata on the other hand would be his shadow, his support. Anything he missed she would finish. Even without him she would be a deadly opponent her style would best fit the role of a shadow assassin. In an instant she could have a set of bladed tonfa though the jugular of even the most conniving opponents. Anyone who couldn't be ended so easily would have their defenses whittled down to nothing between her knowledge of Juuken and the pressure points she would soon start to learn. Together they would make up for each other's weaknesses and form a powerful duo.

Thrusting around Naruto's bo Hinata struck at his stomach with the tip of her tonfa. It came close but just before it made contact Naruto was able to fling himself away with a quick thrust of his staff against the ground.

"Wow Kari, you almost had me that time." Naruto complimented as he greedily consumed the air around him. Thanks to his advanced training over the past few years Naruto was far ahead of Hinata and had a number of distinct advantages in combat. However, Nazomishi's training was remedying that rather nicely. Her growth over past week, both in skill and power left little to be laughed at. At this point Naruto wouldn't be surprised if she could beat Neji.

"Me? You're the one who blocked all my attacks." Hinata shot back. The two had truly become closer over the past week. The time they had spent together in training and studying had made them both more comfortable around each other. This was especially important for Hinata. Gradually her speech was becoming less and less reserved as she became more comfortable around the two boys. She had learned quickly that dancing around an issue only served to confuse Naruto and leave him a frantic mess.

It was unfortunate however that the training demonstrated her inadequacies more than ever before. The difference in level between her and Naruto seemed as great as the difference between him and Nazomishi. Her speed strength and skill grew more than any other time in her life but one would have to be a fool to see that Naruto had been training in much the same way for years. The greatest advantage she had over him was her eyesight. The byakugan provided her with a vastly superior precognition of Naruto's movements than he could muster at the moment. This difference however was greatly diminishing as they trained and learned the way of the Shingan. With each passing day Naruto's senses broadened. Neither she nor Nazomishi had any doubts that his ability to sense and understand his opponents would overtake her byakugan in a matter of months. This steeled her resolve to further her training. She had to keep up. No, she had to grow faster than Naruto so she could fight side by side with him as an equal. She had to make up for the years of advanced training she didn't have access to.

"I believe that does that for the day. Let's get some lunch." Nazomishi called out from the tree he rested against, pleased with his little test. He knew she wouldn't land a hit on Naruto. He had trained far too long with Sarutobi for her to catch up so quickly. It was evident however that her progress was exponential. With this test he was convinced that she would have some trouble with the tournament but she would clearly be able to compete; at least in the beginning. Naruto on the other hand would have little trouble through most of the tournament. It would provide much needed experience for the both of them. Now he just needed a test against someone new to know for sure how well they would fair. Fighting someone familiar was drastically different than fighting a real opponent.

"Yes Shin." Hinata replied with a slight nod.

"Alright! Time for LUNCH!" Naruto screamed boisterously.

-Bevelle-

Nearly three weeks of heavy negotiations took place in Bevelle as the temple grew closer and closer to fruition. By the end of the first week the enormous pit was complete and massive pipes more than teen feet in diameter protruded from everywhere imaginable. This structure was being designed to last for millennia with only minor upkeep. Everything that could possibly need maintenance had a secure access built into the design. By the end of the second week vast amounts of permacrete were poured into the hole to from the base.

As construction waded on the various political representatives found it interesting that a particularly large, long term jail system was being created on a separate site nearby. It was a particularly interesting talking point in the negotiations. The Zate, especially its leaders were surprisingly hesitant to kill when there was another alternative. Their actions since entering this world were largely influence by a lack of place hold convicts, particularly dangerous ones. This little addition would cure that fact with what they assured would be the most secure prison on the planet. The concept designs were frightening to say the least. Even Suna with their knowledge of puppets were in awe at the droids and artificially intelligent turrets that would be stationed throughout the complex. Stasis fields, blast doors and a number of hallways designed to electrocute potential escapees were made far harsher by the sheer size of the complex and the number of such traps one would have to get through in order to escape.

Before the middle of the third week had arrived the piles of stone that had been quarried over the weeks stood far higher than the Hokage's Monument in Konoha. This realization came much to the shocked dismay of Danzo. These Zate infuriated him more than anything he could have ever anticipated. They had even convinced the fire lord to go along with their plans. It seemed like no matter how much 'reason' he tried to put into the argument, control of the situation crept further and further out of his grasp.

Little did the old war hawk know it was at least partly the Force at work? Though few in the room could actually sense, much less comprehend the Force it acted on them as much as any other force in their world. There was no attempt to control them by the Zate, nor was there an innate want to change in the politicians. What there was however was a deep and difficult to resist pull towards the Zate's leadership. Like wolves following the alpha, or bees following their queen; it was the penetrating feeling of leadership that exuded from the leaders of the Zate, through the Force. This was of course one of the many reasons they originally wished for Naruto to become a captain of the Zate. Even without the Force his personality was one which could pull allies to his side. Throughout history in all worlds this innate ability was rare but seemed to be a common link between the great heroes and even the darkest villains.

The ability to inspire confidence and loyalty was one of the greatest factors in elections and troop morale. Master Kenshin was well known in his home world for guiding his troops to victory off of the sheer power of his presence. On the dark side however this ability could personified by numerous villains in the history of many worlds. Emperor Palpatine used it so fluently he fooled an entire galaxy. In Nazomishi's home world Adolf Hitler inspired a nation against their better judgment and into a war that engulfed the planet. The likes of such a conflict was not seen again until the war that drove Nazomishi himself from his home world. The innate ability to inspire through mere strength of presence was certainly one to be revered and feared all the same.

By this time Logan, Hiko, Sanosuke, and Kimimaro returned with little in the way of success. Every base they visited was found bare as a desert wasteland. The most significant finding was sadly a few dismembered bodies, likely some of Orochimaru's failed experiments. The snake himself had surely gone deep into hiding and like the snakes he emulated so well. Like his slippery brethren, he was damn good at hiding.

The mission of locating Juugo was a complete and total failure. Not even Suigetsu was found in his traditional holding tank. Once it became obvious that they weren't going to find anything they turned their sights to high detail investigation the moment they got ahold of the needed scanners, something their scouters simply hadn't been designed for. What they found through insight and the Force however, was probably the most valuable piece of information they had gathered on the trip. There were three distinct groups that had raided the bases aside from themselves. The most obvious was Orochimaru. He had clearly deserted several bases only taking with him the projects he thought had potential; everything else was burned or destroyed, living or otherwise.

The next most obvious was Nagato. Logan and his group had caught him in the act once and noticed a consistency in several of the other ransacked bases. Everywhere he had struck the complexes were left bare. Not even dust remained from his use of seals. What he was after was a mystery but it was clear he was looking for something and needed more time to go through it all, time he couldn't spend with other bases to look through and multiple groups breathing down his neck.

The third group, likely the Reish from the evidence they discovered, were much less … absolute in their search than what Nagato was. It was clear that they had at least two on the job but they were clearly looking for scrolls and little else. In some there was a massacre of the living experiments, in others they were left alone, leading the Zate to believe individuals had been sent. Still there was enough consistency in what was actually taken to conclude the circumstances the result of some third party.

Residual chakra traces were found of the Reish known as Torment and Famine. Famine's name was confirmed over two weeks ago once Rin, the woman who had betrayed the Reish after leading Famine into the Zate's encampment, awoke from her nearly fatal encounter. Apparently Rin knew little about them aside from the name of her employer and that they needed to know where the Zate were. Once everything came to light the Zate found a level of respect for the resourcefulness of the Reish. Somehow they had located a drunken Rin soon after the battle against Kenshin and the handful of Zate it took to eliminate the threat. Master Yoda was particularly interested in the offer Famin made to the woman after betraying her. It sounded too easy. For everything they knew about the Riesh and it would spell disaster if it were truly as simple as Famine made it sound. That is of course assuming that's what she meant.

This Rin however, was an interesting story. The damage she took from Famine was near fatal, even for the Zate's resources. She spent nearly a week in the Bacta tank. Despite having Tsunade available it was obvious, she would never fight again, not without becoming a borg as they were called. Even walking again would require several limbs and organs to be replaced entirely. Her right lung was damaged beyond repair and it would take time to clone a new one, especially with the Zate still constructing the necessary facilities. In truth she would be struck on life support until suitable replacements could be grown or manufactured. Luckily she could communicate for short periods of time. It was evident in her feelings that she felt relief. For some reason she had yet to understand why the Zate had spared her, despite her transgressions against them. She knew they wanted information and she was more than willing to give it after that bitch betrayed her.

-Training Fields of Bevelle-

During each day every Zate had allotted time to train and hone their skills. For Sasuke much of this time was spent with Aoshi, training in the ways of the Force. He inhaled the cool breeze as it passed through the hills and valleys on the outskirts of the growing city. With eyes closed in a meditative position he reached out to a small pebble Aoshi had laid before him. The boy was calm and collected, this was progress, Aoshi thought. Over the past weeks the young Uchiha had been exposed to a wide variety of experiences. His brother assisted him with Genjutsu and guided him carefully through the more…intricate parts of political negotiation.

For the most part he was intrigued by what he saw. For once he got to see the good side of politics, people working towards a greater good. Unfortunately he had it explained to him in a very blunt sense that what appeared to be quite civilized was in fact quite tricky and devious. Yes there was progress, more so than most idealists could dream of. However, with each step forward there was significant hesitation, and many concessions were necessary to complete each step. The thoughts stressed his mind and memories of Naruto and Konoha's betrayal clouded his mind, preventing him from making significant progress in the Force.

Today though, there was only the Force. All was wiped clear from his mind. The past few days had been a joy for the Sharingan wielder. In his free time he deeply enjoyed the company of Sakura, especially when they took time to stroll through the forests and dine at the nearby villages. So many of the people he knew from Konoha had come to the City of the Zate. The warmth and unity he felt here was more like home than he had experienced since the youngest parts of his childhood.

Sasuke reached out, mentally grasping the pebble and with a soothing exhale he lifted it gently from its resting place. Slowly he took deep and controlled breaths as he began to spin the pebble and then around his body as the exercise directed.

Opening his eyes to view his success a bundle of pink caught his eye. Sakura's pink hair dangled freely before his face, gently concealing only parts of the smiling face of the woman he can come to adore.

"Having fun, Sasuke?" Sakura asked cheerfully. As much as he wanted to reply he was too shocked that he didn't since her coming. The Force should have alerted him to such things. He was certainly far enough along in his training that he should have been able to sense his girlfriend.

"You still focus too much one pebble, not the world around it. Remember the pebble is merely a part of the greater world, just as the particles make up the stone. Connect to the world and you will find that size no longer matters. Everything from the smallest pebble to the largest bolder will be nothing more than an extension of yourself, just as you are an extension of it." Aoshi critiqued Sasuke's display wisely. Sasuke was advancing rapidly in the ways of the Force but he still had years to go before he could compare to any of the masters.

"Of course Master Aoshi" Sasuke replied with a smile. Even though he understood his family's death, and had moved on from it, until recently it had been weighing him down. Thoughts of his past and the sins of his family chipped at the back of his consciousness. This training was setting him free of that. He was learning to let go of the past and look to the future. In that future nothing made him happier than the pink haired beauty that stood before him, and nothing drove him more than the goals of the new family of friends he had come to respect and trust.

"That will be it for today, go on you two. I can see you have places to be. May the Force be with you."

"And also with you." Sasuke and Sakura replied in unison with a slight nod.

"So Sasuke, where do you feel like eating today?" Sakura asked while deep in thought. They had eaten at the chopped steak place the day before and that place was the furthest from their thoughts.

"I don't know. I heard Teuchi finally got his shipment routs set up. Maybe we should drop by and see if he's open yet." Teuchi… Sakura looked down solemnly as the thought of the old man reminded her of Naruto. That always was Naruto's favorite place to eat. It wouldn't be the same eating there without him. Their lines of thought were soon pushed from their minds when they heard the arrival of Kakashi.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, surprised to see him this far from Bevelle's construction grounds. For the past two months he had been jumping from job to job performing various needed tasks around the construction Zone. From what they heard their old teacher had done everything from helping Anakin build droids to smelting durasteel with fire techniques.

"Oh good, you're still here. I'm afraid I don't have time for pleasantries. Master Aoshi, Sasuke, Sakura, we're needed at the gathering hall." Kakashi relayed quickly as he had others to relay the message to.

"The gathering hall, I thought we weren't going to use that unless all of the Zate had to gather." Sakura asked, curious at the turn of events.

"That's why I'm in a hurry. Something's happened in the negotiations and Master Yoda sent me and a dozen others to gather everyone. We have till one to get there."

"One! But that's in thirty minutes!" Sasuke exclaimed, shocked that they would put together such a large meeting in such a short amount of time. 'Well there goes lunch…' Sakura thought with annoyance.

"I'll see you all there; I still have a lot of people to find." Kakashi finished with a casual salute before fading into a whorl of grass blades.

They all left and the young couple decided to at least grab some sandwiches on their way to the meeting. As they came closer to the temporary wooden complex that had replaced the outdoor tent more than a month ago, they took notice of how many Zate were already on the way.

"What do you think this could be about? The last time they gathered everyone was for the Right of Sh'kal. You don't think someone died do you?" Sakura asked Sasuke as they came closer to the domed building.

"I doubt it, unless Danzo pulled something over the top. He's too slippery for that though. From everything Aoshi's told me about it Danzo 's too worried about his political standing to push for too much."

"Still..." Sakura drifted off, thinking of the possibilities of what had happened. They soon took their seats. The massive wooden structure was more than large enough to hold everybody. Row upon row of seats circled around a central area with only a large holoprojector at its core. The captains and their vice-captains sat in the first row while other ranked Zate took the next two rows and everyone else took rows further back until every last member of the now eight hundred strong Zate filled the auditorium. Sasuke ended up finding a seat next to Gaara who still showed open contempt towards the fire lord and Danzo from Konoha. Despite how the Zate used the situation to their advantaged he was thoroughly pissed off at the way Konoha treated Naruto. It reminded him of the way his father treated him.

"Good to see you Gaara. Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Sasuke greeted, pleased with the sudden present shift in the Jinchuuriki's mood.

"I'm doing fine, though I don't see why the politicians are here. Apparently they didn't like the Zate's chain of command." Gaara replied with as much emotion as he could muster. He had been working on that but years of being effectively alone took its toll on such things.

"You're kidding; they're trying to replace the Captains?" Sakura replied in shock. She was sure Danzo had something to do with it now. That was until Gaara decided to clarify.

"Nothing quite that serious thankfully; however they think our command structure is too unorganized. It was a point the captains argued against but appear to be conceding." Gaara explained, turning to Master Yoda who entered the complex in his hover chair as the lights began to dim.

"Greetings everyone, the abruptness forgive but an important announcement we have. Well, negotiations have gone. However, in all such things give and take there must be. A major concession we have, replace our system we must. Master Windu…"

"Nearly a century ago we created the system of Captains, seated members and traditional Zate. It was designed to create a hierarchy in which most members were on the same level and everyone was in a position of respect. However, through our negotiations we have gained more and more responsibility outside of our traditional function. We can no longer be a simple combat legion as originally anticipated. In order to create a republic we must be far more than simple guardians of the system. We must be in some manner a part of the system while remaining largely separate. What we have come up with is a new hierarchy within the Zate. After many hours of debate we have come to a conclusion that the most efficient way would be a modification of the order the Jedi followed. The majority in the negotiations agree with the concept of this potential new system as do most of the Zate we have talked to about it. As challenging as it may be at first we feel this compromise is more than worth it."

Master Windu turned to the large Holoprojector in the middle of the room and waved his hand. The large piece of technology came to life revealing a room with thirteen seats.

"Unless there are any objections the highest level will no longer be known as captains. From now on there will be Padawans, Knights, Masters, and Grand Masters similar to the Jedi model. However as opposed to a signal Grand master it will be a full rank reserved for the most powerful and respected Zate in several different fields.

We will create a high council known as the Master's Council which will rule on the most important decisions within the Zate. It will rule on decisions where lesser councils cannot come to a decision or situations where only the most official position by the Zate can be accepted. They will also be directly in charge of our movements and actions in new worlds and dimensions. None of its members will be permanent. The Master's council will be made up of at least one Grand Master at any time and twelve Masters. All Masters in the order will serve randomly for periods over the course of a three standard months before rotating out. In instances where decisions are difficult or of absolute importance all of the Grand Masters will be consulted and a vote among all masters will be taken."

Suddenly the hologram changed, showing three separate rooms each with twenty-one seats.

"Next will be three separate councils that operate and organize the movement and actions of the Zate throughout the Republic. The council of Journeys will send Zate out on missions that apply to the civilian policing force, which will be known as the Zate Martials. This will operate as a special police force and a small portion of traditional forces controlled by each state within the Republic. Their purpose will be to act where local law enforcement have problems with jurisdiction, manpower, or special instances. This council will also be in charge of Special Ops as they are needed to deal with large cartels and international criminal affairs. They will primarily be consults in situations where deeper insight or a higher combat level is necessary than what most traditional police forces are capable of.

The Council of Reconciliation will act as a court to internal affairs within the Zate and in rare circumstances to war crimes outside of the Zate where the republic cannot hold jurisdiction yet the Zate has taken action to prevent needless bloodshed. It will also regulate funding within the Zate and oversee what we will establish as the Trials of the Zate for rank change.

Lastly there will be a Council of Insight which will govern over political communications and actions as well as anything else that it not directly combat related. This includes Medical divisions, our Hall of Records, exploration efforts and several other divisions we have listed.

As for our new rankings the Grand Masters will only gain the rank by vote of the entire Zate as to who is the best in a given field. There will not be a set number of Grand Masters. For example if it was determined that we needed a Grand Master for Mastery of the Force the most likely person for the job would be Master Yoda. If there were one for healing, nominees would likely be Kaoru or Tsunade. If in the future we needed to add a field then a vote would be held to add it. One of the many things we need to vote on today is what such designations need to be made for Grand Masters. The Grandmasters need to be more than simply the best in their fields of expertise. They need to exemplify what it is to be Zate. For this we need to set up a series of trials similar to what we create for other ranks. In addition to their skills they need to exemplify extreme levels of integrity, wisdom, and compassion. Anyone in the Zate will need to pass all of these trials to be considered for a Grand Master position.

Masters need to be ranked similarly. Masters will be ones who are considered to have mastered their styles and areas of expertise. They must have also proven themselves to have extensive integrity experience and a profound understanding of our codes. They cannot simply be very powerful, though in the more combat oriented divisions that may be a requirement. Another qualification for this rank is to have successfully trained at least one Padawan to the level of Knighthood.

Knight must fallow comparable but lesser requirements. They must pass a series of trials and prove themselves to be skilled and have accumulated adequate experience. If I were to compare my concept of a Knight to one of the Shinobi system's ranks I would rate this at a Jounin level. That seems to be a normal level for most Zate once they have completed their training under their masters. Everyone this level or higher needs to regularly take and train one to three Padawans depending on their specialization or combat type.

Padawans will consist of anyone who has passed the Zate training at our temples and been accepted as a student of a Zate of Knight or higher rank. They will accompany their masters until they have proved they can handle themselves in most situations.

These are the only ranks that will truly matter in the way of a hierarchy in the Zate. However, for purposes of mission assignment every Zate will be given specialized sub-ranks much like the Shinobi have Special Jounin and Elite Jounin. Also each skill and ability will be rated to avoid miss assigning missions and to help fit each Zate with missions that best fit their skillset."

Master Windu continued and the Zate listened intently. Some welcomed the change while others thought skeptically of it. The former Jedi were especially shocked with the change. Still if it was necessary for the republic then it was necessary. Windu continued explaining the new hierarchy over the course of the next hour. From specializations to how teams would be assigned and what specializations would require teams it was clear a great deal of thought had been put into this system. It was clear they had spent days on it.

- Training -

"I think I have it now." Nazomishi muttered under his breath as he quickly sealed a scroll and tucked it under his shirt. "Tobi, Kari, stop your sparring, this time I'm your opponent."

"You….but you haven't done anything but look at scrolls for the last three weeks?" Naruto replied blatantly. He was quite surprised that Nazomishi would attempt anything after taking so long doing nothing.

"Perhaps, but my raw Taijutsu ability was at Gai's level nearly two centuries ago. You've only shown that level of ability with three tails of energy enhancing your senses and reflexes. Fighting without that will be a more accurate measure of growth in terms of skill. I also need to see how effective my new style will be."

"Let's take him down Kari." Naruto replied with a wide grin and a nod towards Hinata who replied with a grin and a simple nod. Nazomishi slowly stood from the log he had been sitting on and cracked his back and neck with a few stretching movements.

"What are you waiting for; I thought you were going to attack? Nazomishi playfully chided his opponents as he continued to stretch his muscles.

"Don't take us so lightly!" Naruto screamed, charging before Nazo could finish his stretches.

With a powerful swipe of his staff Naruto attempted to strike Nazo in the neck only to have the staff caught and stopped in an instant. Naruto's face recoiled in shock that his strike could have been stopped so easily but what really surprised him was the displaced earth behind Nazo. Yes Nazomishi had stopped the strike in its entirety but somehow he had distributed all the force directly into the ground behind him.

"…" A concerned expression spread across the metal user's face as he glanced to his closed hand." I shouldn't have felt that if it were working properly. It's a good thing I used my good hand, strikes that strong would easily crush my replacement if the seal failed." Raising his knee up with god-like speed Nazomishi sent Naruto's staff spiraling high into the air. No longer surprised with his current situation Naruto leaped back to avoid a coming punch. He dodged left and right, making use of dramatic ducking and jumping to avoid a number of the high speed punches coming his way. It was pushing his limit to dodge the speed of the attacks but with his recent training it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Naruto smirked mentally when he noticed Hinata soaring through the sky with a prepared thrust of her tonfa towards Nazo's back.

Naruto's satisfaction was short-lived when he took notice of a very distinct grin on Nazomishi's face. Just as Hinata's attack came close Nazomishi's body shifted with such speed it seemed as a blur to the Hyuuga. Before her eyes could even react he grabbed her wrist, still with his back to his attacker. Naruto took notice of his staff finally descending from the sky and took this opportunity to grab it and perform a horizontal strike to break Nazo's fresh grip on Hinata's arm. It was too late however. Naruto's attack was set in motion but Nazomishi never finished the movement used to grab the young girl. With fluid movement he continued the same motion and pivoted his weight, twisting his body and captive right into the path of Naruto's staff. She screamed in pain as the full force of Naruto's attack bore down on her side.

From the resonating sound it was evident that Hinata would be bruised for days but thankfully there was a distinct lack of snapping bones in that same sound. "WHY YOU!" Naruto screamed in realization of what had happened. Using his staff as a pole he tossed himself into the air and spun it wildly as Nazomishi sped away from his former captive, leaving her to fall painfully to the ground. Seeing the speeds at which Nazomishi was moving made him wish so much for his chakra. With chakra enhancing his steps the Hanyou knew he could keep up. As it stood he simply didn't have the muscle build to react to these kinds of attacks. At the very least he was thankful he was able to track the metal user's movements. That was until he vanished completely.

"Boo" Nazomishi whispered in Naruto's ear from behind much to his shock and fear. Not a moment later a powerful kick to the head blasted the him into a nearby tree, snapping the thick tower in two as the Hanyou's body flew rapidly into another, smaller tree and finally onto the ground where he violently skipped like a stone on water until he buried his face in a bush.

"You've improved, but you need to let go of that brash style of yours. Without your chakra to enhance your abilities all you're left with is your skill. Use it! Not every opponent will be slower and weaker than you. Remember what I told you, wait and listen, know what you're opponent is going to do and act on it. Never let your opponent control the situation." Nazomishi criticized as Naruto carefully dug his head out of the bush. Every word stung Naruto like a bee. Everything Nazo wanted him over the course of their training was demonstrated to its furthest extent in their match. It seemed like he did nothing but train since he graduated but when it came to fights against Nazo it seemed like his progress was little to nothing.

"Don't give me that look; don't forget were effectively fighting with both hands behind our backs. Right now the biggest difference between you and me is our base speed, our experience, and our development with the Shingan. In this kind of fight that's all were given. If you neglect your senses and put aside your skills you're little better off than an academy student. As for you …" Nazomishi turned to Hinata who was applying some ointment she had bought to her side.

"Your plan was good and you played you're role in your matchup. However, that attack was not meant to be used from above. It might have worked against someone that couldn't sense an opponent's energy. Unfortunately the tournament we're going to is going to be full of Jounin level competitors. Most if not all of them will be able to sense your chakra and attempt to dodge. In this tournament I would dare say there might be a dozen or better people with an ability that renders rear attacks useless. Fighting them, fighting me, is like fighting someone with the Byakugan active. You won't surprise us with that kind of attack. Assuming you adequately learn the Shingan then both of you will be added to that rare list, even without your Byakugan. All that aside unless your speed is significantly higher than your opponent's it's foolish to use an attack that leaves you so open."

"Yea, but how the hell did you stop my staff, that was everything I had!" Naruto chimed in.

"A seal I was working on. A failure, I'm disappointed to say. I designed it so the chakra requirement would be virtually nil to compensate for our current predicament. It transfers kinetic energy through the primary seal in my wrappings and out the counter seal on my shoe" At that explanation Nazomishi looked down to his palm and sighed heavily. He then took his shoe off and noticed the seal wasn't looking all that great. "It looks like it needs some major work, that one attack nearly shattered the counter seal. Perhaps if I designed it with a larger chakra requirement…?" Nazomishi trailed off as he mulled over the potential ramifications. Making it more robust would certainly mean a higher chakra cost but it would also mean a denser seal array. 'But I can't make anything smaller, freehand. I'll need my manipulation back for that solution to work. Damn it all!'

"Well that's not so bad, with that you could stop most guys couldn't you? I mean, at least till you run into someone like Granny Tsunade, or one of those things."

"Reish…" Nazomishi corrected quickly. "And that, young one is why I haven't tried going very far with you in the way of Fuuinjutsu. Transference seals like this one are basic level space time jutsu. If the counter seal breaks while the primary seal is still taking in energy then there's nowhere for the absorbed energy to go."

"So, what, it just goes away?" Naruto asked curiously. He certainly had never heard of something simply vanishing but it seemed reasonable… didn't it?

"Transference seals are a little different from storage seals. Where a storage seal absorbs something into an exponential pocket dimension it can let it out through the same seal. It's like a door into a safe room, only one way in, only one way out. Depending on how you break the door the room could be lost forever or everything could come pouring out. With a transference seal on the other hand you're effectively sending something through a pocket dimension at close to the speed of light and out the other end in an instant. Destroy the exit and there's only one way for all that energy to go. That wouldn't be much of a problem but for a transference seal to be cost efficient the entrance can only be one way."

"Okeeeeey…"

"Let me put it this way, what happens when you fill a balloon with water?"

"It gets bigger?"

"And when it can't get any bigger?"

"It leaks?"

"True enough, but what happens if that balloon cant leak?"

"It…"

"It explodes with every ounce of pressure built up inside! If I don't make that seal better I could very well obliterate myself and anything within the nearest block…well, depending on how much I try to absorb. You saw how much energy was transferred into the ground. If it had completely shattered, I would be little more than a stain on the ground and you would probably have a fragment of my bones lodged in your lung." With that Naruto gulped as a trail of sweat dripped down his forehead. It had to be really bad it someone with a metal body feared getting blown up.

"Now Tobi, come at me without your weapon. I want to see your progression with your weaponless form. Remember to focus your senses, if you can't use them in battle then what good are they? " With a nod Naruto complied and set his bo aside. Shifting his weight low he adjusted his legs into his base form. All forms of the Kazegumo relied on a variety of jumps and as such his stance reflected that. He needed to be grounded, but only long enough for him to spring into the air and attack relentlessly.

Attack he did, with a powerful jump Naruto flew through the air in a horizontal summersault that sent a kick strait at Nazomishi's head. The strike missed by only millimeters as his opponent ducked only as much as necessary to avoid the blow. Still the attack was not complete. Naruto was still in the air and continued his rotation, bringing his hardened fist into what turned out to be Nazomishi's open palm. Realizing he had been caught, Naruto twisted his body to break the grip with satisfactory success. The young Hanyou's body rotated until he maneuvered into a position where he immediately stopped and skidded gracefully on the solid ground. It was as if the air had cradled his body and set it gently on the ground below.

"You're advancement in Taijutsu is commendable. Perhaps having a young girl to impress helped more than I anticipated." Nazomishi commented with a smile as Naruto blushed ever so slightly. He leaped high into the air in an attempt to avoid further embarrassment. Nazomishi tried following with his eyes but found it impossible since Naruto used the position of the sun to his advantage effectively blinding his opponent. Closing his eyes in strain at the bright light Nazomishi honed in on Naruto's spiritual presence. Satisfied with the knowledge of what Naruto was doing the metal user stepped backwards as Naruto brought his heel hard into the ground where Nazomishi had stood only a moment before. This dodging of Nazomishi's was starting to get Naruto on edge. It seemed like the battle had gone on for at least a minute but the teacher had done nothing but dodge and block one strike! He would show him.

Recovering from his powerful attack as quickly as possible Naruto ducked as low as he could and like a toad leapt with as much force as he could muster. His movement was much faster than before and Nazomishi was forced to bock a right hook that nearly hit him in the stomach. Stepping back Nazomishi blocked again and again as Naruto unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks that Hinata was having a very hard time keeping up with. Again and again Naruto punched trying to break through Nazomishi's defenses when finally he ducked into a leg sweep. He didn't think about it, he just… acted and that was enough to catch Nazomishi off guard and swept him to the ground.

'Finally!' Naruto screamed in his mind as he continued his assault with a punch to the grounded Nazo. It was not to be however because Nazomishi had caught his fall with his good hand and used it to thrust his body above the strike and spun in such a way that when he extended his arm he grabbed hold of Naruto's neck, lifting the boy off the ground and flung him head first down a nearby hill.

With a series of slightly winded breaths Nazomishi took a knee while catching breath as Naruto attempted to recover from his most painful grounding. "This body truly does have its limitations. Ten years ago this little exertion would have been a warm up." Nazomishi breathed somewhat heavier than normal though it wasn't labored. As Nazomishi said that Naruto had finally dug his head out of the ground and shook it like a dog trying to dry itself, to remove the dirt from his now very dusty hair.

"Are you two alright? Those last few moments looked painful." Hinata asked in concern for her friends.

"Don't worry about me Hin…" Naruto shook his head again, this time trying to shake himself out of some degree of confusion he felt after the powerful blow to the head. "…Kari… It'll take more than that to keep me down." Naruto replied with one of his patented grins. He soon pounded his stomach and coughed out a small puff of dirt, spitting out the dusty flavor in his mouth.

"I'll be fine once I rest a bit. I'll fight you next Kari but first I want you two to come closer. I have something to tell you." Nazomishi asked the two with a passive but ever more serious face.

"Aren't you going to tell me how I did?" Naruto complained halfheartedly as he tilted his head in confusion.

"You were outstanding Tobi; I have no doubt your Taijutsu will be well into the Jounin level by the tournament. Look, you two understand why we're really doing all this." Nazomishi stated blatantly before continuing. Of course they understood, he had beaten it into their heads at least a hundred times since they fled Konoha. "But I need you two to be prepared. Regardless of how unlikely it may be, you two are the only ones I can trust to finish the job if it ever got out of hand."

"Shin, what are you…" Hinata tried to ask, concerned for where he was going with this.

"Just … let me finish. I hope it doesn't happen but there is always the possibility that I could succumb to Zansatsu. If it does happen you won't be able to tell if my spirit still exists. If that happens… it is you're responsibility to kill him. I don't want any argument on this. If he gets free it's up to you kill him, regardless of what it means about me.

I'm going to be strait with you. I have a decent idea of your strengths and weaknesses, but in a real battle against me, one in which I am trying to kill you and I'm not limited mentally or physically, you would die, very quickly. Naruto might have the power but quite frankly half the Zate was above your current level before we even made it to this world. I know you're tired of me beating this into your heads but raw skill means far more than power ever will. For that reason I'm entrusting you with two things; the ability to kill me in an instant and the knowledge to stay alive long enough to use it.

"You can't be serious about this. There's always a way!" Naruto screamed, not wanting to hear any more of this.

"There's always a way Tobi, and this is my failsafe. I just hope you never have to use it." Nazomishi unfurled a scroll and allowed it to extend along the ground till the fully unraveled parchment was over twenty feet long. Both pupils looked in awe at the sheer complexity of the seals that adorned the massive paper.

"When we get our chakra back, I'm going to seal this in myself. All you need to know is that I will give you the activation seal and the knowledge to use it. When activated, everything within about a city block of me will be sucked into a vortex and thrown out a counterseal."

"…But how will that…" Hinata spoke up, not really understanding …

"How will it kill me? Let's just say it won't be too difficult to put the counterseal in Heliosynchronous orbit." The two blank stares Nazo received were more than enough to produce a deep sigh and prompt a definition.

"A permanent orbit around the Sun. Unfortunately…" Nazomishi paused; expecting one of Naruto's obnoxious rants but took notice that the boy was either too shocked or confused to make much of an argument. "…Unfortunately Tobi, you are the only one among us chakra levels high enough to activate the damn thing. Quite frankly you're among maybe ten humans on the entire planet capable such a thing. In all honesty I doubt I could activate it at full power and fully rested."

"…"

"…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto finally got out. Of all the nonsense he had heard in his lifetime, this, this had to take the cake.

"You want me to be more blatant? If Zansatsu takes over my body, I - want YOU- to jettison ME- into a crash course with a nine-hundred-thousand mile wide nuclear, fireball; sitting in a void about ninety million miles from the nearest source of breathable air! Let's see the Force sustain the bastard in that!" Suddenly Naruto cracked a wide, foxy grin that threatened to shatter his jaw.

"Then what the hell are we training for! If you can do that, why don't we just do it to the Reish!" Naruto screamed, proud of the genus plan, that is… until all he received was a serious and hard stare.

"Do you really think any of us are capable of holding one of those monsters long enough to inscribe that onto the thing's stomach?" Nazomishi replied blatantly as he pointed to the fully unfurled scroll that littered the ground like toilet paper after a cat got ahold of it. "Again, this is why I haven't taught you anything about sealing; you would go and do something stupid with it."

"Well maybe if you taught me something about it I wouldn't make such ridiculous assumptions!"

"So you agree the idea was stupid?"

"NO!...Maybe… I don't know!" Naruto replied with enthusiasm which slowly deflated as he came to rationalize what he had said.

"Look, aside from the chakra aspect, making it impossible for me to use. The only way to keep it from being a suicide technique would be to have a clone with so much chakra; I'd be surprised if it were stable. Then, maybe, just maybe it would work, if the clone were sealed and had a way of latching onto the Reish long enough to make sure both of them were sucked into the vortex. Then you run into the whole issue of keeping the clone stable till they're both millions of miles from here. Quite frankly it would take you and the chakra control of a god."

"Yea, that would be pushing it, even for me. Why does it take so much chakra anyway? Couldn't you just use the Hiraishin?"

"Quite frankly it is based on the Hiraishin. The problem is the distance. The Yondaime could travel miles and just barely get winded. We're not talking about miles here; we're talking distances approaching a hundred million miles. In all practicality, I'm turning myself into a chakra powered hyperdrive."

"A what?" Both students questioned simultaneously. Palming his face Nazomishi simply sighed in exhaustion at how little his students knew. It really wasn't surprising, simply too much information being brought up sooner than expected.

"Tonight, I'm going to teach you about the Great Hyperspace War. Several millennia of technology aside we're months away from the plan being functional anyway. Hell, I can't put anything around the Sun till I make a droid capable of going there in the first place. Without a hyperdrive it's going to take months to get it there after I get the damn thing built. Like I told you before, this is my failsafe, our last resort. You can't win at Shogi without thinking several turns ahead of your opponent. By the time I seal that in my stomach it's going to have so many security seals built in I'll explode if he ever tries messing with it. If that monster's as smart as I think he is he'll leave it alone if he ever got the chance." As Nazo continued explaining his expression became staidly more maniacal once he went back to talk about his failsafe.

"You know you're… really scary sometimes." Naruto commented, a little wierded out by the expression on Nazo's face.

"Well... I suppose I was getting a little carried away. Still when your opponent has an unknown level of strength it is often necessary to go a little overboard." Nazo attempted to defend himself.

"You call chucking yourself into the sun a 'little' overboard?"

"After fighting Zansatsu in my mind… no, not remotely. A 'little' overboard would be doing the same thing with a black hole but I doubt all the chakra in the elemental nations could get us that far."

"Um, I don't want to interrupt but, how are we supposed to activate it. It's not like were strong enough to restrain you."

"Don't worry so much about that. You will have access to a seal to activate it remotely. But that does remind me of the other thing I wanted to tell you. The only way you're going to know if he got out is if you see it firsthand. Unfortunately this means he will try to kill you as soon as possible so you need to know my weaknesses."

"You're weaknesses, but how's that going to help against him?" Hinata questioned curiously.

"Because it's still my body, even if he fights differently my body will still be bound by its own limitations. I'm sure you've noticed how quickly I tire out in our training sessions. This is because my body weighs so much. Every cell in my body has a metal content hundreds of times greater than any normal human. My muscles, my bones, my skin, all of it is filled with various types of metals. It might provide great defense and allow me to use chakra to manipulate my body at speeds and in ways that most humans would find impossible. However, with those advantages comes a very distinct flaw. The sheer weight of my body means everything I do takes a significant degree more energy than it would take anyone else doing the same thing. My chakra reserves might appear well above most Kage but in reality it might as well be low to mid Jounin level." This brought a great deal of confusion to Naruto's face and that was more than evident to Hinata who knew what needed to be done.

"You don't get it do you?" Hinata asked, having seen the look many times over the past few days. She thought it was cute, if a little annoying how simply things needed to be explained to him.

"Well, you see…" Naruto tried to come up with an explanation to defend his ignorance but Hinata had already begun to explain.

"It's like this. If you have a cup with a small hole in the bottom the water drains slowly, and if the cup is larger and the hole is the same size it's still going to drain about the same. Now think about a cup as big as the larger one but the hole is so large the water drains before even the small cup can drain." Hinata tried to clarify with an example.

"Oh, ok, I think I get it now, thanks Kari." Naruto replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. This sheepishness soon turned to ridicule as he began to criticize his sensei. "Why couldn't you explain it like that!"

"Because if I explained everything like that your cognitive ability would still be that of an academy student. Now if we could put that behind us you would realize that my greatest weakness happens to be your greatest strength. In any emergency situation you'll need to use that to your advantage. You need to wear me down and make me waste energy. This is why Kakuzu gave me so much trouble. With so much of my reserves bound and the weight seals on for the most part I was stuck in a battle of endurance with a man with speed on par with my own at the time and five lives to boot." Nazomishi finished with a sigh.

"Then why didn't you use the Force? You keep telling us how powerful it is…"

"I'm sure you remember how much of an ass I was when we were training." Nazomishi replied with a good degree of remorse.

"How could I forget?" Naruto responded with a scoff.

"The Force is a powerful thing, outclassing the Shingan (heart's eye) in many of the same ways the Shingan outclasses the Sharingan. The power of suggestion through the Force can weaken even the strongest mind, especially through the dark side. With the state of mind I was in I have no trouble believing Zansatsu pulled the thought from my mind. Looking back, my lightsaber and a number of techniques could have ended the matter long before I needed the extra chakra. In the end Zansatsu got what he wanted, and nearly succeeded in escaping." Suddenly, when Nazomishi seemed as if he wanted to go on his demeaned changed and a smirk grew on his face.

"Enough of this depressing talk; we have time on our side. Master 'Yo's been doing a lot of meditating lately. I've received a few letters from him and he believes it could be a few years before they make another move against us. They're looking for something and from the fact that they ransacked the snake bastard's labs it's likely they're trying to revive Zansatsu from the dead. Revival techniques are rare and difficult to come by. Orochimaru and his labs are an obvious move for anyone looking for that sort of technique. Let's just hope the snake's as paranoid as I think he is. If so we don't have to worry about them finding anything. If not I just hope we've covered our tracks well enough to keep from being found."

"But couldn't they track you two through your summoning contracts?" Hinata inquired insightfully.

"I took care of that when I sealed our chakra. Summoning scrolls represent a space time sealed contract binding a summoner to their summons. For seals, like jutsu there's a threshold of chakra at which they function. Too little and it simply doesn't work or will only partly work. Unless the toad contract is significantly differently from the dragon contract it should appear that we are dead on the summoner scroll. However, the names don't vanish from a summoner scroll and will be functional again when I release the seal. Even when were far enough away to release some of our chakra under no circumstances will I be releasing that seal till this we no longer have a need to hide."

"Well, at least Ero Sennin doesn't have some special way of tracking us that way."

"We can only hope. Now, we only have two days left until our ship leaves and loading starts tomorrow. So I say tonight we make a night of it. Anywhere you want to eat, my treat."

"Aw sweet! Miso ramen here I come!" Naruto practically back flipped in excitement.

"You finally found a place with that? I thought you already looked the city over a dozen times for one of those." The poor boy's excitement immediately deflated as he realized Nazo was right.

"He has, every day for the past month, still no luck." Hinata replied with remorse as she patted Naruto on the back.

"Well then, do you have any ideas?" Nazo asked; facing Hinata with hope she would pick some place decent.

"Well… there was one place that looked really good. It seemed rather crowded with all the fighters here though."

"Then lead the way." Nazomishi replied as he and Naruto fell in line behind the young Hyuuga.

- The Endless Sand Dunes of Wind Country-

Wind blew calmly, whisping grains of sand into the air with each gust. Somewhere, deep in the desert six men converged on a single spot. Each one dressed the same, with a black robe with red clouds and large straw hats on their heads. In unison they all formed a long string of hand seals. As soon as they stopped a great wind picked up and bombarded the area they encircled. An entrance became evident beneath the sand and the six figures entered. Once all six had passed through the entrance another wind picked up and buried the hidden base yet again.

Moments later the figures entered a small room at the center of the complex. They were soon greeted by a seventh figure, sitting in a large chair by the side of what appeared to be a coffin, enshrouded in seals, with a vast array of tubes and wires protruding out.

"Sort it out in the library and start searching. I can't keep her up like this forever." The seventh man commanded and the others filed into an adjoining room. There the six figures began unsealing a vast array of scrolls and objects. With each object they unsealed they studied it ever so closely before filing it away.

Back in the previous room, the seventh man placed his hands on two circular seals on top of the casket. Pouring chakra into the seals, a large seal array around the room lit up and died down after nearly twenty seconds.

"I'm going to save you Konan. I can't fail this time, I promise you!"