Disclaimer: This is purely a Fanfiction story. I don't own any of the Characters present, nor DMC or any other concepts from existing works.

Author Note: VIP note at the end.

Demon Talk: "Sparda."

Demon Thoughts: 'Sparda.'

Human Talk: "Sparda."

Human Thoughts: 'Sparda.'

Chapter 20: Rising Tensions!

(Konoha – Underground Pathways)

It hadn't taken them long after leaving the premises of the ANBU HQ to find the entrance to Danzō's base. Tora, or as he was also known as Tenzō being a former operative of Ne was familiar with the way they operated and where to locate them. This went doubly so for him, since he had the Mokuton bloodline, which allowed him a deep understanding of the ground beneath him, and was able to detect the tunnels and the enormous base that ran beneath that part of the village.

The trio of shinobi made their way through the dark tunnel, the light from the lantern in Inu's hand the only source of light. They were moving slowly, sacrificing progress for efficiency. They didn't need to rush.

Both Kakashi and Tenzō were closely related to Danzō, having been part of Ne at one point or the other. They knew that Danzō would already have prepared for their arrival. The old Warhawk would have known that they were coming.

Minato had never dealt with Danzō, only heading the warnings from the Sandaime back during his short reign as Hokage. He had treated the man with respect but had also made sure to keep a close eye on him. Danzō had played the part of an ally to Minato, knowing that it was better to be an ally to the 'Flash' than an enemy.

So it was a surprise for him to know that the man had committed such atrocious acts. Allying with Orochimaru, illegally performing missions and assassinations. Suspected treason in the actions against multiple clans, and even a confirmed accusation with the Uchiha clan.

It might have been selfish of him, but Minato drew the line when he found out that Danzō had interfered with Naruto's life. That had been the straw the broke the camel's back for him. He was still doing this for the village, but he was also; for once, doing it for his family first.

"Watch your steps. Danzō will surely have more surprises in store for us," Tenzō said.

The wood user was taking point, a plank shield held in front of him, and guarding against any incoming attacks. Kakashi was behind him, his Sharingan eye uncovered and ready to anticipate any attacks, while Minato held the rear, protecting their back.

While he had been told about the Mokuton user by Kakashi, he had still been amazed at seeing the bloodline of the Shodaime Hokage. It was a humbling experience to see the legendary 'Kami no Shinobi's' bloodline at work. It had already protected them from explosive tags, launched Kunai, and even mines on the floor. Danzō had prepared well.

They didn't talk much, remaining tense, and ready to react to any variable. They might be in the village limits, but they might as well be deep within the belly of Iwa itself.

Tenzō took another step forward, only for the walls to suddenly glow, a series of seals spreading on the wall and glowing. Kakashi reacted immediately, rolling forward and grabbing Tenzō with him.

The action was completely unnecessary, however, as they both suddenly experienced a sense of vertigo, and found that they had been pulled away, reaching the end of the tunnel and near a door, Minato standing over them both and pulling a tri-pronged Kunai that he had thrown. The wall where they were was suddenly closed off in a lightning barrier, before several exploding notes detonated, demolishing that section of the tunnel and everything inside, which was at the moment, nothing.

Kakashi sighed in relief, then glanced towards his leader. "Thanks, Hihi," Tenzō was also quick to nod in agreement and appreciation.

"Keep your focus, both of you. Things are about to get ugly," Hihi said, before trying to open the door. It slid open easily, but they maintained their caution. The base had electric lighting, the neon white lights lighting the corridors of the base. Things were still quiet, not a single living being in sight.

But there was a small snag. The tunnel ended, and the corridors branched into two directions, meaning that they would have to split up to continue their mission. Minato eye-balled the two sides, before turning to his team. He could tell they also had reached the same conclusion.

"The two of you take the right side, while I will take the left. You both have one of my Kunai's right?" he asked, and the two nodded, pulling their Hiraishen Kunai from their holsters. "Good. If you run into Danzō or get in over your heads, be sure to throw it as fast as you can. If you get to the exit, rendevous with our backup there, and scour the rest of the base in case I don't catch up by then, understood?"

Twin nods later, and they were set. Tenzō had been able to give them a rough outline of the base's shape and entrances. The underground structure was simple, three circular main buildings, with corridors connecting them. One entrance, and one exit. The entrance that they had used was the one within the village itself, while the backup team would guard the exit, which extended to the outskirts of the village, bypassing the barrier around the village.

A simple pincer maneuver, though, its efficiency was greatly reduced with how prepared their enemy was. This was the only Ne base in Konoha, they were sure of that after they scoured every single nook and cranny in the village, top to bottom.

'As long as we get Danzō out of the village, we can deal with him as a deserter. We can have a united village again.' With such hopes in mind, Hihi continued.

He made his way through the walkway, wary, but confident. His body might have been dead for the past thirteen years, but he certainly didn't feel that. The first week after he came back he felt terribly ill, but by the end of the second week, he felt just fine. And here he was, sometime after ready for missions again.

He walked through the archway at the end of the corridor and saw that he entered the next part of the facility. A big room, with seals lining the walls. Silencing seals, Containment seals, everything that was needed to keep anything happening in the room from affecting the outside world.

'A training room, then. It would make sense to devote a separate location for this. Danzō had a few hundred soldiers, what with the lack of recruits he has. So this must be where he prepares them,' Minato thought, gazing around the room.

The silence in the room was thwarted by ten blurs, jumping from the shadowed corners in the ceiling and forming a circle around him. ANBU style armor with white masks armed with tip-less Tantōs.

They stood guard around him, but Minato maintained a calm exterior, while on the inside, he was already analyzing them.

'They are defensive, but not aggressive. They aren't attacking yet, which means they have a message to deliver. An offer to surrender perhaps? Or a threat from Danzō?' he glanced around him again, taking note of every single one of them.

There were a few of them leaning forward, indicating extra weaponry on their backs. Fūma Shuriken was the most probable cause. A few others had their stances so that they were showing a side view of their bodies, with the other arms behind their back. They seemed to be in throwing stance, probably armed with explosive Kunai in case he didn't give them the answer they wanted, or maybe smoke pellets to help them gain the upper hand in the field.

It only took him a split second to analyze the information presented to him, enough time for one of them to speak.

"Yondaime-sama, stand down. We both serve the wellbeing of Konoha. There is no need for your current actions. Danzō-sama is not an enemy of the village..."

'An offer it is,' Minato thought, willing to stand and listen.

"-It is to the best interest of the village that ROOT continues its operations. Sandaime-sama's recent actions have not benefited the village."

"Our enemies believe us to be weak." Another one continued. "Suna, Kumo; they already made attempts during the Konoha Invasion, and will continue to test our patience until they are put in their place."

A third shinobi moved, and Minato's eyes shifted towards him immediately. The ANBU had lowered his blade, taking a neutral stance. "With your return to the village, the other nations will fear us again. They will hesitate a hundred times over before even considering taking any action against us. Since you have decided to situate yourself in the shadows, you cannot exist in the light. It is not your place anymore."

'Are they trying to convince me? Or maybe...brainwash me?' Minato thought, incredulous.

He wasn't too far off all things considered. Danzō himself was hidden behind one of the walls, a one-sided glass that allowed him to usually monitor the advancement for his shinobi. The bandages around his head had been removed, pooling around his neck, revealing a red-eye with a four-pointed pinwheel, that was focused on Minato's form.

His Mangekyō Sharingan was unique in that it didn't require the eye to eye contact to cast it's most powerful ability and Genjutsu, the Kotoamatsukami. It was all thanks to Shusui's contribution to the village that he had access to this useful Jutsu. The ocular organ was focused on Minato, the pattern spinning as it placed its anchors in the shinobi's mind.

Back with the ANBU, the first one to speak continued again. "With your position in the darkness, we can position Danzō-sama in the light. With the two of you working together, and with the loyalty of the entire village, ANBU and ROOT, Konoha will be able to stand against any threat. The future of the village will be protected and in safe hands."

With their speech complete, the operatives stood-by awaiting the response of the previous Hokage.

Minato would admit, that he agreed with their words to a certain degree. Hiruzen's actions in the past years have been weak. And with a weak Hokage, you get a weak image of the village. Such an image would entice the other villages into trying their luck against the village.

Hiruzen had not carried the village well through the years. The Kumo incident, the Uchiha incident, the reason behind Yamato conception, allowing Kakashi to fall to Ne- even if it was a ploy – and Orochimaru's defection. They were all Hirzuen proving his weakness and incompetence at being Hokage.

'Good. The Jutsu is in place.' Danzō thought, his Sharingan eye still intently focused on Minato. The Kotoamatsukami worked by planting several anchor points in the target's mind and then feeding those anchors information that would hypnotize the target. They would receive the commands from the user but would remain unaware that they were being controlled.

The commands would implement themselves as conscious thoughts, thus, making the target believe that the commands were their own thoughts. The only way for the user to dispel the technique was to realize it was happening, and then performing the Genjutsu Kai and having more chakra than the caster to overwhelm the presence of the anchors.

'With the 'Yellow Flash' under my beck and call, I can eliminate every traitor shinobi in Konoha before they can even react. Then, I can manipulate the other countries into going to war against each other.'

It was as easy as having Minato assassinate one of the leaders, then placing the blame on one of the other nations. Assassinate the Raikage for example, and place the blame on Iwa, and both nations would go to war. The minor nations between them would also be dragged into the fighting. Once they have all exhausted their resources, Minato and his ROOT shinobi would more than enough to eliminate the rest of the resistance and then convince the Fire Daimyō to annex the lands of Earth and Lightning once those Daimyōs have been dealt with.

It was even easier since the Fire Daimyō was already under his control, having cast the Genjutsu on him in preparation to take the position of Hokage after Hiruzen was disposed of.

His musings were interrupted when he felt a sudden pain in his eye, his Sharingan spinning in agitation while blood pooled down from the organ. The pain was intense, crippling, and managed to send the 'Shinobi no Yami' to his knees.

He hissed as his optical nerve felt as though someone had poured liquid fire on it. He felt his connection to Minato break, a sudden force impacting against him, and sending him careening to the floor, only for his last guard, Tsutaurushi, to steady him, and keep him off the floor.

The shinobi wordlessly helped him to his knees, and he grit his teeth as he looked at Minato, who seemed non the wiser as to what had happened.

'How? How was he able to repel the Kotoamatsukami? He couldn't have detected it, could he?'

"Danzō-sama, are you alright?" the shinobi spoke for the first time in a feminine voice. The cloak she had around her body shifted as she helped the Warhawk to his feet, revealing a shapely mature woman's body. She had a long-sleeved turtle-neck styled shirt, and black gloves on her hands, not revealing a single hint of skin. For her lower section, she had tight black shinobi pants, with customized heeled sandals, that hid her skin completely, with bandages wrapped around her ankles, and a kunai holster on her thigh.

Danzō pulled himself to his feet, using his dropped cane to help him, and shrugging off the woman's assisting hand, too focused on his failure to control Minato, and ignoring the woman's huff at his action.

"I'm fine. We need to proceed to the next plan of action." He reported, already moving to the door, tying the bandages loosely around his head. He would have tightened it tighter, but just in case he needed the eye, he kept it ready. The woman followed her leader, throwing one last glance at the ANBU who she knew to be the former Hokage over her shoulder, before closing the door to the observation room.

Minato was oblivious to Danzō, having not even sensed the man's proximity, only focusing on the shinobi surrounding him.

"While you are not entirely wrong, you underestimate the Sandaime," Minato began. "The position of Hokage is not measured by the strength of the village. The Hokage is a position of leadership, not only for Konoha but also for the entire country. A Hokage is responsible for a Nation. The five major nations in the Elemental Nations have their leaders because the position of Kage is given to the person who is willing to protect the balance of power. Someone who aspires to tip that balance, like Danzō will never be Hokage. All the events that Hiruzen had to endure, and had to resolve, they were done to keep the peace. To prevent more wars from happening. To protect the kings of the villages. That is what it means to have the 'Will of Fire,' a concept that apparently, Danzō never parted to all of you."

"We are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure Konoha is safe. We will gladly give our lives to the village if the need arises-" the second ROOT began.

"And THAT is where Danzō made his mistake!" Minato interrupted, his mask turning to the shinobi. "Konoha is not the village. Konoha is the people! They are the ones that should have your loyalty! They are the ones you should give your life to!"

He could tell that he was beginning to reach the ROOT shinobi, their stances hesitantly lowering. "The same people that Danzō condemned to death in the Uchiha affair. The children, the women, the elderly, and the loyal. Those people...they are Konoha. All of you...All of you are Konoha. That's why Danzō is not worthy of your loyalty." he ended passionately.

A lifetime of being conditioned to be emotionless tools for a single madman. Minato couldn't imagine how difficult their lives might have been. How many more of them that were drafted to join Danzō's private army.

"Surrender. Drop your weapons, and submit yourselves to the village," he softly said. "The ANBU will always accept more recruits, and you can protect the true Konoha, not the Konoha you were all lead to think you were protecting. You won't have to needlessly give up your lives."

With his part done, Minato stared at the shinobi. He had nothing else to say. He hoped they would see reason and would make the right choice. If they decided they would still follow Danzō, it would mean that they were beyond help, and he would have to eliminate them all.

Thankfully, it seemed he wouldn't need to be so drastic. As soon as the first ROOT had dropped his Tantō, the others followed, the clanging of their weapons hitting the floor echoed in the room.

"Thank you, all of you. You made the right choice." He declared. "I hope you understand why I had to do this the next time all of you awake," he said, before blurring away.

Seconds later, he appeared behind the shinobi, while they all dropped to the floor. On their backs, they all had a paper seal with the Kanji for 'Subdue' written on it. Hiruzen had expected that the shinobi would be fanatical to Danzō, and would follow his every command.

Tenzō had also warned them that Danzō used a certain curse seal, the Zekka Konzetsu no In to guarantee his shinobi's loyalty and to terminate them should they fail their missions or end up being captured or betrayed him. He was sure Danzō was going to tie up the loose ends with any shinobi that would fail to bring them down in this cold war that they were going through with the 'Yami no Shinobi'. Thankfully, Minato had prepared for that.

He used the Seifuku no Seishin shīru to freeze the operatives and knock them out. His seal would also interfere with the signal from the chakra flare from Danzō to activate his cursed seal, thus temporarily disabling his mark until it was removed at a later time. Minato was not a seal master for nothing, since he was even better than Jiraiya in the art, mostly thanks to his wife, who was the true seal master between the two of them, and had taught him most of his skills in the art.

With the room cleared, he created two shadow clones and had them retrieve the Ne shinobi back to the ANBU HQ, where they would be held incarcerated until they were rehabilitated and would either join the normal shinobi ranks or be drafted to the ANBU.

'Now to find Danzō...' Hihi thought, before continuing in the base.

He passed by several rooms, investigating the doors to make sure he didn't miss anything in the base. When he opened the first room, he saw that he was in a hidden compartment behind the training area, a dark booth with a glass window that overlooked the training room.

'Danzō was probably here. Maybe watching me...Does he know that I disabled his seals?' mused Minato, before shaking his head. 'Doesn't matter. I need to follow him before he gets away. If he's in the first place.'

With that, he left the room. Knowing that he didn't have much time, he decided to sprint down the room, creating a single Kage Bunshin for every door he passed, the clones checking the rooms, and dispelling, sending back the feedback and chakra that the rooms were empty.

The path was clear to him now, a single door at the end of the base, that according to what they already knew, would lead to a suspended bridge in a chasm a few miles out of Konoha and to the exit. It was where Jiraiya and Tsunade were standing guard, the designated backup team.

'But then…where did he go? Where are the other Ne agents? I'm missing something, there has to be something more.' He thought to himself. A clone's feedback made him pause, turning to look back at the corridor behind him. He teleported to a marker placed by the clone that had just dispelled. The reason why it had left the marker was that it had detected something that shouldn't be there.

The wall in front of him was shimmering at the edges, an invisible layer of chakra coating the wall. 'Genjutsu. Clever. At least A-rank level chakra with how inconspicuous it is.' "Kai!" he intoned, his hands set in the ram sign.

The wall vanished, revealing another wall behind it. Hihi touched it, tracing over the smooth stones, and his fingers found a rough patch that didn't belong. He tore it off, revealing a paper seal the same color of the wall. The wall began to crumble, falling into small pieces and revealing a hidden tunnel.

Minato didn't hesitate, immediately running through the hidden tunnel. It was five minutes later, which he estimated to have covered at least half-a-mile in the hidden rocky tunnel before he emerged in a large cave. The sight of the cavern might have been an interest to him since there was a wooden casket lying innocently in front of a patch of burnt stones - but he was preoccupied with his target standing in front of him, another shinobi next to him.

His hands reached into his pouch, drawing ten shurikens which he threw at the crippled shinobi. The shinobi stars were blocked by the unknown shinobi drawing a Katana and deflecting them all to the ground, the cloak being thrown away and revealing herself to him. She then charged towards him, the sword gleaming as she aimed it in a slash. He quickly withdrew a normal Kunai and blocked the sword strike, the blades interlocking while they gazed into each other's eyes.

Blue eyes met glowing greenish-purple, and Minato felt his heart skip a beat.

(With Kakashi and Tenzō)

The two shinobi had a tougher time between them since as soon as they entered the first building, they were swamped by a dozen Ne Agents, all intent on ending their lives.

Kakashi sidestepped a swing from a Tantō, aiming an uppercut right into the shinobi's chin, knocking him on his back, only for the man to be replaced by two more. He quickly drew his Ninja-tō, and began to block and divert their slashed away from him, his Sharingan tracking each of their movements.

Not too far from him, Tenzō was having an easier time, blocking a volley of explosive note kunai with his Mokujōheki, making sure to aim the barrier to also protect Kakashi from any stray projectiles. The wood barrier held against the explosive notes, and with a single hand sign, dispersed back into the ground and was replaced by his Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu, his arm producing wooden branches that raced to bind two more shinobi, the two of them immediately freezing as the branches carried the paper tags from Minato and placed on their bodies.

He rolled under a shinobi that had attempted to attack him behind, and got to his feet, grabbing the nearest shinobi and locking gazes. His Sharingan spun, trapping the shinobi in its illusion, and making him swing at one of his comrades. The distraction was enough to have him Shunshin behind the shinobi and place a seal tag on his back, rendering him catatonic and dropping to the floor.

Kakashi absentmindedly did the same to the shinobi under his Genjutsu, the shinobi following in his comrades' steps to unconsciousness. The shinobi were all down for the count and accounted for, Minato's special tags placed on their bodies, and knocking them all out. Tenzō rounded them all up, tying them with shinobi wire, an unnecessary countermeasure, but he couldn't blame the man.

Tenzō knew the Ne soldiers far more than he did, what with being a former comrade of theirs. If he felt the need to tie them up, he couldn't begrudge the extra caution. 'Better safe than sorry,' and all that. His task complete, Tenzō nodded and pointed to the next room. Kakashi nodded alongside him, and the two made their way to continue their mission.

The mood was far too somber to engage in conversation, so they quietly continued their mission. It was all quite nostalgic for Kakashi. It all reminded him of the mission when he met his current partner for the first time. Kinoe, he had been called, a codename that was given to him by Danzō. What started as a mission to spy on Danzō for the Sandaime ended with the discovery that the Mokuton existed in Konoha, and Kakashi knew he had to get that information back to the Sandaime, along with the assassination plans that the Warhawk had instore for Hiruzen.

And 'Kinoe' had been the one sent to assassinate him. But it had all worked out in the end. Danzō had been put in his place – Temporarily – and the Sandaime and the village earned the loyalty of Kinoe, or as it is now, Tenzō. Together, they had formed one of the most efficient ANBU teams in history.

The irony was not lost on Kakashi. He, the 'fake' wielder of the Uchiha's Sharingan, and Tenzō, the 'fake' wielder of the Senju's Mokuton together formed a strong partnership and comradery that had defended Konoha for years, not so dissimilar to the rivalry between the two founders of the village.

He was drawn out of his musings when they entered the next corridor, the corridor that would lead them to the final block of the underground base, and to meet up with their team leader and backup team. But before that, they had one last obstacle to overcome.

Two more Ne agents stood before them, their cloaks indicating that they were a different rank that the others that they had gone through. They grabbed their cloaks, pulling them off their bodies, and revealing themselves.

The first had short black hair, a black long-sleeved with a short, black jacket with red straps on the shoulders light grey ankle-length pants with black shinobi sandals. He also wore a pair of black gloves and a black mask that had sunglasses built into the mask itself. The way he was dressed, his clothes covering most of his body reminded them of the reclusive Aburame clan.

The second teen had auburn colored hair and amber eyes. He wore a short, black jacket with red straps on the shoulders, like all members of ROOT. He also wore a red short kimono under the jacket with a black sash, a pair of black gloves, dark-colored pants, and regular shinobi sandals.

Both of the boys seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen years of age, but they also knew that age was never a factor. Tenzō had been even younger than that when Danzō had sent him to assassinate the Sandaime and later on, Orochimaru.

"Kakashi-san, Kinoe-san. You must not take a single step more." The black-masked shinobi said.

"Sorry, Ne-san, but we have a mission. I'm sure you understand that, don't you?" Kakashi replied with an eye smile behind his mask.

The other shinobi shook his head, drawing his tantō, while the other one slowly took off his gloves, his hands turning into a dark shade of purple.

"Is that poison?" Tenzō whispered.

"No," Kakashi replied. His Sharingan eye allowed him to zoom in on the skin, letting him see exactly what was happening. "They are insects. Tiny insects. He's an Aburame. He must have found a few to use his bugs in collaboration with Taijutsu. We don't know what will happen, so don't let him touch you.

Tenzō firmly nodded to the command, forming wooden clubs that covered his hand. 'So he wants the Aburame. Guess that leaves me with the other kid.' Kakashi deduced, assessing his auburn-haired foe. 'Fine by me.'

(With Naruto)

Sitting on top of the mainsail, his back leaning on the wooden pole that extended to the crow's nest, Naruto found himself slightly bored. Thankfully, unlike the first time that he had traveled by boat, ie. when he traveled with Koyuki to Snow, the southern ocean had different weather and even better tides.

They were making good progress and estimated they would be in Mizu within two or three days, on the condition that the wind continued flowing in the right direction.

The crew was also much quieter, everyone minding their own business, including the Kiri rebels, but that was probably because they weren't filming a movie at the same time. They were only focused on getting to their destination, and trying to remain undetected from Kiri's naval patrols.

A shadow flew overhead, blocking the sun, and he glanced to see a bird flying in the sky. It was slightly bigger than anything that he had ever seen before, sort of reminding him of Deidara's flying transportation, but the fact that it had a small chakra signature refuted that. It was neither a demon nor a chakra construct, so it was fine.

A chakra burst from below, followed by the boat rocking had him turning to the spar happening on the water, a small distance to the side of the boat. He watched in interest as Zabuza and Tsurugi sparred, using Taijutsu and Ninjutsu only. Kubikiribōchō was stabbed on the bow of the ship, the blade glinting in the sunlight.

They were exchanging punches and kicks on the surface of the water. Water dragons, whips, clones, and the like were thrown around. 'It seems that Zabuza's time back with the rebels has done him some good. He seems a bit more mobile than before.'

A few seconds later, Zabuza, who seemed to be on his back leg decided that enough was enough. He was limiting himself by not using his main specialty in Kenjutsu, but he was not going to take the beating lying down.

He jumped back, and placed his hand in the ram seal, casting the Kirigakure no Jutsu, covering the entire area around them in a thick layer of chakra mist. Naruto wasn't sure what use that will be since they were both Kiri ninja, and Tsurugi was probably trained in the mist.

It seemed that his guess was out of the place, as a few minutes later the mist dispelled, showing that Zabuza had Tsurugi in a Full Nelson hold. The shinobi released his comrade, exchanging a few words that he couldn't pick before they began making their back to the boat.

He did, however, hear the sudden cry from overhead, as the flying shadow rapidly approached the ship. The sailors panicked, the shinobi quickly began sprinting to the ship, while he just watched as a giant eagle, big enough to ride, swooped down to the ship, and snatched the cleaving knife. He also heard Zabuza yelling and cursing as he tried to chase after the bird that immediately took to the air, flying away.

"That damned chicken! I'm gonna spit-roast that bird!" it seemed obvious that Zabuza was not happy. "Why the hell didn't you stop him?" he asked, rounding on him. "Kubikiri is a valuable weapon to the Rebels and all of Kiri!"

Naruto shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, I was enjoying the show. By the time I realized it wanted your sword, it was too late, and it was gone. We'll get it back Zabuza. Just follow it." He said, pointing to the flying bird. The bird that was now heading towards an island. An island that up until moments ago, had not been there.

"Uh…There shouldn't be an island here…" one of the sailors added.

The captain of the ship cursed, climbing back to the helm with a map. "He's right, there shouldn't be anything there." He confirmed after checking the parchment in his hands. "Whatever that place is, I have never seen it before, and I've been traveling these seas for a decade now."

"Well I guess we are going there now," Naruto replied, but his mind was elsewhere. 'So that's what it feels like to fall under the Hachigyō Sōgai. It kept us all unaware of the island being there until we saw the bird heading there. I wonder though…'

'Why would anyone want to hide that island? What could there possibly be?' his interest was piqued now, Naruto readied himself as the ship made its way to the island.

The ship docked a fair distance away, the crew members not interested to tempt their luck with what amounted to a ghost island, popping up in a place where it shouldn't be. A few more courageous souls, however, decided that they were willing to tempt the island if it got them the chance for some fresh meals.

So a single boat was sent, four sailors on board of it, while Naruto and Zabuza acted as escort. Tsurugi was left behind on the ship, while Zabuza was stewing in his anger towards the bird that stole his sword.

He'd been mumbling about how many ways he was going to torture and slaughter the bird. Not quite interested in listening to his mumblings, he tuned out most of his words, and instead focused on the nature around him.

The island was, to say the least, unique. Bigger than average Flytraps plants, absolutely thick trees, the like of which he hadn't seen even in Waterfall or the Leaf, and those were chakra trees created with an abundance of Hashirama Senju's Mokuton chakra. But these trees felt different. Saturated in energy, and bright to his senses. They were causing him a headache just being near them. He had never felt this way before to Nature.

"That is Senjutsu chakra, Naruto. The energy that flows from the earth itself." Slifer explained. It had been a while since he had word with the beings existing inside him, not since that debacle with Kimimaro.

'Senjutsu. What makes it so different from Normal chakra?' he asked, continuing his trek through the forest.

"That bird was a hawk," Zabuza said, addressing his fellow ninja. "They usually nest on high grounds. So it's likely that we will find in the mountain area. You all stick close to shore," he ordered the sailors, before turning to Naruto. "We need to find Kubikiri. I will take the mountains on the west side, you take the east side. If you find it, pop a flare."

"Sure, Zabuza," Naruto absentmindedly replied, instead trying to focus on the conversation with the Thunder Dragon. Zabuza scowled at the dismissal, before running off on the trees to find his sword.

'You were saying, Slifer?'

"Senjutsu, or Sage chakra, is the use of Natural Energy found in the environment. It's the chakra that Sages can manipulate, by drawing energy from the nature around them. Nature chakra is very potent, able to empower the body beyond natural abilities." Kurama replied, memories of his youth with the Sage flowing into his mind.

"Yes, it is as Kurama said. By drawing in Nature energy, your physical strength increases ten-fold. Your chakra becomes ten times more potent and powerful, and your control over it is also enhanced. It is the energy that I and my siblings can control, along with our Elemental Domains." Slifer explained.

'I see. I don't suppose you can teach me how to use it, can you?' he asked, his tenants.

"No! And don't even try it, Naruto." Kurama resolutely replied.

'Oh…why is that?' Naruto wondered. He ideally noted a few animals while trekking through the forest. Even the animals seemed were affected by the chakra in the air. They were all bigger then they should be, lizards bigger than the size of humans, insects double that. A centipede crawled nearby in the bushes, its thick mandibles clacking in a threatening manner, but he bypassed it.

"Because Senjutsu is deadly for Demons. Sense the island Naruto. You will notice that there is not a single demonic presence, not even miles nearby. Demons can't handle locations abundant with Nature Chakra." Kurama said.

A little shocked at that piece of information, he did check and found that Kurama was correct. Not a single Demon presence for miles away. But, there was a shady presence, only a few feet away. His eyes flickered to the shadow of a tree, his eyes focused on the figure of a girl. A red-headed young girl.

She had dark eyes, and a white band collecting her long red hair. She was wearing a purple sleeveless kimono blouse with yellow trimming, with a traditional obi holding it closed, and went into a bow on her back. He could also see mesh armor beneath her clothes and a white skirt. And for some reason, she was barefoot.

They stood there staring at each other for a few seconds before the girl turned around and started walking deeper into the island.

'Let's pause that Nature Chakra topic for a moment, and tell me that you all saw her as well,' asked Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" Slifer asked, but Kurama, thankfully, reassured him.

"I didn't see anything either, but I sensed something. Whatever it was, it had an intent to you before it vanished." Kurama said, now on full alert.

"Don't worry, It's a girl. And she wants me to follow her." With nothing else to do, he did. He followed her, traversing through the canopy. Every now and then she would stop, stare quietly at him before continuing on her way.

Soon enough, they began to climb higher, hiking the center of the island and the volcano on it. They passed by several large animals that seemed to see the girl and started to follow them into the volcano. They weren't hostile, so Naruto didn't see an issue with letting them be.

An hour or so later, and they were now standing at an entrance of some kind on the side of the mountain. The girl turned to him and gestured to the entrance. With a nod, they continued walking inside. He turned his head and saw the animals climbing the rest of the volcanic mountain instead of following them. A few minutes later they emerged into a large lab of some kind, which had a large stone water tank in the middle of the room. He saw the girl stand next to the door, and saw her pointing at the tank.

He turned to it and made his way to it. When he did he saw a weird creature inside the green water tank. It looked like, for the lack of a better description, an infant Pupa. It also had two small arms and some sort of a cord on the bottom of his body. It was like nothing that he had ever seen.

Leaving the creature, he took to the stairs and went through the door next to her. He glanced around the lab. There were more machines and turned to the station where he could see multiple types of machinery that were destroyed and fried. There were also dry blood patches spattered everywhere around the machine.

It was while he was looking around the room that he found a journal. A yellow paged book. He took it and opened it to the first page. It didn't take him long to read through the few pages of the book.

The journal described how a group of scientists were trying to breed the ultimate summoning creature and their failure at doing that. So they tried doing it differently. Instead of breeding it, they tried to make it from the mixing the already grown living summons and succeeded at that. Though the creature was difficult to control and they needed a Fuinjutsu specialist to control it. That Fuinjutsu specialist was one Honoka Uzumaki.

He then turned around and made his way back to the girl, now identified as Honoka. When he stood in front of her, he stared into her eyes with her doing the same. "Am I right to think that you are Honoka?" he asked.

The girl wordlessly nodded, her hands behind her back while she was leaning on the wall.

"That thing killed everyone on the island, didn't it? You tried to stop it, but it was too strong for you," he stated, the girl nodding while looking at the floor. Naruto nodded, "How are you still here then?" he asked.

The girl didn't answer, raising her hand and planting it on his temple. His mind was then suddenly attacked by flashes, visions, not of his own. He saw Honoka, the one he assumed to be the real one, stuck inside the beast in the tank. She was crying. For a long time, she had just stuck to crying. But then, she decided that tears were doing her no good. So she kept trying to escape. She kept trying to channel her chakra, to do something. Until one day she succeeded in a way she hadn't imagined.

One second she was trying to get out of the beast, the next, she was standing on the top of the water tank. She was ecstatic, she tried to leave the island, only to begin to vanish the further she went from the beast. So she was stuck. Forced to remain on the island, a prisoner to the beast. She had been able to free her soul, her essence, but she could never break free from the beast. Fated to stay on the island until someone or something finally freed her from the beast.

He opened his eyes, staring into Honoka's desperate violets, her thoughts and feelings having flowed into his head from the contact between them.

"Amazing. She unintentionally performed an S-rank Kinjutsu. A Jutsu that expelled her soul from her body, while she still lives," Slifer said in awe.

'You know this Jutsu?' Naruto asked.

The dragon grumbled. "Not exactly. It was something that the bastard Tobirama could do. He called it the Reika no Jutsu."

"These Humans never cease to amaze," Rayquaza interjected. "Always willing and ready to mess with the balance of the world."

'You have to admit, they are a tenacious bunch. Stupid, and moronic, but tenacious.' He replied to the wind dragon. The dragon snorted in agreement but didn't respond. Out of all the devil arms he had, Rayquaza was the least to speak.

"She will need to dispel the Jutsu herself, Naruto. Get rid of the creature and her with it. That's the only way to end it." Slifer replied, now losing interest.

Naruto nodded in agreement, turning to the girl. "Don't worry. It will all be over soon, I promise." He told her, to which she smiled. He went down the stairs, going through his preparing to put the monster out of its misery once and for all. A sudden caw, followed by the cursing and shouting of Zabuza drew his attention first, and he went to the mouth of the cave, watching in amusement as Zabuza was dropped in the volcano by the bird, clutching his sword to his chest.

Not wanting his colleague to die from melting in the lava, he extended an earth platform from the mouth of the cave, which Zabuza landed on, groaning from the impact. The shirtless shinobi glanced at him, before standing to his feet, and dusted off his pants, holstering his sword on his back.

"Not a single word, or else!" he threatened, to which Naruto shrugged. He turned to watch as the bird took advantage of the extended platform, landing on its talons behind Zabuza. Before the Kiri rebel could give the animal a piece of his mind, Naruto approached it.

"You brought us here on purpose, didn't you?" he asked the bird.

Zabuza was about to call him on his insanity for talking to the eagle but watched in confusion as the bird nodded.

"You want us to get rid of it for you, right? The unnatural animal inside?" he continued.

The eagle cawed, flapping its wings. More animals began to crawl towards them, centipedes, spiders, snakes all of them going into the cave and to the water tank. The bird was too big to fit inside, so it stayed out, while he walked inside, Zabuza quickly following after him.

"We get to kill something?" he asked, his bloodthirst palpable. If he couldn't kill the dam chicken, he could at least kill something else.

"Yes. You can kill the so-called 'Ultimate Summoning Beast'," he said, Honoka appearing next to him while walking to the beast.

As though responding to its name, the water tank began to shake, the submerged beast's eyes glowing red. The entire cave began to shake, before abruptly stopping. There was a sudden cracking noise, the giant summons animals around them shuffling and clicking nervously.

The cracking continued until the midsection of the underwater beast split open, and another made itself out of the crack, much like a moth leaving its cocoon. The new beast looked significantly different, long reptilian webbed feet and a human-like torse. Its arms were long, ending with long digits. Its head was more insectoid, two large insect eyes and a mass of tentacles for it's a mouth. Its actual mouth appeared from a crack on its stomach, a row of molar teeth with a long tongue, dripping with saliva.

The beast's eyes glowed, then launched its tentacles to the surrounding summons animals, grabbing one of the snakes, spider, chameleon, and centipede, then pulling them back to its body. Its central mouth opened and chomping on them, causing its body to change. Scales grew on its frame, reflecting and bending with the background behind it followed by wiggling spines appearing on its back, a dripping white substance flowing from the spines. A long-tail appeared from its tail bone, similar to a snake, while a horn appeared on its head, crackling with Raiton chakra.

Zabuza stopped in his tracks, a disgusted expression fixing itself on his face. Naruto shared the feeling, as green and red blood dripped from its mouth along with pieces of flesh.

"Would you like to do the honors?" he asked Zabuza, gesturing to the beast. Zabuza deadpanned at him, before shaking his head and drawing his blade.

(With Minato)

The previous Hokage evaded another slash from his foe's katana, shifting his body from the follow-up attack and throwing a smoke-screen bomb on the floor, a cloud of smoke bursting from the impact.

He jumped back from the smokescreen, blinking in astonishment as the Kunoichi doggedly pursued him, keeping him on his toes. He drew another kunai, a Hiraishen kunai, using its side prongs to trap her katana and trying to kick her away.

The woman managed to bend her body away from the kick, cartwheeling into another sword lunge that he rolled away from.

'She's good. At least ANBU level.' He thought as she stood in a ready position, her sword held firmly. 'No wonder why he kept her close to him. She is matching me extremely well.'

Granted, he still hadn't brought out the Hiraishen into play, but she was still able to match his natural speed and kata. Her reaction speed was also exceptional, having managed to evade point-blank ranged kunai throws from him, which was very impressive.

'Let's take it up a notch,' he thought. With that he reached into his Kunai pouch, drawing several Hiraishen Kunai. He threw the kunai towards her, the woman tensing and jumping away. But his attack was not aimed at her.

A few hand seals later, and the three kunai multiplied into three-hundred, covering every corner of the cave. She landed next to a kunai, and he flashed to that position, the woman turning to cut him, but he flashed away, appearing on the other side of her.

This went for a few more seconds, him flashing while she tried to cut him, only to cut air, while he was throwing punches and drawing grunts from the woman. His main goal was to weaken her enough to place to try to place the tag he had on her, but she wouldn't let him.

A minute later – and thirty-five punches later - the woman seemed to lose it, growling in anger, she slapped her palm on the ground. The moment she did, Minato flashed away, his jaw unhinged from the amount of chakra she had unleashed.

Plants began emerging from the ground, giant roots flowing and uprooting the earth. His kunai were all destroyed, the upturning green trampling over and crushing them, the Shuriken Kage Bunshin Kunai puffing into smoke, while the original three were crushed and destroyed.

'Another Mokuton user! But that shouldn't be possible! What have you done, Danzō?'

The plants continued to shift around, wriggling like snakes, while from the top of the stems, giant flowers began to bloom. But it didn't stop there, the flowers seemed almost sentient, blooming and then turning their 'gaze' towards him. Standing on top of the biggest one, was the Kunoichi herself. If it weren't for the mask she had covering her face, he was sure she would be smirking at gaining the upper hand.

"How do you like my babies?" she asked, a seductive, but very familiar tone of voice. For the second time, Minato froze, swallowing a lump that had been in his throat.

The violet eyes, the voice he heard. They reminded him of someone. He hoped it was all his imagination. That it was hallucinations in his head. Anything, as long as his thoughts didn't turn out to be true.

'No, I can't lose focus. Focus, Minato! Focus!'

"Impressed, though, I wouldn't exactly call them babies," Minato replied, trying to get his head back in the game. "But I'm more interested in how you have the Mokuton. I thought only one of Orochimaru's experiment subjects survived."

The woman seemed willing to humor him since she was now leaning on the plant, gazing at him. "I was a subject of that experiment, but I was special. I was separated from the rest. I was given the code name Tsutaurushi."

"I see, 'Poison Ivy.' That's a… nice name. You seem like you're the talkative type, not like the other Ne shinobi. Did Danzō not break you like the rest?"

The woman shrugged, "I was more valuable than the rest. Different too," she said, throwing away the cloak around her. Her uniform was clinging to her body, making it seem even tighter, and showing even more of her curves. If he hadn't been married, he was sure he would be ogling her body, and he would deny it if anyone did say he gave her a second glance - because he didn't!- but he did notice that whatever skin was showing from her uniform after throwing away the cloak was tinted green. "Danzō-sama trained me himself. After Kinoe betrayed us, I was left as Ne's top operative and the main pillar after Danzō-sama himself. Your words will not affect me like they did my traitorous comrades."

"Your traitorous comrades? That is not true. They are not traitors. They realized the truth behind my words. That Danzō is not working for the future of the village, but for his own ambitions."

"Danzō-sama's ambitions are for the future of the village! And you will not convince me otherwise!" she shouted, and the plant responded to her anger. A giant cloud of yellow powder spread through the air before the plant/serpent began charging towards him, trying to destroy the cause of its creator's ire.

The cave also began to tremble, rocks, and debris falling from the movement of the giant plant.

'The entire cave is going to collapse!' he thought while looking at the ceiling of the cave. Seeing as Danzō had already made away during his confrontation with the woman, and as she was likely going to survive with the plant's help, he knew he was the only one standing to lose from staying where he was.

Cutting his losses, he simply Hiraishen-ed away.

Emerging back in the Ne base, Minato sighed. The mission had not proceeded as planned. Danzō had managed to slip away, as well as his second in command. But at the very least, they had managed to secure the base, and flush the Warhawk from the village.

"Hihi," He heard someone calling his nickname, and turned to see Kakashi holding a shinobi over his shoulder, while Tenzō was standing next to him.

"Inu, report!" he ordered.

"Hai! We encountered a few squads, and they have all been immobilized in the first sector of the base. After that, we ran into two of Danzō elites. I took on the first and defeated him and Tora took the other one. That one, unfortunately, upon defeat activated his seal and died. I managed to stop this one before he could do the same. I brought him with me to deliver him to Inoichi-san in person. How about you, sir? Any luck?"

Minato hummed, "Yes, I fought a few units as well, and they are all ready for extraction. I followed Danzō, but I was forced to battle his second-in-command. She was very strong and escaped along with Danzō before I could stop them. It seems this mission has failed, at least, partially."

With a sigh, Minato gestured for the two to follow, walking through the base and heading to the exit. "Come on. Let's meet the backup and extraction team. We need to report this to Sandaime-sama."

"Hai!\ Hai!"

(With Naruto)

'What the hell! Why the hell can't I move!' not a single muscle from his body was moving, no matter how hard he tried. Zabuza was ahead, evading and slashing at the beast's tentacles, and rolling away from the lightning launching from its horn. As for him, the second he had met the creature's eyes, he had been paralyzed, unable to move. He suspected it was something from its eyes, but he had no idea how to release it. Even his chakra was not responding to him.

"It's a Genjutsu, Naruto. It can use its eyes to cast long-distance Genjutsu," Kurama informed.

'How can a Genjutsu stop my chakra from flowing?' he asked, incredulous. How was he supposed to break it if it was doing such damage to him?

"It's not a normal Genjutsu. Normal Genjutsu usually invades the chakra to confuse the senses. This Genjutsu affected your body. Some sort of hypnosis. That's why. Your body thinks that you are not consciousness, so it's not responding to your brain commands. You need the swordsman to push his chakra through your body to release it. Or me, but of course, you won't let me do that." He huffed.

'Won't even bother replying to that argument, Kurama,' Naruto replied. He would have rolled his eyes if he could.

Zabuza skidded back next to him after using his sword to block a swing from its tail. He took a knee next to him, "So…What do we do now? I don't have water, so my Ninjutsu is out. any ideas?" He asked gruffly. When he didn't get an answer, he turned to him. "Oi, you there?"

H stood up next to him, waving a hand in front of his face. The Genjutsu seemed to have a visual presence as Zabuza noticed the vacant look in his eyes. He pushed his chakra into his body, flushing out the Genjutsu in his body.

"Finally. I was starting to get bored. It seems to have some sort of Genjutsu casting eyes, so don't look into them." He warned.

"Your welcome," muttered Zabuza sarcastically. He still headed the advice, looking at the creature's lower face and avoiding its eyes. "So, we are dealing with an Uchiha monster? how do we kill it? Cutting it won't work, it's body is some sort of malleable tissue. It can fix itself. It's too hot in this volcano to use water release." He said, wiping his brow from the accumulating sweat.

"Your Ninjutsu is useless, doesn't mean all Ninjutsu is. I have more elements to use than Suiton. Also, you have something that will be useful. Use the Kirigakure no Jutsu, fill the cave," he advised.

He drew Aquila, frowning in annoyance at the wide sleeves. Zabuza meanwhile nodded in approval. 'He wants to blind it. It might have the Genjutsu of the Sharingan, but it doesn't have its predictive abilities. Fine then, Kirigakure no Jutsu!'

The mist rolled through the cave, the creature screeching in confusion. It charged lightning through its horn, launching lightning bolts in random directions. One of the bolts was intercepted by a yellow beam of lightning, Naruto having drawn Raijin in the mist. The lightning was absorbed into the blade, and the creature turned to that direction, only to have its leg cut through by the spinning Aquila.

The shuriken made a round trip, returning to Naruto, while the creature fumbled on one leg, and fell, thudding on the ground, roaring and flailing in pain. Naruto appeared above it, Aquila in his arm and spinning rapidly like a chainsaw. He dropped on the creature, preparing to slash its head off, only to freeze as an image flooded into his mind.

It was Honoka. Her eyes were closed, her body unaware to the world around her, just like in the images she had transmitted to him when she touched his temple, except this time, he felt her. She was there, right under his feet. Inside the belly of the creature.

Alive.

So, he changed his target, collapsing Aquila into its dagger form, but kept the wind extending its reach. He took a step to the side off the beast, and slashed clean through it, being careful to mind the cut. Its torso was split open, showing the young girl in a fetal position, and covered in green gunk.

Quickly grabbing her body, he jumped away, just as a hot yellow substance was launched from the cut. He evaded the acid, making sure to shield Honoka's body with his own, slashing away the tentacles that chased after him, and jumped out of the mist standing next to Zabuza.

"Where did she come from?" Zabuza asked, his hands still holding the ram seal to keep the mist going.

"She was inside of the creature." He replied, noting that Honoka's spirit had appeared next to him, staring wide-eyed at her own body. "Don't do anything till I'm back," he told the young ghost, to which she nodded.

Zabuza looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Whatever," he replied, thinking that Sparda was talking to him.

Another lightning bolt was launched at them, and since he had sheathed Raijin when he had jumped the creature, he launched a quick Kazekiri from Aquila, the wind repelling the lightning away. The creature lumbered its way out of the mist, its leg regenerated and its stomach sealing shut, though, from the way the lightning was flickering on its head, he could tell it wasn't exactly happy.

Not caring much for its state, he released Aquila into its shuriken state, before separating it into its dual form. He reared his arms back, green chakra manifesting around the blades.

"How about you try this on for size? Senpū Kyōheki!" he intoned, throwing the shuriken. The two blades of death whirled their way to the creature, miniature hurricanes forming around them. They surrounded the creature, and that's when the technique began. The two Fūma blades spun in different directions, forming a vacuum between them, trapping the creature within. Cuts began forming on the beast's skin, the wind shredding and ripping it apart, splattering green blood and ooze.

"And now for the finale," he said, before cupping his hand over his mouth. A stream of fire launched from his mouth towards the wind vacuum. The second the fire and wind touched, there was a blind light and a deafening explosion, Naruto using his cloak to cover Honoka's body while Zabuza used Kubikiri as cover.

When the light show settled down, Naruto looked at the remains of the beast. Aquila's blades were now embedded in the roof of the cave on different sides, the shuriken shifting in their position before returning to him, while the summoning beast's body was incinerated, its head the only part still burning away. Its limbs were blown and sprawled around on the ground, burning puddles of what he assumed to be its blood.

He approached the head, making sure that it was dead. Its vacant ringed eyes stared back at him, and he felt assured that it was done for. Though, he was interested in how he was able to communicate with it on some level, even though it had no demonic origins.

He placed his hand on the remains of its head, ignoring the heated flesh. His Inhaling Maw activated, absorbing the last remnants of its chakra, and he flinched as his eyes burned and memoried rushed through his head.

Stumbling a few steps back from the flash of pain that entered his head, his already throbbing head from the Nature energy-charged island doubling from taking information from a mindless beast, he sighed in annoyance.

Grabbing the head, he lifted its remains, and pulled it to the mouth of the cave, bypassing Zabuza and Honoka for the moment. His eyes met with the eagle that was still standing on the raised ground platform. Its eyes tracked the unnatural beast, watching as the human pithed the remains into the lava below.

The eagle's call was deafening, announcing the death of the creature, the other animals replying in their own calls, before dismissing themselves back to the island, but the eagle stayed. He went back in, going towards Zabuza and Honoka's body.

Zabuza was standing, un-interested in the body next to him, while Honoka's spirit was in seiza next to her body. Carrying the girl's body, he gestured for her to follow, Zabuza already moving ahead of them.

"Come on, we'll see what we can do for you somewhere else. I'm sure you want to leave this place." He whispered to the ghost, grinning slightly at the beaming smile she returned.

By the time he reached the mouth of the cave, Zabuza was glaring at the eagle while the avian had its head titled. When it saw him, it lowered a wing and he climbed it, knowing that it wanted to help take them back.

Glancing at Zabuza, he glared at the shinobi. "Let it go, Zabuza, and get on."

Grumbling in annoyance, he huffed, before joining him on the avian's back. The eagle took the skies in an instant, flying towards their ship. The spirit was also seated on the flying animal with them, staring between her body and him. Somewhat hesitant, she reached out to her face before he could tell her to wait. When she touched it, her hand turned transparent, slowly getting sucked back into her body.

Moments later, the spirit was gone, Honoka's body taking a deep breath, and exhaling, but didn't awake. Placing a finger against her jugular, he felt a steady pulse.

'Well...that's one to do it, I guess. We will have to wait and see what happens now.' He mused, making sure that her body was steady in his arms, before sitting and relaxing for the rest of the trip.

'At least I got something good out of this whole mess,' he smirked, as a ring formed in his eyes while glowing in a rainbow-colored hue.

(Hokage Office - Konoha)

"Then it's safe to say that Danzō escaped. It seems we have been duped." Hiruzen thought out loud, standing in front of the large window that overlooked the village.

With him in the room were the ones involved in the mission to exterminate ROOT, going over the mission and what they knew, except for Jiraiya, who had already left the village with the excuse of maintaining his spy network.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. The Mokuton woman caught me by surprise, and the way the base was rigged tells me they were prepared for us." Minato said. His mask was on his waist, and a relaxed expression on his face.

Kakashi nodded alongside the older, actually younger - since Minato had passed on when he was twenty-four while Kakashi was twenty-six but it was difficult to see the man who had raised him being younger than him – man's assessment. "The real issue is that we can't tell if he kept his strongest shinobi with him or his weakest."

"The three we fought were some of his best," Tenzō interjected helpfully. "The others, I couldn't tell you for sure. I am leaning towards them being his weaker shinobi. We will need to get more information from Inoichi-san before we can confirm it."

Hiruzen nodded, moving away from the window and taking a seat on his desk. He took off his hat, placing it on the desk, and sighed. The others could see that the whole debacle was taking its toll on the old man. At sixty-eight years old, it was a wonder that the man was still able to handle the stress of being Hokage.

"At the very least, Danzō is a non-factor now. Minato, I need you to work on adjusting the detection barrier around Konoha. Too many of our enemies have been able to slip through the village. Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and now Danzō." He ordered, with Minato nodding in agreement. "Kakashi, you need to return to your team, so your temporary status as ANBU is revoked again. I need a fresh assessment of your team. Also, bring Sai to the ANBU base with the other ROOT shinobi, see what you can get from him." He continued.

Kakashi gave a lazy nod, sighing that his time as an ANBU was cut short. Working with Minato again had been a nostalgic experience, and even though their relationship was a bit rough – mostly because Minato was acting more formal with everyone that was involved with Naruto's case – he was hoping that he could fix that. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Now that Danzō isn't around to undermine my authority, I should be able to have better control over the council. My old teammates will still be a pain in my side, but with the main instigator gone, I can deal with them. I have a meeting with the council later today, and Danzō status will be announced. Minato, I need to tell them about you. I believe that seeing you back will motivate them to be more cooperative."

"I have no problem with that, Sandaime-sama. I am assuming you have some backstory that Orochimaru was the one that brought me back with the Edo Tensei gone wrong, right?" with Hiruzen's nod, he continued. "Good. No need to draw attention to Naruto."

"Exactly my thoughts. So long as he's dead he's safe from the world knowing who he is. What about the information recovered from the Ne Base?"

"Unfortunately, we don't have much there," Minato said, sharing a glance with the other two ANBU. "Most of the documents and files were destroyed. No dossiers were left intact, or any other sort of documents. A few scrolls were connecting him with outside factions, some guy named Gatō from Gatō shipping, an arms dealer called En Oyashiro, and a Kiri shinobi called Tsuyoshi from Kiri. There were also some scrolls from Orochimaru, but non of the scrolls mentioned anything critical."

Grimacing from the lack of useful information, Hiruzen at least felt reassured. The list of names that were mentioned by Minato were all quite shady, and he was thankfully not regretting his decision to out Danzō. "I see. Gatō is a non-factor since Wave recently took care of him. Orochimaru will go into hiding now, after all the heat he has accumulated, though, why he would be in contact with a Kiri shinobi and an arms dealer is interesting. For now, we will let it be. We can focus on other priorities at the moment."

"As you wish, Hokage-sama. Anything else you require from us?" Minato asked.

Pausing for a moment, Hiruzen sighed, his eyes meeting Minato's, before shifting to Tsunade. Minato gave a small grin, before vanishing in a flash. A tick mark formed on Hiruzen's forehead at the action. 'That coward...'

Seeing his sensei disappear, Kakashi had a raised eyebrow, before shrugging and following suit, grabbing Tenzō with him, and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Gulping, Hiruzen turned to Tsunade. "Tsunade-chan, if you would please take a seat."

Tsunade was suspicious towards the end of the conversation, the glances that were shared between the two Kage shinobi and then the abrupt departure of Minato sending alarms in her mind. Turning to her sensei, watching as his adam's apple bounced, she acquiesced, taking a seat, and crossing her arms.

Preparing himself for the discussion of his life, he steeled his resolve. "I would like you to take the position of Godaime Hokage." And there it was. Straight to the point.

Chuckling to himself, Minato ignored the burst of KI that followed his departure from the Hokage Tower. His ANBU mask was back in place, the cloak that signified his status as ANBU commander covering him while he hopped on the roofs of Konoha's buildings. It was mid-afternoon, so the village was still bustling with activity.

'It doesn't feel that different from thirteen-years ago,' he thought, his eyes roaming around the village. It was his first time taking a stroll in the village since he came back. Every other day he had been rushing from one place to another, surrounded by two to three ANBU operatives to make sure he wasn't recognized. But now, he was free to be himself again.

Except, he didn't feel like he wanted to. The reality of the situation was that he was at a loss as to what he could do now. What could he possibly live for?

'I miss you, Kushina...'

She was his everything. The love of his life. The single most constant factor in his life. He had fallen for his wife ever since he was in the academy, which was weird now that he thought about it, considering they were both nine years old. The attempted kidnapping by Kumo five years later had cemented their relationship, and a few years after, they had been married, and she became one of his top two things that he cared for, the other, being the Hokage position and protecting Konoha.

He stopped his musings and turned to a four-story building ahead, a building with an open courtyard, and a fence surrounding it. A group of young kids were playing in the yard, a few matrons, male and female standing idle by and watching. The building was newer since as he remembered, it used to be only two stories before.

'Then again...They probably had to expand it after the Kyuubi attack,' he realized.

The Konoha Orphanage, a place he was familiar with. Minato had been born an orphan, one of many that resided in Konoha in the aftermath of the first shinobi war. He had never known his parents, if they were shinobi or civilians, only that he was born in Konoha itself, with his name engraved on his blanket as a babe.

Several months after no one laid a claim to him, and he was transferred from the Konoha hospital into the orphanage, where he had spent the rest of his life being cared for by the matrons until he signed up for the academy.

Being the pragmatic person that he was, he chose to believe that his parent had been shinobi from the village, dying in the first war to give their lives for the protection of Konoha. And so, he chose to follow in their footsteps, to love the village he was born to, and to protect it from all threats. The caretakers at the orphanage had supported him, providing with the materials he needed, and what little chakra training they had.

He pursued his ninja career with extreme prejudice, spending hours of his day practicing technique, reading about chakra, and building his strength. His drive and determination eventually caught the attention of one of the Sandaime Hokage's students, Jiraiya of the Sannin, and he thrived under his teachings. He had earned the acknowledgment of the village since then, and it had only improved later with his accomplishments in the Third Shinobi War, gaining the adoration and support of his village to become Hokage.

A bittersweet smile spread on his face under his mask, his eyes glancing at the distance.

He might not have had the love of his parents, but he had gained the love of his village instead. Something, that Naruto had not experienced any of.

His days at the orphanage had been miserable. He hadn't been abused, thank Kami, but negligence was the word he would use. They only did the bare minimum, feeding him, changing his diapers, then leaving him in his crib. His cries would be answered with minimum attention, only enough to quiet him, but no one wanted to spend a single moment more with him.

Hiruzen did well to remove him from the orphanage when he was older, but leaving him to live alone without a guide when he was five was unacceptable. Even he had stayed in an orphanage until he graduated from the academy.

The treatment at the academy disgusted him, blatant favoritism, and prejudice towards a boy who had no one to defend him. No one to support and guide him. No one to teach him. Truthfully, he had been hoping that Jiraiya would have given Naruto the same treatment he had offered him. That the boy's Godfather would set him on the path to becoming the magnificent shinobi he knew he would become. All for naught, since Jiraiya had failed him completely.

But Naruto had persevered, showing his true mettle, and succeeded on his own. He had found his own ninja way, found a man willing to teach him, and made him into a force to be reckoned with. He did not doubt in his mind that Naruto was one of the strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations at the moment. Granted, his knowledge about the present generation of shinobi that roamed the nations was lacking, but he was confident from what he witnessed in Naruto's training with Vergil.

He had Kushina's bullheaded determination and strength of spirit, his calm and analytic thinking process, combined with the sheer power and skill of Vergil Sparda. And if all of that was not enough, he had the strongest of the Bijuu standing behind his back. The seal was unlocked, and yet, Kurama had decided to offer his full support to him. Kurama believed in Naruto, and that was all Naruto's doing. He was the one to befriend the beast and gain his trust.

"You would be so proud of him, Kushina. Kami knows I am," whispered Minato. With a sigh, he decided he should stop reminiscing. He had a job to do now.

ANBU worked long shifts since they were the main protectors of the village. He also still needed to figure out a way to meet with Naruto.

It wouldn't hurt to have a chat with his son, would it?

(Oto Secondary base – Oto no Kuni)

"Hmmm...How very intriguing," Orochimaru mused, staring at the bent needle in his hand in interest.

After collecting his shinobi and retreating to his second base in Oto – there was a reason why Oto no Kuni was his mainland of operations, and that was because he had two bases in it – he began the work of getting them back in fighting shape.

The most important of them all was Kabuto since the boy was the most skilled medic he had. Thankfully, chakra was a wondrous thing, and the operation to attach his arm went by without a hitch. A few more drugs to supplement his healing, and he would be back in tip-top shape in no time. His broken kneecap was another deal, but he was sure Kabuto would heal it on his own once he was awake.

The Sound Four, on the other hand, had been a worse deal. Their bodies had been broken and beaten, and it would require a great deal of healing to get them back into shape to be useful for him. But they weren't the cause of his great shock and interest.

No, that belonged only to Kimimaro Kaguya.

The bone user had fallen into a coma as soon as his snake had dropped him in the base. Fully healed, he should mention. His lost limbs, broken bones, bruised, and burning skin all healed. Even his pesky, annoying illness was gone. The only thing wrong with him was that he was unresponsive.

It had been almost too good to be true for Orochimaru. The one thing that had caused him to disregard Kimimaro as a possible vessel had vanished. Not only that, but the young man had also revealed some special new abilities, including a form of power that had completely destroyed his Juinjutsu. Even trying to place it again on the unconscious teen had borne no results.

Whatever power that was within Kimimaro, it was a power far beyond his comprehension. A power that made his blood rage and boil. A power that he craved with his very being. With that power, he would be able to grasp the immortality that he dreamed of.

But it was beyond him. At least, not through Kimimaro. He had tried to perform the ritual to take over Kimimaro's body. His current body was rejecting him, so it was a good time for him. But he had been repelled. Ejected from Kimimaro's body and thrown across the room.

His demon, it seemed, was unable to overpower Kimimaro's. He was inferior to Kimimaro.

That realization sent nothing but white-hot anger through his veins. There were still many things he didn't understand in this world, but he would never stop. Not until he unraveled the mysteries surrounding him.

"And I have a feeling...That you will one of the pieces to help me with that, Kimimaro-kun," Orochimaru mused, staring at the prone comatose man.

(Mizu no Kuni)

'What a dreary place,' mused Naruto as he scanned the area around the ship, a deep layer of fog in the air. He now understood why Kiri was famous for their sensory ninja since vision was a hindrance in these conditions.

They had just docked on one of Mizu no Kuni's many small islands, south of the main island, close enough that they could manage to reach the actual island of the rebel's hidden base, but far enough that the Kiri Navy blockade wouldn't sink their ship.

Kiri was, after all, under full lockdown, the main and largest island that housed the hidden village was surrounded by the guarding Naval ships. Mizu's capital, Funsui, which housed the Water Daimyō was also on the same island.

The Water Daimyō was a rather cautious man. During his reign, Mizu was a victim of many civil wars, but, he had always managed to maneuver himself into maintaining his position as the ruler of the land. When Yagura had begun his genocide against the Bloodline users, he had allowed it for the simple reason that he did not to be on the opposite end of the Jinchūriki/Kage.

The man had a phobia from shinobi, which was not completely unwarranted. It was better to be on the same side of a shinobi from a place called the 'The Bloody Mist' than to be against them, especially since shinobi assassinating Daimyō was not unprecedented. Uncommon, but not unprecedented, such as the case with Kisame Hoshigaki, who was known to have assassinated such figures before.

"Come, Sparda-san. We must not linger. The longer we stay in the open, the higher the chances of Kirigakure shinobi detecting us," Tsurugi called, the stern man already standing on the dock and waiting.

Zabuza passed him, momentarily glancing at the red-haired girl unconscious on his back, but continued on his way, taking position next to Tsurugi.

Naruto sighed, a flash of annoyance overcoming his face before he buried it away. It was technically his fault he was in that situation. His bleeding heart simply couldn't Honoka back on that island, nor could he leave her in the ship with the sailors. Even now, while he could have left her in the small port, he didn't know what would happen to her.

She was, after all, one of the last pure-blooded Uzumaki in the world.

He figured he could get her to the Rebels and they would treat her well enough that she would decide to stay there and make a life for herself. Uzu, while an option for her to live in, was currently an empty city. She probably wouldn't like to live like a hermit.

Konoha was an option, especially since Minato was there. He was sure the man would honor his wife's family and take care of Honoka. Tsunade would have also been a good option, the granddaughter of Mito Uzumaki would be able to provide for Honoka, but there were too many dark factions in Konoha to consider.

In the end, he decided to see Honoka's opinion. If she wanted to stay in Kiri, she could, if she preferred to go to Konoha, then so be it. Either way, he would have to wait for her to wake up.

Adjusting the girl's prone body, he mentally cursed the annoying cloak of the organization but was at least thankful that the temperature in Kiri was cool enough that he wasn't overheating from having to carry the teenage girl on his back.

Post Author note:

Stats as of this update: Favorites: 280, Followers: 331, Views: 43,893, and yet...only Reviews: 83.

Rant Start:

I don't know what I'm doing wrong here, guys. Are my ideas not interesting enough that you would leave me a few words to tell me what you think, that you like the part with Gaara's mom, the description of Shukaku's attitude, the hints I left in this chapter, Minato's return, heck even Naruto himself? What you all believe should happen or could happen. To those who do leave me their ideas and opinions, even if I don't use them or something it still matters to me and I adore you all and I dont mean you of course in this rant. But, it doesn't make sense to have almost 44k views, but only 83 times people were willing to give me some feedback. Doesn't make sense. Come on people...I need some more words from your end.

Rant end.

Anyways, Congrats everyone. We are officially a third of the way done. Starting from this point, things will change a bit. Chapters will start to be twice as long. More content, more action, more drama and more excitement! But also, more delay. The rate of chapters will slow for now. Instead of weekly updates, think more along the lines of two-three weeks as a maximum. Still working on the next chapter but its already 16K. It's done for a purpose guys, trust me.

Chapter 30 will be the end of The TEMEN NI GRU arc, and with it, the end of Naruto Part One. Thats the plan, and hopefully, should be max by mid Nov. So...Lets hope for the best.

Thank you for reading till the end of this chapter, and I hope you are all enjoying the story.

Well, hope you all enjoy life, and stay safe. Until next time.