Beta'd by the amazing d1n0s.

Chapter 18

The following weeks were interesting, to say the least. As my assigned duty, I patrolled the village as a Police officer through the use of my shadow clones while continuing to train simultaneously. Becoming complacent just before an upcoming war is a pure foolishness.

So, I did what I did best and trained like a maniac. Most of my time was spent training what I already knew because I did not need more techniques at the moment, for my repertoire was good as it was for what I would have to face. Hiraishin being one such example. I had to perfect it at my father's level, so I continued training in it every day using a shitload of clones that teleported themselves to Fushi Island before continuing the training.

Gaara came over to my place almost every day. He was like the clingy little brother who you don't want to get rid of. His siblings would accompany him sometimes and from Temari's inquisitiveness about Konoha and its most powerful Shinobi and deflecting my questions about theirs, it became very clear that they were in the know about the invasion. Or at least she was.

As the date of the finals approached, I grew more and more nervous. What if there was an unprecedented event because of my changes? What if my plans failed? What if…?

These 'what ifs' made it a little difficult to sleep at night sometimes. Not to mention, sleeping alone in Konoha after getting used to Sasuke's presence wasn't easy. The feeling of impending doom was present among the shinobi in the know which were the Jounins and the special Jounins at the moment. I had volunteered to check the shinobi's emotions before informing them about the invasion to check if there were any who were spies or not loyal to Konoha. To no surprise of mine, I found three who were immediately apprehended by the T&I.

At this point, it doesn't matter if Orochimaru gets suspicious of their absence. My hasty decision to abduct Kabuto had already jeopardized that one. Moreover, Konoha's safety is the priority and any agent of his left in the ranks could be detrimental to that.

The biggest question posed by the Jounins was why did we not confront the Kazekage to stop the invasion entirely before it even began. The answer was not a simple one. If we were to act so brashly, Suna would break all alliances with us. More likely than not they would align themselves with Iwa and amongst the disbalance of power, Kumo could take this opportunity to join them, leading to a large-scale war. Also, Orochimaru would still attack nonetheless. With us showing our hand prematurely, he could be even more prepared for our countermeasures.

Too many unknowns were present in us confronting the Kazekage or hell, even the Tsuchikage. It's better to fight a stronger enemy you know about in the open than an unknown weaker enemy attacking from the shadows.

We had planned for many contingencies for the day, but the biggest one was the Edo Tensei about which the Hokage and his temporary advisors consisting of Shikaku, Inoichi, and Jiraiya were unaware of. Even after many hours of thinking, I could not come up with a logical reason for my knowledge of that Jutsu without revealing my future knowledge and letting Orochimaru know there was something strange about me. Unfortunately, Kabuto did not know of Orochimaru's plans to use this Jutsu when I picked him up. He knew that Orochimaru planned to pull something big out of his ass but the details weren't shared with him.

Finally, the day of the finals came, it was time to check whether I was ready to play my role or not.

I entered the arena to find all ten contestants standing in the middle. All except one of the Konohan Genins were standing together in a cluster. Gaara and Temari stood to one side together. I was thankful to see Gaara lacking his bloodlust. Sasuke and Dosu were standing on different sides like the loners they were.

Dosu I understood, but Sasuke? When his eyes met mine, I actively tried to read his emotions to find him pained and angry. Livid actually. Then he looked away from me in a huff.

Okay, something is wrong with him. I wish I could talk to him then and there but there were more important things to take care of than some moody bastard. It isn't like I broke up with him! Fucking asshole. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and forced away the lingering pain from our last meeting.

After all, I had decided my final actions regarding him. As soon as this shitshow is over I would confront Sasuke and clear all this muck up.

" Everyone ready?" I asked needlessly because of course, they were. When they gave their assent I continued, "The rules are the same as the preliminaries. To reiterate, everything is allowed until the opponent forfeits, is knocked unconscious, or dies. If I tell you to stop, you will stop or I will make you. Understood?" I asked in a firm voice and glared at all of them and released some KI.

They were quick to agree.

"Now, with that said and done, wait for the announcement then those who don't have a match immediately will go to the seating area over there." I pointed towards the section reserved for the participating Genins.

"Announcement?" Kiba asked.

I ignored him and nodded towards the Hokage and he nodded back. Beside him I could see the Kazekage Rasa and the Tsuchikage Onoki. So, the tiny bastard came after all. I extended my senses to feel that Rasa was in fact present there in person and not dead.

Now that I think about it, if Orochimaru did kill Rasa then Onoki would not trust him and might unite against him and Suna with us. And we all know Onoki is smart enough to not get ambushed by him. His title of fence-sitter is not unearned.

I created my clone seal and immediately the stadium was filled with a hundred clones who took to the air forming a faux shield around the audience facing them. Seeing all of them in place I created another clone and dispelled it, sending them the signal.

(Hiruzen POV)

That day was about to be one of the most hectic days of Hiruzen's life and he knew it. True he had led forces into battle innumerable times but never had an enemy been foolish enough to attack them in their home during his reign. The last invasion on Konoha was during the time of his sensei Tobirama just after Lord First's death.

The plotting villages of Kusa, Taki, and Yu, had been naïve enough to think that Tobirama sensei was weak. It was during that time that they were forced to sign treaties with Konoha giving them an absolute monopoly over their trade and shinobi practices for the following three decades. Needless to say, Konoha had flourished from those and the three villages were left unable to elevate themselves to one of the great villages to date.

Now three more villages were planning to launch a surprise attack and were going to get a surprise of their own. Naruto's role was the most important in the upcoming invasion and if everything goes as planned, then no longer would anyone disrespect or mistreat Naruto in Konoha. Not that he can't defend himself, far from it. But the mental abuse can be almost as harmful as or even more so than the physical and Hiruzen was ashamed to admit that he was also indirectly a party to that crime.

He was mildly surprised when Onoki actually came to watch the matches knowing none from Iwa made it to the finals. Onoki and Rasa, like any visiting Kage, had arrived on the same day as the matches to avoid any suspicions.

Hiruzen had made special arrangements for their arrival at the stadium. The escorting ANBU were given strict instructions to bring in Onoki and his guards first to have a little talk.

"Tsuchikage-dono." Hiruzen greeted with a little inclination of his head, "I was surprised to hear you were attending after all." He then showed Onoki to his seat and sat down beside him.

Onoki nodded and grumbled, "We did not receive any message from our Genin teams so I assumed someone must have passed. Alas, my granddaughter's performance was disappointing, and she was beaten by Kazekage's son."

Hiruzen nodded sagely and replied, "A magnificent battle. It is a shame she couldn't further demonstrate her talents for us today." He then looked at Onoki curiously and asked, "It came as a real surprise when you sent your Genin to our exams on such short notice given our history,"

Onoki said, "We all made mistakes in our pasts and it is past time we let go of the animosity between our villages, Hokage-dono."

'What a fool.' Hiruzen scoffed mentally.

"Well said, Tsuchikage-dono. To further this sense of peace between us let me tell you about our newest Jounin. While previously I would have avoided this talk but now, I feel you should know of him if we are to continue to grow this trust between us." Hiruzen faux smiled at Onoki who nodded to let him continue.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki, son of my successor who was unfortunately lost to us nearly 17 years ago. I know that Minato was, to put it lightly, not liked by your village. But as you said we should let go of our old animosities and move forward towards friendship." He was analyzing Onoki carefully to gauge his reaction but all he got was a poker face.

"Of course, Hokage-dono," Onoki said after a few moments of silence. "He should not be saddled with the hatred for his father's deeds. Would that be him, the referee? He looks like the spitting image of the yellow flash."

Hiruzen chuckled, "In more ways than one. He is such a powerful and dedicated ninja that even his father would not have been a match for him at his age. And such love for the village! Between you and me, Tsuchikage-dono, he would be my next choice for Hokage. I fear for the village who dare defy us or kill any of our shinobi. He has the power to decimate a whole village even faster than a flash, after all."

Onoki and his three guards tensed at Hiruzen's implied threat. "What are you implying, Hokage?"

"I'm not implying anything my dear Tsuchikage. Just stating the facts. He is an army all on his own." Hiruzen finished with a smile.

Onoki ground his teeth in frustration. But the message was received loud and clear, 'Back the fuck off or we'll force you to.'

They waited in silence after that until Rasa joined them and they exchanged pleasantries just like with the Tsuchikage. Unlike the Tsuchikage, Rasa was given no polite warning to back off. Onoki or rather Iwa were no allies of theirs and not honor-bound to not invade. Suna's betrayal would be punished harshly, regardless of the outcome.

Hiruzen looked down at the field to see his MVP nodding at him so he nodded back to start the announcements. Normally the opening statements would be given by him but today he decided to pass on that duty to Naruto upon his request. Something about a flashy spectacle.

A plethora of Naruto clones was floating all around the arena making it a sheer magnificent sight. Naruto clones began, "Welcome everyone to this year's biannual Chunin exam finals organized by our very own village Konohagakure no Sato!"

Hiruzen was astonished at the loud cheer that followed from the crowd. These clones were speaking simultaneously giving their voice a loud amplification and ringing effect. This was a very well-coordinated set that must have taken him quite some time to practice.

"Today, contenders from the villages of Sunagakure, Otogakure, and our very own Konohagakure will clash amongst themselves for the honor of being promoted to the prestigious rank of Chunin!"

More cheers followed that statement.

"Joining us are our esteemed Daimyo" the clones paused for the applause, "And the reigning Kage from three of the five great villages to witness their future replacements in action!" There were collective laughs from the audience followed by another round of cheers.

Hiruzen chuckled at that. Rasa apparently wasn't amused, "That boy has quite a mouth on him."

"Until his graduation as a Genin, he was our number one prankster," Hiruzen said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Hokage-dono, from what my children told me, didn't he graduate less than six months ago?" Rasa asked.

"That he did," Hiruzen said, then turned back to hear Naruto continue.

"Are you ready for the show!?" "Yes!" "We didn't hear you! Are you ready for the show!?" "YES!" "That's more like it. The first match will be between Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka, both from Konoha. The rest of the Chunin candidates shall wait in the viewing area."

The other eight Genins quickly left the area and went to the stands. Hiruzen was hoping that Naruto's plan to get everyone's attention towards the clone spectacle in the stadium to distract everyone from his actual work was successful.

Third Person POV

The real Naruto wasn't even in the stadium. He was in the village overseeing the evacuation process for the civilians. He had switched with a clone as soon as he was done with creating the clone spectacle. While there were some arguments amongst the advisors for him not to waste his chakra like that, he disagreed.

"I can spare the chakra. These clones will hardly take anything from me and will act as protection for the civilians and the Guests in the stands." He argued.

Jiraiya shook his head, "We can spare some of our other shinobi for that. You don't have to do everything yourself. Don't forget, you're already involved in evacuations and fighting the two jinchuriki. You'll spread yourself too thin."

"That's the thing! If the enemy thinks that I'm wasting my chakra needlessly, then they will be less cautious of us, knowing me to be our trump card. As far as my chakra goes, I can always use Senjutsu to regain it. They don't know about that."

Shikaku hummed audibly at that and sat in a thinking posture for a few moments, "Naruto is correct. With his clones, we have a fully expendable army ready to take down the enemies in the stands. Then we can redirect those of our shinobi forces to protect the evacuation shelters and important buildings with vital village information."

Jiraiya wasn't fully comfortable with that but did not argue further.

Shikaku continued, "In any case, keep some soldier pills with you." Naruto nodded in agreement.

If only the Hiraishin seals could be applied by his clones, the evacuation process would be over before it even began. To counter this problem, Naruto marked thousands of sticky badges with his Hiraishin seal, a small Uzumaki spiral, and distributed them among the clones who were made in abundance after activating the Sage Mode.

His Sage Mode was unique in itself, inspired by his summons. Like a werewolf, he would grow blonde hair over most of his body except the upper portion of his face. His Sage markings were neon blue in color with a circle on his forehead and a dot inside. His eyes also had similar colored markings around them and his whisker marks also thickened. It was quite reminiscent of Hashirama Senju himself, just in different colors. His nails also lengthened to really sharp claws. With some experimentation, he had realized that he could channel chakra through them and use them like any chakra conducive blade.

The plan of evacuation was simple, the clones would gather the badges and stick them to any civilian they see or sense. By reading their emotions and chakra levels, they would make sure that they don't gather up any enemies or shinobi into the mix. Shinobi, even if retired, will be given second preference to non-combatant civilians. Then they would be transported to the shelters fully covered with protective seals and Hiraishin markers where explanations would be given about what was happening by the other shinobi already present. They only had to make sure that the kids, the elderly and the physically challenged people had someone with them during teleportation.

Because the markers were linked to Naruto, he could always travel to them at a later time to retrieve them and the clones, if running short, could always collect some from the newly evacuated civilians. He was happy with the progress and could sense that the areas near the walls and gates had already been evacuated and within the next 20-25 minutes, most of the village civilians would be safe and sound.

He extended his senses to find that particular chakra surprisingly still sitting in his hotel room. Naruto, still in his Sage mode, quickly teleported to Roshi's hotel and entered to find him walking down the stairs. Naruto immediately formed the Five Elements Seal on his left hand and rushed towards him to sock him in the stomach but Roshi evaded and Naruto could only brush his shoulder with a glancing blow of his right hand. Roshi jumped back then.

"What is the meaning of this?! Why are you attacking me?" Roshi shouted, though inwardly he was panicking. He never wanted to attack another village or be involved in this mess in any way.

"You must be a daft moron if you have to ask that." With that Naruto teleported right in front of Roshi, using the seal he had placed on his shoulder moments ago, and extended his hand to apply the Five Elements Seal. Roshi was quick and bent backward while simultaneously doing a flip and kicking Naruto's hands away.

Recognizing his teleportation, Roshi took off his haori and threw it far away, knowing it must have been tagged with a Hiraishin marker earlier. "I've fought your father before. I know how your technique works."

Naruto frowned at that, "How are you still alive then?" He did not wait for his reply and sent a wave of Water towards Roshi who spewed a large wave of Lava from his mouth that collided with the water, sending a cloud of vapor everywhere.

With the view obscured, Roshi jumped out of the window of the hotel corridor and landed on the street below, causing the ground to crack beneath him. Naruto was standing in front of him and now that he saw properly, he observed strange blue markings on his opponent's face. His eyes were surrounded by light blue pigmentation and the whisker marks on his cheeks were also very pronounced and blue. His hair stood up even spikier than the norm and exuded a faint blue aura. So did the yellow fur that peeked out from beneath his clothes and likely covered most if not all of his body.

Roshi had heard only rumors of this power so casually displayed right in front of him. He couldn't help but swallow nervously.

"Let's show them who's the boss, Kurama!" Naruto said excitedly and suddenly his body turned yellowish-orange with an ethereal glow.

Fear followed in the wake of anxiety. Roshi knew he didn't have any other options at the moment. 'Help me Yonbi.' He heard a scoff in his mind, "You cannot win against Kurama. Especially when this human knows his name."

'Now is not the time to argue!' Roshi forced out some of the tailed beast chakra and hastily dodged a right hook from Naruto before sending three large Lava balls towards him.

Seeing the attack coming and to prevent as much damage to the surroundings as he could, Naruto created a large dome of earth in front of him which stopped the attack cold and closed the dome from the other side, completely encapsulating the said attack from all sides. The walls were thick enough to prevent the Lava from melting through them completely.

"Fuck this shit!" Roshi cursed loudly and started transforming into a giant chakra beast aka Son Goku. He knew this was the last resort, but if he didn't do anything at the earliest, he would be dead or worse.

"Holy Shit!" Naruto cursed back seeing the rapid transformation in front of him. He threw a plethora of Kunai in the vicinity of the transforming Jinchuriki and created ten exploding clones. The clones teleported to the Kunais' locations and jumped on the partially transformed Roshi and rapidly exploded.

Eight more clones were created who teleported near Roshi and used the different elemental techniques on him. Five were dedicated to the five basic elements while three were focused on the bloodlines.

Water waves, Earth spikes, Flaming bullets, Wind Blades and Lightning Bolts all crashed with their enemy. Soon a Lava wave, Scorch Balls, and Magnetised weapons followed.

Some may call it overkill, but Naruto knew it was nothing for a Tailed Beast.

He did the next thing he had been working on for a while. He created a Rasengan in his right hand and started adding Wind Chakra to the mix and completed his first proper Rasenshuriken against an enemy and threw it into the mix of attacks.

The clones that were blocking his way sensed his intentions and jumped away at the correct moment and the attack went straight towards the now gigantic figure of the enemy.

At the very last second, a large earthen wall erupted from the ground right in front of a now fully transformed four-tailed monkey Son Goku. The wall was instantly destroyed by the S-ranked attack and went on to meet a Lava Ball from the Yonbi and produced a large blast of heat.

Naruto observed that the Yonbi had crashed into two apartment complexes in the vicinity, leveling them completely. Luckily for him, the area was the first to be evacuated so there shouldn't have been any casualties.

"Stop this madness, Roshi!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, "It will only make things worse between our villages." All he got was an enraged roar and wild thrashing in response.

Naruto concluded that the being in front of him was no longer Roshi so he created some more clones and distributed some of his Hiraishin kunais within seconds. "You know what to do."

The clones in complete synchronization jumped and threw the kunais in a totally unpredictable manner.

Son Goku ignored the kunais as inconsequential and shot a Lava ball towards the original Naruto who teleported away to safety at the last moment. The lava ball collided with another building, a public bathhouse this time, and obliterated it immediately.

'Jiraiya won't like that.' Naruto winced at the possible reaction from his godfather.

The kunais that were shot at the rampaging beast from all directions finally connected and it was promptly teleported away from the civilization.

Naruto followed the beast to an empty clearing, miles away from Konoha, prepped beforehand by him with his Hiraishin Seals.

'Kurama' he said mentally, 'You need to switch with me. Talk to your brother, please,' With that, he relinquished his control over his body and went to his mindscape. Kurama took over.

He opened his eyes and tested his new body. "It has been far too long, brat," He spoke in Naruto's voice and looked up at Son Goku who was roaring loudly.

"Yo, Son Goku!" Kurama yelled loudly and surprisingly got the attention of the giant four-tailed monkey

Naruto facepalmed at that. 'You are spending way too much time with me Kurama.'

'Remind me to spend more time fucking my harem of vixens next time.' Kurama retorted. Naruto had the decency to look sheepish.

"Kurama, is that you?" Son Goku asked.

Naruto sweatdropped at that complete turnaround. 'Wait. Was he just pretending to go berserk all this time? That's so messed up dude! And you blame us for stereotyping Tailed-beasts.'

Kurama promptly ignored him and nodded to Son Goku, "This brat is okay. We have an understanding."

Son Goku was visibly surprised. Among all his siblings, Kurama was the one who was the most powerful and most stubborn. If he said the brat is okay, it was akin to high praise from him.

What followed was a loud rumbling laugh from the beast. "Since when did you of all beasts start working with Ningen?" Son Goku mocked.

Kurama bristled in anger at that tone, "I don't. It's just this one Ningen. He is special."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, brother." Son Goku continued his mocking.

Rage unlike anything burned through Kurama. 'How can this pest mock me?'

'Calm down Kurama.' Naruto's voice came to him, 'He is riling you up so you make mistakes. Think before you act.'

"FUCK THAT!" Kurama roared for everyone to hear and jumped high. Within a matter of a few seconds, he was fully transformed into his original form and towered over Son Goku with a menacing grin.

Son Goku was impressed by the sudden transformation but kept up his impassive mask, "So It has come to this, huh? Very Well." With that Son Goku opened his maw wide and started forming back and dark violet mass of utter destruction within.

'Do something Kurama or we'll be toast!' Naruto panicked from within Kurama.

'Sit back and watch how it is done, brat.'

Kurama opened his own mouth and formed a smaller Bijudama and shot it forward in the form of a beam of destruction. The beam was aimed for the much larger sphere that was about to be shot towards them.

Sensing his brother's intentions, Son Goku swallowed his half-formed bomb and dodged the attack narrowly. Then he opened his mouth and shot his own beam towards his opponent.

"Shit!" Kurama cursed at the counterattack and quickly teleported away from the clearing to Fushi Island. He teleported back after a few seconds to witness the destroyed forest he stood in front of now.

Seeing his return, Son Goku mocked, "Think only you can do that?"

Kurama gritted his teeth in frustration. 'Let me have a go at him, Kurama.' Naruto requested in his mind. Kurama only shook his head in frustration and replied, "This is my battle. You stay out of it."

Kurama then formed Naruto's favorite hand seal and out came five giant Kurama clones standing tall. All of them opened their mouths and formed their own Bijudama.

Seeing the attacks forming, Son Goku released a widespread torrent of Green flames towards his enemies. To his utter frustration, the enemies vanished just before the attack could reach them. Only the original Kurama remained who merely jumped away from the attack with a smirk visible on his snout.

'That smirk. He has planned something. What, I do not know.' Before he could retaliate, the clones teleported back to strategic locations, surrounding him from all sides. Five Bijudama ready to strike at a moment's notice from all directions.

He had lost.

He didn't wish to accept the defeat, but he didn't have any other option. If he didn't surrender now, he would be blasted by the onslaught of the ensuing bombs. Even if he were to come out unscathed, which he would, owing to his constitution, his human would die and he may not reform for years.

He lowered his head in surrender and looked up at his oldest brother, "You win." That insufferable smirk was so damn annoying, but not unearned in Son Goku's opinion. It was almost impossible for a tailed beast to use Humans' Jutsus. The reason was their huge chakra reserves which left them unable to form chakra at lower levels required for most human techniques.

The fact that Kurama could perform the clone technique or the teleportation spoke volumes about the level of trust between Kurama and his human. Any superficial connection would leave them incapable of working together so well.

"Ha! Know your place brat, before challenging me again," Kurama gloated, his glee over his victory missed by none.

Son Goku rolled his eyes at the maturity of his sibling. "Release these clones."

"Do you promise not to attack anyone, including my vessel and his villagers?" Kurama asked. "Fine. I promise," Goku grumbled.

Kurama nodded minutely at that and the clones who still held their charged attacks vanished in puffs of smoke.

'And what if he went back on his word?' Naruto asked. He did not want to let Son Goku be, only to be stabbed in the back.

'He is not human.'

Naruto blinked at that simple yet complex statement. Kurama understood emotions better than anyone because of his sensing skills. If he was vouching for Son Goku, then of course Naruto would trust his judgment.

"Why did you help that human?" Son Goku broke the silence.

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

Son Goku extended his chakra to feel what Kurama was hinting at and almost gasped in shock, "How? This presence, just like him!" He was very excited to feel that presence again after thousands of years.

Kurama understood the sentiment very well, "It's a long story. Maybe after my vessel is free from all this, we can talk."

"My vessel received orders to kill yours. What will you do with him?" Son Goku asked.

"Nothing. He will not be killed, only imprisoned for his crimes." Kurama explained.

Son Goku had a sinister grin on his face as he said, "Jailer is jailed. I like that."

With that Son Goku went back inside his vessel and a very tired Roshi was laying on the ground about to get up when Kurama teleported right in front of him and placed the Five Elements Seal on his stomach using one of his tails and he instantly lost consciousness.

"That's how you do it, brat." Kurama boasted after transforming back to his Naruto form. 'Pfft, please, you used all of my moves. Talk no Jutsu, Hiraishin, Shadow clones, and that last seal.'

"There is no such thing as Talk no Jutsu!" Kurama shouted as he picked up the unconscious Iwa-nin and teleported to the special cells which were created by Jiraiya for containing Roshi and, if need be, Gaara. Other than Naruto (Kurama here) or Jiraiya, no one could enter here as long as Roshi was alive inside.

Unlike Gaara, Roshi used an even-numbered seal which was easily countered by that odd-numbered seal.

Naruto switched back with Kurama and took control. "So soon? I could use more fun brat." Kurama grumbled in his mind.

"Fine you big baby. When we are done here, we can make a schedule for you to have 'fun' once in a while." Kurama was somewhat mollified at that and ceased any further arguments.

AN: Part-1 of the invasion arc is finally here! There will be at least three more parts to this arc. I wanted to show everything in one chapter but it would be so troublesome and the chapter length could have even surpassed 20k words.

Anyway, please leave a review about what you liked and what you didn't. As I have said earlier, Action scenes are not my specialty but I am trying my best. So all criticism is appreciated.