"Talking"

'Thinking'

Flashback - "Talking"/ 'Thinking'

Chapter 11:

Four people, one guy and three girls, are on the way to the southern port in the Land of the Hot Water. They are going there to meet with Tayuya, who will then take them to the Whirlpool Country, where Naruto will finally see his mother's birth country, and the same place, which he has decided to rebuild.

It has been three months since Naruto and Taya were in the Land of Rivers, where they went to acquire the Katabami Gold Mine, and a lot has happened since then.

First, after Raiga was disposed of, and the people in the village at the base of the Katabami Gold Mine heard who saved them, there were thankful to Naruto and Taya. That soon changed when they all heard that Naruto has come there to take over the mine. They weren't happy when they heard that, because they assumed he is just like the government leaders and Raiga were, and is going to just use them.

Of course, they were wrong to compare Naruto to Raiga and some piss-ant government leaders. That was because, overall, Naruto is much, MUCH, worse, then any of them. But, Naruto is not the kind of person who would exploit weak and poor, probably because he can see the original self in all those people, and knows what it's like to be at the mercy of those above you and those stronger then you.

It took Naruto a while to convince the people that he will not use them like those before him did. He admitted that he is not a nice person, but he also said that he is not a cold-blooded bastard who would exploit the weak for his own gain or amusement. He promised that all those who chose to work in the mine, will be paid, and will not be forced to work more than they could.

After two days of negotiations, the villagers finally accepted to have Naruto as the new leader of the Katabami Gold Mine.

Of course, Naruto wanted to have everything official and on paper… so to say, which is why he paid a visit to the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers.

The Daimyo of the Land of the Rivers, is a disgusting piece of shit, who was even able to make Naruto disgusted with how he looks and the stuff he was doing, and that's saying a lot, considering what Naruto has seen and done in his over a millennia long life as a Hollow.

The Daimyo is a VERY big and fat guy, to the point that he can barely more. When Naruto and Taya went to the Royal Palace, they first saw him seating in a big Royal Chair, which was big enough to have three regular size people sit on it, one next to each other, but in the Daimyo's case, he barely fits in the chair, and it looks like it will soon have to be replaced with a bigger one.

In the throne room, there were dozens of samurai and even some ninja, on all sides of the room. They were there to protect the Daimyo, even though some of them, obviously didn't want to do it, judging by the looks of disgust on their faces.

But the worst thing about this Daimyo, is the fact that he has several young girls, wearing nothing but skimpy bikinis, which are barely covering their modesty, but that's about it. Most of them are surrounding the Daimyo, and are feeding him, while three of the girls were seating on his lap, with his hands going all over them, molesting them, much to the girl's horror, and disgust.

Unfortunately for them, they didn't have other choice but to take it and hope that one day, it will be over, though they have been losing hope as of late.

Fortunately for the girls, and unfortunately for the Daimyo, Naruto and Taya have arrived, and they, especially Taya, were not happy with what they were seeing.

What happened next, was a complete massacre of everything alive in the Daimyo's palace. The samurai, ninja, government leaders and other agents, everyone was killed, even the Daimyo's family, cocks and the guard dogs. The only beings left alive, are the innocent girls, and the Daimyo himself.

The Daimyo almost suffered a heart attack because of what he has just witnessed, as well as because of the sight or blood and internal organs, along with the disgusting smell left behind by dismembered corpses.

The fear Daimyo felt after witnessing all of that carnage, was nothing compared to the fear he felt at the sight of Naruto standing in front of him with furious look on his face. It was too much for the fat sack of shit, and he lost control of himself and his bodily functions to the point he pissed and craped himself.

A few minutes later, and the Land of Rivers Daimyo has signed over the Katabami Gold Mine to Taya, who then led the girls outside of the palace, leaving Naruto with the Daimyo. Naruto then forced the Daimyo, under the threat of most painful death, to sign over the whole Land of River to Naruto Uzumaki, who, from that moment, has become the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers.

The reason Naruto used his real name on the contract, is because, as soon as the former Daimyo has signed the contract, Naruto killed him by chopping of his head. Since everyone else has been killed, and the girls and Taya have been outside of the Palace, there was no one who could see and hear his real name. Showing the contract also won't be the problem, because Naruto's signature is very specific, and it doesn't actually state his name, so if anyone is to see it, they won't be able to interpret the letters of the signature.

With that settled, the only thing left was for Naruto to find a way to lead the Land of Rivers, without staying there all the time. Originally, he planned to make a Shadow Clone and leave it behind, but he realized that even if he doesn't do anything, the Shadow Clone will be released with just one little tap. All it would be needed is for the Shadow Clone to bump into someone, and that would be the end of him.

Fortunately, Taya had a solution.

Blood Clone jutsu.

It's a jutsu invented by the Uzumaki Clan long ago, and is said to be the best clone jutsu out of all of them. All that was needed to make it, is to offer a little of the blood, and then perform hand seals, before the user taps the hand with the blood on it on the ground. The clone will immediately form out of that same blood, as well as chakra.

The reason the Blood Clone is the best version of all clone jutsu, is because there are only two ways to release the blood Clone. One is for the original to simply release the jutsu, and the other is for the blood clone to be killed off, just like the real person would have to be. If the blood clone is not released in one of those two ways, it could last for a long time. The blood clone will also age at the same speed as the regular human, so if a blood clone is made, and then left to live a normal life, with some luck, it could live long enough to reach old age and actually die of old age, and not by being released by the original or be killed off.

The blood clone is one true version of clone jutsu, and all the others are just simple copies. Everything that the Blood Clone learns, gets back to the original after it's released. This is one of the original functions of the clone, and when the second Hokage made Shadow Clone Jutsu, he made it by performing the same hand seals as the ones needed for the Blood Clone jutsu, but without the blood offered, which is why the Shadow Clone sends the memories and experience back to the original after it disperses, but the lack of blood, makes it considerably weaker than the Blood Clone.

Some other functions of the Blood Clone are that, just as a regular human, the Blood Clone can replenish its chakra if it loses some, and just like the normal human, it can die from chakra exhaustion. Also, the clone can learn everything just as a regular human, but the problem with that is, if it is left created for a long time, and learns a lot of stuff, once it's finally released, the feedback to the original could be potentially catastrophic to the point it would melt the brain from the overload.

Of course, that would be a problem for a normal human being, something that Naruto isn't, which is why he doesn't have to be worried about his brain melting, as even if that does happen, Naruto's, High Speed Regeneration is so high, that he could regenerate his whole body along with internal organs in case he is completely destroyed.

It is considered to be an S-Rank jutsu, but not because it takes a lot to make it, but because of its overall functions. The amount of chakra necessary to make it is equal to the A-Rank jutsu, just like the regular Shadow Clone.

So, once Naruto learned of this, he asked Taya to teach him the jutsu, and she did. Naruto was able to make a Blood Clone on his first try, but he spent about an hour training to master the jutsu to perfection, just in case.

When the Blood Clone was created, Naruto and Taya left to continue their journey, while the Blood Clone was left behind to clean up the mess in the Daimyo's Palace. He is also to find himself people who will work for him, and to take care of the Katabami Gold Mine and make sure that everything there goes smoothly. Along with the Katabami Gold Mine, the original Naruto has tasked him to find the people for the other mine in the Land, west of the Sound Country.

XXX

After leaving the Land of Rivers, Naruto and Taya decided to head north, and check out some of the smaller countries which are located in between Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.

And so, ten days after the Land of Rivers, Naruto and Taya found themselves in the Land of Birds… right in the middle of the civil war in the country.

Instead of choosing sides in order to get the favor from that side, which would undoubtedly win with Naruto and Taya on their side, the two of them decided to check out the situation and how it came to the civil war.

On one side of the war, is Toki, the daughter of the previous Daimyo of the Land of Birds, and the twin sister of Sagi, the guy who became Daimyo after his father's death, but only stayed at the position for six months, before he was poisoned, which led to his death. Some of the soldiers who were loyal to her father and brother, are on her side, but they are in minority.

On the other side of the war, is a guy called Mōsō, along with majority to the country.

From what Naruto and Taya found out from asking some civilians, which by the way, weren't as much of them as there used to be, since many of them were collateral of the war, and have been killed either in battles, or by Mōsō's side in order to pressure Toki into giving up, as he knew that she is weak toward those who she cares about, and her family has always been known to care about the people they rule over.

When Mōsō first showed up, he played a High Priest, and ended up became a Chief Advisor to the Daimyō, Ōwashi. After Ōwashi's death, which was caused by Mōsō poisoning him, not that anyone knew that, Sagi inherited the title of the daimyo from his father.

Unfortunately, he was also poisoned by Mōsō… again, not that anyone knew this, because after this happened, Toki, disguised as her brother, making it seem as if she was the one who perished, while Sagi survived.

In order to avenge her fathers and brothers deaths, Toki dressed up as a Cursed Warrior, so that she can find out who killed her father and brother.

This has eventually led Mōsō into sending Chishima, a friend of the late Sagi and Toki, to the Stone Village, so that he can hire a team to come to the Land of Birds in order to discover who the Cursed Warrior is, and to put a stop to him.

The team came, and after a little while, it was discovered that Toki was playing the Cursed Warrior, and by discovering that she is alive, it was discovered that Sagi is dead, and that Toki has been keeping this a secret from everyone.

In the end, this led to many turning their backs to her, except a few who stayed on her side. Even when it was revealed that Mōsō isn't actually who he said he was, but was instead a missing-nin called, Hōki, and that the man working for him, are in fact all members or the Wondering Clan, along with Hōki, it didn't change anything, since by then, Hōki has made an agreement with the Stone Village, and now they were on his side.

According to the agreement, Stone Village will help Hōki take over the Land of Birds, but the Land of Birds will become Stone's allies, and will be allowed to use the land and resources of the Land of Birds as they see fit. Hōki agreed to this, because he knew he won't find an easier way to win the civil war and take over as the daimyo. He also knew that Stone won't try to screw him over, because they wouldn't' be able to take over the Land of Birds in annex it as a part of the Land of Earth. The other Great Nations, wouldn't like that, especially the Land of Wind, and could mean the start of the fourth great ninja war, which no one wanted. At least not at that point.

So, the Stone joined forces with Hōki, and, what would have been a long lasting war between two sides of close power, immediately went in Hōki's favor, as Toki and her side, didn't have man power to fight against Hōki and Stone at the same time.

What Toki and her side needed, was the help from outside force, who will at least deal with Stone, while Toki's side, deals with Hōki's man.

Once they found out the current situation in the Land of Birds, and what led to the war, Naruto and Taya made a decision to pay a visit to Toki, in order to make a deal with her.

And the deal was made.

Naruto and Taya offered to help Toki win the war, but in exchange, Naruto wanted to be the leader of the Land of Birds from the shadows, while everyone else will believe that Toki is the true leader. That way, he will have control over the country, and their resources, while Toki will get her wish of having a relatively free country, without the criminals leading it, as they would do, Kami only knows what with her country.

Naturally, Toki wasn't exactly happy with Naruto's proposal, but she couldn't refuse his offer, as she knew that is she refuses, then the Land of Birds will end up in the hands of the criminals, and the Land of Earth, who will extract everything they want, while leaving people to suffer. Naruto's offer to let her led the country as she wishes, except in a situations when he needs something, was too good to refuse, and so in the end, she accepted.

And so, Naruto sent Taya to deal with Hōki and those who work for him, while Naruto went to deal with Earth ninja sent by the Tsuchikage.

Taya proved hers strength once again by defeating, relatively easily, Hōki and his right and left hand man, Hokushin and Nagare. They weren't weak by any means, but compared to Taya, they might as well have been academy students. As for the remaining members of Hoki's group, they were barely above civilian level, compared to Taya. The battle ended, with all members of Hoki's wondering clan, slayed by Taya's hands, and she didn't even have to go anywhere close to all out. Oh well, at least Hōki, Hokushin and Nagare all had bounties on their heads, so there will be some use for them, even if they didn't give her the kind of battle that she wanted.

Naruto's opponents were actually stronger then Taya's, and not only they were stronger, but they were more numerous. Stone has decided to take no chances, so they have sent quite a few of their relatively powerful Shinobi. Not the most powerful, but still powerful and experienced.

The weakest among the group are so called, 'The Three Brothers', named; Iwaji, Iwakyō and Iwazō. Since they were the weakest, and had nothing special among them, Naruto killed them all with one punch, each. The showed how big the difference between Naruto and regular humans is, in terms of overall power, as, even Tsunade with her legendary strength, wouldn't be able to kill someone with a single punch… well unless of course, that someone is a civilian or an academy student.

The next group which attacked Naruto, were the few surviving members of the famous Kamizuru Clan. Kamizuru was a clan of bee users from the Stone Village who were once very well-known and revered, but they have lost their status after their defeat at the hands of the Aburame Clan of Konoha. It is said that the First Tsuchikage was a member of Kamizuru Clan. After the defeat, they fell out of favor in the Stone, and over the next years, most of them have perished, leaving only few of them, who are now taking as many missions as possible in order to have their clan acknowledged.

Now, while the clan has fallen out of favor in the recent decades, the current Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, is the member of the Clan, and commands great power and respect in Stone. The thing is, though, that Ōnoki, and his granddaughter Kurotsuchi, have different powers compared to the powers of their Clan, which is the control over bees. As such, they are better acknowledged in the village, compared to the Clan members who can't do anything except control bees, and battle with them.

Outside of Ōnoki and Kurotsuchi, the only other members of the Kamizuru Clan, are Suzumebachi, Kurobachi and Jibachi, and they are the ones who were sent to the Land of Birds along with some other Shinobi of the Stone.

After the three brothers were defeated, the three members of the Kamizuru Clan went against Naruto, who let them show what they know, and to see if there is something useful to them, which he can use for his gain.

It took him less than a minute, to realize that among the three, the only one with some talent, is Suzumebachi, so, Naruto killed her two brother's right in front of her eyes, much to Suzumebachi's horror and despair, and then he proceeded to beat the crap out of her. Once Naruto was done, he left her defeated and unconscious body to lie on the ground, while he dealt with the rest of the Stone's forces.

Stone Kunoichi, with black hair and two red bangs, along with the sword on her back, was the next one to go after Naruto.

She proved she has the power to back up her rank of Jōnin, by using several B and A-Rank Earth Jutsu, the strongest of which was the Earth and Stone Dragon, but everything she tried against Naruto, was useless in the end, as he is just too powerful for her.

In the end, she was defeated by Naruto, but wasn't killed. Naruto will simply let her get away this one time, though if they cross paths one more time… well, it will hardly end up in the way Stone Kunoichi would want.

Seeing that Naruto has picked apart everyone else, the last two Stone ninja, decided to go after Naruto at the same time. The two of them were by far the strongest among all Stone ninja who were sent to the Land of Birds by the Tsuchikage, and thought that by attacking Naruto at the same time, they will win, easily.

They thought wrong.

Five minutes into the battle, Naruto got bored, and decided to end it. Unfortunately for Gari of the Explosion Style and Kakō of the Dust Style, Naruto got interested in their bloodlines, which means that there won't be any form of afterlife for them.

Arrancar have an interesting power called, Gonzui, which allows them to suck out the souls of others, and by doing that, increase their Reiatsu. This is one of the common abilities of Arrancar's.

One of the ability's Aaroniero Arruruerie had, was Hollow Absorption, which allowed him to not only absorb Reiatsu of the hollows he consumes, but also their abilities and knowledge.

Naruto can use both Gonzui and Hollow Absorption, but his power and skill allows him to take this to a whole new level, which is why he is capable of consuming the souls of humans, and by doing that, he can gain their knowledge and any special power or bloodline they might poses.

While Naruto, with all the Arrancar and Soul Reaper powers he has, doesn't really need to get any of the ninja powers, he found the Explosion Release and Dust Release interesting enough to acquire them. Will he use them or not, is to be seen in the future, but even if he was never to use them, those two bloodlines are now a part of him, which means, that if he was to have children one day, they might awaken those bloodlines.

With Gari's and Kakō's souls and powers sucked away by Naruto, their bodies fell on the ground, dead. Naruto then walked over to where Suzumebachi's defeated body was lying, and picked her up, before he headed to meet with Taya and the new Daimyo of the Land of Birds, Toki.

He noted it down, though, to send Taya to seal the heads of Gari and Kakō, so that they can cash in their heads, as they both had bounties on them.

This chapter didn't have any dialog, because I didn't want to drag out some of the filler episodes from the original Naruto series, but I also found some of them interesting, so I didn't want to skip them up. So, I made a time skip, and will only do the summary of everything that Naruto and Taya did during the time between the Curry of Life Shop, until their meeting with Tayuya at the southern coast of the Land of Hot Water.

The next chapter will also, mostly, be summary of some other Land's which Naruto and Taya visited, and then in Chapter 13, Tayuya shows up and takes Naruto and Taya to the Whirlpool.

The former Daimyo of the Land of Rivers is based on the Commodore Nelson Royale from One Piece. I didn't want to bother with description, so just look him up, though, instead of Marine coat and uniform, just imagine his royal robes as you wish, since it's not really important.

In this story, Suzumebachi looks different then in the anime, because I don't like her anime look, and I have some plans for her in the future. Her appearance is based on Chisa Kotegawa, from Grand Blue. The only similarities are the outside appearance, nothing else, though.

Another thing. Just because Naruto now has Explosion Release and Dust Release bloodline, doesn't mean he will use them. His other powers are far above any bloodline in the Naruto World, except maybe some Ōtsutsuki Bloodlines, which could match some of Naruto's powers. I mainly gave him those bloodline, and plan to add some more in the future, so that his descendants could inherit them, thus making the Uzumaki Clan, by far the most powerful Clan in the EN.