INTERLUDE II - GRAND DISCOVERIES

Hidden Leaf Village Conference Room

With the advent of peace and cooperation, there've been several advancements already. The first major one was enhancing the Hidden Rain's pods with the Hidden Leaf's advanced medical knowledge to create a more efficient and portal method of reliable healing, although their clunkiness is still something that needs to be worked out. Storage scrolls are very handy but even they can barely handle more than one or two pods- they were never meant to store such large objects.

The next big advancement would be the ease of communication. Once again utilizing the Hidden Rain top engineers, with a lot of aid from the Hidden Cloud, long distance conferences are now much simpler and require much less electricity than before. It was always reserved for emergencies because of how unstable it was, typically between the Hokage and the Daimyo, but now it's easier than ever to connect to the leaders of the foreign lands.

Tsunade sits at a special desk, connected to more wiring than any other place in the Leaf could possibly need. Behind her, as always, is her most trusted aid, Shizune Umino, with Kakashi Hatake and Shikamaru Nara standing to the side to listen in.

In front of the desk is a video camera, a device that bears resemblance to a bulkier than average photo camera, easily bigger than Tsunade's head.

Surrounding the camera are a total of eleven large television sets, ordered in a two-layer semi-circle. Each TV is marked with the symbol of a Hidden Village.

The top six TVs belong to the Sand, Cloud, Stone, Mist, Rain, and Waterfall, while just under them are the ones marked for Frost, Mountain, Star, Dream, Moon.

Tsunade waits patiently as her team ensures everything is connected correctly. They've run tests before, of course, and while the technology has improved, it's still not perfect. On top of everything, there're two additional signals that weren't present during the last tests.

After several minutes, the team give Tsunade the sign that all's clear. On her signal, they activate the camera and all the TVs switch on where the other village leaders appear. The team stays behind for a moment longer to fix any remaining static before taking their leave.

Ay clears his throat. "To start things off, I'd like to welcome Tsukino of the Hidden Moon and Enzo Tenrō of the Hidden Dream. Thank you for accepting our invitation."

Enzo bows his head. "We owe our lives to the Hidden Leaf, after all. It'd be unbecoming to not repay that as best we can."

Tsukiyo bows her head, as well. "Likewise, we would most likely not be standing if it weren't for the Shinobi Union's cause."

"I don't see any others, though." Tsunade notes. "Are the Hidden Moon and Dream the only new members?"

Gaara nods. "The Hidden Valley Village decided to remain neutral at this time."

Ōnoki crosses his arms. "The Hidden Rock Village, as well. They held onto the fear that as a smaller village, their wants would be pushed aside in favour of our own. I'd like to call them paranoid, but…"

"That'd be a bit hypocritical, wouldn't it?" Ay chuckles. "I regret to say that the Hidden Lock Village has also declined our invitation."

"As has the Nadeshiko Village." Mei Terumī chimes in. "Although they have always separated themselves from our matters. It was a longshot but we at least tried." She shrugs.

Enzo leans back in his chair. "We were the same but it seems that was not in the cards for us. We were shown that isolating ourselves made us vulnerable to manipulation."

"I imagine they're all observing us closely." Konan says. "They're not yet certain what the Shinobi Union plans and wish to see how we'll proceed."

Tsunade nods. "Most likely."

"Truthfully," Tsukino speaks up, "I don't know if the Hidden Moon Village would have joined, were it not for the… extraneous circumstances we found ourselves in."

"That seems to be the case for everyone." Ōnoki sighs. "Honestly I'm surprised we managed to reach 12 members."

"Perhaps." Gaara says. "But we found like-minded people who wish to see positive change as we do. There may be those who still doubt but as long as we continue the good work we've been doing, the others will come in time."

"Before we do any of that," Ay raises his voice to signal a shift in conversation, transitioning to the more serious subjects at hand, "We still have quite the serious problem to solve. One we've not gotten any closer to solving."

"The Great Beasts, and the Uzumaki clan." Kaidomaru Sakata says.

"Precisely." Ay nods. "Enzo Tenrō of the Hidden Dream Village, your former village head unleashed a Great Beast, one that was under the protection of your clan. We'd like to hear anything you have to say on the matter."

Enzo sighs and shakes his head. "I'm afraid I don't have much to say. To begin with, I myself was not aware of the 'contents' of the seal. It'd been a long time since that knowledge was lost. We just knew it was powerful, powerful enough to stand up to any threat we may face."

"And yet Gensui Amagiri knew." Kaidomaru says. "Could he have been working with this Uzumaki faction? Did they get in contact with him?"

Of course, Kaidomaru knows the answer to these questions. He's well aware that neither he nor any of his people have ever spoken to Gensui Amagiri. He's genuinely curious how the presence of a Great Beast slipped past him.

"That's a possibility." Ōnoki says. "They've been oddly quiet until this incident."

"For that, I'm afraid I can't say." Enzo answers. "Genui and Mōkin had us all fooled. Frankly, I wasn't even aware that Yaizu is a member of the Uzumaki clan."

Kaidomaru crosses his arms and attempts to steer his 'allies' away from the truth. "I think it'd be best to operate under the assumption that Gensui was working with or for this faction of the Uzumaki. The last time they did anything was when they attacked our Hakone Town to try and steal the Sharingan we'd collected."

"I agree." Mei chimes in. "Have you had any troubles, Hokage?"

Tsunade shakes her head. "Since we took possession of the Sharingan, there've been no attempts to steal them."

Shibuki of the Hidden Waterfall scratches his chin. "Sounds like they're too scared to try and attack the Hidden Leaf."

"They've proven to be bold before." Ay growls. "They attacked the Hidden Cloud with that lightning monster, Nue."

"And it was repelled back with relative ease, if memory serves." Gaara says. "Their strength may still be limited."

"Yet we find ourselves lagging behind." Tsunade pinches her brow in mild frustration. "We still don't know their plans, their goals… nothing. It's like they just don't exist."

"About that…" Ay says. "What of your Uzumaki clan, Hokage? They've been on a hunt of their own, have they not?"

"I'm afraid that hunt is still in its beginning stages. Elder Awaji believes some of the Uzumaki he once lost track of either joined this rogue faction or founded it. He and Naruto and tracing their steps to hopefully find where they went."

Kaidomaru silently chuckles to himself. 'Good luck with that.'

"Have them keep at it. Even the smallest hint could be a game-changer."

"Don't worry, they've got this covered." Tsunade turns to look at the Hidden Moon's monitor. "That leaves us with what happened in the Hidden Moon."

"Ah, yes!" Tsukino jolts up, having been focusing on the conversation at hand to gleam any further insight.

"Not one, but possibly two trees that bear a connection to the Divine Tree that nearly destroyed the world." Ōnoki scratches his chin. "That's quite the secret to keep."

"Yes, I realize that. However, both have been destroyed." Tsukino says. "For better or worse."

"Do we suspect any involvement from the Uzumaki clan?" Mei asks.

"Unlikely." Ōnoki answers. "Shinga was never the kind to work for anyone other than himself."

"We also had our Analysis Team scan his mind and they found nothing." Tsunade says.

"Is there any way to restore your sacred tree to life?" Ay asks. "If we could have an asset like that on our side…"

Tsukino shakes her head. "I'm afraid it does not look like a possibility. The Hidden Leaf's Yamato attempted to use his Wood Style but it wasn't effective."

"Either way, this does appear to be an isolated incident. We're sorry for the losses you've suffered, both of you."

"Thank you." Enzo and Tsukino both bow their heads.

"For now, we must continue our search for further evidence." Tsunade states. "Our ANBU have this as their top priority. I realize this is quite a lot to throw the Hidden Dream and Hidden Moon into."

Enzo shakes his head. "No, if these people tried to further their goals by destroying my village, then we will aid the Shinobi Union in any way we can."

"And it's time for the Hidden Moon to stop being neutral when faced with such adversity."

Ay smiles. "Very well. Then let's move on to more pleasant topics."

With that, the meeting shifts from talking about the greater threat posed by the Great Beasts and this sect of the Uzumaki clan, to catching up Enzo Tenrō and Tsukino on what would be expected of their villages going forward and how they would interact with the other members of the Union.

It takes a solid two hours and Tsunade is happy when it ends so she can stretch her body. Sitting in one place for so long isn't good for the old bones.

With the cameras and monitors all turned off, Kakashi steps forward along with Shikamaru. "You didn't tell them about Sasuke's mission."

"No, I didn't." She looks back at Kakashi with a pointed stare. "And we'll keep it that way for now."

"Is it really wise to keep secrets from our own allies?" Shizune asks.

"Oh, I'm sure Raikage and Tsuchikage will be furious. If I'm correct in keeping it a secret, I'll handle the blowout. If I'm not, then it's just something we wasted our time on."

Shizune keeps the worried expression she oh so often has when talking to Tsunade. "If you say so."

"We do still have our doubts about certain people." Kakashi says. "We may be at peace but it's evident not everyone wishes for it."

"I just hope it turns out well." Shizune clutches her clipboard close to her chest. "For all out sakes."

"It's fine." Tsunade reassures her. "We have our best in the field."

-x-

Hidden Mountain Village

As soon as the meeting ends, Kaidomaru Uzumaki heads out of the conference room, followed by his most trusted companion, Kūga Nekomata, her partner Setsuen the white tigress, and Mizushi Ōsui.

"Could they be getting close?" Kūga asks.

"They certainly think they are. Even if they do get closer, they won't have the time to do anything."

"The Five Great Villages are resourceful, they may find a way." Mizushi advises caution.

Kaidomaru chuckles. "The only thing great about them is their hypocrisy. They've been running in circles for years and soon we'll show the world how 'great' they actually are. It will be a sweet victory for the smaller villages."

When they reach the corner, one person [Flickers] right next to them, dressed in the traditional Hidden Mountain's ANBU garb with an angry oni mask.

"We've found them, sir." Takeshi Imori reports. "The Five-Tails has settled in an area just outside the Land of Earth, and the Three-Tails has been spotted around the smaller islands in the northern parts of the Land of Water."

"Excellent." Kaidomaru laughs. "Then we've as good as won. Takeshi, Kūga, you two will take your team to the Five-Tails. Mizushi, we're going to the Three-Tails."

"There's one more thing." Takeshi interrupts the planning. We've found him, as well. He and his men are hiding in a small village in the Land of Hot Waters."

"Oh?" A smile creeps across Kaidomaru's face. "Then it'd be rude not to say hello. Change of plans, Mizushi, go to the Three-Tails but await my arrival. If we're lucky, I'll be there with a new friend. If not, I'll be there after eliminating a threat."

Mizushi nods. "Yes, sir."

"I hope I don't need to tell you this, but when you act you best have planned out every breath you're going to take. The last thing we need is Naruto Uzumaki being warned."

"Yes, sir!" The three of them say in unison and scatter to prepare.

"Just one more step and we'll win. We won't have to hide in the shadows like we've- Gah." Kaidomaru falls to one knee, his face twisted in pain.

"Kaidomaru?!" Mizushi grabs him by the shoulder to keep him on his feet.

"What happened?" Kūga asks.

Kaidomaru growls as he holds his hand over his eye to try and ease the piercing sensation he feels. When he removes his hand, the Sharingan, which is normally kept hidden away by fūinjutsu, is fully revealed from its seal. Kaidomaru looks down at the blood on his hand.

Opposite to what one would expect of someone in this situation, Kaidomaru laughs.

"It seems our other battle is being fought, as well. While we fight in the land of the living, another battle rages beyond the Rashōmon. All the more reason for us to hurry." Kaidomaru grins, his almost-too-giddy expression enough to put anyone off, and clasps Mizushi by the shoulder. "We're close. We're finally so close."

Somewhere far from the Land of Fire

Chasing rumours from hundreds of years ago isn't always the most exciting or fruitful. It more often than not leads you to spending days and weeks, uncertain if you're just not finding what you're looking for or if there's nothing to be found in the first place.

For a couple of months now, Sasuke Uchiha has been assigned to chase rumours, which was interrupted by the occasional transporting people to and fro foreign villages, so he hasn't made significant progress.

At least now he's free to focus.

This particular rumour has sent him a fair bit away from home, a journey that would usually take weeks but thanks to his unique skill set, it took all of 5 seconds.

This particular journey has led him to an ancient, long forgotten temple built into the cliffside. It lay buried under rubble for who knows how long until he found it. What once was probably a beautifully decorated building is now decrepit after being left to the passage of time. The stone furniture has mostly held but its contents have not fared as well. What books and scrolls have survived are barely readable while the others had worn out long ago.

Stone steps on the sides of the room lead up to a higher floor, where a balcony is carved into the interior. Like a tower, the structure goes up high, having at least 5 levels to it that he can see.

As Sasuke stands in front of one of the numerous bookcases, he runs his fingers across the book covers, trying to identify which ones may survive closer inspection.

A woman silently walks toward him, not making a noise despite the stone floor making it easy for someone to make noise. She's dressed in the standard ANBU uniform, her only distinguishing features being her cat mask and blond hair kept in place by six thick needles.

"Find anything?" He asks her without even having turned to notice her presence.

She shakes her head. "The others are clear. Valuable historical texts, but nothing that helps us directly."

"So this one's the only one we haven't checked."

"Allow me." She steps closer to the bookcase and focuses her chakra.

[Byakugan]

Hidden by her mask, veins around her eyes bulge out as she scans through the ancient texts. Hyperfocusing on such minor details can be daunting, as it's no simple task to look between the pages of a closed book. The concentration required is probably one of the most challenging aspects of training the [Byakugan], but she's mastered it to a needle point.

It takes several minutes with Sasuke helping by physically going through the more intact books, but in the end they find no information of worth.

"Nothing." She shakes her head.

Sasuke rolls up the scroll he'd been reading and places it back on its shelf. "Hopefully the others are having more luck."

"Sasuke, Komachi." A voice calls out to them from one of the higher levels.

Two more ANBU [Flicker] down to their level, a man with gray hair tied into a side ponytail, and a man with short dark hair and multiple smaller scrolls and painting brushes strapped to his waist.

"Have you had any luck?" Sai asks.

Sasuke shakes his head. "No. You?"

"Possibly. Towa?" Sai looks back to the man with him and extends an open hand.

Towa carefully hands him a worn out scroll, which Sai places on a stone table and unfurls. Its condition is surprisingly enough not as severe as the rest although much of its writing is still worn out and intelligible.

"It looks fresher than the others." Sasuke notes. "Was it placed here some time after them?"

Towa shakes his head. "I don't think so. This paper is different, made from a now-extinct tree that used to grow in the Land of Wind. It was extraordinarily expensive and reserved for the most important matters."

"You seem to know a lot about the matter." Sasuke says.

"I dabble." Towa says.

"Towa is an expert on all things concerning scribing. There's a reason I brought him and Komachi on this mission." Sai says.

"So if this scroll is more important than the rest, what does it say?" Sasuke asks.

"Well, that's the thing." Sai runs his finger across the faded out writing. "It's random scribblings. If it's a code, it's unlike any I've ever encountered."

"Do we have a reason to believe it to be of worth to us?" Komachi asks as she examines the writing.

"We do." Towa nods and takes out a much smaller scroll and one brand new one. He lays them out on the table.

The older scroll obviously has been worn out with some writing just barely readable, while the fresh scroll seems to have the same exact writing.

"I was able to use my ink to restore the writing. It's not in code." Sai says. "I think the message is one you'll find a particular interest in."

Sasuke leans closer to read the text on the new scroll.

"In these years I thought back much about my past actions and my embarrassment over my foolishness grows. I know that endangering your lives is not something that can be forgiven lightly and I intend on paying for my mistakes a hundredfold.

I hope that should my mistakes come back to haunt us, this knowledge I leave behind will aid the generations that come after.

My old and dear friends Tamamo and Varuna. I pray that when we meet again, I can express my regret and offer you a sincere apology.

Agni"

"These names are…"

Sai nods. "Tamamo Uzumaki, Varuna Ōtsutsuki believed to be the ancestor of the Hyūga, and Agni Ōtsutsuki believed to be the ancestor of the Uchiha."

"And you believe this scroll to be related to this message?" Sasuke asks.

"I do." Sai responds. "Despite being in code, the handwriting is similar. I believe Agni Ōtsutsuki wrote this accompanying message to inform us this is the item we need, but ensured that only those chosen can read."

"Now the question is…" Towa crosses his arm. "Can you read it, descendant of Agni?" He motions to Sasuke.

Sasuke leans closer and stares at the lettering. He scans every inch with his Rinnegan but it looks like ordinary writing.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Nothing."

Sai scratches his chin under the mask. "I thought it may be similar to the tablet the Uchiha had under the Naka Shrine."

"Something that can only be read fully as the Sharingan evolves. It doesn't seem to be the case."

"Then we need to decipher it as soon as we can."

Sai opens up a new scroll about the size of the coded one and places them right next to each other. He takes out his writing supplies and after only dipping the very tip of his brush, he places it on the old scroll. As he does, the ink seeps onto the scroll all on its own, snaking its way to the letters and even filling up the empty spaces where letters have been worn out.

[Ninja Art: Living Ink]

After focusing for a couple of minutes to allow the ink to settle, he moves it from the old scroll and on the new one, where it recreates the lettering perfectly.

"In case we need a copy of it. I'd like to gather some more important texts before we move on to the next site." Sai says.

"Next site?" Towa cocks his head. "Haven't we found what we were looking for?"

"We may have found what we were looking for." Sasuke says. "We'd still better check every single location in case we find more."

Sai wraps up the copy of the scroll he made and tucks it away. "Towa, let's go gather the other scrolls and books."

Towa nods and the two of them head to the upper floors to collect whatever else seemed of interest, lost knowledge that may prove valuable. Sasuke and Komachi remain on the ground floor in complete and slightly awkward silence.

As the minutes tick away, Sasuke prepares his chakra for the portal they'll need to reach their other destination. As he does, a sudden jolt runs across his left eye. He grunts in pain and immediately reaches for his eye, holding it in pain.

"Sir?" Komachi runs toward him. "What happened?"

Sasuke takes a deep breath, the pain having subsided. He takes his hand off his eye only to find his palm bloodied. He runs his fingers under his eye to find hints of blood running from it.

"Is… your Rinnegan bleeding?" Komachi asks. "I thought it wasn't meant to."

"No, it isn't. I… don't know what this is."

"Should I call-"

"No." Sasuke interrupts her. "It's fine. It's nothing." He says in a tone that would imply it's most certainly not nothing. He reaches for some cloth in his bag to wipe away the smears of blood from his palm and cheek.

Worried, Komachi hasn't much of a choice but to trust that Sasuke knows what he's doing.

Uzumaki clan Training Grounds

With a newfound determination and goal, Kotori's been putting 110% in training to master her ability. She's seen what it can when used by a master and she realizes she needs to put it.

While she did ask Yaizu for help, since he's the one who got an up-close look at Mōkin's jutsu, Naruto's the one currently training her as this particular jutsu is actually more up his alley.

So the two of them are occupying a part of the training ground while Yaizu is elsewhere helping train the Uzumaki in their forgotten arts.

Kotori currently has two large condor feathers in her hands, hanging limp in stark contrast to what she actually wants them to do.

"I just can't figure it out." Kotori pouts.

"Don't worry, we'll get there." Naruto chuckles. "Tell me, what do you do when you make your feathers into kunai?"

She sits down and takes her time to ponder. "I… don't really know. It just kinda happens, I guess? I want it to hit stuff and it does."

"I guess it's just more intuitive, huh?" Naruto takes one of the feathers from her to inspect it. He pokes around at the base of the feather which is indeed hardened like a kunai. "The actual feather probably needs more active attention, so we just need to get you to focus your chakra in the feathers."

"How do I do that?"

"Well, let's start with this." Naruto reaches for the pouch strapped to his back and takes out his father's three-pronged kunai. He holds it in front of Kotori so she can better see what he's about to do. By pumping a small bit of his chakra into the kunai, the blade begins to hum with chakra that coats the edges like an extra, sharp layer. "I figure this is what we need to do. I can make my kunai sharper by infusing it with Wind chakra. Since you have Wind chakra, too, it should be the same thing!"

"So I just gotta focus my chakra in the feather?"

"Why don't we start with this?" Naruto hands her the kunai. "It's made from a special metal that absorbs chakra better."

Kotori tentatively takes the blade and just goes for it. She focuses her chakra to her hand, in a similar way she focuses it on her feet to walk on water or vertical surfaces, and allows the blade's special properties to do the rest.

Kotori notices that the coating of chakra is vastly different. With Naruto, it was like a sword made of pure chakra. Sharp. But hers is wobbly and uneven.

Naruto smiles, remembering his first real experience when Asuma-sensei showed him this technique.

Kotori squints her eyes. "It's weird."

"Yeah, a little." Naruto chuckles. "But it should be basically what you do with your [Feather Kunai]. You add chakra to the tips to make them sharper than usual. We just gotta use that same logic on the other side of the feather! But for now, try to get used to the kunai before we use it on your jutsu."

"Right!" Kotori nods with vigor before staring at the kunai. "Hoooow do I do that?"

Naruto chuckles and sits down on the grass by her side. "Right now you're just pumping your chakra, right? Try to visualize it before you do. You wanna make a sharp edge, so think of your chakra like two whirling blades clashing." He recalls the advice Asuma gave him what feels like a lifetime ago. "That middle part is what you wanna focus on. The sharper you can make it, the stronger the kunai will be."

"Let's give this a shot." Kotori imagines her chakra just as Naruto described.

It takes a long while of focused concentration while Naruto sits to the side and observes her progress.

She can't help but think of how much she's progressed. It only seems like yesterday that she was trying to figure this stuff out at the orphanage, all on her own. It's sometimes difficult to imagine how much she's changed and how much she's learned.

As a kid she couldn't even figure out how to actually use her chakra but now she's sitting here applying these advanced techniques and it just feels… natural. Like she's always been doing this.

She tried for months to get her feathers to do something yet now in just about an hour or two, she's managed to apply her chakra to the three-pronged kunai to create a much sharper edge.

"I did it!" Kotori jumps up to her feet and shows off her progress with a proud grin.

"Hey, that was pretty fast. Why don't you test it out?" Naruto motions to a nearby tree, its bark already etched with cuts from other people's training.

Kotori takes a stance and gets herself ready for a good throw, not wanting to make a fool out of herself at this stage. She swings her arm and flicks the kunai, having to adjust a bit due to its weirder shape and heavier form. Splinters fly off as the three blades completely disappear from view as it embeds itself deep into the tree.

"Pretty good!" Naruto walks over to retrieve the kunai. "We can count this as a success."

"Whatcha mean, of course that was a success! Look how deep it went."

Naruto chuckles and ruffles her hair as he walks back up to her. "Yeah, and it's pretty good."

Before Kotori can even ask anything further, a blur of something moving faster than she can even register wooshes in front of her face. She blinks, thinking for a second that she imagined it, but the sound of splitting wood and of a thunderous crash make her look around for its origin.

On the very tree that she aimed the kunai at, right besides where the wound she made, is an outright hole in the tree and the kunai embedded into a large boulder behind it. She snaps her head to look at Naruto's hand, only to find it empty. That blur…

"Wh- How?!" She stares in disbelief at how much stronger Naruto's throw was and how much more damage it caused to both tree and rock. "That was so much stronger than mine… And we used the same kunai!"

Naruto chuckles. "It's a process. With some training you'll get there, too. But for now, let's move to part 2." He takes out a standard kunai from his pouch. He coats it with chakra just as before and throws it at the tree, this time at a speed that Kotori can actually comprehend. It doesn't break through the tree this time but it does go very deep in, deeper than Kotori's first throw. "Now try the same with a normal kunai."

"What's even the difference, anyway?" She asks as she takes out a kunai of her own.

"Well, the metal that kunai is made of is rarer and kinda hard to handle, so it's saved for pretty special weapons. It's easier to get your chakra to flow through it. You can do it with normal kunai and shuriken, too, it's just gonna be harder and a bit weaker." He walks over to fetch both kunai he threw.

"So," Kotori stares at her kunai, "This is gonna be more challenging."

"Yep! But you already got a good feel for it. You know how it's supposed to feel, so you just gotta fine-tune it a lil bit."

Kotori sits back down and starts anew. As she pumps chakra into this one, it's definitely a different sensation. She has to take on a more active role in pumping her chakra to coat the blade and she has to control the shape even more. Even though she managed to already do this, the shape of her chakra is more similar to the wobbly and uneven coating she made at the very beginning.

She spends the better part of the afternoon on this simple trick, putting in her all to get to the point she so easily got with the other one.

At one point, she lies back to take a short break.

"How's this gonna help, anyway?" She finally asks.

"Well, the point is to get your feathers to become weapons. If you learn how to properly channel your chakra through them and add your Wind Style on top of it, you'll have a pretty sharp weapon." Naruto explains. "You guys said that Mōkin guy used Fire Style with his feathers, right?"

Kotori nods. "Yeah. And his were… giant. Like, bigger-than-me giant. And the bird he conjured…"

"Well, if we can get your Wind Style up to par, you should be able to infuse your feathers just like he can."

"And summon a phoenix?" She asks, hopeful.

"Maybe." He shrugs. "Or maybe something else entirely. Either way, I dunno if this is how Mōkin did it but this should work, too. Your own brand of your Aviary jutsu." He grins.

With a heightened motivation, Kotori continues her training until a couple of hours later, she manages to reach a point where it's similar to the first part of the training. When she tests it against the target tree, it doesn't go as far as her first attempt but it's definitely more powerful than a regular throw.

"So, you think you've gotten the hang of it?"

Kotori takes a deep breath and nods. "I think so."

"Alrighty. So now try strengthening your feather, just like you did with the kunai. Wind Style'll not only make it sturdy but give it some reach, too."

Kotori conjures a large condor feather, the one best suited for what she wants to do. It's even the perfect length, too, being about the size of a tanto or wakizashi, depending on how long she needs the blade to be.

Having gotten the hang of the exercise, having managed to enhance a kunai from special metal and a normal kunai, she now feels confident in her attempts.

She lets her chakra flow through her hand, into the quill which she's more than used to enhancing when using them as a thrown weapon, into the feather itself, and…

Nothing.

The chakra fizzles out.

Kotori grumbles and tries it again. And again. And again. It does work a little, there's definitely chakra being channeled through it, but it's nothing like it's supposed to be. Kotori pumps as much chakra as she can into, trying to force her way through, but nothing. She reaches a point where Naruto has to restore her chakra reserves lest she fall from exhaustion.

She keeps trying to strengthen it using the method she's been using all day and yet… nothing. At the odd times she feels she has it, she quickly turns around to slash at the tree but it only gently brushes at it.

She tries again but there's nothing of how the two kunai felt. Or rather, it's only a fraction. When she hits the tree, she can almost feel as if she's hitting something.

Naruto comes to her to inspect, as well. "Hm…" He scratches his chin. "Looks like we're missing something."

"Yeah, I'll say…" Kotori pouts and sits down on the floor. "Feather's all ruined now." She looks at the disheveled state of the feather, ruffled from all the times it was brushed against the bark. She sets it aside and creates a new one.

Naruto picks up the old feather and runs his fingers through the sections of feather that used to be together, looking like one whole, but has now become clear they're just much smaller parts that combine together.

He looks back to the part of the tree where Kotori was able to actually make a cut albeit very very small ones, and back to the feather. He remembers exactly how Kotori swung the feather and what the first point of impact was.

He sits down beside her while she starts practicing on the new feather. "Why do you think that is?" He asks, thinking he might be able to lead her to the answer.

Kotori shrugs. "I dunno. 'Cause it's just a normal feather, I'm not doing anything to it."

"Is that what you saw?"

"Well, yeah. Look at it." Kotori motions to the old feather in Naruto's hands. Despite being ready to dismiss it as unusable, she sees something with a quick glance.

She snatches it from Naruto and inspects the lowest part of the feather. The barbs closest to the quill aren't actually ruined. They're still together and in relatively good shape. It's the rest of it that's ruined.

She pumps her chakra into it again, this time running her fingers over the barbs, separating them from one another.

As she does, she can feel something new. Something she never felt while doing this with the kunai.

The reason she hasn't been able to do with the feather what she did with the kunai, is…

"It's not one whole." She says more to herself than Naruto, piecing things together. "It's not one whole!" She says louder this time, turning to Naruto with a revelatory grin.

"Oh?" Naruto smiles. "And what does that mean?"

"It didn't work 'cause I was thinking of the feather like one solid thing but it's not! Each barb is its own thing! So I gotta treat 'em like their own thing."

She hops up to her feet and carefully places the feather by the tree, rather than swinging at it like before. She twists it so that only the lowest parts, the afterfeather and the lower barbs, are in contact with the bark. When she slashes across with more precision, she sees the result.

The parts of the feather closest to her hand are actually as strong as a blade but after that her chakra becomes disrupted and she can't properly flow it through. Now, she at least knows why.

"Why didn't I sense it before?" She mutters to herself.

"It's easier when you say it out loud, huh?" Naruto chuckles. "So, the next question is- What're you gonna go now that you know this?"

Kotori scratches her head. "Y'know, I don't actually know. Do I treat each little barb as a separate 'blade'? Or do it in sections?"

"Well, give all methods a shot and see what actually works."

"Alright!" Kotori hops in place with newfound motivation, happy to have figured it out even if it took several hours of fruitless efforts.

Before she can continue, however, their training session is interrupted.

"Boss." Michi Uzumaki, eldest granddaughter of Elder Awaji, [Flicker]s by their side, herself looking somewhat ragged and tired, clothes slightly charred. "Someone from the Hokage's Tower stopped by. Said you're being summoned."

"Granny is?" Naruto raises a brow. "They say why?"

Michi shrugs. "Nope. Just that you're summoned."

"Well, I guess that'll be it for today." He looks down to Kotori. "You wanna head home for now?"

Kotori shakes her head. "I'll stay for a bit more. Try and figure it out."

"Alright." Naruto leans down and kisses her on the top of the head. "Don't miss dinner, you don't wanna make your mom angry."

"I won't." Kotori chuckles and goes back to her feather.

Hokage's Office

When Naruto opens the door to the Hokage's office, he finds the relatively small room made even smaller by a fairly large gathering. Tsunade and Shizune have their usual place behind the desk, with Kakashi and Shikamaru beside them.

Standing in front of the desk are Sasuke, Sai without his mask but still in his ANBU uniform, and Komachi and Towa who Naruto doesn't recognize and probably wouldn't even if they took off their masks. Surprisingly enough for him, Hinata is also present.

"Naruto, there you are. Then we can begin." Tsunade says before he can even close the door.

Naruto looks around in confusion. "What's going on? Hinata, you're here, too?" He walks up to his wife and waits for an explanation.

"I'm not entirely sure, either." Hinata answers.

"It concerns this." Tsunade very gently nudges an old worn scroll toward them. "We've had a team of ANBU, aided by Sasuke, searching for answers that might help us uncover some answers about dealing with the Great Beasts."

"Unfortunately, it's written in code." Shikamaru continues. "I ran it by Shiho real quick but she said she'd need more time to decipher it. It's apparently unlike anything she'd ever seen."

"It makes sense." Sasuke says. "This cipher would be hundreds of years old, it's older than anything we know of."

Naruto scratches his head in confusion. "So what even is this?"

"It's a message left behind by Agni Ōtsutsuki." Sasuke explains.

"Hm?" Naruto cocks his head. "Why's that sound familiar?"

Sasuke sighs. "You're the one who found out about him, remember? Agni Ōtsutsuki, Varuna Ōtsutsuki, … Tamamo Uzumaki. The ones who sealed the Great Beasts in the first place."

"Oh right!" Naruto jolts up. "That guy."

"Yes, that guy."

Sai steps forward and hands them a similarly old note in writing that they can understand. "He left behind an uncoded message and we've verified the handwriting matches. We just need to find out what it says."

Naruto squints as he leans in to take a closer look at the faded writing. "I see."

"So if the Cryptanalysis Team hasn't properly looked into it yet, how can we help?" Hinata asks.

"It's a longshot but we thought there may be some hidden method that only allows certain people to read it." Tsunade answers

"My Rinnegan couldn't detect anything."

"My Byakugan couldn't, either." Komachi says from her spot in the back of the room. "But your eyes are much more powerful, Lady Hinata."

Tsunade shrugs. "It's only a hunch but we know of similar methods that have been used so it's worth a shot."

Hinata opens up the scroll with great care, fearful of accidentally damaging it. When she does, they see the coded writing and quickly scan through it to see if it somehow makes sense to them.

Naruto shakes his head. "Looks like gibberish to me."

"Hinata?"

She takes a moment to focus her chakra and takes a step back, knowing that what she's about to do expels quite a bit of chakra from her points.

[Tensei Byakugan]

Hinata's whole body flares up in violet chakra, flowing like flames from body. With her eyes now shining a brighter lavender colour, she scans the scroll. She focuses her eyesight in different directions to look at it from all angles, she looks closer at the writing to the point where a single symbol takes up her entire line of sight. However, to her eyes, as well, it looks like an ordinarily written code.

She deactivates her dōjutsu and shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I don't see anything, either."

Tsunade leans back in her chair. "Well, at least we know. If you three can't see anything, then it must be a normal code of some kind."

Kakashi, on the other hand, tilts his head sideways to get a better look at it. From his spot by the desk he could faintly see the scroll, albeit upside-down, and something caught his eye for just a moment. He squints and leans in to take a closer look. It was a very quick flash, a blink and you'll miss it moment, but Kakashi definitely saw something familiar.

"Kakashi?" Tsunade raises a brow.

"Hm…" Kakashi scratches his chin. "I think I was mistaken. For a moment I thought I recognized some words but it may have been a trick of the light." He straightens himself. "Sorry about that."

Sasuke steps closer to the desk and nudges the map toward Kakashi. "Are you sure? If you have even a slight clue…"

Kakashi puts up his hands defensively. "It does look like I was just mistaken. A trick on these old eyes, perhaps." He sneaks one more glance at the scroll, trying to put his mind to it and see what he saw before but it's not ringing any bells.

Sasuke sighs and steps back.

"What's got you so agitated?" Naruto asks.

"I think the question is, why aren't you more agitated?" Sasuke retorts. "This whole thing started with your ancestor and is being finished by your clan."

"Well, it's kinda hard to think of them as my clan when I only met an Uzumaki for the first time a few years ago. But this is just like any other problem. We got a lotta smart people to figure it out so we just gotta trust 'em and be ready to act." Naruto says.

Sasuke sighs once again. "You're far too optimistic."

Naruto claps him on the shoulder and grins. "Believe in your comrades, Sasuke!"

While those two are having their little moment, Shikamaru furls the scroll back up and motions to Komachi and Towa. "Take this to Shiho Aburame over at Cryptanalysis."

"Yes, sir." They do as ordered, disappearing in a flash.

"Then, you're all free to go home." Tsunade releases them. "I'm sorry this didn't wield any actual results."

Hinata takes a bow before leaving. "Please call on us if you have further suspicions."

"Yeah, granny! We'll come running!" Naruto reaffirms her words.

Tsunade chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind."

As Naruto and Hinata head out, Sasuke and Sai walk out with them.

"Say, how about we grab a drink?" Naruto turns to his two former teammates. "It's been a while!"

"I'd love to," Sai smiles, "But it's been a while since I was properly home. I'd like to go to Yakumo and Kensō. Maybe another day."

"Aw, alright. Then it'll just be you and me, Sasuke!"

Sasuke holds his hand up to stop him before he gets his hopes up too much. "I'll pass, too."

"You in a hurry to get home, too?" Naruto snickers. "Excited to see Sakura?"

Sasuke pauses for a moment before answering. "No, I just don't feel like it."

"Wow. Blunt." Naruto laughs. "Alright, then I guess we'll meet up some other day."

Hinata chuckles and intertwines her arm with Naruto's. "Looks like we're going home."

As the four part ways, each heading to their own families, Sasuke lingers back for a moment. He lets out a grunt, a pained growl as if he'd been holding back for a long time. He reaches to apply pressure to his throbbing eye that's been in excruciating pain this entire time.

"Damn it, why?" He removes his hand from his eye and looks at the blood on his palm. "This… shouldn't be happening."

"Sir?" Komachi's voice snaps his attention away from his current state. "Why didn't-"

"Not a word." He cuts her off. "Not a single word about this, do you understand?"

She remains silent for a moment, her mask hiding her expression which may well give away her thoughts.

"Yes, sir."

Sasuke walks away, rubbing his eye.

-x-

Uzumaki household

That very night, Naruto twists and turns in his bed like he never has before. He's usually not the most quiet sleeper and Hinata often finds herself with little space to sleep once Naruto adjusts to odd sleeping positions, but even she's not seen anything like this.

If she didn't know any better she'd say he was having a nightmare but she's beginning to worry it might be more serious. Try as she might, he just isn't waking up. Whatever's causing his spasms.

Unbeknownst to her, the reason Naruto won't wake up despite her attempts is because his mind is far away in a remote place, and the reason his body is convulsing is because every fiber of his being is racing with worry and fear.

Naruto stands in the shared mindspace, the gathering spot for all Tailed Beasts. Everyone is gathered, even Killer Bee, except for two. They all stand motionless, faces twisted in anger. The third torii gate, marked with 三, and the fifth torii gate, marked with 五, lie broken and ruined.

The tall and proud gates that served as an entrance point for them have been destroyed and Naruto can feel his connection to Isobu and Kokuō has been severed.

"What the fuck happened?!"

CHANGED NAMES

Kūga Nekomata (猫又 クーガ, Nekomata Kūga) - changed from Kūga Tsumetogi. New last name comes from the cat-like yōkai of the same name. Also keeps them more in line with the Inuzuka and Erikami clans of having the name of their companion animal in their clan name.

Setsuen (雪円) - 'setsu' = 'snow' ; 'en' - can mean 'circle', similarly to how all known nin-ken have the '-maru' ending. She was also changed from a black panther to a white tiger which fits with Kūga's inspiration in the first place.

Takeshi Imori (守宮, Imori Takeshi) - changed from Takeshi Tokage. New last name comes from the gecko-like yōkai of the same name.

These names fit better than the old ones in my opinion, and this way all 3 of them are named after a yōkai, as Mizushi is another name for the kappa.

Tenseigan (転生眼) to Tensei Byakugan (転生白眼) - since canonically, the Tenseigan can only be achieved by an Ōtsutsuki implanting a Byakugan in themselves, Hinata's was always meant to be a slightly weaker version of what Toneri used. A mutation that resulted from her being exposed to the energy vessel in the movie. So it wasn't really the actual Tenseigan, so I thought it better to change it to Tensei Byakugan.