"Talking"

'Thinking'

Flashback - "Talking"/ 'Thinking'

Chapter 8:

"Yellow Dragon, you say?" Naruto questioned, as he was looking at the Taya with narrowed eyes.

Tayuya nodded, before she said. "Yes. She is the descendant of the founder of the Takumi Village, a guy named, Seimei, who founded the village about a hundred years ago. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that she is his great-granddaughter, and is said to be more skilled then even Seimei, not just in battle power, but also in craftsmanship."

"Hm, I think I heard about that village somewhere," Naruto commented while thinking.

"They were famous for making weapons for all of the ninja in the EN," Tayuya said. "Unfortunately, every time the big hidden villages went to war, Takumi Village was attacked out of fear that their weapons would go to the enemy sides. And when there was no war, the residents of the Takumi Village, didn't have other choice but to supply the other villages with weaponry in order to survive. They couldn't even seek revenge against those who attacked them."

As Tayuya was explaining everything she knew about Takumi Village, Naruto was listening carefully. Taya was also listening, wanting to know how much Tayuya knows. She is also not in a hurry, so she has no problem waiting, and it would be beneath her to attack her opponents while they are not battle ready.

"Over time," Tayuya continued telling what she knows about the Takumi Village, "their clientele from the other villages grew in skill, making the crafted weapons obsolete. When the village faced hard times they requested help but were ignored. Right now, there is pretty much nothing left of that Village. Taya might actually be the only remaining person from that village."

"I see," Naruto said. Before he might say something else, though, Taya spoke.

"Actually, there are few others who are still alive," she said. "They have some plans though, with which I do not agree, so we went our separate ways."

"Is that so," Naruto questioned while looking at Taya? "And why would you tell us that?"

Taya shrugged. "It doesn't matter," she said. "I won't make any difference if you know or not. I was sent here to capture the both of you, and I will do it, so you knowing about other member of the Takumi Village, doesn't matter, as you will never get the chance to meet them."

Naruto raised his right eyebrow. "You seem so sure that you will be able to defeat us," he said. "If you are saying that because you are on the same level as Orochimaru, then I will tell you right now, that Orochimaru, as powerful as he is, is a weakling compared to me."

Taya smiled. "We will see how powerful you are once the battle starts," she said, before she drew the sword from her back with her right hand, and held it pointed toward Naruto.

There was some red glow around the edges of the black blade, which made Naruto curious about the sword. He could feel that the sword is not your average blade, and it almost feels like it has a power of its one. Sort of like Zanpakutō's, used by Shinigami and Arrancar.

"Don't underestimate her," Tayuya said with a sweat drop rolling down her cheek. "Her skills in Swordsmanship are above anyone I have ever seen, and she is said to have mastery over lightning on the level which would put the Raikage's to shame."

Naruto though, only smirked, before he said. "Go and help the Fūma Clan deal with those imposters. I don't think they will be able to take them out by themselves, even though they are not the real Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"I will deal with this girl, alone."

Tayuya wanted to argue, but one look at Naruto's face, told her he was serious, and that she should just listen to him if she knows what's good for her. So, she looked at him one more time, before she moved toward where the Fūma Clan members have already started the battle against the fake Orochimaru and Kabuto, while she was explaining to Naruto, the history of the Takumi village.

Naruto pulled out his sword, and held it pointed toward the ground. He smirked, and asked. "Shall we?"

Taya didn't even bother to reply, as she disappeared in a burst of speed. Naruto disappeared soon after.

XXX

Naruto was right. Orochimaru and Kabuto which showed up to attack Fūma Clan, weren't the real deal.

This was proven right, about five minutes into the battle between the two of them, against the Fūma Clan and Tayuya… well, it was the two of them against the Fūma Clan. Tayuya was only interfering if she had to, but she has decided to stay away for now, and see how the things go.

When a powerful mix of fire and wind jutsu used by two members of the Fūma Clan, hit the fake Orochimaru and Kabuto, their disguises were destroyed, only to reveal that Kabuto, was in fact, Kagerō, while Orochimaru turned out to be, Arashi, a member of the Fūma Clan who joined Orochimaru, and also the cousin Sasame was searching for.

The members of the Fūma Clan, who didn't join Orochimaru, couldn't believe that they were being attacked by their own family, and while Kagerō does look to feel slight guilt because of what she is doing, Arashi seems to be almost psychotic.

The reason why he was like that, was revealed as soon as he revealed that he has used Casualty Puppet jutsu, and absorbed Kamikiri and Jigumo, thus gaining their powers, but also transforming into a monster. His mind was also affected because of the jutsu, and now everyone knew why he was as he is.

Seeing that he is a great threat for his clansman, Tayuya decided to take on Arashi, alone, while several others took on Kagerō, who was quite a bit more powerful then everyone who has stayed in the Fūma Clan and didn't join Orochimaru.

It took Tayuya just two minutes to defeat Arashi, who was powerful, even before he absorbed Kamikiri and Jigumo, which only made him stronger, but after Naruto turned her into human/hollow hybrid, Tayuya has become much more powerful, and Arashi couldn't do anything against her. She was able to defeat him, by ripping the corpses of Kamikiri and Jigumo from Arashi, which sent him into shock and reverted him back to his original state or mind and physical look.

By then, the rest of the Fūma Clan were able to subdue Kagerō, and they all joined Tayuya. Unfortunately, the price of the jutsu Arashi used, is life, so even though he was back as his old self, he is dying, and only has few minutes left.

The Fūma Clan gathered around him, as they had some final words, with Sasame crying as she didn't want him to die and leave her alone.

He told her that she won't be alone, and that even though they are not as close as the two of them have been, the rest of the Fūma Clan, are her family, and as such, they will take care of her now that he won't be there any longer.

Sasame and few others, cried as Arashi finally died, though he had a happy smile on his face. He was happy because he knew that Sasame will be safe, and he was also happy, that he is free again, after the terrible mistake he made by joining Orochimaru.

The crying and mourning was interrupted by a large explosion, which was heard from where Naruto and Taya were fighting.

XXX

For about ten minutes, Naruto and Taya were fighting with only their swords, trying to see how powerful and skillful the other is, before they bring out the big guns.

Even though they have only been exchanging sword strikes, the damage to the surrounding area is visible, since the strikes were powerful and each clash would produce a shockwave, which would spread around the Fūma Clan compound, and cause destruction.

"You are good," Taya said, while standing several meters from Naruto. She had a smile on her face, and some sweat on her forehead. Across from her, Naruto didn't even look winded. It was like he has been out on a morning walk for the last ten minutes, and not participated in a high speed sword duel. "But let's see how you deal with this!"

Taya grabbed her sword with both of her hands, and lifted it above her head. The sword was then surrounded by yellow aura, and soon, sparks of electricity appeared all over the blade. She then pointed the sword toward Naruto, and yelled. "Thunder Beam!"

As soon as she yelled her attack, Taya sent a very powerful beam of yellow electricity toward Naruto, who rose an eyebrow when he saw the attack.

Naruto countered the move by pointing his left index finger toward the incoming attack and fired a medium level, red colored, Cero, which quickly collided with Taya's attack, and caused a big explosion, which covered the whole area in dust, and prevented Taya and Naruto to see each other.

Though he couldn't see her, Naruto knew exactly where Taya is, because of his Pesquisa. Which is why, he noticed right away that Taya has jumped into the air, and pointed her sword toward the thunder cloud filled sky. "Thunderbolt!" Taya shouted her attack, again, and brought her sword downward toward Naruto, but instead of firing her attack from the sword, it was only acting as a medium to bring down the natural lighting from the sky.

A very powerful bolt of lightning descended down from the sky, and hit Naruto head on from above, completely covering him from sight in a dome of electricity.

Several seconds later, the electric dome disappeared, and revealed Naruto standing in the middle of a crater. His cloths were burned on several places, but there doesn't seem to be any damage on his body.

"That was a good one," Naruto praised Taya, with a smirk on her face. "But still not good enough."

'What the hell's up with this guy,' Taya wondered in her head? 'There is no way he didn't receive any damage after that attack. I mean, yes, it wasn't even close to one of my more powerful ones, but he should have still be stunned if nothing else.'

Taya but the thumb of her left hand, and went through one handed hand sighs, before she slammed her hand on the ground. "Blood Clone Jutsu!" She yelled.

The blood from her finger spread on the ground, and started to take form. Ten seconds later, another Taya was standing right next to the original one, only without the sword.

"You are pretty durable, I'll give you that," the original Taya said, while the blood clone Taya, was performing hand signs. At the same time, the original was also performing other hand sighs, with both hands this time, as she has attached her sword on the strap at her back. "Let's see how far that durability goes!

"Water Style: Nine Water Dragon Jutsu!" The blood clone shouted, and spit out water from her mouth, which then spread around the wide area, before it started to shape into nine gigantic water dragons.

Naruto's eyes widened slightingly, as he saw this, and remembered the jutsu being used by Kakashi and Zabuza in their battle. The difference though, was astronomical, because Taya's version made Kakashi's and Zabuza's look like academy students playing around.

He was even more surprised when he was what the original Taya was doing.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Infusion!" The original shouted, and placed both of her palms on the ground and sent electricity through the water dragon's, making them all sparkle for a few seconds, before they all moved toward each other, and started to merge together.

Both the blood clone and the original Taya shouted at the same time. "Collaboration Jutsu: Storm Style: Hydra.

Naruto looked in amazement at the 300 feet tall, nine headed monstrosity that Taya has made. The nine-headed Dragon was made out of water, but there was black lightning all around it, and if Naruto's eyes weren't messing with him, there were streams of black lightning 'inside', of the dragon's body, flowing like rivers.

"This is one of my most powerful Jutsu," Taya yelled so that Naruto could hear her over the sound of dragon roars and the thunder which was heard from the sky above them.

Naruto realized just then, that the thunder storm is not normal, because the storm of that magnitude can't be natural, and even if it was, there would be lightning strikes all over the place, but from what he can see, there isn't a single lighting strike which was coming toward the ground, and were just dancing between the clouds.

"Let's see you counter it now!" Naruto was brought back from his thinking by Taya's shouting, and noticed the nine-headed serpent dragon coming toward him. He saw it, and knew then and there, that no normal human can escape or counter that.

'It's a good thing that I'm not a normal man.' Naruto thought with a smile on his face. "Bakudō #81. Dankū!" Naruto said, and immediately, a huge translucent barrier in the form of a large rectangular wall appeared in front of Naruto.

Just as Naruto formed the barrier, Taya's nine-headed hydra, hit at the barrier, creating an explosion so big, that it covered the entire Fūma Clan compound, and completely erased it from the face of the earth.

It took a few moments for the dust cloud to disappear, and to reveal Naruto standing behind the barrier, which, by the way, didn't even have a scratch on it.

Quite a bit away from Naruto, Taya was standing and looking at the barrier, and through it, Naruto. Her mouths and eyes were wide open in disbelief. She couldn't seem to comprehend, how Naruto was able to defend himself against an attack like that, and doesn't even have a scratch on him.

'Who the hell is this guy?' Taya screamed in her mind, now starting to get scared for the first time in her life.

The barrier Naruto created disappeared, and Naruto started to laugh lightly, before it turned into a full out maniacal laugh, which scared Taya to hell. She was backing away slightly from Naruto, while not taking her eyes off of him, in case he suddenly decides to attack.

"I guess it's a good thing that the members of the Fūma Clan ended up outside of the gates of the compound," Naruto said through the laugh. "They would have all been vaporized to nothingness by that attack.

"I must congratulate you, Taya. Not counting Ichigo Kurosaki, and one other guy, you are the most powerful human I have ever fought, and that's saying a lot considering that I have lived for over a thousand years."

Taya almost had a stroke when she heard what Naruto said, and then promptly fell on her ass in disbelief and fear.

"W-What are y-you talking a-about?" Taya barely stuttered.

Naruto stopped laughing and just looked at Taya with amusement in his eyes. Then, he decided to show her what real power is, so that she can see how far above her he actually is.

Considering that Naruto, at this point, is a being above which any mortal being can hope to achieve, his power is transcendent, which means, that no one can sense his power level unless he brings is down to their level of awareness. In this, he is the same as Aizen and Ichigo, as they have both ended up being transcendent beings. At least that's what the goddess told him.

So, Naruto lowered his power level to the level where Taya could feel it, and then let it loose.

The effect was instantaneous. The air in the entire town grew so heavy, that people were having problem to breathe, let alone stand on their legs. Every living being in the town, fell on their asses, as they were pressed down by Naruto's Reiatsu, and some of them, have even passed out since they couldn't take it.

The worst pressure of them all, was felt by Taya, who was the closest to Naruto, and was getting even closer as she was on the ground, unable to move, and Naruto was slowly walking toward her, looking at her with narrowed eyes, but with a smirk on his face. At that point, Taya felt like Naruto is the ultimate predator, and she is a deer about to be devoured.

Taya was reduced to a little girl, as she was pressed to the ground from the pressure released by Naruto. She had tears at the side of her wide eyes, which was a sign of how afraid of Naruto she is.

Never in her life has she been afraid of anything or anyone, and she never thought she will be, but now that she was looking at Naruto as he was slowly walking toward her, she felt she was looking at the God of Death, who has come to take her soul so he can play with it for the rest of eternity.

When Naruto arrived right in front of Taya, he stopped releasing his Reiatsu, and the pressure Taya felt disappeared, allowing her to breathe normally.

She then looked toward Naruto, and saw his right hand was extended toward her, but not in a threatening manor, instead, it looked like he was offering her help to get back to her feet.

Of course, Taya didn't immediately try to take his hand and get up. She was afraid of him, and until she knows what he wants, she won't be touching him at all.

Seeing that Taya won't accept his help to stand up, Naruto sighed. "I won't hurt you," he said, surprising her. "This battle is over, and you lost, so there is no reason to hurt you at this point. On top of that, you are strong, and I respect strength a lot, which is why I have an offer for you."

Taya looked at Naruto with surprised and confused look on her face. She wondered what kind of offer he has for her, and even wondered what would happen to her if she was to refuse his offer.

"W-What do you want?" She asked.

"I want you to join me," Naruto said, and got wide-eyed look from Taya in return. "You are strong, and I want you to join me and become my comrade. In return for your allegiance, I will give you the same type of power that I have.

"Because of those powers, you will become much stronger. Not as strong as I am, but stronger than any normal human can even hope to become.

"So… what is your answer?"

XXX

Naruto, Tayuya, and Taya were seating in a boot in one of the bars in the town. With them, there are several other members of the Fūma Clan, led by Hanzaki.

Since Taya was there, it was obvious she accepted Naruto's offer, and is now his new comrade and traveling companion, along with Tayuya. Now though, it was time to see if Fūma Clan will be joining them as well, or will they stay where they are and continue to survive by being criminals and whores.

"After what happened earlier today, we of the Fūma Clan have talked about it, and about what you told us, and have decided to listen to your offer." Hanzaki said, getting raised eyebrows from Naruto and Tayuya. Taya was just seating there quietly, as she didn't know about the offer, so she didn't have anything to say.

"You agree to listen to my offer, even though you know what will happen if you refuse it?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes," Hanzaki confirmed. "Orochimaru sent those three to take us for experimenting, as he needs new bodies. We were able to stay free because of you and Lilynette, but the next time he sends someone, we will be done for. We talked about it, and decided to listen to your offer, and if we don't like it… well, death is better than being used by Orochimaru for his sick experiments."

Naruto thought about it for a minute, before he sighed. "Fine," he said. "When I said that I wanted Fūma Clan to join me, I mean that I wanted you to join my village."

He got confused expressions from everyone there except Tayuya. "Wait a minute," Hanzaki said. "What village? Are you actually from one of the Hidden Villages and they have sent you to get us to join you?"

"No," Naruto said. "I have no affiliation to any of the current villages. I have decided to build a new village. Lilynette told me that we would need someone to live there, since, currently, the place where I plan to build the village, is completely empty. No one has lived there for decades now, so, we need someone to join. Your clan came up first, since Lilynette knows a lot about this land and what was happening here in recent years. Basically, she is the one who suggested you."

This was another big surprise for the Fūma. Hanzaki and the rest of the Fūma who were there, all looked at Tayuya wondering, why she suggested them, and how does she know so much about the Land of Rice Paddies. They also remembered that she knew a lot about Orochimaru, and for a moment, a thought passed through their minds that this was all a setup, and that Naruto an Tayuya actually work for Orochimaru, and are doing all of this to trick them so that the Fūma would in the end, end up as Orochimaru guinea pigs.

The half a dozen Fūma Clan members looked at Naruto and Tayuya, searching for any signs of deception, but after a minute of not finding one, Hanzaki sighed, and asked. "And where exactly do you plan to build this village of yours?"

"Land of Whirlpools?" Naruto shortly answered, getting wide-eyed looks from everyone but Tayuya.

"But, that place was completely destroyed," Hanzaki said. "There is nothing left there."

"I know that it was destroyed," Naruto said. "And while I don't know in what condition the island currently is, I know that no one lives there. The island is currently uninhabited, but is inhabitable and supposedly has a lot of natural resources, which makes it perfect to build a hidden village. No, it actually makes it perfect to build a whole country, which is exactly what my end goal is. The village is just the start."

"But you can't just take an island and build a country," Hanzaki argued. "What if someone complains?"

"Who," Naruto asked? "The Uzumaki Clan was the biggest clan on that island. From what I know, the Uzumaki's were the Royal family and rulers of the country. Also, every Uzukage was an Uzumaki. But, Uzumaki Clan is all but gone, and those who are still alive, are scattered all over the EN. If some of them wanted or had the ability to rebuild the land, they would have tried by now, since they didn't, the land is ripe for the taking, and no one can say anything.

"I'm actually surprised that none of the great nations tried to take it over after the fall of the Uzumaki Clan. Knowing how greedy those bastards are, I wouldn't have been surprised if someone annexed the Land of Whirlpools."

"Well," Tayuya decided to say something about that. "From what I know, after the Whirlpool Country was destroyed, the place was cleaned up of everything of worth, and then abandoned. The reason no one annexed it by now, is because no one thought it was worth it, even with the natural resources it has."

"I see." Naruto said. "Well, anyway… what is your answer," he asked Hanzaki? "If you decide to join me, you will have to work, a lot, to rebuild the village, and to build homes for yourselves, but that shouldn't be a problem since you will have to rebuild your house, which was destroyed during the battle earlier, sorry about that, by the way.

"Anyway, Lilynette, Taya and I will be going around the EN, trying to earn money and find more people to join us, while you would stay in Whirlpool. I'm sure we can find some temporary accommodations for all of you, until the houses are built.

"Also, if you join, you will no longer have to be thieves and… other things," he said that while casting a look toward few woman who were there with Hanzaki. They all blushed and looked toward the floor in embarrassment. "I will provide you with money to last for some time, until the houses are built, and I'm sure you have some money as well. Once your houses are built, strongest among you can try to do some bounty hunting and some odd jobs around the EN to earn money, until the village is up and running, after which, we will be receiving missions, and over time, as other places are built, there will be more job for everyone, including none fighters."

XXX

It didn't take long for the Fūma Clan members to accept Naruto's offer, which means, that from that moment on, they were officially, the first clan who joined the 'to be rebuild', Land of Whirlpools.

After the agreement, the Fūma's went and collected what was left of their stuff, which unfortunately, wasn't much, as everything was destroyed in the battle between Naruto and Taya.

Naruto then gave them some money he had sealed in the scroll, and the told Tayuya to take them all to the Land of Whirlpools, and stay there with them until Naruto comes to check the place. Taya would come with him, though.

"Why do I have to take them to Whirlpool?" Tayuya grumbled.

"Because you are the only one who went there," Naruto said. "You told me that Orochimaru took you once there along with few others, to check the place. That means you know how to get there better them me and Taya, and know what to expect.

"I will go and see if I can find more money and potential clans and people to join the village. Taya will come with me because, even though she agreed to join me, I still don't trust her completely," Taya heard this, but wasn't offended. She still doesn't trust Naruto, either, so they are even in that regard.

Tayuya huffed. "Fine. But better come soon. I don't want to spend too much time in one place, now that I have the chance to travel and see the EN the way I want to."

Naruto nodded, but said nothing. Tayuya did another thing, though. "Oh, and my advice is, that you should try to find a way to make a lot of money as fast as possible. If you plan to do bounty hunting, you will never be able to get enough money to build a village, I don't even want to talk about the country."

"And how exactly do I do that?" Naruto asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well, you said that you have always had luck in gambling," Tayuya said. "You proved that two months ago in Tanzaku-gai, so maybe you should try something similar, but in another place. You could also try to take over some mines. I know of a gold mine, just over the western boarder of the Land of Rice Paddies, and another one in the Land of Rivers. If you can get your hands on them, you will have enough money to start building the village right away."

"Hm," Naruto thought about what Tayuya told him. He knew she was right, and that with bounty hunting, he would be able to get enough money to live comfortably, but for his plans, he needs hundreds of millions of Ryō, and that's not something he can just find around the corner. 'I guess I'll go and check out those gold mines before I do anything else.'

"Ok," Naruto said. "I'll go and check them out. When I arrive in the Land of Whirlpools, we'll talk about what I found and what I managed to get."

Tayuya nodded, and after she said goodbye to Naruto and Taya, she went to get the Fūma Clan and escort them to the former Land of Whirlpools.

Naruto and Taya turned around and went to a different direction.

The reason Naruto can use Kidō, is because of Aaroniero Arruruerie's power, which allows him to use the special powers of all those he has absorbed. He has eaten Metastacia, who has gained the powers of Kaien Shiba. So, through Metastacia Aaroniero gained Kaien's memories, knowledge, powers, everything, and since Aaroniero was just one piece of Naruto's soul, it wouldn't be impossible for Naruto to know Kidō.