Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1. Yep, it's official, I feel like this thing is a true part of the story now.
Dawn came and blue eyes looked out as light watched over the village he had once known as home from the top of his tower. A number of Praetorians had stood around him in the night but he had dismissed them without words. He, at times, needed complete solitude from all others. He was not covered by his armor or even kept a sword on his person, he stood without worry of foes so high. He was enclosed within a territory that was his and his alone after all. A Caesar had nothing to fear within his own lands, nothing could exist within them that could hurt him. He was dressed only in light clothes, finely made as his title deserved, and his eyes focused on one of the banners raised below him and standing proudly on a rooftop.
It was nothing but a silhouette with the light striking it from behind but he had long ago memorized his banner, the symbol of the Uzumaki Empire proudly emblazoned on the cloth.
'This light…it speaks to me.' His blue orbs were hidden from the world as he let his eyes drift close. 'I have seen it so many times before but never like this.' It seemed to whisper a promise to him, sweet things that had driven too many to damnation through its hollow words. He was a Caesar through and knew the truth. What it spoke of was nothing to pursue, nothing to dream of, and nothing to hold dear and close to one's heart. It would only end in a single way. It always did. He scoffed as his eyes snapped open. 'What a pathetic thing...the hope this foolish light brings.'
He did not see a home beneath him, he did not see a place he should be loyal too. All he saw among the horde of weaklings that called it home, the great towers of strength sunken to a pale imitation of where they had once stood and touched the heavens themselves thanks to the collected trash around them, and the utter bile that was the perverse doctrine of teamwork that had taken hold of all the Shinobi travelling the rooftops below him was something to burn.
All he saw was a place unfitting to join his glorious Uzumaki Empire in its present form. It would be nothing but the source of a plague of weakness.
"Such weakness…" He raised a hand from his side, sweeping back his blonde hair as he turned away from the sunlight that promised so much to fools. "I will see it destroyed one day." Hope was not a thing that could be allowed within his Empire. Hope would only lead to folly, lead to defeat, and lead to pointless death.
Such a thing as hope could not sully the greatness of his Uzumaki Empire.
He entered his tower. He had a meeting with Hiruzen Sarutobi soon and would need to depart soon.
Twenty of his Praetorians stood in twin rows across from each other, forming an aisle before the door. They had assembled during the night and remained at the exit to his nearly completed tower up to now, Naruto adjusted the armored bracer on his arm as the door was opened for him by four Praetorians moving each of the solid doors. In front of the gathered Praetorians stood both a centurion and the Legate of his glorious Orange Legion.
"Legate, I did not know you could rise so early." Naruto spoke with a grin as he came to a stop, the two high ranking members of his Legion saluting him with their heads bowed and a fist over their armored heart. The men of the Legion standing with the two dropped to a knee with a clenched fist over their hearts as he passed by them. "What business brings you to see me off?"
"None Caesar." The Legate of his Legion rose his head. "I simply wish to see you off. I only wish that you would allow me to accompany you to such a meeting."
"I require you here. Many things must still be overseen in my absence and I do not know how long it shall last." Naruto rested a hand on the hilt of his blade, the other reaching out to Sasuke's shoulder. "You are the only one who sees my vison so clearly to oversee the journey my Legion must take to reach it."
"You honor me with words such as those, Caesar." Sasuke fell to a knee, bowing his head. "I shall not sully such a thing by failing you."
"I know you will not." Naruto turned piercing blue eyes towards the centurion that stood waiting for his departure. "Centurion, how goes your preparations?"
"They have been completed to the highest of satisfactions, Caesar." The centurion joined the Legate of the Orange Legion on a single knee, bowing his head towards Naruto. "I will stake my life on it even."
"I am glad you possess such confidence." Naruto stepped past both, both turning and rising back to their feet as he did so. "Let us depart."
"Of course." Naruto came to a stop as the centurion turned he gathered men of the Legion.
"CAESAR IS DEPARTING, PRESENT YOURSELVES!"
"HOO!"
As one, the soldiers of his Legion rose. As one, they placed their helmets on. As one, they began marching inward. As one, they stopped and turned to face the centurion.
Naruto could not help but grin at the sight.
"This is a wonderful sight."
"Indeed it is caesar."
"Before I forget Legate, send word to the centurions of the Fifth Cohort. Their time in the village is over and their time spread across Land of Fire has at last begun."
"I have no doubt such news will be cause enough for celebration. Do you wish anything else of me Praetor?"
"Nothing I desire is as pressing as the movement of the Fifth. See to it with all due haste."
"Then allow me to open the way for you Praetor."
'I truly have begun to wonder what you wish to see me about, Sarutobi.' Naruto looked to the Legate of his Orange Legion as he ordered the gates open. 'What has caused you to waste the time of a Caesar like myself with a meeting with you?'
Naruto would not dwell on these thoughts as he left the Uchiha district. He would not dwell on these thoughts as he walked away and towards the Hokage Tower quite the distance away with the centurion at his side and his Praetorians marching behind him. He did not dwell on them even as he reached the tower and ordered his Praetorians to remain outside. He did not dwell on such thoughts as he dismissed the centurion that had followed at his side to depart to his century.
He only allowed them to enter his mind once more as he entered the office under the hidden gaze of two masked ANBU Black Ops agents stationed at the door.
"You wished to see me, Sarutobi-jiji." Naruto stood within the office of the Hokage, alone with none of his soldiers at his side. On the other hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi had Shikaku Nara in the office with him but the sight of the Nara was not uncommon with his multitude of duties related to the Shinobi Forces of Konoha and the dozens of duties he held as one of the Hokage's right hand men. The aged Hokage smoking behind his desk and Shikaku leaning against the wall across from the door with his eyes closed, his breathing nearly unnoticeable to even the trained eye, was not an uncommon sight among the Shinobi of Konoha.
The Nara had fallen asleep standing up. Sadly, it wasn't uncommon either.
Shikaku Nara's capability to fall asleep nearly anywhere was well-known and, in the case of some members of his clan, envied.
"Yes…" The Hokage paused, taking a long drag of his pipe before he continued, blowing out the smoke as he did so. "I have wished to speak with you for quite some time but never found the chance until now."
"I, as a loyal Shinobi, am always at the ready to answer the will of the Hokage." Naruto gave a deep bow, his blue eyes shining with something Hiruzen did not want to identify.
He had seen it in the eyes of too many of the long deceased, their life taken by his own hands, the same ones who had tried to stab him in the back when he had shown them mercy instead of taking the easy route, being cruel like all others. If he did not think on it, if he did not reflect in quiet moments on the look in the eyes of the boy in front of him, he would not have to give an order that would truly haunt him. He would not be driven to an early grave with a broken heart.
So he ignored it, he ignored the way Naruto's eyes flashed with a dry amusement as he rose back to his full height, he ignored the burning depths of those eyes that he didn't want to dwell into, and he ignored the way that the boy he had known for years was growing farther and farther away with every minute of every day.
"I am glad for that." Hiruzen took another moment to enjoy the smoke of his pipe before he exhaled once more. "I must admit, I am very proud of your recent accomplishment, advancing so far in this year's Chunin Exams, facing a quality of contenders for the rank of Chunin I have not seen in quite some time. I find that I must congratulate you on coming so far already."
"I aim to achieve the rank of Chunin once the finals are over with." Naruto was not speaking with confidence, he only spoke with an absolute certainty befitting of a Caesar. "I will accept nothing less from myself."
"You certainly are confident Naruto-kun." Hiruzen could only chuckle as he removed his pipe from his mouth, setting it down upright on his desk. "Forgive me but I have to say this, I never expected you to advance this far so quickly. Many stay Genin for years before taking part in the Chunin Exams yet you have hardly been one for even a fragment of a year before you decided to take part in such trials."
"As I said before Sarutobi-jiji, I will accept nothing less from myself but excellence." Naruto's eyes flashed to where Shikaku leaned on the wall, his breathing changed even if his stance had not. "A Caesar cannot abide by such low standards, those who lie under his banner will find themselves questioning him and if they question they shall soon doubt." His eyes flashed, a darkness appearing within their blue depths. "Doubt will lead to insurrection and I will not be able to control my more…baser urges if one was to commit such a grave crime against myself and my Empire. My Legion would fail to withhold themselves as well, against such filth they will see no reason to I imagine." The darkness was gone. "I must hold myself to such high standards to maintain civility amongst the inhabitants of my lands Sarutobi-jiji. I'm sure you understand that."
"That is quite something Naruto, quite something indeed." Hiruzen did not sigh at the words that he wished he did not hear. He merely accepted them. "Now, I wish to move on to the reason I asked you to come to my office this day…a reason I believe you will no doubt be very interested in."
"Is it about the Toad Sage?" Naruto's question did not provoke a reaction from the aged Hokage that heard it. The eyes of the Nara snapped open through.
'I guess you do have people watching this building then.' Shikaku glanced out the window, his eyes searching for something he knew he would not find. That would be the job of the ANBU Black Ops, he already had a dozen in mind for such a task. Three of them were currently occupied elsewhere. Four would need to be taken off leave. One would need to be removed from another, less important, duty. The other four he had in mind were currently being debriefed by Ibiki and would be busy for the next several hours. 'We'll need to fix that.' His eyes turned back to Naruto.
"I'm not very surprised you know that Naruto-kun." Hiruzen fought down the desire to smile as he slowly rose from his seat. "I find that you don't surprise me very much anymore after you managed to learn a thing as complex as the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique in not even a night. I once thought you would never master the simple Clone Technique taught at the Academy but you surpassed that without issue with a technique like that. A Kinjutsu most could never dream of using, you have mastered."
"I am almost disappointed I have shown you so much of my genius Sarutobi-jiji, I aimed to astound you with my accomplishments at least once more." Naruto grinned as the Hokage moved around the desk and stood in front of him.
"Yes, I'm afraid that opportunity has long since passed." Hiruzen's mind went to the conquest of Nami no Kuni. "I suppose there's no point keeping you in suspense any longer."
The aged Hokage folded his hands behind his back and, instantly, a presence filled the office.
"Yes, I see it now." The man known as the Toad Sage stood with his arms folded across his chest, his eyes taking in the blonde in front of him as he stood next to the Hokage. "Yes, I definitely see what's so special about this kid now." A smile came across his face as the smoke wafted to the outer edges of the room. "You, Naruto Uzumaki, deserve to be my student."
"Really?" Naruto matched his grin as he looked at the Toad Sage, his eyes moving up and down his form. "I'm not so sure you deserve to be the teacher of one such as myself." His eyes looked up to Jiraiya and they were not amused. "I do not see any worth in such a thing."
"Ah, I see, the awe of my presence, seeing such a legendary figure like myself with your own eyes, has rendered you dumbfounded." Jiraiya chuckled as he met Naruto's unmoving stare with his own. "You, in your awe of meeting one such as myself, must have forgotten the countless feats I have performed from surviving an encounter with the legendary Hanzo the Salamander as a young man to learning from the toads of Mount Myoboku to gaining the epithet the Toad Sage for my tremendous skills! You must not know of my countless travels, my experiences across the Elemental Nations that were only trials that grew my strength and sharpened my mind." Jiraiya looked down on Naruto in more ways than one. "You must fail to understand just how lucky you are to get a teacher like me because your brain's been fried from my magnificent presence."
"What can you honestly teach me then, Jiraiya the Toad Sage?" Naruto spoke a title without respect, without awe, and without anything in his voice accept boredom.
"We have a month, let's find out." Jiraiya did not turn away from the eyes of a child. He saw a fire in them that made him excited more than anything.
'I don't see what's got the old man so worried about what you're doing kid. You're not exactly a major problem at your age or with your power, no matter how big some think it is.' Jiraiya already had a dozen different ways to deal with the boy in front of him. Not that he would ever use them. 'What's got sensei so worried about a kid like you?'
He did not see a danger in such familiar blue eyes. He only saw the past meeting the present. A figure briefly overlapped with Naruto's own form but it was gone in the blink of an eye.
'You're just his son. We should have all expected some of that insane genius to rub off on you too.' His eyes did not leave the eyes of the boy who would be his student.
"I see." Naruto chuckled as he turned his eyes away from Jiraiya, his form turning towards the door. "Where do you wish to meet, Jiraiya the Toad Sage?"
"The Konoha Hot Springs, three hours from now should do it."
"I will be sure to arrive with all haste." Naruto spoke no more, turning and leaving the room. The moment he stepped through the door, he made use of the Body Flicker and Hiruzen sighed as he returned to the seat behind his desk. Shikaku and Jiraiya both eyed the aged Hokage as he seemed to collapse into it more than he sat down.
"You doing alright, sensei?" Jiraiya was quick to drop his confident, show boating, and boasting act for concern for the well-being of his sensei. "This job isn't too tough on that old ticker of yours, right?" He attempted to joke but it fell flat when Shikaku reached into his Flak Jacket, removing a bottle from a pocket and wordlessly handing it over to the Hokage.
"The medicine is helping." Hiruzen opened the bottle, downing three of the pills dry, before returning it to Shikaku without a word. He offered Jiraiya a strained smile. "I'm not about to kick the bucket anytime soon even with this stressful job."
"I'm sure you could find someone willing to take that hat off your head if you really wanted to retire." This time for good was not something that needed to be said by anyone in the room. All of them remembered the far too short time of the Fourth Hokage. "If, you really need to get out of here, I'll take up the hat for you no problem."
The offer was truly monumental. Jiraiya's distaste for the title of Hokage were well-known, he had too much personal baggage to even consider taking up such a title. But he would if he was asked. If there was one thing that was to be envied about the Toad Sage it was his commitment to any promise he made.
Hiruzen chuckled.
"Focus on your travels and your 'research' for now Jiraiya. I'll be sure to call you to take my place if I ever feel I need that great of a break." Hiruzen formed a steeple before him with his hands. His eyes lost all traces of humor as he looked to his topmost Shinobi on intelligence. "Now, since I'm sure you've gotten quite the read on Naruto, what do you think of him?"
Suddenly, Jiraiya was all business.
"He's not harmless but he's nowhere near as dangerous as you all seem to think. The kid has Chakra reserves that dwarf everyone in this room but he's not one for control, he's more into the idea of constant division until it stops being so gigantic. With a method like that, he'll never gain any decent control over his power. Wipe out enough of his army and he'll be incapable of using even the most basics of techniques anymore. He's strong through, could see it in the way he was standing. That armor of his is heavy, so are his weapons, if he hits you, it's going to hurt. He's also pretty observant to know I was here and call me out like that. He must have had this place under watch for a while. That Kinjutsu of his really is something else through. I don't know how you manage to create an entirely new Jutsu by screwing up another but I can't complain. No one but someone with his reserves could even hope to replicate it but I'm not worried even if they do." Jiraiya paused to chuckle, his laughter drawing the undivided attention of both Konoha Shinobi in the room with him. "The technique is most likely unique to a Jinchuriki like him. I was looking over his seal when I was waiting to show up, comparing it to what I remembered from what that little ball of sunshine, Gero, showed me ages ago, and I can't help but spot all the differences in it now."
"What?" His words immediately brought forth a reaction from the two Shinobi, Hiruzen's near panic clear as Shikaku's eyes seemed to deaden.
The amount of information currently going through his head would literally kill any other men. It brought on a minor headache to the Nara. He made a mental note to take some aspirin later.
"Yeah, the outer edges of the seal have been, well the best word I can think of, modified. Folded in a bit, twisted here and there, connected in some places, and too many more minor changes to really go into detail with you two. Just know that the central seal, the one holding the Kyubi at bay, is still very much operable. No changes to that one at all." Jiraiya could only shake his head, a sad smile briefly crossing over his face. "That kid really was a genius when he made that thing, I'm a Fuinjutsu master and I can hardly decipher the more complex mechanisms of that thing."
"Anyway, back to the topic at hand, the kid's Kinjutsu isn't something I would advise recording in the Scroll of Seals. Those 'clones' of his aren't really clones, I would call them something closer to some type of constructs of Chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast if my guess is right. To get a start on the complexity of this thing, imagine the Rasengan completed to its fullest potential and then, somehow, expanded beyond those limits. It's the epitome of Shape AND Nature transformation in the same way that kid's Kinjutsu is the epitome of the clone technique, he's reached a place where clones aren't clones any longer. They aren't mindless clones constructed out of Chakra or some useless illusions like what you've got the Academy kids learning, they're closer to actual life than anything I've ever seen before. Both of those techniques are ridiculously complex but only one actually exists to its fullest potential and it's the kid's new Kinjutsu."
"…How?" Hiruzen was the only one capable of speaking, Shikaku was still within an ever growing whirlwind of information in his mind that would not be ending anytime soon. "How could he create something like this?"
"My best guess? He doesn't even know what he's done. He knows it goes far beyond simple Shadow Clones but he's probably not clear on how far he's taken the technique and probably never will. So many factors came together that night, his bad hand signs, his seal, his status as a Jinchuriki, and, probably, his status as an Uzumaki made it so that he's made something closer to a…hmm, there's a question. What would you call a technique like this?" The Toad Sage seemed to honestly focus his efforts on such a thing like a name. "It's nowhere near as simple as a Kekkei Genkai or even something as advanced as a Kekkei Tota. That Kinjutsu of his deserves a new category, something to show just how powerful it really is."
"I believe you want to call it a Kekkei Mora, Bloodline Encompassing." Hiruzen's voice was tired as he spoke those words.
"Yes." Jiraiya gave a slow nod of his head. "A name like that, a technique that needs so many factors unique to a kid like him and no one else, fits perfectly. It is a technique that is not limited to simple DNA like any of the many Dojutsu and unique Nature Transformation around the world or limited to a narrow selection of unique individuals like Iwa's Dust Release, it is something that encompasses every aspect of a person, stretching from their DNA to their life experiences to the very core of their personality, and creates a thing that is entirely unique. No one can replicate it and no one, not even twins raised together, would ever be able to possess the same one. As much as each person is different from all others, a Kekkei Mora is different for every person who achieves it."
"Naruto's Kinjutsu is most certainly the only technique deserving of such a distinction as Kekkei Mora and we'll call it-" Jiraiya grinned as he took up his pen, the paper before him blank. His mind ran free, his thoughts in search of a name suitable to such a technique as the Kekkei Mora Naruto's Kinjutsu truly was. He needed a name that would perfectly describe the innate power, the utter grandness, and the great sorrow of such a technique to all, Shinobi and civilian alike, simply by hearing it. Every great author knew that sorrow was one of the most important aspects of a work, of any creation. The sorrow of life, the joy of life, regrets, triumphs, reflection, and so much more needed to be captured in the title he chose.
It would have to be a near equal to the title of the greatest book he had written so far, the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.
"AH!" Jiraiya made his proclamation clear to all those in the office. "I've gotten the perfect name!" The Toad Sage paused, swinging his arms out before raising his pen up. "We'll call it-"
"Kinjutsu: Mugen Yureigun. Forbidden Technique: Infinite Ghost Army." Shikaku's eyes snapped open as Jiraiya seemed to visibly deflate.
'That name! How could he capture the hollowness within a person to create such a technique like that? How can he capture the limitless potential of the technique, the army it forms nothing but a pale image of the original, himself a man desperate for companionship!' It almost pained Jiraiya to have such a name given by Shikaku. 'How could he do it so effortlessly! I never even knew I had competition until he spoke!' A silent challenge took hold in Jiraiya's soul then. 'Shikaku Nara, you may win this battle, you may win countless battles, but I shall win the war! Enjoy your victory while you can for it will soon be replaced with the bitterness of defeat as you face the wrath of the literary genius known as Jiraiya the Toad Sage!'
"I wanted to name it."
Hiruzen found it in himself to laugh.
Away from the Hokage Tower, far away in truth in the Uchiha District, Sasuke Uchiha sat with guests.
"I know the fame of Praetor's Orange Legion spreads without end but I do not see the reason for you to be here." He sat at ease in his chair, the red and black Sharingan overtaking his coal black eyes, as he looked at the two in front of him: The two sane Sunagakure Shinobi.
They had come somewhat unexpected, spotted a few blocks away by the watchers before they had come to a stop at the barred gate. Twenty clones of the Orange Legion's First Cohort stood before them, two centurions responsible for bringing them this far under his orders. He had observed them once they had entered the tower, made them sit in silence for close to thirty minutes alone with their guard dismissed save for the two centurions, before he decided to officially meet with them with a pair of Naruto's Praetorians with him.
He had taken his seat and, beyond greetings, conversation had been lacking for the past several minutes. He had decided to break such a thing.
The two shared a look before Temari looked to Sasuke. She would not meet his eye so he deactivated his Sharingan with a roll of his eyes.
"There, you can talk to me without any fear now. My Sharingan is no longer active." The Uchiha looked to both guests of the Orange Legion's main base in Konohagakure. It was frankly a miracle he had allowed them to enter with Naruto gone on whatever business he had with the Hokage.
He wouldn't deny, he was tempted to thin the Chunin Exams finals at the moment but he withheld the urge. He wanted to see what Rock Lee would do to Kankuro too much to pass on it. He didn't go out of his way to make their visit a great comfortable one through, the eyes of the Legion's First Cohort had not left them since they had arrived to the conquered land. The eyes of the Legion were all-seeing within their territory and the two would simply need to live with it.
"Yes…we wanted to talk to Naruto Uzumaki on behalf of our father, the Kazekage."
His eyes grew slightly wider before they returned to normal. His eyes went from the sister who had spoken to the brother that remained silent and found a similar look in their eyes. He quickly returned his eyes to the blonde and his Sharingan took hold of his eyes.
"Yes, I believe Caesar will be interested in what you've told me."
Yes, Naruto would most definitely be interested in what they had to say.
AN: I wonder what is so interesting Naruto needs to know? I wonder if Jiraiya's right about Naruto? Serious question, does the name suck? That single bit delayed posting more of what I'd already had written.