Gallivanting God
Chapter 8
Team 7 took to the branches of the deadly forest, two of them perfectly fine without a scratch on them, whilst the only female of the team was covered in bruises and dirt, with her outfit torn at the back. Naruto and Sasuke also took note of the fact Sakura's hair was shorter and a complete mess. Clearly it was cut, with the numerous uneven strands and loose ends poking out.
"Hey Sasuke, did you see any of the fight that happened?" Naruto turned to look at his friend, who did not betray the stoic expression on his face.
"Yeah, I caught the tail end of it, when I saw it, Sakura started to use Clones on her. I guess she learned a thing from watching you." Naruto looked at the blonde with a raised eyebrow.
"Huh? Learned from me?
"Yeah, she let her clones dispel in front of Ino, created a smokescreen which let Sakura get a clean hit in. You'd probably be excited seeing it."
Naruto hummed in thought. Naruto couldn't place it, something about Sakura just seemed different. Aside from her obviously cut hair, he had never seen her in this much of a tattered mess before. Clearly her fight with Ino had been an intense one. In fact, Naruto had never seen Sakura even bleed before. So, seeing her like that was something new. The blonde remembered before they attacked, Sakura had said not to interrupt the fight between them. With that, no more conversation was had between Naruto and Sasuke. Night had clearly settled over the forest, but despite that, Naruto and Sasuke barrelled on through the branches. They had covered just over 6km, which only left 3km more until they reached the tower. As Team 7 leapt over the branches, there was a large jump to the next branch. Nothing unusual, they had come upon a few of these in the past hour. As Naruto put more power into his leap, his Danger Sense went off at maximum alert. Something was coming from his left and he had to think fast.
And that he did, Naruto quickly threw Sakura towards Sasuke, who caught her despite the sudden nature of the pass. His Sharingan had been active for the last 15 minutes, which enabled him to react to Naruto's action. Just as Sasuke was about to question what Naruto was thinking, he looked towards his team mate to see him getting blasted by a Wind Jutsu, which sent the blonde hurling to the right, far away into the forest. Sasuke quickly dropped down to a branch below him, clutching Sakura close to him.
The Uchiha was on high alert, whoever had launched that at Naruto had just separated them. And without one other person to protect Sakura, this could either become a tragedy or a struggle. Sasuke hope it was the latter. Soon enough, Sasuke noticed someone coming through the shrubbery, having better eyesight, he recognised the Hitai-ate of the Hidden Grass. Sasuke felt like this person was beneath him, he felt no threat from them. But at the same time, he had to protect Sakura. Standing up, Sasuke prepared to leap into the higher branches again.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to play around with the likes of you." Sasuke quickly darted off into the trees above him, turning around to see the Grass-Nin, she was just there looking at him. Sasuke returned his vision forwards again. Naruto knew where the tower was, and if he got close enough the blonde could sense him out, all they had to do was meet up at the tower.
"Well, it's a good thing we're not playing games." A soft woman's voice came from Sasuke's left before he was viciously booted in the head, sending him careening down into the lower section of the forest again. Thinking quickly, Sasuke saw a branch below him that he could use to stop himself. Holding Sakura closer to his chest, Sasuke managed to stick to the branch with a simple application of chakra to his hands. Swinging himself towards the bark the Last Uchiha was now standing on the vertical surface of the tree. Running up to an amalgamation of branches, Sasuke placed Sakura in the safety of them, making sure the dense foliage covered her form.
With Sakura temporarily housed for now, Sasuke made to confront his pursuer. Coming back to the top layer of branches, Sasuke met the Grass-Nin again. The Uchiha was now thoroughly pissed off. This nobody sought to harm Sakura. The kick was aimed for Sasuke, but that was probably to make him loosen his grip and make Sakura fall to the ground. From how high up in the trees they are, if Sakura fell, she would die. With that thought alone, Sasuke's Sharingan blazed around his eyes, spinning like a windmill.
The Uchiha Heir made no small talk. This was a life-or-death situation. He could not fall here. Running towards the Grass-Nin, Sasuke took out 6 shuriken's, encasing them between his closed fingers before throwing them with his perfected technique. The Grass-Nin tried to weave through some but had to take out a Kunai of her own to deflect ones that were too close for comfort. The Sharingan wielder closed the distance between them and made an obvious motion for a charged right straight to the face, this made his opponent put up her guard, which left their stomach exposed. Grinding his feet into the bark, Sasuke modified the charged straight into a momentum filled liver blow, making spittle fly as it made contact. The raven-haired Genin immediately followed up with a devastating chakra powered uppercut to her chin.
The sound of bones cracking echoed throughout the dull forestry around them. The force of the blow made the Grass-Nin shoot up into the air before impacting the bark of the tree behind her, sliding down until she was on the branch again. Sasuke sprinted forwards, but as the woman looked up, she could not see Sasuke but hear his sandals stomping against the wood below her. Then, his footsteps stopped. Unknown to the Grass Genin, Sasuke was spinning around the bark from behind her, using the barest amount of Chakra possible to keep himself attached to the tree with his hand but not enough to stay in one place. The momentum behind his sprint carried him upwards coupled with the jump he performed. Coming from the Grass-Nin's left side, Sasuke hurled around the bark, his knee crunching into her skull.
The Last Uchiha then jumped back from his opponent, landing on the farthest end of the branch they fought on. Deactivating his Sharingan to conserve Chakra and Stamina, Sasuke watched the corpse of his opponent. He was sure their skull had caved in from that. However, to Sasuke's morbid horror, the corpse of the woman in front of him, began to sit up, blood spurting out in bursts from the right side of her skull – the side his knee had crushed – whilst the jaw he broke hung loosely. Suffice to say, Uchiha Sasuke was scared beyond belief. He had killed the person in front of him. Shattered their jaw and caved their skull in. Yet, this zombie in front of him, rose from the dead with bloodshot eyes and a predatory grin of excitement. In his panic, Sasuke activated the Sharingan and took out the specially wrapped shurikens in his pouch that had ninja wire attached to their centre. The pointed stars sailed through the air, with Sasuke manipulating the wire travelling between them to ensnare Grass-Nin to the bark of the tree as they looped around multiple times, slamming her in a trap.
"If this doesn't kill you, I don't know what will! Katon! Ryūka no Jutsu!" The swell of Fire Chakra surrounded Sasuke and formed the shape of a dragon head. The Dragon Fire Technique is a Fire Release Jutsu that shoots in a straight line, it's direction cannot be changed midway through. Sasuke used the Ninja wire to guide his jutsu. The technique exploded through the Grass-Nin and the thick bark behind. Scorching the oak to black and leaving the surroundings in flames. Her pained wails filled their surroundings. After a minute, Sasuke watched as the Grass-Nin in front of him walked out of the blaze, the only thing that had been hurt from that attack, was Sasuke's pride in his ability, and the woman's face. Crumpled, torn and burnt skin, all sloshed down the left side of her face, to reveal a sickly pale pigment behind it. A serpent's yellow eye with purple eyeshadow. For the second time, the woman spoke.
"Truly, to use the Sharingan Triple Windmill Technique, alongside the Dragon Fire Jutsu. You hold such mastery over your eyes, Sasuke-kun." A sickening, gravelly deep voice licked its way out the woman's mouth. Sasuke stared at this thing in abstract and terror-stricken horror. "Yes… your eyes, they hold much more potential than even that of your brother, Itachi…"
Even in Sasuke's horror-stricken state, the rage and hatred he felt for Itachi danced across his eyes. A saliva dripped tongue emerged from the Ninja in front of Sasuke. It was a tongue too long to be considered human.
"Oh yes, Sasuke-kun, that expression! That is truly what fits you! I am deeply impressed Sasuke-kun, you are truly what I came here for." The torn visage of the shinobi in front of him walked towards Sasuke, with a confident and domineering swagger to their step. Sasuke could not move his legs, it wasn't just the fact this zombie had survived everything he'd thrown at him, the moment that male voice emerged, Sasuke had felt Killing Intent even stronger than Zabuza's. It made him see mirages of his own death multiple times. The Grass-Nin stood over Sasuke and looked down upon him.
"I do not need a scroll; this is all mere fanfare. However, I will leave you with this, Sasuke-kun." In one swift motion, the Shinobi made a Hand Sign Sasuke had not seen before, then the thing in front of him sunk it's teeth into Sasuke's neck, injecting Chakra into him at the same time. Once the zombie's mouth departed it's teeth from Sasuke's neck, the Last Uchiha writhed in agony as he clutched the source of pain. The Grass-Nin turned around to leave but looked back towards the pained form of Sasuke.
"When the time comes, you will seek me, Sasuke-kun. Know your benefactors' name is, Orochimaru." The now named Orochimaru sunk into the ground like an illusion that had never been there. This left Sasuke Uchiha, alone in the night hours of the Forest of Death by himself. He felt like his insides wanted to burst. His brain wanted to implode and explode at the same time. His entire body felt like he plunged himself into boiling water. Everything hurt. But despite the terror that had struck him, despite the pain, Uchiha Sasuke valued his own safety.
In this primal state, Sasuke recalled where he had hidden Sakura before. That would be a good place to hide himself too. The Pain quadrupled and quintupled in intensity as Sasuke moved his limbs, but he had to live! Before long, the Uchiha found himself in the same gathering of branches that housed his teammate. Crawling inside, Sasuke lost consciousness after the need for shelter was quenched.
Uzumaki Naruto had been having a relatively good day so far. The Chunin Selection Exams were going well for him. He had passed the first test easily. The second test that he was in at the moment, had been going well. His team had fought another rookie team and gotten the scroll they needed. It should have been smooth sailing.
"But now I'm the only thing smoothly sailing." Naruto lamented to himself as he soared through the air. "My luck could only hold out for so long, I suppose." If that large blast of wind hadn't hit Naruto, they would have been near the tower by now. Instead, Naruto had kept track of how far he was blown away, the blonde was now a good 7km out from the tower. Maybe his luck stat had saved him from hitting any branches until now, Naruto played with the thought until he noticed his momentum slowing. Tilting his head back, Naruto quickly calculated where he would land with the current rate of deceleration in mind. Flipping his body over, Naruto made sure he was upright so the landing wouldn't hurt too badly.
Eyeing the tree he was approaching, Naruto managed to manoeuvre himself in mid-air, so that the bark of the tree did not become his landing zone. Whilst he did that, Naruto quickly took out Ninja Wire from his pouch, throwing it around the tree he missed. As it wrapped around, his speed let him fly around the tree a few times. His speed slowing down, Naruto quickly detached himself from the wire, just in time as the tool unfurled itself from the bark.
The blonde looked back in the direction that he was propelled from. It would take him more than three quarters of an hour to get across the forest again back to where his team were located. That would be no problem. The blonde quickly started himself back on the path to his team. The blonde had been too busy keeping track of the distance between himself and his team, so he didn't see if there were any people in that direction mid-flight.
"No matter what, I'm making it back to them by sunrise!" Naruto couldn't afford not to; he held the scrolls. After 5 minutes of travel, Naruto sensed 5 people in front of him. The blonde would have clicked his tongue if it would not have given away his position. The Jinchuriki came to a halt above the Chakra he sensed and hid his presence. Peering out from his cover, Naruto took notice of the five people. Two of them had their backs to him, so he couldn't tell which land they hailed from. But, the other three had quite clearly the Hitai-Ate of the Hidden Grass. Naruto used analyse on them, but his heart almost jumped up his throat on the girl of their team.
Name: Uzumaki Karin
Level: 14
Title: Genin
Job: Shinobi of The Hidden Grass
HP: 5,000/5,000
Chakra Capacity: 136,345/145,978
Chakra Control: 40%
STR: 295
STM: 564
DEX: 184
VIT: 629
INT: 110
WIS: 63
LUK: 17
CHA: 77
Skills:
Henge no Jutsu: LVL. MAX
Bunshin no Jutsu: LVL. MAX
Kawarimi no Jutsu: LVL. MAX
Adamantine Attacking Chains: LVL. MAX
Heal Bite: LVL. MAX
Mind's Eye of the Kagura: LVL. MAX
"S-She's from my clan. I knew that when Uzushio fell, many of the remnants scattered, but to be able to find one, so close to home…"
Naruto didn't let himself tear up at his thoughts, instead he used Analyse on the two attacking the ones from the Hidden Grass. The blonde almost shit himself. One of them was a Jonin.
"Why is a Jonin from the Hidden Sound Village here? Was it sabotage? Are the Hidden Sound trying to do something? What's going on!? First it was those guys in the first test, now this. What the hell was Otogakure trying to do? There was no way they could hope to stand a chance against any kind of village. They did not have that kind of military power considering they had only been around for a couple of years now!" Naruto's conspirital thoughts exploded a mile a minute. Gamer's Mind activated and calmed him down. Maybe, just maybe he would find out later. But for that, the Jonin would have to die. That meant his mission was simple. Kill the Jonin, interrogate the Chunin. Simple.
"Fuck." Naruto cursed inwardly as he realised what he had set for himself. And then, the finalisation of his resolve flashed before his face.
Emergency Quest Activated!
"Against the Odds!"
Quest Details: Uzumaki Naruto has found the activity of The Hidden Sound Village suspicious and wants to investigate them, Kill the Jonin of the Hidden Sound and capture the Chunin alive to extract information.
Rewards:
EXP x 100,000
Ryo x 6,000,000
Bonus Conditions:
? - Reward EXP x 60,000
? - Reward - Bonus + EXP x 100,000
Naruto couldn't help the fact his eyes almost exploded. What kind of ridiculousness was this? On something he decided arbitrarily, the System is making him complete it? Because it was an Emergency Quest, there was no option to decline either, he had to do it. But the Experience points he would get from this, that would easily put him past Level 20 at minimum. Naruto resolved himself. The cons were far worse than the pros, but he had to do it. Down in that clearing was an Uzumaki, a member of his clan! But he couldn't go blindly charging him. Kakashi had taught him over the past couple of months to always go in with a plan, and backup for that plan and even more backups.
Naruto watched as the Jonin inched closer towards one of Karin's male teammates. The man had no weapons on him, and no proficient skill for them that Naruto could see. Naruto found it to be that the man was a melee fighter and had great skill in Ninjutsu too, if that arsenal of his was anything to go by. Naruto had no choice; he could not beat a man of that calibre in a straight up fight. Therefore, his only choice was assassination. With the one Raiton Jutsu Kakashi had taught him. Naruto molded his Chakra as accurately and as fast as he could. The blonde watched as the Jonin lifted the brown-haired member of Karin's team into the air, choking him. Naruto had finally molded his Chakra and changed it's Nature into Lightning, activating his original Raiton Jutsu.
"Raiton: Overdrive." When Kakashi had taught Naruto, he explained how the fast speed that is required to perform the technique, gives the user tunnel vision. This makes them unable to observe their surroundings. It took Naruto a while after to solve this problem. The blonde remembered reading about the Third Raikage, and how he cloaked himself in Lightning Chakra. It not only enhanced his power, but it also enhanced his speed and reaction times. The lightning around him sped up the rate at which the brain received signals from the rest of the body. Lightning Style: Overdrive, was the same in concept, but lacked the chakra control required to maintain the Lightning Chakra Cloak that the Raikage used.
Naruto then crouched to the ground, making Shadow Clones and having them Henge into smaller woodland creatures. His transformed clones went as close as they could to the Jonin. They already knew their purpose. Naruto then got to work performing his next Jutsu.
"Saru, Tatsu, Ne, Tori, Ushi, Mi, Inu, Tora, Saru!" Naruto lowly called the names of the hand seals he made. Slowly, electricity began to build in the palm of his hand, until it coated it entirely. The wild arcs of electricity crackled as Naruto immediately ran with all his speed possible. The Jonin and Chunin heard the light "Chi" sounds his feet made as he blitzed down the tree and dirt towards them. Turning around, they saw the blonde Genin from the First Test coming at them with his arm right hand encased in lightning. The Jonin dropped the Grass Genin flat on his ass to prepare to avoid the Genin.
To his surprise he heard two explosions of smoke beside him before his body went completely still. Naruto's clones had gotten close enough so that when they dispelled the Henge, they could slap on the blondes' very own Paralysis and Chakra Restraining Seals. Both on the Jonin and Chunin. Naruto grinned as he watched the panic wash over the Oto-Nin's face. Yes, in a straight up fight, Naruto would lose to this man. But he was a Ninja. And Ninja were shrewd, they planned for their fights and used any means possible to secure victory. Naruto found it funny that he was being called the "Star Pupil of Hatake Kakashi", but the blonde couldn't deny it either, the man had taught him a lot. Naruto came in close and used the Jab Technique taught to him by his Master.
"Chidori!" Naruto exclaimed. His hand plunging and tearing through the Jonin's heart. Naruto watched in detached satisfaction as he took the life of someone infinitely more capable than himself. This was the truth of the Shinobi world, it didn't matter how much stronger you were, as long as you knew how to use your Brain in conjunction with your Body, you could come out of any situation. That was what Naruto believed. The blonde put his hand on the now dead man's chest and yanked his arm out with blood and seared flesh getting all over his clothes. It wasn't that Naruto relished in killing people, just in this situation, with the odds stacked against him, Naruto loved being the underdog. Naruto looked over towards the Chunin and then the now terror filled team of The Hidden Grass. The blonde walked closer towards them, to which they backed up slightly. Naruto saw this and stopped.
"Are you guys okay?" The Jinchuriki checked with them, seeing them looking amongst each other before nodding to each other. Naruto's eyes lingered a little longer on Karin the other two.
"Y-yeah, we're good man, thanks for that." The brown-haired one had been strangled spoke. Naruto could see their guard up, understandable. He wanted to leave and tell them to have a nice day. But she was there. The Chunin behind him, who had now fallen down to the ground shouted.
"Hey you little bastard! Think you can just do this to me and ignore me, huh!? I'll fucking kill you when I'm out of this!" Naruto turned towards the Sound Chunin, seeing a Grass Hitai-ate on his head, Naruto figured it out almost instantly. Naruto walked up to the downed Chunin before kicking him in the face.
"This little bastard will do whatever he wants to you; a Chunin of the Sound Village pretending to be one of the Hidden Grass." The Chunin's eyes immediately widened and his mouth opened in shock. "That's right, I know about your identity. And I'm going to interrogate you thoroughly to get the information out of you. I could have done this to your Jonin friend too, but why take the flight risk, right?"
"W-who the hell are you!? How the fuck do you know that!? Are you a double agent!?"
"All very good questions. But like I told you, I'll be the one interrogating." Naruto flooded the Chunin with Killing Intent, thinking of all the ways he could kill him right now. Making sure those same visions of death were transmitted to the Chunin which made the Sound Ninja faint. Naruto created two shadow clones who took the Chunin off into the forest behind them. Naruto was now left with Karin's team.
"Alright you three, I'm gonna make one thing clear. I ain't here to kill you or take your scroll. If anything, I'm here to help you. I got separated from my team and that's why I'm here, ya know!"
Karin looked at the blonde in front of her. The way he carried himself and his looks sent shivers down her spine. This man had saved her, from certain death. And now he was going to help them? Despite how much she wanted to accept it, Karin was still sceptical.
"W-why would you do something like that? We're complete strangers, not to mention our villages aren't even allied!" Naruto looked towards Karin, something in his eyes whisked about when they looked at her, and the redhead didn't know what it was. But, when he looked at her, and that smile that danced on his lips, she couldn't help blushing. The Genin in front of her was, ruggedly handsome.
"While that's true, there is one reason why I'm helping you lot." Naruto looked to the males of the group then back to Karin. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto!" That sent Karin's world for a whirl. He was an Uzumaki, like her? Before her parents died, they had told Karin that their clan had been wiped out. Not to mention, this guy in front of her had blonde hair. Her mother and father, and herself, all had Red Hair, which she was told was a trademark of the Uzumaki Clan.
"Y-you're a liar! There's no way you're an Uzumaki! Your hair's blonde not red!" Her two teammates looked at Karin strangely, they had no idea what she was talking about, as far as they were concerned, Karin was an orphan and a tool for them to use to heal themselves. As such they never bothered to learn anything about her.
"Yeaah, it's really hard to explain it but like, I never knew my parents. From the day I was born I was alone. But I do have a way to prove it." Pulling down his Kimono, Naruto exposed his bare chest, which made Karin blush profusely as she took in his developing physique. Meanwhile Naruto channelled Chakra into the seal on his shoulder and out popped a thick black book. Naruto crouched down so he was level height with the Hidden Grass team. "This will prove it all." Naruto handed her his most precious possession, which she accepted with two hands. The book was heavy. Karin opened the book and read the message directed to those of the Uzumaki bloodline. Karin was still distrustful; this could have been easily fabricated. She had been used her whole life by her village for her extraordinary healing abilities. It was for the same reason that the redhead was treated like a tool by her teammates.
"So, what!? Anyone could fake this! You're nothing but a phony!" Karin in her anger, threw the book back at Naruto, who caught it easily. The blonde smiled at her again. That dashing smile. The blonde looked over to the males of her team.
"Hey, you two, come read the opening of this book will ya?" Naruto held the book out to them. When they opened it, they saw nothing, but a simple opener titled; "100 recipes to make your lover swoon for you". The two looked between Naruto and Karin with confused expressions.
"The hell are you two looking at a book about cooking recipes for?" The brown-haired one questioned. Karin looked at him in shock. When she read that same bit of the book, it was a message to the Uzumaki who opened it. This must have been a prank.
"Oi, Shigeri you bastard! Quit lying about the book!" Karin yelled at the brown-haired Genin.
"I ain't fucking lying, Karin! It says it right here, "100 recipes to make your lover swoon for you"." The now named Shigeri parroted the text as he ran his finger over it, whilst showing it to Karin. But Karin still saw the message to the Uzumaki. The blonde looked over her, she was beginning to believe it now. Naruto quickly swiped his book back and sealed it up, to the surprise of Shigeri and his teammate.
"Well, believe me now? You saw the message too, right?" The redhead looked to the blonde beside her, panicked. Naruto saw it in her eyes, a speck of hope.
"Prove it to me, what did it say." Karin ordered the blonde. Naruto smiled and leaned into her and whispered the entire message to her. By the time he had finished telling her the entirety of the message, tears sprung into the corners of her eyes. She immediately hugged Naruto, not caring that he was exposing his bare torso to her at the moment. Karins teammates were positively bewildered. They had seen Karin cry before, but this guy was a complete stranger, apparently, he was of the same Clan as her? This wouldn't do, Karin could defect, and that meant they could lose their prized healing bank.
"Oi, Blondie. Hands off Karin, she's our tool! Just because you come from the same clan doesn't mean you can do anything you want to her." The stare they received back from Naruto would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Cold and cruel icy blue orbs stared deep into their souls.
"I see, so that's how you see her. Let me tell you something Shigeri. I don't give a damn about what you think of Karin. A tool for you? Don't make me laugh, ya know. Even if Karin was a tool for someone to use, you're not remotely worthy of using her. But she is a member of my Clan. A very powerful Clan mind you. Do you think Konohagakure would turn down the offer to have another strong Clan fill their ranks?" Naruto stared deep into Shigeris' soul. The Genin in front of him recovered from the sudden changed in attitude from the blonde.
"Who the fuck cares about Konohagakures' decision in this!? There won't be one to make with you out of the picture!" Shigeri yelled as he tired to stab Naruto with a kunai, only for the blonde to disappear in a Shunshin. Naruto appeared on the other side of the clearing, holding Karin in his arms.
"Are you an idiot? I just killed a Jonin in front of you? Do you really think you can take me on?" Naruto questioned the Grass-Nin. The cold logic of his argument should have been enough to deter him, but Shigeri was driven more by desperation at this moment than anything else. He charged towards Naruto with a completely unimpressive speed. Naruto let Karin down so she could stand.
"Don't worry, I won't kill them, I'm just going to use them instead. After all, tools are meant to be used." Naruto disappeared from sight again, causing Shigeri to stop his charge and look around. "Too Slow, Tool." Naruto slammed his right hand into the back of Shigeris' head. "Prisoner Seal." Naruto called out to the shock of Shigeri. Karin's other teammate was also marked by a Shadow Clone Naruto had created when he shunshined. "You speak of using Karin like a tool, so I'm going to strip your conscience away and use you to my will, so you understand what it's like, Tool #001." Naruto made a half Ram Seal and activated both of the Prisoner Seals on the Genin. At the same time, Naruto got an influx of memories from the clone he sent to torture the Chunin.
"W-what the fuck? Orochimaru, of the Legendary Three is here!?" Naruto's mind raced a mile a minute, trying to figure out some reason as to why. Going through the memories again, Naruto noted that Orochimaru said he would be going after the Sharingan. That meant only one thing. Orochimaru had went after Sasuke, and whether it was intentional or not, the Sannin had separated Naruto from the Uchiha. Afterall, there's no way a Genin could produce a Wind Style on that scale.
"N-Naruto? Are you alright? What did you do to Shigeri?" Naruto quickly regained his senses looking back towards Karin and smiled at her.
"I put a seal on him, that removed his will. I call it a Prisoner Seal, my very own creation!" Naruto put his hands on his hips in pride. Karin looked at the blonde in front of her. She knew the Sealing Arts were a hard field to get into, but to create your own Seal that could forcibly remove someone's conscious mind? That seemed like something only a Seal Master was capable of performing. "I only did it because he insulted you. That, shitbag, called you a tool. Ain't no way you're a tool. We Shinobi aren't indispensable items, we're people! We feel and we live!" Karin looked at the blonde with wide eyes as he preached to her.
"Th-that's a beautiful sentiment, Naruto-kun." For the first time, Naruto saw Karin smile. A genuine pure hearted smile which made him smile back. In front of Naruto now appeared a translucent screen.
Emergency Quest Cleared!
"Against the Odds!"
Quest Details: Uzumaki Naruto has found the activity of The Hidden Sound Village suspicious and wants to investigate them, capture the Chunin of The Sound alive to extract information. Kill the Jonin of the Hidden Sound.
Rewards:
EXP x 100,000
Ryo x 6,000,000
Bonus Conditions:
- Prevent the death of Karin's teammates – Reward: EXP x 60,000
- Conquer the fear in Karin's heart and win her favour – Reward: Karin's Loyalty + EXP x 100,000
Naruto had never seen Bonus Conditions before on any Quest. But he knew about them. Naruto's vision was then filled up by the same notification appearing over a dozen times.
"You have Levelled Up!" The blonde counted this notification appeared 66 times. The blonde hurriedly pulled up his Stats page.
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Level: 71
Title: Genin
Job: Shinobi of Konoha
HP 144,600/144,600
Chakra Capacity : 68,000,000/68,000,000
Chakra Control : 30%
STR: 3426
STM: 5084
DEX: 1623
VIT: 3784
INT: 446
WIS: 259
LUK: 777
CHA: 169
Skill Points: 660
Skills:
Gamer's Mind Lvl. MAX (Passive)
Gamer's Body Lvl. MAX (Passive)
Phys Endurance Lvl. 50 (Passive)
Henge no Jutsu: Lvl. MAX
Kawarimi no Jutsu: Lvl. MAX
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Lvl. 67
Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Lvl. 45
Tree Walking: Lvl MAX (Passive)
Water Walking: (Passive)
Lying: Lvl. MAX (Passive)
Acting: Lvl. MAX (Passive)
Strategy: Lvl. 69 (Passive)
Analyse: Lvl. 30
Leaf Sticking: Lvl. MAX(Passive)
Battle bourn: Lvl. 38(Passive)
Fuinjutsu: Lvl 100(Active/Passive)
Danger Sense: Lvl. 82(Passive)
Stealth: Lvl. MAX
Fire Chakra Manipulation: lvl. 38 (Passive)
Wind Chakra Manipulation: Lvl. 84 (Passive)
Water Chakra Manipulation: Lvl. 48 (Passive)
Lightning Chakra Manipulation: Lvl. 59 (Passive)
Earth Chakra Manipulation: Lvl. 41 (Passive)
Shunshin: Lvl. 32
Chakra Enhancement: Lvl. 50
Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu: lvl. 21
Futon: Daitoppa: lvl 31
Futon: Wind Drill: Lvl 35
Suiton: Hahonryu[Tearing Torrent]: Lvl 20
Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu[Great Waterfall]: Lvl 22
Doton: Doryuheki[Earth Wall]: Lvl 25
Raiton: Overdrive: Lvl 25
Raiton: Chidori[One Thousand Birds]: Lvl 25
Attributes:
Son of the Uzumaki Clan (+500,000 Chakra on Level up)
Impulsive
Snake Tongue
Crocodile Tears
Jailor of the Kyubi no Yoko (+500,000 Chakra on Level up)
?
Larger Than Life Presence
Chakra Colossus
Death's Grip (str 3000+)
Mercury's Master (Stam 5084+)
Udea's Spouse (Vit 3000+)
Lady Luck (LUK 777+)
Pickpockets Swiftness (DEX 1000+)
Fast Reader (INT 50+)
Mega Brain (INT 400+)
Great Sage(WIS 200+)
"Holy fucking shit." Naruto cursed to himself. His Chakra was thirtyfold over what it was before. The blonde knew whenever he gained a Level, his Chakra increased in capacity by a million. Remembering where he was, Naruto had noticed the redhead in front of him was in a daze. Placing his hand on her shoulder, the blonde gently shook the Uzumaki.
"You okay Karin? You zoned out there." Naruto's brow furrowed in worry, despite looking at her skills, it was only enough time of a brief overview. So, he had no idea what she was capable of.
"Y-yeah I'm fine. It's just that, you see…" she twirled a lock of her hair with her left hand. "I'm a Sensor Ninja, a really good one. And your Chakra just, exploded, I guess. It was a super bright and warm yellow, just like the sun! And I kind of lost myself in the feel of it…" Karin had the decency to blush. Naruto himself also blushed; he had no idea you could describe Chakra like that. To the blonde, they just felt like blips on a radar, unless he truly focused in on one signature. Karin appeared to be an even more powerful and adept Sensor than himself. Naruto had to build up Chakra to sense, but apparently Karen could just feel it.
"Wow, you're a Sensor too? Although it seems like you're way better than me at being one, ya know!" Naruto laughed cheekily, which also got a stunned giggle out of Karin. Naruto looked back towards his two Prisoner's willing them into action through the seal. "Now Karin, let's get you a scroll for your team, and then we can finish the second exam." Karin nodded to Naruto as the four genin all set out in the direction Naruto was blasted from.
It had been a little over five minutes since Naruto had taken off with Karen. The Redhead Uzumaki couldn't say she cared all that much about what Naruto had done to her teammates. From the way they had treated her ever since she was assigned to that team, they deserved it. Then there was Naruto. The blonde member of their nigh deceased Clan. He had saved them, from a Jonin. And then, saved her from Shigeri. Then, there was his Chakra. Karen had known about Chakra ever since she awakened it. She had known she could sense others. But Naruto's Chakra was bright. It was warm and most of all, welcoming. To Karin, a persons' Chakra said a lot about them as a person. Despite how Naruto had killed that Jonin, and turned her teammates into prisoners, his Chakra never wavered from that bright yellow. Karin couldn't help the warmth that spread across her body, and the way her cheeks heated up around him. He was simply captivating. The blonde made her feel like she wasn't alone anymore.
"I don't want to go back to that dark, lonely place. Everyone's eyes, they never saw me, only a thing for them to use. Naruto's the only person besides my parents who've ever looked at me as a person…" Karin let the tears build and flow out of her eyes. Naruto was also having thoughts of his own at the moment, but not about Karin. It was more about his sudden increase in Level and Power.
"To think, being able to kill a Jonin was something I was actually capable of. I was fully prepared for everything to go wrong. Although, considering I got that as a Quest, why I have not received a Quest for the Chunin Exams?" The blonde navigated through his menus until he found the Quest Page. Looking at the list, it only showed one Quest that was active at the moment. "When the hell did I get a quest for the Chunin Exams!? I don't remember it appearing?" On the screen in front of Naruto was said Quest. The blonde racked his memory for if he saw anything like it. Thinking back to when Kakashi handed them the forms, Naruto briefly saw a screen appearing that had the buttons for "Decline" and "Accept" on it. Naruto wanted to sigh, of course it was back then. But the weird thing about the Quest was the XP value was in question marks. If Naruto gained anymore levels, he didn't know how to react.
"I may have the stats similar to that of Morino Ibiki's, a Tokubetsu Jonin, but I don't have the experience of one, nor do I have the arsenal of anything more than a Chunin. I'm also gonna need to get used to my new speed and power too." The gamer clenched his fists, excitement welling through his body until Karin got his attention.
"Naruto-kun! I sense three people 300 metres away, bearing to our left." Naruto looked over to Karin and nodded to her. If these people had the scroll Karin's team needed, then Naruto could hurry over to find Sasuke and Sakura. Changing direction, Naruto bolted to the left, with Karin barely able to realise Naruto had changed directions so quickly. The blonde looked behind him and noticed Karin and the other two were further behind.
"I think I got a little bit too excited and may have put my foot down on the accelerator." Naruto felt embarrassed that had happened and waited. Karin eventually caught up after 15 more seconds. Naruto then molded his Chakra and used his Sensing skill as well. They were roughly 80 metres away now. Naruto turned around to his fellow Uzumaki.
"Karin, are you a combatant?" Despite already knowing the answer from using analyse on her, Naruto didn't want to make it seem suspicious that he already knew. He could lie about it, easily. But he didn't want to. The girl shook her head, which Naruto nodded at.
"Alright, I'll have one of my Shadow Clones stay here, alongside that other guy who was on your team. I'll sort these guys out and see if they've got the scroll you need. Which one is it again?" Naruto asked with an embarrassed grin, as he had forgotten which one she needed with all the stuff to do with his Levels.
"The "Heaven" scroll." Karin supplied to which Naruto turned around and got ready to leave. "Wait! Naruto-kun… um… please be safe!" Karin wished Naruto his best, to which he grinned at her. Karin could only describe it as "Foxy". Naruto and the controlled Shigeri sped towards the team. The Jinchuriki soared like a bullet, and within seconds closed the 80-metre gap. Completely blindsiding the group, Naruto unleashed a powerful kick to the one closest to him. Taking note of where he was, his surroundings and now his enemies, Naruto noted the bandaged one from the first part of the exam.
"Oho? The Hidden Sound huh? I was just out for a walk as well, who'd have thought I'd run into you here." Naruto grinned at the Sound Genin as his brows furrowed in concentration. The bandaged Genin and the girl looked at the blonde and then back to where their teammate lay. The power of that kick had knocked him clean out.
"Y-you bastard! What did you do to Zaku!?" The girl yelled towards the blonde, who began to crack his knuckles.
"What it looks like. I kicked him!" Naruto crouched down lower to the ground. The blonde didn't want to recklessly charge in. That gauntlet on the bandaged one's arm still left an impression on Naruto as something to be wary of. The Genin with the gauntlet turned back towards Naruto.
"So, it seems what you did to me in the First Exam was not a mere fluke after all. However, don't think we'll just lay down like dogs! There's still more of us than you! Kin!" With that, the bandaged Sound Genin charged towards Naruto whilst the one behind him, Kin, prepared senbon needles.
"I can leave the girl alone for now. She doesn't have any impressive abilities, nor any that can affect me. Her being a Genjutsu user is the worst compatibility with me because of "Gamer's Mind"." Naruto made his battle plan as he met the charge of the bandaged one and engaged in Taijutsu. Being the faster of the two, Naruto struck first with a kick to the Sound-Nins ribs. The Genin in front winced in agony, but still didn't drop his guard. Naruto's opponent then swung his gauntlet towards the blonde. Naruto's "Danger Sense" skill went off again, which as all Naruto needed to swat the gauntleted arm away from himself. Naruto noticed the look of surprise on the Genins face, and then The Leaf-Nins' left ear erupted in pain as he lost his sense of equilibrium. Naruto's vision blurred as he looked up towards the bandaged Genin.
"W-what the hell did you do?" The blonde held his ear and tried to fight back the feeling of bile trying to rise up from his gut. Despite not seeing, Naruto could tell the Genin in front of him was smirking.
"Oh, nothing special really. I just sent highly concentrated waves of sound into your inner ear." A rustling sound could be heard from above as the controlled Shigeri arrived on the scene.
"Finally…" Naruto felt relief. Now he could finally make it all come full circle. With a mental command, the blonde ordered Shigeri to combat the bandaged Genin. Shigeri closed in on the Sound-Nin with his Kunai in hand. Naruto then turned his attention towards Kin. She looked towards the blonde and could only smirk. She threw her senbon at Naruto, who shielded his face. The blonde was confused when he felt no impact. His confusion only lasted for a while longer as a notification appeared.
"Mental attack detected. Resisted."
Naruto smirked to himself and let the girl get close to him. She brought out a Kunai and raised it above the "entrapped" Naruto's throat.
"So long, Tree-Hugger." She spoke to him in a cold tone, filled with cruelty. She slammed the Kunai down into the throat of the blonde, watching him gurgle on his blood before the life drained out of his eyes. Standing up, Kin turned back around to her teammate to go help him out.
"Don't worry, I'm still here for a while more." The blonde's voice came from behind her before she was blown by a strong wind into the tree in front of her. Her nose was broken on impact with the tree, and when her head slammed into it, she was knocked out immediately. Naruto stood behind her, perfectly fine. No blood coming from his ear and feeling no discomfort.
"The Shadow Clone technique is honestly too useful." The blonde looked over at Shigeri and the bandaged Genin. Shigeri was a mess, his ears were bleeding profusely whilst vomit trickled down his torso. But the boy kept on fighting because that's what Naruto ordered him to do. "After all, a tool doesn't feel pain or emotion. You just use it, right Shigeri?" Naruto gave his prisoner a rhetorical question which he could not answer. The blonde was not a sadist, as such he would end the fight here and now. In a shunshin, Naruto closed the distance immediately between himself and the Genins. His hand opened up fully whilst Wind Chakra swirled in his hand in the shape of a drill. This was the jutsu he created after learning the Chidori from Kakashi. The Wind Release: Wind Drill. The blonde them slammed it into the Sound-Nins' gauntlet, shattering it instantly whilst also going into the arm as well. The Sound Genin screamed in agony before falling to the ground clutching the stump of his forearm. He looked up towards Naruto, who looked down upon him with icy eyes.
"Now, I think you're going to answer some of my questions, otherwise, the other one is coming off too…"
It had been ten minutes since Naruto had left Karin with his Shadow Clone and the other member of her team. The blonde's clone had been talking with her the entire time, telling each other about themselves. They found they both understood what it felt like to be alone, to not be wanted by anyone. Hearing about how Naruto had lived as a child, that the villagers hated him and shunned him, even barring their children from interacting with him. She had nothing but respect for the blonde Uzumaki. His Chakra was still so bright and warm despite all that. But Karin noticed, that whenever Naruto dwelled on the thought of the villagers, something, dark would appear at the "Bottom" of his Chakra Signature.
"Oh, looks like the Boss is coming back. See you a in a few, Karin-chan!" The clone grinned to her before it dispelled in a puff of smoke. Soon enough, 5 seconds later Naruto appeared no their tree branch, with Shigeri behind him by a good few metres. Karin couldn't help the want to throw up at the sight of Shigeri.
"W-what happened to him!?"
"Oh, him? Not much, I just showed Shigeri what being a Tool is like." Naruto didn't dwell anymore on that, and Karin appreciated it. She did not care for Shigeris' wellbeing, and the redhead was glad Naruto was not asking her to heal him. Karin then barely caught the scroll that was thrown to her. Inspecting what was in her hands, Karin noticed the white colouring and the Kanji for the "Heaven" scroll. The Uzumaki's looked at each other before smiling.
"Thank you so much, Naruto-kun!" Karin hugged him, which took the blonde off guard. Gingerly he put his arms around her to return the gesture. Naruto had decided that he would get Karin to stay in Konoha. It was a promise he swore to himself.
"No problem, Karin-chan! Now, let's get going to where I think my teammates might be. We're still a good 3km away from where I was separated from them." Karin detached herself from the blonde, before shrieking. Naruto had scooped her up into his arms, in a bridal carry. "No offense to you Karin-Chan, but it's faster like this." With copious amounts of blush dusting her cheeks, Karin could only blow a raspberry at Naruto.
With the blonde's new speed, it only took him 2 minutes to clear the 3km to where he got separated before. The blonde had summoned two shadow clones to pull along the other two Genin from Karin's team. When the blonde landed down he could now clearly see the large path of destruction that blasted him across the forest before. Quickly extending his senses, Naruto found two Chakra signatures close to him, and both together. The blonde couldn't make an accurate guess of what time it was, but it was well past 9pm. Quickly finding the hiding place of his teammates, Naruto saw Sakura and Sasuke both in the foliage of the branches. Sakura was placed purposefully with an upright position, whilst Sasuke looked like he passed out on the floor.
Karin in his arms, started to shiver. Naruto looked at her, seeing the redheads gaze going towards the Uchiha, the blonde had no idea what was going through her head.
"What's wrong, Karin? You're shaking."
"That black-haired boy, h-his Chakra, it's becoming darker by the second."