Chapter 32
Hard Land

The Next Day
Land of Earth
Oninoko Village

Naruto spent a while on top of that building just watching over the village as it gradually got more chaotic before eventually beginning to calm down as people passed out from drinking and the other substances they were taking mainly opium, he saw the smoke rising from almost every building and as it rose the smoke made him feel dizzy and it was at that point Naruto decided that he would prefer living on the outside of the village rather than within it.

So he set up a small camp away from the village in a hidden nook in the side of the mountain away from the village and the large villas that were carved out of it.

Naruto spent the night in his tent, with no noise and warm without being around a load of drunks.

Today, however, he needed to either get a job or break into the bounty station to get the information he needed that way. Though one was obviously more dangerous than the other since the bounty station was one of the most heavily guarded places he had ever seen and he still didn't know the capabilities of these 'Wolves'.

'They must be deadly though to keep control of this place.' Naruto thought observing the village.

He was back on top of that building just observing things, he was at a bit of a loss at what to do know.

The various Kekkei Genkai wielding Clans of the Land of Earth were justifiably very paranoid and often kept to themselves on top of hiding away with no actual maps of the territory they control or lived on. This was a huge obstacle to Naruto since he physically needed to get his hands on a Kekkei Genkai wielder's body which was a problem considering it was standard practice to destroy the bodies of dead Kekkei Genkai members if the Clan were unable to transport the body back to be burnt or buried.

'This is turning into a bigger problem than I thought it would be. The other two times I had a good way into getting close to the Clans, first with rescuing Haku when they were desperate, the second with Samui technically being a part of the Yotsuki who were meeting with the Bofu. Here I don't have that.' Naruto thought as he tried to think up a plan to get his Third Kekkei Genkai, at this point he didn't actually have a preference and just wanted to grab one and get out and move onto the Land of Wind which was the next stop on his journey.

'I think for the time being I should just take a job and earn some money, the Kaguya's ryo that I took is enough to cover my travel costs for years but that kind of price tag is too much for me.' Naruto stood up and looked over the messy, disorganized and violent village that was somehow still functioning despite the complete lack of laws.

Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, the signature of using the Shunshin Jutsu and he dropped down in the chaos below.

He landed in a rickety alley one of the rare ones that were empty instead of being filled with the destitute or the sick who were herded out of the way so they could die and suffer alone, without disrupting everyone else.

There was a certain disregard for life here where if you didn't have the money or strength then you were nothing and were treated as such by the people around you, Naruto had lost count of the number of times he saw people getting dragged off the streets and into the alleys where they would be left to die.

'This world is not a good one.' Naruto decided at seeing the full extent of evil within the village of Oninoko.

Naruto decided to bite the bullet and take a job from the bounty station and make some cash up, his thinking was that maybe he could buy the location of one Clan rather than all of them which would be a lot cheaper than the huge price tag on what he actually wanted.

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh." Naruto sighed as he got back in the line for Bounty Station which was as busy as ever.

Naruto was stuck in the queue for a while, it was around 30 minutes before he came to a clerk again though it was a man instead of the woman he saw earlier.

"Hey, can I get a bounty nearby?" Naruto was in no mood for small talk and decided to cut to the chase.

"Hm." The man hummed before shuffling through some paperwork and eventually produced a single sheet and held it out to Naruto who took it and examined it.

It was a simple request, there was a C-Rank former Samurai who was hiding out in the wastes to the south of Oninoko which were a bit more verdant since it was bordering another country that had actual plant life, his name was Shimazu Toyohisa and he was wanted for disobeying his Lord and killing a lot of people in the escape.

"I'll take it." Naruto nodded at the clerk.

"Name?" He asked filling out some paperwork, Naruto could not understand how a bounty station would have more paperwork than a border between countries.

"Naruto." He answered not giving him anything else.

"There is a limit on this request as it has been reported that the target is making a move to the Land of Wind, he is expected to move in the next week or so." He informed Naruto whose eyes widened.

"Thanks for telling me that now." Naruto griped as he realised that the man had trapped him into the contract.

"You'll learn." He said with a crooked smile.

"I'm sure I will." Naruto muttered angrily as he walked away.

He looked through the small information packet that came with the bounty and there really wasn't much there was a general location which was a circle on a badly drawn map along with a small summary of his skill which was pretty typical for a Samurai though if he slew other Samurai that must have meant that he had some secret or extra ability that let him do that.

Naruto walked out of the huge domed building and back into the squalid streets with the desperate and the fighters, the streets looked as they always did and Naruto was glad to get out of this town for a little while so he sprinted down the streets at full speed ignoring everyone else in the wretched village.

Naruto blasted away from the village honing in on the area marked on the map, while Naruto did not know the area but he had maps and most of the time maps written by Ninja could be counted on for accuracy due to their importance in completing missions.

'If I use a Kekkei Genkai it should be a quick mission as long as no one else is around.' Naruto thought as he ran through the jagged, rough terrain.

'I wonder how the Shiin Clan are doing?' He wondered to himself, sometimes his thoughts went back to the refugee Clan that was hiding in the valley.

He had only been with them 2 days ago and they were in a bad way with an idiot leading them, it seemed like the only person there capable of actually leading the Clan was Arashi who looked like he could easily kill Shiin and take the leadership of the Clan for himself but didn't for some strange reason.

'I guess it's the taboo of kinslaying and usurping the rightful Clan Head but the way they're going the Kazan Clan are going to find them soon, that patrol I fought was already so close.' Naruto thought with some worry thinking about them, even though logically he knew that he owed the Shiin nothing and only saved Tayuya because he couldn't stand watching people die, of course, he lied and said it was for information.

'Do I really have what it takes to be a Ninja, I really didn't want to fight those Kazan Ninja but in the end, it seems like all Ninja prefer fighting to talking.' Naruto lamented the state of the world.

Land Of Earth
Shiin Clan Hideout

Tayuya cursed again as she peeled the bandages around her left leg off and revealed what was underneath, her leg was just one giant bruise entirely blue and purple even with how well she was healed by their overworked and tired medics she was still in pain and couldn't walk for long.

Right now she was resting after a short patrol of her own, there wasn't much Tayuya could do right now and that pissed her off more than anything else as she was stuck in her shitty shared tent on a sleeping bag with bandages and salves for her weak legs.

'If I see any of those Lava bastards ever again I'm gonna fuck them up so bad no one recognises the body.' Tayuya thought viciously as she messed with bandages on her leg.

The others had left on a patrol after they spotted some of those Lava throwing bastards nearby, they had already found a dead patrol of them that looked like Naruto the weirdo who saved her took them out and brutally by the look of the leader who was buried in rock with all his internal organs destroyed.

That just proved to her that he was not to be messed with especially with his Father being one of the most wanted and feared Ninja in the entire world.

"Still not fully healed?" Sasame asked her as she walked into the tent looking tired with a fine coating of dust on her clothes.

"No, that old bag took care of most of the muscle and bone damage but couldn't do anything about the bruising, apparently she had more important patients." Tayuya told Sasame angrily as she smeared the green salves on her bruised leg.

"Well, you're lucky Takeshi had his leg amputated after it was crushed." Sasame said blithely as she went and sat down on her own sleeping bag and winced when she took her sandal off.

"Anything fun happen?" Tayuya asked her as she finished wrapping her now salve covered leg back up with bandages.

"We came across another Kazan patrol, they're widening their search area and are starting to get very close, we had to hide and hope that they thought no one was in the area so they'd move on." Sasame reported boredly as she lay down on the sleeping bag.

"Those Kazan are going to find us eventually, even with the barrier we have up." Tayuya said grimly as she repeated the process for her right leg, taking the bandage off, applying the salve and reapplying fresh bandages.

"I know but Shiin thinks we can hide out here forever and that's not even talking about how

many of us are still injured from the last battle." Sasame was equally as grim for what the future held.

"We should just leave and go south." Tayuya mumbled as she tightened the bandage around her right leg.

"And then what, we'll just be in the same situation hiding in holes and just barely getting food and surviving." Sasame pointed out.

"I think there are more places to hide out in the forests than this wasteland, all rock and stone with no good animals to hunt and only a few rivers and most of them are watched." Tayuya made her point as she lay back and felt the soothing sensation on her legs from the salve she applied.

"Now try and convince Shiin that." Sasame said bluntly as she shut her eyes.

Tayuya did not reply that it was an impossible task, Shiin had taken over when his father had died during their expulsion from the Land of Grass and so far the new Clan Head was nothing like his father and instead of looking after the Clan he preferred climbing between the legs of his two whores that he bought from a brothel while the Clan fled for their lives.

'I hate that pathetic fucker.' Tayuya thought viciously as she glared at the roof of the tent they were staying in.

He had done nothing but be a useless layabout more concerned with drinking and sex than the Clan, at this point Arashi is the true leader and not Shiin.

'We're all in a bad spot right now, Shiin is useless and Arashi is just one man, the Kazan have the advantage and everyone knows it we just pretend that we can win.' Tayuya's thoughts went to a more depressing topic and the reality of her and her clan's current situation.

And the worst thing about it was that Tayuya couldn't do anything to change it, all of the power of the Clan right now was split between Shiin and Arashi and if it came down to it Tayuya knew who she would support even if it meant decimating the Shiin Clan's ranks even more.

A civil war in enemy territory was not a good thing and would probably lead to the end of the Shiin Clan but at least they had a chance of winning and a chance to flee from the hostile Land of Earth, why did they even come here was completely unknown to Tayuya since the Land of Grass bordered better countries to flee into rather than this insular and xenophobic country.

"We're fucked." Tayuya muttered covering her eyes with her arm.

She lay there with her eyes closed listening to the sounds of the camp and Sasame's soft snoring for a long time, Tayuya wasn't tired or feeling drowsy but there was not much else she could do apart from practice with her flute and that was a sure way to get Sasame pissed at her since she just came off a long patrol and was exhausted being run ragged over the surrounding countryside.

"Haaaaaaaaah." She unintentionally let a very long sigh slip from her mouth and she tried to distract herself, there wasn't much else to do apart from, practice, eat, drink and sleep. Back when they were home in the Land of Grass she could have gone for a walk to the market or just explore the expansive grasslands and nearby forests, maybe find a small lake and play her flute for the sake of playing it without needing to fight.

If there was one thing Tayuya truly enjoyed it was playing her instrument without the caveat of killing someone after playing notes to drag them into a Genjutsu or control her Doki.

Just as Tayuya was nodding off listening to the various sounds of the Shiin camp her senses blared at her and she shot to her feet ignoring the glimmer of pain that shot up her legs in doing so.

"Sasa-!" She started shouting but was cut off as a huge explosion rocked the cave they were hiding in.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Tayuya fell over from the rocking while Sasame also attempted to jump to her feet but lost her balance from the shaking and fell into a heap just like Tayuya did.

"They found us!" Sasame shouted in horror as she looked around wild-eyed.

"Come on! Grab your shit we have to move!" Tayuya ordered her shouting over the sounds of battle that erupted in the once peaceful area.

Both girls scrambled out of the tent and saw that most of the healthy members of the Clan were also scrambling around like ants whose nest had been kicked.

"Let's hope Arashi gets back before we get wiped out." Tayuya muttered to herself on seeing the unfolding carnage as the Kazan invaded the caves in force.

'Maybe we'll get lucky and Naruto will come back with backup.' Tayuya thought morosely as she brought her flute to her lips ready to unleash one of her sound-based Genjutsu.

'Who am I kidding he's long gone and we're gonna get wiped the fuck out.' Tayuya shook her head and pushed those stupid thoughts out and concentrated on the battle she was going to fight.

With Naruto

Naruto had quickly found his target after a short time scouting the general area that was marked on his map, it was the only forested area in the Land of Earth's borders and was taken during the Great War when the Earth Daimyo took advantage of the chaos and chipped off the land from the surrounding countries through his Samurai.

Right now Naruto was in a tree looking over a small waterfall which had a cave behind it and Naruto was 99% sure that his target was hiding out in that place due to the tracks he had found through scouting with his Kage Bunshin.

There was a butchered dear around 200 meters away from the cave and though no blood trail or tracks was leading to the cave Naruto's instincts said that this was the place especially since there was no other place in the immediate area where a person could eat alone and unnoticed.

Naruto lay in ambush waiting for his target to appear along with a few Kage Bunshin forming an encirclement around the area, if anyone was coming in or out of the waterfall area then Naruto would know about it.

After around 15 minutes of waiting, he noticed movement in the underbrush below one of his Clones and of course, all of their attention snapped to the movement like a predator would, of course, it was a false alarm as a small brown-red squirrel darted from the bush and up into the tree near it, luckily for Naruto none of his Clones was in that tree so if the squirrel was a summon or a scout for the Samurai he was hunting then it found nothing.

Then after that false start, Naruto himself caught some movement from the cave and he and all his Kage Bunshin concentrated on it ready for someone to appear this time they were not disappointed as a rough-looking man in armour appeared from the darkness of the cave.

He was tall and looked strong like all Samurai did but he was dishevelled with tangled long back hair in a rough ponytail along with a scraggly beard, he had a Daisho sword pair at his side, one Katana and one Wakizashi along with his beat-up dirty red armour which at some point was probably much brighter but now it was dull.

He seemed completely unaware that Naruto and multiple Kage Bunshin were hiding in the trees above him as he went to the lake and splashed water into his face oblivious to the Ninja hiding above him.

Naruto gave a signal and his Kage Bunshin moved in synch with each other and dropped down to attack the Samurai who upon hearing the rapid movement drew both of his blades and killed the first Kage Bunshin moment it got within his range.

"A Ninja! Peh!" He spat in disgust at seeing the Clones and then charged at them intent of cutting them all down.

3 more Clones went down easily while the others backed off and threw kunai and shuriken forcing the Samurai to stop in place and deflect the sharp pieces of metal away from himself.

Unfortunately for Shimazu Toyohisa the real Naruto had dropped down and he had just finished his Hand Signs.

"What!?" Shimazu Toyoshisa was alarmed and even turned his head to see Naruto but his Kage Bunshin moved and grabbed his arms and drove kunai into his legs in order to completely limit his movement.

"Ranton: Laser Beam!" Naruto unleashed a full glowing beam of liquid lightning which punched right through his armour and body then out the other side and continued to go through 5 trees and a boulder before Naruto cut his Chakra and ended the Jutsu.

"No...Not to a Ninja." Toyohisa gurgled blood and dropped to his knees before collapsing as blood ran over the grass and into the water.

"That was easier than I expected, or have I gotten stronger?" Naruto wondered as he walked over to the corpse.

Naruto set about the final bit of grizzly work, and took out a kunai and decapitated the dead body before sealing the head in a scroll he had spare. This was the usual custom for bounty hunters as they only needed to bring proof of death back, some took the entire body if it paid more while others would do what Naruto did and just take the head and seal it into a scroll which they would return to bounty station.

"Well now to get back to that hellhole," Naruto commented grimly as he dismissed his Kage Bunshin who disappeared in puffs of smoke and the Chakra they had returned to Naruto.

Naruto took off jumping up the cliff and over back to the Land of Earth proper where he was back to running across uneven terrain and had absolutely nothing to look at except different coloured rocks.

As he went on running and got closer back to Oninoko there was a huge explosion and the ground shook underneath him which also made the blonde boy stumble and nearly crash into the rocks below him.

"What the Hell was that!" Naruto shouted as he looked over to the east and saw a huge plume of black smoke.

'I know what's in that direction!' Naruto thought in shock, there could only be one answer to the chaos.

The Shiin Clan had been found by the Kazan Clan and they had launched a final all-out assault in order to wipe the music users out once and for all.

'It's not my problem, I helped them once and I need to get back and turn this is not even mentioning I need to take more in order to get money.' Naruto thought as he stood with one eye on the smoke still rising and the other on the horizon where he knew the village was.

"Damn it!" Naruto ground out and then he took off in a huge burst of speed which cracked the ground underneath his feet and left a dust trail behind him.

He went off into the horizon just as the sun reached its peak and shone down directly on the world bathing it in light and creating huge shadows from the mountains.

It would not be the last time Naruto would curse his nature.

AN:

Hey everyone it's been a while hasn't it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter by the way.

Yeah so I had a week off from work which was good but then my laptop of 5 years decided to die on me which was bad and it had most of my recent stuff on there as I forgot to put backups on my google drive.

So one new laptop later along with trying to piece together the original chapter and here we are, not gonna lie I did have bad writer's block on this chapter and it was really hard for me to get out but I think I'm okay now, I can't promise a new chapter tomorrow but I'll do my best to at least have one done by Monday night.

Also, I have completely stopped receiving any notifications from like there's nothing, no story updates, no story alerts, no reviews I get jack shit. I've already contacted support along with following some advice from the forums about putting the bot email on an excluded list so it doesn't get marked as spam or junk. We'll see if anything comes back but I may have to switch my Email address to my backup where I won't see updates instantly.

Anyways enough about my woes, I hope you enjoyed chapter 32 of Naruto the Chimera and look forward to Chapter 33.