Chapter 36
Infiltration & Exfiltration

Land Of Earth
Kazan Territory

Naruto found it shockingly easy to penetrate deeply into Kazan territory it seemed that most of their defences and Ninja were deployed looking out for the remnants of the Shiin Clan who had all probably either integrated into civilian communities or fled the country altogether.

So Naruto found himself on a cliff overlooking the Kazan Main Compound and he was here for one reason and one reason alone. To steal their Ninjutsu scrolls so he could use the Yoton Kekkei Genkai he had taken from one of their Clan members.

The Kazan Compound was an absolute fortress, situated at the base of an actual active volcano. It had 3 sets of huge black stone walls along with a central keep that would make any Daimyo jealous. It was a place built purely for war and was exceptionally defendable, Naruto noticed multiple patrols which covered the entire area in between each wall as well as outside the outer wall all of which frequently crossed paths along with Ninja patrolling the walls as well so it would be very difficult to get in unseen.

But Naruto had a plan, it was a stupid plan but a plan nonetheless. It was a simple and straightforward plan that was very Naruto in thought, he would simply go over the wall and in through the window of the huge citadel that stood in the centre of the compound.

The way he was going to do that was also simple but effective, he still had that camouflaging cloak that he used to hide the cave entrance from prying eyes. Naruto would wear that over his clothes and move slowly across the ground like a worm then when he got to the wall his plan was to tunnel under with his newly acquired Doton Chakra nature. It was a huge stroke of luck that Doton Ninjutsu was so common in the Land of Earth that even in a town like Oninoko they sold the basics of how to manipulate earth for next to nothing, while Tayuya was changing he even found some basic Doton Ninjutsu which every Ninja in the Land of Earth would know.

'I'm so glad that taking Kekkei Genkai gives me the affinity for the basic Chakra Natures used to create it.' Naruto thought as he pulled the cloak tightly around himself and began his journey by very carefully getting down the cliff he was one.

'I have the Hyoton which is Wind and Water, Ranton that's Water and Lightning and now I have Yoton which uses Fire and Earth that means I've already achieved part of Hiruko's dream and have all 5 basic natures so all I need to do now is get 2 more Kekkei Genkai and I've achieved it.' Naruto thought with excitement at the thought of completing Hiruko's long-held dream.

Naruto had made it down the cliff face and was now beginning his long crawl to the huge black wall which was quite a distance away. It took Naruto around 10 minutes to make it from where he came down from the cliff to reach the first black stone wall.

'Okay, now I just need to mould the wall around me.' Naruto thought as he put his hands in the Snake Hand Sign which was the primary Hand Sign used for Doton Ninjutsu.

After a few minutes of hard concentration Naruto managed to change his Chakra from neutral to Earth and then he put his hands on the stone and the hard stone was infused with Naruto's Chakra and then it seemed to soften under Naruto's touch and he was able to mould it.

Naruto with his concentration still unbroken created a small gap within the wall which was just large enough for him to fit through, it was also small enough to be unnoticeable from above the only way someone would find it would be if they walked by it but Naruto knew that so after he crawled through it he shut the doors so to speak by closing the entrances for the tunnel but keeping the tunnel itself intact so all he would have to do is lift the stone upwards and not recreate the tunnel.

'Right 1 down, 2 to go then the citadel and where ever they keep their Ninjutsu.' He thought optimistically as he began his crawl to the second wall, this was a shorter distance to cover and he got there within a minute or so.

Once again faced with a wall he manipulated the stone like it was soft clay and created a tunnel through the wall taking less time than before now that he had a general feel of Doton Chakra and how to use it.

Just as he reached the end and was about the create an exit for himself, Naruto heard voices and stopped still, he closed the tunnel behind him which hid him but also restricted his oxygen supply.

"We're still searching for the Shiin? I thought we wiped them out." A muffled voice said through the stone, Naruto had thinned the stone out so it was a thin facade that would crumble with a hard strike and Naruto hoped the Kazan wouldn't go around kicking their walls.

"You know our Gashadokuro, they injured him and he's pissed. We've found most of them from what Risa told me." The other voice replied.

"What's the point? We killed all the actual combat capable Ninja the only ones left are kids and elderly." The first rightly pointed out sounding annoyed.

"Clan Head says listen to Kagetora he is our assault leader after all." The second voice said and Naruto could tell from the tone that they were losing interest in the conversation.

"Yeah and we barely have anyone here to defend our base! The Tsuchi are on the move and we're left with a skeleton crew to protect our home!" He said voice louder and angrier.

'Hurry up and go away! It's getting hard to breath in here.' Naruto mentally complained as the two Kazan Ninja bickered with each other.

"Come on, we've stayed here too long. We need to get back on patrol before someone notices." The second voice obviously wanted to avoid an argument and after a few more seconds, Naruto felt a burst of Chakra and they were gone.

"Finally!" Naruto whispered loudly as he moved the stone he had his ear pressed against and allowed fresh air into his lungs as he crawled out of his tunnel and shut both sides of it.

'1 more wall." Naruto thought looking at the looming wall, up close they were huge easily the tallest he had ever seen before.

Thankfully the rest of Naruto's slow and dirty journey was uneventful, as he easily made it to the other wall and tunnelled through it again and now he was at his destination.

The central citadel of the Kazan Compound was a huge tower with a square base that got thinner the higher it went. It was also entirely made out of a blood-red stone that he had never seen before and looked very ominous up close with the volcano in the background. Naruto assumed at the top was where the Kazan Clan Head lived and most of the important stuff was at the bottom of the tower.

Naruto scouted around in the same manner as he snuck into the citadel meaning he was on his stomach crawling across the ground with his stone looking cloak wrapped tightly around him.

As luck would have it Naruto found a small side entrance which was cut into the huge black stone base of the tower. The door itself was made of stone and had no discernable lock or handle but Naruto knew that it could be opened with Doton Ninjutsu but since Naruto did not know that specific Ninjutsu he had to improvise.

'Right. I'll use a modified Doton Fuinjutsu to bypass the door completely.' Naruto thought as he slid against the door and began carving the seal into the stone itself.

Once he was finished Naruto unleashed a small burst of Chakra and the door glowed briefly before sliding open, to Naruto's surprise it slid inside the 'door frame' which was one of the strangest things Naruto had ever seen.

He walked inside and due to the minuscule amount of Chakra he put into the Fuinjutsu it ran out and reverted back to its previous state the door shut ominously behind Naruto as he took in the area.

It was a simple room with stone tables that looked like they were formed from the ground along with stone chairs that had cushions on them. There was a normal looking metal door opposite where he came in and two more metal doors on either side of the room which were square-shaped.

Naruto had a look around and found nothing of use so he checked each door and behind the two side doors were bedrooms which meant that this was probably a barrack or guard quarters for the compound. The other door lead to a hallway lit by actual lava lamps, they were stored in clear glass looking holders and had lava inside which shone very bright.

'That's not glass.' Naruto noted as he looked at the lamp. It must have been some form of transmuted earth which meant that the Kazan were extremely skilled in their elements of Fire, Earth and Lava and it showed clearly with these lamps.

'Gotta get my head in the game! I need to find their library and steal all their Yoton Ninjutsu scrolls.' Naruto reminded himself as he left the lamp and went to search through the building.

The compound was strangely empty and silent, Naruto had the feeling he was walking into a trap but then he remembered the conversation he overheard between the two Ninja outside. It was probably that most of the Kazan was out in the field looking for what was left of the Shiin Clan on the orders of Kazan Kagetora who seemed to have a good amount of political power within the Clan itself.

Naruto spent around an hour or so searching through the Kazan Compound and he only encountered a few Ninja most of them were asleep but there were 2 of them patrolling the corridors. Naruto easily avoided them by hiding in rooms and waiting for them to pass. And then he found the library and it was of course full of stone shelves and alcoves where hundreds of scrolls were stored.

'About Time! I'll copy all their Jutsu and training scrolls and get out of here.' Naruto thought with glee as he went around grabbing scrolls to read in order to find what he was looking for.

Naruto spent a further 20 minutes going through the library and copying all the scrolls he needed to learn how to use Yoton. After finishing up he set his final plan into motion, he had created Flame Tags which were similar to Explosive Tags except instead of exploding these ones burst into flame and these were going to be his distraction in case he was detected on the way out of the Compound.

He went through the building and placed them in unimportant places, places that would burn well but not destroy anything important since he needed flash and theatre compared to actual sabotage. After placing a few around in the opposite direction of where he was actually exfiltrating from the compound it was a normal tactic but he probably wouldn't have to use them but caution was always warranted in enemy territory.

Naruto began retracing his steps from where he first entered the compound but when he got down to the ground floor he felt a huge spike of Chakra and then an alarm sounded, it sounded like two huge pieces of metal smashing together like a bell only horrible to listen to.

'Shit! They must have found something.' Naruto was frantic as he was in a corridor in plain view for anyone to see. So he opened the nearest door and entered it shutting the door behind him.

"Enemy in the compound!" A voice shouted loudly and Naruto heard all the doors opening as the was a small stampede of feet as people woke up and moved.

Naruto looked around the room he was in and was perplexed as it looked like a storage room but it had stairs leading down.

'Did they build down as well? Are there tunnels underneath the entire compound?' Naruto asked himself.

"A Fuinjutsu was found on the east side door! A foreign Ninja is in the main compound!" Another voice shouted.

'Shit! I forgot about that!' Naruto scolded himself as he heard the report.

"Well, better go this way then." He said to himself and made a single Hand Sign. With just a small application of Chakra all of the Flame Tags that Naruto created burst into fire and began burning the area around them right away.

"Fire! Fire!" Another Ninja called out.

Naruto sprinted down the stairs and it came out to a huge underground cavern that was filled with supplies and had a river running through it on the far side.

"Woah." Naruto said seeing the gigantic storage room.

He checked around and it was just a lot of rationed food, salted meats, hardtack and the like in huge crates and barrels. There was also the river which must be freshwater and completely artificial since the Kazan compound was built at the base of a volcano.

"Looks like it's the only way." Naruto muttered checking the river, it must have come from somewhere so its origin must have been a lake outside nearby.

Naruto stepped onto the river and looked left then right before shutting his eyes holding up both arms aimed at each cave that the river flowed from and then he unleashed a blast of wind from each palm and the wind shot down either tunnel.

"So right it is." He muttered, opening his eyes.

Naruto turned to the right-hand tunnel and ran at full speed towards freedom.

Later
With Tayuya
Hidden Alcove

It has been 2 days since Naruto left on his so-called secret mission, Tayuya had spent the 2 days recovering as well as physical therapy in order to get her legs back to perfect condition.

She also went on a few visits to the depraved town of Oninoko, it was only for medicine or food as she felt dirty even walking around in that place. Right now she was sitting on a rock outside of the cave she had been sleeping in, the scroll Naruto gave her was leaning against another rock right in front of her.

She had attempted to understand the Fuinjutsu array within it but she had no clue about the esoteric art and gave up quickly.

'Where did Naruto go? It's not like there's a lot in the Land of Earth except the Ninja Clans and the Daimyo's capital city.' Tayuya thought as she cleaned her flute with a deft hand.

There was not much to do for a Ninja who was hiding in a foreign land from a hostile Ninja Clan, so she was cleaning her flute for the 5th time that day. Tayuya had planned to play for a while but after thinking it over she decided against it since it could attract people to her location.

"Damn it! I should have just left!" She growled and glared at the scroll which was just in front of her.

Well, she didn't have anywhere to go anyway, she could of went to the Land of Grass and visit her home but that was a dangerous proposition when she was injured and travelling alone which was not a good prospect for a girl in this day and age of rampant fighting and indiscriminate violence.

Tayuya noticed movement ahead of her and she felt a burst of Chakra. She jumped up and pulled a kunai while preparing to jump back to gain distance from whoever was approaching her.

"Hey, Tayuya." Naruto panted as he appeared in front of her. He looked tired and had sweat dripping off his head in rivulets.

Naruto was back and a full day early at that! Though he looked exhausted, he was bent over with hands on his knees while panting.

"You're back!" Tayuya squeaked in surprise.

"Yeah, it was a hard journey but I really want to get out of this country." Naruto admitted.

He had been sprinting at full speed with Chakra pumping into his legs since he exited the tunnel by running across the top of the underground river. Naruto's guess was right he had followed the river and it was underground for most of it but then it began to rise up and he ended up sprinting up waterfalls and came out to a volcanic freshwater lake and the Kazan Compound was nowhere in sight.

"You look like shit." Tayuya pointed out bluntly as she put the kunai away.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna need a rest before we get moving." Naruto admitted as he sat down on the rock opposite to the one that Tayuya had been sitting on.

"Want some water?" Tayuya offered a bottle of water she took from Oninoko on one of her walks while Naruto was gone.

"Thanks." Naruto took the water and gulped the entire bottle leaving it empty.

He placed the bottle on the ground and looked up at Tayuya with a smile. "Give me an hour and then we'll leave."

"It's about time." Tayuya crossed her arms but a small smile had appeared on her face.

'She looks a lot nicer when she's not swearing or angry.' Naruto noted watching her face.

"What!? What are you looking at?" Tayuya asked him, wiping the smile off of her face.

"Nothing." Naruto said as he looked down to the ground.

"You better be ready to move out." Tayuya sat down facing Naruto.

"I will, it was an exciting escape." Naruto said leaning back looking less like he ran straight from the Land of Lightning.

"Did you get what you wanted?" Tayuya asked him curiously as she played with the flute in her hands.

"Yep! I got everything I needed." Naruto answered in the affirmative with a happy nod and smile.

'I wonder just what you got.' Tayuya wondered watching him carefully.

On the surface, Naruto looked and acted like a fool but there was a certain cunning he had that surprised Tayuya what took her back, even more, was his earnestness and genuine desire to not simply fight and kill for money, honour or family like most Ninja in the world did. He said he saved her because it was what he wanted to do. After all, it was the right thing to do.

It was such a soft-hearted thing to say completely unbecoming of a Ninja but Naruto said it regardless and he backed it up by saving Tayuya herself from the complete annihilation of her Clan. He was skilled but still acted like an idiot who loved ramen far too much and not even mentioning the fact that he was the son of one of the most infamous men alive.

'Just what is going on with you Namikaze Naruto?' Tayuya asked him mentally, and though she received no reply it was a question she desperately wanted to be answered.

Both Naruto and Tayuya sat on those rocks for around an hour and when their respective stomachs growled they had the last of the instant ramen that Naruto had stolen from the travelling merchants during the 3 days when Tayuya was unconscious.

"You ready?" Naruto asked Tayuya as he flung the cup of instant noodles away.

"I've been ready for 2 days." Tayuya answered as she put her backpack on, this was another of Naruto's purchases for her since they would be travelling nonstop until the Land of Wind it would be for the best for her to have a dedicated backpack for her stuff instead of relying on Naruto's sealing scrolls.

"Here's your scroll by the way," Tayuya said holding out the scroll to Naruto.

"Thanks." Naruto took the scroll and put it in his pouch.

"Oh! By the way, I have these for you." Naruto said as he just remembered something and reached into a different pouch and pulled out a full stack of paper.

"These are Explosive Tags!" Tayuya said in shock as she took them, it wasn't just a few either there were at least a few hundred.

"Where did you get these? I thought you didn't want me to buy any." Tayuya said looking at the dangerous weapons.

"I made them. I didn't want to waste money on things I can create myself." Naruto shrugged.

"You made them! Damn." Tayuya hated to admit it but she was impressed by that. Explosive Tags were the most expensive of the standard Ninja Tools but they were also extremely easy to use and helpful and of course, they could only be created by people who were skilled in Fuinjutsu.

"All right! I think that's everything." Naruto said and turned to the horizon.

"The Land of Grass is only about 2-3 days travel from here." Naruto told her like she didn't already know that.

"Let's just go. I'm sick of the country." Tayuya said tapping him on the shoulder as she took off.

"Me too." Naruto whispered before following her.

The sun was just beginning to dip in the sky and dye it in brilliant oranges and reds. It would have been a beautiful sight in any other country but in the hard, craggy Land of Earth, it looked far harsher.

'3 down 2 two to go. Soon I'll have 5 and then I can help my Dad with whatever he's doing.' Naruto thought as he ran behind Tayuya as they navigated through the rocky country.

If only Naruto knew about the phrase about the best-laid plans of mice and men. He would know that nothing ever goes so simply, his previous adventures were proof of that but even so his optimism always hoped for a better tomorrow.

In the harsh Shinobi world, it was a trait to be mocked and laughed at but for Naruto's dreams, those traits which people mocked him for would become his greatest strengths in the future.

AN:

Chapter 36 Yay! The official end of this Land of Earth arc hope you all enjoyed it and look forward to 37, I can't believe I'm only 3 chapters away from the big 40 I never would have thought I'd have a story this large before but here we are, when I restarted this story it was a whim and I haven't consumed any Naruto media in a while mainly because I don't like Boruto and rereading the manga makes me like it less but I do love the world and lore Naruto (Excluding Super Saiyan Kaguya and the rest of the Dragon Ball rip-offs) so I stuck with this story because the best thing about Naruto now is fan fiction and fan comics for me, I've never used the Naruto Wiki so much before.

Anyway, Look forward to Chapter 37 I'm looking to do something different with that one.