MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE – PREPERATION
A Clearing, Near the Hidden Leaf Camp
The clearing in the trees is narrow but flat, the ground mostly dirt with occasional patches of grass. It is well concealed and has a good amount of space, this can be said to be the perfect space for a shinobi to train. Not just any shinobi is training here though, the shinobi in question is Uzumaki Naruto, the 7th Hokage.
'I need to improve in my base form' he concludes to himself, 'If I get twice as strong in that form, then I will be one hundred times stronger in six paths mode'.
This may be exaggeration but the basic principle is sound. If Naruto were to double his strength in six paths mode, his max power would be double what it was previously. However, if Naruto were to double his strength in his base form that power increase would be multiplied as he used six paths mode. The pattern isn't linear, still, nature chakra will have that effect on Naruto, truly this is the most effective way to train.
This is not all though, for miles around Naruto can be seen doing the same thing. He uses clones, this is the method of training that only Naruto can use, training with shadow clones. This is a training method invented by the 6th Hokage, by Naruto training his mind in one thousand places at once he can improve one thousand times faster, it's an experience gaining method, a practice farming technique.
In each clearing Naruto jumps around, throwing kicks and punches with enough speed to make the air whistle. He dances with an invisible partner, a technique similar to that of shadow boxing. It is a process by which he fights an imaginary opponent, someone whose moves you can see in your mind, that you can learn to counter. This is not easy though, for his opponent is not someone he has seen fight before. He is judging the fighting style of General Clyde purely based off the man's mannerisms.
"Naruto" a woman's voice sounds from his rear.
Naruto throws one final punch as hard as he can into the space before him, a whistle coming along with his fist. 'Through good chakra control you can make your punches truly incredible. I'm not up to the level of Tsunade and Sakura yet, I have to keep working'.
The blonde shinobi smiles at his fist for a few seconds before looking towards his visitor. "Hey Hinata, how are you?".
"I'm OK" she replies with a smile. For all the difficulties Hinata has endured recently, to be unable to stop all the suffering around her, to see Naruto happily training is a blissful sight.
"A lot happened while you were gone" she continues, "A lot happened with your parents, with Mito and with Boruto".
Indeed, during the time Naruto was asleep it was a landslide of bad news, no good came of it. His father had been critically injured; his son had suggested leaving his father to die and Uzumaki Mito had died trying to help Minato by getting a cure. All of this had been caused by the enemy.
While these tragedies all appear to have stem from a single man the truth is far more grizzly. This was all a premeditated plan by Colonel Martin. A man who the Hokages of the hidden leaf village are destined to meet one day very soon.
"Yeah" Naruto frowns, "I gathered that this has been a tough time for the Uzumaki clan".
Hinata lowers her eyes to look at her feet, not daring to look him in the eye. In the back of her mind she feels slightly guilty that she could not do anything while Naruto was away. "It has…".
"But, I think you are going to turn it all around" she looks back at the man who she would have married and smiles.
"Of course I will" Naruto asserts as his speech quickens, "I'm going to beat that general and all of the others too".
"I'll make them think twice before they take on a shinobi again" his fist tightens as he thinks back to the suffering son described to him, "I will never give up, that's still my ninja way".
Hinata gazes at Naruto contentedly. It is truly refreshing in this world of suffering and despair to hear someone talk so positively. 'That is Naruto's power' she decides, 'No matter how bad the situation, no matter how dangerous it is he just keeps walking forward. That determination, his ability to make you smile, to inspire you no matter how bad things get, that is true strength'.
"That's what I like to hear" a man's croaky voice comes from behind Hinata. The sounds of his voice oust this newcomer as being very aged. Regardless, the owner of this voice has a presence to him, an air of confidence.
Walking out ahead of a group of followers comes the owner of that voice, an old friend of Naruto's.
Nara Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru, is that you?" Naruto smiles as he looks at the old man before him. "Choji, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Tenten, is that really you guys?".
Smiling, Shikamaru confirms it. "It's us Naruto".
Despite his apparent calmness this is an emotional moment for Shikamaru and the others. Ever since the Naruto of this time died they had felt like hope was all but gone. Of course, there was Sarada, Boruto and Mitsuki but they didn't have the same ability as Naruto. An ability described perfectly by Hinata a moment ago, an ability to inspire people. Naruto is the sun who burns so brightly that he is able to pierce through the clouds, something unique throughout all of history.
"Wow" Naruto says, looking rapidly between his friends, "How do I say this, you all look kind of old".
"Come on now, that's not very good manners" Shikamaru places his hand out before him, his voice echoing his sarcastic remark. 'Of course we look old, we're from the future Naruto, even your own children are older than you'.
"Sorry, sorry, it's kind of overwhelming to see you like this" Naruto holds his hands out before him as he worries about offending his friends who have aged for so long without him, "I'm really glad you're all still alive… is Lee…".
"He died taking on a Colonel" Tenten explains while looking at her own feet, "Nobody ever came so close to defeating one as Lee but… even with the 8 gates he couldn't do it, that Colonel outlasted him".
Kiba places a consoling hand on Tenten's shoulder, "Lee died a hero and we intend to honour his sacrifice".
Shino steps forward with his hands buried in the deep pockets of his beige jacket. "That's why we are here Naruto".
"Why you are here" Naruto starts, "Why is that?".
"We are all going to train you" Ino smiles knowingly, as if relishing the prospect of putting Naruto through a torturous practice regime.
"You guys are going to train me" Naruto's surprise is conveyed by a rise in the pitch of his voice.
"Whether it was you or Sasuke, Konohamaru or Lee, we have been forced to watch so many of our friends die" Shikamaru sighs as he thinks back to their deaths. Naruto and Sasuke died fighting a general. Lee died fighting against a colonel. Konohamaru died holding back the enemy while they fled the village.
"It's a hopeless situation" Choji frowns, "We haven't really had any chance to make a difference".
"This is our opportunity Naruto" explains Tenten, "We are old now, just like you say, we are retired but we understand you better than anyone. It's our job to forge you into the perfect blade".
Kiba continues, "It's your job to strike the enemy straight through the heart".
Naruto looks from face to face, determination steely on each and every one. These people have all been stuck in hell and now a battering ram has been summoned to the gates. They will all grab that battering ram and push.
"Well if you guys think you know what you are doing then I will do whatever you ask of me" the 7th Hokage smiles.
"Well then" Shikamaru joins his old friend in smiling before looking to Choji, "Let's begin shall we".
The ever-hungry shinobi steps forward, "Every fighter must start with a solid foundation of strength and speed".
"Prepare yourself, I'm about to put you through the toughest physical training of your life".
The Day Before the Contest, The Open Grassland, Near the Hidden Leaf Camp
The contest is tomorrow and everyone can feel the tension in the air.
One day left, it is do or die now.
A repeated sound, bang, bang, bang. That is the sound that echoes along the grassy plains that Sarada has spent her time in. Here she trains, preparing herself for the upcoming contest, a contest for earth.
The sounds of collision stem from her defence against Boruto, her training partner. Boruto's attacks consist, as usual, of a barrage of rasengan. Each rasengan has undergone the transformation from a kunai into the rotating blue ball of chakra. Sarada counters this by covering her fist in the energy of the sun, an attack she unlocked with the rinnegan and punching the rasengan.
Sarada has taken to calling this punch the 'solar punch'.
Running low on kunai, Boruto moves to change his offensive, he ceases the ranged attack and dashes towards Sarada before throwing a volley of punches and kicks towards her. This sort of thing is child's play to the 9th Hokage though, she is easily capable, with the help of her visual prowess, of defending against Boruto.
Naruto's son switches up his assault once again, this time activating his byakugan as he targets Sarada's chakra points. Carefully placed strikes flow repeatedly, still, none of them reach their target, Sarada blocks them all seamlessly.
Boruto stops attacking, they had agreed that Sarada would not attack him in this drill and would simply defend, this is defensive training.
"Good work, it's time to go back to endurance training" the shadow Hokage instructs his Hokage, "Use the Susano, maintain it for as long as you can".
A yellow Susano begins to form around Sarada, the speed with which it forms is much quicker than before, though Boruto notices that is not the only thing that has changed. Sarada looked so pained when she used the Susano in the past, though as her visual prowess improved this transformation became increasingly easy for her. Her development is something he cannot compare to.
"Boruto…".
"What is it?".
"About what you said to Hashirama" Sarada looks her teammate in the eyes, "That he should give up on your grandfather".
Boruto sighs, his black jacket swaying in the breeze as he momentarily closes his eyes. "So my mother told you about that then?".
"I'm worried Boruto. I know this war has taught us to make sacrifices but that sort of thing is what we are fighting against". This difference in philosophy is one that Sasuke warned Sarada about, not dissimilar to the differences between Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo.
"It was the right decision at the time" Boruto raises a palm as if holding an invisible object to show off, "Of course I didn't want to do it personally but I can't afford to have that bias at a time like this".
"Your father never believed in giving up" the Hokage recalls, "He maintained his attitude until the moment he died".
"But he died didn't he!" Boruto shouts.
A frosty silence descends as the shinobi brings up this event.
That was a dark day in the lives of each shinobi. On that day Boruto had lost his father, as well as the man he aspired to be like. In much the same vein, Sarada lost her father day, as well as that, she too lost the man she aspired to be like. Two parents lost, two inspirations lost, the people who had defined what they would become had died to this unstoppable enemy.
"He failed to protect the village, he left it to us instead" Boruto explains.
"Entrusting to the future generations, that is part of being a shinobi" Sasuke's daughter retorts. It is something that her father had done, that he had learned from his life, his battles with Naruto. And importantly to her, this is a lesson to be learnt from the Uchiha clan's ancestor, from Uchiha Madara.
"I know" Boruto sighs, "But, did it not show that we need to be clever about how we do things. I made the wrong call this time but next time it could well be the right decision".
Sarada hesitates, "If we were to become so empty, so devoid of emotion, would it be worth surviving at all?".
"I don't know" he responds, "Is it even possible to know before seeing what we would become".
"I would rather not take the chance".
"Most people would seem to agree with you" Boruto shrugs his shoulders, "I guess it's a good thing that you are the Hokage and not me".
In his head Boruto continues, 'There is a big difference Sarada, with my solution we would survive. Only one person would need to change, is one bad person enough to change an entire population?'.
Suddenly a strong pain grips Boruto, he reaches for his gut as he does his best to stop from keeling over.
"Boruto, are you OK?" Sarada leans forward in concern, it's not often that Boruto can be seen in such pain, even more seldom that he shows it.
"I'm feeling slightly unwell" he waves his hand as he speaks calmly, "Continue with your endurance training, I will be back shortly".
Boruto runs towards the nearby forest, looking for some cover to hide in. He weaves through the grass with a clumsiness not becoming of a shinobi, not once letting go of his gut as his teeth can almost be heard grinding together. Sarada quickly comes to the conclusion that the pain he is feeling must be immense.
'Boruto… what's wrong with you?'.
In the Forest
As Boruto finds a spot where he is convinced he is out of Sarada's sight he finally flops down against a tree. He resists the temptation to scream in agony as the familiar sensation crawls up on once again. It is that energy, it is leaving his body once again.
This time it is a grey coloured gas, it floods from his body before slowly diffusing into the air. Its current similar to that of a river, it flows and as the rate of flow decreases, so does the pain that Boruto feels. Finally, the substance stops leaking from his body, his pain ceases to be and his composure returns to him.
He takes a few moments to collect himself before getting to his feet and heading back towards Sarada.
As he gets to the edge of the forest, he is confronted by a woman.
It is his grandmother, Kushina.
"Grandmother…" he says, lowering his head slightly out of guilt.
"Your grandfather would like to see you" she frowns, as if talking to a child who was in a lot of trouble.
"I understand" Boruto nods, "I have to help Sarada with her training right now, would the end of the day be OK".
"I suppose so" Kushina gives the non-committal answer, "See you then".
As Boruto watches his grandmother walk away his guilt builds up inside him. It pours into him like water into a glass, it reaches the top, it overflows. His guilt beckons to him, at last it forces him to act.
"Grandmother" he calls.
She turns her head without her body following, "Yeah".
"I'm sorry for what I did, for what I said".
A smile comes to the face of Uzumaki Kushina, a smile that transmits happiness straight to Boruto's heart, "Well I guess that's a start. Perhaps you can finish at the end of the day".
Atop the Lake, Near the Hidden Leaf Camp
The tension is also thick in the air over the lake which Mirai and Hiruzen have adopted as their training ground. The motivation for choosing this lake centres around chakra control. Hiruzen decided that dividing Mirai's attention between walking on the lake and mastering her power would allow her to more easily manipulate that power come the contest.
Mirai gathers chakra in her hands, it forms a mysterious pale blue colour as she strains herself to control it.
Stood with Mirai at this moment is the monkey-king Enma. "That's it Mirai, show me just what Hiruzen's granddaughter can do".
In response to the provocation from the monkey-king, Mirai's chakra only becomes more frenzied, her breathing more erratic as the chakra flow increases. It's a monstrous chakra, the sort of chakra that would have made her a legend if she had unlocked it prior to the war. This power is truly worthy of a Hokage.
"Honestly" Biwako shakes her head as she watches from afar with her husband.
"What is wrong Biwako?" he asks.
"You're always experimenting with jutsu, working on your own strength or the villages" the medical shinobi begins, "And now you have turned our granddaughter into some sort of monster as well".
The 3rd Hokage chuckles deeply, "You're impressed, I can tell".
"I am actually" Biwako affirms despite her husband's sarcasm.
As Hiruzen turns to look at Biwako his wife continues, "I've been married to you for years, I've watched you develop as the Hokage for even longer. You've done so much to protect the village and yet…".
"Yet…".
"I've never felt so proud of you as I do now, Hiruzen".
"I love you" Hiruzen responds as he hugs Biwako tightly to his chest.
"I love you too" she replies, gripping hold of her husband tightly.
The thought goes through their minds that perhaps this is their last chance to be happy together. If tomorrow is a disaster, they will all die. That will be the end of it, their chance to start a new life in the future will have gone to waste.
The Nearby Mountain Range
From space to space, Tobirama teleports with a speed much greater than he could manage before. His speed now approaches the level of the 4th Hokage. While Senju Tobirama is the creator of the flying thunder god jutsu, Namikaze Minato could be said to be the master of it. The true user. Despite that, this period of training has paid of greatly for Tobirama, his strength rising to a level higher than it would have ever reached had he stayed in the past.
"This is much easier than it used to be…" Tobirama notes, "Still that alone won't be enough to take on a colonel, not even my brother could defeat one of them last time I saw him".
Tobirama sits down cross legged as he gazes over the mountains which have been his home recently. "I will have to use my brains… and…".
"My trump card".
A Barren Wasteland
This barren wasteland has also been the centre for a Hokage's training in recent weeks. This wasteland littered with the skeletal remains of animals does not appear to be fit for humans. It would take a specialist shinobi just to survive here long term, never mind to train here. However, this man was no ordinary shinobi and he had no ordinary company. The occupants of this wasteland have been Hatake Kakashi and his sparring partner Mitsuki.
"I won't be able to win, not like this" Kakashi sighs as he walks alongside Mitsuki.
"Calm down Lord 6th" Mitsuki urges. Mitsuki had spent a period of his youth under the protection of the 6th Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, that was the safest period of his life. Naturally, Orochimaru's son has a great deal of respect for the son of the white-fang.
In spite of his familiarity with Kakashi, Mitsuki has never seen him so panicked as he is right now, "Even if you lose there is always the other Hokage".
"Is there?" Kakashi asks, his eyes turning to his junior, "Naruto wasn't in very good condition when we left".
"Lord 7th always gets up" Mitsuki confidently states. Naruto was the man who had been the Hokage for the majority of Mitsuki's life, a man who became revered as the greatest shinobi the village had ever produced. To that end, if he didn't trust Naruto, whom could he possibly trust.
Kakashi realises he is being hysterical, he takes a deep breath to calm himself. "You're right of course".
"We've done everything we can" Mitsuki smiles, "There is no guarantee that you will lose anyway".
Tightening his fist Kakashi resolves himself, more determined than he has ever been. "Of course not".
"I have every intention of winning".
Naruto's Clearing, Near the Hidden Leaf Camp
The sun slowly closes on the horizon lighting up the surroundings with an orange tinge. Naruto has been through a brutal training regime, learning more about his own capabilities than ever had before. He has pushed his strength, his speed, his stamina to whole new levels, still that is not enough.
To the end of getting one last improvement, he trains late today. As the time passes his friends wish him luck and leave only he and the man training him in the clearing. Naruto and Shikamaru remain there, alone.
"The threat won't end here Naruto" Shikamaru suggests, watching his friend try to collect energy, "There is only one way you can fight against their power".
"I know" Naruto states before he once again gives up on his attempt, "Still, I've only done it a few times by mistake, the contest is tomorrow. There is no way I will grasp it in time".
"It doesn't matter" the laid-back elderly gentlemen smiles, "You can stop now, it will come to you tomorrow. Trust me".
"How can you be so sure in me?" the 7th Hokage asks.
"Have confidence Naruto, because you've shown us time and time again that you are worth believing in".
"Yeah" Naruto starts to nod his head, "Yeah, I'll believe in myself. I'll trust in your belief that I can do this".
"The entire village can't be wrong" Shikamaru shrugs, "They are all confident you will win. They can't believe that their Lord 7th, their Naruto would lose".
"Just relax, you are going to save us" he finishes.
"Yeah… you're right".
"I am ready".
Thus, comes an end to the training of Uzumaki Naruto.
Whether he is ready or not it is too late now.
The contest will arrive tomorrow and the fate of the hidden leaf village will be decided. Fate has already determined it, whether they will live, or whether they will die.
Author Note:
Hi Everyone.
This is the second to last chapter in part 2, so please bare in mind that I will have a period of inactivity while I plan part 3.
If you have five minutes please give KorrieChan's 'A Changing Vision Of The Future' a read. It is a nicely written story based around a good premise, so give it a go if you are able.
As always I would like to thank you for reading and for all the lovely things you have been saying. It really does make it feel worthwhile writing this story.
Thanks for reading,
Me