After an aimless mission to Keishi nothing much happened. It was nearing mid-August and I was never more aware of how close the Nine-tails 'attack' was. Obito still hadn't turned up, even though Rin was very much alive and I was starting to worry more than usual.
"Oh, Shrio!" Kushina was very pregnant and it showed when she could barely hug me.
I gave her an awkward one-armed hug and got straight to the point, not wanting to delay this conversation.
"Minato is trying to make me deliver your baby." There was no way I was doing that. "Tell him to stop bothering me."
Kushina looked embarrassed and angry in equal measures.
"What is that idiot thinking?" Kushina muttered under her breath.
I nodded in agreement. Who asks a twelve-year-old to participate in a birth? Minato was mad if he thought that was a good idea.
"Tsunade is not around, so he wants me to do it." I shook my head, trying to shake the messy image of birth out of my mind. "I've only delivered one baby before, I'm not exactly experienced."
He wanted me there for my medical knowledge, probably to keep Kushina safe. But I was in no way interested in participating.
"So, unless you want to make eye contact with me while you push a human out of you." Kushina grimaced at the mental picture. "Don't let Minato order me to birth your kid."
Kushina nodded.
"I'll knock some sense into him." She shook her fist angrily. "I'll smack those silly ideas right out of his head!"
I smirked at the chaos that would've ensued had Kushina not been house-bound.
"Well, it's been fun, but I'm supposed to be somewhere." I gave Kushina a slightly apologetic nod and Shunshined away to avoid the customary goodbye.
...
My house was full of Clones and our expenses were slightly up, due to having to feed four extra flesh Clones.
The Clones were more than making up for the increased expenses with many new mutations and Overwrites that had been done to them.
I now had a lot of options to choose from, most of the improvements had been done to the Hyuga bloodline and the Kaguya bloodline. There were some minor improvements to the genes I got from the now Raikage but they weren't worth thinking about.
A minor increase in height and muscle mass wasn't too big of a deal. Bloodlines were more interesting, especially as there was lots of room for improvement in said bloodlines.
But the most important improvement was the newly increased range that the Clones could use their chakra at. Now the Clones could make a forest of bones if that tickled their fancy.
Though it was more likely that I would stick to what works, and keep stabbing people with various pointy bones.
...
The twenty Overwritten children were doing well, but not as well as I expected. Only one of them had truly excelled, and she only excelled in Ninjutsu.
The rest of them had remained average, only having a noteworthy boost in chakra. It wasn't too much of a problem, they still had years to reach their full potential.
But it was disappointing, I had expected more from them.
"Minato says our wheat crops are being swarmed with pests." My demi-Jinjuriki Clone tossed me a scroll.
I unfurled it, briefly skimming the contents.
"That's not good." Is what I eventually settled for.
We were probably going to experience famine or at the very least an increase in food prices. Beetles were taking over our wheat fields and the usual pesticides and insecticides didn't seem to work.
"Send three of the Clones out, have them try to solve the problem." Though I didn't have much faith in that happening, I wasn't knowledgeable about farming practices. "Contact the Aburame and see if they can do something about the beetles."
The Aburame should have been the first ones contacted. They do a lot of pest control and different farming services as far as I knew.
"Is the Overwrite ready?" I opted to change the topic. I was going to implement some of the changes that the Clone's experienced.
Passive sensing, increased Byakugan range, and increased range for chakra usage were the things I was the most excited to have. Though being more attractive was also cool, if not as useful.
"No." My Clone dashed my rising hopes. "I need two more weeks, our first Overwrite contained too many changes."
I shrugged, while mentally debating whether or not I wanted to hear whatever story that involved.
"Did you kill one of the Clones?" I took a shot in the dark.
The Clone nodded, proving my thought's correct.
"Almost." The Clone made a 'so-so' gesture. "His eyes did experience an epic genetic breakdown."
I took a moment to ponder what an 'epic genetic breakdown' was but realized I was going to get the Clones memories soon and would figure it out then.
"Alright, is there anything else?" I rubbed my eyes.
My Clone just shook his head. I waved him off, not needing anything else.
My Clones were becoming my link to the outside world, I barely went outside anymore.
I wasn't sure if it was because of my anti-socialness or pre-teen angst, but I was becoming more of a hermit with every passing day.
I shook my head and tried to put it out of my mind. I had other things to do with my time.
...
The Clones Magnet Release wasn't something he or I cared about. It was useful, as the clone used it to supplement it's sensing, but also chakra heavy to use.
It might be because the bloodline was not native to the body, or because the bloodline didn't integrate properly, but it was chakra heavy and not useful unless one had massive reserves.
Which my clone didn't have, as he had to ration his spiritual energy and ensure he survived the week. I, on the other hand, had pretty big reserves. Said reserves could be expanded to tailed-beast level.
Still, the worry of attracting too much attention and being hunted down stopped me from acquiring too many bloodlines.
I had things and people I liked now, so I had to be a little cautious. Or at least appear to not overstep any boundaries.
"Should I expand my reserves or should I wait until after the Overwrite." I flagged the oldest Clone down, eager for a second opinion.
Even though we were the same person and would probably have the same opinion.
"After." The Clone said, sounding pretty annoyed. "Ask someone else next time."
The Clone spun on his heel and left, leaving me staring at him dumbly.
"Grumpy Clone." I shook my head and looked out over the lab. Which had descended into a sort of chaos, with five 'people' all trying to use the equipment meant for one person.
I might need to upgrade to a better lab or kill off some of the clones...
"Whatever..." I shook my head and went about gathering what I needed for an Overwrite. "Time to get started."
One of the clones broke off from its tasks and started to help me gather the required materials. I gave him a thankful nod and got back to work.
...
The Hiraishin wasn't useable but it was close. I just needed to adjust it to my height and ever-changing chakra and then It'd be good to go.
After that, I'd need a way to launch something with a Hiraishin seal up to the moon and the Tenseigan would be mine.
Or at least, I'd be closer to getting the Tenseigan.
"So, this is all I need to do to reverse summon myself?" I eyed the summoning seal uneasily.
It was eerily similar to the Hiraishin, and that for some reason made me nervous. Nearly nervous enough to not go through with my half-assed plan to summon myself.
"Yea, it's not that hard. Children sometimes reverse summon themselves when they're eager to prove themselves." What was left unsaid was that most of those same children died.
Hopefully, I wouldn't share the same fate.
"Well, hopefully, this goes well." I saluted Minato and sliced my finger with a bone knife before running through four hand-signs and slamming my hand on the ground.
Black markings spread out from my palm, and my vision was promptly clouded by smoke as I was whisked away to meet my future friends.
After a summoning induced bout of nausea, I stood and stared out at my new surroundings.
I was surrounded by lakes, interspersed with small islands in the middle of them. I spun around, scanning my surroundings. I didn't feel anything, but that didn't mean anything. Summons could hide pretty well, so I had to be cautious.
Honk*
I turned and met eyes with the animal I had an affinity for. Its beady soulless eyes met mine, and we had a brief stare off before the thing let out another honk.
Honk*
"Summoner!" The thing screeched brought it's wings up. "Summoner!" We stared at each other for moment, before our staring was interrupted by the sound of wing beats and honks.
Honk* Honk* Honk* Honk* Honk* Honk* Honk*
A swarm of geese descended, I stood still, as a six-foot pure-white goose landed and approached me. Thankfully its beady eyes weren't as soulless as the smaller goose I had first met.
"A summoner after so long!" It shook its feathers, hissing at a smaller goose who had gotten too close. "Finely the mighty goose will be free to terrorize the Elemental Nations one again!"
I pursed my lips, feeling faintly regretful that I hadn't taken Minato's offer.
"Do you want me to pass a trial of some kind?" I waved the big white goose down, it was strutting and doing what seemed like a dance.
"No summoner!" It shook its beak. "You just need to be taught the goose ways! Then we shall terrorize your allies and enemies alike!"
I nodded, trying to count the different types of geese that surrounded me. I had gotten to fifteen, before the big white goose spoke, distracting me.
"This way summoner!" The goose waddled away, apparently mindful of my lack of flight.
I shook my head and followed after the thing. This was getting weird.
...
The Geese were evil given bird form.
I was slightly ashamed that I had an affinity for the birds. They were undoubtedly the evilest thing I had ever laid my eyes on.
Most of their techniques consisted of pecking weak points with their chakra enhanced beaks and beating things with their chakra enhanced wings.
Watching two young geese beat each other half to death was especially brutal, you could tell they reveled in suffering.
"So, do the geese have Senjutsu?" After the white goose and I were somewhat comfortable, I decided to be blunt and ask about my main purpose in coming here.
"Yes, we use it to make our feathers hard like metal, it's nice to charge straight at an enemy and devourer his eyes while they ineffectively hit you." The goose opened its mouth and wiggled its tongue.
I shivered in disgust, that tongue was awful to look at.
"Will you teach me?" The goose nodded but shook his head soon after.
I raised an eyebrow, and thankfully the goose understood the motion and spoke.
"I'm not good enough to teach, so you would have to learn under one of the elders." He waved a wing, pointing at a small island in the middle of one of the lakes. "They're old and frail, but know Senjutsu like no other goose." The goose shivered when he said 'frail' like it was a terrible thing.
"How long does it take to learn Senjutsu?" It took Naruto a week or so if I remembered correctly. But I doubted it would be as easy for me.
"It takes an average goose about six-months to learn Senjutsu, but it takes much longer to master it." The goose handed me a bowl full of roots and grass with its wing. "A slow goose might take three years to learn it, it depends on who their parents were usually."
I nodded, and placed some roots and grass in my mouth, chewing slowly.
"I'll sign the contract and come back later to learn from the elders." If Senjutsu had some basis in genetics, then that was good for me. If not, then I might be out of luck. "I do have to return soon though, so I'd like to sign the contract soon."
The goose nodded.
"The Great Goose is sleeping. We must wait until he wakes." He flapped his wings in agitation, meaning disturbing the 'Great Goose' was a bad idea. "Eat! After we will start you on goose Taijutsu, we will work on it until the Great Goose wakes!"
I threw a few more roots and bits of grass into my mouth, enjoying the temporary silence. I knew it wouldn't last, as the white goose was loud and annoying when he wasn't eating.
...
Goose style Taijutsu was definitely not meant for human use, but if it made the geese happy, I wouldn't refuse to learn it.
Most of the style was enhancing yourself with chakra and attacking the eyes, genitals, and various other weak points.
It overlapped with the Gentle Fist, and that made learning pretty painless. Past experience combined with liberal memory enhancement made learning it fast.
I impressed the white goose with my fast learning, and he was quite proud to be my 'Sensei' and was happily bragging to his fellow large geese friends.
"When is the Great Goose going to wake?" I felt stupid even thinking of the name.
But if that's what made the geese happy, I would endure.
"Anytime now, he never sleeps longer than a week." I blinked, at the goose, who met my stare with his own beady eyes.
That meant he had started his little 'nap' the day I arrived. Which was extremely annoying, but not awful. I could handle the wait.
"Alright." I shrugged, instead opting to ask about something I had been wondering about. "Why are the young geese so violent?"
Part of my 'training' had me watching and interacting with the young geese. They were the evilest and most vile creatures I had ever seen. A complete lack of empathy and extremely sadistic torture of their weaker fellows was the norm in goose culture.
Though the old geese didn't seem to do the same.
"Ah, they're young and don't know any better." The goose shrugged, for lack of a better term. "They don't think very much when they are that young."
I motioned the goose to continue and he did.
"Geese don't start thinking until they are older, the best we can do for the young ones is to minimize fighting and make sure they don't attack something stronger than themselves." He said with another goose shrug.
"Hmm..." I just hummed in slight understanding, though I wasn't sure I truly understood.
Young geese seemed like mini-dinosaurs, they just wanted to eat and kill. It was probably the norm for animals, but it bothered me for some reason.
"Alright." I shook my head and put it out of my mind. "I'm going to get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow."
The goose nodded and waved a wing at me.
"Goodnight Shiro."
I nodded and waved back.
"Goodnight."
I turned and started towards the shelter I had built.
...
The Great Goose was huge, but not as big as I remembered the more impressive summons being. The Great Goose, was grey, and frail-looking. It was nearing the end of its life, the fact it could barely keep its eyes open said as much.
The chamber where it sat was quiet, save for the sound of its labored breaths. The white goose had left us alone, despite any potential risk I might pose to the Great Goose.
"So young, yet so strong." The Goose gazed languidly at me. "I am Gachō, known as the Great Goose. What do they call you?"
"Shiro, Hyuga." I bowed, deeply. Earning an approving hum from the goose. "I've been called The Butcher last I heard."
Gachō nodded slowly.
"A fine name, simple and to the point." He shifted, leaning his neck against the wall behind him. "I've been told you're a fitting summoner, and who am I to argue?"
He opened his beak, and a summoning scroll was wrapped within his tongue. It flicked the scroll at me with its tongue and I caught the slimy thing.
"Write your name, as those before you had." I nodded, seeing the bloody name and fingerprints on the scroll. "Use the hand you wish to summon us with and be careful about leaving your blood around as it can be used to summon us without you."
I nodded and went about writing my name with a bloody finger.
"What do you expect me to do for you in exchange?" I covered the fingers on my right hand in blood and placed them under my name.
"Protect us when we need it and we shall do the same." Gachō held out a wing and I placed the scroll on it. "Treat my clan as your own, and we shall do the same." Gachō placed the scroll in his mouth and swallowed it. "Consider our enemies your enemies and we shall do the same."
"Now, go chose one of the older geese as your personal summon and leave." I nodded and bowed In thanks. "Spread your name, and our's too shall spread."
Gachō reclined and closed his eyes, seemingly sleeping before I had even left.
I shook my head and started towards the exit. I already knew who was going to be my summon, I just had to hunt him down...
...