AN: Hello all, I hope you enjoy. In this chapter, explosions, jutsus, and the reason why a Naruto who has read a bit about tactics becomes completely terrifying.
I'm considering that a shadow clone holds the exact duplicate of the original's equipment at that the duplicated equipment is working as intended.
I'm also considering Naruto was a "feared" prankster during his youth, which is more or less canon except we don't really know how elaborate his pranks were (at least I don't remember). I'll go for "hinting at some sort of talent".
Naruto was up and ready faster than one could say "noodle", weapons at the ready as he listened to his master whose features were set in a rare mask of professionalism.
"Less than ten minutes ago, a team of hostile ninjas infiltrated the village and caused chaos by detonating several explosive tags. Their goal was Sasame but given her importance to the Fuuma clan, she is defended at all time so everyone was alerted. Hanzaki formally requested our help to track her and the attackers."
Naruto frowned. "Well, what are we waiting for then, let's go!" He shouted impatiently before wheeling toward the door and lunging.
The boy felt a hand grab his collar and stop him in his track. He faced his teacher, anger darkening his features but the Toad Sage silenced the boy with a sharply raised hand and a hard glare. "And where would you go, huh? What direction? It's still dark outside and you're not an accomplished tracker yet. Take a breath Naruto, and use your head. Don't just barge head-on." The man admonished with a seriousness the boy had never heard from him.
"I can take whatever they throw at me!"
"What about Sasame? What if you attack them and they threaten to kill her? What are you going to do? Are you so arrogant that you believe you'll be fast enough to rescue her while going blind?" The white-haired man said harshly in a tone that suffered no contradiction and with eyes that were close to setting reality aflame.
Naruto swallowed thickly and took a step back, properly cowed and gazing downward. His retort had died on his tongue and he was happy about it because it would have been a pretty stupid, arrogant, and useless retort. The boy shook his head and decided he would berate himself later for his complete lack of reflection. He was supposed to get better damn it, not keep rushing headlong like a dumbass. Those books and scrolls about basic shinobi tactics had been clear on that: if you can afford to, think before you enter a fight.
"Are you calm?" Jiraiya asked sternly.
Naruto breathed in deeply and nodded. "Yes, sensei."
"Good. Here is what I know. The Fuuma clan has been approached by Oto not long ago. It's possible Orochimaru is interested in whatever treasure the Fuuma's sacred temple holds."
The boy inhaled sharply. "Sasame-chan told me about it! She is training to be one of the priestesses or something!" Naruto made a confused face for a second. "She told me she didn't have access to the temple yet, though."
"So there is something we are missing. Create a Shadow Clone and find Hanzaki, maybe he'll give you what we need. Tell him we're already in pursuit."
Naruto nodded, crossed his fingers, and in a plume of smoke, three replicas of the boy appeared. The original pointed at one.
"You're messenger, go!" He exclaimed to the clone who bolted out. "You two, you come with us, you'll spread out and we'll cover more ground."
"Good thinking boy, now let's go."
The three blonds and the white-haired man sped out of the house and the Narutos followed Jiraiya through the village. As soon as they passed the door, screams and shouts assaulted the boy's ears and the orange glow of a terrible, raging fire made him squint. The villagers were doing her best to drown the flames but apparently, it had been lit by some sort of specific substance that kept it burning bright and hot.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Naruto cried to his teacher.
"They'll get it under control. Our mission is Sasame."
"But-"
"No "but", Naruto. No one is hurt but if the attackers achieve their goals, there will be. You're a ninja, the mission is what needs your focus."
The boy breathed in sharply and grimaced but nodded nonetheless. He briefly looked up: the sky was barely clearing from the darkness of night to the very first glows of dawn.
"You know where the temple is, sensei?"
The four ninjas jumped high over the wall circling the village, the three identical boys following the older man, who nodded at the question.
"I've never been allowed inside but yes, it's been shown to me."
They impromptu squad were already jumping through the trees when two small shadows fell on Jiraiya's shoulders. Naruto squinted and saw two little toads clothed in colours that actually made sense to wear in a forest if one wanted to blend in.
"Gamako, Gamashou, what happened?"
"Sorry, Jiraiya-kun, I was exactly at the opposite of where they launched their attack," answered Gamako.
Gamashou looked more sheepish. "I think one knows the Meigakure no jutsu, Jiraiya. I thought I felt somethin' pass me by at some point but once I couldn't detect anythin', I chalked it up to my imagination. Sorry."
The white-haired man frowned. "I told you we were expecting snakes. You're better than that Gamashou."
The toad nodded. "I apologize. I got their numbers and rough chakra signature, though."
Jiraiya sighed. "Better than nothing. So what is it?"
"You can expect eight solid chuunins I'd say, and one dangerous jonin. They're draggin' someone as luggage."
"Scrubs," muttered the sage. "You have a general direction?"
"The one you're on right now," answered the little batrachian.
"Alright Naruto, time to show how much endurance you have," announced Jiraiya before he slowly sped up, the blonds behind him adjusting their speed as well.
The four men, two toads squad progressed at a pace that would have made a chuunin go green before Jiraiya suddenly grabbed the real Naruto by his shoulder and swerved left after ordering the two replicas to continue running.
"What's happening sensei, why are we going this way?! We'll lose them!"
"'Cause it's about time."
"Time for w-"
Before Naruto could finish, an explosion rocked the forest and the boy blinked at the memories of his clones being engulfed in a storm of fire. The blond gulped. "They set up a trap."
"Yup and we were going straight for it. Now we're circling around, meaning we're not behind them exactly, more on a parallel route. You follow?"
"So they can't really set more trap for us, or it means separating."
"Yup. We know where they are going anyway, no need to tail them step to step. Now that their trap has been triggered, they'll be more relaxed," explained the sage. "Now run," he added before releasing his grip on Naruto's shoulder.
The boy found his footing easily enough and the master and apprentice soon were speeding again, hopping from branch to branch, high up in the dense canopy of the Fire Country forest.
"They're on our right, maybe three hundred paces," muttered Gamashou suddenly.
"Naruto, we need to pick them off while we can fight guerrilla-style in the woods," informed the sage. "You make the plan. Remember, you need to save Sasame."
The blond palled; even in the relative darkness, it was easily visible. A trail of sweat that was not due to the running rolled down his forehead. "You… You're putting me in charge?" He said in a white voice.
Jiraiya nodded grimly. "You said you deserved to be chuunin when we left Konoha, that's what chuunins do. So come on, do it."
Naruto swallowed thickly. That was right: chuunin led missions, they devised the plan, they gave orders. It was not a matter of brute strength but of wits and intelligence, cunning even. They were responsible for the success or the failure of the task. They carried the life of their teammates on their shoulders. The blond suddenly realized how he had the really bad habit to talk out of his ass when really he was out of his depths.
Him, ready for chuunin? He really, really was an idiot.
"Hurry up boy, we're losing time here and they have the girl."
Naruto directed anguished eyes to the Toad Sage and was about to angrily verbalize his panic when a rather simple thought hit him.
Sasame-chan was his friend and he had to rescue her. Jiraiya was putting him in a tough spot but he had also said he believed in Naruto. Being in a tough spot was how Naruto learned and performed best anyway. He would still kick his teacher's ass later. Maybe. One day, the blond promised himself, his gaze once again directed firmly in front of him. He hummed thoughtfully for a few seconds before a plan formed in his mind.
Naruto crossed his fingers in his favourite seal. In a puff of smoke, five shadow clones appeared. "Gamako, can you… Do the same as Gamashou, like, feel people?"
"Sure, gaki. I'm no battle toad though."
Naruto pointed at one of his replicas. "Okay, hop on this one and tell them where Sasame is located."
The toad shrugged and transferred from Jiraiya's shoulder to the clone's head. Naruto nodded at his kage bunshins. "You know what to do."
With a grim "hai", the clones darted to the right, two up in the front, including the one carrying the little toad and three in the back.
"What is your plan?" The white-haired sage demanded.
"First, they'll henge into something dark. Then I hope Gamako can pinpoint where exactly Sasame-chan is within their formation, then…"
The five clones, all wearing a simple night blue version of the original's orange attire, stalked with all the stealthy speed they could muster towards the enemies.
"Gamako?"
The toad suddenly opened his mouth and his tongue lashed out like a whip, apparently at nothing as it promptly retreated within the batrachian's orifice. "Nine enemies, one is at the centre of their formation with the hostage. The eight are divided into a square, two per angle.
All five clones felt their eyes go wide at the precision of the information. "Can you taste chakra with your tongue?" One whispered excitedly.
"Yup but you should focus, gaki."
The replicas nodded and the three in the back switched position as they neared the hostile party. Suddenly, the bunshin carrying the toad stopped, another replica staying with him. At the same instant, one clone in the attacking team of three climbed high while another dived low, all three still going towards the enemies.
The one clone highest in the three almost reached the top before he realized something the original had not considered.
"I need light." The clone thought for a second. It was still too dark to reasonably expect to see the enemies before being right in front of their nose. The replica shrugged and quickly dropped several kunai downward, each with an explosive tag primed.
The paper bombs detonated below the canopy, bathing it in yellow light and fire equally. Wood creaked and birds of all kind took flight in panic while some dropped down to the floor, nothing but charred corpses.
The sudden luminosity revealed movement and the clone adjusted his position before he dive-bombed, holding on to a branch that had been torn from a tree.
Down low, the clone climbed high as soon as the tags went off and revealed enemy position. Pulling a spool of ninja wire, he zigzagged in between the trees while pulling the wire taut in between the rings of numerous kunai, turning the web into a giant barbed maw by stringing shuriken along the wires. With the regularity of a spider, he went backwards and up, weaving a deadly net.
"Up there!" One enemy ninja screamed.
The troop looked up and saw one shadowy thing barreling towards them at high velocity while dragging a branch behind them. Two kunai whistled and embedded themselves in the branch as the thing disappeared in a gust of smoke. The piece of wood was dissected by the impact and revealed several explosive tags which fluttered down.
"Katsu," whispered the clone, who had simply substituted.
Fire rained upon the enemy ninjas but one had already used a weird jutsu, probably a suiton if Naruto had to guess, given how the strange man was holding a water-like shield around his comrades.
The one clone who had not changed his height-level send augmented kunai towards the Oto shinobis. Unfortunately, the whistling sound of the blades cutting through the air alerted them and they scattered. Two did not choose the right direction, however, as they skewered themselves on the barbed web of ninja wires.
One of the wounded, trapped ninjas moved abruptly and activated the second part of the web. Naruto's replica felt his eyes go wide with shock when it did not go as he had intended and the man suddenly found himself hung by the throat. With a loud snap that sounded like thunder to the blond boy, the ninja's neck broke from the shock of the free-fall.
One enemy spat a fireball at the Naruto on their level and the replica dove behind a trunk. This seemed to kickstart the Oto-nins into action and soon, they were covered with a large cloud of smoke. Suddenly, a hail of sharp projectiles was launched from somewhere within the enemy's cover. The rain of unexpected needles pierced the clone stalking above, who barely had time to wonder why they were gleaming pink in the flames that still leeched the trees all around the site of engagement.
Someone screamed authoritatively from within the smoke and one Naruto saw two persons bolt out of it, one of them carrying a smaller figure. The replica made to follow but was pierced by a hail of rosy needles.
The one replica left, the one underneath in his web, decided all bets were off since Sasame was not there anymore. Refusing to ask himself to many questions, the boy launched a hail of augmented kunai.
"Paper bombs," screamed a male voice as the first kunai sped past them. Six shinobi jumped out in various directions out of the dissipating curtain of smoke.
Nothing exploded and they momentarily faltered in surprise, just as a second wave of kunai sped toward them.
Those exploded with fury, two ninjas disappearing within the fiery blossoms. One fell from the flames as nothing but a blackened corpse. At the same time, the first kunai that had been launched arched back down.
They detonated suddenly too and shrapnel, white-hot and razor-sharp, rained down mercilessly on the now devastated part of the forest. A cry turned into a gurgled and another Oto-nin fell as he clasped his hand over his torn, bleeding throat.
A scream of terrible, frustrated anger echoed in the artificial clearing and the last thing the third and last clone saw was pink.
The memories of his shadow clones made the original Naruto shudder. "They separated sensei. I think a few-" A fourth set of memories interrupted him and the blond swore under his breath. "Five are coming in this direction, two kept running toward the temple. Sensei, you're super strong right?"
Jiraiya snorted. "You could say that, yeah."
"Then you'll distract the five coming here and I'll pursue," explained the blond just as his last remaining clone landed in front of them, Gamako on his head. "I'm borrowing Gamako, keep them from advancing and careful with the lady!"
With that said, both the original boy and his last replica bolted out in hot pursuit of Sasame and her captors, leaving behind a chuckling Jiraiya.
"Well, damn, maybe he is not that far from chuunin after all. Although it's a bit reckless to leave a single ally behind. Everyone is not me." The white-haired man mumbled with a pensive nod. The sage suddenly flashed out of the way of a hail of shuriken in a shunshin and immediately concealed himself.
The toad on his shoulder unfurled its tongue and pointed a direction but Jiraiya had already seen them.
They were a strange bunch, wearing the Otogakure headband. The apparent leader was a blue-haired woman - a beauty in Jiraiya's opinion - who was snarling in anger. "Find them, they were here a second ago!" She whispered.
"It-it might be a stealth technique boss," pointed one henchman in a trembling voice.
"No shit, think I didn't see that shunshin? Whoever that was, he is around here."
Jiraiya thought for a second. He was a very powerful warrior but his years of experience had taught him one thing: never underestimate your opponent. They could very well be in possession of an ace that could abruptly turn the tables and at worst, kill him. Naruto had told him the be careful of the lady and given how focused the boy was, Jiraiya was not sure it was a pique at his pervertedness.
Maybe the woman was dangerous. If she was dangerous, she was possibly in on some of Orochimaru's plans. Knowing more about the snake meant a possible dismantling of some of his operations and potential information on his past activities, some of which were especially relevant to Naruto.
He focused his attention on the woman's followers. It took a few seconds but in the end, his verdict held. They were scrubs and as such, they knew nothing.
"Well, then," thought the sage, "time to have some alone time with a pretty girl."
Flashing through hand signs, Jiraiya spat a monstrous fireball. The influx of chakra dropped his concealment jutsu but he did not mind. He created a shadow clone that appeared behind him and used a Kawarimi to catapult himself down to the ground, leaving his replica in the exact position he had been assuming an instant before.
The clone allowed the fire to let off and was immediately peppered with strange, pink senbon. The Jiraiya-bis sped through hand signs and wrapped himself in his own hair before launching iron-like needles out of them.
Another Toad Sage ruthlessly send a kunai towards the suiton user who had shielded his comrades from the fire. The knife sailed through the air too fast and the man died, the blade embedded itself in the base of his skull.
Two grunts whirled around at the sight along with the lady, who sped through hand signs and launched a rosy lance made of some crystal at him. Jiraiya sidestepped the jutsu and immediately slammed it with a Rasengan.
He was momentarily stunned when the shard of crystal did not show any damage but quickly narrowed his focus back on the fight. If the woman could use her crystal to defend herself, it would prove annoying.
It was a good thing he had a plan, he supposed.
Yet another Jiraiya appeared and mercilessly out-sped a chuunin, breaking the man in half and dropping him from the branch he had been standing from. In perfect synchronization, all Jiraiya's activated their Ninpo: Hari Jizou. Needles made of hair yet as piercing as the best arrows rained down the ninja from virtually all sides, leaving one way out only.
The two Oto-nins left jumped downward but the woman simply encased herself in crystal. One Jiraiya smiled and flung an augmented kunai at the branch she was standing on. The wood exploded and the crystal armour dragged its user down.
She landed in another explosion, carving the earth out from her impact with it. She was slightly dazed and did not recognize the danger quickly enough.
Jiraiya was smiling at her with a satisfied grin and his hand clasped. "Just in time. Jigoku no Kusari*: Fuuin!"
A sealing array drawn on the ground revealed itself at the sage's words and four pillars erupted from the earth. Chains snaked from each stake and slithered around the woman's arms, waist, and neck.
The woman's eyes widened and she struggled against her binds but each movement caused the chains to restrain her further and tighter. Jiraiya waited for the woman to struggle and scream a bit more before he revealed himself.
"Silence girl. Do you know who I am?"
The woman's eyes widened further, in fear this time, before they hardened into pure contempt. "Jiraiya," she spat.
The Toad sage nodded. "Let's have a conversation. You'll tell me lots of thing about your master, will you?"
The woman glared defiantly. "I'll never say a word to you."
Jiraiya hummed. "Ah, that won't do, it might force me to do perverted things to you after all," he said in a joking tone.
"You think rape would break me?" The woman snorted. "I'd be a poor kunoichi if that were the case."
The Toad Sage sighed. Torture was not a favourite past time of his but he had learned a lot of things over the years and done even more. The man shook his head as if he was sorry about something.
"You know, you've already been captured. Even if you don't speak, Orochimaru will never take you back because, in his eyes, it'll prove one thing," explained the sage before he squatted in front of the woman and inched closer and closer until his mouth was near her right ear. "You were too weak," he whispered sweetly, "and your master abhors weakness, doesn't he?"
Naruto was speeding through the trees at his full speed, Gamako on his head regularly whipping his tongue out to confirm they were still following their target. The boy was following the advice of his master and was not actually behind the two ninjas but rather, on a parallel trajectory.
"They have stopped, boy," informed the toad.
The blond grunted and swerved right before crossing his fingers in a single hand sign. Three clones poofed into existence.
"Safe recon," barked the original to his replicas, who nodded and sped up ahead while Naruto slowed down to regulate his breathing. It would not do to engage anyone up close and personal if he was short on breath.
The first set of memories came to him as he progressed carefully. There was a large building ahead of him, the temple he guessed. The religious edifice was basically a stocky octagon topped by a traditional roof and surrounded by four higher towers. The immediate area around it was basically a clearing, removing any decent opportunity to set-up an ambush. There was one main entrance and a girl was posted in front of it, apparently ready to fight. In each tower was a ninja surveilling as well as they could the forest around.
Naruto looked up. He had not realized it but Morning was here. He swore. He would not be able to go past the guards unnoticed. He grinned ferally. He would fight them and get to Sasame.
Except he had no clue if he could defeat all five sentries and if he did, he did not know if he would be quick enough to get to Sasame before they could do to her… whatever it was they were planning to do.
Patting himself, he quickly took inventory of what he had on his person. Once he was satisfied, his mind raced, replaying the visions his clone had transmitted. Another two sets of memories assaulted him suddenly and the boy lost the train of his thought before he smiled mischievously. There was one massive flaw with the way the temple was defended.
The towers were lower than the trees around the clearing. They were separated by a good distance of course but distance could be covered easily. A plan hatched and Naruto methodically reviewed it. It reminded him of his best prankster days. His smile faltered a bit at the thought.
The harmless pranks had turned deadly since then.
Creating another group of three shadow clones, the original bolted upward along the trunk of the tree he was in until he reached the top, followed by two replicas. The one left darted toward the temple.
Naruto and his two clones hopped from tree to tree, all henge'd in a sky blue version of the boy's clothes. The sun was rising and bathing everything in warm, yellow light: the cover of obscurity was definitely gone.
They jumped until the border of the clearing and went prone. Naruto narrowed his eyes. The nearest tower was definitely too far away for a Kawarimi and he did not know the Shunshin yet. His hand gripped his pool of ninja wire.
It was time for a fortune zipline.
The two clones took out their length of wire too and one transformed into a larger, heavier three-pronged kunai Naruto had seen once in the Hokage office when his "Jiji" still had the hat. Naruto caught the knife and wrapped the wires around the ring at the handle. The second then transformed into a dai shuriken which the original buried deep in the trunk of the tree. Finally, he took one last kunai and made all three wires pass through the ring before he tied the ends of the ninja wires to the dai shuriken.
Naruto waited for another minute, a necessary time to allow his third clone to kickstart the distraction, and whistled.
Kunai flew at the lone girl in front of the entrance and exploded, attracting the attention of the shinobi roosted in the tower.
Naruto took the transformed kunai and threw it with all his might toward the nearest tower, where the guard was momentarily distracted. The flight of the knife seemed impossibly slow to the blond boy and his heart was beating madly in his chest at the thought that his throw was too short or even off target.
The henge'd clone reached the top of the tower, on the rook right above the ninja, and turned back to his normal shape. Hurriedly, he tightened the wires around a little ornament decorating the gable, making sure they were taut. Finally, he pulled several kunai, folded explosive papers around their handles, and threw them at another tower.
As the detonations rocked the temple, the clone dropped from the room to the tower itself and lost no time ramming his last knife inside the guard's skull. With a loud breath, he checked the sentry was done for and dispelled himself, giving the original the go-ahead.
Naruto grimaced at the memory but pushed it far in the back of his mind and grabbed the kunai through which all three cables went. The boy took a deep breath and jumped.
The ride was quick, exhilarating, and terrifying. The boy sped awfully fast toward the tower and had to bite on his lips to not scream from fright. His heart stopped when one wire snapped under the stress.
Naruto crashed on the tower terrace, letting go of the kunai before becoming a blood puddle against the roof. His shoulder flared in horrible pain and he stifled a shout. Slowly righting himself up, he heard explosions were still happening, meaning his last clone was still creating a diversion.
Tentatively, he tried moving his right arm but grimaced when pain flared. It was broken. Frowning at the handicap, he shook his head resolutely and bit into a kunai before he forcefully set his broken in position to form four shadow clones. The blond grunted and his vision swam from the pain but he was now surrounded by the replicas. One sighed and turned the corpse over to take a good look at the man before he henge'd into him.
Naruto and the three clones left took the stairs. He was inside now.
Why was he a ninja? Not for the first time, Shikamaru Nara was asking himself this question. However, it was only recently that he actually expected his mind to supply him an acceptable answer.
Had he ever wanted to be a ninja? The shinobi life was his family business and he had not protested when his parents had entered him in the Academy. Back then, bar looking up at the sky, nothing had felt interesting to him. In the young Nara's mind, the clouds led a perfect, if ephemeral existence and he wanted the same for himself.
Then had come the time nearing graduation and his father had turned troublesome, introducing Shikamaru to a game the boy actually found fun. He did not recognize immediately what his old man had done for what it was then, enjoying moving the pieces on the checkerboard too much. Shogi had nearly replaced cloud watching until Shikamaru's mother had started to nag him enough that passing his genin examination was the better alternative to failing it.
He had been put on a team with Chouji Akimichi, a boy he considered a friend, and Ino Yamanaka, a bossy girl who was way too troublesome for her own good. None of his teammates had a reason to be a ninja, or at least, not one that mattered remotely.
Chouji was like him. Being a shinobi was what the clan did and he was the clan heir, much like Shikamaru. He had been enrolled in the Academy without being asked. They had been kids anyway; of course, they would not know what they wanted to do. So evidently, it had been chosen for them.
Ino was entered for the same reasons but had found a personal goal along the way; impressing Sasuke Uchiha, dark, brooding, and last of his kind. Classically awesome, talented, and with such a tragic life according to Ino.
Shikamaru knew the Uchiha was not the only one with a broken past but he figured his female teammate was more attracted to look. It made sense, considering how vain she was herself.
At least, their teacher was far from being a slave driver. The man was nearly as lazy as Shikamaru himself and the Nara boy had been relieved when all they had done was building their teamwork. It was easy: he was the brain, of course, Chouji was the muscle and Ino… the distraction, he supposed. It was like moving the little pieces on the shoji board and then the mission would be accomplished.
Then their teacher had had the terrible idea to enter them in the chuunin examination. Shikamaru had not wanted to participate but Ino and his mother had been on his case and it was too troublesome to oppose any serious resistance. In the end, he had accepted to enter.
He had personally slept through most of the first challenge, insisted they hide during the second, and had half-heartedly fought during the third and last before giving up. It had been like moving the pieces on the board.
The fools in the Hokage tower had decided he was ready for a chuunin promotion. This had made Shikamaru scoff. He was not even sure he wanted the headband resting around his left bicep, the only reason he had it was because going with the flow had been the less troublesome thing to do, and suddenly he was a junior commanding officer? What kind of madness was that?
He had been given absolutely no time to even consider the idea that he now had authority over people who could kill him with a sneeze - and yes, he included his old classmates and the genins from his generation in the bag - when his first mission had been given to him.
He was to pursue and bring back Sasuke Uchiha, who had been abducted. Or had turned traitor, nobody knew at the time.
So he had assembled a team and led the chase, moving his own pieces against the enemy's.
The exception was that this time, his friends had all nearly died. Worse, when he himself had only suffered a broken finger, he had returned to Konoha rather than continuing forward to ensure the mission's success. He had left Naruto fight alone as he nursed his twisted pinkie.
"What am doing?" muttered Shikamaru Nara as his exceptional mind failed to provide the boy with the answer he desperately needed.
AN: *Chains of Jigoku (the Buddhist version of hell). A fuuinjutsu array of my invention that allows Jiraiya to capture a target given he had a minimal amount of prep time.
I hope you enjoyed. Writing action in 3D was fun, if difficult. FYI, the little snippets about the rest of the characters happen in their own timeframe.
To be clear, I do NOT remember how Shikamaru passed the first exam. I'll assume he cheated because being a tactical and strategic genius does NOT mean he has the knowledge needed to pass the exam. The idea here is that he just did with as little effort as usual.
Next chapter, end of the Fuuma arc and beginning of a new one. I plan on doing two more "original" arcs where we'll explore how Naruto changes depending on the challenges and revelations he faces.
Leave a review for my dessert.