Wow ummm hi yea this is awkward. When I rebooted this story I had a plan in place that I had made very clear to you guys that you would see me posting a new chapter about once or twice a month but obviously, that didn't last too long. College has had me swamped and now that I am on break I need a creative outlet so I figured this was a good way to do that. I had always kept the ideas for this story in the back of my mind so the main plot is still the same and this isn't a reboot, but regardless I had to reread the last chapter before writing this chapter in order to keep consistency. This chapter will focus more on explaining a bit of backstory to some key items, introduce some big players that will be important to future events, and keep you guys up to date with events following a small time skip that will occur towards the end of the chapter so that we can speed along to when Naruto gets to Kumo. Thank you for everyone who has been supporting this story through reviews and other means it really does mean a lot to me that people would spend their precious time reading my story.
She had been running nonstop for the past 20 hours at full speed for fear that he was following her. Her shadow propelled through the moonlight and her breath was ragged and inconsistent, whether it was due to fatigue or fear she wasn't sure. She never turned back after Ro told her to inform their superiors about the kid with Kage level chakra near the Village Hidden in the Forest. 'This mission is just a C rank they said. You shouldn't encounter any resistance'. The tears had long since dried and left streaks in her skin and her face was puffy from the crying.
She was so into her thoughts that she almost didn't process that she had arrived at the Gates of the Hidden Forest village. She ran past the gate and ignored the yelling from the guards for her to stop. She needed to tell her superiors so that her team's deaths were not in vain. Hopping from roof top to rooftop and outrunning the growing number of ninja trying to catch her she saw the window that led to her superior's office taking one last breath she jumped through the window did a roll and stood at attention next to a person who was in a meeting with her superior. "Sir! team 2 reporting from C ranked capture mission!"
Her superior a grizzled old man who looked as frail as a leaf but still in standard Forest ANBU attire gave her a hand wave to tell her to relax. His short thin gray hair blew due to the breeze coming in from the cold night's air. he glanced around the room and responded calmly "If that is so then where is the rest of the team? And if I recall correctly you are merely a trainee and not the team leader."
Her breath still ragged she managed to wheeze out "That is true Kugo-Sama but I-" She faulted with her words "Am the last surviving member of team 2." Instead of looking shocked to hear of her team's demise he merely furrowed his eyebrows in thought and gave her a hand gesture to explain herself. She had stumbled on her words " We-well we cornered the kid in his camp that he had made in a cave. After caving in the cave's entrance we heard a loud crash from within the cave and Ro used his earth justu to clear a path for us to enter the ca-" She was interrupted by the man standing next to her.
"I am sorry to interrupt does this involve that strange boy that was caught trespassing in the village?" Having been interrupted in her conversation with her superior the ANBU looked over at the third party and was about the retort when she noticed it was, in fact, the leader of the Hidden Forest Village the Rifukage. She interrupted her superior's meeting with the village leader and didn't even know it!
"Y-Yes it was!" She bowed down to the man who while older than her was younger compared to her superior. While his hair had some gray in it you could tell he was still in his prime. "I am sorry for interrupting you meeting Rifukage-Sama!"
He merely smiled and waved her off and saying "Do not worry about that young one. An incident involving the death of one or more of my ninja is important enough to interrupt a meeting. Now please continue on with your story."
She got up from her bow and continued where they had left off. "Yes, sir! anyway, we entered the cave and saw that a second cave-in had been cleared out and had opened a path that led deeper into the cave. Eventually, the natural cave surface turned into smooth chiseled stone…It looked like a temple of some sort with all of the writing and pictures carved into the stone." She noted that her superior and the Rifukage shared a glance when she said temple. "We scoured the temple searching for the boy and we spent what felt like an hour…Then we heard a faint explosion and sounds of fighting. We followed the sounds but they eventually died out, but we had a general direction and went that way until we came into a massive room with a moat surrounding the edges of the room…and that boy swinging a blade-less hilt around like an idiot." Again she noticed they had shared a glance. We confronted the boy but.." she choked on her words as she started to tear up. "Isobe wanted to get the mission over with and Shunshined in front of the boy and held him by the neck. Th- The boy grabbed that hilt and put it up against Is-Isobe's chest a-and his chest…exploded. We tried to move but the boy finished him off before we could do anything…I think he was from Suna since the blade was a wind style blade…" once again she noticed they had traded glances. "Ro had told me to run and inform you what had happened. I-I heard his scream right before I had left the cave." She was freely crying at this point.
Kugo having taken in all of the information and seeing the girl wouldn't be able to say much more nodded his head in understanding, stood up, and walked towards the door, opened it and gestured for the girl to leave. "What is important is that you completed your comrade's wishes and told us. Now we can evaluate this threat and deal with it before anyone else gets hurt. Now you must be tired so go get some rest and take the day off tomorrow…you earned it."
Wiping away the tears with her sleeve she bowed and thanked both leaders and walked into the night towards her apartment all the while seeing patrols search frantically for a spy that ran past the guards. (her)
Kugo and the Rifukage walked side by side towards the Kage tower. They had already dispatched messengers to gather the council in order to decide what course of action would be taken. Of course, Kugo knew he would send his black ops to dispose of the boy after the meeting but the Rifukage didn't need to know that just yet. "Should we inform Konoha of this?" asked Kugo knowing full well what the answer would be.
"No, we will keep this domestic for now and now push our fragile alliance with them by requesting help with one single boy. It was only recently that they finished their embassy in the Hidden Leaf."
"You know as well as I do what kind of threat that boy could be and what kind of power he now possess if that ninja's story was true." retorted Kugo.
The story of the Three Kingdoms is not one that many elders let alone the new generation know about. And even fewer know of the blades…Trust me the ninja was telling the truth. Said the Rifukage as he stared up at the beautiful starry night. a light breeze fluttered their cloaks as they walked. "We will see what the council has to say but I have the feeling they will want to harness the power he has possessed."
Kugo nodded his head in understanding. "With the current political climate between both the great and minor nations, it is only understandable. Each action anyone takes is like walking through a field covered in explosive tags ready to go off at a moments notice, but enough about this let us enjoy the rest of this walk before we enter the shit show." both powerful men nodded and walked towards the meeting hall.
MEETING HALL 15 MINUTES LATER
The sound of endless arguing was deafening, to say the least 10 civilian council members argued with 10 shinobi counsel members about various political events and opinions. They were all so entangled with their arguments that no one noticed their leader walk into the room. Kugo instantly went into a dark corner to watch over the proceedings and the Rifukage took his seat at the head of the table. still no one knew he was there. He coughed loudly. and suddenly everyone shut up all shocked that their leader had entered the room without no one knowing. "We are here for one reason and one reason only." He stated. "To plan our course of action involving the kid with the kage leveled chakra." there were murmurs across the table and the civilian side looked visibly confused as they didn't fully understand what the big deal was about some random kid but decided to stay quiet. "However some new information has come to my attention that changes the situation drastically." How this piqued the Shinobi side's interest as it meant there was something or someone very powerful involved to make this situation any worst. "It would appear that the boy has acquired a powerful relic of the past…He has acquired the blade of the Storm Kingdom, the Sutōmufangu (The Storm Fang)." As both Kugo and the Rifukage scanned the room for reactions it was obvious that no one knew what he was even talking about.
One brave Citizen spoke up."Forgive me Rifukage-sama, but I have not heard of this relic… what is so important about it and why hasn't our village found this relic if it is so close to the village?" The rest of the council looked up at their leader with the same questions burning in their minds.
The Rifukage sighed then closed his eyes preparing himself for a long night as the story was quite long (Do not worry I will not drag it on too long). While the Rifukage knew going into this meeting that no one save for him and Kugo knew about the Three Kingdoms or the swords he didn't expect them to ask for specific details…'why cant they just accept the fact that this boy now has a powerful relic and is a threat' he deadpanned before regaining composure and then started his story.
"Centuries before the foundation of the first great hidden ninja villages and even before the foundation of the nations as we know them today the lands were divided between three great kingdoms: The Storm Kingdom, Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Kingdom. These three kingdoms lived in a constant state of war, each fighting not only for some sort of territorial or political advantage over the other but also for their own gods." the counsel murmured confused that people use to worship a god that wasn't the holy log.
"Each god was represented in the name of their respective kingdom. The Storm Kingdom worshiped the Storm-god, the earth god was worshiped in the Earth Kingdom etc…Throughout the era for each Kingdom had one battle that was turned in their favor due a random act of fate that they thought was of their god and on that spot, the Kingdom erected an elaborate temple for their god as thanks for their help in the battle. And while legend states the weapons were created by the gods it was more likely than not a master weaponsmith that created the 'Swords of the Three Kingdoms'. Whoever this man was he created the Sutōmufangu, Chikyū sheipā (earth shaper), and the Hi no haretsu (Fire's Burst). These three swords had elemental properties that can only be dreamed of by today's standards, However there was one catch… They were extremely dangerous to wield and difficult to master. The first sword to be created was the Hi no haretsu and was used by the Fire Kingdom in the earlier wars to great effect, but it was also the first to be lost. No one is quite sure what happened to it but all that is known is that the Fire Kingdom had lost it. the Chikyū sheipā was the second one to form and it was used up until the final moments of the kingdom and the tale states that it was destroyed in the creating of the modern day Hidden Stone Village. (As in it was used to create the village). And last but not least…the Sutōmufangu. Arguably the most dangerous sword of the three to wield due to its unpredictable nature…and also the most versatile. The sword combined three of the elements: Water, Lightning, and Wind whereas the other two swords used just one element. This was the last sword of the three to be created and the most mysterious as it was never recorded to be used in battle." As the Rifukage took a drink of water after talking for so long one of the Shinobi spoke up.
"If the Sword was arguably the more powerful of the three then why didn't it see battle?" again the rest of the council looked up internally asking the same question.
"…Because it was trapped before anyone could use it." spoke Kugo emerging from the same shadow he had been in since the start of the meeting. The Council members were shocked that he had snuck up on them and some of the civilians even shit their pants. "The temple and the swords were created following the defeat of a Fire Army just a days travel from where we stand. The outnumbered Storm Kingdom was making great strides in their latest military campaign but was outstretching their supply lines. Right before the battle was a defeat for the Storm Army a massive lightning storm completely wiped out the Fire Kingdom's army. In the aftermath, a massive temple was created in honor of the Storm God. The sword was stored within the temple until a worthy warrior could wield it, however, he would never be found has the Earth Kingdom launched a surprise attack on both the Fire and Storm Kingdoms and wiped out both of their armies leaving the temple under-guarded. One night the Wielder of the Chikyū sheipā used the blades power to encapsulate the entire temple in a mighty mountain and using more power than he had meant to use created several more mountains that dot the west and central part of our nation." After the attack, the Earth Kingdom was the only one left standing and ruled the entire world for a century before outside influences and domestic unrest dismantled the great kingdom. Over time bits and pieces of the Kingdom broke apart and formed the base of the modern day nations that we know today. The Kingdom's last stronghold and capital would become the modern day Earth Nation and the Hidden Stone Village. The location of the Temples had been lost to time as culture and geographic features began to shift and change with the passing of time." Kugo took a breath as the Counsel processed the information they had been given. Their thoughts were broken when the Rifukage stood up from his seat. "Now that we have some form of understanding of what we are dealing with how should we proceed?"
Over the course of several hours, the consensus that they should try to capture the boy while he was still young was the most popular plan and the Rifukage had Kugo send tracker nin to find the boy with only one stipulation. This had to be done within their borders. They couldn't risk running missions inside another country without permission. While Kugo agreed to this he sent his Black Ops nin to go outside of the borders…without anyone knowing of course.
Kugo was walking back through the streets as the first rays of sunlight hit his face. He stared grimly at the sky and mumbled "This changes everything."
FOUR DAYS LATER IN THE UZU ISLANDS
Minato was watching Eri go through her nightly practices with her katana. After learning that her mother was an experienced swordsmen (#2018) herself she wouldn't stop bothering them until they got her a practice katana for her birthday which had passed just a week ago. 'Her progress is extraordinary, to say the least' thought Minato as he watched her finish with a powerful down swipe. His frown faded as he thought about why she was training so hard. 'The loss of a brother she never knew has hit her harder than I would have thought'. When she found out about her now dead brother she ran to her room and cried nonstop for the rest of the night…and come out a lot less carefree and serious…well for a 7-year-old (that means during the last time skip naruto is now 11 years old). Minato shook himself out of his thoughts and decided to leave his daughter alone for now knowing she would be safe with the 12 other guards protecting the place. He left the Uzumaki compound and hopped over and through destroyed building towards the only building in the section of the town with some life in it.
INSIDE THE SECRET MEETING ROOM (UZU)
Minato stepped inside the lightly lit room to the same large table with maps and documents scattered about and the same 8 people surrounding the table with the only difference being Kushina being present for this meeting as there was no point in watching Eri during the meetings any longer. "Alright everyone we know why we are here. To discuss Eri's training, get caught up on events within the Elemental nations, and to plan our plans for the future," said Minato as everyone had stopped talking when he entered the room. Everyone nodded in understanding and got their notes ready for the meeting. Minato continued. "As we know I will be taking control of Eri's Wind elemental training and Kushina-chan is watching over her Suiton training." Again everyone nodded. "What we are also doing his having some of you guys watch over her katana skills, taijutsu skills, and her teamwork… Raidō, Genma, Iwashi. I trust you guys to watch that okay?
"YES!" said the three members of Minato's elite guard.
"Now we need to talk about the events currently happening…Rin you are up."
"Yes sir" Rin bowed and brought out her notes. "Nothing too major has been uncovered yet that we did not talk about in our last meeting." she started. "However something has stirred up the Hidden Forest Village as they have locked down the Village and set up checkpoints all across the nation. My thought is that it is to prevent Leaf ninjas from traversing the nation to get into the Rice nation." Everyone nodded in understanding. It made sense that Minor countries would help each other in such situations. "News of Naruto-sans death has reached The Hidden Leaf…they..they are holding a massive festival in honor of the death of the Nine T-Tales." Said Rin in-between sobs. The ninja around the table looked shocked, to say the least. Minato frowned and Kushina broke a piece of the table off out of anger.
"Those fucking bastards!" yell Kushina.
"The Third is doing everything he can to shut down the Festival but he can only do so much." Continued Rin, She composed her self and continued to read off of her notes not realizing that Minato's features were not as pronounced as the other people in the room after hearing about the Leaf's celebration of his son's death."Finally, the Suna and Iwa border tension is increasing as the Four-Tails jinchuuriki was stationed on the Iwa side of the Fertile Crescent." This made many widen their eyes in shock. Such a blatant move of aggression that hadn't been seen since the days of the last Great Shinobi War. It was obvious to them that war was coming soon.
"Thank you Rin for the information." stated Minato. "Now we need to restate our plans so that we are all on the same page." Everyone nodded. "We will stay here for two more years training Eri and then we will move back to Konoha so that I can retake my spot as Hokage. Im sure the Third would love to retire already." Everyone chuckled at the light humor. "and from there we prepare Konoha for the war that will inevitably come…I have also decided to hold back on teaching Eri my signature jutsu just because I feel like she will not be ready in the next couple of years." everyone murmured in response to that statement. "However that is not to say she will not be powerful by the time she leaves this island!" everyone smiled at the signature turn around of attitude that Minato also seemed to possess. "Now lets go get some rest everyone…we have a busy couple of years ahead of us."
2 DAYS LATER WITH NARUTO IN NORTH WESTERN RICE COUNTRY
After traveling nonstop for 2 days Naruto felt as though he was finally far away enough from the Hidden Forest Nation that he could finally train in peace. He had read the largest of the two scrolls along the way and it appeared to be a jutsu list for combining Wind, Lightning, and Water styles to create the 'Storm Style' though it stressed the importance of using this with a team of two or three in order to do it right and since he was alone he just stored the scroll away not seeing any use for it.
He now went into his mindscape in order to learn about his usage of the water style earlier and how he can improve his existing Wind Style. The Mindscape was a lush plain surrounded by thick forest. The sun with its ever powerful rays beaming down onto the plain. The grass swaying in an every lasting breeze. In the middle of this plain rested a napping Nine-Tailed Fox. Naruto marveled at this peaceful scene. The weakened seal allowed Kurama to change the mindscape to his desire. This peaceful scene was broken when Naruto screamed: "HEY FOX WAKE UP!" Kurama was an amazing dream about killing off the Uchiha when he was jolted awake.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT WAKING ME UP!" yelled Kurama as he leaped towards the boy, however, the red bars prevented him from reaching the blonde. "I WILL KILL YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS!" Naruto got a blush and retorted
"Aw I love you too fox."
…Kurama sighed at the idiot and got straight to the point. "I know why you are here so let's just get on with it. You are very powerful for your age I will not lie about that." Naruto beamed with pride. "However," Kurama said. "You need to be stronger. Those ANBU were not only weak but also underestimating you and there will be a time when that will no longer happen." Naruto nodded in understanding, now going into serious mode. "These next few months will be spent improving yourself physically, after that we will improve you wi-"
"About that Kurama-sensei" interrupted Naruto. In the Temple I went through hand signs I hadn't known before and I used a water justu…Why is that?"
Kurama lowered his head and closed his eyes in thought. After a few minutes, he spoke. "It could be possible that you have such a high affinity for water that your body naturally gravitates towards it, but that would be unusual as I have not detected it yet…I will keep monitoring that and hopefully, we can use it to make you more powerful." Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "Now where was I…Oh yes…Then we will improve your elemental jutsus..whether that is Wind or Water we will see as you develop." Naruto nodded. "Then we will spend a few months trying to learn how to use that sword properly..sure your good with a blade but it is quite clear that the sword you found is no ordinary sword. And then we will use the last month or so to test your abilities by going bounty hunting. Furthermore, I encourage you to stay in the northern part of the lands so that you do not run into any Forest or Leaf ninjas during your training." Naruto nodded in understanding and then thanked the fox before cutting the connection.
He opened his eyes to a small clearing in one of the few forested areas of the Rice nation. He tightened the pouches on his uniform and the flak jacket and started doing warmups not unusual to the most youthful ninjas in the Hidden Leaf. 'I must become stronger if I am to survive…and maybe exact revenge on the Leaf…' Naruto did not know what this next year would bring but he did know one thing…It was going to be a busy year.
Welp thats the newest chapter I hope you enjoyed it! If you noticed any inconstancies please let me know as I have been taking…quite long breaks in-between chapters…Anyway, this chapter wasn't as action packed as the rest as it was meant to set the stage for the bigger time skip next chapter, while also setting up some more key characters, explaining key items such as the Storm Fang, and explaining what will be happening during the Time Skip. If you guys want it bad enough I will make some filler chapters involving the training process for both Naruto and Eri. To be honest with you guys I am going to try and rush Naruto going to Kumo because I feel like that is what a lot of you guys have been waiting for. So yea do not forget to Review…It really helps!