On the outskirts of a small village near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice, two weary travelers made their way out of the town. The path that they walked was calm and quiet, a light breeze rustling the thick forest lining the right of the road. The soft movements of life could be heard from behind the large hedge that provided a barrier between the untamed forest and the idyllic pastures of the area. On the left side, the foliage had been cut away to make room for one of the rice patties that were so prevalent in the area.
Covered in dust and grime, the younger of the two men sighed, his hand moving upwards to brush yet another cobweb out of his vibrant blond hair. "Hey, Ero-Sennin?" The other traveler straightened up slightly at the unexpected question, his long white hair scratching small patterns into the dust covering his back. "Yeah, brat?"
The young man frowned, reaching down to wipe a particularly large streak of dirt off of his leg. "Why is it that we always end up running for our lives whenever we have to leave a village?"
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad this time!" The older man shot back, a childish pout undermining the credibility of his words. "Besides, you can't blame it all on me! It's not my fault that most women don't appreciate my genius."
The blonde rolled his eyes. "I think that's cause you don't have any to appreciate."
"I'll have you know tha-" The man's reply caught in his throat as something made itself known in the forest to their left. He raised a hand, signaling his partner to stop. "Naruto, do you hear that?"
The Uzumaki stopped shortly behind him, his eyes narrowing as he concentrated on the sounds of the surrounding forest. A few seconds later, he heard what his teacher had pointed out to him. "You mean that rumbling noise? …Is it just me, or is it getting louder?"
"It seems like it… And whatever it is, it's coming right for us!" Jiraiya tensed, drawing a kunai as he faced the forest.
The sound, while it had been fairly muted at first, now filled the formerly calm air. What had started out sounding like distant thunder, it was now a loud roar, punctuated by the cries of startled wildlife and the snapping of branches. As the sound drew closer, Jiraiya's thoughts turned to its possible origins. "Damn, is it the Akatsuki already? It's been three years, but I haven't heard anything about them moving in this area…"
Ultimately, the Sannin only had a scant few seconds to pursue that line of though as the scene burst into motion. With the loud cracking of broken branches, and the caws of a flock of birds that had frightened into flight, a massive man covered thick armor burst through the hedge, holding with him a drill like spear that was longer than he was tall. Upon reaching the clear path, the man stopped, obviously surveying the area.
As he crossed the threshold of the road, the shinobi were already in motion. Naruto began to burn through well practiced hand-seals, and by the time the newcomer swept his eyes, one glowing an unearthly red, over the boy; he was already calling out the name of his favored technique. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" This cry was soon amplified a thousand fold as hundreds of clones formed in the area surrounding the three men.
With a roar, all of them descended as one on their target, preparing to overwhelm him with their sheer numbers. The original smirked, a clone beginning to form a ball of rapidly rotating pure chakra over his outstretched hand. As the wave of orange and black was about to make contact with the intruder, however, they were reduced to whiffs of smoke as he brought his spear through them in a large sweeping arc. A wave of sand and debris exploded outwards following the blow, destroying a large number of the clones standing behind the initial impact. In addition to dispersing the remaining clones, the flying rocks also disrupted the original's concentration even as the clone shaping the chakra was blown away.
Looking to take advantage of this distraction, the iron giant braced his spear at waist height as it's head began to spin even more rapidly. Within seconds, he rocketed forwards towards Naruto. Fortunately, Jiraiya was quick to recover from the momentary blindness caused by the dust storm, calling out another technique even as his opponent pierced through the cloud. "Doton: Yomi Numa!"
Channeling his chakra into the earth around him as he called out the name of the technique, the ground directly in front of the giant was transformed into a sticky black mud stopping him dead in his tracks. The armored man looked down at the mire as he rapidly sank under his own weight with an indifferent expression. A metal box on his back opened, and with a loud burst of sound and light, began to emit a pair of bright blue flames downwards. The thrust generated by this device was more than enough to counter the pull of the chakra infused mud beneath him, and a few seconds later, he was hovering several feet off the ground.
"Damn, what the hell is this guy? The armor that's he's wearing seems like what those guys in the Land of Snow had, but this is on an entirely new level!" Naruto rolled out of the way of a swooping dash, taking a chance to observe the massive tore into the road. Jiraiya then engaged the flying man once again, riding on top of a red toad with a forked club. Catching the armored man in the side, the toad managed to knock him to the ground and pin him.
This opening provided Naruto the time that he needed to form a Rasengan. "Well, whatever he is, he's no match for us!" The jutsu formed quickly with his clones help, completing as the giant pushed Jiraiya's summon to the side, the device on his back flaring up. Naruto charged, prepared to push the whirling ball of energy into that same device. Jiraiya held their opponent's attention as Naruto ran towards his back, sphere held high, and was promptly knocked off of his feet when a yellow blur slammed into his side.
Through this, Jiraiya was confused, and if there was one thing that he hated, it was to be confused about something. "How have I never heard of this guy before?" He wondered, dodging a powerful downwards swing from his opponent's spear.
"The only person that I know of who can fly is the current Tsuchikage, and as far as I know, he doesn't have any disciples... Katon: Endan!" He punctuated his thought by spitting out a massive burst of flame at the man hovering above him. This proved to be fruitless, as the man simply flew through the fire unhindered, as the air around the tip of his rapidly spinning spear formed a powerful vortex. Jiraiya vanished in a burst of smoke, replacing himself with a scarecrow from the rice paddy as the massive spear pierced the ground where he had been standing. His internal dialogue continued even as he drew in a deep breath, forming the next sequence of seals. "There were rumors of the Gobi's jinchūriki wearing some very unique armor... And he lives in Iwa to boot. But he had a big falling out with Ōnoki a while back, so there's no way that he taught him that technique…"
He was again broken from his train of thought again by his student calling his name. Jutsu fizzling in his chest, he turned quickly, panic in his eyes as he scanned the area for his student while still keeping on eye on his opponent. "Is there a second opponent? Shit, I didn't keep a close enough watch!"
His fear turned out to misplaced; as he looked over to see the blond standing a fair way down the road along with a young looking man, wearing a yellow outfit bright enough to rival Naruto's old jumpsuit. He also seemed to be yelling something, though his words were mostly drowned out by the assortment of noises that accompanied his opponent. Listening closer, he was able to make out the young man's shout. "Tadakatsu! Tadakatsu!"
Naruto's shouts quickly rose in volume, even as he began waving his arms to catch his mentor's attention. "Hey, Ero-sennin! This guy here says that this is all just a big misunderstanding! He promises that the flying guy will stop fighting if we do!"
This left Jiraiya in a conundrum. He had been trying to get Naruto to stop trusting everyone on sight to the extent that he did, but it still happened more often than not. But sometimes his student's optimism paid off. After all, if this new arrival was an enemy, there's no reason that he wouldn't have attacked them already, as he would have had the upper hand with his partner. The sannin Looking warily at the giant, who was still standing a short distance from him, though he had not yet pulled his spear from the ground. "Clothed in a yellow that bright, it's not likely that he's a ninja…Though you can't always tell with things like that."
Moving slowly, Jiraiya walked towards the new arrival, still not taking his eyes off of the giant for more than a moment. He shortly reached the pair, positioning himself so that he was between the armored man and his student. "Alright… We'll hear you out, but you better have some good answers…"
The black haired boy in front of them gave a quick nod, his features steeled into an expression that showed both deep appreciation and resolve. Jiraiya was surprised for a moment by the expression on the boy's face.
"Those eyes… they're like Minato's were. So full of hope and joy, but there's pain as well..." Jiraiya shook his head slightly, stopping himself from getting caught up in his memories.
"I promise that we bear you no ill will, and that I will answer all of the questions that you have for me… But first, could you perhaps answer one of mine?" The young man spoke quickly, but with practiced care for his tone and pronunciation.
Still perplexed by the situation, and certainly suspicious, Jiraiya figured that answering one question couldn't hurt- well, depending on the question, at least. "Sure, I suppose I can do that. What do you want to know?"
The boy's eyes lit up for a moment, though they quickly died down to their original hardness as again visibly suppressed his expressions. "The question that I would like to ask you is… Where are we?"
Several minutes later, Jiraiya was attempting to wrap his head around what the man in front of him had just told him. "Alright, so what you're saying is that, not only do you not know how you got here, but you've never even heard of any of the Elemental Countries, or any of the smaller nations to begin with?"
The young man in front of him gave a single, firm nod of his head in confirmation, and Jiraiya began to rub his temples in frustration. "And you don't have any gaps in your memory?"
Another nod.
"Well then, let's just start over, as I still don't even know who you are." With that, the stranger recoiled slightly in surprise, a look of realization in his eyes.
"Ah, you're right! I can't believe that I've been so rude! I am Tokugawa Ieyasu, leader of the Eastern Army! My goal is to unite all of Japan with the power of bonds!" His last statement was punctuated as he held his fist up at eye level, where it seemed to shine with its own light for a brief moment.
Letting his hand fall back to his side, he gestured to the giant man standing behind him. "And this is my trusted companion, the great Tadakatsu Honda, the strongest warrior in the warring states!" The heavily armored man merely tilted his head forwards in greeting.
Bowing deeply, Ieyasu continued. "We are most grateful to meet you! Again, you have my deepest apologies for our actions."
Jiraiya was left even more confused by his introduction. "If I'm to believe him, then he's in command of his own army, apparently one strong enough to attempt unifying his home, at that. But my contacts should have let me know about any force of that size, in addition to their leaders. I've never seen any report on an Eastern Army, or this "Japan."
On the other hand, a lie of that magnitude would never pass with a ninja of any rank, much less with anyone that was decently informed of current events. So with that, what could there possibly be to gain by lying about this…"
Working over the conundrum in his head, Jiraiya looked over the pair. Ieyasu was currently discussing something with Naruto, both of them sporting the same kind of cheesy grin. Jiraiya's eyes were drawn to the man's hands, both of which sported a golden gauntlet that swept back to cover his hand and wrist, while a band wrapped around the front of his fist. This, paired with the chain mail covering his right arm, pointed to the fact that he had been in conflicts before. This was further confirmed when Jiraiya noticed that what he had assumed to be a shirt was a gold tinted breastplate made of splint mail.
Of course, there was also his… partner? Bodyguard? Turning his attention to him, Jiraiya had to suppress a whistle as he was able to properly take in what he had been fighting a few minutes earlier. The armored man stood at what had to be well over eleven feet tall, and that spear of his was a good four feet taller. In addition to his sheer size, the man had some of the thickest armor that the Sannin had ever heard about, much less seen.
Finally, Jiraiya looked back at his student. Clapping his hands to grab the group's attention, he stepped forwards. "Alright, I, the great Jiraiya, have come to a decision!" At that, the pair cut their conversation short and turned to the older man, listening closely.
"To be frank, I've never heard of this army that you claim to lead, much less this 'Japan' but, I might know of someone that's heard something I haven't. If you want, I can escort the pair of you back to our village. You have a better chance of getting answers there than just wandering around out here." As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto's eyes lit up as he turned to Ieyasu, eyes gleaming.
"You should totally come with us! I'm sure that you'll love Konoha; it's the best! You can visit Ichiraku's and I'll even introduce you around town! So? What do ya say?" Ieyasu laughed brightly as he extended an open hand to the teen.
"With an introduction like that, how can I refuse? I would be honored to accompany you to this Konoha, if you would have me along!" Naruto smiled even wider this time, giving Ieyasu's extended hand a firm shake.
"Hell yeah! Let's get going!"
Technique Translations:
Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Multi Shadow Clone Technique
Doton: Yomi Numa- Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld
Katon: Endan- Fire Release: Flame Bullet