Welcome back, everybody, and enjoy Chapter 10! For those who didn't know, I had planned on releasing this on the 2nd of the month, but between damn good stories I found or re-read and the new Xbox One X I got with the $400 of Christmas money I got, I admit I was a little sidetracked.
Chapter 10: Hamura's Arrival
Saturday, January 4th, CCY 3381, Morning - Surface of the Moon
"Ha!" Naruto threw an impossibly fast punch at Hamura, who used his Byakugan to read and deflect the attack with ease. Hagoromo and Žiara flanked Naruto to the side to attack him, but Naruto jumped into the air to avoid the attacks. Unfortunately, this left him wide open to an attack by Hagoromo's staff, and he was flung into a nearby meteorite crater. He quickly jumped out, dusting himself off quickly before returning to fight his three masters.
Hamura was definitely more of a laid back, easygoing counterpart to Hagoromo's wise and serious demeanor, and Naruto found it much easier to get along with the man who was only three years older than himself, though he was still just as harsh and efficient during training as the other two. Hamura had been brought in after Žiara, after casting Time Dilation on him for the first time, revealed that the experience he'd felt was tailored to awaken his latent power and resulting in his unlocking the Awakened EMS and Byakugan.
Žiara trained with Naruto alone today, Hagoromo having had to make another important visit elsewhere the previous evening under pretense of the Princess's request. She was currently assisting Naruto in controlling his chakra. The two of them, through experimentation, had found that the easiest way to help Naruto gain control over his colossal reserves was to simply exhaust as much of it as they could, only doing the exercises themselves afterward, albeit as the highest mastery level necessary. For one with anywhere close to Naruto's chakra level, one had to start by working from the top down instead of from the bottom up.
The two had also developed a closer relationship aside from training, after the event that brought out Naruto's Awakened EMS and Byakugan had resulted in an emotional cascade that only Žiara had been able to bring him through, by virtue of having been the only other being in the Realm at the time.
Naruto summoned a Massive Rasenshuriken with as much compressed chakra as he could and threw it as far into the sky as it could go, consuming a minor amount of his chakra and causing an almost deafening explosion of sound and blindingly bright light that made the entire Realm seem as if being exposed by a high-powered flashlight for a brief moment before fading.
Naruto shook his head from side to side to help relieve the ringing in his ears, and focused on observing his reserves. Only about two percent of his chakra had been expended with that attack, which would have wiped out half the continent back on his homeworld, and considering his reserves specifically always had a habit of regenerating really quickly, it was hard to utilize this training method to its full potential. Hagoromo had previously attempted to use very powerful seals given to him by Gamamaru, but when faced with the obstacle of trying to halt Naruto's chakra regeneration, they simply disintegrated right off his body, leaving any shortcut therein lost.
Naruto stretched before making forty-nine clones and having each one go through the process of delivering a landscape-altering Rasekshuriken, until he felt his massive reserves be reduced to what was now a microscopic level.
Žiara sped in front of Naruto and called out, "Time Dilation!" The purpose of her having done this was to ensure the maximum training time could be done with Naruto at his exact level. Even after only one second, Naruto's reserves would regenerate to fifteen times his old self's capacity, which made training in any capacity almost impossible unless done in a time-altered zone. Even the Realm did not help with this to a great extent, despite its altering time to a factor of one day every twelve minutes.
The two arrived in the white void that was the world that Time Dilation created, and immediately began the jonin-level chakra control exercises per element. Unfortunately, before they could truly settle in, Hagoromo appeared in the Realm with what Naruto thought was a stranger. Žiara smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder to calm him, and Naruto turned back to the unknown man as he and Hagoromo walked up to the other two.
"Young Naruto, this is my younger brother, Hamura. I have requested his assistance in training you with usage of your Byakugan."
"Hello, Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you." Hamura politely greeted, extending his hand for Naruto to shake, which he did.
"You as well, Hamura-sensei."
"Heh, no need to be so stiff. I know my brother here can be a little tough to deal with, what with the cryptic speech and all, but that's just how he is. After all that's happened, you can't blame him for being a little closed off."
"This coming from the one who lives on the Moon." Hagoromo quietly retorted under his breath at Hamura's less-than-ideal reference to his own status as a hermit.
"You did not just go there. Again." Hamura turned to his brother, a tick mark forming above his eye before disappearing as he turned back to Naruto, chuckling. "Well, at least he's got his moments, like now."
Hagoromo and Hamura stopped attacking, and Žiara moved next to Naruto. "Alright, good job, Naruto. I can tell your usage of the Sharingan and Byakugan have improved greatly, and you're learning to improve your physical speed and reaction time to make full use of the Sharingan's precognitive abilities. You're going to be an even more devastating fighter in no time at all."
Naruto wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his brow, then thanked Hamura for the praise. After several months of being influenced by an entirely different world, as well as his own natural growth, he now stood at Žiara's height of 6'2", and any trace of baby fat that was still prominent in his face had been carved out by his demanding physical regime, leaving an angular jawline to compliment the three whisker marks that did not disappear when Kurama was freed from the seal.
Hagoromo had gone back to their world and brought him a modified Leaf jonin vest. He now wore it as part of his main outfit, having discarded his old habit of wearing anything orange, opting for a green and black ensemble. The vest was cut off at the sternum, replaced by a thick black chain mesh that allowed for more durability and flexibility in battle. At the shoulder, two dark green shoulder guards were now affixed to the medal bands to provide added upper body protection. He also wore a pair of ANBU black combat pants, and both his Leaf and Alliance headbands were tied at the belt. Due to the conditions he was currently living in, he had foregone his old shinobi sandals entirely, and moved around barefoot.
"How is progress on the Essence Clone, Naruto?" Žiara asked from her position next to him.
"Still trying to get the concept down. I've been working on it since last month, and I know how to split my chakra in the way needed thanks to my mastery over Shadow Clone. The issue is getting the chakra to form a solid clone that won't dispel through any means." Suddenly, Naruto knelt on the ground of the Moon, holding his head as a memory of another life came unbidden into his mind. "Izanagi."
Žiara stumbled back in shock, and Hagoromo and Hamura's heads shot to Naruto in alarm. What?! I gave Naruto no knowledge of Izanagi! How can he use the jutsu?!
Suddenly, a Shadow Clone appeared next to Naruto, but the very second it solidified, the three could tell this wasn't a normal Shadow Clone. Somehow, it was more than a mass of chakra given form, and Hagoromo could feel that it actually had its own biological footprint. Then he realized exactly what happened. Did he just use Izanagi to imbue this clone with Yin-Yang chakra?!
"Huh... well, I guess that solves our problem of needing Naruto back on Equus to attend classes. Too bad he'll only have one eye." Hamura plainly stated, though he was particularly unhappy that Naruto would lose his eye.
Naruto caught that last part of the conversation and looked up. The three were even more shocked to find Naruto's Sharingan eye was still open, as if nothing had happened. "What are you guys talking about? I-" Then Naruto recalled Sasuke's memory of his battle against Danzo. "Wait, what the...? I used Izanagi, right? Then how can I still see?! I should be blind in my right eye right now!"
Žiara was the first to recover her composure. "Hmm... Naruto-kun, if I favored a guess, maybe your Awakened Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan is immune to the effects of Izanagi. While very unlikely, it is possible."
Naruto thought about it for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'll accept that theory. Not like we can run tests to figure out if this was a one-time thing or if it's permanent. I think I'll just avoid using that jutsu in the future, barring any dire circumstances, just to be safe."
"Yes, that would be ideal, Naruto. In the meantime, why don't we send the Essence Clone to Equus so that you may remain here to train?" Hagoromo inquired.
Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah, let's do that. Though we should probably let the Nine know that I'm not actually going to be there until my training here is finished."
Hamura hmm'd in thought. "I'll go ahead and head down to do that then. They already know I exist here, right, brother?"
"Yes, I have made certain they are aware."
"Alright then. If you'll come with me, Naruto's clone." Hamura and the Essence Clone moved a fair distance away and Hamura summoned a portal to Equus, which closed after the two stepped through it.
Hagoromo turned to Naruto and Žiara. "Since Hamura is now predisposed, as we have discovered that the Izanagi seems to have no effect on your sight, we will now begin training your Susano'o. I had taken steps to hold off this portion of your ocular training because we were unsure of the extent of your abilities with your Awakened visual prowess, but I have no reason to continue showing such restraint. Watch my chakra network closely as I use the jutsu." Hagoromo summoned his Complete Body - Susano'o, which stood at over eight hundred feet tall, as Naruto watched. Hagoromo quickly dispelled the chakra construct and landed lightly on the surface. "Now attempt the jutsu."
The first sign of danger was the sudden, supernaturally high spike of chakra that nearly stopped Hagoromo's heart with its sheer pressure. The second was the glare of Naruto's Awakened EMS, its red parts shining with the brightness of the most powerful laser. Right before Naruto's Susano'o came into being, Žiara grabbed Hagoromo, instantly summoned a portal, and threw the both of them through it.
Seventeen miles away, the two appeared through the portal as they witnessed Naruto's Complete Body - Susano'o come into being. The massive construct stood at least six miles high and projected a presence of authority and superiority that left Hagoromo and Žiara completely in awe. The armor was not unlike that of the samurai of the Land of Iron, vertically sectioned with large shoulder guards. The helmet was fashioned in a fashion not unlike that of a Roman centurion's, with mohawk-style golden plumage running from the back to the top center of the helmet. A visor was left that had no chakra in the area and allowed Naruto to be seen through the construct. There were no greaves on the Susano'o's armor, and the boots were fashioned into ANBU combat boots. Six colossal chokuto hung at the sides and back of the armor.
"The sheer chakra presence of this Susano'o dwarfs even Madara's chakra." Hagoromo was in total shock.
Žiara could feel something looking at the monstrosity other than total awe, though having been sealed in the core of a planet for ten thousand years did not help her identify the feeling. "No kidding. Hagoromo, I have no doubt our cover's totally blown, because I'm one hundred ten percent sure every being on Equus is able to see Naruto right now." Hagoromo just dumbly nodded. More than the sheer size of Naruto's Susano'o, it shone with a golden aura that, at its size, would have made it a beacon to anything within a twenty-million-mile radius, causing it to shine like a small star.
"Getting that Susano'o to a more manageable size is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible. We must head to the Realm of the Six Paths post-haste."
Žiara shook her head as she looked at Naruto. "That won't be possible."
"Reasoning?"
"My Six Paths realm may not have a width and length limit, but it can only go so high. It can reasonably fit your Complete Body - Susano'o, but if I tried putting that in it, it would shatter like glass." Damn, I didn't think I'd ever have to use the Outer Dimension again, but it doesn't seem like I have a choice. I can only hope Shin-kun doesn't mind the intrusion.
Hamura sensed a massive spike of chakra in the direction of the Moon as he talked to Twilight, the Nine, and Naruto's other friends. All of them looked up at the sudden light that illuminated the dark side of the Moon a shade of pure gold. Hamura did a quick scan with his chakra, and was floored that the source of this massive surge of power was Naruto. "Holy God, our work is cut out for us."
Naruto Otsutsuki
STR: 59 (+13) STA: 86 (+1) INT: 51 (+8) DUR: 68 (+6) CHA: 100
Score/Rank: 354 [+28] (C Rank)
Notable Feats: Completed the Rasengan, Defeated Kaguya Otsutsuki, Pacified the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox
Notable Abilities: Rasenshuriken (various styles), Talk no Jutsu, Six Paths Sage Mode, Senjutsu Master, Shadow Clone Jutsu
Hagoromo Otsutsuki
STR: 86 (+1) STA: 93 INT: 100 DUR: 80 (+1) CHA: 71 (+2)
Score/Rank: 420 [+4] (High B Rank)
Notable Feats: Sealed the Ten-Tails, Defeated Kaguya Otsutsuki, Created Ninshu
Notable Abilities: Mastered Rinnegan, Truth-Seeking Orbs, Creation Of All Things, Senjutsu Master
Hamura Otsutsuki
STR: 83 STA: 88 INT: 100 DUR: 85 CHA: 87
Score/Rank: 440 (Low A Rank)
Notable Feats: Sealed the Ten-Tails, Defeated Kaguya Otsutsuki, Founder of the Shinobi of the Moon
Notable Abilities: Mastered Tenseigan, Yin-Yang Style
Žiara
STR: 83 (+1) STA: 80 (+2) INT: 92 DUR: 85 CHA: 71 (+9)
Score/Rank: 399 [+10] (B Rank)
Notable Feats: None Known
Notable Abilities: Goddess, Mastered Outer Path
And that's the end of the chapter here! Couldn't figure out what to do after this bit, so I cut the chapter off here instead of trying to force myself to write any more and risk damaging the quality of the story.
I can't guarantee you'll see Chapter 11 by the time the semester starts on the 14th, but I hope to have some of Chapter 11 written out. In the meantime, I'll see you guys later!