Chapter 7.

Work has been a real pain this week, so I just finished this chapter like ten minutes ago

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Review answers:

JAIMOL: Thanks for the note. I'm glad you like where this is going.

the DragonBard: I'm trying to reconstruct the timeline as best I can. The Naruto Wiki has been pretty helpful. As best I can tell, in the canon, Orochimaru defects after the 3rd has retaken his position as hokage. It seems as if the Tenzo/Yamato experiments happened substantially before he left the village, and were just kept secret. I often wondered how that many people could disappear from Kohona and no one would notice. Between Orochimaru and Root, it would seem like all the children in the village would be gone with no one the wiser. It's not like the Leaf is a bustling metropolis. Anyway, thanks for reading.

kakashidex: Thanks for your notes yet again! I'm glad you're sticking with me, even though you hate flashbacks, and that's all I seem to write. Good news, this chapter doesn't have any! In all seriousness though, you have provided me with the most feedback, so you have my thanks. Keep reading bro, I think you will like what I have in store.

(Hint to everyone else, he gets love because he ALWAYS reviews. Hint hint. Unless you don't want love, then I'm sad)

Thanks for reading everyone!

-pp

The Namikaze Compound

"Ooof." A streak of blue and orange flew away from a tree near the center of the training area. Seconds later, a crash rang out through the meadow, as that particular tree fell in the opposite direction, completely stripped bare of its bark. A large white haired man sat next to a smaller silver haired man on the bench.

Jiraiya looked up from his conversation with Kakashi with one eye, and saw his godson extracting himself from a bush on the far side of the meadow. "What have I told you about using too much chakra when tree climbing you little knucklehead. You're going to kill yourself. Pick another tree and start again. Twenty Leaves, twice the weight."

Kakashi chuckled at the salute the near five year old gave before going back to work. "Aren't you working him a little hard? He starts the academy on Monday, right?"

"He's coming along pretty well like this, kid. At this point, I'd say he has at least as much chakra capacity as you did when you joined ANBU." Kakashi's eyes widened. "Although, he can't control his chakra worth squat. He had been doing so well at tree walking, until I started making him try it with weights on. His chakra reserves have never been higher, but he can't support the extra weight with his body."

Kakashi nodded. "But he's not going to be five until next month, surely his muscles will grow as he does, right Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya looked over at the prodigy to his right. "He can't afford to waste that time. I've taught him a simple trick to overcome his physical limitations. He may be the only shinobi in existence to be able to do it, and it will be his trump card if he can master it. I won't be able to watch him when he joins the academy, so he will have to fend for himself a bit."

Kakashi looked stunned. "You didn't teach him how to control- t-that? Did you?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "No, not yet, his chakra coils would probably explode from that kind of power. Besides, with the way he is physically, he would be a like a humming-bird to most ninja, fast as hell, but unable to hit with any real power. He doesn't even know about the furball yet, at least, I don't think he does..." The Toad Sage trailed off in though for a minute, then continued. "Think simpler: how would you defeat an opponent that's faster or stronger than you." Kakashi reached for his headband, when Jiraiya shot him a look. "Not like that. Pretend that you are too low on chakra to use that eye."

Kakashi thought for a minute, "Faster? I'd probably pump chakra to my le..." He trailed off and stared at the Toad Sage.

"Yep. When shinobi need a quick speed or power boost, they pump chakra to their limbs or spike it through their bodies. The trick is maintaining the flow. Now, for most ninja, they have trained for years in tree climbing, water walking and jutsu, so the amount of chakra needed to increase their speed or strength without falling or shattering every bone in their arm comes naturally. Naruto doesn't have that advantage. His muscles will grow, but might make him the most physically powerful shinobi to walk the planet. When he can finally use the fox's chakra, he will be that much more powerful. Can you imagine the fastest shinobi in history, with Tsunade like power coming from every blow?"

Kakashi swallowed hard. The thought of his sensei's son as an adult with that sort of power behind his taijutsu was downright scary, even to a genius like him. A thought dawned on him when making his analysis. "But, shinobi, even ANBU- heck, even you and Hokage-sama can only do that in bursts. Keeping that much chakra flowing through your system for even fifteen seconds is incredibly dangerous for a ninja. Even when I push chakra to my legs, I have to time it in bursts when I'm pushing off the ground. He's going to die of chakra exhaustion in under a minute with this plan!"

Jiraiya laughed, then ducked as his godson flew past him again. "I have started creating a technique for that. It's not finished yet- AGAIN NARUTO- but once I finish, and teach it to him, that won't be a problem." Jiraiya laughed as Naruto dragged himself back to the new tree. "As for your concern, that little idiot over there has been pumping chakra through his body at thirty second clips every time he's tried climbing the tree. Watch."

Kakashi turned his attention to the boy, clad in a navy blue tee shirt with an orange spiral, blue shorts, and standard shinobi sandals. He had weights strapped to both his legs and arms, as well as on a pack on his back. Kakashi lifted his headband and observed as the boy picked up twenty leaves and began to stick them to his arms, legs, cheeks and forehead. He paused, and put his hands in a seal.

Kakashi's sharingan eye widened, as could not believe what he was seeing. The chakra flowing through Naruto's body was practically visible to his regular eye, but to the sharingan it seemed like the boy was about to unleash some horribly destructive jutsu. After the blond felt comfortable, he began to walk up the tree. Kakashi could see his muscles straining as he took his second step, bu the constant flow of chakra seemed to make the muscle relax after a moment. After four steps, however, the boy's chakra became erratic, and he rocketed off the tree backwards, shedding leaves as he flew. The entire process took about forty seconds. "A-amazing." Kakashi breathed out as he lowered his headband.

Jiraiya chuckled again at seeing Kakashi's reaction. "He'll be fine for another couple hours at this, assuming he doesn't break his neck."

"But Jiraiya-sama, didn't you say he had as much chakra as I did when I started in ANBU? I would be passed out from that last attempt alone!"

"True, I did say that. But I believe I said chakra capacity, meaning, the amount of chakra he can hold at one time. In terms of reserves, that kid may have me beat."

"E-excuse me? I must have heard that wrong. As much as you Jiraiya-sama? You're a Sannin who have trained your reserves for close to fifty years!" Jiraiya snorted at that. "This boy is- well, he's a baby!"

"Hard to believe right? Apparently, your sensei was a bit more of a genius than anyone gave him credit for. The fox's seal has been filtering and converting the demon's seal since birth. The result is that this boy has the deepest wells of chakra that I have ever seen." Taking a stick, the Sannin began to draw on the ground. "Look at it this way: Pretend chakra is water. Everyone has a way to carry that water. For civilians and very young shinobi that's like a teacup. As you train the amount of water that you can carry goes up. For example, you might have a serving bowl when graduating the academy. Most chunin, for this example have the equivalent of a bucket. You probably have a barrel at this point, while your friend Gai has two buckets. Sarutobi-sensei and I have, by this scale, a swimming pool or something like that. You following me so far?"

Kakashi nodded, so Jiraiya continued. "At this point, the knucklehead over there probably has maybe three buckets of water that he can carry at any given time, but his well is almost limitless. In that way, while you may carry more water your source becomes depleted quickly, while this kid can continue carrying his three buckets all day. You get it?"

"So, basically, even though his can't pump out a tons of chakra at once, he already has incredible stamina?"

Jiraiya nodded as he noticed his godson fly backwards into a boulder. "Alright Kiddo, time for a ten minute break. Keep the weights on."

Naruto walked over to the pair slowly. He was exhausted, and battered from his trips all over the training ground of the estate, but he was still smiling. In a way, every time he flew was fun, until he hit something, hard. "Gramps, can you and Kakashi-san tell me more about my dad again?"

Jiraiya smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair, causing him to scowl for a second. "Of course Knucklehead, then, after the break, you keep at it, while I train Kakashi, and he helps me perfect my new technique. If you're good, I may just teach it to you one day."

"But gramps, you haven't taught me any Jutsu other than substitution and henge!"

Jiraiya sighed. "Didn't I also teach you the clone jutsu?"

"Gramps! You didn't teach me that one right, I can't make a clone at all! The best I can do is make one that looks like I threw up for five hours! And can't stand up!"

Kakashi shook his head while Jiraiya lightly slapped the boy on the back of the head. "That's because you have the worse control I've ever seen in my life, and I'm a Sannin! I've been a ninja forever!" Jiraiya chuckled and the boy looked down and began to shuffle his feet. "Don't worry Kiddo, that's what training is for. I'll have you in top shape to be a ninja. That's the promise of a lifetime!" Jiraiya smirked as the boy looked up, now smiling from ear to ear. "Now, you'd better ask your questions, because you only have seven minutes left, then you're back to the tree."

The small boy groaned comically, and then began to pepper the Toad Sage and the ANBU captain with questions.

After they talked, and Naruto went back to the tree, Jiraiya pulled Kakashi over to the far side of the training ground. "Ok, here's what we are going to do. Kid, take off the headband."

Kakashi looked at the Toad Sage incredulously. "I thought you wanted me to stop training my eye..."

"Don't be an idiot Kakashi. You carry a sword correct?" Kakashi nodded and withdrew his sword from its sheath on his back. "Right, well, you know how to use the sword, correct?"

"Yes."

"That sword is a tools, you train with it, don't you?"

"Yes."

"What would happen if you lost the sword in battle? Would you just lay down and die?"

Kakashi looked confused, and narrowed his eyes at the Sannin. Although he was a genius, the eighteen year old had no idea what Jiraiya was getting at. "No sir, I would use my jutsu and other means of fighting until the battle was over."

"So, what you're saying is that you train normally, and also train with your tool, is that right?" Kakashi nodded, and the Sage sighed. "Genius, huh? Anyway, your eye, like your sword is a tool. You still need to train with it. All I was saying is that you shouldn't become reliant upon it like that entire stupid clan is- the Hyuuga are the same way. I swear, dojutsu users are the worst."

Kakashi looked as if he had been slapped for a moment before regaining his composure and removing his headband. He placed it on a nearby tree stump, and walked back to the Sannin.

"Here's the plan. I am going to work on my new technique, and you are going to report what changes you see in my chakra. We are going to be at this for a while. I know how tired you get when you use the sharingan a lot, so this is going to work on your reserves and capacity, and refine your observational skill."

Kakashi nodded and prepared himself. "Jiraiya-sama, you never told me what the technique is, or what you are trying to do with it, how am I supposed to report what I see unless I know what to look for."

Jiraiya sighed, the prodigy had a point. The sharingan was not like the byakugan, the trait of the Hyuuga. While a byakugan could see the chakra pathways and tenketsu in the human body, the sharingan can not directly see the chakra. The sharingan can detect chakra flow and grants the user an incredible clarity of perception, allowing the user to pick up on subtle details, enabling them to read lip movements or mimic physical movements. As the sharingan evolves, gaining more tomoe seals, this ability extends to being able to track fast-moving objects before finally giving some amount of predictive capabilities to the user. As the eye develops, it grants the user the ability to memorize any technique that he or she witnesses, apart from other kekkei genkai techniques. The user can memorize ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu with near perfect accuracy, allowing the user to use the techniques as their own, or even modify them to create their own new techniques.

Jiraiya walked closer to Kakashi and began to explain. "Remember earlier when I was discussing how to make Naruto the most powerful shinobi to ever walk this planet?" Kakashi nodded. "And remember how he was training to keep pumping chakra throughout his body in order to enhance his physical abilities?" Another nod. "Well, I figured out a way to keep all that chakra running through his system,, rather than expending as he pushes it through is body."

Kakashi's eyes both widened. "But the chakra keeps getting used when you do that, what are you talking about?"

Jiraiya smiled at the teenager. "Kid, do you know how much chakra is wasted whenever you push chakra into your limbs? In fact, the rapidly expelling chakra from those limbs is the reason why even the top shinobi can not keep the constant flow longer than a half a minute. I figured out a way to recycle that chakra and prevent it from leaving my body. If the kid learns that, he'll be practically unstoppable. Hell, if you and I learn it, we be much stronger. What do you think?"

Kakashi pondered for a second. If this were possible, and could be taught to any ninja, the implications were limitless. The shinobi of the leaf would instantly gain a boost in stamina and fighting ability that would put them far beyond any other nation. Even a ninja with virtually no reserves would not waste any chakra, meaning that genin and chunin would be more than cannon fodder when a battle began. "I think, Jiraiya-sama, that this is the greatest idea ever!" He began to talk about the many applications he had just thought of, when Jiraiya stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Kid, the sad thing is that the amount of chakra control and capacity necessary for this technique is probably going to be beyond most ninja. The way I do it, I create a barrier of chakra around my skin, and then the chakra I use is contained. I can't even contemplate teaching this technique to anyone before I minimize the risk. Even I can only do it for maybe a minute at most before I nearly pass out from exhaustion. I haven't even began to really push my chakra out, and maintaining the barrier is difficult."

Kakashi frowned. "Well, then how are going to teach it to Naruto? You already said that he has terrible control. This seems light years beyond him." 'It's actually light years beyond me." he thought.

Jiraiya chuckled as he turned away with a smile. "That kid would rather die than give up. It may be impossible for him now, but later, when I've refined the technique? That kid will spend day and night working until he has it perfected. When he does perfect it? This techniques could even be used as more than just a recycling agent. Can you imagine what will happen when we combine it with his element? I have earth nature chakra. If I can use that, it will be better than Earth Spear for its offensive and defensive capabilities. You have lightning chakra, your punches alone would cause your opponent's nerves to go haywire. Hell, even blocking would affect their limbs."

Kakashi, though slightly disheartened, nodded resolutely. He would work to help the Sage complete the technique, then he would learn it. He would get stronger to protect his allies. "Shall we begin then?" He asked.

Jiraiya smiled before furrowing his brow in concentration. "Let's."

A/N: This was a slow, explanation chapter. I just re-read it again, and I think I'm actually a little sad I couldn't get more action into it. If people wanted to read about people sitting on a bench talking, this is the chapter for them. It's like Forrest Gump, with ninjas.

On a side note: Just a general question I thought about since my last chapter: How powerful are the individual Akatsuki members? Especially when compared to the Sannin and Kages? It's been bothering me for a while. Look at it this way. Itachi was a genius, but really only an ANBU captain... He was never as powerful as a Kage. Within the first few years he was gone, however, he beat Orochimaru soundly. Yet, only a few years later, both he and Kisame had to flee from Jiraiya. Sasori seems to be one of the more powerful members (more than Deidara and Hidan certainly) but he's beaten by Sakura and Chiyo at full strength. Likewise, it seems like Kage summit Sasuke is stronger than the majority of the Akatsuki members. After all, he put up a greater fight against Killer Bee than Kisame did. I'm just really confused by the inconsistency, especially about Itachi. I know Kishimoto has a hard on for the Uchiha, but the wildly erratic levels of power are troubling. Just some thoughts.

Again, hit me up if it turns out that I took something from someone. This is my first chapter actually talking about skills or techniques, so It may happen. I think I'm clear.

By the way. I never realized how much I like reviews. They are like crack to me. I'm also willing to take suggestions.

Later,

-pp