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Ever since the attack of the Kyuubi, Naruto was shunned as 'Konoha's Demon' when he was born with the Kyuiubi sealed in him. His life was miserable beyond grief. Time passed by and he has slowly proven himself as its jailer instead of its incarnate. But despite this, love never truly touched the young jinchuuriki's heart until death came over him.
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A/N: I do not own Naruto, Bleach or any other canonical characters. If I did, I wouldn't be here in FF now would I?
A/N: Thank you all for the reviews my readers. This chapter is the longest so far and will reveal a little more of his training and timeline. On a side note, there will be a lot of flashbacks in this one.
Talking
'thinking/flashback'
Kyuubi Talking/Jutsu
'Kyuubi Thinking'
Chapter 8
The Power of the Soul
From our last escapade…
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It is now the third year into our story and Naruto's progress had greatly increased.
A new day had dawned for the young shinobi…let me rephrase that statement, shinigami-to-be, as he woke up once more to the silent orchestra of dawn.
The young blonde methodically performed his morning routine before he lazily marched towards the training grounds behind the Namikaze mansion.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the office of the sotaicho where Commander Yamamoto- Genryusai sat down to his usual desk-filled paperwork for the morning, Retsu came in promptly to give the report on the status of Naruto to the half-awake commander.
"Sotaicho, with all due respect, I am here to give you the report of Naruto's progress within these past three years."
The calm beauty said with a delighted tone to her voice indicating that her report was something to enjoy listening to.
The old warrior then cleared his desk as he sat down thoughtfully to discuss the young blonde's progress.
"So how goes his progress Unohana?"
The calm beauty then replied to his remark with her astounding report.
"His progress is remarkable. He is like a sponge. He is no doubt one of the few geniuses that have entered the academy and breeze right through every subject with flying colors for the past three years. But not only that, it seems he is attempting to create his own shinigami techniques using his past knowledge. I'm sure you have heard about his little experiments by adapting his past lifetime techniques with our own."
The old warrior looked amused as a weak smile entered his hardened face. He then replied,
"Yes, I have seen some of his…jutsus, was the word. Though it seemed a fruitless effort at first seeing that most were ineffective towards shinigamis of fukutaicho class and above, until some of it he managed to succeed in creating, and half of those chakra-reiatsu fusion techniques are somewhat effective. He may be on the edge of something new. Anything else you might add my dear?"
Unohana's face then dropped into a more serious tone when she heard that last statement. It was her next half of the report that she was waiting to give to the old warrior that agitated her into seriousness. She then mustered her will and fired away the next report.
"Yes Sotaicho, unfortunately, his progress was too good. I can see that the blonde is no longer interested in the shinigami arts since he already mastered all of the basics taught to him in his current year level. In order to keep him at his current upstanding pace, he needs a challenge."
Her words raised an eyebrow on the old warrior's face.
"A challenge you say? Aside from his personally crafted fusion arts, what other challenge do you suppose should be given to the young genius?"
This was to be expected. The blonde's fusion techniques of chakra and reiatsu were more than enough of a challenge in itself when he showed some of it during a free spar. Retsu Unohana looked back in her mind as she remembered that faithful day.
Flashback
It was a cool day as the breeze lightly swept over the stone built square where two figures stood in the center as a small crowd gathered to watch the battle between the rising star of the academy Naruto, and the former renowned genius of the academy, Hitsuguya Toushiro.
The two in a flash, charged full frontal as sword met kunai. The white haired teen pushed Naruto with the force of his steel. Naruto leaped back to avoid a side slash from Toushiro. While still in midair, he then performed a seal. But this time, he performed each handseal in concert with the incantation he started to perform as he began the attack.
"Walls of Iron Sand. A priestly pagoda. Glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright. Silent to the end."
After he said the incantation and landed on the ground just in time to finish the last seal, he then pointed his right middle and index fingers towards the white haired teen and shouted the last lines of the incantation.
"Kinkoudo number one, gochutekkan fūin!"
Immediately, five huge pillars fell upon the unsuspecting Tōshirō. However, only four managed to hit the white haired teen as it missed his right hand which he used to stab the sword in the ground and use as support. Seeing the success of the attack, Naruto smirked as he grabbed his kunai to dash forward so he could land the finishing blow. Only to realize that his entire lower body was frozen to the ground. As the young blonde traced the line of ice from his feet, he saw that it ended at the sword of Tōshirō.
The blonde then made his foxy grin as he said,
"Looks like a draw eh Shiro-chan?"
The white haired teen had a vein throbbing on his forehead as he said,
"It's Hitsugaya taicho to you asshole! But yes, it is a draw. You're getting better at this Naruto. I can't wait to see what else you could come up with and your zanpaktou.
The young blonde just laughed as he quickly shouted "Kai", effectively releasing the seal on his white haired friend who also released Naruto's ice prison. As the two stepped back into the crowd, the onlookers of the battle could only stare in awe at the quick skirmish that took place between Naruto and the captain of the tenth division, Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
The white haired teen had green eyes, which also was the same color of his sash that held his zanpaktou in place over his sleevles haori and shihakushō, in a diagonal position across his back for his right arm to reach with ease. the zanpaktou itself had a blue hilt and sheath and a four pointed guard.
As the white haired teen and the young blonde both wiped their faces with a towel, a bubbly orange head with long hair and ample bust size leaned over to Tōshirō while smiling innocently.
"That was a good workout taicho! But you could've won if you took it more seriously."
The bubbly orange head said in a sing song fashion as even her baby blue eyes smiled in a u shape.
But the calm and collective white haired teen protested as he shook his head and said,
"No Matsumoto, his technique was THAT good. It felt like my body was hit by Izuru's Wabisuke twenty times. If I hadn't used Hyōrinmaru at the last second, he would've won. He has a lot of skill for him to combine his past lifetime techniques with kido and use it effortlessly."
The rest of the crowd looked jaw dropped as they digested the information. Two of those people in the crowd cried anime tears as the bubbly orange head walked over to the two in tears and collected her spoils for a well placed bet. She chuckled happily as she said,
"Looks like the next bet will be on Naruto next time huh Ikkaku and Yumichika?"
Both men just sighed in defeat while on a balcony just a little off from the battleground, an old man clutching his cane made a weak smile before walking away.
End of Flashback
Her memory of that fateful day was exactly the point she drove at the commander. Thus, it makes Unohana's next point even clearer as she answered with all grace and respect.
"I believe that he should be accelerated with the graduating batch of this year."
Her words had now fully awakened the battle scarred, bald old man as he sharpened his gaze at her and raised both eyebrows before he answered back to her darted request.
"Transferred to the battlefield directly from training? It hasn't been done in quite a while now. Despite its benefits for Sereitei as a whole, give a better reason to change my mind."
Firm and steadfast to the law was the commander. However, his last statement showed that he was willing to make an exception if the blonde fit perfectly into the plan given to him.
The calm beauty noticed his challenge and took it full force. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she answered him with her reason for accelerating our blonde hero to an advanced level.
"As you know, if it hadn't been for the efforts of Ichigo and his friends in Hueco Mundo, Aizen's plan would not be delayed this far from what could have been only three short months into a three year time period. With this in mind, we have to be ready to make a final assault to end his plot. But without a taicho to lead the ninth division, we would be short in combat efficiency when that time comes."
The sotaicho, who was sharper than his sword, finished his sentence for her with what would be the predicted answer.
"And because the current fukutaicho of the ninth division cannot perform bankai yet, you are hoping that a younger blonde genius with more potential can. That's a very interesting point of view Unohana. Who do you suppose can be his personal proctors for the final tests?"
The commander was beyond intrigued by his words alone. The calm Retsu smiled as they discussed further of the surprise that would befall our blonde hero. That same blonde however, was busy training with his father and back at the training yard in the Namikaze compound.
Within the past three years, his control over his reiatsu and chakra has grown tremendously to a near flawlessness. His speed and strength has grown as well thanks to the now overall three ton seal and restoration seals that encompass his body. The training went so well that even he was surprised that his zanjutsu was even better than his academy teacher Kaien Shikanu, and his kido was nowhere near what the academy teachers could ever hope to teach him.
As the young blonde got ready in a defensive sword stance ready to strike, his father, sweating from the workout, dropped his readied stance and motioned for them to take a break.
The younger blonde then dropped his sword on the ground. As the sword fell, it began to glow red before transforming into his nine tailed companion. While both master and servant were laying down exhausted form the training, his father took the liberty to head back to take some scrolls for him to learn from.
While both master and servant sat in the now crater filled clearing, the master decided to break the silence.
"Kyuubi, I've noticed a lot of things while we were training."
Like what things?
The fiery kitsune asked as he opened his right eye towards the blonde who responded with seriousness.
"Well for one, despite my almost perfect reiatsu control, it's more difficult to gather it when we went to our first field test near Karakura town than here. Even more suprising, chakra was easier to gather there than here despite the limited jutsus I could perform with this soul based body. What's the real relationship between chakra and reiatsu?"
'So the gaki noticed it. Not bad for a human. Most would have completely ignored it and continued using reiatsu and completely forget about chakra which converts all their chakra into reiatsu.'
The kyuubi thought as he now opened both his eyes and ears to hear the blonde's next words.
"Another thing I noticed, I can't do a jutsu and Kido at the same time. Aside from certain sealing jutsus that I can combine with Bakudo to enforce it, Kido and jutsus aren't completely compatible because of chakra and reiatsu."
What else?
The now amused fox questioned as he gazed into the flaming azure eyes of the blonde. Naruto began to fascinate the fiery kitsune with his enlightenment from their training.
"Okaa-san said that when you use reiatsu, you tend to lose more of your memories of your past life. Yet I haven't forgotten a single thing. I feel it's related to my training as well. And finally, I tried using reiatsu to do jutsus and chakra to do Kido, Hakuda, Hoho, and Zanjutsu. I ended up with weird results."
Such as what happened now am I right?
Replied the kyuubi to what the young blonde mentioned. Naruto didn't hesitate to continue sharing his discovery to his nine-tailed companion as he said,
"Hait. When I tried molding reiatsu for the jutsus, it worked fine, no, BETTER than I would with chakra. But when I molded chakra for the shingami arts, which was hard in itself by the way, I ended up with half-assed Kido, sucky Hakuda, almost no Hoho, and really weak Zanjutsu. It's as if chakra isn't present at all in this world."
Seeing the opportune moment, the amused fox then stood upon a newly formed stump from a clean cut of Naruto's zanpaktou and carefully explained to his jailer what was going on with his reiatsu and chakra.
The reason why these things happen is because of the relationship between chakra and reiatsu. Chakra is the energy of life. Reiatsu is the energy of death. It is in a way the relationship of Ki and magic with Ki the physical and Magic the spiritual.
The fox then paused as he leapt off the stump and dug two holes in the ground and drew a deep line to connect them. He then filled it with water from Naruto's small canteen so that both holes were filled. Afterwards, he continued.
Chakra is the pool on the left while reiatsu on the right. When there is too much chakra, there is very little reiatsu and vice versa to keep the balance of power in check. Some worlds are born with this balance in which it is equal. Others have extremities in which there is too little of one and more of the other. That is why you have a hard time utilizing chakra in this dimension and easier in the other.
Said the fox as he demonstrated by tossing the water back and forth through the small canal he made between the two holes.
Naruto looked deep in thought. After several seconds he then said.
"So depending upon the balance of the world, there might be more chakra than reiatsu making it harder to mold the other. Does this apply also to those born from those worlds or at least have the same affinity as those worlds?"
The fox laughed at his statements. It was more than he could bear before he finally quieted down and answered the puzzled blonde.
Gaki, you catch on quick! Yes, it does apply to those of the same nature as their worlds. Souls as you know are reiatsu based. Meaning chakra is less proficient to a soul than one with a living body. If it were not so, then you wouldn't be using reiatsu as often now would you?
The young blonde nodded. Seeing his acknowledgement, the kyuubi continued.
This also explains why you're having a harder time using chakra and reiatsu together since you're not in perfect harmony with both energies because you lack a living body for chakra.
"But what about my memories?"
Naruto asked his sly companion feeling that aspect had been left out. The kyuubi only sighed as he answered him…
The reason for your memories is because of your high chakra reserves which continually cycle in between chakra and reiatsu due to your training. This, plus me, a chakra based being bound to your soul, keeps your memories intact. The only downside is your soul ages extremely slowly. You might become like Yachiru, the fukutaicho of Zaraki Kenpachi, who never ages, only matures.
Flashback
Naruto wandered around Sereitei for quite a bit during his off time from schoolwork. As the young blonde waywardly roamed like a vagabond wolf, he paused for a minute as he looked towards the building to his right. It was the eleventh division headquarters—the very headquarters of the man who took his father's life and the place where the artist of the Shiki Fujin resided.
Naruto however did not look pleased as he glared hard his flaming azure eyes at the building and said to himself,
"So THIS is the place of that teme and his 'cute little fukutaicho'. I think I'll pay them a visit and shove my zanpaktou up that teme's ass and his fukutaicho's as well."
The young blonde said to himself proudly. As he was about to enter the stone carved building with a giant version of the captain's insignia on the front, he felt an arcane, but powerful presence behind him.
Instinctively, he quickly unsheathed the zanpaktou attached to his back with his right hand and made a quick, one-handed downward slice to the unsuspecting foe behind him.
The sound of metal cleaving flesh never came. The young blonde looked at what force could have stopped his blade and ironically saw a bubbly pink haired little girl holding the blade in place with only her thumb which was unscathed by the sharp serrated edge of the steel.
Naruto was dumbfounded as a sudden shiver ran up his spine. How could someone so small and seemingly frail stop his attack? She must have been extremely strong to accomplish that feat.
Seeing his dumbfounded expression, the little pink haired girl then giggled as she said,
"What you doin' here whiskers-chan? Did you come to play with Ken-chan? He's out playing with some hollows right now so come back later."
She said and ended it with a smile. Naruto looked frightened and pissed at the annoying girl in front of him.
Aside from her short pink hair that fell slightly above shoulder length, and brown eyes, she had a permanent blush on her face, and wore the same but shorter attire as any fukutaicho and had her zanpaktou behind her in a loose cord with its sheath having a wheels attached to it and a child-like flower design.
Though disturbed by the immense strength of the girl in front of him, he noticed the sash tied around her left arm that read eleven in kanji. He then began to scream at her.
"Kuso! You're the fukutaicho of Zaraki Kenpachi! I've got a bone to pick with you gaki!"
The unnerved Yachiru just laughed. Naruto was very annoyed at this point by the sight of several veins throbbing on his head. Yachiru then stopped laughing and screamed at him as well.
"B-A-K-A. That's the spelling of Whiskers-chan. You should respect your elders more. I'm way older than you BAKA-chan!"
Naruto got even more pissed as he threw a punch at her only to get bitten in the arm and beaten to a pulp by a ravenous pink-haired banshee. After a full minute of 'playing with the gaki' as Yachiru would call it, she then happily skipped inside the eleventh division headquarters leaving a half-dead blonde in a crater. The terrified blonde then said to himself…
"N-n-note to s-s-self…Stay away from p-pink h-haired g-g-girls. D-death is certain."
End of Flashback
Naruto shivered at the thought of Yachiru, almost completely ignoring the point made by his nine-tailed friend. But he soon snapped out of his nostalgia of the pain as he remembered something the kyuubi said that caught his mind. He then quoted the words once more to his nine tailed companion.
"Chakra based being?"
The young blonde was even more perplexed at what his tenant said. The fox knew this and decided to explain further.
I am a being that forsook its humanity for power. In order to gain power, I became one with my soul's affinity and in the process, lost control of the power and gave in to it. It was good to feel all that power, but at the same time I slowly lost my sanity until I became the being you see before you.
Naruto just looked shocked as he gazed into the red-slitted eyes of the kyubbi. Who would've thought that this unpredictable force of nature was once human?
The wide-eyed blonde then asked him with obvious curiosity.
"How'd you do it? And YOU WERE HUMAN?!"
The young blonde said as he screamed and pointed at the fox with a jaw-dropped expression.
The nine-tailed kitsune finally made his point that he was dying to tell him. He just waited for this moment and now he could properly explain to the young blonde of HIS past life.
I was once a human like you. It was during a time when your world was young and the balance between spirit and body were in perfect harmony. Human beings at that time were one with nature and spirits and Kami was delighted at that world. Eventually governance needed to take place for it to remain serene. So Kami created five beings to govern over the affinity they were given. Under the governance of those five beings, the spirits and nature under their reign took up their affinities. I was under Suzaku's reign when I was born. I was considered mischievous and a prankster as well as stubborn and loyal. But when the Battle of the Five Elements came, every human being on earth at that time gave in to their elemental affinity to protect themselves from the gods' wrath. Most were able to return to their human form after, some couldn't.
The blonde nodded and said,
"Not surprising there. So you became the nine-tailed fox when you performed whatever technique was necessary to keep you and your family from being caught in their war. But you didn't answer my first question."
Said the impatient blonde as he crossed his arms and sharpened his ever flaming gaze at the fox. The kitsune gazed back with his red, slitted eyes challenging the blonde's own azure ones. The tension was so thick that their killing intents struggled in canceling each other out until the fox closed his eyes in defeat and sighed.
With the kitsune's sigh, came the smile of the blonde as he leaned closer to listen. The kitsune had no choice but to reply to the hungry blonde. The kitsune turned his back and looked at the sky overhead as his nine tails faced it with him. After another sigh, the fox then said,
When you get a living body back, then I'll tell you.
The blonde face-faulted as a sweat drop formed just in time for his father to come in carrying several scrolls and a face of enlightenment. The older blonde then sat down beside his son as he opened one of the scrolls while seriously talking to his son.
"Naruto, I have some good news, and some bad news."
The younger blonde looked at his father with a look of concern as he swallowed hard not knowing what to expect. His father then continued.
"The good news is your going to be accelerated to the graduating batch! The bad news is they have chosen your proctors for a special exam which will be a week ahead of schedule."
"WHAT?! THAT MEANS I ONLY HAVE A MONTH TO LEARN BANKAI!!!"
The young blonde screamed as he ran in circles panicking.
His father on the other hand just scratched his face as he said,
"Calm down Naruto. Besides, that's the least of your worries. Since you've been accelerated, your five minutes late already befo—"
A flash of yellow cut off the older blonde's words as Naruto shunpo'd his way to the academy leaving his father and kyubbi in the battle scarred terrain that was their backyard.
"Well, at least Naruto finished most of his shinobi training with us."
Said the older blonde as he took out a small black book from his pocket and opened it to the page with the latest writing.
"Good, there is still space here for the other justsus."
The older blonde smiled as he said to himself.
The kyuubi noticed the book he had in his hands and asked,
You have his book. So you also know how to write in the ancient tongue. How long have you been filling in his notes?
The older blonde then responded while filling in the notebook the information from the scrolls.
"For the past two years now. After Jiraya taught me the archaic sealing technique, I've found ways to write it so that anyone who knows the language can read it but only those of the Namikaze family can unseal it. Nifty trick huh?"
The former yondaime said as he kept writing in the notebook. However, his foxy companion smirked. Minato heard his smirk and asked,
"Is there something else about the language you're not telling me?"
The kyuubi saw his pleading look and complied with his request.
The sealing technique is both a seal and an incantation because of the information needed to form each letter in the language.
Minato was a genius for a reason. He never knew the extent of the possibilities with the seal that he made, but he knew that there were possibilities with it that even he couldn't imagine. He knew it was in itself an incantation when read, but he never knew that it could also be a magic spell in the process if the right information was pieced together. His realization was clear when the kyuubi saw his wide eyed amazement. Minato then asked the kyuubi,
"Does Naruto know about this?"
The sly kitsune then responded as he grinned in amusement.
Yes, I told him. At first he didn't believe me thinking it's just a forbidden shinobi technique. But when he and I sneaked in the Archives and read of its origins and uses, he just gaped at it.
Flashback
As they snuck past the guards and into the elevator that leads to the room full of ancient records known as the Archives, The young blonde impatiently spoke to his tentant.
"Oi! Are you sure it's here?"
The kyuubi responded back as he said,
Baka! Keep it down! And yes, it's here. But we might have a hard time looking for it.
The still skeptical blonde then said as he scratched his head and grinned,
"C'mon! It's not like it's one of those humongous skyscrapers we saw in Tokyo when we went there on a field trip. How big can it be?"
How wrong and naïve was the young blonde? The moment he opened the doors and pushed the button on the elevator that moved in the room, his jaw dropped all the way to the floor while his eyes became saucers at the mere sight of the vastness of the Archives.
It was as tall if not taller than the skyscrapers of Tokyo with the several shelves lined and stacked upward and sideways with only the elevator as the only means of exit from the vastness of the rooms. Not even the wall lamps that lined the walls could light up the gigantic room.
The kyuubi, who eagerly wanted to finish their insertion into the catacombs of knowledge, wasted no time and leaped upon the computer near the elevator controls and began to push the buttons with his paw, the coordinates of the location about the ancient tongue.
When they arrived at the said coordinates, both master and tenant leaped off the elevator and began searching for the book they were looking for.
Lucky for them, Naruto had his Bunshins look all over until one clone found the book. Naruto then dispersed all his clones and started reading through it, page per page. His eyes grew wider with every page he turned as he realized the potential the archaic seal contained. He then said to his nine tailed companion.
"Wow! This…this…this is…amazing…"
The blonde was speechless. It was more than he could handle knowing he has such power in his hands. While Naruto was processing the immense amount of knowledge he had just gained, the red maned kitsune slipped one of his tails into Naruto's pocket until it grasped an empty scroll. The kyuubi then opened the scroll and sealed the book in the scroll.
This act however snapped the young blonde back into consciousness as he then began to panic when he protested saying,
"Oi…Oi.. OI! Are we supposed to do that?! Isn't this stealing?!"
He said while flailing his arms around as they returned to the elevator.
The kyuubi paid him no heed as he grabbed the scroll with one of his tails and both hurried out of the room and back to the Namikaze compound.
End of Flashback
The Kyuubi then chuckled darkly as he remembered the look on Naruto's face the whole day after that misadventure. Minato could only look puzzled as he sweat dropped thinking the Kyuubi had lost its mind.
----------o)0(o----------
Naruto was not pleased with this turn of events. To him, both were bad news since things were much more rushed than his lax lifestyle for the past three years. As he shunpo'd his way into class, he leaped just in time for roll call. The entire class just laughed at the now prone blonde on the floor, much to his chagrin.
While the young blonde was blushing beet red, a calm beauty just behind his prone form near the blackboard began to speak.
"Looks like you're just in time Naruto. For a second there, your perfect attendance record would have been tarnished."
When the young blonde stood up and looked at the woman he recognized her. It was the fourth division captain that helped him during his first day of class when he was running late for the first time.
The young blonde just gave his infamous foxy grin as he said,
"Well this is nostalgic. I hope I can catch up."
With that, the day started like any normal day except that Naruto pushed himself even harder than before. It was now more of a challenge as he was forced to quickly cope up. Though he didn't have to do much concerning the practical tests, he had a long way to go paperwork-wise. Lucky for him, he had enough chakra control to manipulate what little chakra he had to form Kage Bunshins for his paperwork when the day finally ended.
The young blonde then left his clones to do most of the work while he went home for his training in chakra and reiatsu control as well as his final study in genjutsu from his mother. Upon his arrival at the mansion, he then quickly went to his room and changed into his training outfit. It was a bluish black hakama over his fishnet undershirt with white striping the edges of the sleeves and jacket and tied by a long cyan obi. He also had a cyan scarf and his legs were wrapped to prevent the loose leg garments from hindering mobility and tabi boots.
When he was all set for his training, he then immediately ran out to the area furthest in the compound just past some trees were his mother awaited in the middle of what looks like several small ponds close together that they are just a foot away from each other, but far enough that they don't collide with each other and form a huge lake.
As the blonde approached the edge of the first pond, his mother then called out to him.
"You ready to rumble son?! We don't have much time before your big exam!"
She hollered out to him while pumping her fist in the air.
The young blonde's eyes burned even brighter as they turned a flaming cyan. Filled with determination, he hollered back,
"I'm ready for anything okaa-san! Let's do this!"
With that, he took his first step over the pond as he stood on water. When his mother could see him move into position, she then reached her zanpaktou with her right hand as she did one-handed seals with her left. When she finished making her seals, she disappeared from sight. Since Naruto was under a powerful genjutsu, he couldn't hear her or see her. He could only see what the genjutsu projected to him. At first, he was in a bamboo forest. He nearly fell into the pond he was still standing in until he regained focus and began walking.
"I hope I make it all the way to the center this time."
The young blonde said to himself as he remembered the objective of this training from his mother.
Flashback
As they both stood by the pond, Kushina began to explain to her son the objective of his training today.
"Listen well Naruto, I'll only explain this once."
The young blonde nodded at her statement. Seeing his determination she then continued.
"Genjutsus are techniques that use the chakra in the victim's nervous system to create illusions. Attention to detail is the key in performing it as well as countering it. Genjutsu affects the five senses. So those under the influence of genjutsu either freeze in place or lose consciousness, depending on how capable they are in recognizing and defending against it. There are several ways to counter genjutsu. Because it uses the victim's own chakra against them, the target can cancel the genjutsu by disrupting their own chakra flow. So chakra control is one of the key points in protection and attack concerning genjutsu or any other skill for that matter."
The young blonde then thought hard. After a few seconds, he nodded in acknowledgement. With that, his mother continued her explanation.
"What we're gonna do today is improve both together so that it's almost second nature to you. You will wear this chakra-reiatsu barrier clothing. It will hinder your flow of chakra and reiatsu that way you don't snap out of the powerful genjutsu I will place upon you. You will still have consciousness, but your mind will be constantly decieved of your environment making it hard for you to distinguish between reality and illusion while you attempt to reach the center were I am without straying from the field or falling in the water. If you can reach the center, you have finished the training. Understood?"
After hearing her explanation, he then looked over the grounds where they would attempt the exercise. When he saw the training ground he then asked,
"Okaa-san, but what about maintaining chakra while i'm on one of the ponds? It will be hard trying to maintain my chakra or reiatsu flow while I'm caught in that genjutsu."
The fired up mother heard his point and was expecting him to see that. She then stood up and turned around to move towards the center. Before she took the first step, she said,
"That's the whole point of this exersise. The key to this training is not being able to always counter the genjutsu. But learning how to feel your way through it were others cannot while still maintaining chakra flow. It dosen't take a smart person to defeat a genjutsu. It just takes awareness and absolute concentration and focus."
End of Flashback
Naruto remembered that day very well because he failed very often in this exercise. He then said to himself,
"Somehow, this would be the hardest training I've ever gone through. I managed to almost make it there yesterday. I hope I can finally end it today."
After he muttered his little speech, he then lowered his hitai-ate over his eyes—The first of his senses that was decieved by the genjutsu. From the center of the field, his mother smiled as she called out six Kage Bunshins and sent them to ambush the blonde.
Naruto began to march towards the center. Because his eyes were blinded by the cloth, he did not rely on sight. His next sense would be sound. The young blonde heard what sounded like footsteps behind him. The whirring sound of a shuriken moving was then heard in front of him. He then threw a punch in front of him and killed the real clone in front of him and moved forward, ignoring the whiring sound behind him. The whiring sound faded as it passed through him. It was an illusion.
Since sound failed, smell was next. Naruto then dashed to the side avoiding another real clone's attack. He then nimbly leaped into what felt like solid ground. He then smelled smoke from a smoke grenade thrown by the clone in front of him. He then jumped back and kicked what was a barrel underneath him. It then exploded killing the second clone as the illusionary grenade passed him by.
Naruto then turned around and paced forward. Kushina all the while was enjoying the display of inner strength her son displayed. Obviously the three main target senses were ineffective to Naruto at this point due to daily training.
As Naruto was getting closer to the center, he felt a kunai pierce his left cheek from a clone behind him and the clone wrapped a chain around him to hold him in place. He could taste his own blood from the wound. Another clone grabbed him by the legs attempting to drag him down the water. Naruto then jumped and killed the two real clones in the air with a strong kick to both their heads. It was another illusionary attack to the senses.
When he landed back on the last pond to the center. He smirked when he heard his mother's and her last two remaining clone's voices as they ran around him in circles
"Great work Naruto! You finally understand how to do it. But can you make it to the center this time?"
They said as they kept running around him in circles effectively creating a whirlpool in the center where Naruto stood. He was losing ground on his chakra control from the whirlpool.
His thoughts began to rage like the whirlpool he stood on.
'Normally, I'd think this is another illusion but its not. I can feel the flow of chakra around me change drastically unlike the illusions which had a steady rhythm to it. I need to take control.'
Naruto then ran up the swirling vortex and leaped from the top. His mother's clone's however, saw this and leaped upward too in order to prevent him from reaching the center. The clones however couldn't reach him as both were sucked in the vortex from the chakra strings spewing out of the vortex that caught them.
Naruto safely landed on the soft ground in the center just behind his mother who was still standing on the now receding pond.
He then turned around and gave her a thumbs up and smiled. She then smiled as well and did the same thing too. Just after he made his victory gesture. He fell on the soft ground were he sighed in exhaustion. His mother then released the genjutsu and began to take off the special robes that he wore and his hitai-ate while she asked him,
"So how did you tackle the challenges?"
The blonde who was now undressed to his boxers replied.
"I just let my chakra flow around me like it would within me. By doing so, it allows me to feel changes in the chakra flow like the illusions effectively numbing the overall genjutsu. If I hadn't been wearing the training robes, I would've completely dispelled and countered the genjutsu. The last challenge was hard since it wasn't a genjutsu. If I hadn't put up the flowing chakra coat, I'd fail once more. Instead of trying to break the flow of your chakra or go against it, I made my own chakra flow to flow with it by expanding the flowing chakra coat to flow in the same direction as the vortex and trapping your clones in between your chakra and mine. When I did that, I could walk out while your clones attempted to do the same but end up failing because they were caught in my flow the first place. That way, I'm using both the flow of your chakra and mine as a stepping stone out while keeping you locked in."
Kushina just hugged him in amazement at how much he's grown. He has mastered the genjutsu and chakra control training before any other training he's received. If he could overcome his weakness like this and turn it into his greatest strength, what else could stop him?
It was dinner time and both mother and son just came in time for dinner where Minato, Kyuubi, Sarutobi, and Hinamori were already seated.
Conversation started as each talked about their day. Eventually it drifted to Naruto's acceleration and his success in training. They were all astounded with his constantly rising growth. Even Kyuubi who looked the most detached began to take more interest with his progress.
After an hour or so, the Namikaze's bid their goodbye's to Sarutobi who still had work to accomplish. After a couple of minutes later it was time for Hinamori to leave as well. Naruto volunteered to escort her back to the fifth division headquarters on the count that 'it was dangerous at night.'
As the two walked side by side towards the fifth division, Hinamori could feel that something has been bothering her blonde friend. She then asked him with concern.
"What's wrong Naruto-kun? Is there something bothering you?"
her voice pierced his heart like the barbeque stick on some dango that was being consumed by one of the night patrols on top of the walls within Sereitei. Naruto then said,
"Naruto-kun…the only one who actually called me that was Hinata-chan…"
Feeling that it was connected to the incident that brought her friend to this world, she then said,
"You can't let go can you?"
He then replied to her as he steadily opened his mind to her.
"I'm not sure if I truly can forget her and what happened that day. She said she loved me, yet, somehow…I'm not sure I feel the same…maybe I'm just regretting what happened then. I'm still confused, but I know I must move on. It's so hard…and the more I try to forget and move on, the more I miss her."
The brown haird girl then replied to her disheartened companion,
"I'm sorry. I can't help you there. I was in the same situation when Aizen taicho staged his death and defected to the hollows so I'm in the same boat as you."
The blonde saw her sad demeanor towards the subject. Before he could say more, Hinamori continued.
"I really wish it wasn't true though. But I know that he didn't care about me the same way I did and was just using me. I couldn't get over it. Even now I'm having a hard time. But I understand now that I was just admiring someone who didn't care instead of admiring the people who already cared for me…even if sometimes they don't show it."
Her words struck a a sharp note on the heartstrings of the young blonde beside her. He felt it because he was in the same position as her when he was busy chasing after Sakura. And she was right. There were people who loved him though he never knew it. Ironically, the kind of love he has been looking for…was nowhere to be found when he began looking for the very person who contained it for him.
While looking upon the stars in thought, Naruto then said to his female companion,
"I knew it. You never find it until its missing from you."
Hinamori nodded as a small tear erupted from her eye. Luckily for them, they were already at the fifth division headquarters. As they finally bid goodbye to one another with Naruto turning around to leave, Hinamori then stopped him midway and said,
"Naruto-kun…Shiro-chan, no, Toushiro taicho said something that's been helping me lately."
Naruto with all ears then paid attention to her next words. Without hestitation, she confidently, but humbly said,
"Toushiro taicho said that, when your in a pinch, think about the reasons why you do what you do. Think about all your precious people and those who truly care for you and are willing to make sacrifices for you. Because if it is worth saving you to them, it is worth saving them for you."
Naruto then felt her words dug deep, but in a good way. He began to remember his reason's for being a shinigami and why he has been persuing this new life so eagerly. He wanted to protect everyone he cared for. Even if they don't know it was him protecting them. He wanted to be their guardian angel of the night simply because he cares. The answer was so simple. There was nothing complex to think about. It was hard to believe that such a simple answer was the key to such a heavy burden. Though Naruto still felt uneasy, somehow…just somehow…he regained his resolve as his eyes became the flaming azure ones once again.
Hinamori then bowed in respect and turned away only for Naruto to call her.
"Momo-chan…Wait!"
She then turned her head back to hear his last words for the night.
"Tell Shiro-chan I said thanks…oh, and before I forget, good luck together! Ja ne!"
The young blonde disappeared in a flash of yellow leaving a blushing Hinamori in his wake.
Naruto shunpo'd as fast as he could towards his favorite thinking spot, the execution chamber. As he stood over that cliff, he saw his nine-tailed friend already there bathing in the moonlight that brightened the sky.
The fox on the other hand just snobbed the blonde as he said to him,
Gaki, you just had to tell her that didn't you?
Naruto knew that his kitsune companion could feel what he felt because of the Shiki Fujin seal placed upon them. The young blonde then responded,
"At least she gets a chance to right her mistakes this time around."
The kyuubi could only gaze at the moonlight as he understood what his master was saying. He then responded by saying to Naruto,
Gaki…Look at the moon. Tell me, why does the moon have light when only the sun emanates light?
The young blonde gazed upon the moon. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, allowing his now cyan eyes glow upon the vast darkness. He then responded to the fiery kitsune's question.
"It has light kyuubi, because the sun provided light for it. No one is perfect. Everyone is just like the moon, looking for light that only the sun provides. Everyone has his or her own pains that show their weaknesses and the darkness in them. But when they do find that light that can change them and set them free, they become just like the bright full moon out here…a light for others to follow. It was the same for me. It was the same for Gaara. And it was the same for Hinata. We all looked for light. When I found that spark, she got that spark too from me. Just like everyone who I've met and protected. Even Sasuke got that light. But it's our choice from then on what to do with that light. We can either reject it like Sasuke did, or let it change us and light us up the way Gaara did…and the way Hinata did as well."
The fox then looked into the bright pale light that the moon shone on the whole face of Sereitei. He then asked once more of his master with full understanding and maturity.
Gaki…you've grown so much for a moon. Your just like this moon here. Though it can only reflect light, yet its reflection is almost as bright as the sun. Even the stars are twinkling like firelies in comparison to the light of the moon.
The young blonde just blushed and scratched his head as he bashfully replied,
"I can only be this bright because of everyone's help."
The fox then replied,
I don't think so. They were there to help, but like you said, you have to make the choice. All that will and determination over the past eighteen years hasn't burned out. In fact I think it's grown stronger. Kami has something big planned for you gaki. I can feel it in every tail I got. As the moonlight of this world, you will shine brighter than the stars. Not because you're special, but because of the power of your soul.
Both master and servant looked once again at the brilliant light of the moon. It was beautiful as it's almost heavenly light shone down upon the face of the entire Soul Society. Brilliant was its light, that if it weren't so, Naruto and kyuubi would have noticed the man standing in its light smiling upon the two before vanishing like a mirage.
Kyuubi was right however. Despite Naruto's friends and now family there to support him all the way, He was the light that gave them hope. It was through him…and the power of the soul.
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This…was…the…longest…chapter…I've…done. But I hope you enjoy this one. I had a really hard time doing this. As you can see, a lot was revealed. Not everything, but enough to clear up the story further. Like I said, I'm not rushing things. But if you read the last part carefully, you would have noticed the misterious man. He's a special character that I'll introduce only once, but he will have a significant role in the story. It is still NaruHina, and a Naruto/Bleach Crossover. So despite his special appearance, it won't warp the storyline to a drastic degree. Just think of more wood for the fire. Even if it's only a twig in size.
Thank you for reading another exciting chapter in Naruto:Death's Second Chance.
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Kinkoudo number one, gochutekkan fūin(Balanced path number one,Quintet of 1 kan Iron Pillars Sealing)- Summons five incredibly tall and thick pillars to pin a target to the ground. When the target is pinned, the pillars dissolve into seal form and seal the weight upon the arms, legs and chest area.