Chapter Twenty-Four – An Unexpected Result
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"How long do you think you'll need?" The captain asked and Naruto shrugged.
"I have enough food and water sealed for a fortnight, even with Inari, so say about five days?"
"We'll see you then, and if we can't make it, someone will. You have my garuantee."
Naruto bowed, then leapt of the boat and landed on the pier. Scrambling onto Kaze's back, he winked at Inari.
"Hey, Inari, watch this. Combination Kagetora Clan Technique: Great Tiger Henge no Jutsu!"
Inari's eyes widened as Naruto vanished into a cloud of smoke and re-emerged as a tiger.
"Wow! That is so cool!"
Naruto nodded as he stepped off Kaze's back, bowed to the Elder who nodded back, then started to trot away from the boat. Inari waved at the wide-eyed crew and then leaned forwards, grabbing onto the strap around the Elder's neck, the strap which the Elder had insisted on for Inari's sake.
"This is amazing!"
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"This… is…"
Naruto reverted to his human form and nodded slowly as his gaze swept over the ruined village below them. The fallen walls and broken pillars flanked a river that flowed through what had once, before its fall, been one of the most famous Hidden Villages in the world.
"Inari, this is one of the prices of being a ninja." Naruto said slowly. "The more famous you are, the better you are, the more people will come to envy and hate you. Uzushiogakure was renowned for its Fuuinjitsu, the arts of sealing, and that is why it was attacked and destroyed by an alliance of all those who feared its power, for only such an alliance could overcome those who lived here.
"My mother was from here and I have come to seek out her legacy and return to Konoha with it. In doing so, I ensure that the legacy of Uzushiogakure lives on, that its people didn't die in vain."
The group remained silent, each contemplating the evidence of past violence before them, then Naruto strode forwards.
"Elder, can you show me where the main vault was?"
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Inari gaped a giant chunk of rockhurtled out of the hole Naruto had excavated. Waiting a moment to be certain that no more flying masory was forthcoming, he edged forwards and cupped his hands to his mouth.
"You finished yet?"
"I've found the vault door, just as the Elder described." Naruto called back. "There seems to be something… something… woah!"
"Naruto!"
"I'm okay!" Naruto shouted back. "I think the vault somehow recognised me, it opened up. Hang on."
The squeal of stressed metal sounded, then Naruto's voice emerged.
"Okay, you can come down now. And bring the other lantern!"
Inari grabbed the second lantern and pausing only to light it, he made his way down the flight of steps that Naruto had cleared the fallen debris from. Reaching the older boy, he looked at the bent and twisted vault door barely hanging from its hinges.
"Why did you do that?"
"To stop it closing again." Naruto said logically. "I've sent in several Kage Bunshin to check it out, they haven't found any traps yet."
"You can talk to them with your thoughts?" Inari asked, impressed. Naruto shook his head.
"Nope, they're under orders to dispell if they get caught in a trap, or trigger one that resets, thus giving me their memories in the process. Since they haven't dispelled, they haven't found any traps."
"Wow, that's almost as cool as Anko-obaasan's snakes." Inari said, causing Naruto to give him an odd look.
"Obaasan?" He repeated. "I wouldn't advise calling Anko-sensei that, she can be very touchy about her age. Okay, one of my clones just dispelled, no traps found. Given how big this building was, I'm not surprised, it must have been Uzushiogakure's equivalent of the Hokage tower. Follow me and stay close."
Stepping through the doorway, Naruto held up his lantern so that the large room was illuminated. From the circular room, five other archways set at regular intervals led to long vaults while shelves between the archways held piles of scrolls.
"What do those signs above the arches mean?" Inari asked and Naruto looked up.
"That one is the Uzumaki crest, that one I think is the Senju crest, I wonder what it's doing here, I thought the Senju were a Konoha clan, the left-most is the crest of the previous clan who bonded to the Great Tigers… I don't recognise the other two, but I bet they were important. No, I take that back. The one in the middle is the crest for Uzushiogakure itself."
"Are you claiming all of it?" Inari asked and Naruto shook his head as he made a familiar hand-sign.
"No, even if I wanted to, I don't have the right. The Uzumaki and the Great Tiger things, yes. The Senju I'll take for Konoha, the Senju were one of the founding clans and there is at least one Senju still alive, Tsunade. The Uzushiogakure stuff, I'll take as it's my heritage as well, but the final archive? I'll pack it up and take it to Konoha, but it'll be stored in the vaults until we can figure out who, if anyone, should get it."
Inari nodded as fifty Naruto's appeared and the original opened the scroll he had brought with him and began unsealing smaller scrolls, passing them out.
"Alright, you know what to do. Ten into each archive and start sealing everything important. Weapons, jutsu scrolls, that kind of thing. Go!"
With a cry of "Hai!", the clones scattered to start their tasks and Inari whistled.
"Gramps said you helped loads with the bridge, is this how you did it?"
"Yep." Naruto grinned. "Kage Bunshin plus super strength equals easy ways to do physical tasks. And… what the heck?"
"What is it?" Inari asked with a frown.
"Someone just dispelled one of my sentry clones using… a glowing chain? Come on, and stay behind me. Guys, keep sealing stuff!"
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"I don't see anyone." Inari whispered as they looked round. The Great Tigers were also on guard, scenting the air and twitching their ears to catch any noise.
"Me neither." Naruto whispered back, closing his eyes and stretching his senses. "Whoever dispelled my clone either retreated or… wait… Watch out!"
Naruto grabbed Inari and leaped sideways as a glowing chain lashed out, curling around where Inari had just been. Dumping Inari on the Elder's back, Naruto sprinted towards the source of the chain, flanked by Kaze and another Tiger. As they approached the treeline, a person stepped out.
"My apologies for attacking you." She said. "I believed you to be an intruder, not a returned member of the Gokatora Clan."
Naruto blinked at her. "Gokatora? Um, yeah, my name's Naruto. Who are you?"
The red-haired girl bowed slightly. "My name is Uzumaki Honoka, one of the last survivors of Uzushiogakure."
"Kagetora Naruto, born of Uzumaki Kushina." Naruto replied, causing Honka's eyes to widen.
"You're Kushina's son?"
"Yes and no." Naruto shrugged. "By blood and bone, I am her child. By law, I am no relation to her, hence my name."
"And your father?" Honoka asked. "Which of the Gokatora was he?"
"He wasn't." Naruto said. "Again, by blood and bone, I am the son of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure. By law, I am no relation to him."
"The Yellow Flash?" Honoka asked, shocked. "But… why are you unrelated by law?"
"That is a long story." Naruto shrugged. "If you'll join us, I'll tell you, but it isn't a happy story."
"We stand in the ruins of one of the greatest villages in the world." Honoka sighed. "I doubt any story told here will be happy."
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"Honoka-san?"
Honoka looked up from the Fuuinjutsu scroll she was studying. "Yes, Inari-san?"
"Are you going to take Naruto up on his offer?"
"A proper place to live and a chance to rebuild the Uzumaki clan?" Honoka asked. "Yes indeed. Naruto's told me about his friends there, and about the few enemies who still remain in Konoha. I look forwards to seeing their faces when they meet a full-blood Uzumaki demanding the return of all the wealth they tried to steal from my cousin."
Inari grinned almost as evilly as Honoka as they shared a brief daydream of the panic that Naruto's enemies would shortly feel.
"I was wondering, though, what can you tell me about a girl named Hinata?"
Inari shrugged. "Not much, she's from the Hyuuga clan, she loves Naruto-san and they're going to get married soon."
Honoka nodded. "That matches with what I've heard, and…"
"Hey, Guys!" Naruto shouted, running over. "Look what I found in the Gokatora vault, it's a summoning contract, and the Elder says that I should sign it!"
Honoka tilted her head slightly. "If I remember rightly, the Gokatora summoning contract is a high-level contract."
"High-level?" Inari asked and Honoka settled back.
"Yes. There are several tiers, or levels of contracts, based on the power of the summons. The highest level are the Legendary contracts, the best known of which are the Toads, Snakes, Slugs and Salamanders. The bosses of those are said to be able to fight a Biju with a good chance of winning. Only one person, if that, can sign the contract per generation, they are very picky.
"Next are the High-level summons. Many of them are family-linked and they can fight along their summoners, often acting as weapons or partners. The Greatcats, Monkeys, Wolves, Hawks and Bears are all of this type.
"Below them are the Medium-level summons. These ones have some combat potential, but are mainly used for other purposes. The Foxes, Chameleons, Ravens, Owls, Rabbits and Mantis are this level.
"Then the Low-level summons. No real combat potential, but other uses are common. These include Bees, Butterflies, Sparrows and Mice.
"Then we have the Unranked summons, which are subject to different rules. The only example I can think of offhand is the Shinigami. Users of Unranked summons are very rare, as they tend not to survive.
"As for the hierarchy, you can have multiple summons, but each new summons must meet with the approval of the previous one, and they tend to give it only for certain summons of the same or higher levels. So a Wolf summons might allow you to sign up for Hawks or Salamanders, but not Sparrows or foxes, for instance. Should you sign for a lesser contract, your signiature on the higher one will be voided."
"Wow." Inari gasped. "You sure know loads."
"This one is… I think it says Greatcat." Naruto said, peering at the writing. Honoka gulped.
"If I remember right, you need to prove yourself in combat to the one you summon."
"No problems." Naruto said. "Now, how do I sign this thing? In blood? Thanks, Kaze."
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Naruto looked round, smiling at Inari and Honoka who were watching, along with most of the Great Tigers, from behind several large boulders that he had, at Honoka's insistence, moved to form an open bunker. Taking a deep breath, he went through the hand seals, channeling as much chakra as he could.
"Kuchyose no Jutsu!"
A massive cloud of smoke billowed up in front of him and when it faded, Naruto had to fight to stop his jaw from dropping. In front of him was a four-meter tall bipedal cat with white fur, gold-embossed silver armour and a white mane that flowed down around his shoulders. On his back was a massive sword and his helmet was silver with a golden crown.
'What have you done?' Kaze whimpered. 'That's the Greatest of the Greatcats, Panthera Leo Krugeri Rex! No-one's ever summoned him before!'
The lion-man's piercing blue eyes looked down at them.
"Who dares to summon me? And why?"
Naruto stepped forwards. "My name is Kagetora Naruto, heir of the Gokatora tradition and blood-linked to the Uzumaki clan. I apologise for the unexpected summoning, your majesty, I was seeking to earn the right to summon one of the Greatcat clans and did not expect to summon one so mighty as yourself."
"So, you wish to be a summoner? Then I shall test you, but no-one has ever passed my test before." He said as he shrank to half his height and unsheathed his sword. "If you can survive against me in one-on-one combat until the sun goes down, I shall grant you the right to summon one of the clans of the Greatcats."
"And if I defeat you?" Naruto asked, causing the lion-man to roar with laughter.
"Then I shall grant you the right to summon all the clans, and myself as well, for you will have earned it. Now, defend yourself!"
Naruto summoned his sword into his hand just in time to block Krugeri's swing. Pushing it away, he countered the next few swings, then unleashed a combination attack that Zabuza had mercilessly drilled him in, one that usually ended with the victim's sword lying on the ground some distance away.
Krugeri countered it flawlessly.
"Excellent, young one, truly excellent!" he grinned as he pressed his counter-attack. "You have trained well in the ways of the blade. But is the blade all you can use?"
Naruto barely managed to dodge the line of rock spikes that leapt out of the ground when Krugeri stamped down.
'Kit, it's time. Remember how we discussed improving that use of the Fang?'
'I do indeed.' Naruto thought back, disengaging from Krugeri's attack and grabbing the Kitsune's fang with his free hand. Krugeri raised one brow.
"I can sense that the dagger which you hold is stranger than the sword that you swing so well. I am curious as to its use."
"Fang, shatter!" Naruto said and the dagger glowed, reforming into a bundle of red senbon. Naruto threw them into the air and they spread out, falling down to cover most of the clearing. Krugeri absently blocked the only one headed for him, causing it to spin away.
"That was it? I'm disappointed in you."
Naruto grinned and vanished in a red flash. Krugeri spun and barely managed to block the attack aimed at his side, but Naruto vanished again before he could strike back, reappearing to launch as slash from the other side, one which Krugeri once again barely managed to block.
"I… see…" Krugeri panted as he frantically blocked the incoming attacks. "I admit… I am… impressed, kid. You've… gained… my respect…"
Krugeri spun and kicked, sending Naruto flying backwards and landing in a cloud of dust that briefly obscured him from view. Striding forwards, he placed his sword at Naruto's throat. Naruto just glared at him.
"You have my respect, kid, so I'll let you live, and I'll even grant you the right to summon one of the clans, I think the Jaguars would do you well."
"Actually," Naruto said from behind him as he wrapped his left arm round Krugeri's forehead and placed the edge of his swod against his throat, "I think that you mentioned something about all the clans?"
Krugeri froze as the Naruto on the floor vanished in a puff of smoke.
"A Kage Bunshin." Krugeri snorted in amusement. "You actually managed to outwit me, kid, and that is very hard to do. Never let it be said that I do not keep my word, the clans of the Greatcats are yours to summon at will, and you may call upon me to grant single-clan scrolls should you know those who are worthy. Command us well, summoner, and may we battle together one day!"
Naruto dropped to the floor as Krageri vanished in a cloud of smoke and slumped down, exhausted. As his vision faded, he saw Honoka, Inari and Kaze all running towards him.
