The three weeks that followed Naruto's trip to the Hidden Sand obeyed a rather repetitive schedule. The first day of the week, he visited a village (Sand, then Cloud, then Mist), then copied what he needed into scrolls to add to his library. The next two days were spent integrating and comparing the knowledge he gained from them with the knowledge from the Uzumaki library. Finally, he would spend the following four days of the week experimenting with shadow clones to test the potential they had when it came to sealing chakra constructs and the effects on those constructs. By the time he finished this testing, Naruto was beginning to feel pressured. With only eight weeks remaining until the Five Kage Summit, his plans still had a long way to go.
With the help of Kurama, Naruto began to draft nine complex seals. While at a base level they all served the same function, each seal was tailored to each of the nine Tailed Beasts specifically. Days flew by as at least twenty-seven Narutos were working around the clock trying to get the seal drafts closer to perfect than would be humanly possible for most. Finally, four days before the Five Kage Summit was slated to begin, the ninth seal was completed.
Sighing, Naruto pulled his consciousness into his mindscape. "Kurama, is this how you really want this to happen? I really think that we could find a better way to ensure that the Ten-Tails is impossible to resurrect."
"While I am sure that we could find another way given enough time, it is possible that in the time we take to find one someone will attempt to follow the Uchiha scum's example. This is a path I am certain will work, and at the end of the day will grant all nine of my kind our freedom permanently. Why the hesitation? We've worked this hard already, and you did make a promise that we would never allow the Tailed Beasts to recombine. Don't tell me you're thinking about going back on your word?" Ending in a mocking tone, the gigantic fox gave what could only be considered a smirk to Naruto.
Scoffing, Naruto replied, "Oh shut it you ten story high furball, I was just worried about you. Fine, we'll swap out our seal to make sure it works before presenting them at the Summit." Pulling himself back into the real world, Naruto created two shadow clones to change his seal from the one his father made to his new invention. The process took two days in itself due to how slow the clones were forced to work, for if they worked too fast the old seal might have given out killing both Naruto and Kurama. At the end of the seal transfer, Naruto slept for another full day to recover from the stress on his body.
"I hereby call this session of the Five Kage Summit to order. Lady Hokage, in the request you sent you stated that you had highly important information about the Tailed Beasts that needed to be discussed. Please share your piece," Mifune stated as he took his seat.
"I do not have the entire story yet, as one of my most important men is still putting together some of the pieces. However, I was informed that the seven Tailed Beasts that were fully absorbed by the Ten Tails are for some reason regenerating at an unprecedented rate. From the way it appears, all seven will be back in this world by the end of the year."
As she expected, this received surprised gasps from Gaara, Onoki, and Mei as well as a grunt of acknowledgement from Ay. The Raikage then spoke up, "Bee has already informed me of this. I saw no reason to mention it, for the Hidden Cloud intended on retrieving our Two Tails and letting the rest of the beasts be redistributed as your First Hokage deemed fit."
To the surprise of all six leaders present, a young blonde man casually walked into the room at the end of the Raikage's statement. "While I have no problem with the Land of Lightning keeping Matatabi, there is a major issue with your statement. All seven of the Tailed Beasts that will be reforming will hold a substantial amount of Kurama's chakra, which I will need to reclaim before any of the Tailed Beasts may be resealed."
"Ah, Naruto. How nice of you to show up late to the conference you asked me to call on your behalf…" Tsunade murmured in a dangerous tone as Naruto came to stand next to her.
Grinning sheepishly, he murmured back, "Sorry, but I got caught up in some tests I was running and lost track of time." To the summit as a whole, Naruto spoke up. "Over the past seven months, I have been learning about the Tailed Beasts and the sealing arts. I can with confidence say that I am the most knowledgeable sealing master alive, and I have a proposition for a change in how the Tailed Beasts are sealed within their partners. I have designed specialized seals for each of the nine Tailed Beasts with a variety of functions. The most interesting to all of you, I'm sure, is the Demonic Energy Conversion seal. This was designed to gradually convert the chakra from a Tailed Beast into human chakra permanently. There is no way for this chakra to be added back in to the Tailed Beast, and no way for the Tailed Beast to regain what was absorbed. I designed it like this so that it will be forever impossible for the Ten Tails to be reformed after the first of the Tailed Beasts reaches a small enough chakra level, which I believe should take 45 years for Shukaku."
As expected, this did not go over well with the Raikage and Tsuchikage, who viewed their Jinchuriki as invaluable military assets and little else. Holding up a hand to slow their protests, Naruto continued. "However, even though the Tailed Beasts will eventually be too small to be worth sealing as weapons, these seals are designed to integrate the previously demonic energy and abilities into the genetic code of the person who received the seal. As such, the abilities that the Jinchuriki of the past have received such as Shukaku's sand control, Son Goku's lava style, or Kurama's healing factor will become genetic traits, as will the inordinately large chakra reserves gained by the absorbance of the Tailed Beasts. In this way, when the Tailed Beasts are no longer worth sealing the village in question will possess a new bloodline that has even more military potential than a single Jinchuriki ever had.
"With everything I just told you all in mind, I have a request. Allow me to select those most suited to be partners of the Tailed Beasts out of your Jounin, and permit me to do the seven sealings. Then, with the permission of the Raikage the new hosts could undergo training at Turtle Rock Island under Bee so that they may learn how to be proper partners with their Tailed Beasts, making it so that nobody would ever have anything to fear from them. As payment for allowing the new hosts to train at Turtle Rock Island with Bee, I will convert Bee's seal to the new seal type, allowing the absorption of Gyuuki to begin now instead of being forced to wait until Bee's death. I was expecting the Tailed Beasts to be distributed as they were by the First Hokage, with the Leaf keeping Kurama and Choumei, the Sand keeping Shukaku, the Mist keeping Isobu and Saiken, the Stone keeping Son Goku and Kokuo, and the Cloud keeping Matatabi and Gyuuki. Does anyone have any objections to this plan?"
Shortly after detailing his ideas, Naruto ended up falling asleep. He was still exhausted from the seal transfer, and to him it sounded like the only thing the Kages disagreed on was how wholeheartedly they supported his idea. After enduring a half hour of bickering and sleeping through another hour of it, Tsunade finally woke him to inform him that all five of them had agreed to his terms, though they had agreed that they needed confirmation that his new seals would work. Naruto grinned and stood up, moving to the center of the horseshoe shaped table.
"Alright everyone, if you need to see my new amazing seals in action then just place a hand on me and match our chakra wavelengths. I actually switched out my old seal for my new design three days ago, so I can show you what the new seal for Kurama looks like."
When all five Kages and Mifune rested hands on Naruto's shoulders, he concentrated and pulled them all into his seal. All were shocked at what they saw, but none were more so than Tsunade.
"Naruto, I thought you told me the seal space was a cold, dark sewer?"
"It used to be. This is one of the other functions I added into the seal that I didn't feel you guys would care too much about, I personalized each of the nine seals to include the Tailed Beasts' favorite habitats so that they wouldn't be so miserable in here." Grinning at his handiwork, Naruto nearly laughed when he saw a twenty foot tall hare being chased around by Kurama. No longer was the seal an imposing gate trapping his fox partner in the darkness behind it. Now, the seal was a sunny meadow with wildlife of all types and sizes with Kurama leashed to an odd-looking stone in the center. "Now, you can all see the demonic chakra running through his leash into the stone there? That stone is the energy converter. It takes in Kurama's energy at a very slow rate so it doesn't hurt either of us, and gradually gives his power to me permanently. I'm not fully supportive of the idea, though, it was his. He said he'd rather do this than be controlled or forced into the Ten Tails again, and I promised I would help him in any way I can… So, are you all happy with what you see?" Naruto was clearly proud of his accomplishments, and all six present felt he had a right to be. Justifiably impressed, the five Kages and Mifune were forced outside of the seal by Naruto.
"Now that you're all on board, I need to explain what kind of hosts these seals will need. First of all, their chakra systems can't have ANY deformities at all. From my research on them, the slightest deformity in the chakra system can lead to overdraining the Tailed Beast, which will cause extreme pain to both and chakra poisoning to the host. Granny Tsunade, for this reason I'll need to have a Hyuga with me when I meet the prospective hosts. Is that okay?" At an irritated nod from the Hokage, Naruto continued. "Second, I refuse to seal a Tailed Beast into a child. Whether the people's views on hosts have changed or not, I will not let any other kid risk the life Gaara or I had. Because of this, I'll only be able to use people who have far above average chakra levels. I would recommend you order any possible hosts to start exclusively training their chakra reserves, because the seal won't quite work right if you don't have at least 2% of the chakra the beast sealed in you has. While this isn't quite an issue for some of the beasts, I do see some problems happening with Kokuo, Sakei, and Choumei, as well as Kurama and Gyuuki in the future. Finally, I don't want to seal any of the Tailed Beasts into someone with a heart filled with negative emotions. To avoid that, I want to examine the emotions of all of your possible candidates and be able to pick which ones I feel are best suited to work well with their Tailed Beast partners. Is that alright with you guys?"
The Mizukage spoke up in an annoyed tone, "What makes you feel that you're better at judging the character of our men than we are?"
Naruto rested a hand on his stomach, then suddenly turned orange with a long cloak behind them. "Well, you guys all remember my bright orange Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode I used against the Zetsus, right? In it I can sense all of the emotions of those around me. Even the greatest actors in the world can't hide anything from me, which is why I was the only one capable of rooting out all of the white Zetsus. This would make me perfect for deciding who could be best suited for being a partner to a Tailed Beast, because I'll be able to decide based on their hearts directly."
At this point, Tsunade spoke up. "Naruto has given us all a lot to think about. In one weeks' time, I will have him contact each of you individually to receive your final answers. Naruto, do you know when exactly the Tailed Beasts will be reforming?"
"Kurama and I can't pin down exact dates, but we both feel it will be very soon. It's seems that Shukaku will be reformed within the next month, and it feels like after he reforms we'll have at least one of them reforming a week. All things considered, it should all be over before the next three months are up."
Mifune then spoke up, giving off an air of finality with his words. "Very well. Are you all agreed, then? Final answers will be given to Naruto when his messengers arrive in one week. Regardless of whether you accept or refuse his more than generous offers, he will need to be present during the sealing of all of the Tailed Beasts to siphon off the chakra of the Nine Tails, Kurama, as well as trap any residual chakra from the Eight Tails, Gyuuki, to be turned over to Killer Bee after it is finished. Does anyone have any concerns on this course of action or any other pressing matters to discuss?" When none of the Kage spoke up, Mifune called the summit to an end.
"So, brat, what all have you spent the last seven months doing?" Naruto, Tsunade, and her two Anbu guards were walking back to the Leaf at a leisurely pace as Tsunade asked this.
"Oh, nothing too far out of the ordinary. Just cramming about four hundred years of studying into my brain, visiting three of the four other Great Shinobi Villages to obtain information on sealing, perfecting the Flying Thunder God technique to the point where only slightly above average people can use it if I choose to teach them… it was just a pretty standard training trip for me." Putting his hands behind his head Naruto smirked, then started outright laughing at the look on Tsunade's face. "Hey Granny, you might want to close your mouth, at your age you might just choke to death on any flies you'd catch."
One super-punch later, Naruto was a mile down the road waiting for Tsunade and her guards to catch up. The next four days of walking passed in a similar manner, and finally the gates of the Village Hidden in the Leaves were in sight.
As they were on the final stretch of the journey, Naruto thought it might be a good time to hash out the details of his plan with the Hokage. "Granny, have you given any thought as to who you want to accompany me to examine the potential hosts and who you want for the host of Choumei?"
"I think I have the perfect Hyuga in mind for you, but I'm not certain who we should pick to host this… Choumei, was it? I'm assuming that one is the Seven-Tailed Horned Beatle?"
"Yep! My research on him indicates he'd be happiest with a water- or wind-natured host, and someone who isn't bothered by insects. Its former Jinchuriki from the Village Hidden in the Waterfalls supposedly had extremely tough to break skin as a result of its ambient chakra, sorta like Kurama giving me this healing factor thing. Also, its two-tailed state lets the host FLY! How cool would that be?"
"Hmm… Sounds like an Aburame would be the best bet, and if none of them work then perhaps a teammate of one? I'll go through the rosters and double-check all of their elemental affinities to see who I come up with." Tsunade began sorting through the list in her head and fell quiet as the group reached the gates, but then Naruto spoke up again.
"Hey… Granny? When will I have to leave to take care of all of this? I still need to train a bit on my Flying Thunder God skills before I'm ready to be teleporting people around, and before I left on my little training and research escapade I promised someone I'd take her on a date whenever I had the time."
Tsunade just laughed. "Don't worry, kiddo, I'll let you have time to take Hinata out." Seeing the surprised look on his face, she began laughing harder. "You thought I wouldn't find out about it? The poor girl has been coming to visit me weekly asking if I knew when you would be back. She seemed to be under the impression that you'd be making it back before the Summit."
At that, Naruto grimaced. "I didn't mean to let her down, it's just that there was a lot more than I expected to be able to find in the Village Hidden in the Eddies. I had thought about sending her a letter but I didn't really know what to say…"
Ruffling his hair lightly, Tsunade gave him a light shove towards the training grounds. "She should be out training now, and you have permission to tell your friends about your next mission. I'll need to make the formal announcement soon enough, so it won't be any sort of secret soon enough. You're to send out messenger toads to the other four villages to arrive in three days, and until then you're free to do as you please."
Thanking Tsunade, Naruto sped off towards the training grounds. When he reached the usual spot for Kurenai-sensei's old team, he found Shino and Kiba in a heated spar. Deciding to have a little fun with them before learning where Hinata is, Naruto made a shadow clone. Transforming himself into Guy-sensei and the clone into Lee, both gave a running leap towards the sparring pair.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Shino managed to just barely dodge the Lee-clone, but Kiba was not quite that fortunate. Catching a rather strong kick to the face, he went flying backwards and smashed into a tree around a hundred yards away. "Uh…. Too much?" Naruto asked embarrassedly before dropping the transformation and dispelling the clone.
"I am certain Kiba will be fine. His head appears to be much harder than the average person's. It is nice to see you have returned, Naruto. Was your mission a success?" Shino's regular monotone voice seemed to have a touch of amusement in it as he stated this, and Naruto was flabbergasted.
"Shino… was that a joke? I think that's the first joke I've ever heard from you! I'm so proud of you, buddy!" Faking wiping away a tear of happiness, Naruto laughed a little when Shino shifted embarrassedly. "Yeah, my mission was a big success, and it looks like all of my hard work is going to work out nicely. I just got back from the Five Kage Summit, where I had to give the report on my mission to all five Kages at once. In three days I should be getting the green lights for the final part of my mission."
Shino adjusted his glasses inquisitively. "Final part of your mission?"
"Oh, that seven month mission was actually just a type of a requirement to be taken care of before the actual mission, which I think will take the next three months or so," Naruto grimaced. "Hey, that reminds me why I came here! I needed to apologize to Hinata for not being able to end my mission early like I promised her I would try to, do you know where she is?"
"I believe she told us she would be working on improving her original Gentle Fist technique and attempting to create another. She usually does such efforts at a small waterfall roughly two miles in that direction." Shino made a small gesture. "However, she requests that we do not come near when she is practicing like that, therefore I am unsure as to how she would react to your presence."
"Thanks for the warning, I'll make sure she knows I'm coming before I get there so she can tell me to go away if she wants!" Grinning, Naruto took off in the direction Shino pointed just as Kiba regained his consciousness.
Following Naruto's path out of the clearing with his eyes, Kiba grumbled, "Disappears for over half of a year, knocks me out, and doesn't let me have a word in edgewise. Just who the hell does Naruto think he is nowadays?" Kiba pouted a bit before Shino sent a fist sized ball of beetles to attack him, reinitiating their spar.
In Naruto's mind, Shino's warning was just a friendly heads up. He didn't really think Hinata would be too frustrated with him showing up and surprising her in her training, so as he drew close to the waterfall Shino told him she would be at he took to moving silently through the trees. After catching a glimpse of her performing what looked more like a dance move than an attack on the surface of the water, Naruto called out to her and jumped to the ground. When she screamed, Naruto was puzzled… until he noticed her clothing… fifteen feet away on the bank of the pond. In that moment Naruto finally understood how Hinata had felt like every time she had fainted around him, because for the first time in his life Naruto Uzumaki passed out from embarrassment.