AN: I don't own Naruto, or Star Wars
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36.6 BBY – Current Year (Naruto is twelve and one month has passed since the last chapter)
Chapter XII: Chunin Exams
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Stretching and pulling at the collar of his new pair of clothes, an annoyed Naruto thought, 'Why do these uniforms have to be so tight at the collar and so cumbersome. I don't even see why chunin examiners need to wear these things anyway.'
Standing in front of the mirror, Naruto looked over his new gray uniform that he had to purchase with his own money for use in the chunin exams. It was obvious that he would never wear it again and it seemed rather stupid to have a uniform that was only used for one purpose. Most the uniforms of this type were used by the intelligence and interrogations department of Konoha but the chunin helping with the exams were supposed to wear them because Morino Ibiki demanded it of them.
Frowning, Naruto walked away from the mirror as he couldn't stand to look at the dull uniform clothing anymore. He'd take his black cloak and something comfortable underneath it any day.
Staring at the clock, he resisted the urge to smash it as he still had over an hour before he needed to be at the academy to prepare for the exam. He would be working on the first part of the examine as a 'spotter' for cheating students and then he would work a shift on the second exam patrolling the fence to the Forest of Death.
Neither were duties that he wanted but he needed something during the second exam and the best way to get it was to be assigned to patrol the fence for contestants that tried to leave the designated area. He had specifically asked for that assignment as it was better than being on-call to be summoned by the opened scrolls when genin passed the second exam.
Laying on his bed, he waited for enough time to pass while he reviewed the plans he had created, and that his Master had revised, in his head. To get what he wanted during the second exam, it was best to be on patrol and then switch with one of his clones to enter the forest. After he had what he wanted, he needed to make the proper alterations. In a week, he had to take the special jonin exam which involved a series of tests to determine his proficiency. He had been sponsored for the test by the jonin sensei of his first squad.
He also needed to find out what exactly was going to be happening during the chunin exam as he had been unable to find anything else out from indirect means and needed a more direct approach to gather the information. Kabuto was the best target for this but Yoroi would likely be easier, however the mask wearing man might not have the detailed information that Kabuto did.
During the time between his final trip to Wave Country and the exam, he had worked on learning the jutsu that his Master had taken from Hatake Kakashi. It turned out that the copy ninja really knew almost a thousand jutsu and it would take quite a while to learn them all so Naruto had written them all down in a large scroll before he started forgetting any. Currently he was looking at a jutsu of the Yondaime Hokage which was called the rasengan. He currently didn't have the time to start the technique but should be able to get to it after the exams.
Staring up at the ceiling, he wondered what his Master was up to in Snow Country.
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Looking over the device once again, Plagueis was no less intrigued then when he had first encountered it a few weeks ago. In fact the more he found out about it, the more interested he became in it and knew that his student would want several in order to figure out how they worked and probably make use of them.
He had been in a private meeting with Kazahana Doto, the leader of Snow Country, discussing further negotiations. The man was getting more greedy and wanted more money for his continued assistance but it didn't matter at the time and Plagueis agreed to everything that the man said. As Doto was distracted with extorting money from his business partner, he never noticed the dark purple smoke streams that slowly moved into the room through the air ducts. Two streams of smoke moved across the floor heading for Doto.
A string of smoke formed to connect the two smoke plumes and they began to solidify behind Doto. The string of smoke was thrown at the dictator and it solidified into the chain that connected the demon brothers gauntlets. Doto was distracted enough, and the attack was quiet enough, that the man didn't notice anything until the chain was already solidified and wrapped around his body.
Plagueis had believed that he had the advantage but then Doto smiled and with something other than strength, broke the chain imprisoning him. The broken chain turned back to smoke and Doto attacked Plagueis. Sith Lord reacted by using Force push. With his diminished state, the attack wasn't enough to knock Doto back but did nearly topple the man over.
Before Doto could do anything else, demon brothers got over their surprise and grabbed Doto while holding him down for their master. Plagueis cautiously approached the subdued man and used the Force to determine what was going on. From what he could tell, the normal chakra field emanating from the man was being modified and even amplified to form almost a personal shield around him. He hadn't noticed if before because he wasn't looking for anything out of the ordinary and the device seemed to be very passive until it was used.
Touching his hand to Doto's head, Plagueis drained the man's knowledge and put the man's mind under his control. Once he had everything that he needed, the demon brothers knocked the man out and went about removing the dark blue armor that was under the man's loose clothing.
Plagueis examined the device and went over what information he had extracted from Doto's head. It was a very advanced piece of technology that was called chakra armor. Doto didn't have a very good grasp of how it worked or what went into making it, only that it cost a great deal of money and was apparently going to help the leader of Snow Country take over the world. At least that was what the dictator envisioned for the device if it wasn't so costly to make or he had the money to make it feasible.
Doto's armor was supposedly a prototype and more advanced than the other chakra armor devices he had given to his subordinates.
Since then, Plagueis had been using his mind control on Doto and also went to the actual scientists behind the devices creation. An entire research and development lab existed in Doto's huge mansion. There, many different scientists not only created and developed the chakra armor but all of the other higher level technology that Snow Country had. While many of the other projects that the scientists were working on were not that impressive technology wise, the chakra armor was a technological marvel.
From what Plagueis knew, the majority of the known galaxy had completely stopped using personal shielding devices. Trying to find one was extremely difficult and they drained a power source extremely fast. There were also other factors such as radiation that was produced from them. However, thousands of years earlier, personal shielding was much more common. From what he had read in stolen military records, it appeared that the technology had stagnated during the time of peace and had been lost entirely. The device was therefore very unique, even though it relied on chakra and not another power source.
Plagueis had yet to inform his student about it as he knew that once he did, Naruto would likely have arrived in the country a day later to get his hands on such a device. They still had plans that needed to be taken care of in Konoha and he couldn't distract his student with something so tempting as the chakra armor. Danzo was likely still trying to figure out what was going on with the village jinchuuriki and it wouldn't be wise for Naruto to leave the village for an extended period of time again, especially during the busy time around the chunin exams.
Once their plans were completed, and his student had arrived in Snow Country without complication, then he would inform the boy of the device.
After taking control of the country, Plagueis had begun working on mass production of the sealant needed for the ships hull. It would need quite a bit of the substance and the sealant itself required multiple chemical processes and the creation of a small chemical factory. He projected that it would take a few months to complete that task.
Production of fuel for the fusion reaction would take more time. Considering that it didn't take more than week to get from the known galaxy to their current position in the unknown galaxy, the amount of fuel required was small but they needed isotopes of Hydrogen in order to create the reaction that would fuel the ship. Based upon his own knowledge and how easy it was to control all of the scientists that Doto had, Plagueis believed that it would only take half a year for everything to be completed.
Naruto's shadow clones would come in very handy and once the boy arrived in the country, the new reactor could be created. Gatou's money, as well as Doto's technology and workforce, had greatly accelerated his initial estimates on how long it would take to leave the planet. Without any complication, he foresaw that they would be leaving the planet and heading back to the known galaxy before his student turned thirteen.
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When the smoke cleared, Naruto stood along with twelve other chunin and Morino Ibiki in the testing room for the first stage of the chunin exam. Looking over the faces of the participants, he noted that he been with most of the Konoha ninja at one point or another during his years at the academy. He spotted Kabuto and Yoroi, as well as someone he didn't expect to see as their teammate, which was the pale skinned boy that was spying on him in Wave Country. He believed his name to be Sai.
Naruto watched the boy talk with another ninja on one of the rookie teams and they seemed to know each other. 'Danzo suspects my former teammates of something?' he guessed as the possible reasoning behind the boy being in the exams. He did know that on one of the messages Danzo received were the names of his former teammates along with Orochimaru, so it was possible that the boy was sent to spy on them. He hadn't gotten any message about it from either mind controlled Root ANBU which likely meant that whatever the boy was doing, didn't involve him and only his former teammates.
Ibiki made a speech that Naruto didn't listen to and then the genin were given random numbers and split up around the classroom. As the students were finding their seats, Naruto moved to the seat he would be occupying for the exam, which was along the window. The room had two columns of desks with numerous rows and a walkway in-between. He had a view of a good portion of the room but for the exam he was only concerned with two rows of desks that were along the window side of the room. He would determine if or how the genin in those rows were cheating and deduct points from them based on how many times they were caught by him.
The test started while he was thinking and he was instantly aware of a few genin that were contemplating cheating. With the test atmosphere, the instructions, the stress, and the questions of the test, he could get a much better read on those near him because their minds were so preoccupied with other things. From his own experience in the exams, it would take a few minutes for the majority of them to figure out the real purpose of the test and then most would make their move.
The only problem with the system was that he could only dock two points when he caught certain people cheating and that was all the points that he could dock. A few competitors only used one method of cheating and although they were rather obvious with it, he couldn't take off more points if they used that method to cheat for the entire exams. He already noted that two Hyuuga had started using their byakugan to cheat. They would likely use it for the entire exam and though it was blatantly obvious they were using it, if he was the chunin observing them, he could only deduct two points for the cheating.
His attention moved back to his own rows and he frowned at the bun haired girls sitting in them. It was the same girl that had repeatedly tried to get information on his sword and had broken into his apartment. Since that time, no other attempts had been made on his apartment and he believed this was due to him always carrying the sword on his person from that point on.
He noted that she had managed to place a complicated mirror system in a depression on the ceiling and, using wires, she was moving the mirrors to get the answers from the reflections of other peoples papers. He deducted two points but he couldn't deduct anymore unless she did something else. Focusing on the other people in his designated area, he started taking off points for the other cheaters.
As time passed during the exam, he managed to kick out quite a few people from his rows. The two rows originally held eighteen people and he had managed to take that down to seven. The remaining genin were safe from his influence though and he really couldn't take anymore points from them. He had already taken an extra two points from the bun haired girl for helping out her teammate but that was the extent of what he could do.
Looking to the kunoichi in question, he noticed that she was looking at him. Glancing in the direction she indicated, he saw that her mirrors were angled so that he could see something that was being reflected off of the back of her paper.
It read, "Can I see your sword after the exam?" and Naruto frowned at the sender that was looking at him expectantly. Explicitly shaking his head no, the girl looked sad and wrote something else, "Please?"
Twitching slightly, Naruto's eyes narrowed and he again shook his head.
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Looking over the test takers, Ibiki's eyes darted to specific people in the exam and he observed them cheating. It wasn't until his eyes came upon a bun haired girl that he stopped. Focusing on the scene, he watched as one of the participants engaged in a hidden conversation with one of his chunin. He noted that the two rows that the chunin was monitoring were mostly empty and more genin had been eliminated in those rows that any other set in the room.
Deciding that his chunin wasn't slacking off, he allowed the conversation to continue. He never had a participant try and seduce an examiner before. It was something that he would have to look into in the future and perhaps plan for. Most of the chunin in the room were much older than most of the present genin, though a few genin were even older than his chunin. It wasn't often that the chunin proctoring knew the genin taking the exam.
He had genin try to bribe examiners but none ever succeeded. This was a new tactic as genin kunoichi were never given seduction missions. Looking between the two, he assumed that the girl was asking for answers or perhaps to have her deductions removed. He couldn't actually see the mirror reflection that was being used but those were the obvious conclusions from the situation.
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Naruto once again shook his head and continued to try not to attack the girl for wanting to see his sword. He really couldn't do anything about it. Points could not be deducted because she wasn't cheating, merely trying to coerce him into letting her see his sword. His hand almost instinctively went up to the blade that was attached to his back but he remembered that it was just the fake. Looking to his arm that was mostly covered by his gray sleeve, he could see that the blade was still in the storage seal.
He raised his head to look back at the kunoichi and saw that she had written another message, "Just for five minutes." He rolled his eyes at the message as he knew that if he even let her near his sword, which he wouldn't, she would run away with it.
Trying to calm down, he took several deep breaths. Just the thought of knowing that someone was planning to steal his sword made him rather angry and he hadn't noticed how much until the lights above him started flickering. Getting his emotions under control, he once again shook his head and this time tried to ignore the girl in favor of focusing on the remaining few people in his area.
Frustrated at her lack of success and the fact that the indirect target of her obsession was ignoring her, Tenten decided to try a different approach. Searching through her ninja pouch, she retrieved one of the mirrors she had brought with her and tried to get the right angle to catch the sun. The test was during the afternoon and the sun was not yet setting but low enough on the horizon that its rays came in through the window.
Getting the correct angle, she reflected the sun back at the boys face while holding the mirror at the level of her seat.
Squinting because of the bright light that was blinding him, Naruto's attention was again taken back to the girl. 'I should have done something about her a while ago.' he thought and frowned at the girl that was trying to blind him with the glare off her mirror.
She was rewarded with success a moment later when a shuriken smashed the mirror and embedded into the bench she was sitting on. She now had the angered chunin's attention again and wrote another note on the back of her paper.
While people had heard the smashing mirror, most had no idea where it came from and disregarded it in favor of the test a moment later. He had manipulated the shuriken to fly below the height of the desks so that no one would see it and had it curve at the last moment to smash the mirror. Wishing that he had the authority to fail the genin, he glared at the girl who was writing something on her paper again.
She finished a moment later and angled the mirrors for him to read, "I'll give you something in return." and when he looked to the girl she seductively winked.
Trying to fight the blush creeping up on his face, he failed, 'Damn it!' he cursed inside his head and the window behind him cracked under his unknowing use of the Force to vent his anger and embarrassment at the situation. The worst part was that he was in the uniform and didn't have his hood or any mask, so the blush on his cheeks was there for everyone to see.
The cracking of the window glass also brought some attention to himself from those sitting near him, both chunin and genin. 'This just keeps getting worse.' he thought and the lights starting flickering again. Hearing some chuckling, he looked to the chunin sitting next to him and realized that the man could likely read the mirror and had seen it.
Naruto glared at the man. A moment later, two of the legs of the chair the man was sitting in broke and the surprised chunin yelled while crashing to the floor.
Looking back to the girl, he glared at her for making fun of him.
Tenten looked back at her paper and decided perhaps that it wasn't a good idea to antagonize the boy anymore. She didn't know how the window or chair broke but the killing intent coming off the boy as well as the flickering of the lights made her rethink her strategy.
It was at that point that Ibiki spoke up. Forty-five minutes had elapsed and it was time for the final question.
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The exam had finished and the next examiner had come to take the genin. Naruto was quick to leave and take up his duties patrolling the area surrounding the Forest of Death. He had used his spare time during the first exam to figure out the best candidates that he was looking for. He required someone that was nearly his height and weight and there were only a few to choose from that fit the criteria.
He removed the Konoha ninja from his selection process as most didn't fit his criteria or were the heir's of a clan and a disappearance would not go unnoticed or without an investigation. There were several others to choose from and he found three that fit what he was looking for. He just needed to find them during the exam and wait. The forest might end up killing them anyway but he needed a specific death. The use of his weapons were out and it would be best to have it be as natural as possible for his purposes.
While the genin were getting scrolls for the exams, he proceeded to switch himself with a shadow clone and entered the examination area. He knew that he had to stay completely hidden from view and used an earth jutsu to sink into the ground. From what intelligence that he had, a Hyuuga could not look through the ground or other objects unless they were specifically focusing on them. It seemed few Hyuuga ever looked beneath them as he had tried it out several times on the Hyuuga boy that had followed him on several occasions. He had once even moved himself directly beneath the Hyuuga while the byakugan was active and the boy never saw him.
Considering that there were two Hyuuga in the exam, it would be best if he didn't get noticed while moving through the forest and completing his goals. At least one of them had his chakra memorized so if he was seen by Hyuuga Neji, he would be recognized.
He had kept his clothing the same and wasn't using his cloak as if he was spotted it was best to be in his uniform so he at least had a weak excuse. He could tell people that part of a genin team asked for his help to find their missing teammate in the forest, which was a viable reason that a patrolling chunin could enter the exam area.
Naruto's head emerged from behind the fence and he looked at the genin that had just finished getting their scrolls. He would follow one of his targets at a time and see if he could create a situation, or the situation would create itself, to get the resulting death that he wanted.
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Several hours later
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Following the first genin led to nothing of interest as the genin's team were easily defeated and killed by some kind of leaches that fell from the trees. Wounds such as that were not what he was looking for, so he went about finding the second target.
Moving through the ground and sensing with his life-signs ability, he slowly searched through the forest. The method he was using was annoying but it ensured that he wouldn't be caught doing anything he wasn't supposed to be doing. Sensing movement, he stopped and focused on listening and feeling through the ground.
He could feel a genin moving through the area above him. From what he could tell, the genin was on the same team as his second target. The genin was all alone and he could feel the fear, anxiety, and stress coming from him. Along with those feelings came the realization that his teammates were likely dead. The boy moved on in search of a way out of the terrible forest and Naruto proceeded in the direction that they boy came from.
Mentally sending a message to his patrolling shadow clone, the clone moved to where the genin would likely exit the forest. Moving out of the ground, Naruto sped through the trees in search of the other genin on the team. It was much faster above ground and he now had an excuse to be in the forest.
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Holding the earth scroll and running for her life, the redhead looked back once more at the gigantic bear that was chasing her. It was catching up to her and the thoughts of her approaching death filled her mind. She was likely going to die here and be eaten by the bear.
One of her teammates was likely already dead and she was separated from the other one. Ever since their sensei had sponsored them for the chunin exams, she knew it was a bad idea. Her skills were not that of a chunin and neither were her teammates but one other genin team from the Hidden Grass village were going and they were supposed to meet up with them to ensure finalists in the exam.
They couldn't find them and now she was going to die. She had already tried screaming for help but the area they were in was huge and no one had heard her or they just didn't want to get involved with the giant bear chasing her.
Jumping over large roots, her foot slipped on moss. She fell to the forest floor and her glasses came off during the impact. Cursing, she frantically searched for them as the sounds of the bear grew closer. Without her glasses all she could see was a blurry world with little detail. Her hands passed over the sparse grass and leaves for the glasses that she desperately needed.
It was too late though, as the bear was just behind her and had caught up. Trying to get up, she stumbled and fell back to the ground. In a panic, she tried to put as much distance between herself and the bear and crawled as far as she could until she ran into a hard surface. Turning around she saw the blurry brown of a tree trunk and looked back to the lumbering shape of what she knew was the bear.
She couldn't move and her voice left her as the growling bear came closer. The heavy breathing and growl of the creature was all she could hear. Tears filled her eyes and she wished she was somewhere else, anywhere else. Her fear was overriding all of her other senses, including her chakra sensor ability which would have been telling her that someone was headed her way.
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Naruto moved in search of the genin he was after. If the boy was dead and the manner of death was acceptable for his needs, then his search would be over and he could work on completing the secondary objectives. He really didn't want to have to kill a genin that he had never met before in order to complete the plans that he and his Master had come up with. However, he would kill one of them if it came to it.
Pushing his sensor range as far as he could, he detected a very large animal and a single person. Moving towards that direction, he landed on a branch and inspected the scene.
'One large bear and one kunoichi. Not the person I was after.' he concluded. A moment later he was assaulted by the feelings of the girl he was looking at. The mission was supposed to come first but he could feel everything that the girl was feeling and he couldn't leave her to die. Gathering and compacting kinetic energy into his hand, he jumped down to the forest floor below. He had a new Force technique that he had been waiting to try out and this was the perfect time.
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Most people think that a person's life flashes before their eyes in the moments before death, but all that flashed through Karin's eyes was the blurry image of a huge bear as it's mouth lunged to eat her.
She was moments from death when a gray figure entered her distorted vision. The bear slowed and her attention moved to the gray object. It took but a moment to figure out that it was a person and she could feel the chakra emanating from them. 'Someone's helping me.' she thought. She watched and felt as the person used something against the bear.
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Landing on the ground, Naruto looked at the bear with a smirk as it noticed him. 'Kinetite.' he thought and moved his arm back then pushed forward with all his strength. He even added some wind chakra to help propel the condensed ball of kinetic energy at the target. The ball struck the shoulder and neck of the bear and sent the animal sideways while lifting it off of its front paws. The bear thudded to the ground and remained breathing but unmoving.
Naruto inspected the animal for a minute and wondered what would have happened if he had used the technique at its most powerful. He only used it at around half of its potential power to see what kind of damage it could do. He had a feeling that if he used it at full strength then the bear's neck and shoulder would have been pulverized.
The technique itself was still something he was working on as he didn't have a place to properly use it and test its limits. He already had a few modifications that he wanted to make to it and could see altering it into a new technique as well. The wind chakra was just to speed up its delivery. Normally the ball was just thrown and with initial testing, he knew that most ninja could dodge the slow speed of the throw. Therefore he had worked on trying to push the ball with his strength and wind chakra to propel it forward faster than throwing it could accomplish.
'The results are quite good. This might become one of my new favorites.' he thought and smiled a rather sinister smile. Turning around he looked at the girl behind him, she was looking in his direction but with her eyes closed.
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After the bear was knocked out, Karin finally found and put on her glasses to look upon her savior. The boy had walked over to look at the bear and she frowned. It wasn't that she wasn't happy about being saved but something was wrong. She had been focusing on her sensor ability when the boy attacked the bear and everything seemed off. Whatever technique he used wasn't chakra, it was something else. She didn't actually see the technique as she had only just found her glasses but it was very strange to her.
The boy himself was strange as well. In addition to his incredibly large chakra reserves, he had something else that seemed to be flowing into him and out of him. What exactly it was, she had no idea, but when he had formed the attack, some of the other stuff entering his body was used to help form it. She stared at the boy to see if she could figure anything else out but she couldn't find anything. Closing her eyes, she focused on sensing as best as she could. In addition to the boys chakra, he also had something else flowing into and out of his body. It was not something she had ever felt before and it felt slightly dark.
Focusing more on the boy, she felt his emotions and could tell that he was hiding or suppressing all of his emotions while only showing indifference or coldness as well as some hatred. Opening her eyes, she noted that the boy was staring at her curiously and she could feel something happening. She looked into his cold blue eyes and not thinking before she spoke, she blurted out the question she had been holding in, "What kind of technique was that? You didn't even use chakra, you used something else."
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Naruto stared at the girl with as impassive a face as he could, but on the inside he was rather shocked at what she had said. His mind went through many possibilities, however he searched his feeling and found the explanation he was after, 'She can feel me using the Force.' he thought amazed but he wasn't sure what to do about it. Should he kill her and not let her tell anyone else? Should he destroy her memory?
Those options were not something he really wanted to do. From what he could tell, the girl was a chakra sensor but he needed to find out more.
"What exactly did you feel?" he questioned seriously and he could feel the girl getting more afraid.
'Shit, why did I say anything?' Karin thought as her eyes glanced around for a way out of the situation. She could feel the surprise and the anger in the person standing before her. She didn't actually know what it was that she had felt but the moment she said something, she was positive that it was something she shouldn't know about and it was possible that he was going to kill her.
As if reading her mind, the boy stated, "The more you tell me about what you felt, the more likely you are of getting out of this situation unharmed."
Karin was frozen on the spot and knew that he was telling the truth and that what she did next could decide whether she lived or died. The statement was not a lie so she confessed everything, "When you attacked I could feel you gathering something inside your body and moving it to your hand but it wasn't chakra. You didn't use chakra but something very different. Even now I can feel it moving through you but I don't know what it is or where it comes from."
The explanation she gave was an odd one and it made Naruto stop and think. On the one hand, the girl seemed to be able to feel the Force, yet she didn't confess to feeling it all around her and apparently only when it moved through his body. While the Force had moved into his hand through his body, it had also moved from the surrounding area. The girl seemed to only be able to feel the Force that was moving through his body. 'Without any midi-chlorians, she shouldn't be able to feel the Force and yet she can, but only in my body and not in the surroundings. Is it possible that the Force that enters my body somehow changes or causes her to be able to feel it?' he wondered and the question was difficult to answer.
To his knowledge, no one had been able to feel him using the Force. Even the accomplished chakra sensor working for Danzo was only able to sense that something was different about him. The Yamanaka couldn't tell what it was though. However, the girl in front of him was very different. She appeared to have a unique sensing ability. That alone made her valuable as he himself had no ability to sense chakra and limited ability to suppress it. It was possible that her chakra sensing range was larger than his life-sense range. Furthermore, chakra sensors usually had good chakra control and didn't develop a sensing ability until an older age.
'To complete the plan to get me out of this village, I could use someone with good chakra control and she could learn to use medical ninjutsu much better than I could likely use it. If her chakra sensing ability turns out to have a larger range than my ability, then she would also be useful. Master Plagueis might also be interested in her ability to sense the Force moving through me.' he concluded and made a decision.
"You'll be coming with me." he said and waited a brief moment before continuing, "We need to find your other teammate and complete another task before leaving the training ground. As long as you don't say anything or speak to anyone about anything that has happened, besides me stopping the bear from getting you, nothing will happen to you." stated Naruto in a serious voice and Karin could only nod. She could tell that he hadn't lied to her and with the other dangers in the forest, it was best to stick with him. Survival was her priority right now and she went with the mysterious Konoha ninja that had saved her.
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Traveling through the forest on the path that the bear took was rather easy. It left prints, scratches, and broken branches in its wake that made it simple for anyone to follow. From what Karin told him, her teammate was injured when they were first attacked by the bear. She had only a basic idea of where the body might be but she was positive that he was dead as his chakra had faded until she couldn't feel it anymore.
Eventually they came upon the spot and Karin held back while Naruto inspected the corpse. Looking over the body, he deduced from Amachi's knowledge and Karin's details what must have happened.
'The bear swung and hit him, sending him into the tree. He hit at least one branch on the way down before landing awkwardly on the ground. The body has multiple broken bones, fractured skull, and other related injuries from the hit and the fall. No signs of damage from the claws. I can definitely use this.' he thought and pulled out a scroll to seal the body into.
That was the best that he could hope for. Ideally he wanted a body that had been hit by a jutsu or killed by ninja tools but one that suffered a fall from a great height was usable. He just needed to preserve the body until he could work on it later.
Once the body was sealed, they continued on as there was still one thing left to do. The next target he had to go after before heading to the tower was either Kabuto or Yoroi. He needed information about the attack on the village and one of those two would likely have what he wanted. He knew from past experiences that both liked to split up while moving in the forest of death and with a new teammate, it was more likely that he would find Kabuto alone than Yoroi alone.
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Karin followed the boy through the trees and it seemed that the forest wasn't nearly as scary or dangerous as it had been with her team. She was on the lookout for chakra signatures as they determined that her ability had a longer range than the ability that Naruto had. She still wasn't sure what ability in sensing the boy possessed or what other abilities he was granted by his secondary energy, but she wasn't going to ask.
Upon further examination with her sensing ability, she also felt a very malicious chakra inside of him but it was dormant and contained in some way. It scared her but there was nothing she could do at the moment. She was positive that she wouldn't survive on her own and wasn't sure where in the Forest of Death they were.
She was brought out of her thoughts by a commotion up ahead. Stopping on the branch she was on. Naruto looked at her and she explained, "There is a battle up ahead."
Naruto looked at her for a second and then looked ahead of them. She knew that he likely couldn't feel it and looked back at her for more details. "One of them is very powerful while the other is not. Neither feels like a genin." she elaborated for him.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto sighed as neither ninja was likely to be the two he was after. While Kabuto did have more chakra than a genin, who would the glasses wearing ninja be fighting that had that much chakra? He wasn't sure but decided to check it out anyway.
x-x
Stabbing the kunai through her hand and into the hand of her former sensei, Anko forced the fingers of his other hand into a specific seal and prepared to use the kinjutsu that would end both of their lives. Stopping when she heard his voice come from behind her, she turned to see her unharmed sensei and looked back to see the one she had pinned to the trunk of the tree turn to mud.
Frustrated, she pulled the kunai from her hand and threw it at the man that had ruined her life and abandoned her.
Chuckling, Orochmaru caught the kunai between his two fingers and let it dropped to the branch below where it stuck into the wood with a dull thunk. Moving forward he proceeded to put his hands into a seal and made his former apprentice double over in pain.
He started talking about how he had marked the Uchiha and then stopped when he felt something.
x-x
Naruto looked at the scene that was playing out not to far away from where he and Karin were crouched in the foliage of the tree. It seemed Orochimaru was in the exam, or at least doing something in the Forest of Death. His master had given him explicit instructions not to try and fight the snake sennin and he was holding to those orders, though he did want to go and fight.
He had only just gotten there and heard the tail end of the sennin admitting to have attacked someone but he didn't catch the name of the person. The talking stopped a moment later and it wasn't until the man turned to where they were sitting and chuckled that he knew he had been spotted. 'He must be able to sense my chakra.' thought Naruto and he cursed at the fact that his high reserves had once again made him easy to detect.
"Kukukuku...it seems we have a visitor." stated Orochimaru while looking in his direction and Naruto frowned as the man had only used 'visitor' and not visitors which meant that he either didn't consider Karin a threat, or the girl was able to completely hide her chakra signature. Believing it was the later, Naruto left the area he was hiding in. He didn't need to tell Karin to stay where she was as the girl was scared beyond measure at seeing the examiner so easily defeated. She may not know who the person was but she must have felt from his tainted chakra that he was not someone to mess with.
Naruto appeared in a burst of speed on a branch of a tree that was not very far away. He stared at Orochimaru and the man was not intimidated or the least bit threatened by his presence. It made him want to disobey his master's orders but he stayed put.
"As I was just about to say, before we were interrupted, you are not stop the exams prematurely. Three from my village are also taking the exams, and I'm going to enjoy watching. If you try to end that enjoyment, the leaf village will be finished.." he concluded and started melding into the tree.
It was difficult to stand and be ignored by someone but he didn't attack, even when given the opportunity while the man was melding into the tree. He had caught several stray thoughts during the short conversation and from the image of the musical note, he knew that the ones Orochimaru was talking about were the sound ninja. 'They might have the knowledge that I seek as well.' and he filed the information away for later. If by some chance he couldn't find Kabuto or Yoroi, he would go after the sound ninja.
Disappointed at his Master's orders, he jumped to the branch and helped Mitarashi Anko stand.
"What the hell are you doing here? I ordered everyone to stay put and only the ANBU should have followed me. Do you want to get yourself killed?" demanded Anko and Naruto merely replied, "A genin came to edge of the forest and gave up. One of his teammates was possibly dead, the other lost, and he was carrying their scroll. I went in search of the lost genin as there is no way they can finish the exam on their own if their teammate had already forfeited by exiting the exam area."
Anko gave him a serious look and tried to tell if the statement was the truth or a lie. Before she could figure out which, Naruto motioned to the area he came from and a redheaded girl about his age stood up. She was rather disheveled and afraid so it gave credence to his story. It was a rule that if member of a team did forfeit than the chunin patrol could help their team. It was unorthodox to actually enter the forest and find genin but it wasn't against the rules.
"Fine, just take me to the tower." she demanded and Naruto frowned as she leaned on him for support and they headed for the tower. He still needed to complete the rest of his mission but it looked like that would have to wait.
x-x
They arrived at the tower a few hours later and Anko was taken to one of the waiting rooms for the chunin staff at the tower. Naruto took Karin to one of the rooms that were for the participants in the exam and then went back into the forest while leaving a clone to stay put in the tower.
He thought about going after the sound ninja but it was more likely that Kabuto or Yoroi had the information that he was after. Supposedly he was going after the other wayward genin, who no one besides himself and Karin knew was already dead. He was told by the other chunin and the examiner that he was an idiot for going out and searching for the other genin but he just ignored them because it was all just an excuse anyway.
He hadn't questioned the fuinjutsu that was causing Anko pain but he knew that it was likely the cursed seal that he knew Orochimaru to use. He had obtained bits and pieces of information from Amachi and the genin who he had replaced as part of Kabuto's team, but this was the first time actually seeing it. He had taken a sample of Anko's blood for his Master while carrying her back. He also knew that there existed a possibility that Orochimaru had given someone else a cursed seal during the exam. He had only overheard part of the conversation with Anko but knew that the snake sennin had given a gift to someone and believed it was likely the cursed seal.
Plagueis was interested in any information on the snake sennin's cursed seal and what it did. If the opportunity to find out more about the cursed seal presented itself, he was supposed to take it.
Getting his thoughts back on the task at hand, he continued searching through the forest. He had a lot of ground to cover and without Karin traveling with him, his sensing range was again limited.
x-x
It took the entire night, the morning, and most of the afternoon t to finally find one of his former teammates. He came across Kabuto after the man had finished off a group of genin from Hidden Waterfall. From the fading life signs of the genin, it was only a few moments before they would die.
He had never followed Kabuto during the previous chunin exam he had participated in. Their team had split up and he had been promoted to chunin in that exam. The gray haired teen adjusted his glasses while placing the newly pilfered scroll into his pouch. Naruto observed his former teammate and thought about what he should do.
He could attack right at that moment, after Kabuto had fought the genin but he doubted that the teen was tired from what was likely a short battle. He could also wait until nightfall and attack when his teammate was the most unguarded. That seemed like the best plan as even with what he knew about Kabuto, he still wasn't completely sure about his teammates exact skill level and he also didn't know how good at sensing others Kabuto was. It was possible that he had already been spotted by his former teammate, despite having suppressed his chakra to the best of his abilities.
Deciding to wait, he held back as Kabuto moved off in a direction and then followed him. He had no idea where Kabuto was heading but he would follow at a safe distance.
x-x
Hours later, Kabuto had settled down for a brief rest in the roots of a tree. Several traps had been placed at the entrance but Naruto moved past them using an earth jutsu. He wasn't sure how aware Kabuto was, so he cautiously approached and prepared himself for anything. It would normally be best to send a clone first but they were not able to use the Force so it would likely get destroyed or tip off the target before it could accomplish anything.
He wasn't after killing Kabuto but he would take the man's knowledge and find out what was happening during the chunin exams. In order to properly plan his escape from the village, he needed the details of what was happening during the chunin exams. Kabuto, as an important spy to Orochimaru, would likely know all of the plans.
As he neared the resting Kabuto, the Force was telling him that something was wrong. He stopped his movement through the soil and emerged just enough to look at the sleeping genin. Kabuto was still a good distance away as he was just outside the cave-like area that Kabuto was in. Nothing appeared amiss but the Force told him different.
Emerging completely from the ground, he entered the roots and outstretched his hand enough to use Force grip on the sleeping Kabuto. The technique worked and he was about to close the distance when he felt something happening. The life-signs he was sensing for Kabuto were moving towards him, but they were coming from below him.
Moving back, he wasn't fast enough to escape the hand that shot out of the ground and grabbed one of his ankles. He recognized the technique as chakra scalpels and felt the pain or several tendons in his ankle being severed.
Cursing, Naruto formed a kinetite in his hand and threw it at the ground near the disembodied hands. The attack smashed into the ground and the soil underneath the tree roots exploded. Naruto was released and he managed to hop and then jump to a safe distance. It would be a while before his leg was healed.
If he had thrown the attack where the head of Kabuto was, then he likely would have killed the spy but that wasn't what he was after. He had thrown it just a short distance away. 'The body was just a fake and the real Kabuto was waiting underground.' he thought and cursed at the late realization. He wasn't sure if the concussive force of the blast he released had knocked Kabuto out or not. He could still feel the gray haired genin's life-signs but he couldn't tell if the teen was conscious or not.
The trap had definitely worked to some degree as his left leg was useless and his mobility had been greatly decreased. Hobbling towards the tree roots, he looked at the area once the dirt and dust had settled. The area was now a crater but he couldn't see Kabuto. His opponent made no movements and the life-signs didn't fluctuate. Frowning he went through a few handseals and said, "Doton: Retsudo Tensho (earth release: tearing earth turning palm)" and the ground beneath him started to up-heave and churn.
Force to flee his position, Kabuto jumped out from the ground to avoid being crushed. He landed a good distance away and turned to see his opponent for the first time. He wasn't sure if he had been followed or not, so he had set a trap just in case. The tables had been turned on him though.
A line of blood was coming from his mouth and forehead while his glowing green hand was placed on his ribs. Whatever attack had been used against him was powerful and if it had been used close enough to him, he was sure it could have either fractured his skull or broken his neck.
His opponent was wrapped in a dark hooded cloak with two long sleeves and appeared to be rather young. The cloak was open in the front but he could only make out a common ninja vest that could be purchased anywhere. Most of the large and small villages had unique vests but this was very generic. The face couldn't be seen because of the darkness of their surroundings and the shadow from the hood.
They stared at each other for a brief period. Naruto was trying to give time for his leg to heal but Kabuto's ribs were not that serious and the teen charged forward with his hands glowing. Naruto knew of the technique but was not able to move as he would have liked with the leg injury.
Naruto ducked under the strike and lashed out with a punch. Kabuto dodged and was about to strike a vital area with his chakra scalpels when he was hit full force in the face. Knocked back, Kabuto recovered and looked at his opponent, 'I dodged the punch, yet I was still hit.' he thought unsure of what was going on.
Before Kabuto could do anything, his opponent raised his hand and he was yanked forward. Naruto charged up a weaker kinetite and threw it into Kabuto's abdomen before he could be attacked with the chakra scalpels. His opponent was thrown back and smacked into one of the large roots in the area.
Coughing up blood, Kabuto tried to stand but he was lifted off his feet by an unknown source. Being choked in the air, he reached for his shuriken and threw several at the cloaked figure. He was promptly dropped to the ground where he tried to catch his breath and he heard his shuriken being deflected.
Moving to get away from the fight he was about to use the handseals for the body flicker technique when he was stopped in his tracks again by another the unseen force. Unable to move or turn around, he was helpless as he heard the figure slowly limped forward. A hand was placed on his head and everything went blank.
Searching for any useful information, Naruto went through his former teammates mind. He determined that Kabuto was originally a spy for someone else and found out about a group called Akatsuki but not very much about the group itself or what its goals were. He learned about Kabuto working for Orochimaru and all of the testing and experiments that they performed.
Those memories were of interest to Naruto and he knew they would also be of interest to his Master. He looked through everything concerning Orochimaru and then got to the most recent memories. Strategies and plans for attacking Konoha surfaced as well as an agreement with Suna and the presence of another jinchuuriki.
Taking his hand off Kabuto's head, Naruto absorbed all of the information he had taken and then looked for ways to use it to his advantage. It seemed Kabuto had a great deal more knowledge and experience in science and medicine than Naruto originally thought. The existence of a group called Akatsuki was disturbing but Kabuto knew little about the group itself or their motives so he wasn't very concerned about it and filed it away for later.
He would have to tell Plagueis about it later but now he needed to do something about the body. Kabuto was still alive and he didn't want to leave any loose ends so it would be best to kill the spy in front of him. He didn't necessarily want to kill Kabuto though. His teammate of several years was the closest person he had to a friend and he really didn't care about the teen being a spy or working for Orochimaru. The village didn't mean anything to him either and its possible destruction didn't really concern him. By that time, he would already have all of the information from the village that he could get and be leaving it.
It obviously wouldn't be hard to kill Kabuto but something was leading him away from that choice.
He had never received any kind of vision or even very solid guidance from the Force. His connection with the Force wasn't very strong because of his lower midi-chlorian count as well as the interaction with his chakra, so he couldn't 'hear' the Force as well as others could. However, he did receive occasional guidance on when he should or should not do something but right now he wasn't sure what the Force was telling him.
Instead of killing Kabuto, he pulled out his fuinjutsu supplies and went to work. Years ago he may not have been able to do something about a person's memory, besides completely erasing it, but with the information in the scroll of seals, he now had more options available to him.
x-x
Several hours later, Kabuto awoke to find himself alone in the forest. Getting up, he felt incredible pain and wondered what had happened to him. His memory was not helpful and anything that happened since the beginning of the second exam was just blank to him. Checking over his body with a diagnostic jutsu, he found that he did have more than one head injury and thought perhaps it could explain his memory loss.
The other injuries were consistent with a fight but who or what he had been fighting with was no longer around. Checking his ninja pouch, he found that he didn't have any scrolls. Had he been knocked out by a competitor? It seemed very unlikely and yet he had been unconscious in the forest for an unknown amount of time. He didn't even know how much time had passed since the beginning of the second exam.
Once he was finished healing his body, he went off in search of a genin team to get a scroll from and to complete his surveillance on Uchiha Sasuke. He needed to finish the report that Orochimaru had asked of him.
x-x
Naruto returned to the tower and thought about what he had learned. He wasn't sure if the seals would remain undiscovered on Kabuto or not. They were meant to lock away recent memories and he had made sure to injure Kabuto in the right area of the head to make it seem like it could have been some short term memory loss. It wasn't the best plan and if the seals were discovered then they could likely be removed. He had also placed a few tracking seals to monitor where Kabuto was during the next month or so.
His shadow clone reported that Karin had spent much of the time in her room. The only people to talk to were chunin and the genin that had finished the exam the fastest and she really didn't like the Suna ninja. He had to make sure that she didn't talk. He wasn't so sure how the girl would take to being forced to stay in the space behind the Hokage monument faces but it was either that or kill her and she was too valuable to kill at this point.
It would be quite an interesting conversation that he would be having with his Master when he got back to the hideout.
x-x
The following day
x-x
"Where are you taking me?! I have rights!" yelled Karin as she was taken down a long dark hallway. Naruto had already escorted her back from the Forest of Death and rather than letting her go, he had taken her to his hideout.
"STOP KIDNAPPING ME!" she yelled and tried to get off his shoulder. He was carrying her to an unknown location and they had already walked straight through a wall which turned out to be a fake. The whole situation was freaking her out but there was little she could do. She tried punching his back or trying to wiggle out of his grasp but nothing seemed to work.
Her hands were tied and the only information that she had managed to get out of the boy that had kidnapped her was that she was useful to him. 'What the hell does that even mean.' she wondered and wished someone from her village would save her from the crazed and powerful Konoha ninja.
Naruto reached the end of the long hallway and prepared for the ascent up the shaft. He set Karin down and then put his arm around her midsection.
"Just what do you think..." she started to say but was cut off when the wind picked up and then Naruto jumped.
She had the feeling of flying before they slowed and exited out of a square hole in the ground and landed on a flat rock floor. Before she was able to properly look around at the large cave they were in, she was pulled towards a separate area.
Passing through an arch with many strange symbols on it, they entered a room filled with scrolls and other items. Looking around, it seemed like everything had been carved from the solid rock walls and she was quiet as she took everything in.
Naruto pulled a desk into the center of the odd room and then pulled the chair over as well. Taking Karin to the desk, he forced her to sit down and then removed the bindings on her hands. He left her in the chair while going to get several books and scrolls off of the shelves and out of the alcoves in the room. Finding the specific texts and scrolls that he needed, Naruto walked back and set them on the desk.
"This is unlawful restraint." she stated with her arms crossed and glaring at him.
Naruto started back at her and replied, "Ohh...you know the technical term for it. Too bad that information won't help you any." and he went to get some more scrolls and books.
She cursed him out in her head and looked over the items he had just brought to the table. She noted that they were all medical texts and scrolls. It seemed very odd to kidnap her and bring her to a secret location, only to provide her with study materials. 'Unless he plans to do something to me.' she thought and shivered.
She contemplated running away.
"Don't even think about trying to run away. The exits are full of traps and you won't get far before you are killed." Naruto stated from the wall she jumped in her seat, 'How did he...' but her thoughts were cut off.
"I feel what others are feeling and can even read thoughts." he said and came back with another stack.
Karin glared even harder and he replied, "Just because you wish bad things upon me won't make them happen."
Frowning, Karin decided to ask a few questions. "You can't really expect to keep me here forever. Someone from my village will want to know where I am." and she smiled at the logic while adjusting her glasses.
"Not if they think you're dead." responded Naruto and Karin gawked at him but then fired back, "Why would they think that?!" but she already had a good idea of the answer and his lack of response just confirmed her suspicions, 'He told my teammate I was killed. I wonder if he knows that I have no one waiting for me back in my village or that would miss me?' she wondered.
"But what about your village's ninja? They know I'm alive." she remembered.
"Yes, and they think you traveled back to Grass Country with your teammate." stated Naruto as he found the last remaining scrolls and Karin wanted to slam her head on the desk.
"What's all this?" Karin asked while gesturing to the books in front of her.
"This is all the information that you will be learning from in the next month." stated Naruto in a calm and serious voice.
'The next month?! He expects me to learn all this? How long is he going to keep me here?' she though and she asked hesitantly, "What happens in a month?"
"We'll be leaving and going somewhere else." Naruto answered.
She was slightly confused by him including her in the answer and wondered just what he wanted with her or if he would even tell her. Looking at the stacks of books and scrolls with irritation she asked, "What if I don't want to learn?"
"You can either learn the information from the books and scrolls or...I could force the knowledge into your head." answered Naruto.
"T-that doesn't sound too bad." she countered but was slightly afraid of what exactly it entailed.
"The process is exceedingly painful and there is the chance that if I don't do it right, you could suffer brain damage." he informed her and she promptly grabbed one of the books, opened it, and began reading.
x-x
Pushing a button on the communication device, Naruto waited for a response from his Master. He didn't know how long it would take to get a response so he started working on a few things in the mean time. He had left a shadow clone to monitor the girl, Karin, and help if she needed it.
Pulling out a map of Konoha, he started marking off the invasion plans and where things would occur. Orochimaru planned to use one of his summons but have the Suna ninja summon it right outside a certain portion of the walls of the village. At the same time, several teams of Sound ninja would come out of hiding at the stadium and try to capture or kill all of the people in the stands.
The best chance he had of completing his plans was to request guard duty on the wall of the village, specifically in the place where the summons would attack. By that time he would likely have passed his special jonin exam and have the ability to choose where he was stationed. It might be difficult to pull off but he felt he could do it.
While everyone was busy with the finals of the chunin exams, he would have his shadow clones working as fast as possible to finish getting everything he could from Konoha. After that he would leave the village to finish setting up the seals on the ship and then head for Snow Country. At least that was what the current plan was. It was likely that within a months time it would change slightly and depending on any other problems encountered as well as what his Master wanted.
The sound of a beeping brought him out of his planning and he moved to the communications device. Turning on the monitor, the body Plagueis was still possessing filled the screen. Speaking in Galactic Basic, he began the report, "I have completed the mission, my Master."
"Good. What have you learned?" asked Plagueis in the slightly altered voice of Gatou.
"I was able to sift through Kabuto's thoughts and discovered what will be happening. Both Hidden Sound and Hidden Sand will be attacking Konoha during the finals of the chunin exam. Orochimaru is the leader of Hidden Sound and has quite a few low level ninja following him. They will attack the village with a large snake summons and I plan to acquire a guard position on the section of wall where the initial attack will take place. The body has been acquired and it died of injuries associated with blunt trauma and falling from a significant height." stated Naruto and he could see his Master listening and going through all of the information.
"I sense something else. What exactly did you do that might disrupt our plans?" questioned Plagueis and Naruto hesitated for only a moment to get his thoughts in order.
"...I...encountered someone during the exam. I stopped her from being killed by a large bear in the Forest of Death. There were complications however as she was able to sense me using the Force." explained Naruto and he could feel the surprise coming from his Master, even if the possessed body didn't show it.
"Sense, how?" inquired Plagueis.
"She could feel the Force flowing through me but not feel the Force itself in her surroundings. It may have something to do with how it interacts with my chakra that caused her to sense it but I am not sure. I contemplated eliminating her but she proved to have useful abilities as well." said Naruto.
"Explain?" demanded Plagueis but Naruto couldn't feel any anger coming from his Master, merely curiosity.
"Her ability to sense chakra far exceeds the range of my own sensing ability and she is also able to suppress her chakra completely. Her control is much better than my own and I have her working on medical ninjutsu so she can make the necessary changes to the body. It is likely that within a month she will be skilled enough to perform the jutsu and eliminate any problems that could have occurred because of my lack of chakra control." he admitted with some reluctance.
Plagueis thought over the situation and considered everything that he had been told. The girl's ability to sense the Force inside of his student was interesting and it could prove a theory that he had been considering, which was that the Force entering his students body was altered slightly by the energy field of chakra that it passed through. He didn't believe that the alteration was significant and was still unsure about the hypothesis. The other abilities the girl possessed could prove very useful and as long as there were no problems, then she could be a valuable asset to their efforts.
"You made a rash decision that was more influenced by your emotions than your logic. You should not have helped her unless the Force guided you to intervene. However I can see the benefit of your actions. Make sure there are no problems and that she doesn't speak to anyone or find out too much until we can guarantee her assistance. What else?" asked Plagueis.
"I encountered Orochimaru in the forest but I did not engage. I found out more about the cursed seal from Kabuto and acquired two samples of a person with an earlier version of it. Kabuto also proved to be more than I originally thought and has been heavily involved in Orochimaru's experiments and research. He is a much more skilled medic-nin and scientist than Amachi and has worked on a variety of projects that you might find interesting. I will have to share the information with you when I come to where you are.
The snake sennin seems to have come up with a technique that has some similarities with the transfer essence technique that you have told me about. I also discovered that the cursed seal has an original carrier that it is based on. It is some type of bloodline and the exact means by which the curse seal works has been taken from this person. He is kept in a secure prison facility near Orochimaru's base in Sound Country, which used to be Rice Country." finished Naruto and Plagueis was silent for a long time before speaking.
"What of Kabuto?" inquired Plagueis and he noted that he student hesitated with the answer.
"I wasn't sure what to do. The Force wasn't providing me any guidance and you never gave me any instructions to kill Kabuto, so I let him live. I did use the memory seal on him and placed several tracking seals on his person." replied Naruto.
"I will have to meditate on all of this new information. The plans that you are finalizing could change before the month is finished. I will be in contact with you once I have thought all this over." finished Plagueis and Naruto bowed slightly as his master nodded and the transmission ended. Naruto turned off the monitor and went back to work.
There was still much to be done before he would be able to travel to Snow Country. Looking up and sensing the life-signs of the only other person that had ever been in his hideout, he wasn't sure how this was going to work out.
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