Chapter Fifteen: Glassed Sand, Molten Stone
The walls of Sunagakure, two weeks later.
The rebellion of Sunagakure had been successful and the Jinchuriki Kage had been deposed and one of his siblings killed but the thing was that he was not dead and there were shinobi still loyal to him even though they were very, very few. The war the Land of Birds had begun with Iwagakure had required that the forces of Suna engage in this fight or risk giving Iwa or any other ninja village a perfect position to launch an assault on the village. This was of course exploited by Gaara who with a contingent of loyal shinobi was assaulting the walls of his home village on the hopes of taking it and consolidating his rule before anyone had any chance of bringing overwhelming force against him. As with desperate plans, things weren't going quite as he had planned and his followers were being cut down left and right as Fire and Lightning jutsu rained down on his sand walls, leaving him incapable of retaliating least all the shinobi that had trusted him to retake back their homes, be slaughtered by the larger force of ninja on the walls.
It was then as the situation seemed hopeless that the world around him exploded into a massive firestorm that strangely enough originated right in front of him but there had been nothing in front of him until a few milliseconds ago. The walls of Suna shook as the firestorm impacted it with the force of thousands of exploding tags and despite all the protecting seals, the wall cracked and in some places it fell apart. The origin of such a cataclysmic jutsu, was standing right next to Gaara, his stance relaxed and his right hand still in the Tiger seal. His presence boosted the morale by just being there for one could defeat a Jinchuriki but not two of them, after all the rumors of him losing his Tailed Beast must have been rumors for who except a Jinchuriki could unleash such a technique without thoroughly draining themselves?
Naruto was standing facing the walls of the village hidden in the sand, with his eyes closed, his characteristic grin and his free arm was standing around Gaara's shoulder as the smoke cleared and the shinobi on the walls evaluated the new opponent. Fear spread through their ranks faster than wildfire in the forest of his homeland as they recognized his features and all their expectations turned to their leader a powerful shinobi but one suffering from the delusions of those who have only know peace and thus thinking themselves above the 'demon'. Regaining his composure but the fear never really disappearing, the self-proclaimed Sixth Kazekage.
"Leave demon, you are no longer welcome here" Itakagi Harumune bellowed trying to hide his fear but nothing escaped Naruto's sensory abilities, who with a smirk walked forward toward the cracked walls.
"Foolish, of you Kazekage" Naruto spat out, opening his eyes, as he strode forward confidently "to antagonize demons but you know what's worse?"
"I don't care, leave demon or you to will face the justice of Sunagakure" the man exclaimed.
"You antagonized me and I'm worse than any demon… I'm a shinobi" Naruto chuckled "and your life were forfeit the moment you attacked my friends, my family"
And then he disappeared and the wall before him exploded inwards showering everyone within the village confines with rumble and those closer to the destroyed wall, with shrapnel. Not many of those on the walls died but none escaped without at least some minor hurt as their chakra infused bodies resisted the immense forces that would have torn lesser men in pieces. However quite a few weren't as lucky as the four man guard of the Kazekage was cut down before they touched the ground, as Naruto appeared inside the walls of the city totally unaffected by the shrapnel flying around or the various ninja tools thrown against him instinctually by the ninja near him. The Kazekage was the one to act the fastest by throwing a "Wind Blade" jutsu toward him which was deflected in an off-handed manner killing an unlucky shinobi nearby.
"What do you want?" the Kazekage, Itakagi asked, trembling in the face of the apparent power of the demon facing him.
"Well, first of all your life" Naruto answered in a mock-thinking pose "then I'll take Gaara and everyone who supports to my village and if those are demands are met then perhaps I will consider leaving this village standing"
"W-we will never let the demon go, he must pay for his crimes" Itakagi countered, hoping to buy time so that more people could gather and help him kill the demon.
"Of course that is a problem of you village I'll just take Gaara and his sister as they have Uzumaki blood running in their veins, the demons is all yours" Naruto explained in a tone similar to that used when talking to a particularly dim child "the rest of those shinobi are a payment for the fact that you have spilt the blood of my clan"
"And you think that we will just give everything you want just like that?"the Kazekage asked in a tone displaying disbelief.
"You think that you have a choice?" Naruto asked frowning "Gaara"
In a flash of crimson light Gaara was standing next to Naruto as his left eye shifted into a red eye, filled with concentric rings and equipped with twelve tomoe. His next action came as a surprise as Naruto's chakra flared in all its glory, being felt across the continent as a source of warmth and protection, the embrace of a loved one, many of those who felt across the continent would tell years later but not for those in Sunagakure for they, with the exception of a select few, felt not the invigoration warmth but a scalding hat that brought many to their knees as the next four words were spoken "Preta Path: Chains of Infinity". From Naruto's chest twelve chains exploded burying themselves into Gaara's gut from which even more chakra than that of Naruto came forward, though this one was heavier and far more contained, and formed itself in the form of a titanic tanuki, as large as a mountain. Before anyone could react the entire process was over as the now green chakra chains retreated from a clearly drained Gaara as the tanuki's features solidified and a laughter echoed through the desert.
"Shukaku, no scaring the little people" Naruto chastise, his voice inhuman as though the strength of his chakra and soul had been suddenly added to his vocal cords.
"But it's so much fun" Shukaku whined "besides it's the least I can do to thank them for their gratitude"
"Still no killing, remember our deal" Naruto frowned "you seriously don't want me to discipline you"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it youngling" Shukaku replied "only for you…"
Then the tanuki dispersed in a sandstorm and went flying away toward the depths of the desert far away from any civilization. The people who had just witnessed this were speechless for none had ever managed to bargain with the tanuki, ever, they either had barely escaped or they had been crushed by the Tailed beast and in a few rare cases it had been subdued by extremely powerful shinobi. Of course that also meant that Naruto could not be allowed to leave now as his power was a game changer and could easily tip the scales of power in the favor of Suna, so the Kazekage prepared to knock him out only to be fixed by a soul piercing gaze from Naruto both his eyes shining into a very disturbing way.
"Now I believe that you wanted the demon" Naruto exclaimed before he could even move "he is all yours though mind you his promise meant that he couldn't kill anyone in the village and main roads, nothing to stop him crushing you all in the desert"
"Well we'll just have to settle for you then" the Kazekage spoke with a crocked smile, envy and greed evident in his eyes.
"Oh but you see I won't go down without a fight" Naruto smiled as if he hadn't noticed the surrounding shinobi preparing to pounce "and you can't kill me but I on the other hand have no such restriction"
Everything around Naruto and Gaara exploded in a titanic explosion of fire and ferocious shockwaves as a third of Suna became a massive crater before he was even finished speaking, his "Annihilation Rift" spell tearing through hundreds of shinobi with great ease. Now spellwork or crafting was a useful but ultimately worthless in the battlefield as the skill necessary to harness ones mana and then discover and master hundreds or even thousands of such "spells" took decades to the point that when one fully mastered such part of the innate skills of man, they were old men and women albeit ones with insane levels of power capable of fighting even Demon Princes on an equal footing and have a fifty-fifty chance of winning. Naruto being Naruto had mastered the battle application of mana manipulation (not to be confused with actual magic) within a few months albeit with a lot of help from his clones, gaining for himself the [Warrior Spirit] title giving a boost of 80% to the damage of all mana manipulation spells and reduced their costs by 30%, which for his reserves meant he could equal a Demon Arch-Duke and even surpass one in sheer destruction power.
Of course as with all high level shinobi the new Kazekage had survived the explosion even though he was bruised and had third degree burns all over his body, surrounded by a few dozen high level shinobi loyal enough to stand by him even after witnessing the overwhelming power that Naruto unleashed on a whim. A dozen kunai flickered into existence around him and then with a flick of his wrist they speed forward while multiplying to match the exact number of the Kazekage's bodyguards, predictably they were either shredded or simply deflected only for them to return twice faster and with double the numbers. Less than a minute later the bodyguards of the Kazekage were dead, in death resembling a porcupine from the sheer amount of [Cursed Knife] enhanced Kunai embedded in their bodies.
"I warned you" Naruto said simply "this could have been over quickly and only you would have died and the village would be in perfect condition but you foolishness brought about your end and left your village into a burning wreck"
"You will not…" the Kazekage shouted before being silenced by a knee to the gut.
"I will not?" Naruto asked incredulously as the Kazekage heaved into the ground "are you blind or something? I already made you village kneel, you think just because you won't surrender I will somehow repent and resurrect everyone who died"
"Flash news, it doesn't work like that" said Naruto punching the Kazekage in the face, after sidestepping a white hot wave of fire coming from his mouth "and that was really rude… don't interrupt me again or the rest of you village goes up in smoke"
"Now where were we?" Naruto mock asked "oh yes I was telling you all about how you were going to pay for harming my clan members but you didn't want to listen… oh well"
The Kazekage never stood a chance as a sword made entirely out mana pierced his left lung and then the other one before the shock of the first blade tearing through him was even registered. As a shinobi he would survive for a little while longer than a civilian before his wounds took their toll but also the pain would be greater as the same chakra that kept him alive also enhanced the pain he felt. Naruto not wanting to take any chances used "Rinnengan: Daruma" causing his wounds to deteriorate at an incredibly fast pace an within seconds he died having felt the pain of being alive for years with his wounds uncured and festering, his body then breaking down at an accelerated pace, leaving him at an already advanced stage of decomposition. Moments later Naruto, Gaara, Temari and the survivors of the faction that supported them disappeared in a flash of bright light, right in front of the fearful eyes of the survivors of the Suna shinobi forces, giving birth to the Legend of the Kage Killer.
Somewhere, moments later.
Naruto was stretching on a rather comfy couch as Gaara and Temari were looking around with a bewildered look as they surveyed his office and out of the window. It wasn't long before a series of tables popped before his eyes and he began sorting through them mentally.
[Mission: Operation Glassed Sand was successful]
[You defeated the Seventh Kazekage]
[You have gained 28.000 exp]
[You have unlocked bonus boss] [All Kazekage of Suna]
[You have gained the title Kage Killer]
[You no longer chase shadows but destroy that who cast them, gives 25% stat boost when fighting Kage, +40% dmg to all light skills, -20% to all light or darkness skills costs, +35% exp to mastering all skills beyond lvl. 30]
[You freed Shukaku]
[You gained 1500 exp & Magnet Release {100/300]
[You destroyed 1/3 of Suna and killed half of its garrisoned forces]
[You have gained 30.000 exp]
[You have completed trait]
[Protector 3/3]
[You have received the Crown of Bishamon]
[The Crown of Bishamon] [Epic-class item]
[This crown was forged long before the Empire arose by a sympathetic god, to give the human who had it a chance to fight the threats that the fractured walls of reality unleashed upon the defenseless humans, grants +500 Strength. , +500 Speed, +300 Vitality and the skill {Grand Judgment Hourglass} ]
[Grand Judgment Hourglass] [Lvl. 1]
[The wicked shall fall when faced with the might of Bishmon's Champion for you have called upon the piece of the gods power embedded within the great crown of Justice. Requires 300 Willpower, costs 0 Mana, Chakra etc., does 1.000.000 -3.000.000 dmg, prevents reg. of the target/s up to 3 days based on the target/s power levels]
[Can only be cast once every hour]
[You have gained the perk: The Shield of Man]
[The Shield of Man]
[When the Dark seems to be winning from the masses a man will always rise to fight it and thus become the Shield of Man and even the Higher Powers grant him or their favor. + 100 Wisdom, +200 Energy, all defensive skills gain a 4x power multiplier and offensive skills gain a 1.8 dmg multiplier]
[You saved 32 shinobi loyal to Gaara]
[You have gained 32x 100= 3200 exp]
[Congratulations you have leveled up]
[You now are level 236, please distribute the newly gained 10 stat points, 30 attribute points and 1 Merit point]
With a raised eyebrow Naruto closed all the tabs and turned toward the severely distressed Gaara and Temari and gestured for them to sit down, which they complied with in a stupefied daze. Straightening up for the upcoming conversation, Naruto's outfit shimmered into the cloth expected of a Kage, a white cape with the kanji for the Shodaime Sorakage (First Sky Shadow), his Hat emblazoned with the symbol of the Sky as was the Hitae proudly resting in his right arm thought this was different in that it didn't use the kanji for sky but the universal sign for the word 'sky' distancing themselves from the bloodthirsty and warmongering namesake. Underneath the Robes however he wore scaled, grey, chest armor, light blue pants decorated with clouds that moved and standing before them barefooted which for a shinobi meant that he trusted them enough to stand before them relaxed, well that or that they weren't enough of a threat to him for him to be worried about them.
"Naruto is it me or are we currently flying?" Temari blurted out.
"Indeed you are" Naruto nodded before heading towards his desk "would you prefer tea or sake"
"Sake" both of the Sand siblings said at the same time.
"I thought so" Naruto nodded sagely before reaching for one of the drawers "so I convinced Takagi to give me a drink from the times before humans almost blew up the entire universe, something called 'raki'
"What?" they both asked again in unison.
"Oh, it's not that old but it's still insanely intoxicating, it's pretty much alcohol thinned in water" Naruto assured them "you don't think Takagi is that old?"
"No, we were asking about humans almost blowing the world up" Temari spoke.
"Ah, that, well it was almost ten thousand years, we cracked the universe in half like an eggshell which is ironic seeing that the universe is shaped like a Icosahedron with a Taurus inside it" Naruto explained as he poured the drink "we tried to create the hypothetical ' super- complex God-Matter' and we cracked our world open to all sort of weird stuff"
"How do you even know all this shit?" Gaara asked in a rare show of emotion.
"You'd be surprised at the, as you have eloquently put it,- shit that I'm in the loop about" Naruto said calmly as he served the drinks "not that you would believe most of them anyway"
"So circling back to why we are flying" Temari insisted.
"Ah, yes we wandered too far in the roads of knowledge best left undiscovered" Naruto nodded sagely, throwing his Kage hat to the ground "welcome to the Village Hidden in the Sky, Naruto version ,of course"
"You created your own village?" Gaara asked with a sadistic grin "oh the paperwork you must face"
"Paperwork, seriously?" Naruto asked bewildered "I sign a few dozen documents a day at most the rest is taken care by my very efficient bureaucracy"
"How…?" Gaara asked twitching.
"It wasn't very easy but the answer came to through the massive work force I used to rebuilt this place once I almost vaporized it" Naruto explained like he was sharing the greatest secret in the universe "anyway this guys were basically a humanoid body filled with a self-replenishing Yang chakra energy, not worth more than a gennin or two in a fight at least not the first ones anyway"
"So I did the reverse and filled them with Yin chakra energy which being my own even if self-replenishing inside a different body, created a telepathic bond between such creatures and myself and thanks to a technique called Occlumency, I allow then just enough access to know what I would do but restrict the access to prevent myself being bombarded by large amounts of information at once and only allow a compressed package through twice a day"
"So you created an entire immortal and telepathic race to do your paperwork?" Temari deadpanned.
"More like eternal shadow clones but in a way you can say that too" Naruto shrugged "I've tried to replicate such a success in a shadow clone even if they were not to be permanent but the technique relies too much on the balance of Yin-Yang for it to work for such an unbalanced method"
"Still it is unfair" Gaara pouted, his eyes starting to glaze over and a certain redness overtaking his features as the alcohol started,- for the first time in his life, to take over.
"Remember to circulate your chakra to disperse most of the alcohol" Naruto reprimanded "I warned you that this is mostly alcohol"
"Well this is damn good" Gaara said his gaze clearing a bit, hovering to the point where the alcohol gave a pleasant warmth.
"I know right" Naruto said smiling brightly "now back to Temari, I assume that you want to know why, how and when right?"
"Basically" Temari nodded.
"Well the why is easy, I wanted to be Hokage but the Leaf is too far gone now to save, so I built this to be the place where the ideals of the previous Hokage's might come true" Naruto explained a touch of sadness creeping into his voice "the how I already gave a away, tens of thousands of my Yang workers and as for when, well it started two weeks, give or take three days,- ago and is still an ongoing work but it has been flying for the last week"
"That's… that's incredible" Temari gasped looking out of the window to the small city below "I didn't even think something like this could be done so quickly"
"It couldn't but then I got into the race creation business and poof it became so" Naruto joked.
"You scare me sometimes" Temari said.
"Yeah but you love the rest of the time" Naruto laughed at Temari's and Gaara's expressions "which reminds me about the actual reason I came to get you"
"What you didn't come to blow up most of Suna and kill all that opposed your Demon taming majesty?" Temari asked sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Mind your tongue" Naruto chastised softly but it still seemed as if the temperature had dropped below zero "I tolerate you because you're my kin but there is a limit"
"Yeah, you said we were Uzumaki but our mother had none of the characteristics" Gaara said.
"Who said it was your mother?' Naruto asked with a slight edge of amusement "it was your father and his mother before him that came from Uzu when it was destroyed, luckily of course she had used a different name and people though her a nomad of the desert, I doubt even you father is aware of such a thing"
"And how are you?" Gaara asked.
"I am the holder of the combined knowledge of the Uzumaki clan and am aware of all things know or though on the island by those whose blood I share" Naruto explained "and your grandmother was an infiltration specialist who specialized in the Suna region and thus her back up plan was easy, infiltrate Suna, for a lengthy period before trying to reunite with her clan"
"So she infiltrated Suna and her son became the Kage, that was a damn good infiltration, I must say" Gaara whistled.
"There were other factors that prevented her from leaving or harming the place but yes that is the gist of it" Naruto grinned "which means that if you accept to become clan members under the banner of the Village Hidden in the Sky, you get to know why three of the Big Five were in such a hurry to destroy us"
"Really what is it?" Temari asked excited.
"I take it that means you accept?" Naruto asked and at the two nods of heads he continued "a three dimensional seal containing all memories and knowledge of the clan from the time it was conceived"
"That's kind of a letdown" Gaara commented after a few seconds
"Not if you have a limitless memory too which with the way it is achieved also grants a minor telepathy and empathy between members of the clan" Naruto explained "not to mention you also gain muscle memory and you need a few months at most to get your body used to it and then all you need to do is figure out new skills or further master those you posses…"
".. Until everyone is an S-rank or even more" Gaara continued looking amazed at the implications "not even the Big Five together wouldn't have been capable of stopping if that were to happen"
"So our mother clan was very, very scary if they wanted to" Temari whistled in appreciation as the implication of a clan made up of five hundred or so S-ranks, almost twice the numbers in existence in the whole world.
"Or very foolish for doing such a poor job at covering it up but that is a thing of the past and soon enough you shall be inducted in such a power by your very own Clan Head and Kage" Naruto exclaimed.
"Why not do that now?" Gaara asked.
"Well not all the remnants of our clan is here now" Naruto shrugged "with you two there are now twenty two of them but we still miss a few of them with one of them being in the hands of Orochimaru so it'll take a few days to gather them all"
"Orochimaru is dead" Gaara dropped the bomb with his usual lack of tact.
"How? When?" Naruto asked befuddled as in pretty much all of the timelines he had seen Orochimaru was the closest thing to a full Immortal that there was.
"A few weeks ago a shinobi from the Akatsuki dropped his dead body in a bounty station and it passed all checks, even the chakra decay one" Temari took over for her tactless brother.
"A man with an orange mask or one with weird piercings?' Naruto asked thinking of the only two members within Akatuski who could possibly achieve such a thing.
"The former, why?" asked Temari.
"I needed to know" Naruto replied, pacing around the room muttering "Obito could have done, he had the strength but why... unless... of course, he threw a wrench in their plans… but still the logical thing would have been to go after me not after such a tricky opponent… what is he… perhaps, tough for him though… he'll get nasty surprise out of it"
"Naruto?" Temari asked concerned.
"Oh, sorry it's a bad habit I've tried to get rid of but I haven't gotten around to yet" Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly "do go ahead, you'll find Takagi milling around but do avoid the circular platforms, it tends to get rather nasty tending to 'complication'
"What complications?" asked Gaara.
"The kind that happens when to people get to share the same space, literally" Naruto explained.
"Like Space-Time jutsu mishaps?" Temari asked "so they are like landing pods or your clones and Takagi?"
"Sort of" Naruto answered rubbing his temples "remember ID's, well my clones share that ability too so they are training the few hundred shinobi currently under my employ and the future generation"
"Didn't you need permission from Takagi to use it?" Temari asked.
"The better question would be why he feels he needs so many highly trained shinobi in his employ?" Gaara asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"You caught that didn't you?' Naruto laughed "well I need them in case somebody decides to strike against us after I raze Iwa to the ground"
"Raze Iwa?" Gaara and Temari asked the same time.
"Well I get the disbelief part but seriously I think with all the skill and power I showed today you'd understand I'm at the same level as my father if not beyond that" Naruto chastised his friends.
"You father?" Temari asked confused.
"Oh, forgot you didn't know" Naruto smiled "he was the Bane of Iwa, the guy to whom the laws of Time-Space were but guidelines, the man who made veterans break down at the sight of all things yellow, the one and only Minato Namikaze"
"But… that… how?" Gaara and Temari babbled "forget that I don't want to know but I meant why you want to raze Iwa?"
"Well, they stole the Nine-Tails from my belly and left me for dead" Naruto shrugged "that was very rude"
"Oh" Temari gasped slowly "I thought that was a misdirection'
"As will everyone" Naruto nodded.
"That means you sparked the war didn't you?" Gaara jumped in.
"Of course" Naruto confirmed "I'm awesome but even with my reinforcement taking down one of the Big Five at full strength, when they have home field advantage, well that's a no do, even for me"
"That's so… Kage like" Temari said, clearly referring to the underhandedness of her father and even Gaara looked shocked and somewhat repulsed.
"I know" he spoke "take your time, if you want nothing to do with me then I'll understand"
"Perhaps… it's for the better if we left now before we say things we don't mean" Gaara spoke softly and taking his sisters hand he left the room.
Naruto stared at the visage of Iwa from the peak of one of the mountains surrounding it, its walls and defensive structures perfectly hidden from the eyes of civilians and most shinobi but not to him. The steady thrum of the arcane force fields erected through massive seal arrays, vastly inferior to actual Uzumaki designs but one of the most powerful in existence, created by stolen knowledge during the Uzu massacre. Around him stood twelve figures, clad in black cloaks with red swirls on them, one such cloak covering his figure while his hitae was displayed proudly on his forehead. If one was to look carefully he would find that the twelve men had the irises that could only be produced by Naruto's "Outer Path: Impure World Resurrection" and through their visages might look familiar to other S-rankers they were but alternate versions of these shinobi. Such versions were easily found after one defeated the original version in a boss battle, which lead to two different version to appear and when you defeat one of them two more would branch from them and so thus allowing Naruto to gather a small group of powerful foes to aid his Shadow Clones assault the shinobi within the village and his Shadow clones would protect them from various forms of sealing.
With a single gesture tens of thousands of small white insectoid blobs began carving minuscule symbols unnoticed by even the most vigilant of the shinobi on guard but then they weren't all that worried since their borders were locked very tightly as their armies pushed into the very heart of Wind country defeating battle after battle,- the demoralized Suna armies after their Seventh Kazekage died by the hand of Naruto the Kage killer. Then of course, were the massive protective domes unbroken since the Yellow Flash decided to visit the village and humiliate them and their Kage. After all nobody would be foolish to attack an almost victorious Iwa, not when Kumo would jump to their defenses and wipe out the village foolish and bold enough to attack them, except it was not a village but a single man and his own personal army that was bold enough to do so.
A moment later every single shinobi felt a jolt as a massive of very, very potent and angry chakra explode in the South-East of their defenses as half a million Chakra points activated one of the five forbidden Uzumaki seal arrays "Uzumaki Forbidden Art: The Fields of Armageddon" and their supposedly impregnable defensive dome dissipated against the massive power slammed against it. Their defensive structures were vaporized in hundreds of powerful explosions all the while the earth all around their village turned to massive waves of molten magma as Roshi of the Flaming Pits, Fourth Mizukage and the jinchuriki of that worlds particular Six-Tails, contributed with some of his own unique chakra. As he watched the first part of his plan coming perfectly together, Naruto shouted, his voice amplified by chakra and his eyes, one red and one azure shinning with a sinister inner light.
"Iwa, I'm back to take back what's mine… with interest " Naruto's shout reverberated in the bones of everyone in Iwa but was soon drowned by the battle cries of two thousands Naruto clones and the explosion caused by Naruto's twelve heavy hitters and the Battle for Iwa started in earnest