Previous Translations: Yorokobi - Pleasure/Delight/Joy
Yokubo - Desire/Lust
Kajo - Excess
Shifuku no Kurushimi - Blissful Throes/Blissful Suffering
Tatakainouta - Song of Battle
Zeitakuna Kutsu - Luxurious Torment
Hentai-ryu: Erokenho - Pervert Style: Erotic Fist Art
Konton - Chaos
Kanzen - Perfect
Henka - Change
Harakainokeru - Dispel
Aka-en - Red Flame
Aoi-en - Blue Flame
Kiiro-en - Yellow Flame
Orenji-en - Orange Flame
Tankoshoku-en - Pink Flame
Maho - Magic
Chishiki - Knowledge
Unmei - Fate
Nozomu - Hope
Hoho no Chenja - honestly this one is a mess, but roughly means Changer of Ways
Ryuketsu - Bloodshed
Chikara - Strength
Meiyo - Honor
Budo - Martial Arts
Ikari - Rage
Jumon - Incantation
Himitsu no Sewanin - Secret Caretaker(Keeper of Secrets)
Sento - Combat
Same no On'na - Shark-Woman
Maebure - Harbinger
Shibari no Ashikase - Binding Fetters
Kanpeki - Perfection
Reikan - the closest English word would be Inspiration, but it specifically refers to 'a divine creative impulse'
Sekkyo-sha - Preacher
Aijin - Lover
Kaen Hosha-ki - Flame Radiator (Flamer of Tzeentch)
Himeiwoageru - Which Screams (Screamer of Tzeentch)
Shikkan - Disease
Ai - Love
Zetsubo - Despair
Mi Haito - Undivided/Not Divided
Shibo - Aspiring
Koki - Exalted
Chakra no Bato - Coruscating Chakra/Chakra of Coruscation
Gyokai - Industry
In case someone somehow doesn't know, Hi - Fire
Don'yoku - Greed/Avarice
Yokuatsu - Tyranny/Oppression
Yami no Chichi - Father of Darkness/Dark Father
Raimeiton - Thunder Release, what Naruto has decided to name his mix of wind and lightning chakra
Shuryoju - Hunting Beasts (same word for plural or singular), an alternate name for Fiends of Slaanesh, best word I could find for them
Konton no Omo - Lord of Chaos
Kemonojin - a very jank way of translating Beastmen into Japanese, basically would mean Animal-Human
Gyumao - Ox Demon King
Eiyu - Hero
Gyumahime - Ox Demon Princess
Kajomahime - Excessive Demon Princess
The rest of the patrol was uneventful, no other patrols needed help. As long as they kept leaving no survivors Orochimaru shouldn't be aware of their new patrol measurements, but that was unfortunately not as much of a certainty as it should be given who they were dealing with.
Shizune decided having a tentacle coming out of her right shoulder was weird, it was the same tone as the pale arm it had been when she first got the appendage and there wasn't much to it. As far as she could tell, it was mostly muscle so she could train it. The massive scything mantis-like claw that tipped her grown back left arm was also a concern, the same dark purple chitin that coated Daemons of Slaanesh coated the claw of the limb and went slightly up her forearm.
Tsunade was surprised to see the new additions when the team returned to give the report, namely that Shizune had two extra limbs. The Hokage was trying to figure out a pattern to who got what and how, but it seemed that the various Konton no Kami at least partially acknowledged the vague desires of those they blessed. That didn't really hold to every possible boon however, some truly seemed random.
Also sometimes a ninso would return with no blessings, sometimes one, sometimes an entire team of ninso could run into worthy opponents. Sometimes, like now, someone would leave as a normal shinobi and return marked and ready to join the Konton Gundan. At this rate marked ninso would outnumber her regular forces, which sort of defeated the purpose of them being black ops, but Tsunade assumed a lot of the recent additions was just the boom of information about them.
Shizune herself seemed unsure of what to make of her new boons, and the jonin had decided not to mention the tentacle had been an arm when she first got it. She wasn't sure why but she felt guilty about it, as if she should have known better. This guilt was of course lessened by the fact that she couldn't have known, but the odd sense of guilt she assumed must be from knowing the tentacle was a disapproval of her actions from Slaanesh remained.
Naruto had been curious about her mark, but Shizune had decided not to strip while out on patrol and insisted she'd find it later. So when Tsunade dismissed her she went home to find it, noticing she did get a few odd looks on the way. The jonin couldn't blame them, even for ninja this was weird.
Naruto was surprised Sasuke had come to see him, "I finally finished that damned second step." the Uchiha grumbled, explaining why he was there.
Naruto handed his teammate an air balloon, "Contain it within that balloon without popping it." he instructed.
Sasuke blinked, "You didn't even blow this up." he pointed out dryly.
"I didn't think you were coming around." Naruto retorted with a shrug, honestly he got them for when Hinata finished step two.
Sasuke sighed, "What is the point of this step?" he asked.
"Control, it makes the jutsu stronger for less chakra." Naruto explained with a shrug, reciting what Maemi had explained a few times.
Sasuke only needed the first word of the answer but nodded anyway, "How's your Chidori training?" he asked curiously, having noticed Naruto's left arm was bandaged up despite recently seeming untouchable to most enemies. The Uchiha knew that this would stop being the case for any enemy of similar threat rank to Naruto, but the blonde was too fast for anyone weaker than himself.
The horned hermaphrodite glanced at his bandaged left arm, "Yeah, not so great." he confirmed with a chuckle, "My magnificent self pretty much got it down, but it still rips up my arm a little." he explained, only using 'ore-sama' once. Sasuke wondered if that was progress, or laziness.
The Uchiha didn't really have much advice though, "Work on your chakra control I guess, it still hurts my arm to use it too." he decided on with a shrug. Then he turned to leave, he had balloons to buy and an A rank ninjutsu to keep practicing. The fact it was giving him so much difficulty was an annoyance, the fact Naruto learned it faster than him was a blow to his pride.
Sakura had a slight ego boost from being talked up as a genius, but not getting the one handed signs for Kuchiyose the first try took some of the wind out of her sails. Apparently it only taking three days was impressive, it took Shizune over a week to get more simple ninjutsu down. Annoyingly for her Kakashi took this opportunity to try drilling her on more ninjutsu since she had apparently prodigal control, relearning Suidan and Mizu Bunshin before getting Kuchiyose down.
As soon as she could the pink haired girl summoned Genkei again, the Imp looking irritated to have been gone for so long. He and Sakura performed the bloody handshake, and Kakashi grinned, "Good work, Sakura-chan, now let's relearn that Karyudan." he said, if she could fight with her new left arm and perform one handed seals with her right hand the kunoichi would be a monster at close range combat.
Naruto was running through his ninjutsu while water walking, all sixty of him, so the original and fifty-nine bunshin unless the real one decided to sneak off. Kakashi could tell he was working on chakra control and left him at it, surprised the blonde was already working on it when he arrived. He wasn't that late.
Sasuke had similar just been working out and doing taijutsu warm ups while waiting, and the silver haired jonin wasn't sure what to teach him. There were some Katon no Jutsu he could teach, but Sasuke already knew a lot of ninjutsu so the Uchiha was already on the right track by practicing taijutsu.
Kakashi was fairly proud actually, his genin were all working on their weaknesses, only Sakura wanted to work more on what she'd been getting good at. The Haruno seemed irritated to be working on the Karyudan now that she had Genkei back, "Uh, Hokage-sama hinted she might teach me her taijutsu." the kunoichi revealed, hoping to get the opportunity to train in taijutsu.
Kakashi was surprised at that, "Wow, your chakra control must be absurd." he mused idly, "A shame you're so focused on being a brawler, but that style will definitely help you." he said, knowing little of how Tsunade's taijutsu worked but understanding that some degree of her monstrous strength was precise chakra control.
"So, uh, can I-?" Sakura began to ask, gesturing to leave.
"You may go to her on your own time, right now is Konton Gundan training and you are working on Katon: Karyudan no Jutsu." Kakashi answered dryly, gesturing for her to get back to ninjutsu training. The Haruno couldn't keep the scowl from her face as she went back to forming one handed seals, the sooner she was done the sooner she could go see Tsunade.
Once Naruto was done training, and finished processing the extra training his bunshin put in, he tried again to make chakra threads. To his delight, he managed to a degree. Now the horned blonde just had to practice with them, which made him aware that he didn't have a puppet. He did have lots of weapons, and Sakura used chakra threads with her axe so it was possible.
With that thought in mind the hermaphrodite ninso attached chakra threads to weapons, finding it was surprisingly difficult. The weight of most weapons was a bit much, even kunai were a bit difficult without multiple threads. This explained why puppeteers generally used puppets.
Naruto did find one weapon practically hummed to life under the chakra threads, with five threads being enough for one Kiba blade to fly easily through the air. He assumed it was because the weapons were built for turning chakra into Raiton chakra, plus being apparently designed to use said chakra for self propulsion.
So it wasn't quite as expected, but Naruto had figured out how to make the Raito fly under his power. The blonde decided he might try asking Neji about woodwork, Tenten about weapons, he'd need help to create the perfect puppet. The thought made Naruto grin.
Sasuke learned something odd about his wings while trying to figure out how to re-balance his taijutsu around them, they were capable of chakra nagashi independently of his own abilities. This was very strange, but it explained why limbs had their own keirakukei. Horns didn't have keirakukei, oddly enough they were just bone and maybe enamel.
The Uchiha decided he should probably inform his teammates, mostly curious about their own mutations to see if there was a pattern of sorts, "Hey, did you notice anything about flowing chakra into your arm?" he asked Sakura, knowing Naruto would immediately do it with his horns.
The blonde Uzumaki was an odd one actually, his legs were connected, probably because they were altered instead of new. The keirakukei were disconnected in Sakura's arm at the point she'd lost it, the elbow. The Haruno looked clueless until she noticed Naruto's purple chakra coating his horns and tried it herself, her left arm, red from the elbow down, glowed even redder, the brass scales turning white hot as she caused a heat haze around her left forearm and hand.
"Katon chakra, interesting." Sasuke mused, "My wings turn my chakra into Futon chakra when I flow chakra there, didn't even realize I could until I did it." he explained, rather amused since this made the wings not only supplementary useful for mobility but useful in a fight when combined with his Katon ninjutsu.
"What are my horns doing!?" Naruto asked Maemi excitedly.
The Imp looked a bit disappointed to let the blonde know, but she couldn't lie, "Uh, it's just your chakra, you could probably make them sharper with Futon or Raiton, or shoot electricity out of them maybe, or use Hoshi chakra on them?" she suggested, "At the moment you're just putting them under pressure, are you okay?"
"Oh that's why they were starting to hurt." Naruto mused, halting the chakra flow, "That's probably dangerous to practice." he realized, not wanting to break his horns. Regardless the blonde pulled on the Hoshi chakra and his horns glowed pink.
"Well, that worked at making them both harder and giving them some faux length but it's mostly just Hoshi chakra shaped over your horns to be honest." Maemi explained, disappointed that her master slumped at that, "Still useful, probably not as good of a weapon as your other uses of Hoshi chakra though." she tried to make him feel better.
Naruto resolved to find a way to weaponize his crown of horns with his chakra, so he needed to put more work into cutting a leaf with Futon chakra. Sakura and Sasuke watched their blonde teammate make more kage bunshin, "Does he have infinite chakra or something?" the Uchiha asked dryly.
Maemi knew it was rhetorical, "It might as well be infinite, it replenishes at an abnormal rate." she explained anyway, watching Sasuke realize that was as good as being infinite practically speaking was amusing to the Imp.
Tsunade was surprised at how soon Sakura came to see her, with Genkei this time too, "I'll start training you tomorrow if you're serious about this, you're not getting out of missions, I'll heal any damage myself if I need you for a mission and mental exhaustion will not be an excuse." she said sternly, if she was going to teach her taijutsu it was going to be done right.
Sakura just looked ecstatic at the challenge, "What time?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, four-hundred hours." Tsunade answered with a smirk, Sakura's stomach dropped as she realized she was going to be getting up before the sun for this.
The Haruno wisely decided to go inform her mother of this new schedule, have an early dinner, and attempted to sleep earlier. She held no illusions this would make the training easier, just more tolerable.
Shino and Funben waited for their team outside the mission office, apparently he was going on a new kind of patrol. He'd taken up a little bit of Fuinjutsu, but found he didn't have much aptitude for it. He could store things in scrolls at least, so he was carrying potentially hazardous materials which was all he'd looked into the shinobi art for in the first place.
He was in an odd position however, an older cousin was on the mission. A chunin who had also recently been marked by Nurgle, but not yet blessed. Shino found this position strange, because with his beetle-like horn and seniority within the Konton Gundan he was technically the ranking ninso and iryonin on the mission.
His cousin was the acting chunin commander however, with Kiba and Neji on the mission as well. In perspective, Shino was starting to notice Sasuke was oddly solo as the marked ninso of the Maho no Kami who rivaled Nurgle. The Aburame didn't really feel a rivalry with the Uchiha however, he found his attitude vaguely annoying at times but that was about it and he was too disciplined to show it so it shouldn't become an issue.
"Akamaru-san has gotten bigger." Shino commented, wondering at the growth of the pup ninken.
Kiba, being second to arrive, raised an eyebrow, "You're punctual." he mused, a polite way of asking why Shino was so early.
The Aburame shrugged, "I have been off C rank missions for a time, so you could say I am a little eager to be out in the field, because I would like to test what I have trained." he methodically explained.
Kiba sighed, "You gotta learn to leave some shit unsaid, dude." he muttered with a shake of his head, Shino had no idea what his teammate meant.
Naruto's speed training and boon had net him a rather boring solo C rank, delivering Tsunade's mail. The blonde decided to push his speed for the mission, making record time and terrifying local wildlife. The horned ninso left a trail of hoof prints and splintered wood, not overly concerned with stealth at the time.
Izumo and Kotetsu were on gate guard duty, and were surprised to see Naruto, "Already back? You use shunshin?" Izumo asked, knowing by know of the blonde's absurd stamina.
Naruto grinned but shook his head, "Just leaping really fast." he explained, "Anyway, I gotta report to Tsuna-baachan." he excused, walking past security.
The ninso continued on his way, but was distracted from his mission by a sign. It said 'Dojo challengers this way' and the horned blonde had a vague idea of what a dojo was, and a very good idea of what a challenger was. So he followed the signs, there being more than one apparently.
Eventually Naruto found they pointed to a wooden dojo built on one of Konoha's public training grounds, a poorly constructed one at that. But it did have the symbol of Slaanesh on it, and was labeled the Kajo Dojo. So obviously the blonde thought it was worth looking at, it was marked by Slaanesh so it was his business of course.
Inside was Rock Lee, "So, someone has finally arrived for my dojo challenge!" the genin said boisterously before he realized it was Naruto, "Come at me from anywhere you like!" he intoned.
The horned blonde wondered if Lee had lost it, but the idea of facing Lee in taijutsu was intriguing. Naruto grinned and charged, curious about testing his ability. Lee was surprised by the speed, and that the person entering his dojo had been Naruto himself, but grinned and swayed back to evade an opening right hook.
The green clad genin followed up by trying to sweep his opponents legs with his right, but Naruto hopped it and lashed out with both hooves. Lee bunted one with his right leg and caught the other with his right elbow, which deadened his arm so he flipped away on his left arm as the horned blonde flipped off the double kick as if Lee was a platform.
Naruto was on the move as soon as he landed, leaping and kicking swiftly and powerfully. The bowl cut genin felt outmatched for a moment until the blonde halted, "Take your weights off, I haven't worn mine in a while." he said.
Lee's eyes widened, "I shouldn't take them off for training." he answered plainly, he was only supposed to remove them when fighting to protect others.
Naruto frowned at the answer, he wanted to see how he and Lee really compared, he wondered if he was faster now or if Lee keeping the weights on for longer had more benefits, "Oh, well what are you even doing challenging people and calling it training?" he asked, "Did you build this place?"
Lee blinked owlishly, "Yes, I did build it actually, and uh," he continued, unsure how to continue, "well I got the idea while on a mission." he began, "I saw a man challenge a dojo in another village, claiming he'd take down their sign if he won." he explained, "I didn't fully get it, but I painted this sign and put up flyers for my dojo, I figured that would get worthy foes to come to me, and I could train with everyone else." he finished proudly.
Naruto supposed that was a decent enough idea, "I see, but you don't have pupils because you're still a genin." he pointed out, noting the confused look on the other genin's face, "A dojo usually has pupils, students that you're teaching what Gai teaches you." he explained.
Lee looked confused still, "I am still a student myself, I couldn't train others." he answered, "Is that why no one else has come to my dojo yet?" he asked.
Naruto nodded, "Probably." he confirmed without knowing for certain, "Anyway, I should report to Tsuna-baachan, I got distracted by your flyers." he realized, turning to leave.
Lee frowned as he considered Naruto's words, he didn't feel ready to have students.
On the way back to Lee's dojo, Naruto heard Gai nearby and turned to greet him, surprising the man, "Oi, super brows-sensei, did you know bushy brows built his own dojo?" he snitched shamelessly, seeing nothing wrong with his fellow genin having a dojo.
Maito Gai also saw nothing wrong, and cried manly tears of pride, "That Lee-kun, so mature already!" he said, making completely inaccurate assumptions.
Naruto nodded, "He's got no students though." he informed.
Gai considered that a moment, "You should be his student!" he decided after a moment.
"No thanks," Naruto said blandly, "I'd kinda like to learn your taijutsu from you, but Lee can't match me without taking his weights off." he explained, which gave him an idea, "Why don't you take over his dojo? That way he can accept challenges as your prize pupil, and anyone he beats is motivated to learn your taijutsu!" he suggested with a grin.
"Brilliantly youthful idea, Naruto-kun!" Gai praised, earning a prideful laugh from the horned genin as the two ran to tell Lee of the idea. The jonin even had the perfect uniform for his taijutsu dojo.
Maemi felt like a failure, she hadn't noticed the intent Gai had because she assumed there would be malicious intent involved with such an outfit. Somehow the man had convinced Naruto to wear it, the young blonde being completely into it was not something the Muse had expected.
Gai slowly realizing why it was indecent for the growing young hermaphrodite was also surprising, the man came off as far more oblivious than he was. It still took him actually seeing the swell of Naruto's growing chest to realize what the problem was, he made a note not to ever offer to Tenten again and tried to think if anyone had seen him offer them to his students besides his students themselves.
Naruto was ecstatic, he tried to remember the last time a teacher gave him a gift. Jutsu probably didn't count, and he supposed being treated to ramen by Iruka and given baskets of vegetables by Kakashi likely didn't actually count either. Discounting those two left it rather small, especially when he decided being told about Kushina by Jiraiya should not count either.
With the green, skintight, and breathable material suit being the first gift a teacher had ever given him, Naruto loved it even more. Gai wasn't just talking up how high quality the material was, "I could wear this under my usual clothes." the horned blonde quietly realized as they approached Lee's dojo.
Maemi took no joy from the fact that Gai felt guilty, she knew damn well he was guilty for the wrong reasons. The Imp tried to salvage the situation, "A pink or purple version of the same thing would compliment your outfit more, Naruto-sama." she suggested.
"Good idea, I'll get both!" Naruto decided happily, Maemi mentally cursed, supposing at least there weren't going to be green visible through gaps in his outfit.
Gai was glad to show someone else the glory of his outfit, but he was pretty sure Naruto should be wearing something else between the outfit and his chest. Unsure of how to bring it up, he let it be. Maemi decided to remind Karin that Naruto needed bras, the skintight suit was not a suitable substitute.
Lee was surprised to see Gai visiting his dojo, but even more surprising was Naruto, and that the horned blonde was wearing the same outfit as two taijutsu specialists. For some reason the skintight bodysuit seemed indecent on Naruto, like the blonde should be wearing something else. Specifically that he should be wearing something else around his chest.
Naruto seemed completely oblivious, and already attached to the bodysuit so convincing him not to wear it was out of the question. Especially as Gai would not rescind all his praise for the benefits of the piece of clothing, the man did at least get Naruto new leg weights too so Maemi wasn't terribly upset.
The Muse was however a little annoyed to be relegated to carrying Naruto's gear, "Naruto-sama, you should put your clothes on over that at least." she attempted.
"Nah," Naruto refused as he stretched, "I'll get a purple one before I put them back on, this green one is just for perfecting taijutsu!" he decided boisterously.
Gai decided he should probably explain to Lee, "So, building your own dojo?" he queried with a proud smile, the genin nodded happily. The jonin decided to play the stern teacher, "Fool!" he scolded, slugging the boy in the face, "It is one-hundred years too early for you to be opening a dojo!" he declared sternly with an accusatory point at the downed young lad, "However, I will acknowledge your efforts! Your marquee shall be my marquee! I shall train any who come here to learn my taijutsu, especially if they're inspired by you!" he continued less sternly, "You shall train extra hard, for you shall accept challenges for any who attempt to take down our marquee!" he announced.
Lee was astounded and pleased, "Yessir, Gai-sensei!" he agreed with a bow.
Karin wasn't sure who to be more annoyed with, but she settled on herself for forgetting Naruto needed bras now. The iryonin was also not too happy with Maito Gai though, thanks to him Naruto had been seen in that horrendous green outfit. She knew there was some merit to function over form, but there was a limit damn it.
Thankfully Naruto was already in a purple bodysuit and happy to wear it under his usual outfit, insisting that it was the perfect ninja combo outfit. Karin sighed, "Well you still need bras, they support those things growing on your chest in combat." she explained, "It's like how you wouldn't want your dick waving around in combat so you wear underwear." she added crassly.
Naruto nodded in understanding, "I think this thing does a great job of that." he decided, clearly referring to the purple skintight bodysuit.
"No." Karin denied the suggestion bluntly, she refused to even entertain the idea, "You need at least training bras." she explained, picking the right word to get Naruto to let her pick out some of the undergarments.
With the weather heating up as the seasons changed, Naruto decided to forgo his hakama. He had purple tights covering his legs, and orange leg warmers over the leg weights Gai had given him, although the short kimono acted like a mini-dress, the lack of hakama also allowed him to wear his shuriken holster again. The taijutsu specialist jonin was oddly pleased to have more pupils, so Naruto decided to bring Tayuya to learn his style since she seemed strong, offering Hanako, Haku, and Kin the opportunity as well.
None of them wanted to wear the green one piece leotard, although Haku did consider it as he acknowledged the function of it. The pretty boy decided it was not his style, but figured he could use the improved taijutsu as it was actually one of his weaker points. Hanako declined, wanting nothing to do with a Kajo Dojo.
Kin also declined, but Tayuya figured if she could get stronger without the dumb leotard she'd train too. Gai was thoroughly insulted by the refusal to wear the suits, but didn't argue overly as he did not want to be seen telling young ladies to put on a leotard at his age. Lee was insistent enough for both of them, but lacked the authority to force anything.
The bowl cut boy with bushy brows did insist on having sparring matches with his new kohai, and Naruto found that with weights on he couldn't outpace Lee quite as easily, which meant the older specialist won out with skill over the younger genin who didn't truly specialize in anything. The horned blonde had a new goal, beat Lee with only taijutsu while they're both weighed down the same amount.
Haku could not keep up in comparison, he could defend himself with his speed but lacked much offensive power compared to the two genin without his ninjutsu or senbon. Tayuya struggled until she tapped into her Juin, insisting training with it and taijutsu was perfectly valid, "I should train my stamina with this form anyway, right? It's a tool too!" she pointed out.
Now that it had a Muse instead of Orochimaru's will she had a point, Gai decided he'd defer to Naruto on ninso matters and the blonde shrugged. So Tayuya could temporarily match Lee and Naruto, but otherwise was closer to Haku, so the former Oto kunoichi decided she'd train without, with her Juin, and in her second form.
Hinata was surprised, she finally managed to finish step two of completing the Rasengan. As soon as Naruto was home she showed him, and he gave her a regular balloon, "Last step is control, do what you've been doing but make it not pop the balloon this time!" he explained cheerfully.
The Hyuga understood immediately, by keeping it condensed it could build up velocity. Rasengan really was a powerful ninjutsu, of course Hinata did not get it on her first try. She hoped it didn't take her too much longer, Haku was apparently learning too and was already on step two.
Neji wondered why he and Tenten were being called to Naruto's home, if it had anything to do with the outfit their jonin wore they were out. This was a unanimous unsaid decision they both preemptively made, but they weren't expecting the tools and wood.
Naruto grinned at the two, "Hey, want to help me reverse engineer Suna ninja technology?" he asked, noting their confused expressions he decided to be less vague, "Puppets." he said plainly.
Tenten perked up at the idea, "Hell yeah!" she agreed eagerly, "Let's start with blueprints, you can't make this shit on the fly, get me a table, I have blueprint paper." she ordered swiftly.
Neji looked less enthused, "I'll pass, sorry." he decided, not too interested in the idea. Naruto and Tenten frowned as he left, but the Hyuga was more interested in perfecting what he had than trying something new and with no synergy for his current abilities.
The two remaining genin decided to get to work and Naruto brought Tenten inside so they could start on the blueprints. Hanako wondered something when she saw what they were working on, "Do you specialize in anything?" she asked dryly, "Shinobi usually specialize for a reason." she added.
Tenten frowned, "I specialized in shurikenjutsu, with some bukijutsu and fuinjutsu, a bit of taijutsu to back it all up obviously." she explained, "But recently I figured that wasn't enough, started learning ninjutsu, upped my training in what I already know." the kunoichi gestured to the Fuin in a mantle around her shoulders.
"That is so reckless." Hanako pointed out with equal dryness, "What about you, blondie?" she added to the apparent Uzumaki head.
Naruto shrugged, "I want to perfect every art of the shinobi." he began with an answer that startled both females, "So I've been practicing everything excessively, I guess genjutsu is still my weakest, and I'm not too great at iryo ninjutsu either." he explained.
Tenten stared at the blonde in shock as Hanako's eye twitched, "You can do genjutsu and iryo ninjutsu though?" she clarified and Naruto nodded, "You matched me in kenjutsu, you've been training taijutsu, you captured me with ninjutsu," she continued.
"Actually that was Kajojutsu." Naruto interrupted.
"Kajo ninjutsu, so not inaccurate at least." Maemi confirmed with a shrug of her own.
The horned blonde considered that as Tenten sighed, "You know Fuinjutsu too, and I'm helping you reverse engineer puppetry." she realized idly, "All you're missing at this point is Senjutsu." she mused as she tried to think of any other shinobi arts she missed, Hanako looked alarmed at that.
Naruto frowned, feeling like he'd heard the word before, "Senjutsu?" he asked for clarification.
"Sacred hijutsu of the Sennin." Tenten explained, "Jiraiya-sama is rumored to know it." she added, "I don't actually know much about it." she confessed.
"I'll ask him about it next time I see him, let's focus on the puppet thing for now." Naruto explained.
Kakashi and Shizune stared at Naruto and Tenten, the two genin were going to cause an international incident reverse engineering allied villages military technology. The design was also mildly an issue, "First of all, you both went serpentine." Kakashi remarked, noting Tenten had gone for a six headed and six tailed snake, likely a reference to the Yamata no Orochi, "Second of all what the fuck is that?" he added with a gesture to Naruto's creation.
It was clearly a centipede, with the head of a horned fox, "Hebitaro!" Naruto declared proudly, twitching his fingers to get its hundred kunai legs clacking.
"That is a centipede." Kakashi retorted blandly.
"Rokubo no Orochi!" Tenten introduced, Kakashi didn't have the heart to mock such a childish name.
Shizune sighed, "I'll warn Tsunade-sama." she decided, going to inform the Hokage of the latest development of the excessive ninso of the Konton Gundan.
Naruto was quite pleased with himself, his abilities were constantly growing in every conceivable way of the ninja arts. He'd put his puppet in a scroll, Tsunade ordering him and Tenten not to use them unless in dire need of a surprise weapon and not in front of any Suna ninja, ever. The horned blonde didn't fully get it, but apparently all of Suna's treaties involved allies not attempting to make their own puppets.
The ninso thought this was downright greedy, he needed those jutsu to be the perfect shinobi, so he'd have them. It was a very simple thing as far as Naruto was concerned, it wasn't like the blonde himself was privy to the details of treaties anyway. He did however quickly learn why no one had reverse engineered it before while trying to practice with the puppet, puppetry was hard and making chakra threads was barely half of it.
Naruto sighed at having another half cocked skill he needed to perfect in order to reach his nebulous goal, but grinned at the challenge anyway. The blonde didn't get as far as he had by being intimidated by difficulty in training, so he figured he'd just train harder so that he could master every ninpo.
After confirming he could use Kage Bunshin on the puppet, Hebitaro, Naruto grinned and commenced his unique training. The headache later would be worth the gains as far as the horned hermaphrodite was concerned, and he'd already made up his mind on attaining perfection.
Tsunade groaned through her hangover, "A puppet, he built a puppet." she verbalized, and it didn't sound any less ridiculous, "Bottom of his class in the academy, one of the strongest genin in the village within a year, reverse engineering other villages jutsu." she mused as she poured herself some sake to take the edge off, "That boy is going to cause an international incident." she grumbled.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised too, but drinking this early?" he asked, truthfully he was mildly proud of Naruto, potential diplomatic incident aside.
Tsunade looked confused, "How long have you been here?" she asked with bleary eyes.
"I woke you up." Jiraiya deadpanned, "You're welcome by the way, but Shizune-chan is on her way up the stairs to check on you and bring you coffee." he explained dryly.
Tsunade groaned again, "Why did I agree to this stupid, stressful job?" she asked, "I should have made Kakashi do it." she grumbled.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes as the Hokage downed her already poured sake and put the rest away, "We both know that he couldn't do it, he's strong but he's not that strong." he retorted, "Besides which, in the eyes of most nobility he lacks a certain pedigree." he added with a careless shrug.
Tsunade sighed at the reminders, "As if Senju and Uchiha were considered noble before Konohagakure no Sato was founded?" she pointed out, prompting a sarcastic chuckle from Jiraiya as Shizune arrived, the jonin surprised to see the white haired man when she opened the door with her tentacle.
The Sennin turned to leave out the window, "Well, I guess I'll check up on him, that little weirdo seems to be too much for any one responsible adult to handle." he laughed with some amusement. Tsunade just wondered who exactly the man thought the responsible adults were, although she supposed Shizune was trying to help the hermaphrodite now too.
Tenten stared at her puppet with her head in her hands, realizing the problem already, "I made a puppet I can't even use yet." she grumbled, having gotten perhaps a bit too zealous in the building process. There were just too many moving parts, she blamed Naruto for getting her caught up in his energy during the blueprints phase.
Simply put, Rokubo no Orochi was a puppet with too many moving parts for a novice puppeteer. Hebitaro was probably not for beginners either, but apparently that did nothing to dissuade Naruto from training. Tenten was not quite like the energetic blonde though, and simply shelved the puppet for later, starting on something simpler, easier to use, concealable. Less moving parts, stealthier maybe even.
Tenten nodded to herself, the wooden snake was an interesting design, easy to make it move at least. But the kunoichi needed something more familiar, so she worked on carving small dolls, figuring if they were disguised as a mundane hobby any Suna spies would mistake it for such.
The bun haired girl sighed, "That Naruto..." she grumbled, knowing it was her own fault for getting caught up in his ideas but wanting someone else to blame anyway. She was embarrassed to have forgotten entirely about the details of their treaties with Suna in the moment, "He'd be surprisingly good at espionage if he was doing any of that on purpose." she mused.
AN: Sorry for the very late update, it was a bit naive of me to think I'd be able to keep up my previous pace. I wish I could say these past few days was enough for me to get a few chapters ahead but I've had a bit of minor writers block.
I don't like making promises I can't keep, so I won't. Instead I'll just keep working on this story when I can and try to upload as regularly as I can manage.