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
Renkinjutsu - Alchemy
Hankami - Demigod/Half-God
Yuki no Yoroi - Armor of Ice/Snow
Hyoton no Fuin: Yuki no Haka - Seal of Ice Release: Tomb of Ice/Snow
Naruto saw Jiraiya and Neji struggling against two masks with strange bodies of black tendrils, one shooting Raiton no Jutsu and the other unleashing Suiton no Jutsu. What paused him was that he heard a heartbeat within each mask, the blonde wondered if it was some kind of jutsu that created life somehow and was curious. So Naruto leaped to land on the mask of the one about to shoot another blast of water at Neji, he landed his left hoof on the mask and redirected the Suidan into the ground.
Jiraiya and Neji were surprised to see the horned blonde, the Hyuga had seen something coming but the blonde had appeared before he could verbalize it or visually confirm who Naruto was. The horned yokai ninso lifted his nodachi but hopped back as he flicked it into an upwards cutting arc that sheared away tendrils coming at him before he put the blade between himself and a Suidan, he spread his Hoshi chakra wings to hover down to the mask and delivered a snap kick with his right leg that cracked the mask before he swung his blade into the source of the heartbeat he could hear coming from it.
The mask fell away in two parts and the tendrils stopped moving, Naruto landed and his Kujaku Myoho settled around his shoulders like furled up wings, completely different to the usual peacock tail feathers the pink chakra usually defaulted to. Neji had seen the Hoshi chakra before, he and his team probably knew more about it than most in Konoha besides the Hokage herself, certain medical staff, and Naruto and Maemi but one of those clearly knew more than the other.
So Neji was a little alarmed by just how much Hoshi chakra was flooding Naruto's keirakukei, furthermore those strange pink markings seemed to be vents for the Hoshi chakra in a way but were eerily similar to the markings of those suffering the negative effects of training with the strange power in Hoshigakure no Sato. Then the Hyuga realized Naruto's internal biology had shifted, the blonde was now a true hermaphrodite fully and his appendix of all things seemed to have become entwined with a growth in Naruto's keirakukei that was filtering Hoshi chakra somehow being the most obvious changes to his eyes but the other major change had him stunned.
One of the wings curled up to block a bolt of Raiton chakra but Jiraiya took the opening and swung his hair, hardened with chakra, like a spiked flail into the Raiton mask Kakuzu had left behind. Naruto lowered his curled Hoshi wing and grinned at Jiraiya, "Hey, Ero-Sennin, Tsuna-baachan wanted you to have this missive." he greeted casually as he reached up to his torso but his left hand halted as his grin dropped into a surprised expression, "It's in the flak vest back there..." he realized.
Jiraiya's eye twitched, "I'll read it later, that nukenin is going to back up his ally who was fighting Kakashi, apparently Rock Lee is there too." he explained as the young blonde immediately took off after Kakuzu, "When did he get so fast?" he muttered.
Neji took a moment to catch his breath and process what he'd seen, "His Hachimon..." he began hesitantly.
"Naruto opened his Hachimon too?" Jiraiya asked, surprised but misunderstanding due to the hesitance of the Hyuga.
Neji shook his head, "Two of them are gone, I think Shimon is gone but it's hard to say for certain which two are actually gone, his internals aren't even human anymore." he explained, unable to think of a better way to describe what he'd seen. Jiraiya frowned in confusion as he tried to figure out the significance of two missing gates that filtered chakra, particularly the final gate from the sounds of it, but the keirakukei shouldn't be able to just alter like that as far as he was aware.
Kakuzu stared at the situation he'd found, Hidan's body was tied to a tree and the head was resting in his own lap, "Kakuzu! You miser, you took your sweet fucking time! Hurry up and put my head back on!" the purple eyed nukenin demanded petulantly. Kakashi and Lee took up defensive stances, but were surprised when the nukenin burrowed underground instead of attacking. The jonin suspected a sneak attack and leaped up to a branch as a vantage point, and the chunin followed his lead.
Black threads emerged from the ground beneath Hidan, lifted his head to his neck, and severed the wire tying his body to the tree as they stitched the immortal nukenin back together. Lee and Kakashi made to intervene but a dragon's head of earth rose up and fired stones in their path, the older evaded with kawarimi but the younger had to cover himself and take the blows against his guard.
Naruto touched down a moment later, "Hey, you two are Akatsuki right?" he asked as soon as he landed.
Kakuzu rose up from the ground, "Well, you might be the only Jinchuriki who knows to avoid us and still comes charging." he retorted sarcastically, Hidan gripped his cable and yanked his scythe to his right hand with a scowl.
"What are you really after?" Naruto asked bluntly.
"Money, power, what does it matter? Our boss needs the Biju so we'll have to fight eventually." Kakuzu responded, "Try not to kill him Hidan." he added.
"Tell your boss he's wasting his time then." Naruto decided as he lowered his sword, "The Kyubi no Kitsune is in the clutches of a Kami." he explained as if it was obvious.
Hidan's eye twitched, "That Kajo no Kami of yours is just an excuse to be a hedonistic heathen!" he snapped, "Jashin-sama is a true Kami, and my immortality is proof of that." he bragged.
Naruto looked confused, "Immortal? My magnificent self already fought five of those today, what's one more?" he asked with a smirk as he lifted his nodachi to point at the nukenin, "Alright then, we'll decide this with our blades y'know!" he decided as his smirk extended into a wide grin, his playful attitude towards the situation catching his allies and enemies alike off guard.
Kakuzu glanced between the remaining shinobi, he could tell Jiraiya would be there soon and he didn't fancy his chances managing to kill Kakashi or even the bowl cut chunin before the Sennin arrived while Naruto was there even if the blonde was occupied with Hidan. So the green eyed nukenin decided to see what the leader of Akatsuki made of the new situation, "I'm not getting involved in your religious debate." he decided and as Hidan charged the Taki nukenin descended into the earth to retreat.
Naruto didn't recognize Hidan's symbol and he'd never even heard about Jashin, then again he hadn't researched such a thing even when he had started studying. To him Slaanesh was the perfect Kami anyway, "You claim to be blessed by a Kami with this level of power?" Naruto asked in a disappointed and offended tone as he casually parried Hidan's strikes, even with the strange three bladed design of the scythe the nodachi was more than long enough to prevent any glancing blows.
The Hoshi chakra was ready to defend if needed but Naruto found it was not needed, "Shut up! You can't kill me so I just need to kill you!" Hidan insisted, "Your Kami is a Konton no Kami!? Don't make me laugh! Jashin-sama demands nothing less than complete death and destruction!" he preached angrily as he swung his weapon wildly against Naruto's parries, "You selfish hedonists make the worst neighbors so screw the mission you should just die!" he roared.
Naruto swung his blade up in between Hidan's right elbow joint as his left wing of Hoshi chakra knocked aside the final scythe swing, "Slaanesh-kaasama made my magnificent self in her image." he retorted with an eerie calm as his blade arced smoothly down into Hidan's left wrist and a hand of chakra shot out from his right wing to grab the taller man by the throat, "You're just a preacher for a minor power, my magnificent self is the scion of a true Kami." he bragged as his tail flicked up over his left shoulder and delivered his stinger into the heart of his opponent.
Hidan writhed angrily and kicked the blonde in the stomach but missed any vital point, "You still can't fucking kill me!" he insisted with a sneer, despite clearly having lost he was defiant.
Naruto blinked in surprise, "Wow, you're impressive actually." he decided before he dropped the nukenin by withdrawing his chakra and stinger before he decapitated the man, "A Yamanaka can probably drag stuff out of your skull." he decided as he caught his catch by the hair with a smile.
"That hurts you flighty sword bimbo!" Hidan snapped angrily at being decapitated, "Quit pulling my fucking hair!" he added petulantly, Naruto laughed happily.
Jiraiya wasn't sure what to make of the situation as he arrived, but he could tell Naruto had won and technically no one had died it seemed, so he figured it was probably a win.
Tsunade wasn't sure what to make of the situation as she arrived, the camp was completely destroyed and the Taki forces were having a funeral so she figured it had probably been a loss. Then she heard Sasuke had somehow fended off the Tsuchikage and realized it could have gone a lot worse, from the report Shibuki gave her all her remaining Konoha shinobi had held the line against overwhelming odds.
Particularly impressive was Akamaru, who was now suffering from chakra exhaustion along with Sasuke. Shino was suffering anemia from blood loss and his right lung was completely shut down, she'd need to get him back to Konoha and have a special surgery room prepared to deal with that but thankfully it seemed the Aburame was sturdy enough to survive despite his current condition.
Sakura was perfectly healthy as far as she could tell, so the Hokage focused most of her efforts on saving Kiba. Shizune was surprised at how few people needed additional medical assistance, and learned that Sasuke's blue flames had apparently healed a good number of them towards the end of the fight. The back up iryonin thus did not have much to do except monitor the conditions of those who were already recovering, which seemed to be necessary with Sasuke more than anyone as the Uchiha seemed to not like bed rest.
"I'm not letting anyone carry me when it comes time to move, which I'm assuming is as soon as Hokage is done healing whoever still needs it." Sasuke declared proudly, he was confident he would be able to move that much.
"It's a miracle you're alive, don't push your luck so much." Shizune scolded without missing a beat, "I don't care if your Juin really did evolve, you're suffering from chakra exhaustion, you barely have enough chakra to live." she lectured sternly.
"I don't expend that much chakra to move, quit being a mother hen with me." Sasuke grouched as he attempted to wave the jonin off, Shino sighed at the Uchiha's attitude.
Shizune sighed, "Alright, look, this whole Konton Gundan is basically a group of medical anomalies, but did you seriously grow back an entire hand?" she asked, from what she could tell the story checked out based on her analysis of the right hand in question, but it was still hard to believe.
"It's not exactly an iryoninjutsu," Sasuke began by lifting his left hand to show the scorched ends of what was left of the fingers there, "but yes, it does seem to regrow even bone." he finished by flexing his new right hand. From his own analysis with Sharingan before he'd been ordered not to use chakra until he was medically cleared he discovered that even the damaged keirakukei had been restored in the regrown right hand, which was a contrast to limbs regrown with boons and indicated the blue flames could either burn or regenerate somehow and he had no idea how to tell which one would happen until it did.
Haku, Kin, Tayuya, Karin, and Maemi finally caught up as Kakashi was explaining the situation and everyone was getting to be on the same page regarding Fu, who returned with Tenten and the tied up girl Jiraiya had captured. Neji looked more exhausted than Kakashi, so Haku almost didn't want to deliver the message, "Hokage-sama said Jiraiya-sama should return or a 'hawk will be the only one defending the tree' whoever that means." Karin said bluntly.
Naruto blinked at that information since it was news to him and Kakashi realized the woman was likely already on her way to help Kiba, "We sent for back up in Taki's territory, I specifically asked it to be impressed how much we needed an iryoninjutsu specialist." he informed.
Jiraiya sighed, "Alright, we'll double time it back to Konoha for now, we'll have to return the Eiyu no Mizu later." he decided, not wanting to split their group with what was happening. Fu looked less than pleased with the situation, she was especially incensed that Kakuzu had gotten away.
Naruto closed his eyes as he considered things, they were fighting wars on too many fronts but at the end of the day Orochimaru wasn't an army, the land had become Oto no Kuni because Orochimaru had conquered it but there was still a Daimyo acting as figurehead. That was where Orochimaru had surpassed Hanzo in statecraft, so Naruto acknowledged it and knew what he needed to do as he opened his eyes, "My magnificent self will end Oto no Kuni." he decided and turned to leave.
"What?" Jiraiya asked flatly, "End Oto no Kuni? What are you planning?" he asked, concerned about the phrasing there.
"Most of Orochimaru's threat comes from the fact he's the puppeteer in control of the Daimyo around here, when fighting a puppet master its better to disable to puppeteer than the puppet but in this case cutting the strings along the way is a possibility." Naruto explained, "...Actually wait can you cut chakra threads with chakra blades? That makes sense right?" he assumed before he shrugged, "Anyway, my magnificent self will deal with Orochimaru." he decided with a firm and confident nod.
Jiraiya stared at his student for a moment, slightly offended since Orochimaru was his former teammate, he felt responsible for dealing with the man, "No, we need to head back to Konohagakure no Sato." he insisted, "If Orochimaru or Iwa attacks the village as it is now they won't have much in the way of powerful defense." he argued plainly.
Naruto shrugged, "You all can probably deal with something like that, Orochimaru can summon Mao now though and seems to have infinite chakra, so he's a serious threat and that's only multiplied by his control over Oto no Kuni." he argued back, "So my magnificent self will take the country out from under him and kill him." he declared with a proud grin.
Jiraiya groaned, "Are you even listening? Look I know you've gotten a lot stronger but we seriously need to pull back to the village for now." he insisted, "If you actually show you can obey orders you might even be up for promotion and a mission doing exactly that anyway." he added, figuring it couldn't hurt to dangle a carrot.
Maemi hadn't considered that Naruto's official military rank was still chunin, she was still not used to orderly military rankings and knew the instincts of the blonde would swiftly fall into thinking of himself as in charge due to his sheer power, thankfully that problem would be delayed since Naruto nodded in agreement with the idea of returning for a promotion. Mostly the newly ascended Daemon Prince knew he didn't actually have to rush towards dealing with Orochimaru, but he did decide to make it a high priority.
"What the fuck is that?" Hidan asked blithely, drawing attention to what he was looking at which was Bakkus, the Bray Shaman, watching from a distance. The Beastman made some guttural sounds none of the humans understood, but Naruto was surprised he didn't need Maemi to translate anymore as he got the gist of what was being conveyed.
"Oh, that's Bakkus, he was working on something for my magnificent self." Naruto informed before he tossed Hidan's head to Tayuya, "Hold this." he warned to allow the dark pink haired girl time to react and catch the decapitated head of the nukenin. The two foul mouthed shinobi made eye contact for a moment, glared at each other in disgust, then the kunoichi turned the head to face the same direction as herself to avoid having to look at him.
"Ow, the hair!" Hidan complained again and Tayuya rolled her eyes, "Heathen bitch..." the Akatsuki grumbled. Jiraiya was still a bit taken aback by the decapitated head of a nukenin so casually interacting with people, but he supposed the loose lips of the zealot might prove to their advantage so he let the head be carried while he stored the body and weapon in a scroll.
Naruto hopped over to his Bray Shaman with a grin, "Preyton subjugated." Bakkus informed in his bestial speech again.
"Take it leaf?" Naruto asked, unsure if he was selecting the right words but the deer headed Shaman nodded and turned to leave. The blonde figured he got the point across and grinned proudly before he hopped back to his squad, "Ready to go?" he asked.
Kakashi sighed, "Damn it, you seem even more energetic than ever." he grumbled before he stood up, "I suppose we shouldn't waste any time though." he muttered and Jiraiya nodded in agreement as they began to return to Konoha, following a pace set by the Sennin of the group.
Tsunade felt bad for Shibuki, the young man was barely an adult and only considered a chunin despite his status as the Shinobigashira of his village, not that there was much of a village left in the wake of war. She was surprised the Tsuchikage had destroyed two minor villages in his path, he was known as a bit of a fence sitter despite his own parts to play in former wars. The Hokage doubted Orochimaru had really managed to convince the man to join in, and from the reports she'd gathered that Iwa and Oto rarely worked together even in the same front and Akatsuki were only spotted working with Iwa forces.
Shibuki himself seemed to be blaming himself somewhat, and from his current bowed posture the blonde Sannin could tell the young man was grateful to her for how many had been saved, "So, a nukenin gave away your position, kidnapped your Jinchuriki, and Kakashi went after them with your Eiyu no Mizu while the rest of you held the line?" she summed up, on the one hand she was irritated because Kakashi had yet to return and that worried her but on the other hand she was impressed their combined forces had actually held off the Tsuchikage and his strongest forces.
Shibuki nodded, "To be honest, Sasuke Uchiha saved the day I think, he managed to counter and match the Tsuchikage in a ninjutsu duel." he recalled how it had seemed to his eyes.
Tsunade wasn't sure how to take that, to her understanding Sasuke was an A rank chunin which was impressive for his age, but his abilities had managed to hold back the Tsuchikage even in a brief skirmish that left him with intense chakra exhaustion and slight cases of dehydration and malnutrition for reasons that eluded the iryonin until Shizune realized he had regenerated. That was more than impressive, it was a miracle and she'd overheard more than one Taki ninja refer to it as such.
With that in mind the Hokage had to reconsider the threat rankings of her shinobi present, from what she'd heard Sakura had stood up against and injured an A rank jonin while receiving no injuries to speak of, not even a bruise despite being seen taking rather devastating taijutsu blows and the Tsuchikage's ninjutsu to the back. Shino had killed a B rank jonin who was specifically prepared to deal with Aburame and had neutralized most of his jutsu that relied on kikaichu, and even Akamaru had assisted Taki shinobi against various C to B rank chunin until a jonin halted the ninken.
"Well, despite your own losses, we seem to have pushed Iwa's forces back at least a little here. If his spies spotted me out here then he'll be hesitant about attacking head on if he's pulling back just from his ninjutsu being countered in a new way, he's a cautious old man." Tsunade mused, partially to herself but out loud to give praise to Taki's forces and see what Shibuki thought of the situation.
The young Shinobigashira was still frowning however, "Well, perhaps, but I actually have a request." he began hesitantly, "I haven't heard back from the ninja I sent to check on our Daimyo, as such I would like permission to pull my forces back into Hi no Kuni under the assumption he's been compromised." he finished with a deep bow.
Tsunade was startled by the request, "Well, this is sudden." she muttered, "I'm afraid that would be a bit of a logistical nightmare, I can offer civilians and other non-combatants left without a home refuge, but for your actual forces we'd need to set up place along the borders and inform our own Daimyo of our movements." she explained, wishing she could just do whatever she wanted and ignoring the little imaginary internal voice that insisted she do exactly that, "Letting what remains of your forces pull wholesale retreat into Hi no Kuni would be an invitation for any espionage specialists." she pointed out, partly to assure herself that keeping to regulations was the right play.
Shibuki sighed, "Understandable, we shall set up a new camp and send our refugees back to Hi no Kuni with whatever forces you take back with you." he agreed, keeping his head bowed to hide his disappointment because he could tell the older village leader was right.
Tsunade wasn't sure she was right, if the Tsuchikage mounted another assault like that the remnants of Takigakure's combatants would probably die even if she did leave behind reinforcements. The Hokage considered her options silently as Shibuki stood to leave, the fact Iwa had been repelled at all was almost a miracle if not for the obvious explanation that the Tsuchikage had been set on edge by his ninjutsu being negated twice by very young, if strangely inhuman, ninja.
Leaving Sasuke on the front in his current state was unacceptable, the boy clearly didn't acknowledge his limits and would not obey orders to stay out of the action if it came to him, the young Uchiha didn't seem to understand the meaning of retreat, or even regrouping, he could at least tactically reposition well she supposed. It was a surprisingly common issue among most jonin, so it was concerning that Sasuke developed it so young.
Regardless, the best chance Takigakure had for survival was leaving Sakura Haruno behind as a deterrent, but the kunoichi was no actual match for the Tsuchikage and the old man probably knew that. Tsunade wished she had some sake to help her with such difficult tactical decision making, and also that she had more information about Iwa's and Oto's forces. She had to return to Konohagakure no Sato soon so she couldn't act as deterrent herself.
The Hokage sighed, "Shizune-san, have one of the chunin cells we brought with us stay behind with a pair of iryonin, Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru." she ordered after she finally came to a decision, the jonin she trusted to relay the order was surprised, since that was half of the forces that they'd arrived with and a majority of the forces they'd arrived to reinforce, "Put Shino-san in charge of the iryonin, I'll go see Sakura-san and Kiba-san." the blonde Sannin added firmly as she pulled out a pair of small scrolls.
Shizune frowned, "Um, Shino-san's lung is still-" she began to protest.
"It has a chain lodged in it, I saw." Tsunade interrupted before she sighed, "I'm worried about him too, but as far as I can tell his body absorbed that weapon as a boon, so I don't think we can remove it, and he seems to be healthy despite how debilitated he should be." she reasoned calmly, forcing down the bile at the reminder of how wrong Shino's body seemed to conventional check ups.
Even for an Aburame, Shino seemed borderline undead. He still breathed and his heart still beat at least, Shizune kept that thought in mind as she reluctantly left to follow orders.
Sakura and Kiba were surprised that the Hokage herself had come to see them and more surprised that she pulled them aside and handed each of them a scroll, "Alright, I want to give you two a chance to prove yourself for promotion, as such your mission is to assist Shibuki-san in holding a new camp location and moving any who need refuge to Hi no Kuni. These scrolls contain provisions, the two of you are for the most part to defer to the judgement of Shino Aburame and the other chunin I leave with you but I will be talking with them about your performance when you all return." Tsunade explained and she knew her wording at the end was optimistic but she worded it as such on purpose to keep morale up.
Sasuke was visibly annoyed, "I don't need physical therapy, I already checked and I only last some speed on my more intensive Katon no Jutsu and some shurikenjutsu muscle memory in my right hand." he insisted.
Shizune glared, "You practiced ninjutsu?" she accused angrily.
"No." Sasuke denied, "I practiced hand signs." he corrected the irritated iryonin.
Shizune raised an eyebrow, "How was the hand that was restored more affected than the hand that was burnt?" she questioned.
Sasuke shrugged, "Left hand lost the tips of the digits, but minimal damage to the keirakukei, while the right hand was destroyed and regrown brand new which was a much worse injury until it regenerated so I guess I'm just suffering the after effects." he assumed.
"You're still suffering minor chakra exhaustion," Shizune pointed out, "how it's not worse baffles me to be honest with you, but you're still returning to Konohagakure with us." she insisted, "I'm sure Hokage-sama will have more work for you in no time." she assured, too used to working with workaholic shinobi.
Naruto was bored, he felt like he was going too slow on the return trip to Konohagakure no Sato. The group was still traveling at ninja speed, Hidan cursing whenever Tayuya made a hard landing and the kunoichi cursing right back was mostly ignored to the best ability of the other shinobi, but Naruto felt like he was being lazy somehow despite skipping multiple branches with each leap. He wondered if it was the lack of destruction, he didn't hear the branches cracking under him indicating he wasn't exerting too much force so he did a flip and a spin after a jump to check.
As Naruto suspected the branch was fine, but his team was confused by his acrobatics. The older shinobi caught sight of his bored expression and presumed him trying to entertain himself, the blonde landed and immediately leaped ahead before he stopped and glanced around. His team was confused again as he continued at his original pace once they caught up to him. Naruto had wanted to test his speed but had almost outpaced his team with a single jump.
The newly fledged Daemon wasn't sure what to make of his new abilities, he felt amazing yet somehow restricted. From what Maemi had said he knew that humans had achieved Apotheosis before in other worlds, and he had even fought two of them recently, but apparently his body not being destroyed by the transformation was unique. The blonde still wasn't certain about a lot of things, namely because he had technically achieved the goal Slaanesh had set for him but hadn't been given another.
Naruto still wanted to be Hokage, but he wondered how he would have done so if his body had been destroyed, would he still be allowed to be Hokage if he didn't have a body? Who would stop him? The second thought was interrupted by the distant sound of combat, which with his enhanced hearing he could only guess the distance to be in Hi no Kuni. He decided he should explain himself before he rushed ahead, "There's combat in Hi no Kuni." he said and then he disappeared with shunshin before anyone could respond.
"We're still miles from Hi no Kuni..." Fu commented dryly.
Naruto came upon what he essentially expected, a skirmish between Oto scouts and a Konoha patrol. He flipped through the air as he leaped high to get a better sense of the battlefield, his spin and alteration of equilibrium serving more to entertain his addled brain than distract him from taking note of the state of the fight. The Konoha ninja barely needed his help, they even seemed to be winning.
But none of them were ninso, or marked as far as he was aware or could tell, so he dropped his tungsten nodachi towards one of the Oto shinobi in the back of the enemy line, a young man weaving hand signs. The blade descended as Naruto righted himself to fall after the blade, he pulled on his Hoshi chakra in free fall to give himself the mobility to align his right hoof against the pommel of his sword right as the tip struck the back of his targets neck.
The Oto shinobi were rightfully startled as the blonde came out of nowhere and dropped on one of them sword first, the blonde even crossed his arms at the moment the sword pierced flesh, the blade going straight down through the chest to stab into the ground, the shinobi was dead before he knew what happened, "Hey, you guys should probably surrender-" he began, about to bring up his two sensei on the way.
He was interrupted by the remaining Oto shinobi dropping their weapons, getting to their knees, and raising their arms up in surrender to avoid being killed. Naruto had intended the surprise attack to be demoralizing but he was surprised by how effective it was.
"Uh, thanks for the save." A Konoha chunin Naruto vaguely recognized from his first chunin exams spoke up hesitantly, the other shook off his surprise and began capturing the Oto nin.
The blonde ninso noticed the two genin on this patrol were older than him, older than both of the chunin even, "My magnificent self heard the commotion, might as well wait for sensei and the others." he muttered, unable to hide his disappointment at the lack of opposition.
Danzo was a patient man, but Sai was showing little progress. He considered his options as he went over the latest report, but there was still no sign of a mark it seemed. The head of Ne decided the boy would need conflict to grow, the existing Kontonnin were proof of that. The Konton no Ninso all seemed to thrive under pressure and grow within conflict at a rapid rate, but even by the Shimura's standards it was rather ruthless.
Danzo decided to give orders for his agents to ease the boy into conflicts, starting with mental conflicts like puzzles and games of shogi then advancing to arranging for physical altercations to involve Sai by 'happenstance'. Even if he'd been slacking the boy was a trained Ne operative, a true shinobi, so dealing with drunken bandits around Nami no Kuni should be easy enough and might net results.
After the Shimura finished signing off on what he wanted his agents to do he was left with the issue he was trying not to think of however, he was the strongest shinobi currently in Konoha. Jiraiya was in Oto no Kuni and Tsunade had gone to provide relief to their forces at the Takigakure encampment, Kakashi had already been there, Asuma was in Kusa with Kurenai, and Gai was delivering a message to the Raikage. This was of course all information that Danzo was not supposed to have, but it bothered him.
It bothered the aged man because he was crippled, he could still fight he was sure of that much, but his effectiveness was not going to be near what it was in his prime until certain kinjutsu were ready. Even then he'd rather keep those hidden, and they could take years to be combat ready. His one solace was that the experiment, the Anbu with Mokuton that Tsunade had decided to return to the jonin forces under the name Yamato, was still in Konohagakure's walls.
The only issue was if Orochimaru got past Jiraiya and Naruto, or anyone else of S rank decided to attack Konoha, then Yamato wouldn't stand a chance and even Danzo himself would likely die stopping them if they were on that level. The old man sighed quietly to himself, "That damned Tsunade, doing whatever she wants." he grumbled, glad that she at least wouldn't be gone for very long and Jiraiya should be back even before her if nothing went horribly wrong.
So Danzo hoped no S rank shinobi would breach the walls of Konohagakure before then.
Once Jiraiya and the others caught up with Naruto, they joined the patrol on the journey home back to Konoha, most of them seemed rather starstruck to be travelling with a Sannin although the eldest man there didn't seem very fazed. Naruto guessed the old man had worked with the other old man before and that was why he was unimpressed, the amazement of working with a Sannin wore off once you knew their personalities a bit more.
Hidan however ruined the good mood of anyone who had one by ranting about his faith and his god for the final stretch of the journey, calling the Konton no Kami false gods, decrying their champions as evil, and for some reason that they would be bad neighbors was on his list of their various crimes, some of which Naruto was pretty sure the man made up. Tayuya however was the one who snapped first, since she was sick of holding the silver haired head of the seemingly immortal Jashinist.
The Muse in her Juin telling her to shut the nukenin up probably did not help with her temper, "Would you shut up already you corpseless cunt!?" she snapped over his tirade as they were approaching the gates of Konoha, "You're a worse neighbor than any of the so-called heathens I live with as far as I can tell you obnoxious piss for brains baldy!" she ranted before the head could answer or retort, "Slaanesh-sama encourages art and self-perfection you ignorant dick, all you've ranted about is killing people as punishment for being bad neighbors and killing people as a reward for being good neighbors you dumb mentally challenged wannabe priest!"
Hidan was silent for a moment, "Who shoved sand in your-" he began before Tayuya dropped him, pulled back her right foot, and kicked that same foot hard into his falling head, "CUNT!?" the nukenin finished with an angry yell that receded into the distance.
Naruto laughed, "Do you think his head will still be intact when he hits the ground?" he wondered out loud, amused by the temper of one of his lovers. Jiraiya sighed as there was technically now an unsupervised head of an S rank nukenin somewhere inside Konohagakure before he even returned, but he supposed the head could not have gotten that far from where it landed unless someone picked it up.
"Go get him." Kakashi ordered bluntly and the horned blonde rushed off to go ensure they didn't lose Hidan in the village.
AN: Sorry for the month long haitus, you would think holidays would mean more time for writing but maybe I just write more when I'm less relaxed.