Chapter 15: Land of Whirlpools (1): The Uzumaki and the White Bear Bandits
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.
Before leaving Konoha, I hesitated about whether to kidnap a Hyuuga clan member on the way out. After a long, arduous internal war, I decided to first check if it was even possible to kidnap a Hyuuga, but when I reached the Hyuuga clan's compound, I realized that I was being foolish.
The Hyuuga clan is one of the noble clans in Konoha aside from the Senju and the Uchiha clans. Even the fox regarded them as one of the four "noblest clans," how can they be so easy to covet? If that were the case, then maybe all of them would be MIA right now. After all, they have the "all-seeing white eye," the byakugan.
Getting near them without alerting their byakugan was like trying to get near a cautious rabbit. Trying to kidnap one was like trying to catch a sparrow, not to mention that this "sparrow" would retaliate when threatened.
When I realized this, I wanted to dig a hole for myself and never come out. I was naïve, way too naïve. Because of the "Hyuuga Affair," I underestimated the Hyuuga clan. But now, I'm starting to admire that envoy from Kumogakure. To be able to bypass the Hyuuga's surveillance, what kind of legendary ninja was he?
That was how I gave up the byakugan for the time being.
Regardless, I still headed toward the east. My destination was my ancestral homeland, the Land of Whirlpools.
'Are you sure you want to go there?'
The nine-tailed fox asked. This was the third time he asked the same question.
'Yes.'
'It's dangerous. I can't help you either, your seal is becoming more and more like Mito and Kushina's. It's difficult to give you my chakra, maybe when you are twelve years old, you won't have access to my chakra anymore,' the fox said, distressed at the idea of becoming a freeloader to his host.
'Don't worry, I'm not a pampered baby. I know how to dodge a kunai. Besides, didn't we already talk about this? The reason why I modified your seal is to one day release you back into the real world,' I said, comforting this fox who acted more and more like a nagging parent. I didn't hate it, though.
'Sigh… When I was brought to the Land of Whirlpools to be sealed into Mito, that place was plagued by bandit armies. They were strong enough to give the tree-loving bastard. During my time as Konoha's bijuu weapon, I've never heard anything about Konoha assisting in retaking the Land of Whirlpools. That place is probably worse than before,' the fox said, trying to persuade me while at the same time informing me about a crucial piece of information. What was this about the bandit armies? They can give the legendary Hashirama Senju a headache? Can you believe it?
'Why should they help the Uzumaki? They already got what they wanted. You. Why waste effort in helping allies that provided no benefits? And from what that old bastard Danzo, he was the reason why the Uzumaki were destroyed in the first place,' I scoffed. From snooping around, I was aware of the official reason why Konoha didn't kelp Uzushio. They were "low in manpower."
The fox went silent. From our connection, I could feel fox agreeing with me in his mind, but was too lazy to agree verbally.
Wooo~ Wooo~
The wind whistled behind my back as I jumped from tree branch to tree branch. This journey was arduous and tiring, but it was the only way for me to get rid of my naivety. With the physical strength of a jonin and a chakra level bordering kage-level, it was too embarrassing to only know how to fight like a genin.
All of a sudden, the fox threw a wild card.
'Will you gather all of the remaining Uzumaki?'
Thud!
"Damn!"
Creak… creak…
The tree branch I landed on nearly broke from the impact. I didn't mean to stop, but I was forced to, or else I would trip and fall to the ground. For the first time in my life, I was glad that I knew how to use chakra on my feet and stick to any surface.
"Phew."
When I regained my balanced, I jumped from the tree branch that nearly snapped in half and continued my journey. I tried to come up with various theories as to why the fox would ask such a ridiculous question, but I couldn't so I asked the fox, 'Why should I gather the Uzumaki?'
The fox was silent while I kept jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Knowing the fox's temperament, I realized that he was going to drop a bombshell.
Thud…
To avoid falling to the ground and embarrassing myself, I took the initiative to stop and land on the ground. Sure enough, when I landed on the ground, the fox chuckled and started talking.
'Why even ask? Your mother wasn't chosen as my jinchuuriki for no reason. My first jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Mito, was the Uzumaki's princess. My second jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Kushina, was another princess of the Uzumaki,' the fox paused, perhaps waiting for me to complete his sentence.
My eyes widened at the revelation, 'No way… right?' I asked but I already knew the answer.
'My third jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, is obviously the last remaining prince of the Uzumaki,' the fox laughed when he looked at my expression. My eyes were wider than plates, and I'm pretty sure was jaw fell to the floor. When I regained my soul that fled to the pure lands, I asked the fox.
'What does being a prince of the Uzumaki clan mean?'
It would be nice if I can have a power-up, but if not then this conversation will end here. Knowing my thoughts, the fox shook his head.
'There's not a lot of difference between a noble Uzumaki and a regular Uzumaki,' the fox said, 'the only difference is that the noble Uzumaki have thicker blood than regular Uzumaki. They call it the royal bloodline.'
Meaning, those with the royal bloodline would be better at fuuinjutsu than other Uzumaki.
'Despite having such a fancy title, the royal bloodline of the Uzumaki was widespread within the clan. In fact, ten percent of the Uzumaki had the royal bloodline. Considering the fact that the Uzumaki had so many members they formed an entire village with only the Uzumaki line, ten percent is far from a small number.'
Honestly, I didn't care about being a prince of the fallen clan, but if being their prince meant having better talent in fuuinjutsu, then I'll gladly take that title.
'Is the royal bloodline real? What if it's just propaganda to advertise the talented members of the clan,' I asked. What I said was completely reasonable, which village didn't have talent? Maybe that 10% with the royal bloodline were just talented Uzumaki members.
'I don't know, but it is true that Mito and Kushina were the best seal masters I've ever seen, and all three of you had lavender eyes. Maybe there's truth to that statement,' the fox said before going back to sleep. I swear, this fox is the reincarnation of a sloth demon, I cursed in my mind.
'Wait, I remember that Mito had eyes as black as charcoal,' I said, to which the fox answered that it was because the Uzumaki didn't want to spread the royal bloodline to the other clans.
After calming down, I resumed my travel while thinking.
'Even if I'm the last prince of Uzumaki, that title holds no value when all of the Uzumaki had been scattered around the world. Even if I find all of them, I doubt I can restart the clan and regain its former glory.'
After the fox asked me if he wanted to rebuild the Uzumaki clan, I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted. My goal was to reach godhood, and ten people helping each other build a house is better than one. In short, having a clan supporting my back was important, but he didn't know if he could find all the remaining Uzumaki clan members.
He wanted to gather at least 500 pure-blooded Uzumaki so he can avoid diluting the bloodline, but if that was impossible, he would settle for however many Uzumaki were left. The problem was if he could find any Uzumaki at all.
'I'll visit Uzushiogakure first, and then I'll think about it.'
After making up a plan, I decisively hastened my speed to reach the Land of Whirlpools faster.
In the middle of a vast forest, a black-haired figure dashed across the army of ancient trees, ignoring the beauty of the forest as he passed by.
Creaaak—bam!
The room shook, and dust fell from the ceiling to the floor. Dozens of pairs of eyes turned and gazed toward the doorway. There, a shirtless man with a bear's body was standing with a rigid look, the door behind him nearly tore in half when he slammed it close.
The shirtless man looked around and stopped his gaze when he saw a middle-aged man leaning against a wall. The middle-aged man was wearing a white cloak that covered his entire body, leaving only his face to be seen. The middle-aged man was looking down at the tied-up merchants on the floor, but when he felt the shirtless man's gaze, he looked up.
When he saw the shirtless man and the figure on his back, his lips curled upward.
"Mmmh!"
"Mmmh!"
The people who were bundled up and tied together struggled with all their might when they saw the burly man enter, but it was in vain. They seized all their resistance when they saw the figure on the burly man's back.
"Boss, we got him," the burly man said, throwing the figure on his back to the ground.
Thud!
"AH!"
The sleeping figure instantly woke up when his head hit the ground, crying out in pain. The figure had blood-red hair and wood-brown eyes. His name was Ichiro, and he was famous for helping the merchants cross the dangerous forest and fending off bandits like the shirtless man and the middle-aged man.
Ichiro stood up while holding his head, glared at the middle-aged man, and yelled, "The prince will never let you go!"
Hearing Ichiro's proclamation, the middle-aged man's face turned ugly and his right hand gripped his left shoulder, caressing his bandaged shoulder and what was left of his arm. This was the handiwork of "the prince."
Barely containing the urge to slice Ichiro into pieces, the middle-aged man strutted toward the tied-up merchants and smirked before yanking a young girl. The young girl had dark-brown hair and copper-colored eyes.
Seeing the girl turn limp when she was held at the neck by the middle-aged man, Ichiro's eyes turned bloodshot, and yelled while channeling chakra to his body, "Let her go!"
"And what will you do? The White Bear bandits may not have fancy ninjutsu, but we have the ancient inheritance of a well-known samurai family. Make one move and all these merchants will die, as well as the people in the dungeon," the middle-aged man scowled. Although the bandits looked shabby, they were, in fact, strong. Ichiro was helpless against these two bandits even if he cloned himself hundreds of times.
"Damn it, just wait until the prince arrives"
Left with no choice, Ichiro quietly crouched in the corner while glaring at the middle-aged man and the shirtless burly man.
"Hmph, this time, your prince won't survive our next assault. I don't believe that one man can defeat a thousand-man army," the bandit leader, Shirokuma, said and paid no more attention to Ichiro. Ichiro was too weak, he wasn't worthy to receive Shirokuma's attention.
Among Ichiro's group, only the prince could threaten him. As he was worrying about the upcoming war, twelve bandits wearing the same white cloak as him entered the room. When Shirokuma saw them, he smiled and waved his hands, ordering the twelve men to carry Ichiro into the dungeon. These twelve bandits were his elites, and they were as strong as his right-hand man, the shirtless bandit.
Surrounded by a thousand bandits, all wielding chakra-infused katana, wakizashi, and tanto, a boy barely over 140 cm in height watched coldly as the bandits glare at him, wishing to burn him with their malicious stares.
*A/N: Everyone knows what a katana is, right? If not, it's a Japanese long sword used by samurai. It has a curved blade to enhance its cutting ability. It's over 60.6 cm in length.
** Wakizashi is a Japanese short-sword used by samurai, looks similar to katana but is shorter. It's between 30.3 cm and 60.6 cm in length.
*** Tanto is a Japanese knife used by samurai, a straight blade instead of the curved blades of katana and wakizashi. It's less than 30.3 cm in length.
The boy had black hair and black eyes, but the rage inside those dark, onyx eyes turned them bloodshot, making him look like a devil who climbed out of hell. The boy was holding a red scroll that was two feet tall with his right hand. The scroll was blank, without as much as a speck of dust sullying its clean, white sheets.
In the boy's left hand was a big brush. Its handle was the definition of a masterpiece. The Japanese cedar wood handle was carved like two phoenixes, twisting like yin and yang and their fierce-looking head was wide-open at the end, crying with pride. Despite being carved into the shape of two phoenixes, the handle was thick and didn't impede the boy from gripping it tightly.
"Where is Shirokuma?!" The boy yelled but none of the bandits answered. Instead, they glared at him with more malice and hate. The boy and Shirokuma's White Bear bandit army had a blood feud that can never be washed clean even after death.
They can find peace in the afterlife only by the total annihilation of the other. The loser will spend the rest of his time in the purelands wailing in sorrow, regret, and hatred.
Seeing no one answer him, the boy threw the two feet long red scroll into the air with a jerk of his hand and opened the scroll. Strangely enough, the scroll didn't fall into the ground but hovered in the air, its white sheet facing the boy for him to write.
"Fine then, I'll go see him myself when I'm done dealing with rabid dogs," the boy roared, his childish, yet deep voice shaking the hearts of the thousand-men-strong army, but none of them retreated.
"CHARGE!" Instead, they all charged toward the boy, their eyes burning with endless frenzy and murder.
"RAAAA!"
Awooooo!
Caw! Caw! Chirp— Caaaaa—!
The bandit's roar echoed all throughout the forest, startling all the nearby forest life into hiding. Birds of all types flew into the skies, searching for a more peaceful, quieter part of the forest. The wolves cried in reluctance while they marched further away from the battlefield.
These animals were smart, they had adapted to the ninja world perfectly. They could sense chakra instinctively and would do everything to avoid it, knowing its tyranny. Chakra may be foreign energy from the outer world, but nature will always find a way, teaching her children to stray far from any sources of chakra.
"Damned barbarians. Fuuinjutsu: Sen no Tamashii no Ame! (Rain of a Thousand Souls)"
[Flashback, three months ago.]
"Fox, do you feel it?"
When I sensed a unique, warm, but violent, chakra, I asked the fox. I tried to numb my face as much as possible, but my voice still contained unbridled happiness and excitement. I even spoke out loud, instead of silently asking the fox through our mental link.
Naturally, the fox didn't miss this and teased me 'till I was as red as a tomato before answering, 'Yes. I felt it, change your direction a little to the left, and you'll run straight to him,' the nine-tailed fox guided. Because the fox's chakra and mine weren't mixed, my sensing abilities were vastly inferior to the giant fox's.
'Thanks, I'll see if I can convince him to serve me,' Naruto thought and changed directions. I was heading toward where he and the fox felt the unique chakra.
On the way there, I didn't know how many broken branches I passed by as I got closer to the chakra signature. 'Is he fighting someone?' I thought.
When I was about half a kilometer away from the chakra signature, I heard faint sounds of battle. The sharp sound of metal hitting metal was too conspicuous to ignore.
As I got closer, I heard someone shout, "You rouge bandits should die!"
Hearing the shout, I nodded my head and hastened my pace. 'So they are fighting. The fox was right, bandits are like flies and mosquitoes here, especially as I got closer to the Land of Whirlpools,' I thought. I was still hundreds of kilometers away from the Land of Whirlpool, but I already met dozens of bandit groups. Moreover, each of those bandits group had remarkable personnel, each surpassing a hundred bandits in size.
When I arrived at the scene, I saw a teenager, probably 16 or 18 years old, fighting off three bandits who were shirtless but were wearing white cloth belts on their waists. The teenager had a chokuto in his right hand and a scroll in his left hand.
*A/N: Chokuto is a straight, single-edged Japanese sword.
Seeing the scroll, my heart leaped in joy.
'That's a sealing scroll,' I thought when the three bandits saw me, "Oh? Another lamb, perfect! Boss will be happy with these goods. The demand for red-haired slaves are high these days, but a young boy like you also sell well," one of them said with a lecherous smile.
"Disgusting, go to hell," I snorted and took out a brush and a bottle of ink.
Seeing my actions, one of the three bandits laughed aloud while the other two bandits sneered. Only the red-haired boy looked at me with some surprise and expectations.
"And what are you going to do? Kill us through painting?" The laughing bandit held his stomach. Apparently, he was going to die from laughing. I was going to ignore him but after hearing what he said, I got a sudden idea.
I took out a black canvas from my waist (the storage scroll on his waist).
"No, I'll make you into a painting," I said before rushing toward the bandit who laughed the hardest. Too bad, I'll have the last laugh after this skirmish.
It took longer to pee than to finish those three bandits from earlier. When the red-haired teen was done gawking in place, the three bandits were already sealed into the blank canvas I took earlier.
The ink on the canvas formed three ghastly figures that kept wriggling about, trying to escape but to no avail. It was impossible, their fates were sealed the moment they tried to harm this precious red-haired teen.
After the red-haired boy calmed down, I asked him a question, "Boy, do you know who I am?"
"Um, no?" The red-haired boy stared back at me as if he was looking at a crazy person. Only now did I remember about the Body Transformation Seal.
"Hold on, I'll show you my true appearance and chakra," I said before deactivating the body transformation seal. The whole process only took five minutes. After all, Menma is just a black-haired and black-colored eyes version of my original body.
When the red-haired boy saw my real hair color and my vibrant, lavender eyes, his eyes widened. When he felt my chakra signature, he stumbled backward and almost fell to his butt.
"How is it, do you know me now?" I asked again.
While I was heading to the Land of Whirlpools, the fox taught me about the "royal bloodline" of the Uzumaki. According to him, the royals all had lavender eyes and their chakra was more potent than other Uzumaki members. The chakra of a regular Uzumaki is warm, yet violent. But according to the fox, the chakra of an Uzumaki with the royal bloodline is hot, and especially chaotic, sometimes uncontrollable.
One is akin to a rebellious teenager who bullies his peers, and the other is akin to a dangerous criminal who commits crimes left, right, and center.
The red-haired boy stammered for a while before composing himself, his eyes burning with slight reverence, and asked, "A-are you an Uzumaki?"
"Are you blind?" I asked back, slightly disdainful of the question.
"Right, sorry about that. Do you really have the god's bloodline?" The boy asked, almost wanting to kneel and kowtow.
"What the… what is the god's bloodline?"
I know about the royal bloodline, what the hell is a god's bloodline?!
"The elders said that when an Uzumaki with lavender eyes return, he will carry god's grace and his bloodline," the boy explained carefully while looking at me from head to toe, as if afraid of missing a single detail. His look made me shiver. Did this boy want to swallow me whole? I thought.
'Fox, what nonsense is this bastard talking about?'
The fox sighed and shook himself awake. 'Damn it, I was sleeping… that's a made-up fantasy, maybe his elders said that to fill him with hope for the future. You know, white lies. The only "god's bloodline" I know of is tyrannical, they are born to conquer and devour planets with intelligent life.'
'What kind of white lies…? God's bloodline, how audacious. Although I am seeking to become a god, I don't have the bloodline of a god,' I sneered in my heart but also made a mental note to ask the fox about the real "god's bloodline."
"Those are lies. Have you ever heard about the 'royal bloodline'? Also, why were you being attacked by bandits, and who are the 'elders' you spoke about?" I inquired.
"Are you really heading back to the ancestral lands?" a red-haired boy asked the black-haired boy beside him. Naruto re-activated the Body Transformation Seal after he finished interrogating the red-haired boy named Ichiro.
"Ask that question again and you'll find yourself six feet below the ground when you open your eyes tomorrow," hearing my threat, Ichiro snickered and quieted down. This guy was like a broken radio, he keeps asking the same question over and over again.
'Fox, did you have a hidden secret great-grandson named Ichiro?'
When the fox heard my question, he roared at me and gave me a gift called a headache.
'So, there's a group of Uzumaki nearby?'
Ichiro was one of the few Uzumaki who survived the fall of Uzushiogakure, and he was part of a group of Uzumaki who were living inside a forest near the Land of Whirlpools. The "elders" he was talking about were actually just adults, not old men. They were the strongest of their group, no doubt.
In the Uzumaki clan, age meant strength. The older you are, the stronger you are. This is because Uzumaki members mostly use fuuinjutsu and kenjutsu. They rarely directly use ninjutsu and genjutsu, all Uzumaki use fuuinjutsu to cast their ninjutsu and genjutsu.
'There are seventeen Uzumaki in Ichiro's group, and there are three more groups of Uzumaki with similar size to Ichiro's group. The problem is…'
"How long have the White Bear Bandits been harassing you?" I asked Ichiro. According to Ichiro, the White Bear Bandits wanted to get all of his group's food supply and children. They want the food for, well, food, and they want to sell the Uzumaki children for money.
Ichiro's story lined up with what the bandit said earlier, 'The slave market has a high demand for red-haired children,' the bandit said.
'This is bad, every Uzumaki is precious, child, adult, or old. I need to gather them together before they get scattered even more, or worse, get killed.'
Thanks to the Uzumaki's longevity, they can live up to two centuries, twice longer as an average human. However, because the Uzumaki use their blood to create and use fuuinjutsu, their lifespan gets shorter and shorter. The reason their longevity and vitality are strong in the first place is that their ancestors abused the hell out of their blood and ended up making it stronger. As they say, survival of the fittest.
Funnily enough, Naruto has yet to use his blood when creating or using his sealing techniques. He never used his blood because of the fox's warning. According to the fox, his royal bloodline might weaken over time if he uses his blood too often. When that happens, his talent will be affected.
"They've been harassing our group for ten days already. We tried seeking help from the other three Uzumaki groups, but we can't reach them. The bandits have long surrounded this area. They would let people enter, but they let no one leave. So fucking despicable!"
I merely hummed as I listened to Ichiro. I want to save the Uzumaki because I want to rebuild Uzushio, but that doesn't mean I will go into a rage whenever an Uzumaki is touched. I will be annoyed, yes, but letting anger muddle my thoughts is never a good idea.
"Are we close to your group's hiding place?"
"Yes, we're nearly there. I hunted a lot of animals yesterday and they're all inside this scroll," Ichiro said and showed me a small scroll. The scroll was worn out, but still usable. The four groups of Uzumaki didn't have a seal master, so they had to treasure every successful seal they create.
Not everyone had overflowing talent like Naruto, who had the royal bloodline. An average seal expert has around a 30% success rate in creating seals, and those are the simplest of the simplest seals. An average Uzumaki has a 70% success rate in creating all kinds of seals. While Naruto nearly has a 100% success rate.
He rarely created a defective seal. When he does, it's usually because he was distracted or he was inventing a new type of seal.
Even at the peak of the Uzumaki clan, they didn't have many seal masters, but each of them was a monster who could tear apart the current ninja villages if they wanted to. Seal masters have ranks, so no seal master is equal. Once a fuuinjutsu expert reaches level 5, the seal master level, they will embark on their own road.
To this point, Naruto and the fox were still confused as to how the Uzumaki fell. Even if they were surrounded on all sides and were facing off endless enemies, they were the Uzumaki clan. If they wished, they could recreate a bijuu, much less destroy the alliance of the ninja villages that attacked them.
'I'll look for clues about the truth when I reach the Land of Whirlpools. For now, let's focus on saving the Uzumaki members who are wandering in this forest.'
Ichiro and Naruto walked for a few more minutes before they reached a camp filled with red-haired individuals. They all looked at Naruto weirdly at first, but after Naruto showed his chakra and his true appearance, they all couldn't stop themselves from crying.
Apparently, the "elders" of this group weren't the ones who spread the rumors about the "god's bloodline." They too believed that the "god's bloodline" was real, so they were a little downcast when they learned the truth.
'As they say, even a lie can become the truth if repeated thousands of times.'
Without bothering with the lies of the "elders," Naruto led Ichiro's group to march toward the other Uzumaki groups. The Uzumaki weren't stupid, they made a seal formula that tracks down their location before they split into four groups.
Naruto and the Uzumaki ran toward the other groups of Uzumaki at high speeds, and with the help of Naruto, the bandits who attacked them were quickly dealt with.
Naruto was the strongest Uzumaki within the group, despite being the youngest.
'How the mighty have fallen,' Naruto sighed. In Ichiro's group, only a few were level 2 seal experts. The rest were level 1 seal experts, in other words, most of the groups could barely be called students learning fuuinjutsu.
Naruto and his group spent one week reaching the second group of Uzumaki, and after explaining his bloodline to them and the truth about the god's bloodline, they chose to follow him, the prince of the fallen clan.
They kept searching for the remaining two Uzumaki groups and by the time they found the third Uzumaki group, the bandits had already strengthened their patrols, but it was nothing in front of Naruto. This was the power of fuuinjutsu, once you amass a lot of sealing scrolls, you can throw them around wantonly and easily solve a bunch of cannon fodder.
Regarding the Uzumaki clan members that he gathered, despite finding three out of the four Uzumaki groups, Naruto was still the best fuuinjutsu expert within the group, and he was running out of sealing supplies.
When the Uzumaki heard of his troubles, they gave him all of their supplies to use for fuuinjutsu. Naruto only had a dozen blank scrolls left and he had three extra explosive scrolls. After the Uzumaki members gave him their supplies, his blank scrolls barely reached 50, and he received some explosive tags, paralysis tags, camouflage scrolls, chakra suppression scrolls, and other useful seals, amounting to a whopping 29 sealing scrolls and barely a dozen sealing tags. The amount made Naruto want to bury himself.
Among over 50 Uzumaki, only one, Naruto, was a level 3 seal expert. Furthermore, they were living in poverty. Naruto was ashamed. He wouldn't be able to keep his head high in the future if things didn't change.
Despite feeling bitter in his heart, Naruto still led the group of Uzumaki to locate the last remaining Uzumaki group. At the same time, the leader of the White Bear Bandits, Shirokuma, finally learned about Naruto's actions and rallied over a hundred bandits to capture Naruto and his group.
The White Bear Bandits weren't some random bandit group, they were a bandit army. Each bandit under Shirokuma's command was genin level. He commanded over 1,500 bandits, which was already way beyond other bandit groups, but this place was near the Land of Whirlpools. Nobody knew when it started, but massive armies of bandits like Shirokuma's started appearing out of the blue. They even helped with the fall of the Uzumaki clan.
Around a thousand of Shirokuma's army were genin-level, the rest were chunin-level, while his personal elite guards were jonin-level. With his army, he could form a ninja village. His bandit army only had one flaw, they didn't use ninjutsu. Instead, they used chakra-infused swords and a kenjutsu style Shirokuma renamed as "Claws and Body of the White Bear."
"Are they ready?" Shirokuma asked, his white cloak hiding his average-looking body. His katana was held by the obi on his left waist. Beside him was a giant, burly man with the body of a bear. His name was Takumashii, and he looked more like the White Bear Bandits' leader than Shirokuma, but his eyes held deep fear toward Shirokuma.
It should be known that Shirokuma had the strength of an elite jonin. Considering the fact their kenjutsu style, "Claws and Body of the White Bear," increased their body strength and attacking capabilities, Shirokuma's strength was bordering the kage-level, while Takumashii was just a measly jonin.
"Yes, sir. A hundred chunin-level bandits have gathered, and all of the twelve White Bear Kings are ready to soak in blood and tears with you," Takumashii said.
The White Bear Kings were his jonin-level elites, his personal guards, while he was called the "White Bear Emperor."
"Good. Order them to search for those red-haired freaks and attack them on sight," Shirokuma ordered, his eyes gleaming with cold light, freezing everything in his sight.
"Naruto-sama, the radar sensed a dozen… no! A hundred bandits and all of their chakra reached the chunin level!" an Uzumaki with bandages covering his eyes spoke in alarm while touching a scroll on the floor.
The scroll was opened, and there was moving ink all over the paper. There were over 50 small dots of ink and one massive pool of ink at the center, and at the edge of the scroll, there were countless small dots moving toward them.
Although their seals were weaker than Naruto's, they created a lot of useful seals that can detect chakra signatures from several miles away. The "radar" the Uzumaki was talking about can sense chakra signatures from over three kilometers away, much further than Naruto's sensing abilities.
Suddenly, the Uzumaki whose eyes were bandaged up gasped in shock.
"My god! There are over a dozen jonin-level bandits coming toward us!"
He already guessed that these hundreds of "dots" were bandits, as only they will have such a force. So when he saw about fourteen slightly big "dots" form behind those hundreds of small "dots," he was scared silly. Furthermore, one of those big dots was only slightly smaller than Naruto's "dot," meaning that they had similar chakra levels!
*A/N: Oh my, I don't know how this chapter reached 5k+ words… I was tempted to keep writing this chapter, but I'm not comfortable with making such long chapters yet, so the fighting scenes will have to wait until the next chapter, until then!
** I tried using Google translate for the seal's name to add to the atmosphere, how do you like it? I don't know much about the Japanese language, only some simple words and the Japanese alphabet, I don't even know how to make a sentence in Japanese, but I tried to make sure that the translations are accurate… Although I'm sure that it won't be, sorry about that.