Chapter 11

Bending Nations and Progression

Beta: Old man of the mountain/Darklord331

In a nearby abandoned air-bender temple, Naruto was situated on the floor while meditating.

He had been doing this more often in the last few years than he did before, Sukuna suggested this as a way to help deal with stress and to relax his body and his mind. The toads even supported this idea stating it was a good way to relieve stress and it is important for training down the road. While he didn't understand what they were getting at, he accepted it as a good habit.

The last two years had been great for him and the Bending Nations turned out to be as great as he thought they would. He and his brothers started exploring the land and finding everything and anything they needed for long travel while understanding the new currency system. Buddha was reckless with money so Beelzebub was put in charge of their finances to make sure he didn't leave them broke due to his appetite. Both of his brothers did enjoy their time exploring the nations and seeing bending in action.

But the thing they enjoyed more was finding out about the air temple and the history of the nations as they are currently.

Apparently, the Avatar was rumored to be somewhere in the world but no one knew where exactly. Some speculated that the boy that was supposed to be the Avatar was dead while others assumed that he was in hiding somewhere in the spirit realm. Naruto speculated that possibly he was somewhere in the world because from what he gathered the body was never found. Meaning either he died doing something really stupid or he found some way to continue living without needing to eat or sleep. He wasn't sure exactly where he would be but he had to guess it was in one of the lesser countries that no one bothers.

But that was kinda the end of the high points with the Avatar as they learned that the Airbenders were wiped out a couple hundred years ago by the Fire Nation. The story was that they did it to smoke out the Avatar and to make sure he never threatened their dynasty. However, they were skeptical as there had to be more to it than that given that it sounds like the child was completely isolated from the rest of the world. Left in a state where he never had a chance to really be a kid or grow up and making his own decisions. It was annoying to think about but there was nothing they could do other than explore the ruins. That is when Buddha found something in the temple and in a rare moment both brothers saw irritation on his face. They could see a small vein form on his forehead and his teeth crunching the lollipop in his mouth.

Buddha never got angry, that was the one thing they both knew since traveling with him for more than 2 years. It was rare to see him get angry at anything or anyone, he usually brushed it off or found a way to talk things out and become friends. But there were occasions where he could show his irritation with someone if they really were asking for it, however this was rage. He never divulged what it was but he did state,

"We are going to need to look more into the Fire Nation history soon."

Naruto and Beelzebub just agreed, there was no point in arguing with him. Like them he was stubborn and he wouldn't budge on this topic.

After a few days he calmed down but he seemed to be reading everything they could find in the first air-temple. From there they traveled to some other temples and found more scripts that were hidden away and he just seemed to get angrier as he read.

As for them, Beelzebub got to study some people who could bend. He didn't come to any conclusions yet but he did state that he was interested in learning more of how people learn what elements they can bend or how they know they can bend. To him, it was a mystery he wanted to solve. On top of that, he wanted to know why it flowed differently to chakra and why it seemed to be, less dangerous to one than chakra.

Naruto got to his studies. Mostly mastering his elemental releases and mastering his hand to hand skills.

Genjutsu was just out of his reach due to the amount of chakra he had and the fact that he can't perform them. He knew how to see through them and dispel them but he would never be a master in this field like Buddha was. There was a day where he demonstrated it and explained that due to the raw amount of chakra Naruto has there was no way for him to actually master Genjutsu without literally balancing his chakra to the point of it being more detrimental. While this hurt, he accepted this and went to work on his other arts.

Of the five basic elements Naruto had mastered three in the two years training and traveling while almost mastering his fourth element. Fire and wind were easy enough for him to learn since he was closely aligned to them while water was another he was working on during their time. Traveling across the ocean helped in his studies and thanks to Buddha he mastered water releases faster than expected. Lighting proved to be difficult due to the fact that he wasn't very compatible with it, only earth was worse. Naruto had gotten lighting down to where he could perform some moves with it but he ends up overloading his body with this power.

Meaning; too much lighting release and not enough control means bolts of electricity explode all around him.

Earth release was the hardest to master as he didn't understand the basic principle of moving the earth. To him he was just stuck in this area and decided to hold off until he can find a better teacher than Buddha.

He too was stumped as this was his worst element as well with water and lighting being his best.

But the area he improved the most in and was proudest was his hand to hand. Between his battles with Buddha and Beelzebub and his spirit battles with Sukuna he finally got his chi-blocking strikes down to a fine point. Plus he forgone his overpowering approach and settled for being more loose with his movement and more refined with his strikes. He was able to predict strikes better and he was able to even use their own momentum against them. While he wasn't a master of it, he could now destroy people's arms and other spots by hitting them in their chi-points. Thankfully, they were similar to chakra points, so he could get the positioning down quickly. But the biggest thing is that his style allowed him to overload the nodes as well causing them to simulate an explosion inside of their body. In terms of chakra Buddha described it as unlocking the Gates but due to the high output he makes, it was really draining. He estimates those with small reserves might fight harder and faster for maybe five minutes but that is it. Then they might overdo it and then die from the usage.

Naruto had to admit he wanted to see how this would work if he did it on Benders. But for now, he was just satisfied that his fighting style was coming together and that his merging with Sukuna was going well. He already was starting to see the tattoos forming on his arm signaling that they were becoming more entuned with one another.

But Dark chakra and his staff proved to be the hardest to master or use. Dark Chakra still was impossible for him to control and his murderous impulses and dark emotions start emerging too fast. So, studies of Dark chakra were pushed off until he mastered all five elements and he 'figures out the weakness he has yet to overcome.'

Not sure what Sukuna meant but Naruto knew it was important.

The staff was another thing; while he was able to use it and even defeat opponents with it, mostly bandits, he found he couldn't get it to activate. For some reason the staff didn't want to do anything for him and he was frustrated by it. But he figured that when the time comes it will help him.

But for now; the brothers were relaxing in the temple and thinking about where they should go next.

"So," Buddha swinging his legs around while sitting on a high windowsill. "I think we should head to Omashu. It is the nearest town to this temple and let's be honest we need supplies."

Naruto sighed,

"You just want to stock up on snacks."

"True."

Naruto got to his feet and dusted off his robe, "Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to head to the nearest city so we can get supplies. But then I think we should go and check out these fire nation colonies that everyone is talking about."

"True." Beelzebub was lying on the floor, "I heard that their creation is what sparked this conflict with the Earth Kingdom and other nations. Something about how they didn't belong and that 'balance' needs to be maintained."

Buddha rolled his eyes, "Balance changes with each generation; what is balance in one era might not be balance in another. It makes me wish the people of these nations understand that and lets be honest, the earth kingdom is big enough that it wouldn't miss some land."

"True." Naruto sighed, "The kingdom was formed under some kind of king, apparently he conquered all but Kyoshi Island which broke off thanks to the Avatar Kyoshi. Supposedly she separated herself from the rest of them to protect her homeland and now it is just an island in the middle of the sea."

"I heard in town that town where the king is from is not the biggest fan of her or the Avatar's of any generation."

"Makes sense." Buddha jumped down from his spot and yawned, "They lost their king to someone that is viewed as a hero to everyone around them. But in reality, who knows the real reason she did what she did." He shrugged his shoulders, "But back to the point, Omashu first and then we can go and check out those colonies."

Naruto smiled,
"Yeah, I think this is going to be a fun trip."

The three brothers proceeded to leave the air temple and begin their trek back into the earth kingdom and heading to the city of Omashu not knowing the destiny that awaits them.

Konoha

The village had seen better days.

Two years, that is all it took for their village to suffer a serious fall from grace.

Between Sasuke running off to Orochimaru, a man that murdered the third hokage and attacked the village, and did crimes that are so evil no one dares speak of them, to the council's actions and behavior, and finally the banishment of Naruto.

The Fire Daimyo was furious after everything he learned from the council. The corruption in the school to the markets, to the politics, to the spies, everything. It was just so staggering he wondered why his brother never bothered to interfere before but he guessed it was due to his lazy nature.

To deal with this issue first hand he had all the council members hung from trees outside the royal capital with plaques for all that passed them. Serving as a warning for those that dared to commit harm to the innocent in his country and to make sure the families know; this is their final warning.

Afterwards he released everything; Naruto's imprisonment, his treatment at the hands of the village, the lies that were told about him, and why he was sent to the prison in the first place. When people found out about the Blood Prison; there was so many emotions going on and confusion as to how he survived whatever happened inside. Speculations were running rampant about how he escaped but the most shocking thing for everyone was the destruction of the box. No one knew how he did it but they were thankful its dark power couldn't be used anymore.

However that was the beginning of the troubles for Konoha. Koyuki, the ruler of the Land of Spring came to Konoha, ripped into every single person in the room, and ended all partnership with the village. Explaining her disgust and anger, she even shredded the Icha Icha movie script putting Jiraiya in the hospital.

Waterfall was doing their best to try and make amends with their tailed beast but after learning of her horrible treatment she was brought to the Fire capital in order to protect her. The leader of Waterfall didn't want to do this but he knew it was for the best. Plus, he knew there were those who would sell the poor girl if the chance came and he didn't want that feeling on his hands.

The girl, Fuu was terrified to hear about what happened to Naruto and she pitied him. But she swore that she would make the most of this second chance and began her studies into the shinobi world with the Fire Daimyo providing all the support she can want.

Suna had the worst time with Gaara. Not only did they have to stop him from coming to Konoha, but they had to deal with his mood swings. Gaara knew something was wrong when he couldn't find Naruto on his visit to Konoha but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to cause him trouble. Figuring he might just be out of the village as they said. He never bothered to look into it and that ate him up. The guilt of not actually trying to look into the matter killed him internally. But he swore he would make it up to him and thus when appointed as Kazekage he ordered that the alliance with the Leaf be revised. Stating that while they did have a hand in the invasion and won't deny his involvement in it, it was Naruto that stopped him. Not Sasuke, not the jounin, Naruto did that and he gave him his life back. Made him believe in the people around him once more. For that he owes Naruto everything and if the Leaf was going to treat him like that he wanted to renegotiate their terms.

The Lords were more than willing to do so and their lord managed to get them the better of the deal and helped improve Suna's standings to the point they were seen as a legit threat to anyone that dared to trifle with them.

While their alliances were on thin ice their trading business plummeted, they were losing money left and right and they were struggling. Danzo managed to make sure some of their more shady contacts and partners stayed the course but he also knew they needed legit resources. While he thought about removing certain people from power he scratched the idea knowing that would only bring more suspicion down on them and they couldn't afford it. So he settled for maintaining their more illegal and illicit dealings while allowing Tsunade to manage everything else.

Koharu and Homura took a more active role; helping to manage the council, the civilians mostly, and also discussing changes to things such as the school and what is available. They started inputting more into the school, pushed back the graduation for this generation, and even added more courses so students understand what they are getting into. On top of that more jounin and chunin were offering time to help with classes and thus improving the overall performance of the students. Also graduation no longer required the three moves, those were necessary to even attempt graduation which is a field test.

On top of that, they implemented Tsunade's desire for a med-ninja program and had Shizune in charge of it. While also moving some of their finances around to help keep the village stabilized and allocating to more important matters. Luckily they weren't in ruin but they definitely were not in a great place.

Tsunade on the other hand; she was just upping the training of everyone in the village while also dealing with the mess related to Sasuke and the Akautski. Luckily on the later since Naruto was in the wind, they didn't have to worry about them coming to the village again. However they did send out reports of this group to the other villages all over the continent to warn them if they showed up.

Kumo appreciated it and even expressed interest in talks again with their new Raikage assuring them that he would come with his brother and one guard only. Tsunade agreed hoping to build new ties with the other villages.

Iwa, they were silent at first but eventually the third Tsuchikage sent her a letter thanking her for the information and asking about talks as well. Stating that he felt it was time to put some matters to rest when it came to the last war. He admits there are some that were still resentful but he was past that; war was war.

So that was some of the positives going on but she knew with Sasuke now cleared to join the forces again, they were going to need to make some serious changes. Which is why she was glad about this recent information.

In her office she had Team 8.

"I'm glad you all showed up I have a long term mission for you." The four nodded. "This mission will take you to a new continent known as the Bending Nations. We were formally requested by a man that rules over what is called the North Pole. Apparently he is concerned with a sensitive matter in their lands and want our help."

"What exactly is the matter?" Kurenai was worried what she was getting into. While long term jobs were fine she didn't want to be doing a job they weren't good at.

"It is a protection job for one Avatar. Apparently he is some kind of messiah in training or something. He just saved them back in the North Pole recently and that he was traveling to what they call the Earth Kingdom. Apparently; there is a war with them and another nation known as the Fire Nation. They are at each other's throats and things are just getting worse as time passes. So, they want our help in protecting the child until he can fulfill his destiny of saving them all."

"Ma'am, no offense, but shouldn't you send a team like Team Gai or even Team 7? They are more equipped in dealing with combat situations and long term bodyguard work?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Normally your right but Team Gai is currently unavailable due to the upcoming treaty talk with Kumo and fears that Neji might lash out. Hiashi asked for him to stick close to him in hopes of getting something back from their nation while at the same time, they thought it best Hinata be gone while this is going on. Especially after what happened with the previous Raikage."

Kurenai sighed and knew this was a good reason.

"As for Team 7 they are currently on suspension remember? Sasuke might have joined back up with his old team but he is still not allowed to go anywhere. He is still mandated to train in the village until we can be assured he is not a flight risk." She also knew that Orochimaru was waiting for another chance to get Sasuke, but she knew the less they know the better.

Kurenai conceded the point.

"When do we leave?"

Tsunade handed them a scroll,

"Pack for long term; Jiraiya luckily has contacts out that way due to him traveling there for 'inspriation' about a year ago. Apparently due to the trip he is now helping us bridge a gap and due to something that happened the tribe leader in the north apparently knew how to contact us."

"I see." Kurenai shook her head, figures it be this case. She just hoped whatever contact he made didn't cause unnecessary tension with the women of the Northern Water Tribe.

"This scroll will transport you to the Northern Water Tribe leader and he will point you in the right direction."

The four nodded and exited the office to say their goodbyes before heading out.

Tsunade just hoped this mission went smoothly not knowing of the collision course that was coming.

Chapter End