Naruto's Odyssey

Prologue I


[October 10th, the night of the nine-tails attack.]

Minato paced back and forth outside the hospital room. The anticipation and worry in his chest grew exponentially with each groan of pain that emanated. It had only been a few hours since the laboring had begun, but it felt more like an eternity.

The old man sat quietly on a stool not far away, keeping silent company. His wife, Biwako, had offered to help with the birth, and Kushina had accepted gratefully.

There was a moment of silence, and Minato perked up. Was it over? Did it go well?

Finally, the tension was broken by the wailing of a newborn child, and Minato went stock still. Naruto, their son – he was a father now! – was born.

The doors to the hospital room opened and an iryō-nin stepped through. She nodded at him with a soft smile.

Minato returned the gesture, not trusting his voice. With each step, he felt his heart beat harder against his chest and wondered briefly if it would burst through his ribs. He stepped inside and was momentarily blinded by the blazing lights. But then it faded, and he felt the breath leave his lungs.

Kushina lay in bed with a bundle wrapped in cloth held carefully in her arms. Her crimson hair was matted with sweat, and she looked tired from hours of agony. Yet her eyes shone with joy and love beyond anything he'd ever seen.

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as they met his, "Look, Minato, our son."

The world seemed to melt away around him, leaving only his wife and child. His family.

She seemed similarly entranced as he came around and sat by her side.

Cradled in her arms, was their son, so small and fragile. His hands clenched into small fists; legs tucked in. Crowned with a tuft of golden hair so very much like his father's.

His eyes stung and a wobbly chuckle broke through his lips. "He's perfect, Kushina."


Minato sensed him a moment before he arrived, blinking into existence within the hospital room wearing the standard ANBU uniform of black and grey, face hidden by an animalistic porcelain mask.

However, he was taken aback for a moment by which ANBU it was. The head of the black ops division. "Hokage-sama, there's an emergency."

Minato was up in an instant. If Dragon had come personally to deliver the news, then it had to be deadly serious. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Hiruzen stood as well, face stony.

"Report."

And the ANBU did.

The answer made his stomach curdle.


Minato raced through the corridors of the Hokage tower, barking out orders as he went. God, this couldn't be happening. Why now? Why today?

"Hokage-sama, Godaime-sama."

Shikaku stood waiting in his office alongside the three elders and head ANBU.

"Dragon, how long do we have?"

"An hour at most." Dragon responded, and Minato could hear the underlying string of fear that laced the usual monotone voice that all ANBU spoke with.

Minato grimaced. "Shikaku, assemble all shinobi Chūnin and above, and intercept. Use whatever measures to halt its progress – it cannot be allowed to enter the village." Shikaku nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. He turned to Hiruzen's old teammates, "You oversee the evacuation of citizens."

Lastly, he turned to Danzo, "Gather Ne, stem the flow of information. Do whatever you need to. Not a word of this can reach the other hidden villages." Danzo nodded and faded into the dark.

Then it was just him, Dragon, and the old man.

"Let's go." Was all he said.


"It's been long years since I've seen one of them. Last time was near Jigokudani, in the northern frontier."

"In the ruined lands?" Minato asked. There had been rumours of one residing there.

"Indeed. I was a young man back then… I didn't fight it, of course. I saw it from a distance. But even then, its mere presence was…" Hiruzen trailed off. Minato knew it couldn't be a fond memory. "Minato, if worst comes to pass, we'll have to seal the beast."

"…I know."

Hiruzen nodded firmly. "How long?" He asked tilting his head towards Minato's hands that were brought together as if in prayer.

"It's ready." Minato answered just as they touched down outside the village. He slammed them down on the solid earth and intoned, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!". The space-time sealing matrix spread out from his hands and onto the ground, like a web, woven with seals, ink, and chakra. The eruption of a cloud of white smoke signified the Jutsu had taken effect.

"Minato-chan, how've you been, lad?" A distinctly toad-like voice asked through the smoke.

"Oh, dear, it's been so long! How's Kushina doing, hm?" Another questioned, this one higher pitched.

The smoke faded and the Nidaisengama, the two elder toad sages, came slowly into view. "Ma, Pa." He bowed his head respectfully. They stiffened at the grim expression and grave tone.

Fukasaku recovered first, "What's wrong lad? Why did 'ya summon us?"

Minato wasted no time. There was too little of it to squander – it would be upon them soon. "The village will be under attack shortly; I need you to reverse-summon Jiraiya."

Shima gasped, "Under attack?! By whom?"

Fukasaku shook his head in disgust, "Another war, then. Who is it? Kumo? Iwa?"

"I'm afraid it's not another village, this time." Hiruzen answered, stepping forward.

Fukasaku inclined his head respectfully in greeting, "Hiruzen-dono."

"Lord Fukasaku, Lady Shima."

"If not a village, then who?" Shima asked, bewildered.

Minato took a deep, shuddering breath, "One of the bijū. The Kyūbi no Yōko."


*POOF! *

"Ot-to-to-to-to." Jiraiya stumbled forward, "Oi, what's the big idea?" He yawned. "Do you know what time… it is…" He trailed off when he noticed both his student and sensei in battle attire and the otherworldly nature of Mt. Myōboku nowhere in sight. "Minato, Sensei… what's going on?"

The ear-splitting roar of a beast thundered in the distance, sending an icy shiver down their spines. The earth below them trembled, tremors shaking the world.

Confusion came over him, then a surprised look of realization. "No, it can't be…" Jiraiya whispered, eyes widening and face paling.

"We need to move, sensei." Minato said. "It can't be allowed near the village."

It took a moment for the sheer absurdity of the situation to sink it. The strength of that echoing roar. The sheer presence, like a storm about devastate the land, bringing with it certain desolation. It could only be one of the nine. And only one of them was rumoured to be in these lands. "But what set it off? Why's it even here?! It hasn't been seen since the Era of Warring Clans!"

Hiruzen shook his head. "I don't know why, but it is here. And we have no choice but to face it."

Jiraiya gritted his teeth but nodded, pushing all his confusion and questions to the back of his mind. "Ma, Pa."

"Right." They intoned and hopped onto his shoulders.


Its menacing aura rolled over them in waves. Its very presence like a force of gravity, a crushing weight upon their shoulders. Malevolent chakra thickened the air, making it difficult to even breathe.

Minato watched the beast from afar.

It was funny. Reading about something big gave you a sense of enormity. But seeing it up close was different all together.

Even on all fours, the nine-tails towered over everything nearby. The trees barely came up to its wrists. A titan. Its mere size made it a dangerous opponent, but coupled with the amount of chakra it possessed...

He'd stumbled upon a scroll pertaining to the Bijū and the creation of Jinchūriki once while studying the sealing arts, and in a sudden bout of curiosity, decided to delve deeper. It was a fascinating subject. Not much was known about them. Most who encountered the creatures rarely lived to tell the tale.

The tailed beasts were beings in possession of immense power – enough to singlehandedly devastate entire nations.

Ancient beings, thought to be remnants of a bygone age. No one really knew what they were or where they came from, but they were thought to be as old as chakra. Some scholars even believed that they might be theprogenitors of chakra itself.

Most of the information about them dated back to the Warring Clans Era, when the Bijū had been the most active in known history.

After the founding of the hidden villages, they'd settled. It had been surmised that the bloodshed had attracted them, or perhaps the amount of chakra that'd been thrown around during the constant battles between clans. But again, no one really knew.

Curiously enough, they were creatures made not of flesh and blood, but the very energy that saturated the world. How do you kill something made of pure energy?

Minato banished those thoughts from his mind. He couldn't afford to be distracted. Not now. Next to him, Hiruzen had summoned Enma, the Monkey King. And Jiraiya's nose had grown bulbous and covered in warts, his pupils turned into vertical bars of pitch black – a sign he was in Sage mode.


Sweat stung his eyes like tiny vipers. All around was nothing but a whirlwind of disaster. His parched tongue collected the dusty air which intermixed itself with the bitterness of iron. The deafening sound of explosions beat out all noise except the howling of men and the blood pounding in his ears. Above the scent of dirt, sweat, and blood, were the all-pervasive smells of intermingled fear and malice.

Minato didn't know how long it'd been, but it felt like an eternity.

Another roar shook the earth. The Nine-tails swung a massive claw, about to swat a dozen shinobi out of the sky like flies. The claw fell short however, its enormous body unbalanced by Jiraiya creating a swamp beneath one of its hindlegs.

"Minato!"

He whipped around to face Hiruzen. The old man was dirtied and breathing heavy, clutching the transformed Enma in one hand. There was no visible injury, though, thankfully.

"Whatever brought it here, it seems dead set on seeing it through. I'm afraid, my boy, that we might have no other solution. We have to seal it."

A flicker of hesitation passed over Minato's face. It was true, the Nine-tails seemed to be in an unholy rage, seething with barely restrained fury. Whatever the cause, it was obvious Konoha was its target. He'd tried to teleport it far away with his Hiraishin, but its overwhelming mass made it extremely chakra intensive to transport it more than just a couple of kilometres. Only a single use of the Hiraishin had cost him almost a fifth of his chakra reserves. And even then, the Kyūbi had made its way back in but a short while.

His Shinobi were falling in droves. Some of the Chūnin could barely handle its presence, let alone do anything to halt it. The longer they kept fighting, the more casualties.

If the terrifying amount of chakra the Kyūbi was leaking affected it, it didn't show. The beast didn't even seem remotely tired. At this rate, it would reach the village. And even if they were able to chase it off, how many would have to die in the effort?

Danzo and Root would buy them some time, but sooner or later, the other villages would catch wind of what'd happened here, and then the fires of war would come to their doorstep.

No, he couldn't let that happen. He would have to seal it. Somehow.

Hiruzen apparently sensed his unease. "We're losing ground quickly. If nothing is done, it will reach our borders." There was steel in his voice now. "It must be sealed, Minato."

Minato nodded. "Yes… keep it busy for as long as possible." He took a kunai and gave it to Hiruzen, and with a flash of light, he was gone.


He materialized inside the secret storage room within the Hokage tower. It held jutsu, seals, battle gear, information, and more. An accumulation of all the knowledge of the previous Hokage.

He hurried over to the sealing section, eyeing the shelves of books and scrolls swiftly, and picked out the two he knew were most likely to succeed. There were extremely few seals capable of handling massive amounts of chakra. He, personally, knew only of two. The Eight Trigrams Seal and the Iron Armor Seal.

He unfurled the scrolls, eyes roaming over every sentence – every letter.

No, no, no. These… these aren't enough. Too dangerous. The risks are too high. Chance of success too low.

Leaving them at the table, he began his search anew, almost frantically. With each second, the beast was gaining ground. He read as fast as he could, eyes skimming over the texts feverishly. But with every scroll he dropped to the ground, the despair and panic in his gut intensified.

Come on, come on! There has to be something that can seal it! There has to be! I-!

He paused, eyes landing on a single, thick, red-and-green scroll situated in a corner of the dimly lit room, almost entirely hidden by shadows.

The Forbidden Scroll.

Walking over, he took it, gently, almost reverently. He placed it on the ground, unfurled it, and read until he found what he was looking for.

A single seal.

One he'd first heard of as a rumor when he'd become a Jōnin.

One, that as Hokage, he'd been told by his predecessor to never – ever – use.

An ancient relic from a lost history.

The Reaper Death Seal.


[A short while later, Kushina's hospital room.]

Minato braced himself as he entered the hospital room. His wife lay in bed, Naruto cradled gently in her arms, asleep. She looked up as he entered, and her eyes widened at the sight of him. "Minato. Did… Is it gone?" She asked, her hopeful voice barely a whisper so as to not disturb their son.

He wanted so badly to reassure her. To tell her everything was fine. That the village was safe. Yet, the words stuck in his throat. Dread pooled in his stomach, like a pit, draining his very soul.

He shook his head and saw a flash of worry and fear in her violet eyes.

"Then…" She trailed off.

"It won't retreat." He whispered. "Right now, our forces are stalling it." He braced himself. "It… It has to be sealed."

Her eyes widened as realization dawned. Of course she understood. She was an Uzumaki. Part of a clan that prided itself on their Fūinjutsu.

"… Jinchūriki." The words were faint, spoken softly under her breath. She gulped, "B-but sealing a bijū… it's dangerous, you know that. And almost impossible. How do you…?"

"I found a seal. It'll work, Kushina."

She frowned, "Then, who…" She froze, eyes widening. "No… Minato, you don't mean to…?" She looked down at their son. Their infant son. Born just a couple of hours ago.

His heart clenched painfully at the horror he detected in her voice.

"No! You can't. He's our son!"

"Who else, Kushina." He asked, fists clenched, expression drawn into a pained grimace. "Who do I seal it into?" He asked again, almost pleadingly, wishing she had an actual answer.

"…Me. Seal it in me. I'm an Uzumaki. I can– "

"Sealing it into an adult, or teenager, would outright kill them. And we'd be facing the same problem all over again. It has to be someone young. Too young to have developed a proper chakra circulatory system."

"But he's our son…" She had tears in her eyes now.

Minato came around, seating himself next to her, one arm over her shoulder, the other by their son. "It's because he's our son, Kushina, that we must. I can't ask this of anyone else when I can't do it myself. There are few enough children of the right age, but our son, he's an Uzumaki, like you. He stands the best chance…"

She didn't reply, only burying her head in the crook of his shoulder. A sob wracked her body, and he could feel her trembling.


[With the Fifth Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.]

"Godaime-sama, we can't hold out much longer." Shikaku panted, sweat trailing down his forehead. "Its brute force is too much to handle for any bind we can come up with."

Hiruzen knew that of course. Even Enma could barely push it back, and that was in the few openings in which the beast was unbalanced. Its weight was simply too much. Gamabunta had been able to give it pause, but a claw to the chest had opened a gash so big Hiruzen was unsure if he would survive.

"Minato is preparing a seal." He informed and he saw Shikaku's eyes widen.

"A Jinchūriki then."

Hiruzen nodded.

Their slight reprieve was interrupted by the beast's sudden movement. The battlefield fell silent as the towering form of the Nine-tails raised its head to the sky, tails like monolithic pillars, curling up around its body and towards its mouth.

"What's it…?"

Hiruzen felt the hair on his body rise as the first red and blue bubbles of condensed, potent chakra formed. He recognized it for what it was immediately. The texts didn't contain much about the powers of the tailed beasts. But the one attack they all had in common was this. "Scatter, quickly! It's an explosive!" He hollered at the top of his lungs. The shinobi didn't have to be told twice. They dispersed in the blink of an eye.

The beads of chakra coalesced into a single, dark-purple sphere, as big as the beast's head. The raw power in that sphere was so strong it distorted the very space around it.

There was a sudden lull where no one moved. Then, its massive, crimson eye focused on them.

His eyes widened.

It turned away from them!

"It's aiming for the Village!" Shikaku bellowed, just a second before Hiruzen himself.

The old man dashed forward; Adamantine staff ready. Jiraiya was already speeding through the hand-seals for another swamp.

Too late, however. The Tailed-Beast Bomb flew off. The forestry caught in its path was destroyed instantaneously or set ablaze from the proximity.

Speechless, he watched it sail in the direction of their home. Towards Konoha. The Village he'd been entrusted with by his predecessors.

.

.

Then it stopped mid-air, as if having met an invisible wall.

His breath hitched.

At the zenith of the forest canopy, a single man stood, cape billowing in the wind.

Fūinjutsu markings snaked their way out from behind the projectile, before the whole thing sunk into thin air.


He watched the massive, densely packed purple orb of chakra zip through the air, leaving behind it a trail of scorched earth and blazing trees. The one thing he had known to expect when fighting a bijū was this. The tailed beast bomb: the only attack that all of the nine had in common.

If it hit, it would turn Konoha into a smouldering crater.

'Hiraishin: Dōrai!'

His own space-time barrier technique, the Hiraishin: Guiding Thunder, swallowed up what by all accounts was the single most destructive jutsu known to mankind.

Like a rock slowly submerged into water, it was gone.

He launched a custom-made tri-pronged kunai towards the beast.

The Nine-tails growled menacingly but had no time to react as Minato flashed in close. The moment his hand touched its burnt orange fur, they were gone, reappearing on his chosen sealing ground. He felt the drain at once, his limbs felt heavier, as if turned to lead.

At once, glowing chains sprung out from the ground, wrapping themselves around the beasts' limbs and shooting back down into solid earth, restricting its movement.

His eyes flickered to the famed sealing chains of the Uzumaki clan for the briefest of moments. Links of pure silver outlined by a glow that shone like molten gold. His wife's bloodline limit was always a sight to behold.

A barrier went up not a second later, a dome of luminescent light, completely transparent but for the slight shimmering that occasionally caught the eye. It wouldn't do much against the beast, but it was the best they had. Perhaps it would buy them a precious few seconds should the bijū escape its bonds.

Minato didn't waste any time, hands flashing through seals at lightning speed. A long sequence.

Kushina sat next to the crib, whispering words of reassurance and love to their infant son. Sweat trailed down her pale face, the strain of using her kekkei genkai so soon after childbirth no doubt weighing heavily on her. Yet she didn't flinch, nor did she let it stop her from conveying how very dear their son was to them.

Finally, he reached the last seal.

There was a lull in battle, and he waited with bated breath. His chakra reserves remained unchanged. He'd expected the technique to wrangle him of every last drop of energy he had left, but…

.

.

Nothing happened.

Only then did he notice the eerie silence that had descended upon them.

.

.

No, he realized belatedly, not a 'lull'. He looked around. The fox stood frozen. Kushina, mouth open mid-word, and Naruto, stuck in a silent wail.

He observed his surroundings, almost incomprehensively, before suddenly everything reasserted itself and it materialized behind him.

Its presence like the coldest winter storm, freezing to the bone. Fear, like nothing he'd ever felt settled in his gut. His body screamed at him to run, but his mind knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that his life was forfeit. He turned around to face it, but there was nothing to see.

Kushina shivered, Naruto stopped crying, and the fox's eyes snapped in his direction. It growled furiously, crimson eyes burning with hatred.

"Minato? What was that?" Kushina asked, looking around for the source.

"You tamper with powers beyond your understanding."

The booming voice caught Minato off-guard. He gazed up at the Nine-tails, mouth dropped open in shock.

'… It… can talk…'

The nine-tails' was calm for a moment, before catching sight of Kushina and Naruto, and the sealing altar. He saw realization dawn in those enormous slitted eyes. Then it started thrashing against the bindings with what Minato could faintly recognize as panic.

He felt a tug from the depths of his consciousness, an urging, or maybe a compulsion. Like a faint whisper, asking him a very simple question. Who?

'The nine-tails must be sealed inside my son.' Minato answered, somehow knowing he'd be heard even if he didn't speak aloud.

Without warning an arm burst through his gut, twisted, hideous, and burnt. It latched itself onto the Nine-tails.

The beast roared bloody murder, straining against the chains with all its might, and for a split-second Kushina wavered, body too exhausted to keep up.

Seeing its opportunity, the Nine-tails lunged.

They reacted at the same time, dashing for their son.

The next thing he knew was searing pain as the beast' claw skewered them both. Him through the gut, and Kushina through the chest.

Blood spurted from the gap between the nine-tails claw and the open wound, before slowing streaming down their hanging bodies. Minato felt his arms and legs spasm, the sudden burst of pain too much for his nerves, forcing his muscles to twitch and lock.

Every second was a bitter battle to retain consciousness, dotted vision blurring between darkness and Kushina's crimson hair.

"Na...ru…to…", she whispered, arms coming up to try push off the claw, but she had no strength left. Her arm stretched out towards their son desperately, yearning for one last touch. But it didn't reach, and her arm fell limply by her side.

Tears prickled at the corner of his eyes and Minato tried to speak, but blood clogged his orifice, and it came out garbled.

...It wasn't supposed to end like this… Kushina… you… you were supposed to live… damn it!

The claw disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place, and they fell to the ground. The fall hurt, but it was next to nothing to the gaping hole left where his stomach had once been.

All the while he could feel his very soul being sucked out.

The sealing had been successful.

This is it then. He thought. His mind felt foggy now, but his eyes searched out Kushina's face. Her violet eyes, usually bright with life, were closed, and there was blood trailing down the corners of her mouth. Yet she seemed relaxed, as if at peace, or just asleep.

Instinctively, his hand reached out to find hers, grasping it in his own.

With the very last of his strength, he craned his neck to look up at their son. Their infant son. Laying in his crib. Unharmed. Watching them silently with blue eyes. Another thing he'd inherited from his father.

'Naruto…' He smiled, knowing that at the very least his son and village were safe. And at last, his vision went dark.


From the peak of a nearby cliff, illuminated by the moonlight, a man watched, his face hidden by a swirling orange mask.


Forbidden Scroll, Reaper Death Seal, note I.

'A team hired by archaeologists for a guard and escort mission to Oni no Kuni, discovered a hidden vault beneath the ruins of an ancient civilizations, and inside, a seal. Beyond even my own knowledge of Fūinjutsu, the seal is incredibly complex. Its components are not from any modern-day sealing style. There is no text except for the title, written in an archaic language.'

- Hiruzen Sarutobi.


Forbidden Scroll, Reaper Death Seal, note II.

'Our scribes and historians have in conjunction with the cryptography division, managed to decipher the title. If this seal does indeed work, then I believe we may have stumbled upon one of the relics left behind by the Sage of Six Paths himself. I shall hand it over to the sealing division for further inspection.'

- Hiruzen Sarutobi.


Forbidden Scroll, Reaper Death Seal, note III.

'The test was successful. The subject was sealed, but at a cost. Upon lowering the protective barrier, one of our foremost seal experts, Asahi, was found dead. No discernible cause of death was discovered. It seems the God of Death is not to be summoned lightly.'

- Hiruzen Sarutobi.


AN:

Hey, everyone! I'm back with another story.

I've had the idea for this story in my mind for a long time. This is just a prologue chapter, there's gonna be a part two to it, which I'll upload as soon as I finish writing it.

Just to make it clear, this story is an AU. It will NOT be like canon. If you want a canon re-hash, this is not the story for you. Chakra, Jutsu, power scaling, bloodline limits, shinobi history, shinobi village dynamics, and much else will be altered. Also, there will be some OCs, though none of them will be super important. I like many of the characters that already exist, and I think they have a lot of potential, so I'll be tweaking them to fit my own story and ideas.

Also, I've made a discord server for anyone who's interested. I'll most likely post previews of my chapters there to get some feedback and hopefully improve the quality of my stories. I've had a lot of people PM me on , but I don't really like the website' messaging system. Discord is way easier.

Well, hope you enjoyed! And leave a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.

(Discord server link in profile bio.)

~Zenix404~