Deep within the forest that laid across the entire Land of Fire, two figures moved through the vegetation gracefully as to not disturb the natural wildlife. The two figures kept their heads on a swivel, eyeing every small detail in the woods that could aid in their search. A kanji etched into the bark of a tree caught the elder of the two's attention, signal that they were drawing closer.

"Almost there."

The young boy groaned. "You said that like three trees ago, Ero-Sennin."

Jiraiya snickered. "Yes, but this time is different."

Naruto rolled his eyes, he decided to play along. "And why is that?"

"My gut says otherwise."

Naruto deadpanned. How he used to think that this man was the so freaking cool when he was younger was beyond him. He guessed he was so awestruck by the fact a legendary Sannin was not only his godfather but his personal teacher as well. Yeah, that had to be it. Growing up, Naruto was impressed by almost every new thing that came his way, and the Sannin were at the top of that list. But having met all three and knowing what their personalities were like, the more Naruto grew up and saw the world for what it was the he realized nothing is ever as it seems. Especially when it comes to his godfather. A goofball pervert with nation fearing strength.

Okay, maybe that was kind of cool.

Naruto continued to try and find this...whatever that apparently came with a legendary sword that First Hokage wanted for his fight against the all-powerful Madara Uchiha. He wasn't exactly sure what they were trying to find, all Jiraiya told him was those kanjis would lead them to whatever it was they were trying to find. Or that's what the First Hokage's scrolls said.

"Head west."

Naruto stopped when the Kyuubi's deep voice echoed in his mind. "What?"

"Head west." The Kyuubi said again. "What you are seeking lays to the west."

Naruto took in the information the fox was offering and thought about it for a moment, concluding that they had nothing left to lose by following this lead. Naruto looked around for a moment to figure out which way was west before heading off in that direction.

Jiraiya realized that Naruto was no longer following him and saw the direction he was walking, which didn't match up with the First Hokage's description. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"West." Naruto simply replied.

"Why are you going west? The description that the First wrote says the kanji will keep true to the left of the sun, so we need to head north."

"You can go north, I'll head west."

"Why gave you the idea that we should go west?"

"My gut."

Jiraiya sighed in defeat, realizing that arguing with the boy would lead to nowhere. The Sannin pocketed the scroll and followed his godson.

As Jiraiya followed Naruto and his 'gut feeling', the man couldn't help but notice the difference in attitude he's had over the past few days. He had found out about his heritage and who were his parents were, piecing together what happened the night he was born. Naruto was surprisingly taking the whole ordeal extremely well, Jiraiya expected a major backlash from keeping the boy's parenthood a secret, much like when he first returned a few weeks ago.

But Naruto did not get angry, in fact he shed a tear. A reaction the elder man was not expecting. Was he holding in his anger and trying to hide it? Or simply just not bothering to think about the revelation of the fact his own father was the one that sealed a demon inside him? Either way, it was not a healthy choice.

Time passed silently as the duo headed west in hopes that whatever hunch Naruto had was right...and it was.

"Stop." The Kyuubi spoke up. "You are here."

Naruto looked around, there was nothing new. There was nothing that hinted at there was an all-powerful sword in the area. Of course, if there was an all-powerful sword somewhere then trying to find the thing shouldn't be easy.

"What do you mean? There's nothing here."

"Just because you cannot see something does not mean something is not there."

"Okay, don't get all metaphorical on me. I am not in mood figure out riddles."

The Kyuubi snickered. "You're no fun. But I guess you have to be pretty serious to wield something I created."

"Wait, you created this sword we're looking for?"

"Yes. This sword you've searching for is only able to be known to those I believe is worthy, you cannot even come this far without my approval."

"So, you're saying you like me?"

Kyuubi groaned in utter annoyance. "I believe you have the capability to understand, whether or not you can wield such a weapon is not up to me."

Naruto analyzed the demon's words carefully. "What am I supposed to understand? And why isn't it up to you if you created it?"

"You must understand the weight that comes with this. And you'll soon see why."

Naruto wasn't completely satisfied with this answer but knew it was all he was going to get from the beast with nine tails. The blonde looked around to see if anything had changed but it was all the same. For a moment.

Like a large curtain being lifted from a stage, the landscape around Naruto began to change to that of a barren wasteland. A few large rocks scattered around the area. The sky changed from blue or orange as chain like images wrapped themselves throughout the vast open in the sky, creating a dome like structure that entrapped Naruto away from Jiraiya.

What in the world was going on?

So, you're the one.

A metallic sound echoed in Naruto's mind. The sound did not make a distinct ring or gave a indication that it could create a word. But the words it wanted to convey simply were known to Naruto. A large man, wearing some type of full battle armor that Naruto did not recognize from any period of history he has studied, was kneeling behind a sword that was stabbed into the ground with his hands resting on the butt of the hilt.

The sword was a straight blade katana. The blade itself was polished black made of a metal Naruto also did not know. The hilt was wrapped in dark orange cloth with a tassel tied at the end of the hilt, resembling that of a fox tail.

Naruto was caught off guard by this man. He was not there when he first surveyed the new surroundings. "What...who are you?"

I am the guardian of Tojin.

"Tojin...The name of the katana. But that does not answer my other question, who are you?"

Nagatsudzuki suru ishi.

"The Lingering Will."

The man raised his head and seemed to be looking at Naruto. The man's entire head was covered by a battle helmet with a black visor that gave no indication where he was looking, Naruto just assumed it was him this man was looking at.

I feel great power within you, I can see the Kyuubi is alive and well inside of you. You come searching for Tojin's power.

Naruto wasn't sure what to think about the developing situation. This man simply appeared out of thin air, what exactly was he? He felt nothing from him. He didn't project any type of chakra signature or give off any type of intimidating presence. He just was there, nothing more.

"Kyuubi, what's going on? Where am I?"

There was no response from the nine tailed demon.

"Kyuubi?"

Naruto knew the beast sealed inside him could hear him call, so why wasn't he answering? Now, of all times, he'd chose to be the silent type. According to the Kyuubi, this katana was created by him. Why would he choose to be silent when Naruto was about to wield it? Something didn't feel right.

You call for Tojin's creator, but he will not respond. He cannot respond.

Naruto raised his eyebrow. "Why can't he?"

This place...forbids outside help. Only a chosen one can enter this plain to claim Tojin.

This raised further questions for Naruto. "And what is this plain exactly? Why can't the fox talk to me if he's sealed inside of me?"

Our battlefield. This is where Tojin decides if you are worthy to wield it. The Kyuubi may be the creator but Tojin is its own being. Kyuubi has no power here.

Whatever, or whoever, this guy was unlike anything Naruto has ever encountered, and he's dealt with a tailed beast before. This thing has no voice, but Naruto can understand everything it 'says' perfectly. He feels like Nagatsudzuki is a man but he's hesitant to call this thing human. Was it some cosmetic entity? A being that defies all laws of physics and time? That might be Naruto's child imagination coming into play. But, in all honesty, was it out of the realm of possibility? Who knew at this point.

The entity named 'The Lingering Will' slowly rose to his feet, stopping at a towering height over the young blonde before him. He used a single hand to grab the hilt of the katana and effortlessly pull the supposed legendary weapon out of the ground. Now that was Nagatsudzuki standing at full height, Naruto was able to full look at the armor he was wearing.

The helmet was mostly gold, except for the black visor, and it sported two red prongs on either side that pointed straight up. The arms, legs, and ribs of the armor were black and had orange patterns decorating them. It's knees guards, gauntlets, breast plate, and armored boots were gold, and there are other smaller pieces of gold armor on its legs as well.

It wears black pauldrons with gold edges. The front of the armor of the Lingering Will's torso, as are smaller pieces of armor on its lower legs and gauntlets. It also wears gold anklets with red spikes on the back that curve upward sharply.

I sense a great turmoil inside of you. A pain of both heart and mind.

Naruto's fists tightly clenched. He assumed he would have to fight this thing to gain approval to wield Tojin, but a heart cleansing experience was not something he wanted. He didn't want to deal with what plagued him right now. He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to.

Come, face your darkness.

Naruto cracked his neck and dashed to the left, chucking a mixture of shuriken and kunai. The Lingering Will didn't even flinch as the weapons hit him. Sparks flew as the tools hit their mark but nothing more, they bounced off the armor and fell to the ground.

'I figured that would happen.' Naruto thought to himself as he continued to move around his opposition. 'But now I have a decent idea on how strong that armor is. It seems I'll have to go in close. I really should've practiced more armed combat.'

The blonde genin drew another kunai knife and twirled through his fingers. He stopped circling his opponent and charged in from his opponent's left. The Lingering Will's block was swift and easily left Naruto open to a counter, but Naruto had the quickness to dodge the strong kick and continue to jab at his opponent.

Naruto weaved and dodged through The Lingering Will's counters as he continuously tried to land a single hit on it. Naruto became frustrated that he was making zero progress and put all his strength into his next attack. But the Lingering Will blocked the strike but the blade of Tojin sliced through Naruto's kunai clean, leaving the boy completely open. The Lingering Will launched Naruto across the battlefield with a massive kick that pushed the boy through a few large rocks in the process.

Naruto pulled himself out of the rubble and shook off the rest of the dirt. He groaned in discomfort, that kick was much stronger than he would've anticipated. He wouldn't be surprised if his ribs were cracked, or even a bruised lung. 'Shit…this thing has me beat in armed combat by ten miles. Another frontal assault will be suicide, and it wasn't hard to tell that he was holding back. Alright, plan B: ninjutsu.'

Naruto went through a series of hand seals. "Katon: Karyūdan!"

The flame bullets shot out of Naruto's mouth like a spread, covering a wide area. The Lingering Will moved into a stance and began to slash the fire bullets as they closed on him. When the black blade of Tojin sliced through the flames and extinguished them. All that was left of Naruto's jutsu was a few trails of steam coming off the blade.

Naruto was thoroughly impressed by that. 'Okay…that was pretty badass.' He shook his head and refocused. 'Quit gawking! I need a plan. Let's go for a combo!'

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

An identical clone of Naruto appeared in a plume of white smoke right next to the original, already knowing what to do, both the clone and original Naruto executed a set of different hand seals.

"Katon: Karyūdan!"

"Kazakiri no Jutsu!" (Wind Burst technique)

The clone shot the flames from his mouth while the real Naruto threw his hands forward and brought forth a massive gust of wind that amplified the fire bullets with greater speed and strength. The Lingering Will stayed in his same position and slashed away the stronger flames.

"Oh c'mon!" Naruto's growing frustration caused him to create a third clone. "Fine! Let's go for a triple!"

"Katon: Karyūdan!"

"Kazakiri no Jutsu!"

"Doton: Tobi Tsubute!" (Earth Style: Flying Stones). The third Naruto slammed his hands on the ground and a multitude of rocks shot up from the dirt. Meanwhile, the second Naruto shot the fire bullets at the rocks, igniting them. Then the real Naruto thrusted his hands forward and brought forth another strong gust of wind that increased their speed even more.

Again, the Lingering Will cemented himself in his stance and began to slash through the flaming rocks. But Naruto did notice that it took a bit more effort on the entity than previously before, causing the time of his strikes to be slowed. A single ignited rock struck the helmet and broke off one of the red spikes.

Naruto was about pride himself on landing a hit, but his excitement was very short lived. He felt a cold, killer gaze pierce his soul. A grave mistake had been made.

"Oh shi-"

Naruto couldn't even finish his words before having to duck under a strong slash of the black blade. The clones were not so lucky to react in time, both heads were sliced clean off and exploded in white smoke. Naruto tried to create distance but the Lingering Will was faster than him, even if there was an opening to escape it closed just as quick. The boy settled to dodge as much as he could, receiving cuts all over his body. But Naruto was able to feel something behind the being's thrusts. They were filled with wrath and the rage coming off both the Lingering Will and Tojin was easily felt. This made dodging less difficult but he was still slashed. Just when the large armored man was about to deal a finishing blow, Naruto through his hands forward.

"Kazakiri no Jutsu!"

Another massive wind separated Naruto from Nagatsudzuki, shoving the armored being back a good distance. Naruto heaved out semi deep breaths, this was certainly not going the way he thought it would. Granted he had no plan on how to handle this, or even somewhat prepared for a battle like this. The fact he was even able to land a solid hit on Nagatsudzuki held some type of credit, in Naruto's mind it did.

Your ninjutsu is impressive, using low level attacks in tandem to create something stronger. While impressive, it is not enough to be considered worthy.

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek, he wanted to say he could perform something even stronger but he fought against it. He could use all five of the chakra natures in tandem like he did with fire, earth, and wind just now, but there was a problem. Naruto absolutely sucked at using lightning release techniques, in fact the lightning technique was a lie by the Third because he wanted his stats in the bingo book to be better. The 'lightning jutsu' Naruto knew was a simple seal scroll that had Raiton properties and created a single bolt of lightning when released. How that translated into knowing Raiton techniques in the Hokage's mind was beyond Naruto, or at least it was until Naruto learned that the Hokage lied about Jiraiya's mission and that withheld the knowledge about his parenthood. The blonde boy wasn't sure what else to believe when it came to the Third Hokage.

Naruto shook his head, trying to shed his mind free of those thoughts. He needed to have a clear head if he wanted a chance to beat this thing. 'But honestly, is there anything I can do? I get in too close and he's gonna destroy me, I'm no match for his kenjutsu. And I'm just going to bet summoning is out of the question, if the Kyuubi can't help me the toads probably can't either. I do have that but it's still a work in progress, it takes way too long to create and I'll be left open. It's a winless scenario against an overpowered opponent, what am I supposed to understand here?'

The doubt within your mind, it is becoming stronger.

Naruto grunted softly. "This is an unwinnable fight, it doesn't take a genius to realize fighting you is a death wish. And your holding back, that's the sad part."

An opponent's power means nothing when compared to one's heart.

"If it's about heart, what am I supposed to understand here? Knowing to when give up? If it is, then we're gonna be here for a while. I never give up."

The metallic sound rang again. There comes a heavy burden when wielding Tojin. The heart must know and understand what it means to take a life.

"To take a life? I'm a ninja, of course I understand that."

The Lingering Will physically shook its head. A shinobi fights because their village tells them they must. In the shinobi's mind, the enemy is guilty and deserves to die. But the heart knows that the enemy is the same, fighting because their village orders them to do so. Are you prepared to take an innocent life when you cannot stop?

Naruto took in all this and truly considered the deeper meaning behind it. It was an aspect he never thought about. Yes, he had killed before. And he has also spared lives. But to think that the enemies he would fight in this upcoming war were not evil but following orders just he was really stuck in the young blonde's mind. But why wouldn't he be able to stop? Surely, he could control himself and not be a straight killing machine. Minus that one instance back on the bridge in the Land of Waves, but that was the Kyuubi's doing not his.

"The lines between good and evil will always be blurred, everyone is the hero of their own story. But despite the blurry lines, I know one thing: there is no consideration for the damned."

Naruto wasn't sure if that was the response this thing was looking for but it did generate a reaction. A harmonic tone began to emit from the katana as the Lingering Will raised the katana above his head, then swiftly bringing it back down. A crescent wave of gold energy shot from the black blade and headed towards Naruto.

Naruto rolled out of the way and slid to a stop. He looked up to see another energy wave already coming towards him. He crossed his fingers and summoned as many shadow clones as he could to lessen the impact of the attack. The explosion of instant and decimated the clones, launching the real Naruto back and into a large rock formation.

Nagatsudzuki returned to his original stance and waited for the brown dust to clear. The smoke lazily drifted to the right as some small kiss of the wind took it that way, then it suddenly can to a standstill. Then it began to move back to the left and close in on itself on one single point. Through the brown dust cloud was a shining bright blue orb that was the cause of the circulation. Naruto was holding in the palm of his hand his strongest, and most recently learned, technique…

"Rasengan…"

Naruto eyed his enemy as he began to move towards him. "If taking a life is what I need to understand, then I guess I'll start with yours!"

With a large burst of speed, Naruto appeared in front of the Lingering Will and thrusted his spiraling sphere at the core. His jutsu was met by the black blade of Tojin that was emitting a slight glow and harmonic tone. The two fought for ground until the two energy's exploded, causing Naruto to be launched once more. The blonde finally came to a stop and was able to come to knee, what he saw deflated any momentum he had.

The Lingering Will was standing in the same position he moved into that blocked Naruto's attack, seemingly unharmed. The armored being stood back to his full height but stopped when he noticed a few steam trails coming his right gauntlet hand, very hand he was wielding Tojin. The Lingering Will examined further and noted many small scratches now adorning the armor, while Tojin was still unscathed.

The blade of Tojin emitted another slight glow as the same harmonic sound followed, as if it was speaking. The Lingering Will looked at the blade then at the young blonde across the way. The armored man nodded slightly and let go of the katana. Naruto expected it to drop to the ground but, to his great astonishment, it began to float.

"What…the fuck?"

You are…worthy.

Tojin flew towards Naruto with the blade facing him. A flash of panic came over Naruto as he moved to get out of the way, so he wouldn't be impaled, but the flying katana was too quick. Tojin fazed through Naruto and disappeared into his body.

A great deal of responsibility and pain has now befallen you. I hope it does not change what you hope to become.

The image before Naruto became distilled and changed from that of a barren wasteland with orange sky to that of the landscape that he felt before his fight of worth. He blinked a few times and everything changed completely to back in the forest and Jiraiya was standing before him, waving his hand directly in front of his face.

"Naruto? You there?"

Before Naruto could muster up a response, an unbearable amount of pain seared his neck. He grasped his curse mark and let out a painfilled scream that brought him to his knees. He clutched the mark as hard as he could, in hopes of helping the pain go away, it did absolutely nothing.

Jiraiya immediately came to his godson's aid and tried to figure out what was happening. It was obviously the seal that Orochimaru cursed him with but it hardly was a problem their whole journey. What prompted this sudden reaction? The Sannin pried Naruto's hand away to examine further. The seal was now blood red and slowly adding another tome to itself.

"The seal is growing stronger! Another tome is manifesting."

While Jiraiya racked his mind to figure what to do about this, Naruto continued to rathe in pain. The pain was so immense that he was starting to struggle with staying conscious. That is until the deep voice in his head snapped back into reality.

"Whistle."

Gritting his teeth, Naruto spoke out loud through his pain. "What?"

"If you want this pain to subside, I suggest you whistle."

"Now is not the time for a tune!"

"Just whistle boy!"

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek but decided to follow through with the Kyuubi's orders. Despite the unbelievable amount of pain coming off his neck, Naruto blew out a loud whistle. There were a few moments of silence before a bright light appeared in front of Naruto and Jiraiya. Something began to materialize before the two. It was the very same katana that the Lingering Will just used to fight Naruto, sticking out of the ground.

"What the hell? Where did that sword come from?" Jiraiya questioned.

Naruto didn't feel like answering that question at the moment, maybe whenever this unbearable pain disappeared, he'd answer his godfather's questions. Suddenly, the katana began to rise out of the ground and begin to float, surprising both Naruto and Jiraiya. Tojin hovered for a moment before gliding its way over to Naruto. A harmonic tone rang from its blade as a slight glow came from the dark blade.

"It wants you move."

Jiraiya looked at his godson in shock. "What?"

"Tojin is telling you to move." Naruto said again, trying to be as clear as he could through his pain.

"You can understand that-wait, that sword can speak?! And it has a freaking name?!"

"Just move Pervy Sage!"

Jiraiya looked at the floating sword before him then back at Naruto before standing back up and taking a few steps back. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, but it looked like Naruto did, to a degree that is. Naruto glanced up at the airborne katana before slowly nodding his head. Positioning itself just right, Tojin plunged itself into Naruto's neck directly on the curse mark seal. Another harmonic tone rang as a flash of light followed. Everything happened so quick Naruto didn't have a chance to cry out in pain from being stabbed nor did Jiraiya have a chance to stop it from happening.

-In front of the Kyuubi's cage-

Naruto's eyes reopened and, despite the burning sensation from the bright flash of light, he was able to see that he was no longer in the forest again, this time he was in the sewer like area of his mind. A place he had not been in some time. The same massive red gates were before him and a lone demonic scarlet red silted eye was visible behind it.

"Well done. You not only managed to convince Tojin you are worthy, but you caused damaged to Nagatsudzuki's armor twice."

Naruto met the giant eye with his own. "Why is that cause for congratulations?"

"His power rivals mine. There's a reason he was the first human to wield Tojin."

"That guy was human?"

"Well, he used to be. But that's none of your concern."

Naruto sighed, there was no point in trying to fight the Kyuubi when he wanted to keep his mouth shut.

"Kit, have learned what it means to wield Tojin?"

Naruto shrugged. "I think so. In war, lines between good and bad aren't always clear and everyone has a reason to fight. But I already knew that."

"When you were fighting Nagatsudzuki, when damaged his armor the first time, what did you notice?"

Naruto's first thought about the Kyuubi's question was how he knew a certain moment in his battle if he wasn't there but decided to not ask, realizing the fact the Kyuubi probably wouldn't answer or just ignore it entirely. The only thing he could remember about that part was how angry the Lingering Will's attacks felt. "His strikes were full of rage and I could feel his intent to kill me."

"Precisely. That is what Tojin causes a person to do. To feed off their anger and animalistic need to kill. Just like that day on that bridge when you fell into my chakra, that was the feral. My animalistic instinct to kill is much stronger than any other being because of the hate I bear. Using Tojin amplifies the feral and, if you are not strong enough to suppress the urge, you will be consumed by it and kill until the feral is satisfied. Most of the time, I can control the feral and not allow it to affect you. But when you call upon Tojin, you will be the only one that can stop the feral from overtaking you. That is what you must understand."

Naruto took all of this information in, letting the revelation that using this katana would result in an uncontrollable killing spree sink into his brain. Was he scared by this? Not necessarily. Yes, the possibility of going on a killing spree did not sit right with the boy but he truly wasn't troubled by it. That's probably what scared Naruto, the fact he wasn't sickened by him uncontrollably killing people. But like he said before: there is no consideration for the damned. If someone had committed terrible acts that was riddled with pain, sorrow, and hate for innocent bystanders, Naruto would have no problem ending a life that caused such feelings on others. Even if he had to dive into a darkness to end such a person, Naruto would still do it. But would that make him any different? Diving into darkness to end darkness? That seemed contradictive. Could he even control himself when he used such a weapon? That remained to be seen. But if Naruto couldn't stop, innocent people would-

"If I use Tojin and the feral takes over, I could hurt the innocent. That's what I have to understand."

Kyuubi nodded, even though Naruto could not see it. "Tojin is extremely powerful on its own, able to perform unimaginable techniques and stop even more powerful attacks. But it comes at a very heavy burden. The innocent ones will forever be at risk because of greed and lust for power. Tojin can be a powerful tool to either help the innocent or destroy the world. The choice, however, is up to you."

Naruto continuously thought of multiple different scenarios where using Tojin and giving into the Kyuubi's feral would turn into beneficial outcome. He couldn't think of much. He thought of what his father might do with this. What would the great and beloved Fourth Hokage do with such a choice? The ability to wield a great power to help but ultimately turning on that good without a second thought because of the influence, was it worth the trouble?

'Damn you stupid old man…why? Why did it have to be me?'