Chapter Twenty-Nine - A Swallow and the Land of Snow
"How long will it take to get to Snow, Asama-san?"
The old retainer regarded Karin with a brief gaze before turning back and watching Koyuki get ready for the her scene. "About a day and a half from here. We should be in the Kasumi Straight and will continue following Lightning's coast around their northernmost point and then continue west until we reach the outlying islands."
"Oh," Karin said but it was clear she wasn't familiar with the route.
"Thanks to Luffy there won't be many merchant hunters in the area," Naruto informed them with a small smile. "So long as we stay near the coast and we keep looking out for any unknown ship, we should be fine."
"Okay, everyone!" Makino shouted through his amplifier. "I want this on the first try!"
"Right!" The crew shouted with an equal amount of enthusiasm and seriousness. To Naruto, it was as if they were a military unit instead of a film crew with the air of seriousness and well practised precision they performed their jobs with.
"Wow! I always wanted to see what happens behind the scenes of a movie!"
Naruto chuckled at Karin's enthusiasm and patted her shoulder. He felt bad for how crushed she will be when she sees the realities of filming.
"This shit is so boring," Tayuya grumbled with her arms crossed over her chest and looking out at the horizon.
"C'mon, Tayuya-chan, cheer up," Haku elbowed the girl softly with a teasing smirk on her face.
Tayuya gave an annoyed glance at the raven-haired girl and sighed. "Whatever."
Naruto simply watched the interactions with amusement. Tayuya could never stay mad at Haku and would concede a lot of things to the "Ice Witch" - which was the harshest nickname she was willing to give the girl. It was adorable, truthfully, and he knew that it was contradictory how warm Haku could actually be and how easy it was for her to grow attached.
"Director!"
Naruto looked up when he heard the shout from the crows nest towards the sailor standing on lookout.
"I spotted an explosion in the distance!" The man pointed east, diagonally to the starboard side of the ship. "I think something is happening off the coast of Sky!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at where the man was pointing to see a large plume of smoke in the distance. It is a white in colour, which Naruto knew meant that it is only recently starting to burn and that the material was still laden with water vapour. It isn't particularly large, probably only affecting the impact zone of whatever had exploded.
"Let's check it out," Makino told the crew. "Might be some good material for the movie."
Naruto chuckled at the man's dedication to his passion and walked up to Koyuki and Asama. He smirked at the older woman before he asked; "You're not going to run away are you, Princess?"
Koyuki scowled at the teasing comment. "I told you to stop calling me that."
Naruto's grin widened and he waved his hand dismissively. "I know you like it when I address you this way, Princess."
Asama is quiet as he studies the interaction between his ward and the Prince. He could see the faint smile on the normally cold woman's face and felt conflicted with how to feel about it. On one hand, he is glad that Koyuki is starting to open up to someone and is slowly returning to the lively girl she was in her youth. He wanted her to be happy and become a leader her father would be proud of but she had fought against this at every turn.
However, he saw several problems with her getting comfortable with the foreign Prince. While diplomatic ties to another nation would be beneficial to the future safety and progression of Snow, it was the nation of Uzushio in particular that he was hesitant to have his nation forge such close ties to. He had nothing against the boy or his clan but he knew the repercussions of being associated with his people would have on the international stage.
For one, he had been but a boy when the Uzumaki were massacred by three of the largest shinobi villages and even then as far away as the Land of Snow he had heard the harrowing tales of how the Uzumaki had fought to the last while taking a large chunk of the invaders with them, turning what should have been their crowning triumph into a bloody pyrrhic victory far too costly in lives in regards to what they had accomplished in return. That was the kind of strength that was so horrifying and earth shattering that the Yellow Flash killing one thousand enemy ninja on his own could not even begin to compare. To this day, many people were unsure what to think of the Uzumaki Clan and their survival and subsequent rebirth had made the cost paid even more daunting.
Most people of importance had chosen to wait to see what the boy would do since he had thus far done nothing to warrant action against Uzushio. Those in the lower class show quite the opposite as the young Prince had already gained a positive reputation by saving a small nation from a tyrannical mogul's illegal operations, which also exposed quite a few of these very same influential people's corruption. However, there were still quite a few who aligned themselves against the blonde and held considerable amounts of influence and power on the international stage, power they would happily wield to see the blonde and his nation dead.
Those influential people could turn their sights on a recovering Snow after they took out Doto. Since their ninja village had sided with Doto, that meant their military assets would be very weak until they could purge the unloyal elements. Koyuki would need time to get used to being a leader and she did not need that on her plate.
Exhaling softly, Asama turned to where they were heading and noted that the smoke was dissipating quickly so it was likely there wouldn't be a fire to worry about when landing ashore. Nonetheless, he was still concerned about the source of the disturbance.
Naruto hummed as he walked over to where the civilians gathered to take a skiff ashore as he could feel quite a few powerful presences in the direction of the smoke. He could feel at least five of them but not the target since the ones he felt were focused on something else. This is Sky. Aizen and the Fourth Division are here but none of these Chakra Signatures are theirs.
It's probably the rebels Aizen mentioned, but we would have felt whoever they're attacking if it was one of the Fourth Division Enforcers that they are fighting.
We should investigate this before the civilians get there. No need to risk them getting caught in the crossfire, Naruto told the fox before jumping overboard and landing on the water.
"Fuckface! Where are you going?!"
Naruto laughed as he ran to shore, the sound of Tayuya's shout from the boat travelling with him. He kept a smile on his face as he neared the beach and began to hear the faint sounds of fighting. Intense clashes of metal rang out not so far away but from the pitch and frequency of the blows he could hear that some were fighting more desperately than others. A very brisk breeze blew, ruffling his hair and chilling him.
With that in mind, he sprinted across the sand in the direction of the sounds and presences. It took very little time to reach the fighting, feeling colder the closer he got, and what he found was utterly foreign and alien to the young man.
Fifteen heavily armoured spirits - while not exactly fitting to what they appeared as, it was the first word to Naruto's mind - were facing off against a single young woman with greyish hair. These things were tall, about the same height as Aizen with one being as tall as Zaraki. Most of them had armour that is completely made of uniform form fitting pieces of metal unlike the segmented plates of the common samurai, and their helmet fully covers their head, their faces concealed by a faceplate resembling a skull. A few seemed to be mystics with dark robes and staves but they still covered their face with a skull mask.
The woman in the centre of them was carrying a long double-edged sword that was a bit longer than the average katana. She had ash-coloured hair that is set in a loose bun but he can see that whatever tie she used was not holding up during her fight. Her green eyes, contrasting with the scar tissue over her left eye, rapidly looked around as she kept her guard raised even while surrounded and outnumbered. She wore dark grey bindings for a top, which were soaked in blood from her various minor wounds, and she had black leather trousers with a black ringed belt. Lastly, she wore dark black boots up to her knees and black leather gloves up to her elbow.
"Damn, I guess ghosts are real," Naruto mused aloud to get everyone's attention, eyes flicking to the wraith-like beings. The girl was shocked to see someone arrive while the ghosts were prepared to attack. "Alright, so I haven't learnt much about exorcisms, they were not really my thing, but hopefully this will do in a pinch."
Naruto opened his arms and channelled chakra into the area near his chest between his arms. Rapidly, a bright aqua haze began shining and swirling into the shape of a Rasengan, six in total, but as fast as it formed it began forming the trademark rings of the Rasenringu. He chuckled as electricity arced from the water orbs and formed the base of the rings as the technique expanded to the size of volleyballs. Truthfully, Naruto had been worried that the freezing temperatures would turn his technique to ice but he's glad that the Storm Chakra was strong enough to withstand the cold.
Creating seven clones of himself, he gave one Rasenringu to each of the clones and they took over controlling the technique as he and one clone stepped forward. "Now, I must bid you farewell as I send you back to your plane of existence."
With that, Naruto and his clone dashed forward towards the injured woman as the clones tossed the Storm Style: Planetary Rasenringu. One of the ghosts went to cut him in half with their sword but the clone took the hit and slowed them with a smokescreen for the original to slip through. He grabbed the woman, careful to not irritate her wounds, and used the Shushin technique to get back to the shore just in time.
Krrr-boooom!
Naruto held the girl in his arms as he shielded her from the earth-shattering blast of his technique. He winced as the winds and pieces of the trees hit him but wasn't anything he had to be too worried about. The splinters will be hell, though.
Baby. Kurama scoffed in amusement.
Naruto rolled his eyes at the fox's comment as everything began to die down into a calm silence and he stood up fully to look over his shoulder. He couldn't feel the spirits' presences anymore and exhaled sharply with a crooked smirk on his face. "It's not often a ninja fights and beats spirits. Just another accomplishment to add to the resume."
He looked down to the woman he saved and noted that she held her side, blood covering her hand as she tried to staunch the bleeding as she still remained stiff for a fight. He isn't sure if she is naturally this pale or if she was suffering from blood loss. "Hey, you need me to look at that?"
"I'll be fine," she responded lightly.
Naruto rolled his eyes at that and crouched down to look at the wound. "Don't be stubborn, I won't appreciate you dying after I just saved you. Makes it feel like I wasted my time, y'know?"
The woman said nothing even as he pulled her hand away from her most grievous wound. Her eyes watched as he inspected the slash with a small focused gaze, running his hand along the side. She tried not to jump when she felt a cold touch hover and enter her body, snaking it's way into her muscle and blood like a creeping breath. She closed her eyes to fight the wince and breath she held as whatever the boy was doing helped ease the throb.
"Seems there won't even be a scar to worry about, not that you seem like someone who would care," Naruto mused the last part with a smirk as he noticed a few of them across her body. Not to mention the one over her eye. "Looking at this nasty thing, though, really does justify my disgust for the supernatural. I'd hate to fight something that can inflict this. But they did have numbers against you so I guess things could have been worse."
The woman said nothing as she breathed calmly at the new pleasant feeling that now came from her wound. Looking down, she noticed the last bits of a black essence on the boy's hand as he pulled away to reveal undamaged skin. She still looked pale so that meant that while whatever he did healed her wound - faster than any mage she would like to add - it didn't completely reverse the aftermath of her fight with those bastards.
"Thank you," she said softly and looked up to see his blue eyes looking at her with an amused crinkle. "My name is Ciri."
"Nice to meet you," Naruto gave a bright grin. "My name is Prince Naruto Uzumaki of Uzushio."
"A prince? Why are you travelling alone, your majesty?"
Naruto now tilted his head as his eyes scrunched up in confusion at the sudden respectful tone. "Don't call me that. Naruto is fine, you're not one of my people or a foreign representative so there is no need for such formality. But to answer your question, I'm not alone. I just travelled ahead in case there was danger, and I'm glad I did."
"Oi! Bastard!"
"And there they are," Naruto mused as he turned to see everyone exiting the boat. "Come on, Tayuya, there's no need for name calling!"
"I'm gonna hit you if you don't shut up!" Tayuya turned to look at the new woman and crossed her arms. "So who's this?"
"Everyone, meet Ciri-chan. I saved her from vengeful spirits!" Despite Naruto's bright and optimistic tone, no one could doubt his words even if they felt that it was too unreal. He then turned to Ciri and motioned to the group. "Ciri-chan, meet Karin-chan, Haku-chan, and Tayuya-chan. They are from Uzushio like me. Over there you have my clients who I am protecting, as well as my primary client Yukie-chan!"
Ciri got to her feet slowly as each person was introduced by name and she nodded her head in greeting. "Hello. I'm thankful you helped me and healed me but I must get going. They will be back and I can't stay here."
"Hold on," Naruto frowned now and held up a hand. "You are not fully recovered. If you push yourself, you will collapse and end up in an even worse condition. How about you come with us? We won't be anywhere near here and after I finish protecting everyone I can take you to my village. You'll be safe there, I promise."
Ciri looked ready to refuse but a loud and exaggerated sigh came from Tayuya before the redhead grabbed her arm and lightly pulled her to the boat. "There's no point arguing with the fuckface. Once he has his mind set on something you'll have better luck convincing a wall to become a door."
"I'm not that bad!"
"You kind of are, Naruto-kun," Haku giggled as the blonde boy sulked.
"Makino-san! We have a problem!"
Naruto bolted up when he heard the assistant director's shouting as he ran through the ship looking for the old man, crashing coming from whatever the man was tripping on in between himself and his destination. He sighed as his bed moved and the three girls woke up with varying degrees of annoyance or confusion. He chuckled and shushed. "It's okay, go back to sleep. I will go see what's going on."
"Tell that noisy bitch to be quiet or I'm going to staple his mouth shut," Tayuya grumbled as she pulled the covers more over her body and curled deeper into Haku.
Naruto nodded his head and got dressed, taking only a few minutes before exiting his room to go see what the problem was. He quickly checked on Ciri's room and upon seeing that she was still asleep he closed her door quietly and continued topside to the deck of the ship.
"When I woke up this morning this was here! We can't get through!"
Naruto looked at the colossal iceberg that seemed to be causing the assistant director problems and his eye twitched at this. Can we not go around?!
With an island this size, you might get lost trying to go around. This might be the end for Asama's plan if the director plans to finish his movie here.
"What are we going to do?"
It was a second of silence before Makino grinned and shouted; "This is it! We are changing everything! Look! This is the perfect place to shoot the movie! I can hear it begging for us to film here!"
Naruto deadpanned at the excitement in the elder's voice as he motioned animatedly. "Everyone prepare to disembark! The movie gods are smiling on us at this moment!"
Naruto sighed knowing that the director had made his choice and decided to just watch over them as they did their job. He decided to let the girls sleep since they had looked exhausted when the shouting roused them earlier. In the meantime, he will handle talking to Khahrahk and Maya while he keeps a few clones to stay on alert.
He found a comfortable spot in the snow near the boat and settled into a Seiza position after making seven clones to spread out around the island while staying out of sight of the film crew. He simply laid the nodachi across his lap and closed his eyes, embracing the connection he shared with his sword spirit. It was vastly different from the connection he shared with Kurama, more in tune and in step with him than the fox.
"Hello , onii-sama."
Naruto opened his eyes and found himself far removed from his prior snowy environment, the film crew nowhere to be seen. He now sat on the floor of his old single-bedroom apartment that he hadn't seen since he was eleven. He had abandoned the place in favour of sleeping in a hut in one of the least-occupied training grounds near the Kurama compound.
He looked around and felt a brief surge of self-disgust at the sense of nostalgia that surfaced as he looked at the poor conditions he had lived in for many years,barely able to take care of himself. If it had not been for Ginrei and Retsu he likely would have ended up as a monster far worse than Gaara; he almost certainly would not have had the same moral code he currently did when it came to how he deployed his clan's techniques.
The devastation that could be wrought with a single Uzumaki seal when one did not care for the lives of the innocent was incalculable.
"Not everyone you spare our wrath has lived an innocent life, onii-sama."
Naruto now turned to look at Khahrahk after he spoke, finding his younger self looking at him with a melancholy smile. They both knew that even Konoha with its vaunted Will of Fire would not suffer many truly "innocent losses" should the village be reduced to a crater. The village was filled with ninja that are paid to kill and the civilians are more often than not a malignant tumour at the heart of the village, sapping resources and weakening the authority of the Hokage for their own ends and enrichment. It was truly like living in a city of sin, but still those kind and virtuous few such as the Ichiraku family were just as much victims of the masses.
"That may be true, Khahrahk, but we cannot kill everyone that does not agree with us. As a Prince, we don't get to be selfish, at all times we must embody the will and ideals of our nation, clan and peoples before the Will of the Heavens, and that sometimes means valuing a life and doing all we can to save or redeem them, even when we would rather take it for our own peace of mind. No - rather especially, when we wish to take it."
Khahrahk hummed at that, his childish face scrunching up as he thought. "But for those who cannot be redeemed or whose crimes are too heinous, a most cruel yet just punishment awaits them."
At this, the room to the right lit up and shuddering groans and whimpers can now be heard. Naruto knew this as the room Khahrahk created for Maya where he "punished" her. While he still felt angry with the woman, he can feel the fear and a willingness to repent from the woman. Whatever the zanpakuto spirit did it worked as the woman was now broken and malleable.
"For those deserving, punishment is the only logical conclusion. And if we must punish them, then let it not be senseless but serve a higher purpose."
Naruto admitted that not everyone is able to be saved or reasoned with. Gaara may have very well been a victim of this type of end if Naruto had not managed to get through to him during their fight.
"Can you agree with me about one thing, at least, onii-sama?"
Naruto looked into Khahrahk's eyes after the boy spoke and tilted his head slightly. "What is that?"
"That we will do what we can to protect our family and loved ones?" Khahrahk's voice is soft and almost upset, but his tone remains steady and childlike. "Even if it means our… death?"
Naruto gave Khahrahk a moment of silence to show he was listening before giving a sad smile and moving to hug the sword spirit. "The only way we will stop protecting those we care for is after we have drawn our last breath. And even then, I'm not sure we would let that stop us."
Many things happened at that very moment.
Khahrahk returned the hug and began steadily ageing to the same age as Naruto. The spirit's black hair lengthened to his shoulders and his body leaned down into a more post-puberty muscle tone. He wore the same clothes but had red straps around his forearms that held numerous advanced Uzumaki seals.
Then a flood of memories of one clone entered his mind, showing him that three Snow ninja working directly under Doto had revealed themselves and were fighting his clones. They knew of Koyuki, revealing the girl's true heritage but she had frozen at the sight of them, too horrified and lost to her inner demons to have the presence of mind to flee with Asama. He recognized the sight of someone suffering from an episode due to deep trauma because of his own experiences.
The last thing to happen was that a nimbus of light enveloped the both of them as they embraced. Motes of light began rising and swirling around them until all he saw was white. For the first time in a long time, he felt whole. He no longer felt a hole in his heart or a cold numb void where he on some level knew he should feel anger. Strangely though it isn't just the malice that Khahrahk seemingly embodied that returned to him. Now he felt a sense of oneness.
He felt as though his spirit was, for the first time, truly balanced; as if he was confident before all choices that lay before, that any path he walked, he would see come to fruition, as though he would not falter in the face of any enemy. It was in the final moments that he felt Khahrahk in his arms that he heard a new voice in the room. This one is deep and soft, but the tone that commanded both respect and attention.
"A Prince must always follow the path that is just and true even if it puts him at odds with the world. His duty requires him to always think of peace and prosperity not just for his family but also for those through no fault of their own were destined to be born outside of his warm loving embrace."
"Kazahana-hime! We must leave for the ship, I beg of you!"
Koyuki was unable to stand as the sight of the Snow ninja was bringing back terrifying memories from her childhood, of the fire that had consumed her family's castle, of her father being cut down mercilessly. It overwhelmed her and brought a feeling of numbness and disconnect from her body. The memories paralysed her, leaving her to watch the clones of her bodyguard fight the trio ninja.
"What the fuck is happening!"
Asama looked to see Tayuya running towards them with Haku behind her, Karin and Ciri positioning themselves to help some of the nearest film crew into the ship. However, Makino refused to move as he and the assistant director filmed the entire ordeal.
"We need to get Kazahana-hime to the ship! She won't move!"
Tayuya gave an annoyed glance towards the traumatised woman before she gave a sharp huff as she knew that it truly wasn't the actress' fault. Even she had moments where she would remember the snake bastard's experiments on her. "Pick her up and carry her to the ship! We will cover you and help fishfuck beat these cucks."
Asama nodded his head firmly and leaned down to wrap his arms around the princess. "Forgive me, Kazahana-hime."
Just as he bent his knees to lift the woman, he was distracted by Naruto's clones stopping their fighting to look at each other with confused stares before exploding all at once. He baulked at the sudden vulnerability he and Koyuki were suddenly in. He had known the blonde was strong but it seemed that a lot of his techniques were negated by the armour the Snow trio wore.
"Hah, hah," Nadare, the leader of the ninja cell, breathed heavily as he and his teammates had room to breathe. "I don't know what happened but now that bastard is gone. It's just them."
"I don't think our armour would be able to withstand much more," Mizore hummed softly as she patted the centre of the armour.
"I want to beat him with my own fists," Fubuki grunted densely as he was still upset about his gauntlet being destroyed in the fight.
"Naruto?!"
Tayuya and Haku whipped around when they heard Karin's shout and they were surprised by the sight they found. Naruto was levitating from the ground, his feet half a foot above the snow, and his body was covered in a radiant orange light. His eyes are now completely black with only a red pupil and he now had two pale horns curving up from his forehead, a blazing red crown similar to his Shikai form now radiating above his head.
His clothes had disintegrated and were replaced with a blood orange kimono top and black hakama pants, a luxurious orange and black cloak fluttering over his back and left shoulder. Segmented plate armour protected the side of his thighs and a red bracer protected his left forearm, while his right hand held his released nodachi.
"What happened to his chakra?"
Tayuya glanced at Haku when she had mumbled her question, her eyes shakingly taking in their lover's new form. Now that she pointed it out…
"I'm going to kill him!" Fubuki shouted and ran for the blonde.
The two girls were going to try to stop the larger man but were instead intercepted by the other ninja.
"Don't forget about us!"
Fwoom!
Everyone shielded their eyes when a bright light swallowed their sight, forcing the two opposing ninja duos to separate in fear that it was an attack from the other. However, as the light faded to a more normal level, they were surprised to see that the island suddenly had a large trench going through it.
"Another soul to subjugate."
Everyone turned to see Naruto's nodachi now simmering with heat, a blood red haze being swallowed by the blade greedily. The young blonde's eyes now turned to the remaining two Snow ninja, causing them to take a step back, and the area seemed to be both bone chilling cold and skin scorching hot.
"The only purpose people like you serve is as fodder."
"What happened to Fubuki?" Mizore shakily asked her teammate as she stepped back. "I didn't feel anything coming from him. I don't even feel chakra inside of him! What is he?!"
"You are not worthy to sense the presence of a Prince Who Mantles the Will of the Heavens," Naruto's voice seemed to be overlapped by many other men and women but to those that knew him they could sense the blonde inside. "You are like a pawn in a game of Shogi, weak and inadequate, unworthy to witness the true scope of the game being played. And like a pawn, you are but a sacrifice."
Mizore started to perform the hand signs for an Ice Style technique that would allow her to enter and travel through the ice they stood upon but a glint of light cut those movements short as black numbness overtook her.
To everyone else, the transformed blonde had simply raised and slashed his nodachi through the air. The Snow kunoichi was then cut in half before her body was consumed in a red mist, only for it to rush back and merge with the weapon. It happened quickly and the film crew had only caught the woman's death, her life taken so quickly it almost seemed to have happened as a result of the blonde's declaration.
The final Snow ninja grit his teeth and took a few steps back, his eyes now staring at Naruto with the primordial fear - the fear of death. A fear that belonged to those not ready or willing to die. "This is… absurd! What kind of power is this?"
Naruto turned his eyes on the man and raised his head to look down on the man, his face not showing malice or even disapproval. This was just pure judgement. "Absurd is the word of one who foolishly thought himself to have seen all the world has to offer. It is their way to define the world when they realise they were but a frog stuck in a well, that all their experience amounts to nothing in the face of this world's mysteries."
Naruto did not care to listen to the man speak again and with another slice of his sword, he ended Nadare's life in the same fashion as Mizore.
The iceberg was silent as Naruto stared at where the man used to be, his eyes distant as they seemed to be having a conversation only he could perceive. Tayuya and Haku were hesitant to approach him in his current state, but Karin came rushing up while Ciri stayed with the crew in case there were backup forces hidden nearby. The young Uzumaki came to a stop near Koyuki and stared at her floating lover.
"Ah, uh, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto blinked and his eyes turned to look at Karin then the others. He looked at his sword for a moment, his eyes unfocusing for a moment before he put his left hand over the blade and began sliding it over; he began creating a sheathe for the blade and a cord wrapped around with various talisman seals. Once the blade was completely covered, he pinched the talisman closest to the tsuba and with a pulse of chakra was able to seal the power of the blade.
Slowly, Naruto began changing back to normal as he descended to the ground. His chakra returned to everyone's senses but this time it seemed different from normal. While his original chakra felt more like being in the middle of a vast ocean, it now felt like a raging hurricane was surrounding them and they stood within its' eye. It was almost suffocating to acknowledge.
"I'm sorry for that," Naruto mumbled as he slowly teetered on his feet.
Without another word, he passed out but before he could collapse onto the ground he was caught by Haku and Karin.
"Hm. I never would have expected things to turn out like this."
"You're just mad the spirit of your son is being used to fuel someone else's will."
"Do you really have to be so condescending when talking to me, tousan?"
"You were always a whiny child. I have no reason to treat you any differently just because the world worships you."
Naruto grabbed his head as he sat up, barely acknowledging the two voices that spoke nearby. He felt much like he did the first time he accidentally entered the fourth tail transformation before he was ready for it. The Second Division had to be called to quell his drastically rising rage so he could return to normal.
"The boy is awake."
"Congrats on being able to see, Hagoromo."
A resigned groan was given and Naruto looked up to see two individuals standing in front of him. He recognized one of them as the Sage of the Paths with his iconic staff and tomoe designs. However, the second man eluded him for many reasons. Not only does he look like a younger man than the Sage but Naruto found his ability to look at him as troubling. Almost as if his mind was telling him that nothing was there but his eyes said otherwise.
He had medium red hair that was pulled into a small ponytail and alluring purple eyes that shined like perfectly cut amethyst crystals. A black bandana wrapped around his forehead, over the tips of his ears, and under the ponytail with a red swirl represented on the front. He wore a black formal kimono and his feet were covered by black tabi.
"Who are you, and what are you and the Sage doing here?"
"Straight to the point, I like that." The younger man said with an approving nod. "My name is Aeron Uzumaki, son of Minano Uzumaki and Isa aep Persephone. In short, I am your ancestor through my daughter Kokomi Uzumaki."
Naruto's eyebrows raised at that, not only at the implications that he is meeting the oldest Uzumaki that he has not read about in the Library but the name of the man's second parent. That name is very foreign and nothing like what you can find in the Elemental Nations or Gaal.
"And my name is Hagoromo Otsutsuki , son of Aeron Uzumaki and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki." The sage informed the young man with a small nod and smile. "I am the ancestor of the Uchiha and Senju clans, as well as the creator of ninshu."
Naruto blinked a few times and his mind worked out what ninshu could possibly be. "Ninshu doesn't exist anymore if you created it. Everything done with chakra are encompassed as ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu."
Hagoromo is stunned a bit at that statement but Naruto saw the man give a resigned sigh and slumped his shoulders. "I should have expected that. Humans are not a peaceful species for long."
Naruto shook his head as he knew then that ninshu had to be some ideal or spiritual aspect that the man used to try to unite people under a common similarity. "You underestimated the lengths people will go to get revenge at the smallest slight. No one cares for peace, it's not a true desire of even those who have suffered, and the sooner people realise that the sooner the true path for peace can be found."
Aeron leaned forward this time, his eyes looking at the young man closely. "Have you found that path?"
Naruto was about to deny the man but suddenly he felt something else enter him. The feeling was similar to his connection to Khahrahk, but now it was tied to his. "Peace can be achieved through a focused destination. A necessary enemy or goal needs to be set in front of people that can both catch their attention and retain their attention. If it is too easy or tedious they will find something to occupy that emptiness and that opens up the path in-fighting and division."
"But how will you get the world to unite in the first place?"
"As I said, you need an enemy that can capture and retain their attention," Naruto smirked at the man. "From what I hear, the Akatsuki are trying to gain more power from the Biju so that they each can take on the shinobi villages. Whether it is to destroy everything or establish a world under their control is not known but when people start realising what they are doing… it is only a matter of time before they start seeing the threat as something they cannot defeat on their own."
"But you are ignoring the possible countless deaths it will take before the leaders take the issue seriously enough to join together."
Naruto looked at the Sage to see a disapproving look on his face and narrowed his eyes. "That is their choice. Those who see the issue for what it is will take the time to make sure they can protect as much as they can but sometimes death is needed to show how dire situations truly are. Sacrifice and martyrs serve as the biggest motivators and deterrents in war no matter the situation."
It was silent as Naruto stared down the Sage but that soon ended when Aeron began laughing. "The Uzumaki are truly in good hands if you are the Prince that leads them. The fire in his eyes tells me that; it is no surprise that Ashura's spirit was subjugated. You are a strong one, child, and I cannot wait to see you in Heaven after your time on Earth has come to a fitting close."
The man's smile turned soft and he reached out for the older teen and softly ruffled his hair. "Not a moment sooner than necessary will you join the other Princes in Heaven but when you do arrive I expect to be regaled with glorious tales of how you met every goal and overcame every barrier placed before you. Have your family and enjoy many loud dinners with your loved ones."
Naruto looked up into the man's eyes and they were the last thing he saw as the current phantasmal world was washed away.
Ah, a development for the blonde's power. The Prince Who Mantles the Will of the Heavens. The Prince title seems to be more appropriate for Naruto than he realized and we will be finding that out more. The Child of Prophecy is more than just something seen by the Toads. It is an emergence of a new age.
Also, Ciri arrives! Badass heroines everywhere! Gotta love a woman that can kick some ass, Naruto sure does. Seems like she will be tagging along for the journey, maybe even longer.
HereForSmutLemon: Here is your first difference to canon lol the three-man team of Yukigakure died quickly and even without the sudden power boost would not have stood a chance to the real Naruto.
PraetorXyn: I love her too and Snow will tremble in fear! :D
dbtiger63: Much appreciated for the comment glad to hear you like the story. Hope it continue to entertains you :)
tiger9898: Hope this came speedily enough :)