Chapter Thirty-Nine - The Point Everything Changes

Naruto woke up once more inside the Roran citadel, but this time he was not alone in the bed. Sara laid next to him, soundly sleeping with a small smile on her face, but her face scrunched up when the sheets were disturbed by him sitting up. They were both naked, not only because of their night activities but also because it was too damn hot during this time in Wind country.

They had spent the last few nights together, with Naruto making preparations for his return to his time. He didn't tell her his actions exactly, mostly because it will be a nice surprise, but he did tell her it will be something she will love. It also helped that he was being given the entire border of Roran by some of the more knowledgeable citizens that were saved from Mukade. With that, he could fully prepare for his departure.

"Naruto-kun," Sara whined and her eyes squeezed shut. "Come back to bed."

Naruto chuckled and leaned over to place a kiss on her temple. "I have some more stuff I must do. I will be returning home today."

"No," Sara whined but didn't chase after him.

Naruto smiled and shook his head in amusement as he got out of bed and dressed in the clothes he had arrived in nearly two weeks ago. He left the room quietly as well, making sure not to disturb his lover who has returned to her dreams, and proceeded to leave the citadel. He passed by many people, all of whom are happy to greet him in this hellish morning heat, and he gave a smile and a greeting back.

Despite it being nearly two weeks since his arrival, he had spent a lot of his current time mapping out the entirety of Roran. He was making maps for future use, something that is done by Uzumaki as position notes on geography and locations is a must for all areas under Uzushio's control. This is beneficial as this grants them better supply routes and preparations in times of struggle or war.

The main reason for Naruto doing this, however, is because he was finding the main point of where the Ley Line chakra originates. For his preparations to mean something, and to actually work, it would need a powerful chakra source to feed it enough to do what was needed. He found it and was building a garden for Sara filled with her favourite flowers; it will be where they get married.

"You are making a lot more preparations than I'm sure is necessary."

Naruto did not jump when he heard his father's voice again. He and his team refused to leave until he has returned to his original time. They did not trust that he will do so and have been watching him closely, although they were not nearly as hidden as they thought but that is mostly because of his enhanced senses. It did not mean he liked it, being treated like an enemy by his and his friend's fathers, but he can also understand their reasons.

"I like to be sure." Naruto answered eventually as he finished the sealing array on the floor around the garden while his clones painted the array on the walls.

He knew it was looking very similar to the one he saw when he first encountered Mukade in the future, but it was not because he was copying the seal from memory. He was using his pure vast knowledge of seals, incorporating stasis seals and space-time formulas into the vast array, but the difference from the past array is that he had four directions that the seal array focuses on. These are the four other seal array rods that he has to focus the Ley Line chakra into a type of border around the queendom of Roran.

"You do know I know seals as well," Minato landed next to Naruto and he focused on the array. "I admit that this is very advanced even for me, but I notice various formulas that are made by Uzumaki. It takes a genius to understand what the intent is and someone understanding of Uzumaki seals specifically."

"And you are one and you are married to an Uzumaki," Naruto nodded his head and stopped what he was doing to stand up and turn towards his father.

"The stasis seals are focused on a border array that will reach the four direction points and when they do so, time will stop."

"Wrong, you were close but you didn't get it," Naruto smirked at the man. "Please continue, though."

Minato frowned briefly as he glanced back at the seal, making sure to look at the walls as well. "Wrong? But a stasis seal…"

He then noticed it. The rules of the stasis seal.

"No, the stasis does not stop the time. It slows time. The Space-Time formulas are enforcing a flowage of time, but the stasis seals are to slow that flow. By how much?"

"One year is one month," Naruto answered and his eyes narrowed slightly with his smirk as he watched his father closely. "Is that all you notice?"

Minato was looking around, his face etched in worry as he took more in. "Space-Time formulas added on top, forcing the passage of time outside of the stasis barrier. It jumps forward in time, but through a fourth dimension. Those units of time… ten, fifteen, no twenty? No, there's no set time!"

"No need for a set anchor of time," Naruto nodded his head as he enjoyed the look of horror on his father's face. "The moment all of the chakra rods are displaced, that ends the space-time formula and brings Roran to that point in time."

"You're trying to take Roran to the future!"

Shibi and Chouza tensed at that and Naruto noticed the type of combat-ready posture they displayed, but he could only sigh and brush his fingers through his hair. "I'm bringing my wife and her people to the future. It already happened from my point in time so this is how time is supposed to flow. But please, if you even think you can stop me…"

Naruto brought forth a large chunk of his Souls and with it the room became surrounded in undead shinobi; the three Konoha ninja noticed the headbands of Kiri, Suna, and Yuki, but there was many with a song note headband they did not notice. There were thirty Yuki-nin, fifteen Suna-nin, twenty-three Kiri-nin, and twenty of the Oto-nin.

This wasn't even all of the ninja souls that Naruto controlled but he knew it would be enough to intimidate the three men. "Let me warn you three right now. I am not normal by any means. I am the pinnacle of my generation and no one of the next generation can even touch me. I am a Child of Prophecy, Prince of the Uzumaki, and the one who Mantles the Will of the Heavens."

Naruto held his hand out towards the three and channeled divine energy into his hand but with the intent to send them elsewhere on the continent. "Once I send you away, the Marks I placed on you will activate and you will not remember anything that happened here. You won't remember me. Until I return in the future, at least."

The three men were held in place by some unforeseen force, and even Minato could not activate his Hiraishin to get away.

"For what it's worth, father," Naruto gave a small smile as a few tears traveled down his cheeks. "It was great to see you. You are a great father and I'm proud to be your son."

With that, the three men were covered in a bright light and sent somewhere else, most likely Waterfall country.

I guess I have to finish everything sooner. But I'm sure Sara will have no problems with that. Naruto chuckled softly even as he wiped his eyes of the few tears that fell before he turned to begin making his way to the citadel.

Original Time

"Why is this storm still raging?!"

Gaara ignored Kankuro's shout as he used his control of sand to tame a small area around himself, providing enough safety for everyone with him investigating the weird happenings in the scarred dunes. He came to save his siblings and their two Chunin teammates after an explosion consumed both Naruto and Mukade. However, the storm has not lessened for the last fifteen minutes as they tried leaving the affected area; it almost looks like the opposite and the storm is actually gaining more strength.

"Where is Beetle?" Temari questioned over the blaring sound of sand whipping around her.

"He's following a chakra line! It's faint but it's pulsing like it's alive!"

Gaara wondered what that would mean. Maybe Naruto got away at the last moment?

Rumble!

"Woah!" Kankuro shouted as he fell backwards in time to avoid a long metal spear rising from the sand. "Wha- what is that?"

The ground shook even more and a purple chakra struck the pointed end of the rising spear, sending sand and Kankuro into the air from the force. The sand blew away to reveal a tiled conical structure and it began rapidly rising. It revealed a large spire building!

"That's Roran infrastructure!" One of the Chunin shouted in awe.

That feeling did not last long as lightning struck the ground directly behind the Chunin that sent him flying forward. Another spire but much shorter rose out of the ground, thankfully not injuring anyone.

"Oh shit, that was close!" The Chunin shouted in shock as he shakily got to his feet.

"Gaara, we should leave!"

Gaara nodded to his sister's shout and controlled his sand to make a large enough circular disk that could carry the five of them. He flew low and fast, avoiding purple lightning and rising spires altogether. There were a few close calls that made him swerve in nearly impossible ways, in turn almost sending his occupants tumbling off, but he had the sand cover their arms or legs to keep them attached.

They were at the edge of the storm when a lightning bolt struck the ground directly behind their path and the consequent explosion sent them flying. Thankfully, it was in the direction of safety, but that did not help easing the rough landing they faced. Gaara used the sand under his control to ease his fall and he recovered faster than his subordinates.

The redhead turned around when five lightning bolts struck the ground closest to their part of the edge but unlike the others no spires rose from this. The towering spires were far away, which surprised the Kage as they were chased by plenty of lightning bolts, and they were shadowed inside the raging storm.

Ka-ka-ka-kaboom!

Over a dozen lightning strikes began lining the edge of the storm, but as they grew, and the explosions got louder, it almost looked like they were beginning to form walls. The purple lightning was so dense and consecutive that it was forming a solid wall that spanned for miles in each direction.

What kind of phenomenon is this? Gaara asked himself as he watched everything progress further.

Suddenly, the lightning stopped and the wall fell with it, and with it went the storm.

As everything began clearing up, the five Suna-nin were shocked to see a revitalised swath of desert. There were now occupied towns as far as they could see, with plenty of irrigated farms leading from the newly-purified river cutting through the land. And in the distance is the lost city of Roran, their familiar towers dwarfing their city walls.

"Where did Roran come from?" Kankuro asked what was on everyone's mind as he stared with wide eyes.

"This must be what that seal was doing, the one that Mukade undid," Temari told her brother. "Maybe the seal was what consumed the city and now it is freed!"

"So Mukade wasn't just a deranged psychopath?"

Gaara did not answer as his brother asked that question, instead keeping his eyes on the distance. He knew something else was going on, and the only way he would get his answers is inside the lost city itself.

With that in mind, he crossed his arms and created another sand disc under his feet before using it to fly toward the city.

Meanwhile

"What do you mean by what you said, Chouza?" Inoichi asked his friend curiously.

Everyone had calmed down after confirming that the two men were, indeed, fine and not affected by the Uzumaki Mark. Some, namely Asuma and in a much smaller way Kurenai and Yoshino, still thought there were lingering effects caused by Naruto but because the diagnosis confirmed the negative there wasn't anything they could argue with.

"The Uzumaki boy," Chouza said cheerfully, now back to his jolly self. "He is intelligent, and Minato-san sure would be proud of his boy today."

"They meant why did we say that after his seal appeared on our bodies," Shibi told the man monotonously.

Chouza nodded his head in understanding.

"As for the answer to your inquiry, we had an encounter with Naruto-san twenty years ago during a mission to the city of Roran," Shibi told everyone bluntly. "He was transported to the past by a seal that was disrupted by Mukade."

Everyone blinked owlishly at what the man said and Chouza chuckled. "We should start from the beginning, Shibi-san!"

The two men then recounted the tale of their time in Roran, the details as brisk and clear as if it just happened - and for the two men, it pretty much did. When the Uzumaki Mark had been deactivated, it was like a torrent of emotions and memories came flooding in and it had overwhelmed them for a few moments. The two men may have even exaggerated a bit on the details, Chouza mainly as he was energetically sharing the story, but they made sure that they retold the story as accurately as possible.

For everyone that listened, it was unbelievable if not for the fact that seals are an unknown art to nearly everyone in the room. To them, the seals that are used for storage scrolls and explosives is the extent of the average shinobi's knowledge - the former attributing heavily to the reason why the shinobi force of the village never believed Naruto as the Kyuubi in mortal form like the civilians used to. But even with the knowledge of these two types of seals, it was only left to a professional to create such objects as there have been instances when these arrays have been botched by novices that ended up hurting many people.

The fact that the Uzumaki had done more and more insane deeds with seals to the point that the world feared not just the clan but the art as well had lent belief in the telling of the two clan leaders' story. This is the same clan that has erased entire villages and people from the face of the world with pieces of seal paper.

"So the mark that appeared was made by the Uzumaki boy simply so your knowledge of his existence back then would not influence the future," Yoshino clarified with a bewildered look, even more so when the large man nodded his head vigorously.

"Indeed, Yoshino-san! That boy knew that his arrival would influence us in the future so it is likely he prepared such a precaution," at this Chouza turned sombre. "Minato died with his memories locked, not knowing how great his son will become."

"You're wrong," Shibi said suddenly, surprising everyone. "Minato-san had died knowing his son will be greater than he or Kushina combined. That is why he sealed the Kyuubi into him. Such an important task was given to his own son not because he would not give the burden to another but because he had faith in Naruto. I think that deep down, the feelings for his future child had always influenced his decision that night even if his memories were lost due to the Uzumaki Mark."

Roran

Gaara arrived at the wall entrance of the city and he was surprised by what he found. "Naruto?"

The blonde man grinned and scratched his head a bit, still holding Sara's hand. The woman with him held an infant child, no older than a few months over a single year. The child may have had a small fuzz of red hair on his head, it was the whisker marks on the child's face that told the redhead of who the father was.

"Hiya, Gaara! It's been a while, huh?" Naruto gave his cheeky response.

"It's only been half an hour or so," Gaara said but he noticed the emotion on his friend's face. "What happened?"

"That's a long story," Naruto chuckled before proceeding to tell his friend the entire story.

He left nothing out as he retold the entire two weeks events from the past to now, coming back to the present with a city that he caused to disappear for twenty years because he didn't want Sara to age to such a degree, and then finished with the Divine trial and his interaction with his father. He did mention that while his jump back to the current time was instantaneous, it was not so for the queendom as they progressed twenty months because of the slowed stasis seal.

He even told his friend that he was now married to the queen of the lost city, and that she gave birth to what is not his fourth child; a son with red hair and blue eyes that slept soundly in his mother's arms.

Gaara was quiet the entire time, not saying a word, and only glanced at Sara and their son, Zora, when they were brought up. He didn't really have to say anything, as he knew the blonde man would never lie - he never had a need to - and he understood everything he was told. It may be far-fetched to any other person or if it was coming from someone else, but if the redhead was honest with himself this was just another day of Naruto Uzumaki.

"So we married, and I activated the central pillar which sent everyone forward in time and I just reappeared," Naruto summed up the ending with a grin. "So, you know, you're welcome for handling Mukade and whatever, he won't be a problem anymore."

Gaar is silent a few moments more as he just stares at the grinning blonde. "I'm not even surprised at this point at the fact that you appeared with a lost queendom, even marrying its queen and having a child, all in the last hour. I'm just glad it's done and I don't have to notify River country about a sandstorm passing over their border."

Naruto actually had the decency to be sheepish about that. "Yeah, it seems that even if I lessened the power input from the Ley Line it would cause a lot of violence. At least nothing was destroyed."

Gaara shook his head. "I'm going home. The Summit passed your proposition for Hozuki Castle."

"Yes!" Naruto raised his fist in the air and explained in excitement.

"Waah!" Zora was startled awake and immediately began crying.

"Oh no, Zora-chan!" Naruto cooed softly as he carefully reached for and grabbed his one-year-old son from Sara, who was giving an exasperated look. "Daddy is so sorry for waking you!"

Zora began babbling with tears in his eyes but Naruto just apologised and spoke nonsense to his son to calm him down. Gaara just shook his head at how the most powerful man on the continent - in the world, in Gaara's opinion, but he didn't want to be too bold - acted in an instant when it came to his family. The redhead even knew, deep down, that the blonde man would move mountains and reshape the world if it meant protecting his family; this even meant him and his siblings, and all other friends that were considered the man's precious people.

I guess I shouldn't be too worried. With Naruto in control, nothing can go wrong.

Later

Naruto arrived at the receiving teleportation room of Uzushio, finding it empty but considering the late time it is likely just a skeleton crew for the night shift. Whenever the seals become more widely used across his territories, he will have to make sure there are guards and staff on hand for any hostile visitors or emergencies. It is always good to be prepared especially when the nation's enemies begin mobilising.

He exited the room and made his way for the exit, noting with some concern that he has not seen a single guard or staff during his walk, and he had a sinking feeling develop in his stomach. Did Nagato come?

Naruto felt his heart clench and he began searching for any and all chakra signatures within the village. For a second, as his radius continued expanding, he was concerned with not finding a single person around him; that ended when he was able to find a large number of signatures congregating in the military sector of the village. What he found odd, however, is that all of his top advisors and commanders were gathered inside a single area within the command and communications centre.

What's going on?

Naruto launched himself in the direction of where everyone was and it was only seconds before he landed on the roof of the building. He used the roof access hatch to enter the building, landing in the utility room on the top floor, and he left for the meeting room on the same floor. As he got closer, he can hear a lot of shouting, and while he could not catch everything he could only hear that the Fourth Division is the topic.

"What's going on here?"

Naruto's cold voice stopped all shouting as he opened the door and stared at everyone. They all stared back, most relieved that he arrived while some were sheepish that their lack of conduct was caught by their leader.

"Good for you to be back, Prince-sama," Ginrei bowed after he got to his feet from his seat. "Please sit, I will fill you in on what is going on."

As Naruto moved for his seat, everyone sat in their own seats and began calming down from their shouting. The only ones that did not participate were Ginrei, Retsu, Ciel, and Kisuke and they were already seated in their respective chairs.

"Now tell me what has all of you so worked up."

Ginrei cleared his throat, giving everyone a look to shut up so he could speak. "A while after we had learned of who orchestrated the attack on Hozuki Castle to get to you, we had started losing communication with the Fourth Division in Sky. We thought that they were busy, finding it harder to fill reports and such, and considering how the Fourth Division acts when it comes to you we did not think of anything at the time."

Naruto nodded his head along as he followed where this was going, only slightly concerned with the truth that will come out. The people that were brought into the Fourth Division are of two groups. The first are those who are generally patriotic and want to help expand the control of Uzushio or to influence foreign courts so as to add ties to a perfect nation such as theirs. Then the second are those like Aizen, and these include other strong members like Gin and Kenpachi, who are under the belief that Naruto and his family were Divine Beings long before the blonde Prince officially gained his divinity. Coincidentally, it is the latter that influences the first enough to make the entire Division fanatical.

That is also why Naruto has been getting more and more prayers in his name as of late. The areas under the control of the Fourth Division are most likely painting him as a godly ruler and as such so long as they pray in his name he will offer them protection.

"Aizen-san had learned of what we got from interrogating the Cult mages and has made it his mission to retaliate against the priestess Shion," Ginrei told his Prince grimly, a frown marring his face. "He's been on the move and as far as we know he is currently subjugating the nation Marsh forcefully. He has already captured the Witch Empress in a prison seal and is using the disorder to march towards the capital."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose at that statement. He has been writing to plenty of the leaders in Gaal about alliances, and the Witch Empress, Anat, is one of the most receptive to such an agreement. While the tribes of Claw and Wolf are very temperamental and required him to fight their toughest warrior, or marry the warlord's daughter, Anat of Marsh only required a son. She is seen as an important figure for the last thousand years, her long life being granted by the World Beast Lotan, and as such for one of his subordinates to treat her as such is going to be very hard to deal with.

"Okay," Naruto sighed and thought to himself for a while. "I can only assume some damage was done to Claw or Wolf as he made his march through their territories, so we will have to send condolences and an offer of recompense if anything was done. As for Marsh, I want a legion on their way to Fourth Division's location and handle what the hell is happening. I will not have a war happen with another continent. We are not warmongers."

Everyone nodded their heads and Ginrei began writing out orders and who would be sent out to handle Aizen. He knew the man will not back down without an official signature from Naruto so he will make sure a command will be written and signed by the Prince to make sure the man stops. If not, a village-sized restraint seal will have to be used.

"I'm exhausted, I've been gone too long with too little energy to explain what happened," Naruto sighed and got to his feet, stretching his back. "Just send one of the mage scholars to these coordinates and look for Queen Sara. She needs to be educated of the last twenty or so years."

Naruto left a coordinate seal with Retsu, this one attachable to the teleportation seal that will send someone to Roran one time. He waved his hand as he began leaving. "Goodnight, everyone."

Naruto had finally reached outside the building when he ran into Tsunade and Shizune standing outside and he can tell they were waiting for him. He also caught the frown on their faces and his stomach clenched when they turned to him with sad eyes.

"Naruto," Tsunade's voice is soft and remorseful.

No, Naruto immediately dashed past them and ran for his clan compound.

His destination appeared before him in seconds, the lights inside off with the exception for the one dimmed on the second floor. He entered the house and rushed up the stairs and to the door with the light shining underneath. However, for some reason, he felt himself stop cold in his tracks. His heart pounded not from adrenaline but from anxiety. His breathing was getting worse as he slowly raised his fist to knock on the door.

"Come in… Naruto-kun."

He shakily grabbed the doorknob and pushed it open, revealing the room inside. The room is pretty bare with the exception of two dressers, a table that has books and papers partially written inside, and an occupied bed. In the bed is Hiruzen, who looked extremely weak and frail compared to how he looked years, let alone months, ago.

"Oji-chan," Naruto whispered as he approached the man's bed.

He looked at the book in the elderly man's lap and noticed the photos inside. The ones he saw are on a page labeled My family and inside were four distinct pictures. The first is Hiruzen and his late wife whom Naruto had not met but heard of and knew of her as his mother's midwife. The second is the Sarutobi clan when Konohamaru was born, Hiruzen's son and daughter-in-law holding an infant while Hiruzen and Asuma are to the side with smiles on their faces. The third photo is Hiruzen's old team, the Three Sannin, when they were still a Genin team before the Second Shinobi War. And lastly is Hiruzen with an older Jiraiya, Minato, and a pregnant Kushina.

"Because you are back from Suna, I assume Roran is back as well?"

Naruto looked up at the man and saw the tired but amused twinkle in the man's eye. "You know…?"

"Did you forget, already?" Hiruzen chuckled softly. "It's been twenty years for me but it shouldn't be more than a week for you. You were there during my visit to re-establish trade with Roran."

Naruto's eyes widened as he realised he never put the mark on the old man! "But you never… said anything?"

"No, there was no need," Hiruzen smiled and looked to the side where he looked out the window. "Knowing that you would become a formidable and smart shinobi was enough for me, even after you were born. I never bothered reminding Minato, Chouza, and Shibi either as I was sure there were reasons why their memories were taken."

Naruto shook his head. "That doesn't matter right now. Tsunade came-"

"Yes, I know," Hiruzen sighed and sagged back in his seat, running a hand along the photos in the book. "I've lived a long time, Naruto-kun. I've seen three Shinobi Wars, survived past the life of my successor, and I've watched as my students fell apart. I watched you grow up, too old and tired to do what was needed to keep you safe, and I know you forgive me now but I never could find it in me to forgive myself. It is a regret I will take to the Pure Lands."

Naruto rubbed his eyes of the tears and shook his head. "I can't blame you. I knew you loved me and only wanted me to have a normal childhood. Please don't focus on that."

Hiruzen smiled and reached for the boy's hand to give it a squeeze. "Continue being who you are, Naruto-kun. I know that you will do what is needed to fulfil the Will of Fire. I only ask for two things. Please look after Konohamaru for me, he is the last I have of my wife and son. And please use my soul as you need."

Naruto's eyes widened and he immediately shook his head. "I won't hold you back from the afterlife, jiji! You deserve your rest!"

"My knowledge is greater than anyone else, my control more so," Hiruzen told the blonde boy. "I can't guarantee that I will be useful in a fight but my knowledge will be enough to make it worth it. But I've always been a shinobi. This is my last wish. Please promise me you will do what I request."

Naruto refused to look at the pleading elderly man and squeezed his eyes shut. "I promise, jiji."

"Good," Hiruzen sighed out as he closed his eyes with a smile. "Stay strong…like you always have. I will see you again… in time."

"Not too soon," Naruto told the man as he shook with tears, feeling the man's life force drain.

He summoned and released Khahrahk and with it his heart fell apart and something changed inside. Not something new but the reopening of a wound that had long since been scabbed over.

Even Khahrahk, the ever darker presence of the blonde's mind, was silent in the taking of the old man's soul. He knew as well as Naruto that things will be different. They will not reshape Hiruzen as they did with many of the sinful souls they've consumed.

No. Hiruzen will be brought back in the image everyone remembered him as - feared him as. The God of Shinobi. The Professor. His heart and mind will remain as much the same as they can, they will make sure of it. That is what the man deserves.

Meanwhile

Konan led Ajisai into the room used for the mission briefing, expecting to only find Nagato and maybe Zetsu but instead, the room was packed with strangers and Akatsuki members alike. There were six A-rank and eight B-rank members, two teams of each rank, and on the other side of the room are nine unknown people in white uniforms with an unknown emblem.

"Pein-sama," Konan and Ajisai greeted their leader.

"Konan. Ajisai." The man greeted them stoically.

The two walked to the side with the other Akatsuki members before their leader began speaking.

"I've called this meeting with one intent," Pein began speaking, addressing his organisation members. "Our organisation has been dwindled drastically from our inner circles and strongest members, whether by being killed or converted from our cost. All by one person. Prince Naruto Uzumaki."

Konan's eyes widened slightly before narrowing them with a twitch at the man's tone. I don't like where this is going.

"Because the Uzumaki Jinchuuriki and his nation are strong, stronger than what our average members can handle, I made the decision to contact people whose goal is aligned with ours," Pein motioned with the position of his hand in the direction of the strange uniformed people. "With us is the group who will be working with you on your mission, the Wandenreich. They will primarily be led by Jugram, their Grandmaster."

Konan's eyes travelled to the man that her leader looked at when he said the man's name. He is a tall, young man with a thin build and long blonde hair that descends past his shoulders, and light blue eyes. He looked very important in the way he postured himself and paid attention to the rest of the room even if it was not immediately noticeable.

"And what is the mission we will be doing with these strangers," Konan asked while not bothering to hide her judgement of how poor she thought of Nagato's decision.

"We have word that one of the Uzushio Divisions is out gallivanting in another continent. This will be the perfect opportunity to gain the Kyuubi and Sanbi at the same time, and deal with the problem that is the Uzumaki Prince."

Konan's stomach sank at her leader's proclamation. Oh no. If we do this, Uzumaki will not only have no desire to meet with me but no desire for a peaceful outcome. This will bring war. She decided to try to convey the poor future this action may bring to their country. "Are we sure this is a wise decision?"

"We are more than capable of helping deal a blow to Uzushio," Jugram spoke up to answer Konan's question, mistaking her doubt as one for their competency. "We have been training to eradicate the Uzumaki for decades now. Our Emperor has had the desire to kill the Uzumaki for a long time now, nearly succeeded one hundred years ago before the clan was scattered after your Second Shinobi War."

Pein nodded his head at the man. "And you will have the chance to do that. Just leave the Biju for us and you can keep the islands of the old clan."

Konan's heart couldn't settle on this. It was happening too fast, she was unable to prepare for something like this, and she knew this may spell disaster. She could feel Ajisai shaking next to her, clearly feeling the same.

Sage help us.

Another chapter here and this time we are setting up for conflict. It seems that Nagato has decided to attack Uzushio with the assistance of a foreign nation. How will this go? What will it do to the plans made by Konan and Ajisai? What is Naruto going to do about Fourth Division's actions in Gaal? We can only wait and see.

PraetorXyn: My belief is that if time travel is achievable, then doing so results in two things; the first is that no matter what you do nothing will change the future and worrying about anything is redundant as everything will be changed once the time traveler leaves. The second is that everything you do in the past has already happened and is meant to happen for the future to remain the same hence worrying is also redundant.

Krieger Techpriest: Very much Uzumaki sealing bullshit lmao

TigrezzTail: Roran will change much like other places under Uzushio control. Because Uzushio is the only nation in Elementia that integrates civilians into the industrial aspects of society they are progressing further with the help of Snow/Spring which is now modernising a lot of things.

WindCitySlayer1: Asuma does not really like Naruto, and he sure will be very hostile when he learns of Hiruzen's soul is now under Naruto's "stewardship". We'll have to see what happens there.

Primarx: Thank you :D