Jiraya could not believe his eyes. Look again, his brain insisted. We're looking, replied his eyes, it's really there.
"Impossible." He muttered. Even the greatest genius he knew, his very own student, the fourth Hokage, took three years to create the jutsu. And yet the blond brat in front of him was swirling his Chakra in a perfect sphere. A Rasengan. The little brat learnt the Rasengan in three days.
Jiraya simply sat and stared with a look of astonishment on his face.
"The Child of Prophecy" He thought. "The one who will bring peace to the Shinobi world."
Naruto on the other hand, was enjoying the feeling of his signature jutsu, and the feeling of his Chakra whipping violently but under control. Thanks to his improved Chakra control, he could pump more Chakra into the Rasengan and swirl it even faster than he did in the previous timeline, making the jutsu even more dangerous.
Naruto and Jiraya were training in a training ground outside the village, so as to not attract attention to themselves from the other Shinobi.
"Thank kami the old geezer was in town. With the massacre right around the corner, we needed an excuse to even know how to perform the jutsu."
"But it is a little suspicious that I learned an A-rank Jutsu in such a short time right?"
"Meh. They'll just chalk it up to you being your dad's son and a prodigy. Its not really that uncommon."
"Right. Like how Kakashi-Sensei created his Chidori or Raikiri or whatever when he was 13."
"Exactly"
Over the last three days, Naruto had been preparing himself to battle Danzo and stop the massacre. He couldn't tell the Sandaime about what he knew or be thrown into the dungeon for spying or be thrown in the looney bin for his time travel story. So he had no choice but to go for the head of the snake. If he killed Danzo, the massacre wouldn't happen. However, due to the past changing, he had no idea when the massacre would take place or if it would even take place the same way. All he could do for now was wait and prepare.
Which was what he had been doing with Jiraya for the past three days.
Flashback
Naruto's eyes snapped open as he found himself in his lotus pose on top of his father's stone bust. He took a moment to enjoy the beautiful night view of Konoha from the monument before he decided to break the peaceful silence.
"Oi, Ero-sennin."
"Can you please not call me that" The sage whined. "The women had been avoiding me because of you."
Naruto waved his hand in front of his face with a deadpan expression. "Nah, its because your reputation of pervert and peeping on the women's hot springs precedes you, you old pervert."
Naruto realised his mistake the second he finished his sentence. "Oh great."
"I'm not just a damn pervert! I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" the 'Super Pervert' bellowed at the top of his lungs out to the entire village before striking an odd pose. Almost instantly, lights flickered on in the village below and random shouts of anger echoed up to the two on the monument. Naruto had to slap a palm to his forehead.
"Ero-sennin would do this all the time on our training trip." He remembered. "It was horrific and traumatising."
Kurama simply nodded in agreement.
After that they had gone to the training grounds to have a spar, just for Jiraya to gauge Naruto's strength.
"Alright gaki, time to see what you're made of. Just come at me with some of the stuff you've learned the past couple years and we'll go from there on how to train" Jiraiya announced.
Naruto grinned in excitement and stretched in the middle of the field before assuming the basic Taijutsu stance.
"Naruto. You will not beat him as you are now."
'I know. Just thought I'd at least make him put in a little effort if I can help it. Though, it's too bad I don't have any element that would overcome his elemental jutsu. He primarily uses fire and earth jutsu.'
Naruto finished his stretching and walked into the center of the clearing while his godfather did the same, both checking each other out.
'This brat is used to high speed combat, judging by the way his feet are ready to push off at any moment now. His leg muscles being more developed than the rest of his body only confirms my theory.' Jiraiya thought as he stood with a relaxed pose in front of Naruto.
Naruto grinned as he burst into a shunshin, deciding to go high for a vicious 360 tornado kick.
Jiraiya lazily put an arm up to block the kick and Naruto had to grunt in slight pain.
It was like hitting a metal pole.
Not wanting to give Jiraiya any chances, he reached out and grabbed the blocking arm while he was still in the air and pulled with all his effort as he fell back down to the ground. Jiraiya was momentarily surprised as he felt himself lurching forward before he recovered and decided to let the boy play this out. Upon landing on the ground, Naruto used the momentum to pull with all his effort to throw him overhead, which impressed the much larger and heavier man.
He let himself fly before recovering and landing gracefully on the opposite side of his godson from where he was standing earlier. Naruto used this time to jump toward the powerful sage's back for a side kick. Jiraiya wouldn't allow that as he spun around and tried to backhand the boy in the air. His opponent saw it coming and had to block the massive fist with both arms which spun him in the air from the older man's greater strength.
Naruto, ever the opportunist, used the spinning to add momentum to a spinning elbow aimed right for Jiraiya's forehead. The older man simply grabbed the boy before spinning him around once before tossing him far into the air. Naruto recovered and landed on his feet some distance away, watching his godfather warily.
Naruto smiled as the memories of training and sparring with Jiraya-sensei overlapped with the spar they were having now. Calming himself and breathing deeply, he let out a small hiss of wind chakra escaping through his teeth.
Jiraya immediately felt the change. 'It feels similar to sage mode. It's as if he's using his Chakra to mimick the flow of the environment around him."
"But what will that do? He wondered.
Naruto formed the sign for his Kage Bunshin, causing five clones to pop into existence around him.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.
"I knew you'd have massive chakra reserves, but to know that jutsu already is impressive. Are those all you can make?"
"Nope. Haven't tried to reach my limit."
It was technically true. In this new timeline, Naruto had focused on the quality, not quantity of his clones, so he did not know his new maximum number.
Then Naruto attacked, all his clones performing shunshins to attack Jiraya simultaneously. Jiraya dodged and blocked a flurry of very well executed Academy taijutsu, "but no matter how good he is, the style is too basic." Jiraya muttered.
He effortlessly dodged another roundhouse from a clone before dispelling it with a hammerfist.
"His clones are more sturdy than some of the Jonin I've fought. This brat is really impressive."
After awhile, Jiraya began to get bored. His opponent was only nine years old after all.
Naruto shuddered as Jiraiya stared at him, as if making casual observations. Naruto began to feel nervous as he put his hands up in a defensive stance while his godfather smiled almost too gleefully for it to be anything good for him.
"I think I'll take it up a notch to show you how big of a gap it is between you and me in terms of strength and experience. Be ready, gaki."
Naruto gulped and he had cold sweat all over his entire body as he felt the white-haired man's massive power radiating in waves.
Naruto was ready to run when Jiraiya dashed forward with impossible speed and an evil smile plastered on his face.
Flashback end
Jiraya had been training Naruto for three days now, teaching him the basics of his frog kata, as well as showing him the steps to learning the Rasengan, which of course, Naruto already knew.
"Didn't I repeatedly tell you to come at me with the intent to kill?" a lazy voice drawled out as a white-haired sannin ducked under a hook from an increasingly frustrated blond boy.
"I know! I'm actually trying! As Kami is my witness, I really do want to slaughter you, you cocky asshole!" Naruto growled as another one of his hook kicks missed again. The fact that Jiraya didn't even look like he moved from his original spot at all since the spar began also served to piss the blonde off something fierce.
They had been sparring ever since Naruto had shown his completed Rasengan to Jiraya, and Jiraya now wanted Naruto to be able to use it in battle.
"I needed the muscle memory back anyway" Naruto thought as he thrust another Rasengan at another one of Jiraya's shadow clones. He had to say, the technique was infuriating when used against you.
He had been keeping his breathing technique active the entire spar, just so he could somewhat elevate his strength just a little. They had been training for hours now, the sun casting orange hues on the clouds over the darkening sky.
Naruto grunted as Jiraya dodged another punch. Gathering his Chakra and rotating it like a miniature storm in his hand, Naruto dashed forward with his full speed, only to freeze as a shiver ran up his spine, like the old saying of when someone was walking over your grave.
Naruto was frozen, his Rasengan fizzling out, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.
"Kid? Whats wrong?" Jiraya questioned before perking up as well, sensing danger.
Naruto shut his eyes and breathed in and out, trying to pinpoint what exactly was causing him to react like this.
He could not. Whatever it was, it was outside of his range. Rather than a solid sense of what it was, all he got was a chill.
Then he felt something. A shuriken had hit a tree. Then movement. Flickers.
Naruto felt his blood run cold.
"Shisui"
Mere moments before with Shisui
Shisui was puzzled. He was told to meet here for his mission briefing, but the anbu captain was nowhere to be found. He continued searching within the forest, 'Could the mission report venue have been inaccurately written?' He mused with a raised eyebrow. Konoha always strived themselves off their efficiency, so it was unlikely.
As he went further east into the forest, he noticed the increase in humidity, 'It's getting hotter.' The sticky sweat on his skin was irritating.
Shisui was now suspicious, his instincts telling him to bolt.
Shisui took a break from running to scout for clues. He recognized kunai marks slashed against a tree, splashes of dried blood, and broken ninja tools.
He crouched down to inspect the area, "Someone was here, but long gone now..." His observations were cut off but high-pitched buzzing sound in his ear.
*BUZZ*
Glancing around, Shisui noticed there were tens of mosquito-like insects swarming the area from the ground up, closing in around Shisui. It wasn't uncommon, especially in this humid forest.
"Tch! Did I step on a nest?" He asked himself, before wincing in pain, "Gah!" One of the insects bit him on his left wrist. He smacked it dead, before continuing surveying.
"Hn... stupid bug." Shisui muttered as he walked away from the swarm of bugs...
But before he knew it, he fell to one knee from the pain of the bite...
His eyes widened, "Wha-" The other insects quickly descended upon him, and that was when his shinobi reflexes kicked in; the Uchiha prodigy jumped high, directly into the air and went through three handsigns before shouting.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Shisui shot the fireball back down to where he previously stood, instantly killing all insects around there. He landed into the debris of dead insects and smoking grass, huffing heavily.
He stared down at his swollen, throbbing wrist, which stood out in a yellow color, "That was no mosquito." He said, before pulling out and flinging four kunais at the position to his left, each attached with explosive tags.
*BANG*
Four large explosions rang in the forest as the targeted trees were blasted into splinters.
Shisui activated his sharingan, still huffing, while staring at the blast zone, which was now a large cloud of smoke.
The Uchiha gritted his teeth, "Show yourself!" He ordered, but winced from the bite on his wrist, 'I-I've been poisoned with something.'
As he said that, five figures appeared in front of the smoke, each wearing blank white masks.
Shisui narrowed his eyes, 'Root?'
"What is the meaning of this!?" He demanded.
The leader of the squad stated coldly, "Shisui Uchiha. Surrender yourself and your eyes; that poison won't kill you right now, but the more you resist, the sooner your end comes…" The stoic leader threatened.
Shisui grunted with narrowed eyes, 'Do they know of my eyes?' No time to think, Shisui put on a forced grin.
"Just watch me…" The teen boasted, before vanishing in a seal less shunshin.
The root shinobi didn't know where Shisui was for a few moments, until a rain of shuriken and kunai descended upon them. "Above!" One called out, as all the ninja either dodged or deflected the weapons.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Coming from another tree to the left of them, mixed in with the next wave of shuriken, was multiple fireballs aiming towards the five shinobi. They all either dodged or used a counter jutsu of earth style and water style...
Shisui went sprinting towards the shortest agent, unsheathing his tanto from the brown satchel, and sharingan blazing.
*CLANG*
They met on the burnt grass where the dead insects lay, as Shisui's tanto and the first agent's katana met in a spark of metal, Shisui gritting his teeth after activating his sharingan, attempting to get the upper hand.
'I must deal with this before the poison catches up.' Shisui had no experience in medical ninjutsu, so he didn't want to make matters worse when dealing with the insect bite.
The two began to trade strikes with their respective weapons, using all kinds of flexibility and agility. Shisui attempted a stab to the heart, but the katana-wielder parried it; the agent went to slash off Shisui's legs, but the Uchiha managed to flip over him, before a relay of fast kenjutsu dueling.
The duel ended in another clang of weapons, each pushing for an advantage. 'He's skilled, easily jounin level.' Shisui's thought ended when he sensed another agent coming from behind going through a set of hand seals.
The second agent quickly finished a sixth hand seal before shouting, "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" The ninja unleashed a large water bullet at Shisui and the root agent he was dueling.
Shisui quickly noted that the first agent he was attacking with was standing his ground, 'He intends to get hit!' Shisui abruptly jumped out of the way of the bullet, avoiding the hit. The agent he fought also got to safety, but seemingly only after Shisui made the first move...
Before he could analyze further, the second agent continued to shoot a barrage of water bullets at Shisui, but the sharingan-wielder was able to skillfully maneuvering around the deadly attacks.
Shisui leaped to a nearby tree branch, quickly getting surrounded by the five agents, who all stood on separate branches around him. He was starting to breath heavily, holding his agonizing wrist, 'The poison… huff... is spreading faster than I thought. I must pick them out... huff... one-by-one!' He abruptly reached into his pouch, making the surrounding agents tense, and threw a smoke bomb at the wooden branch below him; blinding the vision of all five shinobi.
He backflipped away to avoid a barrage of kunais aimed for his lower body, all rigged with explosive tags.
*BOOM*
The explosion aimed for him managed to hit the branch he stood on and destroyed the body of the agent he just killed, meaning Shisui had no evidence...
As he maneuvered backwards, the Uchiha landed back on the grass below the trees. Shisui winced from another wave of pain that now stretched along his chest, "D-Damn it" He grunted, falling to one knee. 'It's going to immobilize me soon...' Grinding his teeth at his potential end. The teen's entire left hand was a yellow shade from the bite, and the color was descending towards his chest area.
Soon enough, Shisui was again surrounded in a square formation by the four remaining root shinobi, all on the grass.
The leader stepped forward, "It's over, Shisui Uchiha. That poison will kill you in 20 minutes…"
Gritting on his teeth, clenching his fists hopelessly, Shisui cursed, 'I have to get back to the village and pray for reinforcements.' He shakily got back on his feet, ready to use his legendary speed to get away.
Speeding through 5 hand signs, he shouted, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Forcefully pushing his hands in both directions, Shisui released a stream of powerful wind, forcing his 4 opponents to enhance their chakra so as to not be blown away; used their distraction, Shisui vanished in a flash with his shunshin. Sprinting back towards the village and adding lightning chakra to increase his speed.
Shisui's vision blurred as he noticed his opponent was coming at him, covered in a green aura. That was when his red eyes widened, "T-The Gate of Limit!" Having trained with Might Gai, Shisui was well aware of the damage the 5th gate could cause.
A strike from the root agent would kill him in his current condition!
Before the shinobi's high kick could connect with Shisui's neck, the Uchiha made his decision.
"No choice!" He grunted, closing his eyes before abruptly reopening them with his blazing Mangekyou, which followed a large explosion.
*BOOOM*
When the remaining three agents finally arrived at the open clearing, they were shocked to see the spectacle.
Their bald, taijutsu-specialist had a large, green chakra-drill piercing his stomach, which killed him on impact.
Their attention turned to Shisui, who was at the center of a massive green, humanoid goliath, with an armored body up to its waist, and shining eyes. Above Shisui was a large red tomoe glowing.
Shisui continued to huff and puff, but stuck his ground, which was quite a feat at the chakra usage of his technique.
Shisui turned to glare at the three remaining shinobi, "This is Susano'o, and it will be your end!" The teenager unleashed a marriage of green chakra needles at an insane pace, killing the shorter of the agents he sparred with and wounding the water-style user; the stoic leader remained fine.
Shisui gritted his teeth at the lack of success and prepared for another round, but that was before he froze when a huge wave of agonizing pain came to his eyes and chest simultaneously... from the Mangekyou overuse, rapidly spreading poison, and fractured ribs he sustained from the fight.
"AHHH!" He screamed in pain, falling to his knees; tears of blood were flowing from both his eyes, veins pulsing around the white of them, signifying the amount of pressure on his now-onyx orbs. The Uchiha coughed up blood as he fell face-first into the dirt. It was clear the boy was bleeding internally, and his already-blurry vision was even worse now.
"D-d-damn it..." He managed to mutter, feeling his consciousness fading, barely aware of the leader slowly walking towards him.
Shisui suddenly felt himself be forced up by the leader, who held him by his brown, tanto satchel. The leader stared at him, emotionlessly.
The still-hidden Torune Aburame praised the teen, who was actually a year older than him, "Those are truly remarkable eyes you have, Shisui Uchiha. I now understand why my leader is so insistent on retrieving them." Shisui's consciousness soon began to steadily return, but his body was still too weak to counter. "Any last words?" The bug-user offered.
Shisui couldn't help but grin carefreely, "Yeah…" before spitting a mouthful of blood at his opponent, staining his porcelain mask red, "Go to hell." He snarled.
Torune could tell Shisui was about to die, but he didn't want the face the risk of a potential 'Caged Bird Seal' that could destroy his eyes after his death, similar to the Hyuuga Clan.
The Aburame prodigy positioned his hand on Shisui's eye socket, preparing to rip his eye out.
Then there was a scream, and the grass was stained red.