We back. Now it's time for chapter 2. I appreciate the support especially since we're only 5k words in. I will continue to post at this length since it gives a more consistent upload schedule.
Also, djb0623, I appreciate the distinction between Uzumaki and Hashirama's healing factors, and I'm sure you're just being informative, but it's already explained why he didn't go for the Hashirama cells.
D3D, it'll probably get weird a bit. Weird is good though. I mean, I'm making fanfiction, aren't I?
Yo spiderfan, don't want to spoil anything, but those are definite possibilities to consider.
MDM, you have given me a lot to consider. I read the novels a while ago, but not recently. I own both of them so perhaps I'll re-read a bit. I have my plans at least for Kabuto and Yamato pretty defined at least.
Let's get it.
After thinking, maybe it won't be so bad. Twelve kids would be a large family, especially true if they had twins or the even more unlikely, triplets. Perhaps even have more after that? I'll have to see. They also probably want to compete so doing this would put them at a disadvantage.
Nothing I could do about that though. Could I perhaps give them an advantage? Maybe, but I wasn't going to. The children alone would be the gift that they've probably never would have gotten if I was the original Danzo.
Was that narcissistic? Yeah, but with all my knowledge and my broken ability, I don't really care.
Motherhood is a beautiful thing after all. They could even become stronger by having something more solid and personal to protect from enemies.
It all works out.
I dismissed the women and informed the kunoichi that I would summon them when I was ready.
They simply disappeared after that, but I could even see a trace of anticipation, and that was something I couldn't exactly understand.
Was my speech and restructuring touched their hearts that greatly? Along with the gift of being a mother?
Danzo…your emotional conditioning sucks.
Anyway, I have to make good on my words, so I summon 10 shadow clones, and without a word, they used the shunshin to prepare the library in one of the unoccupied chambers.
It's a good thing Danzo prepared this space in such detail to have many rooms and areas in case he expanded his personal army.
Also, with the death of half of my forces, there were many empty rooms.
Oh! They can be the baby rooms, that was easy.
I also have to worry about funding, since they are currently abysmal after the war, and likely will not be the same since we are in peace times now.
One idea is literature.
Wasn't Jiraiya rich off his porn series, Icha Icha?
I'll just blatantly plagiarize Shonen manga. Now, I'm not an artist, but surprisingly, Danzo was.
Guess everyone has a hobby, wonder if that's where Sai got it?
Hmm, what should I start with then? One Piece would be good as it would stimulate desires such as travel and adventure, but maybe Demon Slayer would be better.
Right off the cusp of war, people have lost family members, and the first chapter engages in that aspect to relate to others.
I could make a fucking fortune.
After all, to become a successful business, one doesn't need only a great idea or service, but also execution.
The timing will be perfect, but I have to start immediately since the war ended six months ago.
It is a good thing Danzo has contacts practically everywhere in the shinobi world with his own spy network; however, all his Root shinobi are in the base, but he does have some pawns to utilize.
One of them is in the same publishing company as Jiraiya.
This was not by coincidence since Danzo is overtly paranoid and knows that Hiruzen's student inherited his 'soft' idealogy.
He could have never known I'd be using his contact to actually publish my own work. Life is strange like that.
As for how I could even remember every panel of the manga?
Well, I loved the series so much that I have the entire volume set and have read it multiple times, along with the side stories of Giyu and Kyojuro.
I went even further by watching reaction videos of the Demon Slayer anime on .
At that point, I knew I had an addiction.
Even almost published my own fanfiction of a Yoriichi clone in the modern-day Kamado family that was older than Tanjiro.
It was bad. My addiction I mean, the story was decent at best.
That's only because my grammar was actually readable unlike most of the drivel on the site.
Anyway, I knew the story and manga like the back of my hand; however, with chakra enhancement and Danzo's artistic ability? It's definitely doable.
Forming the cross sign for the iconic jutsu, I had another 10 clones start working on the manga.
Luckily, the print press existed in this universe, so I didn't have to make all the volumes myself. Only a few of each volume, but I know better than to release all of them at once.
You have to build excitement and anticipation about new releases.
Jiraiya did something a little similar when Kakashi got excited about the newest release of Icha Icha.
Sales will be through the roof, and my funding issue will soon be resolved.
I don't know how the original Danzo dealt with it but this is my way. Maybe he didn't need to? Since I'm going to have children and more hungry shinobi training intensely, that would mean I need more money.
Even still, they'd be operating at a loss if the reports after the war were accurate. They are, of course.
I sighed before shaking my head.
It's not like it really matters. My solution works and wondering about what-ifs that wouldn't happen because of my reincarnation doesn't matter.
There's not much to do until my shadow clones are done with the library, and I don't know the extent of strain with my newer body with the memory transfer, so I must wait.
Or…maybe not.
At a sudden memory, I remember that there were fuinjutsu weights in the R&D chamber.
I could use those to increase my speed and strength in the meantime.
Wish there were resistance seals like in the fanf—
One flash later and I was immediately excited. They do exist. Danzo could make them.
After thinking more about fuinjutsu, I have many more memories that appear in my mind.
Mito Uzumaki actually taught Danzo fuinjutsu after he displayed an interest in it.
I suppose it makes sense since he was able to make the cursed seal on his shinobi's tongue. At least I believe he did.
Danzo Shimura, a fuinjutsu master similar to Jiraiya.
Who would have thought? I suppose it's not that much of a stretch to believe.
His sensei, Tobirama, created a space-time ninjutsu with fuinjutsu, Hiraishin.
I suppose that's where the interest began.
Without much hesitation, I made my way to the R&D chamber, created a shadow clone, and laid down face-first on one of the beds.
The clone grabbed some sealing supplies, that being a brush and ink.
Lying down, the clone got to work and drew up the seal. This particular seal was one of Mito's creations and had 10 levels.
From memory, this is unlike anything I've read in fanfiction where it starts at the Jonin level of physical conditioning. Need I mention again that it had 10 levels? It's absurd. Mito even used it on Hashirama and Madara. She ended up regretting using it on the latter after he came back several years later to fight her husband to the death, ultimately losing.
Hell, Hashirama made it up to level six before his fight with Madara and ended up getting weaker from overtaxing his cells in combat, causing him to rapidly age after the fight.
Who knows how far he could've gotten, but from what I remember, it was hellish.
The shadow clone finally finished and pulsed chakra completing the seal. It's ready to activate whenever I want.
Kinoto walked into the room and knelt. That was some pretty good timing.
"Ace-sama, a report came in that the Hokage is summoning the council for a meeting in a week's time." He informed me and stayed silent afterward.
Well, that's not surprising since he just took office. It's not a problem for me to attend, plus I could just revert to my old appearance, but the one thing I noticed was that I can't hide my chakra.
The signature and nature, I could, but not the capacity.
While taking in Kushina's blood, didn't immediately give me the same chakra reserves as hers, it gives me the potential to reach it. I even suspect that after a good night's rest, my chakra reserves will increase slightly without any training.
Isn't that cool?
With the Uzumaki foundation and having an outrageous amount of chakra, when a year passes, I could assimilate Hashirama's cells and have the already large reserves to dish out high-level Wood Release.
If I were to have, instead, picked the cells first, sure I'd have my eye back and Wood Release off the bat, but I wouldn't be able to do any of the taxing jutsu since my chakra reserves would be too low.
The Uzumaki blood is the foundation since with massive amounts of chakra, you could use it for anything.
"Understood, have all the adult kunoichi report to me after the meeting, dismissed." I sighed as I felt that I was gonna need some tension relief after that nonsense.
Kinoto hesitated before speaking again. Such a thing would be unheard of, but it seems my methods are working. They would have just left.
"Ace-sama, aren't all of them adults?" He questioned and I had to school my expression immediately as a memory popped up.
Seriously? The whole 'old enough to kill, old enough to fuck' thing is real here?
Didn't Jiraiya say you have to be eighteen to buy his books in the anime or something?
Is this an AU? No, it's too soon to determine that yet. Everything from my memory of the show still adds up so far, so unless a gender-bent Naruto and Sasuke roll around, I'll be on the skeptical side.
The good thing is that term really means 13+ as a Genin and any age at Chunin.
Not like that'll matter, puberty was still around the same ages. How would Kakashi fuck at 6 years old?
It's more of a joke with a bit of truth sprinkled in.
The drinking age is the same as well; however, for Genin under 15, they have to have a chunin and above to be present in bars. Home drinking is fine for Genin.
What a weird system, but then again, we are training killers and expect them to die for their village, so certain privileges and amenities are given.
Apparently, you can gamble at any age so long as you're a Genin.
That's neat.
I'll have to hit up a casino one of these days.
Right, distracted again.
"I see, Kunoichi over 18, Kinoto, dismissed." I corrected myself and he disappeared.
The Root was a bit different since as long as one passes training, no matter the age, they are considered adults.
Not like that matters since they don't have headbands or identification cards to prove they are shinobi.
Anyway. Time to take this seal out on a spin. The training grounds aren't far and it's quite large too. Artificial lighting on the ceiling and grass under my feet. This is just a generic space to practice almost anything that doesn't require specific conditions.
It's a big room that I can exercise and train in.
That's good enough for me until I could go out on the surface and train with the trees. I believe that's how Danzo trained Yamato.
I also have to give them actual names.
Calling them by Kinoto, Kinoe, Tsuchinoe, and all that reminds me of the Demon Slayer Corps rankings.
That never really mattered outside of Hashira, but I digress.
They probably did have a function, but the author never got around to explaining or showcasing the difference in ranks outside of one rank up in the Entertainment District Arc.
The new rank is cap by the way. They should be way stronger than that considering what they did in Season 3.
Outrageous.
Back on topic, I could start setting up partners now.
Summoning another shadow clone, I had him work out the logistics and set up the pairs.
Now it is time to train.
Arriving at the place, I set my seal to level 1 and felt a bit of pressure. This clearly isn't enough, so I raise it higher.
At level 2, I could hardly move. The jump in difficulty is insane, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Time to get some training done today.
Starting at a walk, it was a monumental task just to raise one foot and place it ahead on the ground.
This is just the beginning though, so while it was hard, there was no way in hell was I giving up, not when I knew what was out there.
Step after step, I made my way around the field. Sweat could be felt everywhere on my body, and I could only thank Danzo's foresight with proper venting and air conditioning so that it wouldn't be completely unbearable.
This is a long process, so I didn't make any crazy progress but I could feel myself walking a bit faster than when I first started.
Gains are gains. No matter how small they may seem. They add up.
In actuality, it has been several hours which surprised me. The most I think I ever worked out in my previous life was like 2 hours, but to go all the way up to eight? That's unheard of, especially since I got so absorbed in it.
The only reason I stopped apart from sheer exhaustion was that my clones popped and I got an influx of memories.
They completed the library and told Kinoto.
It goes without saying that my clone to organize the partners popped hours before.
Inside the library were dozens upon dozens of bookshelves filled with everything you could imagine on the shinobi arts.
Danzo was very thorough in collecting everything he could get his hands on around the elemental nations.
Perhaps this is why Orochimaru worked with him. All these techniques numbered in the thousands. Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu, and everything in between.
A treasure trove, indeed.
This will be incredibly helpful in bolstering my forces.
That will come later, though, or rather tomorrow. There's still some time before nightfall, and the side effect of the shadow clone memory transfer felt fine.
Next, I summoned another 10 clones, since my reserves aren't that crazy yet, and had them all practicing the Rasengan.
A few reasons for this. For one, it's an A-Rank jutsu. While Naruto spams this shit, it's for a reason, it's that fucking good. Secondly, it doubles as a chakra control exercise. There are multiple layers to it as well. Shape Transformation which is exactly how it sounds. Transforming the shape of your techniques to whatever you want. From fireballs to shaping them to look like dragons. Another, and an often overlooked aspect is Nature Transformation. If one were able to add an element to this ball of chaos, then one could be said to be a master of that element. It's one thing to use any wind jutsu, but to do it with the Rasengan? You would be a master.
Now these sound great, but how does that increase your chakra control in general, as Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation are quite specific applications of chakra?
This would naturally be the three steps to make the darn thing. Rotation, power, and containment. Rotating the Rasengan takes a hell of a lot of control to do it correctly and not cheat with it like Naruto, who has clones glued to his hip helping him form it.
To do it by yourself is the actual challenge. Power comes next and could be said to be the easiest of the three steps and you wouldn't be wrong, but still not as easy as simply adding more chakra. As you add more chakra, you have to be incredibly aware to keep the same rotation in mind, because if you don't, the whole Rasengan falls apart and you waste a lot of chakra for nothing.
Containment is the hardest for a reason. Power and rotation cause the Rasengan to be powerful no doubt, but it has to be in a perfect sphere, or else the maximum damage output would be different for each Rasengan. Also, containing all that destructive power would cause it to shred through everything.
Why people weren't turned into chunks of flesh and blood from Naruto's Rasengan was probably because it was too gory.
Anyway, I got to work.
I grabbed water balloons before coming out to the training grounds because why wouldn't I want to learn the Rasengan?
It's the law at this point.
"Alright, that's everything. You're free to browse, but not take anything out. I'll see your results in six months." I walked out of the library as they began to look through everything.
Wouldn't make much sense to dismiss them so I just left. They have already been informed of their partners, so they'll be working with them to improve and motivate each other.
I have a good feeling this is a better path for Root.
It was the next day after trying to learn the Rasengan. It's pretty tough, but I have a good baseline with Danzo's body so I almost got the rotation down without the help of a shadow clone.
This is an excellent pace.
I was quite hungry and I knew exactly where to go.
I simply have to find out if Ichiraku's is really the food of the gods.
"Have a great day, Yondaime-sama." Kushina kissed his cheek and he blushed.
Not for the obvious reason, though.
"Ah, come on Kushina-chan, how long are you going to keep this up?" He asked with a sigh but anyone could tell it was more lighthearted.
"Until it stops bothering you." She smiles mischievously.
He heard this from the Sandaime, so maybe he should try.
It's harder than it looks, however.
"Alright alright, I'll be home tonight." Minato instead steals a kiss on the lips and heads off to the Hokage Tower.
He knows what that does to her and to leave right after?
She didn't plan to let him get away with it scot-free.
"MINA-KUN YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT WHEN YOU COME HOME TONIGHT~!" She shouts with a seductive voice that even the most dense idiot could pick up on.
Namikaze Minato never embodied Konoha's Yellow Flash moniker more than that moment.
Or perhaps he was the Red Flash given how atomic his face got?
Who knows.
Kushina grinning in victory decides she is also going to go out.
"Ichiraku's here I come!"
Now this is Konoha's Red Flash.
At least when it comes to Ichiraku's.
Shorter chapter.
I apologize.
Absolutely nasty flu over the entire week and only now my fever went down enough to write.
Didn't want to delay it even further so I'm putting this out now.
I like adding bits of Kushina and Minato. Very fun. I'll probably keep doing it. Maybe even other characters eventually.
Until next time.