Naruto: Uchiha no Densetsu
Chapter28: Preparations for war
Naruto and Kakashi promptly appeared in the P ward of the hospital, which was a few floors below ground level. This part of the hospital was constructed under Tsunade's orders, by veteran shinobi specialized in doton chakra manipulation. Taking a quick left upon reaching the end of the hallway, the two former Anbu captain's eyes landed on their Hokage and several other Anbu members standing outside the door as guard. However, they were indeed surprised upon seeing Itachi too, since, he mostly stayed outside the village on high priority missions.
The two briskly walked towards Minato and stopped right beside him. The Hokage also sighed upon seeing his two trusted shinobi.
"Tou-san, what happened to Shisui?" Naruto fired his question immediately. Kakashi chose to remain quiet at this point, as he wished to know the entire situation before stating his thoughts.
"We don't know anything for sure yet. From what I know currently, Itachi found Shisui on the borders of Hi no Kuni, almost passed out from chakra exhaustion and several deep injuries all over his body. From the looks of things, he must have had a fight with someone. Itachi then immediately rushed him to the village and informed Tsunade-sama about his condition. She's been treating him inside for the past forty minutes. She should be coming out soon." Minato explained briefly. The Hokage himself was worried about the situation since there weren't that many people who could put Shisui in that state.
Upon seeing the blonde's gaze linger on him, Itachi cleared his throat to speak. "Even I can't say with whom exactly he fought. Based on his location, I would say he was coming from the west. And that would only include Iwagakure and Amegakure as uncertainties in those areas. I think, Jiraiya-sama would know more about the mission he was on, since Shisui was working with him the past years." Itachi stated.
Naruto's eyes narrowed upon hearing that small bit of information. It was completely possible for Iwa shinobi to jump on Shisui. He would never put it past Ohnoki to use under handed tactics to decrease Konoha's military strength. He clenched his fists in frustration. He did not want to lose him too. Not ever again.
"There's no point jumping to conclusion, Naruto. As Itachi said, we can't be sure if it was Iwagakure or Amegakure or none of them. I know how you feel. But we can only wait right now and hear Shisui's report once he's awake. Think about the situation rationally. Shisui is not someone who can be taken lightly. Even a kage would think twice before getting into a fight with him." Kakashi stated, to calm him slightly.
"He's right, Naruto. Also, Tsunade-sama did state that none of his injuries were life threatening. Most of his missions involved reconnaissance inside the enemy borders or keeping tabs on Akatsuki members. It's also possible he got into an altercation with them. Anyhow, lets be glad that he's alive." Minato commented.
Naruto merely nodded, as his eyes kept glancing towards Shisui's room. The one solace he had was that with Tsunade baa-chan in there, Shisui would definitely be okay. Silence soon enveloped the area as every passing minute felt like an hour to all. Everyone was tensed about the situation. And with the chunin exam's finals coming up, it would be an absolute worst time for either a new threat to come up or an enemy village to invade theirs. Seeing as everyone was quiet, Itachi moved closer to Naruto, since there was a question that was bugging him. He had already heard from Hokage-sama about Orochimaru targeting his brother.
"Have you found out how Orochimaru was able to get inside the village yet?" Itachi asked him. Naruto was not surprised that Itachi had already heard about the news. Moreover, since it was his own sibling, the blond was sure Itachi wouldn't mind getting rid of the snake himself.
"We have a shinobi named Kabuto, under suspicion. But we don't have anything concrete against him. I had fought Orochimaru in the Forest of Death for a brief moment. I think he's switched bodies again. But this new one didn't really feel human." Naruto stated. Itachi raised an eyebrow on hearing that. However, he wasn't entirely surprised to hear that. With the number of experiments the Snake Sannin had conducted on himself it would be practically impossible to remain completely human.
"What exactly do you mean by that? His body did not feel human or was it his chakra?" Itachi questioned. Soon as he asked the question, another one popped in his mind which did confuse him greatly. In the battle during Takigakure, Orochimaru was stuck with several of Naruto's black rods. And from his experience, the rods could only be removed by a rinnegan user. His eyes widened as he concluded the possibility of another shinobi with the eyes of sage.
"Not now, Itachi. I haven't told this to tou-san yet. I don't want to worry him about this. If there's another shinobi with the same eyes as me, it's my job to take care of him. I don't think anyone else would be able to deal with such a threat. And judging from Orochimaru's tone earlier, I also feel he's more experienced in using the rinnegan." Naruto whispered, quietly. His father also had a lot to deal with the possible threats from inside the village as well as other nations. It would indeed be an unnecessary burden for him to know about another rinnegan user, right now. Moreover, he'd rather speak to Jiraiya about this before. Since, his godfather had told him about another shinobi by the name of Nagato, who wielded the rinnegan.
While Itachi did not reply anything to that, he could understand where Naruto was coming from. Rinnegan was not a doujutsu that could be awakened by anyone. A person needed to have both Uchiha and Senju genes to awaken the eyes. Even if one were to use a transplanted rinnegan, the person wouldn't be able to utilize the true power of the eyes, since their bodies would not be able to handle the power. However, he'd be damned if he let Naruto go up against a powerful enemy, all alone.
A few minutes later, the door to Shisui's room opened and Tsunade walked out. She was immediately surrounded by Minato and Naruto. Both Itachi and Kakashi sighed lightly at the father and son's impatience.
"Baa-chan, how is he doing now? Can we go meet him?" Naruto asked, hurriedly. A vein throbbed in Tsunade's forehead upon being bombarded with questions the moment she exited the room.
"Give me some room, you idiots! I just came out!" Tsunade barked. However, it did nothing to deter the Hokage and Naruto. The two were probably the only people in Konoha who could stand up to Tsunade even when she was mad. The blonde Senju simply sighed at seeing the two Namikaze's faces.
"Yes, yes. You can go meet with him. But do remember, he will need to be in bed for another two weeks or so, to be back at full health. Most of his injuries were superficial, so there was not much that I needed to heal. His main issue was chakra exhaustion. But, as I said, with a few weeks of rest, he should be fine." Tsunade said with a sigh. Although, she was glad that Itachi had gotten Shisui back to the village when he did. The situation could have been far worse if Shisui was late in getting treatment. Even though, chakra exhaustion sounded like a minor case, there are plenty of shinobi who have perished on battlefield due to using chakra past their limit. Even Kakashi and Itachi breathed a sigh of relief on hearing Tsunade's assessment.
Soon after that, the four people entered the room and everyone's mood became a tad bitter upon seeing their fellow comrade bandaged up. Although, all knew it was no time to be mourning, yet. If there was a threat, that even Shisui was wary of, they needed to know about it as soon as possible. It was Minato who stepped forward and stood before him.
"Tell me what happened Shisui. And don't leave any details out. I apologize I have to do this now, but you know how it is… don't you?" Minato said, a bit somberly. Shisui nodded, and he would have done the same had he been in the Hokage's position. The village comes before everything else, after all.
"It's alright, Hokage-sama. I understand. Well, the truth of the matter is… there's a greater threat than the Akatsuki out there, as you had suspected. And if I'm right, this person belongs to the Otsutsuki Clan as well. I was following the trail of an Akatsuki member, who goes by the name of Zetsu. I'm not even sure if that person is a human. Anyhow, so I had heard rumors that Zetsu travelled to a place to the west of Hidden Haze Village, every month. Based on Jiraiya-sama's and my observations, Zetsu is most likely a non-combatant member of the group, and likely helps in reconnaissance. Hence, I decided it'd be easier to get on his trail than anyone else's." Shisui started but was interrupted by Minato.
"Hidden Haze Village, huh? That place is mostly a barren land from what I remember. Although, it was at war with us at the end of the second shinobi war, a ceasefire was called by Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama and Kagami Uchiha. However, at the end, the village was destroyed by shinobi from Tanigakure. I don't think there were any survivors from that place though." Minato said. The others in the room were surprised to know that bit of information, since it wasn't common knowledge or in any of the data books. "It was a black ops mission at that time. It hadn't been long since the Anbu division was created by the Nidaime Hokage. So, there were quite a few missions which were off the books." Minato added, upon seeing the others' lingering gaze upon him.
"So, you suspect that the Akatsuki are affiliated with the Otsutsuki Clan? And it is the Otsutsuki Clan in general who's going after the bijuus through Akatsuki?" Kakashi questioned after analyzing the situation.
"While that is indeed one of my suspicion, that's not what I'm worried about most. I don't think anyone in the Akatsuki knows about Zetsu meeting with a member of the Otsutsuki Clan. And moreover, I heard that man mention Kaguya Otsutsuki. I'm not really sure what plans they may have involving her, but it could be nothing good. It's possible that they may even plan to resurrect her." Shisui said dreadfully. A pin drop silence could be heard in the room as Shisui spoke those words. Within Konoha, only Minato, Naruto, Jiraiya, Shisui, Itachi and Kakashi were aware of the truth of how chakra came to be a source of power in this world. And if Kaguya was to be revived again, it may even spell the end of the world.
"Are you certain about this Shisui?" Minato questioned again. The Yondaime couldn't help but think of the prophecy that was foretold by the Grand Toad Sage. He wondered if the arrival of the Otsutsuki Clan could be related to that. If it was, the shinobi world would indeed be in grave danger. And with how the shinobi world is separated by fractions, it would be hard to face someone like the Otsutsuki.
"What was this person's name, you faced?" Naruto asked. His voice was low, but Shisui heard it quite clearly. He was prominently worried about Naruto's reaction. Shisui knew that Naruto felt it was his duty to keep everyone safe. But he also believed that the blonde would make the pragmatic choice when the situation arose.
"Jigen… that's what I heard Zetsu refer to the man as. I can't be sure how long the man has been hiding in that place." Shisui replied.
"Based on the information, we can't really assume anything at this point. Our foremost priority should be to deal with the Akatsuki first and then the Otsutsuki Clan. There will not be any point in rushing head in." Itachi stated, glancing towards Naruto. The young Namikaze understood what Itachi meant, but he couldn't help but worry about the situation. Whenever he thought that there was some sort of tranquility in his life, the visage would soon crumble down like a deck of cards.
"That's right, Naruto. You don't have to burden this all alone. While I agree, we may not be able to fight the Otsutsuki on even terms as of now, you need to have hope. Everyone here believes, you'll be the bridge towards the future. And we will be the pillars that will support the bridge, no matter what." Minato stated. A small smile grazed Naruto's lips on hearing such words. He wiped his face slightly as he felt his eyes get a bit moist.
"Oye, now don't get emotional on me like that. We see each other after years and you don't want to make me think that you're still a crybaby, are you?" Shisui said with a smirk. The others in the room couldn't help but chuckle at the remark. Naruto, however, gave a mock glare towards Shisui on hearing the comment. "Also, I don't think we will need to worry about the Otsutsuki for a while. During their conversation, I heard Jigen talk about creating a vessel which wouldn't be ready for another three to four years. Again, I'm not sure what this 'vessel' exactly is." Shisui added, once the laughter had died down. The Yondaime gave a nod upon hearing his report. He did have a lot to think about. He was mainly worried about how to address the issue to the kages of other villages.
"How strong would you say, this Jigen was?" Itachi questioned. First of all, none of them apart from Naruto had any experience in fighting the Otsutsuki. And if Shisui himself was this injured after getting into a skirmish with a single Otsutsuki, he dreaded to think if there were more lying in wait.
"That was among the main things I was worried about. His chakra was nothing like I had ever felt before. Even though I'm not a sensor, I could feel how dense and sinister his chakra was. And I'm sure what he showed me wasn't even the glimpse of his true power. I could barely land a hit on him. Another thing that piqued my interest was a strange diamond shaped seal on his chin and his ability to use jikukan ninjutsu. I'm not sure which type of space-time jutsu it was, but I'm certain it has something to do with stopping time around an enemy." Shisui revealed. Naruto was once again flabbergasted on hearing that. He had seen Takeshiki Otsutsuki use jikukan ninjutsu in a similar manner a few years ago and he had been completely helpless at that time. Even Minato narrowed his eyes, as he concluded that something of that regard certainly exceeded his own jikukan ninjutsu.
"That is worrisome. There are not a lot of people who are proficient in space-time ninjutsu or can counter it for that matter. It wouldn't be wise to fight this Jigen guy in numbers if that's one of his ability. If I'm not wrong, only someone with a doujutsu may be able to notice the shift in time… and that too only with a mangekyo sharingan or rinnegan." Kakashi said, as he rubbed his chin in thought.
"Anyway, Jiraiya-sensei will be returning to the village in a few days too. There's no point in coming up with counter measures at this point. I will need to talk with him and then we can probably do something about Jigen. However, as Itachi had stated, we also need to worry about the Akatsuki. Based on Shisui's and Jiraiya-sensei's intel, the Akatsuki have most likely captured the two tails, four tails and the five tails. And if the Akatsuki are indirectly affiliated with the Otsutsuki, we can't let them capture any more of the bijuu. Once the chunin exams are over, we will begin dealing with these problems. Right now, all we can do is prepare for the battles in the future." Minato stated calmly. These were the times, Minato wished that his father was still alive. He always looked up to him as a kid. And the Hokage was sure, he would have been a great help in the fight against Akatsuki and the Otsutsuki.
"Well, anyway, let's leave you to rest and recover your strength. I have to train Sasuke for the chunin exam finals. Oh, I can't wait…" Kakashi stated with a sweet smile under his mask. Though, no one could actually discern Kakashi's facial expression, everyone sweat dropped at the masked jounin's excitement. However, no one could complain with his method. Naruto's strength was a prime example of Kakashi's teachings.
Hokage's office
Once, everyone had left Shisui's room, Kakashi had gone straight to meet with Sasuke, while Itachi and Naruto had been summoned by Minato to his office.
"It'll probably take Jiraiya-sensei another week to return to the village. From what I know, he has been gathering intel about the emergence of a new hidden village called Otogakure. He thinks that it may have something to do with Orochimaru. The day after the chunin exams get over, I want the two of you to go check out the place where Shisui fought with Jigen. We cannot ignore a threat of this magnitude. I don't want to involve too many people into this matter as of yet. Kakashi already has his duty as a jounin sensei and Shisui is no condition to move anywhere. And even then, I don't want to involve Shisui in a possible fight with Jigen so soon." Minato stated seriously.
"Hokage-sama, are you sure? There's a possibility that we won't find anything there. And even then, if we end up facing Jigen, we can't be sure about the casualties." Itachi said, as he was slightly concerned. But, on the other hand, he could also understand Minato's point of view. While he was not against the mission in any way, he did not wish to go unprepared.
"It's fine, Itachi. Even if that Jigen comes, I'll be sure to crush him. Whether it be an Otsutsuki or an Akatsuki, I shall not spare them." Naruto replied gravely.
"You won't be going alone. I will accompany you. I want to leave my Hiraishin mark in the area. It will be useful later in time. While Naruto has access to his own space-time ninjutsu. I can take a few people with me, if need be." Minato said. Itachi nodded, as he understood the plan. It was to simply scope the area and if the situation arose, the three of them could most likely take down Jigen too in the process. "Anyway, our first priority as of now, is to keep tabs on Kabuto Yakushi. He was an orphan who was adopted by the chief medical ninja at the end of the Third Shinobi War. He has worked for Danzo in the past a spy in several other villages. After Danzo defected, there were several Root shinobi who were integrated into the normal shinobi ranks. But, Shikaku has some doubts about him. I have assigned Hayate to keep tracks of his movement within the village. We can't take any preemptive measures against him, if he's still in league with Danzo." Minato stated.
"Hayate? Yugao won't be too happy if something were to happen to him…" Naruto said, casually. He never had much of an interaction with the man, but he believed him to be a good man if Yugao had chosen him as a life partner. Itachi rose any eyebrow at the comment, since he wasn't aware of any such thing.
"A mission is a mission, Naruto. You know that." Minato replied, glancing towards his son. He was indeed aware of the relationship between the two shinobi. However, Hayate was a capable shinobi in his own regard.
"Hai, hai!" Naruto replied with a deadpan look on his face.
"Anyway, you two are dismissed for the time being." Minato said. The two shinobi nodded and with a shunshin, both disappeared from the Hokage's office. Once the two were gone, Minato took out an empty scroll from his desk and began writing the details of the report given by Shisui.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" Minato said, summoning a small toad.
"Could you give this to Jiraiya-sensei as soon as possible. And let him know he's needed in the village at the earliest." Minato requested. Grabbing the scroll from the Hokage, the toad disappeared in a poof of smoke.
After that, Minato rested comfortably in his chair and breathed out a tired sigh. With so much going around, he almost felt as if he was at death's door. Konoha currently was surrounded on all sides and there will soon be a heavy storm brewing in the sky. With the threat of Akatsuki, the Otsutsuki, Orochimaru, Danzo and Iwagakure, it certainly was a heavy burden to keep the peace within the village. He glanced towards the pictures of the previous Hokage and wondered if they had the same wariness and dreadfulness of enemies with this post. He immediately slapped his own cheek, as he caught himself feeling depressed all of a sudden. Out of everyone, he would need to stay strong for the future of this village. Even though he was the youngest Hokage in the history, a lot of people had placed their trust on him. He could not afford to let them down.
'Kushina and Jiraiya-sensei would kill me if they ever saw me like this…' the Hokage thought with a chuckle. Still, he couldn't shake off this empty void in his heart, as if something big was going to happen soon. Even so, he was more worried about his son, than himself.
Three weeks later
Naruto currently sat in a training room, under the Namikaze library. Whenever, he wished to train away from the prying eyes of others, this was the place he would generally come to.
The area under the library had three spacious rooms. One room was a library filled with variety of scrolls, ranging from the jutsu scrolls of the Uzumaki Clan, jutsus invented by Minato Namikaze as well few jutsu scrolls that were given to Minato by Madara. The second room consisted primarily of tools. The tools ranged from, kunai, shurikens, katanas, bo staff, fuma shurikens, variations of explosive tags and pills, kusarigama as well as shinobi battle armor. However, Naruto's most treasured weapon among all was his grandfather's gunbai. Although, he still hadn't come about using the weapon himself. The third room was the largest, which was basically divided into two parts. While one half of the room was used for practicing fuinjutsu techniques, the other half was used for taijutsu spars as well as ninjutsu spars. The third room had several privacy seals and chakra seals, to keep sensory ninja and those with doujutsu away.
Currently, Naruto was yet again training with Kurama's chakra cloak, to maintain it for a longer time. During his fight against Urashiki Otsutsuki, he had found himself getting tired rather easily after turning the chakra cloak off. Also, the last time he had tried using elemental ninjutsu with Kurama's chakra, it was relatively harder than he had imagined. Whenever, he was surrounded by the chakra cloak, Naruto felt all his physical strength amplified to an even greater extent and the amount of chakra coursing through him felt simply unbelievable. However, the difference this time was that, he was using Kurama's chakra in conjugation with senjutsu. Early on, in this kind of training, Naruto had realized that he could gather senjutsu chakra almost instantly while in his chakra mode. He sat in a meditative pose, hovering teen feet above the ground, as he did his daily routine of manipulating all chakra natures at once. Around the young Namikaze, there was a small sphere of water, followed by a compressed ball of air, fire, pillars of stone and finally sparks of electricity in a circle.
Although, a few minutes later, he soon fell onto the ground as his chakra cloak diminished along with the different elements around him. He panted slightly, to catch his breath.
"How long this time, Kurama?" Naruto asked his friend.
"I'd say about eleven minutes, in total. Definitely an improvement from the last time. You were able to increase the time from five minutes to eleven. And with this, you are also able to manipulate the different elements for a longer stretch of time than normal. So, I'd say that's a win." Kurama commented. The fox was certainly impressed with Naruto's tenacity.
"Ahhh, that's a relief. But, man… it's so much harder to maintain concentration. I will need to improve my physical prowess even more to maintain the excess of power while I'm using chakra mode and senjutsu at the same time." Naruto replied with a tired breath. Quickly, getting up, Naruto did a few stretches to loosen up his body. Making a single hand seal, he formed around ten Kage Bunshins around himself. 'A taijutsu spar would be just about perfect now…' the blonde thought with a small smile.
Once again, Naruto activated his chakra cloak as well as gathered senjutsu chakra. His face now portrayed the epitome of seriousness, as his clones did the same thing as well. Getting into his taijutsu stance, Naruto made a 'come at me' motion with his hand. Since Naruto had to maintain a good amount of focus while using chakra cloak and senjutsu at the same time, splitting that focus into further ten clones helped him to maintain his concentration even longer. The main focus was that, if he could keep his calm with his concentration split among ten clones, it would be relatively easier when he's doing it all alone.
"Don't go overboard, Naruto. It'd be sad to see you defeated by your own clones…" Kurama said with a small laugh.
"Just wait and watch, you furball." Naruto replied.
Without further ado, the ten clones ran to surround him from all directions. Naruto simply closed his eyes, as he could easily sense the clones' movements around him. Two clones rushed at him from his right and left. In the blink of an eye, the blonde jumped up in the air appeared behind the clone on his right. Naruto went in for a kick to his head, but the clone ducked down and the Naruto had to immediately raise his arms up to block a punch from the clone that was to his left earlier. Immediately holding on to that clone's arm, Naruto yet again jumped in the air whilst simultaneously keeping his hold on the clone's arm, to avoid a leg sweep from the other clone. While still in air, Naruto pulled the clone towards him and with a hard punch, dispelled the clone promptly.
Doing a backflip midair, Naruto landed quite a few distance away from the remaining nine clones. The blonde simply smirked as he felt an exhilarating feeling course through him. Soon after that, three more clones rushed towards him with extremely high speed. The moment, the three clones were within close proximity of the blonde, the three of them threw a flurry of punches and kicks. For a good minute, Naruto kept deflecting the attacks as he felt himself getting pushed back. Raising his left arm, Naruto blocked a kick to his left, and then immediately had to duck down to avoid a punch. While doing so, he brought his hands together to block a kneecap from the third clone. Quickly, changing tactics, Naruto swiftly performed a leg sweep on the clone right in front of him, making that clone jump in the air. He smirked, as in that small window, kept one hand on the ground as support and lifted his body up to kick the clone to his left, on the neck to push him away.
By now, the clone that had jumped into the air, had realized Naruto's tactics to separate each of them. And immediately came down to perform a drop kick on his creator. Sensing immediate danger, Naruto did another back flip to avoid the drop kick. The three clones once again rushed towards him. Quicker than the three clones could anticipate, Naruto appeared behind one of the clones, and held him by his head. Flipping the clone midair, Naruto kicked him in the chest, dispelling him. Using the momentary smoke as cover, the blond then appeared between the two clones. By the time the two clones realized that the original was between them, Naruto had already jumped up and kicked both in the head, to end them.
Before he could take a moment to breath, Naruto had to once again jump back, to avoid being crushed by five of his clones' punches at the same time. He smirked as he realized his reaction timing was getting better with every moment now. Disappearing from his place in a flash of yellow, Naruto appeared in front of one of the clones and went in for a roundhouse kick to his neck. However, another clone appeared in between and blocked the kick with his left arm. The remaining three clones moved to Naruto back in an instant and kicked him on his shoulder to throw him back. The blonde rolled on the ground a few times before coming to a stop. Immediately getting up, the blond had to duck down, as he missed two kick to his chest by a hair's margin. The next second, he flipped front and raised his right arm to block a jab from the clone to his right. Getting hold of that clone's arm, Naruto used him as support to push his body up and flipped behind the clone to kick him in the bag. The clone collided with the one, that was to Naruto's left a moment ago, thereby, dispelling both. Not giving the other three clones any moment, Naruto rushed towards them.
The three clones braced themselves as their original came at them with inhuman speed. With every passing moment, Naruto felt his speed increasing. While it was taking a lot of mental concertation to keep his reaction time proper, it was nothing he couldn't handle. The moment he reached the first clone in the group, he bent low and punched him straight in the gut. Moving on to his next target, Naruto went in for a jab, but his arm was deflected. He sensed the clone coming to knee him in the ribs and placed his arms in front instead, to block the leg. Immediately, Naruto turned around and delivered a fast kick to the first clone's chest, dispelling him. Moving on the second clone, the blond once again went in for a jab, which was deflected by the clone, whilst simultaneously raising his left knee to block the opponent's. Pushing past the speed the blond had displayed till now, Naruto caught the clone's arm as he came in for punch and elbowed him in the joints of his arm, followed by a knee to his chest. Once the clone was dispelled, Naruto jumped back to take a deep breath.
"And thus, remain the last two. Come at me…" Naruto said with heavy breaths. This was indeed a tiresome exercise. But he was loving every moment of it. Even the remaining two clones smirked on seeing their original's enthusiasm.
The last two rushed at Naruto with much greater speed than the other clones. Raising his left arm to block a punch, the blonde deflected the other clone's kick upwards with his right arm. Jumping up, Naruto caught that clone's leg and threw him against the clone to his left. As he landed on the ground, Naruto lunged forward towards them. The two clones flipped midair and quickly landed in a kneeling position, and they two lunged towards Naruto. The blonde quickly shifted his body to the left, upon sensing the danger. As he came close to them, Naruto quickly landed on the ground, and jumped behind the two clones. A smirk formed on the blonde's face, as he swiftly kicked the clone to his right, making him crash against the wall and dispelling it.
The last clone had turned his body midair, to face the original and jumped back to gain some distance. By now, Naruto was taking extremely deep breaths as he was still getting used to fighting with the chakra mode on. With another deep breath, Naruto ran towards the last clone, an action which was reciprocated by the clone. Once close, both of them clashed against each other with their elbows out and flipped back once more. The clone was the first to react as he lunged at Naruto and delivered extremely fast paced jabs. While Naruto was able to deflect most of them, he wasn't fast enough to avoid the clone's leg which hit him on his left ribs. Capitalizing on the moment, the clone bent down to sweep Naruto off his legs but missed the smirk on the blonde's face. Naruto promptly elbowed the clone on his back to push him down, which was followed by a kick to the clone's face that sent him high up in the air. Jumping up, Naruto delivered a roundhouse kick to his face, that dispelled the last clone.
As he landed on the ground, Naruto immediately let go of the chakra mode and fell on his butt. He finally opened his eyes to see that his entire kimono was drenched in sweat by now, but there was a large smile on his face.
"Ahh, man. That was sweet…" Naruto breathed out, as he laid on the floor. As his eyes lingered on to the ceiling, his thoughts shifted to the events of the past three weeks.
Jiraiya had come back about two weeks ago, with some grave news regarding Orochimaru and Danzo. As his father had suspected, Otogakure was indeed affiliated with the Snake Sannin and Danzo. Moreover, there was also a possibility that the two might be planning an attack on Konoha during the chunin exam finals. However, what worried him most was that Iwagakure may also be involved in the invasion. Ever since Ohnoki's humiliating defeat by his hands years ago, Iwagakure had cut off all ties with Hi no Kuni, including their borders to Tsuchi no Kuni. Since then, Iwa had been working on increasing their military strength to support the mission demands within Tsuchi no Kuni. And rumors of Ohnoki meeting with Orochimaru and Danzo had also reached Jiraiya's spy network. However, what made the claim even more solid was Hayate's death last week, along with the disappearance of Kabuto Yakushi.
Majority of the shinobi were made known about the possible invasion during the finals and proper measures were thereby being taken to counter it. However, the genins were being kept out of the loop for the time being, to keep some sort of peace within the village. It wouldn't be any good for the citizens of the village to start panicking at the prospect of an invasion. Minato had also reached out to the Kazekage for support. To his surprise, the Kazekage had actually agreed to helping out with any sort of attack. With the strained relationship between the two villages, Naruto assumed that Sunagakure might actually turn their back on Konoha.
'This time… I swear, I will kill that damn Snake, Danzo and Ohnoki.' Naruto thought, as he got back up. He was genuinely worried about his friends. None of them knew the horrors of a war. If the invasion did happen, it would be yet another dark moment in Konoha's history. A single village against two. He certainly couldn't afford to toy with anyone on that day. Another thing that worried that blond was, Sasuke. The blond still needed to talk to him about the Uchiha Clan massacre. While Sasuke had definitely matured over the years, Naruto wasn't sure if Sasuke could handle the truth. At the end of it all, his own father had ordered the execution of the Uchiha Clan. And Sasuke's own brother had killed his father. No one would be okay, after hearing such a thing.
"Trust in him, Naruto. He may be an emotional fool at times, but he still has attachments to the village. He's stronger than you give him credit for." Kurama stated. Naruto quirked an eyebrow upon hearing Kurama's words. It was rare for the fox to compliment anyone. Nonetheless, Naruto nodded and decided to get it over with.
"I think, I'll ask Itachi to come along. It would be better if he's around while Sasuke hears the truth." Naruto thought out loud. Soon enough, he exited the training room and headed upstairs to fresh up.
'On seconds thoughts, bringing Itachi might turn out to be a hassle. He's quite stoic when it comes to expressing emotions. Better if he hears it straight from me…' Naruto pondered. However, he also knew Sasuke's talk with Itachi and his mother may turn out to be awry if he doesn't choose his words properly.
Anbu Headquarters
Minato was currently in the war room within the Anbu base along with Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza, Hiashi, Shibi, Tsume, Yamato, Ibiki and Itachi. There were several more trusted Anbu members as well as veteran jounins from various factions such as- Intel gathering unit, Sensory unit, Tracking unit, Assassination unit, Medical unit, Sealing unit, Barrier unit, Communication unit and the Rescue unit.
The rescue unit will consist of some of the finest chunins and jounins from each of the various units; their main priority being to assist the citizens of Konohagakure escape the scene of the battle, unharmed.
Shikaku stood beside his Hokage as a detailed map of the village lay on the round table before them. Pointing towards the north and west gates of the villages, Shikaku noted out, "Since Iwagakure has already taken Takigakure and the Land of Fang under their territory, it's most likely they'll focus their troops from the north and west gates. We have already increased the security between those areas. But, even so, with Otogakure shinobi and Danzo's Root Anbu involved, it may turn out to be a difficult situation."
"I believe it'll be better if more members of the Aburame Clan are placed within those areas. With our insects we can scout the outer forests of the village, more easily. And sthe Inuzuka clan members can support in close range with taijutsu while my clansmen can support from far range." Shibi Aburame added. Shikaku nodded as that did sound like a practical idea.
"We'll make these Iwa and Oto shinobi run back with their tails wrapped around them. They would know not to mess with Konoha again." Tsume replied with a feisty smirk.
As Minato was going through the security details of most of the important buildings within Konoha, he noticed the lack of Hyuga clan members along the list. "Also, Hiashi, I will be placing some of the Hyuga members within the hospital, Hokage tower, Academy as well as the Anbu prison. Most of the Anbu will be busy dealing with the Iwa and Oto shinobi that may get past the security details outside the village. With the byakugan's ability to see through objects, your clansmen will be able to discern any traps or see through any disguise one may have. It will be team of four people in each location, with two Hyuga and two Yamanaka." Minato stated.
"My clan is at the village's service, Hokage-sama." Hiashi replied politely. Even Inoichi nodded in acceptance as he understood the logic behind the plan. While a Hyuga could discern any traps with their doujutsu, a Yamanka could sense if a shinobi's chakra signature was registered with Konoha or not.
"Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, you two will be leading the initial charge with the Anbu group within the village. Yamato has already assigned members from team Ro-Han to ensure the Fire Daimyo, Lightning Daimyo and the Wind Daimyo's safety within the village. We have a safehouse in place, to the south of the village where the important dignitaries can be taken for safekeeping." Shikaku said, as he pointed towards one of the 'x' marks on the map, about two kilometers south of Konoha.
"Will you be dealing with Orochimaru alone, Minato? We already know there's a possibility that he may use the Edo Tensei. In Takigakure, he was able to summon Nidaime Hokage and Sandaime Raikage to do his bidding. There's no telling who, he might summon this time." Jiraiya pointed out with a bit of worry. The upcoming war will be an important one to go down in history. Some within the village even speculated that it may spark the Fourth shinobi war.
"You don't have to worry about me sensei. I have already spoken to the Kazekage about this matter. He ensures me that he would fight beside me if the situation arises. Also, I will have Naruto by my side. And you know, he won't go down easy. And I'm not someone to lose to the likes of Orochimaru." Minato said with clam tone. Even though majority of the people were somewhat relieved to know that Suna would be offering their assistance in the upcoming war, Jiraiya was not entirely convinced. While he had full faith in Minato and Naruto's ability, he couldn't shake off this morbid feeling in his heart.
"You okay? You have never been one to back out of a challenge. Plus, I don't think there's anyone out there who could beat Minato and Naruto together." Tsunade added, upon seeing Jiraiya's slightly nervous look.
"Hokage-sama, if I may?" Itachi spoke out. Minato nodded as he asked him to speak his mind freely.
"I think, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama should be dealing with the Sandaime Tsuchikage and let Shisui and I, lead the Anbu group against the Iwa and Oto shinobi. I'm sure Ohnoki will be much greater of a threat. And considering Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama's experience in the past two wars, they will be better suited. Also, considering that Ohnoki uses the Jinton based ninjutsu, it would be unwise for our shinobi to face him in numbers. The main threats in the war would be Orochimaru, Danzo and Ohnoki. Possibly the Edo Tensei too, if Orochimaru uses it. While you and Naruto will be handling Orochimaru, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama with Ohnoki, that would leave either Shisui, Kakashi, Yamato or me to deal with Danzo. Once those three are dealt with, I'm sure changing the tide of the battle will be much easier." He explained.
The Uchiha moved from the back to the front of the table and pointed his finger towards a small base camp, to the west of Konoha. "Also, I believe it would be wise to keep a first response team in this base. Even though, Sunagakure has agreed to help us out, we can't really be sure about their motives. With how strained the relationship between our two villages were, we shouldn't be too trusting of them. I have a sense of foreboding that they may end up double crossing us. Also, we can't be sure what the Raikage's response will be to the invasion. We have had no sort of friendly relationship with them in the past and they will not be obligated to help us out either." Itachi added with a calculative gaze.
The Hokage along with the other clan heads were quite impressed with Itachi's assessment of the situation. While it may sound simple in logic, it was a tactic where victory would be essentially guaranteed, if everything went according to plan.
But then again, in the shinobi world, nothing ever went exactly as planned. With every passing minute, the skies grow darker as they get ready to weep for the soon to be fallen soldiers.
Minato smiled as he could see a future Hokage in the making. 'He would make an excellent Hokage if something were to happen to me.' Minato thought, quite proudly.
"That is a very well thought out plan, Itachi. Looks like, you've thought of everything." Shikaku said with a small smirk. Glancing towards everyone, the Nara clan head could see that everyone agreed with Itachi's proposal. "Well then, we'll incorporate your plan into our battle strategies. Now, let's head on to the medical unit's roles and their position during the chunin exam finals." Stated Shikaku.
"Shizune and I have already come up with a few suitable locations where we can set up medical camps. It's done in a way that it won't be noticeable from outside. We wouldn't want the medical camps to be targeted first when the battle breaks out." Tsunade commented.
With Kakashi and Sasuke
Dressed in high-collared dark blue shirt with the Uchiha Clan symbol at the back and black pants, Sasuke stood panting in front of a large destroyed rock. Sweat poured from every part of his body, as he even struggled to stay put on his feet.
The past three weeks for him had been a literal living hell. The amount of training Kakashi had put him through was absolutely insane. Every morning they would start around six in the morning and train until the sun went down. The only time they stopped in between was to eat lunch, for half an hour. Over the course, he had improved upon various aspects of his shinobi training, such as- stamina, physical strength and chakra control. After hearing about Lee's match against Gaara in the preliminary he was quite adamant about improving his strength, so he could endure heavy blows from an opponent. However, the areas where he had improved the most were his chakra reserves and his chakra manipulation in raiton and katon.
After a few minutes of admiring his handiwork, he finally fell on the ground as he took in heavy breaths. He had finally managed to learn his sensei's most prized jutsu- the Raikiri and the Chidori. However, unlike Kakashi, who could use the technique at least five times a day due to his experience, Sasuke could only manage up to two times without hindering his chakra reserves too much.
"Well done, Sasuke. I didn't think you'd be able to take this kind of training. I have only ever trained Naruto this way." Kakashi commented. Unsurprisingly, the jounin's eyes were glued to the little orange book in his hand. However, to Sasuke's surprise, Kakashi hadn't taken the book out even once during their training session.
"Heh… whatever he can take… I can do it too. I have to keep getting stronger, for the sake of my family." Sasuke replied slowly, with heavy breaths.
"That is a bold claim, Sasuke. Trust me when I say this, you wouldn't want to be in his shoes." Kakashi said nonchalantly. Though Sasuke clearly heard the words, he simply chose to ignore it for the moment. He had always heard his brother say that a person's perception of life depended on the experiences they have gone through in life.
Staring up at the setting sun, Sasuke had a small smile on his face, despite feeling extremely worn out. He could feel that his strength had increased dramatically. He moved his head to his left, when he heard someone's foot land on the grass beside him. And he wasn't surprised to see that it was Naruto. Judging from the rather serious look on the blonde's face, Sasuke immediately knew what he wished to talk about. All this while, he had waited patiently for Naruto to approach him about the matter. Maybe now, he could finally get some answers.
"Ah, Naruto. Nice of you to join us…" Kakashi commented, upon the blonde's arrival.
"I can see that you've gotten extremely strong, Sasuke. Kakashi-sensei must have worked your ass off… ha-ha…" Naruto said with a chuckle. Glancing to his left, Naruto's eyes visibly widened a bit when he realized the jutsu, Sasuke must have been working on. The blonde wasn't surprised when he received a mock glare from Sasuke and a laugh from Kakashi.
Eventually, Sasuke got up from the ground with some strength and dusted himself off of any dirt. Even though, he did not like being kept in the dark, he had trusted Naruto up until now. But, for some reason he had sense of foreboding about what he would be hearing from the blond. Even so, he wanted to know if what Orochimaru spoke that day in the Forest of Death was true or not.
"Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to take Sasuke for a little walk. We should be back in an hour or so…" Naruto said, turning towards the white-haired jounin. Kakashi glanced towards his former student and gave a nod. While he was worried about Sasuke's reaction, it wasn't his place to tell him. Out of all, Naruto was probably the best to lay the truth out.
"Well, you know where to find me if you need anything!" was all Kakashi said, before he disappeared in a shunshin.
Once the two were alone, Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and immediately, the black-haired Uchiha felt rejuvenated. It still amazed him how easy it was for Naruto to heal someone, even with his ridiculous amount of chakra. The next second the two disappeared in a shunshin and appeared on top of the Shodai Hokage's face.
"Why are we here, Naruto?" Sasuke questioned. However, as his gaze fell upon the village, he couldn't take his eyes off the serene beauty with which the village glowed. Eventually, the two sat down and simply stared down at the village which was their home. Minutes passed, but none of them uttered even a single word. Naruto was quite nervous as to how to break it down to him. At this point, he cursed his father for making such a harsh decision. Yet, he could also understand that to protect the peace, sacrifices had to be made.
Whether be it my friend, brother or even my own child. I won't forgive anyone who would pose a threat to Konoha.
That line was something that was once told by Hashirama to Madara, which was then reiterated by Madara to Minato and then to him, by his father. Naruto took a deep breath to clear his mind and calm his beating heart and then turned towards his friend.
"Listen to me, carefully now. Few months prior to the Uchiha Clan massacre…
Author Notes: I had to leave this chapter at a cliffhanger, since I want to devote like a quarter of the next chapter for Sasuke's reaction to the truth. This chapter itself contained quite a bit of information, in regards to where I want the story head in the future. And yes, I couldn't help but not include Jigen in this story! I am coming to love the mystery revolving around him in the Boruto manga and it's absolutely thrilling. And the kid that I portrayed with Jigen in the previous is not Kawaki.
Now, the next chapter is also going to showcase the chunin exam finals and the invasion will most likely start within the next two to three chapters. The invasion is going to go down as an extremely important one for Konoha, as it will be a huge turning point for Naruto and his friends. The finals will most likely start by the end of the chapter. That's cause I want Naruto to spend some time with his friends and especially Hinata, before things go sideways for him.
Also, regarding Naruto's powers, he has yet to unlock the full potential of Six Paths Sage mode. While he has access to it, he cannot utilize completely, since he doesn't have the chakra of all tailed beasts. In the future, he will be learning new methods of utilizing his powers and will most likely dabble in fuinjutsu too, since they will have to deal with Otsutsuki Clan eventually.
Please do follow, favorite and review the story! I'm really glad that people are enjoying the story so far! Do let me know if anyone has any doubts and I'll be sure to clarify it as best as I can.
A shout-out to my beta reader- Insecable.
Until next time!