One year later…
"We've delayed for too long."
Black Zetsu looked at Obito across from him. The cave opening they stood within basked in the moonlight, lighting up their forms in the peaceful night.
"It can't be helped. Raising Naruto pushed back our plans." Obito glanced at the sleeping children's direction inside the Gedo Mazo cave. He had to remind himself a few times not to attach himself emotionally to them. They were just pawns for their plan. "They should be ready. One year is enough."
"You still want to start with Kirigakure?"
Obito stayed silent for a bit.
"I will make them pay for what they did to Rin."
Rin's death was actually Madara's plan to draw Obito to his side, but Black Zetsu didn't have to say that.
"Isn't it better for us to start in Amegakure?"
That was where Nagato Uzumaki was. If Obito and Black Zetsu started operations there, they could start building rapport with the Rinnegan host. It would suit their plans.
"I'm not confident we can hide from Hanzo the Salamander."
Then again, Obito also shared his opinion.
Nagato and his budding rebellion was still leagues away from challenging Hanzo. If Obito decided to start operating there, then he would be putting himself at risk. As it was, he was severely limited without his Mangekyou. At least the last few years helped him shore up the rest of his abilities.
"The Land of Water is large. We can start accumulating capital from there while also looking for members to join us. We can return to Amegakure with power and funds to help that rebellion Nagato is starting."
Black Zetsu could see where Obito was coming from. It was the safer option, though it would take some time.
"We still have Naruto and Karin to consider."
The black figure closed his eyes. He didn't know how long the Rinnegan would take to manifest, but giving it a few more years as they accumulated resources and strength sounded better.
"Very well."
Worst case scenario, the Rinnegan wouldn't manifest. Then Black Zetsu would just return Obito's Managekyou to him. Having Naruto as a future pawn for their plans was just a bonus. His real goal was to create the Rinnegan.
"It will be hard. We don't have the Mangekyou to work with."
"It doesn't matter. We can make do."
Obito will plunge Kirigakure into civil war with or without his Mangekyou.
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"Hurry up and finish him off."
7-year-old Naruto glanced at the wounded Kusagakure shinobi. Not that he could see him, but the mere act of facing the dying man was enough to draw a pained cry from him.
"The longer they're alive, the longer they suffer."
Naruto knew that the man had a few hours left in him. If they left him, he would get saved by the incoming Kusagakure nin.
But that meant exposing their identities.
Obito and Naruto couldn't do that.
The entire Kusagakure group that ran across them during their mission was killed to keep their secret.
"Naruto."
"I know…"
Naruto opened his right eye. The black eye morphed into a red color, with three tomoes circling the center.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! [Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu]!"
The intense strength combined with the close range proximity ensured that the man would die quickly- and leave no trace.
Naruto repeated the jutsu Obito allowed him to copy for half a minute until the ground was scorched black.
Not even dust remained from the body.
"Good. Let's go before people return."
Obito behind him turned around and jumped on top of the roof.
Naruto deactivated the Sharingan, but not before looking at the area where he killed the man.
Obito started dragging him and Karin around for jobs after their first kill. Tobi said that it was to distract them by keeping them busy. During these jobs, Obito threw problem after problem at the two for them to work around.
A few months after that, Obito had them kill on another mission. The cycle repeated and Obito forced them to get used to the act of taking lives.
Somewhere along the way, Naruto decided that he would at least keep track of how many he killed.
56.
Naruto had killed 5 that day. A lot more than usual. To cope with the blood on his hands, Naruto had long since numbed himself from fear and pain.
Kurama helped much in that particular regard.
"Brat, do you really have to look at every kill? You'll forget about them eventually. They all just lump in together at some point."
'It's exactly why I'm counting.'
"Heh, if we're comparing kill counts…"
Naruto sighed. Just because he was being trained to kill doesn't mean that he had to like it. His first kill technically was Karin's, but the idea came from him after all.
He turned around from the scorch mark and joined Obito on the roof.
"We didn't have to kill them."
"They were already suspicious. If we let them go, they'll have our faces."
The risk was too great. Drawing attention and having the ninja keep a report with their identities was just begging for more danger down the line.
"I've told you before. What happens if we are noticed?"
Naruto sighed.
"Villages will keep track of us. Bounties will be put on our heads. Then we'll be dead, just like the people we hunt."
"Good. Keep that in mind. No witnesses."
"No witnesses."
It was one of Obito's most important lessons.
"Good. Now let's go."
They both disappeared off the rooftop and left the village before the villagers woke up the next morning.
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"This is less than the agreement."
Obito looked up at their client after checking the money.
"And?" The drug lord growled. "You should be happy I even paid this much. He wasn't even listed in the bingo book."
The target was still a B-ranked jounin that deserted Kusagakure. That alone should've bumped up the pay. Instead, they weren't being paid close to what they agreed upon. The money Obito counted ranged in the high C-ranks.
For a short moment, Naruto could imagine Obito being vindictive. Just one move- and their client would be dead. The guards weren't even threats. He'd probably leave them to Naruto for more training.
"If you've got an issue with my payment…" The drug lord fixed his posture. The four guards- hired non-village affiliated shinobi- took one step closer surrounding them.
"No. This is fine." Obito closed the bag and placed it within his storage seal. "We'll be going now."
Naruto stepped behind him as the older between the two left the room. He could understand why Obito backed down. It was the logical move- especially when they were doing their utmost best to lay low.
They exited the whorehouse and met up with Karin and a disguised White Zetsu outside.
"We're leaving." Obito ordered.
Just like that, the group of four departed from the town. While they were leaping through the forest, Obito circled back.
"Where is he going?" Karin asked while they headed for the next town over. Obito's instructions were for them to continue east and wait for him at the following town.
"…he's probably going to kill them." Naruto sweatdropped. Obito wasn't a person you crossed. The man had done hundreds of missions over the past 7 years if what he heard from White Zetsu was correct. Being cheated after this long in the business would definitely piss off veterans.
"You mean the last client? Why?" Karin blinked.
"They didn't pay in full."
"Ah." That was definitely something Karin could understand.
Those men were dead.
They arrived at the next town after a few hours and rented a room for the night. White Zetsu disappeared off to do whatever it was he did while the two waited for Obito. When he arrived two hours later, his mood was significantly better. Naruto and Karin didn't mention anything about the slightly upbeat mood Obito was in.
"Where's Zetsu?"
"He left two hours ago." Naruto answered.
"Any reason why?"
"Something about getting updates."
No wonder. White Zetsu was off visiting his clones who were keeping up the information network around The Land of Grass.
"White Zetsu is keeping his ears out for dangerous threats before we embark on our journey."
…journey?
Naruto and Karin latched on to that small piece of detail. Part of their training in the last year was about scouting and eavesdropping, something that Obito stressed on them. Information was a ninja's best tool and the two children were being taught on how to collect them.
Since they were both too weak to fight B-ranks like chunins at the moment. Learning to avoid dangerous locations and people were some of the first lessons Obito imparted on them.
"Are we doing missions outside of the country?" Karin asked.
"No. We're heading to the Land of Water."
That was on the other side of the Land of Fire. What would a country so far away be in Obito's interests?
"Why?" This time it was Naruto's turn to ask.
"It's time we started on our goal. The Land of Water is where we will start."
Naruto and Karin's eyes widened.
This was it.
The plan for world peace. The same goal Obito had been sharing to them for over a year now.
It was unrealistic, but Naruto and Karin didn't know that yet. They were too young to understand. Instead, they just followed along because they didn't know any better.
Naruto will just have to ask Kurama in his dreams later.
"Rest tonight. We're leaving tomorrow after White Zetsu comes back. I'll take second watch." Just like that, Obito dove straight for the bed and went out like a light. He'd leave Naruto and Karin to discuss who would take the first and third watch.
Naruto and Karin played a round of rock-paper-scissors to decide who would take which slot.
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They took a roundabout route to the Land of Water, passing through several other countries outside the Land of Fire.
Naruto and Karin picked up on Obito's hesitation when they stuck around the borders of Hi no Kuni but never went any deeper. The Uchiha was on his guard more often than not, but it was much more noticeable as they skirted around the country. The journey was long, so half the time was spent training while they travelled.
Karin listened to Naruto's lessons while she worked on trying to figure out how to draw out the famed Uzumaki chains that Obito told her about. Apparently, the females of her clan had a certain aptitude to manifesting chains of chakra that could bind targets.
"Have you improved your control over the Sharingan?" Obito asked Naruto while they leapt between trees on their way through the Land of Waterfalls.
"Not much. I can only keep it up for small periods of time before I lose control." Naruto admitted. His chakra control had gone a long way compared to years prior. It wasn't anywhere near good compared to the average shinobi, but it was passable.
That in itself was already an achievement, considering just how large his chakra reserves were. Even Black Zetsu didn't have an estimate of Naruto's large reserves, and that was considering that Black Zetsu was able to give a decent guess for Karin's current reserves.
Of course, they believed that the Kyuubi was sealed within the Gedo Mazo, so Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki completely flew over their heads.
They never told Karin that Naruto was also an Uzumaki either. That wasn't really information they were ready to share.
"But there has been improvement, correct?" Obito pointed out.
"Yes."
The more Naruto used Obito's Sharingan, the better his control over using the dojutsu grew. For now, he could only keep it open for a few seconds before he lost control. Those few seconds were enough to copy techniques when enemies used them against him.
Having Obito's Sharingan helped increase his repertoire of jutsu beyond large wind and water-based techniques, though only some of them were usable because of his current chakra control. Still, being able to use fire, lightning, and earth techniques was pretty badass if Naruto admitted it to himself. The only problem was his casting speed, forming the necessary chakra control and handseals together held him back from using many of the new techniques in combat. He'd have to practice with the new jutsus when he had the time.
"If you can use the Sharingan, then I don't see why you can't learn how to use genjutsu."
Was this where Karin thought it was heading? Obito had brought it up several times in the past two years about how inconvenient it was to operate without his Sharingan. Part of why the Uchihas were so renowned was due to their powerful ocular genjutsu that trumped normal genjutsu.
She could count off several problems from the get-go. The most important ones being Naruto's skill in creating illusions- which could be carried by the Sharingan, and his ability to keep it active long enough to even trap his enemy in a genjutsu.
"Isn't it too early?" Naruto asked.
Of course, if there was anyone who knew his limitations more, it would be Naruto.
"That's why we'll be training you in the Sharingan while we're travelling."
Obito needed his Sharingan for his plans in Kirigakure. He wouldn't be able to train Naruto's mastery over it to reach his level, but it should be passable for daily use. They'd be sneaking around Kirigakure a lot for the next few years after all.
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Karin still hadn't made any progress over the Adamantine Sealing Chains by the time they reached the coast.
She pouted. The same couldn't be said for Naruto.
Karin looked over her friend, whose right eye was bloodshot from the constant practice he underwent.
And by practice, she meant trial and error.
Looking at it, maybe she should be happy that she wasn't the one learning under Obito at the moment.
Karin held Naruto's head as she guided her healing chakra into his eye.
"So…how goes progress?"
"Obito's a slavedriver." Naruto's dead tone was more than enough to share his thoughts.
Karin sweatdropped. She had seen the entire thing after all. Obito had no clue how to train Naruto when it came to genjutsu. The solution? Brute force. Obito threw genjutsu after genjutsu on Naruto. For some reason, it didn't work at the start.
Naruto wondered why Kurama kept laughing.
Then Obito upped the ante. The Uchiha believed that his Sharingan was helping Naruto throw off his illusions, so Obito stopped holding back. Many unfortunate trees now had a Naruto-shaped crater from the number of times Naruto failed to break Obito's illusions. They were weaker without his Sharingan, but as an Uchiha, his genjutsu was still far above average.
It was sink or swim.
At least something came good out of it.
"Did you actually learn to cast genjutsu?"
"I can't create illusions yet, but I learned how to break them."
It took some time, but just like Obito, Naruto was brute forcing it. Genjutsu was the art of adding a false layer over how a person perceived the world. Since Naruto could use Obito's Sharingan, he could see the veil of chakra being made in front of him. It was difficult at first because Naruto wasn't used to seeing things change. Obito made it obvious by changing random objects as they traveled.
A tree would change into candy.
A rock into food.
A random grey-haired shinobi getting set on fire. That one was a favourite. It popped up quite a lot.
Naruto didn't know who it was though. Whoever it was, Obito seemed pretty pissed off about him.
"I can see him making the illusions. The Sharingan makes it easy. I just don't know how to copy it."
The Sharingan copied ninjutsu. What it did not copy was genjutsu.
Obito's less-than-effective lessons did have another boon though. Naruto was pushed to use the Sharingan to his limits.
The two Uzumaki perked up when they felt a familiar chakra signature enter within range.
White Zetsu's head emerged from the ground.
"Obito's waiting for you at the village docks. He's found a trader willing to smuggle us into the Land of Water."
Unlike other nations, the Land of Water didn't have a solid border. Instead, they had a fleet of ships with shinobi on board to check ships coming through shipping lanes they established.
If Kirigakure's shinobi spotted any ship sneaking through, it was instantly sunk.
Which was funny, considering that the sea was too wide to even enforce a border. The best Kirigakure could do was send patrols around the external islands. Even then, more than a few ships still managed to sneak past their border.
The trader Obito found was one such person. A smuggler of less-than-legal goods into the Land of Water. Officially, the country frowned upon them. That didn't matter much though. Not when there was much profit to be made when they could just confiscate illegal goods and shuffle them into their own black market branches and sell them off to buyers inside the country.
Yeah, just the normal procedure for most countries. Corruption at its finest.
"Give us a moment." Karin stopped. Naruto moved into a sitting position while blinking his right eye to check it's status. White Zetsu emerged from the ground and warped into another disguise. It would be weird to see two children under 10 walking around without a guardian after all. When Naruto confirmed that his right eye wasn't aching anymore, the trio set off to meet Obito.
When they reached Obito, he was talking with the person they presumed to be the smuggler.
Naruto and Karin looked at the wooden construct behind him. Its shape was unique- the first time for the two children to see a ship in their lives.
Using their sensor abilities, both of them could tell that Obito had a genjutsu casted on the smuggler.
"So, these are your companions?" The gruff captain looked at the rest of the group. He didn't mention anything unusual about two young children sneaking into the Land of Water with two adults, but that must've been Obito's illusion at work. "We're leaving at sunset. The trip's about a week long."
"Thank you." Obito kept up the civilian act. It was best to keep up their cover to avoid any suspicions from the captain. They were supposed to be civilians looking for a new life in the Land of Water after all.
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Naruto and Karin looked out at the blue expanse in front of them.
It was the second day into their voyage.
"There's no land at all." Karin whispered.
When Obito told them that seas and oceans were big bodies of water, the two Uzumaki children didn't really have an idea how big he meant.
It was just a flat blue horizon wherever they looked. There were no defining landmarks to identify where they were. At some points, Naruto and Karin observed the captain and the crew look at a small device they carried, or stare at the night sky to determine their location.
They didn't know how to do that yet though. Maybe Obito would teach them in the future?
There was nothing much to do while they rode the boat into Mizu no Kuni. Karin continued her efforts to manifest the Adamantine Sealing Chains while Naruto went through his rigorous genjutsu lessons with Obito.
It was slow. It was painful. Not much progress was made on either end.
By the 5th day, Naruto and Karin were sick of the constant cycle between training and breaks overlooking the sea.
Thankfully, land was in sight.
Unfortunately for them, the smuggler's plan didn't involve a landing strategy.
"Well-" The captain grunted as he showed them the flimsy dingy. "Here's where we drop you off."
It was a good thing they were used to getting the short end of the stick. Karin was sure that Obito had some of the worst luck she had ever seen. Each mission was like a coin toss between a regular job or a wild adventure. On the other end of the spectrum, Naruto's good luck was like a blessing. It had saved just as many of their jobs that have gone wrong.
No wonder Obito was often wounded when he returned from a job.
"We'll just have to take it for now." Obito whispered to them. "We can sprint across the water once they are out of sight."
When none of them disagreed, Obito turned to the captain and thanked the man for his help.
And so, they boarded the raft patched together using extra material onboard the ship. The four were lowered off the side of the ship and slowly paddled their way to the shore as the vessel maneuvered itself around the island.
Once the ship disappeared from view, Obito and White Zetsu tossed aside the oars. Naruto and Karin followed them as they leapt off the ramp and ran towards the island. One fire jutsu was cast on the unworthy sea vessel to dispose of it, sinking the charred remains down into the bay.
Obito unfurled his map of Mizu no Kuni and searched for their location.
"No good. We can't see anything past this mist." He murmured while trying to triangulate their position using nearby landmarks. The other islands nearby couldn't be seen because of the mist that blocked them in the distance.
If there was one thing they learned about the Land of Water, it was well…water. The closer they got to the archipelago, the more water hung in the atmosphere. The feeling slowly seeped into the body the longer they stayed out. Obito's first objective was to find a village for them to collect their bearings.
"Zetsu?"
"On it."
The white humanoid sunk into the ground and disappeared off to scout the island.
"Let's follow the beach until we find a settlement." Sooner or later, they were guaranteed to run into a fishing village.
The 2 Uzumaki followed the Uchiha close to the treeline to minimize their silhouette against the beach. True enough, they found a small fishing village after an hour.
On the other side of the sea, it was a different situation.
Uchiha Itachi, upcoming genius and pride of the Uchiha clan, was entering Konoha's shinobi academy. At the young age of 7, the Uchiha patriarch's eldest child was far ahead of his peers. Talented and hardworking, he was being touted around as the future of the Uchiha.
Now, if only the Senju weren't so annoying.
"Itachi-kun! Look, we joined you in the academy!"
"Yes, Kusuri-san. I see that."
"I don't get it. Why do you want to enroll this early?"
A red-haired girl- an Uzumaki- the same age as him, asked.
Already, the older 10-year-olds inside the classroom were giving the 3 clan children a wide berth. It was hard not to, not when they recognized just who some of them were.
Kusuri Senju, daughter of Dan Kato and the famed Slug Sannin Tsunade Senju.
Hiromi Uzumaki, an Uzumaki clan member.
Itachi Uchiha, the son of the Uchiha clan's leader.
Calling them famous was an understatement. Itachi and Kusuri were practically future celebrities.
"...what are you two doing here?" Itachi was sure that their names weren't even in the class list when he checked outside the classroom. Which meant that the Senju and the Uzumaki just barged into the academy.
The blonde Senju beside him grinned while her red-haired Uzumaki friend shook her head quietly.
"Kaa-san told me you were going to school! I wanted to see how it was!" Kusuri answered excitedly. Tsunade had mentioned at one point that Fugaku was planning to enroll his son early in the academy.
"Kusuri dragged me." Hiromi smiled apprehensively while looking around the room.
Itachi blinked.
Ever since the Kyuubi's disaster, the Yondaime has called on the Uchiha clan to further coordinate with the other clans in Konoha's defense. The following years helped resurge their popularity in the village.
Of course, the Senju- following their Shodaime's influence- were the most involved and encouraging of the clans. The Uchiha found themselves constantly approached (cough harassed and besieged cough) by their old archenemies on all fronts.
Hashirama's genes clearly passed down to Tsunade, who passed it down to Kusuri.
The first time Itachi met the young upbeat Senju, all hope was lost. Kusuri decided that the Uchiha would be her friend, whether he liked it or not.
Maybe there was some truth as to why his father called the Senju a bunch of lunatics. Something wasn't right in their heads. The Senju produced people ranging from the cheerful Hashirama to the downright merciless Tobirama.
"You shouldn't be here." Itachi's words flew over the Senju girl's head.
Suddenly, the door to the classroom barged open.
"YOSH! MY STUDENTS! YOUR SUBSTITUTE TEACHER HAS ARRIVED!"
A man jumped into the room and slammed his hands on the table with flare. The man looked positively blinding despite the horrendous bowl-cut hairstyle and the thick eyebrows he had.
"LET US EMBARK ON THE PATH OF YOUTH!"
Itachi contemplated whether the Senju carried a disease. Only they could produce such craziness, and it was fast spreading through Konoha.
Yeah…that had to be it. There was no other explanation.
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"How was your first day at school, dear?" Mikoto greeted her son with a hug after he returned home.
"It was…interesting."
Much of it came within Itachi's expectations for an institution built to teach and train children into future shinobi.
"Interesting? Is that all you have to say?" She gently smiled while taking his schoolbag from him.
"..."
Itachi didn't know how to talk about the man earlier that morning.
He had never seen a genjutsu of that degree before. It was practically breaking the boundary of what he knew a genjutsu was.
Itachi was convinced that what he saw could possibly be even more than that.
So, he decided to talk about the other thing on his mind.
"Can people just barge in classes? Even if they aren't enrolled?"
"Not normally, no." Mikoto blinked. What an odd question from him. "Why? Did something happen?"
"Kusuri-san and her friend Hiromi-san attended the entire day."
"Hmmm…well, if they wanted to study so much, then there should be no problem." His mother patted him on the head. "It's a good thing that they're so eager to learn, don't you think? Just like you!"
Just like you.
No. Itachi wasn't going to survive seeing Kusuri Senju everyday. At least Hiromi Uzumaki was bearable. The girl was generally respectful and made sure to leave some space between them.
Meanwhile, Kusuri just invaded all of Itachi's space. There was no stopping that girl.
'I'll just have to ask Tou-san.'
Hopefully that would help enforce the rules in the academy. Everyone knew how strict the Uchiha clan head was. Just his attention would be enough to make the school work more efficiently.
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Itachi rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
It definitely wasn't a genjutsu.
New classmates had been added to the class roster. Down, all the way at the end of the list were 2 new names.
Kusuri Senju.
Hiromi Uzumaki.
"Good Morning, Itachi-kun!" A recognizeable voice hollered from down the hallway.
Itachi closed his eyes.
2 sets of footsteps approached until they stopped beside him.
"Good Morning, Itachi-san."
"Good Morning, Hiromi-san." Itachi returned the greeting.
"Where's my good morning?!"
"Good Morning to you too, Kusuri-san."
Said girl grinned when Itachi greeted her. She cheerfully strolled past into the classroom.
"...is this how she did it to you?" Itachi looked at the Uzumaki left behind.
"...yes." She answered.
Ah. So he wasn't the only victim. Poor Hiromi-san had been on the receiving end of the Senju's attention far far longer than he had.
"...you get used to it."
Ok, now that made Itachi worry.
"Are you okay, Hiromi-san?" He asked worriedly.
The girl slowly turned her head to face him. Her mouth formed into a cryptic smile.
"...everything will be better now that I'm not the only one." Hiromi whispered.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
Itachi really didn't like the sound of that.