Jiraiya mulled over a recent intel report. The Land of Sound was a vast and seemingly barren country. But what lay beneath were dozens of underground labyrinths home to hideouts, outposts, and full-on camps for Orochimaru's forces.
ANBU squad Alpha estimated the forces under Orochimaru's control numbered just under two thousand. Which was a massive force to be loyal to an international criminal. However, they weren't exactly of high quality. Most of them were barely trained bandits and various other missing-nin who followed Orochimaru in hopes of a stable environment without looking over their shoulders.
Jiriaya predicted that if they killed the snake over ninety percent would abandon the country and go back to being solo criminals. Which meant if they killed his old teammate then they could essentially call it a job well done and go home. Therein lay the problem, finding Orochimaru was something of a task he'd given himself in the last decade with no success beyond vague tracks that lead nowhere.
His plan at the moment was to split the Alpha squad into four groups of five operatives and have them strike at the north, south, east, and west corners and try to drive the forces further into the country to force them into a smaller set of locations.
If the reports were correct then it was working well so far. They had destroyed seven bases and nearly two hundred of Orochimaru's Ninja. But they hadn't run into any of the elites on their list. None he would even classify as a Jonin.
If the intel was correct, Orochimaru has around a dozen or so elite ninjas he personally trained under his command. So the tough part of the mission hadn't even started yet.
'This is going to turn out like any mission I've had about my old teammate…more trouble than it's worth. I hope Tsunade and Naruto are having a better time…' Jiriaya thought with a groan.
Naruto was not having a great time.
If there was one thing that annoyed him these days, it was idiots who were full of themselves.
In retrospect… he had been one of said idiots.
But he wasn't one anymore!
The guy in front of him. He really didn't even bother to pay attention when he was told the guy's name was.
The one who got a lucky shot in after he thwarted a massive surprise attack, everyone at this meeting owed him for that!
With a sword that was doing things that really should be possible! The guy was now looking at him like he was fresh prey to be devoured all the while Naruto healed himself of the stab wound. It was a good stab, but nothing he couldn't recover from.
Yes, Naruto decided, the one thing that really annoyed him these days was idiots like the guy in front of him, who was laughing while waving around some fancy katana like he was tough.
The man blitzed forward, speeds going well above a normal Jonin, and unleashed a series of slashes that Naruto was just able to weave around. Every movement from the man was perfectly executed. Naruto would have to admit that in terms of raw physicality, this man was superior to most that he'd encountered.
Naruto threw a punch that was weaved around and countered with a kick. The blond ducked grabbed the extended leg and tossed the man away. There was barely an impact as the man maneuvered midair to recover and blast off from the ground as soon as he touched.
It was thanks to the Six Eyes that Naruto was able to follow up the series of movements as the man tried to disorient him by jumping around at super speeds. If he hadn't fought against Itachi Uchiha a few weeks ago Naruto would have likely been unprepared for such an opponent, but as it were…
An incoming slash to the neck was ducked under and in response, a fist was ruthlessly smashed into the man's ribs sending him tumbling away.
…Naruto had fought better.
The man, despite taking such a blow, was on his feet and twirling his sword around like he'd accomplished something. Naruto wasn't dumb enough to let something that had such a strange lack of presence touch him. The guy likely thought he was over reliant on Infinity.
"...It's poetic really." The man mused, which grabbed Naruto's attention. "This is a sacred sword of the Uzumaki clan after all and it'll kill the last known survivor!"
Naruto looked at the sword lamely. 'Makes sense, my family produced that thing, not this moron.'
"Thanks for returning it for me," Naruto said with a smile before warping out of sight.
The man's eyes widened in shock before instinctually swinging the blade towards his blind spot. Naruto rolled his eyes as he ducked under the wild swing and pushed a Rasengan into the man's rib cage, blasting him into a wall and killing him.
"Whoever you were…you were not worth the headache," Naruto said as he picked up the Katana, as soon as his hands touched it he felt like the sword gave off a positive hum as his chakra settled into the steel of the blade.
"Nice to meet ya." He said to the blade with a grin.
If Kakashi were being honest, he was happy that the fighting kicked off. He was able to do what he did best; kill some fool that attacked his fellow Ninja and more importantly not sit around listening to political back and forths.
The older man in front of him was a capable combatant, easily wielded a katana with frightening ability and his chakra control was calmer than most he'd seen. That being said the old man was very rigid in his attacks and the Sharingan allowed him to mostly avoid anything dangerous.
But his attacks were similarly avoided. So it was something of a stalemate.
"You are a capable killer, Hatake. However, your stolen eye sees all but what matters." The old man said as he sheathed his blade once more.
Kakashi breathed in slowly, "Is that so?" he asked lightly while molding chakra internally.
"Yes." As soon as the words left the old man's mouth he blurred forward.
Kakashi moved to deflect the incoming attack but at the very last moment, the man shot off to the side and swung his blade in a wide arc sending a chakra slash towards him. Kakashi managed to jump out of the way and was forced to use a lightning-enhanced kunai to stop the follow-up.
Kakashi noticed that he was bleeding from his arm and frowned. He didn't see that, when did he get cut? His arm slowly started to numb from the blood loss but nothing that would hinder him immediately. That being said, he needed to finish sooner rather than later.
The back and forth continued for a while, the more that Kakashi tried to take in the old man's fighting style with his Sharingan the more he was cut at random times. There had to be some sort of trick.
Kakashi weaved through a dozen hand seals before breathing out a massive fireball that flew towards the old man at blistering speeds.
Calmly and without fuss the old man sheathed his sword before using a quick draw technique laced with dense chakra to sever the incoming fireball. The slash of chakra continued forward towards Kakashi who was already moving.
Looking down, Kakashi was once again bleeding from his chest from the incoming attack. He didn't see it but he was getting the feeling he knew what was happening.
Weaving more hand seals, Kakashi condensed lightning-natured chakra around his right hand in his signature jutsu, the Lightning Blade. The crackling and zapping noises filled the immediate area. The old man smirked at the sight and resheathed his blade.
Kakashi shot forward at blinding speed, his movement further enhanced by his jutsu. The old man used another quick draw technique towards the incoming Kakashi who at the last moment blurred even faster while swiping his lightning blade at the incoming attack.
An explosion of chakra sent a shockwave of force outward from the epicenter of the clash. Kakashi gritted his teeth, pushed even more chakra into his jutsu, and after even more of a struggle he cut through the attack while his arm was sporting another slash.
Kakashi released his jutsu, "Interesting, I've yet to encounter someone capable of such a feat beyond the Third Hokage."
The old man tilted his head, "Oh yeah? What have you learned?" He asked while resheathing his blade.
"I don't know how you do it but you are molding two types of chakra at the same time. An invisible blade of wind and behind it a very large and flashy chakra blade. My eye is drawn to the large flashy jutsu while the small wind blade cuts into me before the chakra slash even reaches me."
"Very good, but does knowing help you overcome it?"
Kakashi cracked his neck, "Oh, very much so."
Without a moment's hesitation, Kakashi shot forward. The old man repeated his quick draw but this time as soon as the blade was about to leave the sheath Kakashi dove out of the way and bounced off the wall at an angle.
The old man's first slash was missed and he tried to repeat the attack but before he could even resheath his blade the cold steel of a kunai entered his neck.
Kakashi gazed down at the dead old man dispassionately, "Isho of the False Moon, what an interesting technique."
Tsunade could say without hesitation that she was more angry at this moment than she'd been in fifteen years. The little shit of a ninja attacking her was a prodigy with clones and she has wrung his neck perhaps fifty-seven times and each one has been one type of clone or another.
The brat wasn't even that impressive at anything but essentially stall tactics, no injury she'd received has taken more than simple healing to fix.
"I'm surprised a legendary ninja and Kage can't tell a clone from a genuine person." Hiro of the hidden flame commented lightly from his place on the ceiling. "Want a hint?"
Tsunade breathed out an angry sigh and gazed up at Hiro, "I'm going to enjoy killing you." She said darkly.
Two Hiro's rushed her from her left and right. Tsunade didn't even acknowledge them, she stomped the ground and cracked the earth beneath her feet shaking the entire area. From there she kicked two rocks, one at each close, which blasted through their skulls before they could even try to dodge.
From both clones came an explosion of fire.
"Good job! That's two more!"
Tsunade glared at the roof before throwing a massive rock at the observing clone. Like she expected, the rock hit the clone on the roof and burst into flame upon its death.
The sounds of fighting were heard in the distance. It would seem that the contingent from the Sand was engaging the forces brought to bear by these mercenaries. She hoped that if the real Hiro was out there he would die soon, she was getting tired of killing clones.
Five more clones rushed towards Tsunade, who only sighed and met them with her fists wreathed in dense chakra.
Fire burst into life with each hit.
Naruto cut his way through the mercenaries that attacked them. The Uzumaki blade sang with joy with each kill. He wasn't sure how he felt using a tool that had an echo of a personality, but at the moment the sword made everything a bit easier and quicker.
In the distance, he saw a couple of puppets cutting their way through ninja while in another corner blood red flames turned everything to ash. Naruto's eyes told him that the flames were comprised of a perfect combination of fire and wind chakra feeding and enhancing each other.
Pakura of the Scorching Sun indeed!
Naruto was confident that Pakura would be a tough opponent for him if he didn't have infinity, her jutsu was so hot that being near them for too long would likely cause dehydration and overheating. Not to mention the damage of actually touching her flames! What a powerful bloodline.
Then there were the floating grains of sand flying everywhere and far in the distance in what looked to be a whirlwind of sand flaring up every few seconds. Gaara wasn't playing around it would seem. Naruto had to acknowledge the level of growth that the redhead had shown. He'd improved his control quite a bit ever since the invasion. Or was it that he was more sane and more in control of himself?
Whichever it was, Naruto was honestly impressed. He wished his teammates were that quick on the uptake. Perhaps then they'd be able to come on missions with him.
Naruto took a deep breath, "Let's just cut to the chase."
They'd have to sacrifice Infinity, as the chakra structure couldn't be maintained with the complex force of the barrier. But for ninjas like these, he doubted they'd need it.
Naruto's Six Eyes flared and he molded chakra into a familiar hand seal. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" It felt good to call that out again. A couple of months of focusing on his new fighting style didn't mean he didn't appreciate the good ole shadow clone jutsu!
Twenty-four clones popped into existence in front of him. He made that many with the sole purpose that all of them would have enough chakra to fire off a Red if needed, though again he doubted they'd need it. Curiously the sword in his hand didn't get copied into the clones.
"We'll have to look at you a bit closer when we get home," Naruto muttered to the blade, which again felt like it was humming happily. His chakra wasn't being suppressed by the blade or absorbed, rather ambient chakra around the blade was being absorbed. Curious.
Without a word all of his clones shot out toward different battlefields while he went back inside to see if Kakashi or Tsunade needed any help.
Baki of the Sand Village wasn't struggling with the opposition. There were many but none of such quality to make him sweat. However, it only took a lucky kunai to kill you so he had been on high alert for the last twenty minutes of fighting, something that was starting to get to him.
Three ninjas in front of him charged at him with various weapons, none of which looked to be with skill greater than a Chunin, but Baki met them with a wind blade nonetheless. A simple slash here or there caused blood and body parts to fly into the air.
He turned and saw even more ninjas rushing towards him, he had to have killed around fifteen mercenaries at this point. How many were sent to this meeting point and by whom?
Before the incoming ninja could reach him they were taken off their feet by a blue blur. Baki could barely keep up with the attacks but after a blink, the enemy ninjas were on the ground broken and bloody.
"I'll take care of the rest," Naruto said before speeding off.
Baki looked around and noticed that all the observing ninjas were all dead. With that, he took a seat and let out a sigh. Uzumaki must have cut them down while he was focused on the three from earlier.
Chiyo, Puppet Master of the Sand, and Pakura of the Scorching Suns weren't getting tired physically but they were beginning to be fed up with all the mercenaries they were constantly having to fight. Seeing as how most if not all of them were below Jonin, that meant that the enemy's target was the Leaf, or more specifically Naruto Uzumaki of the Leaf.
"You're not that bad for an old lady." Commented a clone of Naruto with a grin on his face.
Two Naruto clones were a hurricane, literally tearing through the surrounding attackers with ruthless hand-to-hand. A Rasengan would periodically flash into existence for a moment, before dying out as the clones worked together perfectly and silently.
Chiyo could say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the boy in front of her was truly terrifying. A couple of clones all with chakra beyond the average Jonin in them with the taijutsu of an elite ninja and jutsu like the Rasengan at their disposal. The instinct of wariness welled up within her as she saw something that reminded her of what she'd come across years ago when Hiruzen Sarutobi shook the battlefields after releasing his horrifyingly dense chakra during the first and second wars. Someone that stood atop the peak of the Ninja world.
Naruto Uzumaki was deemed S-Class but she was starting to see the makings of something more…something not seen for a long time. The balance of the world may in fact be shifting because of the boy in front of her. She could feel it in her bones, if the sand didn't ally itself with Naruto they would be annihilated if their paths crossed on the battlefield.
After all, at thirteen he was this powerful. Where would he be in a few years of mastering those eyes and jutsu? She didn't think anyone was excited to find out.
"You should have seen me twenty years ago! I gave that Hokage of yours quite the trouble on the battlefield." She responded to the cheeky twerp.
"I don't doubt it. I can tell you have some highly experienced jutsu behind you. Take a load off, I'm practically done here. Most of the enemies are dead."
"Where is the real you?"
"Inside dealing with a clone." He responded with a laugh.
"He's kind of a pain in the ass isn't he?" Mused Naruto as he and Tsunade looked at all the clones in the room grinning down at them.
"I truly want to crush his skull." Gritted out Tsunade.
"He's looking at us like he has any sort of chance of winning." Laughed Naruto. The group of fools that attacked them seemed to have vastly overestimated themselves.
Twenty more clones attacked the duo. Naruto held a hand up and molded his chakra into a hyper-dense ball that he then changed nature into his Chakra Enhancement Jutsu: Blue. But unlike before he didn't try to refine it to a point in space far away like with the mutant monsters Orochimaru sent after him. Or did he attract space to himself like with Itachi.
No. This time he made a hyper-dense orb of Blue that he then fully activated a meter from his hand. Immediately after activation, the entire room was devastated as it tore itself apart and everything was attracted to the orb like a black hole. Naruto grinned ferally as he moved the orb further towards a clone in the back.
The one on the roof that Tsunade suspected was the real one burst into flame that was then pulled into the orb. The dozens of others followed suit as flames were dragged into the fiery blue orb of destruction.
The one in the back that Naruto's Six-Eyes told him was the real one was pulled off his feet towards the orb. Hiro of the hidden flame screamed as he was crushed into nothingness as soon as he touched the orb.
The orb then immediately died out. "Yaaaay! That's it all finished up! Hey old lady, can we finish up here so I can go home?" He asked while pulling his sunglasses back on. All his clones dispelled, giving him memories of all the battles he assisted with.
A moment later Kakashi and a clone warped into the room. Kakashi looked around surprised for a moment then almost stumbled over to them.
"That felt weird. I thought you could only warp to places you can see." Kakashi mentioned as he walked up, seemingly ignoring the devastated area.
Naruto smiled, "Yeah I can, but a clone can warp back to me. Though it seems it killed itself doing so." He said as he looked off.
"Well now that the nonsense is over we can finally finish up here," Tsunade mentioned.
After a while, the Sand group made their way into the devastated building. Tsunade and Pakura were insistent on finishing up the conversation and negotiations. Naruto had exactly zero interest in the two women arguing- negotiating- about reparations for the stupid invasion.
No, he wanted to chat with Gaara while everyone was distracted.
The redhead was gazing off into the distance, any sign that he was just attacked by dozens of bounty hunters wasn't apparent. Naruto grinned as he sauntered up, Gaara almost immediately noticed his approach and met his gaze emotionlessly.
"So, it seems that things have been good for you since the invasion." he mentioned as he noticed Gaara's seemingly lack of insanity, "I hope the idiots in charge of the Sand weren't clamoring to start using you as a weapon or seeking to 'connect' with you."
Gaara blinked slowly, "The elders of my village have expressed their version of regrets for the circumstances of my birth and upbringing. My time has been spent with my siblings. Though Temari rarely lets me out of sight if we are both in the village."
"Good, I was worried those wishy washy types would go back to using you, or worse, now that you have your mind in working order." Naruto mentioned happily.
Gaara again blinked slowly, "Yes. I did enjoy soaking my sand in the blood of those that irritated me." He said quietly.
"You still want to do that, don't you."
"Every day."
Naruto laughed, "The fact that you don't means you're as normal as any of us these days. I mean, I don't have much patience for annoying people anymore. At least those with ill intent, the higher ups in my village are pretty annoying and full of themselves."
"I take it you too have to deal with empty platitudes due to your strength."
"Oh yeah, before my eyes awakened I was ignored and tossed aside like garbage. Now I'm the guy they all want in their corner. Makes me sick that people who wouldn't even take the effort to spit on me now want to be my best friend."
Gaara nodded, "Assassins were sent by my father and a few of the higher ups after me since I was young to train me or kill me. They now speak of making me the next Kazekage."
Naruto turned to Gaara in surprise, "Really? It is something of a goal of mine to be Hokage. Maybe someday in the future you and I will meet wearing those fancy hats!"
"I would very much like that." Gaara said with a small smile, "It's thanks to you I was able to reconnect with my siblings."
Naruto waved off the sentiment, "I don't kill people that are innocent. Despite your temperament at the time, I know you were as much a victim as anyone. Trust me I understand." He finished quietly.
Gaara didn't have a response to that. The two merely enjoyed the silence as the two women finish up the logistics of the renewed alliance and reparations owed to the Leaf.
Sasuke Uchiha didn't think his life would change so drastically in a couple of months.
Before the Chunin exams he was a rising rookie that was growing slowly but steadily with his team. A girl with potential she'd never realize as she was too focused on him to train, and the fool with the determination to go the distance and the grace and talent to go nowhere.
He had somehow become friends with them. To his everlasting shock Naruto had become someone he'd almost given his life for in Wave. He didn't think he'd ever do such a thing for anyone ever since Itachi.
Now, Naruto wielded some all powerful never seen before Ocular Jutsu. Sakura was training diligently every single day with tips from Naruto, Kakashi and even Jiraiya of the fucking Sanin! She was now stronger than he was when they started the exams!
Sasuke looked down as his burnt hands with a tired sigh, he'd over done his training today once again. He had already started experimenting with variations of his Chidori.
In Kakashi's own words he was beyond most Chunin at this point and it was all thanks to Naruto's training and off handed comments.
"Your chakra control is so bad I'm surprised you can mold jutsu. Try building up the whole amount first. You're not good enough to multitask yet."
Now Sasuke was able to control his chakra enough to gather the necessary amount for a jutsu all at once then activate a jutsu almost immediately. What sounded like a longer method was actually far faster and he was getting better at removing unnecessary waste from his jutsu with every session.
"Why are you building chakra in your core? You punch with your stomach or something?"
His chakra enhancement body was now far easier and more potent he even considered-
"Sasuke!"
He was broken from his thoughts by a rapidly approaching Sakura. Before he would be a bit annoyed by her calling out to him like this but now he knew he wasn't about to be asked out to dinner.
"The Jonin commander wants the two of us to be at the mission desk tomorrow. Apparently Team 7 has an assignment." She said happily.
He was pleased to see some normalcy return and a team mission coming up, but… "Kakashi and Naruto aren't here."
She nodded, "Right, they're due back today."
Sasuke hummed, "Then I wonder what this mission will entail. Naruto and Kakashi aren't exactly someone the village would waste on a C-Rank anymore." Most of the elites were on back to back missions as a show of strength after the invasion.
"Yeah, I think it may have to do with the Sound. I think we may be sent to help out Lord Jiraiya." She whispered. "Kakashi-sensei is one of the best trackers the Leaf has and Naruto… well besides Lord Jiraiya and Lady Hokage he's the only one who could kill the snake."
The both of them were still having trouble wrapping their head around the complete shift in dynamic their team had undergone. Especially around the moronic blond.
Sasuke rubbed his face, "Well then I supposed we should get some rest. If we're going on a mission like this it's going to be worse than Wave." Neither of them forgot their first foray into the real world.
Sakura smiled, "I won't be useless this time." She swore with a clenched fist, "I've made some serious improvements and I'm going to have your back." She said with a smile.
Sasuke, to his own surprise, returned the smile easily, "And I you."
The moment was ruined by Sakura's full body blush at Sasuke's smile.
"Uh." Sasuke mumbled as Sakura turned away and started dancing in place before speeding off, "Maybe things haven't changed all that much after all." He said with a snort.
End Chapter
I'd apologize for the delay but honestly things take time. I am honestly excited to be back writing and this story is a lot of fun for me.
The next arc is going to be Team 7's adventure in the sound. Sasuke and Sakura need time to shine as Naruto and Jiraiya argue on who kills the snake while Kakashi does his best not to go home due to the headache.
Right now Sasuke and Sakura are far stronger than they were at this time. I'd put Sasuke at his end of part one level, obviously without the curse seal. Sakura, well she's kinda shit in canon part one so let's just say. She's good and I have had fun thinking up her style and not just making her Tsunade v2.
Also I'm sorry for making people think the guy was my version of Toji. No, some rando like that isn't Toji. No one baring Gai or Lee could be a Toji. He was just some Jonin bounty hunter with an ego and a special sword. Also Naruto isn't reliant on Infinity or anything like that, so it wouldn't matter. Also, also, there are levels to this. Naruto was going toe to toe in hand to hand with Itachi, that dude ain't no Itachi!
Anyway I'm writing, slowly but steadily.
I've also written about 13k words for a RWBY story that is completely AU. I'll likely publish it soon to see the reaction to it.