Naruto was falling.
Ninja fall all the time, but usually, they are in control of their bodies while doing so.
The depth of the chasm Naruto was thrown into ensured that he could not boast any such control over his body. In fact, he was rapidly accelerating and everything around him was blurring.
'I'll kill that pervy sage if he doesn't kill me first. Aaargh!'
In a fit of desperation, Naruto tried to cling to the walls of the ravine, but his speed ensured that all of his efforts were futile.
A few years ago, when Shisui Uchiha transferred his ocular chakra to Naruto, he kept a few failsafes to make sure Naruto was protected. First, he conditioned that the seal withholding his ocular chakra be released only when Naruto achieves a specified level of control of his chakra. This requirement would be relaxed if the seal detected a life-or-death situation. Both these requirements were satisfied simultaneously at this moment.
Naruto had learned the water walking exercise, which gave him the bare minimum chakra control specified by Shisui. When he was hurled into the ravine, Naruto's adrenaline levels skyrocketed enough to trigger the second failsafe condition. Thus, at that moment, the seal withholding Shisui's ocular chakra became undone. The chakra of a descendent of the Senju lineage mixed with the exceptional ocular chakra of the Uchiha, triggering the rebirth of the most powerful bloodline limit in history.
Within the confines of his seal, Kurama sensed a chakra that he had almost forgotten for a thousand years.
Naruto wasn't sure where he was, but he sure wasn't falling anymore. That was good. Unless he's dead. That wouldn't be good.
"Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. He was sure he was alone. It looked like he was standing on water with just a pitch-black void surrounding him. However, he was no longer alone.
An old man wearing a long white robe stood before him. His clothing had wide sleeves and a high collar. The robe has intricate black tomoe symbols. Over the robe, he wore a black sash tied around his waist. He held a tall, black staff with a circular ring on the top, through which six smaller rings were attached. Most of this was lost to Naruto, who focussed on the fact that he had two horns, weird eyes, and what looked like a blood-red third eye above his nose.
"Aaaah! An Oni! Get away from me!" Naruto tried in vain to scramble back, for the distance between them remained the same.
Hagoromo Otsutsuki sighed. He had not intended to meet with Ashura's descendent so soon. The boy was too young to understand his philosophies or the complicated history of the world. However, Shisui Uchiha had caused a complication. Thankfully, this complication was not as bad as what had happened with Madara.
"I will not harm you, child," Hogoromo spoke softly. "I am not an Oni. I am but an old man, a hermit watching this world."
"...What?" Naruto blinked. "Why do you have horns then?"
"...That is genetic. Think of it like a bloodline limit." Hogoromo sighed. He had faced some bad rep due to his horns even during his lifetime.
"Okaaay...". Naruto looked around. "Where are we? Who are you and what do you want with me?"
"The simplest explanation I can give you is that we are in your mind. Inside your consciousness. My name is Hogoromo Otsutsuki, once known as the sage of the six paths. I lived a thousand years before your time. Certain circumstances have caused me to appear inside your mind."
"...What circumstances?" Naruto did not have a single clue what the old man was talking about. "Wait! If we are inside my mind, am I still falling down?!"
"Do not worry. Time passes here much slower than it does outside. But it would be wise to shorten our conversation." Hogoromo soothed him. "It's a long story, but I will tell you the essentials. You are a descendant of mine through my younger son, Ashura. This is because your Uzumaki clan is an offshoot of the Senju clan founded by Ashura. My elder son, Indra, formed the Uchiha clan that you undoubtedly know of." Hogoromo smiled when he saw Naruto scowl, thinking of Sasuke. "Three years ago, an Uchiha intentionally passed on his chakra to you, causing the chakra of the Senju and the Uchiha to merge inside of you."
Naruto nodded mutely, not understanding the significance of what he was hearing. "I don't remember it, though. Why did he do that?"
"You were probably asleep while he did it. He did it hoping that you would carry on his ideals of peace and protect his village. Your unique chakra as part of your Senju lineage made you a suitable candidate, along with the ability to withstand the hate of the village for no fault of your own." Naruto grimaced.
"You will understand more in due time. Just know that the one who did this was an exceptional shinobi called Shisui Uchiha."
Naruto vaguely recalled Sasuke being picked up by an uncle Shisui once after the academy was over.
Hogoromo continued. "This mixing of chakra caused my chakra to awaken within you, Naruto. The bloodline limit of the Senju lies in their exceptionally strong chakra that can accommodate any elemental nature. This power lies dormant within you already. When the special chakra of the Uchiha was mixed with it, the combination produced my own chakra as a result. This is the reason why I have come here to meet you. I will now explain what it means to wield my power, and give you a few suggestions on how to control it."
A moment later, Naruto opened his eyes in the real world. His hand pointed to the ground on its own accord.
"Shinra Tensei!"
An otherworldly power burst forth from his arms and pushed against the rapidly approaching ground. His descent slowed, stopped, and reversed. In a moment, he was shooting upwards rather than plummeting to his death.
Jiraiya did not see any sign indicating that the Nine Tails' chakra was being unleashed. A crippling fear gripped him when he realised that he might have been a tad too much reckless in his plan. Although Jinchuuriki were known to be sturdy, a drop from such a height might actually kill the boy if the Nine Tails didn't cooperate.
A moment passed, and he saw the subject of his concern barrelling upwards, towards him. He barely had a moment to blink owlishly before Naruto's fist collided with his jaw and he was sent flying.
"Oww! What is your face made of, old man!" Naruto complained, cradling his broken wrist.
Jiraiya got up from his undignified sprawl, rubbing his jaw with a pained expression. "You pack a punch, kid," he muttered, trying to shake off the impact. "But you might want to work on your technique a bit more. Looks like you hurt yourself more than me." He grinned.
"No kidding." Naruto glared at his new 'teacher'. "You could have just ditched me if you didn't like teaching me that much. No need to try and off me!"
"Now now, no pain no gaiii... Holy fuck, is that a Rinnegan?!" Jiraiya gawked, his eye bulging out in surprise.
Indeed, the clear cerulean blue eyes of his student were replaced with a steel grey sclera and black circles in a ripple pattern similar to his first student.
"Oh yeah, he told me my eyes would change," Naruto muttered. "Do you have a mirror or something?"
Jiraiya produced a mirror from his pocket, to which Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow. "For research," Jiraiya smirked, and Naruto rolled his eyes before taking the mirror to inspect his new look.
He studied his reflection, turning his head from side to side. "Well, that's something," he said, a mix of curiosity and apprehension in his voice.
"You said something about someone telling you this would happen?" Jiraiya asked probingly, his tone nonchalant. Inside, his mind was working a mile a minute, thinking of all the possible explanations for this. He could come up with none. Naruto's chakra was still mostly the same, so that ruled out the possibility of him being switched by some imposter. And an imposter wouldn't go to the trouble of distinguishing himself from Naruto's appearance so blatantly.
"I met an old alien sage in my mind when I was falling to my death." Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. "Speaking of which..."
"Alien sage?" Jiraiya furrowed his brows.
"He called himself the sage of the six paths or something..."
"...What?!"
"...Is he a big deal?"
Jiraiya was stunned. "A big deal? Naruto, the Sage of the Six Paths is the founder of ninjutsu and the ancestor of all shinobi. If you met him, it's the biggest deal in history! But he lived a thousand years ago, so I'm not sure how you might have met him. If you didn't have a Rinnegan right now, I wouldn't even be considering what you said as the truth."
Naruto blinked, processing the information. "So, this guy is important. Great. What does that mean for me?"
"That depends on what he told you..." Jiraiya trailed off, prompting Naruto to explain his situation to him.
Half an hour later, both Jiraiya and Naruto were waiting patiently as the Third Hokage finished smoking six straight pipes after processing the information that was conveyed to him. As his hands twitchingly went for the seventh pipe, Naruto cleared his throat impatiently.
"Ah, forgive me, Naruto. I am merely contemplating the implications of this revelation." The Third Hokage and the third person to hold the title of the God of Shinobi said in embarrassment. What Naruto had revealed to them was a world-alteringly significant piece of information.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "So, what do we do now, old man?"
The Third Hokage sighed, putting down his pipe. "We must be cautious. The power of the Sage of the Six Paths is immense. We need to ensure you can control it and understand its full potential. This is not something we can take lightly. You said the sage imparted some of his knowledge to you?"
Naruto nodded hesitantly. "It's difficult to explain. But I feel like I understand this chakra stuff a whole lot better now." He opened his palm, and a black rod materialised in it.
"Is that..." the Third Hokage asked in shock.
"Yin Yang release, I believe..." Jiraiya breathed reverently. "Lord Fukusaku had mentioned stories told to him by Lord Gamamaru. It's the real deal."
Hiruzen swallowed. "Can you float, Naruto?"
"...Maybe?" Naruto tried to emulate what he did during his fall down the cliff. Slowly, his form rose from the ground as if gravity held no meaning. He still wobbled, but he had accomplished something the Third had only seen Onoki of the Hidden Stone and his predecessor do before.
Excitement bubbled in Hiruzen's chest. The potential that Naruto was demonstrating was endless. He thanked Shisui a million times for his sacrifice and for strengthening the village. He still bitterly regretted the fate of the Uchiha. Shisui would have hated that his fears had come to pass.
He passed a sheet of chakra paper from his desk to Naruto. "Channel chakra into it." He instructed.
Naruto did as he was told. The paper disintegrated.
Jiraiya tilted his head. "The reaction was similar for Nagato." To Naruto's questioning look, Jiraiya said "I'll tell you about him later."
"The chakra paper isn't designed to withstand such a powerful chakra," Hiruzen concluded. "Perhaps it's mimicking the reaction of particle release, as it might be the closest known affinity to the Yin-yang release of the six paths."
Hiruzen's expression turned serious. "Jiraiya, from this moment, you are to focus your efforts on training him. Only three days remain for the chuunin exams, which is too short of a time for him to reveal his Rinnegan. We need to come up with a way to hide it."
"Actually, the old alien sage taught me how to cover it up." Naruto smiled. Suddenly, his eyes looked the same as before.
"I didn't know that it could be deactivated!" Jiraiya was overjoyed. A lot of the headaches associated with the emergence of the Rinnegan were now postponed until Naruto would be ready.
"They can, but that's not what I'm doing," Naruto said, a little smugly. "He said it's a perception filter or something..." Naruto struggled to explain it. "It's not a Genjutsu, it just changes the light reflected from my eyes to make it look like my eyes are normal. He said it may not completely work on exceptionally gifted Hyuuga clan members, though. I can deactivate the Rinnegan, but he said with this, I can still have the advantage of seeing through it without letting others know about it."
"What." The Third asked in a daze. He couldn't see the depth of Naruto's new ability.
"Somehow, I have a feeling I didn't even scratch the surface of the Rinnegan's potential with Nagato." Jiraiya shook his head in amazement.
The Third pondered his options for a moment and faced Naruto. "Naruto, for your safety as well as the safety of our village, do not reveal your Rinnegan until Jiraiya allows you to do so. This includes its abilities. Any ability that can be explained by existing Jutsu is fine. But the Yin Yang release and your ability to float should be kept especially under wraps." The Third sighed. "I expect this list to expand soon."
"Oy, then how am I supposed to win against Neji, old man?!"
"Do you need the most powerful eye technique in existence to deal with a Genin, Naruto? If so, I would have to doubt your ability to become a Chuunin."
Naruto looked like he swallowed a lemon. "...I guess not. But he has freaky eyes too!"
"Well, I'm sure your Rinnegan would be able to show you most of what Neji can see with his Byakugan." Jiraiya consoled. "And you would be training under me! So there really isn't any need for you to worry."
"As long as you don't throw me off a cliff again," Naruto muttered. Unfortunately for Jiraiya, the Third heard him.
"Did you leave out anything significant in your explanation earlier, Jiraiya?" The third asked him in a desceptively calm tone.
"Oh... heh heh. Maybe...?"
