[Authors-Notes: This chapter is pretty fast-paced because I want to get into the Shippuden portion of the story soon. The story is being uploaded onto AO3 also.]

June 19th 2002:

Shattered piles of boulders were laid around the dew-laden surface on the outskirts of Tanzaku-Town. Naruto Uzumaki released a breath of concentration and stared at the aftermath of his training session.

Ryomen Sukuna was seated on the top of a smooth-surfaced rock that had not been damaged by Naruto's Rasengan. Eating an apple, Sukuna watched Naruto fall flat on his back on the grass and scowl.

"How the hell am I supposed to make a new version of the Rasengan?!" Naruto face-palmed. "You can't just make new Jutsu!"

"You were the one who agreed to Tsunade's wager." Sukuna snorted, munching on his apple. "I still can't believe my wallet's on the line."

"Don't blame me about your stupid wallet!" Naruto glared at his red-eyed friend in irritation. "She also wants to take my Froggy wallet!"

"You've got around four days left." Sukuna ate the last of his apple. "If you do win, then you get that expensive necklace that you can sell."

"Yeah." Naruto adjusted his position on the grass and sat cross-legged on it. "Pervy-Sage did tell us that it's worth at least three mountains!"

"It's too early for him to learn the Rasenshuriken." Sukuna mused to himself. "There's also the Giant-Rasengan and Massive-Rasengan."

"If I don't win this damn bet, she won't fix Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei either." Naruto scoffed, annoyed. "How do I make a new Rasengan?"

"No clue." Sukuna shrugged in response, sliding off of the boulder he was on. "I'll let you think about that for a while. I'm heading to town."

"See you later." Naruto waved his hand around the air, absent-minded. "Maybe I could make a larger version of the Rasengan? But how?"

Hands tucked into his pockets, Sukuna returned to the main section of Tanzaku-Town and wandered across its streets. Most of the locals took interested glances at the Konoha head-band on his forehead.

Sukuna entered one of the restaurants in the town.

Having ordered himself a plain sandwich and a cup of cold water, Sukuna placed his palm underneath his chin and scanned the outside area through the window in front of the table he had picked to sit at.

Seven minutes later, the waitress handed Sukuna his sandwich on a plate and his cup of water. Sukuna bit into it, drank some of the water from his cup, and sighed. "I should get back to training myself soon."

(-)

June 23rd 2002:

Sukuna blinked his four red eyes open, taking a cursory glance around his room in the inn. Yawning into his palm, he rolled off of his bed, scratched his pink hair, and rubbed his eyes.

Naruto had isolated himself from everyone else for the last four days to maximize his focus on creating a new variation of the Rasengan. Sukuna had spent these four days practising his blood manipulation himself.

Once he had performed his morning routine, Sukuna stepped out of the bathroom and exited the inn. It was the final day of the bet that Tsunade had made, so Sukuna travelled over to Naruto's training spot.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sukuna said, then looked at the destroyed chunks of rocks scattered across the surface. "It's the last day of this wager."

"Hah, Sukuna!" Naruto slumped against the boulder behind himself. "Guess who just made a brand new version of the Rasengan?!"

"Me!" Naruto cut Sukuna off and pointed a finger at himself. "It took me a whole week, but I made it! There's no way I'm losing the wager!"

"Good for you." Sukuna had bought an apple beforehand. Biting into it, he asked him. "So, what the hell does this new variation of yours do?"

"You'll have to wait and see!" Naruto folded his arms. "Is the old lady still at that inn? I want to win this damn bet and get back to Konoha!"

"I didn't check." Sukuna flipped his apple into his other hand. "If I remember right, Tsunade should be waiting around for Orochimaru about now."

Naruto leaned onto the boulder behind him. "I bet Pervy-Sage is gonna come crawling to me to teach him this new Rasengan!"

Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Shizune—who looked like she had woken up minutes ago. Upon seeing them, she let off a sigh of relief. "Good, you two are safe."

"Huh, Shizune?" Naruto raised an eye-brow at her in confusion. "Whatever! Where's that old lady? It's time for me to win that bet!"

"There's no time to explain!" Shizune turned around. "Please, follow me back to the inn! Lord Jiraiya is waiting for the three of us there!"

"Something happened, huh?" Sukuna acted suspicious, consuming more of his apple. "No point in wasting any time. Come on, Naruto."

(-)

The three of them had returned to the inn—where Jiraiya was leaning onto one of the walls outside their rooms in pain and holding onto his side. Sukuna stayed silent, keeping an eye out.

"Pervy-Sage!" Naruto crouched down in front of his teacher, concerned. "What the heck happened to you?! Was it the Akatsuki?!"

"Nothing like that." Jiraiya snorted in response, hissing in discomfort. "Tsunade drugged my drink. I'm struggling to even use my chakra."

"Could I use Reverse-Cursed-Technique to fix it?" Sukuna mused. "I'm not sure if it would be able to cure whatever happened to his chakra."

"I was able to heal Kimimaro's illness, though." Sukuna sighed. "But I still haven't had much practise using Reverse-Cursed-Technique…"

Sukuna snapped his gaze to a building close to the inn and spotted Kabuto hiding behind one of its walls and watching them from afar. Kabuto returned his stare, amusement flashing across his features.

"How'd you let her get the sneak on you, Pervy-Sage!" Naruto was unamazed. "Aren't you meant to be one of the legendary Sannin?!"

"Be quiet, brat!" Jiraiya coughed into his closed fist. "Only Tsunade is capable of making a tasteless and undetectable drug like this one!"

Sukuna witnessed Kabuto disappear in a body-flicker, then spoke. "Thanks for the fun piece of trivia, old man. But what is going on?"

"I'd like to know that myself." Jiraiya glanced at Shizune, all sense of good humour fading from his face. "Why don't you tell us, Shizune?"

"What have Tsunade and Orochimaru been talking about?" Jiraiya said. "I doubt he intercepted Tsunade at Tanzaku-Castle for a reunion."

Naruto nudged Sukuna to get his attention and scowled. "I swear it's always that snake-themed bastard. Why doesn't he try out a hobby?"

"I'm pretty sure being a nuisance is his hobby." Sukuna chuckled a little. "Now that I think about it, what hobbies would he really have?"

Fist clenched, Shizune responded to Jiraiya's question. "Orochimaru's arms have become useless after his battle against the Third-Hokage."

"He made lady Tsunade an offer to heal them." Shizune trembled. "If she healed his arms, then he would revive my uncle and her brother."

"He can do that?" Naruto squinted his eyes in confusion, scratching his head. "There's just a Jutsu out there that lets you revive people?"

"It's called the Reanimation-Jutsu." Sukuna explained to him. "It was created by the Second-Hokage and was also classified as forbidden."

"And it uses a living sacrifice." Jiraiya rose to his feet, more discomfort spreading across his muscles. "Shizune, take us to where they are!"

(-)

Jiraiya, Naruto, Ton-Ton, Shizune, and Sukuna had reached Tanzaku-Castle. Instead of Orochimaru or Tsunade, there was an enormous crater of unnatural size stretched across the concrete.

"I guess that means Tsunade refused their offer." Jiraiya smirked at the crater in the ground. "She must have tried to kill Orochimaru."

"They must have gone to the outskirts of Tanzaku-Town!" Shizune held Ton-Ton in her hands and sprinted off. "We're coming, lady Tsunade!"

Sukuna gandered down at the splashes of water on the concrete. "Did one of them try to use water-natured Ninjutsu during their skirmish?"

"Sukuna!" Naruto elbowed his friend in frustration. "Why the hell are you spacing out now of all times! We have to get to Orochimaru!"

Sukuna followed the rest of the group to the outskirts of Tanzaku-Town—it was an endless expanse of grassland and soil. In the distance, they spotted Tsunade fighting against three other people.

In the blink of an eye, they got in the middle of the battlefield and blocked off Kabuto and the unknown person from Tsunade. Sukuna realized the third person was Suigetsu Hozuki and cracked his neck.

Kabuto and Suigetsu backed off from them. Pleased, Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Ah, Naruto and Sukuna! It's good to see the two of you."

"Oh?" Jiraiya raised his eye-brows at them, curious. "Maybe this will be a reunion. It looks like you two have already met this one, huh?"

"His name's Kabuto!" Naruto's blue eyes flashed red. "Sasuke told me that he was one of the spies Orochimaru planted around the village!"

"Move!" Tsunade shoved Sukuna and Jiraiya aside, hand stretched out at Kabuto. "Out of these two brats, he's the most dangerous!"

Pulling out a Kunai from his sleeve, Kabuto slashed his arm and splashed the blood in Tsunade's face. "I know of your fear of blood!"

Tsunade touched the blood scattered on her face, feeling it pool around in her hands and fingertips. She shook in distress. "Blood!"

Kabuto kicked Tsunade in the abdomen and launched her into Shizune—who caught her and yelled. "Lady Tsunade, are you okay?!"

"Perfect." Kabuto chuckled. "Tsunade won't be able to fight at full capacity because of her mental state. Suigetsu and I can handle the rest."

"I'm pretty bored." Suigetsu yawned into his palm, shouldering his blade. "I'm also still pissed that old snake-face is making me fight."

"Not like I have a choice, though." Suigetsu sighed to himself. "If I refuse to fight these bastards, then snake-face will just kill me later."

"Not to mention all those damn experiments." Suigetsu shook his head. "I could really go for some yogurt right now. I'm starving."

"I didn't think you'd be here, Kabuto!" Naruto addressed the bespectacled boy. "Whatever, I'm still going to take you down!"

"Oh, Naruto!" Kabuto burst into laughter. "You're all bark and no bite! Back in the Chunin-Exams, I was watching you, Sasuke, and Sukuna."

"And you know what I've learned?" Kabuto asked him. "I've learned that you're not cut out to be a Shinobi, unlike Sasuke and Sukuna!"

"I wouldn't say that, Kabuto." Orochimaru stepped forth, unnerving Suigetsu a little. "I sense that Naruto has used my gift to him."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Jiraiya called out. "What type of modification did you make to the seal that holds the Kyuubi?"

"Hold on." Suigetsu blinked at Naruto in astonishment. "You're telling me that this twerp is supposed to be the Jinchuriki for the nine-tails?"

"None of your concern." Orochimaru looked at Sukuna afterwards. "I see that Kimimaro failed to capture you. Did his illness kill him?"

Sukuna remained silent, neither denying or confirming Orochimaru's bout of speculation. Orochimaru cackled. "I'll find out sooner or later."

Orochimaru soon unbandaged his left arm. Kabuto splattered his blood over the tattoo on it and summoned two gigantic snakes. Kabuto and Orochimaru stood on their heads as the snakes let out low hisses.

"Time to fight these low-lives." Suigetsu brandished his blade. "Kabuto told me to fight the one who had the four eyes and the markings."

The snake that Orochimaru stood on lunged at Jiraiya while the one that Kabuto was on slithered towards Naruto, Ton-Ton, Shizune, Sukuna, and Tsunade. Naruto and Sukuna leaped to the right side.

"Sukuna!" Naruto entered the synchronized state between himself and the nine-tails. "I'll handle this snake! You can fight whoever that is!"

Kabuto had hopped off of the snake and left it to eliminate Naruto. Neutralizing Shizune's ankle tendons, Kabuto knocked her downwards. Spitting out blood, Shizune collapsed in front of Tsunade.

Naruto summoned a multitude of Shadow-Clones—who each drilled a Rasengan into the snake and wounded it.

"I underestimated him." Kabuto smiled at Tsunade—who was paralyzed in fear at the sight of Shizune's blood. "How disappointing."

Jiraiya and Orochimaru were engaged in combat on the body of the second snake. Weaving away from Orochimaru's extended tongue, Jiraiya spoke. "Why did you want to capture the four-eyed brat?"

"I wanted to experiment on his mutated chakra." Orochimaru shrugged, lashing his foot out. "It's a brand new bloodline limit!"

Redirecting the kick to the side, Jiraiya huffed. "We've seen a bunch of bloodline limits during the war. What makes this one so unique, huh?"

"Hah!" Orochimaru retracted his leg and grinned. "He has zero chakra. That means it's impossible for him to use an ounce of any Ninjutsu."

"His medical files just called it 'mutated chakra' for simplicity's sake." Orochimaru said. "But I've learned it does give him intriguing powers."

"Whatever!" Jiraiya cast three hand-signs, releasing a stream of fire from his mouth. "Now tell me about the modifications to the seal!"

Jumping over the stream of flames, Orochimaru laughed. "I gain nothing from telling you about the Synchronization-Seal, you oaf!"

Sukuna and Suigetsu had separated themselves from the other battles happening all around them. Suigetsu sighed, picking at the entrance of his ear. "No hard feelings for whoever beats the other?"

"None." Sukuna flicked three of his fingers down, launching several Dismantles forward. "I know that his body can dissolve into water."

The Dismantles flew into Suigetsu's mid-section, scattering it into water for a brief second before it reconstructed itself. Nonchalant, Suigetsu said. "See? None of your attacks will be able to harm me."

"Blood manipulation is useless against him." Sukuna hummed. "I know that water can disrupt the use of any blood that's outside my body."

A split second later, Suigetsu closed in on Sukuna in a flash of speed and slashed his blade in a horizontal motion. Sukuna let Suigetsu embed seven slashes on his upper-torso, seeing his blood pour out.

Reverse-Cursed-Technique healed these wounds as Sukuna imprinted a punch into Suigetsu's nose and watched his head evaporate into water. Moving his fist away, Sukuna chuckled.

Stepping back from Sukuna, Suigetsu reformed his head. "How the hell did he heal himself so fast? That wasn't Medical-Ninjutsu…"

"I'll have to avoid slices targeted at my head." Sukuna mused. "Reverse-Cursed-Technique is directed from the head if I'm right."

Bullets of water sunk into Sukuna's chest, drawing out blood. Healing these wounds, Sukuna pondered. "He isn't much of a threat to me."

"It would be a different story if those water projectiles hit my head." Sukuna smirked. "Of course, I'd never let him get the chance to do it."

"Yeah." Suigetsu analyzed Sukuna's closed up wounds. "I've seen enough from Kabuto to realize that wasn't a form of Medical-Ninjutsu."

Suigetsu body-flickered in front of Sukuna, then sliced his blade in a diagonal gesture. Sukuna smacked it aside, covered his hand in Nue's electricity without summoning it, and punched Suigetsu's abdomen.

"Crap, electricity!" Suigetsu felt himself being electrocuted and collapsed in a pile of water from his own body. "My one weakness."

Picking up Suigetsu's blade from the ground, Sukuna dismantled it into chunks of steel and discarded its remains. "He's taken care of."

(-)

Kabuto chuckled when one of Naruto's Shadow-Clones trapped him in a head-lock and immobilized him. Tsunade trembled from the blood on her hands and the blood that was scattered across the soil of the area.

The original Naruto stood in front of Kabuto, red eyes glowing in aggression. Hands raised in feigned innocence, Kabuto said. "You do realize that you're out of your league, Naruto?"

"Look who's talking." Naruto growled through fanged teeth. "You keep insulting me. News flash, Kabuto, you aren't anything special either!"

Kabuto whirled around in a circle, throwing Naruto's Shadow-Clone off of his back. "You're quite the pathetic one, aren't you?"

"Rasengan!" Naruto formed a Rasengan on his palm, then lunged towards Kabuto in a blur. "Try and call me pathetic one more time!"

Kabuto's amused demeanour fell at the drop of a hat. "Enough of this." He side-stepped Naruto's attack and said. "I've grown bored of you."

"The only interesting thing about you is the nine-tails you host!" Kabuto roundhouse kicked him back. "I'll end you, Naruto…"

"Lord Orochimaru made a modification to your seal." Kabuto pulled out a scroll from his pocket. "The key to that seal is held in this scroll…"

Kabuto unfurled the scroll, leaped away from Naruto, charged chakra into his hand, and slapped the seal on the scroll. Naruto staggered forward, a sudden flash of deep pain flickering in his crimson irises.

Falling to his knees, Naruto widened his eyes and coughed out a stream of blood. Tsunade flinched back at the sight of blood. Disbelief was coated across Naruto's face. "My entire body! Everything hurts!"

Orochimaru slid across the scales of his snake and cackled. "I'm glad I developed a key for that seal. I entrusted it to Kabuto for safekeeping."

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shouted out. "It looks like this key is meant to inflict as much pain as possible upon Naruto. Kabuto will kill him!"

"I'd rather that Kabuto spare the nine-tails' life!" Orochimaru grinned. "He hasn't yet harnessed the true potential of the seal I granted him!"

"But—then again!" Orochimaru's knee diverted Jiraiya's punch upwards. "His death means nothing in the grand scheme of things!"

"Excellent!" Kabuto walked towards Naruto, pulling out his chakra scalpel in his other hand. "Tell me, Naruto, what is your goal?"

Naruto gritted his teeth in pain, red eyes faded to blue. "To be the strongest Hokage in history! That's my goal and it will happen!"

"Even when the odds are numbered against him." Tsunade held her necklace in his hands. "He really does remind me of those two."

"I can understand why you want to be Hokage." Kabuto smiled. "But why the strongest? Wouldn't the title of Hokage be enough for you?"

"Nah!" Naruto's mouth was stretched out into a blood-stained grin. "I have to be the best Hokage! And that includes being the strongest!"

"Isn't that sad, then?" Kabuto brandished his chakra scalpel. "You'll die here and now. All of those days spent dreaming will be for nothing!"

"The strongest Hokage, huh?" Tsunade looked down at the ground. "He even has the same levels of determination as Nawaki and Dan…"

"Hey, granny!" Naruto fought through the pain, standing on his feet. "Remember that bed we made about a new version of the Rasengan?"

"Huh?" Tsunade snapped her gaze to Naruto, astonished. "You're still worried about that stupid bet we made a week ago in this situation?"

"Heck yeah!" Naruto summoned a Shadow-Clone. "Just be ready to give me that necklace once you see this new version of it, okay?"

"Incredible." Kabuto held the scroll in his right hand. "It must be his Uzumaki lineage helping him endure the effects of the seal's key."

"That clan's vitality has always been called unnatural." Kabuto mused. "It's a shame that he can't use the Adamantine-Sealing-Chains…"

Naruto summoned a second Shadow-Clone soon after. "Whatever Kabuto did to me made my chakra unstable, I got to hurry up…"

"Compress the chakra!" Naruto's Shadow-Clones charged chakra into the Rasengan forming on his palm. "And then unleash it all at once!"

"Giant-Rasengan!" Naruto dispelled his Shadow-Clones, slamming the Giant-Rasengan into Kabuto and burying him into a small crater. "Hah, take that!"

"Incredible, Naruto!" Jiraiya observed from afar, blocking an axe-kick from Orochimaru. "He's created a new version of the Rasengan in just a week!"

Amused, Orochimaru hissed out. "I suppose I underestimated the grit that the Jinchuriki has. But that won't be enough to kill Kabuto…"

Collapsing onto the ground and next to Tsunade, Naruto grinned in triumph. "Looks like I win that wager, granny!"

Tsunade was amazed. "It takes time for him to build up the chakra for it, yes, but to create a variation of the Rasengan like that in a week..."

A hand reached out from the small crater and Kabuto climbed out of it. "It took a decent percent of my chakra reserves, but I healed myself."

"There's still too much damage from that Jutsu." Kabuto grinded his teeth together. "It was idiotic of me to underestimate him this much."

"I'm lucky that his chakra was unstable because of the effects the key to the Synchronization-Seal put him under. It weakened that Jutsu."

"About that bet." Tsunade smiled and put the necklace on Naruto. "You win. I'll make sure to heal your friend and teacher when this is over."

Kabuto fell onto his knees, suffering from chakra exhaustion. Orochimaru kicked Jiraiya into a massive boulder, slithered off of his snake, opened his mouth wide, and vomited out the Kusanagi blade.

Orochimaru's yellow eyes glowed. "I've had fun experimenting on the seal. But it looks like the Jinchuriki is a threat to my future plans…!"

"And that includes Ryomen Sukuna!" Orochimaru mused. "I let these two live out of amusement. But they are now thorns in my side!"

"It will be easier to mould Sasuke Uchiha in my image without them!" He cackled. "Without these distractions, Sasuke will grow stronger!"

Much to Orochimaru's surprise, Tsunade blocked him off from Naruto and she was stabbed through the sternum instead. Orochimaru retracted the blade, slashing the sword more and more across her body.

Kabuto swallowed some kind of pill to restore his chakra levels to normal. Orochimaru raised an eye-brow at him as he infused fire-natured chakra into his Shurikens and threw them forward.

Sukuna bashed his feet downwards into the ground, staring at the lacerations and burn marks spread across his arm that the Shuriken had hit. A moment later, all traces of damage faded from his arm.

"How perfect!" Orochimaru changed targets, sprinting towards Sukuna in a blur. "Tsunade will not let me kill the vessel, so I'll end him first!"

Even Sukuna was unable to register Orochimaru breaking into his guard until his arm was slashed off by the Kusanagi blade. Tsunade widened her eyes in worry. Jiraiya scowled to himself. Kabuto smiled.

A thread of blood materialized from Sukuna's arm and it reattached itself to his body. Orochimaru's smile widened in fascination. "He can reconnect his limbs! And he also managed to heal his arm earlier…"

"That type of ability is unfathomable!" Tsunade was shocked. "I would only be able to do that under the state of The-Hundred-Healings…!"

Orochimaru moved faster than Sukuna could perceive and the tip of the Kusanagi reached out for him. Tsunade body-flickered in between them before the Kusanagi blade sunk into the middle of her stomach.

"First the nine-tails and now the singularity?" Orochimaru chuckled. "I guess you and that perverted fool have gotten soft over the years."

"I would offer to heal her." Sukuna landed next to Naruto and snorted. "But I'm pretty confident that Tsunade can heal her own injuries."

Taking the Kusanagi blade out of Tsunade's stomach, Orochimaru noticed that Tsunade's wounds from his weapon had healed. Out of nowhere, Tsunade lashed her hand out and backhanded him away.

Orochimaru watched the Kusanagi blade fly out of his mouth. "It looks like Tsunade has overcome her fear of blood at last…"

Tsunade's injuries faded at an unnatural speed. Orochimaru tilted his head to the side. "I suppose she's stopped holding herself back…"

"Mitotic-Regeneration The-Hundred-Healings…"

Tsunade smirked at Orochimaru, triumphant. "Now I can stimulate the proteins in my body and accelerate cell division to rebuild them."

"It does come at a cost, though." She thought to herself. "This will use up a decent majority of the chakra that I've stored up over the years."

Kabuto body-flickered next to Orochimaru, noticing Tsunade pool blood around her hand. "My lord, she's using the Summoning-Jutsu."

"It's time to summon Manda." Orochimaru felt Kabuto gather blood on the tattoo on his left arm. "I'll kill the singularity and nine-tails later."

"My chakra is stable enough." Jiraiya drew out blood from his finger, slamming his palm flat on the ground. "Summoning-Jutsu!"

Massive puffs of smoke materialized. Sukuna chuckled when Manda, Gamabunta, and Katsuyu were summoned. A white light covered his hand as he healed Naruto up. "I guess Kabuto beat you up, huh?"

"Shut the hell up!" Naruto glared at Kabuto—who stood on Manda's head. "Kabuto has some kind of 'key' that affects my stupid seal!"

"Also." Naruto looked at his healed flesh. "I swear you just keep pulling this shit out of nowhere. First the blood and now you can heal people!"

"No point in hiding it." Sukuna glanced at the enormous animals ahead of them. "I could summon Orochi to help, but those two can handle it."

Naruto followed his gaze. "Seeing crap like this really reminds me of how much more I have to train to catch up to people like those three."

"I'm more curious about this key to your seal." Sukuna raised an eye-brow. "Where would Kabuto or Orochimaru even get one?"

"It's the 'key' to an extra seal Orochimaru piled up on mine in the Forest-Of-Death." Naruto scowled. "It just puts me in a lot of pain."

"I think we should intercept Kabuto to get that, then." Sukuna leaped upwards and hurtled himself into the fray of battle. "Come on!"

"Hey!" Naruto pumped chakra into his legs, launching himself towards the Sannin and their summons. "At least give me a signal, moron!"

"Wait, you two!" Shizune—who had just recovered—extended her hand out at them. "Please, come back. It's far too dangerous!"

Sukuna and Naruto used cursed-energy and chakra-control on their feet to remain on Manda—despite how he twisted his body in battle. Sprinting towards the top of his body, Sukuna clasped his hands.

"Orochimaru is too focused on those two to pay attention to us!" Sukuna fired off a straight line of blood, curving it upwards. "Good!"

"Huh?!" Jiraiya—who was on top of Gamabunta—spotted them. "What the hell are those brats doing?! Shizune should have stopped them!"

Tsunade shook her head. "I should have expected that from them."

Kabuto clenched his teeth at the sudden painful sensation from his stomach. Caught off guard and reeling from the injuries he hadn't fixed from Naruto's Giant-Rasengan, Kabuto failed to stop Sukuna's attack.

Naruto body-flickered behind Kabuto. Sukuna's distraction gave him enough time to steal the scroll that had the key to the Synchronization-Seal on it from Kabuto's pocket. "Yes! I got the scroll!"

Disconnecting himself from Manda's scales, Naruto descended onto the soil, exited the radius of the Sannin's battle, and grinned. Sukuna landed behind him, four eyes observing the fight from a distance.

Gamabunta soon plunged his blade into Manda's lower section, immobilizing him and locking him in place. Jiraiya and Tsunade both body-flickered towards Orochimaru—whose tongue stretched out.

Flames bubbled from Jiraiya's mouth before burning Orochimaru's elongated tongue. Snapping his jaw shut, Orochimaru stumbled back from Tsunade's punch and plummeted into one of Manda's scales.

"I've sustained too much damage." Orochimaru slithered off of Manda, seeing him disappear in a puff of smoke. "But I've missed battles like these."

Kabuto appeared beside Orochimaru, having healed his stomach. Jiraiya and Tsunade stood afar from Orochimaru. Laughing, the serpentine man said. "Sooner or later, I will crush the Hidden-Leaf."

"Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade." Kabuto smiled at them. "Tell Sukuna, Sasuke, and Naruto they will have to get much, much more stronger."

"We'll have to leave Suigetsu behind." Orochimaru chuckled. "It's a shame I didn't get much time to research more into the Hozuki-Clan."

Kabuto and Orochimaru disappeared and escaped from them. Tsunade stretched her hand out, but she grunted to herself in irritation. "The toll of The-Hundred-Healings has already begun affecting me…"

"My ribs and legs are broken." Jiraiya struggled to even keep himself afoot. "And I still haven't found out what Orochimaru did to Naruto's seal."

Gamabunta and Katsuyu faded in puffs of smoke. Stretching his arms, Jiraiya followed Tsunade to where the others were located. Naruto leaned against one of the boulders in the area, exhausted but healed.

The scroll he had taken from Kabuto was secure in his pocket.

"Shizune." Tsunade furrowed her brows at Naruto's lack of injuries. "I didn't realize you were able to heal him. That does save us time."

"It wasn't me who healed him, lady Tsunade." Shizune refuted her mentor. "Sukuna was the one who healed Naruto's injuries, ma'am."

"First he can reconnect his own limbs and now this?" Tsunade was impressed. "He's also able to use Jutsu without any hand-signs."

"You're talking about the four-eyed brat, eh?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "I'm guessing it's an ability that comes from his mutated chakra, then."

Both Tsunade and Shizune looked confused. "Mutated chakra?"

"That's his bloodline limit." Jiraiya shrugged. "It's a brand-new bloodline limit that has only manifested in him. No-one else has it."

Sukuna soon touched his feet down close to them, dropping an unconscious Suigetsu onto the soil. Naruto crossed his arms. "What the heck do we do about him? That freaky bastard left him behind."

"I suppose we'll have to handle his situation in the village." Tsunade chuckled. "And after I heal your friend and teacher, like we wagered."

"And after I accept the title as Fifth-Hokage." Tsunade could feel her youthful appearance fade. "First, I'll have to recuperate my chakra."

"Are you serious?!" Naruto pumped his fist in excitement. "You're gonna heal Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei and become the Hokage?!"

Tsunade smiled. "That battle against Orochimaru reminded me of some old faces."

Jiraiya huffed to himself. "I was worried she wouldn't accept it."

"Yeah." Sukuna slipped his hands into his pockets. "That's good and all, but one of you is gonna have to carry him back to the village."

(-)

June 24th 2002:

Sukuna stood behind the group of elders, Jiraiya, and Naruto. At the moment, they were on the outside platform of the Hokage-Tower where Tsunade was overseeing the village. He sighed in boredom.

Suigetsu had been placed under Ibiki's direct supervision, similar to what had happened to Kimimaro. Everyone else was having a conversation about the Hokage induction ceremony.

Naruto tapped his foot against the ground. "She still has to heal Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei!"

Sukuna grunted. "See you later."

Sukuna decided to leave once he was sure Sasuke and Kakashi would be cured. Blurring across the roof-tops, he settled on one of the more isolated streets in the village and walked around.

Sukuna soon returned home to get some sleep.

A/N: Thanks for reading.