The God of Wind:
The Chunin Exam Arc:
Chapter 18: The secret of the swords
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An orange glare poured through his open window, drowned out by the bright electric light. Naruto sat at his desk, hunched over one of the Kiba blades as his desk lamp focused on it. He'd been examining it for hours, looking for any hint of what Itojiro's words had meant.
There was some secret about the Seven Swords and his clan. Based on what that sadistic giant said, he suspected the Amakuni had created them. It would explain why they couldn't hurt him, at least not with chakra-based abilities. But that brought to mind several questions. How did they have such odd shapes, and how were they seemingly indestructible? Yes, there was a secret to these swords, and he was determined to find it.
Thankfully, his grandfather had allowed him to examine the swords so long as none got damaged. He could only look at one at a time, and they had to be returned every evening. Naruto paused, lifting his head. Kakashi had made him work on keeping his sensing active.
Thus, he expected it when his door swung open silently and his grandfather spoke. "Any luck?"
Naruto sighed, turning to look at his grandfather. Hiruzen had gotten out of his usual robes, favoring a simple white kimono top and comfortable pants.
"Not yet. I know the seals are somewhere, but the guy who wrote them didn't want em' found."
Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully. "Well, when you learn something, be sure to tell me. What Itojiro said has me curious. I've been poring over our records of the Hidden Eddy from Lady Mito. So far, no mention of this Genryusai."
"You'll be the first to know," Naruto promised.
"Then I will leave you to it." Hiruzen left, closing the door quietly behind him.
Naruto frowned as he turned back to the Kiba blade. There had to be some way to reveal the seals. He'd tried looking for one small seal or mark, but there didn't seem to be any. Not on the hilt, nor on the guard, and definitely not on the blade.
"How do I figure you out?" He asked the blade as he ran a finger along its length. Naruto hissed as he accidentally cut himself on one of the blades odd angles.
A gush of blood smeared across the blade. Naruto sucked the blood off his finger, clenching it tight against his shirt as he waited for the wound to heal. Steam hissed from his wound as Kurama worked to seal it shut. Naruto reached for a cloth to wipe the blood off, only to freeze as he saw an odd sight. His blood had trickled down the Kiba blade, eventually reaching the base. There, a glowing seal had lit up blue.
In a few seconds, the seal absorbed all the blood, before giving off a pulse of light as other seals spread out across the blade in a complex web of tiny seals that were interconnected. The arrays were incredibly complex, they made the prisoner seal look like the work of a journeyman and not a master.
"Of course … blood is a common activator, dummy!" It made sense, too. If he truly had a blood connection to this Genryusai fellow, his blood would activate the unlocking seal on the Kiba.
Naruto's annoyance at himself quickly faded, as he took out a pair of spectacles from his desk and began to peruse the tiny seals, no larger than the head of pin. The glasses were a product of seals themselves, able to magnify based on how much chakra he fed them. Finally, he could try and unlock the secret of what made these blades so special.
One of the first set of seals he dissected was a formula he suspected was behind his immunity to chakra related abilities from the Kiba and Nuibari.
After searching through the seals, he finally found ones that he thought were related to making a blade unbreakable. They had to do with stability and permanence. Naruto carefully copied the seals down, resolving to try them as soon as possible. He'd have to try the blood trick on the other blades to see if they were the same.
"Now, just have to figure out how to make the seals so tiny." Naruto muttered.
To carve or draw seals onto a blade in such a tiny script seemed impossible, there must be another trick behind it. But that could wait for later. He knew his grandfather would want to learn of his discovery.
Naruto applied another bit of blood to the seal to relock it, before hurrying to go tell Hiruzen the good news. His grandfather was in his study when Naruto found him, he listened with rapt attention as Naruto described his discovery and told him his theories.
"Fascinating, I've seldom heard of such complex seal work. The only thing I've seen comparable is the barrier Lady Mito left for us."
"One thing is bothering me, though." Naruto replied.
Hiruzen rose a curious eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Both Nuibari and the Kiba don't hurt me with their effect, which means this Genryusai guy must have made both, but that's not possible. Each person gets one ability for their blades. Come to think of it, how'd he make the shapes so different?" Naruto asked with a frown.
"Indeed, a curious conundrum. Perhaps you can get more answers when the Mist delegation arrives with their genin teams competing." His grandfather suggested.
Naruto silently agreed. "Well, see ya in the morning. I'm heading to bed to get up early for training tomorrow." He said with a nod.
After bidding his grandfather goodnight, Naruto returned to his room and cleaned up his desk. He sent a clone to return the swords, before turning in for the night. As the silver light of the moon poured through his curtain, Naruto dreamt of unraveling the secrets of the complex seals.
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Training was something that was no longer a chore for Naruto. The past two months since they had been back, Kakashi had stuck to his word and trained them hard. All three of them had individual plans, working on improving their skills.
For him, that meant practicing his seals, advancing his control of wind, and improving his stamina so he could create more blades. Finally, Kakashi had him begin to explore using his secondary water affinity more.
Today, he was working on strength training using the resistance of the water. Thankfully it was a warm day, so the water helped soothe his aching muscles. As he completed another lap trudging through the river with a log and training weights, Naruto glanced to where Sakura was sitting reading a chemistry book. Currently she was resting from her physical training, while also advancing her knowledge for one of her new favorite forms of attack, poison.
He winced, Anko had been both a positive yet unnerving influence on Sakura. Ever since they'd gotten back, she spent as much time training with Anko and Kurenai as she did Kakashi. With Anko in particular, she was nearly inseparable. 'If we're not careful, we'll have another Anko on our hands, but even smarter. One is plenty.'
The smell of ozone and crackle of electricity drew his attention to the last member of the team. Sasuke stood in front of a tree, practicing his lightning jutsu on it.
One of the first things Kakashi did was test their affinities, while he was working on his secondary affinity, Sasuke was working on his primary, which turned out to be lightning, not fire as the Uchiha had thought. On top of that Kakashi had been drilling him to improve his Sharingan and learn at least one jutsu from every element.
Yes, all in all, Naruto was happy with the new intensity training had. 'Better get back to training.' Naruto threw himself back into physical training, knowing he could push until he broke. Kurama would repair it and he'd be stronger than ever. It was a cheat code he was increasingly abusing in his quest to master his bloodline.
Hours later, when Team 7 had finished their training, Kakashi called the three genin together under the shade of a particularly large oak tree.
"As you probably know, the Chunin Exams begin next week. Here are your forms." Kakashi handed a medium-sized sheet of paper to each of them. "We'll be ramping down training for the next week so you're fresh for the exams. At this point, it's more about refinement than anything."
Though he nodded, internally Naruto had slightly different plans. 'I might be ramping things down, but that doesn't mean my clones will. That new wind technique needs more work.'
Later, after parting ways with his team and returning home, Naruto was in the backyard training on his own. He stood in the middle of a well-trimmed lawn, one arm held out as he wore a look of intense concentration. Wind swirled around the limb in a constant tornado of air streams. He winced, as a cut suddenly opened on his forearm. The blood was sucked into the tornado, and the wound began to hiss and steam.
"Dammit, still can't control them precisely enough." He cursed.
'Typically, I don't mind healing you, but constantly doing it for these little cuts does grow tedious Naruto.' Kurama growled.
'Sorry about that. I'll take a break.' Naruto sighed, and let the wind die down around his arm; he could continue working on his jutsu later. He used his shirt to wipe his brow of the sweat. Just then, he heard a shout from behind.
"Big Bro!"
Naruto turned to see Konohamaru, a cheerful eleven-year-old boy with short brown hair and matching eyes, wearing a yellow shirt and grey shorts, a long blue scarf trailed to his ankles. Technically, they were adopted cousins, since Hiruzen had adopted Naruto as a grandson. But the young Sarutobi had always been more of a little brother than anything.
He smiled and opened his arms for a hug. Konohamaru quickly pulled away and gave him a hopeful grin.
"Think you could help me with the clone jutsu?"
Putting a finger to his chin, Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "I don't know. Doesn't seem wise to train my 'rival' for Hokage to be better." He teased, putting on an air of faux reluctance.
Konohamaru whined, "Oh, come on, you're so awesome! Something like this won't make a difference!"
"Alright, you convinced me. I'll help." Naruto replied with an indulgent smile. "So, first thing about the Clone Jutsu, your chakra control has to be precise. It doesn't take much to pull off. If you're struggling, try using a tiny bit of chakra and making as many clones as you can …"
Naruto slowly walked his little brother through the jutsu, demonstrating it for him for good measure. At first, Konohamaru could only produce sickly looking clones. Naruto himself had that issue once upon a time, usually a result of overloading it. Eventually, the young Sarutobi finally made eight perfect clones.
"Yeah, I did it! Thanks, Big Bro." Konohamaru exclaimed cheerfully, giving Naruto a big hug.
He chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair, receiving a pout in return. "No problem, lil' bro. Now all you need to do is work on chakra control. Eventually you wanna make just two. I'll give you some tips."
His eyes drifted to the porch, where he saw their grandfather watching with a small smile. Naruto had sensed his approach a bit ago. "Hey Grandpa."
Konohamaru's eyes lit up when he saw Hiruzen. "Gramps, what're you doing here? Don't you got paperwork to do?"
"Oh, just taking a break watching you two train. You can't go wrong with advice from Naruto on chakra control. Given his large reserves, his perfect control is remarkable."
Naruto flushed slightly under the praise; he couldn't help but let a silly grin slip onto his face.
Hiruzen then turned his attention to Naruto. "And you, Naruto, how is your training for the exams going? Are you excited for them?"
"Training is going good. Can't wait for the exams, especially when that Mist Delegation arrives." He replied.
Having spent the past week studying the seals on the Kiba, Shibuki, and Nuibari, he'd concluded they'd indeed been made by the same person, at least the seals were. The script style was identical, and no two sealers had the same style. The members of his clan must have had a seal master that helped them complete the swords. It had left him with more questions than he knew what to do with, ones he hoped the Mist could answer. Though in the meantime, he had plenty to distract him.
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"I'm so glad all the extra training is over." Shikako complained. Naruto chuckled as they passed under a covered wooden bridge. It spanned across one of the two rivers that crossed the village. He enjoyed the refreshing breeze wafting off the cool water.
"Didn't you ask for extra training?" he asked with amusement.
Shikako slumped her shoulders with a moody expression. "I didn't think Asuma-sensei would take it that seriously. Apparently, he wanted to keep up with Kurenai-sensei and your sensei. All's I wanted was to be more prepared, that mission of yours was a wakeup call."
Naruto hid a smile, he knew Shikako wouldn't appreciate it if she thought he was laughing at her. 'Glad she finally found motivation to train harder.' He'd figured out long ago, Shikako wasn't motivated by the same things he was. Training wasn't enjoyable for her, so she had to have a reason for it, and pushing her had the opposite effect. Thankfully, it seemed she found one.
"Naruto!"
"Hmm?" Naruto looked up, his eyes brightening as he spotted Haku waving to him from down the street, alongside a sea of unfamiliar faces baring the headband of the Hidden Mist. No doubt the Mist delegation.
There was a blue-haired boy and an auburn-haired girl near Haku's age, no doubt his team, behind them a tall intimidating man with bandages around his lower face and a giant sword on his back. Finally, there were three tall jonin wearing the mist flak jacket, they seemed to be surrounding a seventh person.
His friend looked healthy, with a bright smile as he wore a short-sleeved navy kimono-shirt with pinstriped arm warmers.
"Oh, who is this, Haku? Please, introduce us." A woman stepped from behind the jonin, much to their protest, and regarded him with curious green eyes. She was a statuesque beauty, with fair skin, and long auburn hair that fell down her back in a herringbone pattern, with a bang falling over her right jade green eye. She had a rich, sultry voice that set his stomach aflutter.
Haku bowed his head deferentially. "Of course, Lady Mei. This is Naruto, one of the genin who helped me escape, and his friend Shikako." He then waved to the Mist shinobi, "And this is Lady Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage, her guards, Ryo, Hiei, and Taiki. Then there's Chojuro and Mai Terumi, my teammates. And last but not least, Zabuza Momochi, our sensei, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."
Naruto nodded, paying particular attention to Zabuza and Mei. One of them must be who Haku mentioned.'
"Lady Mei, we should hurry and get out of the open." One of the jonin, a man with chin-length black hair and a scar on his neck, urged the Mizukage.
"Relax, nobody'd dare try anything with me around." Naruto replied with a dismissive wave.
Th jonin sneered at him. "Oh, do you think so highly of your skills genin?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "No, ya jackass, we have a barrier that'd warn us if anyone unauthorized entered, and nobody from the Leaf strong enough would be stupid enough to try it since I'm a well-known sensor. Pretty stupid to attack four jonin and a kage with a sensor to warn them."
A look of embarrassment overtook the Jonin's face. He looked to reply, but any retaliation was prevented by the musical laughter of Mei. Naruto couldn't help but notice the way her breasts moved under the off the shoulders blue dress and mesh armor the voluptuous woman wore.
"My, you're certainly bold, and already handsome too. If you were a bit older, I might try snatching you for myself. Maybe you should try, dear niece?"
Naruto blushed profusely, though it was nothing compared to the auburn-haired girl Mai, her cheeks and ears burned crimson, a stark contrast to her wavy shoulder-length hair. He'd wondered if there was a family connection, given the hair and name. Naruto definitely saw the resemblance, both in their delicate heart-shaped faces, and their statuesque voluptuous frames.
"What was that nonsense old hag?" Mai shouted at her aunt, dark green eyes glaring daggers at the older woman.
Mei's face twitched; a vein pulsed in her forehead. She spoke with an unnerving calm. "Now, now, no need to be so uncouth. You'll never attract a man like that dear niece."
The younger redhead laughed. They had been getting closer, and now she and Mei were face to face. "Like I'd take advice from a hag that's never gotten a man herself! You should go for that guy, after all, you are desperate."
"Don't think I won't melt you, brat!"
"Ha! You must be going senile in your old age, we have the same bloodlines bitch, I'm immune!"
As the aunt and niece descended into intense bickering, Naruto shared a bemused glance with Shikako. "I think they forgot us."
"Yup." Shikako agreed bluntly.
Haku bowed in embarrassment, "I apologize, they get like this sometimes."
Chojuro seemed uncomfortable with the public scene, while Zabuza looked mostly annoyed, as if this was a common occurrence.
"Mai, stop speaking to Lady Mei so disrespectfully! And Lady Mei, please cease this. We don't want to embarrass the village!"
As one, the two women turned to the jonin guards and said, "Shut up, or I'll melt you!"
"They really are a lot alike," Naruto muttered quietly.
While the aunt and niece continued to bicker, Naruto turned his attention back to Haku. "So, ready for the exams?"
"Definitely, I'm eager to see how much you've grown." Haku replied.
Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Naruto found Zabuza eyeing him speculatively. "Haku, this would be the boy with the Amakuni bloodline?"
"Indeed, Zabuza-sensei, this is Naruto Senju." Haku replied.
"Interesting. I'll look forward to chatting with you. Now, gotta break up a cat fight." Zabuza replied, before going to intervene in the fighting of the Terumi women.
'He's the one then.' Naruto realized Zabuza was the one who Haku had been speaking of. It made sense. Itojiro seemed to know of whatever connection his clan had to the Seven Swords.
Haku gave a wince of chagrin. "Sorry, have to get going. Let's try and hang out before the exam."
Soon after, they parted ways, as the Mist delegation–with the Terumi women calmed down and steadfastly ignoring each other–the foreign shinobi continued on their way to the Hokage's office.
Naruto and Shikako, meanwhile, continued on with their walk.
After an afternoon playing shogi and enjoying the meal Shikako's mother made, Naruto left their home with a smile on his face.
"By Mrs. Nara, see ya Shikako!" He tossed over his shoulder.
Yoshino, Shikako's mother, peered around the door and waved goodbye with a pleasant smile. She looked like he imagined Shikako would when older, with a round face and long hair bound in a low ponytail. The only difference was their hair color. He'd never express it out loud, but looking at Yoshino, he was certain Shikako would grow into an equally beautiful woman.
"Have a good evening, Naruto, and visit more often! You really get my lazy daughter more motivated!" She replied. Within the house, he heard Shikako say something that sounded suspiciously like "nagging hag". Yoshino's head snapped towards her, slamming the door shut as she shouted, "What was that, you lazy ass brat?"
Naruto chuckled as he walked down the dirt road. The Nara Clan's head family lived on the outskirts of the village, partially in the lush forests that grew within the Leaf's walls. Though many other Nara lived near here, it was unorganized, unlike the Uchiha compound–he'd been there a couple times to use the training grounds with Sasuke–the streets weren't neat or paved, and none of the houses looked the same. It wasn't so much a compound as a loose collection of properties.
As he walked down the street, the sun hanging low in the sky, he saw Zabuza leaning against a tree along the road. He stopped short, looking at the jonin in surprise.
"There you are, Senju, I heard from the Hokage I'd find you around here." The large swordsman grunted, shoving off of the tree and approaching Naruto.
He rose a blond eyebrow in surprise, was the man here to see him and talk about the swords?
"Gotta admit that I'm kind of surprised to see you. Honestly, I was expecting to have to hunt ya down."
Zabuza scowled. "Haku has been badgering me about talking to you, that brat is annoying when he gets persistent." The words were harsh, but there was no heat behind them, more like a parent talking fondly of a child. "Anyways, I have to admit, the opportunity to meet someone descended from Genryusai Amakuni was very intriguing."
"That's the second time hearing that name, who is it?" Naruto asked. All their attempts to learn who Genryusai was had failed. Not even records kept by Lady Mito had succeeded.
The Mist jonin rose a non-existent eyebrow, "Guess I'll have to explain, got anywhere we won't be overheard?" He asked. Naruto nodded, he had just the place in mind. Plus, he'd get to show the visitor one of the best features in the village.
"Just try and keep up." Naruto told Zabuza cheekily, before using a Teleportation to zoom through the village.
"Damn brats!" He heard Zabuza curse as he followed.
Naruto led him through the village, past forests, and apartment buildings, over roofs and under sky-bridges, before finally ascending the long, winding steps up to the top of the Hokage Monument. Eventually, he came to a stop atop the plateau, looking out over the village as the village bathed in the golden evening light.
He turned and leaned against the rail, not surprised at all that Zabuza was already standing there and not breaking a sweat. "Just solid rock and air around here. Now, I wanna know about this Genryusai, and what he has to do with the Seven Swords of the Mist. It's been drivin me crazy!"
The jonin nodded slowly. "So, I suppose you've had a chance to figure out certain swords among the seven don't affect you?" Naruto gave a nod of affirmation. "The reason is pretty simple, their creator made it so any chakra-based ability among them can't harm anyone of his blood. Obviously, anything physical can't be stopped, but anything using chakra like the Kiba's lightning, Hiramekarei's shape shifting, or Samehada's chakra stealing, won't work."
"Creator, as in just one?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeah, one man made all seven. Genryusai Amakuni, the most skilled user of Tamashi no Ken of his time."
"That's impossible, the shapes are so different," Naruto protested, eying the large knife-like sword on Zabuza's back. He recognized it from his recent studies, Kubikiribocho, the sever sword. Rumor had it the blade couldn't be broken no matter what. "Not to mention none of them have the same ability."
Zabuza let out a belly laugh. "Jeez kid, you really don't have any clue just what that bloodline can do, do you?"
"What do you mean by that? Itojiro said something similar."
The Mist jonin sighed, stabbing Kubikiribocho into the ground and leaning on it. "The ins and outs are impossible to explain, I've got no idea how it's done. But when mastered, you can form any object you want with that bloodline. And a true master can intentionally change the abilities the sword has. Whatever skill you get now? That's just your base skill. From what I understand, it's a rather long process to produce a single blade with a different ability. When it's finished, a particular set of seal arrays help make the blades nearly indestructible."
Head spinning with confusing thoughts, Naruto had to grip the railing to remain standing. 'That's why the script is the same, Genryusai made all of them.' He realized in shock. Could he do the same? The prospect was equal parts exciting and daunting. He had a hard enough time making his sword different sizes. The idea of changing shape and what it took was scary. And changing the ability? Unthinkable.
"Well, my jobs done. I'm going to return to the hotel and rest, been a long day." Zabuza said, placing his sword back on its strap and turning to leave. He gave one last wave. "See ya around kid."
Naruto nodded distractedly, not really noting Zabuza leaving. His mind was still reeling from the revelations.
Hours later, Naruto lay in bed, unable to sleep. It wasn't due to the lingering heat of the day, but rather, those same distracted thoughts. Amidst them, one stood out above the others. 'I need to experiment with Tamashi no Ken.' Kakashi's order to rest was furthest from his mind. There were two days left before the exams, he wouldn't waste them.
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Well, what do you think? Naruto has learned a big secret about his bloodline, and now he has a lot to explore. And what's with this new technique he's developing? That will be explored as the arc continues.
As always, I'd like to thank all my patrons for supporting my work. Chapter 21 is up now on pat re on, part of the Second Exam.
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Until Next Time,
RinneTaicho, Signing Off!