My Pa tre on is back online for those who want to read THREE chapters or THREE WEEKS ahead (chapters 60, 61, 62) and support my endeavor to become an author. So if you can't wait for the next update–check out:
P a treon . com (slash) PaladinKaladin
Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto franchise or its characters.
Previously….
I'll be leaving soon, Konoha.
[Ding!]
[New Title: "Traveler" Achieved]
[Title: "Traveler" gives 15% EXP Gain when doing quests outside of Konoha, along with increasing all other stats by 7%.]
Chapter Fifty-Nine: Preparations
One Week Later.
Tsunade finished off another stack of papers with a loud yawn, stretching her arms up ahead coupled with the creaking of bones. Her eyes were slightly reddish in color, and the dark circles which swamped the region of skin under her eyelids were begging for rest.
She looked at the time. It's one in the morning.
I'm going to have to sleep soon.
But before that….
"Attention," Tsunade ordered the ANBU team that was hidden in her room.
Immediately, three masked shinobi who had varying ivory-white masks with unique red paintings on each of them appeared almost out of thin air. If Tsunade wasn't so well-versed in sensing chakra as she was (a product of her sensei being so incessant on it being a crucial skill—which it rightfully was), she would have assumed the technique to be a Genjutsu of some sort.
They kneeled on the ground, one hand on their flexed knee and the other palm down on the floor. Their heads were bent down as a show of respect, only deigning to look up whenever their attention was needed.
"Report on Naruto."
The one in the middle began speaking first. "The subject has been normal as usual, Hokage-sama. Other than his rather abnormal amount of training, I don't see any real reason to assume any sort of foul play at hand. As has been so for the past week you've asked us to monitor him."
"Is that your final judgment?" Tsunade asked carefully.
"Yes."
She looked at the other ANBU, who nodded in agreement with their squad captain.
The blonde shook her head. Maybe she was just being paranoid. "Good. Good. Regardless, continue monitoring the target for another day. I want to be one hundred percent sure."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Dismissed. You may retire your stations now."
She stared at the spot where the shinobi once were, her mind running at a thousand thoughts per second.
I was sure that he was planning something…
That look in his eye…
Tsunade had been wary ever since the bomb of a meeting she had held with the boy, and knew that there would be consequences with how she would deal with his grievances. She felt as if her worries were completely fair, and at the same time, she knew that trapping people like Naruto in a cage, regardless of whether or not it was for their own safety, would never turn out well.
So she prepared for the worst.
A reckless attempt at escaping Konoha was the biggest of her worries. Thus, she ordered a watch party on the boy to keep track of his whereabouts. Shizune had thought her efforts to be a mighty overreaction to a clearly troubled boy, but she didn't really understand Naruto Uzumaki like Tsunade did. She knew what she was doing was a massive breach of privacy, but she was ready to do a few wrongs to prevent a massive mistake from occurring.
Obviously, she didn't have them watching the inside of his apartment and what-not.
Even she wasn't that paranoid.
So far, it seems fine.
For the past week, the boy had merely trained like any other Chuunin would. Advanced physical training, and continuous sparring with his own clones plus some other Genin if he got the chance, and even with his own summon at times. He ate a shit ton of ramen whenever he got back from training, utilizing the money from the S-Rank mission he took with Jiraiya to retrieve her. He slept for a long time as well.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
If it's too normal…doesn't that mean it's abnormal? Does Naruto know that he's being watched?
Tsunade shook her head with a chuckle. Sure, the boy is a genius. But these are ANBU!
They're trained for stealth!
There's no way he could know.
[—NTLS—]
I'm being watched again.
Naruto grunted in exertion as he finished another set of sit-ups. He wiped off the sweat collecting in his brows with a swipe of his hand and began gulping down a large bottle.
He knew he was being watched since the first day, which was coincidentally the day after his argument with the Hokage. While he was starting his morning session the day after, Naruto had thankfully started his training with a sparring match against his clones. The fight had started normally until Naruto used his Observation Haki and All-Knowing Sphere at the same time. That's when he learned that Observation Haki somehow managed to boost the range of the sphere even further.
And to his surprise, he felt the presence of three foreign chakra bodies.
The sudden sensation of the three shinobi had stunned him, and Naruto ended up getting punched in the face by one of his clones who hadn't even expected to hit him.
At first, he was worried. He had no idea about who those three were and their intentions were completely unknown. Confronting them would be near impossible due to the distance between him and the spies, and would most likely result in their escape rather quickly. Observation Haki finally came to help in that moment and managed to identify the emotions of the spies as mostly wariness and caution.
He would be safe.
This he simply waited, trying to piece out who exactly was watching him. Their presence was almost eternal, and not going away except for when he entered his apartment. The fact that they were so easily able to track him and follow the blond through the messy and convoluted routes in Konoha that Naruto could find brought him to the conclusion that the people watching him were most likely from Konoha itself.
My own comrades are spying on me.
The terrible side effect of being watched by outsiders was that Naruto couldn't use any of his main skills. Necromancy was a complete no-go, obviously. Shadow Walk would also be terrible to use. He had summoned Sun a few times during the week, and that was about it.
During the week, he quickly pieced together who exactly it was. It was through clever use of shadow clones as well as Perfect Henge to disguise the clones as a branch or remnant kunai around one of the usual areas where the spies hid themselves. ANBU, as he later learned, were the ones watching him. Knowing that they were under the direct command of the Hokage meant that Tsunade had been the one to make them track him.
She thinks I'm going to do something crazy, eh?
Well. She's right.
Maybe it would have worked if it weren't for the lucky Observation Haki skill he had used initially, or else things would have looked very different right now. He then spent the week acting as normally as possible, to the unfortunate effect of having even slower progress with his training.
But there was nothing else he could do.
If he were to confront Tsunade about this, he would only be getting her attention focused even further on him. That left him with only one option—continue to act clueless until they lose their suspicion.
He could only hope that they would stop their spying soon enough, and if they were to continue their activities for more than a week from now…he grinned.
I've got a plan for that too.
Next Day.
He looked around as he stretched his sore legs with a groan before activating Observation Haki.
Thankfully enough, the surveillance stopped. Naruto double-checked and triple-checked just to make sure what he was sensing was real. Sure enough, the ANBU were no longer watching him.
He took a deep sigh of relief.
He had been feeling uneasy the entire week due to the knowledge of knowing that someone was watching him, whether or not they had negative or positive intentions.
"I can finally train properly…" he said to himself with a pensive expression on his face.
Summon Shadow Zabuza.
Dark energy gathered around in a circle before ascending upwards rapidly, forming the shape of a man once known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Around his body was a glowing set of onyx armor that signified his ascension to the 'Commander' rank. Resting his shoulder was a giant sword that he was very familiar with.
"It's been a while since you summoned us, eh?" Shadow Zabuza asked with an inquisitive stare.
"How can you tell?"
"Your hair is a mess. It looks like a bird's nest that got thrown around in a tornado."
Naruto glared, pushing his long locks upward. Not that it was anything, for the hair just fell right back down into his forehead. "Ignore that for now. Let's spar."
"You seem eager," Zabuza said as he got into a stance.
"Well, I've got a week's worth of frustration to unload on someone."
Zabuza chuckled. "Lucky me, eh?"
[—NTLS—]
Naruto sat on top of the tree with his back resting along the trunk, one leg straight along the branch and the other hanging over it. The sky was purely black with specks of white stretched along its canvas. Today was the most productive day Naruto had in a while, thanks to the support of his shadows and the absence of the feeling of being watched finally allowing him to relax fully.
He was also extremely tired.
His muscles ached and cried with every breath he took, but Naruto relished the pain. It meant that he was growing stronger, and even if his level didn't increase, his physical stats did change every now and then. Though the rate at which they did so could be much better.
Naruto had finished his training just a few minutes before, finding solace in the gentle moonlight from above and the tickling breeze that occasionally made its presence known. Other than the chirping of crickets and other nocturnal creatures, it was completely silent. The training ground he was in was pretty far from the mainland, a precaution he took just in case any of the spies tried to come and find him. He had a few clones further inside monitoring the area before, which he dispelled after
He decided to make it back to his apartment, as it was near midnight by now and got up from his position to get down to the ground.
Swoosh.
Naruto's eyes immediately locked onto a soaring projectile which was aimed for his neck. His right hand caught the blade of a kunai as he instantly noticed the explosion seal attached to the handle. The blond pulsed his chakra forward into the blade, churning the energy into electricity in the middle to burn the seal to a crisp before it could explode.
It was a technique that Hiruzen had taught him during one of their weekly training sessions, and something he was now very glad he listened to. He had also used it against Temari during the sparring session they had.
Naruto threw the kunai to the side, his eyes narrowing as he looked forward.
Three figures stood on top of a tree in front of him, looking down at the Chuunin with the glowing full moon behind them, bathing their bodies in silver light.
One was crouched low, his six arms folded, spider-like eyes gleaming as he grinned. Another stood like a monolith, arms crossed, his hulking frame barely swaying with the breeze. The moonlight highlighted the contours of his massive muscles. The last leaned lazily against the trunk of the tree, another face barely visible from his shoulder.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Naruto asked impatiently.
The big one answered first. "The Sound Four."
The Uzumaki made a show of counting each of them. "One. Two…and three. Either I'm blind or you're shit at math. I think we both know which one I think is the correct answer."
The six-armed boy growled. "You killed our fourth member! Tayuya! Do you remember her?!"
Of course, I do. She's kind of my shadow now. So these are Orochimaru's men, ah? This is gonna be troublesome.
So let's piss them off for a bit.
Naruto picked his ear with his pinky, taking on a thoughtful expression. "Hmm…let's see…I'm not sure, actually. Can you describe her for me?"
His face turned red with rage. "Y-you—"
The two-headed guy was the first to speak. "Enough. Orochimaru-sama, through his great kindness, has decided to offer you another chance—"
"Let me guess," Naruto interrupted. "I should come with you guys to wherever your secret headquarters is, and your master will promise me rest strength and protection against the Akatsuki, and you'll coincidentally hide the fact that he's planning to take over my body at the same time."
"This shithead won't come with us willingly," the six-armed kid spoke with a glare as he jumped down to the grass below with a soft thud. "I'll just take you there after I beat you to a pulp. My name is Kidomaru, by the way, just so you know the name of the person that's gonna turn your life into a living hell—"
Shadow Walk!
Naruto disappeared into the darkness below him and reappeared next to the unsuspecting boy. He grabbed onto his face with sheer strength and launched him into the ground, dumping his mouth right into the ground.
The Chuunin kept his leg on Kidomaru's face, looking up at his two teammates who looked somewhat surprised. "Sorry, but I was getting pissed off listening to this bastard's voice."
Kidomaru stretched his arms to an inhumane degree to attach to Naruto's legs, with the sheer strength of the grip catching him off guard. Shit, I forgot to observe them beforehand. The tiredness is really getting to me.
Shadow Walk again!
He broke free of the hold by turning into a blob of shadow that retreated backward.
"I'll kill you!" Kidomaru shouted as he got back on his feet, clearing off the dirt on his clothes as he shook his clothes.
"Really? Where have I heard that before…right!" Naruto perked up. "That one girl with that red hair. What was her name again?"
"This is your last chance, Naruto Uzumaki," the large one with a balding hairline said, ignoring the barb. "Return with us to Orochimaru where you will be treated fairly or be forced to return with us. Either way, you'll be coming no matter what happens. Choose wisely."
"Yeah, I think I'll pass." Naruto bit his thumb, allowing blood to flow out, before putting his hand down. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof!
A puff of smoke surrounded his hand, continuously expanding in size until he stopped providing chakra.
Sun Wukong walked out of the hazy cloud with a yawn and a tired expression on his face. He twirled his staff with a lazy movement. "Why exactly are you calling me in the middle of the night?"
Naruto grinned. "Just some insects to deal with. Think of it as a nighttime workout. Don't get too comfortable, by the way, we still have one more person joining the party."
Summon Shadow Zabuza.
A menacing figure made its presence known in the battlefield. His shadowy nature blended into the darkness around them, but the giant sword along his shoulder was more than enough to make him stand out.
"Ahhh…I'm itching for a fight."
Naruto smirked.
"Now it's three on three."
Activate Reinforcement!
Blue lines of energy ran through his body, as living strength pulsed through his skin.
"Don't be too afraid. The silver lining is that you'll finally be able to see Tayuya again. Isn't that wonderful?"
[end]
Yo!
My Pa tre on is back online for those who want to read THREE chapters or THREE WEEKS ahead (chapters 60, 61, 62) and support my endeavor to become an author. So if you can't wait for the next update–check out:
P a treon . com (slash) PaladinKaladin
Question of the day: 1) What's your opinion on Solo Leveling (anime or manwha)? I think it's entertaining enough—nothing groundbreaking, but fun to watch.
Make sure to follow, review, and favorite to keep up with next week's chapter and support the story!
Chapter 60 is releasing on Tuesday, 18th of March. Around 2 PM Washington DC time.
Follow so you don't miss it! We're nearly at 5000 followers!