God of Storms

by sinisteruto

Naruto is defeated by Sasuke at the Valley of the End, however, little did he know that a Kumogakure jonin was watching the battle. Faced with a choice of whether to kill Konoha's jinchuuriki or kidnap him, she eventually decides to let the Raikage decide his fate. Stay tuned as Naruto becomes the God of Storms.

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other series I might use for inspiration.

Ascendency of Kumogakure

Name: Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto

Alias: The God of Speed, The God of Storms, The Thunder God, The Thunderer, Invincible, The Impenetrable Shield, Lord Nine Tails

Rank: S

Occupation: Jonin

Affiliation: Kumogakure

Lineage: Uzumaki Clan, Namikaze Clan

Affinities: Lightning Release, Water Release, Wind Release, Earth Release

Bloodline Limit: Storm Release, Swift Release, Magnetic Release, Yin/Yang Release

Bloodline Expansion: Electro Magnetic Release

Genjutsu: B

Ninjutsu: S

Taijutsu: S

Kenjutsu S

Fuinjutsu: S

Information: As the biological son of Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato and the princess of the former Village Hidden in the Whirlpool Tides, Uzumaki Kushina, the adopted son and student of Yondaime Raikage Yotsuki A, and as the nephew and student of the Yondaime Raikage's brother, perfect eight tails jinchuuriki Lord Killer Bee, it is no surprise that Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto is considered to be the most powerful shinobi in Kumogakure, revered by his people as the God of Storms.

The approach when you encounter this shinobi should be to flee on sight. Proof of his power came in the form of his defeat of two of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya the Toad Sage and Orochimaru the Snake Sannin, and the last Uchiha, Uchiha Sasuke, all on the same day. Approach at your own peril.

"N-no way! This can't be true! Naruto-kun would never betray Konoha! He would never betray his loved ones!" Hinata said in disbelief, conflicted by the emotions she was feeling, on one hand happy that she finally got confirmation that Naruto was still alive, but on the other hand experiencing a sense of betrayal and disbelief at the possibility of Naruto betraying Konoha for, well, for anything really.

"This is this semester's official release of Kumogakure's Bingo Book, signed and confirmed by the Bingo Book Council of the Five Kage nations, which contains a member of each one of the five nations. It is official, Uzumaki Naruto is a traitor who has betrayed Konoha for Kumogakure." Shikamaru stated matter of factly.

"No way! This can't be happening! The very village that tried to kidnap me and was responsible for Uncle Hizashi's death! Naruto-kum would never…!" Hinata trailed off in despair, despair made worse by the fact that she knew that Naruto knew about the history between her and Kumogakure as he had heard it from Neji during the chuunin exams.

"There has been no mistake I'm afraid. I understand how you feel Hinata, but this information has been confirmed by Jiraiya of the Sannin himself. He has been beating himself up over his failure to return Naruto to the village. In fact even now he and Tsunade-shishio are in intense discussions about the next course of action in light of everything that has transpired." Sakura said with steel in her tone, having had more than enough time to cry and sort through her feelings before attending the Konoha eleven meeting, or rather Konoha ten meeting.

"That bastard Naruto! How the fuck could he go and do this knowing how painful and hard it was on him when we had to go after Sasuke when he betrayed the village? What kind of sick bastard does something like this?" Kiba exclaimed angrily.

"He looks so different, so grown, so mature…so…" Ino trailed off, about to use the word handsome but thinking better of it as she was sure that would only serve to piss everyone else off, yet still unable to stop staring at the image of Naruto in her copy of the Kumogakure bingo book.

"Why would Kumogakure add their talisman to their bingo book? Granted the bingo book is not only meant for criminals but most villages use it predominantly as a way to make life incredibly difficult for their defectors and to make it easier to track them down. Villages like to keep their military assets a secret." Shino asked confusedly.

"I'm guessing after Naruto faced and defeated Jiraiya-sama, they likely felt that the secret was out of the bag either way. If they didn't add him to the bingo book then Konoha would do it anyway." Neji retorted.

"I agree with your assessment, but I can't help but wonder what the hell is happening with Naruto. It's true that he had moments where he surprised us and achieved the seemingly impossible, but he was never this talented. It says here that he has four elemental affinities, another three bloodline limit affinities, and a bloodline expansion. He has an S ranking for Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Fuinjutsu. That means that his only weakness is genjutsu. We don't know even have a genjutsu specialist amongst us, and how did he get so powerful? Did they perform science experiments on him or something?" Shikamaru asked with both confusion and frustration, not liking to have a puzzle in front of him that he couldn't solve.

"An S rank in Taijutsu? At least the one good thing that can come from this is the potential opportunity to go all out against Naruto-kun in a taijutsu battle." Lee said with a subdued tone, even he not showing his usual endless energy and optimism after hearing the horrible news about Naruto, getting a slap on the head from Tenten though as, needless to say, she was not happy with Lee right now.

"Is testing your taijutsu skills all you can think about? Gee! Sakura-san just found out that another one of her teammates betrayed her and Hinata is is not doing any better either and all you can think about is having a taijutsu battle with Naruto?" Tenten said angrily.

"I…I'm sorry, Hinata-san, Sakura-chan." Lee said apologetically.

"…"

"If Jiraiya-sama fought and lost to him, then he must have intel on his abilities. Is there anything in particular we should know for the retrieval mission, Sakura-san?" Shino asked curiously, much to the surprise of Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata, the very thought of a retrieval mission never even crossing their minds, likely because they were not a part of the previous mission, Shino himself only thinking of the idea because of how frustrated he had felt at being left out of the previous retrieval mission.

"W-well….uh, he actually only used two jutsu to defeat Jiraiya-sama, storm release: rage of the storm dragon and some kind of wind style shunshin." Sakura stuttered.

"Oh and he also used an unnamed lightning jutsu. He channeled a great amount of lightning into the earth, covering a wide area, to nullify Jiraiya-sama's sage art: great swamp of the underworld." Sakura elaborated.

"That doesn't sound like a lot. Please elaborate a little more. Surely that cannot be all that it took to defeat a Sannin." Neji asked confusedly.

"You don't understand. Jiraiya-sama was in sage mode, that means that his already great speed, power, senses, and reflexes were enhanced exponentially. However, Naruto's raw strength was still greater than his and he was able to completely surpass Jiraiya-sama's speed with his wind style shunshin. Think of it this way, there is a significant possibility that Jiraiya-sama, in sage mode, is stronger and faster than Lee when he is using the fifth gate." Sakura explained tensely.

"N-no way, that's insane. Naruto can't possibly be that strong! Or maybe Jiraiya-sama just isn't as strong as we all thought then!" Kiba said incredulously.

"Kiba just shut up bro. You don't know what you're talking about." Choji said with a bored tone.

"Actually, I somewhat agree with Kiba-kun. Despite all my training, I still have not defeated Neji in battle yet. Neji is able to match my speed with his sixty eight palms and surpass it with his 128 palms when I'm in the fifth gate. He also is able to defuse my explosive power with the kaiten and the mountain crushing air palm. I think the reality is that we're all much stronger than we were three years ago, we just haven't had the opportunity to prove our strength against an S ranked ninja." Lee replied.

"You're all being naïve. There is no doubt that we are all stronger than we were three years ago, some more than others, but taijutsu and brute force alone aren't going to defeat Naruto, nor is speed. Naruto is a trickster by nature. Even if we were to surpass him in those categories, he would still come up with the most unlikely and unpredictable strategy to win. He also has four elemental affinities and four boodline limits and a bloodline expansion to top it off. We don't even know what the storm release: rage of the storm dragon does. Am I the only one that thinks that sounds like a very ominous technique?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically.

"It's a storm dragon. It's neither water style nor lightning style but something formed when you mix the two. It's far larger and far more powerful than anything Jiraiya-sama has ever seen. According to him, it also absorbs all chakra and all ninjutsu on contact. Jiraiya-sama was using a fire style, wind style, and oil combination jutsu with the two toad sages, and their combination jutsu was completely wiped out. They would have died too if Naruto did not cancel his jutsu in time. He said he wanted Jiraiya-sama alive so that he can send a message to Konoha. Don't come after me, or do, at your own peril." Sakura narrated as if telling a story about the boogeyman.

"Troublesome! So Naruto went and became the most dangerous rogue ninja from Konoha. What is someone supposed to do against a jutsu that large that absorbs chakra and ninjutsu?" Shikamaru said pessimistically.

"So no retrieval mission then?" Shino asked with a disappointed tone of voice.

"Oh we're going alright, but we're going to need a grace period to put ourselves through hell on earth. For the next month, we're going to train like we're going to die. Think about how hard you trained for the final round of the first chuunin exams, well, take that, and multiply it by four. That's what we're going to need to do. Meanwhile I'll also be coming up with a strategy for taking Naruto down, taking into account all of our abilities and weaknesses, and Naruto's ability and weakness." Shikamaru said.

"You do realise we're not going to be fighting Naruto only right? He has a team according to this bingo book. They're all ranked as S class threats, including another former Konoha ninja, Kurama Yakumo. It says here she is a former student of Kurenai-sensei?" Tenten asked warily.

"What! No way! Show me that?" Kiba said as he jumped next to Tenten, Akamaru barking as he too made his way next to Tenten.

Name: Kurama Yakumo

Alias: The Red Queen, The Blood Queen, The Scarlet Witch, The Genjutsu Mistress

Rank: S

Occupation: Jonin

Affiliation: Kumogakure

Lineage: Kurama Clan

Affinities: Fire Release, Lightning Release, Earth Release

Bloodline Limit: Ketsuryugan, Blood Release

Genjutsu: S

Ninjutsu: S

Taijutsu: S

Kenjutsu S

Information: The last living member of the Kurama clan. Kurama Yakumo is blessed with a doujutsu that rivals the Sharingan in visual prowess, able to cast a fatal genjutsu with a mere glance and read the chakra and movements of an opponent with impeccable timing and accuracy. She also commands the blood release bloodline limit, able to weaponise her own blood and even create blood from thin air and weaponise it. She is grand master when it comes to taijutsu and Kenjutsu. She is also incredibly fast as is the standard for the Kumogakure Elite.

"This is ridiculous! This woman covers Naruto's weakness for genjutsu. I'm certain she was put into this team specifically for that! Now what do we do?" Kiba asked incredulously.

"It doesn't matter. All we have to do is to separate her from Naruto." Neji deadpanned.

"There are other people here. He has two other teammates, and they are just as ridiculous as he is!" Ino said incredulously.

"What! Who?" Sakura asked with concern, starting to lose hope in the potential of success for any retrieval mission no matter how much they trained.

Name: Yotsuki Darui

Alias: The Black Flash, The Black Panther

Rank: S

Occupation: Jonin

Affiliation: Kumogakure

Lineage: Yotsuki Clan

Affinities: Lightning Release, Water Style

Bloodline Limit: Yotsuki physiology

Genjutsu: B

Ninjutsu: S

Taijutsu: S

Kenjutsu S

Information: Master of the Black Lightning Technique that was passed down from the Third Raikage. Darui is in the argument for being the fastest ninja in the world. Cloaking his body with black lightning to enhance his speed, strength, and durability, Darui has taken both his taijutsu and Kenjutsu to an unprecedented level.

Name: C

Alias: Flash God

Rank: S

Occupation: Jonin

Affiliation: Kumogakure

Lineage: N/A

Affinities: Lightning Release, Earth Style

Bloodline Limit: N/A

Genjutsu: A

Ninjutsu: S

Taijutsu: S

Kenjutsu S

Information: The Flash God, like many of the Kumogakure elite, is in the argument for the fastest ninja in the elemental nations. With his signature jutsu, lightning release: thunder clap and flash, Flash God C is extremely dangerous in both taijutsu and kenjutsu, a master of the nintaijutsu and ninkenjutsu fighting styles of Kumogakure.

"His entire team is out of this world. How are we supposed to win against that?" Ino asked incredulously.

"And what is this nintaijutsu? Is it something like my Gatsuga?" Kiba asked curiously.

"No, I mean yes, sort of. Jiraiya-sama mentioned something about it. According to him, the Raikage and Naruto are using something known as nintaijutsu, which is basically the use of ninjutsu to enhance your taijutsu." Sakura explained.

"Which therefore means that ninkenjutsu is similarly the incorporation of ninjutsu into kenjutsu." Shino said thoughtfully.

"It seems easy enough in theory, but if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. Only the elite of the elite are capable of achieving such a feat, and even within those elite, it is an extremely rare ability." Sakura explained.

"This is crazy, not to mention troublesome." Shikamaru said warily.

"I think it would be better to assume that not just Naruto's team, but all of the Kumogakure Elite have some kind of speed enhancement technique. Let's add strength enhancement too." Neji said.

"Troublesome. But I guess I'll have to come up with some kind of plan. In any case, one thing at a time. Let's all just focus on getting stronger for now." Shikamaru said, hoping that they would somehow be able to pull off this seemingly miraculous feat they were trying to achieve, however immediately interrupted from his musings as a cat masked female ANBU with long purple hair arrived on the scene.

"Hyuga Neji. You have been summoned by Lady Hokage…with immediate effect." The ANBU said with a stern tone, everyone wondering why Neji in particular was summoned.

Five Minutes Later:

"Greetings, Hokage-sama, Hiashi-sama, Shikaku-sama, Jiraiya-sama, Gai-sensei, Kakashi-sensei." Neji greeted, wondering why Hiashi and his sensei were in the office and what this had to do with him.

"Good afternoon Neji. I will get straight to the point. Uzumaki Naruto has defected from the village and joined Kumogakure no sato. I am taking a six man team to Kumogakure, with an extra man that is meant be our guide and also watch our backs. The four men combat cell will be composed of me, the medical expert, Kakashi for the ninjutsu and tracking, Jiraiya for ninjutsu, fuinjutsu and espionage, and Gai for close combat and taijutsu expertise, and also for his speed and brute force." Tsunade said hastily.

"You want me to be the extra man to use the Byakugan to keep tack of incoming threats and developments from all angles? But there is one person that you didn't account for…" Neji enquired.

"Precisely. Your visual prowess will also give us a lot of intel on our enemies and the inner workings of their jutsu, and as for the other person that is unaccounted for, you will meet him later. You'll understand when you see what he can do." Tsunade explained.

"Understood, but why me? Why not Hiashi-sama? He has a lot more experience than I do." Neji asked curiously.

"Because at just seventeen years old, you are on the cusp of surpassing even me. This will be vital experience for you to further develop yourself. Besides, Tsunade-sama has asked me to watch Shukaku-dono's back while she is away. Shikaku-dono will be acting Hokage in her absence." Hiashi explained patiently, Neji however not buying it even for a second as he wondered whether he was being sent as a branch house sacrifice much like his late father. After all, if things went south and he was killed or captured, then it meant that Kumogakure could not get the Byakugan, whereas if Hiashi-dono was the one who got killed or captured, then Kumogakure could get their hands on the Byakugan.

"…"

"I would ask what your decision is, however, it's not a request. We need your expertise on this mission. We cannot afford to go in blind sided. I've sent a letter of demand to the Raikage. I've told him we're coming and that we expect full cooperation and hospitality from him. However there are no guarantees of our safety. We have to prepare as if we're going into a war zone." Tsunade said gravely.

"I accept the mission, which I apparently have no choice but to participate in. However I am curious, have you seen the recent bingo book release of Kumogakure?" Neji asked curiously, wondering if the Hokage had considered the level of danger given how dangerous the shinobi of Kumogakure apparently were.

"I have seen it, and what of it?" Tsunade asked as if it was a completely inconsequential matter.

"They have a lot of S ranked shinobi. More than any other ninja village by my calculations." Neji deadpanned.

"True, but we have a far higher number of A and B ranked ninja thanks to the shinobi clans of Konoha, which each produce dozens of elite Jonin. Kumogakure doesn't have much in the way of ninja clans. Defeat the Yotsuki clan and you've pretty much defeated Kumogakure." Tsunade retorted.

"I did not think about it that way, but nevertheless I still have questions, most importantly of which is, how does the number of A and B ranked ninja that we have affect the course of our mission? These ninja won't be coming with us, meaning that they therefore won't be able to aid us if Lord Raikage and Naruto decide that this is the perfect opportunity to assassinate the Hokage and her entourage." Neji asked curiously.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Gaki! Do you honestly believe that two of the Legendary Sannin, the Legendary Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, and The Green Beast of Konoha would die so easily? I hand picked this team for a reason. I had thought that you would be the final piece of the puzzle, but if you do not have the spine for it….?" Tsunade trailed off ominously.

"My spine is very much in tact, Godaime-sama. However, your argument does not track. I have reason to believe that Jiraiya-sama was recently defeated with relative ease by Naruto. I'm not so sure that the title of Sannin is enough to gaurantee our survival." Neji retorted.

"Jiraiya was handicapped when he fought Naruto! He had no intel and couldn't use his toad summons due to him and Naruto both being contractors of the toads! That issue has since been resolved and we now have enough intel to know what level of threat Naruto poses! Besides, we're not necessary going there to fight, there might not even be a fight if things go our way!" Tsunade exclaimed, starting to reach her limit as she didn't know how much of this blatant insurbordination she could take anymore.

The reality that no one was aware of was that Neji was distrusting of the whole situation not only because of the odds against them but also because of where exactly they were going. His father had died because of Kumogakure's devious machinations but also because of Konoha's consent to those machinations.

Everyone knew about Kumo's obsession with the Byakugan and for the Hokage to then decide to take him, a Byakugan user, to this mission made him believe that he was about to be sacrificed just like how his father was sacrificed, except this time it would be in exchange for Konoha's jinchuuriki as opposed to Hiashi. The fact that Hiashi was here, and seemingly was originally the one who was chosen for the mission but delegated to him made him even more certain of what was about to transpire. Needless to say, he was not happy at all about it.

'But there is nothing I can do about it. The caged bird seal is a noose around my neck. No amount of training or power attained could allow me to escape this fate." Neji thought bitterly.

'At least I'll get to see the only man to ever defeat me. Maybe, before I die, he can explain how it is that free will favours him and shuns the rest of us, making slaves of us to a predetermined destiny.' Neji thought angrily.

"Fine, I'll do as you wish. I serve at your command, Hokage-sama." Neji said with an emotion deficient tone.

"You should have lead with that from the start. We leave immediately. Go pack your supplies and meet us just outside the village in an hour! This is a top secret mission, so make sure you are not seen leaving the village and make sure no one knows about the mission! Dismissed!" Tsunade ordered.

"Hai!" Neji saluted as he disappeared from the office via shunshin.

Meanwhile: Kumogakure no Sato

Raikage

It has come to my attention that one of our shinobi, my grandson, Uzumaki Naruto, has been abducted and brainwashed by Kumogakure into believing that he is a Kumogakure shinobi.

I don't know how you did it but it goes without question that I want him back, and Konoha itself wants him back. I have no doubt that you know exactly who he is and what he means to Konoha and to me in particular. That you have not returned him despite that knowledge tells me that asking you to bring him back via a letter will not change anything.

So I will be coming over there to pick him up myself. I will be travelling with five Hokage Guard and I therefore evoke full guest's right as the designated Hokage, one of the esteemed Five Kage of the elemental nations. If any harm should come to me or my shinobi on the way there, while we are there, or on our way back, then I have instructed the acting Hokage to prepare for all out war.

I need not remind you what a delicate matter this is. I trust that reason will prevail, even for you.

Regards

Senju Tsunade

Hokage

"So, she's gone and lost her mind has she?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, having just read the letter out loud for all to hear at the Raikage's behest.

"Not necessarily. She wants to see you for herself and gauge your mental state with her very own eyes. This is the only way she can do that before making her final decision on what to do about the situation." C retorted.

"What's stopping us from just killing her before she even gets here?" Yakumo asked with a sinister glint in her eyes.

"If we dishonour guest privilege, that will not only be an act of war but it will be an act that guarantees that peace negotiations between all shinobi nations are never held again for fear of betrayal. The world will be stuck in an endless loop of war until either everyone is dead or one nation stands." Darui retorted.

"What if they attack us first?" Yukimaru asked curiously.

"Then all bets are off. We can then kill all of them without prejudice." Lord A replied almost as if hoping that Tsunade was foolish enough to try something like that.

"She seems pretty confident. Knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if she proposed some kind of gambling game where if she wins, I would be forced to return with them, and if she loses, I can stay in Kumogakure." Naruto retorted.

"Hahaha! The legendary sucker would propose a gambling game or a bet? How ridiculous." Atsui laughed hysterically.

"Not as ridiculous as you might think. There is a reason that despite her horrible luck when it comes to gambling, she is still alive and well. According to her, she never loses when she bets on herself. All the times she has lost is when she has bet on money or on someone else." Naruto explained.

"You're wrong! She once lost to me when she bet on herself. She bet that she could beat me in an arm wrestling competition and she lost." Lord A said with a proud smirk.

"I didn't know that you two had met before, A-sama." Ranmaru said in surprise.

"We did meet before. I was personally hunting down a group of dangerous rogue ninjas. This was before Naruto, Yakumo, Yukimaru, Guren, Amaru, Isaribi and you joined us. Before Tsunade became Hokage. One of my men was injured and needed medical help. She initially refused to help but I was persistent. Eventually, she, rather cockily might I add, decided that she would only help if I defeated her in a wrestling match. Needless to say, the rest is history." A explained with pride for having bested the allegedly strongest woman in the world in an arm wrestling competition.

"Wow. That's amazing Old Man! I knew you were amazing but that's quite an impressive feat to keep hidden from your own son." Naruto said proudly.

"Hn! A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell young one." A said with a look and tone that was both sage-like and comical at the same time, Naruto not sure whether to be impressed or amused at his dad's behaviour right now.

"Ahem! Anyway, assuming she actually makes some kind of bet or gamble, what would likely be the scenario? Any idea, Naruto-kun?" Yugito asked curiously.

"No idea Yugito-chan. However, if I were to guess, it likely would be something to test our shinobi prowess in one way or another. For Yondaime-sama it was a wrestling match, meant to test physical strength and physical endurance, for me it was an all out battle where she promised only to use her index finger to battle me. She later changed it to a bet about whether I could master rasangan or not within the month." Naruto explained patiently.

"She tried to fight you using only her pinky finger? Was she crazy?" Yukimaru asked incredulously.

"He wasn't always the way that you know him now. When he arrived here, apart from an unbelievably large number of shadow clones and rasengan, he didn't know any other jutsu and wasn't particularly strong, in fact he wasn't particularly fast either except for when he was using the one tailed chakra cloak of the Kyubi." Samui replied.

"And it sounds like he hadn't mastered the rasengan either when he made that bet with Lady Tsunade." Omoi added.

"Correct. I had neither mastered rasengan nor learned how to use the Fox's chakra yet." Naruto replied.

"So you were weak? That's pretty hard to believe, but then again, doesn't that mean you have Kumogakure to thank for your strength? Huh? You better not betray us when that big boobed blonde bimbo shows up….no offense Samui." Atsui said before quickly remembering that that description could easily be misunderstood to mean his sister.

"None taken…" Samui said, even though she was internally fuming at her brother.

"My loyalties are firm. Kumogakure is the darling of my heart. I will destroy anyone who tries to harm her or tries to create segregation between me and her." Naruto said ominously, causing a shiver to run down everyone's spine, Naruto's resolve and conviction so palpable that one could almost reach out and grab it.

"There you have it! Don't nobody question the loyalty of my son again or you'll be getting a double iron claw!" A declared angrily, silencing the entire room as nobody wanted to anger the notoriously Unruly A.

"…."

"There is a question of significance, Lord A. Why are we even entertaining talks of Lady Tsunade's gambling habits? Are we not in mutual agreement that Naruto belongs to Kumogakure and not Konoha? Why play her little games?" Dodai asked confusedly.

"We only mean to entertain her if she offers a bet as an alternative to war. Then we will simply win that bet to spare thousands of lives from the cruel reality of war." A replied.

"We are trusting someone who has never paid a single one of her debts to keep her word if and when she loses the bet?" Dodai asked skeptically.

"She honoured her word when I beat her at arm wrestling, and I believe she honoured her word when Naruto mastered the rasengan within a month." A retorted.

"Even if she doesn't honour her word, we will go to war and send our people to war with a clear conscience, knowing that we did our part to prevent a war and that there was no other way to avert it." Naruto replied.

"I see…..well then, consider me fully on board. I just wanted to confirm that you both were prepared for the wort case scenario. It would seem I was worried over nothing." Dodai replied.

"You're wrong though, Dodai-sama. The worst case scenario is not whether Tsunade-sama honours her word when she loses the bet, the worst case scenario is if we actually lose the bet." Darui retorted.

"Losing is not an option!" Karui growled out.

"But it is not impossible, unlikely as it is." Darui retorted.

"…"

"A-sama….?" Mabui stuttered, wondering what the Raikage was thinking.

"Whoever participates in the bet, if you lose, don't bother coming back here. You better stay the hell away from me for at least a few years if you lose." A said with a deadly tone, causing shivers to once again run down everyone's spines, especially since they weren't being threatened with the iron claw anymore but with death itself if they were reading between the lines correctly.

"Tche! Like hell we're gonna lose! Naruto's a total bastard but he's our bastard! We won't fail to protect him!" Atsui said confidently, also effectively breaking the ice as everyone cheered up and began making their own declarations of victory, effectively turning the gloomy room around as it was now full of optimism and confidence.

'Thank you, Atsui.' Naruto thought fondly, vowing to never leave his friends and loved ones and to do everything in his power to protect them.

Four Days Later

"They're here." Mabui said to the Raikage, who didn't need to ask who she was talking about as she could only be talking about a certain group of people.

"How many are there?" A asked curiously.

"There are six of them, just as she said there would be." Mabui retorted.

"I see. Call team Dodai here. And have the ANBU commander and his squad accompany us in the shadows. We'll greet them at the gate." A ordered.

"Very well. Consider it done." Mabui said as she disappeared via a shunshin, wanting to make sure that everything was done as quickly as possible.

'I guess this is it then.' A thought as he calmly walked down the stairs, something he would not typically be caught doing as he usually just jumped out of the building and onto the streets, the workers at the Raikage Tower spotting looks of shock and surprise when they saw him calmly walk down the stairs, scared to death really as they wondered why the Raikage of all people was walking amongst them, even though they literally worked at his office.

'Tsunade you stupid woman! You've come here for nothing!' A thought angrily.

Ten Minutes Later: Main Gate

"There they are, Tsunade-sama. Lord Raikage is on his way." Neji said with his Byakugan activated, something that the Kumogakure gate guards were not happy about but could do nothing about as there wasn't actually a rule against activating one's doujutsu inside the village, although they felt that there definitely should be one given the threat of doujutsus in general but especially this particular one.

"I've never had the honour of meeting him before. What does he look like?" Yamato, the surprise inclusion of the team, asked curiously, especially to Neji, who had no idea that there was a mokuton user still around in Konoha, having heard that only the first Hokage had ever manifested the ability.

"He is…by far the biggest and most muscular man I have ever seen in my life. His life force and chakra capacity are equally shocking. I find it hard to believe he is even human." Neji replied, unable to believe the information he was retrieving with his Byakugan about this particular individual.

"Muscles don't win battles in the ninja world! I'm not nearly as muscular as he nor even remotely as tall but I assure you that I am stronger than him. Ninja Technique wins battles. Remember that!" Tsunade retorted.

"If you really are stronger than him, then that in itself is a miracle." Neji replied in shock and awe.

"I am! Do not doubt me! His speed however is something I am not yet sure I can surpass, though I do have a technique I could use to surmount that deficit. I've been working on it since I encountered him five years ago." Tsunade replied.

"You had an encounter with Unruly A? What happened?" Jiraiya asked curiously, unable to believe that Tsunade didn't think this was vital information that they could have used before heading to the village that the guy literally runs.

"We had an arm wrestling match." Tsunade deadpanned.

"You beat Uruly A in an arm wrestling match?" Jiraiya asked curiously.

"No, I lost, badly." Tsunade deadpanned again, causing everyone to face fault at that statement.

"I thought you said you were stronger than him?" Neji asked incredulously.

"I am. I was able to confirm that much during our match. But apparently strength is not the only way to win an arm wrestling match." Tsunade retorted, much to the confusion of literally everyone as that did not explain anything at all as far as they were concerned.

"There they are. That's Dodai of the Lava Release with him, and the other one is Atsui of the Body Augmentation Bloodline limit. I don't know the three women, they weren't on the bingo book list." Kakashi said with narrowed eyes, wondering where exactly was Naruto.

"Anyone know who the women are? I've never seen them before? Like my best friend Kakashi said, they were not in the bingo book." Gai asked curiously.

"Even I don't know who they are. One looks like a Yotsuki though. Maybe Unruly A's wife?" Jiraiya thought out loud.

"I thought you were the lead spymaster. Aren't you the one supposed to be giving us the answers?" Neji asked rhetorically.

"Kumo and Amegakure are two of the hardest places to infiltrate. Getting any sort of information about them is not easy. Kumo is also very trigger happy. They are never afraid to start a war when they feel slighted. You have to think twice before even attempting to infiltrate them." Jiraiya explained

"I see." Neji replied, not doubting Jiraiya's words at all, after all, his explanation was exactly the reason he had lost his father to Kumogakure.

"Who cares about any of that. I don't see Naruto! Neji, where the hell is he?" Tsunade asked impatiently.

"He is not within my field of vision. He must be outside of the village. Somewhere far enough that my eyes won't reach, but close enough that he can return quickly should anything happen." Neji replied.

"He could be out on a mission. I wouldn't rule out the Raikage knowingly sending him out on mission despite our visit. They do not call him Unruly A for nothing." Jiraiya said warily.

"He wouldn't dare!" Tsunade said furiously, clenching her fist hard as she tried to calm herself down before she caused an international incident.

"Neji, what about the other S tier ninjas that were in the bingo book? Do you see any of them anywhere around? Look for their jinchuuriki too." Kakashi asked warily, not liking this whole set up at all.

"Way ahead of you. None of them are in the village." Neji replied, confirming Kakashi's suspicions.

"What? Where could they….don't tell me they're attacking the village while we're here?" Tsunade thought fearfully.

"We would have met them on the way surely, especially with Neji's Byakugan on our side." Yamato retorted.

"Not if they took an entirely different route." Neji counter argued.

"Wow wow! Let's not lose our heads here! If you're that worried, then all you have to do is ask him. Neji will use his Byakugan to determine if A is lying or not. There's a very easy solution to our little problem." Jiraiya replied.

"What if our suspicion is true? What do we do then?" Gai asked warily.

"Whatever we have to do to get out of here alive and get back to Konoha." Tsunade said with determination.

"Get out of here alive? Why Hokage-dono, has losing an arm wrestling match to me turned me into the Boogeyman in your eyes?" A said as he arrived with his entourage.

"A! I don't have time for your games! Where's Naruto!" Tsunade said disrespectfully, Dodai quickly putting his hand on Atsui's shoulder in order to curb his hot temper, knowing exactly how the lad would feel having his beloved leader disrespected right in front of him.

"Is that a Byakugan? You disrespectful bitch! How dare you come all the way here to flaunt the visual prowess of the Byakugan right in front of me?" A asked irritably.

"Hn! You should join Konoha and become my surbordinate! I'll make you my right hand man. You don't seem to be able to keep your hands away from our people. First young Kushina, then young Hinata, then Neji's beloved father and now Naruto. Why don't you just join us and be done with it. You obviously admire us and want to be like us." Tsunade said tauntingly.

"You arrogant bitch. I would have thought that embarrassing loss I delivered to you would have humbled you, but no, you remain proud and arrogantly stupid." A retorted.

"An Unruly Hooligan like you talking down to me? Ha! Now I've heard it all!" Tsunade snorted.

"…."

"Follow me you big boobed bitch!" A said as he turned and walked back to the Hokage Tower, his entourage turning too as they kept stride with their leader, though their guards were completely up in case someone tried to make a move.

"Hold on a darn second you Sasquatch! Where the hell is Naruto?" Tsunade asked in frustration.

"He's around." A said without stopping, Tsunade reluctantly following him as she wanted more of her questions answered.

"You better not have sent your men to attack the village while we're away! They'll be hell to pay if you do!" Tsunade shouted furiously.

"The thought did cross my mind, and it's something I would have done before I met Naruto. But his nindo is quite infectious. I'm a little bit more honourable I can proudly say, though not to the point of foolishness." A retorted, Tsunade stealing a glance at Neji to confirm if the Raikage was telling the truth or not and getting a nod of approval from Neji, thankfully.

"No offence, Raikage-dono, but I couldn't help but notice that you didn't actually confirm or deny sending your men to attack Konoha." Kakashi pointed out.

"Hatake Kakashi, the man who copied one thousand jutsu….allegedly. You don't miss anything do you? Hn, well, I guess I'll indulge your paranoia, being that it is a sign that you have a healthy mind, as far as shinobi are concerned of course." A retorted.

"So….did you?" Jiraiya persisted.

"Did I what?"

"Send….! Send your shinobi to attack Konoha during our visit?" Tsunade asked after recomposing herself, having started off with a loud voice as she had just then almost completely lost her cool.

"No, of course not. Why would I do some weak shit like that? If the time ever comes that we have to crush Konoha, we'll walk right up to your gates and annihilate you all." A replied pompously, causing Tsunade to grit her teeth, seething at the Raikage's arrogance and wanting nothing more than a chance to knock him down a peg or two, the conversation going back and forth like that up until they were inside the Raikage's office.

"So, now that you're finally here, let me inform you that there is a powerful privacy barrier around this office, meaning that all information that is disclosed in this office, will only be heard or seen by the people in this office. Therefore, now would be the time for you to tell me what the fuck you want in my ninja village." A said with a grave undertone, a tone that made it clear he was more than ready to throw down with all of the Konoha contingent together if necessary.

"You know damn well what the hell I came here for! I'm here to pick up Naruto and take him back to Konoha, his home!" Tsunade said passionately.

"Kumogakure is Naruto's home now. It is the home he has chosen. No one is holding him against his will, and no one is manipulating him. He wants to be here, where he has a loving father and uncle, and beloved cousins and friends. Where he has beautiful, strong, and lovely bethrothed." A said with a triumphant smirk, rejoicing at the shock and misery on the Hokage's face at hearing those words.

"You devious…..conniving warlock! You think I don't know what you're doing? Bring Naruto here this instant or else….!"

"Or else what? Huh? Or else what, you big breasted bitch?" A asked as he got up from his chair and stared down the Hokage and her entourage, literally, as he dwarfed them all with his height, even Jiraiya.

"…."

"Y-you're not going to bait me into creating an international incident! You stole our jinchuuriki, that alone is cause for war. Not even the other Kage nations will take your side in this war. No one is going to be happy about you having three of the nine bijuu under your control, especially with two of them being the eight and the nine tails. They'll see you as a threat and it will be easy to convince them to band against you." Tsunade declared.

"Hn! Let them come. We'll take on all of you, and none of you will survive. At the end of it all, when the dust is settled, I'll be the Emperor of the Elemental Nations, elevated, from Kage, to Emperor." A said smugly.

"My God you've lost your mind!" Tsunade said incredulously.

"A reasonable assumption, but entirely incorrect nonetheless. I assure you, Hokage, I'm very much sane." A said confidently, as if he knew some great secret that no one else was privy to, Tsunade taking a glance at Neji and once again receiving confirmation that the Raikage was telling the absolute truth, or at least, what he believed to be the absolute truth.

"…"

"Instead of proving you wrong at the cost of a thousands of lives, why don't we settle this matter in a more…civil manner…." Tsunade trailed off with a devious smirk.

"And what, pray tell, would that manner be?" A asked with a matching smirk, unable to believe that Tsunade was about to play right into his hands.

"A chuunin exam style battle. I'll pick the best four fighters on my team, and you pick the best four on your team. Whoever wins the most fights, gets to keep Naruto. The matter will no longer be open for discussion." Tsunade suggested.

"Hehehehe! You stupid bitch. You would have had a better chance if you chose outright war. On second thought, nah, definitely not. You're doomed to lose whichever path you take. But fine, there's only one thing. You cannot choose Jiraiya to participate in this tournament, seeing as he has already lost to Naruto. If you pick him, the score will automatically be 1-0 to Kumogakure at the start of the tournament." A retorted, causing Tsunade to grit her teeth in frustration, not having expected the Raikage to pull a trick like that on her.

'Damn it! Jiraiya's experience with fighting against a nintaijutsu user would have been invaluable in the upcoming battles. This guy is not as thick headed as he looks.' Tsunade thought in frustration.

"Fine! Then I have a condition too. No jinchuuriki may participate in the tournament." Tsunade declared, trying to make sure she eliminated at least three of Kumo's strongest fighters, especially making sure to eliminate Naruto from participation as she didn't want herself or any of her fighters to have to deal with the emotional baggage of the whole event.

"That's fine. We don't need the power of a jinchuuriki to take care of the likes of you. Now name your fighters." A retorted.

"Hyuga Neji, Hatake Kakashi, Might Gai, and Me, in that order." Tsunade said confidently, Neji barely resisting the urge to flinch at his name being called out as he thought he was only here as a scout and not as a fighter.

'So much for spending a month or two training and preparing to go to battle against Kumogakure no Sato.' Neji thought, needless to say, not pleased at all about this turn of events.

"Bishiteki Ranmaru, Kurama Yakumo, Yotsuki Darui, and whoever you want to pick either in this room or from the recent additions to the Bingo Book." A said with an arrogant smirk.

"Why you arrogant little…!" Tsunade trailed off furiously.

"Little? Me? We both know there ain't nothing little about me." A said confidently.

"What! Imbecile! Don't make it sound like you and I did anything of the sort! I don't know how big or small you are!" Tsunade exclaimed indignantly.

"There's a very easy way to find out." A said tauntingly.

"I'll pass! I'll settle for whooping your ass! I pick you as my opponent!" Tsunade declared angrily.

"G-Godaime-sama! I beg you to reconsider. Let us exercise the very generous choice that we have been given. Any of those two girls by Lord Raikage's side would likely gaurantee you a comfortable victory." Yamato said urgently.

"Heh! Like I'd lose to an old hag like her!" Amaru exclaimed indignantly.

Amaru is a beautiful young woman with long red hair and blue eyes, thick eyebrows and a mole under her left eye. She has a very sexy and attractive but also fit and athletic physique and is wearing form fitting grey ninja pants with white and red leg and arm guards, black ninja sandals, a grey long sleeve form fitting top and a custom made strapless flack jacket that covers only her torso and her breasts. She also has a sword on her back with a white hilt and a weapons pouch on her left leg.

"What did you say? You furry browed weasel!" Tsunade said with equal indignity.

"Even a furry browed weasel is better than being such an old hag that you have to hide your real appearance behind some kind of illusion." Amaru retorted.

"Hn! You know what, I've changed my mind. I think I really will fight you after all." Tsunade said with a sinister smirk.

"Oh you've done it now. You're toast, old hag Kage." Amaru retorted.

"Stop calling me that!" Tsunade said furiously.

"Call you what? Old? Or Hag?" Amaru retorted.

"Enough!" A bellowed, eliciting a deathly silence in the office, commanding a respect that was worthy of his talent as Kage, no longer in a joking mood as he was starting to get bored by the whole event.

"You will be escorted to your lodgings by a team of ANBU. Don't start nothing and there won't be nothing…until the commencement of the battles, which will take place tommorrow morning beginning at 09:00 pm at Mount Uryako." A explained to the Konoha contingent.

"Where is Mount Uryako? And where the hell is Naruto?" Tsunade asked impatiently.

"Naruto will pay you a visit later tonight. Don't stay up too long though, you're going to need all the rest you can get for the ass whoopings yawl about to get tommorrow morning." A retorted.

"Fine, but don't take me for a fool, Raikage! You think I didn't notice you sneak Kurama Yakumo's name in there? Or that I didn't see her name in the bingo book? What the fuck is going on? Why would she escape Konoha to come to you? According to your bingo book she has a doujutsu, the Ketseryugan? She also has blood manipulation? How the fuck? She never displayed those abilities before! Also, she killed her ANBU guard when she made her escape, she's a criminal! You will hand her over as well as Naruto when you lose!" Tsunade ordered.

"Whatever, you ugly big boobed bitch! You're not going to win anyway! As for your questions, I owe you nothing! You ain't getting no answers! Yakumo is a Kumogakure elite Jonin and that's that! Now get out of my office!" A exclaimed furiously, Tsunade gritting her teeth in anger but eventually managing to control her anger.

"Fine, but remember, the deal for Yakumo is the same as the one for Naruto. We win, they both come with us." Tsunade said, wanting to make sure A understood that she wasn't leaving without either of them.

"And when we win, they belong to us. You remove them from your wanted lists and you relinquish all rights that you have to them. You don't ever send anyone after them." A countered.

"Fine!" Tsunade said irritably.

"Fine." A retorted.

Evening: Storm Inn

"So, what's our strategy for tommorrow?" Jiraiya asked curiously.

"Strategy? What the hell are you on about, Jiraiya? We win, that's it." Tsunade deadpanned.

"I looked into some of my old scrolls and compared it to the Kumogakure bingo book entries. Neji's opponent, as you know, has a doujutsu, the Ryugan. The information I found revealed that it was an ancient doujutsu found in Kirigakure. The user of the doujutsu has visual prowess similar to that of both the sharingan and the byakugan. If this is true, then Neji could be in some serious trouble." Jiraiya reported.

"Both the Sharingan and the Byakugan? That's impossible, isn't it?" Kakashi asked warily.

"It sounds like a fantasy, but a ninja must always prepare for the worst case scenario." Jiraiya responded.

"Agreed. Thank you for this information, Jiraiya-sama. I shall prepare as if it is one hundred percent true." Neji replied humbly, his attitude a lot better now that he was relatively sure he wasn't brought here as a sacrifice, though he still hated the village with a passion and didn't want to be here any longer than he had to.

"That would be wise. But what about Kurama Yakumo's Ketseryugan? Does it have any similarities to the Ryugan?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Not even the toads have any information about the Ketseryugan. There is also no mention of the Kurama clan ever having a doujutsu user. It could be a newly evolved doujutsu. Nevertheless, given the Kurama clan's affinity for genjutsu, I think we can all assume that the doujutsu is likely used predominantly as an outlet for her genjutsu techniques. In that respect, it is similar to the sharingan." Jiraiya replied.

"Kuso! Yakumo once almost destroyed the entire village with genjutsu so strong it affected reality itself. Kakashi, if what Jiraiya said is true, she could potentially cast a genjutsu just as strong or stronger than Itachi's Tsukiyomi. I would advice you avoid eye contact if it is possible." Tsunade said gravely.

"Don't worry, Tsunade-sama. I have been training my sharingan extensively since that last encounter with Itachi. It won't be so easy to trap me in a genjutsu." Kakashi retorted.

"I hope you're right. Just don't underestimate her." Tsunade warned.

"I won't underestimate her, you have my word." Kakashi said with a deadly tone of voice.

"What about Gai-san's opponent? What do we know about him?" Yamato asked curiously.

"They call him the Black Flash, which means he's pretty fast. He's the Raikage's nephew and is a master of the Third Raikage's black lightning technique. He is a Taijutsu and kenjutsu master, more than likely a master of nintaijutsu too. He would likely be next in line to be the next Raikage if not for Naruto's arrival in Kumogakure. He is not someone to be taken lightly." Jiraiya explained.

"It sounds like he is the perfect opponent for Gai-san." Yamato said warily.

"Or Gai is the perfect opponent for him." Kakashi retorted, confident in the abilities of his long time friend and rival.

"Gai-sensei will likely have to use the eight gates to win. That is disconcerting for me. Sensei is usually left out of it after using the gates. If we find ourselves in a situation where we are betrayed by Lord Raikage and have to escape, someone will likely need to carry him." Neji responded.

"Stop acting like I'm not even here! I'm the best healer in the elemental nations. Gai will be fine! Just focus on your match." Tsunade chastised Neji.

"Why do I even have a match, if I may ask?" Neji asked curiously.

"You were the only logical choice. You have motive to annihilate Kumogakure ninja, and we cannot afford to let the Raikage see Yamato's mokuton ninjutsu lest he try to have him kidnapped too, or worse, have him killed. He is here as a fail safe against the jinchuuriki, specifically Naruto if we end up having to restrain him." Tsunade replied.

"I see. Thank you for affording me this opportunity, and for believing in me." Neji retorted.

"Think nothing of it. You proved yourself in that mission to retrieve Sasuke three years ago. I knew from then on that no matter who you went up against, you would not accept another defeat unless the other guy joined you in the afterlife." Tsunade said sincerely.

"Alright, now let's decide the order of the battles. I reckon you should take the first one. Without the intention to underestimate the opponent, but it would seem like yours is the one match with a foregone conclusion. It will set the tone and put pressure on the Kumogakure fighters to win. I believe Kakashi should be next, followed by Gai and then Neji. If Kakashi can counter Yakumo's genjutsu, then the battle is a wrap. Her only chance is genjutsu. Kakashi believes he is ready to counter Itachi's genjutsu and I believe him. He can counter Yakumo's genjutsu. As for Gai, well, it's a Taijutsu battle. No one has ever beaten him in a Taijutsu battle, and he can go all out because he has the best healer in the elemental nations with him." Jiraiya proposed.

"I was thinking the exact same thing. By noon we should be headed back to Konoha with Naruto in tow." Tsunade replied.

"Then it is settled. Everyone get some…." Jiraiya trailed off as he was cut off by a knock at the door.

Knock knock knock

"Neji!" Tsunade whispered harshly, Neji activating his Byakugan in order to see who was on the other side of the door, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw exactly who it was.

"What is it? Who is it?" Tsunade whispered.

"H-he's big….and strong! His muscles, ligaments, and tendons are like carbon fibre and his bones are like stainless steel. His chakra coils are unbelievably huge, how do they even fit into his body? This can't really be him can it?" Neji asked incredulously.

"Who damn it!" Tsunade snapped angrily.

Knock knock knock

"N-Naruto! He's wearing a face mask that I can't see through. It has a powerful visual barrier imbued into it, but it's definitely him." Neji retorted.

"H-he actually c-came…?" Tsunade stuttered, suddenly feeling like her heart was going to jump out of her chest as her heartbeat accelerated rapidly.

"What should we do, Tsunade-sama?" Yamato asked warily.

"K-Kakashi, get the d…" Tsunade trailed off as the door suddenly opened, Naruto apparently having gotten bored of knocking and decided to just open the door, the tension in the room rising to an all time high as Naruto walked into the room, looking down on everyone who wasn't named Jiraiya, something no one thought would be possible given how short he used to be compared to his classmates.

"Good evening, Hokage-dono, Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Neji-dono, Jiraiya-sensei, and….?" Naruto trailed off, not really sure who the hell this dude was, in fact, he was quite certain that he had never seen the man before in his life.

"Y-yamato…." Yamato stuttered, honestly quite frankly shook by the intensity in Naruto's eyes, having not expected anything like this from the reports he had read about Naruto.

"Yamato-san. Honoured to meet your acquaintance." Naruto said as he carefully closed the door, looking everyone in the eyes one by one as he did so, making sure they understood that there would be hell to pay if they made any sound or move that even remotely resembled an attack.

"I was told you were looking for me, so I thought I would come and see what all the fuss was about. I was under the impression that I made it clear that there would be severe repercussions if any Konoha shinobi caused trouble for Kumogakure or her people." Naruto said with a grave undertone.

"We made a deal with the Raikage, so there is nothing you can do about it. Your words are wasted. When we win tommorrow's contest, you're coming back with us whether you like it or not." Jiraiya retorted, the only one not left speechless as he already had experience facing the new Naruto, not that he hadn't told the others extensively what to expect, but experiencing it and being told about it was obviously different.

"Hn, I was told about the match ups. I'd be very surprised if even one you managed to pull off a victory. You've wasted your time coming here. But if this will resolve this matter once and for all, then so be it." Naruto retorted.

"Your arrogance will be your downfall." Jiraiya countered.

"As yours was when you faced me in battle?" Naruto shot back.

"A mistake that won't happen again." Jiraiya fired back in return.

"No, it won't, if you honour your agreement with the old man after you lose that is." Naruto said condescendingly.

"Enough! Naruto, why did you betray us? I just need to understand why you of all people would betray Konoha?" Tsunade asked with tears in her eyes.

"Simply because I don't believe I ever owed Konoha any loyalty. I was lied to, deceived, betrayed, hated, treated like I was beneath literal trash, abused, and manipulated by everyone in Konoha. Everyone fell into one of those categories, every single one, apart from my graduation class. Even after the villagers found out that I had gone missing, they celebrated the death of the demon boy and you couldn't even stop them. Konoha was never my home, it was my hell. That is all there is to it. I would sooner destroy that village than go back to it." Naruto responded with a calm fury.

"What about your friends and teammates? You said you would never betray your loved ones, that you would protect them with your life." Tsunade asked.

"Who are my friends in Konoha? What do they know about me or the suffering I went through?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"Sakura misses you. She cries for you all the time. She hasn't been the same without you. If not for me, then won't you come back for her? You love her don't you? Isn't she the love of your life?" Tsunade pleaded.

"Respectfully, Hokage-dono, but Sakura can go and eat a dick somewhere in the land of fire. I don't give a rat's ass about her, no offence to rat's asses." Naruto replied much to Tsunade's surprise, unable to believe that those words were coming out of Naruto's mouth, especially given to whom they were being directed.

"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. That was the first lesson I taught you. Naruto, by joining Kumogakure, you have both broken the rules and betrayed your friends. You are even worse than whatever it is that is worse than trash." Kakashi deadpanned.

"I'd rather be ten times worse than trash, no, one hundred times worse than trash than to go back to Konoha and play make belief with you assholes. I'm a loyal Kumogakure shinobi. I'll never break Kumogakure's rules, and I'll never betray my friends…my friends from Kumogakure." Naruto said with conviction.

"Then I guess we'll just have to take the choice away from you tomorrow morning." Kakashi said with a grave undertone.

"Hehe, yeah, sorry to break it to you, but there is no chance of that happening." Naruto retorted.

"We'll see…" Kakashi trailed off dangerously.

'I'll have to use Kamui if that is what it takes to win.' Kakashi thought with conviction and determination.

"Very well, I've said what I came here to say. I'll be on my way." Naruto said as he turned and walked towards the door, Tsunade opening her mouth but her throat failing to release any sound at all, wanting nothing more than to tell Naruto how much she loved him and how much she missed him but unable to force the words out of her throat.

'I'm sorry Naruto, but you're coming back with us. In the same way that you brought me back home when I was lost, I'm going to bring you back whether you like it or not.' Tsunade thought with conviction.

One Hour Later

"If you keep using the Byakugan like that all night then you won't have any chakra left for your battle tomorrow. If I'm not mistaken you're fighting Ranmaru for your match. That is not someone you want to be holding back against, trust me." Naruto said, seemingly speaking to no one as there was no one even close to him at all apart from the guard guards, who also were wondering who the hell he was talking to as they tried to sense all around them if there was anyone using some kind of cloaking jutsu but to no avail.

"Surprised huh? Well, I'm not reading your mind if that's what you're thinking. The same way you have been monitoring my movements with your Byakugan since I came to your hotel suite, I've been monitoring your chakra with my sensory abilities. You activated your Byakugan almost immediately after I left your hotel suite, and I've familiarised myself with the flow of your chakra when it is active and when it is not. Of course I couldn't be sure if you were using it on me or on your general surroundings, however, the fluctuation of your chakra just now when I addressed you was the give away that you're watching me as we speak, or rather as I speak." Naruto elaborated for Neji's sake, who had to force himself to resist the urge to reply back as he had to remind himself that only he could see Naruto's lips and not the other way around.

"You can verbally reply and I would hear you, even from here. I am the nine tails demon fox after all, super hearing is part of the deal. However I would prefer it that you don't respond lest your comrades overhear our conversation. I have a proposition for you. Defect from Konoha and join Kumogakure no sato, and by that I mean you and the entire Branch House Family. I have ordered Ranmaru to study your caged bird seal with his Fuingan and give me the schematics some time after your fight. I will then develop a technique to not only deactivate but to completely remove the seal from you and then I will share this technique with you." Naruto said, taking a small pause as he felt Neji's chakra fluctuate, giving him a bit of time to process the information before carrying on from where he left off.

"I also have recently happened upon the code for Konoha's detection barrier. That would allow you and your brethren to sneak out of the village without detection. In order to aid you with your escape, this would require me to place a communication seal on you which would allow us to mentally communicate even from across the other side of the elemental nations. So, mutual trust will play a big factor in this arrangement. Also, there is a chance that some of your brethren may die by my hand. We'd have to ascertain if all of them were loyal to you and if they are sincere in their desire to join Kumo as non slaves. If some of them are spies for Konoha or the main branch, then they'll have to die. No ifs and buts." Naruto elaborated as he laid out his plan to his old friend.

"Now I know you're wondering why I'm doing this. Is it me simply taking advantage of an opportunity to acquire the Byakugan for Kumogakure no sato? Well, that's definitely part of it, I'd say it's about 40 percent of it if I had to quantify it. However, the other 60 percent is me trying to honour the promise I made to you when we fought three years ago. I promised you I would change your fate and that I would do something about the caged bird seal and the branch house system. This is how I'm honouring that promise." Naruto explained, once again feeling an almost undetectable fluctuation in Hyuga Neji's chakra at those words, the Hyuga prodigy unable to believe what he had just heard with his ears, or rather read on the lips of his former friend.

"You have a lot to think about, old friend. You now have to weigh your hate for Kumogakure against your ire against the Hyuga clan's main house and branch house system. You also have to weigh your loyalty to Konoha and your friends and teammates in Konoha against your basic human rights and those of your house and that of your future children. You also have to decide if the village whose actions lead to the death of your father is a place you would want to live in one day. Grandpa Third was the one responsible for Kumo's part in those events, it wasn't the current Raikage, but it was his dad and it is something he might have done before even if it was him who had been in charge, though I can say, with certainty, that he is not the same man he was before." Naruto explained patiently.

"He's a good man, loving and protective of his people, and I mean all of his people. Kurama Yakumo and I are originally from Konoha, but he literally treats me like a son and treats Yakumo-chan like one of his closest confidants. I have no doubt that, as head of the Kenbikyo (microscope) clan in Kumogakure, he would treat you as a highly valued member of the village. In case you're wondering, Kenbikyo is my suggestion for a new clan name for you. You're welcome to pick your own though, I just think it doesn't make sense to have the same clan name as a Konoha clan. It would create confusion you know." Naruto said with a light chuckle.

"Anyway, you have a lot to think about so I'll let you mull over your thoughts. You have until you leave Kumogakure to make a decision. Don't take too long though. The earlier you make the decision, the earlier we can begin to execute the plan. Also, don't try and throw the match tomorrow. Do your very best to win. If you throw the match, that will essentially be the same as letting Lady Tsunade in on our plans. Even if she didn't pick up on it, there is no doubt in my mind that Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya-sensei would pick up on it. You must fight your best to the point that even I won't know what decision you've made." Naruto said as he began making his way back to his clan compound, a clan compound that was built just a year ago by Naruto's shadow clones, Naruto having used shadow clone learning in order to learn architecture and construction in order to build the best clan compound not just in Kumogakure but in the entire world.

The following Day: Mount Uryako

"This will likely be the most straight forward of our victories. The result is all but guaranteed. No matter the tricks she has up her sleeve, I cannot see this Amaru girl defeating Godaime-sama." Yamato said as he watched the two kunoichi enter the gigantic canyon of Mount Uryako, thousands of Kumogakure shinobi having taken their positions around the the mountain sides as they cheered on the fifteen year old Amaru, the sound of the cheers so loud that it was almost deafening.

"What do we actually know about this girl?" Neji asked curiously.

"She is a member of team Dodai, which consisted of Dodai, Atsui, her, and another young woman known as Isaribi. Dodai and Atsui were listed as S ranked threat levels in the bingo books but Isaribi and Amaru are not even in the bingo book. My spy in Kumo does not even know anything about their abilities." Jiraiya reported.

"None of that matters now. We're going to find out very soon what exactly she is capable of." Gai said with a serious tone of voice, that serious tone alone telling everyone just how much shit was about to hit the fan as Gai was completely devoid of his usually exuberant and goofy demeanour.

Back on the battlefield.

"Finally, it's time. When I'm done with you, they are going to give me the name: Kage Slayer." Amaru said with a confident smirk plastered on her facial features.

Tsunade however not in the mood for any banter as she immediately bit her thumb and, without any hand seals at all, summoned a boss level summon, namely, Katsuyu the Slug Summon, Amaru kind of surprised that the Hokage was pulling out the big guns from the get go but nevertheless taking that as a compliment to herself as to her, it just meant that that is how seriously the Hokage was taking her.

"Katsuyu, end this! Now!" Tsunade said, Katsuyu shocked that Tsunade was basically ordering her to execute the poor girl and leave no trace of her whatsoever, but nevertheless figuring that there must have been a reason for this ruthlessness as she obliged, spitting out a gigantic wave of acid towards Amaru, a wave so large and covering such a wide range that it looked like a tidal wave, except made from acid instead of water.

'This bitch really ain't playing around is she? Hn! Guess I'll show her why they call me the Zero Tails!' Amaru thought as she immediately transformed into the Reibi, A demon that resembles a gigantic, dark purpleleech with a serpent-like body, the Reibi so big that it considerably dwarfed Katsuyu herself . On its face, it was wearing a blank white colouredNoh maskthat has the kanji for "zero" on it.

Without any hesitation, Amaru immediately generated a large sphere of black chakra and fired it straight at the acid wave, the sphere detonating on impact and completely wiping out not only the acid wave but also Katsuyu herself as she was completely vaporised from existence, Tsunade herself would have met the same fate had Katsuyu not reverse summoned another boss level version of herself and used it as a shield to protect Tsunade, it taking the resistance and durability of two boss level Katsuyus to save Tsunade's life, though not without her taking heavy damage in the process.

Fortunately for her she had the presence of mind to instantly activate her Byakugo seal, which helped her survive as the instantaneous regenerative factor of the Byakugo seal helped her to not only regenerate the damaged organs that she lost during the blast, but saved her from becoming completely vaporised along with Katsuyu.

"Heh? You actually survived that? I'm impressed. The Sannin live up to their reputation after all." Amaru, in her gigantic leech form, said before morphing back into her human form.

"W-what the hell are you?" Tsunade asked, shock, confusion, and fear permeable in her tone of voice as she just couldn't understand what the hell was going on.

"I am the human host of the Reibi." Amaru deadpanned.

"The Zero Tails? What? There is no such thing….is there?" Tsunade asked incredulously, unsure of what to believe anymore, her comrades not faring any better as they too did not understand what they had just witnessed.

"You tell me." Amaru retorted with an amused smirk.

'There is no such thing as the zero tails. Grandpa Hashirama had complete control over all the tailed beast at one point. If there was such a thing as a zero tailed beast, I would know about it." Tsunade thought as she got back up on her feet, trying to figure out the mystery behind what was going on here.

"You should give up, Lady Tsunade. Killing you is not off the table, this is a ninja battle after all. However, it would be better for relations if you were able to return to Konoha with only your pride and dignity taken from you and not your life. That way you can order your people to stay away from us….for their own good." Amaru said tauntingly.

'I need to attack her while she is in her human form. I cannot allow her to tap into that form again otherwise I'm a goner. It has to be an extremely fast attack, one that won't give her a chance to process and react to my movements. For that I'll have to sacrifice my healing factor in exchange for a boost in speed. I'll have to redirect all the chakra from the Byakugo seal towards physical enhancement instead of healing. I'll only get one chance at this so I'll have to make it work. If I fail, it's over.' Tsunade thought as she formed a ram hand seal, redirecting the chakra from the seal just as she planned in order to give herself a significant speed boost.

'I was saving this move to use on Unruly A, but I guess I have no choice but to reveal it here.' Tsunade thought as she, at a ridiculous speed, shot towards Amaru, aiming a punch directly on Amaru's chin, at that moment, Tsunade not caring at all whether said punch would knock the Kumogakure jonin out, rip her head off from her shoulders, or outright destroy her head, so long as she won the battle. However, much to her surprise, Amaru was not only able to react to her speed, but was also able to successfully block the attack with a cross guard, the impact so profound that it sent shockwaves all around the canyon, completely destroying and rearranging the terrain.

'Impossible! She guarded against a punch from me at full power and full speed? No one has ever managed such a feat!' Tsunade thought in shock and needless to say, concern.

"Heh! Is that all you've got?" Amaru said as she launched her counter attack at Tsunade, Tsunade doing the smart thing and jumping away in order to recompose herself and analyse the situation, thank goodness too as a massive shockwave destroyed the environment, a shockwave that came just from Amaru throwing a punch at thin air.

"Impressive. I can't believe that you're actually able to move fast enough to evade my ultra fast attacks. You should thank the Uzumaki clan for that seal on your forehead. You're using the chakra stored in the Byakugou seal in order to amp up your physical capabilities aren't you? It's why you can suddenly move so fast." Amaru said analytically.

"How do you know about my Byakugou seal? Just who the hell are you? And, what are you? How can you be so strong and move so fast?" Tsunade asked warily.

"Your Byakugou seal? Don't you mean the Uzumaki clan's Byakugou seal? That jutsu was passed down to you from Uzumaki Mito. It's not your jutsu!" Amaru said irritably.

"And as for who and what I am. I am Uzumaki Amaru. I am Naruto's bethrothed, along with Nii Yugito. I am also the Head of Medical Research and Healing Center of Kumogakure and the master of the body activation jutsu. This ability, my speed, my durability, my power. It is the result of that jutsu, a jutsu that accelerates the process of destruction and revival of muscles, taking advantage of the muscles' ability to grow stronger after repairing itself from damage. By understanding and applying this theory at a molecular level, I have used the Body Activation Technique to destroy and repair my body, thereby increasing its strength by manipulating the destruction and rebirth cycle of the muscles." Amaru explained with an air of confidence.

"Of course, as a consequence of the jutsu, I have a self healing ability that is superior even to your Byakugou. You're outmatched in every category in this battle, Hokage-san. Yield now, or die." Amaru said with a dangerous tone of voice.

'I don't want to believe that there is any healing jutsu superior to my Byakugou, but I cannot afford to not believe her after everything she has shown me already. But if what she says is true, the only way to defeat her is either to outlast her or to get a clean head shot that will immediately knock her out or kill her. I very much doubt that even I can outlast a demon host, especially one of her skill and calibre, and especially because I'll now have to burn far more of the Byakugou chakra in order to simultaneously boost my speed and maintain my instant self healing. I have no choice but to go for the head shot!' Tsunade thought as she, once again, came at Amaru with a burst of speed.

'The same move again? And they call her one of the greatest shinobi to ever live? Give me a break!' Amaru thought as she once again put up a tight guard, except this time having no intention to just guard against Tsunade's attack as her plan was to utilise a catch and shoot counter offence, which essentially meant that she would launch her counter as soon as Tsunade made contact with her guard, enabling her to exploit the time frame between Tsunade landing her punch on her guard and her recoiling her arm to guard herself.

The first phase of the plan was successful as Amaru caught Tsunade's punch with her guard, however the second phase failed miserably as Amaru found herself unable to control her motor functions at all immediately after blocking Tsunade's attack, her eyes widening in surprise and confusion as she had no idea what was happening to her body.

Tsunade, without wasting a beat, went directly for the knock out blow, causing Amaru to see her life flashing right in front of her eyes, figuratively speaking of course. However, a split second before Tsunade made contact with Amaru's face, she suddenly lost consciousness completely, much to the surprise of her comrades, who had no idea what the hell was going on until Tsunade fell forward, falling on Amaru's shoulder. The only one who knew what happened was Hyuga Neji, who, thanks to his Byakugan, had been able to see through Tsunade and therefore see what Amaru had done to knock her out.

"Neji, what happened?" Jiraiya asked urgently.

"A long, tan coloured, non human looking arm came out of Amaru's torso and hit Tsunade-sama with a monstrous uppercut. She didn't see it coming at all, though to be fair, not many people, doujutsu users included, could have anticipated something like that." Neji retorted.

"What do you mean when you say the arm had tan colouring? What kind of arm was it?" Yamato asked incredulously.

"It was non human flesh, to be more precise, it was demonic flesh. The chakra in it was the same chakra as the leech-like demon we saw earlier." Neji elaborated for the benefit of his comrades.

"The Hokage whore is unconscious! Amaru is the winner of the first battle!" A declared with unrestrained jubilation, the Konoha contingent realising exactly why he was known as Unruly A after that announcement, after all, who in their right mind so blatantly addresses the Kage of another Ninja Village with such a vulgar and disrespectful word.

"Who's next!" A shouted as he stared at the Konoha contingent with a cocky smirk plastered on his facial features.

'That damn bitch Tsunade! Who would have thought that someone from Konoha had a jutsu that uses Lightning release to disturb the neural synapses of the opponent. If Amaru didn't have the trump card of the hundred hands of the Reibi up her sleeve, then she would be the one unconscious now.' Ay thought internally, though quickly putting his concerns to the side as, after all, Amaru was the victor and they just needed two more victories in order to legally keep Naruto and Yakumo in Konoha

'Though that could soon become a useless agreement if the Hyuga boy accepts the offer that Naruto made to him last night.' Ay thought, realising that Neiji and the Branch house's defection to Kumo, if it happens, would create a whole new reason for Konoha to want to swap hands with them.

"Kakashi! You're next! You have the next best chance of victory. No matter how talented that Yakumo girl is, you have the experience in abundance, and I'm told you're a generational talent. We need this win." Jiraiya said sternly, taking over the leadership position now that Tsunade was out of commission, having sent Yamato to the battlefield in order for him to collect Tsunade just prior to issuing the instruction to Kakashi.

"Hai!" Kakashi said with steel in his lone visible eye, lifting up his headband to reveal his sharingan before jumping down to the battle arena, his eyes narrowing as he saw Amaru moving normally as she returned to her comrades, who were showering her with love and adoration after her victory.

'She already recovered from having her neural synapses disturbed by Tsunade-sama's chakra? These Kumo shinobi aren't normal.' Kakashi thought analytically, watching with intensity as Kurama Yakumo made her way to the battle field, her doujutsu, the Ketseryugan, already active as she apparently was taking no chances either.

"Hatake Kakashi, the legendary copy ninja. It is an honour to meet your acquaintant…" Yakumo trailed off as Kakashi, without wasting any time, began going through a rapid set of hand seals.

"Imbecile…" Yakumo trailed off as she saw that Kakashi was going through the hand signs for the grand fire ball technique, matching him in hand seal speed as she went through her own set of hand seals.

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!" Kakashi exclaimed as he released a large, destructive and incinerating fireball towards Yakumo.

"Fire Release: Exploding Fire Annihilation Wave!" Yakumo exclaimed as she released what appeared to be multiple tidal waves of fire that were overlapping each other, waves of fire that seemed impossible large, covering an impossibly wide area of effect, so much so that Jiraiya couldn't believe what he was seeing as the jutsu appeared to be more destructive and even more wide range than his oil, wind, fire combination with the toad sages, except for the fact that this wasn't even a combination jutsu but a jutsu that one person singlehandedly produced with their own chakra and skill.

Needless to say, the grand fire ball was rendered utterly useless as it was simply overwhelmed as if it never existed to begin with, the wave of heat and destruction rapidly approaching the Legendary Copy Ninja, who appeared to be about to lose the battle one jutsu into the battle.

However, much to everyone's surprise, the entire wave of heat and destruction was absorbed into what appeared to be a spiralling portal that originated from Kakashi's Sharingan eye, an eye that had taken on a different form as it was now in the form of of tri pronged shuriken with the sharps ends curved and elongated to connect to each other and form a circle.

"Space-time ninjutsu? That's a very dangerous jutsu, and very convenient. However, I can see that it took a lot out of you. I venture to guess, but I very much doubt you can use that jutsu more than three more times without dying of chakra depletion. You won't be able to fight for much longer." Yakumo said as she extended her arms out and clasped her hands together in a stranger pose that had Kakashi confused about what she was about to do, though the confusion only lasted a split second longer as what appeared to be blood instantly formed between Yakumo's hands and shot out from her with a sonic boom, the blood beam moving at the speed of sound and moving so fast that Kakashi had no hope of possibly getting out of the way, forcing him to use Kamui again in order to teleport the blood beam before it bore a hole through his head.

'She converged the blood and then released it as a beam moving at the speed of sound. Moreover, she didn't use blood from inside her body but created the blood from her chakra. When I read about her ability I thought her ability was something that could be exploited because there is only so much blood inside the human body, but if she can create blood from thin air, then she could essentially use blood manipulation indefinitely.' Neji thought analytically, echoing the thoughts of virtually everyone who saw what happened.

"I cannot believe you managed to react to my blood release: piercing blood. That really must be some jutsu that your eye possesses. That jutsu was moving at the speed of sound you know?" Yakumo said with both awe and exasperation.

'This is bad. Not only was she able to accurately deduce that I can only use Kamui four times max, but she has already forced me to use it twice already. If I allow this battle to carry on any longer, then I'm going to burn myself out and lose. A battle of attrition will not end in my favour. I have to end this now.' Kakashi thought as he took aim of Yakumo herself, deciding to use Kamui offensively instead of defensively as it was no longer a secret trump card now, but something he had already used twice. It only made sense to use it on his own terms instead of being forced to rely on it all the time.

Kakashi's plan proved to be the right one, as Yakumo, despite possessing her own doujutsu and despite displaying elite jonin level speed and reaction time, was unable to react in time to the instantaneous space-time technique, getting her left side teleported into another dimension as Kakashi managed to teleport half of her body. Not what he intended as intended to teleport all of her into the other dimension, but she had been surprisingly fast enough to move out of the way, but not fast enough to avoid a fatal end to her existence it seemed.

"It's over, at last." Kakashi thought out loud, going down on one knee as he tried to take a breathe, breathing hard from the overuse of chakra and the pain on his left eye.

"That was impressive, Hatake Kakashi. To be able to aim such a powerful space-time jutsu with such precision even at long range. If I hadn't swapped my self with a blood clone then I would have been toast….maybe." Yakumo said as she came out from under the ground next to her blood clone, which dissolved into a puddle of blood immediately afterwards.

"Y-you? How…when….?" Kakashi asked incredulously, confident that he would not have missed something like that with his sharingan.

"Idiot. Did you forget that your view of me was completely obscured when you were absorbing my exploding fire annihilation wave?" Yakumo asked condescendingly.

'No way. Was I fighting a blood clone ever since then? Then, was it the blood clone that launched the piercing blood at me?' Kakashi thought in dismay, nevertheless realising that this was an opportunity to at least get a draw and possibly win the battle once and for all.

'The way I see it is I have two options. I can fight her in Kenjutsu and Taijutsu and try to win that way, or I can use Kamui again to take the real her into the Kamui dimension this time. From what I have seen, she has not displayed physical speed and reactions that are superior to mine. I might even have the slight advantage.' Kakashi thought optimistically, getting back up on his feet and doing the hand seals for his prized jutsu.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Blade!" Kakashi said with his left hand clasping his right wrist, a blade of lightning forming around his right hand as it created a loud chirping sound.

"Imbecile. You really think that jutsu can help you against me?" Yakumo said as she pulled out her sword and streamed lightning into it, Kakashi quickly realising his folly as he pulled out a kunai and placed it on his right hand, causing the lightning blade to stream into his kunai as well.

"Come at me then." Yakumo said as Kakashi came running at her at full speed, his speed getting enhanced beyond his normal limits as he closed the distance between them in an instant.

The disadvantage of the jutsu was that, if the enemy read through your move, you would be moving too fast to react to the counter. However, if you had a sharingan, you could read the movements of the opponent and redirect your attack according to their movements. However, it was a little different in this case because this was the first time Kakashi had tried the move against someone who was also a doujutsu user, the result being that she was able to react to all of his micro reactions and thus, leading her to comfortably deflecting his attack and launching her own, the result being a sword stab through Kakashi's stomach that had him spitting blood out of his mouth.

Fortunately, thanks to his own visual prowess, Kakashi was able to evade getting his vital organs and arteries perforated, which is why he was able to re-establish a 'safe' distance between him and his opponent.

'Damn it! I'm losing the battle slowly but surely. At this rate, I'm only delaying the inevitable. But, at least I'm now sure that this is the real her and not a blood clone. This will be my last shot at Kamui. I'll have to make it count.' Kakashi thought, the pressure rising with the realisation that this was his last chance at a shot at victory.

"Kamui." Kakashi said as he opened the Kamui portal again, unfortunately for him, Yakumo somehow moving at a speed that was far greater than the speed she had shown before and completely moving out of the way of the nigh instantaneous portal that appeared in the space around her body, reaching Kakashi before he could even blink and proceeding to, for lack of a better term, beat the shit out of him, rag rolling him all over the battlefield until he lost conscious on his own as she intentionally went for blows that would cause him maximum pain but not immediately knock him out, breaking a number of bones all across his body.

"I couldn't even follow her movements. How is she moving that fast without any clear enhancement technique?" Yamato asked incredulously.

"It's an internal enhancement. She's pumping the blood in her body at a far greater rate than what is normal even during an adrenaline rush. She has increased her body temperature, pulse rate, and even the number of red blood cells in her body to a level far beyond human abilities. That is the source of superhuman speed and strength." Neji explained patiently.

"T-that's very similar to some of the effects that occur in the body when I release the gates. She must be an incredible taijutsu user." Gai said in both shock and awe.

"As surprising as her abilities are, what's even more surprising is that no genjutsu was used at all in this battle, and she's a genjutsu type of the highest order. She was able to defeat Kakashi-senpei without even utilising her main asset." Yamato said dejectedly.

"This is no time to be surprised, Yamato. Go get Kakashi and bring him here quickly so that I can heal him before he dies!" Tsunade ordered.

"T-Tsunade-sama! You're awake?" Yamato asked in surprise.

'Her recovery powers are incredible even without the Byakugou-seal.' Yamato thought in awe.

"Of course I am! That was just a minor concussion! Now hurry up and bring Kakashi here!" Tsunade ordered.

"H-hai!" Yamato saluted as he quickly made his way to the battlefield in order to retrieve his senpei.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. We've just lost two fights in a row, in case you didn't know. At best, we can only get a draw now." Jiraiya said gravely.

"A draw is not a bad thing per se. It just means that we'll have to have a tie breaker. Maybe you can challenge Lord Raikage to break the tie." Tsunade said as she groggily got back up on her feet.

"Your concussion is not as minor as you thought if you have already forgotten. Lord Raikage made it clear that any attempt by me to fight in this contest would be an automatic loss on our record because Naruto already defeated me in battle." Jiraiya retorted.

"Then everything will rest on Yamato's hands." Tsunade said dreadfully, having wanted to keep Yamato's mokuton jutsu a secret but finding that she now might have no choice but to allow him to reveal his jutsu for the greater good.

"I guess that means I'll be going up next." Neji said as he got ready to head down to the battle ground.

"By the flames of youth!" Gai suddenly exclaimed as he jumped down onto the battle field, leaving Neji and everyone speechless at the sudden outburst.

"Gai! What the hell is he doing?" Tsunade exclaimed irritably.

"If we lose the next match then it's over. As Neji's sensei, he doesn't want his student to carry the weight of that burden and responsibility." Jiraiya replied.

"Fool! Neji will have to carry that burden anyway if Gai wins his fight. It's not something that can be avoided." Tsunade argued.

"It can if Gai loses his fight. If Gai loses, then Neji won't even have to step foot on the battlefield." Jiraiya retorted.

"Oh, yeah, you can forget about that. I don't see Gai losing this battle. Darui, according to the bingo books, is a Taijutsu and Kenjutsu expert. Nobody beats Gai in those categories." Tsunade retorted.

"I hope you're right, though I thought you would have learned not to underestimate these Kumogakure shinobi by now." Jiraiya responded.

"I'm not underestimating anyone. I just don't believe that Gai can be defeated in that kind of battle." Tsunade replied, kneeling down in order to heal Kakashi after Yamato returned with him in tow, not taking that long either despite the grievous injuries that Kakashi sustained, using the Byakugou in order to accelerate Kakashi's healing in order to get him into top shape again.

'It's a blessing in disguise that she was defeated before she could potentially deplete the chakra from that seal. It means even if defeated, we'll all be in top condition when it's time to leave this place. We'll be able to fight and protect ourselves.' Jiraiya thought strategically.

Back on the Battlefield

"Yo, Might Gai. Word on the street is that you're the best taijutsu user in the elemental nations. Meanwhile I'm not even the best in Kumogakure, though I am one of the best. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing the Green Beast of Konoha in action." Darui said humbly.

Darui is a tall, dark-skinned man standing at 1.89m with a slightly bulbous nose, black eyes that usually look bored, and shaggy, white hair which covers his left eye. He is wearin a high-collared, sleeveless uniform with loose fitting pants, bandages on his wrists and the one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak Jacket of a Kumogakure shinobi. He has a tattoo on his left arm to signify that he has inherited the Third Raikage's black lightning and has a broad, foldable cleaver-like sword strapped to his back.

"So you know about me huh? Let me first apologise for not knowing much about you. But I have heard that you're a great Taijutsu user. That alone is enough for me to take you seriously, for I know what it takes to become a great Taijutsu user. I promise to fight you with everything that I have out of respect for you and your craft." Gai said as he took on a Taijutsu stance, his usual goofiness gone as if it was never a part of his personality to begin with.

"Then let us begin." Darui said as he formed a ram hand seal.

"Lightning Release: Black Panther." Darui said as black lightning shot out of him and formed into a rather large black Panther made entirely of black lightning, Darui proceeding to use earth release to form a chair for himself to sit on so that he can comfortably watch the battle.

"You dastardly fiend! I thought you said you were looking forward to a taijutsu battle with me! What are you doing sitting on a chair?" Gai asked indignantly.

"I don't recall saying such a thing. All I said was that I was looking forward to seeing the green beast of Konoha in action. I can see you just fine from here." Darui said with a bored tone of voice, which was a normal disposition for him although Gai and the Konoha contingent could not have known that, taking it to mean that he looked bored because he didn't see Gai as a threat to him at all.

"Fine! You're not the first one to underestimate the Green Beast of Konoha." Gai said with a deathly tone, his muscles flexing as he shot into action, or at least, as he tried to shoot into action, the black Panther however too observant and too fast for him as just a slight twitch of the muscles was enough for it to jump into action, shooting at Gai at an incomprehensible speed, a speed that was too much for Gai to react as he was head butted on the chest, unable to close his guard in time and thus, sent crashing violently into the mountain side.

"Gai what the fuck! Use the bloody eight gates!" Jiraiya shouted in anger, unable to believe that Gai had the audacity to not go all out from the get go after having seen first hand what these Kumogakure shinobi are capable of.

'Jiraiya-sama! Forgive me! I was too naïve. I actually underestimated the enemy's jutsu despite everything that has happened already.' Gai thought with self loathing, although to be fair to him, given the damage the eight gates do to someone, it was understandable why one would not want to go straight into the eight gates without being sure the that the activation of the gates was absolutely necessary in order to win.

"If I'm not mistaken, three of your ribs got broken in that attack. That's some impressive durability. A direct head butt at top speed from the black panther is usually enough to kill most jonin. Maybe clawing you would have been better than head butting you." Darui said nonchalantly.

"Fifth Gate of Limit: Release!" Gai said as his chakra spiked exponentially, his skin turning red and his pupils disappearing while his hair stood on end and bulging veins formed all around his body, seemingly undergoing some kind of transformation, a change that was enough for Darui to perk up and sit a little straighter on his makeshift chair.

"Interesting, Gai-san. Maybe now I'll get to see the so called best taijutsu master in the elemental nations in acti…" Darui trailed off as Gai, with a burst of insane speed, suddenly appeared behind Darui's chair, a menacing look on his facial features as he threw a punch at the chair with all of his might, only to get clawed away at the very last moment by the Black Panther, which seemed to have matched his speed without much trouble, Gai once again getting sent flying into the mountain side, except this time hitting a spot forty five degrees from the one he had hit before.

When he got out of the hole his body had dug into the cliff, one could see a deep cut across the his left arm and left torso, having gotten cut up by the lightning claws of the Black Panther.

'He's supposed to be a Kenjutsu and Taijutsu master, and even though the Panther is fighting Gai in hand to claw combat, surely this cannot be categorised as a taijutsu battle. The Panther itself is a form of ninjutsu.' Jiraiya thought incredulously.

"The Fifth Gate of Limit huh? That's quite an incredible technique, Gai-san. But I still haven't moved from this chair. If you can't even get past my black panther, then I'm afraid you're no match for me." Darui said without even turning around and facing Gai, content to let his Panther take care of that little bit of business.

'I was under the impression that he was consciously controlling the black panther, which is why I chose to attack his blind spot. However, it would seem he doesn't even need to look at me in order for his Panther to attack me with accurate precision strikes. It's either he can see through the Panther's eyes, or the Panther has its own sentience and is attacking me of its own volition. Nevertheless, I cannot afford to be caught in a prolonged battle once the gates are opened. If I stay in the fifth gate, the Panther will either overwhelm me or defeat me in a battle of attrition. I have to open the fifth gate." Gai thought as he crossed his arms in front of his face.

"Sixth Gate of View: Release!" Gai said as a green aura enveloped his body, the Magnitude and intensity of the chakra he was releasing increasing considerably.

"Hn, what's releasing one more gate going to do?" Darui asked with a bored tone, commanding the black Panther to initiate the attack this time, Gai however countering with a flurry of punches, punches that were so fast and executed with such precision and power that they ignited the air itself, the friction causing Gai's fists to become ignited as he overwhelmed the black Panther and literally beat it into non existence, the Panther dissipating after getting hit with a barrage of flaming fists.

However, as soon as the black Panther was destroyed, Darui had already gathered the chakra he needed for his next jutsu, which, coincidentally, or perhaps not so coincidentally, was another Black Panther, except this one was standing on its hind legs and looked more muscular than the previous incarnation. In simple terms, while it was clearly still a Panther, it had a much more humanoid physique.

"Lightning Release: Black Werepanther." Darui said calmly, a ghost of a smirk morphing onto his facial features.

"I take it back. Turns out that one more gate did make a considerable difference. But that's not going to be enough to defeat the black werepanther I'm afraid." Darui said casually, not even close to losing his nerve it seemed, despite the recent defeat of his black panther.

Nevertheless, his words proved most true as, despite Gai's best efforts, he could not make any progress whatsoever, the werepanther, with mere swipes of its claws, able to counter against Gai's Morning Peacock technique as a swipe of its claws was enough to generate shockwaves that deflected and cut through the flames, after which, before Gai could even blink, the werepanther had closed the distance between them and swiped him with its right claw from point blank range, the result being that Gai was once again sent flying into the the mountain side, deep gashes appearing on his body from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist.

'Kuso! I'm actually losing the battle! And the enemy hasn't even began to take me seriously yet. All I've been fighting is his jutsu. He doesn't even respect me enough get off his buttocks and fight me himself. Is this truly the limit of my strength? The limit of the eight gates?' Gai asked himself, honestly, apart from the excruciating pain, feeling significantly downcast by the progression of this battle.

'No! One of my students is watching me, and he has yet to have his own battle! I must set an example for him. I cannot allow his flames of youth to be dimmed by my dying ambers! I must ignite my flames of youth!' Gai thought as he, yet again, powered up.

"Seventh Gate of Wonder: Release!" Gai exclaimed as he crossed his arms in front of his face, his chakra surging exponentially again as a blue aura surrounded his body, an aura that appeared to be made of chakra but was actually sweat leaving his body and immediately evaporating.

'Another form, the seventh gate huh? If he experiences a power boost equivalent to the one that he had when he moved from the fifth to the sixth, then there is a reasonable chance that even my werepanther will be overwhelmed. It's time to stop fighting reactively and start fighting proactively.' Darui thought as he performed a ram hand seal, causing the werepanther to transform into a boss summon level sized panther

"Lightning Release: Great Black Panther." Darui said with a tone that was now serious, realising that the fact he was forced to use this jutsu meant that Gai was not someone to be underestimated, Darui even going as far as to dissolve the earth style chair he was sitting on and turn around to face Might Gai.

'Damn it! I didn't think his black panther technique had yet another level to it. I guess I'll really have to use that jutsu.' Gai thought as he punched the air.

"Afternoon Tiger!" Gai said as he through the punch, a massive shockwave that took on the form of the head of a gigantic tiger forming and travelling at Darui's great black Panther at an incredible speed.

"Lightning Release: Black Panther Beast Ball!" Darui exclaimed as blue lightning particles collided in front of the open maw of the great black panther, the particles melding together to form what appeared to be a makeshift tailed beast ball, except this one was made of pure lightning as Darui's Panther fired the ball at an incredible speed towards the afternoon tiger, a great battle taking place between the two techniques, neither one of them able to get an advantage over the other, the collision however resulting in a massive explosion that destroyed everything on sight, the shockwave vaporising everything in its path, causing the battle ground to become completely destroyed as dust and debris flew in every direction.

It took a while for the dust and debris to clear, but once it did, it was clear who was the winner of the battle, as Darui, while his great black panther was destroyed in the explosion, its strong and durable constitution was enough to shield him from most of the explosion, and of course, his Lightning Style: Black Lightning Armour, which he activated at the very last second, protected him from whatever was left of the explosion.

Gai on the other hand was in horrible condition, clothes in tatters, lacerations all over his body, and all the muscles throughout his body ruptured from the use of the seventh gate. As if that wasn't enough, he had been blasted into the mountain side again and had debris collapsed over him. Needless to say, unless he somehow opened the eighth gate, which would kill him anyway, then the battle was essentially over.

"This battle is over, Might Gai. You failed to force me to fight you in hand to hand combat, but you were almost there. I only activate the Black Lightning Armour when I am taking a battle seriously. The fact that, even if at the very end of the battle, you forced me to activate this jutsu, means that you were a truly worthy opponent." Darui said earnestly.

"T-the battle…is not over yet…" Gai stuttered as he somehow managed to get back on his feet, his legs shaking and rattling due to the fact that all the muscles in his body were ruptured.

"Not over you say? Gai-san, there is something else I didn't tell you about this black Lightning armour. I do not only activate it when someone forces my hand, I also activate it when I am committed to killing an opponent with my bare hands. If you persist with this coarse of action, I will kill you." Darui deadpanned.

"You can t…try…." Gai trailed off as he lost consciousness, falling face first on the ground with a heavy thud as his body failed him.

Boom!

Was the sound as the Raikage landed on the battle ground in the space between Darui and Gai, dust and debris flying everywhere as a crater formed where he had landed.

"The undisputed winner of the battle is Yotsuki Darui! Consequently, the winner of this competition is Kumogakure! Uzumaki Naruto is and will always be a Kumogakure ninja!" The Raikage exclaimed to the cheers of the Kumogakure contingent, Tsunade, for the meantime ignoring all the commotion as she rushed towards Gai in order to heal him, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Yamato all spotting grim facial expressions while Neji showed no emotion whatsoever. Surprisingly, Tsunade was able to get Gai not only back up to his feet in no time at all but to give him a full recovery, Gai regaining consciousness and walking around like nothing happened at all.

'So she can use the Byakugou Seal not only to heal herself but to heal others as well? That's very inconvenient jutsu for us. If we do end up going to war in the future, we'll have to make sure to kill our enemies and not merely incapacitate them. I very much doubt even her jutsu can resurrect the dead.' Ay thought gravely, watching with intensity as Tsunade, along with Gai, walked towards him, Darui quickly closing the gap between him and the Raikage in case Gai and Tsunade tried anything.

"This is the first time I have ever lost a bet where I bet on myself." Tsunade said when she was standing right in front of the Raikage, internally regretting closing the distance as much as she did as she realised just how much she underestimated the size of the man, being forced to look almost straight up in order to make eye contact with him, which made her look and feel small and ridiculous.

"Hn! That's a bold faced lie. This isn't the first time you have lost a bet against me." Ay retorted.

"Oh yes, the arm wrestling match. I didn't really consider that because there was nothing for me to lose. Losing the bet didn't cost me anything, it just meant that I had to heal one of your own. This is different. The stakes were really high, and I lost more than you can ever imagine today." Tsunade said with a sad tone of voice.

"You better not be planning to renege on the deal. It won't end well for you." Ay said matter of factly.

"No, no I have no intention of reneging on the deal. As Hokage it was my responsibility to do everything in my power to return Naruto and the Kyubi to the village, and as someone who sees Naruto as a son, it was also my responsibility to do everything in my power to bring him back home. As both Hokage and his surrogate mother, this was the best way to attempt to bring him back without plunging our respective villages and the whole world into war." Tsunade retorted, Ay giving her a piercing gaze as he tried to see if Tsunade really meant what she was saying or was trying to sell him some horse shit so that he can let his guard down.

"Stop looking at me like that. I really mean it. We'll accept our loss and honour the agreement we made, though we won't give up on Naruto so easily. I have a proposal I would like to run by you. To be more specific, a marriage alliance, between my apprentice, Haruno Sakura and Naruto, in order to unite our villages and ensure eternal peace between our respective villages." Tsunade said with a confident smirk on her facial features.

"Hn! Too late Slug Princess." The Raikage snorted, causing a confused frown to appear on Tsunade's facial features.

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked, confused.

"Naruto is already betrothed to Nii Yugito, Uzumaki Amaru, and Yotsuki Karui. From what I understand, he has already found a fourth candidate whose name will not be disclosed." Ay replied, referring to Uzumaki Karin, as that was the only logical conclusion of their relationship in order to rebuild the Uzumaki clan.

"Yes, this isn't the first time this has been mentioned to me, I just didn't believe it. You bastard, did you force him into this?" Tsunade asked incredulously.

"I would have if he had given me the chance, but I didn't have to. He made all the arrangements himself, all I had to do was approve the offers." Ay retorted with a triumphant smirk, Tsunade being forced to accept the reality that she no longer had any idea just who Naruto was anymore, that is to say, if she ever even did.

'We've truly lost him haven't we? This is….this is so frustrating! How could that boy I met at a tavern in Tanzuki Town have turned into a traitor? This must be some kind of sick joke.' Tsunade thought in despair, though she absolutely could not afford to wallow in it as she would have done in the past because she now had an entire ninja village that was depending on her.

"If that is the case, then there really is nothing else to be said. Neither Kakashi with his sharingan or Neji with his Byakugan were able to find any signs of mind control or genjutsu on Naruto, or even signs of him being under the influence of the Nine Tails Demon Fox. It looks like he really has taken to Kumogakure for some reason, though I am curious about how it is he got here in the first place?" Tsunade asked suspiciously.

"None of that matters, Hokage! The fact is that he is here and there is nothing you can do about it. Make peace with it, or don't, and find out how far Naruto is willing to go to protect his loved ones, by loved ones meaning Kumogakure, naturally." Ay retorted.

"There won't be any of that. I'll make sure my people know to stay away from Kumogakure. However just to be clear, we expect you to continue stay away from us and the nations under our protection. All bets are off if we discover that you are encroaching on our territory." Tsunade said with steel in her tone, Ay raising an eyebrow at what he considered to be a meaningless threat, after all, they had just proven that their elite shinobi are far superior to Konoha's, and the Hokage herself had just lost to a recent addition to the Kumo Elite.

"You do realise that you and your comrades are only alive because of the mercy that my shinobi have shown you don't you?" Ay asked incredulously.

"Duly noted, but now we know how you fight and know a little more about your techniques. Information is the ultimate power in the ninja world. If you think things will fall easily on your lap should you go to war with us then you have another thing coming." Tsunade said cockily, Ay wondering how on earth someone who recently got bodied by a fifteen year old could have so much confidence after such a humiliating defeat.

"Hn, don't make me laugh, Hokage. I've already done my stomach exercises for the day, I don't need another workout session." Ay retorted.

"Heh, well whatever, a bet is a bet so I'll be out of your hair in no time at all. Just give me and my men another night to recharge and we'll be gone first thing in the morning." Tsunade said, much to the surprise of her entourage as they thought she would want them to leave enemy territory as quickly as possible.

"Hn, do as you wish. But if you try anything dastardly…." Ay trailed off with a threatening undertone.

"You worry too much. We won't try anything stupid, pinky promise." Tsunade said as she extended her pinky finger for the Raikage, the Raikage looking at her like she had just grown a third eye on her forehead.

"Hmmm…." Ay grumbled as he shook pinkies with Tsunade, or at least tried to, his finger however so big that Tsunade was unable to wrap hers around it, an incident that just further cemented to everyone's mind what a freak of nature the Raikage actually was.

Later That Afternoon: Uzumaki Clan Compound

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the victories of Amaru-chan, Yakumo-chan, and Darui-senpei, and of course, to celebrate my now incontestable status as a Kumogakure shinobi." Naruto said, taking a small breathe before continuing with his speech.

"Amaru-chan, in your battle against the Godaime Hokage, you displayed complete mastery over the Reibi and you were able to match and surpass her super strength and super healing abilities. You are now officially the physically strongest woman in the world and arguably the best medical ninja in the world, at just the ripe age of fifteen years old. Today you have made both the Uzumaki clan and Kumogakure proud." Naruto said, a round of applause reverberating in the Uzumaki clan's dining hall, Amaru looking shy and bashful instead of her usually brash and confident, borderline cocky attitude.

"Ahem! Umm….thank you everyone. It was an honour to represent my clan and my village in this most important event. It was an even greater honour to have made my people proud and attained victory on your behalf. I shall continue to humbly conduct myself with discipline, hard work, passion, and diligence so that I can continue to make you all proud. Thank you." Amaru said before sitting back down again, another round of applause meeting her as she made herself comfortable again.

"And now Yakumo-chan. You have made the Kurama clan proud, and of course Kumogakure too. I have no doubt that your mom and dad are smiling down at you and watching over you with pride and joy for all that you have overcome to get to where you are today. You defeated, in single combat, the Legendary Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi of the sharingan. You went up against a Mangyekou Sharingan user with a powerful space-time ninjutsu and came out on top and without a single scratch on you. You didn't even have to use your greatest attribute, your reality warping genjutsu to do it either. You're a living miracle, and I am certain that I speak for everyone when I say that we are all so proud of you." Naruto said earnestly, tears of joy falling from Yakumo's eyes as she rose up to her feet.

"Look at this guy? Heaping all of this praise on me as if he isn't the sole reason I was able to get this far in life. Naruto-sama went back into enemy territory and sneaked into the village that hated him in order to rescue me. He then used his Uzumaki sealing jutsu and yin-yang release to destroy the demon possessing me and divide its life force into yin and yang energy."

"He finally proceeded to seal this yin energy into my eyes and the yang into my body, the effect being the awakening of my Ketseryugan and the complete healing and strengthening of my body and chakra, not to mention attaining the blood release bloodline limit. I am literally all that I am because of him. There was no way I wasn't going to repay that debt by defeating the people that wanted to take him away from his home. I love you Naruto-sama, and I love this new home that you have given to me. I will always treasure you and I will always protect you and our mighty and powerful ninja village." Yakumo said lovingly, everyone shocked by that declaration of love, none more so than Ranmaru, who was known to have a thing for Yakumo and also known to have wanted to start a new clan with her that would have the powers of both of their bloodline limits.

It took a while before everyone recovered from the the shock inducing speech, but once they did, there were loud cheers and a round of applause, though some of the members in the crowd did not appear to be as enthusiastic, namely, Naruto's betrothed, Amaru, Yugito, and Karui, Karui unhappy despite the fact that she hated the fact that she had been forced into this political marriage by the Raikage and took every opportunity to paint Naruto as a potential spy and traitor in order to wriggle out of the arrangement.

"That was a wonderful speech Yakumo-chan. And just for confirmation, the feeling is mutual. I love you too, with all my heart, and I would give my life for you without a second thought." Naruto replied matter of factly.

"If that is how you really feel then why didn't you include her in your list of concubines when you made those marriage offers to Lord Raikage?" C asked casually.

"There is no list of concubines, C-senpei. They are wives. Clan restoration law allows for five wives. After that, if you want to take more women, the rest are classified as concubines." Naruto chastised his senior.

"Thank you for that clarification, Naruto-taicho, but that still does not answer the question." C retorted.

"I didn't want to abuse my position, C-senpei. I didn't want Yakumo-chan to become my wife because she felt she owed me for rescuing her from Konoha and the clutches of the Ido Demon. I wanted her to have a chance to fall in love with whomever she wanted and to rebuild the Kurama clan if she wanted to instead of being automatically absorbed into the Uzumaki clan." Naruto replied, showing that he had actually given the whole situation a lot of deep thought.

"Strange how you didn't have the same consideration for Amaru though." Karui retorted.

"Amaru-chan's case is different. She is my blood relative, an Uzumaki. Like me, she shoulders the responsibility of helping to rebuild the clan to its former glory. Neither of us have the luxury of choice when it comes to that, although I think it helps a lot that we genuinely love each other and are sexually attracted to each other." Naruto answered eloquently.

"That's a little too much information isn't it, Naruto-sama?" Yukimaru asked bashfully.

"I'm just trying to make sure everyone is on the same page. I don't want to allow rumours and assumptions to fester." Naruto deadpanned, Yukimaru nodding his head in understanding.

"Now, next on the list, Yotsuki Darui-senpei. Congratulations senpei. You single-handedly defeated one of the greatest Taijutsu masters in the elemental nations. I know some of you underestimated him, but as you saw, Gai-san is a real menace with those eight gates. Darui-senpei defeated the seventh gate without a single scratch, that means that Might Gai would have to use a suicidal technique, the eighth gate to stand a chance of defeating Darui-senpei. Our intense training has clearly paid off. We are at the very top of the shinobi world. I'm certain that our names will be etched into history and shinobi lore, and Darui-senpei's name will be at the very top of that list. You have done your village proud, senpei." Naruto said passionately, another round of applause and cheers reverberating around the dining hall as everyone celebrated the achievements of one of two Fifth Raikage candidates, the other one being Naruto himself.

"Heh, I was little surprised though. Despite your warnings about his power, I didn't expect him to be able to defeat my lightning style: giant black panther technique. That technique has power and durability superior to that of a boss level summon. To have defeated that jutsu with a single move means that that afternoon tiger technique of his truly is something special." Darui said humbly.

"Indeed it is. All three opponents were special, but they were no match for Amaru-chan's ninja art: body activation technique, Yakumo-chan's blood release: flowing red scale technique, and your lightning release: black lightning series. The three of you are the epitome of shinobi prowess, and that goes for Ranmaru too, though he unfortunately was not afforded the opportunity to show case it. Nevertheless, that is a good thing, because it means that we were just that dominant that we didn't even need to have all four fights to decide the winner." Naruto retorted, everyone nodding their heads in agreement, including Ranmaru.

"We were that dominant, and that is a good thing. What isn't a good thing however, is becoming arrogant, lazy, and complacent because of it, for that will be the beginning of our fall from grace. It is important that we keep on training as hard as genin who harbour the desire to one day become elite jonin of the village. Humility is a key element in maintaining that hunger and desire." Yugito said sagely.

"I completely agree, it truly fills me with glee to know that we all strive to be the best that we can be and I know that one day I'll get to see you all be as strong as Killer Bee! Weee!" Killer Bee said, or rather rapped excitedly.

"What a nice flow and oh for sure! I couldn't agree more, humility to ensure that we stay at the top forever more. Konoha ain't messing with us no more because we'll put them on the floor, knock 'em out and make em snore, wakin up with muscles torn and body sore, make em cry like a kid at the candy store, we have no equals when it comes to war, blood and guts, guts and gore, tear em up like a bloody whore, don't mess with us because when we come we do it with a mighty roar!" Naruto roared, the guests going crazy at those bars, Killer Bee screaming "nooo!" with his hands on his head at the fact that Naruto managed to body him once again with his killer rhymes, vowing to get his revenge next time they have another one of their impromptu battles.

"Hehehehe! Okay okay let's settle down everyone. I just got word from my shadow clone that the Icharaku's are done with the food preparations. I'm sure you're all famished after today's activities. Let's brace ourselves for this heavenly buffet." Naruto said enthusiastically, internally thanking the heavens for the Icharaku family, not just because of the food they provided for the Uzumaki clan but also for basically saving his life and his soul when he was just a miserable and lonely kid.

To pay them back for all they had done, he had decided to make them a vassal to the Uzumaki clan. They and their children, and their children's children, would own land within the Uzumaki compound where they could live a safe and luxurious life, for as long as they loyally served the culinary needs of the entire Uzumaki clan. That was their role, to provide food and nourishment for the clan.

To that end, Naruto had paid for them to attend a school for the culinary arts and also to study to become certified nutritionists so that they could provide a diet that was healthy for shinobi life whilst also tasting very good of course. All of their children and children's children would undergo the same education so that they can fulfil their duties as vassals of the clan.

Naruto also intended for them to go to farming school so that they could plant and graze their own food for the clan and maybe even for the entire village. Eventually, they would become an important source of income and influence for the Uzumaki clan. Of course, the Uzumaki clan itself would have its own specialties as Naruto himself was the lead scientist and lead seals and barriers expert in the village. Amaru was the lead medical and research expert in the village, and he was sure that Karin, when she eventually comes around – if she eventually came around, would help to grow and maintain both divisions.

End Chapter

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

I have realised that while story progression is ongoing, character development has been lacking.

I will try and balance it out in the next few chapters and delve into Naruto himself and the other characters in the story.

I made sure to answer all the reviews before posting because I realize that if I post a new chapter before answering reviews, I'll never catch up and and will eventually stop answering altogether.

To prevent that, the control I have implemented is that even after typing the next chapter, I won't post it until I have answered the previous reviews.

Anyway, take care everyone and thanks again for the support.