Chapter 66: Synergy
Living a long life as a Shinobi, one experienced many unexpected things and with time, came to almost predict them. There were however exceptions to that rule and this… Was one of those.
Laying in the hospital bed in front of her, wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages with a drip attached to her arm was Konan. The once powerful Kunoichi looked almost frail… Although that was to be expected when taking one of Nagato's city destroying Shinra Tensei's point blank.
Her ability to turn into paper had truly played a large part in her survival. If not for it, she'd have likely been little more than a smear on the ground.
It had been a bit touch and go at first, but thanks to the new medical techniques that they'd managed to reverse engineer from Shinnō, Tsunade was confident that Konan would make a full recovery.
That however didn't mean that she would be free to go. She was still an extremely skilled and deadly Kunoichi who was technically a member of the Akatsuki after all. While Nagato might have been abducted by Obito, that didn't mean they were on the same side.
She was being kept sedated… At least for now. She'd wake her up tomorrow and see what information she could get out of her. Assuming that Konan cooperated, she might not even need to bring in Inoichi.
Hearing the door creek open behind her, Tsunade let out a short hum. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Eh, my wounds weren't so severe," Jiraiya answered as he entered the room, stopping at the side of Konan's bed. "How is she?"
"She'll live," Tsunade shrugged. "Unlike you if you don't take care of your body. My medical knowledge may have improved, but if you get yourself killed in battle, well… There's no coming back from that."
Remaining silent, Jiraiya reached down and gently patted Konan's head. "The last time I saw Konan, it was with Nagato and Yahiko." Pulling his hand back, he sighed tiredly. "They were all so young and full of hope back then. It makes me wonder if things could have been better if I'd done things differently."
"Nothing good will come from that line of thought. Trust me on this one, Jiraiya," Tsunade replied. "The only thing you'll gain from it is heartache and misery. You can't change the past, but you can affect the present."
"I suppose you're right," Jiraiya hummed softly. "Seeing some of my old students and what they've become has me feeling nostalgic… It beats having to deal with how badly I screw-up."
Raising an eyebrow, Tsunade exhaled. "You might as well spit it out what's bothering you."
"There's nothing much to say," Jiraiya replied. "Naruto had him… He was this close to putting an end to the Akatsuki, but because of my insistence of seeing it through to the end, he was unable to stop Obito." He chuckled mirthlessly. "I got in the way."
"So that's what this is about," Tsunade mused. "Naruto told me what happened. Even if you hadn't been there, Obito would have tried something else in order to stall Naruto. He'd only need to keep him busy for a brief moment after all."
"We were so close though," Jiraiya sighed. "It makes me wonder what comes next… After the Akatsuki is dealt with, Obito is dead and the nations are at peace, what will there be left for someone like me to do?"
"Travel the world, visit hot springs, write more of your pervy books," Tsunade shrugged. "Find someone and settle down with them and start a family if that's your thing… I seem to recall you once mentioning in your letters that you met a Kunoichi that caught your eye. She came from some minor village… The Nakadashi village?"
Jiraiya choked at that. Coughing, he stared at Tsunade in disbelief. "It's the Nadeshiko village."
"I think my name suits them better," Tsunade replied. "They do have a reputation for finding strong men and abducting them so that they can have their way with them, hence Nakadashi village. It's a wonder that they've never managed to catch you."
"They've tried… Believe me, they've tried and on more than one occasion too," Jiraiya laughed boisterously. "But they were never good enough to keep me pinned for too long. Let me tell you about this one time when…"
Tsunade nodded as she listened to Jiraiya's long winded-story about how he managed to escape the Nadeshiko Kunoichi. It was almost funny to think that, once upon a time she'd have punched him for being forced to listen to his story. She supposed that's just what happened when you were friends with someone for nearly forty years now.
A cheerful, light hearted and slightly perverted Jiraiya was far more preferable than when he was depressed. If that meant that she would have to listen to a few of his escapades then… What were friends for?
Holding up her hand, she stopped Jiraiya's story. "Wait, repeat that last part."
"Oh, I said that I made a deal with the head Kunoichi that, since we came to a stalemate, our students would fight instead," Jiraiya explained. "Nothing ever came from it, so she must have forgotten… Or she just never took on a student."
That seemed highly unlikely due to the small number of Kunoichi that lived in the Nadeshiko village. If one of them came looking to try and abduct Naruto, well, she'd just have to explain why that's a really bad idea… Assuming that they weren't a stain on the floor.
Lightly grasping my Shakujō, I closed my eyes and focused my senses through it, feeling how the various elements swirled together. Splitting my focus, I began to channel two different Chakra natures through my staff.
The Truth Seeking Orb was truly something special. It had a wide range of abilities, from negating all elemental techniques that didn't have Six Paths or Senjutsu Chakra to being able to detonate in an explosion that rivaled that of a Bijuudama… Hell, you could even use it to heal yourself. Even the Tsuchikage's bloodline would be useless when pitted against a Truth Seeking Orb.
The only limit to what they could do was the users' imagination and while I only had one Truth Seeking Orb, I had more than a few ideas on how to push it to its limits.
The only issue was that the massive amount of Chakra I was using would be more than enough to set every sensor off in Konoha, but that was solved easily enough by using Mokuton to create a large training hall that helped dampen my Chakra signature.
While inside, I would be able to use Kurama's Chakra cloak without having to worry about people on the other side of the world sensing me.
"Just a little more," I muttered under my breath.
"That should be enough for now. Try releasing it."
Feeling that I was beginning to lose control of the Chakra flowing through my Shakujō, I opened my eyes and slammed the base into the wooden floor below, releasing the Chakra I'd been building up.
The ground took on a white sheen as ice began to spread from beneath my Shakujō. Releasing more of my Chakra, large frozen spikes jutted from the ground and stabbed into the ceiling. Straining against the Chakra enhanced roof, they ultimately failed to break through.
Feeling the impromptu technique begin to die down, I inspected my Shakujō for any sign of damage. Seeing none, I nodded. It seemed that using it as a catalyst in order to access the other elements didn't have any adverse effects.
While I knew that it was ultra durable and nothing short of a Susanoo would be capable of breaking it, I was still cautious to take care of my lone Truth Seeking Orb. It was one of my biggest advantages and I didn't want to risk losing it.
"Well… I can apparently use Ice Style now," I hummed, inspecting the pillars of ice that connected to the ceiling. Tapping it with my staff, I took a step back when it began to crack ominously. "What other element should we try? Lava? Boil?"
"I think it would be better if you focused on one or two at first before moving on to the rest," Kurama replied. "You only have one Truth Seeking Orb. Unlike when you learnt the five basic elements, Shadow Clones won't help you here. It's better to master one thing first than to overextend yourself trying to learn everything."
I suppose that's true enough. I did have a tendency to go overboard with training, but now that Obito abducted Nagato, I couldn't afford to waste time. I was confident that I could take him in a fight, even if he implanted the Rinnegan, but it wouldn't hurt to stack the deck in my favor.
Besides, once my Six Paths Chakra finished maturing, I'd gain a far greater understanding of Chakra and know how to use the sub elements nearly perfectly. The only question was if that would happen before or after Obito made his move. Either was fine, I still had a few cards left to play.
"Then what element do you think I should learn first?"
"You already know the five basic elements and can use Mokuton," Kurama noted. "Try something that is fairly simple in application, but devastating in effect."
Something simple and devastating… I could work with that.
Taking a moment to gather my Chakra, I immediately began the process of altering its nature while at the same time funneling it into my Shakujō. Now that I'd done it before, it went significantly quicker. Compacting my Chakra at the base of my staff, steam began to emanate from it.
Feeling that I'd concentrated as much Chakra as I could, I lowered my Shakujō, taking care to not lose control of my Chakra. If I'd done this right, it should work a lot like one of Tsunade's punches, albeit, stronger and much more volatile. I just needed to focu…
"Naruto!" Anko slapped me on the back.
"Shit!"
Jabbing my Shakujō into the wooden floor, I lost focus for a single instant. A concentrated blast of steam shot out from the bottom of my staff, melting a good portion of the ice as it tore straight through the Chakra enhanced wood.
Covered with water in a hall filled with half melted ice and steam, I turned towards Anko who had a sheepish look on her face.
"Ehehe, whoops," Anko chuckled. "I saw you were doing something, but I didn't think it'd react so violently if I interrupted you."
"Anko," I said ominously. Kicking the icy water, I smirked when Anko let out an indignant squawk as it splashed her. "We're even."
"Great," Anko muttered, brushing the ice off her shoulder.
"So, what brings you here?" I asked. "We have another mission?"
"Nah, I just thought I'd come check on you. It's been a few days since I last saw you," Anko replied. "What do you say? You think you could spare a little time to hang out with little ol' me?
Well… I did still need to work on using the sub elements and I did need to practice using my Shakujō. There were also a ton of other things that I needed to do, like talking to Konan and informing Mei that Utakata was being examined in Konoha's hospital for the time being. There was also…
"Just go with her," Kurama sighed. "You've been spending so much time fixating on bringing peace and stopping the Akatsuki that you've been neglecting your personal life."
'It isn't that bad, is it?'
"Not necessarily, but you could take a little time to relax," Kurama replied. "it's true that you've grown stronger. A lot is riding on your shoulders, but that doesn't mean that you need to do everything on your own."
In hindsight, I had been a bit too focused on micromanaging everything.
"You realize that when you talk to the Kyuubi, you make faces, right?" Anko asked. "It's not the most obvious thing, but it is noticeable to me." She smirked, while placing her hands on her hips. "So, are you coming or not?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. Letting go of my Shakujō, it morphed back to its orb form and hovered behind my back. "Where're we going?"
"Just something I stumbled across the other day and found interesting," Anko replied, her eyes following the orb that was levitating behind me. "It seems like you've got something new to play with… I wonder what it can do," She hummed, reaching out towards it.
"You might not want to touch it without being in Sage mode," I said, grabbing her wrist. "Actually, it might still be dangerous even if you were in sage mode. This thing doesn't exactly react well with everyone else."
"So what you're saying is," Anko began, an amused smirk on her face. "I can't play with your balls? You don't just have the one, do you?"
Hearing Kurama laugh, I sighed... My eyebrow twitching. "No… You can't," I replied. Depending on which she was referring, it was the difference of her hand disintegrating and getting the mother of all asskickings from Tsunade. "So, where exactly are we heading?"
"Just follow me," Anko said, leading me out of the hall, before she leapt off into the forest.
Landing on a tree branch beside Anko, I stared down at an empty training ground. Judging by the look on Anko's face, this seemed to be the right place. "Is something supposed to happen now or…" I trailed off.
"Give it a minute," Anko replied. "It's almost noon, so they should be back soon."
So we were waiting for someone then. Extending my senses, I found a group of Six Shinobi heading this way. Three of them were moving significantly faster while the other three were sluggish at best. The Chakra signatures were familiar, but I couldn't place them.
It didn't take long for the first three to arrive with a green blur being at the head of the group. Raising an eyebrow, I turned towards Anko. "Gai's students? That's what you wanted to show me?"
"Not just them," Anko said, pointing toward Team 10 that sluggishly made their way into the training ground. "Huh… That's odd. Gai and Asuma are normally with them… I guess they must be busy."
"Asuma?" I asked. Gai I could understand, he's generally always with his students, helping them train. Asuma on the other hand… From what I'd seen, he liked to take a hands off approach.
"Yeah, he's been training like mad lately," Anko replied."Not exactly sure why."
That was a bit of a surprising change in attitude for Asuma, but now that I thought about it, it was expected. I didn't really interact with him much, so I wouldn't notice any change in personality, but Obito's attack on the Fire Temple must have had a bigger effect on him than he let on.
Now that there were actual stakes, he threw away his excuses for being an average Shinobi and threw himself into his training. It's a pity that he was only doing this now, if he'd started training properly a few years back, who knows how strong he would have been by now.
Team 10 on the other hand… I recalled pointing them towards Gai's team when they asked for training and it seems they went ahead and asked them… It was actually a little impressive that they were still sticking to it instead of brushing it off to laze around. I didn't think they had it in them.
"Oh well, we may as well go then," Anko hummed. "There's n…" Pausing, she snatched a Kunai out of the air. "Huh."
"I know you're there," Neji announced, not bothering to look in our direction. "Come on out or I'll force you out."
Glancing at Anko, I shrugged. "May as well."
It wasn't exactly like we were hiding after all. Jumping down into the clearing, I landed in front of the group with Anko following shortly behind.
"Naruto?" Lee glanced towards Anko and rubbed his chin. "And you're… The proctor lady from our first Chunin exams. What are you two doing here?"
"Nothing much, eyebrows," Anko replied. "We just came to see if your Sensei's were around."
"I see. Unfortunately Gai-Sensei is currently on a mission," Lee explained, before looking towards Team 10 who were sprawled out on the ground. "I do not know about Asuma-Sensei."
"Asuma-Sensei went to see Kurenai-Sensei," Ino added. "He should be back tomorrow. If you want, I can tell him that you were looking for him."
"Eh, that's not necessary," Anko said, waving her off.
Feeling a pulse of Chakra, I glanced towards Neji who had his Byakugan active and was staring intently at the ball hovering behind me. By the look on his face, he was having a hard time figuring out what it was.
Deciding to mess with him, I had the orb slightly alter its form. The unobserving eye wouldn't notice anything different, but the Byakugan… That was a different story.
"So, the three of you have been training with Gai's team," I said, looking towards Team 10 who had taken to sitting down.
"It's not like we had any other choice," Ino muttered. "This world keeps getting crazier. If we don't want to be dead weight the next time something happens, then we're gonna have to be stronger."
I'd give her that. Things had gotten progressively more chaotic. I was still a little impressed that the laziest team was sticking to their training. Gai's training wasn't for everyone. Speaking of… Gai's team looked completely unfazed from their training.
"Maybe I can help you guys out a little," I muttered. Forming a single Shadow Clone, it suddenly disappeared, only to reappear a second later, holding a large set of aging dumbbells. Taking them from my clone, I dispelled it and held one out to Lee. "Why don't you try this weight out?"
"Very well," Lee replied. Taking the weight, he was forced to step forward and brace himself. "Oh, this is a very nice weight. I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy. Where did you get it, Naruto?" He asked, putting visible effort into lifting the weight.
"From Kumo," I answered. "They're the Raikage's brother's weights, but he doesn't mind if I borrow them occasionally." The only weights I'd ever seen Bee use was the heaviest set and even then it wasn't that often. So long as I returned the weights, there wouldn't be any issues.
"The Raikage's brother?" Tenten asked, looking worried.
Lee froze and looked over to Neji only to see that he wasn't paying attention. "We are allied with Kumo," He noted. "What do you think, Neji?"
Blinking, Neji glanced at the weights before shrugging. "I really don't care," He muttered, before turning his attention back towards my Truth Seeking Orb. "Naruto, what is that thing that's floating behind you?"
"This?" I asked, shifting the orb into its Shakujō form. "It's just a new technique that I've gained access to."
Neji's eye twitched violently as he took in the orbs new form. "Yes, but what is it made of?"
"All five basic elements, Yin Yang Style Chakra and a little bit of Senjutsu," I said honestly knowing that he wouldn't believe me. "It's a technique that the Sage of Six Paths once used."
Eyeing the staff one more time, Neji deactivated his Byakugan. "I'll figure it out eventually."
Maybe… Maybe not. All I knew was that I was really enjoying messing with him. Seeing how hard Team 10 trained in order to catch up, it was a good reminder that I wasn't in this alone.
Standing in a cavernous room hidden deep within the Mountain's Graveyard, Black Zetsu stared down at Nagato's emaciated form. His wounds and Chakra exhaustion would have killed a lesser man, but not Nagato.
The Uzumaki clan were stubborn like that. They could be an inch from death and yet they still clung to life with everything that they had, surviving just long enough to kill the person who wounded them. He'd seen it happen before. It was fairly impressive… At least, until you yourself were the target of their ire, then it was a problem.
As it stood, the longer they left Nagato alive, the more at risk they were of him waking up and taking out his anger on them. He wasn't exactly that big of a threat due to his condition, but he could cause quite a bit of damage to their hideout… Possibly even attract unwanted attention.
Keeping him from waking up wasn't too much of a problem in the short run. Nagato had one last purpose left to fulfill. After that, well… He wouldn't survive for much longer. There was however one problem.
Obito.
He'd been useful in taking charge once Madara's time ran out and had helped set the stage, but he'd also squandered his resources due to a petty grudge against an entire village and failed to capitalize on an advantage when he'd gotten the Yondaime Hokage.
While he was still a powerful Shinobi, especially with his Mangekyou Sharingan, his usefulness had hit an all time low. At this point, he was more useful as a pawn than a king. Unfortunately, Obito wasn't one to hand over power so easily.
"While you might have a greater affinity for the Rinnegan due to your being an Uchiha, you lack the physical portion of the Sage… Senju Hashirama's cells. You won't be able to use it properly. "
"Tobi..."
"Is only a suit that you wear in order to stave off the degradation of your Mangekyou," Black Zetsu growled. "He might work for your Sharingan, but not the Rinnegan. There is another option."
"No… Not yet," Obito corrected himself. "Madara should only be brought back as a last resort. Now that we have the Rinnegan, more than a few paths have been opened to us. If I need Hashirama's cells, then I'll implant them once more."
"It won't be enough," Black Zetsu muttered. "The Kyuubi brat has managed to awaken a form of the 6 Paths on his own. That Shakujō is reminiscent of the one the Sage of Six Paths was rumored to wield. Even if you were able to use the Rinnegan efficiently, the odds would still be against you."
"Naruto, huh," Obito noted, clenching his fist tightly. "I might have a few ideas that could help even the playing field. The Rinnegan however will be necessary." He lightly tapped one of the black receivers that was embedded in Nagato's body. "And so will one of these."
There was no dissuading him.
"We can transplant the Rinnegan tomorrow. Firstly, I'll need to see if my body can still host Hashirama's cells."
"I'll send up a few White Zetsu's. You can inject your blood into them and see if anything happens. Depending on the results, you'll know if implanting more of Hashirama's flesh is a wise thing to do."
Not waiting for a response, he sank into the ground, leaving the chamber with Obito behind. Signaling a few of the other White Zetsu's, he continued sinking deeper, before finally slipping out of the ground on the staircase near the massive lotus flower that housed the Hashirama clone and Sora.
Walking towards the duo, he extended arm and attached it to Sora. Draining a larger portion of the Kyuubi's Chakra, he released the young monk and sunk into the ground once more. This time, however, he came to a stop in a small, dimly lit chamber with a simple wooden coffin resting to the side.
"Are you sure we should be doing this? Obito seems to know what he's doing," The White Zetsu clone he was attached to asked.
"If he succeeds, then this will have been unnecessary. If he fails, however… It pays to have a backup plan."
He'd worked far too hard to see everything fall to pieces right at the end.
Opening the coffin, Madara's well preserved, if slightly withered body was revealed for the first time in two decades. Detaching from his host, Black Zetsu attached himself to the corpse and began cycling the Kyuubi's potent Chakra through it. Revitalizing the legendary Uchiha's aged body.
It wouldn't bring him back to life, but, when it finally came time to resurrect him, he would be in his prime and nothing would stand in their way.
And that's chapter 66 done.
Bit of a calmer chapter. Some friendly bonding between Tsunade and Jiraiya. Naruto tries out some new things with his Shakujo and is ambushed by Anko. Team Gai and Team 10 do some training together and Asuma's ass is now in gear. As for Zetsu... He's got his own trump card in the works for Obito's next failure.
Slowly, but surely, we're approaching the end. As such, I'm starting to look at what story I'll be writing next once this one is done. There's a bit more information on my P word account and I do have a poll running there for members, so I guess we'll see. It's between Harry Potter, the MCU, Avatar and another Naruto story.
Anyways, I'm up to chapter 73 on the spooky P word website.
P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.
Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.
The next chapter will be posted on the 4th of February.
See you all then, dudes and dudettes.