《Mob without system in Naruto world》 Prologue – never drink with russians Have you heard of the multiverse theory? It is said, that there is an infinite number of universes, and every one of them manifests itself in a shape of a mixture of every possible outcome C which means there may be a universe where swords and magic exist or a universe where the roman empire did not fall. My next question is: have you ever heard of a country called Russia? You may wonder how these questions relate to each other, so let me tell you what happened to me and how I am in a situation right now which cant be explained by logic. I am a university student, who went to study abroad in Russia. What my nationality was, is not important, because first of all, I am no longer in this world, and secondly, because there are more important things to know about me: for example, I was a true meme lord C I always had the right memes for every situation and considered myself intellectually above the mere human. Either way because of my supreme humor and suicide jokes I got easily along with the locals in Russia. So yesterday an acquaintance there called Igor, texted me that I should come over to him since he made some homemade vodka. I am not really someone who drinks a lot, but I thought since I am here in Russia I should definitely try some homemade stuff. Little did I know that fuckin Igor brewed something which literally wasted me so hard, that I woke up in a different world C or rather reincarnated. I do not know how and why, but my memories suddenly returned to me when I was 3 years old, and to my shock, I recognized that this was not earth but still a world I knew: yes, it was the world of Naruto... Even though I really enjoyed Naruto when I was a kid, and read some bad Chinese fanfics, truth to be told I am not happy to be isekaid here, the reason being that I am some nameless mob and secondly: WHERE IS MY CHEAT SYSTEM???? Chapter 1: Eiji Nakamura After the initial shock from the realization of my incarnation, I calmed down and observed my situation. First of all my name is Eiji Nakamura - a normal-sounding japanese name - which I am quite happy about since there exist strange names in this world which can only be described as child abuse like for example Boruto or naming a girl after a muscular sword-wielding barbarian. HOWEVER, what I am not happy about is, is that I and my family are complete mob characters - you may ask why I am so certain of this... Well, I don''t remember having seen any Nakamuras in the anime and my parents aren''t even Jonin. THEY ARE ONLY CHUNIN EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE ALREADY IN THEIR THIRTIES!!!! That is not even the saddest part...they were only promoted recently to Chunin because they somehow survived the rampage of the Nine-Tails in the village. They really didn''t do anything other than standing on standby and watching over the Barrier which protected all the children myself included. I guess the promotion was to the fact, that my mother just gave 2 weeks prior birth to me and she wasn''t in her peak condition to fight but still choose to - but honestly, I doubt that it would really make a difference performance-wise. They are that kind of shinobi that can only use some basic ninjutsu like the transformation technique and throw some kunai. To be fair, they aren''t part of any shinobi family, so they don''t have any special ninjutsu....but still... Anyway, my father''s name is Satoshi and my mother''s is Kimiko. Apparently, they both come from non-shinobi families. My father didn''t want to inherit his family business and instead wanted to become a shinobi. If I had to describe him, the term complete braindead would fit him best. When I asked him why he wanted to become a shinobi instead of inheriting the business he said: "Son, in this world u can''t have a harem if you are only a tanner. The only way to assemble a harem is to become a great shinobi!! I failed at my dream, but I am confident that you will carry it on and assemble a harem of...huh?....Darling, what do you intend to do with this pan?" My mother chose to become a kunoichi to support her family financially. Even though she is also weak, at least she isn''t brain-dead like my father and is overall a pretty serious and strict person. It looks like I inherited appearance-wise much more from her side: black hair and a grumpy looking face. So anyway, I am now 5 years old, and normally when you regain your memories from a past life you should be careful to not act differently, right? To tell the truth...I kinda forgot to pay attention to it....but I don''t know how but things somehow worked out and my parent''s behavior towards me is still the same. Satoshis POV 5 years ago, roughly the time the fox spirit attacked the village, my son was born. By the way, many people in the village would curse when they think about this day, but for me, it was a lucky day! I just stood there doing nothing, while others fought at the front-lines, and when this whole thing ended I was suddenly promoted to Chunin?! Well anyway, at first I and my wife were really worried; Eiji, our son, was a bit slow and not considered very smart...he was one of the kids who would eat glue if you didn''t pay attention to him for even a second. Because I was worried I went to a shop which sells pills for shinobis. When I told the old granny there, if she had any pills for brain power, she gave me a special one and told me, that it should be only used in emergencies on the battlefield because it has tremendous side effects. I always knew I was smart, but giving a stupid child brain enhancement pills was one of my best ideas I ever had! I wonder why no one had the idea before me? I should definitely publish this idea. Anyway, when I came back I instantly gave him the pill, that is when my wife Kimiko came home. She asked me what I was doing, and when I explained to her my brilliant plan....well I only remember her face which looked like she wants to kill me - hey there is no reason to be that jealous that I was the one who came up with this smart idea. Weirdly enough I passed out after that, and when I woke up I had fist-prints all over my face, life is truly mysterious at times. Well sometimes later Kimiko came home with our son, apparently, they were at the hospital - huh? did my son have the flu or something? After that, he behaved a bit weird but since he doesn''t eat glue anymore everything is should be fine - only that Kimiko is still upset even now. Is she still jealous of my genius idea? CrusadeAgainstFurries Btw when I browsed the naruto wiki to refresh some things for the story I found this egghead which I needed to share https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/4/49/Academy_Students.png/revision/latest?cb=20150214121415 Chapter 2: choice of a mob You are always staying in your room they said... Go to the park and make some friends they said... Now I''m here at the park sitting on a bench and watching other children. "I have no idea" How the hell do shitty brats make friends with each other??? Hmmm....in my university days you just had to offer some free beer so maybe...no better not. WAIT!!! Why do I even think about shitty brats! The world of Naruto is a dangerous place to live!!! Let''s get my mind back to a more important topic. Since I regained my memories I have come up with some options: Option 1: living a quiet life as a non-shinobi...even in the unlikely scenario where I miraculously survive till the end of Naruto, what would only await me would be the era of Boruto - where damn aliens invade the planet day and night!!! Option 2: Obtaining somehow a Sharingan or a tailed beast....nah - if I wanted to commit suicide might as well do it less painfully. Option 3: Get strong enough to be able to travel the world and then just hide in some unimportant place... Yeah, option 3 is probably the best. So then the next question would be how strong would be good enough? I should be at least strong enough to be able to deal with multiple small fries right? So I guess around Jonin level? Ok, that seems achievable even for a mob like me. So next would be how can I achieve this? If I just follow the normal shinobi career path with going to the academy and then just doing missions, I would just end up like my parents who only know how to throw some kunai around. So to be Jonin level I would need some real ninjutsu, I think when you are a Chunin you can learn some elemental ninjutsu from scrolls which you can borrow....wait what the hell are my parents even doing? If they learned some I could ask them to train me...but I guess they are just glad that they aren''t Genin anymore. They really have no ambition at all...well my Dad has an ambition but let''s not talk about that. Anyways so that means I just have to advance to Chunin, learn some decent ninjutsu, and then defect. I would be considered a wanted rouge ninja and would be in the Bingo Book, but it is still better than being forced to fight a rampaging Madara. Graduating from the academy should be easy since I know which jutsu is tested as the graduation exam. Yeah that will be as easy for me as stealing candy from children hehehehe I also know the content of the Chunin Exams where Naruto and the rest will be participating. That won''t be as easy though. First of all, I need to make sure that my assigned Jonin will allow me to participate in this particular exams. Furthermore, I need to impress the staff there, so I can be promoted like Shikamaru. But this will be really hard, considering how stupidly strong some of this generation will be - I legit will be competing against monsters. But the problem is, is that if I don''t participate in this particular exam, I''m not confident at all that I will be able to pass future Chunin Exams without abusing my future knowledge!!! Just look at the dumb first test!! How is a normal person supposed to know that you have to cheat!!! So then the only thing I can do is to make sure that I will be strong enough till then. Yeah...asking my parents to train me will be a waste of time so let''s just look somewhere else. Well, somehow it was fruitful going outside to think things through so let''s head back home... But why do I have the feeling that I forgot something? "Oh welcome home Eiji, were you able to make some friends?" Oh right... "Yeah I''m now in friendship with nature and decided to live in the woods, I just came here to tell you" "..." "I''m just joking. Anyway, what''s for dinner?" While walking inside I hear my mother muttering: "this damn pill made him weird..." I wonder what she is talking about? CrusadeAgainstFurries Hey, it is me the author. I wanted to say that I try to upload one chapter per day but it might not always work out. Btw does anyone know how to copy images into chapters? I tried to figure it out but it didn''t work... Chapter 3: ripping off children is to easy! So I have been thinking about how to get stronger. And the answer is that I need to know my chakra affinity first. All planning will be useless without! Like if I know I have lightning affinity, I can make a lightning armor and go super speed. Or for water, I could use water guns. With that in mind I went to my mum: "Jo, give me some cash" "Don''t jo me, speak normally. Besides what do you need the money for?" "I want to go to a ninja shop and buy something for training." My mum gave me a suspicious look. "Why did you suddenly decide to start training"? "Ehmm...because I have the fire of will in me and want to protect stuff...I guess" "It is the will of fire and that half-assed response wouldn''t even convince your idiotic father. But I don''t think it hurts to start training before attending the academy so here you go" She gave me 500 Ryo. "Anyways, come home before dinner" "Yeah mum" By the way, normally when you reincarnate you think that having new parents would be awkward. But since I have the same body and feelings before I regained my memories, I guess that the feeling of love for my parents kinda stuck with me. I don''t mind though, since having feelings of love is for the most part usually positive - make love not war! So I can live less dangerously! At a small shinobi-shop, a huge crowd of kids is making loud noises. "Hey, let''s trade our figures!" "You damn thief! I saw it first!" Even though it''s a shop that sells dangerous weapons, right now this shop also sold some shinobi action figures, which are really popular with the kids within Konoha. There a small girl with two Chinese-style buns was looking sadly at her opened the pack. "Uhhhh, I really wanted a Tsunade figure..." While the girl lamented her bad luck, a grumpy looking boy walked in. "Holy Jesus, why the hell are there so many brats there"? "What is a Jesus" the girl wondered and observed the weird boy. The boy seemingly ignored all the other children and walked straight to the shop counter. "Jo, I would like to purchase some Chakra Induction Paper" "Alright, how many would you like?" "Just one" "Okay that would be 2500 Ryo" "What the...why is it so expensive?" "Because it is made of a special tree which is grown and fed with chakra. The procedure is really troublesome, so that''s why it''s so expensive." "I can''t afford it...well that sucks...anyway have a nice day" "Wait, why don''t you buy a Konoha-Mystery-Hero instead? They are currently really popular with kids like yourself." "What the hell are those?" "Each pack contains a random hero from Konoha''s history, and each having a certain rarity-level." "Hmmm why tell hell not. My mum will be disappointed if I don''t buy anything...Alright, how much does one pack cost?" "100 Ryo" "Okay then I will buy one" "Would you like to choose a package yourself or just a random?" "Just a random" "Okay, here you go" After purchasing a pack, with an unenthusiastic face, the boy opened it up. "What''s this? Wait, is that Tsunade? Well, I don''t care, I wonder if you can get Madara out of one of these..." While the boy wanted to leave, he felt someone pull on his shoulder: "Uhhmm excuse me? Would you be willing to trade your Tsunade figure?" "WHAT THE FU..." When the boy turned around he had a shocked expression. Is that Tenten? I knew I would sooner or later run into a main character but it''s still freaking scary! What the hell is she even doing here?! "Ummm so?" ? I gave a smile "Sorry, can you repeat what you have said?" "I asked if you would be willing to trade your Tsunade figure..." "You want this figure? Is it a rare figure?" "It''s medium-upper rare. But I really want in...I tried many times but didn''t get even a single one..." "Hehehe...so you really want it, huh? Okay, I will sell it to you for 2500 Ryo." Tears started to form in her eyes: "....cant you sell it cheaper, please?" "Nope, and the longer you make me wait, the higher the price will be. Now I will sell it only for 2600" "WHAT?!" "2700" "WAIT...I...accept" - she said with tears and snot flowing down her face. "Hey stop making that face, or others might get the wrong idea. Anyways here is your figure so don''t cry." Even though she stopped crying she is glaring at me while she takes the figure: "I won''t forgive you, you evil..." I shrug my shoulders while thinking: well it''s only Tenten so who cares. Anyway, I now have enough money to buy a Chakra Induction Paper. The boy who wished for love and peace not long ago just shamelessly scammed a little girl... CrusadeAgainstFurries Hey, it''s me. Sorry for not uploading yesterday...wasn''t really satisfied with how the chapter I wrote yesterday turned out so I had to redo it. Chapter 4: bad feeling I have finally a Chakra Induction Paper! So now I can finally know my chakra affinity! ... Wait... I forgot that I don''t even know basic chakra manipulation, so I can''t send my chakra to the paper... ... Let''s ask my parents. They should be at least be able to use basic chakra manipulation since they can use beginner ninjutsu. While Eiji was outside shopping; at the Nakamura house, which was an inauspicious two-floor building you could find everywhere in Konoha, Kimiko and Satoshi had currently a discussion: "Don''t you think its unhealthy for a child his age to not have any friends?" -Kimiko "I mean he is kinda mature for his age, so won''t it be hard for him to get along with children of his age group?" -Satoshi "Huh, even you can say something smart sometimes..." "Come one, why do you have to be so mean...anyway isn''t it fine since he will have enough time in the future to assemble his hare - er I mean friends?" "I will just ignore what you tried to say. Anyway even if he is more mature than other children, it will be psychologically detrimental in the future if he can''t have decent childhood experiences. A friend of mine has a daughter only 1 year older than Eiji, so how about this: I and Eiji will visit them tomorrow?" "WAIT! If it''s a girl I need to make sure his first harem member is...hey darling why did you suddenly pick up the chair?" When I returned home, before I could ask for any training, my mother suddenly proclaimed that we will be visiting tomorrow a friend of heirs. Why is my dad lying on the floor unmovingly? And why do I have a bad feeling about tomorrow? I''m currently on my way with my mum to her friend''s house. "Why the hell do you even need to drag me along with you..." "Stop cursing. And I already said it yesterday, my friend has a daughter around your age. Since you don''t really interact with children your age that much, I decided it would be best to take you along with me." "I already know that, but what I don''t understand is, why do I need to play with some stinky brats when I could do something more productive"? "Do you mean by productive, lying in bed all day with dead fish eyes and complaining that survival is hard?" "Hey survival IS hard, and conserving energy is healthy..." "Well I won''t teach you about chakra if you don''t play with this "stinky brat" today, do you understand?" "Yeah yeah sure whatever, boss." "I really wonder where you learned such foul language...anyway we are almost there." While two parents greeted each other, someone shouted suddenly. "Ahh, it''s the evil boy from yesterday!" ... Shit, now I know why I had a bad feeling about this. CrusadeAgainstFurries Hey, it''s me. This will be a shorter chapter because the cliffhanger opportunity was just too big, hehehe Chapter 5: the childhoodfriend of a mob can only be a mob too A woman who wore a Chinese-style dress asked: "Oh, you already know each other, Tenten"? "Hmph, I only know that he is a shameless scoundrel." "Hey, it was an honest deal. Didn''t I give you the figure you wanted?" "Taking advantage of a maiden''s heart makes you evil!!" "Well well, that''s enough for now you two. Why don''t we all go inside first? I have some new tea you haven''t tried, Kimiko." "Oh, I''m looking forward to it." ... Hey hey, I know Tenten had less screentime than Sakuras forehead but still...isn''t it too much to have her family be friends with a total mob family? Somehow I feel a bit bad for her... "Hey, if you apologize now I will forgive you." We are currently outside at a park not far from their home, since our mothers had the glorious idea to let us play outside while they enjoy some nice green tea. Hmmm, I also like tea...I was never a coffee person - the only coffee I drank occasionally was Irish-coffee... "STOP IGNORING ME!" Especially when it''s spring and it isn''t too hot for tea...green tea was my second favorite, while my first - "AHHHHH NOW I WON''T FORGIVE YOU!!!" She suddenly charged at me so I moved my body a bit. Well, that was a rather pitiful attempt. She fell with her face straight into the ground. Even totally wasted drunkards in my former life could fight better... "WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH..." And now she is crying... ... And it''s too loud to just ignore her. "Come one stop crying, my eardrums will explode." "WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH..." "Hey okay, okay, I am sorry. How about this, I will let you eat as much Dango as you want as an apology." "sniff...really?" "Yeah" At the Dango shop. "You know, I said I will let you eat as much as you want but I don''t have a huge amount of money with me right now..." "Humph...well it''s enough so I forgive you. Be glad that a future great kunoichi like me isn''t your enemy anymore." "A great kunoichi?" -I raise an eyebrow while future scenes of her flash in my mind. "Stop making a face like you aren''t convinced. I swear, I will become a legendary kunoichi like Tsunade!" Wow, I didn''t know that small Tenten would be saying so cheesy lines like a certain orange boy. "Tsunade? Was that the reason why you absolutely wanted that figure?" "Yes, she is proof that girls can be as strong as boys!" Isn''t the reason why there are so few legendary kunoichi not because of gender differences but rather because there was no female cheater with Uchiha or Senju blood? No way I will say it out loud - my mum sometimes doubts my sanity already. "Well considering your attack from earlier you still have a long way to go..." "...and here I thought for a moment that you are actually not evil." "It''s the truth though. If you charge at someone you should at least make sure that you can change the direction..." "Then teach me!" "Huh? Why should I?" "Because I will tell your mum that you bullied me if you don''t!" This little bitch... "Then I won''t pay for the Dango." "WHAT? YOU SAID YOU WILL PAY FOR ME!!!!" Fuck. Because she shouted, the shop owner is now looking. Now it will be hard to say that I need to use the bathroom and quietly disappear. Looks like it''s checkmate for me. "You know that I don''t know much about fighting either? So me teaching you, will be a waste of time..." "I don''t care. After making a maiden cry, you should do your utmost to make her happy." "Haaaahhh whatever arguing with you is pointless. So okay when do you want to start our training session?" "Tomorrow at 9 o clock." "Well, I don''t think I can decline so let''s go with that." Well looks like I got myself into a troublesome situation. Hmmm now that I think about it, not much is known about Tenten like for example her family name... "Hey by the way what''s your family name?" "Well...I won''t tell you" Why are you blushing? And why is it such a big secret? Damn, now I really want to find out! On the way home. "Jo mum, what''s their family name by the way?" "Don''t jo me. And if you won''t know why don''t you just ask Tenten? Since tomorrow you two will play together again, right? Oh, wait does it mean that you finally have your first friend?" "It''s training. And I don''t consider this stupid lass my friend." "Ohh you don''t have to be shy..." "Well anyway I asked her family name and she didn''t tell me." "If she didn''t tell you then I won''t tell you either, hehehe" - she said that with a mischievous smile. WHAT THE FUCK? WHY IS IT SUCH A HUGE SECRET??? CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for not posting any chapters these last days. Didn''t feel quite well. But on the bright side, I have much free time next week so I will do some days double chapters to make up for that. Chapter 6: Affinity After the visit, I pestered my mum to give me a crash-course on basic chakra-control like we agreed on. I thought it would take me longer, but the basic principles are pretty easy so I can now feel my chakra and concentrate it on specific locations albeit slowly and clunky. So now I''m at a park looking at the Chakra Induction Paper while a certain girl with two Chinese-style buns was running in circles. This is the moment that decides my future path. I grin while I''m imagining myself using water-guns, breathing out fireballs, or go ultra speed with thunder around my body. Honestly, I''m fine with every chakra affinity as long as it isn''t earth or wind. Wind is only useful If you have something like a Rasengan, and even though I know the basic principles of it, developing a budget Rasengan would be hard. Just look at Naruto. He used for a long time shadow clones to help him form those. So I don''t know how I can get strong fast with a wind affinity. And earth...yeah let''s not even mention it. So this is the moment. I slowly concentrate chakra into my left hand and then move it towards the paper on my hand. Please no wind or earth, please no wind or earth... The paper split in two... AHHHHHHHH Everything went black in front of my eyes. While Tenten ran laps, she recalled the conversation she had with Eiji when she stopped running a while ago. "Huff, huff...I ran now four laps, now teach me techniques or something!" "I already told you that I don''t know much about fighting either and that I cant teach you much. But if you want to get stronger the easiest and most straightforward way is to just get physically fit." "But I don''t feel like running will make me stronger..." "Well that''s because it doesn''t and I just wanted to see you suffer." "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH YOU EVIL!!!.." "Jo calm down it was just a joke. Anyway let me explain how it will make you stronger: First of all no matter how powerful your techniques are if you run out of steam then you are basically useless. Secondly, it enhances your brainpower. With constant stamina training, your body will be able to distribute oxygen more efficiently which is especially useful for the brain. When the brain has a larger amount of oxygen the benefits will be - well there are way too many to list them all." "You know what? Sometimes you don''t talk like a child..." "Well...anyway did my explanation convince you"? "I guess..." "Good then keep running" So she started running again. After a few more laps she felt like she was dying and stopped. "Huff, huff, Eiji huff, I''m done huff, I cant continue huff...Eiji?" After catching some breath she looked at Eiji. He looked like he was in a semi-unconscious state and kept repeating the same line "Existence is pain...everything is pain..." over and over again. Sometimes he is really odd - she thought. "Hey Eiji, wake up!" "Waking up is pain...existence is pain..." "Please stop, you are scaring me...if you don''t stop I will rub my snot on you!" "WHAT THE FU...hey what happened. Why did you threaten me with your snot?" He somehow managed to get up. "What happened? I should be the one asking you the question. I''m done with running and wanted to ask you what I should do next, but you were laying on the grass and murmured some creepy stuff." After hearing that, he looked at his left hand, and then his expression turned expressionless like some who had given up on life. "Oh right, it is wind...wind...I hope the wind will take me somewhere far off...wind..." "NO, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! DON''T FALL BACK INTO THIS CREEPY STATE!" "...yeah you are right. I must accept the reality that I''m a mob without cheats and have the worst kind of luck possible..." "What weird things are you saying again? Anyway, what should I do now after running?" "Hmm? Running? Oh, right let''s call it for today. Overexercising isn''t helpful. And I need to look for a rope anyway..." "A rope?" "Nothing... let''s meet here tomorrow at the same time?" "Alright..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Hey, it''s me. Do you guys know better ways to express breathlessness than huff? I couldn''t think of something better right now, but if I find something I will change it. On another note thanks for all the support, it really makes my day Chapter 7: new path After coming home I calmed down a bit and decided not to buy a rope. I have to get stronger to survive until Boruto era where the internet is developed! Then I can hide somewhere and enjoy the infinite possibilities of the internet, while I will let others deal with those damn aliens! Anyway, let''s think about wind chakra. The characteristics of it is to increase the sharpness of things like kunais for example. ... No, I won''t be a useless kunai-only-nin! What can I do other with it instead of buffing kunais...hmm... ... I have no idea. With the other chakra natures I wanted to use scientific principles from my last life to get instantly strong: like with lightning I could fire coins like a railgun, or with water, I could maximize the pressure for water guns or bombs...but for wind, I really don''t have anything I can think of... So then let''s try a different approach. Let''s think of ways without a chakra nature. So chakra in general basically just another form of energy. Even without ninjutsu just a huge amount of chakra alone can be devastating, just look at Lee and Guy when they open their gates, or Nature when he was buffed with Kurama''s chakra - he smashed Hakus''s ice mirrors just with his fists. I can''t get my hands on a tailed beast and even if I could I would be hunted by Akatsuki so it wouldn''t be worth it. So I need to think more into the direction of the eight gates. If I remember correctly the principle behind it is that normally you can only use a portion of your chakra to protect the body from overexertion. So If you open the gates you have more chakra but your body might not be able to handle that. But why can Naruto''s body handle so much extra chakra from Kurama? Hmm, maybe it''s because the eight gates also use the organs like letting the heart-rate go berserk so that your blood flow is extremely high? So the eight gates not only enables you to use the stored chakra but squeezes every drop of your body''s survival mode out? Does it mean if you could just use the stored chakra, your body would be uninjured? No, probably it''s rather the opposite: it''s because you let your body go into survival-mode that you can use the stored chakra. So that means I have to find ways to increase my chakra without something like the eight gates? But...do shinobis not have a natural chakra potential limit? And the limit normal shinobis have is not high enough to really enhance someone physically to be able to smash unmeltable ice mirrors with your fist. Hmm... ... WAIT!! If chakra is just another form of energy then the amount isn''t necessarily important but the quality of it! This means I could just accelerate the chakra through my body and then release it suddenly with a bang. "YES I''M A FUCKING GENIUS!!!" The door in my room slammed open. "Eiji, I don''t know what you are doing but be less loud. I could hear your yell in the whole house..." "...I''m sorry mum..." Anyway, I now know how to get stronger. Starting tomorrow I will train my chakra control and slowly start to accelerate it. CrusadeAgainstFurries Today a shorter and probably more boring chapter than usual, but I wanted the mc to have a logical thought process towards his realization. Anyway, starting tomorrow will be 2 chapters per day till Saturday. Chapter 8: The dangers of training "Hey, what are you doing?" "I''m training my chakra control." "Oh let me do it too, I already ran enough for today." "You know I''m pretty much a beginner when it comes to those things so I can''t really help you..." Tenten made a smug face: "Hehehe, then I will teach you, the great me can already use chakra." "Huh? Are you serious?" "Hehehe, let me show you..." She made a few hand seals and directed chakra into her palms. "This...is this supposed to be the healing technique of the medic-nins?" "Hehehe, yes. Did I surprise you?" Eiji looked at her palms: the chakra was completely chaotic, it was like disconnected blob pieces. Eiji murmured to himself: "Was there a thing where she tried to become a medic-nin before scrapping the idea and doing her weapon thing? Well to be honest I didn''t really pay attention to minor characters like her so I don''t know..." "Listen Tenten, this was a complete insult towards all medic-nins." "Wha..." - her eyes showed complete shock. "Why do you even try to become a medic-nin?" "B-Because I wanted to be like Tsunade..." "Just trying to copy others will most of the time backfire...borrow some kunais from your parents for tomorrow, you will scrap the idea of becoming a medic-nin, okay?" "NOOOOOO. AND I WON''T BE TRAINING ANYMORE WITH YOU!!!" She suddenly ran away. "Hmmm, maybe I was a bit too hard to her..." The next day. "Why are you here? Didn''t you say that you wouldn''t be training with me anymore?" "Humph, I just wanted to show you that you are wrong!" "Yes, yes, anyway did you bring some kunais?" "Yes I did, but why do you need them?" "Well, you will start to practice throwing kunais." "But I have never used them before..." "I also don''t know anything about throwing kunais, but we will figure things out somehow." "But I want to practice other things...why should I practice with kunais?" "Because every shinobi uses them and when we attend the academy we will have to learn it anyway, so why don''t just practice now so we don''t have to do it later?" "But what about you..." "I will practice later but I will show you how you should practice." "..." "Anyway, let''s start. As I said I don''t know much, but I guess the secret behind throwing things, in general, should be your posture. You see the tree over there? I will now try to hit it, so step aside so I don''t accidentally hit you." "But it''s pretty far...I think hitting it will be too hard..." Eiji ignored her and throw his kunai - it wasn''t even close. "Well as expected. Anyway now it''s your turn. After each failure, you try to change the posture to-" "Yay, I hit it." "..." A few months passed. Even though I told her that there is nothing more I can do to help her train, for some reason she still comes to the usual place where I train. It seems like she got the idea of becoming a medic-nin out of her head, sp she kept training with kunais and she even uses now shuriken as well. I have to admit that she really has a talent when it comes to weapons...she can even do now the Itachi-thing where she hits a kunai with another one to change the direction mid-air; she got on my nerves so I said told her that she shouldn''t be conceited if she can''t even to that...and then she succeeded. It''s only throwing weapons so who cares! And I''m not saying that because I''m envious - definitely not! Anyway, when it comes to my training, I observed a few things when it comes to chakra. First: it''s fairly easy to concentrate chakra on a few specific locations like the feet without hand seals. Concentrating chakra on other spots without is pretty tough. I asked my parents to teach me some easy hand seals, but I try to train without using them since I need to be able to direct chakra through my whole chakra system and not just to certain spots to be able to accelerate it. Secondly: I observed that chakra hasn''t a fixed speed. If you are angry or something your chakra flow is faster - but the speed difference isn''t really that huge. Thirdly: I mean I already knew this but experiencing the difference is still really cool. You can not only concentrate chakra on the feet or hands to enhance psychical prowess, you can also do it with your head to improve your mental prowess. Anyway, after the last few months, I made a breakthrough and now I can accelerate my chakra a bit in fixed spots like my hand. Controlling the acceleration is really hard, so I can''t really use it in a fight right now since I''m basically standing still to concentrate. But that''s not important. What''s important is that I feel a difference in the physical enhancement which proves my theory! Anyway now I want to test something else. I want to release the accelerated chakra with a bang. If I''m able to do that I could become a walking nuke muhahaha. I start to slowly concentrate my chakra into my fist, then move it in circles while slowly accelerating. After it is at a satisfying speed I release it... BOOM!! "AHHHHHHHHH SHIT MY HAND!!!" "EIJI!!!!" Chapter 9: What’s important When I opened my eyes I was confused. A white ceiling and rhythmic beep sounds. "Oh you are awake, let me get the doctor and your mother." Doctor? Does it mean I''m in a hospital? I remember now...I trained and wanted to test something out... Shit...if I''m in the hospital it means it''s pretty serious...my mum will kill me... "EIJI!!!" My mum stormed into the room with teary eyes and instantly hugged me. "I''m sorry Eiji...I should have observed your training...I''m sorry..." Fuck...I thought she will be furious...but if she behaves like that it makes me feel like shit... "Sorry mum...it''s my fault..." "I''m just glad that you are okay..." "Ahem, excuse me but since he is awake now I need to give the medical report." "Sorry, we are listening." "No, it''s okay. Anyway, his right hand was heavily damaged. We could fix it for the most part, but there are still complications that will stay. I''m sorry to say this but he will only be able to make crude movements; he won''t be able to use things like chopsticks or hand seals with his right hand. I''m telling you this because both of your parents are shinobis and you are probably thinking about becoming one too, but I advise you to pursue other career paths instead." So it was a pretty serious injury? That''s...I should have definitely been more careful and I shouldn''t have used my physical body to run experiments... After realizing what the doctor said my mum broke down into crying again while hugging me tighter. "I''m sorry...I''m sorry..." Honestly, It all feels kinda surreal so I don''t know if I''m supposed to cry as well... After the crying of my mum stopped she told me that dad is soon returning from a mission and that we will also visit me. It looks like she left in consideration of me and tried to hold back her tears. I murmured to myself: "It''s not like I cant become a shinobi with a crippled hand..." I fell asleep but I instantly woke up because I heard someone scream from the floor outside: "EIJI!!!!!! EVEN IF YOU CANT BECOME A SHINOBI YOU STILL CAN FORM A HARE - BUUAAHHH -" "YOU COME TO YOUR INJURED SON AND THE FIRST THING YOU SAY IS SOME NONSENSE??!!!" Suddenly it went quiet and then my mum opened the door with a smile to tell me: "Your father was delayed, so he will come to visit you a bit later, so you should sleep again." "...okay" "Hey Eiji, there is who wants to visit you." "Is it Dad?" "No, it''s your friend so I let her in, okay?" Tenten walks slowly into the room, not sure what to say. "I heard of the injury...but I don''t think it''s important...I think it''s more important that you are okay...so..." "Thanks..." "I know you wanted to be a shinobi but...I came to give you a gift...so please don''t be sad..." Tears start to form around her eyes while she said that. Eiji fought that she is really adorable right now. "A gift?" "Sniff, yeah here..." When Eiji saw that the gift was a Tsunade figure he recognized it, he suddenly broke out in laughter. He recalled the times he was with his idiotic dad, his mum, and Tenten. He thought to himself: I didn''t want to admit this but I had a lot of fun, right? "HAHAHAHA you are really....thank you but you can keep the figure since I don''t plan on giving up on becoming a shinobi. You should know that a genius like myself won''t be stopped by a small injury like that." While he said that, Eiji smiled wholeheartedly for the first time since regaining his memories. When Tenten saw that genuine and pure smile she blushed while keeping silent: "...." "Huh, what''s wrong?" "N-Nothing...anyway if that''s your answer I won''t lose to you!" Then she suddenly ran away. "Huh, I don''t remember her being a tsundere...no, I''m probably just imagining things..." CrusadeAgainstFurries I have never written an emotional scene before, so I don''t know how it turned out. Chapter 10: Annoying Staying in the hospital was pretty boring. If it were already Boruto-era I could play video games on a handheld to pass time. Still, I could use the time to think things through. First of all, not being able to use both hands to form signs is annoying...I didn''t intend to use hand signs at first since I counted on my acceleration technique to carry me but that ended - let''s just say trying to train that will make me the ultimate Deidara cosplayer... I could still learn to use hand signs with one hand like Haku, but that will take a huge amount of effort that''s why it is annoying. When it comes to my failed experiment, I can say that the problem was my control: Some chakra went out of my fist as I intended, or else my whole arm would have been probably blown into pieces, while some rest chakra stayed in the fist and it got released there. Controlling chakra isn''t already easy and if it''s accelerated controlling it is really just too hard... That means it has potential - BUT until I learn to control it fully I will probably be already on the other side just from training it. I was conceited, I really should treat my body more carefully... So after thinking I concluded that I should accelerate my chakra into objects instead, which will greatly reduce the risk to me. But what would be a good object to use? Well, I already thought of something... After I woke up I only stayed a few days more in the hospital. I got occasional visits from my mum and Tenten and even my dad. When my dad visited me he was pretty calm and civilized, which wasn''t really like him - seeing his bruises though I think it''s obvious what happened... Anyway now I want to leave my house but my mum is too worried... "You know, after what happened you think I let you go train again?" "But I don''t intend to train, I just want to take a walk around the village." "Actually I thought I should ground you as a punishment, but since you only go out to train it wouldn''t be really a punishment...well, whatever, as long as you promise me that you don''t go training it should be fine." "Thanks..." "Speaking like that isn''t really like you...sorry, I know that you are still probably shocked...but you don''t have to force yourself...we will love you the same even if you cant become a shinobi..." "..." Why do they all think not being able to use hand signs with both hands is such a big deal? It''s only annoying, nothing more... Well, the injury does make me considerably worse in taijutsu though... Anyway, you may ask why I suddenly decided to take a stroll? It''s because I''m searching for something - or rather someone. Who am I searching for? I also don''t know... The Jonin Standby Station... It''s the first time I have come here. Here, the Jonin stay to await the Hokage''s orders or when they are off duty. I really hope I don''t run into a main character like Kakashi here since I''m not mentally prepared right now and things would just get awkward. There, two Jonin I don''t recognize (thank god) stand outside as guards. "Hey you brat, this building is only for Jonins." "I know, I''m here cause I''m looking for someone" "Who are you looking for?" "Uhm, I want to know if there are any shinobis in Konoha who are proficient in kenjutsu..." [kenjutsu=swordsmanship] "That''s an odd question...why do you want to know?" "Oh come on, you know how brats are, they all want to see us shinobis do some cool stuff...anyway we in Konoha don''t have many kenjutsu-user...I know that in Kirigakure they have a lot..." "Hmm, when it comes to Konoha, only Hayate comes into my mind..." Hayate? This name sounds familiar but I don''t remember who that is... "Could you tell me where I can find this Hayate?" "Well, I think he should be inside right now..." Inside the Jonin Standby Station: "Hey Hayate someone is looking for you outside" "koff...is it Yugao?" "No someone else" "?" Chapter 11: first teacher When Hayato went outside he didn''t expect, that a little brat he has never seen before, wanted to meet him. He observed the boy: he was only around 5 or 6 years old, had black hair and he had a grumpy expression and looked like he was a bit dumb. He wore brown shorts with sandals and had a white t-shirt which was a bit too big so it hung down. But what was most visible was that his right hand was covered in a huge amount of bandages. Overall he gives the impression of someone who always gets himself into fights - Hayate thought. That couldn''t be further from the truth though, since Eiji stays most of the time at home and he has only one friend... "Koff, so why did you want to meet me?" When the kid heard the cough it looked like he recognized something. "Uhmm, I heard you are a kenjutsu-user and I wanted to ask you to teach me..." "Huh? Why should I? Who are you anyway?" "Come one, Konoha doesn''t have many kenjutsu-user...shouldn''t we as followers of the way of the sword stick together?" "..." What a cheeky brat - Hayate thought. "Koff, with your age you are probably not even in the academy, so you don''t even know the basics - so no, that would be just too much work." "But I can already use some chakra...come one I''m a genius...wouldn''t having a genius as your student be immensely prestigious?" "Koff, you know there is a limit to how conceited you can be..." While Hayate still spoke, Eiji already gathered chakra into his feet and then suddenly charged at him and threw a kick. Hayate was slightly surprised but instantly saw through his move and decided to block it...but then Eiji used the arm, with which Hayate blocked the kick, as a springboard and shot back like a canon. Even though it shot Eiji back, the force of that "jump" almost blow Hayate also away if he didn''t concentrate his chakra into his feet. That''s a pretty good chakra-control for such an age - he thought. "That was pretty rude to suddenly jump at me..." "Well I wanted to show you how much of a genius I am" This kid is kinda annoying... But his skills are real...to develop such chakra-control you need to have a good concentration; most children his age have problems to even sit still for some time without fidgeting or something because they would be bored...that''s why the academy takes most of the time only older children. "Koff, what''s your name kid?" "Eiji Nakamura..." "Eiji, you know if I wanted students I just could get a Genin-team..." "- Come one just teach me a bit and I will figure the rest out myself!" "...alright. I don''t mind showing you some sword-basics, but I don''t have the time to teach you beyond that, are you okay with that?" "Yeah" "So do you have a sword?" "Nope" "...koff" "Didn''t you call yourself a follower of the way of the sword?" "I have a sword in my heart" He is really cheeky and shameless for his age....this will be a pain... - Hayate thought. Why did I choose the sword? Because I can gather my chakra into the scabbard and then release it when I draw the sword! Like that, I won''t have to worry about blowing myself up! Why do I ask someone to teach me with a normal sword-style when I want to focus on sword-drawing? Because I honestly don''t have any idea about swords! I don''t even know how to hold one properly, so knowing the basics is a must no matter which style I want to use! About this Hayate though...I now remember him...wasn''t he one of the proctors during the Chunin-exams? I somehow feel a spiritual connection with him since he ends up as cannon fodder - a fate I try my best to escape... Anyway, I now have to get a sword from somewhere... "Jo mum can you buy me a sword?" "Hell no." Shit. CrusadeAgainstFurries Some of you already had the idea that he might use a sword...well I like swords... Chapter 12: It heals fast, don’t worry "But I really need a sword..." "You are probably thinking about starting to train again, but I won''t let you train alone anymore. Tomorrow I don''t have guard-duty so I can oversee you so you don''t injure yourself. And if you want to use a sword, I will let you have one only when I see that you are ready to handle one." "You really don''t trust me huh? That was an accident which only happened because I tried to do something ridiculous, which I won''t do again so don''t be so creepily overprotective. I mean, when I used Tenten''s kunais nothing happened either, right?" "I don''t trust you precisely because you always try something ridiculous...Tenten''s mother told me not long ago that Tenten showed her a dangerous kunai-technique. When her mother furiously asked her where she learned that, she answered that it was your idea." "She lied. It was her idea alone. I even told her that it''s too dangerous but she didn''t listen to me..." "You know, when you lie you should at least act as you believe yourself what you are saying...anyway I won''t let you train without supervision anymore and I will definitively not buy you a sword." "So the problem is, that there is no one to supervise my training? Well funnily enough when I took a stroll right now I somehow got a Jonin, who specializes in kenjutsu, to agree to train me...so which colors can I choose for my sword?" "..." After convincing her, my mum finally bought me a sword. But somehow I think she is pissed off about something because she bought a really cheap one but even worse is the color. IT''S PINK!!! Why are there even pink swords? Seriously, who would even buy them? At least the form is normal, it''s pretty much a standard katana. But it''s still pretty awkward... Right now I''m with that Hayate guy at a training field, and when he saw my sword the only thing I got was silence and a cough. ARRGGHHH THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING I WANNA DIE! Well, when it comes to things like that it''s best to keep a poker-face. "..." "..." "Koff, I think I didn''t really introduce myself last time. I''m Hayate Gekko, a special Jonin. So anyway since you want to learn the basics of kenjutsu let''s start from the beginning. First of all, contrary to Kumogakure or Kirigakure, Konohagakure doesn''t put a heavy emphasis on kenjutsu. But it doesn''t mean that our kenjutsu is worse, it''s just not on a large scale. Most kenjutsu users of Konoha are in fact Anbu members. Many of them start learning kenjutsu only after joining the Anbu though, so why do you think they do this?" "I guess it''s because it''s a silent and efficient way to kill?" "Koff, most kids your age would have answered something like its cool or something...is your head really alright?" "Come one, I''m just a bit smart for my age, no need to think I''m a psycho. Anyway is my answer right?" "Well partly yes, but the more important reason is that even members who specialize in mid or long range-fights have the means to get an advantage in close-combat. Even though they could use kunais or taijutsu, the advantage of a sword in close-combat is too big. Koff...anyway I think we should just start. I will show you now the basic posture and movements..." "Yes, sensei!" "No need to call me sensei, I''m just showing you the basics...by the way what''s with your injury? How long will it take to heal?" "Just one or two weeks." "Koff, till then I will just show you the basic movements which only need one arm." In the Hokage office. "Good afternoon, Hayate. What brings you here today? Aren''t you off duty right now?" "Koff. Lord Hokage, I came here to ask for information regarding a child with the name Eiji Nakamura..." "Hmm, that''s unusual of you. May I ask you why?" "Well because I''m currently teaching him, but I don''t know anything about him, so I want some basic background information." "Hmm, I can''t say that I ever heard of this child. But I don''t think you just decided randomly to teach someone without a reason, right?" "Koff, to be honest, he is pretty smart for his age and he didn''t ask for a lot, he just wanted that I only teach him the basics, but..." "But?" "He is a bit odd. I don''t know how to describe it, but behind his bratty attitude, there is some mature wisdom the way he approaches things, which wouldn''t be possible with smartness alone..." "Odd? Ahahahaha, well we certainly have many odd youngsters in our village...Ahahaha" When the Third Hokage stopped laughing heartily he looked towards one of his attendants, the latter then nodded and disappeared. Not long after the attendant appeared with a report. Then the attendant summarized: "Eiji Nakamura, 5 years old, a normal background, the only noteworthy things are two incidents. The first where he ended up in the hospital almost dead because he consumed a brainpower-pill which his young body couldn''t handle; the second is, where he also ended up in the hospital, the cause this time was that an accident occurred while he was training. Apparently, he injured his right hand, and the medical reports say that it was damaged heavily, so a future as a shinobi is unlikely. That''s all." "KOFF!KOFF!..." "Are you alright Hayate?" Just one or two weeks my ass! Chapter 13: The budget genius! What''s a genius? Most people would think of people with an immense amount of talents - youngsters, who despite being younger, often outmatch their seniors and learn anything at a shocking speed! But it''s not only talent that makes a genius. Often they have also a sharp mind and intellect which sets them apart from their peers! Currently, Hayate was eating dinner at Ichiraku Ramen with one of those geniuses. Her name is Yugao Uzuki, she joined the Anbu when she was only in her childhood, trained later kenjutsu under Hayate, and is also his lover. "Hey, I heard you are teaching some brat now?" "Well, at the start I only wanted to teach him the basics, but honestly watching him train is fun so I keep teaching him." "Hooo, so he must be special if he caught your eyes, right?" "Koff, well it''s hard to say. His talent is the definition of mediocre, not even comparable to you. So he isn''t really a genius and his personality is a bit rotten..." "Rotten?" "Koff, he is pretty shameless and has a rude demeanor. He really knows how to get on people''s nerves..." "Then why are you teaching him?" "Hmm, the thing is, even though his talent is mediocre his progress is still shocking for his age...I think the best way to describe why would be because of his mindset. When it comes to training, he somehow gets serious and shows some kind of professionalism. What I mean by that is, that he focuses on mastering the fundamentals instead of trying to jump straight into flashy techniques and he also trains efficiently: He doesn''t train too much where it becomes detrimental instead. But most importantly, his standards when it comes to strength are pretty high..." "What do you mean by that?" "Koff, well most would consider Chunin to be relatively strong while Jonin would be something unfathomable, the elite, right? Well, I can see it in his gaze, that what he considers to be strong, goes even beyond Anbu level!" "Ohh, so he is a dreamer? Well, that''s certainly good, since if your expectations aren''t high, no matter how unachievable they are, this will only limit one pretty heavily. So shooting for the stars is a good habit." "Koff, I agree...that''s why it''s so fun to see him grow. Someone who is mediocre, but still has a shocking growth speed similar to geniuses - a budget genius." "A budget genius? Oh dear, you sometimes come up with really strange ideas, well that''s a part I love about you though." It''s now around two months since I started kenjutsu training around Hayate. He showed me a one-handed sword style because of my injury. I already have understood most of the basic stuff when it comes to kenjutsu, partly because his teaching style was more or less learning by doing. Means a lot of sparring - A LOT. I don''t mind though since it IS the best way to get a feeling about what you are supposed to do. So I can proudly say that I''m already a swordsman! But that''s only for pure kenjutsu without the use of chakra. He told me starting next week he will teach me how to implemented chakra into kenjutsu. To be honest, I think he somehow forgot that he only wanted to teach me the basics...not that I mind though. Other than kenjutsu training, I kept training my chakra manipulation - I even started to try the Tree Climbing Practice...but let''s just say the results aren''t as good as I hoped... When it comes to the acceleration technique...I have to postpone it for now since I already have a full training-regimen and after using chakra for the Tree Climbing Practice, I just don''t have enough chakra to do it. But overall things progress smoothly. To smoothly! A wise man once said if life seems peaceful Truck-kun will come to get you when you least expect it! Good thing that there are no trucks in this world... Anyway, I somehow have the feeling I forgot something this whole time... At the park where Eiji and Tenten trained. There, a super angry Tenten threw a barrage of weapons towards practice dummies which had all faces of Eiji drawn onto them. "I can''t believe he forgot about me..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for uploading at such a late hour...I read the Naruto manga to refresh some things for the story but somehow kept reading...by the way, the fight between Tenten and Temari was even sadder in the manga than the anime...poor Tenten lol Chapter 14: A girl’s heart and a dance My sword broke. Seems like the sparring training was too much for this cheap tourist sword. So now I have to ask my mum for a new one. Problem is, she is currently on a mission and will only return in a week or so. "Hey Dad, my sword broke. Can you buy me a new one?" "That''s... when it comes to the finances, your mother doesn''t let me handle it...sorry." ... He really is useless. Anyway, what should I do know? Oh right, maybe Tenten has a sword I could borrow? Since the park is between my and her house maybe I should look there first? Normally in Konoha, the training fields are occupied by Genin-teams, so for non-shinobi families, if they want to practice before the academy, they need to go into the woods or something. However, there is a park which can be used for training too, since the park is pretty big so you don''t disturb anyone if you train there. But recently the normal children stopped hanging out there because there were rumors that a demon in the form of a little girl rampaged there. So when Eiji got near to the park some children warned him: "Hey, you shouldn''t go to the park, there is a demon who will eat the soul of anyone unlucky enough to cross paths with it..." "A demon? What the hell are you guys talking about. Anyway, I have some business there so don''t bother me..." "What the...we just wanted to help you but you are so rude...we don''t care if you get eaten!" Eiji shrugged his shoulders and went on. When Eiji got near their former training spot, he could see a girl from afar. "Hey, Tenten. Long time no see. How are you doing? By the way, if you have a sword can you lent it to me?" When the girl heard the voice and how he shamelessly jumped straight into asking to borrow something while not even finishing greeting, she slowly turned around. For Eiji, at this moment, it looked like the girl breathed fiery steam out of her mouth and her eyes glowed red. Holy shit there is really a demon HERE... let''s try to slowly turn... "AFTER NOT SAYING ANYTHING FOR TWO AND A HALF MONTHS YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME HERE AND ASK ME TO LEND SOMETHING??? SHOULDN''T YOU BE HERE TO APOLOGIZE???" "Oh yeah right I kinda forgot to tell you that I would be training somewhere else...anyway I''m currently busy so I have to go now-" Suddenly a kunai flew which missed his face only for a few millimeters. "Uhmm I think it''s pretty dangerous to throw those things near people..." When he saw the amount of throwing weapons she pulled out, Eiji knew for the first time in his both lives what fear truly was... "Girls are really scary when they are angry" - that''s the last thought he had before he fainted from fear. When he woke up and saw the number of weapons near him, he thought he died and woke up in hell where he will get tortured with those weapons for all eternity... "Stop you evil demons, I''m the most virtuous person who has ever lived, you have the wrong guy!" An icy voice answered: "You are calling me a demon? You know there is a limit to how shameless you can be..." "Huh, wait I am alive and didn''t end up in hell?" "I can send you there if you want..." "Uhhmm, long time no see Tenten?" "..." "Come one, don''t be mad. I have a sensei now and just didn''t have the time to tell you that I won''t be coming here for a while..." "..." "I''m sorry." "..." "Will you forgive me if I let you eat as much Dango as you want?" "...Yeah" It looks like the saying is true, that the pathway to a girl''s heart is sweets... But all the money I saved will be gone because of this glutton...well considering it saves my life it''s probably worth it. "Koff, you said that you are currently low on cash so I bought a sword for you so we don''t lose any time." "I''m really thankful for that, but why is it pink?" "Koff I thought it was your favorite color, no?" - Hayate smiled mischievously "..." "Anyway, you said that your Tree Climbing Practice goes well, right? If that''s the case then I will show you a high-level technique. To be honest, learning it might take a long time, so if we add it to the training now, then you will save a lot of time later on - especially since one of your hands is practically unusable. But I will only teach it to you if you promise me something, okay?" "Well it should be fine, but what promise?" "That while you learn it, you will only practice it while I''m with you because it involves a dangerous ninjutsu." "Gulp, alright I promise." "Koff, then observe it while I show it to you...Leaf-Style Dance of the Crescent Moon!" When he said that, two shadow clones appeared, and with them, Hayate leaped through the air in a formation reminiscent of the crescent move, and then they slashed simultaneously at the practice dummy. "Koff, since it involves the shadow-clone jutsu I will teach it first to you before we start to train your movement and coordination with your clones for the technique. The shadow-clone jutsu is also the reason why it''s so dangerous because it can deplete your chakra instantly if you don''t handle it correctly, which can result in death." "Yes sensei!" Hayate smiled while he thought: "I told him in the past to not call me that, but since he called me it now at this moment, it means he respects me." - Holy shit, it''s the shadow-clone jutsu! Who cares about the Dance of the Crescent Moon, I can learn the shadow-clone jutsu! - If Hayate could hear Eiji''s thoughts at this moment he would certainly cry... Chapter 15: Trauma Currently, I''m at my grandparent''s house, because it''s my grandma''s birthday. Since my father didn''t inherit his family''s business, his parents were really pissed of and till now the relationship is really cold. Even before I regained my memories I almost never saw them... Anyway, the grandma, which today''s birthday is, is my mum''s mother. Their relationship is good, that''s why she invites us every year to her birthday - actually almost the whole family gets invited, that''s why it''s always a huge gathering. My mum''s family are basically the tatami mats producer for the whole village, they have even occasionally clients like the Hyuga or Uchiha clan. But during the Third Shinobi War, no one wanted to buy tatami mats. That''s why, as the oldest child, my mum became a shinobi to help them financially out. But since she became a shinobi she can''t inherit the family business, which is why her younger sister - my aunt - always mocks her...that''s also the case for her daughter... "Hey, long time no see glue-eater, hihihi" She is about 2 years older than me and currently, we were with all the other kids in the same room, while the adults were in the main room. Haaaaaa I really want to practice the shadow-clone jutsu right now, but I''m stuck here... "I wonder how much glue you ate since the last time I saw you? hihihi" Tenten is probably training right now... After she forgave me, she insisted that I practice with her when Hayate-sensei is busy. By the way, the barrage was scary...she really got strong - I''m confident that in a real fight she would beat me easily. But she still asked me what she should do next since she already mastered long-range weapons. I told her that her weakness is that, she has to carry this barrage with her which slows her down while also interfering with her movements, so she should use fuinjutsu to store her weapons. When she heard it, she looked at me like I''m some all-knowing guru, but I just told her what she would be able to do later on her own... Well, if she gives me money for the advice I won''t mind though, hehehehe... "Hey, are you listening to me? Or is your brain damaged from eating all the glue?" "Jo, can you shut up you little shit? Or else I''m gonna kick you in the leg!" "..." Hatsumi was shocked. In the past, when she mocked Eiji, he would always run away while crying. He was really dumb and because he was so slow he wasn''t able to get along with others - which resulted in him being also shy. In short, he was a weird and dumb kid who ate glue. But now he has the aloof and cool air of a delinquent around him, it also seems like he isn''t slow anymore. - This, how did this happen...but more importantly did he just insult me? - "Hey, what did you call me now just now?" "I called you little shit, you deaf bitch" She fainted. Hatsumi was always doted by her parents, which gave her a bit of a superiority complex. She was never insulted before, so when Eiji didn''t use a childish insult, like kids their age would do, but rather crude mature ones, she was so shocked that she actually fainted. Eiji looked at her unconscious body: - Who cares about her, soon the horror of the Nakamura children will appear! - What he refers to as the horror is actually his grandpa. Always when there is a family gathering, the children would choose to sacrifice one of them. The sacrifice would help his grandfather to help him find his denture! The grandfather is senile so he always forgets his denture somewhere, and since he doesn''t want to trouble the adults, he goes into the room where all the children are playing, to ask to help him. So for the children, it kinda evolved into a ritual whenever there is a family gathering to choose one unlucky one since no one wants to look for a dirty and used venture! There is even a legend between the kids, that the unlucky ones who get chosen will be traumatized for their whole lives! This time they will choose the sacrifice through a rock paper scissors tournament. Eiji doesn''t intend to become the sacrifice, because the reason why he ate glue in the past was that he was so traumatized, that he needed some budget drugs! "Hey Eiji, it''s your turn, hurry up before the horror comes...Oh no did I just hear steps in the hallway? Come on hurry up there only two more matches to go!" "Sorry guys but I have to shit..." - while he said that he ran out of the room, leaving the other children flabbergasted. Feeling betrayed, they also started to run out of the room, while the unconscious Hatsumi slowly woke up while her demise slowly crept towards the room... "Oh, can someone of you children stop playing for a minute to help me find my denture please?" CrusadeAgainstFurries So starting tomorrow will be 1 chapter per day again. But on the bright side, only a few more chapters till the academy arc will start. Chapter 16: Enrollment? A few years passed. A boy was staring at a training dummy. He carried a pink sheathed sword in his right hand, while his left hand was only a few centimeters away from the grip. His posture was slightly bent forward. Suddenly he disappeared and appeared behind the dummy. The sword was slightly unsheathed, and when he moved his right hand so that it could glide back fully into the sheath, a clean-cut appeared on the dummy''s neck. ''I finally mastered a basic iaijutsu-technique...anyway I should get going now or I will be late'' The day the village''s children enroll at the academy as a special one. It signifies not only honor, but it''s also seen as a turning point in most of the children''s lives. Because of that, for this special occasion, the Hokage himself is giving a speech. It is a grand speech, which ignites the hearts of the children while also letting the present adults reminisce of the past when it was their enrollment day. But one boy rolled his eyes and looked like he was bored to death. ''Does he really need to make his speech so long...anyway it looks like other than Tenten I only recognize Neji and Lee here... '' It wasn''t Eijis enrollment...It was Tenten''s. So he stood next to her and her parents while looking at the ones he recognized. Neji had a stern and unhappy look. He was accompanied by a random Hyuga which was probably from the branch house. ''It looks like his father already died'' Next, he looked towards Lee. ''Well, he still has a normal haircut...anyway, even though it''s boring here, I finally have the opportunity to find out Tenten''s family name!'' Every time he asked her to finally tell it, she would always blush and say that it''s too early for him to know and he should wait until she is ready. His plan for today is to wait for an opportunity where he can just ask one of her parents. After the Hokage finally finished his speech, all the formalities were finished, so a celebrating atmosphere erupted. The parents would congratulate their own children and children from their friends. "Tenten, congratulations! As your father, I can''t be more proud of you that you choose the noble path to protect the village!" "Congratulations, Tenten!" "Thanks, mum and dad!" She then looked at the Eiji who stood beside her. After noticing her gaze he said: " To be honest, Enrolling isn''t really worth celebrating since they would probably take even someone who sits in a wheelchair as long he spouts Fire of Will nonsense." "..." "I''m just joking, anyway congratulations, I have a gift for you" He pulled out a kunai which was obviously specially made since it had beautiful markings and the characters ''Heaven, heaven'' which means Tenten. "..." "What? You are still not satisfied? Just so you know, I used all my money for it, so I can''t buy you, sweets." "No, that''s not it. Lord Hokage is behind you and heard what you said..." "Hahaha, I have to admit, this was a great joke. I''m pleased that there are children in the village with a great sense of humor. By the way congratulations on your enrollment" While Tenten was happy to be congratulated personally by the Hokage, Eiji was completely scared. ''Holy shit, where the hell did he jump out suddenly? Wasn''t he giving his speech pretty far away from us? Shit, what do I say now?'' "Uhmm, good afternoon Lord Hokage?" "Hahaha, good afternoon to you too. Even though it was a joke, there is some truth in the fact that the most important thing we are looking for in students is the Will of Fire. It''s because it''s even more important than ability and strength. After all, in times where your abilities aren''t enough, it''s the Will..." After noticing that the Hokage will start a lengthy monologue about basically the same stuff he said in his speech, Eiji recovered from his shocked state and got bored fast, so he drifted with his thoughts away. ''So in a year, it will be my turn... I can already use the shadow-clone jutsu even with my crippled hand since it''s probably the easiest and plain hand seal and doesn''t require precise finger movements to form. When I told Hayate-sensei that I wanted to learn some iaijutsu, he told me that he doesn''t have a lot of knowledge about that and that he would look, if there are any records in Konoha with some knowledge on iaijutsu. Since he is a special Jonin, he just went to the Konoha Archive Library. There he found some records of a former Konoha-Shinobi who traveled to the Land of Iron and who analyzed some of their iaijutsu techniques and wrote it down. With my sensei''s help, we could learn most of it, since there was only basic stuff recorded because the Shinobi wasn''t taught anything there and all was just purely from his observations. Sensei also told me, that I''m now pretty decent in kenjutsu overall. Well, I could also see that when I sparred with Tenten...her parents noticed her talent in weaponry, so they started buying her a huge variety of weapons. She basically can pick up any weapon for the first time and do decently with it. Thank god, I can still beat her in swords duels, or else I would lose my pride as a swordsman! Anyway, before I enroll, I need to master the Dance of the Crescent Moon, while starting to add my Wind chakra when I use the sword. I don''t think I will have the time to make progress with my chakra-acceleration till then though; this will probably have to wait till I''m in the academy and mastered everything else first. "...and that is why the Will of Fire is the most important thing for the shinobis of our village, don''t you agree?" "Huh? Ah yes, yes, totally!" When he looked beside him only he and the Hokage were still there, the rest already went home. ''No! I lost my chance to finally discover Tenten''s family name!'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Tomorrow will be again a time skip so that we are finally at the Academy arc Chapter 17: Enrollment! Oh no, not again... It''s now my enrollment at the academy. I would be lying if I said that I wasn''t nervous, seeing Naruto, Sasuke, and the others in reality for the first time. That''s why my eyes are bloodshot, not because I wanted to make a budget Uchiha cosplay, but rather because I couldn''t sleep last night at all! But because I have to listen to the old geezer''s same speech as last year again, my nervousness vanished magically and now I have to be careful to not fall asleep instead! Everyone is listening to him seriously, which also doesn''t make it better, since the voice of the Hokage is the only thing you can hear now. Well, in truth there are some exceptions... Anyway, there is only one boy who isn''t accompanied by family or friends. He looks really sad, except when he notices that someone looks at him, then he sends a challenging glare to them. Who could it be except for the protagonist of one of the most know anime with the iconic name - Boruto''s Da - I mean Naruto Uzumaki! I really feel bad for him, but as a mob, I should probably keep my distance so that I don''t mess the whole world up with something like the butterfly-effect. I mean it would be funny, to corrupt him and to see how things unfold, but I need someone to defeat tree-hippie Madara and those damn Aliens. Anyway, he isn''t the only important one here. Sasuke is looking happy. He is accompanied by his parents and by Itachi...I know he has many fans, but in my eyes, he is just another dirty Sharingan abuser! And I''m not saying that because I''m jealous and also want a Sharingan - definitely not, I swear! Sakura is...her forehead is really big, you could probably build a tent there - I better never say that out loud. Choji...there is not a lot to say other than he is eating chips. Shikamaru looks like he is bored to death...YES, I UNDERSTAND YOU COMPLETELY! Ino is seriously listening to the speech though. Kiba is more focused on Akamaru than the speech - I can''t blame him. Hinata is happy? I thought she would be shy and awkward but...oh right it must be the red scarf she is holding while looking over to our prince charming Naruto. Shino...Shit, it''s so hard not to laugh! Seeing a little brat in a hooded jacket while wearing sunglasses is just too much! Then there is Iruka who stands next to the Hokage. It sure is weird seeing them in reality...I mean I already saw the Hokage and Tenten, but Hiruzen is making me always sleepy and Tenten is... a half mob. Other than them there are some mobs, myself included. But it doesn''t surprise me that there are so many who are enrolling. The day before was the enrollment test...and you just had to answer a few questions! You just had to answer things like: I want to become a shinobi to protect my loved ones or other cheesy lines. It was so dumb that I really had to hold myself back from telling sarcastic or cynical answers. It was really hard to hold myself back! Anyway, I think the only way to fail is to say edgy stuff like I want power or want to kill. "Eiji! Congratulations!" - my mum suddenly hugged me. Huh? Is the speech finally over? "Eiji! Make me proud and form a hug hare-BUHAAAA..." "Eiji! As your senior, congratulations! Anyway here is a gift." Tenten gave me a panda bear pendant - that''s really cool, to be honest...I like pandas. "Koff, congratulations on your enrollment. I have something for you..." Hayate-sensei gave me his present. "Sensei, thank you but this is too much..." It is a high-quality sword! You can see that it is expensive: It is mostly black while the rest was violet. It is a beautiful sword. "No take it, it is proof that you are now an excellent swordsman. Also from today onwards I''m not your sensei anymore...there is nothing more I can teach you in terms of kenjutsu...but as a shinobi, you still have a lot to learn. So go to the academy and become a splendid shinobi!" This guy... "Thank you for everything, Hayate-sensei! I will become a shinobi you can be proud of!" While saying that, I bowed to him to express my deepest gratitude. ''I definitely won''t let you die!'' "Koff, I already said that you don''t have to call me sensei anymore...by the way you should give your sword a name" - he said that with a small smile. After thinking for a while I gave a smile and said: "I name it Kagayaku Haikei" ( Kagayaku Haikei = background which shines ) CrusadeAgainstFurries Somehow this chapter was really tough to write, I planned to finish the enrollment ceremony and to end it on a gag like most chapters but the flow was off so I scraped it. So the next chapter will be the rest of the enrollment ceremony while also the first day of the academy. Chapter 18: Troublemaker-Squad! "Hahaha, that''s a great name. By the way congratulations on your enrollment." WHAT THE! If Hiruzen keeps appearing suddenly out of nowhere, one day I will definitely get a heart-stroke! More importantly, why is he here? Shouldn''t he comfort Naruto or something since he is lonely? "Uhmm, thanks..." "Hahaha, anyway I wanted to tell you something. You know, it''s pretty rare to get trained personally by a Jonin before enrolling in the academy, so I''m looking forward to your future...Hayate, how have you been?" Hmm, it looks like I caught some attention... Well, as long as it''s only Hiruzen and not someone like Danzo everything should be fine. And if he thinks I will become one of those turbo geniuses who rise to Anbu as kids, he will be disappointed, hehehehe. Because even if could rise to Anbu I wouldn''t! The missions you get are too dangerous and it really hasn''t any merit besides feeling cool and a good payment. Anyway, it looks like he is done talking to Hayate and my parents, so I guess that''s it for today. So tomorrow I''m gonna be a student... "Koff, why are you making that sad face?" "Because it''s a farewell, right? You said you won''t teach me anymore, so I guess I probably won''t see you anymore..." "Koff, you are right, we probably won''t see each other as student and sensei anymore. But that''s why you have to do your best to graduate so we can see each other as fellow shinobis!" I looked at his smile. He is right; doesn''t matter what happens or what I plan on doing, I should graduate first... While thinking this, I feel how a smile forms on my mouth. Now I''m kinda curious how the academy will be... "Greetings, I''m Iruka Umino. I will be your head instructor from now on. Our first-class will be about the Will of Fire..." ''...alright, starting tomorrow I start skipping class.'' Eiji was currently sitting in the last row next to the window - alone. When he first arrived he chose the last row so he doesn''t get much attention but no one chose to sit next to him. The reason is the way he looks. He carries an adult-sized sword on his shoulder which is in stark contrast with his small child-body. The sword has also a pendant, which looks like the face of a panda bear, attached to the end of the grip which absolutely doesn''t suit the refined look of the high-quality sword. Other than that, he is wearing a white shirt which is a bit too long and shorts with sandals, giving him a nonchalant look. But the most important thing is his face. It looks like he always wants to pick a fight with somebody. In short - it''s someone you don''t want to get involved with. "Okay, this was a basic rundown. Why don''t we go to the roof, I will explain there more, while you get to see the faces of our Hokage." ''Hell no. I''m not going...if I hear another thing about the Will of Fire I will lose my mind! Let''s just pretend that I somehow got separated from the group and got lost.'' While everyone started to follow Iruka towards the roof, Eiji sneaked into what looked like a training hall. ''I can wait here till everyone returns and then just sneak back into the group...'' "AHAHAHA, this stupid sensei couldn''t see how I sneaked out." "Geez, keep your voice down or else someone might hear us..." "Ah yeah, Akamaru, sitting at a desk is boring, right?" "( potato chips noises )" ... Looks like I''m gonna be part of the troublemaker squad. CrusadeAgainstFurries I''m too tired to write something decent so this will be a shorter chapter. Anyway, I wanted to talk about my future plans a bit. The academy arc will be mostly slice of life and comedy. I didn''t plan something big for it but have a few scenes and gags I definitely want to include. I probably could do endless amounts of academy chapters but I try to restrain myself so that it won''t take too long and that we can get to the "real" story so that the rise of our mob can begin! Chapter 19: Traitor! "Hey who are you? Are you here to tell on us?" asked Naruto with a challenging glare. When he said that the rest looked towards Eiji. "No, he looks like he is here to skip as well...anyway cant you keep your voice down?" - Shikamaru "He is right, I''m here to skip too because I can''t handle another Will of Fire speech..." - Eiji "Alright then...but why do you walk around with a sword like a weirdo?" - Naruto "I honestly think walking with a sword around isn''t as weird as taking your dog to school." - Eiji "Oh yeah, he is right. Hey you over there, what happens if your dog has to pee?!" - Naruto ''Hmm, it looks like right now they don''t really know each other...well considering that we students still didn''t introduce ourselves it makes sense.'' "Hey if you have a problem with Akamura being here, then say that directly to my face!" - Kiba "Hmph, like I would get scared telling that straight to your dumb-looking face!" - Naruto "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" - Kiba "Geez, can you guys calm down? If you guys start fighting now, someone might hear us. Anyway I''m gonna take a nap so keep your voices down..." - Shikamaru "Hmph" - Naruto "Whatever...Akamaru let''s move around to blast some steam off!" "Woff!" "Hey didn''t you hear what I just said?" - Shikamaru "Hey can I have some of your chips?" - Eiji "!!!" "I only asked...why do you look at me like I burned your house down..." - Eiji ''Haaa this will be a long day...'' Meanwhile on the roof. "So that''s it for today. Since it''s the first day we finish earlier today. Oh, by the way, tomorrow you will all introduce yourselves, so if you need to, you have time to prepare for it. Remember to be careful on your way home!" "Yes sensei!" "Uhm excuse me sensei, I think there are some missing from our group..." "I already know that. Still thanks for telling me...did they honestly think I wouldn''t notice?" In the training hall after some time, everyone started to mind their own business and didn''t interact much with each other. But that was when the door slammed open and a scary-smiling Iruka went in. "You guys really have some guts to skip classes on your first day at the academy! What do you guys have to say?" "I feel stiff sitting at the desk all day, so I needed to move, don''t you agree Akamaru?" "Woff!" "I felt tired and needed a place to relax..." " (Potato chips noises) " "I don''t need to attend some stupid classes since one day I will become the Hokage!" Iruka thought ''So this is the brat who has the nine-tails?'' "You are misunderstanding, sensei. I somehow got separated and got lost, so when I saw these fellow students I wanted to ask them where to go, but they threatened me to stay with them so I couldn''t tell on them..." - Eiji When all the other children heard it they had all the same thought: ''This damn shameless traitor!'' Betraying didn''t pay off and Eiji needed to run laps like the others... Oh man, yesterday was a total disaster. Anyway, it''s the second day now, and it looks like Sasuke has already his fan club. It looks like he is kinda awkward with it though since he still isn''t in his emo phase. But other things are like you would expect. "Listen here you all! My name is Naruto Uzumaki and one day I will become the Hokage!" I swear he if he keeps shouting before I graduate I will become completely deaf... But to be fair, when introducing he wasn''t the only one who said Hokage stuff - he was just the only one who shouted... Most just said their names and that they want to become a shinobi so there isn''t much to say...well it looks like it''s my turn now. "I''m Eiji Nakamura and I don''t have a goal. But one thing you should know about me is is that I''m a paragon of virtue, noble and virtuous like a Buddha, you won''t find anyone who is more truthful and trustworthy than me..." "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT YOU SHAMELESS TRAITOR!" "Keep your voice down Naruto!" - Iruka "..." Somehow no one looks convinced...I wonder why? CrusadeAgainstFurries Somehow I personally enjoy Choji the most, to be honest. Chapter 20: Sumo match! The students were now outside and had kunai-shuriken throwing class. "Oh wow, look at how good Sasuke is." "Yes, he is not only cute, but he is also really skilled!" "Sasuke, can you please teach me after school?" "Hmph, Sasuke here Sasuke that. Let me show you what I, the future Hokage can do!" After Naruto''s proclamation, he started to throw a kunai...it didn''t even come close. Loud laughter erupted. "HAHAHA, and he wants to be Hokage?" Iruka looked at Naruto with a complicated gaze: ''I really wonder why the Hokage placed the boy, who has the monster which killed my parents, under me...'' "Damn you all, feel free to laugh while you can. When I become Hokage, none of you will be laughing!" "HAHAHA yeah keep dreaming" After that, it was Eiji''s turn. He walked nonchalantly to the spot where everyone throws from while carrying his sword on his shoulder and having an unmotivated look. When he threw, no one was shocked that he didn''t hit and many had the same thought: '' I have never seen a more half-assed attempt...he didn''t even try to hit!'' The worst part was that it wasn''t even the right direction! "Hey Eiji, what was that? Try again and this time seriously!" - Iruka "No, I won''t. I''m a swordsman, I don''t care about stupid knives." "..." Truthfully Eiji was pretty strong already for an academy student. But that was only because of his kenjutsu. Hayate only taught him kenjutsu and the Shadow-Clone Jutsu. And Eiji didn''t practice with Kunais or Shurikens whatsoever because he thought that it''s a waste of time. So he is basically a one-trick pony. But Iruka didn''t know that. Iruka looked at Shikamaru who was leaning against the building with his eyes closed. In truth, Iruka was vexed more by Shikamaru. He didn''t even make a half-assed attempt like Eiji - he simply said his arms hurt and then went sleeping! ''Haaa looks like I will have to give them both an F in classroom attitude...'' Iruka had enough! The whole first week there was a student who always tried to snack during class. And when he scolded him, the student skipped class and then ate his snacks somewhere else. So Iruka started to confiscate all his snacks first thing in the morning. His plan seemed to work since he didn''t see him eating in class anymore and he didn''t have a reason to skip classes as well. The only thing was, the student had to go really often to the bathroom. But he thought, it must be the boy''s body which needs to adjust to not eating all the time, so he didn''t suspect anything. ''Oh man, what a week. I thought there would be more ninja stuff classes, but most of it till now was reading, writing, and mathematics. Since I have my previous life''s memories those things are too easy, so I''m really bored. That''s why I skipped often classes. I wasn''t the only one who skipped though. Mostly it was the usual suspects. But somehow Choji stopped skipping after some time. Well, it''s not like it''s my problem anyway. Anyway, when we skipped classes, it wasn''t really like we played together or something - everyone kinda did their own thing. Naruto mostly prepared some pranks he would later do. Kiba played with Akamaru. Shikamaru and I slept most of the time. At first, I thought Iruka would try to stop us, but it looks like he already gave up on us. Anyway, I''m currently walking towards the bathroom since my body wants to unleash the ancient one. I would prefer to do it home, but sometimes the ancients call is too strong! Huh? Why is Choji standing in front of the toiled cabin like he is guarding something?'' "Hey move, I really need to lay an egg!" "NOOO, NOT THIS CABIN!!!" "But it''s the only one in this bathroom..." "THEN GO TO THE GIRL''S BATHROOM!!!" "What the hell? Come on, stop with this nonsense" - sweat started to form on Choji''s forehead and he started to block the cabin with his whole body. "Hey I''m really starting to get angry, so if you don''t move then I will just push you aside" A pitiful sumo-match started in the boy''s bathroom which shouldn''t be described fully for the reader''s sake. Anyway, Eiji managed to find an opening and used it to push the cabin door open. When he saw what was inside, Eiji had an expression of extreme terror. "Oh my" - Eiji couldn''t finish his sentence before both of them were buried under a tsunami of junk food. CrusadeAgainstFurries Tomorrow Tenten will return yay Chapter 21: If a girl cooks for you, you only have one choice! At the academy, when there is a break most of the students eat their Bentos. Usually, their parents make them, but there are some exceptions. Naruto for example doesn''t have parents who could prepare a bento for him, so he buys some stuff at a store. Choji...with all the junk food it would be a miracle if he would eat something remotely healthy like a bento. For Eiji, his mother prepared him daily Bentos, since she has only guard duty and is never away for missions. But now it looks like it may change... "Hey, you know my mum made me one already and I''m usually full after that..." Currently, Eiji was walking with Tenten to the school. Because the first years had the first week less school time than the others, they couldn''t walk together to school before. But now that the first week was other, Tenten insisted that they would walk together. Eiji thought it wasn''t a big of a deal, but now she also insisted that he takes the bento she prepared for him. He isn''t Choji who could eat all day; two Bentos would be too much for him! "But I made it especially for you..." She started to make a pug face. "Haaa, alright I will try my best to eat it as well so stop making that face" The same day at lunchtime. Eiji sat alone like always. The others still thought he was a troublesome person...he tried when he introduced himself to appear like a serious honor student, but that didn''t work out. Anyway, he started to take out his two Bentos. ''I should probably try Tenten''s first, and if tastes terrible I can just eat my mum''s.'' ... ''Nope, not a chance. If I try this I will definitely die...why is the rice moving like it''s an ant colony?!'' "Hey, what does Eiji have here? Carrying a sword around isn''t enough for him so now he carries a bioweapon with him as well? We should really stay away from him..." "Yeah, I agree!" When Eiji thought about where he could dispose it safely without damaging the environment, suddenly Tenten entered the classroom. "What does this upperclassmen girl want here?" "I don''t know..." She ignored everyone''s gazes and stopped only walking when she was in front of Eiji. "And? How does it taste? You know, it was my first time cooking something, so I really want to know..." ''Shit...I''m totally screwed...'' "Y-Yes it was g-good, I only tried a b-bit but the taste is so g-good that I will eat it really slowly!" "It''s the first time I''m seeing you stuttering, you know. Anyway eat it all, so you can taste all the different ingredients and tell me which one you liked the most." "L-Like I said. I will really eat it s-slowly, so you may get late to your class. I will definitely tell you later which one I liked the most!" Now Tenten started to get suspicious: "Hmm somehow I have the feeling you aren''t really honest with me. So I will stay here till you are finished. Oh by the way I saw you the other day skipping class, so if you don''t eat it, I will tell your mum that you are skipping classes." ''Looks like I have no choice. Oh lord have mercy upon your child and don''t let my death be full of suffering!'' The taste was indescribable. With only sheer will power he managed to eat everything. When he finished, his body lost its functions and he collapsed on his seat. His instincts told him that he still needs to do something before he loses his consciousness. With his last ounce of strength, he could raise his thumb towards a happy Tenten. After that, pure darkness fell upon Eiji. While Tenten walked happily out of the classroom, Eiji''s classmates felt pure pity towards him. The same day at the academy''s garden. The girls had currently kunoichi training. "...Today we''ll be learning the art of Ikebana - flower arranging! To begin, everyone must go out and gather whatever flowers you please." "Yes, ma''am!" Currently, Ino explained to Sakura what she should do best for flower arranging when a group of girls approached them. "Having fun, little miss billboard brow?!" Ino made them easily run after throwing flowers into the girl''s mouth and telling her that the flowers might be poisonous. Sakura thought Ino was really cool and felt a sense of inferiority. Ino cheered her up and told Sakura, that she is like a flower herself. After that Sakura gained a sense of self-worth and confidence. Meanwhile, Eiji felt like he came back from the dead when he woke up. But he didn''t have time to celebrate because he knew that he might vomit any second! So he started to run. He tried to rush into the boy''s bathroom but it was locked because of a certain junk food incident! So he could only run outside. "Anyway... let''s finish gathering the flowers!" "Okay!" "Huh, Sakura are you crying? What''s wrong?" "Nothing. I...I got sand in my eyes when I fell...wait do you see that?" "Hmm? Oh yeah...what is he doing here? Shouldn''t the boys be at the training hall right now? Why is he running aimlessly around... NOOOO! DON''T RUN INTO OUR DIRECTION...WAIT!!!" "(Hardcore vomit noises)" "HE VOMITED ON THE FLOWERS WE GATHERED!!!" CrusadeAgainstFurries With this heat frying my brain I also feel like hardcore vomiting. Chapter 22: Looking for a fight? Now I have another reason to skip classes. The reason is to avoid Tenten''s bioweapon Bentos! I can''t stay in the classroom when break time comes and I also need to skip the classes before and after break time just to be sure! But now I can''t stay in school while I skip. She knows that the troublemaker squad members are usually in the training hall while skipping. And I''m more or less part of this squad. That''s why I''m leaving the academy grounds and head out into town. Playing ninja is really popular among the kids in Konoha. Even when they enroll in the academy the boys still keep playing it. Basically, it''s just two teams fighting each other without using any real violence. Occasionally they would shout some ninjutsu names and doing moves that resemble those. But for kids who didn''t enroll in the academy and were much older, some took it to extreme levels. That''s how some teenager gangs started to form, and they would beat other gangs up for territory. Most people didn''t want to get involved with those youths, and they used a name for those aggressive teenagers: delinquents. They were mostly harmless to normal people, so the police and shinobis didn''t see the need to go after them. But if you somehow managed to get on their bad side, they would beat even normal people up. Currently, this kind of scenario was playing out at the main shopping street. Tenjo was a little kid who was bullied a lot. The reason was his head-form...it had the shape of an egg. When he walked down the shopping street, he heard how those delinquents called out to him and made fun of him, and called him names. He didn''t have a good day prior to this, so he snapped there and did something really stupid. He started to throw rocks at the group. And now we are in this scenario, where a group of delinquents encircled a really young child. Everyone could guess that it would end badly for Tenjo. But no one of the onlookers helped him, since they were normal people and couldn''t fight a group of hot-blooded teenagers who have a lot of fighting experience. ''What the hell is wrong with this kid''s head? Why does it look like an egg?'' When Eiji went into the shopping street to kill some time while he was skipping, he saw the scene and couldn''t help to wonder how someone can have such a head-form. ''Well looks like this egghead kid is in trouble...but why should I care? I don''t want to get much attention while I''m skipping.'' "Hey, you over there! You have a sword, right? And you look strong, so why don''t you help this poor boy?" ''...'' Everyone''s eyes gathered on Eiji, the delinquent''s as well. "Hey kid, if you try to get involved, we will beat you up too! So you wanna meddle?" Eiji looked at the delinquents while deliberating what he should do. But when the delinquents saw his face, they thought he is looking for a fight, even though its just Eiji''s normal face! "You bastard! Looks like you are looking for a fight" One of the group charged at him. ''Oh man...looks like I have no choice...'' Eiji easily dodged him while tripping him, so the delinquent crashed into a wall. "YOU BASTARD! WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON!" The rest started to run at him. It''s not like they were weak for normal people, but Eiji was used to the movements of a Jonin, so it wasn''t even a fight. He didn''t even use his sword, because even though his taijutsu wasn''t something special and he had a crippled hand, just his body which was trained for speed for kenjutsu was enough to deal with them, even without using chakra to buff him. After a few breaths, the whole group was laying on the ground unconscious. "Good job kid! You are a real hero!" Applause erupted. ''I need to leave quickly, or else I might get busted for skipping!'' He ignored the applause and just went on towards another town area. But Tenjo followed him all the way. "Please stop! I need to thank you for saving me..." "No, you don''t. I didn''t want to get involved and if I wasn''t urged by the surrounding people I would have ignored you..." ''Wow, he is not only strong but also humble. It''s someone I want to follow!'' "Hey big bro, no need to be so humble. You earned my respect, I will follow you as a lackey for the rest of my life, boss!" ''What the hell is he even talking about?'' At the Peeing-Dogs Gang''s headquarters. Well calling it headquarters would be an overstatement...it was just under a big slide at a children''s playground. "Hey boss, I heard someone trashed the Rat-Eater Gang." The boss, who had a yellow dog hat, looked surprised. "Hah? They were pretty formidable so which Gang was it?" "That''s the thing boss. It wasn''t a gang, it was a sole person!" "So was it a meddlesome shinobi? If yes, don''t get me involved you retard!" "No boss...I saw him and he had the face of a delinquent so I doubt that he is a shinobi..." "Ohhh, now that''s interesting. Looks like we have a new player in town, hehehe..." The boss smiled menacingly. CrusadeAgainstFurries When I saw the egghead, I knew I had to include him in the story. Chapter 23: Four Heavenly Kings Currently, Eiji and Tenten were walking home. "Hey, I didn''t see you during lunch-break..." "Yeah, I trained at the academy''s garden. Don''t worry I ate your bento there, it energized me for training so it helped a lot. Thanks." Tenten was visibly happy when she heard that. "I-Is that so...if it was tasty I continue to cook for you..." ''FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE DON''T!!!'' "Yeah, I''m looking forward to i -" "There you are, boss. I finally found you...wow, I didn''t know you were an academy student. Since you were at the shopping street a few hours ago, I thought you couldn''t be one, since it was during..." ''This little shit!'' "AHAHAHA you must have mistaken me..." "Hmmm? What did this boy try to say right now?" "I don''t know! I don''t know him!" "What are you saying boss, don''t you remember your most loyal follower?" "Hmmm something is wrong here...Eiji why don''t you tell me the truth before it''s too late?" ''WHAT THE FUCK! When did Tenten become a yandere?! I didn''t corrupt her, right?'' He glanced at Tenten and saw a dangerous light in her eyes. "..." He started to run as fast as he can, while a barrage of kunais followed him. "Oh you are home Eiji, how was school today?" "Mum, I''m feeling ill and will need to stay home for a couple of months." ''Damn mum! She didn''t let me stay at home, so now I need to take a detour to avoid Tenten! I also need to wake up earlier just to be sure!'' Eiji was taking a long detour now and he walked unknowingly straight into the Peeing-Dogs Gang territory. "Hey boss, this is the one who trashed the Rat-Eater Gang yesterday." "Huh? Is he here to challenge us? If he thinks we are as easy to beat as the Rat-Eater Gang then he is hugely mistaken...but maybe we can recruit him..." The Peeing-Dogs member gathered together and then blocked Eiji''s way. ''What do those freaks want from me? Doesn''t this guy know how dumb he looks with this yellow dog hat?'' "Hey, you bastard. I heard you trashed the Rat-Eater Gang by yourself...but don''t get cocky, we aren''t pushovers. But I still acknowledge that you are decent...so how about joining our Peeing-Dogs Gang?" "What the hell are you guys talking about? I really don''t have a good mood right now so if you continue to block my way..." "So you decline? Well, we will show you what we do with arrogant newcomers! Get him, guys!" ''I don''t know what their problem is, but at least I can blow some steam off..'' "Oh wow boss, you defeated them all by yourself in only a few seconds!" ''WHAT THE! Where does he always come from? How does he always find me? Does he have a Byakugan?'' "Hey listen you, shitty egghead, stop following me around, okay?" "Egghead? I really don''t like being called that, but if it''s you, boss...anyway when I saw you yesterday I knew you would become someone who can defeat all Gangs, so I started to collect some intel..." "I don''t care about this shit so scram now!" "Well even if you don''t want to fight, you will have to now. The Peeing-Dogs Gang you defeated now, is a sub-gang of one of Konoha''s Heavenly Kings! He will definitely seek revenge. But don''t worry boss, I have all the information you need!" "Heavenly kings? Every second it gets more stupid...anyway I see you don''t listen to me so I will just continue on my way to the academy..." "Out of the four Heavenly Kings he is the weakest, but he is still fearsome! His name is Apple-Juice Lover and his gang is the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang. Recent rumors tell that he developed a new special attack to challenge the other Heavenly Kings, so he might not be the weakest out of them anymore. So please be careful when fighting him..." Listening to Tenjo gave Eiji a really painful headache but he finally managed to arrive at the academy. "Okay boss, I will stay outside the academy grounds guarding you, so that you can peacefully enjoy the academy!" Eiji ignored him and went into the academy. "Hey, I heard Eiji beat two gangs by himself..." "Really? I mean he looks like a delinquent, but now he also acts like one...we should really stay away from him." "A future shinobi beating non-shinobis up...I really wonder how someone so unscrupulous could get enrolled here..." "..." ''Do they think I can''t hear them?'' CrusadeAgainstFurries If any of you have any ideas for stupid-sounding gang names feel free to share, the more stupid the better! Chapter 24: Girly side To keep his life, Eiji intended to get out of the academy during lunch break again. But Tenten visited his classroom earlier than expected. ''Oh no...she is blocking the path to the door...looks like I need to jump out of the window!'' "What is that scary senior doing here again?" "I don''t know, probably for Eiji here again." "Damn, I''m kinda envious now that he is friends with a cute upperclassman!" "I would normally agree, but she seems even more scary than the girls in our class..." "Eiji, you know...I waited for you the whole morning, but you didn''t come so I thought that you are feeling ill and stayed and home. But now I see you here..." - Tenten said that with a scary smile while approaching him slowly. ''Do I have to pay for the damage, if I destroy the windows? Shit, even if I have to pay off the debt for the rest of my life, at least I will keep my life!'' When Eiji start to get up for his grand escape, Tenten suddenly appeared right before him. "Gulp...hey what''s up Tenten?" "Haaa...you know, we knew each other for some time now and I know that you are often unmindful, but sometimes you go too far and do things which are really hurtful, you know? So if my cooking isn''t good just tell me, then I will know where to improve...so please, really try today what I cooked for you..." - Tenten''s scary smile vanished, while a sad face started to form. ''If she says it like that, wouldn''t I be a total ass if I didn''t try?'' "Okay I will try...but don''t get upset if I tell you honestly, okay?" "Okay..." ... When Eiji dug in, tears started to stream down his face. ''I don''t know how, but it''s actually edible compared to last time!'' "...so, how is it?" "I-I''m really surprised...compared to last time the improvement is immense! Honestly, the last time was pretty bad, but now it''s actually decent. I''m sorry about my behavior, please continue cooking for me, I really want to see how much you improve!" Tenten started to get red: "I-Is it that so? Anyway, I should return fast or else I will be late for my class..." She hurriedly left while trying to hide her red face. "Hey, somehow she didn''t look scary now but rather cute..." "Yeah, she is way more girly than the girls in our class...damn this Eiji! Now I''m jealous of him!" "Hey what are you boys saying about us? Humph, you guys are just envious that we only chase after Sasuke!" "Yes, why would we care what you losers think about us! If you would be cuter, we would show you our girly side too!" Not long ago, Iruka tried to ask the Hokage if he could not teach Naruto because he found it really awkward dealing with Naruto since he contained the very monster which killed his parents. When Kakashi heard it, he eventually convinced Iruka not to do so. After Naruto got himself involved in a dangerous situation, where he was attacked by Takigakure spies, Iruka saved him and reprimanded him for his reckless behavior. This surprised Naruto because it was the first time anyone in the village actually showed concern for his well-being. After that, Iruka started to be stricter on Naruto, so that he will become a fine shinobi. But now Iruka visits the Hokage because of another problem student. "Good afternoon Iruka. What brings you here today?" "Good afternoon, Lord Hokage. I wanted to talk about a student of mine..." "Is it about Naruto again?" "No, it''s about another one...his name is Eiji..." "Eiji? Hahahaha...what did he do?" "You know him, Lord Hokage?" "Yes, I know him...Hayate talked a lot about him...this Eiji is really a funny one...Hahaha...anyway what difficulties do you have with him?" "This...I don''t know where to start. His attitude is really bad, he often skips classes and now he seems to get himself involved with some bad people...his grades are also really below average...he is even worse than Naruto in Ninjutsu. The other day when I taught them the Transformation-Jutsu, even though Naruto''s transformation was bad at least he could transform himself, while Eiji couldn''t. I wanted to ask you if it would be appropriate to expel him..." "Hmm, do you know that one of his hands is injured, which makes it difficult for him to form signs?" "This...I didn''t know...but doesn''t it make it then impossible for him to become a shinobi?" "Well, normally it''s a huge handicap, but I would advise you not to look down on him. I suspect that in terms of fighting capabilities he is at the top of the class." "But...how can this be? Even his Taijutsu is only slightly above average, and don''t get me even started on his long-range weapon usage..." "Hahaha, well he is certainly a unique fellow. He is pretty much the definition of a one-trick pony. Don''t you see how he is always carrying a sword with him? According to Hayate, he is one of the most gifted pure Kenjutsu users in the village." "Hayate said that? But even if it''s true, his behavior is still a problem..." "Well, I certainly understand him. He is a top Kenjutsu user, so when the academy teaches only things which he doesn''t specialize in and has no merit for him to learn, of course, he would get bored and frustrated. So my advice would be, to just not force him to learn things he doesn''t want to. Before he enrolled in the academy, Hayate spent a huge amount of time to train him, so you don''t have to worry." "It certainly makes sense...I will take your advice to heart, Lord Hokage." At the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gangs headquarters, which was only a wood table with a wooden bench in a park. One of Konoha''s Heavenly Kings was currently questioning the boos of the Peeing-Dogs Gang. "So you are telling me, that your whole Gang was trashed by some small brat, who isn''t part of any gang?" "Yes...he was stronger than we th -" A fist in his face interrupted him. "Tell me who this brat is, or else I will test the new move I developed to dethrone this arrogant empress on you!" "It was a kid called Eiji..." "Eiji? Hey, you over there search for this Eiji, while the rest of you punish this worthless garbage for their incompetence!" "Wait please - ARGHHH!" CrusadeAgainstFurries I used the Naruto wiki to summarize the backstory on how Iruka and Naruto got closer, so out of fairness, I will post the link to the wiki. https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Iruka_Umino Chapter 25: Eiji vs Apple-Juice-Lover Eiji was walking from the academy with Tenten again, but they weren''t alone. "Hey boss, I hope you had a good day at the academy." "..." "Why is this little boy following you, Eiji?" "Because he has not only an egghead but also an egg instead of a brain!" "I know most bosses use a condescending tone to their subordinates, but I already support you wholeheartedly even without you showing your dominance. Anyway boss, I think now it''s time to think of a name for our gang." "Listen here you little shit! I have better things to do than to play gang with you! So if you understand then scram!" "Listen-here-you-little-shit Gang is a great name boss!" "ARGGHHH I''M GONNA LOSE MY MIND WITH THIS LITTLE SHIT!!!" Not for away a member of the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang was watching them. "So this is the Eiji kid? I need to report that I found him..." Like usually Eiji and Tenten headed to the park for training after school, while Tenjo followed them for some reason. But the whole of the Super-Duper-Farm Gang gathered together and encircled them on their way. Apple-Juice Lover, one of Konoha''s Four Heavenly Kings, stepped forward. All his clothes were completely green and his hair had the form of an apple. "What the hell, another freak? Don''t you have better things to do than to suddenly jump out and block my way?" "Boss, be careful. That''s one of the Four Heavenly Kings..." "This egg kid got it right. I''m one of the Four Heavenly Kings - Apple-Juice Lover. I heard you defeated a gang that was under my protection. So I will need to break your knee to make sure, that no one in the future gets the idea to go against me or a gang under me again..." "You know, if you want to play gang you should get a better name..." "Eiji, do you want me to help you?" "No, if you get involved, then those freaks will keep appearing out of nowhere and bug you." "This kid is really full of himself to call one of Konoha''s strongest gangs freaks...get him!" ... After a few seconds, they were all laying on the ground. Only Apple-Juice Lover could stand up with some difficulties. "Huff, huff...impressive...you are really strong...if it would be not too long ago, you would be stronger than me. But now I have a technique I developed to defeat the other Heavenly Kings! But looks like I will need to use it on you...here I come: APPLE JUICE TORNADO!" He pulled two bottles of apple juice out and used a rubber band to fix them on his shoes. Then he started to lay on his back and started to spin towards Eiji. Tenjo: "A truly fearsome technique. It combines offense and defense in one. The thrown apple juice not only reduces the vision of the opponent, but it also makes the spin speed faster when he rolls through the wet ground. It is really a technique befitting of one of the Four Heavenly Kings..." "...I really lose brain-cells interacting with those retards..." When Apple-Juice Lover was right in front of Eiji, Eiji hit him with his sheathed sword on the head. Apple-Juice lover was instantly knocked out and was laying in a weird pose in a pool of apple juice. "..." - Eiji "..." - Tenten "That was great boss! I always believed in you!" After some time Apple-Juice Lover woke up. "Boss, you are finally awake!" "Hey, where am I? What happened?" "Boss, we were all knocked out by this Eiji kid..." Apple-Juice Lover regained his memories after hearing that. "HAHAHAHA, this is truly interesting. He defeated me, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Let''s see if he can defeat the other ones...Booger King can use shinobi stuff, while Dirty Baddie uses underhanded techniques to win. And the Empress...I really hope he never meats her or else his life is over. Still, I will cheer for him, even if his chances are nearly zero HAHAHAHA - Hey someone of you idiots, go buy me some apple juice!" CrusadeAgainstFurries So only between 4 and 7 more chapters to go, before the academy arc finishes and the "real" story starts. Chapter 26: Turmoil in Konoha Time passed. Because Eiji defeated Apple-Juice Lover, the morale of the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang was at the lowest and their strength fell drastically. This created a power vacuum, which the other Heavenly Kings took advantage other. They won a huge chunk of the territory belonging to the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang, and also many of the subordinate gangs under them deserted to the other kings. You may wonder how those idiotic delinquents could muster enough brain cells to come up with such a strategy. Well, it was mostly Dirty Baddie''s idea, who is infamous for using underhanded tactics. So when he started doing it, the other two kings just imitated him. Anyway in short: they were too busy to deal with Eiji right now, which meant it was a rather peaceful time period for Eiji. But life is truly fickle, while someone wins the lottery, at the same time someone else loses all his belongings in a flood. Something big happened in Konoha last night. Eiji was currently eating his breakfast with his parents. "Eiji, be careful on your way to the academy today..." "Hmm, what''s wrong? Also, why does Dad look like he hasn''t slept at all?" "It''s a bit gruesome for a child to know...but you will probably hear it somewhere anyway...the whole Uchiha clan was wiped out tonight..." "What?" Eiji was surprised. Even though he knows it would happen, it came too suddenly. ''Well, I guess only the ones involved would have seen some changes before it happened...'' He then remembered how he played in the past with the thoughts of telling someone that it will happen. ''No way I would do that...the instant I had told someone, I would be found the next day with a kunai from a Root member in my neck. And this would be only the lucky outcome. It would be more likely that Danzo would order to kill my whole family and probably even Tenten as well just to be sure...'' "Your father was there in the early morning to help to clean up. Darling, I think you should get some sleep..." "After seeing all this blood and the bodies I don''t think I will be able to sleep for an entire month..." "Hey Eiji, did you hear what happened?" - asked Tenten while they were walking to the academy. "Yeah." "I heard there is a survivor though, he is the one in your class." "Yeah." "Can you say something else than yeah and tell me your thoughts on it?" "I mean what can I say there? Much of the information isn''t told to the public and everyone who has the privilege of having an actual brain can see that there is something fishy going on...so I would rather not talk about it because I don''t want to randomly disappear..." "Uhh, now you are making me feel scared..." When I came to the academy, there was only one topic. The topic surely wasn''t which special flavor Choji''s potato chips had today. Anyway, Sasuke isn''t here right now. He is probably still in the hospital or something. The atmosphere in the classroom is really weird. No one wants to make a joke, everyone has a stern expression. Even Naruto can read the atmosphere and is docile today. Though there were some brain-dead girls, who had the glorious idea of visiting Sasuke to try to "heal his heart". Fortunately, there were some considerate girls who flamed the hell out of them for having this idiotic idea. It really feels weird though: I knew it would happen and when watching the anime I always thought how emo Sasuke was...but now he is a real person, not just a character, and I really feel bad for him... I still won''t tell him the truth about Itachi and such...sorry but my safety is at risk. Also, there are now more shinobis patrolling in the village...I mean, isn''t it a bit too late for that now? But yeah...I remember how I walked a few times through the Uchicha''s civilian part district and there were many friendly people there. I should never forget that the people in this world are living beings, all with their own emotions, hopes, family, and friends - not just some characters I am looking at in a show. But unfortunately, I''m not a god or anything who can save everyone. I''m just a normal guy who is struggling to survive himself... CrusadeAgainstFurries It surely is weird and surreal writing about the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang and the Uchiha massacre in the same chapter, but it has a certain forbidden charm hehehehe Chapter 27: Dirty Baddie’s scheme ''After a few days, Sasuke is attending the academy today again. He behaves now like the Sasuke everyone knew in my previous world. But being happy about that would be kinda wrong... Anyway, after the whole Uchiha clan disappeared, the personnel of the Konoha Military Police Force was basically nonexistent. Since they were responsible for handling criminal shinobis, the village people felt pretty unsafe. But slowly shinobis from other areas were being transferred, so we have a police force again. Though, cases, where Konoha''s shinobis committed crimes here, were rare to being - if you don''t count those root folks. Anyway, it looks like normal life returned faster than I thought.'' For a certain group of good-for-nothings, the whole Uchiha thing wasn''t of any importance at all. They continued to waste their time with their dumb gang wars instead of doing something productive, like getting an education or helping the people in the village! The Dirty-Cleaning-Wipes Gang''s Boss Dirty baddie, one of the Heavenly Kings, spend much time collecting data about Eiji because even though he is a weak fighter, he rose to the position of Heavenly Kings through dirty tricks and schemes. "Hehehe, no wonder he could trash all those gangs alone, he is one of those shinobi folks...so he can probably defeat us alone as well. Hey you, how would you deal with a shinobi?" "I don''t know boss..." "Tsk, why am I surrounded by only retards? The answer is, it takes another shinobi to deal with one...easy right?" "But boss, no one of us had any shinobi training..." "I''M NOT TALKING ABOUT US IDIOT! We have another Heavenly King who has some shinobi training, so all we need to do is to make them fight each other, hehehehehe....hey has one of you retards at least enough brain-cells to be able to write a note?" At the Booger-Tosser-Gang''s headquarters, which were just a pile of trash bins in a side-street. Booger King was reading a paper which was found at their "headquarters" this morning. It read: Hey you ugly bastard, my name is Eijo Napamura, I will defeat your ugly face and your stupid gang. If you have the balls, you can challenge me near the big park in the afternoon - Ps. you also stink - Eja Pakamura. When he finished reading it, a vein nearly popped on his head while he ripped the note apart. "THIS DAMN BASTARD!!! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?! ARRRGHHH!!!" "Hey Eiji, I heard the Uchiha boy of your class returned today...how was he?" "Well, he certainly wasn''t glowing with happiness..." Eiji thought back, how a girl approached Sasuke today saying: " My condolence to what happened to you...if you need any help you can always count on me!" Sasuke glared at her like he would kill her on the spot. The girl cried and ran away. After that, no one approached him for the rest of the day. "I feel bad for him...anyway Eiji let''s train harder so we can save our family''s in the future!" "I don''t think that anyone would want to kill our...oh no not again. Why is a freak appearing now of all times? I thought they stopped bugging me.." Booger King and his whole gang blocked his way. He had a coat that was full of booger pieces - apparently, each symbolized every enemy he defeated personally. "You fucking bastard really have big balls to challenge me like that. Your victory against Apple-Juice Lover must have went to your head...just so you know...in terms of fighting power I''m the strongest of the Heavenly Kings!" "Hey, boss there you are!" A little boy with a head-shape of an egg started to appear out of nowhere! "Oh no, now this little shit started to appear too...life was really peaceful these last weeks..." "Boss, don''t think I abandoned you! I was monitoring the movements of the Heavenly Kings! I honestly thought that Dirty Baddie would be the first to make a move against you, but looks like I was mistaken...be careful boss! Booger Kings is rumored tho have received some shinobi training!" "This eggkid is right. I didn''t intend to waste my time on a small fry like you...but since you had the balls to insult me and challenge me, I WILL DESTROY YOU EIJA!!! WHAAAAA!" ''Eija?'' He started to concentrate some chakra on his feet. ''Hmm? Looks like he is a bit tougher than those other freaks, but I doubt he comes even close to Hayate-sensei...anyway let''s deal with him fast, since I don''t want to waste time with those idiotic freaks...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for not uploading for two days. I was way too tired to write anything remotely decent... Chapter 28: Eija vs Booger King The members of the Booger-Tosser Gang took some distance from Booger King since they knew that when he gets serious, they would only get in his way. Booger King looked like he finished concentrating his chakra on his feet and charged at Eiji. Eiji sidestepped easily while using a leg to trip him. Booger King fell with his face straight into the ground. "Oh my god, it''s the first time someone could survive the famous Booger Charge of boss..." "This kid is too strong let''s run!" "YOU RETARDS! Boss isn''t finished yet, he still hasn''t used his ultimate technique!" With difficulties, Booger King stood up again. "Eija...I have to admit that you are pretty strong...no wonder you are so cocky...but do you know why they call me Booger King? It''s because of my deadly technique which imitates the kunai skill of real shinobis...HERE I COME!!! BOOGER KUNAIS!!" ''Oh no...don''t tell me he does what I think...'' Suddenly Booger King''s two hands were full with hard booger pieces. He then started to throw them all at once. About 10 kunais flew towards Eiji. At first, he didn''t think that the booger pieces were dangerous, he just didn''t want to touch someone else''s booger! But he recognized fast that those booger pieces were artificially hardened and could injure someone. The throwing skill with which they were thrown was also pretty decent. ''They may hit an average academy student, but compared to Tenten''s skills it''s nothing...'' They "kunais" flew in a trajectory that made it impossible to dodge them all. But Eiji only moved his crippled right hand slightly upwards to raise his sword slightly out of the sheath and then let it instantly glide back. After this inconspicuous movement, suddenly a small wind breeze appeared out of nowhere and redirected all the "kunais" away from Eiji. Booger King had an incredulous look. "What the...it must have been just bad luck that wind appeared suddenly! I will just do it again, you cant have the same dog-shit luck again!" But before he could attack again Eiji appeared beside him seemingly in the blink of an eye. "Hey you booger bastard...I''m not a hygiene-freak, but I certainly get mad if you start to throw your booger at me!" "Wait...maybe we can talk this out...I know...why don''t you join me as my right hand!" The answer was a fist in his face. Standing next to the unconscious Heavenly King, Eiji looked at the surrounding gang members. "Getting booger thrown at me, my mood went downhill, so If any of you still wants to fight and waste my time, I won''t hold back." They all ran away. "Wow boss, you have defeated now half of the Heavenly Kings! Only two more and you will be Konoha''s ultimate boss!" Eiji really didn''t have the mood to listen to Tenjo, and just kicked him away. "Eiji, I don''t think kicking little children is okay...what if you injured him?" "Don''t worry, the main advantage of the egg form in nature is, that it''s really hard to destroy." "I guess..." ''Wait! Shouldn''t she rebuke me or something? I really start to think I corrupted her...'' At the Dirty-Cleaning-Wipes Gangs headquarters, which was just a room in Dirty Baddie''s grandmother''s house. "Hey boss, the plan failed! This Eiji kid actually won!" "WHAT?! That''s not good...if he can defeat this monster then in terms of fighting power he is the strongest...certainly the Empress could easily deal with him, but I can''t deceive her - she isn''t stupid! If I try to use her in my schemes and she notices it, she will definitely get mad at me...then I will and up in the asylum! No way. She is way too scary. Let''s just think of another plan where she isn''t involved..." "Hey, does any of you handsome boys want some milk and cookies?" "Yes, ma''am!" "Yes!" "Gladly" "Thanks, grandma." ... The next day at the academy. The first thing Iruka did when he came, was to shout at some of his students. "HEY NARUTO! YOU WERE DRAWING ON THE CLASSROOMS TABLES YESTERDAY, RIGHT? YOU WILL STAY AFTER CLASS TO CLEAN IT UP!" ''How many times has it been already? Everyone is already used to this scene...Naruto keeps doing his stupid pranks and Iruka forces him to stay at the academy longer...'' "And you too Eiji, will stay here after school because I need to have a serious talk with you!" "..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Don''t know what to write today, so I will complain about the heatwave. Heatwave bad! Chapter 29: Underhanded plan After the classes ended, Naruto and Eiji were still here. Iruka gave Naruto a sponge and a bucket with water without saying anything. Such situations with Naruto happened so often, that he didn''t need to tell him what to do. Iruka then turned towards Eiji. "Eiji, I heard rumors that you involve yourself with delinquents again...I thought you got more mature and stopped doing it, but now it seems you started doing it again..." "Sensei, you got it wrong. I''m a virtuous and law-abiding citizen. These freaks just start to come out of nowhere and try to fight me..." "Haaa, you know, normally what my students do in their free time isn''t of my concern, but future shinobis shouldn''t use what they learn in the academy to beat up non-shinobis..." "As I said, those freaks are the ones starting to fight me and I''m just defending myself-" WHOOSH. The whole bucket with water was turned over Eiji''s head. "Hahaha, you stupid swordsman, look how dumb you look when you are completely wet!" "NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" While Iruka was screaming, Eiji''s body disappeared with a puff sound and smoke. It was just his shadow-clone. ''This shameless brat! He never intended to stay after classes!'' "..." "..." "Hey Naruto, after you are finished cleaning up, how about some ramen?" After some serious planning Dirty Baddie came up with a dirty plan. He knew, that Eiji is often accompanied by a girl. So instead of attacking Eiji straight on, he and his gang will kidnap the girl and make him surrender! Truly an underhanded plan befitting of the Heavenly King, who is infamous for using underhanded and dirty tactics. Since Tenten and Eiji walked together to and from the academy, and after that head to the park to train, the Dirty-Cleaning-Wipes Gang needed to wait for the weekend, where she wouldn''t be accompanied by Eiji, to strike. Finally, they found a chance, when Tenten was heading home from shopping. They simultaneously appeared from their covers and encircled her. Dirty Baddie was also here since his gang members aren''t the brightest and he wants to make sure they didn''t mess up. He looked like a hooligan, with scars, and was completely bald, which is impressive for his young age - in short, he looked really shady. He smiled evilly while licking at his knife: "Hey there little lass, you should come with us quietly, then we won''t need to use any force." His gang started to move closer to her. Dirty Baddie knew that Eiji was a shinobi, but he didn''t think Tenten was also one. First of all, she didn''t carry any visible weapon around her and never helped Eiji in fights, but more importantly: his subordinates didn''t inform him when they collected data, that she and Eiji walked to and from the academy together since they aren''t really smart and didn''t know that this was an utmost important detail. Dirty Baddie was really unlucky. It would have been better for him to get defeated by Eiji since Eiji holds normally back. Tenten didn''t say anything and took out a scroll. Dirty Baddie didn''t even have the opportunity to use any special techniques before he and his gang had their butts full of kunais and shurikens. It was certainly a funny scene, seeing a group of delinquents running to the hospital while holding their butts and crying. The next day on the way to the academy. "Hey did something happen Tenten? Why are you so happy?" "Nothing, I just had a good training opportunity..." ''?'' "HEEYYY BOSS!!! Big news, Dirty Baddie and his gang mysteriously disappeared. Now It''s only you and the Empress. But you shouldn''t celebrate now, since rumors say she is the most fearsome of the Heavenly Kings. Normally she doesn''t involve herself in gang wars and let her gang deal with it. But when she decides to move, it''s like a demonic goddess descends and brings destruction! Not much is know about her fighting style, only that she uses some kind of mind attacks." ''Oh man, I wonder when those idiotic freaks stop bothering me..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Tomorrow will be the last delinquent chapter. After that probably 1 or 2 more chapters before a time skip and the academy arc ends. Chapter 30: Empress! The Yellow-Snow Gang was a girls-only gang. They have been around for some time and were always one of the top gangs in Konoha. Also, they made sure, that the boy delinquents wouldn''t bother girls, or else they would completely crush them. All the bosses the gang had, always belonged to the Heavenly Kings. But when the Empress appeared, the gang rose at an unbelievable speed to the top position. To outsiders, the Empress is shrouded in mystery and not much is known. The only reliable rumors were, that one day she just suddenly appeared at the headquarters and challenged the former boss. After that, she was the undisputed boss, and others who had the misfortune to fight her personally, all went crazy. Anyway, at the Yellow-Snow Gangs headquarters, which was surprisingly really a place you could call headquarters (it was an abandoned factory), there was a discussion going on. "What should we do? Every Heavenly King was defeated by this newcomer..." "But he isn''t part of any gang, and he hasn''t claimed any territory, so shouldn''t it be fine to just ignore him?" "No, we cant. What do we do if he forms a gang and recruits all he has defeated? His gang would be the biggest then! We should strike before he has formed a gang!" "But - " "Enough!" - The Empress snapped her fan, and everything when instantly quiet. "I will deal personally with this newcomer, hihihi" - the Empress said that with a cheerful face and giggled. All the girls gulped and tried to make absolutely zero noises. "Hey Eiji, we have this genius in my class called Neji, I think he could even give you a hard time if you two fought." "I honestly don''t care about this stuff. More importantly, I have almost mastered a new technique, so can you throw some stuff, so I can practice it on moving targets?" "Sure, but after that teach me some more kenjutsu.." Even though she can pick up any weapon and instantly use it to a high level, she can''t compare to a specialist. "Yeah, yeah sure...by the way today is really hot...I''m sweating just from walking in the sun..." Suddenly a group of girls appeared and encircled them. "Oh man, not again...at least there is some variation today..." One of the girls stepped forward and shouted: "YOU ARROGANT PIG WILL FALL TODAY FOR TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WHOLE OF KONOHA!" After she said that, a giggle could be heard behind the line of girls: "That''s a rude way to talk to this newcomer with talent. He sure isn''t ordinary to defeat all the Heavenly Kings by himself, so don''t be so disrespectful!" The girl who just shouted had an ashen face and instantly kneeled and apologized. The rest of the girls also kneeled and opened a path for the Empress. Slowly Eiji could see the appearance of the so-called Empress. "..." "Ahh! Glue eater!" ''What is my stupid cousin doing here?'' - Eiji ... "Jo Hatsumi, what the hell are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be at home and learn to run our family business or something?" "SHUT UP! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" "Just walking, before I got surrounded by those gyaruo-wannabes! Anyway since it looks like you are the leader of them, tell them to stop blocking my path, I have things to do!" "Hihihi, unfortunately for you, I will have to defeat you, since you are a threat to our gang..." "I honestly don''t care about this stupid gang stuff. I always got challenged for no reason at all, so I just fought back..." "Hihihi, that may be the case, but since I now know it''s you, my dear cousin, I will have to settle some personal grudges with you." "Haaaa whatever. Since you are the last of one of those Heavenly Kings, I will just beat you up, even though it''s not my style to hurt girls." Hatsumi remembered how he threatened her in the past to kick her in the leg, and got furious at his shameless noble act. Her giggle changed to maniacal laughter and she moved one of her hands towards her bag. "THE EMPRESS TAKES THE CURSED ARTIFACT OUT, QUICKLY CLOSE YOU EYES EVERYONE!" - a random girl shouted. All the Yellow-Snow Gang members closed their eyes and distanced themselves from Hatsumi. ''Cursed artifact? Don''t tell me..'' Hatsumi took out a denture, which was dirty and used - overall it was a really unpleasant view. When Eiji saw that, he had horrible flashbacks. He covered while sucking at his thumb, with an expression that looked like he lost his mind. ''I need to eat some glue, I need to eat some glue, I need to eat some...'' "HAHAHA THIS IS MY REVENGE EIJI!!! NOW COVER IN FEAR! HAHAHAHA" Tenten looked at Eiji. She then patted his shoulder. "There, there everything is alright, I''m here with you." Her voice was like a light that reached him in his pitch-black abyss. He slowly regained some sanity. "Y-you are right Tenten...if I cant overcome my past trauma I can never become a half-decent shinobi...Hatsumi, you are possessed by this cursed artifact, as a family member, I will also save you...HERE I COME WHAAAAAA!" He slowly drew closer towards Hatsumi with difficulties, as if an invisible wall tries to hold him back. After much time and difficulties, he stood in front of her. He drew his sword, and prayed in his heart: Please lend me your power Kagayaku Haikei, to banish this evil from this world! "HHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA" He slashed at the denture. Hatsumi stared with an open mouth at her hand, where the denture was in pieces. Tears started to form: "I''m finally free....thank you..." She lost consciousness and fell directly into Eiji''s arms. ''Even though we hate each other, no one deserves such a terrible fate...'' The curse was finally lifted. Not too far away Tenjo looked at the scene and smiled. "Looks like my masterplan worked. This Eiji defeated all the dangerous opponents for me, and now I can use this chance to become Konoha''s sole King! hehehehehe..." The delinquent legend of the Egg Monarch would start at this moment, but that''s a story Eiji won''t be part of. CrusadeAgainstFurries A "dramatic" conclusion for the arc, if I would say so myself. Chapter 31: Candidates At the Hokage office, Hiruzen and the rest of the Konoha Council looked at reports from the academy. This is a meeting which is held every year, to scout potential Anbu candidates from the academy. Only accomplished children have the chance to be scouted while still being in the academy! Mostly it''s the Hokage''s responsibility to select the candidates, but Homura and Koharu are present, to make sure that they can give their opinion to help Hiruzen with his task. And Danzo is here for...shady reasons. Anyway, they were looking at the reports of this year''s freshmen class. There were many children with ordinary grades. So that''s why when Sasuke''s report appeared, it caught everyone''s eyes. Homura: "So this is the Uchiha brat? He certainly doesn''t disappoint, even if Itachi was better..." Koharu: "You shouldn''t really compare someone to Itachi, since he graduated the academy after only four months and joined the Anbu when he was only eleven...he is an irregularity even in Konoha''s long history. Anyway, in my opinion, Sasuke certainly has the potential, but I think we should observe him more before deciding, considering the Uchiha''s history." Danzo had a dark expression and didn''t say anything. Hiruzen thought about the promise he gave to Itachi, to protect Sasuke no matter what, and made his decision. "I won''t select Sasuke Uchiha to join the Anbu for the time being." No one objected to the decision. Next, they looked at the report of Naruto. He had by far the worst grades. "..." "HAHAHAHAHA" Everyone thought it was best to keep their opinions to themselves, only Hiruzen laughed heartily when he read about all the mischief Naruto did in the academy. Next came up Eiji. His grades were all over the place: Classroom attitude F, genjutsu C, taijutsu B, ninjutsu A, teamwork B, positivity F. There was also noted that, because of his injured hand, he is one of the rare cases who uses hand signs with only one hand. Other things noted, how he was trained by Hayate Gekko prior to enrolling and his involvement with delinquents. "That''s a pretty wild and chaotic profile." - Koharu Homura: "It is noted that his combat abilities are pretty high, but it looks like his personality troublesome...if he grows up and is more mature, maybe he would be a candidate..." Danzo kept silent and thought: ''this boy is too eccentric to be of any use to me.'' Hiruzen didn''t laugh about the reports of Eiji''s misbehavior, instead, he was seriously contemplating. "I...I won''t select him as a potential Anbu candidate." In the end, he decided against it. In his eyes, Eiji was someone who has a way too flashy personality and unique quirks, which would clash with the whole identity concealment thing. The meeting concluded with no one being selected to join the Anbu right after graduation and to observe Sasuke so that he might join in the future. Unfortunately, Konoha didn''t have a beach, so in the summer when the temperature is at the highest, people would go to a swimming pool. Though there were some hardcore lunatics, who would visit the hot-springs even in this heat. To thank Eiji for rescuing her, Hatsumi invited him to the swimming pool. Since it was Sunday and too hot for any training, he had nothing to do and ended up agreeing. Somehow Tenten heard of it it and demanded to go with them; she stated the reason being, that she didn''t trust Hatsumi. So now Eiji was at the swimming pool with his cousin and Tenten. "Hey Eiji, how is my swimming-outfit?" "Hihihi, like that glue-eater would care about things like that..." He already regretted accepting. ''This day will be a drag...and the heat frying my brain doesn''t make it any better...wait I somehow sound like Shikamaru...'' Eiji wanted nothing more to dive straight into the pool, but unfortunately, the pool was pretty full. There were also many little children there, and Eiji hated little kids (even though he is one too). He left his sword at home, but now he wished he had it with him, so he could scare all the kids away. The three decided to first eat something so that maybe there would be later fewer people in the pool. "Since I invited you to thank you, of course, I prepared something for you, here you go..." Hatsumi gave Eiji a bento. When he opened it, it was full of glue. "..." He kicked Hatsumi straight in the pool. Tenten saw what was in the bento and jumped with an angry face in as well. She then started to throw water at Hatsumi''s face. Hatsumi retaliated and so a water battle started between the two. ''I wish I had a cold beer now...'' Of course, Eiji is too young to buy beer, so he instead sat on a pool chair. He started to think, how his first year at the academy is almost over. ''Time sure flies by...I really should enjoy the remaining time in the academy...since after that the peaceful days will be over and big things will happen in this world where I could die anytime...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries So tomorrow will be a time-skip straight to the graduation and the story pace will start to get really fast. I wanted to thank you all for reading so far, and for all the support and comments I get from you - really makes my day. Chapter 32: Team eleven In the Hokage office. "Hayate, I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to lead a genin team..." "Koff, with all due respect Lord Hokage, it''s not the first time you have asked me this, but my stance won''t change..." "Hmmm, I thought you would be willing this time because one of this year''s graduates is a former student of yours." "Koff, could you mean perhaps Eiji? Even then, I have to refuse." "The thing is, not many Jonin picked him, because of his grades in classroom attitude and positivity, they think that the team atmosphere would be strained. But I thought since he was your student, you wouldn''t have any problems dealing with him." ''What was he doing to get such bad grades in the easiest categories? Anyway, the Hokage surely exaggerates and is saying all that so I would agree...hah whatever, my health improved a bit so I should be able to babysit some brats..." "If it''s like that, I will accept Lord Hokage." The graduation test wasn''t a problem for Eiji. The task was to generate three clones, but since Eiji didn''t bother to learn the basic Clone Technique, he generated two shadow clones instead. Since the Shadow Clone-Jutsu rapidly depletes the user''s chakra, two were currently the maximum of Eiji. Iruka and Mizuki still let him pass without problems. "Naruto! What are you doing here? Class today is only for the students who didn''t fail!" - random mob. "What? Can''t you see the headband?!" Things ended playing out like they are supposed to be, and Naruto and Sasuke kissed each other. While seeing this scene Eiji thought: '' Well it''s good that things are like they are supposed to happen...I wouldn''t mind seeing Naruto''s Sexy-Jutsu again though...it was really hot, to be honest...'' ... It was finally time for Iruka to call out the teams. Everything was like it was supposed to be, which Eiji was glad about. "Next is cell number eleven. Kotaru Nogami, Arina Natori, and Eiji Nakamura. ''Well, a mob certainly is supposed to have other mobs as teammates...'' "Oh no, it''s that rotten swordsman...why is my luck so bad..." "..." "Okay, everyone, I will be introducing your Jonin-supervisor this afternoon. Until then, you are dismissed!" "Hayate-sensei? What are you doing here?" "Koff, long time no see Eiji. I decided to become your sensei once again." - Hayate said that with a small smile. ''Looks like some stuff already changed...but since he is also more or less supposed to be a mob, it should be fine...'' "Koff and you two are Kotaru and Arina, right? Let''s leave the classroom and go somewhere else first." "Hey, don''t you guys think that our sensei looks somehow sick?" - Kotaru Arina: "Shhhh keep your voice down, what if he hears you?" Eiji rolled his eyes and just followed. They went straight to one of Konoha''s many training grounds. "Koff, let''s first introduce ourselves. My name is Hayate Gekko, I''m a Tokubetsu Jonin (special Jonin), so I guess my rank is slightly lower than a normal Jonin. I don''t have really anything interesting to tell you about myself...well Eiji here knows me already anyway." "WHAT? Hey Eiji, how do you know him? Did he arrest you in the past or something?" - Kotaro "Nothing like that, anyway shouldn''t you better introduce yourself instead of wasting our sensei''s time?" "Oh right. My name is Kotaru Nogami. I like cute girls, and I absolutely hate fat girls. I also don''t like evil girls. My goal is to marry a real princess one day!" Kotaru has grey hair and wears stylish glasses - generally, he gives the impression of someone lively but not too energetic. "Are you a pervert or something? Anyway, my name is Arina Natori. My goal is to become a kunoichi, which the village can rely on. My likes and dislikes aren''t anything special so I skip it." Arina was a girl with a plain appearance, black hair, and an expressionless face - in short, the perfect mob girl. "So then that only leaves me? Well, my name is Eiji Nakamura, I like my sword. I dislike weapons that aren''t swords. My dream is to be renowned for my virtues and truthfulness, to become like a buddha... I guess." - He said it in a half-assed tone "..." ''His humor really didn''t change since the last time I saw him...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Naruto and Sasuke''s kiss scene is really nostalgic...truly good times. Chapter 33: Test "Koff, since we now got to know each other, there is something I have to tell you. I will personally test you, and if I deem you to be unfitting, you will have to go back to the academy for some more training." "What? But we already graduated and now you are telling us that if we fail, we have to go back to the academy?" - Kotaro "Why did no one tell us about that before..." - Arina ''Well I already knew something like that would happen...'' - Eiji "Every Jonin has their own expectations and way of testing for the team they will lead, so telling in advancement would be just too troublesome. Anyway, the test is simple: You just have to attack me like you intend to kill me." ''Pretty straight forward, as expected of Hayate-sensei...the thing he wants to test should be teamwork as well'' "You can''t be serious...how are we supposed to fight a Jonin...'' - Kotaro "..." - Arina "So what are you waiting for? Are you going to attack or just standing there waiting for the sun to settle?" "AHHHH TAKE THIS!!!" Kotaro charged at him, while Arina just stood there doing nothing. ''How am I supposed to do teamwork with those two? Well, I still need to try it.'' Kotaro''s charge was abysmal and Hayate dodged easily, but then Eiji suddenly attacked from behind. Of course, Hayate already expected that. Hayate grinned: ''Looks like Eiji understands the importance of teamwork, that only leaves those two...'' Hayate easily deflected Eiji with his sword and then jumped away to distance himself from the two. "Alright, Eiji passed already...now you two need to convince me as well...oh by the way Eiji, if you give them any hints you will fail instead." "WHAAAT? Hey sensei why did he pass and I not?" - Kotaro "Koff, instead of talking shouldn''t you attack me?" "Ahh damn" - He again mindlessly charged at Hayate. ''Hmm if this goes one, the girl will just keep standing there'' Suddenly Hayate disappeared from Kotaro and instead appeared in front of Arina. "!" Arina was already too fearful to attack a Jonin head-on and now that Hayate suddenly attacked her, her panic level rose to the limit. Her brain function shut down and she was now completely like a statue. "..." - Hayate He just smacked her at her front-head lightly, so that she comes back to her senses. "Koff, this won''t work out...I will give you two 5 minutes to calm down and to come up with a strategy." Hayate sat down on a nearby rock while starting to count the time silently. ''I wonder what happens if they don''t pass...will I get a senior team who lost a teammate or something?'' Eiji was laying at a tree and watching disinterestedly. "HEY YOU, CAN YOU STOP BEING A STATURE AND START DOING SOMETHING?" Kotaru walked towards Arina with an upset face. "I-I''m sorry..." "I DON''T NEED YOUR SORRY, IF THIS CONTINUES WE WILL BOTH FAIL!" The mention of failing brought Arina somewhat to her senses and she started to breathe slowly to calm down. "You are right, we don''t have much time anymore, let''s start to think..." "No need to think! I will charge at him while you support me from long range." "But in my opinion, we should try to think why Eiji passed instead..." Kotaro had already unknowingly the right idea, while Arina walked straight into the trap of overthinking. Hayate, who was listening, didn''t say anything, because in his opinion overthinking is something that mustn''t happen on the battlefield, especially when it concerns teammates. Arina and Kotaro kept arguing with each other till the 5 minutes were up. They couldn''t come to an agreement and Hayate stood up and glanced at them. "Whatever, I will keep trying to fight him, while you can keep wasting your time thinking..." Kotaru charged at him again. Hayate dodged everything without drawing his sword. After a few blows, Hayate started to attack Kotaro instead. Then when Kotaro found himself in a corner, because a tree was behind him, Hayate drew his sword and said "Playtime is over" "Wait, please sensei no need to hurt me...I will go back to the academy so don''t cut me with your sword please!" Hayate didn''t say anything and raised his sword. "NOOO PLEASE!" Kotaro panicked thinking Hayate will strike him for real. Suddenly a kunai flew towards him. "RUN WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!!!" - Arina who threw the kunai shouted. Hayate blocked the kunai with his sword and started to put his sword into the sheath. "Koff, congratulations, you both pass." "What? What? Why? How?" - Kotaru was perplexed. "Why do you think we put Genins in a team? It''s because of teamwork. For example, earlier Eiji attacked me when he saw an opening from your attack, that''s why I let him pass instantly. Anyway, most shinobi missions are done in a team, so Genins need to be willing to work together...it''s the most important thing, keep this in mind and never forget this!" "Yes sensei!" Both shouted happily while Kotaru had teary eyes and Arina still had a look of disbelieve. They then looked at Eiji. He was sleeping without a care in the world. "..." After getting his head smacked by Hayate, Eiji woke up. Hayate told them the time and place to gather tomorrow for their first mission. "Wait sensei, I wanted to show you how much I have improved since the last time. I didn''t want the other two to be in the way, so can you stay a bit longer and spar with me?" - Eiji asked Hayate before he left. "Koff, sure I''m looking forward to it." Hayate took his fight stance, which he didn''t use at the test before, while Eiji took an iaijutsu-stance. ''Looks like he wants to settle it with just one move...'' Hayate felt pressure, even though Eiji was only in his stance and glaring at him. When a small breeze blew, Eiji suddenly appeared behind Hayate. "!" ''What speed! I could only see his hand moving towards his sword grip!'' After a few seconds, a clean-cut appeared on Hayate''s sword, and then the upper-half fell on the ground. ''...I was really wrong about him...he is a monster...I didn''t understand back then why he suddenly wanted to learn iaijutsu, but it looks like he had a vision of what he did now, even back then...'' It was a move, which involved strengthening his feet with his accelerated chakra to the limit for godlike speed, while also channeling wind chakra into his blade, to increase the sharpness. Eiji grinned: "Sensei, you told me in the past to give names to my techniques, and since it''s not only a technique but my own sword-style, I gave it the name "Konoha Wind-spirit Style: Spring Breeze"...so what do you think sensei?" "Koff, you will buy me a new sword!" "..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for no chapters these past days. Had too much stuff to do. I will do double chapters starting Wednesday for a few days to make up for that. Chapter 34: Bandit mission "I HAD ENOUGH WITH THIS STUPID MISSIONS!!! GIVE US SOMETHING IMPORTANT AND AWESOME!!!" That''s something Naruto would probably say, but I personally don''t have any problems with dumb and easy missions. I mean, steady payment for low effort - how can you not like it? When Tenten started doing missions last year she also didn''t mind dumb missions, since she doesn''t like traveling for days. Well, she got more mature and chill overall, so her character is now more similar to how she was supposed to be. Some things a different though. When it comes to me, she isn''t as chill: like when the daughter of a shop-owner, who I see frequently when my mum sends me shopping, gave me a present and said that I look like a cool vagabond. When Tenten heard of that, she rushed to the girl to "talk" to her. After that, the normally cheerful girl was always fearful when seeing me. Anyway, since Tenten graduated last year, I don''t see her often anymore. Especially since Guy always takes ''over the top'' long missions, to let them "experience their youth". Something Tenten really hates. I''m really glad that Hayate-sensei isn''t a weirdo and is overall a reasonable person. "Lord Hokage, we are here again to select a mission..." "Oh Hayate, it''s you again? Your team is really fast when it comes to completing missions...how about this mission: helping to dig sweet potatoes..." "Koff Lord Hokage, to speak the truth, I think it''s time for my team to get some real fighting experience...do you have something with non-dangerous opponents like hoodlums of bandits?" ''Well Hayate-sensei was always someone who believed in the effectiveness of learning by doing...'' - Eiji "We have here a D-rank mission, where some bandits build a hideout near a nearby village and sometimes come to extort goods from them. The bandits are small in number and pretty weak. Your mission would be to arrest them. Would this mission be acceptable?" "Yes this was something I was looking for, thank you, Lord Hokage. Team eleven, get ready for a small journey outside the village, we will meet up at the gate in 3 hours!" "Yes, sensei!" "Hey Eiji, can you wear your headband normally and stop embarrassing us?" - Kotaru "I don''t think he is embarrassing us and if he wants to wear it like that I don''t really see a problem. In any case, if there was a problem, sensei would have already said something..." - Arina They were talking about how his headband hanged on his sword-sheath. With the panda pendant as well, his sword was flamboyantly decorated. Eiji ignored Kotaru, who for some reason always tried to find things to criticize about Eiji. ''Has this four-eyes nothing better to do? He should really find some hobbies like I have for example...wait I also don''t have any hobbies!'' Hayate was the last person to arrive. Of course, for a mission with only some no-name bandits, he didn''t need to prepare much. Instead, he used the time to meet up with his lover. But this is of course something he wouldn''t tell them. "Koff, is everyone ready? Even though you guys are leaving Konoha probably for the first time, the village isn''t far and it should only take us about 4 hours to get there." Since it wasn''t a mission where every second counts, they traveled normally by foot instead of jumping through trees. At a bandit hideout. A bandit was kneeling of what looked like their boss. "I''M SORRY BOSS, I PROMISE I WON''T DO THE SAME THING AG -" The "boss" grabbed the head of this bandit with one hand. He then crushed it like a melon and blood and brain-matter splashed everywhere. "I think I spoke clearly when I said that I absolutely won''t tolerate anything which goes against the orders. Every one of you who has the same idea like this one here will end up the same. I hope this time it was understandable for you retards..." - he spoke it apathetically and he looked like he didn''t care at all, even though his words may make one believe the opposite. The spectating bandits replied fearfully: "We understand, sir!" CrusadeAgainstFurries Yesterday I was too tired to write a chapter so there will be 1 more day with double chapters. Chapter 35: Trap The "boss" wasn''t actually their true boss. One day he just arrived at their old hideout and killed their former boss and threatened them to obey him or else he would kill them too. Actually, his real identity is 42, a henchman of Orochimaru. For as long as he remembers was he in Orochamimarus''s captivity, so long that he can''t even remember his real name. The other inmates called him 42, so he just went with it. He grew up in Otogakure without any love of happiness and not long ago he was suddenly forced to participate in a deathly battler royal. 42 was the sole survivor and winner of this battle royal and then a mission was given to him. Orochimaru was planning something big in the near future concerning Konoha, so his mission was to erase as much of Konoha''s manpower before that while making sure to not alert them. If you think about it, it''s a pretty ludicrous mission: If a number of shinobis suddenly started to disappear, Konoha would absolutely be alerted! Since not alerting them was far more important than the numbers and strength of the shinobis, 42 came up with a plan. He would take over a bandit group, let them bait some rookie teams, and then kill them. Since it''s only some rookie teams Konoha wouldn''t suspect something, since rookie teams have naturally a high chance of screwing up in missions. Furthermore, rookie teams wouldn''t be such a great loss for Konoha to start to dispatch elite troops to investigate. He was strong, but he certainly couldn''t fight an elite troop alone. To make sure he only attracts rookie teams, he ordered the bandits to make as little trouble as possible, so that the bandits would be an annoyance but not a threat. Unfortunately, bandits often had the characteristics of a small intellect and no self-control. He ordered the bandits to only extort goods, but not long ago one of them started to harass the village girls. That is why this bandit''s brain was now splattered all over the floor. For 42 killing was nothing, in fact, he hadn''t even feelings towards Orochimaru: neither affections nor hate. He had no purpose in his miserable life, so he always just went with the flow. This mission was just something he got entangled with and he just tried to complete it without thinking too much about it. "HOW AWESOME! This is my first time seeing a village outside of Konoha!" Kotaru shouted with a happy look, while Arina was looking interested around. Eiji was also intrigued: ''Konoha is really weird when it comes to technology and architecture, so seeing a village which resembles feudal-japan is honestly really cool...'' The village was small and had not many people in it. But it was well maintained and it didn''t look like some dirty peasant farm, where everyone is malnourished. The people here were healthy and lived a happy life. Occasionally they would have some festivals here, which aren''t practiced in big towns or shinobi villages. The clothes were similar to feudal-japan as well: with people who were currently working wearing simple working clothes and straw hats, while the rest moved around in kimonos. When the village people saw team eleven approaching, the people hurried to inform the village chief. The village chief rushed there and inspected them warily. Only after seeing the Konoha headbands did he relax slightly and greeted them. "Welcome to our humble village. I suppose you are Konoha shinobis?" "Koff, yes. We came here to deal with your bandit problem..." "Ah great, follow me, it''s better talking somewhere inside with a cup of tea..." "You see, normally we don''t have any bandit problems around here, since our village is near Konohagakure. But around a month ago this group suddenly appeared. I have to say though, they are a weird bunch, they only demand a small number of goods and never used physical force. Though today one of them started harassing our girls, weirdly enough the other bandits stopped him and dragged him away. That''s why we told Konoha that they aren''t really dangerous and that we would pay for a D-rank mission. The hideout should be nearby somewhere, but I can''t tell you the exact location. Well, you shinobis shouldn''t have any problems finding it though." "Koff, I understand. Don''t worry, those bandits will be handled by us, just make sure that none of the villagers leaves the village while we are dealing with them." Chapter 36: Treasure worm "Hey sensei, how are we supposed to find their hideout?" - Kotaru "We learned it at the academy though..." - Arina "I know, but I forgot it..." "Koff, well there are many ways to track somebody, but the most important thing is to use the tactic most suitable for the circumstances. For our mission, we know that the hideout is nearby and since there weren''t any bandit problems prior to this, we can conclude that this hideout was built by our targets. Hideouts are either build from scratch or environmental structures like caves are used instead. Most bandits don''t want to waste time building it on their own, so most of the time it''s the second option they use. There is a mountain range nearby, so we just have to follow the easiest path from the village into the direction of the mountain range and we should find something." "But shouldn''t we be a bit careful of possible traps or something sensei?" - Eiji "Usually yes, but since we got the information that the bandits take only goods from the village, they likely use some sort of carriage to carry it to the hideout, which would make setting traps that aren''t triggered by their own carriage hard to set up." "Kinda makes sense I guess..." - Eiji "Of course, the words of a Jonin always make sense!" - Kotaru "Why are you always so energetic? Can''t you relax a bit or something?" "Sir, one of our scouts saw them walking into the village and then talking to the village chief. And now they walk towards our hideout..." "Hmm looks like some fish took finally the bait...order all men to act like we didn''t notice them. When they arrive, start acting surprised and attack disorganized! I will take care of the rest." - 42 said it with an emotionless voice like always. He then started to hide himself. It''s not like he isn''t strong, but sneak attacking is just the fastest way and the possibility of the enemy escaping is also much smaller. "Sensei, shouldn''t we - " "Keep your voice down, we are already nearby and it looks like the enemy didn''t notice us. So here''s the plan. Since I took the mission to let you have some real fighting experience, you guys will try to take them stealthily out one by one, while I will stand on standby to step in if something goes wrong!" "Yes, sensei!" All three whispered it. There were currently 3 guards outside the cave guarding the entrance. The 3 Genin formed the plan of everyone taking 1 guard individually out, striking at the same time. After that, they would transform into the guards and check the situation inside. Hayate approved of the plan, even though he knew that such a plan was a bit too sophisticated to carry out for rookies and that mishaps will probably occur - but that''s why he was here. If anything happens, he will instantly step in to help. After that they could learn from this experience and their mistakes, to grow as shinobis! Anyway, the 3 Genins selected their targets and started to sneak. Of course, they just wanted to knock them unconsciously, but Hayate insisted that they still should have a kunai ready in case it gets dangerous. The bandits already knew that enemies are approaching. But they were ordered to behave normally. Furthermore, they are normal people, so they couldn''t possibly notice trained shinobis sneaking towards them. They did normal guard stuff: one was drinking booze, the other was eating, while the last one distanced himself to answer the call of nature. "Ahh man, I love beer, but I hate the pissing after that!" Unfortunately, Arina''s target was the one who was currently peeing. With a red face, she tried her best to ignore it and sneaked behind his back. Then she hit him at the neck. Somehow he managed to fall back exposing his treasure worm to a 12-year-old girl. "..." Fortunately, Eiji and Kotaru didn''t run into any problems, so the next step was to transform into the guards. But Arina was just standing there like her soul left her body. CrusadeAgainstFurries Treasure worm used to strike against a loli! It was super effective! Chapter 37: Sneak attack 42 was watching the three Genin. ''Only 3 Genin? According to intel I got for the mission, most shinobi-villages have a Jonin supervising Genin...so I suspect that the Jonin is hiding somewhere...hmm it would be best to sneak attack the Jonin, so I will just wait and see. Maybe he shows himself on his own accord...'' Because of Arina''s hesitation, they lost the timing, and when a bandit went out to swap for guard duty, he saw the unconscious bodies and started to yell: "Intruders!" The bandits acted surprised and started to attack disorganized like they were ordered. Truthfully they would attack disorganized even if they weren''t ordered to since they were no-name bandits who can only bully defenseless villagers - they don''t know how to fight at all. Still for children of their age, when suddenly a group of armed adults starts to rush at you, it would still be scary. Eiji had already experience dealing with a group of hoodlums, so he was relaxed and just smacked at their heads with his sword sheath. Kotaru was eager to prove himself, so he charged bravely at the bandits. Arina was still paralyzed. The bandits sensed that she was the easiest target and started to focus on her. "Damn it, Arina! Start doing something!" - Kotaru was frustrated and tried to get in range to defend her. Eiji wasn''t really motivated to help since he knew Hayate would step in, so he just continued to smack the heads of nearby bandits. Of course with that, Hayate had no choice but to step in to save Arina. Instantly the group which ran towards Arina was knocked out. After seeing that, Arina came to her senses: "Sensei?!" "Koff, don''t worry I''m here - " Like a bullet, a body shot out from somewhere and hit Hayate. Hayate flew towards the mountain. "Hmm it looks like you reacted and moved your body to evade a lethal hit...well you are still pretty heavily injured so I doubt you can put up a real fight." After the smoke from his landing subsided, you could see 42. He didn''t wear anything which would link him to Otogakure or Orochimaru, to avoid blasting Orochimaru''s plan in case he would die or gets caught. He had an apathetic look, his hair color was grey and he had a body physique that was similarly buffed as Jugo. But the most noteworthy thing about his appearance was, that his arms were covered in earth. "Koff, koff...everyone get away from this guy! He is highly dangerous, you guys better get out. I will hold him back, while you rush back to Konoha to report that an unknown strong shinobi was hiding amongst the bandits!" "BUT SENSEI WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" - Kotaru "Don''t worry about me, I will defeat this guy and then join you..." The Genins looked at their sensei: his left arm was twisted in a weird way and he trembled heavily while struggling to even stand! They knew that his words right now weren''t true. ''What the hell is happening here? Why did we run into some strong guy on a normal mob mission? What should I do? Take Kotaru and Arina and leave Hayate-sensei behind? No... I swore I would save Hayate-sensei..." While Eiji was contemplating Kotaru charged at 42: "NOOO SENSEI!!! I WON''T LEAVE YOU BEHIND!!!" 42 glanced at him disinterested while saying: "Too bad, you should have listened to your sensei. Then maybe your chance of survival wouldn''t be zero..." More earth started to gather on his arms, and then he raised one of his arms to attack. "BOOOOMMM!!!!" His punch had the power of a small explosion. Of course, Kotaru couldn''t possibly survive being hit by that. But Hayate used a shadow clone to push him out of the way and only the shadow clone got hit instead. ''Using the shadow clone jutsu for that uses a lot of chakra...I have only enough chakra left to use the Dance of the Crescent Moon one time! Furthermore, I can hold my sword with only one arm now...I need to end this fight with my next move or else...'' "Hmm looks like I need to kill this Jonin first..." - 42 looked at a Hayate who looked like he would collapse any second. Hayate started to summon 2 shadow clones and used his last ounce of strength to perform his signature move! 42 couldn''t dodge and was cut simultaneously. CrusadeAgainstFurries This was my first time writing a serious fight scene, so I don''t know how it turned out. Chapter 38: Team eleven vs 42 "...fuck..." - these were Hayate''s last words before dropping down. He used his last ounce of strength, but couldn''t take 42 down. Before he was slashed, 42 covered his whole body with an earth armor. Jonin are generally able to use two types of elemental chakra, but Hayate was a Tokubetsu Jonin. He got this status, because of his superb kenjutsu skills. But like most Tokubetsu Jonin, even though they excel in one specific area, they lack all-around Jonin skills, this was also true for Hayate. He could only use one type of elemental chakra, and his chakra nature was fire like most of the shinobis in Konoha. Using fire chakra on his sword isn''t really beneficial, so he relies on his pure kenjutsu. Most of the time it''s enough to take down any of his opponents, but shinobis who excel in defense are his natural counters. That is why Hayate was defeated by Baki in the original timeline. Anyway with Hayate down, 42 started to select his next target. And Eiji, who was watching this fight, was in complete disbelieve that Hayate was defeated so fast. ''Shit! Why is this happening?! Wasn''t this supposed to be a normal mob mission? Why did it turn out this way...'' Eiji was also experiencing true fear for the first time. He started to doubt if he can even take on 42, meanwhile 42 looked at Kotaru emotionlessly. "Hmm, looks like you are next..." Kotaru, who was normally energetic and confident, was completely frozen out of fear. 42 retracted his earth armor and started to walk towards him in a normal tempo since in his eyes his enemies lost the will to fight and he doesn''t need to exert himself unnecessarily anymore. But unbelievable in this hopeless situation, the usually most fearful Arina started to prepare her attack. She didn''t say anything, but her eyes showed pure concentration and she used the clone technique to summon 4 afterimages of her. She and the afterimages rushed towards 42. "Using such a basic technique is really insulting for the opponent you know..." 42 looked bored and he covered his arms with the earth armor again and with just one swing he hit all the afterimages. Arina was hit too, but she anticipated that attack and let her right arm break to evade the rest of the attack while using the other hand to grab into her shinobi bag. She used a smoke bomb. "Hmm, you really are underestimating me..." With just one swing of him, the whole smoke vanished. "!" But 42 didn''t expect to see himself surrounded by a huge amount of bombs. "You crazy bitch! You will only kill yourself and your nearby mates with this!" The normally apathetic 42 was slightly panicked and he instantly summoned an earth armor to cover himself fully. ... He waited but nothing happened. The bombs were just duds, not meant to explode! But this was enough time to toss Kotaru out of 42''s range and grab Hayate. Arina started running. 42 was still bewildered, not believing that he was easily fooled by a rookie. "..." Arina was still running, when 42 composed himself. "Hmm, this is really different from the fights I''m used to, but now I will use all to kill you once and for all..." The earth armor covered himself fully again, and he prepared to launch. ''At this rate, everyone will die...FUCK! Why does my body not listen to me!!!'' After seeing Arina''s superb performance, despite her being way weaker than him, he started to feel shame. He wanted to help too, but his body didn''t listen to him. It was his first life and death fight, and even though he was an adult in his last life, his current body didn''t care about any of that and continued to behave like the body of a child. 42 looked at the running Arina and aimed his charge direction at her. He would shot out like a bullet, and with the hardiness of his armor, the damage will be devastating! ''Fuckin shit, this shitty body won''t stop me!'' Eiji bit on his lips so hard that blood started to flow. "BOOOOMMM!!!!" 42 charged like a bullet, but he hit nothing! "Jo shithead, sorry for letting you wait..." Eiji dropped Arina and Hayate next to him and held the sword on one of his shoulders. Chapter 39: Shinobi life "Hmm for a rookie team, you guys sure know how to be annoying like mosquito''s..." "Better being a mosquito than an emotionless shitass who would probably bore his own mother to death..." "..." 42 didn''t know how to react to those witty insults, but he didn''t need to, he just needed to kill him! He started to prepare another charge. But Eiji also used the time to get into an Iai-stance. ''In terms of speed I''m certainly faster, but I honestly don''t want to be in close range against this guy. So I will use my other technique instead...'' Instead of accelerating and concentrating his chakra on his feet like for the "Spring Breeze", he used the sword instead. He concentrated a huge amount of accelerated chakra, so much that the sword started to glow. "Konoha Wind-Spirit Style: Summer wind..." 42 charged and disappeared. But Eiji lifted his sword slightly out of the sheath right at this time. The accumulated energy inside the sword escaped the sheath with explosive power. But it was a directed power, which looked like a cutting wind with the appearance of a circle surrounding Eiji. This comes, because Eiji used wind chakra as well. The whole core of his technique wasn''t that he just used his sheath like a bomb, but instead he used the accelerated wind chakra to form a phantom-blade around his blade inside the sheath. He then draws fully this "phantom sword", which gives him control of the direction of his attack. Of course the "phantom blade" instantly evaporates while drawing it. In short, for the opponents, it looks like he just slightly moved his sword, which unleashes a powerful attack, but in reality, it was a sophisticated technique! Because the attack had a huge radius, 42 was cut while charging. Even his earth armor couldn''t help him, he was cut in half. His two halves still had the bullet-like power, but the trajectory was off and they didn''t hit anything. ''Looks like this is it...'' Eiji was looking at the battlefield. The other bandits escaped already at the begging of the battle, so they were nowhere to be seen. Kotaru hit his head when he was tossed by Arina and was unconscious. Hayate was unconscious as well. When it comes to Arina, it looked like she finally listened to her body signals and was overwhelmed by the pain of her broken arm. ''So I''m the only one who can move around? I should probably rush to the village for help..." Hayate woke up. He was in a room which he believed he recognized, but overall he was confused and didn''t understand the situation. After some time images of the fight with 42 rushed into his brain. Panic was written on his face and he tried to get up too suddenly, which resulted in him feeling huge pain. "!" "Calm down, with your injuries you shouldn''t move around recklessly..." Hayate recognized the voice and turned towards the source of it. It was the village chief. "Koff...please, can you tell me what happened? Where are my teammates?" "Well, I believe you want the short answer so here you go. One of your teammates defeated this dangerous-looking bandit and since everyone was injured he rushed towards the village to ask for help. The other teammates were also treated and it looks like they will be fine..." ''Defeated this opponent?...it can only be one...'' "Can you tell me please, where the one with the sword currently is?" "I wouldn''t advise you to move around, but you won''t listen probably anyway...I saw him near the bridge...the village has only one bridge, so you should find him easily." "Koff, when it was my first time I couldn''t sleep for weeks but it was war, so I couldn''t be absent for too long..." Eiji, who was sitting and leaning at a bridge arc, turned towards Hayate with a weak smile. Traces of vomit could be seen around his mouth. "Honestly sensei, I thought I wouldn''t be a sissy, who would cry about killing his enemies....but my shitty body does whatever it wants..." "Eiji, without you defeating him, we would have all died...so instead you should be proud..." "I don''t think I should be proud of stuff like that. If I didn''t defeat him I would be dead and that''s it. Isn''t this how shinobi life is supposed to be?" - he said that with a mocking smile. It was silent for a while. Hayate thought about his shinobi life and experiences. "Hey sensei, will it get easier with time?" "No, you just learn to ignore it better." CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry about yesterday...I should have more time starting next week, so days without posting anything should become rarer. Anyway, some comments were complaining that the chapters are too short, which I can understand. But around 700 to 1000 words a day is my current limit, so if I do longer chapters, "daily" chapters will be pretty hard. But I''m personally fine with both options so here is a poll on what you guys prefer. Chapter 40: Chunin exam While the three genin recovered in the village, Hayate went to check the battlefield. Unfortunately, 42''s corpse didn''t have anything to deduce his identity, so Hayate assumed it was one of the other villages'' plot. Still, since the bandits disbanded and fled, it was concluded that the bandits were forced by 42, so it would be highly unlikely that the bandits would gather here again. Which means, the mission could be counted as a success. After that, they returned to the village. Hayate allowed them to rest for a few days, while he went to give his mission report. Of course, when Hiruzen heard that there was a strong shinobi who lead a bandit group nearby and that his goals are still unknown, he felt troubled, but he was certain it was a plot of a village with bad relations like Kumogakure. But even more so, he felt troubled that not only Team Kakashi''s mission was far more dangerous than he initially anticipated, but now it was the case for Team Hayate''s as well. So the first thing he did, was to order to check all current missions on their difficulty level. Anyway, he was still glad that there were no casualties from both teams and that the Genin showed an unexpected skill and mental fortitude. So he decided to ask Hayate if he wants to recommend his team for the Chunin-exams as well. After some days of rest, the members of team eleven got a notice to meet up with Hayate. Hayate''s arm was still injured since it wasn''t a clean break like Arina''s and needed more time to heal. "Koff, I summoned you here today to tell you that I recommended you all for the Chunin-exam." Silence. "Ehmm sensei, what is this Chunin exam?" - Kotaru ''I feel bad for Hayate sensei, here he is basically saying that he acknowledges us and then those two have no idea...'' - Eiji "It''s basically an exam which allows us to be promoted to Chunin. As far as I know, it''s pretty rare for rookie Genin to be recommended for them..." "Is this really a good idea for us?" - Arina "..." - Kotaru "Koff, Eiji''s explanation is right. Anyway, the exam is voluntary, so if you don''t want to participate, you just have to not turn those applications in. But if you instead want to participate, report to room 301 at the school by 4 in the afternoon tomorrow. That''s all." ''So it starts...now I must do everything to help Hayate-sensei'' avoid his death...'' - Eiji had a dark expression. Hayate initially thought they would be happy about their chance to take the exam this early, but they all had gloomy faces. ''Maybe they still didn''t sort their emotions about last mission out...but that''s something which shinobis need to learn to deal with...'' Eiji and Arina went home, but Kotaru called out to Hayate before the latter went off as well. "Sensei, please wait! Can I talk to you for a bit?" "Sure, what''s wrong?" "You know, on our last mission Eiji was undisputable the reason we survived and even Arina pulled something amazing off...but I - I was just useless...I couldn''t even move...so I don''t know if I''m qualified for this exam..." "Koff, I know how you feel, but I wouldn''t recommend you just so you aren''t left behind. This exam is dangerous and I would only recommend you if I acknowledged your skills as a shinobi." "But...I don''t have anything special about me and I''m not as brave in a dangerous situation as Arina..." "Precisely because you are so normal I recommended you...you know, as someone who is completely normal, the only thing you can do is to slowly accumulate experience and to use it. You may certainly fail this exam, but you will use the failure to grow. But don''t overexert yourself, the exams are dangerous, so if you are at your limit, just quit. Taking baby steps and doing the exams over till you pass is really okay." Kotaro thought some time about Hayate''s words. After some time it looked like he was convinced and said with a smile: "Thanks sensei, you are right! I will just take baby steps and then one day I will surpass this stupid Eiji!" CrusadeAgainstFurries Today I wasn''t able to pull a double chapter off, but this just means that it will be another day instead. Furthermore, you guys voted to keep the length and upload like it was till now, so we will go with that for now. Maybe in the future when the plot gets more complicated and the chapters need more length I will change it then. Anyway, thanks for all your support and reading! Also, stay healthy! Chapter 41: Class reunion? "Eiji! Didn''t we agree to meet up earlier? Why are you letting us wait?!" - Kotaru "Jo calm your tits, I''m only 2 minutes late..." "Yeah sorry, I''m just kinda nervous..." "Uhm, I took some tea with me, it will probably help with the nervousness..." "Ah great, thanks Arina! Anyway, you said you wanted to talk to us before we go there, Eiji?" "Yeah, I have some juicy insider-information about the first test." "WHAT?! HOW?!" "Jo calm down! Anyway, if I tell you make sure to behave like you know nothing. Don''t tell the other participants about it either, okay?" "...Alright." "So, the info I got is, that they let us take a written test, but that written test isn''t important. You don''t even have to answer one of the questions. The crux of the first exam is, that at the end they will pressure us to leave, but we just have to stay to pass. So even though many will try to cheat since the fake questions on the written test are too hard, it''s better to not risk it and just write nonsense or nothing in the first phase and wait till they want us to leave. There we just stay and we pass. Easy, right?" "That''s...it kinda sounds a bit ridiculous...kinda hard to believe you..." - Kotaru "I agree...are you sure that your information is correct?" - Arina "Come one, am I really that untrustworthy? "Absolutely!" - Kotaru "Ouch that hurts, anyway let''s go, it would be laughable if we got disqualified for being late." "There are sure many people here, I have never seen more people in the acade - hey what''s the noise up there? " - Kotaru "Is someone as talentless as you really planning to take the chunnin exam? Why bother? Bunch of wet-behind-the-ears snotnoses!" "You said it!" "Please...we are begging you..let us in." ''It''s that scene where Lee and Tenten are hiding their strength while trying to get into the fake room...I didn''t see Tenten for a while, so butting in now would be kinda awkward....let''s just sneak past everyone and get to the real room, Sasuke should appear soon anyway to get everyone heated up.'' "Hey guys, let''s just follow me quietly!" "What, but isn''t this the room we have to report in?" "Keep your voice down and just do as I say!" "Oh man, sometimes you really annoy me...why don''t you say anything Arina?" "Let''s just trust Eiji, since he said he has inside info..." While they went sneaky past everyone, Tenten was kicked down and mocked more. Of course, Lee insisted beforehand that they shouldn''t draw attention, so she just took the kick. She didn''t take much damage from it though, but coincidentally her eyes saw Eiji''s back for a moment. ''Wait, could it be? Is he really here as well?'' Her thoughts were interrupted by Sasuke''s flashy entrance: "That sounds good in theory, but you''d better let me through. And drop the genjutsu you''ve created, while you''re at it." ... "Wow, it looks like you were right Eiji...in this room are even more people...so what do we do now?" - Kotaru "Sit and wait somewhere where we don''t draw any attention..." "I agree, the people here look really strong...the less attention the better..." - Arina But before they could do that, they were approached by their ex-classmates. "Hey, you are here as well? I''m amazed you are still a shinobi and didn''t end up in juvenile-prison." - Shikamaru "How can you say to the incarnation of buddha himself? My virtues are renowned through the whole -" -Eiji - "Hey it''s you sword-freak? Your team is the least I expected to see here..." "Damn, why are they all only talking to Eiji and ignore us?" - Kotaru "Well, he is a bit flashy, so people pay naturally more attention to him...anyway I guess we can forget about drawing not any attention..." - Arina But the attention wasn''t as big as when Team Seven walked in. Ino instantly shouted and jumped at Sasuke, while Sakura started to shout at Ino. And then after some time, Naruto started to shout as well. And Eiji''s team was still in the area of the spotlight. "..." - Eiji "Why are our ex-classmates so weird and loud?" - Kotaru "I don''t know..." - Arina "Would you guys do us all a favor and just shut up!" "!" ''Of course, fucking Kabuto is here as well...'' - a dark expression flashed across Eiji''s face for a second, before he wore his usual grumpy face again. CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for not having double chapters today as well. Writing the current chapters takes more time than usual, since I''m now at the main story scenes, so I have the manga chapters open next to me and reread them a thousand times while writing every paragraph to make sure that it stays faithful and true to the scenes. Of course, I just have to manage my time better, so I can still write the promised double chapters, but my time management is really bad. But I will still try my best since it''s only supposed to be 2 more double chapters days...as I said, my time management is really bad. Chapter 42: Giving up so early? "...this isn''t a school field trip, you know." "Who the heck do you think you are?" - Ino "Name''s Kabuto. So what? You kids need to open your eyes." While Kabuto talked to them, Eiji signaled his teammates to get out of the center of attention, but when they managed to distance themselves from there, they were stopped by Tenten. "..." - Tenten "Jo, what''s up Tenten? How you doin??" - Eiji "What''s up?! Why didn''t you tell me that you would take the exam too?" "Hey Tenten, you know him?" - Lee "Yes...he is something like a childhood friend of mine..." Neji glared at every member of Eiji''s team, but in his eyes, none of them looked strong, so he lost quickly his interest. "Well you see, we just got back from a long mission yesterday, and then today is the exam, so I didn''t have any time..." "But didn''t we come back a week ago?" - Kotaru ''THIS IDIOT!'' - Eiji "Ehm, you see, this guy here is Kotaru and he loves to joke ar -" Before he could finish, everyone''s attention was drawn to Naruto yelling, how his name is Naruto Uzumaki and that no one will beat him. "Kid''s got some life in him, maybe you went too easy on him, Lee." - Neji "Anyway, it was nice to see you again Tenten, but we should -" Eiji was interrupted by the noise of the Oto-nin attacking Kabuto. ''Damn why am I currently interrupted nonstop?!'' "Lee, what did that look like to you?" - Neji "Kabuto saw through the attack...so there must have been something else to it, some trick they used to make him sick." - Lee Eiji was in the mood to flaunt a bit so he said: "It''s easy, this Otogakure guy used sound waves while swinging his arm to attack. Because the sound-waves messed with the liquid in his ears, Kabuto felt nauseous and vomited." "!" ''How did this guy analyze it in such a short time?! Maybe I underestimated him...'' - Neji "Would everyone please just shut up?!" Suddenly Ibiki appeared with a group of proctors. "Anyway, looks like the test is about to start, so see ya!" Eiji and his team went to sit on vacant seats. "Hey Tenten, you said you know him? Can you tell me who he is?" - Neji "You mean Eiji? Well, to be honest, I personally think he is probably stronger than even you Neji...he is one of Konoha''s best kenjutsu users despite his age..." ''Stronger than Neji?'' - Lee made a dark expression. But they had to stop their thoughts and concentrate on Ibiki explaining the contents of the first test. ... "..." - Ibiki The written test started and everyone started to try to answer some of the questions, while some already seen through the farce and started to cheat. Then there were others who cheated too obviously and were disqualified. But there was a trio that just sat there and did nothing. Two of them, the one with glasses and the girl looked at the sheets, and after seemingly being convinced of something they stopped looking at it and just sat there waiting for something. And the other one of them didn''t even turn the sheets around and just took a soft-drink out and began to drink it nonchalantly! ''If they are giving up already and lost all hope to even try, why don''t they just leave?'' Ibiki was a bit annoyed but decided to just ignore them. But then the boy who held a sword had an accident and the soft drink fell over and completely soaked the sheets wet - they were unusable now! "Oh man, I didn''t bring another can with me...I''m still thirsty..." Everyone was stressed out about the test, so normally one not being able to write on his sheets anymore would be a nightmare, but he didn''t care at all! "..." Some of the other participants glared at him angrily but then decided that they should rather use the time for the test and started to ignore him. But he started to draw on the table with a bored expression. ''WHY IS HE EVEN HERE???...calm down Ibiki, getting so worked up isn''t like you...anyway, it''s about time for the real test.'' "Get ready for the tenth question! And before we get to the question itself...I''m adding one more new rule." While Ibiki explained everything, many people got worked up like Kiba for example who started to shout at him and complained. Ibiki:" Just your rotten luck. I wasn''t making the rules in past years...." He used it as a chance to increase the mental pressure with his answer. After that people started to give up one after another: "I quit! I''m rejecting the question...Genna!! Inaho!! Please forgive me!" "I quit too!" "I''m sorry guys..." Many people started to quit, letting their teammates fail as well. Eiji got up as well and stretched his arm. ''What the hell Eiji? Everything went exactly as you told us..why are you doing this???'' Kotaru ''?'' - Arina ''It was obvious that those three would quit, considering they didn''t even try to answer the questions before...'' - Ibiki "Excuse me, do you guys have some tee? I''m kinda thirsty..." "..." Ibiki smashed his fist into the blackboard behind him. CrusadeAgainstFurries The last chapters were all a bit gloomy and dramatic, so here is a chapter where Eiji trolls around a bit. Chapter 43: Passing the first test After smashing his fist into the blackboard, there was complete silence in the room. No one dared to make any noise. But contrary to everyone''s expectations, Ibiki formed a small smile and said: "Sure, we can''t have our participants die of thirst." He then nodded to one proctor, who then disappeared and appeared with a can of green ice tea which he placed at Eiji''s table. ''I honestly didn''t expect to really get some tea...I''m not really thirsty...but declining now would be a bit too much...'' "Uhm...thanks..." - Eiji Of all the participants, he was currently the only one knowing that Ibiki had somewhat of a soft side, but he didn''t expect him to really give him something to drink. But Ibiki, who was a master of human psychology, did the unexpected thing to confuse his "enemy" and to get the psychological advantage! After that Eiji stopped his trolling and just kept silent. ''Hehehe, brat you still have much to learn...'' - Ibiki This year''s exam, where many promising and clever Genin participated, many could see through the meaning of Ibiki''s action, which in turn intensified the pressure which they faced. Because of that, more people left than in the original timeline. Of course, there were people like Naruto who were oblivious, but he was currently occupied with his own inner turmoil. More people left. But Naruto then started to shout suddenly, that he wouldn''t quit and even if he failed, he would still become Hokage. So things still played out like they were supposed to, so Ibiki said that everyone who was still there passed. Then he started to explain his reasoning for his weird test. "You''ve passed the first hurdle. Part one of the chunin selection exam is now concluded. I''ll pray you fight the good fight!" - Ibiki "Yeah, You do that! Go pray!" - Naruto ''Ho ho...what an entertaining kid...'' - Ibiki Suddenly there was a sound of a window breaking, and Anko appeared: "None of you are in any position to celebrate. I am the second chief examination officer...Mitarashi Anko!! Time''s a wastin, people. Let''s go!!" "..." - everyone "Can''t you see the mood in here?" - Ibiki "This new officer almost reminds me...of Naruto." - Sakura ... Everyone left except Ibiki, who was collecting the written exams. ''Huh, he''s the kind of person who thinks he can pass the exam...with a completely blank answer sheet. Uzumaki Naruto...is a very intriguing young man.'' - he said that while smiling. Then next he saw the blank sheets of Eiji and his teammates. This time he broke out in complete laughter. ''...I didn''t know their names till now...I see, so those a Hayate''s brats? He really found himself some funny ones...HAHAHA'' He kept laughing while thinking of his former teammate Hayate and the pranks his student did in today''s exam. ''...maybe I should think about leading a Genin-team too...'' "Eiji, your insider information really saved me there...I honestly think I would have quit there if I didn''t know..." - Arina was whispering to Eiji while Anko was telling them about the forest of death. Then Kotaru joined in as well: "Yeah it really saved me as well. By the way, do you have some insider information for thi - WHAT THE!" While he was whispering, Anko threw a Kunai at Naruto and licked the blood of his wound, which disturbed many. But this wasn''t everything, now even some weirdo gave her the kunai she threw with his long-ass tongue (definitely not Orochimaru). Anyway, nothing dangerous happened and Anko gave everyone consent forms to sign. She then started to explain the second exam. ... "...You have 120 hours in which to complete this exam - exactly five days!" - Anko "Five days?!" - Ino "What are we supposed to do about food?!" - Choji "That''s your problem. The forests are full of nature''s bounty. Of course, they''re also full man-eating animals, deadly insects, and poisonous plants." "EVERYONE LISTEN!!!" Kotaru panicked: "Eiji what are you doing? Why are you suddenly shout - " Everyone''s gazes turned towards him, but Eiji just smiled and took a scroll out. Suddenly a big sack of food rations appeared. "I sell some food rations, each for only 5000 ryo..." "What? 5000? What a ripoff..." - some random mob. "This kid is really, dumb. We just have to target him in the forest and take all the -" "Thanks for buying." "CHOJI!!! WHY DID YOU BUY EVERYTHING??!!!" - Ino CrusadeAgainstFurries So I have a cold now - in summer. It feels really nasty and concentrating is hard. Since I didn''t want to have too many days without chapters, I kinda squeezed that one. So sorry, if the quality isn''t that great, if it''s too bad I will redo it. Anyway, if there won''t be chapters in the next 2 days or so, you know why. But don''t worry about this going on hiatus or something: the "real" story just started, and I have many things I''m hyped about writing - so that definitely won''t happen! Chapter 44: Barbecue ''This brat not only interrupted me, but he is even shamelessly selling stuff in front of me!'' Anko was smiling dangerously, while she was about to explode. But she tried to hold herself back while saying to Eiji: "You really have some balls pissing of the chief examination officer...good - since you will need it in the forest..." "EVERYONE, I ALSO SELL FIRST-AID KITS!!!" - Eiji ... Anko appeared in front of him with a fist. She wanted to smash his stupid face till he begs for mercy! But she never thought he would block it with his sword sheath. Even though as a Tokubetsu Jonin (eng. Special Jonin) her speed is nothing to scoff at, in Eiji''s opinion she was slightly slower than Hayate. For Kenjutsu user, technique and speed are the most important things. And since Hayate trained Eiji, when it comes to speed, he was one of the fastest of all the genin''s currently here. Because when it comes to physical training, Hayate only needed to train him in terms of speed. It''s not like Lee, who in addition to speed needs to train his strength as well, to perform his Taijutsu. Currently, Eiji''s speed was similar to Lee''s without the weights. But that''s only his normal speed. If he has time to prepare and accelerate his chakra, he can dash out like a bullet. Anyway, Anko was surprised that a Genin could block her attack. The surrounding Genin''s were also surprised since not long ago Naruto couldn''t even react to her attack. "Hooo not bad...anyway I think its better to stop wasting time and start the test already." - Anko She stopped attacking him and just wanted to get away from this annoying troll as fast as possible. "All right, everyone, follow your proctors to your respective gates! When the signal sounds in half an hour, the exam will begin!" - Anko "Honestly...what is he doing..." - Tenten had an unhappy and a bit worried expression. ''Eiji Nakamura...'' - Neji "I honestly feel this bloody test is a bit too much...it means that half of all the teams will die..." - Arina "Yeah, but I think we should be fine, no one looked nearly as strong as the guy we fought in our last mission..." Kotaru Team eleven was waiting for the start of the test when every gate was suddenly simultaneously opened by the proctors. All Genin dashed straight into the forest to get a possible head start. Being faster than the other teams gives the advantage of scouting the forest while also possibly laying ambushes, so no team wanted to waste time. Except for one team. "Hey Eiji, shouldn''t we hurry up or something?" - Kotaru "Jo chill, what''s the hurry anyway? We have 5 days to complete this, why waste energy on useless stuff?" - Eiji "But the other teams will have the advantage and can lay ambushes. Furthermore, there will be fewer teams as time goes one, so getting a scroll will be harder..." - Arina "Yeah, but this is exactly what I want though...the strong teams will get their scrolls fast, while the leftover teams will be easy targets...furthermore right now with some many teams battling it is probably really chaotic for the first few hours and I don''t wanna deal with that!" - Eiji "You are always trying to achieve things half-assed...if we end up not getting a scroll it will be entirely your fault..." - Kotaru "That''s kinda rude...anyway let''s walk along the fence and find a place to set up our camp...no team would return to the gates, that''s why those are the safest places..." . Eiji Even though Arina and Kotaru were dissatisfied with his plan and approach, they didn''t say anything and followed him, since so far his plans all worked out. "..." Anko was sitting on a roof outside the fence and was just about to eat her lunch when a group of Genin walked along the fence in her direction. It was the team of the annoying troll from earlier. When he saw her, he told his teammates that this would be a good place for whatever they planned. All teams should be moving deeper into the forest, so to her, their actions were nonsensical. She wondered even if they wanted to quit, but then remembered that the boy with the sword should be fairly strong. Anyway, she wanted to eat her lunch, so she stopped paying attention to them and started to eat her Dango rice dumplings and Oshiruko bean soup. "EIJI?! WHY ARE YOU SETTING A BARBECUE UP?!" - Kotaru When Anko heard that, she turned to them to look and saw how Eiji summoned a full outdoor barbecue set with tables and so on from a scroll. "WHAT THE -" "Hey chief examination officer, you wanna join us for barbecue?" - Eiji CrusadeAgainstFurries So with this chapter, I''m now really back. I really felt that I didn''t write for some time, but compared to my first chapters I still think this should be decent enough...anyway sorry for the wait. Chapter 45: Plan ruined! When Anko heard that, even though she smiled, her whole face twitched. She wanted nothing more than to go in and smack his face until you could call it modern art. Of course, she wasn''t allowed to do such things as the chief examination officer, but because of her personality, she would have done it anyway if a Konoha shinobi didn''t appear who shouted: "Terrible news, lady Anko!!!" "What is it?" - Anko "Dead bodies! Three of them..." "Dead bodies?!" - Anko "Dead and very weird. Please come see for yourself!" She disappeared with the shinobi, leaving team eleven with their barbecue alone. "..." - Kotaru "Why do make such a face? You know, it''s a barbecue, you should enjoy yourself. I also have some soft drinks..." - Eiji While his teammates had an awkward barbecue, surrounded by noises of fighting and screams, Eiji thought: ''So it''s almost time... let''s finish the steak first though.'' His plan was actually to go to Anko after her fight with Orochimaru, to get a favor from her after helping her with her injuries! But even though he is pretty strong for a Genin, when it comes to scouting he is absolutely terrible. His teammates also don''t excel in scouting. So the easiest way is to observe Anko. Since the start of this test, he was searching for her chakra, and the possibility was high that she would still be at one of the gates. Of course, his plan wasn''t bulletproof, since she now just left to investigate the bodies - the ones Orochimaru killed and took their identities. But at least he knows now that the fight should happen pretty soon. Finding someone is much easier if you know when the target is active than just randomly guess where and when. Now he only has to guess where. After finishing his steak he told his teammates: "Jo, nature''s calling. Defend my barbecue-equipment until I''m back!" It seemed logical, so they could only do as he told them. But he didn''t need to pee or poop - in truth he just didn''t want to share Anko''s favor with them! If he is the only one who popes out with a first aid kit and some cold beer when she is injured, of course, she would be grateful. When he asks her to return the favor in the future, he is going to ask her to teach him the snake summoning jutsu. With that, he could learn sage mode! His original plan was to be just decently strong and then desert to live a quiet and happy life, but it doesn''t hurt to get stronger just in case. Of course, he could also ask Naruto in the future to teach him the toad summoning jutsu, but too much dangerous stuff will happen at the time Naruto already learned it, and Eiji wants to desert before being involved in all that jazz. Anyway, since he sucked at scouting, he summoned a shadow clone, which would walk in front of him, so that if he would trigger some kind of trap, his clone would see the other side instead of him. Since he didn''t know where she was, he just moved in the direction where it was the loudest. It was already dusk, so most teams stopped their fighting to prepare for the night, so there weren''t many fights going on. At the second fight, he could see snake attacks from afar. ''Bingo...'' He searched for a spot at the top of a tree to observe better, but it suddenly went quiet. ''Did they finish already?...WAIT! If Orochimaru comes randomly in my direction and sees that I observed them, he will probably kill me...I should just pretend like I''m randomly here and that I didn''t notice them. Then he should think I''m an insignificant insect to him or something so he just ignores me!'' Instead of climbing the tree, he started to pee. ''Yeah, being alone and away from my team to piss should be the least suspicious thing to do!'' While he was peeing, he heard the bush he was peeing on rustling. Eiji first thought he peed on an animal. But instead, it was a person crawling out: this person looked like she had a high fever and pushed her hand on what looked like a mark on her neck. Anko saw Eiji and was clearly not happy receiving his golden shower. ''Oh no! My plan is ruined!'' CrusadeAgainstFurries I know Anko is a bit weird for licking Naruto''s blood, but I don''t think she has that kind of a fetish... Chapter 46: Helper Anko had almost no injuries from her fight. The reason for her sorry state was her curse mark, which reacted to Orochimaru. The pain was almost unbearable and she felt like she could lose consciousness any second now. Of course, she knew that in a few hours the curse mark would stop pulsating and that she would be fine after that. That is why she was crawling stealthily through bushes, to avoid the dangerous animals in the forest. But now another feeling emerged beside unbearable pain, it was pure anger. She never felt more humiliated in her entire life! Activating the curse mark now would make her state even worse, so much so that she would probably need to lay in a bed for a few days instead of waiting a few hours. But she didn''t care and activated it. "Ehmm, hello chief examination officer? What a funny coincidence meeting you here -" When Eiji saw her curse mark activating he stopped his sentence and ran like never before in his life. But it was already too late. "You know, I''m starting to suspect that you knew the contents of this test beforehand..." Anko was saying that while looking at the comfortable camping tent. Besides that, there were a bunch of things for outdoor camping like a water filter and even some magazines to kill time! And she was currently laying on a deck chair. Of course, Eiji couldn''t afford to buy so much stuff, so he took a loan. But with the profits, he got from Choji he can pay off his dept easily and still have some profit. "Yesh ma''am. I hash shom good conneshions!" Eiji was currently bowing respectfully while he was wearing only his underwear. and his head was completely swollen with bumps, making it difficult to understand him. It was really a comical sight. Even though she really wanted to kill him back there, if she lost consciousness after that she would be dead for sure. Since she didn''t know when the requested Anbu would arrive, she needed a sla - I mean a helper until then. So she restrained herself succumbing to the blood-lust from the curse mark and just beat him into submission. After that, she used one of the first aid kids, washed herself in the nearby river, and forced him to give her his clothes. Of course, his clothes were too small for her and already worn by him, but it''s still better than wearing clothes soaked in pee or walking without any. She then wanted to force him to prepare a place to sleep for her, but he started to summon all kinds of stuff from scrolls instead. "I wonder which idiot couldn''t keep his mouth shut...well it doesn''t matter: shinobis are supposed to be able to collect information, so if the other teams didn''t think of the idea to get some insider info they can''t really complain. Anyway, give me another beer!" "But yu had alredy four bottlesh..." With just a glance of her, he shut up and gave her another one respectfully. "To be honest, meeting you here wasn''t that bad....waiting for those slow Anbu got really more convenient hahahaha!" "Sur ma''am. I wouldsh do evrethinsh for -" Eiji''s almost not understandable sentence was interrupted by three giant tigers suddenly appearing. He picked his sword up and got into his Iai-stance. He was really beaten to a pulp by Anko, so he wasn''t sure if he could fight those tigers in his state. But when the tigers jumped, they suddenly stopped and just stood still. ''This should be paralysis...'' - Anko who was watching it with a grim expression was deducing. "Fancy meeting you here, Anko!" Hearing that, Anko relaxed. The Anbu she requested finally arrived. In her current state, she wouldn''t be able to fight those tigers, and she also didn''t want to put her life into Eiji''s hands, so she was really happy. "You two must be the slowest-moving Anbu''s I''ve ever met!" - Anko "Aw! Don''t be like that...besides....who is that?" The two Anbus looked at the half-naked Eiji, with his completely swollen face, and all the camping items besides them. They never expected to see such a scene when meeting Anko. "..." "He helped me since this damn mark was runnin wild!" - Anko "Mark? Don''t tell me..." Anko signaled him to not disclose any sensitive information around Eiji. One of the Anbus helped her get up and when they were about to leave, Anko turned towards Eiji: "Hey kid, you kinda helped me out there, so if you can pass this test, I''ll pay you back when I meet you at the tower!" Ignoring the whole pee fiasco, she didn''t know that in the original timeline she would survive without problems, so she thought now that Eiji helped her avoiding a dangerous situation. When they left, Eiji exclaimed happily: "Yesh! My plan susheeded!!!" CrusadeAgainstFurries Don''t know what to write here today... Chapter 47: Getting a scroll "DAMN YOU EIJI!!!!!DO YOU KNOW HOW....what the hell happened to you?" - Kotaru Kotaru and Arina waited the whole night for him to return. Of course thoughts like that he might have been attacked and wouldn''t return emerged while they waited. But he was undoubtedly the strongest of them, so they decided if he doesn''t return they could only forfeit. So when he then finally arrived, they didn''t expect him to look like that - only in underwear and his face swollen after being stung by a whole nest of wasps. "Shorry guys...I ran into the shief eshamination offisher and had a little dishargreement." "If this is supposed to be the result of a little disagreement, I don''t want to know what would happen with big disagreement..." - Arina "HA! That''s what you get for always trying to mock your superiors. Serves you right!" - Kotaru "Fuck you! I won''t give you any foodshs or drinkshs anymore!" "What? We are a team! My loss is your loss!" - Kotaru "Guys stop the quarrel...now that Eiji is here we should think about the test instead!" - Arina "Yeah...so what''s your plan Eiji?" - Kotaru "We go shtraight to the tower and camp there!" "That''s kinda straightforward and simple...but I honestly agree. I don''t want to waste time searching for other teams in this dumb forest!" - Kotaru "I also agree. We lost a day and need to be bold with our approach to make up for the advantages the other teams gathered." - Arina A team from Amegakure was waiting in the vicinity of the tower for other teams. Since the strongest teams like Gaara''s for example already reached the tower with the scrolls the first day, this team was confident of their tactic to camp there. Also since most weaker teams are still trying their luck in the deep forest, campers on the second day were pretty rare. Only on the fourth or fifth day would the campers start to appear in mass, which Naruto''s team will experience. Anyway, this team from Amegakure still decided to camp on the second day, not because of tactical reasons, but rather because their "leader" had a short fuse and hates nothing more than to search for something. He was a midget compared to his teammates with a bald head. His teammates wore like most Amegakure-nins re-breathers, but he didn''t wear one and instead wore a tank-top, which accentuated his muscular build. "Hey, nothing against your idea, but what about our food? How do we secure it when we are camping here?" "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU DIPSHIT OR ELSE I WILL -" They stopped "talking" to each other when they noticed Eiji''s group approaching. "Looks like they haven''t noticed -" "GIVE ME YOUR SCROLL OR ELSE YOU WILL KNOW WHY THEY CALL ME AXEGENIUS!!!" "..." "I''m sure we will die someday because of him." Eiji''s team was trying to find a suitable camper spot when a bald muscular midget suddenly jumped out of nowhere and started to shout. ''Why are mobs in this world even weirder than the main characters...'' Eiji thought that while he was wearing only his underwear and had a completely swollen face. "Is this an enemy?" - Arina "I''m not sure...I think he is a madman who ended up somehow in this forest..." - Kotaru "I''M NOT A MADMAN!!! YOU FUCKIN SHITS WON''T INSULT ME ANYMORE AFTER I''M DONE WITH YOU!!!!" He summoned two giant axes and started to throw them. This would be a dangerous attack if the attacks wouldn''t be so easily dodgeable. "I think he is supposed to be an enemy...but I''m not really sure..." - Arina Suddenly the midget''s teammates appeared. "Sorry about this guy. He has occasionally roid rage...anyway it''s still a test so we have to take your -" Before he could finish, a giant ax flow towards him. "YOU TRASH TEAMMATES ARE SO USELESS!!! IF YOU DIDN''T BUTT IN I WOULD HAVE ALREADY DEFEATED THEM!!!" "Are you serious? After this shit is done, I will leave this team! You are way too annoying!" "Yeah, you are a crazy midget! I will tell our superiors about your behavior when we return!" They then started to fight each other. Eiji''s team: "..." The fight didn''t seem to end any time soon, because even though it was a one versus two, the bald midget was really sturdy. But then the midget seemed to have enough. He took out their scroll and threw it towards Eiji''s team. Then said his last words "Shit fuckin team" before running off. "Wait, did he really just give them our scroll, just because he doesn''t like us?" "I don''t care about this test anymore, let''s kill him!" They two ran in the direction their teammate ran off. "What the hell wash that?" - Eiji CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for yesterday, was too tired to write. Anyway, this chapter is the first time I''m really unsure how it turned out, so if it''s bad I will redo it. So please say if it''s bad. Chapter 48: Thirst for each other No matter what just happened, they still got both the heaven and earth scrolls now, which means they just have to enter the tower to pass the second test! When they entered the building there was no one here. The only noticeable thing was a giant scroll on the wall. "Hey this thing talks about heaven stuff..." - Kotaru "Since the scrolls are named heaven and earth scrolls I guess it refers to the scroll." - Arina Eiji didn''t say anything and just opened both scrolls: one with his mouth, the other with his hands. When smoke started to appear, he threw them on the ground. "Hey, why is there smoke coming -" Kotaru stopped talking when they could make out the silhouette of a person. "Congrats for passing the second round!" A chunin they didn''t know appeared. He looked like he wanted to continue talking, but when he saw the state of Eiji, he was stunned. ''What the...is this boy a pervert or something? Why is he walking only in his underwear? And what''s wrong with his face?'' "Uhm...I appreciate your congratulations, but I think I still don''t know whats going on." - Arina The Chunin stopped his thoughts and started to act professionally: "Sorry I got lost in thoughts. Anyway, those scrolls contained a summoning spell, so that we Chunin could greet the applicants at the end of the second exam..." He then started to explain the meaning of the message on the wall. "...so since Chunin are responsible for leading their team, they need to possess both strength and intelligence." "Yeah that kinda makes sense..." - Kotaru "Ah, I forgot, since you passed it only on the second day, you have some time to relax until the end of the fifth day. So now I will leave you to yourselves. Good luck for the future tests!" "Thank you sir/shir!" For the others, things played out as they were supposed to, with the only difference being, that Choji was carrying a giant sack of food with him and Anko being in a worse state compared to the original timeline since she activated the curse mark. Because of that, when she returned, she let Hiruzen treat her curse mark much instantly. After that, she passed out for 2 days. On the 5th day, when she woke up she was told that 24 applicants passed and that they would need to hold preliminary rounds for the 3rd test. When she heard that she rushed instantly out, not noticing that she still wore Eiji''s clothes. During the days waiting, Eiji''s face healed. Unfortunately, he still lacked clothes. He hoped to ask Hayate to get him some clothes, but like all the other Sensei of their respective teams, they only arrived on the 5th day. So he was standing only in his underwear with the other Genin, while the Hokage and the Jonin were there as well, waiting for Anko. Hayate was worried about his students, but when he finally saw them again, he didn''t expect to see Eiji like that: ''What is he doing this time?'' The other Genin also looked at him with varying thoughts. Some thought he is a pervert, some that he is a weirdo, and his former classmates who knew of his bad luck though,t how bad his luck was this time to end up like that. Anyway, Anko suddenly appeared and in her usual loud voice she said: "Congratulations to you all...on passing the second exam!" "Hey Eiji, why is she wearing your clothes?" - Kotaru When she heard that, Anko''s face turned red: ''I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO CHANGE THE CLOTHES!!!'' Unfortunately for her, Kotaru said that loudly, so all the Genin, Jonin, and Hiruzen heard that. Everyone was confused but also intrigued by what happened. Even the "cool" Genin like Gaara, Neji, and Sasuke paid attention to it. They never thought they would end up witnessing such a bizarre situation: the chief examination officer wearing the clothes of an applicant! Anko was dumbfounded and was not able to respond. So everyone''s eyes gathered on Eiji. Eiji noticed that and thought: '' Hmm, that kind of attention is troublesome, so let''s say something to turn the attention on Anko instead!'' He did a fake cough and then said: "You see Kotaru...when a man and a woman are attracted to each other, it may start with only a kiss. But if a kiss isn''t enough to quell the thirst they have for each other, they -" When she heard the nonsense he was blabbing, she activated her curse mark again. CrusadeAgainstFurries So next chapters, the fights will start. Because of that, I will take 2 days off to really plan out all the fights and parings. Of course, I could just do the fights like in the original and just add somehow Eiji''s team to that, but that would be lazy and boring. So see you on Tuesday again! Chapter 49: Outta here Orochimaru sensed how Anko''s curse mark was activating. He was joyful because it will end up probably in an interesting situation. Meanwhile, Sasuke''s curse mark was reacting to it as well: "Urgh!" Sasuke held his neck with a painful expression. "SASUKE!" - Sakura Hiruzen sensed that this could end up in a really ugly situation, so he used a non-powerful Genjutsu to calm Anko down. She regained her clarity and muttered softly thanks to him. Her curse mark was already deactivating. Hiruzen did a fake cough and said: "I think there must be some sort of a misunderstanding. Why don''t you explain what happened, Anko?" He threw her a lifesaving life jacket - she now had the chance to save her reputation! She might not only lose respect from her Jonin colleagues because she allegedly slept with an applicant as the chief examination officer, she may also end up being labeled as a shotacon! Fortunately, the jutsu from Hiruzen was still in effect, so she had a clear head and started to come up with an explanation. Of course, she wouldn''t mention that she was peed on...she would rather be labeled as a shotacon instead of being known for being peed on. "Yes, Lord Hokage! You see, I was on a secret mission in the forest as we discussed earlier and since it was highly dangerous I got wounded. Luckily this "friendly" (she really emphasized this word) boy was in the vicinity and helped me. Since my clothes were full of poison, I got rid of them, and seeing a lady like me without clothes, he gave me "voluntarily" his clothes. What he told earlier was just a joke. That''s all!" Most Konoha Jonin gathered here already knew about Orochimaru appearing, so her colleagues fully believed her. But there was a certain Genin, who adamantly kept pushing his "story". "That''s rude, chief examination officer. I never joke. I''m known throughout the whole village as a paragon of compassion and truthfulness - people say that I even outshine the Buddha!" Anko started to smile dangerously, she was at her limit even with Hiruzen''s jutsu calming her down. "Koff, I think you had enough fun, Eiji. If you continue to waste everyone''s time, it will reflect badly on our village, especially since Lord Hokage wants to start explaining about the third exam. And make sure to apologize to Anko later!" "...yes, Hayate-sensei." The one who diffused the situation was Hayate, and after being told by him, Eiji couldn''t continue with his shameless act. Many of the other Genin saw Hayate for the first time and thought that he looks sick and if he is alright. Orochimaru licked his lips: ''A shame. Could have been a really interesting show if Anko''s and Sasuke''s curse marks ran wild...'' Hiruzen started to explain about the underlying purpose of the chunin exams, like how they are miniature wars and how they show the village''s military strengths, and so on. While he explained, Eiji kept silent since he didn''t want to draw even more attention. It was really hard though since he was the only one standing there only in his underwear. Nevertheless, he kept a serious face and had a confident posture, which made him look even more ridiculous. Anyway, when Hiruzen finished his talk, a Jonin Eiji didn''t recognize appeared. It was a plain-looking woman, with a scatterbrained expression. "Uhm, Lord Hokage, uhmm can you leave the rest to me? I think it should save some time?" "Go ahead." - Hiruzen Shen then started to explain, how there were too many teams who passed this time and that they would need to cut down the numbers before the third exam. But Eiji didn''t listen to her, instead, he was preoccupied with his own thoughts: ''Looks like because Hayate-sensei is here as our team-leader to watch us, a random mob took his place. Of course, best case scenario would be that she would die instead of him, even though it is evil of me to think like that. But I won''t try to save someone I don''t know, when I need to fight Gaara, Kabuto, and this Sand Dude at the same time - it would be just suicide. However, I can''t exclude the possibility of Hayate-sensei being there and dying like he is supposed to, so I should still proceed with my plan...'' "Well, I''m outta here." "WHAT?! K-Kabuto...?!" - Naruto CrusadeAgainstFurries I know I said I would start yesterday, and I know I said there will be double chapters...I think you are tired of my excuses by now so just know that I''m sorry and that I try my best to double chapters for the next days. Chapter 50: Odds "Hey! Kabuto!! What''s up with you quitting?!" - Naruto "Naruto...I''m sorry...but those guys we fought beat the crap out of me. And ever since the scuffle with those sound ninja prior to the first exam, I''ve been totally deaf in my left ear. Now they''re saying this could be a fight to the death...and I just don''t think I''m up to that!" "Well there''s a familiar face, eh?..." - Anko started to look at Kabuto''s profile and talked about how he already tried the chunin exams 6 times and always failed. When Hiruzen asked about his record, she stated how unremarkable he was in the academy and mission profile. But she also stated that his origins were special. She asked Hiruzen if he heard about the tale of a boy being brought back from the battle at Kikyo Pass. Hiruzen said that he remembers how Jonin Elite Ninja of the medical corps brought back an enemy youth, who survived on the battlefield. Then Kabuto left while Naruto had a sad expression. ''Man...if Naruto only knew right now, I wonder what expression he would make...'' - Eiji But then Sasuke''s curse mark started to send another wave of pain to his body. Things played out as they were supposed to: Sakura wanted him to drop out, while Sasuke told her more or less to fuck off. Naruto was siding with Sakura until Sasuke said that he wants to fight Naruto as well. Naruto felt acknowledged and didn''t say anything else. Meanwhile, Hiruzen and co discussed if they should allow Sasuke to participate. They concluded that if the curse mark activates, they would pull him out. The brain-scattered Jonin, started to talk: "Uhmm, so now...uhmm what did I want to say?" "..." "Ahh right we will begin now the preliminaries...it will be one on one duels and the winners will advance to the third exam. So we have 23 combatants which means 11 rounds....wait I don''t think it adds up..." She then looked like she was trying to come up with an idea. "Alright! I''m not good at this stuff, so the remaining one will advance through his luck skills!" "WHAT?! HOW IS THIS FAIR?!" - Naruto "Yeah, isn''t it just a half-assed excuse to call it luck skills?!" - Kiba In truth, only a few loud ones complained, the others either wanted to get done with it fast or thought that it would be dumb to complain now if they could end up being the lucky one. The Jonin looked a bit confused, not understanding why those two complained: "Uhm, you see...wait I forgot to tell something important. Each pair will fight until one is dead, unconscious, or surrenders. Uhmm...but I will step in when I determine an undisputed winner because unnecessary killing is not cool. But don''t count on that...I guess...probably..." "..." Hearing her, the Genin definitely didn''t intend to count on her! ... "What? Did I forget something?" - Female Jonin "Open it!" - Anko An electric scoreboard appeared. "Oh right, this thingy will display every round the names of the two combatants...so...I think this time I didn''t forget anything? Anyway, let''s just start!" Gulp. The hearts of the Genin raced. The names were rotating at a high speed until it came to a sudden stop. Uchiha Sasuke vs Abumi Zaku! Orochimaru smiled: ''Zaku will probably force him to activate the curse mark. Hehehe Sasuke activate it and rely on it so that you get hungry for my power!'' ''Ha! I didn''t think I would get my revenge this early...you will pay, Sasuke!'' ''Hmm, looks like when it comes to randomness, the influence of a team more shakes the chances a bit. But it looks like the odds didn''t change too drastically, since Sasuke is still doomed to fight the first match...'' - Eiji "Hey Eiji, why are you standing there? Let''s go upwards to the spectator area!" - Kotaru While he went up with his teammates, Hayate joined them and said:" Koff, you really made a show back then...I tried to calm Anko down, but she said that she promised you a reward for saving her - but she smiled dangerously so I hope you are prepared!" "No problem, sensei. When it comes to the opposite gender, I''m really -" "Eiji! I''m really glad that you passed! I really wanted to talk to you!" - Tenten ''Oh no! Let''s pretend I have to shit and run to the bathroom!'' Chapter 51: Sasuke vs Zaku "Hey, Tenten, I''m also glad you passed. By the way, I really have to shit, so see ya!" He turned around but unfortunately, Lee appeared. "Hey, you! Don''t you think it''s rude to ditch a girl trying to talk with you?" "Don''t you think it''s rude to everyone with a normal fashion sense to walk around like that?" "AHAHAHA how lovely the youth is, debating about fashion. But you see young boy, this suit isn''t only stylish, it is also air-permeable -" Guy was interrupted by the start of the battle. Eiji was happy about that since he not only escaped the dangerous predator known as a jealous childhood friend, but also the pair of Konoha''s green weirdos! Anyway, the fight started. Sasuke knew that his opponent was a long-range fighter, so opposite to his fight in the original timeline, he was the one charging at his opponent. Zaku defended himself with his kicks since he acted like both his arms were still dislocated. Even his teammates thought that his arms were unusable. He wanted to surprise his opponent and decide the match with one fatal move! Of course, Sasuke was way more gifted in taijutsu and since Zaku pretend that he couldn''t use his arms, he was driven fast into a corner. If he didn''t use it now, he would probably lose. So when Sasuke was about to throw a punch at him, instead of defending like until now, he raised his arms and shouted with a smile: "TAKE THIS!" Sasuke felt instantly a dangerous sensation. His superb Uchiha instincts warned him in time, so even though he was hit by Zakus airwave, it wasn''t a fatal hit. But he was still badly injured: his left arm was completely covered in blood and was unusable. "You..." - Sasuke panted. He never imagined that Zaku could still use his arms. "HAHAHA! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH ME! BUT DON''T THINK THIS IS ALL, I WILL ABSOLUTELY SAVOR EVERY SECOND OF THIS REMATCH!!!" "Uchiha Sasuke...this is all he can do?" - Gaara "HOW CAN YOU STILL CALL YOURSELF AN UCHIHA SASUKE? YOU''RE A DISGRACE TO...TO YOURSELF!! AREN''T YOU EMBARRASSED TO HAVE EVERYONE SEE YOU AS BIG LOSER?!" - Naruto When Sasuke heard that, he looked towards Naruto. But because of Eiji, Lee wasn''t standing next to Naruto, so Sasuke didn''t have the crucial inspiration to copy Lee''s taijutsu. Sasuke was standing there contemplating what to do, but now his curse mark started to hurt again and activated "HAHAHA! WHAT NOW SASUKE? ARE YOU JUST GONNA KEEP STANDING THERE? WELL, I DON''T CARE SO EAT MY AIRWAVE!" Zaku started to raise his arms for his attack. ''Sasuke, you have no choice but to use my power, or else you''ll die!'' - Orochimaru Hiruzen, Anko, and Kakashi saw how the curse mark was activating and they got ready to step in. ''This damn curse...and Sakura and Naruto worry for no reason...like I will let this mark ran wild and get disqualified!'' Sasuke smiled and suppressed the curse mark. "!" They were surprised: he suppressed the curse mark that easily. But compared to the original timeline, his physical and mental energies weren''t drained - he was "only" physically wounded. So with his iron will he suppressed it faster than in the original timeline. This gave him precious time to do something against his opponent''s looming fatal attack. When Zaku was about to unleash his attack, he laughed madly while shouting: "HAHAHAHA! DIE, SASUKE!!" But Sasuke''s smile just grew wider while he said: "Idiot, the one who dies is you -" BOOOOOMMM!!!! Zaku''s arms exploded. The explosion was even bigger than vs Shino. Why did his arms explode? The reason is, that even though Sasuke shouldn''t use any chakra for this fight to not activate his curse mark if it''s only a minuscule amount, he could still suppress the curse mark. So Sasuke didn''t use any "real" jutsu, but instead only used fire chakra, which flowed into Zaku''s arm air tubes. But how did the chakra flow from such a distance to Zaku? The reason was, that when Sasuke engaged in taijutsu back then, he used non-visible threads to counter Zaku, should he be able to distance himself. Letting a long-range user escape into the distance would be really bad, so Sasuke set up a backup plan to just pull him into short-range again. Unfortunately, he didn''t expect Zaku to use his powerful airwave attack from his arms, so most of the prepared threads were destroyed in this attack. But luckily there were still a few threats connected to him, so when Sasuke sensed that Zaku was sucking air into his arms, he let fire chakra flow along the threads into his air tubes. Zaku didn''t sense the threads back then, so of course, he didn''t sense them now. Anyway, Sasuke won! CrusadeAgainstFurries Yay, I did two chapters today. Anyway, was the fight okay or should I add more details for future fights? Chapter 52: Boring! Zaku''s arms were fully blown to pieces and he was covered in flames while crying and rolling on the ground. "Uhmm, I guess Uchiha Sasuke is the winner..." - Scatterbrained Jonin After she said that, medic-nins rushed towards Zaku and extinguished the flames. Then they took him on a stretcher and left. His burns were severe and his both arms were completely missing, but he would likely survive with the fast action of the medic-nin. "Tch, this idiot Zaku got overconfident and underestimated him greatly, almost like he forgot how he was trashed by him before..." - Dosu "WHAT?? HEY KAKASHI-SENSEI, WHAT HAPPENED?? WHAT DID SASUKE DO??" - Naruto "Haaa...didn''t you see the threads?" - Kakashi "What? What threads? Hey Sakura, what is he talking about?" - Naruto While Naruto was still talking, Kakashi appeared next to Sasuke and told the medic-nins, who wanted to treat Sasuke, that he would do it himself. Meanwhile near Eiji: "Wow, I really didn''t think Sasuke would win this..." - Kotaru ''Sasuke looked really beaten, but that makes his turnaround even more impressive. And the most fearsome thing is that he will continue to grow stronger!'' - Lee ''Coming up with such a quick counter in mere seconds while being in danger, really reminds me of you Kakashi.'' - Guy "I mean, it would be kinda embarrassing for our village if someone from the legendary Uchiha clan lost to spaghetti-arms..." - Eiji "Spaghetti arms? In my opinion, his arms were more like fart cannons." - Arina "Eh, Arina! Girls aren''t supposed to talk about farts and stuff!" - Kotaru "I''m glad you enjoyed watching this fight Eiji, but I still need to talk to you..." - a Tenten with a scary smile reminded everyone that she was also here. ''Shit...I really forgot about her!'' Eiji looked towards his sensei for help, but Hayate instead told him that he would search for some clothes for him and disappeared. ''TRAITOR!!!'' Eiji was checkmated, so he could only ask for forgiveness now: "I know I kinda was a bad friend since the start of this chunin exam, but earlier I was just joking! Nothing happened between me and the chief examination officer, I swear!" "..." - Tenten This silence was really making him feel like he could die any second. But he still had his ultimate trump card when it comes to Tenten, so he said: "Alright I get it, I will treat you to whatever you want after this exam." "...I want sesame dumplings." When Kakashi left with Sasuke to treat his curse-mark, the next fighter''s names were displayed. Haruno Sakura vs Yamanaka Ino! The chance for the same matches as in the original timeline was actually much higher than getting new matches. It''s like having a deck of 20 cards and you always draw 2 cards. Then without shuffling the deck, you add only 3 cards randomly into the same deck and start to draw 2 cards again. But somehow, even though the opponents were the same, their match was earlier than in the original timeline. Either way, Eiji knew that this match was boring as hell, so he just sat on the ground and leaned on the wall. ''This wall is really soft...I wonder if it was a bed before becoming a wall..." Eiji slowly started to drift into sleep, until Lee who was near him started to cheer for Sakura loudly. "Ah man, hey Tenten, can''t you tell your teammate to stop being so loud? I can''t sleep like that!" - Eiji "WHAT??!! KID, BEING MOTIVATED AND SHOUTING WITH YOUR FULL SPIRIT IS ALL WHAT YOUTH IS ABOUT!!!" "Yeah, you tell him, Guy-sensei!" Tenten just shrugged her shoulders. He then looked at Neji who finally accepted that his team would continue to stay next to Eiji''s, so he joined them as well. When Neji saw Eiji asking him with his gaze to do something about that loud Lee, he just ignored him. ''This damn arrogant fucker! Well, I will show you all, that this won''t stop me from sleeping through this boring-ass match!'' He then tried to ignore all the noises around him and really managed to fall asleep. Meanwhile on the duel stage. Sakura thought back at the time in the academy, where she was bullied before Ino drove the bullies away and helped her collect flowers for the kunoichi class. ''Ino...that day, you helped me to believe in myself, and I''ve hung on to that ever since...'' (the ribbon Ino gifted her) Unfortunately, she also remembered suddenly how a certain boy vomited on all their flowers they collected the very same day. "..." Automatically her eyes looked towards Eiji, who was sleeping soundly while wearing only his underwear. CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry about yesterday. I was tired and planned to do yesterday''s chapters today as well, but the current chapters need more time than I thought since I need to research all the fights and the reactions of the spectators and so on - which means only 1 chapter today. But I have some great news, I finally managed to figure out how to post images in chapters, so that means some chapters will have some juicy Naruto memes. Chapter 53: Rounin ''This guy!!'' Sakura was pissed, but then remembered her fight. She started to concentrate on her opponent again, and the fight continued. During the fight, Kakashi returned as well. The fight played out pretty much the same, with both knocking each other out. "What was that fight? Compared to the first one, this one more resembled our sparring matches at the academy...hey Eiji wake up!" - Kotaru Lee already rushed to the unconscious Sakura, so he couldn''t reply to Kotarus''s remark about Sakura''s fight. Guy also left, saying he should see what kind of face his old rival Kakashi would make. With that, Neji left as well, only Tenten was still here. But Eiji was still sleeping and she didn''t want to wake him up in case he needed the energy for his fight. And since she didn''t really know his teammates, she decided it would be awkward to stay with them and left too. Kotaru wasn''t as considerate as Tenten and tried to wake him up. After shaking his body, he finally succeeded. When Eiji woke up, the next fight already started. It was Shino vs Misumi (budget Luffy). "Oh shit, I really managed to sleep deeply...did something interesting happen while I was asleep?" "No, not really, those two girls smacked each other for more than 10 minutes until they knocked each other out." - Kotaru "Ino used an interesting jutsu though, but it didn''t change that most of the fight was just a fist throw contest." - Arina While listening, Eiji looked at the stage: budget Luffy wrapped himself around Shino''s body while boasting about his skill and how Shino should surrender if he doesn''t want to be squeezed to death. ''Yeah, this match is already over, with that much contact Shino''s insects should be already gathered in mass over this dude''s body.'' - Eiji Shino said to his opponent: "It''s already over, if you value your -" "Stop bluffing you stupid kid - WAIT WHAT ARE THOSE?! HYAAAA!!!" When he saw a huge amount of insects crawl around his body, budget Luffy unwrapped himself and distanced himself, while trying to get rid of the insects. But it were too many. After a few seconds, he cried out: "STOP!! I SURRENDER!!! PLEASE GET THOSE THINGS AWAY FROM ME!!!" "Uhm, Tsurugi Misumi forfeited the match so the winner is Shino." - Scatterbrained Jonin After hearing that, Shino ordered his insects to retreat, leaving only a teary budget Luffy who was crying for his mother behind. Neji used the Byakugan to look at Shino''s chakra and talked with Guy and Lee about the Aburame clan. ''I''m really glad I didn''t need to fight Shino...I would rather fight Gaara than having to watch out for those freaky insects!'' - Eiji "Wow, this guy''s techniques are really creepy, I would probably have instantly surrendered as well..." - Arina "What are you talking about? Bugs are amazing! I used to play bug fighter with my friends back in - oh welcome back sensei!" - Kotaru "Koff...looks like I''m back before Eiji had to fight, anyway those are the only clothes I could gather." He threw some clothes to Eiji. "I really appreciate that sensei...but I would rather walk around in only my underwear than wearing this damn green suit!" Hayate smiled: "When I asked the other Jonin if someone had some spare clothes, the only one who gave me something was Guy gave me. But I knew you would say something like that, that''s why I searched for myself. Here is something different." When Eiji received the other clothes he said: "I really wonder where you could find such clothes in such a short time..." "Koff, well I thought the place which would have most likely some clothes, would be where the Hokage stays right now. Unfortunately, I was denied access, so when I searched for other options, I saw nearby the entrance to the bath, where I took a bathrobe and slippers." "You really want to wear a bathrobe while fighting? Well I guess everyone thinks that you are either a pervert or weirdo anyway..." - Kotaru "I honestly like it...somehow it gives swordsman vibes...I will look like a rounin! Thanks, Hayate-sensei!" - Eiji "..." CrusadeAgainstFurries So some fights will be as quick as Shino''s since well, not much you can do with characters like budget Ruffy. Chapter 54: Tenten vs Temari "Hey look, it''s your friend''s turn, Eiji." - Kotaru ''Well, looks like Tenten''s opponent is the same...'' While Tenten went down towards the stage, when she looked at Eiji for a second, she saw him signaling her something. After concentrating on it, she saw that he pointed at his sword. ''Why is he telling me to use a sword?'' She reached the stage while still being lost in thought. "YEAH, TENTEN! GO!!" - Lee was cheering loudly. "Uhm, the match starts! - scatterbrained Jonin When Tenten heard that, she stopped being lost in thought and distanced herself into long-range. Temari smiled smugly and said: "Let me just tell you, once I start my attack, it''ll be over in a second." "Well, I won''t hold back." - with that Tenten jumped into the air and threw a handful of shuriken. Without wasting any time she started throwing kunais and shuriken. But they all missed. ''Hah, that''s why I signaled her to go into melee range. Temari is a monster when it comes to long-range.'' - Eiji Tenten still had her spirit and jumped into the air again: this time she used a scroll to summon all kinds of throwing weapons while spinning. But they all missed again. Meanwhile, Temari opened her fan slightly:" This is the first moon. There are two more. When the third moon appears, you will lose." When she heard that Tenten smiled: "Is that so?" ''I finally understand what Eiji wanted, he meant that I have no chance at long range and should use a melee weapon. But winning like that would be boring, right?'' She took out two scrolls, placed them on the floor, and started to use hand seals. "Is she already going to use is?" - Guy "Rising Twin Dragons!" - she jumped into the air again and started to throw even more weapons. They were all blow away again. "Come on, Tenten. Stop playing arou -" - Eiji wanted to shout towards her but stopped. Because something unexpected happened. One of the weapons she threw was actually herself transformed. A shadow clone was actually the one using Rising Twin Dragons. After the minuscule time where Temari wasn''t focused after blowing the weapons away, Tenten stopped the transformation and charged at her with a katana. Temari was hit badly, but she endured the pain and while jumping backward she swung her fan. Tenten didn''t have any time to dodge and was hit by a cutting whirlwind. ''Tsk, looks like she missed her only chance, now Tenten lost. That''s why I signaled her to charge at her instantly, to not give Temari any time to open her fan.'' - Eiji The whirlwind catapulted Tenten into the air and started to slice at her. When the whirlwind subsided, Tenten was falling down. But Temari was already below her and let her fall on her giant fan, knocking her out. "I honestly have to praise you, didn''t think you would be able to injure me." - Temari Compared to the original timeline, this time she acknowledged Tenten and didn''t disrespect and ridicule her. She then vanished and appeared next to her team. Guy rushed to Tenten and said towards a worrying Lee: "Don''t worry, she was only knocked out and doesn''t have any serious injuries." "Well, looks like you underestimated your opponent and had to pay." - Kankuro looked at her injury. "Hmph, some of those Konoha-nins aren''t half bad..." - Temari "..." - Gaara "Hey, Eiji. Your friend was pretty amazing, but this sand girl was really strong as well...I wonder if the other sand shinobis are as strong as her..." - Kotaru ''Hmm, when it comes to match-ups, Temari is one of the worst Tenten could have gotten -'' Eiji''s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the screen announcing the next match. CrusadeAgainstFurries Originally, before redoing this chapter, Temari was way stronger, but then I remembered that if she was that strong, she wouldn''t have lost against Shikamaru. Looks like my brain was on holidays or something when writing yesterday. Chapter 55: Coldblooded The screen displayed two names: Nakamura Eiji vs Kinuta Dosu! "Oh, it''s your turn Eiji, good luck!". Kotaru "Good, luck!" - Arina "Koff, good luck." - Hayate Eiji didn''t listen to them, because since he saw the name of his opponent he had a dark expression and was lost in thought. When he got on the stage, everyone was wondering why he is wearing a bathrobe now, but he didn''t pay attention to any of it. He just glared at his opponent. "Uhm can both contestants please step forward!" After they got into position, the scatterbrained Jonin told them to start. Eiji was just standing still, while Dosu started speaking: "You really try to stand out, doing all those ridiculous things, do you? Now you are even wearing a bathrobe? But this is not a clown-show, here only skills matter. But don''t worry, when I''m finished with you, you will be able to join a circus as a freak." Eiji didn''t respond to Dosu''s insult, instead, he started to recite a poem: "Flutteringly, Floating in the breeze, A single butterfly -" "? Why are you suddenly recit -" "- Konoha Wind-spirit Style: Spring Breeze" - while saying that, Eiji appeared suddenly silently behind Dosu, with his sword slightly drawn. He then let his sword nonchalantly slide back into the sheath. And then Dosu''s head fell off. The surroundings were completely silent. After a few moments of pure silence, everyone started to express their thoughts. "Wow, what a beautiful and refined sword technique, it was almost like a soft breeze traveling through the hall." - Kakashi "Eiji Nakamura..." - Neji "Guy-sensei, did you see that speed?" - Lee "Yeah, I didn''t think anyone here could match you in terms of speed, but looks like I was wrong..." - Guy Many still wanted to express their thoughts, when suddenly someone started shouting towards Eiji: "HEY!!! YOU, WHY DID YOU JUST KILL YOUR OPPONENT LIKE THAT?! UNTIL NOW, NO ONE HAS KILLED THEIR OPPONENT!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" "Naruto, stop!" - Kakashi "BUT!!" When he heard that, Eiji looked at Naruto with a cold expression. Some were terrified for a second since this change was way too drastic! Some knew that he had some skills and shouldn''t be completely underestimated, but until now, everyone thought of him as a twerp. But now it was almost like it was a completely different person. Why did he kill him though? It was because he knew, that Dosu would challenge Gaara and die, at the same place and night where Hayate would die. Of course, since Dosu would die, you could argue that it was unnecessary to kill him now, but in case something changes and Eiji needs to save Hayate, one opponent more would be an enormous disadvantage. In short, it was just to be sure, because Eiji was a bit paranoid when it came to saving Hayate or himself. And he didn''t feel anything killing him, since Eiji knew he would probably die anyway. But Eiji couldn''t tell that to Naruto, and keeping silent and not answering wasn''t really an option as well, since the change is way too drastic and doesn''t make any sense, so he has to explain himself. "Why did I kill him? The answer is pretty simple. Do you remember what Lord Hokage said before the start of the preliminaries? He said that the purpose of the chunin exam is to be a miniature war between the villages. You probably don''t know, but Otogakure is said to be founded by an s-tier criminal called Orochimaru, who defected from our village." - When Eiji mentioned Orochimaru, the face''s of Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura went sour. "So the relationship between Otogakure and Konohagakure is probably hostile or neutral at best. So doesn''t it make sense to kill members of this village, to decrease their fighting force in case they decide to turn hostile towards us?" - while he said that, he glanced at the girl Kin, which was the last of the Oto-trio. She felt fear, not only because her teammate was killed coldblooded in only a second, but also because he implied, that Otogakure is a threat, which may result in the failure of their future plans! "BUT STILL!!" - Naruto "Enough Naruto, you should have already learned the nature of the world of shinobis." - Kakashi Eiji was still standing, looking like he waited for something. The scatterbrained Jonin finally realized: "Oh! Uhm, the winner is Nakamura Eiji..." He started to walk slowly up towards the spectator area. ''A shinobi is supposed to be able to read the hidden meanings, but that wasn''t the reason why I invited Otogakure to participate in this chunin exam...but more importantly, his skills really surprised me. He is certainly not the type who likes poems. He started to recite a poem to confuse the enemy to get enough time to accelerate his chakra on his feet. This technique of accelerating chakra really reminds me of Minato..." - Hiruzen What Eiji didn''t know was, that his idea of accelerating chakra wasn''t as novel as he thought. In truth, many shinobis tried to increase the power of their ninjutsu through accelerating chakra. The problem with that is, that it''s really dangerous and accidents would often occur when training to accelerate it in their bodies, that''s why not many even tried it. But this shows Minato''s genius even more. Instead of accelerating chakra in his body, he would do it outside his body. Of course, controlling it outside the body is even harder and with the air around it, the chakra can easily dissipate. However Minato came up with a solution for this problem as well, he would form a sphere around the accelerated chakra. This jutsu is known as Rasengan. Normally, ninjutsu which use elements are stronger than ninjutsu without. But the Rasengan was more powerful than Chidori which uses lightning, despite being formed of only pure chakra. How so? Because the power of acceleration is nothing to scoff at! CrusadeAgainstFurries A bit later than usual, but the chapter is longer. Many also wrote how they wanted a Gaara vs Eiji match and this will certainly happen, but not now :) Oh right, the poem was by Masaoka Shiki: ҤҤȡLơһ Hira hira to/ Kaze ni nagarete/ Chou hitotsu Flutteringly, Floating in the breeze, A single butterfly. Chapter 56: Freaks While some medic-nins came to take Dosu''s corpse, Eiji walked upwards towards the spectator area, but he didn''t walk to his team. Instead, he walked towards the Sunagakure-shinobis. "What do you wa -" - Kankuro Eiji ignored him and walked past him and Gaara straight towards Temari. And then he slapped her butt. "..." Everyone watched his actions and was completely speechless. "Jo, wasn''t I great down there? How about a date?" - Eiji Normally Temari would kill anyone who would disrespect her, but Eiji''s sheer amount of shamelessness shocked her so much that she was speechless. "I take your silence as a no. Well, not everyone can understand my charms..." - Eiji shrugged his shoulder while staying next to them since the next match was about to start. Was this the same guy who just killed an opponent coldbloodedly just a moment ago? He changed so fast again! But now everyone knew that he wasn''t as simple as they thought and to not buy into his act. "Man, everyone is some kind of freak here, I wanna go home..." - Shikamaru "EVERYONE?! DID YOU REALLY CALL ME A FREAK JUST NOW?!" - Ino "(Potato chips noises)." - Choji ''I really wonder if those three will be alright...'' - Asuma Meanwhile, Temari recovered from her shock. She wanted to kill Eiji straight away, but then she noticed that there was a hidden paper on her butt, where he slapped her. ''!'' "I''m going to the bathroom, I need to wash my clothes after being touched by this disgusting guy." "Hm? Do what you need to do, but make sure to don''t get lost." - Kankuro "Hey isn''t that a bit too rude?" - said the one who just slapped a girl''s butt without consent. She ignored him and disappeared. "..." - Gaara was gloomy as ever and no one knew what creepy things he was thinking about. "Do we really have to kill each other?" - said Hinata worryingly. "No, you don''t have to. And if your opponent tries to kill you, don''t worry I will step in before that happens." - Kurenai "Uhm, Hinata I think now is not the time to be concerned about that..." - Kiba pointed towards the screen, where the names for the next match were shown. It was Hinata vs Neji. ''Now there is another monster besides Gaara and Eiji. Better start gathering some intel.'' He then looked at Eiji who was next to him:" Hey can you tell me about this Hyuga Neji guy?" "Ha? Oh sorry, you want to know about Neji? Well, he is a Hyuga. The Hyuga clan is known for looking ugly with their white eyes. When they activate their eyes, they become even uglier..." - Eiji ''THIS ISN''T HELPFUL AT ALL!!!'' - Kankuro Safe to say thinks played out the same, with it ending by Naruto smearing Hinata''s blood on his fist and vowing to defeat Neji. But then when the next combatants were shown, it was actually Naruto''s turn. Uzumaki Naruto vs Akado Yoroi! "You are just some loser who doesn''t know his place. You vowed to defeat a Hyuga? HAHAHA I will destroy you like the vermin you are!" - Yoroi "WHAT?! I WILL SHOW YOU!!!" - Naruto rushed straight at his opponent. But he was instantly knocked on the ground by his opponent, who grabbed Naruto''s hand with his face. "HAHA, how do you like it? I can absorb the chakra of my opponents just from touching them!" - Yoroi "WHAT? GET OF ME!!!" - Naruto tried to struggle free of his grab. ... "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I KEEP SUCKING YOUR CHAKRA BUT YOU STILL HAVE THE ENERGY TO STRUGGLE?! HOW MUCH CHAKRA DO YOU HAVE?!" - Yoroi "Looks like Naruto''s opponent got the worst matchup, this may last a while..." - Kakashi Meanwhile, Temari was in a bathroom cabin where she could read the letter from Eiji. What could be so important that a shinobi of another village would get to such lengths to give her a secret letter with no one noticing? To say that she wasn''t nervous would be a lie. She breathed in heavily and calmed down. Then she took the disguised letter from her butt. But when she saw that the letter was glued with a booger on her butt, her seriousness and nervousness disappeared instantly! CrusadeAgainstFurries Was a day longer without a chapter than I thought. Well, sometimes things don''t go according to plan, especially if you are as good at procrastinating as I am. I''m sorry. Chapter 57: Slaughter "Hmph, and he vowed to defeat me? Losers should accept that they were born as losers." - Neji "Naruto..." - Lee Nothing changed in the fight, Yoroi was still sucking Naruto''s chakra. Naruto tried a few times to use the shadow-clones jutsu to escape his opponent''s grab, but because his chakra was sucked, he couldn''t control his chakra at all and the activation failed. This made him look even dumber. Before this, most didn''t have any expectations for him, but now they even questioned what he is even doing in this exam. "Oh man, why couldn''t Naruto be my opponent..." - Shikamaru "Yeah, even I would have probably won..." - Ino ''Naruto. Come one. This isn''t like you! Didn''t you have displayed some awesome skills against Orochimaru?'' - Sakura "This is easily the most boring fight of all today." - Kiba "AAAAAARGHHHH!!!!I HAVE ENOUGH!! HOW MUCH CHAKRA DO YOU HAVE?! Whatever I will just end it now. And because you wasted so much time of my time, I will kill you." - Yoroi He took out a kunai with his other hand, while still grabbing Naruto''s head, so he couldn''t move. The scatterbrained Jonin wasn''t sure if she should end the fight and Kakashi was also getting ready to step in. But Yoroi wouldn''t let someone intervene, he needed to blow his frustration off. His kunai was only a distraction. He still held his kunai and did like he was about to slash anytime, but he instead increased the power of his grip, to squeeze Naruto''s head like a melon. "Your village is really funny. You have some awesome guys and then you have such unbelievable losers like him. And coincidentally he is the one who barked the loudest. And now he is about to die." - Kankuro said that to Eiji who was next to him. "If I were you, I wouldn''t underestimate Naruto. He is easily the strongest of all of us here." - Eiji "What? Are you serious? No, you are probably joking around aga-" "No, I''m not joking. You know, your village isn''t the only village, who is sealing monsters into humans." - This time Eiji said that with a huge grin while looking at Gaara. "!" ''How does he know?'' - Kankuro was starting to sweat. ''This boy is dangerous if he somehow knows about our plan...'' - Baki Gaara was almost jolted awake and had big eyes when he heard that. Meanwhile on the battle stage. For Naruto, the time seemed to freeze. Then there was a voice only he could hear: "Stupid boy, I can''t let you die here, or else I would die in such a laughable manner." Kakashi was right about to step in when suddenly everyone could hear a pulse. It seemed to be soft, but at the same time you could hear it all around in this hall, it spread like a shock-wave. Unfortunately, Orochimaru fiddled with his seal around, so Naruto''s chakra and Kurama''s were mixing in an unstable way. Which means, Naruto got more chakra from Kurama then he needed to defeat a significant character like Yoroi. Red chakra started to flow around Naruto''s body and his eyes were fox-like. "What the - ARGHHH!!!" - Yoroi''s arm was grabbed by Naruto. He felt how his bones were crushed just from Naruto''s grab! ''Looks like I don''t need to intervene anymore, but...no, it doesn''t seem like Naruto lost control and even when with Lord Hokage here I don''t need to worry.'' - Kakashi Neji who was spectating, lost his indifferent expression when he felt that this chakra was even more powerful than Sasuke''s with the curse mark. Even more, the chakra felt terrifying, something he felt for the first time in his life. He decided to use his Byakugan. "Who... no rather, what is he?" - Neji had a completely shocked face. "Naruto..." - Sakura was completely worried. First Sasuke got some strange power after being bitten by a pedo snake, and now Naruto displayed some strange power as well! "You don''t have to worry Sakura. This is something which belongs to Naruto for a long time. It isn''t something he got from Orochimaru." - Kakashi "My God, this chakra feels even more terrifying than Gaara''s..." - Kankuro Eiji was just shrugging his shoulders, while Gaara locked like he is about to lose control and molest some child. Anyway, Yoroi was pretty unlucky. For such a weak and insignificant character like him to have to face a powered up Naruto was - you could only describe it as him being totally slaughtered. Naruto started to attack him, while Yoroi was sent flying from one wall to another. CrusadeAgainstFurries Didn''t we fell in love with Naruto for those awesome power-up moments? So why not just increase those moments hehehe... Chapter 58: Ditching for a chick "PLEASH SHTAP!!! I SHURRENDER!!" - Yoroi cried out. His face was completely trashed and his sunglasses were completely destroyed. "Uhmm, I guess Uzumaki Naruto won." - Scatterbrained Jonin "YEAH!! I WON!!! I ADVANCED TO THE THIRD EXAM!!!"- Naruto was jumping happily around, oblivious to how he got so strong suddenly and the atmosphere around him. "Oh man, now it turns out that Naruto is a freak as well...at least you won''t betray me, Choji." - Shikamaru "(Potato-chips noises)" - Choji "HOW MANY BAGS OF CHIPS DO YOU HAVE STILL HAVE??!!" - Ino "Mpfmhmhm" - Choji "I didn''t understand a word..." - Ino "What happened to Naruto? I thought he was a total loser...even Akamaru is scared of this weird chakra which popped out of him..." - Kiba After celebrating enough, Naruto''s and Neji''s eyes met. Naruto got instantly serious and did the pose again, which he did when he vowed to defeat Neji. "So what? You think you can escape your fate of being a loser just because you showed some strange power to defeat this pushover?" - Neji "You...just you wait. I will defeat you and smack your face until you stop saying this stupid fate stuff." - Naruto Sparks flew between them and they got so fired up that they would have started to fight each other right here if it wasn''t for the screen showing the participants of the next fight. It was Gaara vs Lee! Naruto walked beside Kakashi and Sakura. "Well done, Naruto." - Kakashi "...Congratulations..." - Sakura said that with a worried face. "Hey, what''s wrong Sakura?" - Naruto "Nothing." Anyway, the fight between Gaara and Lee started. Needless to say, this fight was a real show for the spectators, and Eiji had goosebumps watching it in real. Some old feelings he has forgotten started to surface again. ''Right, even though in terms of safety it sucks living in this world, it''s still nevertheless the world I immersed myself for years in my previous life. I laughed and cried watching the journey of Naruto and all those people...'' Being born and living in this world for so long, his former life was already starting to get blurry and felt like it was someone else''s memories and not his. His thoughts were interrupted when Temari returned from the bathroom. "It''s Gaara''s turn? It looks like it''s already ov- wait, what happened here? Why is Gaara injured and what happened to the battle stage? Hey! Answer me Kankuro!" - Temari "Sorry...it''s just his opponent was unbelievably strong. And the other Gaara almost fully awakened..." - Kankuro "Almost? So we were lucky he didn''t snap?" - Temari breathed out some air. She then looked at Eiji but didn''t show any emotions, like nothing out of the ordinary happened. "Anyway, guys. I think I should go to my team now. They probably think I ditched them for a chick, so see ya!" Eiji then went to his team. "..." "What? Alright I get it, but wouldn''t you all agree that it would have been awkward for me to return instantly after all that?" - Eiji "Koff, I have much I want to say to you, but I guess it has to wait." - Hayate pointed at the screen. The next names were placed there. Akimichi Choji vs Nogami Kotaru! "Oh, it''s my turn. I honestly think I stand a good chance against that fatso." - Kotaru Far away at team 10 Choji''s ears twitched slightly. ''Did I really hear that now or was I just imagining things?'' - Choji His expression and mood turned completely serious. ''I was worrying if he would be even in the mood to fight, but looks like he is up for it." - Asuma When Choji and Kotaru were in their positions, Shikamaru and Ino started to cheer Choji on. "GO GET HIM!" - Shikamaru "YOU CAN DO IT, FATSO!!" - Ino "Ugh...! SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN! I''M GONNA END THIS MATCH FAST SO I CAN COME BEAT YOU UP!" - Choji was shouting towards Ino. Meanwhile on Kotaro''s side. Eiji was picking his nose, while Arina was at least showing a "Fight on!" pose, even if it was half-assed and with a bored expression. "..." ''Do those guys even care if I win or not?'' - Kotaru CrusadeAgainstFurries So now, only the "leftover" fights are left. Even though it''s generally a good idea to give some more screentime and depth to original characters like Kotaru and Arina, I know you guys want to get to the juicy stuff as fast as possible and me too to be honest. So I plan to have the rest of the fights be short, so the preliminaries end in the next chapter or the chapter after the next. Chapter 59: Free the ninkens!!! The fight started. Choji instantly used the Multi-size Technique and the Human Bullet Tank to charge at Kotaru. "What the-" - Kotaru was surprised by Choji''s weird jutsu and just managed to barely dodge this giant rolling meatball. Choji smashed into the wall, but he just rolled back towards Kotaru again. ''This is bad, I''m forced by him to stay on the defense!'' - Kotaru dodged Choji again and again, but Choji would just always crash into the wall and then change the direction. "Damn, I won''t just keep dodging passively. Here I come!!" - Kotaru started to throw paper bombs on the ground, making it essentially a minefield. But Choji, even when he rolled on a bomb and it exploded, didn''t stop rolling and instead just rolled faster because of the explosive force from the bombs. "WHAT THE FU-" - Kotaru saw now that he made a huge mistake. His bombs were helping his opponent while limiting his dodge options. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, he decided to give up. "I didn''t know that Choji was actually pretty strong..." - Arina "Well, no matter how they look, the Akimichi Clan belongs to the four noble clans of Konoha." - Eiji A dejected Kotaru returned to them while they were chatting. "Don''t worry, you tried your best." - Arina "...thanks" - Kotaru "His best is not a good standa - I mean don''t worry, next time you''ll get ''em!" - Eiji "...you wanted to say my best isn''t a good standard, right?" - Kotaru Eiji just started to shamelessly ignore him and started to pick his nose again. "Koff, do you remember what I said before this chunin exam to you? The important thing is to accept your shortcomings and work on them. If you fall a thousand times, you have to stand up a thousand times!" - Hayate "Yes, sensei! Thank you." - Kotaru The next match was Shikamaru vs Kin (Otogakure girl). Everything went the same as in the original timeline. So now it was only one match left. And one lucky one who would advance without a fight. There were only Kiba, Kankuro and Arina left. But out of these, Arina was the only one who was hoping to be the lucky ones, the other two wanted some action. And then the screen showed the names of the combatants for the last match. Natori Arina vs Inuzuka Kiba! "This sucks." - Arina "Good luck!" - Kotaru "Koff, good luck!" - Hayate "Good luck. By the way, the Inuzuka Clan is known for fighting with their dogs, so try to kick his dog as hard as you can." - Eiji "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" - Kotaru "Hey, that''s rude. I wanted to be a good teammate and give her some advice..." - Eiji Arina ignored her teammates and went grudgingly down: ''I was so close to being the lucky one and now that. My luck is the worst...'' When she went down, Kiba was already there waiting for her and talking to Akamaru: "After watching all those fights you also wanted to move around, right Akamaru?" "Uhm, I don''t think it''s a good idea to let your dog fight with you..." - Arina "Dogs are counted as weapons like kunais and shurikens, so it''s allowed..." - Scatterbrained Jonin "Yeah, you heard her girl. I and Akamaru are inseparable." - Kiba "But it''s not about it being allowed or not. If we fight, I might injure the dog and I would feel bad..." - Arina "You are right! I also like dogs and I understand you. Hey, you there, I changed my mind, your dog is prohibited from fighting with you!" "..." - every one of the spectators "WHAT?! You can''t be serious, me and Akamaru are a team. We won''t fight without each other!!" - Kiba "I don''t care, I make the rules!! I won''t let a poor dog participate in a bloody match!!" - the mostly emotionless scatterbrained Jonin was now suddenly really zealous. "What the, how can you be a Konoha shinobi? Shouldn''t you know about my clan using ninkens all the time?" - Kiba "I know about that. But now I decided I will fight for the freedoms of the ninkens!! After this is over, I will start a campaign and pressure Lord Hokage to forbid the use of ninken!!" "What? You can''t be serious." - Kiba ''This is starting to get problematic...'' - Hiruzen CrusadeAgainstFurries This is probably one of the more boring chapters. But with those "leftover" fights it''s really hard to make them interesting. Anyway, in the next chapter the preliminaries end, and some story-heavy stuff will start. The story will start to slowly deviate from the original and the tone also starts to get darker. But don''t worry, it will never be so dark that it will feel edgy, especially because of Eiji''s bad mouth. I hope I will succeed in writing the darker stuff as well as I write comedy, but we will see. Anyway, thanks so far for reading and all your support! Chapter 60: Draw! "TO HELL WITH YOU!!!" - Kiba argued heatedly with the scatterbrained Jonin. "..." - Arina who started this situation was watching silently while feeling a bit awkward. "How do you talk with me? Don''t you know I can just disqualify you? Well, it doesn''t surprise me that someone who abuses animals has no brains..." "Abusing? Does Akamaru look like he is abused?" "Woof!" - Akamaru tried to defend his owner. "No, but maybe you are manipulating him to think that he is treated well..." "What the -" "HAHAHA, it sure is great to see that our village shinobis can debate on their respective views on what is right, but don''t you think now isn''t the right time for that? Many people are waiting and want to finally finish with the preliminaries." - Before the situation could escalate any further, Hiruzen stepped in. "I-I''m sorry Lord Hokage...it''s just...I feel bad for this dog..." "Finally, can you please tell that crazy woman over there to let me fight with Akamaru!" "Hmm, what about this, if she sees that your dog is in danger, she is allowed to step in and stop the match, which results in your loss. With that, both of you should be happy, right?" "...yes." - scatterbrained Jonin "...I guess." - Kiba ''I think trying to kick his dog-like Eiji told me is really the best tactic after all...'' - Arina After a lot of difficulties, the final match finally started! Arina instantly charged at Akamaru and tried to kick him. ''What the, wasn''t she the one who started all this by saying she would feel bad injuring Akamaru''? - Kiba was caught off guard and jumped in to defend Akamaru. But she ignored Kiba and focused entirely on Akamaru. ''This girl...she is really shameless! Fine, if you play dirty, don''t complain that I don''t hold back!'' - Kiba started to use the Passing Fang to rotate towards Arina. ''This technique has a lot of power, I need to dodge it!'' - Arina saw that this attack might be dangerous and decided to dodge, which lost her the pressure on Akamaru. "Yeah, now we can show that girl our teamwo-" - Kiba was interrupted when Arina started to through kunais and shurikens at Akamaru. "WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HIM??- Kiba She ignored him and started to take out paper bombs. "..." The scatterbrained Jonin couldn''t take it anymore and jumped in to grab Akamaru. But Kiba ignored it and attacked Arina out of spite, he was really angry towards her for targeting Akamaru like that and wouldn''t let her easily off. He could have easily defended Akamaru, but choose to let the examiner defend him so that he can get the chance to get his revenge on her. Arina didn''t expect this and was caught off guard. The attack was powerful and injured her. She spat out some blood before fainting. "WHAT?! HEY YOU!! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?! WASN''T THE MATCH ALREADY FINISHED WHEN THE EXAMINER STEPPED IN?? HOW CAN YOU DO THAT TO A GIRL??!!" - an angry Kotaru was shouting from the spectator area. "Hmph, someone who tries to injure Akamaru will be my enemy forever! Even if it means failing this chunin exam!" - Kiba "YOU!!!"- Kotaru wanted to go down and smack him but was stopped by Hayate. "Koff, stop it. It wouldn''t help her now doing that, wouldn''t it? Instead, it''s better to not waste any time and let her get treated instantly." "Uhm, so because I stepped in but the opponent was knocked out before I could stop the match, it will be a draw: both are unable to advance to the third exam!" - the scatterbrained Jonin said that while hugging Akamaru, who tried to get free from her. After hearing that, Hayate appeared and looked at Arina: ''This is bad!'' "HEY! WHERE ARE THE MEDIC-NINS?!" - Hayate "S-sorry!!" - A group of medic-nins rushed and picked Arina up. "SENSEI!!" - Kotaru was shouting towards Hayate. Even Eiji had a worried expression. "Koff, I know what you want to ask. Don''t worry, if they treat her in time everything should be fine. Still, I will stay near her just in case." With those words, Hayate followed the medic-nins. Eiji and Kotaru didn''t know that this would be the last time they would see their sensei. CrusadeAgainstFurries Only one chapter, because my eyes still hurt and I want to spare them a bit. They hurt because I have dry eyes, which aren''t a problem normally with eye-drops, but I bought some different than usual and they don''t work, so until Monday I''m stuck with itchy and dry eyes. But one chapter a day is still doable, so this just means business as usual. Also, no meme for this chapter, since I think memes would destroy the feel of the more serious chapters. Chapter 61: Fate "Uhm, so everyone who has won their match, even though one of you isn''t here, congratulations!" - scatterbrained Jonin "Well then...starting now I shall begin explaining the finals..." - Hiruren Meanwhile, Hayate was accompanying Arina and the medic-nins until the medic nins stopped before a room and said to him: "Sir, please stay outside of the room while we treat her. After we are done, you can visit her without problems." Hayate sighed and did as he was told. He decided to go take some fresh air while waiting. There was a balcony in this tower, with a great view of Konoha, but when he got closer he noticed the presence of two people discussing something in secret. ''Why would anyone be here at this time? Something is really fishy here...'' - Hayate slowly got nearer until he could hear their voices. "The preliminaries have concluded. They will now proceed to the finals." "How tranquil...or rather how naively peaceful this nation has become while all the other countries are busy with military expansion races..." "So if we strike now...?" "Well, yes...although I doubt it would be any fun to kill that old feeble geezer..." "!" - when he heard that, Hayate was sure that those two had bad intentions, so he decided to go nearer so that he could identify them and report them subsequently. But when he saw them, he knew that he made a big mistake. Fear, as he has never felt before, overcame him and he was full of sweat. His ears were ringing as a warning sign, but he didn''t dare to move any muscle. ''I-Its Orochimaru! One of those legendary three...'' Hayate wasn''t listening to their conversation anymore, because he was solely focused on not making any sound and trying to get his fear under control. It seemed that their conversation was concluded and Kabuto was about to leave, when Orochimaru stopped him:" Kabuto...you...if you want to stop me, your only choice is to kill Sasuke now." "!" - Kabuto "There''s no way you could kill me, eh? Even if you are strong, you''re no stronger than Kakashi, so...heh, I''m joking. Now...you may go now! I''m putting my trust in you...oh right. On your way out, can you take some trash out?" - Orochimaru "...I would have done it even if you wouldn''t have said that" ''! I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE AS SOON AS PO-'' - before Hayate could make up his mind to leave he was already struck by Kabuto''s chakra scalpel. "That''s really weird, I thought everyone should be in the main hall listening to the old geezer. So why did a random Jonin decide to wander here around?" - Kabuto Like that Hayate died. It''s ironic: Eiji tried his best to come up with all sorts of plans to save him, but even before the plans could play out, he died just like that. Eiji relied entirely on his future knowledge and focused on the way Hayate would die originally, without considering the possibility that he may die in another way at another time. Of course, theoretically, everyone could die at any time, so saving Hayate from any kind of danger would be impossible and wasn''t a mistake on Eiji''s side. However, what was a huge mistake, was that Eiji should have known that in this world fate exists. He knew that Naruto was destined to bring peace, so that means it is almost certain that everyone is in this world is affected by fate. Wasn''t it peculiar, that even though because of the presence of his team, many matches were different from the original timeline, but when it came to the important ones, like Neji vs Hinata, they were still the same? It''s almost like, there was a mechanism in this world, which made sure that everything stayed on its "right tracks". Eiji should have noticed it - or rather he didn''t want to notice it. So did Hayate die because it was his destiny, or was it destiny that Eiji didn''t pay attention to the possibility that he might die another way? Right now, Eiji was still unaware, but soon he would come to learn of the cruelty of fate in this world and how hard it is to change. CrusadeAgainstFurries Wow, that chapter was a bit depressing, but Naruto is supposed to be depressing lol. So here you go, some authentic Naruto sadness. Also, press f for respect for Hayate. May he cough peacefully in his grave! Chapter 62: End of the preliminaries "I would like to let you all go now, but first there''s one last thing we have to do before the finals." - Hiruzen "HEY, COME ON!! I NEED TO START TRAINING NOW!!" - Naruto "Now then, don''t be so impatient...there are slips of paper inside the box Anko is holding...each of you, take one." - Hiruzen "I''ll come around, so line up, okay?... One per person!" - Anko who was still in Eiji''s clothes went around with the box. When she went to Eiji so that he could draw his paper, he of course had to make a comment:" Is it a lottery for getting you as a maid for a day? But with such clothes, you will be an insult to all maids!" Anko''s eyelid twitched and suddenly drew her kunai, which touched his throat: "Listen here kid, I really have enough of your shit! If you open your mouth one more time towards me, I will make sure that you will mysteriously disappear before the finals. Do you understand?" "Sorry, I just thought everyone was a bit nervous and wanted to brighten up the tense atmosphere..." - Eiji "Really?... Well, I guess you would be kinda nervous so I let it pass. But mind your tongue now when you are standing in front of me!" - Anko "What, you really believed that? I was just telling some shitty exc-" - A fist interrupted him, which knocked him instantly out. Hiruzen sighed, but he didn''t intervene since he would like to finally finish his explanation and with Eiji continuing to piss Anko off, it would take way longer. "All right...does everybody have one now? Then starting at the left, each of you read out the number written on your slip!" Every Genin who won the matched said their number out loudly. "So Uchiha will be number 4...while Nakamura drew 8..." - Ibiki Then after Hiruzen told him to, Ibiki showed the pairings of the tournament. Afterward, Hiruzen explained the tournament rules, how everyone can theoretically become a chunin despite losing in the very first round. ... "Well then! Good work, all! You are dismissed until one month from now!" - Hiruzen Everyone left the hall after hearing that while leaving the unconscious Eiji behind. After some time Eiji finally woke up. "Oh shit, what happened. I only remember how I bullied Anko..." "Bullying? Haaaa, whatever everyone else already left, but since you missed the explanation from Lord Hokage, he ordered me to explain everything concerning the finals you have missed..." - Anko who was leaning against the wall walked towards him and squatted in front of him, while he still struggled to get up. "Finals...? Oh right, tell who I''m up against!" "What? Hey, wouldn''t it be better to first listen to my explan-" "Who cares about this shitty stuff. Come one tell me already!" At this moment Anko decided it would be better for her mental health to just ignore him as much as possible while finishing Hiruzen''s task, so she just showed him the tournament list. ''Oh no...it''s sand emo...'' While Eiji was preoccupied with his own thoughts, a Konoha shinobi suddenly appeared next to Anko with a panicked expression: "Lady Anko, Lord Hokage has ordered you to stop your current task and come with me because of an urgent matter..." "Urgent matter?" "Yes, the dead body of Hayate was found..." "What are you waiting for? Lead the wa-" - before she could finish her sentence, Eiji stormed at the Konoha shinobi and grabbed him at his collar. "You...repeat what you just said..." - even though he said it non-loudly, the way he spoke that, was really intense. "Eiji!! Are you out of your mind? What are you doing to a fellow Konoha -" - Anko stopped mid-sentence because he just shot a glare at her, which spoke more than a thousand words. ''Right, wasn''t Hayate his sensei? Damn, what a shitty situation I found myself in here. This brat isn''t half bad when he is serious and if he completely snapped now and starts attacking me and the guy over there, this could end up pretty ugly...what should I do?'' - Anko who was still not in her best condition because of the curse mark, moved her hand towards a kunai. CrusadeAgainstFurries So with that, I''m finally back! Felt like a really long time. Anyway sorry for the wait. My plan moving forward is to finish part one in the next 2 to 3 weeks before Uni starts, so I will be grinding those chapters! Meaning that there will be some days double chapter, but I don''t know which days. But we will see. Chapter 63: Culprit "Eiji listen, calm down. We don''t know the situation, maybe he mistook him and it isn''t Hayate...we should first check the situation out. So let him go, or else he won''t be able to lead the way..." - Anko "But Lady Anko, I don''t know if he is authorized to come al-" ''Tsk, this idiot!'' - while Anko was lamenting that this Shinobi couldn''t read the situation at all, Eiji kicked him in his stomach. When he landed on his on the ground and started to grunt from the pain, Eiji already started to approach him slowly with his sword drawn:" Listen here now, you will tell me everything or el-" - but he was interrupted by Anko, who threw a kunai from behind at him. Despite not even looking, he dodged it without any difficulties, but Anko used the time to get herself between those two. Eiji stopped in his approach to look at Anko, while she was taking out two kunais which she held in a cross stance in front of her chest. Anko smiled while saying: "Do you really want to start a fight now? While your sensei''s murder uses the time, we are wasting here, to escape?" "!" Eiji realized that her words made sense, so, amidst his furious and confused state, he tried his best to calm down. His head was filled with thoughts like: ''He was supposed to die at another time...is this a joke? Am I dreaming?'' But through his willpower, he managed to quieten those thoughts to a level where he could think rationally. He let his sword glide back into the sheath and signaled her with his head to let the shinobi lead the way. ''Thank god this worked out...'' - Anko sighed and helped the shinobi to get back up. The shinobi was still holding his stomach in pain, so Anko shouted: "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? DIDN''T YOU SAY YOURSELF IT''S URGENT?!" "YES!! I''m sorry Lady Anko!" Hiruzen was standing with a bunch of Anbu and Ibiki while looking at Hayate''s corpse when Anko arrived with Eiji. "You are finally here Anko..." "Sorry, I was held back..." While she was saying that, Hiruzen looked briefly at Eiji but didn''t say anything. "Anyway, Ibiki, what do you think?" - Hiruzen "I have never seen an injury like that: his cut on the neck looks like a highly skilled surgeon amputated it..." - Ibiki "That is indeed an unusual technique the culprit used...but more importantly is the question who the culprit is and why did he kill him. But the thing which bothers me the most is, why did the culprit just leave the body behind, which may give us clues leading to exposing him..." - Hiruzen Ibiki and Hiruzen continued to discuss. Meanwhile, Anko was surprised that Eiji kept silent the whole time and didn''t start crying or charge to hug Hayate''s body, but Eiji didn''t have any place left to feel any sadness. Instead, he was full of wrath. After seeing the cut on Hayate''s neck, he knew who killed him. He also could guess why Kabuto left the body behind like that. Kabuto was in a rush to try to kill Sasuke before he was stopped by Kakashi, so he just didn''t have time to deal with his body. Unfortunately, Kakashi wasn''t here right now to report what happened at his side with Sasuke, so they were still all clueless except for Eiji. But he wasn''t in the mood to talk, instead, he kept all the rage silently inside him and thought about the various ways he would kill Kabuto. Anyway, Hiruzen couldn''t do anything else currently, so he said: "Sigh...Anko, you go and inform the guards to not let anyone out of Konoha while the investigation is going on! Ibiki, you go and look through everyone''s profile who was at this tower today and look for anything suspicious! The rest of you, clean here up!" He looked at Eiji and tried to think of words to comfort him, but when he saw the rage in his gaze, he decided it would be better to leave him alone for the time being. Meanwhile, Kabuto who just escaped from Kakashi smiled amused while thinking: ''Looks like I really made a scene today, those Konoha folks will probably heighten their security. Well, it''s not like they will ever catch me hehehe...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Oh shit, I was on trending place number 2 today? Wholly molly. Never expected something like that to happen. I never thought I would get even to trending, but now it was second place? I''m extremely happy and grateful for you guys which made it possible, but I also feel more pressure now to deliver. Chapter 64: Funeral Hayate''s funeral. A bunch of his former shinobi colleagues were present like Kakashi, Anko, and his former teammates Ibiki and Tokara. Kotaro and Arina, who was treated successfully, were also there. They only knew him for a short time, but he was everything they could ask for as a sensei. Of course, Hiruzen was present as well, but overall the funeral was pretty short since Konoha was on high alert right now and didn''t want to waste precious manpower. So after this short funeral, everyone left except for one. It was Eiji. Back then he searched the whole village, but couldn''t find any trace of Kabuto. He couldn''t quell his desire for revenge, so he was sitting at his sensei''s grave with feelings full of sadness, rage, and regret. But he wasn''t the type to wail when losing someone dear, instead, he would keep all his emotions silently to himself. After hours passed, while he sat there by himself, he started to think about where it all went wrong. Was it his fault? Did he change things too much, so that a butterfly effect appeared? After thinking for some time, he realized that he relied too much on his future knowledge and didn''t think of the possibility of him dying at another time in another way. He sighed and looked at Hayate''s sword lying on the grave. ''Looks like not everyone gets an emotional death scene where they can say goodbye to their loved ones..'' - Eiji thought with a sarcastic smile. But then tears finally started to flow down. No matter how tough he tried to act or how much he tried to ignore his feelings, in the end, he was human. He just sat there silently with his thoughts for hours, when he could feel the presence of someone from afar. He could feel the gaze of this person, so he called out: "You being an Anbu, I wouldn''t be able to feel your presence if you wanted, so why don''t you just come out, instead of letting me notice you?" Hearing that, a female Anbu with straight purple hair and a cat mask was walking slowly towards Hayate''s grave until she stopped right in front of his grave. Through the whole process, she didn''t look at Eiji for even a second, but after gazing silently for a moment at Hayate''s sword, she finally said some words: "Before leaving for my mission, I had a bad feeling. But I decided to ignore it and focus on the mission. When I returned and got the news I rushed straight over here, but I even missed his funeral..." Eiji looked at her but didn''t know how to reply, so he just kept silent. She also didn''t say anything for a while, so they were just looking silently at his grave. After some time, she picked Hayate''s sword up and drew it out of the sheath. She looked at it and finally broke the silence with a voice full of hatred:" Who was it?" Eiji replied emotionless without looking at her: "The village believes, that it was a henchman of Orochimaru. Kakashi told that the probability was high, that it was a guy he thought not long after sensei''s death, called Kabuto." "So the village isn''t sure and has only guesses?" "The Anbu''s corpses, which were killed by this Kabuto guy at Kakashi''s side, showed similarities in the way sensei was cut." "So it''s probably this Kabuto guy....and I suppose the village wasn''t able to capture him, or else we would already know for sure..." Again a long silence. She was the one breaking it again: "Tell me, how was the funeral?" "The old man held a speech, but other than that, nothing noteworthy happened..." Because of her mask, Eiji couldn''t tell if she was crying or not, but she started to grip his sensei''s sword tighter. She also didn''t say anything else, so silence descended again. After some time she decided to leave while taking Hayate''s sword with her, but then she stopped and turned towards Eiji: "He talked a lot about you...make sure not to die..." Eiji didn''t respond and continued to sit there. He didn''t know how much time passed, but his parents and Tenten came at some point, but he just told them he wanted to stay here for a bit longer. They thought it would be best to let him be by himself for the time being, so after leaving something to eat and drink, they left. Eiji didn''t touch the food and continued to be immersed in his own thoughts. He dedicated so much time and effort trying to save Hayate, but in the end, it was all for nothing. What was he supposed to do now? Get revenge? Just forget it and live normally? At some point, he fell asleep but was woken up by the presence of someone. It was Hiruzen. CrusadeAgainstFurries This will be probably the last emotional chapter for some time. I plan to have a tone shift again, but it won''t be purely comedic - instead, I have planned some badass moments. Chapter 65: Good guy "It will rain soon, so you may get soaked in water..." - Hiruzen Eiji looked briefly at Hiruzen before returning his gaze towards the grave: "I don''t really hate rain...anyway if you came here to cheer me up, you don''t have to worry. I think I can keep my emotions in check enough to not do something braindead." "Hmm, in truth I didn''t come here to cheer you up. I just wanted to tell you something Hayate told me not so long ago when he nominated you for the chunin exams." - he paused there recalling that memory. After a while, he formed a smile and continued: "He told me that the thing he was most proud of you isn''t your kenjutsu talents or your efficiency in your training, but that you are just a good guy." "Good guy?" - Eiji looked at him puzzled. Sure Eiji wasn''t evil or anything, but he never considered himself to be good. In his eyes, he was just neutral. When Hiruzen saw Eiji''s unconvinced gaze, he started to laugh heartily: "HAHAHA...I also asked him what he meant by that, so Hayate explained: You aren''t someone who tries to change the world or achieve world peace or anything like that. You are just looking out for yourself and your loved ones and if they are safe that''s enough for you to be happy. You see, the ones who try to change the world for the better, are often the most troublemakers. How many people have to die before you can achieve your peace? After you achieved your goal, how can you be sure that you aren''t a villain in the eyes of someone else, who will try to bring justice to you? That''s why it was his wish, that you would continue to be a good guy." "PFFF HAHAHA...did you go senile or something old man? Well, Hayate-sensei said sometimes cheesy things like that..." Eiji continued to laugh, while Hiruzen watched him with a fatherly smile. After Eiji''s laughter continued to subside, Hiruzen walked towards the lunch-boxes and started to eat. "Your mother''s cooking is really great...especially the way she prepared the rice..." "Actually it''s not my mother''s, it''s Tenten''s. But yeah, she really did improve greatly...I still remember how I almost died when she first started to cook. I had to skip classes, so she couldn''t force me to eat that abomination." "HAHAHA...it looked like you had a great time at the academy. Can you tell me more funny stuff from your time at the academy?" Somehow Hiruzen''s cheerful vibe unknowingly affected Eiji, so he started to talk and the hours flew by. At some point, Konohamaru came here looking for Hiruzen and scolding him that he waited for hours. "Sorry, looks like I have to leave already. I made my dear grandson waiting." Hiruzen waved while starting to leave with Konohamaru. ''Didn''t come to cheer me up to my ass!... Well, it kinda worked though, I certainly feel better...'' Eiji watched them leaving: Konohamaru was telling Hiruzen something energetically while pulling on his sleeve, while Hiruzen laughed heartily. ''But you and Hayate-sensei are wrong about one thing...I was actually an ass, not a good guy. I tried to save Hayate-sensei while ignoring others thinking how they are supposed to die and how I shouldn''t change things too much. I guess I unconsciously still thought of people as characters instead of as actually living humans with real feelings. If I have future knowledge and the possibility of saving people, don''t I have at least the responsibility of at least trying to save as many as I can?'' Seeing how Konohamaru and Hiruzen walked away happily, Eiji started to realize that he would miss Hiruzen if he died. He now had a new goal: save the old man! Anko was currently devouring a huge amount of Dango at Konoha''s Dango shop. Finally, her role at the Chunin exams were over and she could relax. For her, the time at the exams felt way longer than they actually were. So much stuff happened there: she ran into Orochimaru and fought him, some Konoha shinobis were found dead, but most importantly she always unlucky ran into the same annoying kid! When she remembered this boy, Anko''s face turned sour and she started to devour the Dango at a faster pace. The humiliation she experienced because of him, was unthinkable. ''At least I don''t have to see his annoying face again! And in the future when I somehow end up on the same mission with him, I will just change the mission!!'' Feeling better after cheering herself up, she ordered happily more Dango. ''Haaa, what a bliss...Dango and nothing to worry about...'' She closed her eyes out of satisfaction from eating to the fullest, she was currently as happy as she could be. "Jo, what''s up, Anko? What a coincidence meeting you here, you remember that you promised me that you would return me a favor?" "..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Missed writing the interactions between Eiji and Anko. Anyway, the next chapter will be the start of Ryuchi Cave. I don''t plan on using too many chapters for that, but some things will be really important for the story to come, so I hope I won''t rush things too much. Chapter 66: First summoning attempt "So you want me to teach you the Summoning Jutsu for snakes? I thought you would want me to do somethings dodgy considering your personality..." - Anko "Do you really think I would force a woman to do such things? Anyway, how about it. Will you do it?" - Eiji "So you want to learn a jutsu...is it for revenge?" "No...to protect..." "Hoo...how boring. I thought you would want to avenge your sen-" "Don''t get me wrong. If I have the chance I will absolutely avenge him. But I''m not one of those retards, who will neglect everything else for their revenge, while other people important to me die in the process." "Hmm, well whatever. In my opinion, I can teach you far better jutsus than this, so why do you want to learn the summoning jutsu specifically?" "So I can have an endless supply of snake meat on my journeys." "Alright, I see you don''t want to tell me. Well, I don''t really care and it isn''t too complicated, so teaching it won''t take too much time. Wait outside while I pay off and I''ll start teaching you it." "Right now?" "You have a problem with that? To be honest I want to get over with it as fast as possible." "Aren''t you a bit too cold to me, after all, we went through together? Even after our night together, where you saw my d-" The fist hit him faster than he could finish his sentence, and he flew right through the wall. Anko smiled towards the shopkeeper: "Sorry for that, this should be enough to pay for the damage and my orders, right?" "Hmm, you learned to use the respective signs with only one hand pretty fast. I''m actually really impressed kid. Anyway, let''s make you form a contract now." Anko used a bunch of signs and then stopped when tattoos appeared on her arm. Then the tattoos retracted and transformed into a snake, which suddenly jumped at Eiji''s right arm and bit him. Eiji didn''t expect that, and shouted perplexed." Wait what are you - ARGHH!!!" The pain didn''t last long and tattoos started to appear on his right arm. "You just have to sign on this spot here with your blood and it''s done." - she pointed at the spot of his tattoo, where there was a vacant space. "Geez, tell me next time in advance, when you do something like that..." - he drew his sword and lightly cut his finger with the blade, so blood flowed out and he signed with his name. "So that''s it. Now you just have to use the jutsu to summon something. But do that somewhere in the woods, in case you somehow summon Manda or Garaga. Then it''s only you who gets eaten and not some innocent village folks." "Wait, you won''t stay for my first summoning attempt?" "Honestly, in the off chance that you summon one of those two, I don''t want to deal with them. Anyway, I fulfilled my promise, so good luck, and see ya! I hope to never meet you again!" With that, she just disappeared like that. ''She is really cold towards me, right? Anyway, what she said makes sense. I should go somewhere without people.'' In the Konoha woods, Jiraiya was overseeing Naruto''s poor attempts at mastering the Summoning Jutsu. At least Naruto was now able to summon a tadpole, which is some progress in his opinion. "AARGH! JUST DIE, WILL YOU?! YOU TALENTLESS DIMWIT!!" - Jiraiya Hey! Take a closer look!! He''s got back legs, see?!" - Naruto "WHO CARES IF HE HAS LE...hmm? What''s that?" - Jiraiya saw something big destroying all kinds of trees and wildlife while rushing towards their direction, so he squinted his eyes to focus. It was a big red snake, with only one eye! ''A snake here? Don''t tell me...no this isn''t Manda, so this can''t be Orochmaru''s doing...'' After observing for a bit longer, he could see that this snake was chasing someone: a delinquent with a sword ran away from it while yelling something at the snake. The delinquent seemed to notice Jiraiya and Naruto and picked up his pace to run straight towards them. "WHAT IS THIS LOUD NOISE!!! I CAN''T CONCENTRATE LIKE THAT!!!" - Naruto stopped his training to lock towards the origin of this loud noise, while nearby women who bathed in the stream panicked and ran away. "Naruto, listen. This snake is dangerous and we need to save this delinquent..." - Jiraiya Naruto could now also see the person being chased: "Hm? Oh, that''s just Eiji. Just let him be. It''s better to not get involved with him, or he drags you into dumb situations. So it''s better if I just continue with my training..." ''Eiji? Who''s that?'' - Jiraiya CrusadeAgainstFurries Three things. Firstly: Something to clarify for people who might be confused by it the time. Naruto''s training is over the 15th day in this chapter because searching for Kabuto took time and Hayate''s funeral also wasn''t held immediately. Then Eiji also "wasted" time sitting at the grave. Secondly: I was honestly a bit scared of uploading yesterday''s chapter because it''s the chapter that makes or breaks the future plot. So if Eiji''s goal of trying to save Hiruzen didn''t feel authentic or felt non-logical, it would be pretty bad and I would need to redo it until I succeed. But it looks like it turned out okay, which I''m really relieved and happy about. Thirdly: I commissioned some art for this fanfic, but I wasn''t successful, so I will be looking at some other places and hopefully find some artist who is willing to draw it. Chapter 67: Garaga ''WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??!! THE INSTANT THIS GUY WAS SUMMONED HE STARTED TO ATTACK ME WITHOUT A WORD!!'' "HEY, YOU BASTARD!!WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" - Eiji The giant red snake remained silent and continued to chase him. "CANT YOU TALK OR WHAT?? AREN''T YOU SUMMONING-ANIMALS SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK? OR DID YOU FALL ON YOUR HEAD AS AN INFANT?!" "AAARGH!!! SHUT UP, YOU DAMN HUMAN!! YOU WILL REGRET SUMMONING ME!! I WILL COMPLETELY DEVOUR YOU!!" "SO YOU CAN TALK? THEN TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOUR PROBLEM IS??" "MY PROBLEM IS YOU, TREACHEROUS HUMANS!!!" Because Eiji died in his former life, when Boruto was just at the beginning, he didn''t know that Garaga was betrayed by his former human master, which resulted in him losing his eye. Since then, he hated humans to the limit and was always so pissed, that he was even a bother to the other snakes in Ryuchi Cave. Anyway, Eiji didn''t know that and just tried to stall for time until enough time passes, which would result in Garaga''s return to Ryuichi Cave. Of course, he could try to fight him, but he didn''t want to risk pissing the snakes of by killing or injuring one of them. If he knew that the other snakes actually hated Garaga and would even be happy if he died, who knows what face he would make right now. "TREACHEROUS MY ASS!!!WHO THE HELL PISSED IN YOUR BREAKFAST, THAT YOU RAGE LIKE THAT?!" "BASTARD!! STOP RUNNING AND LET ME EAT YOU!!" ''This guy isn''t listening at all...hmm?'' While running, Eiji saw Naruto and Jiraiya. ''Great, if Jiraiya is here, he can help get this freak under control, so I won''t have to run around stalling for time!'' "You are saying to not get involved with him, but he is running towards us, you know?" - Jiraiya Naruto made an unhappy face: "But I really don''t want to get involved with him right now, or else I lose precious training time..." "AHAHAHA, SEE??? ALL OF YOU HUMANS ARE TRAITORS!!! YOU LURED ME TOWARDS THEM SO I CAN EAT THEM WHILE YOU ESCAPE!" "YOU PARANOID FUCKER!!! I RAN TO THEM FOR HELP!!" ''This brat has some bad tongue, but looks like I''ll have to take action...'' - Jiraiya used some hand signs and then started to breathe a huge fire wall towards Garaga. "Wow that''s an amazing move Pervy Sage!" - Naruto ''NOOO!! When I meant help, I wanted him to restrain this shitty snake. Shit, if this kills the snake, I won''t be able to set a foot into Ryuchi Cave!'' - he jumped in front of Garaga to black Jiraiya''s fire jutsu. "!" - Garaga "What is he doing?"- Jiraiya "Ah man, this will grill me if I don''t do anything...Konoha Wind-Spirit Style: Autumn Gale!" - wind starting to rotate around his body, dispersing the flames. This was the only one of the 4 Wind-Spirit Style techniques, which didn''t involve any kind of kenjutsu. Instead, it was purely a wind ninjutsu - it didn''t look remarkable, but because of the rotation movement of the wind around his body, it had some decent defensive capabilities. Of course, it couldn''t block strong and even certain medium level attacks, but the advantage of it was, that it would last for some time. It was like a wind armor, which would block throwing weapons on its own, as long as it''s active. Even though wind is weak against fire, the wind just redirected the fire away from Eiji''s body, so he wasn''t hit. Garaga watched with a bewildered expression: why did this boy jump in to defend him? He wasn''t sure how to react, so he just decided to keep watching. "BOY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? DIDN''T YOU WANT HELP?? GET AWAY FROM HERE, IT''S DANGEROUS!!" - Jiraiya shouted towards Eiji. "JO, WHEN I SAID HELP I DIDN''T MEAN TO KILL HIM, JUST RESTRAIN HIM!! I SUMMONED THIS GUY, SO IT WOULD BE BAD IF HE DIES!!" ''Summoned him? Who is he? How did he learn to summon snakes? I should investigate this, in case Orochimaru is behind this...'' Meanwhile, Garaga watched this exchange, he made his mind up. He realized that he would be no match for Jiraiya and decided to leave: "CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY BASTARD!! NEXT TIME I WILL DEVOUR YOU!!" "WAIT!!!" - Eiji rushed towards Garaga, while smoke started appearing around him, indicating that he is about to return. Eiji disappeared with Garaga, leaving Naruto and Jiraiya behind. "What the hell was that? And why is he suddenly naked?" - Jiraiya "Yeah, he somehow often ends up being naked. That''s why I said he is trouble..." - Naruto It turned out that even though Autumn Gale saved his body from being touched by the flames, his clothes ended up being completely burned. CrusadeAgainstFurries Ehm, don''t mind the new pic for the story, I messed something up, so this is just a random placeholder. Anyway, there weren''t memes for some time, so here is a classic. Chapter 68: Ryuchi Cave ''Hm? So this is Ryuchi Cave?'' - Eiji was looking at his surroundings. When he returned with Garaga as a stowaway, Garaga didn''t notice him and instantly rushed off somewhere deeper into the cave and started to rampage, like he always does when he is pissed. Unfortunately, he is most of the time pissed. But this time he was more pissed than usual! First of all, he was summoned by a human - he hates humans to the core! Secondly, he retreated when he sensed the amount of chakra Jiraiya had! Anyway, since he rushed instantly off, Garaga''s aggression problems weren''t something Eiji needed to concern himself with right now. Honestly, Eiji was surprised that his spontaneous idea succeeded and that he would get with this kind of method to Ryuchy Cave. However, the downside of this ''transportation'' method was, that he had no idea where he currently was and where he needed to go. ''Hmm, let''s try to look for snakes which are a bit more chill....maybe they can show me the way to the White Snake Sage...'' "Tsk, this Garaga is loud again. But not only that, he even brought someone with him." - The White Snake Sage was resting on her throne, with her giant snake body while smoking out of a giant pipe. When she finished her sentence, three women who were dressed in long robes appeared seemingly out of thin air. Despite their human appearances, they were in truth snakes as well. One of them asked the sage: "Brought someone with him? How dare he! Master, can we please get rid of Garaga already? He is nothing but trouble!" "Just let him do how he pleases for now. The part of the cave he resides and rampages isn''t of any concern to me. More importantly, deal with the human he brought with him. Even though he was brought here and didn''t wander into Ryuchi Cave on his own, do your duty: if he fails the trails, you can eat him!" "Yes, Master White Snake Sage!" Eiji walked and walked but the cave was just too huge! And because he was naked, he started to freeze! ''I hope I don''t catch a cold...would be bad to fight Gaara with a cold...wait who cares about a cold, when I might starve to death in this shitty cave!'' While he was absentminded, he suddenly saw some lights in the distance. ''Looks like this is the right direction...'' He got motivated again and walked towards it at a faster pace. When he got nearer, he saw the source of the lights. It was a grand palace. "..." ''Do they think I''m stupid? This looks suspicious as hell!! Well, I don''t really have any other option than to go there...'' Suddenly the entrance opened and a woman in a long white robe with a tiara on her head walked out and bowed towards him: "Welcome to Ryuchi Cave. You must be tired, so why don''t you go re-" ... ''WHY IS HE NAKED??!! Even though it''s said that everyone who comes to Ryuchi Cave is crazy for power and gives everything up...but giving even your clothes up?'' - Tagorihime decided to just ignore it and continued with a smile. "(Fake cough), you must be tired, so why don''t you go rest in here? We have prepared a banquet for you and we can give you some clothes as well." Eiji wasn''t blessed enough in this life, to be born into a body with a decent brain, so he was sometimes slow and forgetful. But because he not only had this life''s experiences but also his former life''s, he could most of the time make up for being born stupid with his added life experiences! He hadn''t that much experience that you could consider him wise, but over the years he came up with 3 golden life rules. The first one was: If you end up in an awkward spot, just show so much confidence that no one questions you! Confidence, even when faked, is a powerful tool. For example, you can just walk straight into a hotel and eat at the morning buffet. As long as you look confident, no one will question you and you get a free meal. Anyway, Eiji was using his first rule and walked confidently while being completely naked, like it''s the most natural and logical thing for him to be naked right now. Tagorihime opened the door for him and guided him to a couch and a table: "Here you can rest and eat, dear guest. Also -" she napped her fingers and clothes appeared out of thin air on the table in front of him. " - you must be feeling cold, so why don''t you - " "-NO!" She was confused and asked with a smile: "Excuse me? Is there a problem?" "Yes, there is! I came into this shitty cave to hunt snakes. You see, snake leather is one of the most trendy things right now in our village..." ''ARGHHH THIS SHITTY BRAT!!! HOW CAN HE DISRESPECT US SNAKES HERE??!!... Calm down. I just need to keep going with the trial and when he fails I''ll eat him.'' Meanwhile, Eiji was in Ryuchi Cave, in Konoha there was a really angry Temari waiting for someone. ''WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM?! DIDN''T HE WRITE TO MET HIM HERE TODAY?! WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!'' During the preliminaries, Eiji secretly gave her a letter which said, that he had some important information concerning the Kazekage, but he could tell her only in secret. Then he wrote the time and location. Originally he planned to trade the information that the Kazekage will be or was already killed and that if she wants more information, she should help him save Hayate first. Unexpectedly Hayate died before that, so he had no reason anymore to meet up with her and possibly change the future for no reason. But the more important reason was, that he actually just completely forgot. CrusadeAgainstFurries Don''t try the hotel thing! I mean you can...but don''t hold me accountable for anything which might happen! Chapter 69: Eiji’s golden life rules "Dear guest, these dishes were specially prepared for you, why don''t you at least try some?" - Tagorihime said that with a respectful smile. ''Fishy....this is way too fishy. Why would there be such an extravagant place in this huge gloomy cave? And where would they even get all those dishes from...let''s try to get more information out of her...'' "I''m telling you, I won''t eat trash food! Who is even the cook?" - Eiji "You don''t need to be concerned, dear guest. Our food is of the best quality and our cook''s abilities are top-grade." "But how can snakes even cook something, when they got no hands?" Tagorihime''s smile was suddenly replaced by a creepy snake face: "Tsk, I see that this won''t go anywhere..." ''WHAT THE HELL!! She really freaked me out there...'' - Eiji didn''t show anything on his face, except his usual grumpy and bored expression, meanwhile, the whole palace and dishes started to disappear slowly, as Tagorihime stopped the genjutsu. The palace was just rocks in the cave-like Eiji had seen before, while the food turned out to be some disgusting substance. "This is supposed to be top-grade? Well, considering how dumb you are dressed, I''m not surprised that you think that way..." "ARRRGHHH!!!! YOU DISRESPECTFUL BRAT, I WILL EAT YOU EVEN IF YOU DIDN''T FAIL THE TRIAL!!!" - she started to get ready to attack him, but a voice stopped her: "NOOO CALM DOWN!!! IF YOU EAT HIM, MASTER WHITE SNAKE SAGE WILL GET MAD AT YOU!!!" When Tagorihime heard that, she stopped and breathed in to calm down: "You are right, thank you." She then just disappeared without saying any words to Eiji. ''Was this some sort of test? What was she even testing? Even a creepy man who asks children if they want candy from his white van, would appear more trustworthy than that...hmm?'' - Eiji noticed that even though everything else wasn''t real, the clothes she got him were still there and unchanged. Tagorihime really was bothered by him being naked, so she gave him real clothes, despite wanting to eat him later. ''Don''t they have something more modern?... On the other hand, though, I will look like a real samurai...'' - he put the kimono and sandals on. After that, he looked at his surroundings and understood that staying here any longer wouldn''t make any sense, so he decided to walk further into the cave. While walking, he sometimes saw the silhouette of a girl moving around, presumably to guide him somewhere. He had no other options, so he decided to get along with it. At some point, while he followed her, he ended up in a small cave room. Suddenly a huge boulder appeared, trapping Eiji there. Then the girl he chased appeared in front of him. She wore white robes with a tiara on her head as well. "My name is Ichikishimahime. Hey, why don''t you play with me?" "Play with you?" - Eiji was sure that this would be some kind of test again. "You see those colorful stones on the ground behind you? The right ones fit into the spaces in the boulder behind you. If all the spaces are filled, you win and are free. By the way, using force to try to open it won''t work. Killing me also won''t work. The only way is to fill the spaces in that boulder." "So, how do I lose?" "You can attempt as many times as you like until you can''t continue. And if you finally lost all hope and give up, I will eat you. In truth, I don''t like fresh chakra. I prefer it to be weak and about to disappear, so that I can drink it." - while she said the last part about drinking, her face was replaced by s creepy snake face. '' This creepy bitch...those snakes are really confident and smug, pisses me off. It''s time for that...'' "Ehm, since I have much time anyway, can I ask something?" - Eiji "What is it?" "Since you, snakes have the ability to take the appearances of humans, why do you choose to be so ugly?" Eiji''s golden life rule number 2: when someone is smug and thinks they have the psychological advantage over you, just insult them! They won''t care about having the psychological advantage anymore, though they might do other things like hitting you... "You! Don''t think I''m as easily provoked as Tagorihime!" "Tagorime? Who''s that?" "..." - she decided it was just better to ignore him at this point, or else she really might get provoked. "Hey, can I ask you something? Hey, why are you ignoring me? Are you deaf? Come on it''s really important! Well, whatever. I wanted to ask you if there is a toilet here, but looks like I have no other choice..." "Wait, what are you trying to-" - she stopped ignoring him but it was already too late. He started to pee at a wall: "Ahhh, finally...I held it in for way too long..." "ARGHH!!! JUST GO AWAY!!! I LOST MY APPETITE ANYWAY!!!" - she stopped the genjutsu. Eiji saw that he was still in the large cave part he was before. Ichikishimahime was sitting on a boulder looking at him angrily. "Did I win your game? I have to admit, it was pretty fun actually..." - Eiji "You...sniff..." - she just disappeared with that. ''Wait, is she crying now? Well, who cares, it''s a creepy snake anyway...'' - he shrugged his shoulders and went on. He didn''t walk for long when suddenly another snake woman in a white robe jumped at him and bit into his neck. ''Shit, I didn''t even feel her presence...'' - before he could do something to her, she already jumped away from him. With his grand grabbing at his hurting neck and the other being near his sword, he stared angrily at her. "My name is Tagitsuhime. You are quite something, passing the trials of the other two. Next will be my turn...I shall test your heart. Of course, if you can''t endure it, I''m allowed to eat you." - with those words she vanished. The pain in his neck intensified and his vision became clouded. He waited. He continued to wait. But nothing happened. His vision became clear again and he was in front of what looked like a temple. An angry Tagitsuhime pointed a finger at him and shouted: "WHAT DID YOU DO?! THE SUBSTANCE I INJECTED IN YOU, SHOULD LET YOU FACE YOUR INNERMOST DOUBTS AND CONFUSIONS!!! WHY DID NOTHING HAPPEN??!!" Eiji thought for a second and then replied: "You see, I''m the type of guy who is always running away from all of his problems." "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT SO PROUDLY?!" Eiji''s golden life rule number 3: if you are a failure, be a proud failure!! CrusadeAgainstFurries Those ultra-long snake names nearly killed me...by the way this meme is really brutal lol Chapter 70: only a mob "Whatever, you are here to seek power from Master White Snake Sage, right? Follow me!" - Tagitsuhime turned around and guided Eiji into the temple, with the words "Ryuchi Cave" inscribed on a plate. When Eiji entered the temple, it didn''t take him long to see a huge white snake sitting on a sacred seat smoking out of a long thin cigarette holder. Tagitsuhime stopped at the entrance and signaled Eiji to go upstairs towards the huge white snake. He didn''t say his usual sarcastic remarks, instead, he felt nervous and went solemnly upstairs, when the huge white snake spoke to him: "You are here to learn senjutsu? Are you sure you want to risk it? If your body is unable to withstand my power, I will eat you." ''That''s really more dangerous compared to learning sage mode under the toads...'' - Eiji smiled wryly while thinking to himself. He contemplated for a second before sighing and saying: "Nothing is free in this world, how can you get power without risking something?" White Snake Sage looked at him amused, before taking the cigarette holder with her tail from her mouth. Suddenly without a word she jumped at an incredible speed and bit Eiji in his shoulder. "ARGHH!!!" - Eiji was overwhelmed by the pain and instantly lost consciousness. Eiji found himself to be in an endless space, where everything was red except for the ground. He looked at the white ground and saw that it was scaly, but after looking for a few seconds, to his shook, he saw the ground moving like it''s the body of a large animal. ''This place is creepy. Even worse is that I can''t stand anywhere else than this creepy ground...'' Instinctively he wanted to draw his sword, but he realized that it was missing: ''How is it missing? Didn''t I carry it the whole time with me even when I was naked?'' While he was confused, the ground started to shake and move at a tremendous speed. ''Shit!'' - Eiji didn''t want to lose his balance, so he retreated backward as far as he could. The ground started to finally stop moving and when Eiji looked up, he saw a giant snake, which had his face, looking down at him. "That''s even more creepy, I gotta say. I never knew I had an ugly twin brother like you..." - Eiji tried his best to appear calm. "HAHAHAHA!!!!! You are still trying to hide your fear and nervousness behind tough words?? I know you like no one else, so this won''t work on me." "Knowing me like no one else? Who or what are you?" - Eiji had a serious expression and didn''t dare to be careless. "I''m your inner voice, the one you neglected until now...that''s why I ask you: Why don''t you give up already?" "What?" "I said, why don''t you give up already...isn''t it enough? You are only a mob. You couldn''t even save Hayate-sensei. Why don''t you accept that you are only a mob and can''t do anything? Still, even as a mob, didn''t you do enough? You reincarnated into a world with your previous life''s memories and could experience this world you loved so much in your previous life. You had your fun, isn''t it now time to stop bringing chaos to this world through your sheer existence? Why are you so selfish?" Eiji heard all that and was silent. Emotions ran wildly in his heart: he knew that it was selfish of him to get involved with important events to try to get the outcomes he wanted. He could hear an inner voice whispering to him, that it''s better to just disappear since he is only a mob anyway... While this was going on, surrounding parts of the ground transformed into small white snakes that started to cover him. Funnily enough, he didn''t sense or feel it, and after some time only his head wasn''t covered. "Are you not responding? Of course not. I know you and know your decision anyway, so let me help you!" The huge snake charged with an open mouth at him about to devour him. At the hall, the White Snake Sage looked at Eiji''s body. His body couldn''t handle the natural energy she injected into him and he started to transform into a snake. ''Looks like that''s it. I have never seen someone failing faster than him. Most would struggle for some time before transforming...well I will just eat him, so I won''t complain...'' - the White Snake Sage licked her mouth and moved joyfully towards Eiji''s body with her head. Chapter 71: Nature of a mob ''Hey wake up! This isn''t your real inner voice, you are influenced! Listen to me! I''m your true innermost self. So what if you are a mob? Who said mobs can''t do anything? Mob''s are even more important than anyone else! Society wouldn''t work without mobs! Even important characters wouldn''t exist without their mob ancestors! Everyone looks down on mobs, even though they are the unspoken heroes! Go and show the world the true power of a mob!'' The giant snake with Eiji''s face was about to devour him when all the covering snakes were blown away and Eiji stopped the just snake with just one hand. "YOUUU!!!" "Yeah, me. Who else could it be, other than the magnificent and virtuous super mob? You know, you said you know me, but then proceeded to talk about emotions and stuff. Emotions are just emotions. If certain emotions are harmful or disadvantage to me, I just ignore them!" - Eiji felt his willpower spinning in his body. His willpower then engulfed him and transformed him into an even bigger white snake Suddenly he felt the urge to devour the fake him, so with just one bite, he ate the whole head. Power he never felt before started to appear in his body. The White Snake Sage was about to move when Eiji''s snake transformation was stopped. Then he slowly transformed back. He looked at her and said with a mocking smile: "Sorry if you want a taste of me, you should be a few years younger and agree to a date with me first." ''How interesting, just with sheer willpower he forced his body to accept the natural energy I injected...'' "Looks like your body accepted the natural energy. This means now two things. First: you acquired my personal power, which gives you the ability to heal any injuries and transform yourself into a giant snake. Secondly: with that, you are worthy of learning sage mode. So prepare yourself, the training will start right now!" It was the day, where the chunin finals would start. In the end, Eiji only had enough time to learn to enter sage mode without being able to properly balance his own chakra with natural energy. That meant that on top of the usual snake-like appearance for sages of Ryuchi Cave, he looked even more snake-like Speaking of snake-like: he looked quite different now since his body had some problems handling the injected natural energy. His hair turned white, and his eyes looked more snake-like with his eye-color changing to yellow. At first, when he saw his reflection, he was shocked and quite upset, but after some time he cheered himself up: ''At least I don''t look as ugly as transformed Kabuto...'' Anyway, he was about to leave even though he didn''t fully master sage mode, so before leaving he wanted to ask the White Snake Sage something. "Before I leave I have a question..." "A question? I won''t answer, you only passed the trial for learning sage mode, nothing else!" "Come one, just one question..." "I won''t answer. Since you insisted on leaving today, go now!" "Why do you have to be so petty? It''s not like you have any hobbies or anything other to do than just sitting here and smoking. So come one, if you don''t want to answer me, it''s fine, but at least hear the question first!" "..." He took her silence as a yes and asked: "I''m wondering, why is it called Ryuvhi Cave (Dragon ground cave) when there are only snakes here and no dragons? Isn''t that some kind of scam?" When she heard that she took a puff out of the cigarette holder before saying: "Scam? Well, for someone who doesn''t know it might seem that way. Dragons don''t exist in this world, but it is said that we snakes have some sort of connection with dragons. A long time ago, there was an ancient group of humans who worshiped a dragon god. They don''t exist anymore for a long time now, but if you wish to learn about dragons you should try to look for the remains of their temple." Eiji asked halfheartedly and didn''t expect to get such an answer: ''Dragon god? This is the first time I''m hearing something like that. But now that I think about it...isn''t it weird that even though humans didn''t have chakra until Hagoromo started doing his thing, there are jutsus with which you can as an example summon the Shinigami? When it comes to gods in this world, many things were left unanswered...maybe if I can find this dragon temple, I might learn more...'' After noting it in his mind, he said his goodbye to the White Snake Sage and decided to leave. ''Wait how do I return?'' Anko wasn''t happy. She wanted to get ready to go to the arena for the chunin finals when a snake transmitted her something: a guy called Eiji wanted her to summon her contracted animal so that her contracted animal can use the Reverse Summoning Technique. Eiji already found her contracted snake in Ryuchi Cave and made a temporal contract, only for that. Anko had a sour expression and decided she absolutely didn''t want to meet Eiji! But she also couldn''t just let him miss the chunin finals, or else she might make a lifelong enemy out of him. So she summoned her snake and ordered it to go far away and summon him there, so she doesn''t have to meet him! ''Huh?'' - Eiji looked at the snake who after summoning him disappeared. ''Why was I summoned at the front gate? Was there no better place? And isn''t Anko way too cold?'' CrusadeAgainstFurries This amazing art was down by Kowaichi. He also did the new cover and I''m still baffled by how well it turned out. Thank you really much, Kowaichi! Chapter 72: Start of the finals "Hey you there, stop! I haven''t seen you around! Identify yourself!" - one of the two shinobis guarding the front gate stopped Eiji when he wanted to enter. "What are you talking about? Can''t you see my headband?" "I see it, but as I said, I haven''t seen you around. And more importantly, you look really suspicious!" "Are you for real? Listen, I don''t have time to argue with you here, or else I will be late for the chunin finals." "Many people come here to watch, but you don''t look like a civilian so I can''t let you just pass..." "I''m not here to watch, I''m one of the participants." "Ha! Who would believe such an obvious lie!" "You are really starting to piss me off..." "Well, what you gonna do about it? Hey, Satoshi stop daydreaming and help me with this suspicious brat!" "Come one, don''t be so loud. Let a man survive his hangover peacef-..." "- Jo, Dad. How have you been?" "...who the hell are you?" - Satoshi "Sasuke''s not here yet, so what''s gonna happen?" - Naruto "If he doesn''t arrive by the start of his own match, he''ll lose by forfeit!" - Genma ''Sasuke isn''t the only one who''s missing...'' - Shikamaru ''This is weird...knowing Sasuke, I figured he''d be here even if he had to crawl...'' - while Naruto was lost in thoughts, someone suddenly appeared where all participants stood. "Whew, looks like I made it in time..." "I thought for a second it was Sasuke...by the way who are you?" - Naruto "Ehm, are you one of the participants? If so, what''s your name?" - Genma "Nakamura Eiji." Genma looked at him suspiciously before deciding to take some documents out. There were the details of all the participating Genin, so he looked at Eiji''s profile. Next, he looked at his photo and then at Eiji standing there. "Are you sure? You look quite...different..." - Genma "That''s because of my training." "What kind of training would change you so much?" - Genma was in a predicament and was unsure what to do. Meanwhile, at the Hokage seat, Orochimaru was hiding his shock: ''This kid, I sense some traces of the White Snake Sage in him...how can this be?....HAHAHA!!! Interesting. I''m really looking forward to his performance!'' Orochimaru wasn''t present when Eiji fought Dosu, so he didn''t know how strong he was. As Orochimaru was thinking about Orochimaru stuff, Hiruzen recalled how not long ago, a worried Jiraiya told him about a giant snake being summoned by Eiji. After some investigation, Anko confessed that she taught him the Snake Summoning Jutsu. And after Eiji disappearing for quite some time and Jiraiya describing the way he disappeared, Hiruzen was sure that Eiji was in Ryuchi Cave. Of course, Hiruzen only thought that it was an accident that he landed there with his summon. But this made him worry even more so about Eiji''s safety. Unfortunately, there was nothing which he could do to help him, so seeing that he was still alive, Hiruzen was glad. ''It looks like he is fine...except for his appearance...well, there is no doubt that it''s him.'' - he signaled Genma who was looking at him to proceed. ''If Lord Hokage means so, I guess it''s fine...'' - Genma "Alright, your identity was confirmed, so let''s continue." - next Genma started to explain that the rules are pretty much the same as in the preliminaries. Then he signaled the start of the first match: Naruto vs Neji! There wasn''t much of a difference compared to the original timeline. The only one was that Neji didn''t underestimate Naruto as much, which funnily enough was more advantageous for Naruto, since losing by such a lame move with Naruto jumping out of the ground with his fist, was even more surprising for Neji. After the applause for Naruto subsided, the crowd''s anticipation for the next fight grew stronger. Most people came here to see Sasuke Uchiha! But the problem was, he wasn''t here yet... "What could he be doing?! Is he not coming at all?" - Shikamaru Meanwhile, Choji ate his potato chips more aggressively than usual: ''Please don''t come! Please don''t come...'' The next fight is supposed to be Sasuke vs Choji! CrusadeAgainstFurries I could only finish today''s second chapter around halfway since there are many details and it''s now late and I''m completely tired. It was a fight many of you look forward to, so I don''t want to finish it half-assed only to upload it today. But since it''s already halfway written, I will just release it instantly when I''m down when I wake up, and tomorrow''s chapters will be uploaded at the usual time. Chapter 73: Eiji vs Gaara part 1 After the Kazegake (definitely not Orochimaru) convinced Hiruzen to wait until Sasuke arrives, the next match was moved up. The next match was Kankuro vs Shino! But Kankuro instantly withdrew, since he thought, revealing his puppets hidden mechanism might jeopardize their plan later on. So it was now Shikamaru''s and Temari''s turn. Naruto pushed the hesitating Shikamaru down and the match began! Of course, Shikamaru forfeited at the end, which made Temari the winner, like in the original timeline. Naruto then jumped down to the stage to shout angrily at Shikamaru. While Naruto berated an annoyed Shikamaru, it was decided that they would continue to postpone Sasuke''s match. There was only one more match they could move up though, and it was Gaara vs Eiji! "Gaara, I doubt I need to tell you this, but you can''t lose until you face Sasuke in the later rounds, or it will be problematic for our plan..." - Kankuro "..." - Gaara remained silent and appeared at the stage. Eiji walked nonchalantly down, while Shikamaru and Naruto were still at the stage conversing there. Then Naruto suddenly turned towards Eiji "Hey, you! Don''t you dare lose to this creepy guy!" - Naruto Eiji just shrugged his shoulders and ignored him. "ARE YOU IGNORING ME?! JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU FACE ME!!" "Calm down and let''s go already. People are waiting for the match to start..." - Shikamaru took Naruto with him to leave the stage and recalled worryingly their scary encounter with Gaara not so long ago. Meanwhile, on the spectator stage, Tenten had a worried expression: ''So this is really you, Eiji? What happened to you after disappearing for 2 weeks without any word?'' Eiji and Gaara faced each other, but before Genma could start the match Eiji asked Gaara: "You know, I wanted to ask you for some time now...what''s up with your black eye-rings? Do you want to rebel against society or something?" "..." - Gaara "To shy to answer? Whatever..." - Eiji picked his nose and looked towards Genma. Genma then started the match. But Eiji didn''t move, instead, he was in a thinking pose while continuing to pick his nose: ''Hmm, should I just defeat him? But will they even start their plan then? I think it would be best to just stall for time at least until Sasuke arrives and then just go with the flow...'' Gaara of course didn''t wait like Eiji and emptied his sand gourd. The sand transformed a giant sand arm and moved it towards the still contemplating Eiji. ''Hm?'' - Eiji looked briefly at the sand arm, but he just continued to stand there. But when the arm was about to him, it suddenly split in two and landed in two parts with Eiji standing between. "!" - Gaara "What was that speed? I couldn''t even see any movement..." - Lee "What? How is he able to cut Gaara''s sand? This is impossible..." - Kankuro Hmm, it sure feels weird being able to use my other hand without problems again...'' - Eiji His hand was actually healed, because of the self-healing ability he got from the Power of the White Snake. Gaara was shocked for a moment before he got excited and had a scary expression and whispered something with mother. "Shit, this is not good, it already started and he already forgot our plan..." Kankuro to Temari "I thought only Sasuke would be able to get him this excited..." - Temari "Fortunately it looks like it seems to have settled down." - Baki Somehow Gaara was able to calm down, so he manipulated the sand which was next to Eiji after his failed attack, to attack him. The two sand masses rushed towards Eiji at the same time and were about to crush him. Eiji glanced at the sand masses before just vanishing. He then appeared behind him and moved his arm. "!" - Gaara''s body cried out that he was in danger, so he recalled the sand to form a shield instantly. But Eiji''s movement was actually intended to just snap his booger towards Gaara. The booger was blocked by the sand shield. "Hm, you know, being over hygienic isn''t really good for your health." - Eiji "What is this guy, he is just playing with Gaara at this point..." - Kankuro Meanwhile, Kakashi and Sasuke arrived at the spectator seats. "SASUKE!!" - a worried Sakura rushed towards him, while Kakashi was berated by Guy: "You finally arrived? This time it was really close. What would you have done if your pupil got disqualified?" "Well, looks like we still made it in time, so no reason to complain, right?" - Kakashi "Humph!" - Guy Meanwhile, Eiji, who for the whole time was splitting some of his attention to his surroundings, was smiling slightly: "''Looks like they finally arrived. So how about increasing the pressure and force the enemy to make a move? Meanwhile, I can use the time until they start acting, to try out using Sage Mode in an actual fight." Somewhere far away in the Konoha woods, a Shadow Clone which gathered natural energy was dispelled. CrusadeAgainstFurries So this is yesterday''s second chapter. Today''s two chapters will be posted at the usual time. Oh, by the way, I already told this, but I''m trying to finish part 1 before Uni starts, so if it feels too rushed tell me please and I will slow down the story. Chapter 74: Eiji vs Gaara part 2 While Gaara was shielding himself, he used a portion of his sand to move stealthily towards Eiji. Eiji was right now focused on dispersing his Shadow Clone, so he didn''t notice the sand until it was too late. "It''s over. Gaara''s opponent got conceited and didn''t pay enough attention. And now, since he is in contact with Gaara''s sand, Gaara can just finish him off no matter what he tries to do..." - Kankuro Eiji looked at the sand wrapped around his arm, which started to crush his bones while the rest of the sand was about to spread further to his body: ''Hmm I didn''t want to try this, since I still feel pain, but whatever.'' He just cut his arm off and then jumped away from his position." "THIS MADMAN!!... But considering the situation, it was the right choi-" - Kankuro stopped speaking when he saw something unbelievable. Small white snakes gathered around the place where Eiji''s arm was and transformed into a new one. But this wasn''t all. Eiji looked different now, his skin looked like the scales of a snake, and purple pigmentation formed around his eyes, letting him look even more snake-like. "Oh man, I''m so glad I already lost and don''t need to fight against creepy snake or sand dudes..." - Shikamaru "Yeah, normally I would say something about your lack of motivations, but this time I actually agree..." - Ino "(Sad potato chip eating noises)" - ''Sasuke really arrived...'' - Choji "Hey Arina, I thought Eiji changed his look to clown around but...doesn''t he look creepy now?" - Kotaru "I''m just glad that he actually showed up, after disappearing without a word." - Arina "Yeah, but you too thought that he just wanted some more time alone after...you know. But it looks like he underwent some kind of training...but it still looks creepy in my opinion..." - Kotaru "Don''t tell me..." - Orochimaru''s happiness about finding someone interesting turned now into concern. In his eyes, if Eiji was really able to enter sage mode, it would mean that there would be someone on Sannin level on Konoha''s side right now, which would be dangerous for his plan. Hiruzen who was next to him noticed the peculiarity of the "Kazekage''s" behavior and asked: "Is something wrong?" "Nothing, I was just surprised that there would be someone else except for the Uchiha in Konoha, whose talent you need to look out for." "Hmm, is that so?" "Ugh, somehow this reminds me of that Orochimaru guy..." - Naruto already joined up with Sasuke and Kakashi at the spectator seats. "Hmm, maybe...but if he uses what I think he is, then at least in one aspect he would be ahead of Orochimaru..." "What do you mean?" - Sasuke had a grim expression as he recalled how strong Orochimaru was. "Have you ever heard of sages?" "Sages?" - Sakura "Wait Kakashi, do you really mean that this kid here can -" ''Sages?'' - Naruto had the image of some old and wise looking grandpa telling some stories at a bonfire in his head. "I heard how there was a commotion not long ago, that a Genin in our village disappeared when he was attempting the Summoning Jutsu. The Hokage concluded then, that he ended up being stranded in one of the big three unexplored sage regions. Many who knew of this, thought that he wouldn''t return, but he not only returned but actually learned Sage Mode..." - Kakashi "..." - Guy had a serious expression and didn''t know how to reply. Tenten who heard that, made a gloomy face: ''Eiji you idiot...why do you always rush into dangerous situations...why don''t you ever think about the people who are concerned about you?" She remembers how he injured his hand when they were still little. Her thoughts were interrupted by Lee who asked: "Guy sensei, what''s the big deal about this sage thing?" "Explaining would be difficult, so just watch and you will know." Lee gulped, hearing Guy''s serious town: ''What can this possibly be, for Guy-sensei to act like that?'' Eiji looked at his recovered arm: ''Yep, this still hurts...anyway it''s my turn now'' He smiled towards Gaara who looked at him with shock through a hole in his shield: "You think you are cool being able to manipulate sand? Well, you are not the only one." Next Eiji touched the ground and infused natural energy into it. He was going to "breath" life into the earth. While Sages of Mount Myoboku can use Frog Kata to use natural energy as extensions of their body to increase the range, Sages of Ryuchyi Cave can use: Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation! The ground shook violently, like a strong earthquake! Chapter 75: Eiji vs Gaara part 3 While Eiji was fighting in the arena, a shinobi rushed home as fast as he could. Kimiko looked at a picture of her son Eiji and sighed. The Hokage told her what happened, and that they should be prepared for the worst. But suddenly Satoshi slammed the door open and rushed in. "Dear, what''s wrong, don''t you have guard duty right now?" He tried to say something, but he couldn''t since he was out of breath from rushing home as fast as he could. After a few tries, he managed to say those 3 words: "Eiji.....he....returned!!" Out of shock, she let the picture fall on the ground, where it broke. "WHERE IS HE?!" - she recovered from her shock and shouted with a panicked voice. "He...he...didn''t want...to be late...for his chunin exam...so he" - without letting him finish, she grabbed her husband by the arm and rushed with him towards the arena. ''I''m gonna die from running...and my hangover is killing me as well...'' - the poor Satoshi was sure he would collapse. "Oh my..." - Sakura couldn''t believe her eyes. The arena looked completely different now. The ground was a huge deep hole with a dozen huge large spikes coming out of this deep hole. She was sure, that they were hole so deep, that if you fell into it, you would end up as meat paste! But the place where Eiji was standing, was like an "island" in this vast hole with spikes. The same was for Genma, Eiji left for him a small "island" as well. Genma looked at the arena and thought: ''I really wanna go home...'' Gaara saved himself from turning into meat paste through falling, by flying on his sand. ''Hmm, when the old Snake Sage, told me about this, I kinda was uninterested to be honest, since I originally wanted to learn Sage Mode only to buff my kenjutsu. But it looks like to be quite useful...'' Orochimaru couldn''t believe it! Not because of Eiji''s move, in fact, Orochimaru can do more damage without less effort in various ways, but because it is genuine Sage Mode! Back then, when he discovered Ryuchi Cave, even though he gained the ability to mold natural Senjutsu chakra, because of all his body modifications, his body was too weak to use Sage Transformation to enter Sage Mode. This was what Kakashi, meant when he said in one aspect Eiji was ahead of Orochimaru. Anyway, Orochimaru knew, that since Gaara was a crucial part of his plan, he needed to act now or else his plan might fail! "WHAT THE HELL, KAKASHI SENSEI?! WHAT DID HE DO?!" - Naruto "I can''t really tell you, since not much is known about Sage Mode..." Naruto tightened his fist, while Sasuke had a dark expression: ''So this is the power of this Sage Mode?'' "This guy...this guy is a monster like Gaara, except for the fact that he is somewhat mentally stable..." - Kankuro "He is really like an entirely different person when he fights..." - Temari ''What about our plan? What should I do now? '' - Baki "Akamaru, calm down. Even though he looks creepy and is super strong, he is on our side...I hope..." - Kiba ''Scary...'' - Hinata ''Hmm, with this strength, shouldn''t he already easily finished his opponent? Isn''t he just trying to show off? Really...this guy is so shameless.'' - Shino ''Hmm, I had 2 more things I wanted to try...but looks like I''m about to run out of natural energy...but isn''t it about time for them to make a move anyway?'' - Eiji Meanwhile, Gaara was flying in the air. His situation was, to put it mildly, pretty fucked. He needed his sand to fly, so he couldn''t attack. Also, his defense was way weaker now, since a portion of the sand he could use to defend, was needed to fly. So he was in a complete passive state, where he can only fly around and wait for his opponent to attack. Fortunately or unfortunately, Gaara started to lose it, and his transformation began. "Coincidentally", right at the same time Gaara''s transformation started, some shadowy figures in the spectator seats started to take action and used Genjutsu. CrusadeAgainstFurries I noticed I made a mistake when it came to Snake Sage Mode. The people who got bitten by the snake sage, have their bodies changed to be able to use Sage Transformation. Through that they are able to enter Sage Mode, meaning that Snake Sages always will look snake-like when using Sage Mode, no matter how much they mastered it. This is also why the origin of Jugo''s kekkei genkai was found by Orochimaru in Ryuchi Cave. Not a huge mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. I''m sorry about that and will change it in the previous chapters. Chapter 76: Kidnapping "Gaara is about to transform, so let''s get out of-" Baki "Hmm, can''t let you rampage around here..." - Eiji appeared suddenly behind Gaara and stabbed with his sword. The sand moved automatically trying to defend Gaara, but the sword was clad with wind chakra and easily went through. His arm was stabbed by the sword and Gaara cried out in pain. His shield went down and his transformation stopped. "Shit!! His transformation was stopped...what are we gonna do now?!" - Kankuro "First we need to get him out of here, then we can decide what we gonna do!!" - Temari "Are you insane?! Do you want to go down there and fight this Eiji?!" - Kankuro "I-I''m calling the plan off. Both of you, I will buy some time, while you two take Gaara and get out of here!" - Baki moved and appeared besides Eiji with a kunai. Meanwhile, Eiji, with his heightened senses through sage mode, sensed how Orochimaru started to move against Hiruzen: ''Looks like I still have a bit time before the barrier will be summoned, so let''s make sure that Sasuke and Naruto follow Gaara." Since Gaara''s opponent wasn''t Sasuke, Sasuke had no real reason to follow them, which in turn meant that Naruto and co, wouldn''t follow Sasuke. Eiji looked at Baki and said: "Sorry, but I don''t wanna hang out with you sand dudes anymore, so see ya!" With those words, he disappeared. "..." - Kankuro and Temari didn''t think it would be resolved just like that. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, TAKE HIM AND LEAVE!!!" - Baki shouted at them while he defended against Genma, who charged at him. Meanwhile, Kakashi, Guy, and Sakura realized that a genjutsu was used and undid it. Sasuke who was standing nearby also noticed that something was wrong, but before he could do anything, a figure with immense speed appear in front of him and took him away: "WHAT!! WHAT ARE Y-" As fast as he was taken, he was let go suddenly. But before he could begin to make out what happened someone spoke to him: "Sorry, I got no time to explain, just follow those sand guys and stop whatever they are planning!" "What? Why should I?" - Sasuke But he didn''t get an answer, as Eiji already vanished. ''...shit, it''s not like I can do anything else when he suddenly dropped me near them!'' - Sasuke got up and started to chase them. "SASUKE!! KAKASHI, SENSEI!! SASUKE DISAPPEARED!!!" - Sakura was hysterical, seeing how Sasuke just suddenly disappeared. "Calm down, Sakura. He should still be somewhere nearby, so undo the genjutsu on Naruto and Shikamaru and wake them up!" He then summoned Pakkun and told her, that Pakkun can follow Sasuke''s scent. Sakura did as she was told and woke Naruto up, while Shikamaru was already awake, but pretended to be asleep to not get involved. After forcing Shikamaru, the four embarked to pursue Sasuke. "Do you think just three of them will be enough? But more importantly, why did that Eiji even kidnap Sasuke? Is he a traitor?" "No, I suppose he noticed that those Sand shinobis are involved in this whole mess, and concluded that someone skilled enough should pursue them. And the most skilled one apart from him would be Sasuke. To be honest, I was about to send Sasuke and Naruto on my own, but this works too I guess." "But why didn''t he pursue them?" "I wonder..." - Kakashi looked towards the barrier where Orochimaru and Hiuzen were. Meanwhile, a silent Shino decided to follow Naruto and co. Two Anbu outside the barrier looked at it: "It looks like this barrier can only be taken down from the inside..." The other replied: "Although if Lord Hokage can take out even one of those four, we can probably go in to aid him." On the inside, the Sound Four started to erect an inner barrier as well. "Humph...it doesn''t look easy to escape from..." - Hiruzen "Of course not. Besides, you wouldn''t want anyone to interfere and get in the way, would you?!" - Orochimaru Suddenly a hidden small white snake transformed into Eiji. He stood there nonchalantly with a smile: "Sorry, but it''s my style to interfere and get in the way." "You!" - Orochimaru''s arrogant smile disappeared. "HAHAHAHA!! And here I already felt lonely, thinking I have to punish my naughty disciple all by myself." - Hiruzen CrusadeAgainstFurries I still have a headache, but I didn''t want to have 2 days, where I promised double chapters, to be without any at all, so if this chapter is bad, please tell and I will redo it. Chapter 77: Betraying "Great, this kid can finish one of those four henchmen, so that we can get in!" - An Anbu exclaimed happily. "Sorry Eiji, but I ask you to refrain from doing so since I believe this battle will involve many destructive techniques and I don''t want our village and people to get involved in it." "Lord Hokage, what are you saying?! Please reconsider, your safety is of utmost importance!" - The other Anbu cried out. Eiji nodded at Hiruzen and said: "With or without barrier, we still have to beat this guy up anyway, right?" "HAHAHA!!! You really haven''t changed, sensei...instead of taking the easy route and trying to break the barrier, you are instead concerned about the village. Because of this dumb kindness, this village is destined to fall. But I still have to admit, that this village produces occasionally some interesting talents..." Orochimaru looked at Eiji: "Kid, learning Sage Mode at this age is really something you can be proud of, it would be a pity for you to die here. So how about joining me?" Eiji heard that and starting to contemplate. Then he asked: "If I agree, what do I get in return?" "THIS KID!!!!" - Anbu 1 "I knew it, he is a treacherous snake just like Orochimaru!!!" - Anbu 2 Hiruzen was silent and closed his eyes, looking like he was anticipating Eiji''s choice. "HAHAHA!!! I can give you power, as much as you like!!" Hearing that, Eiji scoffed mentally: ''What power can you even give me? The curse mark is just a budget version of Sage Mode anyway.'' But he didn''t show anything on his face and instead smiled: "Sorry, but I don''t want power. Instead, I want a harem!" "What?" - Orochimaru "You have many kunoichis under you, right? Ordering them to be part of my harem should be a piece of cake for you." Hearing that Orochimaru smiled: "Sure if that''s what you want I can give it to you easily. See that, sensei? This is how much loyalty your shinobis have to you, just because you are so inept as a leader. Now come over here boy, you don''t want to get involved in what I''m about to do." With that Orochimaru started to summon three coffins. "!" - because of that Hiruzen couldn''t deal with the traitor Eiji, who was already walking nonchalantly towards Orochimaru''s side. Thankfully Hiruzen managed to block the third coffin from appearing. But the other two managed to. "N-NO!! Those are...?!" - Anbu 1 "?! They are what?" - Anbu 2 "Long time no see...Saru..." "Ah, it''s you...you''ve aged Sarutobi..." "I never imagined I would see you two again. And under such circumstances...I''m so sorry..." - Sarutobi "This is...not good..." - Anbu 1 "He summoned them...but who are they?!" - Anbu 2 "Please prepare yourselves...First Hokage! Second Hokage!!" - Hiruzen "Reanimation, eh...? And that stripling over there is the one who summoned us with the forbidden jutsu? Impressive..." - Tobirama "Which means, Sarutobi...we must fight you..." - Hashirama "Enough with the old folk''s small talk. Why don''t we get st-" - Orochimaru was suddenly stabbed from behind. "I agree, why don''t we get started?" - Eiji "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" - Orochimaru cried out in surprise, but instead of getting an answer, he was sliced into several pieces. "Well, it''s not like this will kill him...hey old man! While he is regenerating, seal him or those other two oldies!" "Oldies?" - Hashirama "My, youngsters really became so disrespectful..." - Tobirama. Hiruzen didn''t dare to waste any time and asked: "Sealing? Are you sure it will work?" ''Of course, it will work! Though the method will be only developed in the future during the Fourth Shinobi War...'' "Yeah, you cannot break the jutsu, but you can neutralize the bodies by binding them so they aren''t able to move and then just place a seal on the bindings." "Alright!" - Hiruzen trusted Eiji fully, in fact, he also trusted him when he "betrayed" him. And that''s because he knew Eiji''s personality, and when Eiji started to spout nonsense about harems, Hiruzen knew that he was just fooling Orochimaru. "ARGHH!!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YOU SQUIRT!!" - a piece of Orochimaru transformed into him like he was moments ago standing there. "Tsk, can''t you regenerate slower?" - Eiji got ready to battle with his all. CrusadeAgainstFurries Thanks for all support, I''m feeling much better now. Unfortunately still only one chapter today, since it took more time than usual to write because I had to reread the fight between Hiruzen and Orochimaru to make sure I don''t miss anything. I''m sorry about that, but I will try to double chapters next weekend to make up for that and the last two days. Chapter 78: All you Eiji was bisected by Orochimaru''s Kusanagi Sword, but he instantly starting to regenerate. Since the start of the battle, Eiji was already "killed" many times, but always when Orochimaru tried to use fuinjutsu on him, Hiruzen interfered. It was safe to say, that Eiji was completely trashed by Orochimaru. He was only hanging on through his regeneration ability alone. But unlike Orochimaru, Eiji has far less chakra and when he runs out of it, he won''t be able to regenerate anymore. Orochimaru was really targeting this weakness, focusing on Eiji, while the two Hokage fought against Hiruzen and Enma. And since Eiji''s and Hiruzen''s plan was to seal the two Hokage, forcing Hiruzen to help Eiji out occasionally made it nearly impossible for him to achieve that. ''Shit if this goes on, forget about saving old man Hiruzen, I won''t be able to save myself!'' - Eiji tried something he hasn''t used in a battle before. He transformed into his giant snake form and used his huge body to attack Orochimaru and the two Hokage at the same time. "Ha! To think you would try to use snake techniques against me! Laughable!" - Orochimaru summoned Rashomon to block the attack. Eiji tried to move around it, but there was already Orochimaru waiting for him. The Kusanagi Blade suddenly extended and with Eiji''s huge snake body, he couldn''t dodge and was hit. Eiji started to transform back while also regenerating: ''This won''t do...'' He glanced over to Hiruzen. Despite Orochimaru focusing on him, Hiruzen, while still better than in the original timeline where he needed to fight Orochimaru as well, couldn''t push his advantage and seal the two Hokage. Winning a fight through sealing an opponent, was different than winning through killing the opponent. ''Sorry old man, but looks like I need to do this after all.'' - Eiji dispersed another shadow clone, which gathered natural energy far away and entered Sage Mode. "Hmph, you think Sage Mode will change anything?" - Orochimaru extended his blade again, but with Sage Mode, Eiji was able to sense it and dodge. "Konoha-Wind Spirit Style: Summer wind of the sage!" "YOU!" - Orochimaru saw that he was targeting the Sound Four, which were responsible for the barrier, and summoned two more Rashomon Gates. Eiji''s attack cut through the first two gates but was stopped at the last one. The last Rashomon Gate reflected the damage back on Eiji, who was coughing blood while already starting to regenerate. "Haa, looks like I need to use my strongest move after all..." - Eiji got into an iaistance again. He stood there fully concentrating on accelerating chakra through his body. But unlike the other techniques, where he only accelerates to a certain speed, he went beyond that. It was truly dangerous and if he loses control of his chakra, he may end up as a human bomb. Orochimaru sensed that this attack was going to be powerful and tried to stop him. Unfortunately for him, Hiruzen appeared and defended him with a smile: "Aren''t you interested in what he will show us too?" ''Let''s add natural chakra as well...even though I have never done it before and it is even more dangerous, but as long as a finger remains, I can still regenerate...though with my chakra being almost empty this is probably the last time I can do this...'' He sensed that he was about to lose control, so despite wanting to accelerate further, he unwillingly unleashed it: "Konoha-Wind Spirit Style: Winter Storm of the Sage!" The accelerated force went to his sword and when he drew it, the whole power was unleashed. It was a brute technique, which spread the force in every direction since such a force was nearly impossible to control. All the trees from Hashirama''s jutsu were cut, and violent winds which cut with the power of blades rampaged through the battlefield, not caring if it''s foes or allies. ''Shit! I can survive that easily, but the barrier will collapse at this point!'' - Orochimaru saw that the problem wasn''t the strength, but the huge area of effect. "Yamata no Jutsu!" - Orochimaru used his strongest snake based technique just to save the Sound Four! A giant serpent with eight heads and tails stood there and took all the damage for the Sound Four. "Truly an impressive kenjutsu technique. Konoha''s kenjutsu was never fully developed, but this youngster here achieved a kenjutusu level which is really of the highest level..." - Tobirama "But this jutsu is quite problematic since it not only attack allies but the user as well." - Hashirama looked at Eiji, who was full of cuts and was covered fully in blood. But despite that he smiled while regenerating a last time: ''Well, that''s all I can do. Now it''s all you, old man..." Chapter 79: End of the fight "TO THINK I WOULD NEED TO USE THIS TECHNIQUE BECAUSE OF A BRAT WHO ISNT EVEN HALF STRONG AS ME!!" - Orochimaru in his Yamato no Jutsu form, was furious. He looked at the battlefield and saw that despite using his strongest snake-related technique, the only thing he managed to achieve was to neutralize Eiji, who actually neutralized himself. And Hiruzen, who despite not being able to seal the two Hokages, had always the advantage in the fight, which meant he was fine and ready to take Orochimaru on. Orochimaru felt really humiliated. But he calmed down fast, and started to smile sinisterly: ''If it''s like that, let''s open up the barrier and wreak havoc in Konoha, hehehe...'' Actually, destroying the barrier, was Eiji''s main plan on saving Hiruzen, since, with that, help could easily rush in. And with Guy and Kakashi being at the arena, even Orochimaru would either be forced to retreat or lose. "Sakon, Jirobo, Kidomaru, Tayua, open up the barrier!" "!" ''Sorry old man, a few destroyed buildings won''t be the end of the world, so let the others save you!" - Eiji tried his best to not lose consciousness, but with that, he finally collapsed. "WAY TO GO KID!! YOU DID GREAT!!!" - Anbu 1 "LORD HOKAGE, JUST WAIT A MOMENT AND WE WILL BE HERE TO DEFEND YOU!!" - Anbu 2 Kakashi who was cleaning up the sound shinobis attacking the arena looked at the battlefield and then nodded towards Guy and Kurenai (Asuma left to help Shikamaru). But Orochimaru didn''t lose his confidence, since, with the two Hokage defending him, fleeing will be a piece of cake! ''Sigh, so this is what you wanted Eiji? I''m sorry, but I was already prepared...this is the responsibility I have as Orochimaru''s sensei...'' "That order of signs...Sarutobi, you are performing that Jutsu!!" - Enma Then he summoned two shadow clones, two rushed towards the two Hokage, while he himself rushed towards Orochimaru, who was still in his Yamato no Jutsu''s form. "? No matter what you are doing, it won''t -" - suddenly he felt how his chakra didn''t listen to him and he started to transform back. "Orochimaru, let me reveal for you my trump jutsu, one even you don''t know! Sealing Jutsu! Shikifujin! Reaper Death Seal!!" "NOOO!! IT WON''T GO YOUR WAY OLD MAN!!!" - for the first time in this fight, Orochimaru showed a panicked face. "Shit, hey you guys buy some time, while I help Lord Orochimaru!" - Sakon rushed in to help Orochimaru, but Enma didn''t let him get close to those two. This time, Hiruzen had enough chakra since he only fought the two Hokage and he also wasn''t hit by the Kusanagi sword, since Hiruzen charged at Orochimaru, when he was preoccupied with getting ready to leave the moment the barrier disappears. So this time Orochimaru would surely have his soul completely sucked out! Or not: "SAKON USE YOUR CURSE MARK AND MERGE YOUR BODY WITH MINE!!" - Orochimaru cried out, coming up with an option which can save him, despite his current panicked state. "SHIT!!" - Sakon did as he said and split his twin-brother from him. "UKON, YOU DEAL WITH THIS MONKEY!!" "You woke me up just to deal with a mon-" - Ukon noticed that Enma wasn''t an easy opponent, despite his curse mark being activated. At this time, both Ukon and Sakon activated the level 2 curse mark without delay. Thanks to that, Sakon was able to reach Orochimaru and Hiruzen, and without a delay, he fused into Orochimaru''s body. "WHAT!! ARGH!!" - suddenly it was Sakon''s soul that was pulled out instead. "Orochimaru...you are really beyond any help, sacrificing your subordinates like that!!" - Hiruzen "What are you talking about? They are just tools for me to use...HEHEHE now let''s see how you sacrifice your life just for the soul of one of my tools!" ''Was this a mistake? NO! I at least was able to seal a portion of Orochimaru''s soul! With that, he won''t be able to destroy Konoha!'' "Orochimaru, even if you live, you have failed today. I have inherited the will of the First Lord, the second Lord, and of Konoha. No matter how hard you try to destroy Konohagakure, a new Hokage who inherits my will shall emerge and defend Konoha!" Eiji really tried his best, and his plan was also effective. But unfortunately, you can''t save people, who choose to die on their own... CrusadeAgainstFurries So with that, the double chapter week is over (let''s just ignore those two days...no one will know...). Anyway, I wanted to finish part one before Uni starts, but my estimation was pretty bad...so I will take 3 days off, since Uni starts tomorrow, then start with one chapter on Thursday, and then double chapter on the weekend, and maybe part 1 is finished within next week, but who knows... Chapter 80: Father’s duty ''I hope we are not too late...'' - Kimoko was running with all she got towards the arena while dragging her husband with her. Calling it a bad day for her would be a huge understatement. At first, when her husband stormed into the house with the news that Eiji was alive and came back, she couldn''t describe how relieved she was. But now the village is under attack, and the center of the fight seemed to be the arena where he was supposed to be. If Eiji died on the same day he finally came back, it would be truly too laughable. On her way, she saw many shinobis fighting, but she just ignored them and continued to run. Of course, since she was a kunoichi of Konoha, it was her duty to fight and help. Not doing their duty was sure to get her and her husband Satoshi to be punished. But she couldn''t care less at the moment. "Please...wait..." - Satoshi looked like he couldn''t keep up with the pace anymore, but instead of pausing, she silently picked him up and carried him piggyback. When she finally entered the arena, the scene was unbelievable. Complete chaos, so much destruction, but despite that, most spectators were asleep for some reason. "EIJI!!!" - she shouted as loud as she could, but she didn''t get a response. Panicked she looked around, hoping to find him between the sleeping spectators, to no avail. There were just way too many people! But then she saw the battlefield on the roof, and her motherly instincts told her that Eiji was there. She gritted her teeth and continued to run, while Satoshi tried his best to not vomit. "SAKON!!!" - Ukon howled like a beaten dog, not caring about the dangerous situation he was in. Orochimaru wasn''t concerned with him, instead, he endured the pain in his arms as best as he could: ''My arms feel like they are on fire...I can''t continue like that, I should retreat!'' But then his gaze landed on the unconscious Eiji. ''This damn brat, it''s all his fault! At least before leaving, I should kill him...'' Actually, it wasn''t Eiji''s fault, Orochimaru would have ended up the same even without Eiji. But Orochimaru was arrogant to a fault and thought that he would have killed Hiruzen easily if it weren''t for Eiji. "We are done for, we are retreating. But before that, kill this boy there!" "YES, SIR!" - the rest of the Sound Four "You are dreaming!" - the two Anbu who watched the whole battle outside of the barrier, wanted to protect Eiji. In their eyes, he was a splendid youth, who risked his life to protect the Hokage, so they couldn''t let him just die like that. The Sound Four (now only 3) got ready to attack. Their plan was to split up so that one could easily kill Eiji. "EIJI!!!" - suddenly a middle-aged woman appeared with a middle-aged man on her back. She let the man fall and rushed towards Eiji and embraced him while crying. His heart was beating, so those were tears of joy: "Eiji...I''m so glad you are alive..." He looked pretty different now since the last time she saw him, but she was his mother and she recognized him instantly. Satoshi stood up and despite being scared and about to vomit from his "traveling" with a hangover, he tried his best to appear strong and intimidating. ''Keep your gaze straight and don''t look away! Don''t show them how much Sake you drank tonight! It''s a father''s duty!'' "Like those weak worms appearing will change anything!" - Tayuya rushed in for the kill. But suddenly someone started to attack Orochimaru and the Sound Four from behind. "IT''S ALL YOUR FAULT!!! BROTHER!!! I WILL AVENGE YOU!!!" - it was Ukon who seemed to have lost his mind. "Ukon, your brother sacrificed himself for me, which is his duty as one of the Sound Four...so is this your answer? I promise you, if you don''t stop this nonsense, your death won''t be painless..." - Orochimaru Orochimaru saw that Ukon didn''t respond, who seemed to have lost his mind completely, and glanced at the bottom, where Kakashi and Guy were. Currently, they were facing Kabuto, but who knew if one of them suddenly decided to rush to the roof. "Tsk, whatever. Leave this boy and Ukon behind, we are retreating!" Obviously, some Anbu tried to stop them from leaving, but as in the original timeline, it wasn''t a problem for them at all to leave. CrusadeAgainstFurries I''m back! Normally, the next week would be a pub-tour to celebrate the start of the semester, but because of Covid it will be canceled...well, at least I have time to write chapters next week because of that. Anyway, with the next chapter, the last arc for part one will start and I have something big planned for it. The way I imagined it in my head, it should be the most interesting so far! I hope I can deliver it as amazing as I imagined though... The arc probably won''t be too long, but except for the big thing I have planned for it, there will be some slice of life as well, to give some characters who were a bit neglected some love. I hope you are looking forward to the next arc as much as I do and thanks for waiting! Chapter 81: Just being a mob is fine. Two days after the battle. Rain was pouring down while a grand funeral was held for the Third Hokage. Almost all shinobis of the village attended it, except the ones who were out on a mission or who were injured. One of them was Eiji since he still suffered from the aftereffects of exhausting his chakra to a dangerous limit. When he woke up in the hospital a day ago, he was told about Hiruzen''s death. Thinking about it, he couldn''t help but sigh: ''Old man, you just had to take the opportunity and let us save you...why did you have to be so stubborn?'' Other than Hiruzen''s death, things seemed to play out the same. Naruto defeated Gaara and "converted" him to the "good side" and Sunagakure later discovered how they were used by Orochimaru. The only difference was Ukon: since he lost his mind and only wanted to kill Orochimaru, he didn''t put up a fight, so he was easily captured. Unfortunately getting information out of him wasn''t possible, since...well, he went crazy. Eiji''s conclusion was, that the only thing he achieved was showing off and making an enemy out of Orochimaru. Again his hopes of saving someone were crushed. ''It''s almost like the universe is telling me to just live my life in the background like a mob is supposed to be, and not involve myself in important stuff anymore...honestly maybe it''s just better like that...wasn''t my goal in the first place to get strong enough to leave the village and live peacefully? Shouldn''t I be able to leave now?'' But he instantly remembered the face of his mother when he woke up. He could see in it, the stress she must have felt the whole time. She looked really haggard and older than she was supposed to be, but nonetheless, after he woke up, instead of shouting or berating him, she was full of relief and joy that he was alive and well. ''Sigh...I don''t know anymore...'' Eiji was unsure what he should do from now on. "Eh-heh heh..." - Jiraiya was peeping on women with a telescope for his "research" when two figures approached him from behind. "You still engage in such foolish activities?" "Technically it''s research...if it isn''t old man Homura and mistress Koharu... and just what business do the chief counselors have with me?" They told him about the current dangerous and peculiar state of Konoha and that it was concluded that Jiraiya would be the next Hokage. But he actually declined and said, that Tsunade would be more suited for that role and that he would find her. With that, he got ready to leave with Naruto and find her. Also at the same time, Itachi and Kisame appeared in the village. After being found out, they fought a bit with Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi, and Guy before disappearing. Kakashi was still under the effect of Tsukuyomi, so he was brought to the hospital. Because of some dumbass shinobi who barged into Kakashi''s room asking about Itachi while Sasuke was here, Sasuke rushed off trying to find Naruto, who Itachi and Kisame were after. Sasuke then got trashed by Itachi and needed to be brought to the hospital as well. After driving them off, Naruto and Jiraiya started their Rasengan training while searching for Tsunade. So a lot has happened, but on the surface, for the ordinary shinobi, it was a peaceful time recuperating from Orochimaru''s attack. The same was for Eiji. After one more day, he was allowed to leave. But instead of a day of doing nothing, he had a promise to fulfill. "Again Dango? I invited you already so many times to Dango, why not something else for a change?" "But I didn''t eat any Dango for some time now..." "What? With how much you love them, I don''t believe you." "But...I never eat them without you...and it''s already some time now since the last time we were together like that..." - Tenten pouted in a low voice. "Yeah, sorry..." "..." "..." - an awkward silence, before Eiji broke it: "By the way, don''t you think I look a bit creepy now? Are you okay with somebody like that walking next to you?" "Actually you look way better now...you look smarter and your eyes give you a kind of dangerous and mysterious vibe..." Hearing that, Eiji smiled: "You think so too? At first, I was unhappy, but now I actually like how I''m looking...it really looks cool!" "Don''t exaggerate! No matter how your body looks, with your bad clothing taste, it won''t matter!" "Ouch, I actually thought I would look cool with that, like a Rounin...well, we''re are here. I said I would treat you, but I''m a bit short on money currently, so please don''t -" "YOU!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE I GOT INTO BECAUSE OF YOU!!" - Anko, who was eating Dangos in the shop, shouted when she saw the two enter. CrusadeAgainstFurries Uhh, don''t know what to write here today, so just enjoy the meme I guess... Chapter 82: The superfan D "Hmm? Oh, it''s you Anko...how you doin?" "You...do you know much I was scolded by the Third Hokage when you disappeared?" "Uhm, sorry I guess?" "Guess? Sigh, you really drive me crazy...by the way, are you sure that it was a mistake that you ended up in Ryuchi Cave? Back then I found it weird that you insisted on me teaching you the Snake Summoning Jutsu...isn''t that kind of suspicious?" "I think you are way too paranoid and read too much into things." "Sigh, you still didn''t learn to respect your superiors, Eiji?" - Tenten "But even though she is my superior, we shared a tent for a ni-" - a fist from Anko interrupted him. "Anyway, I didn''t tell anyone about my suspicion, so if you want me to stay silent, pay for my meal!" - with that Anko left the Dango-shop with a smile. "Uhh, my money..." "Sigh, didn''t I tell you?" Time continued to pass peacefully on the surface, but something huge was brewing in the underground. "Lord Danzo, I''m here to report that Jiraiya has successfully convinced Tsunade to accept the role of the Fith Hokage." "Are you sure? Considering her personality I find it hard to believe..." "I have confirmed it. They are currently on their way back to Konoha..." Danzo''s serious face looked even more serious when he heard that: ''I didn''t do anything when it was decided that Jiraiya would be the next Hokage since I knew he would decline. I also thought that Tsunade would refuse when Jiraiya told that he would search for her, meaning I would have the perfect opportunity to propose that the next Hokage should be me...but looks like I was mistaken.'' Actually, Danzo was right. Normally Tsunade would instantly decline, but he didn''t know that an annoying orange boy, who has the ability to move people with his words, was the reason for her change of heart. ''This is unexpected...looks like the chances of me becoming the next Hokage became almost nonexistent...also this slug princess will be a kindhearted fool like Hiurzen...hmph! If this is the case, since I can''t become the next Hokage, why don''t I just get a loyal puppet to become the next one?'' He looked at his Root-subordinate and said: "We don''t have much time, so take care of those two Anbu, who watched the fight with Orochimaru, and then replace them with two of ours. I will give them their orders after." "Yes, Lord Danzo!" - with that the Root-member vanished, leaving Danzo and the darkness alone. Eiji''s team was in an awkward position since their Sensei died. But the village couldn''t afford to assign someone knew at the moment since even though it appeared peaceful right now, the village was in a precarious situation and were militarily weak. So without a sensei, they couldn''t accept missions, meaning they didn''t have anything to do now. That''s why Kotaru and Arina asked Eiji to spar with them, so they could get stronger. He didn''t mind and agreed to it, but he stopped their spar when he noticed 3 Anbu appearing and staring at him. "Hey, why did you stop Eiji suddenly?" - Kotaru "Looks like we have some fans..." "Fans?" - Arina had a doubtful expression. "Excuse us, are you Nakamura Eiji?" - one of the three Anbu "Yeah, that''s me, as I live and breathe...what do you want?" "Our Lord has asked us to bring you to him." "Your Lord? Would it be too impolite of me to ask who your "Lord" is?" "Excuse us, but we aren''t allowed to tell." "And if I decline to come?" "We are allowed to use force." ''Those guys...I have a bad feeling about this, but since they are Anbu it must be from the higher-ups and I can''t refuse...'' He shrugged and said: "Whatever, looks like I have some big-shot as a fan, so bring me to him...at least I hope it''s some rich and sexy lady..." "..." "What are you -" - Eiji fell suddenly unconscious because of a Genjutsu one of them used. It hit him easily since he wasn''t expecting them to do something like that. Arina and Kotaru also fell unconscious and one of them quickly touched their heads to erase their memories. When Eiji woke up, he found himself tied to a chair in a dark room. But he wasn''t alone. Two Anbu were next to him, while someone he recognized looked at him with an emotionless face. ''Shit, I should have known that it was this fucker behind those shady Anbu...'' He recognized Danzo, but since it would be weird for him to know of him, he didn''t show it on his face. "Looks like you are awake. Let me first tell you that I''m really impressed by your courage to fight someone like Orochimaru and your talent to be able to use Sage Mode at this young age." Hearing that Eiji made a fake smile and said: "Thanks, I''m always glad to have more fans...what do you want? Want me to sign something for you?" "You will be the Fith Hokage." "What?" Side story 1 Igor looked at the dead body in front of him. "..." ''NOO!!! WHAT DID I DO??!! Wait let''s not panic...maybe he is still alive and I can get him to the hospital...'' He inspected the corpse and confirmed that the heart wasn''t beating. ''Nope, he is dead like my sex life...BLYAD!!! Maybe the police will believe me when I - no I have a criminal record so I will definitely end up in prison...looks like my only choice is to get rid of the body...'' Next, he tried to look for a sack or something with which he could wrap the corpse around. But he didn''t find anything useful except for a carpet. He rolled the carpet around the corpse like a sushi, but the carpet wasn''t big enough and you could still see the legs hanging out. "..." Since Igor didn''t have a better alternative, he waited till the night and carried the "Sushi" to his shabby car. Fortunately, none of his neighbors were awake at this late hour, so he successfully loaded it into his car. His car was black and was "decorated" with duct tape in the middle, to make it look like an "Adidas car". Since he was worried to get caught, he took a huge sip out of his hip flask to calm himself before driving off. It was night, and more importantly deep in the countryside, so the roads were empty. Igor thought that he was lucky when suddenly a police car appeared and signaled him to pull over. ''BLYAD!! I''m screwed!!'' The two policemen knocked on his glass, while Igor tried his best to appear calm. He turned the car glass down and said: "Good night, how can I help?" "Good night? It''s fuckin cold and my balls are freezing! Anyway, you drove too fast, so we pulled you over." "Drove too fast? Sorry, I was in a hurry since I heard my mother got into an accident and -" - Igor froze midsentence when he saw how the other policeman shined his flashlight onto the carpet laying on his backseat. "What the fuck!" - The policeman swore he could see human legs hanging out of it. The policeman signaled his older partner to lock at it. The older policeman looked at it and then looked back at Igor: "A beautiful carpet, huh? I also had one in the same color before my wife burned it down when she found out I cheated...sure brings back some memories..." "SIR!!!" - the other policeman couldn''t believe how his senior partner was so calm and disinterested. "Hm? Oh right, I forgot. You there, I smell some alcohol! So you not only drove faster, but you also drove under the effects of alcohol! We have to confiscate your alcohol!" Dumbfoundedly Igor gave the policeman his hip flask. Then the policeman took a sip out of it: "Hmm, this isn''t alcohol, but "medicine" instead. My bad, my bad. Since it''s not alcohol, but "medicine", it means you drove faster because of the "medicine". I''m a kindhearted man, so you won''t get a ticket, but the "medicine" will be confiscated. Make sure to drive slower and have a good night!" "SIR!!!" "What? Why are you so energetic? In this shitty coldness you have to preserve your energy so stop fidgeting around." "But what if this was a cor-" "Why would I care about a damn corpse, when we get some vodka to save us from this shitty cold!" - with that the older policeman dragged his partner into their car. "..." Igor decided to forget it and continued to drive far into the woods. There he took out the "Sushi" and a shovel. He started to dig, and when he was about to finish, he suddenly heard noises around him. "NOO!! What shitty timing, I was almost finished!'' He looked around and saw that it was the two policemen walking drunkenly around. "Oh hey my friend, your "medicine" was really good! What are you doing? Hey, let''s help him, since moving the body is good against the cold!" "Yesh, shir!" - the younger policeman At this point, Igor didn''t care anymore and just shrugged his shoulder before throwing the shovel to the policeman. But then he heard someone else running to them. ''WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!! JUST ARREST ME FINALLY INSTEAD OF MESSING WITH ME, GOD!!'' It was a half-naked Babuska (elderly woman) chasing a bear, which stole her slippers and tried to run away. "STOP YOU DAMN BEAR!! GIVE THEM BACK TO ME!!!" "(Bear sounds)" "..." - Igor "Hey, we are finished, my friend. We buried your "contaminated" carpet, so here''s your shovel. Anyway, see you around." After they left, Igor looked at the grave. The policeman just threw the "Sushi" in like that, so you could still see a few centimeters of the carpet and the legs hanging out. "Whatever...sorry my friend. At least let me drink for you..." He took out his other hidden hip flask. It was a cocktail called "White Lilac" used by hardcore alcoholics to get wasted as much and fast as possible. Not only was the strongest medical ethanol mixed in it, it even had some Eau the cologne in it. He planned on sharing it with the exchange student after he tried his homemade vodka, as a "round 2". But it didn''t come to it, so Igor had the whole cocktail for himself. ''Come to think of it, it''s also my first time trying White Lilac...I just got the recipe not long ago from an acquaintance...well, let me drink for you...farewell my friend." With those words, Igor emptied the whole hip flask. In a classroom, a child who was sleeping suddenly woke up. The child looked confused around: ''Where am I? And what''s up with those weird-looking kids?'' He couldn''t understand the situation and muttered: "Blyad..." "?" - Deku CrusadeAgainstFurries So this is the last chapter of Eiji''s adventures. What a journey it was...anyway, thanks for reading! I hope are looking forward to my next series: Igor no Hero Academia! Chapter 83: Puppet-Hokage "Hokage? Sorry, but I''m not interested. Furthermore, don''t you think there are better choices than me?" "Hmph, you are mistaken if you think you have a choice." "So, what''s your reason then?" "You will be a Puppet-Hokage for me, who does as I tell." When he heard that, Eiji''s couldn''t help but show a mocking smile: "Wow, that''s pretty honest. Just out of curiosity, what would happen if I decline?" "You have parents, right?" "YOU FUCKIN ASS!!" - Eiji instantly realized how he was threatened and couldn''t hold his rage back. But because he was tied to the chair, his charge was too slow and he was stopped by one of the Root members beside him. He couldn''t do anything except to glare at Danzo like a beast. Unfaced Danzo continued with his usual cold face: "Good that you understand. I thought at first that you aren''t too bright and I would need to explain everything to you...anyway, for now, we are finished here. In the next days, you should be officially appointed and after that, you will receive your next orders. And also just so you know, you will be watched and every one of your moves will be known by me, so don''t try anything funny." Then Danzo nodded towards the Root members and with one blow to the neck from one of them, Eiji lost consciousness. "What''s the meaning of this, Danzo?" - Homura and Koharu looked at the paper Danzo gave them. There, it was written how the two Anbu, who watched Hiruzen''s last battle, allegedly heard Hiruzen''s last words. He allegedly appointed Eiji as the next Hokage with his last breath. "As you can see, Sarutobi wanted Nakamura Eiji to be the next Hokage, instead of Tsunade." "You think your "evidence" is enough to change the decision of the Daimyo and the Konoha Council, which I have to remind you, you aren''t part of anymore after Sarutobi removed you?" - Koharu "Why are you questioning it? Didn''t you know that Sarutobi and Nakamura Eiji were pretty close? Why else would a child like him try to fight Orochimaru just to save him? Furthermore, the villagers recognize him for his efforts in the battle and his skills are exceptional for his age. So there shouldn''t be a problem, or do want to disrespect Sarutobi''s last wish?" ''Problem? The problem is you!'' - Homura Both of them had tremendous experiences in politics, and with knowing Danzo''s personality, they instantly could see through his farce and that he wanted Eiji to be his Puppet-Hokage. "This is ridiculous, Danzo. Tsunade already agreed and is on her way back. The Daimyo also accepted already, so why are you disputing now? You should have done it earlier." - Homura Danzo didn''t respond, but instead just connected the screen in the office with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Homura and Koharu didn''t waste their breath on berating Danzo for suddenly calling the Daimyo, since they knew he wouldn''t do something like that without a reason. "Greetings...it''s good to see that you are all healthy and well. Anyway, let''s get straight to business: I thought about your words Danzo, and I concluded that your words make more sense. Konoha was always way too passive because the previous Hokage were too soft. And since you said you will train and advise this promising young boy, I''m confident views on expanding the military and being more active. That''s why I decided to appoint Naka- was it Nakamura? Well anyways, I appoint this kid instead." After that, the Daimyo bid his farewell and the screen went black. "You both should know, that in case of uncertainty, the final decision lays in the Daimyo. So with that, there shouldn''t be any problem, right?" "...are you out of your mind? Do you really think that this child is cut out to be Hokage?" -Koharu "Is it his young age you are concerned with?" "It''s not about age: at the age of 12 Itachi was an Anbu Captain, but it wasn''t only because of his skills, but his contributions as well. Compared to that, Eiji has no experience at all. And even worse, he only graduated a few months ago. No matter how strong he is compared to an ordinary Genin his age, he is absolutely not cut out to be Hokage! Even if you exclude Tsunade and Jiraiya, there are a handful of better choices like Kakashi for example." "Don''t worry about that. I will teach and guide him personally, and with his potential, he would become a splendid Hokage in the future." "You are talking about potential and future...but this is the biggest problem! Do you think the other villages won''t notice that he is your puppet and try to get rid of him before he grows and gets stronger? Let me remind you of your vile reputation...the other Kage won''t look away if they know that you are the puppetmaster and will try to wager war..." "Hmph, you think I would let them? Enough with the talks, the Daimyo already made his decision, right?" "You...I really hope Konoha won''t fall because of your greed and ambitions..." "Danzo, we will only accept this, if Tsunade is allowed to join the council. Considering the situation, this would be only fair to her..." ''Hmph! You know that since I control Eiji, that I will be able to join the council in a few days. You just want to keep a balance, with Tsunade joining your faction!'' - Danzo didn''t show his thoughts on his face and left after saying: "She may join." CrusadeAgainstFurries Please tell me if it''s now better in terms of spelling and grammar mistakes. Chapter 84: Kill the D! "Welcome back, Lady Tsunade and Lord Jiraiya..." - Homura and Koharu greeted them on the roof on top of the Hokage office, where you could see the Hokage faces carved in stone. "Long time no see...what''s with your faces, you two?" - the happy and excited Tsunade turned serious after seeing their unusual hesitation. "That''s...things got complicated and something unexpected happened..." - Homura "How long are you gonna beat around the bush, just spit out what you want to say." - Jiraijya "Lady Tsunade, someone else was chosen as the Fith Hokage instead..." - Koharu "What?! Is this a joke or something?" - a vein was bulging on Tsunade''s forehead, and she exuded an aura of wanting to beat someone up. "Please calm down, Lady Tsunade...let''s listen first..." - Shizune "Hmm, that''s weird. It was you two who wanted either me or Tsunade to be the next Hokage, so I assume it wasn''t your doing, right?" - Jiraiya "Yes...it was Danzo. He unexpectedly moved suddenly. He fabricated some "evidence" of Sarutobi''s last words and somehow convinced the Daimyo to get a puppet of his to be the next Hokage..." - Koharu "So it was Danzo, huh...if this hardliner is in charge it will probably mean war..." - Jiraiya "Unfortunately with the Daimyo agreeing, we didn''t have a choice other than to accept. At least we could make Danzo agree on letting Lady Tsunade join the Konoha Council...we are truly sorry...Lady Tsunade...we know you returned to Konoha to be the next Hokage, but we ask you to stay and be in the Council, or else if we can''t reduce Danzo''s influence, there is no telling what he might do..." - Koharu With every mention of the name Danzo, Tsunade''s and Shizune''s faces turned sourer. "Hey, Pervy Sage, who is this Danzo guy?" - Naruto "It''s better for you to not know...by the way, who even is the next Hokage?" - Jiraiya "A child, Nakamura Eiji." - Koharu "WHAT?!!" - Naruto shouted in disbelieve. "Hmm, this name sounds a bit familiar but I can''t recall..." - Jiraiya "It''s the naked sword kid who ran away from a giant snake when we trained..." - Naruto "..." "Fuck!" - Eiji slammed his fist against a wall. The surrounding people looked at him with strange gazes but decided it would be better to ignore him. After waking up in a backstreet, he remembered everything that happened. For the first time in this life, he felt true despair. Up to this point, he always relied on his future knowledge for his safety. Even facing scary opponents like Orochimaru wasn''t that big of a deal in his eyes, because of that. But now he was truly lost. Something like that wasn''t supposed to happen. Furthermore, he knew how strong Danzo was and since he was trashed badly by Orochimaru, he knew how it would end if he tried to fight him. But often strength isn''t all in a fight between shinobis. Information gathering and exploiting weaknesses such as family are often way more effective. This kind of shinobi fight was completely new to as well Eiji., which made the situation even worse. He knew one mistake and his parents might die. It was like he was playing chess with a huge handicap, where just one wrong move would mean instant checkmate. But all that wasn''t even the worst thing in Eiji''s eyes. The biggest problem was Kotoamatsukami. Since Danzo wants him to be his puppet, the best way would be to use Kotoamatsukami on him. Eiji didn''t know if the reason Danzo didn''t use it, was because of Danzo underestimating Eiji and not wanting to waste it on him, or if it''s because he can''t use it right now. Unfortunately, both options were bad for Eiji. If Danzo underestimates him, it would mean that if Eiji makes any suspicious move, Danzo wouldn''t hesitate to use it instantly, and if it''s the second, it would mean that he needs to deal with Danzo as fast as possible! And Eiji certainly wasn''t keen on being under the control of Kotoamatsuukami, so playing Danzo''s loyal dog wasn''t an option. So the only way was to either run away and abandon his parents, or killing Danzo. Of course, he couldn''t abandon his parents, so he started to think about how to kill Danzo. The most logical choice was to get the help of someone strong. Not only because he was currently significantly weaker than Danzo, but in the scenario that Danzo underestimates him and is able to use Kotoamatsukami when fighting, having someone next to him to disrupt it is a must. Should he ask the elders Koharu and Homura? No, since Danzo said that Eiji would be the next Hokage, it means they accepted it. Those two wouldn''t want to risk an internal war in Konoha and would just tell him that he is a shinobi and shouldn''t do something which puts the village at risk. Jiraiya and Tsunade? If it was for Naruto they probably would, but Eiji wasn''t close with either of them and they as well wouldn''t want to risk an internal war for him, who they barely knew. The same was the case for Kakashi or Guy. In short, he was fucked. But in his despair, a crazy idea suddenly emerged in him. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly smiled amused while thinking: "Hehehe, with this I would fuck up the future pretty hard, wouldn''t I?" CrusadeAgainstFurries Danzo when he was younger... Chapter 85: Legacy Tsunade looked at the "5th Hokage". Since she agreed to join the Konoha Council (although only after Jiraiya, Homura and Koharu repeatedly did their best to convince her), she was now at the Hokage Office with Homura and Koharu to help Eiji with the formalities of the upcoming inauguration. Of course like a shadow, Danzo stood next to Eiji. With one gaze, Tsunade could see many details: ''They sure didn''t lie when they called him a puppet...'' She sighed internally. Not long ago, she told Naruto that the title of Hokage is a joke and only an idiot would want to be Hokage. But Naruto made her change her opinion, which made her decide to become the 5th Hokage. Ironically when they fought Orochimaru, Orochimaru said the same words: That the title of Hokage is a joke. At that point, she already changed her opinion and disagreed, but now seeing a "Puppet Hokage" was practically a slap in her face. It was a huge insult to the legacy of all the previous Hokage. For that reason, she held a huge grudge against Danzo. Before coming here, she was briefed on Eiji''s profile, but seeing him in person, she could only think: ''Even though learning Sage Mode at this age is impressive, other than that there is nothing noteworthy which would make him qualified to be Hokage...'' In her eyes, he was only outstanding compared to his peers, but compared to true geniuses like Itachi or Minato, he didn''t even come close. From what she could see, other than Eiji having battle strength, his other aspects like intelligence were mediocre. So when someone becomes Hokage, just because he makes a good puppet, she couldn''t help to leak some disdain through her gaze. But funnily enough, even though she looked down on him, she felt an indescribable feeling of uneasiness looking at Eiji ''No...I''m probably still tired from all that happened and just imagining things...'' - with that her mind started to wander off, thinking about how she treated Kakashi and Sasuke, the situation of Lee and other things since the "meeting" was really unproductive. It was mostly Eiji bitching about all kinds of things and Danzo sending him glares of death. "...do I really have to give a speech to the whole village? You know, I hate giving speeches in public and to not mess up I would need some beer...oh right I''m not old enough, techee" - Eiji made a pose like a cheeky schoolgirl when he said that. "..." Danzo would love to remind Eiji that his parent''s lives were in his hands, but because currently, they weren''t alone, he needed to bear with his antics. When he decided that Eiji would be his puppet, he would never have dreamed how annoying a child can be! And Homura and Koharu didn''t say anything, but it was clearly written on their faces how much they enjoyed that his "puppet" was messing with him. Normally no sane person in Eiji''s situation would dare to something like that, but Eiji had his reasons. The most obvious reason was, that he wanted to probe if Danzo is considering using Kotoamatsukami on him. Danzo''s reaction could tell a lot, but unfortunately, Danzo was an old experienced schemer with a perfect poker-face and didn''t show anything. But Eiji believed that everyone has a limit and he was certain that if someone is able to break Danzo, it would be him. Of course, doing this is a double-edged sword and could end up pretty badly for him or his parents, but in his eyes, they were in danger anyway even if he was the completely obedient puppet, and doing that, the potential reward was higher than the risk. "Sigh, okay fine...stop bothering me. As the new Hokage I hereby declare Shimura Danzo to be part of the Konoha Council...are you happy now?" - Eiji looked with a grumpy face at Danzo while saying that. "...you heard him, so now to the next topi-" Danzo was interrupted by someone blasting the door open while the guards tried their best to not let him enter. "I-I''m sorry, we couldn''t hold this crazy...-" "EIJI!!!!" - Eiji''s father was shouting with bloodshot eyes at him. "Oh, what''s up, Dad?" "EIJI, STOP THIS NONSENSE!! AS YOUR FATHER I KNOW YOU AREN''T FIT TO BE HOKAGE!!! YOU NEED TO BE SMART FOR THAT LIKE ME, BUT YOU TOOK AFTER YOUR MOTHER...SO PLEASE RECONSIDER!!" Currently, it still wasn''t made public that Eiji would the next Hokage, so only a handful of people knew, but as his parents of course they were told about it. His mother sensed that there was something wrong and that it makes no sense to choose Eiji, so she tried to convince Eiji to decline. But after seeing his face, she knew he had his reasons to not decline and that he carries some sort of burden he can''t share, so she had no choice but to let him. And his father....well. "Sorry, but it was already decided, and declining now would be awkward..." - Eiji "I-I understand. But at least take those brain-enhancement pills!!" - he suddenly pulled a huge amount of pills out. "..." Tsunade looked at Danzo with a look that said: ''Our village is doomed because of you!'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Hello, I''m back. I know I said double chapters today and I''m almost finished with writing the second one, but I''m not really happy with how it turned out so I''ll rewrite it tomorrow. Sorry for that and thanks for waiting! Chapter 86: Truth Sasuke was currently trashed by the Sound Four - well, now it was only three of them, but Sound Three doesn''t sound as cool! "What''s your purpose? You gonna live in this worthless village with your friends? Keep licking each other''s wounds? Trying to forget Itachi Uchiha? Don''t forget your purpose..." - Tayuya, who was now the leader since Sakon ended up getting his soul sucked out and Ukon being held in Konoha''s prison, said that with her usual grumpy face. After that, she left with the other two, leaving Sasuke alone. Thinking of Itachi, he was filled with rage. But a tiny white snake hiding in a nearby tree, which no one noticed, suddenly transformed. "Hello, there...how you doin? Lovely eveni-" "Somehow so many random people pop out all of a sudden today...I''m telling you I''m really not in the mood to talk right now, so screw off or I''ll kill you!" - Sasuke said that with his Sharingan activated. "Wow, that''s brutal. Though, I would advise you not to try that, since killing a Hokage would make you a criminal..." "Hokage? What bullshit! Looks like you really want to do d-" Hearing that Eiji sighed and through a document to Sasuke. Sasuke caught it and started to read: ''It doesn''t look to be fake, but having someone like him be the next Hokage, doesn''t make any sense at all...'' "Well, I know you probably question it, but honestly you are right. The truth is, I''m only a weak Puppet-Hokage while someone else is pulling all the strings." "Hmph, so what does a puppet want from me then?" "Well, since I''m a Hokage now, I have access to much information right now and found something interesting..." It was a shameless lie! With Danzo always being next to him, he doesn''t want to risk looking at high-class information... "Just spit it out already!" - Sasuke was in a bad mood (like most of the time, but this time even more), so he didn''t want to deal with Eiji and his nonchalant way of speaking and his fake smile. "You see, apparently Itachi was ordered my one of Konoha''s higher-ups to slaughter his whole cl-" - before Eiji could finish, Sasuke charged at him and grabbed him by his collar. "You...what did you just say?! If it''s just a joke, I will kill you no matter if you are the Hokage!" ''Damn, he is really starting to piss me off...with Sage Mode I could easily defeat the current Sasuke, but It would be stupid to make a scene here and I need him for the plan...'' "It''s not a joke. I mean, you probably must have thought that things are a bit too fishy yourself, right? No matter how capable Itachi is, he couldn''t possibly kill the whole Clan by himself?" - Eiji shamelessly took the question Sasuke would ask Itachi in the future for himself. "!" - Sasuke still didn''t believe him fully, so he asked: "If it''s all true, why would the village order it? And what do you gain from telling me all this?" "To the first question, the Uchiha Clan attempted a coup to overthrow the Konoha leadership, but while the Third Hokage wanted to try to find a peaceful resolution, one member of the Konoha Council called Danzo wanted to eliminate the Uchiha Clan at all cost, so he schemed behind the Hokage''s back and managed to manipulate Itachi into slaughtering his whole clan. To your second question, coincidentally, my puppeteer is the same Danzo guy and I want you to help me kill him." Memories, Sasuke neglected started to surface of the peculiar atmosphere in the last months before the Clan perished and other things he couldn''t explain back then, and like pieces clicking together, everything suddenly made sense now. The revelation was such a shock for Sasuke, that he fell unconscious. Eiji looked at his unconscious body and thought: ''Sorry for ignoring your feelings, Itachi, but I''m a bit in a pinch. Anyway, with that I should have changed the future significantly...let''s just hope he awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan when he wakes up, or else I''m really screwed...'' Then he wanted to drop the unconscious Sasuke in his home, but Eiji remembered that he didn''t know where Sasuke was living. "..." "Sigh, to think the first one who will sleep in my bed instead of me, would be an emo boy instead of a cute girl..." Chapter 87: Training "...it looks like he won''t come..." - Jirobo "I can see it myself, you disgusting fatso!" - Tayuya "So, looks like we have to take him by force then?" - Kidomaru "Of course, you dipshit!" - Tayuya The Sound Four decided to kidnap Sasuke, so they moved towards his home. Sasuke woke up in a room, he didn''t recognize. After the usual short confusion after waking up, he remembered what happened yesterday. "So, what''s your answer? You helping me kill that Danzo?" Eiji''s clone was leaning against the wall while yawning. "My answer? I will kill him myself, so don''t but in!" "Is that so? This guy is pretty strong, you know...so you sure you can do that? Isn''t that the reason you wanted to join that slimy snake bastard Orochimaru?" "!" "Calm down, I''m just joking, the current you should be able to defeat him since you awakened the true power of an Uchiha, which is stronger than everything Orochimaru could give you..." "What are you talking about?" Eiji''s clone smiled and handed him a hand mirror. There Sasuke could see a new form of Sharingan. He successfully awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan! "This..." "Yeah, it''s the Mangekyo Sharingan." Sasuke''s face turned hostile towards him: "How do you know about it?" "I''m Hokage, so I have access to a lot of information (again a shameless lie)...anyway since you agreed, leave my house stealthily since this Danzo has some people keeping an eye on my home at all times. Though they aren''t able to do a good job since they''re keeping a good distance to not get noticed, so you shouldn''t have any difficulties." "You...tell me first where I can find him!" "We will meet at midnight in the woods near the waterfall." "You lure him out there for me to kill him or what?" Eiji''s clone had an amused smile: "No, I will train you, so that you are able to use your Mangekyo Sharingan ." With those words, the shadow clone dispelled. Eiji was looking at all the papers in front of him, then at Danzo who sat beside him. It was finally decided that today in the afternoon it would be made public, that Eiji is the next Hokage. At least he wouldn''t need to give a speech in front of the whole village since it was decided that because many lives were lost from the attack not long ago, it would be inappropriate to make a celebration out of his inauguration. Still, he already needed to do his duty as Hokage and do all kinds of paperwork. "Is it really so interesting for you to watch a child suffer from forced child labor? I know you don''t trust me and want to remind me that I''m under your control, but it''s just boring paperwork..." - Eiji "Hmph!" - Danzo "Right, right...at least let me take a break..." - Eiji leaned his face on the desk with dead fish eyes. But suddenly his eyes turned lively. His shadow clone which told Sasuke yesterday everything and kept guard while he slept in Eiji''s bed, was dispelled. ''Hmm, looks like everything went like planned...'' But after seeing the mountain of papers in front of him, his eyes turned into dead fish eyes again. "What do we do now? We searched the whole village for him, but it looks like he disappeared..." - Jirobo "Tsk, shut up you damn pig! Don''t tell what I already know!" - Tayuya "But he is right, what are we gonna do now? If he contacted Konoha''s higher-ups and is hiding somewhere, we have a huge problem..." - Kidomaru "With his personality, there is no chance that he wouldn''t keep his mouth shut. He is probably still deciding, so we''ll wait a bit longer!" CrusadeAgainstFurries A bit of a shorter chapter than usual, but I don''t want to end it at an awkward spot, so... Anyway, I noticed many aren''t happy with Eiji being Danzo''s puppet, but it''s only for a short time and the conclusion for this short arc will make up for that - at least I hope so. Chapter 88: Call me sensei! The official inauguration which happened this afternoon wasn''t a big event. Most of the Jonin gathered and greeted Eiji as the new Hokage, while the rest of the village was informed through newspapers and such. Having such a young Hokage, the reactions of people were mixed. Some who heard of Eiji''s "noble" fight to try to save Hiruzen, were glad that such a young and promising child would lead them. But most of the Jonin were sharp enough to notice the peculiarity of it. Not only that, they noticed that the atmosphere changed and that Konoha started to issue more "aggressive" missions, which could be considered straight-up hostile by the other villages if they were to learn of it. This was something, someone who graduated not too long ago, wouldn''t simply do, so many Jonin quickly understood that there was someone behind Eiji who held the power. Because of that, even though they showed respect to Eiji and followed his orders, in their hearts they didn''t acknowledge him as the next Hokage. Then there was Anko who spat out blood and fell unconscious, though Tsunade treated here pretty fast. With the "inauguration" over, Eiji had to resume with the diabolical paperwork... "HEY!! I HAD ENOUGH!! IF YOU ARE HERE WATCHING ME ALL THE TIME, YOU MIGHT AS WELL START HELPING!!" - Eiji "Hmph, because of Sarutobi''s foolishness this village''s younger generations have no backbone at all...I don''t care if you had enough. Continue or you know what will happen!" ''ARGHH!! I''m gonna go mad before I''m able to kill this ass!!'' - for Eiji, the hours went by like years. "So, those are the basics of the Susanoo and Amaterasu. Furthermore, each user has an extra special ability, like casting special genjutsu or teleporting things into other dimensions. Now try to use Susaano and Amaterasu at the same time, so that we might get a clue on what your specialty is..." - Eiji''s shadow clone was currently training Sasuke in the forest at night. "You seem to know more about the Sharingan than me, an Uchiha..." "Don''t underestimate the Hokage''s intel! Now, do as I say and start calling me sensei!" "Hell no." - still Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan to unleash his Susanno. A demonic-looking big purple skeleton started to appear around Sasuke. Next, he used Amaterasu on a tree. Black flames instantly engulfed the tree. "So? Nothing different from before when I used them individually..." - Sasuke Eiji''s clone made an expression like he was seriously contemplating, which came off as fake to Sasuke. "I think I got an idea...the flames looked a bit differently so my conclusion is that you can shape the normally unmanipulatable Amaterasu!" - Eiji "...but the flames were exactly the same...if you don''t stop fooling around I''ll find this Danzo myself and kill him without you!" - Sasuke "Oh man, just trust me. You use your left eye to cast Amaterasu, right? So use your right eye to try to shape them!" ''This bastard is so annoying, but he probably knows where I can find this Danzo, so let''s just try...though it''s not like it will work anyway...'' Sasuke looked at another tree and it started to burn with black flames. Next, he concentrated with his right eye, to make the flames grow wider. "HAHAHA!! AREN''T I A GENIUS?! WILL YOU START CALLING ME SENSEI NOW?" "..." "Oh shit, use your Mangekyo to extinguish all of the Amaterasu before the whole forest gets burned down!" "Uchiha Sasuke isn''t at home again..." - Jirobo "I can see it myself, you braindead fatass!" - Tayuya "Is he perhaps out on a mission without us realizing?" - Kidomaru "Did staying in this village for a few days erode your brain to the same level as Jirobo, Kidomaru? His teammates are here in the village and tried cant find him themselves! So there is no way he is on a mission." - Tayuya "What are we gonna do then?" - Kidomaru "We will continue to search for him, he can''t hide forever!" - Tayuya Eiji told Sasuke to stay hidden as much as possible and do not interact with anyone unless necessary, not because of the Sound Four (he was sure that now that he awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, they couldn''t even be called opponents for him), but to make sure that Danzo didn''t notice Sasuke awaking his Mangekyo, which might trigger Danzo''s Uchiha paranoia. Of course, Naruto and Sakura were concerned about Sasuke, because of the fight between Sasuke and Naruto on the roof of the hospital not too long ago and tried to search for him, but he was never at home. Though Sakura believed he was still somewhere in the village since she was always watching the only path leading out of the village and not seeing him leave. Kakashi was on a mission currently and wasn''t able to ease Naruto''s and Sakura''s worries about Sasuke. Sasuke didn''t hide because Eiji told him to, but rather because he was focused solely on his revenge and since gaining the Mangekyo Sharingan he wasn''t envious of Naruto''s sudden growth anymore and couldn''t care less about his teammates right now. "Hmm, looks like you got used to your Mangekyo Sharingan, so before we go over our plan, I will share information about all of Danzo''s jutsus and techniques." - Eiji''s shadow clone smiled while standing in a devastated area in the forest and seeing the first glimmers of the sun rising, announcing the start of a new day. Chapter 89: Showtime! "WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, PERVY SAGE?!" - Naruto "As I said, you are now officially my apprentice. Within three years, I''ll make you a full-fledged ninja...when I was researching Orochimaru''s art of immortality, my sources brought to my attention some reliable information regarding the Akatsuki." - Jiraiya "Information?" "They won''t be back for you for three or four more years." "I understand, but..." "If you''re worrying about Sasuke, you don''t have to...considering what happened with Itachi he probably just needs some time alone." "..." "Come one, that face is unusual of you. I will teach you some amazing moves in those three years!" "REALLY?! ALRIGHT THEN!!" "Sakura, I''m leaving for some super-duper training, so I entrust Sasuke to you, alright?" - while Naruto said that, with a huge smile he gave thumbs up to her. "O-of course! You don''t have to worry about him, just concentrate on your training!" - Sakura "Hihihi..." - Naruto "What are you giggling about, let''s go already Naruto..." - Jiraiya ''You''ll see Konoha, how much I will grow in these three years...'' - Naruto raised his fist towards the stone faces of the Hokage (since it takes usually some time to carve the faces of the new Hokage, Eiji''s face wasn''t there...) "What''re you doing?! Come one, Naruto!" - Jiraiya "OKAY, COMING NOW!!" "Hey, just a thought, but since we are waiting anyway, why don''t we kill this traitor Ukon?" - Kidomaru "I agree...I''m really bored...let''s have some fun..." - Jirobo "Sasuke is our priority and I don''t want the village to be full-on alert when we kill him, so get this idea out of your dumb heads!" - Tayuya "...then how about we eat somewhere then? Even though this village is stupid and weak, I heard they have a good ramen-restaurant..." - Kidomaru "...alright." - Tayuya With that, they transformed and went to Ichiruka''s. ''ARRRGHHH!!! I CAN''T DO THIS ANYMORE!!! THIS AMOUNT OF PAPERWORK IS JUST SLAVERY!!!'' - Eiji had an expression like he was poisoned and held his head with his hands. "Our village is in a dangerous state right now and these important missions need to be issued as fast as possible! So sacrifice your health for the village!" - Danzo "I''m gonna sacrifice your mom to the devil if you don''t give me a break already!" "Hmph, this rude way of speaking to the elde-" - Danzo stopped his sentence since a Root member suddenly appeared and whispered something in his ear. After the Root member was finished, Danzo noded shortly towards him. "Something important came up, so I''ll leave. But this one will keep an eye on you, so don''t try anything funny. Also if you don''t finish those papers until tomorrow, one of your parents will get into an "accident". "Something important? Do you have diarrhea? If so, you should look for granny Tsunade..." Danzo ignored Eiji''s usual remarks and with his crane in his hand, he left the Root member and Eiji alone. "Hey, nice to meet you! Wanna help me?" - Eiji asked the Root member with glittering eyes. "..." "Not really talkative, huh?" ''Well, it doesn''t matter, the show is about to start!" - Eiji concealed his smile while glancing at the Root member. The important thing which came up for Danzo was Orochimaru wanting to propose a deal with him. In the letter it was written, that it''s sensitive information and it couldn''t be written in a letter, so a subordinate of Orochimaru would meet Danzo somewhere outside the village. Of course, this latter wasn''t from Orochimaru, but Eiji''s doing. However, Danzo wasn''t suspicious of it, since he already made some deals with Orochimaru in the past and more importantly: there was no possible way in which Eiji could know of their relationship - not even Hiruzen knew, so how could Eiji? Still, Danzo wouldn''t go there alone like an idiot, so would have Root members follow him since he was paranoid and even though they dealt in the past with each other, Danzo didn''t trust Orochimaru at all. Eiji pretended to yawn and close his eyes. The Root member was ordered to make sure Eiji would work, so he closed on him trying to wake him up. "!" - he was about to touch Eiji when his head fell off. "Hmm, some blood splashed on a few papers...well, who cares? Anyway, let''s leave here before someone comes and sees the corpse..." With that, Eiji disappeared. CrusadeAgainstFurries So with the next chapter, the fight will finally start! Chapter 90: Proof "We as the Hokage Guard Platoon have the glorious duty of watching over the Hokage''s parents...just because he was concerned, that foreign shinobi would kidnap them...isn''t that laughable, Genma?" - Raido made a grumpy expression while watching Eiji''s home from afar. "Can''t help it. Normally the Hokage is supposed to be the strongest shinobi in our village, so normally no one would be dumb enough to try to kidnap the Hokage''s family, but..." - Genma "But why only for one day then? It''s just too bizarre..." - Raido "Since he is Hokage, maybe he knows something we don''t?" - Genma Some time ago, Eiji''s shadow clone appeared in front of them and gave them the order, to specifically protect his parents only for today (so that Danzo won''t notice) "Well, at least it''s only for one day..." Raido said that while sighing, thinking about how it was a waste for Jonin like them to do such a mission. Danzo was currently walking through the forest outside of Konoha with two Root members next to him. Those two weren''t Torune and Fu, since these two were the most skilled in Root and Danzo thought that it would be smarter for them to guard the Root headquarters. In Danzo''s eyes, if this was a trap, in the worst-case scenario, he wouldn''t have to face Orochimaru personally, since reports stated that Orochimaru''s arms were sealed and that''s why he searched for Tsunade in the first place. As far as he was concerned, he believed none of Orochimaru''s henchman were a threat to him. But what on the nearly impossible off chance that someone other learned of their connection and used it to bait him? Even then, the other villages have only a handful of people who could fight him, but sending them here would be a dumb move from them and could threaten their village, so it was unlikely. Eiji? He could easily deal with him and more importantly, he was sure that if Eiji would try to do something, the only thing he could do is to try to order a bunch of Konoha''s most skilled shinobi''s to help him, which he would easily notice. And that was only if you neglect the fact that those shinobi would most likely decline, since murdering a village elder isn''t really good for the career, to put it mildly. So in his eyes, this was even more unlikely. But did he need to go personally? No, but Danzo is paranoid and doesn''t trust Orochimaru, so if something seems odd in this deal which could backfire later, he would want to notice it instantly. Still, he took two Guards with him, since his paranoia can''t be underestimated and he rightfully didn''t trust Orochimaru After some time, he noticed a figure in a cloak standing at the meeting point. This figure noticed them approaching and nodded. Danzo nodded in return and came closer. But suddenly the figure looked at one of Danzo''s guard and black flames started to engulf him completely. "ARGHH!!!" - crying pitifully was the only thing the guard could do. "!" ''Amaterasu? What is happening here?!'' - Danzo was completely disbelieving, but someone as capable as Danzo could easily suppress his shock and forced himself to move out of sight. But the other guard didn''t know about Amaterasu and with Danzo having no time to tell him what to do, he was burned by a newly appearing Amaterasu. "So you are Danzo?" - Sasuke took his hood off and exposed his identity to Danzo. "Uchiha Sasuke....haven''t seen Amaterasu in a while...you are indeed Itachi''s brother...." - Danzo saw Sasuke''s Mangekyo Sharingan and started to unseal his arm, while he was hiding behind a tree. "I only have one question to ask you...is it true that you were to one who ordered Itachi to kill the whole Uchiha Clan?" - Sasuke Danzo didn''t answer and continued to unseal his arm. Meanwhile, Eiji was watching from afar, thinking: ''Stopping him from unsealing his arm would save a lot of trouble, but Sasuke wouldn''t believe me without seeing it, so...and besides, it would hinder his growth which might be bad in the future...'' "I ASKED YOU IF IT''S TRUE!!!" - Sasuke couldn''t hold his anger back and was about to launch an attack when instead Danzo rushed at him with an amazing speed having unsealed his arm. ''What...?'' - Danzo''s fist didn''t reach Sasuke, because a purple giant bone appeared in front of Sasuke. Then Danzo was grabbed by the giant arm of Sasuke''s Susanoo. "So this is Susanoo, is it...?" - Danzo while being grabbed by a giant arm, looked unfaced at it and analyzed calmy. "This arm..." - Sasuke remembered how after Eiji told all this seemingly unbelievable stuff, he asked him if he had any proof for this unbelievable stuff. Eiji smiled amused at him and said:" When you fight him and see his arm, you will have your proof..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Some readers mentioned that they don''t get an alert when I post a new chapter even though they follow me. It''s because this site doesn''t have this feature to begin with, but I made a post in the forum under Feature Requests asking if it could be implemented. If you agree that adding this feature for Scribble Hub makes sense, you can vote here : https://forum.scribblehub.com/threads/alert-for-when-author-you-followed-posts-new-chapter.3439/#post-90157 Thanks for your support and patience waiting for new chapters. Chapter 91: Sasuke vs Danzo part 1 "Where did you get those eyes in your arm?" - Sasuke spat those words with disgust out. "Here and there...but don''t worry, I''ll take your Sharingans as well..." - Danzo Sasuke breathed heavily in to calm his anger down, since knowing about Itachi was more important. "Itachi...DID YOU ORDER HIM OR NOT?!" - Sasuke increased the pressure on his Susanoo arm which crushed many bones of Danzo. After spitting some blood out, Danzo finally answered: "...I...thought he was a better man than that..." "?!" - Sasuke "That bastard...did he spill the beans...as he ran into you not long ago? I guess...you really were...special...to him." "So...it''s true, then." - Sasuke was fully consumed by hatred now, which was reflected by his eerie-looking Mangekyo Sharingan. "Self-sacrifice...that is what defines a ninja. Scorning the sun...to work in the shadows...that is how it has always been...that is a true ninja. Many ninjas died like that...Itachi is not the only one. Niceties...will not make...the world go round. It is thanks to people like that...that we have been able to maintain peace. You ignored...Itachi''s will...you cannot understand...but in telling you his secret...he has betrayed Konoha..." - Danzo was suddenly crushed into meat paste by the giant arm. While blood was splatting on Sasuke he said: "Do not speak to me of Itachi again." But even though he just died, a healthy Danzo appeared behind Sasuke: "You are right. Now we must speak with our eyes." Danzo tried to stab Sasuke with a kunai, but the Susanoo blocked it: "Just as I thought...Susanoo is the perfect shield." "So this is Izanagi? Looks like he was right...I need to kill you around 10 times..." - with those words, he smashed Danzo into another meat paste with his Susanoo. "You...how do you know about Izanagi? Was it Itachi? Sigh, looks like I was really wrong abou - " - Danzo who just appeared somewhere healthy again, couldn''t finish his sentence because his head was cut off. "Nah, that was me...I wanted to but in earlier, but Sasuke was so earnest about his revenge that I missed the timing." - A smirking Eiji appeared with his sword on the shoulders while squatting next to Sasuke like some delinquent. "YOU!!!" - when Danzo saw Eiji, his eyes almost popped out. "Yeah, it''s me, the handsome and chivalrous 5th Hokage. Oh, by the way, Itachi didn''t tell him shit. It was me who told our cute little Sasuke over there everything." ''How does he know? This doesn''t make any sense...furthermore he knows about Izanagi as well...I...I completely underestimated Eiji...but this isn''t important right now. First I will deal with Sasuke and then use Shisui''s eye on him...after that I will know how he got to know it.'' - Danzo took a deep breath and exhaled several small blasts of wind chakra: " Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!" "Oh crap!" - the grinning Eiji hid behind Sasuke''s Susanoo, while the wind blasts slashed against the Susanoo. But this was only a distraction for Danzo to rush into melee. Danzo was about to reach Sasuke''s Susanoo when Sasuke sued Amaterasu on him. "Susanoo and Amaterasu...be careful to don''t exhaust yourself before killing him enough times..." - Eiji "I told it''s my revenge and that you shouldn''t but in!" - Sasuke wasn''t in the mood to listen to Eiji. "Yeah, yeah...I promised you to let you solo, so I''ll watch for now. But if you mess up I''ll step in just so you know." - Eiji shrugged his shoulder and vanished before appearing on a giant boulder to spectate the fight. "Hmph! You really are trash compared to Itachi: you''re naive and let your emotions control you, rushing in like an idiot to blow your hatred off! Insisting on fighting me alone is really nonlogical...why...why would you feel the need to let this piece of trash survive, Itachi...?" - Danzo appeared behind Sasuke again and used Vaccum Sphere again. Sasuke''s current Susanoo wasn''t complete and didn''t defend him from all sides, so Sasuke needed to dodge the wind blasts. He jumped into the air but this was a mistake, since Danzo was already in front of him and grabbed his neck, placing a seal on him. Sasuke wouldn''t let him continue to grab his neck, so he stabbed Danzo in the head with a kunai. But Danzo just appeared somewhere completely healthy again: "It''s no use." Chapter 92: Sasuke vs Danzo part 2 "!" - Sasuke suddenly stopped all his movements, while seal marks appeared on his body. Danzo started to move slowly towards Sasuke with a kunai in hand while keeping an eye on Eiji. ''Sigh...even after I told him about Danzo using seals, he still got hit...now let''s hope he Sasuke''s Susanoo evolves now or else I will have to step in earlier than I would like...'' - Eiji didn''t show it to Danzo, but was preparing to step in. When Danzo reached Sasuke and was about to end his life, memories of Itachi and his parents surfaced in Sasuke''s mind. Those memories amplified his hatred, which gave him power and his body responded to that. "?" - Danzo sensed danger and instantly jumped back. ''Is that Susanoo...? It''s different than before!'' - Danzo Sasuke''s Susanoo wasn''t a ghostly big skeleton now, instead, it grew a ghostly armor and had a giant bow and arrow! ''Phew...even though it was risky, it paid off. Now Sasuke is even stronger...hehehe continue to grow and feed off your hatred....wait I sound like a villainous mastermind!'' - Eiji Sasuke''s Susanoo fired the arrow, with an unbelievable speed at Danzo. ''There''s is no time to dodge! I have no choice!'' - a big tree grew instantly out of his arm full of implanted Sharingan eyes, changing the course of the ghostly arrow. But Sasuke didn''t care and just shoot another arrow, which this time pierced Danzo completely. Like nothing happened, Danzo appeared next to where the arrow landed, completely healthy. Danzo looked at Sasuke, who panted heavily from using the powerful techniques of his Mangekyo Sharingan without pause. ''A chance!'' - Danzo rushed at him, but Sasuke used his rage to force himself and shot an arrow which Danzo couldn''t dodge. Again, Danzo appeared as nothing happened. He looked at the number of eyes still open on his arm: ''Only five left...I have to finish it soon...should I bet all on this moment?'' Summoning Jutsu! A giant tapir appeared from Danzo''s summoning jutus. It was really big! Just from appearing, a huge area of the forest was desolated. The tapir started to suck air with an immense force in a huge area. All kinds of trees were flying around, being sucked into the tapir''s mouth, and even Eiji who was only watching needed to hide behind the large boulder. ''Now Susanoo can''t move...and I can use the tapir''s suction to increase my power..." - Danzo used a stronger version of Vaccum Sphere. With the suction force from the tapir, it dealt devastating damage to Sasuke''s Susanoo, which opened up because of that, giving Danzo a chance to hit Sasuke. But Sasuke used the Great Fireball Jutsu in the direction of the tapir. After sucking this great fireball, the tapir''s mouth started to burn and it disappeared in confusion. Fire element counters wind element, it was a good move by Sasuke. Danzo who missed his chance looked at his arm, only four eyes left. Now it was only a matter of who runs out of energy first. The battle continued until when Danzo finally got his chance when one eye was left. He buffed a kunai with wind chakra and was about to pierce Sasuke''s heart when Eiji suddenly appeared in front of Sasuke. Instead of Sasuke, he was stabbed. But Eiji drew his sword and stabbed Danzo too. "So you finally decided to join? I still have one eye left and Sasuke isn''t able to fight anymore...it''s my win...I will just need to use Shisui''s eye on you after com - W-what''s...happening?! Gah (spitting out blood)! Why isn''t Izanagi working?!" Eiji smiled amused: "Even though Sasuke''s Sharingan can''t compare to Itachi''s in terms of genjutsu...casting a weak one just enough to fool you on how many eyes you had was enough...because you managed to get your hands on some Sharingans, you underestimated a real Sharingan user in a fight...and that was your downfall." (Eiji shamelessly stole Obito''s words for himself...) "Ugh!" - Danzo fell on the ground. After that Eiji regenerated his wound easily, before taking something out. "..." - Sasuke "What? Don''t you think this is the best way to celebrate the end of this ass here? Or do you want a beer as well?" - Eiji started to drink his beer with extreme delight while kicking Danzo. Eiji looked at Danzo who was grunting from the kick thinking: ''Finally, something went according to plan....well they do say that three is the magical number...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Instead of a meme, I have another gem: https://9gag.com/gag/arVwApV Chapter 93: Danzo’s death "YOU DAMN FOOLS!! I''M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN CHANGE THIS WORLD!! THE ONLY WAY TO BRING PEACE IS TO...UNITE ALL THE COUNTRIES AND VILLAGES!! AND YOU...FOR SUCH SMALL REASO-UGH!!" - Danzo was interrupted by another kick from Eiji. "Shut up, no one cares about your megalomaniac delusions....anyway, he is all yours, Sasuke. Just make sure he doesn''t die before we get some distance from him or else his kamikaze attack activates and I don''t want to die so stupidly." Hearing that, Danzo felt for the first time in a long time fear: "You...who...are you?" There was no possible way for Eiji to not only know about the truth of Itachi and him using Izanagi but that his final trump card would be the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing as well! ''He is dangerous....even more, dangerous than Orochimaru...I can''t let him live...'' - Danzo moved his hand to try to take the bandages off to use Shisui''s eye on Eiji, but Sasuke cut his arm off with a Chidori. "Urgh!" - an enormous amount of blood flowed out of where his arm was. Sasuke emitted pure bloodlust while grinning darkly: "Next is the other arm...seeing all those eyes there makes me sick..." This time he moved slowly to savor the satisfying feeling of revenge, but Danzo''s arm full of eyes transformed into a giant tree, though it didn''t change anything of Danzo''s situation. "Looks he isn''t in a state to control Hashirama''s powers anymore..." Eiji shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Hashirama''s powers?" - Sasuke asked him. "Yeah, he made some shady deals in the past with Orochimaru to help him control the power of the First Hokage...without that, he wouldn''t be able to use so many Sharingan''s as a non-Uchiha. That''s why no one believes him when he talks about doing all for the sake of Konoha. Anyway, if you want to piss on him or something before he dies, now''s your chance." "Not believing that I do everything for Konoha? Hahahaha...you just can''t understand...you two...never experienced the horrors of war...so I won''t be berated by some naive kids who grow up in peace, which was painstakingly achieved from the sacrifice of countless lives...I will see you two in hell!" - with that he bit his tongue off and black symbols started to appear on his chest. ''Tsk, should have just smacked his head to knock him out...now I''ll have to do us that!'' - Eiji expected something like that might happen, so while he was drinking his beer, he gathered natural chakra. With that, he entered Sage Mode and instantly used "Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation" to breathe "live" into the large black sphere which started to form from the symbols on Danzo''s chest, to change it''s shape so it doesn''t touch him, Sasuke and even Danzo. Despite that, Sasuke gulped when he saw the devastation this sphere did and how he narrowly escaped death if it wasn''t for Eiji. "Sigh...this old ass was stubborn and didn''t know when to give up until the last minute..." - Eiji started to approach Danzo''s corpse. "Hmm...this guy is really like a raid boss...dropping some amazing loot..." "?" - Sasuke already knew of Eiji''s occasional nonsensical ramble and just decided to ignore it, until he saw how Eiji fiddled at Danzo''s corpse. "You...what are you doing?" "Hmm...securing Shisui''s eye...Shisui''s Mangekyo Sharingan is said to be able to caste the ultimate Genjutsu. There exist no stronger Genjutsu than that and it''s said to be so powerful that it can be only used every 10 years..." "!" - Sasuke was unsure how to feel. It was true that Eiji not only told him the truth but helped him immensely in his revenge as well. So if Eiji wants to take it, could Sasuke really refuse? But his Uchiha pride made him feel conflicted and he was contemplating on what he should do. ''...this is really disgusting, to be honest...I never want to do that in my life again!'' - after forcing himself, Eiji managed to take Shisui''s eye from Danzo''s corpse and put in a glass with a strange substance. He stared at it for some time while being lost in thought: ''If I transplant it, I would not only get a Sharingan but actually one of the best Sharingan''s out there...who would not be tempted by this?'' Sasuke saw him staring at it while he was still contemplating on what to do when Eiji suddenly threw the glass to him with the words: "Here, catch!" "...What?" - Sasuke was completely baffled but he still caught it. "Take it! Since using Mangekyo Sharingan will slowly make you lose your eyesight, having an extra one as a reserve is pretty good, right?" "..." Eiji smirked thinking: ''Even though it''s really tempting, giving it to strengthen Sasuke is way smarter...after fucking the future, I will need to oversee the changes and probably "correct" some things, but I won''t be doing it from the spotlight, so I won''t need it. Instead, I will do it from the shadow''s, manipulating people like Sasuke... so the stronger he gets, the better for me...'' Chapter 94: Responsibilty Genma and Raido looked at the corpse in front of them. Not long ago, they noticed how someone was observing Eiji''s home, so they ambushed him. He was surprisingly skilled, but against the two, he stood no chance. Seeing how he had no chance, he followed Danzo''s order to kill himself as to not leak any information from being captured. This extreme action surprised Genma and Raido, so they couldn''t stop him. "Sigh...you stay here and continue to guard, while I take the corpse and go to report it to the Hokage..." - Genma took the corpse and vanished. ... "What do you mean the Hokage is missing? Is this a joke? How did no one notice?" - Genma looked in disbelief at the trembling Koharu and Homura. "...we assume that he wasn''t kidnapped, but left on his own accord..." - Homura After the Senbon Genma usually has in his mouth fell out from shock, he continued to ask: "Assume? Even if he left on his own accord, how could no one notice him leaving? Since when did our village become a circus of adults playing shinobis?" ''IT''S BECAUSE OF THIS DAMN DANZO!! HE ALWAYS STAYED BY HIS SIDE AND INSISTED THAT HE WOULD BE ENOUGH TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE HOKAGE!!!'' - Koharu didn''t show her thoughts and replied calmly: "(fake cough)...we already sent Lady Tsunade to look for him, so it''s only a matter of time before we find him..." "Yeah, if she doesn''t beat him into a pulp when she finds him..." - Genma couldn''t control himself and blurted his thoughts out loud. "..." - Koharu "...we can only hope..." Homura ''WAIT!! YOU AREN''T DENYING IT?!'' - Genma "I assume we don''t have much time, so listen to me, Sasuke!" The usual nonchalant Eiji turned suddenly serious, so Sasuke listened carefully. "You don''t know anything about the truth about Itachi and the Uchiha massacre and you only helped me because it was a secret mission I gave you as the Hokage. Also, it''s better to not tell anything about your Mangekyo Sharingan. Just tell, that I was the one fighting and you helped me counter his Genjutsu, alright?" "What are you talking about? Why should I?" "...sigh...killing a Council member isn''t exactly something legal, so let me take full responsibility, alright?" "Hmph!" - in his usual arrogant demeanor, Sasuke didn''t really reply but Eiji believed he would surely agree. After seeing Danzo''s corpse, Eiji felt a huge burden lifted from his shoulder and extreme relief. The pressure and anxiety he felt in those recent days, vanished and were replaced by happiness. But now his mind realized that he would need to deal with the aftermath first, before truly being able to relax. After being summoned by Tsunade, Katsuyu the giant slug split into a dozen clones that gathered in all directions outside of Konoha to find Eiji. Soon one clone transmitted telepathically that she found something and with that Tsunade rushed in that direction. Tsunade smiled dangerously while thinking of how shamelessly Eiji could be to disappear without a word as the Hokage. She would make sure to "teach" him the proper behavior as a Hokage when she finds him. But when she arrived at his location, a scene she never imagined was before her eyes. Eiji and Sasuke standing on a desolate battlefield and a dead Danzo with both arms missing. This wasn''t a time to joke around or blow her anger off! She turned dead serious and said: "You...I hope you can give a good explanation for what happened here when we return to the village...and you as well, Sasuke, will be asked a few questions..." Despite her exuding a domineering aura, Eiji shrugged his shoulders and said: "Alrighty...by the way, can you take his corpse? To be honest, I prefer the corpses of beautiful girls..." Tsunade smashed with full force next to Eiji''s head, missing his head only a few millimeters. "This is one of the times where it would be better to just stay silent...or don''t you understand the severity of this situation?" Eiji gulped and nodded. Sasuke who was completely exhausted from the tough fight with Danzo decided to follow quietly as well. Now he understood what Eiji meant...this might get him into serious trouble if he doesn''t let Eiji took full responsibility. CrusadeAgainstFurries I hope Danzo''s death was satisfying enough without seeming too cheap... Chapter 95: Observer "This...how did Danzo do all this behind our backs?" - Homura looked at the reports in front of him. After they got the news that Eiji killed Danzo, he and Koharu felt a mixture of all kinds of emotions. Even though they were never on good terms with Danzo, over the years they acknowledged him as being one of Konoha''s strongest shinobis and occasionally sided with his views when Hiruzen was too naive. So hearing of his death they weren''t really happy. Especially since he just didn''t die in an accident or an unknown cause, but was killed by the "Hokage". Just thinking about it gave them a strong headache..a Kage killing his council member? Calling it problematic would be really a huge understatement. This isn''t something which can be allowed! Why? Because it would open up the path into tyranny. Even if killing a council-member was done with a good reason, the right procedure would be to tell the other council members and the Daimyo and provide some proof. Just what would happen if one day a Kage would suddenly decide to kill the Daimyo as well and claim with a good reason? It would be pure chaos. And that''s why they had to punish Eiji, or else who knows how the other Daimyos and villages would react. So they started to interrogate Eiji. Eiji didn''t tell them much, just that Danzo was threatening him with killing his parents and that he decided to kill him for that reason alone. It was pretty straightforward and with Gemna providing evidence, it was clear that this was the truth. But then something big happened. With Danzo being dead, the seal on the Root members disappeared and since losing their only leader, they went out from hiding because they could only serve Konoha from now on. Of course, since Root was supposed to be disbanded more than a decade ago, it raised some questions, and quickly everyone was interrogated. And oh boy, what a rabbit hole it turned out to be. Reports after reports were sent to Koharu, Homura, and Tsunade. They weren''t sure which was worse, the situation Eiji made, or dealing with all this sensitive information about Danzo''s nefarious deeds. After reading all these reports, they wouldn''t even be surprised if Danzo would have tried to kill them in the future as well. "All this information should be classified....really what a disaster..." - Koharu "Koff...I agree...it''s really hard to not think that the 5th did us enormous service after learning all that..." - Homura "Danzo actually tried to kill Hiruzen-sensei and even colluded with Orochimaru..." - after a short pause Tsuande suddenly erupted with anger and smashed into the wall, leaving a giant hole there. "Please calm down Lady Tsunade! Now is the time where we need to make sensible decisions with a clear head." - Koharu Tsunade didn''t say anything but sat down with her arms crossed and eyes closed. "So, what do we do about the Fith Hokage?" - Homura "Hmph, what is there to think about. Just withdraw his title as a punishment, this will calm all the Kage down and with that there, shouldn''t be any problems. Wasn''t he just a puppet anyway?" - Tsunade "I don''t think it''s enough...this is an unprecedented case after all..." - Koharu "But considering he was forced by Danzo and he even didn''t want to become Hokage, we should make a punishment which isn''t too severe..." - Homura "What do you mean?" - Tsunade looked at him questioningly. "Are you serious? I don''t care about having the Hokage title withdrawn, I would have resigned on my own anyway, but isn''t the other thing a "bit" unfair considering I was forced into this shit?" - Eiji hid his anger with a mocking smile. "Unfair? You should have told us instead of just killing him!" - Koharu "Oh really? And if I would have told you, would you have helped me? Even if it meant that an internal war could break out? Wouldn''t you just have said I should accept it and think for the village?" - it got harder for Eiji to hid his frustration. "You!" - Koharu and Homura didn''t like to be talked back by an impudent child and got offended, but Tsunade was shocked by a sudden realization. From what she could tell, Eiji''s plan on how he dealt with Danzo wasn''t anything grandiose or something. But it was a risky one, which required everyone to move exactly like how he planned. The uneasiness she felt since the first time she met him, she could finally put it into words. It was like when he first saw her, his eyes showed like he knew everything about her: her past, future, thoughts, everything. This was an uncanny feeling. Either he has some sort of secret, or his ability to read people was terrifying. If Eiji didn''t know how Koharu and Homura would have reacted, Danzo would have won "this fight of minds". But most in his position would have chosen to ask for help instead. The same was the case for Danzo, Eiji completely read him like a book. She underestimated him, but to be fair she saw many geniuses in her life and Eiji didn''t fit quite the category, instead, he was something else. He was like an outside observer, using knowledge to overcome challenges instead of talent and power. CrusadeAgainstFurries Hmm, soon I will run out of Naruto memes... Chapter 96: From now on "Sigh...Eiji I think you are misunderstanding something...you leaving the village is the best outcome for you..." - Tsunade interfered, seeing how the overly prideful Homura and Koharu wouldn''t admit that they are partly at fault for neglecting Danzo''s growing influence. "You are saying that, but how would you feel if you have to suddenly leave your family behind?" - Eiji "But just think about it...with you being an ex-Hokage from now on, the other villages will assume that you know some sensitive information and want to obtain it no matter what. And if they harm your parents because of that, would it be worth it for you to stay?" - Tsunade "That''s..." -Eiji "Furthermore, if you don''t leave the village, you will be heavily restricted for your own safety...so we thought about how we could help you out for all the trouble you got into because of Danzo while making it seem like a punishment to the outside world." - Tsunade Eiji sighed. He already knew that. In fact, he thought in the past about leaving the village, but now that it suddenly happened, he couldn''t help but think about the grief this would do to his parents. Humans are often unreasonable beings, instead of doing the right thing and knowing what to do, they would come up with all kinds of excuses to not do it. For example, if you have a bag of expired potato chips that are inedible, you would think "but I already paid money for it..." (this definitely did not happen to Choji). Furthermore, leaving the "comfort zone" like in Eiji''s case is especially hard. In this life, he grew up in Konoha and got to love the village, with all the awesome restaurants, amazing views, etc. But after thinking about it, in the end, his desire to make sure the world doesn''t end because of him messing the future up was stronger, so he made his mind up. "Alright..." "Good...the official explanation will be that you killed Danzo and wanted to overthrow the Daimyo, but after being found out you fled. This will make you officially an S-rank Rouge Ninja for Konoha, but we will make sure that no Anbu or higher rank will actually try to arrest you. However you still have to hide your identity from now on..." - Homura "S-rank? Wow, I''ll be a celebrity...anyway can I visit my parents before I leave?" - for the first time Eiji showed an expression like a child his age would, leaving Tsunade doubtful again if she actually overestimated him. "Koff, we can''t let that happen in case someone sees you, or it would raise suspicion against the official explanation. But we can allow you to write a letter..." - Homura "Tsk, how stingy...anyway is this all then? If yes, I hope I will never see you again! May you get blessed with even more wrinkles and bladder problems!" - with that, Eiji left the Hokage Office. "I never imagined something like that from both of you, considering that you often sided more with Danzo than Sarutobi-sensei. I thought you would insist on having him kept under constant surveillance so that he won''t do anything you consider what''s against the village''s interest. Or did you two grow generous after the whole Danzo fiasco?" - Tsunade glared questioningly at both of them. "It was the most sensible choice since we can''t risk him growing resentful of our village...this was why you did it right, Homura?" - Koharu "Actually, he was too annoying and getting on my nerves..." - Homura whispered that more for himself than to actually reply. "YOU WHAT?!" - Koharu started to angrily shout at him and exercised her fist against him. "Hm? Did you wait for me or something? That''s really cute, but I''m into girls, you know?" - when Eiji left the Hokage Office, he saw Sasuke standing there in his usual "cool" pose with arms crossed and eyes closed, leaning against a wall. Not long ago he was questioned over his involvement in killing Danzo, but he only told what Eiji advised him to. After he was let go, he waited for Eiji since he needed to ask him something. Anyway, after hearing Eiji''s annoying way of speaking, he opened his eyes and said: "Sure took you long enough...was the interrogation that hard?" "More annoying than hard...anyway, what are you gonna do from now on?" - Eiji squatted next to him and looked at the night sky. "You said that Danzo did it behind the Hokage''s back, but I''m not really buying it, so I have thought about destroying Konoha...but then I noticed there is a feeling much stronger than revenge...I just...want to see Itachi..." - Sasuke was unusually open to Eiji. Eiji thought that it might be to the fact, that he really helped him with his revenge and that he grew softer after knowing about having still a loving brother alive out there, who did everything to protect him. But Eiji also noticed what Sasuke''s other goal was by saying that. He hoped that Eiji would tell him the location of Itachi. Thinking about it, Eiji smiled and said: "I actually don''t care if you destroy Konoha, since I''m leaving anyway..." "..." "I''m just joking...anyway if you want to see him, your best bet is probably to join Orochimaru, since that snake bastard was part of this gloomy organization Itachi currently is part of...though he may not tell you and his information isn''t really that reliable..." "But you know his location too, right?" - Sasuke didn''t buy Eiji''s excuse for knowing all kinds of stuff "cause I''m Hokage", but he didn''t care how he knew as long as Sasuke could use Eiji''s knowledge. Eiji was surprised. He mentioned Orochimaru so that Sasuke would join him how it was supposed to be. But now it looked like Sasuke wasn''t thinking about joining Orochimaru. After thinking for a while, he got up from squatting and faced Sasuke. "Well, I have some information...it''s reliable, but the catch is that I only know where he will show up in about 3 years." "That''s good enough, better than gambling on Orochimaru to tell me...you said you are leaving? Not long ago I was prepared to leave this village as well, so what do you plan on doing from now on?" - Sasuke looked straight into Eiji''s eyes. "Hmm, I plan to look for the dragon temple while training in the meantime..." - Eiji "I will look for this dragon temple with you if you teach me sage mode. Training with you made me way stronger than all the time I spent in this rundown village." "Hehehe, alright, but only if you call me sensei from now on!" "Hell no." ''Sasuke having Mangekyo Sharingan plus potentially Kotoamatsukami in the future and now even learning sage mode, won''t he become too op? Compared to that, Naruto will only learn to make a bigger ball after 3 years...yeah let''s not think about it...'' - Eiji thought amused about how strong the difference between Naruto and Sasuke will be in 3 years. CrusadeAgainstFurries This chapter is longer than usual since I enjoyed writing this chapter so much. This development was everything I was building up to. PS. Sasuke was the waifu all along HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Chapter 97: Organization "Alright, then let''s meet up in 3 hours outside the village." - with those words, Eiji left Sasuke alone. ''I said I want to search for the dragon temple, but I have no idea where to even start...well let''s just go with my other plan first, since it overlaps with it anyway...'' Eiji then walked leisurely towards Konoha''s prison. A few hours later, the Sound Four were escaping while gritting their teeth. They were waiting for Sasuke to finally get close to his home when suddenly all kinds of shinobis started to search for something. It didn''t take long for them to get noticed, and even though they were arrogant and thought they were strong, against a horde of shinobis in their home village was too much, so they started to escape with everything they got. "YOU MUST BE OROCHIMARU''S HENCHMAN!!! GIVE UCHIHA SASUKE BACK!!!" - random Konoha shinobi "GIVE SASUKE BACK MY ASS!!! WE COULDN''T KIDNAP HIM SINCE HE WAS HIDING SOMEWHERE THE WHOLE TIME!!!" - a furious Tayuya screamed back. "YOU THINK WE ARE IDIOTS?? UCHIHA SASUKE IS MISSING AND ONE OF YOUR COMRADE ESCAPED FROM THE PRISON!! IF THIS WASN''T YOU, WHO WAS IT?! SO STOP RIGHT THERE AND SURRENDER, OR ELSE WE WILL CHASE YOU TO THE END OF THE WORLD!!" ''WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING??? WHY IS FUCKIN UKON MISSING NOW?? Damn you Sasuke Uchiha...I will never forgive you!'' - Tayuya increased her speed, while the rest of the Sound Four were following behind her. Sasuke looked at Eiji who was accompanied by someone. It was none other than Ukon! He was currently laughing madly while occasionally biting into his arm. "?" - Sasuke didn''t say a word, but his expression told more than a thousand words. "What''s wrong? Oh is it about this guy? I thought since finding the dragon temple won''t be so easy, we will need to build an information network first. And having someone who knows the locations of Orochimaru''s hideouts, he might come in handy." - Eiji "Information network?" - Sasuke already contemplated if he made the wrong decision. Eiji smiled: "Yeah, let''s build a large organization specializing in the gathering and trading of information...don''t make such a face...this will be beneficial to you as well since you cant just easily meet Itachi with him being part of a criminal organization. And getting information on that organization isn''t easy, so doing that makes sense, right?" - Eiji shamelessly concealed that he already knew everything about Akatsuki so that Sasuke would have no choice but to agree. "Hmph!" - Sasuke didn''t answer in his usual arrogant demeanor, but since he didn''t complain, Eiji knew that he agreed more or less. "HIIAHAHAHA!!! Hey you! You didn''t lie to me when you said you will help me with my revenge against Orochimaru, right?" - Ukon "Don''t worry, I have the reputation of being the best helper for revenge in existence, right Sasuke?" - Eiji picked his nose while saying that. "..." - Sasuke knew that his new "comrades" will be a pain in the ass and he even started to miss the useless Sakura and the annoying and dumb Naruto. Building an organization specialized in information wasn''t only to make it easier for him to find the dragon temple, but more importantly to save his and the world''s life. In the future, he can just "release" some important information to make other people move as he wants, with that he will be in control of the flow of events and can "fix" as much as he needs. If you control all the information, you control the world! Eiji looked at his "comrades": Sasuke was walking cool with his hands in his pockets and Ukon was randomly erupting in madly laughter and biting his arms. ''Since I''m now the leader of an organization, I''ll need to come up with a name and uniforms, right?... Damn, I should have asked Guy to give me a bunch of those green jumpsuits...'' On this night, a colorful group embarked from Konoha. "Please calm down Lord Orochimaru!" - Kabuto "HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! NOT ONLY DID THEY FAIL TO BRING SASUKE HERE BUT THE CURRENT LOCATION OF SASUKE ISN''T KNOWN NOW WHICH IS EVEN WORSE!!!" - Orochimaru screamed in his new body. Since Sasuke wasn''t "delivered" in time, he had to take another body, like in the original timeline. But this time Sasuke didn''t even arrive late, which is why he was furious. "Even though they completely failed their mission, they arrived with some interesting news..." - Kabuto tried his best to calm Orochimaru down. "What do you mean?" - Orochimaru ... "So the "Hokage" coincidentally went missing at the same time as Sasuke? HAHAHAHA!!!! IT''S THE SECOND TIME THIS STUPID BRAT GOT IN MY WAY!!! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM!!!" - Orochimaru radiated an immense amount of bloodlust, making Kabuto fear for his life. CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry, had the last two days too much uni stuff to do. Anyway, if you made a new organization, would you make it look and sound cool or funny and dumb? Chapter 98: End of part 1 In Kumogakure A (Fourth Raikage) looked at a Bingo Bock entry his shinobi brought secretly from Konoha. it was a page of Eiji: STATUS: Alive AFFILIATION: Konohagakure (former), Rouge RANK: S-rank SEX: Male D.O.B: September 28 AFFINITY(IES): Wind Release, Senjutsu HEIGHT: 150 cm - 152,5 cm WEIGHT: 41 kg - 43 kg OTHER: Highly dangerous. Do not approach unless of being Anbu rank or higher. Despite the appearance, the individual is sharp and calculating. Highly proficient in Kenjutsu and able to enter Sage Mode. Be aware of the extraordinary regeneration ability, which makes killing him difficult. Next was a picture of Eiji staring in the air dumbly while picking his nose. "..." - A "Lord Raikage, how do we proceed? Even though he was only Hokage for a few days, he may have some information, we could..." - C A slammed his fist on the table: "DESPITE APPEARANCE?! THIS GUY LOOKS LIKE AN IDIOT!!" C sighed: "I agree with that, but more important than his appearance, what should we do?" A calmed down and started to think. Kumogakure had the history of always trying to kidnap shinobis from other villages, but an S-rank who was Hokage (albeit only for a few days) wouldn''t be easy to kidnap, to say the least. They would need to send a huge amount of manpower, for a former Hokage who might not have had the time to learn any significant secrets as Hokage in his short "career". The risk was way too high to justify the possible reward. "We won''t do anything. Let''s just have Konoha try to deal with their own mess...this will be beneficial for us as well." - A "Understood." - C glanced at Eiji page while thinking: ''What a waste of such rare young talent. I''m sure Konoha''s elders must feel like crying...'' After crying the whole night, Sakura made her mind up. Instead of always relying on others, she will try to get stronger herself! So that in the future, she can help to save Sasuke from Orochimaru. She knocked on the door, of the "new" Fith Hokage Tsunade (Eiji wouldn''t have his face ingrained in the Hokage Rock...) "Come in!" - Tsunade "I have a request." - Sakura "What is it?" - Tsunade "Please...make me your apprentice!" - Sakura "Haruno Sakura...I''ve heard from Kakashi that you''re intelligent and that you have a strong spirit. Alright...from now on, I won''t go easy on you!" - Tsunade "O...OK!!" A carrier pigeon delivered news of Sasuke being captured by Orochimaru''s henchman to Jiraiya who was currently training Naruto. "So he really moved, huh...a lot of stuff happened in Konoha lately...Hey, Naruto! We will pick up the pace of your training!" - Jiraiya A sweating Naruto cried out in disbelieve: "WHAT?! I''M GONNA DIE AT THIS RATE!! HEY, IT MUST BE BECAUSE OF THE LETTER YOU GOT!!" "You''re right...Sasuke...it looks like he was captured by Orochimaru." - Jiraiya "!" - Naruto got instantly serious. "HEY, PERVY SAGE!!! WE NEED TO RESCUE HIM!!!" - a panicked Naruto "Calm down, as I said I researched Orochimaru''s "Immortality Jutsu" and he won''t be able to use Sasuke''s body as a container for his soul for at least three years...so Sasuke''s life won''t be in danger for that time. So we will just proceed with the training! Rushing in with your current strength will just get you killed! After three years you will be stronger and we will safe Sasuke then, alright?" - Jiraiya "...alright." - Naruto proceeded with his training while thinking: ''Just wait Sasuke. After three years I''ll save you!'' CrusadeAgainstFurries With this shorter than usual chapter part 1 ends and tomorrow will be an interlude. Also here is a bunch of options for the name of Eiji''s organization. There are cool/serious ones and dumb/funny ones. I''m fine with both, I''ll let you choose. Interlude Two silhouettes in long black robes with red clouds on them were walking in the desert. "Are you sure your bounty target is here? You know, we have our Akatsuki assignments to do..." "I''m sure since the information came from Shiki Ryuu tea-house." "Hoo, if that''s the case then it has to be true...though I really don''t like how they seem to know everything...it''s really a spooky group if you ask me..." "Like you can call others spooky with you and your weird shit religion." Around two and a half years, a new information broker emerged and rose to the sole powerhouse in their fields. Their aggressive conquering of rival brokers was one of the main reasons for the unbelievable rapid growth. Either they submitted to them and worked for them, or they would get destroyed. And since information brokers were often considered shady and acting out of the law, no one intervened to help them. With that, the unorganized and ununited small brokers soon found themselves being part of a big information trading network. But their aggressive expansion method wasn''t the sole reason for the rise into the undisputed position they have. Uniting all those small brokers and developing a vast network meant that they could deliver almost any information you ask and that in a laughable short amount of time! They called themselves Shiki Ryuu tea-house! It was safe to say, that they revolutionized information-trading and made it as comfortable as possible. Almost every town or village had a tea-house, where you can just go in and give a letter of what information you want. If they have the information available in their tea-house branch, you get your information instantly. If not, the letter will be sent via carrier-pigeons to their headquarters and then delivered back with the information you are looking for as soon as possible. You can even leave and do something else, while the carrier-pigeons will find you and deliver the information you asked for. There was even a saying: "Shiki Ryuu tea-house has all the information in the world! If you get your money sent back instead of the information, it just means you didn''t pay enough!" Even some Daimyos praised it and expressed their wishes on employing or buying the organization. Of course, the Shinobi villages grew worried about the growing influence of the Shiki Ryuu tea-house. But the extent of the influence was only known when for some reason Orochimaru tried to find trouble with them. He attacked various branches, but the overall damage dealt was minuscule since most of the employers were ordinary civilians and non-shinobis, so replacing them was totally easy. Furthermore, most employees didn''t know the location of the headquarters and the pigeons behaved weirdly when someone tracked their flying. In short, his attacks dealt almost no damage. But how the Shiki Ryuu tea-house retaliated was a completely different matter. The locations of various hideouts from Orochimaru were published. And more importantly, all kinds of techniques, jutsus, and secrets from him were published as well. Almost all his fighting techniques and trump cards were known to the whole world. It was said that he spat blood for days out of anger. But the more problematic thing for him was, that know all of the 5 great shinobi villages knew that he had plundered the dead bodies of various shinobis from them for his Edo Tensei. Save to say, they weren''t exactly happy how the dead bodies of their village''s heroes were treated and so all published hideouts were completely raided. With just publishing some information, the Shiki Ryuu tea-house managed to move all the 5 great shinobi villages! After this incident, the 5 great shinobi villages recognized how threatening the influence of the Shiki Ryuu tea-house truly was. But they couldn''t move against them, since the Shiki Ryuu tea-house always showed their clear stance of neutrality and having a clear bottom-line of not selling any information which would threaten a whole country or village. And more importantly, no one of them knew what kind of information about their village could get published if they decided to attack them. None of the villages wanted to "sacrifice" themselves so that the other 4 villages would feel safer. Of course, the was the other aspect of them buying information from them as well, which makes missions a lot easier, but that''s something they wouldn''t openly admit... "You will burn in hell for calling my religion weird and shit when you die, you know?" "Like I care. As long as I have money, even hell won''t be a problem." "There you go again about money..." The two silhouettes continued to walk in this desert until they spotted a cave that seemed to be a hideout. CrusadeAgainstFurries You voted for Shiki Ryuu Chaya (Four Seasons Dragon tea house), but I decided to use Shiki Ryuu tea-house instead since in my opinion it sounds cooler. Anyway, now will be a long ramble of me. To not beat around the bush, I will take a break for between 2 or 4 weeks. I know it''s a lot, but I honestly don''t have a story for part 2 planned, so I''ll need the time to do that. I think just writing without a plan would result in a pretty bad story full of plotholes, and no one would be happy with that. Other than that, I plan to use a bit of that time to scram over previous chapters and fix some obvious mistakes (not only grammar and spelling, for example, I still didn''t fix the mistake with Sage Mode cause I was too lazy...) and after that post this fanfic on other sites, since some people said I should do it before others steal it, which would be pretty uncool if that happened... Don''t worry, this site will stay be number one priority where all chapters will release here first...heck maybe I will even be too lazy to update it frequently on the other sites and only do it after part 2 ended lol. And to the most important part: Thank you all! Not only the ones who always comment and encouraged me to continue (I know who you are and even though I don''t always reply I read every comment and am extremely thankful for that) and the silent readers as well! Then there are the ones who give feedback and point grammar and spelling mistakes out, also a huge thank you to you as well! I honestly never thought this would turn out so big...I only started to write this fanfic since I grew frustrated with how much almost any fanfic had some kind of cheat system and was just some kind of wish-fulfillment story. Fanfics are often a bit looked down on by others, but I strongly believe that fanfics have so much more potential than just being a wish-fulfillment story. So that''s why I started to write without any plan, not knowing where it will go, and with shitty grammar and writing style. Back then I thought as long as 10 readers would enjoy my mess of a writing I would be happy, but here we are now. Truly unbelievable... Thank you all so much! Love you all! Here is a last meme for the break. Prologue (part 2) Two shadows crept in what looked like an abandoned warehouse: "I still think this is a dumb idea...this is obviously a suicide mission they gave us." "Don''t complain. Our village is small and inconsequential, so we need to gamble like that. If we succeed, our village might even get more power than the 5 great shinobi villages!" "I know...but even Orochimaru paid a heavy price for messing with them...I really don''t understand our elders." "Sigh...that''s why you are still only a chunin after all those years. You never see the bigger picture. We could successfully infiltrate a few moles into the Shiki Ryuu, precisely because we''re an obscure village! With them always guarding against the 5 great shinobi villages, they don''t pay attention to trash like us." "Trash? That''s what you call our villages? Since we''re drink buddies I won''t tell on you, but you should be careful, you might never know who might hear you..." "Humph! Like I care! As long we survive this mission, I''ll gladly be demoted as long as I live a peaceful life!" "If we survive. We will probably just run into the Shiki Ryuu''s Red-Eyed-Demon and end up as sashimi." "D-don''t worry about that, our moles confirmed that the Red-Eyed-Demon left for a task or something." "The same moles which said that the headquarters are supposed to be here?" - the shinobi looked at their surroundings: It looked just like any ordinary abandoned warehouse. "Uhmm, they said that -" - the older shinobi stopped midsentence since an entrance appeared out of the thin air in the ground. "... let''s turn around. This is too creepy." "T-that''s why you are still a chunin! It must have been one of our moles!" "...yeah right. Drinking sake for breakfast, what a superb teammate I have!" "E-enough with your complaints! Let''s just get done with it!" "Hey....just out of curiosity...should the headquarters of a giant info brokerage be like a labyrinth full with human skulls and blood on the walls? Cause I certainly don''t think so!" "T-that''s just for the aesthetic! The Shiki Ryuu''s master must have a peculiar taste!" "And what about the darkness which follows us and seems to swallow everything?" "T-that''s obvio- wait what did you say?" - the older shinobi turned around and looked back. "..." "RUN!!!!" The two ran with everything they got until they got into a giant room. They closed the door and looked around. "Hey, why are there 2 coffins here?" "Idiot, that''s why you are still a chunin. Coffins are often secret passageways. Even genin know that!" - he walked towards the 2 coffins while speaking confidently. "Then why are you staring at them? Just open them!" "L-let''s open them at the same time!" The other shinobi rolled his eyes and did as his teammate wanted. "WHAT THE!!!!" "MAMI!!!" Both saw their own corpses in the coffins and passed out. Eiji looked at the two unconscious shinobis in front of him and shook his head. He went towards a table and rang a bell. Soon a middle-aged woman styled in traditional japanese clothes appeared at the door: "You called for me, master?" "Chisato, how many times do I have to tell you to call me boss instead? Anyway, take those two idiots and drop them somewhere in the city''s streets." - While saying that, Eiji took out a pipe and started to lighten it. "As you - master, why are their pants wet?" "Just some clowns who can''t handle a genjutsu...really, the trash villages seem to produce clowns like that on a treadmill." - he again shook his head and let his gaze wander around his office. A highly decorated and luxurious room also in traditional japanese style. He snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed how his secretary was still here: "Something wrong?" "A red-class report came in..." - she gave him a letter with red seals on it. "Red-class? Why didn''t you say that earlier?" - he opened it with one quick movement with one of his hands. ''So it finally begins?'' - an amused smile appeared on his face. Next, he looked at the shogi board thinking: "On Sasuke''s end, things should be soon wrapped up as well." "Clack!" - he placed a shogi piece on the board. ''Let the show begin!'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry that''s it''s a day later than promised. Also, I don''t know about the quality, since I wrote it drunk and late after finishing celebrating new years eve, so I might redo it. Next chapter will be the day after tomorrow since I''ll probably drink even more tomorrow. But the most important thing: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Chapter 99: Chisato Around two years ago back, in a small village. The door opened and two handsome youths entered an inn. Chisato sighed, this was the only inn in the village, so she wasn''t surprised that those two handsome youths were dressed in shady cloaks. Only merchants, wanderers, or shady characters would visit this tiny village out in nowhere. "Damn, this was kinda a letdown..." - the more mysterious but more easygoing out of those two walked towards a random table (since they were all empty) while complaining. The more cool looking one followed him without a word. She sighed again and put up her business smile before approaching their table: "Welcome to our humble inn, dear guests. Do you want to order something, or want me to prepare rooms for you?" "Huh? Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought. Something to eat and drink would be nice." - the easygoing one replied. "Do you want me to bring a menu?" "Nah, just bring something you recommend." She bowed respectfully before leaving for the kitchen. "Hmph, you wasted so much time searching for that dragon-temple and now look disappointed?" "Come one, don''t be like that. And it''s not like it was a complete flop. At least I learned about the characteristics of divine jutsus, though it really won''t help in getting stronger, precisely because of those characteristics..." Eiji started to fall into contemplation again: ''Connecting to the divine, you always have to pay a price...looking at Hidan or the Reaper Death Seal jutsu I should have expected something like that...so this means if I want to "connect" to the dragon god, this will result in a one-time use jutsu similar to the Reaper Death Seal jutsu or opening all eight gates...but I''m not noble enough to use a kamikaze jutsu to save the world or something like that!'' He started to smile wryly, while Sasuke was thinking about his own stuff with eyes closed. "Well, even down it was a bit disappointing, it wasn''t a complete time-waste. So with that out of the way, we should head back tomorrow and meet up with Ukon. Let''s just hope he listened to me and negotiated peacefully...it would hinder our plans if he just killed the broker we managed to find..." Chisato returned with a plate of food when the door shut open suddenly and a bunch of no-good thugs busted in. ''I-it''s them again!'' - she gritted her teeth. Always when there was a shinobi war, the small countries and villages between the five great shinobi countries are always the ones who suffer the most. Most of the battles take place in these locations, which is why a certain village where it always rains gave birth to a certain group. But unlike that village, this rundown village had problems recovering their civil-forces. With that, it was easy for a group of bandits to take control and extort money for "protection". No one dared to go against them, except for 2 fools. It was her husband and her son who had enough and tried to chase them away. But since they were just ordinary civilians who owned an inn, it didn''t end well. She grieved a long time over the death of her husband and son, but in the end, she was powerless and could only endure. "HAHAHAHA!!! Did you see their faces when I smashed my club on his head? HAHAHA!!! HEY, YOU! The usual!" - the bandit leader sat down on a chair with his feet on the table. This was the worst in her opinion. They not only killed her family but visit the inn to "remind" her of what they did. She wanted to cry, she wanted to shout, but she endured as always and took out 6 bottles of sake from the bar. "Jeez, do you ugly bastards have to be so damn loud?" - Eiji said with a soft smile while eating. "HA!! You damn kid must have a death wish! Or you are just stupid. Haven''t you hear of us? We are the White Horseshoe Gang!" - the bandit group stood up with dirty smiles. "Sigh, I wished Ukon was here with us. He actually enjoys dealing with trash...alright which one of us will do it, Sasuke?" "You, since this happened because you can''t keep yo-" "Alright, let''s decide with Rock paper scissors." "..." "Rock, paper..." - Eiji started to raise his hands while Sasuke watched at him silently. "HEY, YOU!! ARE YOU IGNORING US?!" - the bandit leader was furious and charged at him. Chisato closed her eyes, not wanting to see how those brutal ruffians will torture those two handsome youngsters. Chapter 100: Akatsuki atacks! Chisato opened her eyes. "Huh?" She didn''t believe what she saw and closed her eyes again. Then opened them. All the bandits were laying on the ground unconsciously, while the two youngsters were eating as nothing happened. With her mouth wide open in complete disbelieve she just continued to stare at the scene. Eiji noticed her gaze and turned to her: "What''s wrong? Are they your friends or what? I''m telling you outright, I won''t pay for their treatment. This was self-defense." It finally dawned upon her that the group, which terrorized her and the village for so long was defeated. She broke down into tears while letting the sake bottles drop down on the floor, where they smashed into countless pieces. "Uhm...did I say something wrong? Hey, Sasuke! You are a lady''s boy. Read her mind and tell me what''s wrong with her!" "..." "Tsk, ignoring me again? Whatever...hey you! I''m sorry?" "S-sorry? No..." - Chisato got up and bowed. "Thank you...these bandits plagued our village for such a long time...and finally..." "Oh, it''s that? You are welcome then. If you are grateful, how about letting our meal be on the house..." "NO! This isn''t enough repayment. Please, let me repay you no matter what!" - she was in front of him and stared directly into his eyes. "You are really making this awkward, you know? There is really nothing I need of you..." "Then let me follow you! You two are wanderers, right? I will do my utmost to help you in any way possible. I can cook, I can wash clothes..." While she rambled on, Eiji looked at Sasuke with a look that seemed to ask for help. "Isn''t that fine? Didn''t you say how we need more manpower anyway?" "No, actually yes, but this wasn''t the kind of manpower I meant!" "Then it''s decided! Let me inform the village chief to take the group into custody and let me pack some stuff before we leave!" - she happily clapped her hands. ''This really isn''t the manpower I meant...'' Present time. Two silhouettes could be seen in the desert on the way to Sunagakure. "So...the ones Orochimaru manipulated are ahead...yeah. It seems for some reason he leaked our information and turned into a traitor...yeah." "We don''t know what he''s like after using that jutsu either. Is it alright just with that bag?" "My jutsus are all artistic...so I came up with my favorite number, No. 18...yeah. Because our opponent is the "one tail"...yeah." From afar on a huge sand wall, Sunagakure nins were stationed there. "What''s that? Looks like red clouds on black cloaks...that''s! Captain Yuura!" "Don''t worry, it will be over soon." - a dark light flashed in Captain Yuura''s eyes. "Sasori...didn''t you say you planted your servant there? Why are the guards all alive and alert? Your servant must have failed...yeah." "Not a problem, just more work. Let me handle it since you need to save your clay for the one tail." At the Kazekage Office. "Lord Kazekage! It looks like the information was true...the Akatuski attacked and Captain Yuura betrayed us!" "Since it was information from the Shiki Ryuu, we expected it to be true...still, to think he would betray us..." - Baki "This doesn''t matter right now! Gaara, what will you do?" - Kankuro "I''ll engage them outside the village, where I won''t need to worry about the village." "So this is the infamous Akatsuki? The ones who said to be on pair with Orochimaru? Looks like fun, can I join?" Eiji and Ukon were watching from afar, how Sasori slaughtered the Suna-nins. "No, this Suna''s problem. We are here just to gather information." - Eiji had his arms behind his back and with the expensive kimono and his hair cut short and in clean and hairstyle, he certainly looked like an important person. "Besides...only Sasuke could take the two one at the same time." "Tsk, this damn Sasuke. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him...." - Ukon started to chew on his hand while continuing to mutter. While they were conversing, Gaara suddenly appeared on a sand cloud with his arms crossed. "Looks like I won''t be able to infiltrate now...yeah." - Deidara Chapter 101: Making life harder "That''s the Kazekage? You sure he will win? He doesn''t look that strong..." - Ukon said while chewing on his arm. "Who said that he will win?" - Eiji "Huh? Why did you warn Suna of the upcoming attack then?" - he stopped to chew and looked at Eiji. "Just to make the life of Akatsuki harder." - Eiji smiled amused. "So you the one-tail? I sure underestimated your village''s security. Must be probably cause Sasori''s husband was found out beforehand...yeah." "Even if he was found out, he won''t be able to say anything they want to know." "..." - Gaara "Not really talkative...yeah." Gaara wasn''t in the mood to talk with Akatsuki and made the first move. But it wasn''t long until he was defeated. In the original timeline, he lost to Deidar alone, and now with even Sasori here, he didn''t stand a chance. "N-no way! Lord Kazegake lost!" - Suna-nin who watched the fight quickly retreated to inform Sunagakure of Gaara''s defeat. "Making their life harder? It looks like you did the contrary and made their life way easier." - Ukon "Well, excuse me. I didn''t think he would be dumb enough to take them- oh, at least Suna-nins show up after he''s defeated." A group of Suna-nins appeared with Kankuro leading them. "RETURN GAARA TO US, NOW!" "Deidara, you go on ahead!" - Sasori "I''m outta here." - Deidara took the unconscious Gaara and summoned a clay bird before hopping on it. "STOP!!!" - shouted while Kankuro summoned his 3 puppets. Other shinobis took out their kunais and waited for an opportunity. "Sure brings back memories of my time when I lived in Suna..." - Sasori nonchalantly deflected every attack with his iron tail. "You! Who are you?!" - Kankuro "Uhm, I really think you fucked that up." - Ukon ''But nothing changed at all?! Just some more mob casualties! Damn you fate of this Naruto world!'' - Eiji didn''t show his thoughts and smiled amused instead: "Well, this was more or less the expected outcome anyway, just hoped those two Akatsuki fellows used a bit more chakra." "Yeah...right. Do we head back now? You gathered your information, right? Seeing them fight made me want to have some fun too..." - Ukon licked his lips. "No, we continue. Things will get even more interesting. Besides, I don''t think Sasuke left a location for you to have fun..." Hearing that, Ukon started to curse Sasuke again while chewing on his arm. Naruto who after returning had a fighting match with Sakura against Kakashi was now complaining in front of Tsunade: "What? I''m not going on that kinda mission!" "Eh? What, you got a freakin'' problem?" - Tsunade asked with an annoyed face. ''Pleeease quit acting selfish...if she gets angry I''m the one who gets it!'' - Kakashi complained internally. "Geez...your personality hasn''t changed one bit, Naruto..." - Iruka "S-sorry, master! Just let me talk to him!" - Sakura tried to defuse the situation while shouting internally: ''YOU FOOL! YOU ONLY TALK LIKE THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER WRATH IS LIKE! DAMN IT!" "Hmph...the 3rd was way more understanding..." - Naruto "CUT IT OUT DAMNIT!" - Sakura But suddenly a kunoichi stormed into the office: "Fith! E-Emergency!" "Huh? What happened?" - Tsunade "We received word from the Sand! The Kazekage has been captured by the Organization, "Akatsuki!" "!" "Team Kakashi, I''m assigning you a new mission..." - Tsunade "Excuse us, but we can''t let currently anyone into the village..." - a guard blocked the way. Eiji and Ukon used the transformation technique to look like ordinary citizens, but since the was an emergency in Sunakagure, not even civilians could currently enter. Eiji smiled: "I understand that you guys have a slight emergency, but don''t worry, we''re a neutral party..." "Neutral party?" Instead of answering, Eiji took out a scroll with a signature. "Y-you are with the Shiki Ryuu? I-I''m sorry...but can you wait a bit, we need to ask our superiors first!" - with that, one of the guards disappeared. The transformed Ukon looked questioningly at the transformed Eiji. "I know what you want to ask...we have to wait a bit before things get interesting...don''t you think it''s better to wait while drinking tea comfortably or do you want to wait in the desert?" CrusadeAgainstFurries I know I''m half a day late. Also don''t worry, that you get only 3 chapters after waiting so long. There will be 3 to 4 more chapters in the evening/night (the usual time) and 4-5 chapters tomorrow. Which should when added up amount to a mass release. Chapter 102: Who cares? Since the Shiki Ryuu is known for its hard stance on neutrality, after some discussion they were let in. Of course, Sunagakure didn''t want to have them know that the Kazekage was kidnapped so that someone might buy that information, but since there was a branch in the village, they suspected that they already knew it anyway. They also weren''t worried about them being impersonators, because in the past when some folks tried that, they were instantly crushed by the Shiki Ryuu and blacklisted from being able to buy information from them. After that, no one wanted to risk being blackmailed. While wandering through the village to search for the branch, Ukon said: "You know, back then I thought you were crazy for trying to build an information brokerage...and that we managed to achieve all that in only 3 years is really crazy if you think about it..." "I really don''t want to hear you call someone else crazy...but to be honest, I didn''t also didn''t expect this to become this big. I guess we were just lucky. Just think about it...all the shinobi villages gathered information on their own and treasured it with utmost care. But it''s just impossible to gather all information they need on their own, so they and their respective nation shared information to help each other. However, small shinobi villages weren''t able to do that, which put them further at a disadvantage. That''s why they employed the services of small brokers who would gather information on the 5 great shinobi countries. But such small brokers obviously aren''t able to get relevant information, which left a vacuum of demand. Now, if someone were to fill this vacuum, what are the things they would need?" "Just come to the point! You know I''m an impatient guy!" "Oh come one, don''t be like that...anyway there are two things." - Eiji stopped and raised two fingers: "Relevant information and power - both things we had. We had some relevant information because of our peculiar backgrounds: Me being the former Hokage and you a former elite bodyguard for Orochimaru. After selling high desired information to a bunch of people, we started to build up a reputation. And that reputation, in turn, got us more clients, which again raised our reputation which started to snowball. However, because of that renown, people started to target us - not only shinobi villages, but other brokers as well. This is where power comes into play. Except for Chisato, without sounding too cocky, we are all really strong - there aren''t a lot of people who can beat us. After being targeted for some time, we also got a reputation for being strong. Now the small brokers were out of options, they couldn''t compete with our intel and couldn''t crush us directly - they were essentially out of business. They either had to look for another way to earn money or be part of us. This again started a snowball effect -" Ukon who was only half-listening stated: "But that only gave us a monopoly over the small villages while the big fish continued to ignore us, right?" "Sigh, you are asking like you weren''t with us the whole time..." "Not my fault. You always just sent me somewhere to defeat some trash...not that I mind though." Eiji shrugged his shoulders and just continued: "Well, you aren''t wrong. The information network of the 5 great shinobi villages is high-class, so competing with them was really hard. Fortunately right at that time, Orochimaru attacked us because of Sasuke, which gave us a good reason to publish information, which even shocked the big villages. With that, even though they were reluctant at first, occasionally some would turn to us. And since we always did a good job the number of times increased. But this was also the time when our small business suddenly couldn''t keep up with the demand and I started to employ ordinary civilians instead of former intel-brokers. Thinking back, coming up with a plan on how to avoid spies and managing all that, was the most tedious stuff...but now at least it operates almost automatically. Though if I disappeared, all the snakes which are crucial would vanish as well and everything would collapse...eh, who cares, I''m already rich and didn''t do it for money in the first place." - Eiji opened the door to the Sunagakure branch and entered it with Ukon. Chapter 103: Interesting show When they entered the Shiki Ryuu tea house branch, what greeted them was a...tea house. Other than selling information, it was an ordinary tea-house. The reason was simple if even common people came to buy dangerous intel, chaos would erupt. But more importantly, they wouldn''t be able to handle that many requests at once! "Welcome dear gues-" - before the employee could finish his greeting, Eiji took a badge out and showed it. "Y-you are the Shiki Ryuu''s master? I-I''M SORRY!!" - while saying that with a scared voice, the employee bowed in an apologetic manner. "Why are you sorry? Did you do anything wrong?" "N-no it''s just..." "Sigh, just guide us to a VIP room." "C-certainly..." ''Since no one knows my real identity except for Sasuke Ukon and Chisato, that kind of reaction is to be expected...but aren''t they way too scared?'' He didn''t show his identity, since he didn''t want to risk that people find out that he was the former Hokage. The other reason was, that he or a shadow-clone of his could personally interview job-applicants, which enabled him to give them a "congratulation present" if they were to pass the interview. This "present" was nothing other than a transformed small snake, stay with them as long as they are employed. Those snakes were the main security tool: they would unnoticingly observe the actions and chakra of their targets, making it able to spot when someone is under a Genjutsu. Furthermore, since they feed upon their target''s chakra, they also wouldn''t disappear after some time - though the amount isn''t enough to cause the employees any harm. After being guided to the VIP room, Eiji ordered some time while Ukon just leaned onto the room''s wall and fell asleep. ''This guy probably only sleeps cause he is bored and not tired...speaking of which, until the Konoha forces travel here, it might take some time...'' - lost in thought, Eiji drank his tea. A few days later at the Konoha''s gate. "You all are to go on the same mission as Kakashi''s team. Your mission is to head for the sand and support them with Kakashi''s team. Understood?" - Tsunade "Right!...A...ACHOO!!!" - Guy "Have you a cold?" - Tsunade "Nah, I''ve had hay fever for a while now...HAHAHAHA...Right! Everyone! Let''s get to the Sand in one day!!" - Guy "No! Sensei! Let''s get there in half a day!!" - Lee "What are they thinking? It takes three days..." - Neji "Please stop talking nonsense like that!" - Tenten said to Lee and Guy. With that, they departed for Sunagakure! "I''m so bored...and with the whole village being on high alert, going to a bar isn''t an option either..." - Eiji complained while laying on the floor in the VIP room. "But you aren''t old enough for alcohol...it might mess with your head if you drink while your brain is still developing..." - Ukon was also laying like a vegetable on the floor. "I don''t want to hear words like mess and head from you...besides, if you are old enough to kill because of your profession, you should be allowed to drink! Really....who made those dumb laws..." - Eiji "But killing is fun...I don''t know if it''s the case for drinking..." - Ukon "You should really stop talking about stuff like that, or else you''ll have problems finding a wife in the future, ya know?" - Eiji "A wife...Why would I need that kind of stuff?" "You know...for things like -" - Eiji instantly got up from his "vegetable state". With dead fish eyes, Ukon turned to him: "...What''s wrong? Need to shit or what?" "Nah, my shadow clone dispersed, it''s finally time." "Really? I hope this time I can have some fun as well..." "Who knows? The future is always uncertain and with unlimited possibilities..." "Always when you said that, nothing happened." Eiji smiled: "Don''t worry, even if you can''t join, you''ll see an interesting show." Chapter 104: “Lost Hokage” In a gloomy cave, the Akatsuki prepared for the extraction of the Shukaku. "From this point onward, it''ll take 3 days and nights to complete. Everyone, also be mindful of your real bodies. Ok, now Zetsu, use your real body as a lookout. Use your largest range." - Pain "I know." - Zetsu "3 days, eh...? With Orochimaru gone, shouldn''t we expect it to take a bit longer?" - Kisame "If you really think so, then let''s get started already." - Pain "Hey!! I said you guys are going too fast!! We''ve been running non-stop for an entire day already!! Let''s take a little break!!" "Tenten, you lack discipline." - Lee "!" - Neji "Wait! Guy!" - suddenly a speaking dog appeared in front of them. "Pakkun..." ... "Kakashi ordered all eight of us ninja dogs to split up and search for the scent of the Akatsuki members separately. We discovered that they headed towards the river country between Konoha and Sand. Your group is closest to the Akatsuki heading from Konoha to Sand, so we came here." - Pakkun "I see..." - Lee "Follow me. I''ll explain while we''re running." - Pakkun "Great! Everyone Let''s go!!" - Guy With that, they left, but Zetsu was spectating from within a tree. "An enemy is approaching our hideout. He appears to be very skilled...his name is Might Guy." - Zetsu "...who''s that?" - Pain "He''s a Jounin from Konoha that uses Taijutsu. He''s quite talented, so take care not to underestimate him." - Itachi "...ah...that bizarre beast, eh..." - Kisame "I''ll use that jutsu..." - Pain "Let me go instead...I''ve had a hard time finding my Jinchuuriki...and I''ve been starting to get irritated..." - Itachi "No...I will go. I have a personal vendetta against that man..." - Kisame "Indeed...after all, that jutsu is suitable for you as you have a large amount of chakra even for us "Akatsuki"...however, I''ll still need to have thirty percent-" "Another enemy is approaching." - Zetsu "Can you describe them?" - Pain "Two youngsters who look skilled. One of them is the "Lost Hokage" while the other is a former henchman of Orochimaru." - Zetsu "The "Lost Hokage", eh...things get more and more interesting...why don''t you take him on, Itachi?" "Enough. Since it''s the "Lost Hokage" it must be the Shiki Ryuu. Still...why are they suddenly starting to act so openly? They''re probably planning something. Don''t engage them, just continue to keep observing them, Zetsu." "Yes." "....! You are..." "Do you know him, Guy-sensei?" - Lee "Who are you?" - Guy "..." - Tenten "..." - Neji "..." - Lee "Ah, it looks like the "Bizarre Beast" is as dumb as one as well. Well, at any rate, I''d better refresh your memory..." - Kisame "Hey, don''t you feel how there is an interesting fight somewhere nearby?" - Ukon licked his lips. "Nah, just follow me. It will be way more interesting..." - Eiji "Really? After those last boring days, I really hope you are not lying..." - Ukon''s tone started to get more threatening. "Or else what? You think you are stronger than me? You want us to repeat our match? Anyway, just trust me...when did I ever lie to you?" "Tsk!" ''....I just didn''t want to risk meeting Tenten...things would be way too annoying and awkward...'' - thought Eiji. At the cave. "There is another...shinobi of the Leaf." - Zetsu "Well...who''s next?" - Pain "! Everyone halt!" - Kakashi stopped running. "!!" - Naruto "...well, this is sudden..." - Kakashi "...this guy...those eyes..." - Chiyo "Uchiha...Itachi!" - Naruto "See? Doesn''t this look more interesting?" - Eiji "Uchiha Itachi? Isn''t that Sasuke''s brother? If you knew he would be there....why didn''t you let Sasuke know?" - Ukon "Oh? You are actually caring about Sasuke?" - Eiji "That''s not it...it''s just, it makes me question if you actually will keep your promise..." - Ukon''s eyes shined dangerously. - Ukon "Hmm...the reason is that this isn''t actually the real Itachi..." - Eiji "What do you mean?" - Ukon "Well, seeing it yourself is better than me trying to explain it, so just watch..." - Eiji shrugged his shoulders and sat down to spectate. Chapter 105: Problematic "You know...compared to Sasuke, isn''t he a bit weak?" - Ukon said with a dark expression "That''s because this isn''t the real Itachi." - Eiji "You keep sayin'' that, but- wait...who''s that?" - Ukon "Told ya so." - Eiji shrugged his shoulders: "Anyway, let''s just continue to follow them." After defeating "Itachi", Team Kakashi and Chiyo hurried to get to Gaara before Akatsuki finished extracting the Shukaku. But it was getting late, so they decided to camp for the night. Chiyo sat in front of the campfire and thought about her past, especially her grandson Sasori, when Kakashi came to her. "Let''s finish our break soon, but before that, I''ll be out for a bit." - Kakashi "Out for a bit, eh?" - Chiyo Kakashi''s expression turned serious and get got closer and said in a low voice: "For some time now, I had the feeling that we''re followed. I want to confirm if it''s true." "!" - Chiyo nodded imperceptibly and continued to gaze at the bonfire, but she was alert and ready if something happened. On a tree, Eiji was laying in a bed made of summoned snakes, while Ukon stared at him with envy. "Can''t you make me one too?" - Ukon "Nope, need to conserve my chakra in case something happens." - Eiji "Then why did you make one for you?" - Ukon "To shield me from surprise attacks, or did you think this is supposed to be a bed?" - Eiji "You fuckin-" - he stopped because Eiji suddenly got up with a serious expression. "Looks like we''ve been found out." - Eiji made his snake-bed disappear while thinking: ''Was it Neji with his Byakugan? No, Team Kakashi should only meet up with Team Guy the next day, so he couldn''t be in range...'' Suddenly a kunai flew towards Eiji, but since he was alert he dodged it. "I thought it was Akatsuki who followed us but to think it was the "Lost Hokage" and a henchman of Orochimaru." - a figure showed itself and got into a battle-ready stance. "So it''s you Kakashi...how did you found out? I''m sure we stayed out of detection-range." - Eiji smiled amused, but moved with his hand the wealthy kimono, to reveal his sword. "Intuition...now you have two choices, either you surrender or will have to face me." - Kakashi "Intuition, huh? That''s Kakashi for you...I''m honored that the famous Kakashi Hatake wants to fight me, but don''t you think your priorities are wrong? Shouldn''t you chase after Akatsuki instead?" - Eiji "Since I don''t know what your plans are or why you''re following us, it would be too dangerous to just ignore you two." - Kakashi "You want to know why we''re following you?" - Eiji took out a scroll and threw it towards Kakashi. "As you can see, we are with the Shiki Ryuu. We won''t interfere with your Akatsuki business, we are just here to collect information." - Eiji "Shiki Ryuu? Even if it''s true, you are both wanted by Konoha, so I can''t just ign-" "HIAHAHAHA!!! FINALLY, I CAN HAVE SOME FUN!! I WAS GETTING BORED JUST WATCHING FIGHTS!!!" - Ukon who had a crazy expression charged at Kakashi while activating his level 1 curse mark. "NO! UKON STOP!!" - Eiji bit gritted his teeth. ''This crazy bastard...'' - he knew now, that a fight was unavoidable. "Sigh...I guess we do the usual then?" - Eiji summoned a small snake and threw it towards Ukon, who was already attacking Kakashi with taijutsu. ''What is he planning?'' - Kakashi was wary of the snake and made sure to stay out of range. Ukon stopped his attacks to catch the snake, but Kakashi wouldn''t let a chance like that go to waste and charged with a Chidori at Ukon and pierced through his chest. "It''s over." - Kakashi looked at Ukon and with his Sharingan, it looked like Kakashi could peer into Ukon''s very soul at that moment. "Sigh, I really don''t wanna do this...can we still somehow talk this out, Kakashi?" - even though he said that Eiji shot a wind bullet from his finger to get Kakashi away from Ukon. After Kakashi had to dodge the wind bullet, Ukon looked at the hole in his chest area. "!" - Kakashi knew something was wrong. Instead of having an expression like someone about to die, Ukon instead had a crazy smile. And then he saw it, the chest area of Ukon visible regenerated at an unbelievable speed! ''This will be a bit problematic...'' - Kakashi looked first at Ukon, then at Eiji who was still only watching. CrusadeAgainstFurries Hello, it''s me. Procrastinating the mass release until the last moment made me try to write it in 1 to 2 days. Caffeine intake was through the roof, my eyes bloodshot and my sleep times are completely fucked because of this. 10/10 would do this again. Anyway, I decided that today will be only one chapter because grinding that many chapters in only a few days, depleted my energy more than I thought. So my plan is instead, to take a break for 2 days, and then start daily chapters as usual. And I''ll try to do double chapters in between to make up for all these days I didn''t upload. Another reason is that the cliffhanger opportunity in this chapter is just too great, hehehehe Chapter 106: Running ''So the regeneration ability is because of that snake? So that''s what that snake was for. It somehow merged with his body granting him this regeneration ability.'' - with his Sharingan, Kakashi could see the chakra flowing from Ukon''s hand to the regenerating wound. Since Ukon''s left hand was white and full of scales, it was obvious that the snake merged there. With that, it wasn''t rocket science to conclude that Ukon''s regenerative ability came from the snake Eiji threw earlier. Though, Kakashi suspected that it was the snake''s ability to merge with Ukon, which was actually the opposite. It was Ukon''s Kekkei Genkai that allowed him to merge that snake into his body! ''I can''t afford to waste too much chakra here or use my Mangekyo...I need it for the upcoming fight with Akatsuki. But this regeneration ability makes it hard to finish him while conserving chakra...the other problem is the other one...he still hasn''t moved except for the snake and that one air-bullet...should I just disengage as he offered? No, their actions are too suspicious! If they work with Akatsuki and would ambush us when we engage Akatsuki, it would be a disaster! I just need to drag this out until Naruto and co. come to reinforce me. They should already be on the way. With that, we''ll have the numerical advantage and can finish this while conserving our strength...'' - Kakashi stared with his Sharingan at Ukon who was now fully regenerated. "NOT COMING?! THEN I''LL COME TO YOU!! HIAHAHAHA!!!" - with a crazed laughter Ukon charged at Kakashi again. Meanwhile. "..." ''Isn''t that bad? I can''t kill Kakashi, or else the future is completely doomed. I also can''t just wait until he runs out of chakra, since he is obviously trying to drag out while waiting for his team. FATE!!! WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU?!... Should I just run and leave Ukon behind? Yeah, it''s his fault for suddenly starting to attack in the first place...was nice knowing you, Ukon. Good luck!'' - in his mind, Eiji said goodbye to Ukon and decided to run. He turned around and moved not even a step before he stopped: "Tsk, aren''t you way too fast?" Eiji could see Sakura and Chiyo trying their best to keep up with Naruto, who was sprinting at full speed towards his location. And Naruto didn''t look happy, in fact, he was really angry! That''s because he is getting nervous and wants to catch up to Akatsuki to save Gaar as fast as possible, but now he loses time because of Eiji and Ukon in his eyes. The problem with Naruto being angry is that he was powered up by the Kyubi''s chakra because of that: He had fox eyes, and his whiskers grew thicker. Eiji saw that and screamed internally: ''FUCK YOU FATE!! YOU CORRECT THINGS WHEN IT DOESN''T MATTER OR WHEN IT''S BAD FOR ME, BUT NOW YOU DON''T?! HEY, THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT AKATSUKI, YOU KNOW?!'' "You said, Kakashi is currently fighting?" - Guy "Yes, but he said that you shouldn''t worry, he will take care of it. Your team should continue towards Akatsuki''s hideout." - Pakkun "Makes sense, every second counts...ALRIGHT!! WE WILL INCREASE THE SPEED!!"- Guy ordered energetically. "What? Our current speed is alrea-" - "YES, SENSEI!!!" - Tenten was interrupted by a screaming Lee. "..." - Neji At the Akatsuki cave. "Almost finished." - Pain stated calmy. "I have something to report. It looks like one of the Konoha forces started to fight the "Lost Hokage" and his partner." "Hoo...what an interesting development. But this is advantageous for us. We will be able to finish extracting the Shukaku without any interruptions." - Pain "Wait...Zetsu...is perhaps Konoha''s Jinchuriki in this group? " - Sasori "Yes." - Zetsu "Hmm...looks like a perfect opportunity to catch my second Jinchuriki...yeah." - Deidara "No, he is mine. You already caught one, so stay back. I will join the fight and capture him myself...Itachi, what kind of bastard is the Kyubi Jinchuriki?" - Sasori "..." - Itachi "Tell him now." - Pain "...at the very start, he''ll be the one to shout loudly and rush at you." - Itachi "Huh, what the hell?" - Sasori "Mm? That''s all? You have nothing more specific? Whatever, I''ll just catch him myself...yeah." - Deidara "Deidara you bastard...the assignment is one person to one beast, don''t push it!" - Sasori "Don''t be like that...how about this? The first one to get there can cat-?" - Deidara was interrupted by the voice of Pain. "It is done." Deidara smirked: "Sasori, let''s go join that fight and make it chaotic!" "Tsk." - with that they instantly started to move towards the sealed entrance. CrusadeAgainstFurries For the late chapter, I have a meme as an apology... Chapter 107: Quick "You!!" - Naruto was surprised seeing his former classmate. "Yo, long time no see, Naruto! How you doin''? I would love to talk to you, but unfor-" - Eiji was interrupted by an angry Naruto "You not only tarnished the reputation of Hokage but now you are with Akatsuki as well?" - Naruto summoned two shadow clones while saying that. "Is it really you Eiji?" - Sakura and Chiyo finally caught up with Naruto and were facing Eiji too. "You know him?" - Chiyo "Yes, he is a former classmate from the Ninja-academy..." - Sakura was unsure how to feel. She was never close with Eiji, but not only was he a former classmate, but a shinobi from Konoha as well. When Naruto and she heard that he became Hokage, they were surprised but didn''t really pay attention since they didn''t interact with each other during that period. But when suddenly news broke out that he killed a council member and fled, it became really weird. Since Naruto''s dream is to become Hokage one day, he was furious that a Hokage would do something like that. On the other hand, Sakura trained under Tsunade. During that period, Tsunade occasionally dropped hints that Danzo wasn''t without blame, but never got into anything specific, so Sakura concluded that it wasn''t as simple as everyone else thought. But now since it looked like he was with Akatsuki, they had no choice but to fight him. "Naruto, you are still as energetic as usual...but you are wrong. I''m not with the Akatsuki. I''m here as the Shi-" "I DONT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR LAME EXCUSES!! I NEED TO SAVE GAARA!! I WILL BEAT YOU UP AND I''ll MAKE YOU TELL ME WHERE GAARA IS!!" - with that Naruto charged with a Rasengan at Eiji. ''Damn...I forgot how annoying he could be...not even letting others finish...shit, looks like I''ll need to make them retreat somehow...'' - Eiji sighed and placed his hand on his sword grip. Then when Naruto was about to hit him with the Rasengan, he was suddenly cut in half. With a smoke, the two parts vanished - it was a shadow clone. The real Naruto suddenly appeared behind Eiji. Eiji moved his finger and was about to do something, but Naruto suddenly was pulled away from him: "WHAT?!" It was Chiyo who used chakra threads to pull him back. Naruto got up and looked at Chiyo questioningly. "He looks like a Kenjutsu user and a really skilled one at that. So going into short-range is the wrong tactic. I will attack him from long range, while you two will support me!" Sakura and Naruto, who calmed a bit down, nodded. Meanwhile, Team Guy was standing in front of a giant boulder with a seal on it. "Gaara is inside these rocks." - Pakkun "!" - Lee Suddenly a loud noise appeared. And then the boulder broke into countless pieces while two silhouettes walked out of the cave. "Mm, looks like there were a few folks waiting for us outside...well, I''ll just head to the nine-tails while you can play with them Sasori." - Deidara summoned a giant clay bird and got up before flying away. "Tsk, this little shit..."- Sasori looked at Team guy, then at Gaara''s corpse inside the cave. "I don''t want to waste much time, so I''ll make it quick." - Sasori suddenly attacked with his iron tail, targeting the weakest looking member: Tenten. But it was stopped by a kick from Guy. "Lee, Tenten, Neji, the other Akatsuki is probably flying towards Kakashi''s location. You three follow him and reinforce Team Kakashi!" - Guy was in his usual fighting pose and stared at Sasori. "BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU, GUY SENSEI?" - in his usual loud voice, Lee asked. "I will deal with him alone. Now go!" "Sensei..." - Lee "Lee, come on now. Team Kakashi might be in trouble, so Sensei entrusted us with it..." - Tenten "...alright." - Lee "Looks like those brats left. This makes it easier for me to finish this quickly." - Sasori "Sorry, but this won''t be quick. And it won''t be easy!" - Guy charged at Sasori. Chapter 108: Art is an explosion! Chiyo made a horizontal movement with her arms, and a stack of kunai appeared, seemingly floating midair before they flew towards Eiji. Eiji ducked and the line of kunais flew over him, but Sakura''s fist appeared near the left side of his face. But before the fist could touch him, a snake appeared and wrapped around Sakura''s arm and stopping her movement. However, two Narutos charged at Eiji: one from behind, the other from the right side. Eiji suddenly draws his sword, slashing the tree beneath time, which resulted in him and Sakura falling while the two Narutos missed their charge. But while Eiji was still falling, he suddenly felt how he was pulled back by invincible threads straight into Sakura''s fist. With a loud bang, he smashed into the ground. "Did we get him?" - Naruto asked Sakura. "..." - Chiyo was too experienced to let her guard down. "I certainly felt my fist hitting him...it wasn''t a shadow clone..." - Sakura "Damn, that was a good hit...but unfortunately I''m not a masochist, so I''ll have to decline from tasting your fists from now on..." - Eiji appeared on a tree and his broken nose and overall face injuries just regenerated while he was standing in a thinking pose. ''Their teamwork is certainly trouble, especially since I must be careful to not kill them...but doing things half-assed won''t get me anywhere either...but I can at least cut their arms and legs off since Tsunade can just attach them later on again.'' - Eiji sighed annoyed, but Chiyo saw for just a moment a dangerous glint in his eyes. "EVERYONE DODGE!!!" - Chiyo shouted while ducking. Eiji got into an iaijutsu pose and accelerated chakra into his sword grip. And then he drew his sword. "Konoha Wind-Spirit Style: Summer wind..." WHOOSH!!!! Every tree was cut in a huge radius, letting the sunshine through which raised the brightness of the battlefield. "I heard rumors a while ago, that Konoha had a fallen Hokage who used kenjutsu coupled with wind and snake techniques...so you are the "Lost Hokage"? I have to admit, Konoha has surely many talented individuals..." - Chiyo got ready to summon her puppets. "I will say it again, I neither want to fight you nor am I with the Akatsuki. But if you still continue to-" "My art is an explosion..." - a quiet voice could be heard from a distance before the battlefield was engulfed in a strong brightness. "Damn, we lost him...him flying is cheating!! Neji, can you track him?" - Tenten was envious of Deidaras ability to just fly, while she and her teammates need to run with everything they got to catch up. Neji activated his Byakugan to search for Deidara. "Tenten, you just didn''t train enough. If you trained to run, catching up to him would be a piece of cake!" - Lee "...I''m a bit worried about our opponent...didn''t he sense how we''re chasing him, or doesn''t he just ca-" Neji blurted his thoughts out while he searched, but he stopped midsentence. BOOOOMMM!!!! They saw a huge explosion in the direction Deidara flew off. "!" All three made a serious face before nodding to each other and raising their running speed. "HIAHAHAHA!!!" - Ukon was assaulting Kakashi madly with random attacks. The craziness and randomness made it hard to read, but fortunately, Kakashi had the Sharingan to help him with that. Unfortunately, Ukon had his curse mark level 2 activated, which made his punches and kicks extremely powerful. Kakashi wasn''t able to block such strong attacks, so he just focused on dodging. Even though he looked like he had the disadvantage and was only dodging passively, he was confident. The curse mark strained the user''s body tremendously and coupled with the fact that Ukon was attacking madly, he would soon run out of chakra, while Kakashi was rational and conversed his chakra. This battle was already decided! "!" - Kakashi sensed danger and summoned an earth dome around him. Ukon''s kick landed on the earth wall, but at this moment his senses screamed which made him rational again. He realized that Kakashi didn''t summon this sturdy wall to block Ukon, but something else instead! "Huh?" - before he realized a giant explosion catapulted him away. CrusadeAgainstFurries Hope the fight in this chapter was interesting enough to make the wait worth it. Chapter 109: Guy vs Sasori part 1 When Sasori saw Guy charging at him, he opened his mouth and a barrage of needles shot out. Guy instinctively knew that those needles were dangerous and jumped sideways. ''Those needles arent shaped to do lethal damage, so this means they are poisoned...if my enemy is a poison-user, I can''t get hit...I didn''t use him in a long time, but better be safe than sorry!'' - Guy retreated into the distance to give himself some time. "Summoning Jutsu!" - With that, Guy summoned Ningame. "A tortoise? Your pet looks as stupid as yourself..." - Sasori ridiculed him. "It''s been a long time, Guy..." - Ningame "I know, but can we do the catch up later? My enemy is a poison user, and I need you to help me close the distance." - Guy Ningame starred at Sasori before nodding. Then he suddenly retreated into his shell and Guy positioned himself behind him. On another battlefield. "...koff...are you two alright?" - Chiyo has used her "puppet-arms" to summon a chakra shield, which shielded Naruto and Sakura. Of course, this was only possible since Deidara''s explosion was mainly focused on Eiji and not Naruto since he needed to catch Naruto alive. "So you decided to just hide behind your pet? It looked like you had some fighting spirit, but if that''s how you want to do things..." - Sasori knew that needles or his tail wouldn''t be able to damage Ningame''s shell, so he decided to just breathe poisonous gas into the battlefield. ''Since this is a cave, he will need to escape outside...at this moment I''ll strike...'' - Sasori continued to breathe the gas, and soon most of the battlefield was cover in a purple mist. But before the gas could reach Guy, Ningame suddenly started to rotate and Guy was ridding on him. "HOAAARHH!!!" - Guy shouted while Ningame shot with an unbelievable speed, moving seemingly randomly across the walls and ceiling of the cave. On his way, Ningame left a trail of destruction behind: boulders and walls destroyed, purple mist completely dispersed and the ceiling crumbled down! ''What''s up with this ridiculous speed?! I need to use another pup-'' - while Sasori was planning his next move, Guy suddenly jumped from Ningame and was instantly above Sasori. Guy hit Sasori with a perfect and powerful kick! Crack! Hiruko was destroyed, but the "real" Sasori used the slight moment of confusion to retreat. This time, instead of the crooked and old voice from his puppet Hiruko, now Sasori speaks with his youthful voice: "Really...the most stupid looking ones are always the ones who surprise the most...when I add you to my collection I will fix your appearances though..." "Looks like this is the real one, Guy. Be careful, I have the feeling he''s starting to get serious." - Ningame "I know but since he is a puppeteer, our tactic will be the same: Get into close-range where he is weak!" - Guy got himself ready. "Still...for destroying Hiruko so seemingly easy, I will show you now my favorite one..." - Sasori summoned the Third Kazekage. "This is..." - Guy had a shocked face. "You know him?" - Ningame "Oh, even stupid-looking brutes can recognize-" - Sasori was interrupted by Guy. "Who''s that?" - Guy "..." - Sasori "..." - Ningame After recollecting himself, Sasori did a fake cough, before saying: "Anyway, let us begin!" At another battlefield. ''Shit...even with my regenerative ability, if I didn''t react in the last second, I would have been done...'' - Eiji was panting and standing in a huge crater with an arm missing while most of his clothes were blown to pieces. He looked around: the forest more or less disappeared, Naruto and Sakura looked being fine since they were guarded by Chiyo''s chakra shields. ''Those tiny chakra-shields were probably only able to block this explosion because this piece of shit mainly targeted me...makes sense though since he needs to capture Naruto alive...but more importantly why did he attack me? I always made sure to show a completely neutral stance towards Akatsuki...did they decide that Shiki Ryuu''s growing influence would become problematic for their future plan? '' - while contemplating he looked towards the perpetrator. Deidara was flying nonchalantly on his tone-bird: "Hmm...didn''t think you would be able to survive a surprise C3...well, looks like I''ll have even more fun...yeah." CrusadeAgainstFurries Having to write the same chapter again was truly unmotivating...anyway, I feel like I rushed this chapter a bit, so if it feels too rushed please tell me and I''ll redo it. The next chapter will be around the weekend, so somewhere between Friday and Monday. After that, next week will be the last week before exams so I can''t promise anything. Chapter 110: Guy vs Sasori part 2 Without a word, Sasori let the Third Kazekage charge at Guy. "Guy, I have a bad feeling about this puppet especially..." - Ningame got ready to help Guy. "!" - Guy made a shocked expression. "What''s wrong?" - Ningame "This guy...his fashion sense is off!...HYAAA!!!" - Guy saw how before the puppet reached him, an arm transformed into various razor blades which Guy suspected were clad in poison, so he dodged it. ''Tsk, I''m gonna kill this clown quickly...'' - Sasori kept manipulating the Third Kazekage puppet to relentlessly attack Guy. "THIS IS NO TIME TO JOKE AROUND, GUY!" - Ningame started spinning again and Guy jumped on him, resuming their earlier tactic. Like this, they were instantly out of the puppet''s range. "You think the same tactic will work again?" - the puppet opened his mouth and black sand came out. "What''s thi-" - before Guy could finish his sentence, the black sand transformed into an array of spears and shoot in all directions. "GUY!!" - Ningame stopped his movement and went into his shell while staying in front to guard Guy. "...that was close...are you alright Guy?" - Ningame "...not really...one scratched me and it looks like the sand is poisoned too..." - Guy could feel how he could drop down any second now. ''I have to finish it fast before the poison fully takes effect...but I already opened the 6th gate not too long ago...I don''t know if my body can handle that...but I''ll die either way from the poison so I''ll have to try...'' "HYAAAA!!!" - with a loud shout he opened his 6th gate and instantly disappeared. "What? - Sasori was able to just blurt one word out before he was kicked into the air by Guy. "MORNING PEACOCK!!" - a series of punches rained down on Sasori while he was midair. Then he crashed down. Crack. Crack. Sasori''s real body, which was, in fact, a puppet, started to crack into various pieces. He knew that it was over since his over was damaged as well. But he still got up. Because he felt no pain. "...to think I would lose to someone whose appearance is the complete opposite of artistic beauty...truly laughable...I couldn''t even use my trump cards since I underestimated you...kukuku...hey you... what''s your name?" - Sasori "...Might Guy...what''s yours" - Guy was already back to normal, but he knew he would collapse any second. However, as a fighter having fought a worthy opponent, his honor obliged him to remember his opponent''s name, even if he would die from the poison. "Sasori of the Red Sand..." - with those words Sasori''s puppet body finally broke down completely. And Guy fell down at the same time. "GUY!!!" - Ningame rushed to Guy, but he didn''t know what to do. Konoha or Suna was too far away, so bringing him there for treatment wouldn''t work. Ningame was rarely summoned, so he also didn''t know about Sakura. But Guy used his last strength to whisper before falling unconscious: "Team Kakashi...gifted medic-nin..." "Alright got it!" - Ningame nodded and put Guy on his back, before disappearing. "GIVE GAARA BACK!!!" - when Naruto saw Deidara''s Akatsuki coat, he erupted with fury and instantly shouted. "At the very start, he''ll be the one to shout loudly and rush at you, eh? Looks like this is the Jinchuriki..." - Deidara looked towards Naruto amused. He didn''t know who was the Jinchuriki he was looking for, so he didn''t drop his C3 on the Konoha group. But he knew that Eiji was the lost Hokage, so he was instantly excluded as a Jinchuriki and Deidara tried to get rid of him before dealing with the others. "Naruto, stop!" - Kakashi joined them now since he no longer had to deal with Ukon. "BUT!!" - Naruto "Calm down...don''t you see that the enemy is flying? How do you intend to attack him?" - Kakashi "I agree...fighting an enemy who can fly is quite problematic...we need to form a plan first...besides..." - Chiyo looked at Eiji. This situation became awkward, it appeared that it''s about to become a three-way fight! All eyes were on Eiji, expecting his decision on what he would do. Eiji looked at himself: his arm and wounds were already fully regenerated, but his clothes were still blown to pieces. But the most important thing was that his sword was blown away! He would need to search for it first before he can use his Kenjutsu-techniques. Eiji grinned: ''Well, in this situation there is only one choice to be made...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Anyway, the Guy-Sasori matchup was a bit awkward to write, but I still wanted to do it, since I personally find Sasori underrated and he has one of the coolest designs in my opinion (not in his Hiruko form, but the others are cool as heck!). That''s why I wanted to write a fight with him and not just do the canon. Oh right, I reread the last chapter and there was an awkward passage interrupting the fight in the middle. I was sure I deleted it...so I''ll definitely need to redo this chapter. Lastly, my exams are next week, so I''ll only write new chapters after the exams. So I''ll start to post on Friday and it will be daily chapters from there. Occasionally there will be days with double chapters, but I don''t want to promise on which days: just treat it as a happy surprise when they come. Chapter 111: Team Konoha vs Deidara part 1 "Hey, you guys! I hope you have noticed by now, that I''m not with the Akatsuki...so how about a temporary alliance?" - Eiji shouted towards the Konoha group (plus Chiyo). Naruto was furiously staring at Deidara and didn''t care about Eiji, while Chiyo looked towards Kakashi for his decision since he was de facto the leader. Kakashi thought for a time, before making his mind up: "Alright." Then he signaled for Eiji to come to them so that they can include him in their plan discussion. If not, he would have to shout his plan across the battlefield with Deidara hearing it as well. "Hmm...this seems a bit problematic now...I shouldn''t waste my tone unnecessarily and play around with my flight advantage...yeah." - Deidara started to think of a plan on how to deal best with the "Eiji - Konoha alliance". "Great, now buy some time for me!" - instead of getting near them, Eiji just ran off. "..." ''Hmm...isn''t that bad? If he gets away and exposes a bunch of Akatsuki secrets, boss would get mad at me...but the Jinchuriki has priority...also who knows if he actually knows secrets about us...yeah.'' - Deidara watched Eiji running away while preparing for battle. Unlike in the original timeline, Deidara wasn''t flying above a cliff, where Naruto could jump from a cliffside with a Rasengan at him when Kakashi used Kamui on Deidara. Instead, he was now flying above the crater-exforest battlefield, and other than having a way to fly themselves, it was impossible to reach him. That''s why he was cocky and didn''t try to separate his opponents. He only needed to keep his distance and attack from long-range. "DAMN, GET DOWN HERE!!!" - Naruto "Kakashi...I don''t have any way to attack this far, and I suspect that''s the case for every one of us. I advise we retreat and let Naruto lure him somewhere where we can reach him..." - Chiyo "No, time is of the essence, we can''t waste time here when the Kazekage still might be alive...I have a way, but I will need some time to prepare it." - Kakashi used a hand sign in front of his Sharingan and started to prepare his Kamui. "I underst-" - Chiyo was interrupted, by Naruto''s shouting. Not only did he kept shouting, but now he wanted to charge alone at Deidara with no plan. "NARUTO!! Calm down...you can''t reach him. Let''s trust Kakashi-Sensei''s plan!" - Sakura held him back. "BUT!!!..." - Naruto gritted his teeth but managed to calm down. He then got into a formation with Sakura and Chiyo, defending Kakashi. ''Hmm...looks like they have something planned...but sticking together like that makes it easier for me to hit them all at once...yeah.'' - Deidara was now straight above them and opened his arms where a handful of tone C1 figures appeared. He then started dropped them all. "!" - the group got ready: Naruto used a shadow clone army as human shields, Chiyo summoned her strongest puppets - The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets to cut and destroyed the bombs before they reached them. And Sakura...she stood there and waited in case someone gets injured. Eiji who was searching nearby for his sword kept his eyes on the battle: ''Looks like Kakashi wants to use Kamui, eh? If they manage to hold on a bit, this fight will be concluded.'' Deidara kept using his small C1 since C3 used way more chakra, but the more important reason was that he needed Naruto alive. But this was enough, while he only used his weakest arsenal, Naruto''s group below were struggling and it was only a matter of time before one bomb would manage to slip through. "KAKASHI, HOW LONG DO YOU STILL NEED?" - Chiyo was asking him worryingly. "Don''t worry, I''m ready now...Kamui!"- Kakashi looked at Deidara with his Mangekyo Sharingan. ''?! What''s this? Doujutus...DAMN!'' - Deidara noticed the distortion and tried to fly away. "What the...this jutsu is amazing..." - Naruto blurted his thoughts out. But it didn''t go as expected. Eiji who was watching from afar couldn''t believe his eyes: ''Are you fucking serious? Kakashi missed completely?'' "Sorry...I missed...I still can''t properly control the location and size of the barrier limiting the area..." - Kakashi was panting from the aftereffects of using his Mangekyo Sharingan. Now the situation was really bad - at that''s putting it mildly. Deidara started to laugh loudly, his laughter seemingly mocking everyone. CrusadeAgainstFurries So with that, I''m finally back. Thanks for your wait. I know you had to wait a long time, but the story season of suffering (exams) is finally over and I can go back to daily chapters like in the past (feels like that was really a long time ago...). I noticed how the words didn''t come out as easily, but that''s probably because I didn''t write recently and it should get better now. So if this chapter feels rough, you know why. So please tell me if this chapter is rough and the quality subpar, so I can redo it in the future. Chapter 112: Team Konoha vs Deidara part 2 "Sigh...Naruto and Sakura, take Kakashi and retreat. I will hold him off!" - as the oldest, Chiyo thought that since she lived her life to an old age, it would make the most sense for her that she should be the one to hold Deidara off to buy some time. "Granny Chiyo..." - even Naruto who was full of rage calmed down and was solemn when he understood her intent. "Lady Chiyo...there is no need to...I can hea-" "Sakura, don''t forget our objective...she is right, we need to regroup with Guy''s team or else we don''t stand a chance..." - Kakashi "I''m sorry to interrupt your tragic moment, but it''s about time to end it...yeah." - Deidara stopped laughing and prepared to finish it. Meanwhile, Eiji who was watching recovered finally from his shock that Kakashi completely missed. He knew that in the original timeline Kakashi wanted to decapitate Deidara with his Kamui, but because he couldn''t control it he only managed to destroy Deidara''s arm. But now he didn''t even hit his arm! ''I''m fucking tired of all this shit. Fate or whatever, the world keeps trying to mess with me for no reason at all. I really hate fighting: there is always a chance to die, especially since I''m not a genius and might screw up like Kakashi just did. That''s why I don''t want to get involved personally and used my knowledge instead. But I''m done with that. Fate or the world can do whatever it wants, I''ll just destroy every obstacle with raw power...'' Eiji still haven found his sword, but he knew that he needs to step in now, or things could get really ugly. At first, he believed that nothing could happen to Naruto because of fate, but he noticed that it seemed sometimes to work and sometimes not, so he needed to save them. "EVERYONE, LEAVE NOW!! I CAN HOLD HIM OFF FOR SOME TIME!!" - Chiyo urged them to leave, but Naruto''s and Sakura''s hesitation was enough for Deidara to make his move. "...it was fun, but the most important thing for me is art...and art is an explosion!" ''...do I have to force my body to use Kamui again...I don''t know if it''ll work, but I don''t have a choice...'' - Kakashi started to strain his Mangekyo Sharingan as much as he could. BOOM!!!! "Looks like even though I''m retired, I still have to do a Hokage''s job..." - giant mass appeared between them and the explosion. When the smoke from the explosion subsided, everyone could see Eiji on top of a giant red snake. "YOU BASTARD!!! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU SUMMON ME?! THAT HURT, DAMN IT!!" - Garaga was pissed - though he is usually always pissed, but now he was extremely pissed! Being summoned straight into an explosion isn''t pleasant, to say the least. "Tsk, are you a sissy or what? Stop crying, it did almost no damage to you..." - Eiji looked annoyed at the loud Garaga. "I WILL EAT YOU!!" - Garaga turned on his "partner" and threw Eiji into the air by moving his head up. Then he opened his mouth and swallowed Eiji. "..." "Eh?" - Deidara "... let''s just ignore what happened and use the chance to escape!" - Kakashi urged his team. "Garaga, did you forget our agreement already?" - somehow, contrary to everyone''s expectation, Eiji appeared next to Garaga. "Hmph!!" - Garaga knew Eiji''s strength and didn''t continue to attack him. "Hmm...this snake is pretty big and it makes them able to reach me...this isn''t good...yeah." - Deidara flew even higher and started to fly around them. Hitting them with bombs was now harder since they had more time to react before they reach them, but better safe than sorry. ''What an ass...even with my sword, hitting him on that distance would be way too hard...looks like I don''t have a choice...I never hoped I would need to use it since it would mean that I got myself too deeply involved, but fuck it.'' - Eiji climbed at a high speed on top of Garaga''s head again. In his eye''s Deidara was destined to die anyway, so might as well use him to unload his anger and frustration about this whole situation onto him. With a serious face and a dangerous glint in his eyes, Eiji spoke to Naruto those words: "You want to be Hokage, Naruto? Let me show you the level you at least need to be, to be at least considered worthy for that title..." - Eiji raised his palm in front of his face while remembering something that happened a while ago. Around 1 year ago. Eiji looked at a huge crater in front of him and Sasuke. Since Sasuke didn''t have the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he needed other ways besides the Mangekyo Sharingan techniques to use in battle, or else he would turn blind in no time. With his knowledge, Eiji helped him develop all the techniques Sasuke would do in the original timeline himself, but with Eiji''s "hints" the speed was of course faster. Until now, it was mostly stuff like manipulating his Chidori and various snake techniques. But right now what they looked at, was the aftermath of an S-rank jutsu Sasuke finished developing. It was Kirin. Truly it was a wonderous technique and Eiji couldn''t help but marvel at Sasuke''s ingenuity. Because he was always beside Sasuke during the development, he knew everything about it: but that made him appreciate the genius Sasuke even more. ''Damn...those geniuses really make me envious...I wish I had a jutsu like that...'' ... ''I''m an idiot.'' Since he knows how it works, if he wants to have a jutsu like that why not just make one? CrusadeAgainstFurries It would have made sense that to explain the backstory of Eiji''s and Garaga''s agreement in this chapter, but I didn''t want to forgo the hype chance for Eiji''s currently strongest jutsu... I can''t wait to write tomorrow''s chapter. I hope you are hyped as much as I am. Chapter 113: Byakko Kakashi sensed that he was about to witness an amazing technique, so he observed it with his Sharingan. But when he saw that Eiji only blow air through his mouth into the atmosphere he began questioning Eiji''s sanity. Blowing air into the air seemed like the most chakra waste one could think of. However, he quickly notices how the weather began to change. This was because when warm moisture-laden air rises rapidly into the air, storms are formed. Sasuke used fire for that, but since Eiji is proficient in wind and not fire release, he directly used wind instead. Now, to actually form Kirin out of a storm, you would need to be highly proficient at lightning release like Sasuke. For Eiji who didn''t even bother to train other nature transformations besides wind, this was impossible. For what reason did he then create a storm? Because storms are a prerequisite for tornadoes to form. Normally, air rising in thunderstorms begins to spin when it''s affected by winds blowing it from different directions, but Eiji can just rotate the wind on his own. Anyway, the storm Eiji was now fully formed and everyone finally realized that Eiji would use nature''s chakra instead of his own. What a genius and novel idea! Unfortunately, the one who came up with this (Sasuke), would get his credit stolen by Eiji. "Using nature''s chakra...the jutsu we are about to see will be on a non-human level..." - Kakashi made sure to see every little detail with his Sharingan so that he might copy it. "...this...damn it. Even after training 3 years with pervy sage, I''m still so weak compared to that..." - Naruto "What a talented youngster...truly Konoha still is a shinobi powerhouse after all these years." - Chiyo ''...I never thought you could use chakra like that...'' - Sakura ''Hmm...this looks pretty bad...he is more troublesome than I expected... let''s just retreat, yeah.'' - Deidara noticed that flying around when a strong weather-based jutsu is about to form, would be a bad idea, so he chose to escape. There is no shame in retreating when you are a wanted criminal! However, the strongest aspect of Kirin was the speed which made dodging impossible, but since Eiji didn''t use lightning, but a tornado which wasn''t as fast instead, was it still undodgeable like Kirin? The answer was yes. A huge hurricane started to form in the storm and everyone held their breath. Not only was it a hurricane, but it had the shape of a giant tiger. It was like a heavenly deity descended upon the world! Deidara stopped his escape to gaze upon it. And he started to laugh: "HAHAHA!!! AS AN ARTIST, I CAN''T HELP BUT ADMIRE THIS ART OF NATURE!!" He seemingly lost his mind and continued to look at it like he was looking at an art piece in a museum. However Eiji didn''t care: with his yellow snake-like eyes which gazed solemnly at Deidara''s figure in the distance, he closed his palm into a fist when the tiger was fully formed. "Tear him apart, Byakko!" The hurricane-tiger seemed to roar while traveling to Deidara''s location and destroyed everything on its path. It''s speed wasn''t really impressive, it was on the level of the speed of when Naruto throws his Rasen-Shuriken, but it didn''t need to be fast. Like Kirin, it wasn''t dodgeable since Byakko made use of the characteristics of wind: even if he missed or Deidara tried to dodge, as long as it''s somewhere around its traveling path, everything will get sucked in and then shredded into countless pieces. Only if you have a way to increase your weight to an unbelievable level, could you manage to not get sucked in. But like Kirin, Byakko was huge and could target a giant area, so hitting an opponent wasn''t a problem at all. In short, it was are truly powerful jutsu deserving to be classified as an S-class jutsu. Deidara realized too late that he should stop gazing at this "art" and probably should try to dodge, but he could feel how he and the bird he was flying on was sucked into Byakko''s "mouth". "Shit...but dying to something as artistic as that, doesn''t seem too bad, yeah..." CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for that, had a strong headache yesterday. But nothing changes for today''s chapter. This one was yesterday''s and today''s will still be uploaded regularly. Anyway, like Kirin, Byakko is based on a Japanese mythological creature. Byakko is one of the four great sacred creatures. These four represent the four cardinal points and elements: -Blue/Azure Dragon (Seiryu) the east and water -Vermillion Bird or Phoenix (Suzaku) the south and fire -Black Tortoise (Genbu) the north and winter -White Tiger (Byakko) the west and wind Those four actually appear as four of the Nine Masked Beasts in the Naruto movie: Road to Ninja. But that''s non-canon so we don''t care about that, alright? Chapter 114: Contract The aftermath of Eiji''s jutsu left everyone with an open mouth. Except for Garaga who is always pissed and can''t read the mood: "Are you finished? Now, get down from me you bastard!" "Tsk, it''s not like you snakes have something better anyway...might be useful for once..." - Eiji replied with one of his usual remarks, but his mind was occupied with finding his sword. It wasn''t only because he can''t use kenjutsu without it, but because he treasured it for sentimental reasons. "WHAT DID YOU SAY, BASTARD?! WHATEVER JUST UNSUM-" - with smoke he disappeared and Eiji landed gracefully on the ground. At Ryuchi Cave, Garaga cursed Eiji for his disrespectful attitude and for not letting him even finish his sentence, but he soon calmed down. The reason was that even though he would never admit it, he actually respected Eiji. Back then when Eiji visited Ryuchi Cave again to master Sage-mode, the White Snake Sage was openly complaining about Garaga and that she thought about disposing of him. Eiji wasn''t someone who would needlessly stick his nose into situations that didn''t concern him and he wasn''t a hero who can''t help but doing good deeds like saving others. So he wanted to ignore it at first, but Garaga''s rampage made focusing on his training impossible, so he asked the White Snake Sage if he can deal with this problem. Of course, she had no reason to decline and so he went to the origin of the rampage. It wasn''t their first time meeting each other and Garaga was happy that he could unload his fury on a human since he really hated humans. Without a word, he tried to swallow him, but Eiji expected it and dodged. "?" - Garaga noticed how Eiji appeared next to his head with a bored expression. "You know, I''m not the type of person to hold grudges so I''m not here to pay you back for what happened when I accidentally summoned you, but you are a nuisance not only for the Granny Snake but for me as well..." "GYAAA!!! SHUT UP!! I DON''T CARE!!" - Garaga resumed to try to eat him. "Tsk, not one to talk things out nicely, are ya?" - Eiji vanished and appeared on top of Garaga''s body. "AAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!" - when Eiji''s sword stabbed him, Garaga cried out in pain. ''HOW CAN A MERE HUMAN STAB THROUGH MY HARDY SCALES? THIS ISNT POSSIBLE...'' - Garaga knew he had to get serious and not just try to eat him alive. "Did you know that having a giant body makes it easier for me to hit?" - Eiji continued to vanish and appear at different locations rapidly while stabbing Garaga. He was just too fast for him. But Garaga wasn''t powerless and started to spit out poison in every direction. Eiji knew that it was now a time-race and he needed to finish it fast before the whole area is covered in poison. He instantly went all out, since even though he managed to stab him countless times, it wasn''t really deep and didn''t injure him significantly. "Sigh...why do you have to make it so hard for both of us? Sage-mode." - Eiji quickly gathered natural chakra to enter Sage-mode. When he saw that, Garaga stopped attacking. Because he knew that he doesn''t stand a chance against a sage. The overly prideful Garaga lowered his head with his eye closed and seemingly accepted his defeat - there was no need for words. Slowly Eiji walked towards his face with his sword drawn: "So you accept defeat? You are sharper than you look." He pointed the sword at Garaga''s non-blinded eye and starred into Garaga''s eye which he now had opened. And then he just put his sword back into his sheath. "Damn you human...are you looking down on me?" - Garaga''s pride was hurt and he became furious once again. "Why should I look down on you? I only said that I''ll deal with your rampage and not that I kill you...killing needlessly isn''t my style...besides I don''t want to do as the Granny Snake wishes since she is pretty shady and I don''t trust her at all. Anyway since I let you live I''ll need to make sure you don''t go around and cause a ruckus anymore...so you have to enter a contract with me or I''ll continue to kick your ass..." "Contract? I will never trust a human again for me to enter a contract with one...just kill me instead. It''s better than being betrayed later on..." When Eiji heard that he couldn''t help but think how cliche such a backstory was, and almost broke out in laughter but he managed to just grin instead: "Trust? Betraying? Who cares about that shit! This is only something the weak do. Listen, I''m so strong that I don''t need to betray you, do you understand?" "You bastard, aren''t you too full of yourself? Fine, let''s do a contract, I will see myself if there is actually a human strong enough to not need to betray someone!" - Garaga shouted spurred on. But his thoughts were calm: ''This brat...I''ve met many humans who talk about morals and criticize others for their wrongdoings and think they are always in the right...but he is different...he acts the way he does not because of morals, but simply because he wants to...he is truthful in his actions and doesn''t hide his interests with moral hypocrisy like most humans do. I''m interested to see where this brat will end up...so I''ll follow him.'' CrusadeAgainstFurries I hope this chapter wasn''t too boring, but I wanted to really flesh the relationship between those two out since I plan on having Garaga keep appearing in the future. Chapter 115: My bad? ''Hm?'' - Eiji could feel the gazes of Naruto and co, so he turned around. "What''s wrong?" "DAMN YOU!! WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?!! WE NEED TO KNOW WHERE GAARA IS!!" - Naruto shouted furiously. "Oh...my bad." - Eiji said that, but his head was preoccupied with other thoughts. "MY BAD?! ARGHH!!" - Naruto charged at him, but Eiji knew that Kakashi would stop him, so he didn''t dodge. ''Huh?'' - Eiji could feel a fist landing on his head and he was sent flying. Turns out Kakashi was still suffering from the use of Kamui and couldn''t stop him. "NARUTO!! STOP IT!! Let''s calm down, saving Gaara is our priority. Throwing punches at him angrily won''t help!" - Sakura "She is right...Naruto...think for a second. Since this Akatsuki member didn''t have Gaara with him and was the one looking for us, the chance is high that Gaara is still at their hideout, sp we just have to continue on our route." - Kakashi "You...are right. Sorry..." - Naruto managed to calm down. ''Still...we were lucky that Eiji didn''t regard as enemies and even helped us, despite us attacking him and accusing him of being with Akatsuki...so we should try to not leave on to bad terms with it since if he is with the Shiki Ryuu it might get problematic for Konoha...'' - Kakashi was wise enough to see the big picture. "Alright, then let''s move!" - Chiyo "Hehehe..." "?" Eiji got up with sinister laughter: ''This Naruto...even if you are this world''s protagonist, I wont overlook what you did just like that...I will mess with you for a bit...'' "If it''s Gaara you guys are looking for, it''s already too late." "!" "What - did - you - just - say?" - this time he didn''t shout, but staring with red fox eyes made it obvious that Naruto was even more pissed right now. But Eiji smiled amused: "Are you deaf? I said you are too late to save Gaara." ''This situation...sigh...it gets worse and worse...'' - Kakashi looked at Naruto, then at Sakura and Chiyo. He knew Naruto would jump any second at Eiji again, but it looked like Sakura and Chiyo were too shocked by the news and weren''t prepared to hold Naruto back. But the worse part is that Naruto''s chakra started to form foxtails. Kakashi remembered how Jiraiya prior to this mission warned Kakashi to stop it with a seal he gave him and to act quickly before more tails would form. Eiji also saw how Naruto started to see his transformation: ''Uhm...did I go too far? I think I messed up...'' "Uhm...it was just a joke, you see..." - Eiji tried to say that with an honest face. "..." Lee, Tenten, and Neji were rushing at full speed, but even with their full speed to were way slower than someone who is able to fly. Pakkun who was with them didn''t talk at all, since with Neji he didn''t need to use his nose to track Deidara. Anyway, when they thought they are about to finally reach where Team Kakashi was, Neji who used his Byakugan suddenly had an expression of horror and only blurted these words out: "What the hell...is that?" "Neji, what''s wrong?!" - Lee asked worriedly, but his question was answered at the next moment. A huge tiger made up of wind appeared in the sky and seemingly swept and devoured everything of where they were heading to. "Akatuski is really on another level...no wonder they are regarded as being that dangerous..." - Tenten "This wasn''t the work of that Akatsuki member..." - Neji had an unreadable expression. "What do you mean?" - Lee "Let''s just hurry!" - Neji "..." - Pakkun looked at them but didn''t say anything. But when they finally appeared there, it wasn''t a situation they were expecting. "E-Eiji? Is that really you?" - Tenten couldn''t believe her eyes. CrusadeAgainstFurries I already feel better now, so here I''m back. Again a day later like always...but anyway, this chapter is a bit shorter, because when I tried to add more paragraphs, it always felt too awkward to end it there. But since starting tomorrow there will be double chapters to make up for the last few days, I guess it isn''t too bad to have a slightly shorter chapter today. Chapter 116: Dog "Naruto..." - Sakura "It looks like he lost control...this is the worst timing possible." - Chiyo Kakashi tried to muster all his strength and prepared himself. He knew if he couldn''t place the seal on Naruto, failing their mission would be the least of their worries. But luckily, something appeared to distract everyone for a second. "E-Eiji? Is that really you?" - Eiji instantly recognized this voice. Meanwhile, Kakashi used the change to place the seal on Naruto''s forehead. "Tenten...isn''t that?" - Lee Eiji cursed inwardly but kept silent and Pakkun got to Kakashi''s side. "Eiji...I have a lot to ask you..." - Tenten wasn''t hysterically like a certain orange and pink-haired duo always was when seeing their beloved Sasuke. "Tenten, I knew he is your childhood friend, but he is currently a criminal wanted by Konoha..." - Neji said that, but his head was still filled with the Byakko he saw from a distance with his Byakugan. "Neji, how can you say that?! He is still a former Konoha-comrade!" - Lee "Can you please at least say...something, Eiji?" - Tenten tried her best to stay calm. "Guys, don''t forget our mission...even if he is wanted, saving Gaara has priority..." - Sakura ''Sigh...thank you, Sakura...I hope you all just scram...'' - Eiji hoped silently that they would just leave him alone. Naruto who returned to his normal self stared at Eiji and said: "Mark my words, someday I will beat you up for good and you will apologize to every Hokage for being an insult to that title...let''s go and save Gaara, everyone!" Naruto was about to turn around, but Eiji suddenly laughed loudly: "This...is really the worst day in both of my lives...hehehe...I had enough of your shit, Naruto!" "?" Eiji suddenly stopped his laughter and got so serious, that the air seemingly started to freeze. "Naruto...you know there is a limit to your arrogance...despite me trying my best to hold back against you all and not trying to fight, you keep acting like you can do whatever you want...looks like I''ll have to teach you some basic manners like the dog you are...Sage...Mode..." Before he even finished saying his last word, he vanished and appeared next to Naruto. "!" Naruto couldn''t even react, but he felt how Eiji grabbed his face with one hand and threw him. And then before he even landed, Eiji was there again and punched him into the face. "ARGHH!!!" "NARUTO!!!" -Sakura Naruto opened his eyes and saw the transformed Eiji above him. He gritted his teeth and tried to get up and fight, but another fist landed on his face. "I don''t care about your sad past or that you suffered because you have the Kyubi sealed in you...but it looks like you need a good beating to see reality..." With those words, Eiji started to rain his fists upon Naruto. But Sakura was already approaching Eiji from behind and was about to slam her fist at him. Without looking, Eiji summoned snakes that trapped Sakura. But the others weren''t only sitting and watching either: Lee flew with a kick towards him, Neji approached from the other side and Chiyo connected her chakra threads on Naruto. Though with Sage-Mode, Eiji could sense it and he just suddenly vanished again. "Naruto...are you alr-" - Sakura, who with her strength only need a short amount of time to break out from the snakes, ran towards Naruto, but he suddenly vanished as well. "This speed...can we even do something against it?" - Chiyo Even Kakashi had trouble following his movements with his Sharingan. "There, they are!" - Neji used his Byakugan to spot them. But Eiji already smashed his fist a number of times again into Naruto''s face in that period of time. ''Hm? I just felt something cracking...I better stop there...'' - Eiji''s hands were full of blood and he looked at Naruto. Naruto''s face was completely swollen, plus blood, tears, and snot were intermixed and made Naruto''s face look like a slime-blob. Seeing that, Eiji just shrugged his shoulders and thought, that Sakura can just heal him. Anyway, beating Naruto up like that made him feel really great, however, he decided that he should search for his sword and then finally leave. But before that, he said to Naruto: "Next time before you bark like a dog, make sure that you are actually the bigger dog." Meanwhile, Tenten, who looked at it the whole time while biting her lips so strongly that blood flowed, finally made up her mind. ''I don''t know what you see me as, Eiji, but I''m not someone you can just ignore anymore like that. I will get my answers from you, even if I have to fight you...'' - she knew she had to go all-in from the start versus him, so she summoned a bunch of puppets. Eiji sensed it with his Sage-Mode and looked at her with an unreadable expression: ''Tenten...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries The second chapter is almost finished, but I need to redo some stuff. It''s already really late, so I will post it tomorrow somewhere during midday. Of course, this won''t influence tomorrow''s chapters. PS. I hoped you enjoyed Eiji beating Naruto to a pulp. Chapter 117: End of rescue Gaara arc "Sigh...I know you probably have some questions, but it isn''t the time for that right now..." - Eiji decided to not beat around the bush. "...why do you have to be like this. You never tell anything and distance yourself from everyone...sorry I know you probably have your reasons, but I just can''t keep watching anymore. You were looking for that, right?" - Eiji''s sword appeared in Tenten''s hands while she showed it to him. ''When did she...? Can she smell where weapons are or what?'' - Eiji was conflicted since he didn''t have to search for his sword now, but on the other hand... "...what do you want?" "I want to understand you...why are you doing all this?" - Tenten "Sorry, can''t tell you." - Eiji wasn''t stupid enough to think that anyone would believe him that this is a fictional world, or based on one and that he somehow reincarnated there. "Figures...I already expected that...the only thing left for us to do now is, to fight as fellow shinobi''s." - Tenten''s puppets took out what looked like guns. Eiji was surprised seeing something like guns in this world, but he didn''t seem to try to defend. With a sigh, the puppets fired their guns at the same time, and kunai flew out of them at a ridiculous speed. But Eiji didn''t dodge and just let himself get hit. "Interesting...you really improved a lot since the last time I saw you..." - Eiji started to pull the kunais out while his wounds already started to regenerate. "I''m not finished!" - suddenly she appeared beneath his line of sight in front of him and got into an Iai-stance with Eiji''s sword before drawing the sword. However with Sage-Mode, he expected that, and just lightly moved his upper body sideways to dodge perfectly. But what he did not expect was that after missing she used the rotation movement and switched the hands with which she was holding the sword, enabling her to slash again. Blood flowed in mass while one of his arms was cut. Eiji looked at his missing arm and Tenten and then suddenly smiled: ''It looks her Kenjutsu improved even more...even I wouldn''t dare to switch hands while performing a technique...'' "You really surprised me there...you know what? You wanted answers, right? You can keep my sword until we meet next time, then I will answer what you want." - after saying that to Tenten, he turned around to the rest: "It was fun playing with all of you, but you are on a mission, right? Anyway, next time we meet, I won''t hold back anymore and will kill you if you get in my way, so look forward to it." Before anyone could respond, he suddenly disappeared. ''Next time, huh?'' - Tenten looked at Eiji''s sword. While Sakura healed Naruto''s face, Kakashi used the time to rest and was soon again in a state to fight. During that time, Ningame arrived with Guy and Gaara on his back. Sakura stopped threatening Naruto and rushed to Guy to examine Guy, but when Ningame started to report what happened, she took the antidote she prepared against Sasori''s poison, which she researched when she treated Kankuro back in Sunagakure. But even with the antidote, the poison already damaged his organs and it looked like it was too late. Luckily Chiyo was there: after hearing that Sasori is dead, one of the things she sweated to deal with before she dies, was over and she used the One''s Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu to "thank" Guy for dealing with Sasori. But since he was still alive, she didn''t need to sacrifice her life fully. Soon he opened his eyes and everyone was jubilant until Naruto''s crying reminded them of the other one: Gaara. With his face completely swollen and full of tears, it made him look even more pitiful. But like in the original timeline, this time Chiyo exchanged her life fully to resurrect him. "..." "..." "What are you doing?" - Eiji looked at Ukon who was lying naked on a tree. "Shut up, this explosion destroyed all my clothes!" "Sigh...whatever, let''s go. Today was a complete disaster, I just want to take a bath and go to bed." "I can''t move, because I ran out of chakra from using the Level 2 curse mark, so you''ll have to carry me." - Ukon said that with a bored look while watching the sky. "..." - Eiji moved his hand to where his sword usually is, but when he couldn''t feel it he remembered that he gave it to Tenten. But he really wanted to cut Ukon into pieces at this moment, so he started to gather his chakra. "Hm?" - he stopped when he saw a letter bird flying to him. He took the letter from its claw and read it. "Hehehehe..." - Eiji suddenly started to laugh evilly. "What''s written there?" - Ukon asked curiously. "It''s from Sasuke, it looks like he really found it." "Oh? Didn''t you complain a while back ago that the chance to find it is slim and that if he doesn''t make any progress on that, that you would just move onto another plan instead?" "Hehehe, looks like I can be lucky for once too...Ukon, it looks like you may get your revenge pretty soon..." - Eiji smiled amused. At Orochimaru''s hideout, Kabuto stormed into Orochimaru''s room: "LORD, OROCHIMA-" "Just cut it out and tell me which hideout was destroyed this time." - Orochimaru sat in front of a desk with a giant map on it. Kabuto looked nervously around even though there was no chance that someone could eavesdrop here: "It was the one, where his corpse is...and it looks like it''s missing now..." "You...don''t mean?" - after realizing, Orochimaru gritted his teeth furiously. It was one of his most important research subjects - in fact, it was so important that only he and Kabuto knew about it. "But this isn''t all..." - Kabuto held a letter in his hands. "Kabuto, I''m really not in the mood for long explanations right now, so spit it out!" "It''s a letter from the Shiki Ryuu...apparently they want to offer us a trade..." "A TRADE?! HAHAHAHAHA!!! After sending Sasuke to destroy one base after the other, and now even stealing "that", they have the guts to offer us a trade? Kill as many of their employers as possible, that will be my answer!" "But, Lord Orochimaru...you should at least look at what they - no the leader is offering us..." "Kabuto...I hope you know that you are treading on thin ice right now...alright, tell me and I hope for you it''s something interesting." "Eiji Nakamura wants to exchange Sasuke Uchiha for learning the Edo Tensei. He stated that he will make sure that Sasuke cant fight when the exchange takes place." "Hehehe...interesting...this is most likely a trap, but we don''t have a reason to not take the bait. It makes it easier for us to deal with them once and for all..." At a cave, the Akatsuki were assembled - or at least their chakra phantoms. "Deidara and Sasori are both dead." - Pain "Those two, eh...? Who got em in?" - Kisame "Sasori died to that Taijutsu Jounin from Konoha, Might Guy." - Zetsu "Again that bizarre beast? And Deidara?" - Kisame "It was the Lost Hokage." - Pain "Eh...how interesting..." - Kisame "He turned out to be more dangerous than expected, so from now on he will be considered as an enemy." - Pain "I think recruiting him instead, would be wiser." - Itachi "Given the information, we have on him, it''s unlikely that he would accept...furthermore Sasuke Uchiha is by his side and they''re likely searching for you." "Uhh, that sounds bad for you, Itachi...so do we gang up on him then? The more the merrier, right?" - Tobi "Hold up. He has a nice bounty on his head, so let me handle him." - Kakuzu "Oh, not again. We don''t have time for your bounties..." - Hidan "Uhm, by the way, who do I pair up with?" - Tobi "For now, join Kisame and Itachi until we find someone new." "Oh, I''m looking forward to it, Itachi and Kisame senpai!" "Welcome to our team, Tobi." - Kisame smiled amused. "..." - Itachi CrusadeAgainstFurries Uhm, I know I said that yesterday''s 2nd chapter will be during the midday and in the evening two chapters, but something unexpected got in between and I had less time today. So today will be only 2 chapters (this chapter has the length of two). But don''t worry, yesterday''s chapter will be postponed which just means 1 day more of double chapters. Anyway, this arc wasn''t probably the most interesting, but its role was to show Eiji after the time skip and laying some foundations for the later stuff. This was the last arc based upon canon, so I hope you look forward to the chaos! Also, tell me if you prefer to have 1 chapter with the length of 2 like I did with this one, or just 2 separated like usual. Chapter 118: Great chaotic battle At the Hokage office in Konoha, Tsunade was knitting her eyebrows while listening to Shizune reading Team Kakashi''s and Guy''s report out. ''This is a bit troublesome...'' "Shizune, did the Shiki Ryuu do something that can be considered hostile against us after that?" - Tsunade "No...not that I know of..." - Shizune "Hahaha! You worry too much. Despite what all happened he is still a former Konoha shinobi, but more importantly, I didn''t sense any darkness in him like with Orochimaru." Jiraiya suddenly appeared leaning on the door while saying that. "Sigh...this is exactly why I''m so worried...you wouldn''t know since you didn''t really interact much with him back then, but with his shameless and frivolous personality he can make your life hard on a whim..." "Well, he certainly is a unique fellow...anyway, since we are on this topic, I have to report something." - Jiraiya suddenly got serious. "?" "You see...when I was connecting intel about Orochimaru, I found out that he is going to meet up with Eiji and Sasuke." - Jiraiya "What''s the reason? They are like dogs and cats, even more than Konoha is with Orochimaru..." - Tsunade "I don''t know why they are gonna meet, but Orochimaru is assembling a huge force." - Jiraiya "...could it be? You reported how Sasuke destroyed a bunch of hideouts, so Orochimaru probably couldn''t ignore the damage and wants to settle it and used some bait for them to agree...but shouldn''t they know that this is a trap? Considering it''s the Shiki Ryuu, there is no way they wouldn''t know too that Orochimaru is gathering his forces..." - Tsunade "Hmm...I agree. This doesn''t make sense for both sides...so what will you do?" - Jiraiya "Do you know the date and location of the meeting?" - Tsunade "This is something which is kept by both the Shiki Ryuu and Orochimaru strictly secret, so only a few individuals would know that..." - Jiraiya "Sigh...let me rephrase it: can you find it out?" "Hehehe, who do you take me for? I am the great Jiraiya, master of the toads and one of the thee legendary Sannin!" - Jiraiya made one of his iconic Kabuki poses. "Yes, yes...anyway, do that fast: We can''t ignore such an event, so I plan on sending Team Kakashi there." - Tsunade "Hmm...do you really think that a good idea? They still don''t know that Sasuke joined the Shiki Ryuu instead of Orochimaru...and from what I picked up listening to a moment ago, they seem to have had a bit of a disagreement with Eiji Nakamura." "Don''t you think it''s about time that they know about Sasuke? He is part of their team after all." - Tsunade "If you think it''s a good idea, I won''t pry further...but are sure that for such an event one team will be enough?" - Jiraiya "Of course not. With the additional manpower we got after Danzo''s death, we don''t have to be frugal. I plan on sending a whole Anbu squad with them." - Tsunade "Seems good, but let me give you a word of advice. It''s an event between Shiki Ryuu and Orochimaru, so don''t interfere until there is a good reason to do so." - Jiraiya "I know that." - Tsunade At Amegakure, at the highest point of Pain''s tower, a space distortion suddenly appeared. Without even looking, Pain knew that it was Obito who teleported with Kamui here: "Aren''t you currently traveling with Itachi and Kisame?" "I told them I had diarrhea and teleported from a toilet, so they don''t know." - Obito "What are you here for?" - Pain "I''m sure you heard it already from Zetsu, but it looks like an interesting event is about to happen." "That doesn''t have anything to do with us." "We wanted to deal with Orochimaru for quite some time now, and now that the "Lost Hokage" is here as well, wouldn''t it be the perfect opportunity to deal with both of them at once?" "This isn''t like you...what are you really after?" "You got me there...it''s because Sasuke Uchiha will be there as well...I want to see his abilities, so send Hidan and Kakuzu there to mess things enough up to make Sasuke go all out..." Pain didn''t answer, but Obito was sure that he would do as he said, so he started to teleport with Kamui away. Konan, who was watching silently, knew that with Hidan, Kakuzu, Orochimaru, and Shiki Ryuu being gathered at the same location, will result in a great chaotic battle! CrusadeAgainstFurries Really no excuse for the last 2 days other than I was lazy and played video games...sorry, sometimes my self-control just completely vanishes, especially when I buy a new game. This is also the reason why only the usual chapter than the double-length...I''ll try to do better tomorrow and only start playing after I''m finished writing chapters and not before... Anyway, tomorrow Sasuke will finally appear. Chapter 119: Coffin "Sasuke is late..." - Ukon was scratching his back while sitting in a Shiki Ryuu teahouse branch with Eiji in a small village. "He has to carry a coffin, so give him a break..." - Eiji looked at the vast amount of letters and sighed. Chisato was nagging him to return to their headquarters since he essentially dumped all his current Shiki Ryuu work on her. But saving the world was more important in his mind...probably. Anyway, this village was on the way from Sunagakure to the location of the meeting with Orochimaru, while the headquarters were in an entirely different location, so he decided to meet up with Sasuke here. "...but I''m bored...I want to fight someone..." - Ukon "That''s why I always say tell you to settle down and find a wife..." - Eiji resumed their conversation half-heartedly and absentminded. "A wife? Why would I need something like that?" - Ukon "You know...to do - " - Eiji stopped since someone entered the teahouse. "Welcome, dear cust-" - an employer rushed in to greet, but the person just ignored her and went to the table where Eiji and Ukon were drinking tea. "It took you a long time, Sasuke..." - Ukon complained. "Hmph." - without really answering, Sasuke put the coffin down he was carrying on his back and set down next to them. Eiji gulped down and only stared at the coffin. "Sasuke...is this really it?" "Of course." With hesitation, Eiji stood up and approached the coffin. But before he opened it, he looked around. Currently only they and the employers were inside the tea house, so Eiji said: "Guide us to the VIP room and don''t let anyone come in!" "C-certainly..." - since Eiji didn''t reveal his identity, the employer was suspicious if they had enough money to pay for the VIP room, but she kept silent. The employer showed the way and Eiji and Sasuke started to follow her, while another employer carried the coffin reluctantly. When they were in the VIP room and the employers left, Eiji stood in front of the coffin. "What are you waiting for? He isn''t alive if that''s what you scared for." - Sasuke ''Scared, huh? If he knew what kind of monster that is...wait, Sasuke is a monster himself." With a sigh, he finally opened it. ''It''s really him.'' - Eiji just continued to stare at the corpse in the coffin: ''If I destroyed the corpse now...I could save a lot of future trouble...sigh, unfortunately, I can''t do that or else the future will be doomed...'' "Who''s that?" - Ukon couldn''t read the atmosphere, or he just didn''t care. "Madara Uchiha...Sasuke''s ancestor." - Eiji "So just another Uchiha? What''s so special about him?" - Ukon "In my clan''s history, he is considered the strongest of all Uchiha''s to ever exist..." - Sasuke "Strongest, huh...even if that''s the case, what do we need a corpse for?" - Ukon "Well, currently other than a bargaining chip, he doesn''t have that much worth. But with Orochimaru''s Edo Tensei..." - Eiji "Orochimaru..." - when Ukon heard that name, the air seemingly freezer around him. "Yes, as I told you already, we gonna meet up with him, so you''ll get your revenge there." - Eiji "I won''t go with you. You said that with Madara''s corpse, I could get Itachi out of Akatsuki - so I will take the corpse and go on my own if you want to waste time with Orochimaru instead." - Sasuke ''I only said that, since he wouldn''t listen otherwise...'' - Eiji started to think of a way to get Sasuke to join him. "But how will you find Akatsuki? You know, Orochimaru is an ex-member, so he probably knows a way to find them." - Eiji shamelessly didn''t mention that he knew that Pain was in Amegakure or other ways to find them. "Hmph, you think I wouldn''t know? I have my own ways of finding them, so I won''t waste my time with you guys anymore." - Sasuke "But you won''t be sure that they would honor the deal." - Eiji "I''m strong enough to deal with every one of them." - Sasuke "I know that...I was rather referring to Itachi...are you sure you could ensure his safety? Because I doubt that they would just let one of them go just like that." - Eiji "Then...why the hell did I go through the trouble of finding that corpse?" - Sasuke started to get angry. "Well...I have a plan." - Eiji smiled. CrusadeAgainstFurries This chapter was really hard to write...not only because I procrastinated a lot, but I didn''t write Sasuke in a while now...anyway, thanks for the wait. Chapter 120: New mission "Damn...why do we have to go to the Land of Iron? It''s cold there and a godforsaken place!" - Hidan was complaining loudly, while he and Kakuzu were on their way to the Land of Iron. "Boss told us to get rid of Itachi''s brother so that he doesn''t become a hindrance later on. Also, there will be Orochimaru who we have to deal with..." - Kakuzu "But isn''t it better for Itachi to deal with his brother on his own? Why the hell do we have to do it?" - Hidan "I wanted to get the bounty on the "Lost Hokage", so he sent us." - Kakuzu "You with your bounties again...if it weren''t for that we already could have captured the two-tails...also are you sure that the meeting will be in the Land of Iron?" - Hidan "The information probably came from Zetsu, so it has to be true...also we get to take out Orochimaru, so don''t complain." - Kakuzu "Orochimaru, eh...that snake-bastard made fun of Jashin-sama...alright I take on Orochimaru." - Hidan "Keep his corpse intact, he has a huge bounty on him." - Kakuzu "Oh, not again. If I hear you speak one time more the word bounty, I will offer you as a sacrifice to Jashin-sama!" - Hidan "Hmph, try it!" - with that Kakuzu blocked Hidan''s approach scythe and one of their usual "arguments" started. Meanwhile, a small frog was looking at those two travelers before jumping into a pond. At another location, the same frog jumped out of a vase of water. "You''re back?" - Jiraiya, who was sitting in a forest on a picnic blanket, stopped writing in his book and used a seal for Genjutsu. Then he saw what the frog heard and saw in form of a Genjutsu. ''It''s problematic that Akatsuki gets involved too...but thanks to that it was easy getting the location and date...I should inform Tsunade!'' - Jiraiya got serious. "Lady Tsunade, it''s a letter from Lord Jiraiya!" - one of the shinobi''s stationed at Konoha''s letter-receiving station, rushed in. "Thank you. You may leave now..." - Tsunade instantly opened the letter. "With Akatuski getting involved, this changes our position of staying by the sidelines..." "Should I go and call the Anbu Commander?" - Shizune realized the severity of the situation. "No need. Jiraiya said that he will go to the meeting as well. I don''t know if it''s because he is concerned about Naruto, or because of Orochimaru or to get more intel of Akatsuki, or all together, but with him being there I can rest assured that this will end up going well. Anyway, we now know the location and date...but it looks like Kakashi is still recuperating so we will have to do without him, unfortunately...call Naruto and Sakura here." "WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME, GRANNY TSUNADE?? I WANTED TO SEARCH FOR PERVY SAGE SO THAT HE CAN TRAIN ME!" - Naruto obnoxiously shouted with a finger pointed at Tsunade, while Sakura who stood next to him, tried her best to not hit him. "Granny?! Sigh...I don''t have time right now for this...listen: We have information that Shiki Ryuu and Orochimaru are gonna meet up in 4 days." - Tsunade "Shiki Ryuu...this guy again!" - memories from the last mission instantly surfaced in Naruto''s mind and he started to curse and hit the air around him. Sakura ignored Naruto: "Orochimaru? This is our chance to get Sasuke back!" When he heard that, Naruto stopped his antics and got serious: "Sasuke..." "That''s right. On this mission, you''ll most likely run into Sasuke." - Tsunade Both Naruto and Sakura showed determination in their eyes. "But that''s not all. Akatsuki is getting involved as well - so your mission is: First, to get to know why the Shiki Ryuu and Orochimaru are meeting up, secondly, capture Akatsuki alive or eliminate them, and lastly, capture or eliminate Orochimaru!" - Tsunade "Not retrieving Sasuke? You said that we will most lik-" - Sakura was interrupted by Tsunade: "That will depend on Sasuke''s stance." "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" - Naruto "That''s...a bit complicated...well, you''ll see for yourself." "?" CrusadeAgainstFurries This chapter took longer than I anticipated. Probably since I started to deviate from canon. But this brings me to the topic: I know that it sucks that I often say I upload and then I don''t. I can only say sorry to that, but some people mentioned how it would be better if I did only 3 days a week, but make it consistently and use the other days to stockpile. I feel like this is best for me and you as well, since consistency is better for a novel than sporadic like it is now. So I''m adding a poll what you guy prefer. If you vote for the 3 days a week, the days would be Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. P.S. it looks like some of you missed the last chapter. Chapter 121: To the Land of Iron! "...and that''s how it is. Do you have any further questions?" - Tsunade asked. "With Lord Jiraiya being there, is there really a need for us Anbu to participate as well?" - Yamato who was in his Anbu uniform asked. "Normally I would agree with that, but I have a bad feeling about this..." - Tsunade "I understand." - after saying that Yamato continued to stand silently, seemingly waiting for something. "Speak, what is it?" - Tsunade "I''m concerned about the fact that this Anbu squad that I will be leading is full of former Root-members..." - Yamato "Sigh...with Danzo''s death they are all completely loyal to Konoha, so there shouldn''t be any problems." - Tsunade "It''s not about their loyalty, it has more to do with their personalities...I know we Anbu are a bit special and there are many odd ones among us and that it shouldn''t matter normally, but it seems they are just wired completely differently which makes teamwork...a bit hard." - Yamato "Hmm...I''m aware of that. But that''s why I try to mix the teams up so that they learn to integrate better with the ordinary Anbu. If we keep dividing the squads into former-Root members and ordinary Anbu, it might make working with them in the future even harder." - Tsunade "Alright." - with that Yamato left. Tsunade stared at where he was a moment ago while thinking: ''I really have a bad feeling about this...but with Jiraiya being there I''m probably overthinking things...'' "..." Naruto kept starring at the Anbu squad members with his usual face when he is annoyed or suspicious. After getting ready for their mission, Naruto and Sakura were supposed to meet their "team-members" for this mission just outside Konoha''s main gate. But Anbu aren''t really known for being talkative, so it was an awkward silence with Naruto gazing at them with a grimace. "NARUTO! CUT THAT OUT!!" - Sakura punched him on his head. "Ouch! But Sakura! Why did Granny Tsunade send those weirdos with us? If Kakashi-sensei can''t come because he is still recuperating, then why didn''t she send Shikamaru''s team or Bushy Eyebrow''s team with us?!" - Naruto "Sigh..." - she just ignored him and with a smile, she approached the Anbu members: "Sorry for my team-member. My name is Sakura Haruno, and I''m looking forward to working with you." The Anbu-members only nodded before telling sequentially their codenames, but nothing more. "Naruto!" - Sakura "Hmph!" - he crossed his arms and then suddenly started to shout: "LISTEN HERE!! MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI! YOU BETTER REMEMBER MY NAME, SINCE ONE DAY I WILL BE THE HOKAGE!!" "..." "...alright. This should be enough for the introductions for now. I''m this Anbu-squad''s leader and will be in charge of this mission. I believe the Hokage told you this, but normally Anbu and non-Anbu don''t work on the same missions together. However, because of the mission''s importance, this is an exception. So I hope you''ll stay discreet about what happens on this mission and about everything which might expose our identities." - Yamato (in his mask) "Of course!" - Sakura smiled while dragging Naruto next to her. "...yeah..." - Naruto "Okay, if you are ready, let us embark now. Our destination is the Land of Iron!" - with Yamato''s words they disappeared from Konoha''s front gate. "Lord Orochimaru...are you sure? The Shiki Ryuu is not to be underestimated and they should know by now that we are gathering forces and preparing a trap, which might result in them canceling the deal," - Kabuto looked at all their forces which will be participating in the event. Orochimaru smiled: "That''s precisely why I''m preparing such a force. If we only came by ourselves, they would be even more suspicious, but if they believe that they know about our "trap" beforehand they will be confident and walk straight into our "other trap. If you give your opponents the feeling that they have the advantage, it becomes easier to read them." "...I understand. I will start preparing the other arrangements then." - Kabuto left Orochimaru alone. ''Soon, not only will be Sasuke mine...but I''ll pay you back for all the humiliation and trouble you gave me, Eiji Nakamura...'' - a dangerous glint could be seen in Orochimaru''s eyes. CrusadeAgainstFurries Alright, the majority voted for the consistent 3 days a week, so the next chapter will be on Monday. Again, the days will be Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. P.S. I don''t usually praise myself, but I think I really nailed Naruto''s character in this chapter: even though he is annoying on the outside, he is a deep character and I think I hinted at it pretty well without being too obvious. Chapter 122: Time-waste "...what are you thinking about?" - Sakura walked to Naruto, who gazed at the stars while they were camping and then sat next to him. "We''re gonna finally see Sasuke...but what if he doesn''t want to return to Konoha?" - Naruto "This isn''t like you...wouldn''t you say something like: "I''ll get him to return no matter what! Even if I have to drag him to Konoha myself!"?" - Sakura "...I know...but I don''t know if I''m strong enough for that...I trained with pervy sage for 3 years, but I''m still..." - Naruto "You know...we both have become splendid Shinobis...we even were acknowledged by Kakashi-sensei...but the same goes for Eiji. It''s obvious that he didn''t just sit around and trained as well - and Sasuke probably too...it would be naive to assume otherwise..." - Sakura "...so what are we supposed to do?" - Naruto "But we have something which those two don''t have...it''s comrades who trust each other. If you are not strong enough to drag Sasuke yourself back, then I''ll help! If we two are not enough, then Lord Jiraiya will help!" - Sakura "...you are right. Hup!" - with that, Naruto suddenly jumped up and with a smile said: "Thanks, Sakura! Let''s take Sasuke back and kick the asses of Orochimaru and Akatsuki!" Meanwhile, at the same camp, the Anbu were completely silent. This wasn''t because they were Anbu: Anbu are people as well, and overtime when they went on many different missions together, they could get friendly with each other. Furthermore, who doesn''t like to have a friendly chatter to pass time? Instead, it was because most of them were ex-roots... "Sigh..."- Yamato looked at the Anbu member and hoped he would find someone he knows, who isn''t an ex-root to converse with, but his hopes were shattered. ''Damn...I wish Kakashi was here with us...hm? It''s the ex-root who often draws in his book and uses those drawing jutsus...I already worked with him a couple of times recently...it looks like some of those ex-roots actually have some sort of personality...'' - Yamato was bored so he went to Sai. "Jo! Looks like we are on the same mission again." - Yamato "Yes." - Sai said that and continued to draw. "..." - Yamato didn''t expect the conversation to end this fast. "Cough...you are an ex-root member, right? Even though there are some differences and we might misunderstand each other sometimes, we are still Konoha comrades, so I''ll be relying on you." - Yamato "Yes." - Sai A vein appeared on Yamato''s forehead and he smiled dangerously under his mask: ''Those damn ex-roots! Having some sort of personality my ass!'' - with that he went back to his sitting spot and sulked for the rest of the night. "Why is the meeting place a bridge? Couldn''t you come up with something better?" - Ukon complained to Eiji, who were both inspecting the meeting place a day before meeting with Orochimaru. Sasuke wasn''t there, since he thought of it as a waste of time, so he stayed in the hotel nearby. "Well, I choose it for good reasons, so trust me." - Eiji picked his nose while looking at the Samurai Bridge where Danzo and Sasuke fought at the original timeline. "Aha, and they are?" - Ukon wasn''t convinced. "It isn''t as cold here as the rest of the Land of Iron and I always wanted to see that famous bridge." "..." - Ukon wanted to kill Eiji at this moment. "Anyway...let''s head back." "Huh? Already? But we didn''t look if Orochimaru placed traps or something around here..." - Ukon "Nah...that scummy snake bastard is definitely planning a trap, so it would be a waste of time. And small traps won''t bother us anyway..." - Eiji "Then...why the hell did we even come here?!" - Ukon "Well...you''ll see tomorrow." - Eiji "You are always seeing shit like that...but as long I get my revenge I don''t care...though, your plan seems bulletproof to me, so I really don''t get it and still think this was a complete time-waste." - Ukon "It''s always better to have a backup plan." - Eiji said that smilingly, while a small fresh breeze suddenly blew at him. Chapter 123: Difficult "Oh, you are finally here...took you long enough...hihihihi" - Jiraiya sat on a rock and greeted the Konoha force with a red face while giggling. "THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MISSION AND YOU ARE READING ONE OF YOU ERO-BOOKS WITHOUT A CARE!!!" - Naruto pointed at Jiraiya while shouting. "Hey...we have to wait anyway, so can''t I read to kill time? Anyway, so...who is the leader of you?" - Jiraiya turned serious and looked at the Anbu. "That would be me, Lord Jiraiya." - Yamato "Hmm...alright...as you know, the date is tomorrow. Until then the most important thing is to not get spotted by either of the parties. In the meantime, I will gather as much information as I can. For now, only the Shiki Ryuu moved to the meeting place today, but didn''t do anything and left as quickly as they came. The status of Orochimaru''s force and Akatsuki is currently unknown..." - Jiraiya "Hey, pervy sage! Can, you train me until tomorrow?" - Naruto "Hmm...that would be impossible...we can''t risk it since it might alert one of the parties and we have to stay alert the whole time...I know it''s an important mission for you and that you feel uneasy, but I wouldn''t be able to raise your strength with only 1 day of training anyway. So better make sure that you are in top-form for tomorrow instead." - Jiraiya Naruto heard that and gritted his teeth. "Naruto..." - Sakura looked at him with a worried look. The next day, Hidan and Kakuzu who were hiding on top of a tree, watched from afar at the bridge. "Damn...why do we have to hide? I hate this!" - Hidan complained "Did your brain erode with your religious teachings? If we don''t hide, they will just run away...just wait until they are together or fighting each other." - Kakuzu said grumpily. "What did you say? In the first place, it''s your fault that we were assigned this shitty mission!" - Hidan was reading his scythe and Kakuzu prepared himself too. "Both of you cut that out..." - Zetsu suddenly appeared. "Tsk...it''s you. Hey, shouldn''t it be around time that they arrive?" - Hidan "My clone can see "The Lost Hokage", Uchiha Sasuke, and the other Shiki Ryuu member...they are almost here...remember, Uchiha Sasuke is the most important target!" - Zetsu "What about Orochimaru?" - Kakuzu "He and his force are still nowhere to be seen..." - Zetsu "Are you fucking with me? He has the most bounty on him and I only voluntarily asked for the mission was because of him." - Kakuzu''s voice turned even more grumpy. "No...he will definitely come...besides there seems a Konoha force nearby..." - Zetsu "What, a Konoha force? It''s good that there are so many sacrifices for Jashin-sama....but this seems like it will be a lot of work..." - Hidan "How many, and do they have any noteworthy individuals?" - Kakuzu "One is one of the Sannin, Jiraiya...the other is the nine-tails Jinchuriki...the rest is a full Anbu squad..." - Zetsu "The hell? The nice-tails Jinchuriki? That''s lucky...wait, didn''t you mention how we should capture the Jinchuriki in the order of their tails, because of the balance or something?" - Hidan "Who cares about that you idiot...this tuned into a suicide mission with 2 Sannin here...hey Zetsu...I''m outta here. This is too difficult even for me..." - Kakuzu was ready to leave. "...they are here..." - Zetsu looked at the bridge, where the trio consisting of Eiji, Ukon, and Sasuke stood at one end of the bridge. "Tsk, can''t leave now...let''s continue to hide and see where this goes, Hidan." - Kakuzu "Hmm...looks like the snake-bastard is late..." - Eiji picked his nose. "This bastard...now when I''m so close to my revenge..." - Ukon pressed his fists. Sasuke was silent and had his eyes closed, but after a few seconds, he opened them and looked towards the horizon. A huge snake approached their location from a distance, destroying everything on its path. Soon, the three could see two silhouettes on top of the giant snake''s head - it was Orochimaru and Kabuto. Eiji moved his hand instinctively towards his new sword. The event was about to start! Chapter 124: Start! With a loud sound, Manda stopped at on end of the bridge and lowered its head so that Orochimaru and Kabuto can jump down. Orochimaru, with his usual smile, started to walk towards Eiji''s group on the other end of the bridge with Kabuto following him. But Eiji''s group didn''t move to meet him in the middle of the bridge, but just continued to stand there without saying a word. ''This shameless bastard...'' - for a slight moment Orochimaru''s smile froze and a vein appeared on his forehead, but it quickly disappeared and went back to his usual face. Why did Eiji let Orochimaru walk all the way towards him, even though he was the one to suggest the trade? It was simply to mock Orochimaru! "...sigh...I don''t know if it''s braveness or just sheer stupidity..." - Kabuto whispered to himself while touching his glasses. "It''s neither...in my entire life I''ve never seen a shinobi as shameless as him...but this will end today! Our forces should have arrived by now and should be on standby..." - Orochimaru''s smile grew larger. Meanwhile at the location where the Konoha forces were... "Sasuke...damn! Why is he with that bastard? I thought he was with Orochimaru!! What''s this about, pervy sage? Explain that!!" - Naruto tried his best not to shout. "When he disappeared suddenly 3 years ago, it was concluded by Konoha''s investigation force that he went with Orochimaru''s henchmen who were lurking in Konoha at that time...but over the years rumors about a red-eyed monster from the Shiki Ryuu crept up, but it were only rumors and we had no evidence, so I didn''t tell." - Jiraiya "But!!" - Naruto was about to shout, but Jiraiya looked at him sternly and said: "Listen...Sasuke being with the Shiki Ryuu instead of Orochimaru doesn''t change our mission - our goals are still the same. So stop thinking about useless stuff and concentrate on your mission! This also applies to you, Sakura!" Sakura who was completely absorbed in her thoughts since she saw Sasuke, "woke up" through Jiraiya''s words. "...right...sorry..." - she breathed deeply in, and her eyes showed her focus. "Lord Jiraiya..." - Yamato suddenly got close to Jiraiya, but Jiraiya interrupted him: "I know. I will deal with it alone, while you make sure that this brat over there doesn''t do anything stupid..." Yamato looked at whom Jiraiya''s eyes moved to when he said that, and after getting who he meant, Yamato nodded. "Alright, Naruto...I''m heading out for a bit, until then listen to the Anbu squad leader''s orders." "Ha? What do you mean with hea-" - before Naruto could finish, Jiraiya already disappeared. "It fills my heart with joy seeing so many known faces together...I really looked forward to seeing you again, Sasuke...and you, Ukon...for a filthy traitor, I have to applaud you for not hiding in a corner at the end of the world and having the guts to stand in front of me...and lastly you, Eiji...you always seem to get in my way, no matter what I plan or do...no one achieved to give that much trouble except you..." - Orochimaru and Kabuto stopped at a not too far and not to close distance and greeted them. Ukon was biting his lips and tried his best to not jump at Orochimaru and Sasuke just looked at him silently with a cool face. Eiji stopped picking his nose: "Well, this is a bit awkward...when I do business I usually greet with a handshake, but I think we would just try to kill each other if we come too close, so let''s just skip that. I''ll go straight to the point: did you come here to do business or just simply to fight?" "Hehehe...this is entirely up to you..." - Orochimaru looked at Sasuke: ''There is no way Sasuke would agree to it, so the trade won''t happen...but in the off-chance that Eiji really wants to trade Sasuke and found a way to restrain him, I don''t have are reason to refuse...I can just kill him and Ukon after getting Sasuke...though that of course will never happen.'' "Hmm...that sounds reasonable...alright...it also should be about time..." - Eiji "?" "BLURGH!!" - suddenly Sasuke fell on the ground and started to vomit. "As you can see, I poisoned him in the hotel...of course it''s nonlethal, but it should suffice to just take him with you." - Eiji started to smile brightly. "...what?" - Orochimaru absolutely didn''t expect this and his smile froze completely, leaving him with a dumbfounded expression. CrusadeAgainstFurries Damn, this chapter was one of the chapters I had most fun writing...I hope you had fun reading it too! Chapter 125: Deal Jiraiya looked at the Orochimaru''s forces who he defeated through ambushing them and thought: ''Even though it was a formidable force, it was too easy...a diversion force? So the main force should be somewhere else...but for now there are no signs of it...something is wrong! I should hurry back...'' He left as quickly as he came, befitting of his title of a legendary shinobi. ''Is this a genjutsu?...no, I made sure to not look into Sasuke''s eyes...'' - Orochimaru first thought was to make sure that he wasn''t in a genjutsu. He then looked at Kabuto, but he didn''t seem to be under a genjutsu too, so his next thoughts were that it''s either faked or it has to be real and he was deducing which one of those two was more likely. "What''s wrong? Do we finally start the exchange, or do you get off of seeing someone vomit? Damn...you''re really a high-level pervert..." - Eiji started to pick his nose. Of course, such remarks were effective enough to get Orochimaru out of his thoughts. "HAHAHAHA!!! I see you are full of spirit...but don''t you think are a bit too conceited? What stops me from just taking Sasuke by force and then just kill you?" - Orochimaru licked his lips, while Kabuto his glasses touched his with one hand, while the other moved towards a kunai. "Well...that would be a bit problematic, to be honest...but I''m the type of person who would rather destroy everything I have myself than to give it to my enemies..." - he said that in a bored tone while he finished picking his nose. But then in a sudden movement, his sword was fully drawn and touched Sasuke''s neck. "YOU!!" - Orochimaru stopped all his movements and even Sasuke had a look of surprise and glared angrily at Eiji, but he didn''t have the energy to do anything more. "...why don''t we all calm down? If you kill him now, not only will you not get the Edo Tensei, but since Sasuke is the strongest out of you and in the scenario that you give him an antidote, he would be your safest best for survival." - Kabuto calmed down faster than Orochimaru. "I am calm...just give me the Edo Tensei and I''ll toss Sasuke over to you - simple, right?" - Eiji ''Toss?...more importantly...'' - Orochimaru was already calm again and had a smile on his face. "Alright...Kabuto!" - he ordered Kabuto while thinking: ''It doesn''t matter if you have it or not...when I get Sasuke, I will kill you either way...'' Kabuto sighed and took out a scroll before throwing it to Eiji. Eiji watched it with his other hand and looked at it with an anticipating gaze. "Now, since you have it hand Sasuke over to me!" - Orochimaru licked his lips. "Wait...I have to make sure it''s authentic, right?" - Eiji ignored the intense atmosphere and opened the scroll with one hand. "...fine, but I advise that it won''t take you too long..." - now, Orochimaru couldn''t contain his bloodlust anymore. "Hmm...looks like its rea-" "SASUKE!!!!" - Naruto jumped out from his hiding spot, with a flustered Sakura who seemingly tried to hold him back and a whole Anbu squad following those two. When Eiji saw that, his eyes widened and he almost vomited blood out of anger: "Son of a..." "YOU!!! GET AWAY FROM SASUKE, NOW!!!" - Naruto was the first to arrive in front of Eiji. He was on the same end of the bridge site as Eiji''s group, while Orochimaru and Kabuto were still on the bridge. ''...are you for real? Why are Naruto and Sakura here? THEY ARE ABOUT TO RUIN EVERYTHING!!!'' - Eiji screamed internally while on the surface his grin grew brighter. "Looks like we have some visitors..." - Orochimaru said amused. ''Naruto, huh? Looks like Konoha managed to find out about it...but it doesn''t seem like it was through the Shiki Ryuu...'' - Kabuto looked towards the angry Naruto, who looked like he wanted to rip Eiji apart. ''...sigh...I''m sorry Lord Jiraiya...'' - Yamato couldn''t help but cry internally. Ukon was looking at Eiji, expecting him to give one of his usual remarks, but Eiji was too perplexed for that and continued to just stare dumbly at Naruto with his smile gradually turning into just an open mouth. CrusadeAgainstFurries Around an hour later, so it technically isn''t Monday anymore, but I don''t think that hour really matters that much... Chapter 126: Chaotic fight part 1 "What are you doing?...sigh...I shouldn''t have agreed to your plan..." - Sasuke swallowed the antidote which was hidden in his cheek and got up. Why didn''t he just fake it? Because Eiji didn''t want to risk Orochimaru finding it out and canceling the deal before giving him the Edo Tensei. Of course, Sasuke was against it, but Eiji managed to convince him. Either way, Orochimaru was sharp enough to suspect that Eiji would have the antidote for Sasuke, so he wasn''t surprised. However, that wasn''t the case for Naruto... "SASUKE!!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" - Naruto "...Naruto..." - Sasuke looked at him, but after a few seconds he lost his interest. Unlike in the original timeline, he was strong enough to not feel a rivalry with Naruto anymore, and more importantly - he was solely focused on finally meeting Itachi and get him out of Akatsuki. "Looks like you won''t uphold your part of the deal...so I''ll have to take Sasuke by force!" - Orochimaru licked his lips, but still didn''t attack, because he wanted to make sure if Konoha would aid Eiji'' side or not. "Hmph! Try it!" - Sasuke stood there in a cool pose, proudly without any fear of defeat. "SASUKE!!!" - Naruto wasn''t sure why Sasuke ignored him, so he finally rushed to him. "NOO!!! STOP!!" - Yamato tried to stop him, but to no avail. But since he couldn''t stop him with words, Yamato decided to use summon a wood wall to stop him. "WHAT?! HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" - Naruto looked at Yamato''s concealed face. "Hoo...this jutsu reminds me of someone...things get more and more interesting..." - Orochimaru "Hey, how long you gonna stare into the air dumbly?" - Sasuke kicked Eiji''s butt, which got Eiji out of his stupor. "Shit...this situation got more complex now, didn''t it? Whatever...we got one of the things we came for, we can get the other just another time... let''s ge-" - a fist in his face, catapulted Eiji a few meters away." The one who punched him was none other than Ukon. He didn''t say anything, but his face told more than a thousand words may tell. "Looks like, not everyone agrees here..." - Sasuke said aloof. Eiji got up while touching the location he was hit: "Hmm...well I promised to you that you get your revenge...sigh...fine. Let''s just continue with our plan!" Meanwhile, Jiraiya got back and watched this scene with a headache. ''AHHH!!! DAMN IT!!! NARUTO YOU IDIOT!!!...but the good thing is, at least the enemy doesn''t know about me, so I should wait for the right moment to ambush...but this is weird...why isn''t Akatsuki making their move now? It really would have been better if this idiot didn''t rush in...'' "Isn''t it a good chance to leave now? The situation is chaotic enough..." - Hidan "No... let''s wait. We might win the jackpot if we stick around and wait." - Kakuzu "What? Didn''t you say you wanted to leave? You always change your mind every minute...someone like you would never be a good follower of Jashin-sama!" - Hidan "Like I care." - Kakuzu Zetsu watched the duo while thinking: ''It''s good that they are staying...I didn''t even need to convince them...now, let''s show me your power Sasuke...'' "Naruto! Listen to me! And you Sakura, as the medic-nin stay get back in case we need you. Let us handle it for now!" - Yamato stepped in front of Naruto and got ready. "?" - suddenly a wood prison appeared to imprison Sasuke, while Anbu''s started to attack Orochimaru and Kabuto with kunais, various water, fire, and lightning release jutsus plus painted creatures. "Then it''s decided that they aren''t together!" - Orochimaru transformed into a giant snake and crawled towards Sasuke with a tremendous speed. "Oh no you won''t" - Yamato raised another wood wall to stop Orochimaru to get to Sasuke, who he imprisoned, but Kabuto used the chance to get behind Yamato and almost reached Sasuke. But Ukon couldn''t hold himself back anymore and already in Curse-mark level two, he attacked Kabuto. However, amidst this, Sasuke and Eiji looked like this didn''t involve them. Eiji spoke towards the entrapped Sasuke: "You deal with Orochimaru and Kabuto like we planned, while I''ll deal with your former teammates, alright?" "Like I care. Just don''t take too long..." - with those words Sasuke cut the prison easily down with a Chidori. CrusadeAgainstFurries I planned for Orochimaru to revive Minato in this ark, since in Orochimaru''s fight against Hiruzen, Hiruzen stopped the third coffin from appearing which was Minato, so when I reread that fight a while ago I thought that it might be a good idea to use it in this ark. But...it''s actually not possible since Minato''s soul is still with the Shinigami, so it isn''t possible to revive him currently. Either it''s a plothole by Kishimoto, or Orochimaru was just retarded back then...but looks like I''m as retarded as Orochimaru and need to change a bit what I had planned for this ark 0_0 Fun fact: Orochimaru also could have taken the Shinigami Mask much earlier in canon to make his life a lot easier, but apparently he didn''t think about it. I guess Orochimaru needs a brain-enhancement pill ;) Chapter 127: Chaotic fight part 2 "Jo! Long time no see, how you doin''?" - Eiji walked nonchalantly towards the Konoha force while greeting Naruto and Sakura. "YOU!!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" - Naruto "NOO!! STAY BACK NARUTO!! IT''S AN ORDER!!" - Yamato didn''t want Naruto to do something stupid again. "Get out of the way? And then? You gonna run to Sasuke so he can continue to ignore you?" - Eiji said mockingly. "Ugh!" - Naruto didn''t know how to respond. But at this time Sakura stepped forward: "Excuse me...but can you tell me why Sasuke is with you? I don''t understand...why would he..." "Why would he what? He isn''t doing anything illegal and is just an official employee of the Shiki Ryuu, earning money through honest work...or would you prefer if he was with Orochimaru?" - Eiji "..." For some reason, they really had trouble speaking with Eiji. But Yamato thought about the mission and suddenly attacked with the other Anbu. Eiji tried to dodge, but the barrage of a whole Anbu squad was too much and an arm was bitten off by an ink-tiger. However, he didn''t seem to be faced and just looked at it before it started to regenerate: "Even though I can regenerate, I still feel pain you know...this was pretty rude to suddenly jump at me like that..." "This regenerative ability will be a huge pain in the ass..." - Yamato started to feel that this day couldn''t get any worse. Meanwhile, Sasuke just looked at the transformed Orochimaru crawling towards him. It was obvious that Orochimaru wanted to fight in close-range, but even though Sasuke wasn''t worried that he would lose in close-range, why would he do what his opponent wants? So he decided to use the Fireball Jutsu, which was easily dodged by Orochimaru but Sasuke was already firing Chidori Senbons at him. Normally Orochimaru wouldn''t care and just let himself get hit, but since he not only was weakened because his current body was rotting and he needed to take over a body soon, but also because his arms still weren''t restored, so he dodged. "Hmph...are you really a legendary shinobi? It looks like I won''t even need to get serious." - Sasuke sneered at Orochimaru. "Hehehehe...you think I would get defeated that easily? It looks like they are finally here" - Orochimaru suddenly jumped backward and transformed back. Suddenly a group of Otogakure shinobi appeared, being lead by the Sound Four - or Sound Three. Like in the original timeline, Orochimaru didn''t have the time to bother with finding a replacement, which was even more true when only one spot was vacant. Unlike the Sound Three, the other Otogakure-nins were all carrying coffins. When he saw that Sasuke instantly knew what his plan was and he scoffed: "It seems like you still have the habit of digging corpses out." But he wasn''t worried, no matter who Orochimaru would revive, Sasuke was sure that he could easily defeat them. "I see...so the other force was indeed a subversion, while this group only moved after Orochimaru already made contact with Eiji so that it would be easier to go undetected...of course it could have backfired in case they didn''t reach him fast enough, but it''s Orochimaru we are talking about...with his haughtiness, he would never think that he would get done that quickly. But if Sasuke instantly went full out, it might be different...anyway, the more important thing is, who will he revive? I should only move after finding it out, until then Sasuke should be able to deal with it...I''m more worried about Akatsuki..." - Jiraiya was still hiding and watching for now. "This damn heretic!! Reviving the dead is a blasphemy! Death is the highest gift from Jashin-sama! I will sho-" "Shut up or you expose us!" - Kakuzu hit Hidan on the head while grunting. "Damn you! How can I stay calm when I see such blasphemy in front of me?" - Hidan "Then just wait until they wear each other down and then you can do your religious nonsense for all I care!" - Kakuzu Zetsu actually hoped that Hidan would just jump in so that they can force Sasuke to show his potential, but of course, he couldn''t say that aloud. But after thinking for a few seconds, he made up a plan in his mind... The Akatsuki was about to participate as well! CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry if this chapter seems a bit off. With my Minato plan ruined, it wasn''t easy writing this chapter while simultaneously planning the changes I have to do, but I think I managed to come with a good alternative up for now. Chapter 128: Chaotic fight part 3 Jiraiya was still waiting when he suddenly felt a presence on the outside of the battle. "So there you are..." - he concluded that this must be Akatsuki, but he didn''t act instantly - instead he thought what would be the best course of action: go for them or wait for a chance to ambush Orochimaru? "I''m worried about who Orochimaru intends to summon, but the Akatsuki is more of a wildcard and more unpredictable, so I should go for them..." He prepared himself to ambush them, but what he didn''t know was that Zetsu intentionally had a clone get found out by him. "Kabuto, it''s time..." - Orochimaru smiled while saying that. Orochimaru''s arms still weren''t healed, so he needed Kabuto to perform the jutsu. This was also the reason that they sacrificed a bunch of their henchman beforehand so that they won''t waste time to do it on the battlefield and only had to carry the coffins. But Kabuto was currently defending against a powered-up Ukon who bombarded him with Taijutsu attacks. ''Isn''t he asking too much?'' - Kabuto smiled wryly. The only reason he was able to hold up was that Ukon was more or less just rushing at him without any thought behind his attacks and Kabuto using his knowledge of the human body to read his muscles to predict his movements. Sasuke was watching in a cool pose and ridiculed Orochimaru: "How long are you gonna make me wait?" "Hehehehe...just wait a bit...you three switch with Kabuto!" - he ordered the Sound 3. "I wanted to deal with this traitor anyway..." - Tayuya said before going in and giving Kabuto the chance to escape. "Sorry Lord Orochimaru...you know musclebrains are a bad matchup for me..." - Kabuto readjusted his glasses. "Whatever...just get started!" - Orochimaru With that Kabuto walked towards two coffins and opened them. "!" - when Sasuke saw who was in the coffin, he couldn''t maintain his aloof attitude. Eiji looked at the Anbu squad and sighed. He knew that talking would be fruitless so he moved his hand towards the sword grip, but at the same time, he glanced at the over to the other battlefields. ''Ukon should be fine though with the snakes I gave him before, but...what''s up with Sasuke? I told him to let them revive whoever they want so that he copies the Edo Tensei with his Sharingan, but why is he looking like he saw a ghost?'' While his mind was preoccupied with that, Konoha''s side was preparing themselves: just the presence of Eiji touching his sword was enough for them to guard themselves. This was one of the psychological-advantages of Iaijutsu compared to other sword-styles. The enemy knew an attack was coming, but attacking ruthlessly and open themselves up would be even worse, so they only could wait for the attack and defend. Eiji used this time to return his thoughts to his own battle: ''If I''m not mistaking, the leader was the one who used the wood jutsu on Sasuke, so I guess that''s Yamato? And the other one is Sai? I never thought I would meet them like that...but it doesn''t matter. Let''s just deal with them quickly and look at what''s causing Sasuke trouble.'' Of course, he didn''t intend to kill them, which greatly limited him. He often lamented that he only runs into people he can''t kill, but that''s expected when he has to interact with the "main story". And then he finally drew his sword. The Anbu instantly reacted to the wind coming from Eiji and used the Mud Wall Jutsu and other defensive Jutsus, but it cut through it without any difficulties. However, they expected that and used the minuscule time which their defensive Jutsus bought to dodge. Furthermore, since Eiji only attacked the Anbu, it gave the opportunity for Naruto to attack from a blind spot with a Rasengan. Eiji sneered, thinking: ''I may be not the brightest shinobi out there and just a knowledge cheater, but I still learn when you keep doing the same thing over again and again, you know?'' After his last fight with Naruto, he started to instinctively know how Naruto will attack, so he turned nonchalantly around and with a raised finger he shot an air-bullet at Naruto, which pierced his heart. CrusadeAgainstFurries Uhh, I planned to let Hidan and Kakuzu finally get into the action as well in this chapter, but I already reached the word count and I didn''t want to crame it quickly here just to include it. So my boy Hidan will get some fun in the next chapter. Chapter 129: Chaotic fight part 4 ''Hm?'' - Kakuzu felt how something was wrong with the ground and his instincts screamed for him to act quickly. He grabbed Hidan by his neck and threw him away while he jumped away with not only gathering chakra on his feet but using his special ability to stretch his feet for additional catapulting power as well. This was a smart move since even with that both of his legs were lost when a giant oesophagus appeared where they were standing and the legs being in there. "Hmm...the Toad Mouth Bind is really more effective indoors...but it looks like it had some effect..." - Jiraiya appeared looking at Kakuzu. "Shit...HEY HIDAN MOVE YOUR ASS OVER THERE!!" - Kakuzu shouted. "Hm?" - Jiraiya wasn''t sure why Kakuzu looked like losing his legs wasn''t a big deal to him, but then he saw how black threads moved out of his wounds and gathered into improvised legs. "Ah, damn...next time before you throw me, warn me! I landed straight on my head, you know? By the way, where''s that bastard Zetsu?" - Hidan came while rubbing the top of his head. "It looks like that bastard already left...though I don''t care since he isn''t useful in fights anyway..." - while saying that Kakuzu got up. Jiraiya didn''t rush in, since he didn''t know what peculiar abilities those two had, so it was smarter to probe them first. He started to use a Fireball Bullet jutsu at them, but he was surprised to see how Kakuzu grabbed Hidan and used him as a shield. ''What''s wrong with those two?'' - Jiraiya "Cough...cough! Damn, my clothes are burned!" - Hidan spat something dark out. He was completely scorched and some parts of his body were still burning red. "Stop standing around and move!" - Kakuzu grumpily said. "Ha? Move where? He is using long range attacks, so you should deal with him until I get the chance to close in!" - Hidan "Not this idiot...move to the other battlefields...we will use the chaos there to our advantage!" - Kakuzu ''Not good...this is why I wanted to trap them in the Toad Mouth Bind so that I can fight them there without any disturbance. I need to stop them no matter what!'' He stopped probing and rushed at them, but they split and avoided them. To counter that he summoned Gamabunta, but for the immortal duo, just tanking hits while only thinking about running wasn''t a problem. "Jiraiya, what''s up with those two? Are they immortal or what?" - Gamabunta "It looks like it...but more importantly let''s head to the battlefield too!" - Jiraiya "What the hell is coming now? Sigh, this turned into a fiesta..." - of course, the tumult from Jiraiya and the Akatsuki nearby could be seen and heard, and Eiji felt like his headache started to get stronger. He was standing there proudly and menacingly, while seemingly waiting for something. Though, he wasn''t waiting for Naruto to be healed by Sakura. Eiji avoided Naruto''s organs, but he didn''t try too hard, since he knew that Kurama would just save him. If Naruto would get powered up because of that, it wouldn''t be a problem in his eyes, since Yamato was there to stop him from going overboard, and more importantly, Eiji was only trying to stall for time anyway. The most important thing was Sasuke! Even though he got the scroll for Edo Tensei, he never used it before and wasn''t proficient enough to use first-time in a battle. Also, who had time to read a whole scroll during battle? So he needed Sasuke to copy it with his Sharingan. But when he glanced over to Sasuke to see how much longer he needed to stall, he cursed out loudly: "What...the fuck?!" Sasuke was crying and was completely miserable. "Aren''t I generous? To be able to see your parents again, I''m sure you must be grateful to me...hehehehehehehe..." - Orochimaru snickered. Orochimaru was truly evil: instead of gambling that his other revived Shinobis might take Sasuke on, he chose to defeat him purely psychologically instead! "Mum...Dad..." - Sasuke''s tears flowed down, making him unable to see much despite using the Sharingan. Chapter 130: Chaotic fight part 5 "Sasuke...looks like we were revived...I''m sorry..." - Fugaku (Sasuke''s father) said bewildered while looking around. Though, even though he was confused from suddenly returning from the dead, he more or less could get a grasp of the situation. "...Sasuke...I''m glad that you are healthy and alive..." - Mikoto (Sasuke''s mother) had a smile on her face, seeing how her son has grown up. Orochimaru looked at Sasuke who looked completely lost, but he didn''t do anything. It was more beneficial to not suppress their personalities, since it inflicts more psychological damage to Sasuke. "...it looks like a lot of time passed and I want you to share everything which happened to you, but we were revived to fight you, so we don''t have the time for that sadly...just please tell me one thing: what happened to Itachi? Did you kill him for revenge? Or is he still alive?" When he heard that, Sasuke''s tears stopped and he was reminded of what Itachi had to do and go through because of Konoha, and anger surfaced in his heart. "No...I learned the truth about the Uchiha downfall and killed Danzo...but I want to see Itachi and hear his side of the story, and after that, I will decide if I''ll completely eradicate Konoha or not." - now he had his Mangekyo Sharingan activated, giving him an eerily look. "You...no..." - Fugaku saw deep darkness in Sasuke. Even though Itachi had a most pitiful destiny, he never succumbed to darkness and carried love and hope for peace in his heart, so he was surprised that the cheerful (in the past) Sasuke, would have such darkness in him. "No...please, Sasuke. The only thing we wish for is for you is happiness, so please don''t walk the path of revenge!" - Mikoto had teary eyes, but also looked a bit angrily and shouted at him like she reprimanded a small child. Orochimaru looked at it amused and clapped: "Alright, I''m glad that your family reunion is proceeding so well, but I don''t have all day, so let''s start with the battle, shall we?" With a loud sound, Hidan and Kakuzu appeared on the battlefield, with completely turn clothes. "Damn...now that we are here, what now?" - Hidan "Let''s split up and join different battles...I''ll go to the Nine-tails, while you join Orochimaru''s fight...it doesn''t matter who you target specifically, just raise some hell...the more chaos the better for us!" - Kakuzu "Aye...that''s what I was waiting for..." - Hidan grinned while licking his scythe. "Stop doing shit, and go already!" - Kakuzu saw how Jiraiya and Gamabunta would reach here any second as well, and sprinted off. "Wait! Let''s talk for a second, I''m sure it would be beneficial for you guys as well..." - Eiji stopped his Iai-stance suddenly and gestured them to stop. "?" - Yamato and the other Anbu. "WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW AGAIN?!" - Naruto was almost completely healed by Sakura now. "You want to help Sasuke, right? Look over, he seems to have a bit of trouble, so why don''t we go over to help him together?" - Eiji Naruto gritted his teeth and started to think, after looking at Sasuke''s battlefield. What Eiji said made sense! Still, he wanted Sasuke to return to Konoha, so Eiji being there would hinder it. "Then...then move aside...we will help him while you stay here!" - Naruto "Huh? Why should I?" - Eiji "BECAUSE I DONT TRUST YOU!!" - Naruto "Wait, Naruto...this isn''t important right now...we need to help Sasuke..." - Sakura Yamato was also lost in thought, deciding what to do, when suddenly a huge flame engulfing a widespread area was approaching them. He and the other Anbu instantly reacted and used defensive Jutsus to block it from reaching them, Naruto and Sakura - Eiji was on his own though. After it subsided, a wild Kakuzu was standing there between them and Eiji, who decided to just dodge Kakuzu''s flamed attack instead of taking it on. "You guys looked like you had a lot of fun, so I decided to join." - Kakuzu said that in a grumpy voice, which suggested that he wasn''t seeking fun. "Akatsuki..." - Yamato "Well...it seems like people keep on joining without an end...I wouldn''t even be surprised anymore if Kaguya would suddenly pop out too..." - Eiji smiled wryly. "?" - everyone else. CrusadeAgainstFurries I hope the interaction between Sasuke and his parents seemed natural and true to their characters...anyway: I wish you all happy holidays! Chapter 131: Butterfly! An orange-haired figure clad in a black robe could be seen flying above a range of tall mountains. From this height, a village could be seen hidden by these mountains. With a dark gaze, the figure solemnly raised his arms above his head, but the figure didn''t act right now, because it could hear someone speaking to him to his main body. "Nagato...this will reduce your life span significantly...are you sure?" - Konan "They are two Jinchurikis in this village...I would prefer to take them by the order of their tails, but if I''m already here it would be a waste to not take the Eight-tails as well...but even I would be troubled if two Jinchurikis and the Raikage fought me at the same time, so I''ll surprise them...and this will accelerate our plan the most, so I don''t mind using my life for that..." - Nagato Konan had a worried expression but didn''t say anything else. The Deva Path stopped listening to the faraway conversation and breathed in: "This world...shall know pain...Shinra...Tensei!" With those words, he decimated Kumogakure! But no one at the Chaotic Battle could know of it. Especially Eiji who indirectly caused it. The butterfly effect Eiji feared so much, didn''t happen because of Danzo''s death as he worried, but because Hidan and Kakuzu weren''t on Yugito''s track to hunt her, she was in Kumogakure. In the original timeline, she would die only after Team 7 meet with Sasuke at Orochimaru''s hideout, which was in the current timeline still weeks off. Since Nagato send Kakuzu and Hidan to the Chaotic Battle, no other Akatsuki team was currently able to hunt the Two-tails and since he didn''t want to lose time unnecessarily, he decided to capture her himself plus B who were in the same village. This development was something that would later shock Eiji since he experienced how fate made sure that everything stayed on the "right track". But he was naive to think that fate worked for everyone the same. The highest priority was that Naruto would unite all tailed-beast and bring peace to this world, and other personal fates like the death of Hayate were only a natural occurrence through karma and consequences rather than something written in stone. In other words: as long as it didn''t concern the great strings which were spun eons ago, someone powerful enough is indeed able to change his own fate! However, the one who would change fate isn''t Nagato, since he is still the "Child of Prophecy" like Naruto... At Mount Myoboku, the Great Toad Sage was sleeping peacefully when he suddenly opened his eyes. "Nghi!" - Gamamaru "What''s wrong, Great Honourable Geezer?" - Fukasu who was about to fall asleep, rubbed his eyes and tried to fight his drowsiness. "I just foresaw a new destiny..." - Gamamaru "A new prophesy? What is it this time about?" - Fukasu turned serious and his drowsiness instantly disappeared when he heard that. "...I forgot because my mind is a bit slow after just waking up..." - Gamamaru "...sigh...it''s because you are senile and not because you just woke up..." - Fukasu regretted not just falling asleep. "!!!!!?!???!?!??!!??" - Black Zetsu swore that he felt how he shit his pants, even though with his body, he isn''t physically able to do so and was sharing a body with the carefree White Zetsu. "...hey calm down...if we get exposed it would be bad, you know?" - White Zetsu "...this disgusting cockroach! How dare he speak mother''s name with his disgusting mouth! I''ll kill him! Wait no...I need to find out what he meant by this first! There is no way..." - Black Zetsu was still startled. "I don''t think he meant something by this though...if the information we got on him is true, he occasionally says something nonsensical..." - White Zetsu "You idiot! There is no way he would know mother''s name just like that! The few people who know about her existence only know her as the Rabbit Goddess!" - Black Zetsu "Hmm...wait, you are right! What will we do?" - now even White Zetsu realized how serious this was. Eiji didn''t know that with his thoughtless remark, he brought Zetsu''s mind in complete turmoil and that he was targeted by a really dangerous individual from now on! CrusadeAgainstFurries So, with this everything should be laid out and now the next chapters will be full of fighting instead of talking. Chapter 132: Chaotic fight part 6 "HYAHAHAHA!!" - Hidan appeared between Sasuke and Orochimaru, waving his scythe madly around. The nearest to him were Sasuke''s parents, so he targeted him. Orochimaru saw that and his smile froze. Hidan was thwarting his plan! He expected that Eiji will most likely come and try to help Sasuke, but now it was Hidan who came instead. "Tsk, talking with this lunatic is pointless...Kabuto get the other coffins ready!" - Orochimaru Kabuto sighed internally since he was the one performing the Edo Tensei, so he knew that he would use a lot of his chakra up, but he did as Orochimaru ordered. While this was going on, Sasuke looked at Hidan attacking his parents: On one hand, he pissed that someone just suddenly appeared and attacked his parents, on the other hand, he was glad that he wasn''t the one needing to fight his parents because he knew that it would hurt him to attack his mother and father. But he couldn''t just stand there and continue to watch. His parents were skilled shinobis - especially his father who was the head of the Uchiha clan and the leader of the Konoha Police, while his mother was a Jonin, but against a weird opponent like Hidan, most of their attacks seemed to have no effect. However more important was the fact that it still wasn''t the Edo Tensei which was later perfected by Kabuto but Orochimaru''s one, so the reincarnated aren''t as powerful as when they were alive. Of course for an elite like Fugaku, he had a few aces up his sleeves - more specifically the Mangekyo Sharingan. But he didn''t use it since he and his wife actually hoped that they would be defeated by this mysterious assaulter so that they wouldn''t have to fight their own child. Orochimaru sensed that, but he didn''t bother to increase the control over them because in the first place he didn''t count on their fighting power but to use them for psychological warfare against Sasuke instead. So it was better to just use the Edo Tensei to revive a bunch of strong other Shinobis to deal with Hidan quickly and continue with using Sasuke''s parents as a psychological weapon. In the first place, he prepared those other shinobis to deal with Eiji, so they weren''t weak at all! Meanwhile, Jiraiya arrived with Gamabunta on the battlefield, standing on top of Gamabunta''s head while quickly glancing over it. There were 3 "battlefields". In only a second he made up his mind. He went to Orochimaru''s battlefield. With Yamato being there, he trusted that Naruto should be fine, while the other battlefield was Ukon and the Sound 3...no one cared about this battlefield. Of course, his entrance attracted the attention of everyone. "Sigh...he is finally here..." - Yamato ''He is heading to Hidan? That idiot won''t bother to use his brain to let the Sannins fight each other, so he is doomed...tsk!'' - Kakuzu thought already about abandoning his partner to run away. "Hm?" - but he suddenly noticed that someone was missing from his "battlefield". Eiji used the chance when everyone was distracted by Jiraiya''s entrance to leave! ''Whatever, this is better for me anyway...before I get out of here, I''ll capture the nine-tails!'' "Hey kid, let''s finish this quickly, I don''t have the whole day..." - a lot of black threads appeared around his body, which gathered at around eight really long and thick "arms", giving him the somewhat look of an octopus. "OH NO!! EVERYO-" - Yamato tried to warn everyone, but Kakuzu''s arms swung in such a huge range, that not everyone could dodge and he caught two Anbu. Kakuzu then dragged those two to him and with way smaller threads he tore into their body and took their hearts out. "When that Sannin destroyed two of my hearts I was worried a bit, but luckily I found some small fires here." - Kakuzu grumpy tone wasn''t as grumpy as before. "!" - Yamato knew now that even though their opponent is heavily outnumbered, this fight was far from over. Even worse was that it might be actually disadvantageous that they have the higher number if his hunch about his opponent''s ability was right... CrusadeAgainstFurries Next chapter will be Eiji fighting for real and I''ll reveal who are in the other coffins. Also, for those of you who didn''t see it, there was a mistake in the last chapter, but I fixed it, so if you are confused about Gamabunta you now know. Chapter 133: Chaotic fight part 7 Click. With a sound, three coffins opened. "Dammit! I''m too late!" - Jiraiya arrived at the same time with Gamabunta, and the first thing he did, was looking at who''s in the coffins. "Ah...welcome...I didn''t expect for you to come here too, Jiraiya...but you arrived at a good time." - Orochimaru greeted his old companion with a smile. Now that he successfully revived what he prepared, he wasn''t worried about Jiraiya or Eiji messing his plan up but was instead looking forward to finally getting rid of Jiraiya. "...to think I would be revived by a former enemy...but it looks like there was a fall-out between the two of you since the last time I saw you." - Hanzo of the Salamander stepped out of his coffin and his presence full of confidence despite being summoned as a minion showed why he was feared when he was still alive. "Well well...my most bitter enemy delivered right to me..." - the Second Mizukage saw the Second Tsuchikage next to him and smiled, ready to fight his rival. "...this isn''t the time for that...it looks like we were called back from the underworld by the Second Hokage''s wretched Jutsu." - Mu (Second Tsuchikage) calmy analyzed. "Oh yeah...the other guy also said something about being revived...WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN DEAD?!" - Gengetsu (Second Mizukage) "Don''t you remember? I killed you myself." - Mu "Oh yeah...WAIT WHAT?! BUT YOU DIED TOO, RIGHT? YEAH, I KILLED YOU!" - Gengetsu "Yes you did...but let''s forget that for now and move on..." - Mu looked at Kabuto who summed him. But Kabuto looked pretty tired and was painting, while Orochimaru clapped happily his hands and started to order them - so he could see who was the mastermind behind his revival. "He is right...let bygones be bygones...I didn''t assemble you here just for fun...for the sake of all of us, let''s not waste time and jump straight into what you are here for. Defeat the one on top of the Toad, the scythe-wielding maniac, and capture the one in the back alive!" - Orochimaru "Hmph! Being ordered by some brat like this..." - Gengetsu was saying that quietly to himself with a sulky face. "Let me see how much you''ve grown since last time!" - Hanzo to Jiraiya. Jiraiya knew that the situation was really bad...he didn''t expect Orchimaru to pull out such strong foes, but at least he knew that it wasn''t completely doomed: a maniacally laughing Hidan was waving his scythe around and Sasuke was here as well! Though he knew that calling them allies would be a stretch, so he didn''t expect much... Hidan looked a bit stupid, so he was sure he could manipulate Hidan who was his enemy, to fight his other enemies...the problem was Sasuke. Jiraiya could see how Sasuke was still indecisive and bothered about the possibility of fighting his parents, so he might not even join the fight until it''s too late. If he didn''t come up with a plan fast, Jiraiya might really get into trouble, since the three summoned were preparing to attack. "Jo! Why are you standing there like your fart betrayed you?" - Eiji suddenly was standing next to Sasuke and touched Sasuke''s shoulder with a fist. When he saw that Jiraiya''s heart calmed down...Eiji being there made the situation much more manageable if they decided to team up. Furthermore, he was sure that if Eiji teamed up with him, Sasuke would too. But could he be sure that Eiji would team up with him? Jiraiya knew about Eiji''s secret with Danzo and no matter what happened, Eiji was still a fellow Konoha shinobi at his heart, unlike Orochimaru, carrying the Will of Fire! "Hehehe...so you came back...you don''t know how much I''ve waited to finally tear you apart! There is no person I''ve ever truly hated except for you!" - Orochimaru didn''t hide his hatred anymore and his face was distorted creepily with a grimace full of malice. The summoned three stopped their preparation because they awaited the orders of what they should do with Eiji. Eiji glanced at him in return for a second, before looking at Sasuke again. "Get a hold of yourself...this is pretty embarrassing for a supposed Genius of the Uchiha clan." - since Sasuke didn''t seem to respond and still was lost in thought, Eiji hit his head with a chop. "The hell are you doing? Want me to kill you?" - in his usual arrogant voice, Sasuke looked at Eiji angrily. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say...since you are now listening to me, let''s get outta here. Ukon will sacrifice himself heroically so that we can escape!" "..." - Jiraiya wasn''t sure anymore if Eiji inherited the Will of Fire. CrusadeAgainstFurries Hmm, this was again without fighting, but at least now everyone is assembled and I can completely write fighting scene after fighting scene. Chapter 134: Chaotic fight part 8 "Stop joking around...I was just distracted by a thought for a bit, nothing more...so let''s just finally do what we came here for..." - Sasuke breathed in and remembered his goal and why he accepted to come here with Eiji in the first place. ''Just distracted by a thought, huh?'' - Eiji smirked by didn''t say anything more to Sasuke, instead he waved towards Jiraiya and shouted to him: "How about making a temporary alliance?" "I agree that would be the best for each of us...I will hold off against the three summoned with Sasuke helping me, while you the fastest go for Orochimaru, alright?" - Jiraiya signaled for Gamabunta to jump towards Eiji''s side while saying that. Orochimaru heard that too, but Jiraiya knew that this didn''t matter. It was the most effective plan they go for and him knowing about it wouldn''t really change much. Bang! With a loud sound, Gamabunta landed beside Eiji and Sasuke. Eiji and Sasuke weren''t bothered by a giant Toad suddenly landing next to them, almost crushing them if he were to land a bit nearer. "Nope." - Eiji "...what? This is the most sensible decision...or do you have a better plan?" - Jiraiya Meanwhile, Orochimaru didn''t order the undead trio to move. But why did he do this? It was because he was waiting for them to make the first move. He had the upper hand since Sasuke''s parents were still under his control, and it was clear to everyone that Sasuke wouldn''t just run away and leave his parents in Orochimaru''s hands, so he could just wait for them to make the move first, and then order his undead in the most efficient tactical way. If he just ordered them to rush at them, even though his side would have the initiative and would weaken their cooperation at the start, the undead trio might be too preoccupied to retreat back and fight around Sasuke''s parents, resulting in him losing his biggest advantage. Furthermore, there was Hidan... "Yep, my plan is bulletproof if we manage to pull it off...we just need to buy time for Sasuke...he will do the rest." - Eiji said to Jiraiya who was now near him, so he could say it without Orochimaru hearing him. "Buying time...hmm...certainly I can do that, but what are you planning? I can''t trust you fully, so I need to know..." - Jiraiya was touching his chin while thinking. Eiji''s smirk disappeared and was replaced by an indifferent expression: "Make one of Orochimaru''s folk betray him." "Sigh...that really doesn''t tell me much, but I got a hunch, so let''s start already...at this pace, the other battles will be finished before we even made our first move." - Jiraiya "Hmph!" - Sasuke didn''t say a word, but Eiji and Jiraiya knew that it meant something along the lines: "Start already, I''m tired of waiting!" "NARUTO, STAY BEHIND!!" - Yamato shouted while raising a wood wall to defend Naruto, Sakura, and himself. Naruto was the Jinchuriki, so obviously he couldn''t allow Kakuzu to capture him, so he kept defending Naruto, and Sakura who was their important Medic-nin. Unfortunately, that meant that the other Anbu had to fight Kakuzu. Grabbing two of them with black threads and taking their hearts out, surprised them at first, but they knew their enemy was Akatsuki, so they just accepted that he had such a mysterious ability. The giant thread arms gave them at first huge trouble since they had an enormous range and power -plus there were eight of them, so they only could passively dodge. But to the patient, an opportunity always arrives: Sai managed to summon 5 small ink birds, attached with explosive tags, which flew unnoticed by Kakuzu out of his vision and now closed in on him from a blind spot! BOOM!!! "Did we get him?" - Anbu A When the smoke settled, Kakuzu could be seen standing there as nothing happened with the only difference being that his skin was darker, it was the Earth Release: Earth Spear technique! "Tsk...you Anbu are an annoying bunch like always...even though you are a bunch of small fries you jump around like rabbits and throw useless junk at me!" - Kakuzu "He let Earth-Chakra run through his body to increase his defensive power to a maximum...coupled with his long and destructive range, he has no weakness...what a monster..." - Anbu B "There is a way to counter his Earth-technique though...Lighting-based Jutsus will still work on him." Anbu C The Anbu saw a glimmer of hope again! CrusadeAgainstFurries Writing this chapter was a lot of fun. It had all: tactics, Eiji''s usual shenanigans, and fighting Chapter 135: Thanks Eiji "Orochimaru makes our life pretty easy...he managed to summon some strong folks, so we might get the chance to strike! If I can touch him, my spores will do the rest!" - White Zetsu "I agree...with your Spore Technique, his chakra will get absorbed and his movements will be restricted, making it easy for anyone to defeat him...but with Sasuke and Jiraiya being here as well, it won''t be easy to get you to get into physical contact with him...also don''t forget that we need him alive to question him! So wait until the end of the fight!" - Black Zetsu The Anbu were coordinating another attack: This time Sai used Ink lions to draw attention from Kakuzu, while the others supported him. Slowly, they started to get closer to Kakuzu amidst their dodging, but this wasn''t as easy as it sounds. Some of the Anbu were almost hit a bunch of times, which would mean game over for them. But the most problematic thing was that only one of them was proficient in lightning-based techniques since the other two who could use it as well had their hearts taken out. Meaning everything laid on the shoulders of one Anbu! "DAMN!! LET ME FIGHT TOO!!" - Naruto couldn''t hold back anymore, but was of course stopped by Yamato, wrapping him with a wood piece. "Don''t be stupid. You are the enemy''s target, if you rush in there and he manages to catch you, it would be a disaster. Furthermore, you will probably just get into the Anbu''s way! Didn''t Kakashi teach you to trust your comrades?" - Yamato (still disguised). "You know Kakashi-sensei?" - Sakura who was there as well asked. "Yes...but let''s leave that for after this mission is over and focus on wha-" "BUT SASUKE IS RIGHT OVER THERE!! I HAVE TO DEFEAT THAT AKATSUKI BASTARD AND GET TO SASUKE FAST!!" - Naruto "As I said, you''ll only get into the way, so stay right here where I can protect you." - Yamato "...damn it..." - Naruto felt that he was weak again. Is this all his three years of training amounted to? Sasuke was right here in front of him, but he is just a hindrance to his comrades so all he can do is wait? His thoughts went deeper and deeper into the spiral of frustration, and soon the only thing he could hear was his own thoughts - until he heard an old familiar voice: "Little boy...look how pathetic and weak you are...the only thing you can do is ask for my power...so go ahead and ask for it and you''ll get powerful enough to erase everyone in your way!" Naruto found himself in front of a large gate in what seemed another dimension. He looked towards Kurama''s face behind the gate. "Alright then give it to me!" - Naruto said seriously. "HAHAHAHAHA!! That''s right you are nothing without my power...but I have to tell you that this tiny amount might not be enough...if you want my whole power, remove that seal!" - Kurama "!" - Naruto was hesitating. He knew that this was a dangerous idea, but he also knew that every second counted and he couldn''t waste this opportunity to get Sasuke back. "What are you hesitating for...don''t you remember how you were completely outclassed by this Eiji? If you don''t take my offer, you''ll just get defeated pathetically again." - Kurama Naruto recalled how he was humiliated by Eiji not long ago. This really hurt his confidence in himself and since then he had many doubts about himself, but he hid it behind his usual self, like asking Jiraiya for training, and being loud and trying to fake his usual confidence. But deep down he knew he was lying to himself. He walked towards the seal and raised his hand. And then he suddenly stopped. "What are you doing? You just have to remove i-" "I won''t." - Naruto looked up with a smile and clear gaze. "What? Don''t you see how weak you are?" - Kurama "I know that I''m weak...but the truth is I was always weak...that''s why I trained and worked hard to get where I am...it doesn''t matter how weak I''m currently - I just have to overcome it and get stronger until I reach my goal and become Hokage. That''s my ninja way!" - Naruto "You fool...you will just lose pathetically...you will never get out this, without my help...but since you declined, I won''t even give you a portion of my power!" "Hehehe...but you helped me enough already..." - Naruto touched his nose while grinning. "Huh? What are you talking about?" - Kurama "You reminded me of this Eiji bastard, and that''s when I got an idea..." Meanwhile, in the outside world, almost no time passed but Yamato saw how red chakra suddenly started to form around Naruto''s body. He couldn''t let Naruto run out of control because of Kurama''s chakra, so he prepared to instantly take action. But then the red chakra vanished just like that. And Naruto looked at him calmly with a clear gaze: "Please let me fight! I know I can do it...please trust me!" Yamato gulped. Naruto was clear-headed and his gaze showed overflowing confidence that he was sure he could do it - not like the overemotional and agitated Naruto just a minute ago. "Sigh...why are you so sure?" - Yamato "I want to try a technique I just thought of." - Naruto was about to use a new technique he didn''t use ever in the original timeline - and it was one of Eiji''s techniques he got inspiration from! CrusadeAgainstFurries Have to give the original MC of this world some limelight as well... Chapter 136: Naruto vs Kakuzu part 1 "A new technique? You want to use a technique you never used before and which has a high chance of failing versus such a strong foe? You think I would allow that?" - Yamato took his mask off to lock straight into Naruto''s eyes. Taking the mask off during an Anbu mission was unheard of, but he was responsible for Naruto - not only because Tsunade entrusted him with that, but because Kakashi was his senpai, so he needed to make sure that Naruto meant what he said. And he felt that hiding behind a mask, he wouldn''t be able to get a clear answer from Naruto. Naruto saw Yamato''s face for the first time, and after the initial surprise that he took the mask off, he returned to a serious expression, and with clear eyes, he said: "I can do it. Please trust me. I''m a Konoha-shinobi too - not just a Jinchuriki which needs to be protected nonstop." Yamato smiled. At first, he didn''t understand why Tsunade wanted Naruto to participate in this mission - until now he seemed more like baggage than a reliable teammate. If he didn''t need to protect Naruto, he could have helped the rest of the Anbu which would have been way better in his opinion. But Naruto showed now his spirit and determination, befitting of a Konoha shinobi who inherited the Will of Fire. This was also noticed by Sakura: ''Naruto...when did you grow up so much? Compared to you, I''m still relying on others like always...even if Sasuke is so close...'' "Alright, I''ll permit it. I don''t know what your plan is, so I''ll support you with my Jutsus. However, if I see that you don''t stand a chance, I''ll pull you out of the fight immediately, understood?" - Yamato Naruto nodded and got ready. There was no better time to enter than now: the Anbu desperately managed to get closer to Kakuzu and when they finally got an opening for the Anbu who could use lighting release, the lighting infused Kunai he threw hit Kakuzu, and when he activated his hand signs, lightning went through Kakuzu''s whole body and burned his innards - or at least that''s what was supposed to happen. When he was hit by the Kunai, Kakuzu just detached one of his Lighting masks (he had two since the first mask was destroyed by Jiraiya back then, but then he took the hearts of the Anbu with Lightning nature) and the body of the Lightning mask monster was electrified instead. Since it had lighting affinity, it didn''t do much damage to its heart, so it was ineffective. While the Anbu were surprised by what happened, his threads stroke the Anbu and tore through his chest. "Tsk, again lighting nature? I seem to get unlucky a bit here...whatever, it''s not like I need all four elements o defeat you small fries." - Kakuzu looked around and thought it would be better to finish his fight quickly, so he detached all four mask monster from his body...and he started blasting. His masks used all their offensive techniques at the same time and soon the battlefield was full of huge firestorms and lighting spears flying around. "Damn it...we lost our sole chance...what do we do? I don''t think we stand a chance..." - Anbu A "We can only hope that he either runs out of chakra first or that we manage to drag it out enough that Lord Jiraiya can reinforce us..." - Anbu B After his barrage of attacks, when the smoke settled, Kakuzu either expected to see Anbu corpses or that they fled, but instead it was Naruto standing there with the hand signs of the Shadowclone Jutsu. "So you finally decided to stop hiding yourself behind your comrades? Good, this makes it easier for me..." - Kakuzu wasn''t that talkative compared to other villains, so he stopped it at that and recalled one of the Lighting monsters into his body and started to move his threads towards Naruto''s body. He needed to capture him alive, so he didn''t bombard him as he did with the Anbu. Naruto was that, but he didn''t dodge because the next moment a woodwall appeared and blocked the thread-arm. In the meantime, four shadow clones appeared, and with them, he rushed towards Kakuzu. This looked like a typical Naruto attack, but he was in fact already planning ahead so that his new technique would definitely land! CrusadeAgainstFurries Next chapter will be Naruto''s new technique...sorry if you thought it would be this chapter, but I didn''t want to half-ass and rush the fight unnaturally just to get to the new Jutsu. Chapter 137: Naruto vs Kakuzu part 2 Kakuzu looked at the four Narutos and made sure to keep track of who''s the real one to not kill him accidentally. Two of them rushed from the opposite sides, while the real one and the last clone prepared a Rasengan. Seeing that, Kakuzu was contemplating if he could just tank it with his Earth Release: Earth Spear technique, but he decided to just continue to use his long-range advantage instead of trying it. Four of his "octopus arms" moved towards Naruto preparing his Rasengan, while the other four moved towards the approaching clones. But then a wood wall appeared and blocked it. However, Kakuzu didn''t have the time to blurt his dissatisfaction out, since wood branches grow out of Yamato''s arm and moved towards him. To this, his answer was to detach the fire mask beast and to let it breathe a firestorm out into Yamato''s direction. Of course, he didn''t forget about Naruto and his threads smashed the wood wall which appeared, but Naruto was missing already. He knew he should quickly locate Naruto, but the two clones needed his attention for a brief moment, so he focused on that and when the four "arms" hit them, they vanished with a smoke. Then he noticed how Naruto was behind him jumping at him with a Rasengan: ''This must be the real one.'' Kakuzu moved all his threads back, used half of them to defend himself and the other half to catch Naruto. Poof! The Rasengan using Naruto vanished with a smoke. ''Shit - it was just another clone...where is the real one?'' - Kakuzu tried to find the real Naruto before Yamato was finished dealing with his fire mask beast''s attack. But he wasn''t anywhere to be found. At least until the fire attack of his mask stopped and he saw an entire army of Naruto taking cover under a giant wood umbrella which was burning because of the fire, but the fire was far from reaching the Naruto and they started simultaneously to rush out into the burned path left behind by the attack all while holding their hands together for some reason. "More shadow-clones? After fooling me with that one clone, I expected something more..." - Kakuzu decided to just blow them away since the Naruto army was gathered in a line perfect for him to hit them all at once. However before he could do that, the Narutos all stopped. And then Narutos started to glow before all the light went into the farthest clone which was thrown towards Kakuzu by the other clones. ''I don''t know what this is, but I can''t get hit by that!'' - Kakuzu''s instincts screamed, so he used the Earth Release: Earth Spear technique plus all his threads to defend himself. BOOM!!! A giant blue explosion, somewhat resembling the Rasengan of course not refined as it and more just like a crude explosion, completely engulfed Kakuzu. While defending himself and the real Naruto from the explosion, Yamato said: "That definitely was powerful...however it could have easily killed yourself if you messed it up...sigh if I knew what you were planning, I would have never agreed..." What he was referring to was that Naruto accelerated Chakra through all his clones until it finally reached the last one which wouldn''t be able to hold that power and would blow up. If he didn''t control his Chakra correctly during that and a clone close to him exploded instead, it would be disastrous. However, since the Rasengan already was a technique that involved accelerating it wasn''t something new to Naruto. But to keep accelerating to such a degree that you couldn''t control it anymore and then suddenly releasing it with a blast, Naruto never thought about it before - but that was what he copied from Eiji''s signature Iai-technique. Naruto looked at the explosion while smiling: "Hihihi, sorry...anyway I call it the Uzumaki Bomb!" ''What an awful name...'' - Yamato rolled his eyes. "!" "Cough...cough...fucking shit...that destroyed 3 of my hearts..." - three mask beasts fell to the ground before disintegrating next to Kakuzu. "It''s not over...but you did well...let me take it from her-" - Yamato stopped midsentence. "SHA!!" - Sakura managed was somehow above Kakuzu and only now did he notice here. But it was too late and her fist smashed him into the ground. CrusadeAgainstFurries I already know how the comments will be full of "hey Sakura finally did something" and "wow, she stopped being useless for once", but well. Chapter 138: Chaos part 1 "WHAAT?!! WHY IS NOT WORKING?!! Oh...right you are already dead...DAMN YOUR OROCHIMARU!!! YOUR JUTSU IS BLASPHEMY!! DIVIN PUNISHMENT SHALL BEFALL YOU!!" - Hidan was standing in a circle drawn by his own blood while having a spear hanging in the chest area around his heart. "..." - Fugaku looked at his opponent and then at his wife. She didn''t say anything, but he understood what her expression meant. After Hidan saw that his ritual didn''t work, he decided to just cut them to pieces with his scythe instead and rushed at them. ''Hmm...looks like Edo Tensei counters Hidan''s main abilities, but I shouldn''t drag this out and let Sasuke''s parents attack Sasuke again...'' - Orchimaru calmy analyzed even though just right in front of him Gamabunta and Hanzo''s summon Ibuse were clashing against each other. "Second Tsuchikage, go deal with the one who wields a scythe...he is immortal soo your abilities should come in handy." Mu didn''t say anything but he didn''t have a choice other than to follow Orochimaru''s orders. "Ha! Lucky you! You get to fight an adult, while it looks like I''m left with fighting those two brats...talk about terrible luck..." - the Second Mizukage was touching his neck, but while he was doing that an air bullet from Eiji hit his head. However, his body turned into liquid and the air bullet just shot through his head. "Well, that''s interesting brat...this is really similar to my Clan''s Water Gun Technique...alright, looks like this will be fun after all!" - he smiled and rushed towards Eiji who was standing on top of the bridge gate. While this was going on, Hanzo jumped down from the bridge with Jiraiya following him. The bridge was getting to crowded with Gamabunta, Ibuse, and all the various Shinobis, furthermore Hanzo speed was unsurpassed in water so he wanted to take advantage of that. Jiraiya followed him despite it being clearly disadvantageous to him, was because with how crowded the battlefield got, he couldn''t go full out without worrying about hitting others. This was still going on while Kakuzu was fighting the Konoha force, on the pathway to the bridge gate - not so close that the fight influenced this fight here, but close enough to see what was going on over there. Hidan''s fight was at the left side where pillars were, where he and Sasuke''s parents would jump on and of from them, while Ukon''s fight over time moved towards the complete other side of the bridge. Sasuke was standing beneath the gate Eiji was standing on, seemingly waiting for something. This troubled Kabuto, since it didn''t make sense for one of the enemies side''s strongest to not attack: "Lord Orochimaru...what do we do about Sasuke?" All Orochimaru''s summons had already an opponent. His plan was for Mu to finish Hidan quickly so that he and Sasuke''s parents could deal with Sasuke, while the Otonins who were the ones who transported the coffins and were currently defending Kabuto and Orochimaru would be used as fodder to stall Sasuke until Mu dealt with Hidan. "This is indeed weird...why wo - BLURGH!!... Kabuto...you..." - Orochimaru looked at his chest. There he could see Kabuto''s hand, used as a Chakra Scalpel, piercing him completely through from behind! "...I never fully trusted you, but to think...no!" - Orochimaru sensed that something wasn''t right. ''Genjutsu? But neither me and he looked into Sasuke''s eyes...what''s happening? DAMN IT!!'' - his body tried to regenerate, but he felt how he was suddenly enveloped in black flames. "DAMN YOU!! YOU IDIOTS MOVE ALREADY AND ATTACK SASUKE!!" - he knew that this came from Sasuke, so he ordered the Otonins to keep Sasuke busy while he tried to find a way to get out of his current predicament. "Hey brat, you shouldn''t be looking somewhere else and focus on me instead!" - from the misty air surrounding Eiji, the Second Mizukage appeared behind Eiji, who was looking at Orochimaru and Kabuto, and pointed his Index Finger at Eiji''s chest. But before Eiji could react, a water bullet already pierced his heart. "Tsk...this is why I don''t like fighting little brats...no matter how talented they are, they have no experience whatsoever." -the Second Mizukage was visibly disappointed. He was already turning away, when suddenly Eiji said like nothing happened: "Hey, who do you think wins in a fight: a sword or a gun?" Eiji''s wound was already regenerating. CrusadeAgainstFurries I hope I could describe successfully how all those battles could go on despite the battlefield being a bridge - though it''s a giant-ass bridge if you remember the anime/manga. Not only that, but this was really chaotic to write with so many fights at the same time - nonetheless despite the difficulty, writing this chapter was really fun. Chapter 139: Chaos part 2 "Ha? The hell are you talking about, brat?" - Gengetsu turned back and looked at Eiji''s wound regenerating. Eiji turned around with a smile: "The answer is...it doesn''t matter with your dumb hairstyle, weirdo." "!!" - an internal thunder struck Gengetsu and he was paralyzed. No one ever in his entire life disrespected him like that - let alone insulting! "What''s wrong? Can''t, you move because your hair moves too much around?" - Eiji thought about using the chance to attack his opponent while he was still paralyzed, but then when he glanced over to Orochimaru, he decided against it and summoned a shadow-clone. The shadow-clone instantly left as soon as he appeared. While this was going on, Gengetsu recovered his mental state - though you could see a vein on his head pulsating and a dangerous-looking smile on his face. "...you sent your clone to help your mates? Not that I care, but I would advise you to use your chakra for yourself to fight because I''m about to show you to respect me, you little shit!" - Gengetsu summoned a chibi clone of himself. Using his notorious Steaming Danger Tyranny clone so early in a fight, showed how pissed he was! ''It''s that, huh?'' - Eiji recognized it from his knowledge, and just as the clone fully appeared, Eiji moved his finger to his sheath and the clone was cut. "Not bad kid...looks like you have the skills to excuse some of your arrogance, but my technique was feared because it couldn''t be stopped." - Gengetsu had his arms crossed while the chibi clone already manifested again. And when the clone manifested, Eiji just cut it again: "Don''t care...I just have to keep cutting it can''t do anything, right?" Gengetsu raised an eyebrow, but he instantly noticed: ''This brat is stalling for time. My Steaming Danger Tyranny clone uses temperature, oil, and water for it to get bigger and to explode before starting the cycle again- meaning that once summoned, it doesn''t use my chakra anymore. But for this brat, even though his technique is mostly Kenjutus based, he still uses wind-chakra to be able to reach such a distance, so in the long run, it will be disadvantageous to him to keep doing it...damn he pisses me off! He obviously isn''t taking me seriously!'' - Gengetsu was fighting to not completely lose his composure and you could hear his teeth gritting. Black flames were burning strongly, but Orochimaru already left his "old body" like a shell and was fresh and uninjured behind his "old body" that was burning to crisps. But he didn''t have the time to celebrate or take a breath, since Kabuto already moved at him with a chakra scalpel. Orochimaru''s arms were still sealed, so his arsenal was limited, but luckily summoning Rashomon didn''t require any hand signs, so Kabuto hit the large menacing-looking gate which suddenly appeared in front of him. However Orochimaru didn''t relax, since he was more worried about Sasuke than Kabuto, but when get glanced over, he saw how Sasuke was holding his head with one of his eyes bleeding, so Orochimaru anticipated he had some time before Sasuke could take action again. This meant he had a good opportunity to get rid of Kabuto before he had to deal with him and Sasuke at the same time. Didn''t Orochimaru know that Kabuto was under the influence of a genjutsu? Yes, but he didn''t care - he felt not a shed of sadness of killing his loyal right-hand. He desummoned Rashomon while perfectly timing the disappearance of it with the Kusanagi sword suddenly extending from his mouth which would pierce Kabuto instantly! "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA IT''S YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" - Orochimaru swa who thrawted his plan again. It was Eiji''s shadow clone that blocked the Kusanagi sword with his own sword while standing next to Kabuto. ''I probably shouldn''t say anything and get out of here as fast as possible...I think Orochimaru''s mental went full boom...'' - Eiji took Kabuto and carried him on his shoulder, before starting to run. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" - while he was shouting madly, Orochimaru was now in his gaint snake form while extending and retreating the Kusanagi sword in such a speed, which made it look like he was firing lasers from his mouth. Eiji felt like he was in one of those agent movies from his past life. But unlike in those movies, he wasn''t rescuing a beautiful woman, and more importantly, he wasn''t even an agent! CrusadeAgainstFurries Don''t know if I went too far with the comedy in this chapter or if I should have made it more serious, so please tell me what you think and if I should redo it. Chapter 140: Just like that ''So this is what he was meaning with "Make one of Orochimaru''s folk betray him"? It wasn''t that bad of an idea if Kabuto and Sasuke managed to kill Orochimaru there, but unfortunately, it didn''t work out...but why is he saving Kabuto? Since it failed, why don''t Eiji just let Kabuto and Orochimaru fight while he focuses on taking one opponent done so that we have the advantage?" - Jiraiya was glancing at the bridge while he was on top of Gambunta was jumping into the air to dodge Hanzo''s attack coming from underwater. Saving an opponent under a Genjutsu was unheard of. First of all, there was always the chance that the opponent might be able to break out of it - and you wouldn''t want to be next to him when this happens. And secondly, this is still an opponent you had to deal with later anyway! But what Jiraiya didn''t know was that this wasn''t just any Genjutsu Kabuto was under. It was the Kotoamatsukami. Back then when Eiji had the idea that Sasuke should learn Sage Mode too, Sasuke''s body wasn''t able to withstand the natural chakra the White Snake Sage injected into him, so he transformed into a snake and was eaten by her. Thankfully Eiji taught Sasuke about Izanagi beforehand, so a completely intact Sasuke appeared again. Using Izanagi came however with the price of the eye which used it to go blind - though they still had Shisui''s eye as loot from the Danzo fight, so Sasuke decided to replace it with for his unusable eye. Problem was that they couldn''t ask for a medic-nin to do it, since they could only ask someone outside of the Five Shinobi villages for obvious reasons, but those outside weren''t trustworthy enough for such an operation. So Eiji had to do it. ... It was a complete disaster. Eiji wasn''t a surgeon and he certainly didn''t enjoy gore, so he messed up and completely butchered Sasuke''s face. He was sure that if Sasuke wasn''t under narcosis that he would have killed him on the spot, but with Ukon''s help who used his ability to "transfer" Eiji''s regeneration-ability to Sasuke the operation somehow managed to be a success. But why did Eiji place such importance on Kabuto? Wouldn''t he be glad if he died considering that he killed Hayate? Eiji didn''t forgive him and certainly didn''t forget his grudge towards Kabuto, but it would be a waste to kill Kabuto when he is fully under Sasuke''s control. That was because of the Edo Tensei. Sasuke could have used the Kotoamatsukami on Orochimaru to end the fight instantly, but he currently wasn''t able to perform the Edo Tensei himself. But the more important part was that it was Kabuto who would perfect the Edo Tensei - not Orochimaru. And Eiji wanted to obtain the perfect Edo Tensei, not Orochimaru''s weaker version. With that, Eiji would start walking the path of a villain in this world, but he grew a bit paranoid with his experience of the unreliable fate and wanted to fully maintain control over the flow of things. Plus, he promised Sasuke that he would help him to get Itachi out of Akatsuki and therefore he needed a good bargain chip. Eiji might be shameless and piss people off, but he wasn''t someone who broke promises without a really good reason - especially to important figures like Sasuke with who he wanted to maintain a good relationship. Mu looked in front of him. Hidan was reduced to nothing else than dust! Orochimaru made the right call by letting Mu fight Hidan. There was simply no worse match-up for Hidan. Other than his ritual, Hidan was using mostly his scythe for battle and with his overall reliance on his immortality, when Mu used his Dust Release to form a cube which then suddenly expended at a tremendous speed, engulfing Hidan, it was over, just like that. Hidan was by no means weak but compared to such a legendary character who not only climbed to the rank of Tsuchikage but even fought Madara and survived, Hidan lost just like that, uneventfully with nothing of him remaining. Fugaku gulped: ''So this is the power of a Tsuchikage?'' Orochimaru''s tactic worked out and his side gained a huge advantage! CrusadeAgainstFurries Orochimaru isn''t supposed to be dumb, so I have to let him succeed for once too :P By the way, did any of you watch Tokyo Revengers? This show is so awesome OMG!!!! Chapter 141: Dumb luck Without a word, Gengetsu summoned a giant clam. Now with not only the Steaming Danger Tyranny Clone but his personal summon as well, he was sure that he would quickly take care of this shameless brat. But then he looked at Eiji''s eyes and an unexplainable unease emerged in him. However, he needed only a few seconds to figure it out: until now, Eiji didn''t seem surprised encountering his unique techniques - rather it seemed as he already knew about his techniques. His techniques certainly weren''t the ordinary jutsus most Shinobis used, so even experienced Shinobis he fought in the past would at least for a moment fear on what his techniques could do. Gengetsu tried to figure this peculiarity out, but he stopped since he knew that this wouldn''t lead somewhere so he just concluded that Eiji was just an idiot. Meanwhile, Eiji was contemplating: now that he got Kabuto, he has everything he had come for, so wasn''t it the time now to order Sasuke and Ukon to run away? For him, this decision made the most sense, since he really didn''t have a reason to fight until the end. But he was reluctant because he felt like if he couldn''t leave Naruto, plus he was sure that Sasuke wouldn''t just leave with his revived parents in front of him. This indecisiveness of him, which cost seconds, was however something he could do against opponents like the current Naruto, but not someone like the Second Mizukage. While he was still lost in thought, suddenly something exploded right behind him and he was blown into bits! The ability of Gengetsu''s summon was to create a mist that manifests realistic mirages, which means that he can completely conceal itself and Gengetsu. Even though Eiji forgot some things about the Naruto world and its characters because of the sheer amount of time that passed from his former life, he still knew most of the unique techniques from non-mobs. This was also the case for Gengetsu''s arsenal which in Eiji''s opinion really had style - especially the Water Gun Technique. He even had his own version with the Wind Gun. However if you asked him if he copied it from Gengetsu, he would answer that it''s just a chakra gun which is based on guns in the first place. Anyway, in this instance, instead of hiding himself and the clam with the mist, Gengetsu used it to make it seem as his chibi clone was still standing next to him, when in fact it approached Eiji from behind while getting bigger and bigger before exploding. Eiji''s superficial knowledge gave him a false sense of security which was a fatal error here. Gengetsu looked at the flesh soup which was Eiji, but he didn''t celebrate: "I wonder if you can regenerate from this too...if yes I would need to use Fuinjutsu (Sealing Jutsus), huh? Really was a long time ago since I had to use one..." His expectations weren''t betrayed and a small white snake split into countless other small snakes, and with that Eiji started to form. What he didn''t know was that Eiji was really lucky there: the regeneration ability wasn''t without its limits. It needed body parts that can turn into snakes - if Eiji''s sword didn''t shield a part of his arm from the explosion he would be dead. Secondly, it needed chakra to turn parts of his body into snakes - if he runs out of chakra it''s also game over. And lastly, it could only regenerate missing parts or injures similar to it, if he was burned or frozen, the snakes would be burned or frozen too. Luckily, the chibi clone''s secret of being able to explode again and again was that after exploding, the water vapor rises into the atmosphere where it cools down which starts the process of the chibi clone getting bigger and bigger again - in short: it was a water-based explosion which didn''t leave any flames behind. While he was regenerating, Eiji recognized that he almost died. Until now he got away with abusing his knowledge to fight stronger and more talented opponents than himself, but now it was different... Now fully regenerated, he gulped and was full of sweat. He was one step away from death and the only thing which saved him was dumb luck. CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry about yesterday. The words really didn''t come out... Anyway, in Naruto characters often have full dramatic death scenes, but I hope with this and the last chapter I could play around with the idea a bit that it could be different in such a harsh world. Chapter 142: Not again… Eiji''s mind was in complete turmoil. Up until this point, even though he faced life-threatening scenarios before, nothing came as close to death as this. And now it showed what his biggest flaw was: his inexperience. When it comes to fighting, the psychological is as important as techniques, but until not his spirit was never tested as before. That was because through abusing knowledge he could overcome his inexperience, but now it showed one of the things which differentiated a fake genius like him from a real genius. A true genius wouldn''t be faced with such a thing during a battle - even Naruto did it with sheer willpower instead. So standing there in shock versus an opponent like Gengetsu was a sure way-ticket to death. But luckily Eiji''s body moved instinctively on its own. Despite his confusion, the hours of training Sage Mode enabled him to unconsciously gather natural chakra. And he entered Sage-Mode, and even more importantly right at the time where something exploded on his left side! Gengetsu''s tactic was to blow Eiji up again and while he regenerated he would seal him without any trouble - what was weird however was that the usually talkative Gengetsu had a weird expression while not saying a word. This plan didn''t work out, since with Sage Mode, Eiji sensed it beforehand and his body moved instinctively on its own and dodged it easily with his immense speed. After dodging this explosion, he woke up from his stupor and started to take a deep breath to help him focus. But then he noticed something important...he was completely naked and his sword was missing. "Damn it...not again..." - Eiji knew he wouldn''t find any clothes on a battlefield, so he decided to search for his sword which was blown away by the explosion after shielding a part of his arm with the help of Sage Mode. Sasuke looked in front of him. The henchmen Orochimaru sent to attack him were crushed into meat paste by his Susanoo. He already used Amaterasu and since he planned on using Susanoo anyway, there was no reason to summon it slightly earlier to get rid of small fries. Now that all they''ve come for was in their hands, Sasuke could finish his personal matters without Eiji being able to complain - and even if Eiji complained he wouldn''t care currently. What was the personal matter? To kill Orochimaru of course for daring to use his parents as pawns to fight him! Orochimaru was currently busy trying to chase and kill Eiji''s shadow clone, so he didn''t notice how Sasuke''s Susanoo was completely formed now and aimed with its bow. "Go to hell, you snake-bastard..." - with those words the Susanoo fired the arrow. But unlike Orochimaru, Mu paid attention to the whole battlefield and while flying, used his Dust Release to turn the arrow midflight into dust. "Mangekyo Sharingan...it''s really a long time I had the privilege of fighting someone with that..." - Mu was standing midair. Since Sasuke''s parents were ordered to fight Hidan who was already dead, and Orochimaru being too preoccupied with giving them new orders, they were just watching and glad that for now, they wouldn''t have to fight Sasuke. This however wasn''t the case for Mu. Since he was already revived and didn''t have to fight someone from his village or who he knew, he thought it was best to dispose of this random Uchiha which could become a danger to his own village in the future. Sasuke just looked at him before one of his eyes started to pulsate and black flames started to appear at Mu''s location But Mu used his Fission Technique to split himself so that the Amaterasu used its focus and it started to burn in the air between two identical Mu''s instead. Now Sasuke recognized that this wasn''t some small fry as well and that this fight might take a little longer. "Let''s go, Naruto!" - Sakura urged Naruto who was still sitting on the ground after using his new technique to go. "Right!" - Naruto nodded and got up. Meanwhile, Yamato sighed: normally he would order Sakura their medic-nin to treat the Anbu first, but he recognized that he wouldn''t be able to stop her, so he didn''t even try. Anyway, the Konoha force is about to go to Sasuke now! CrusadeAgainstFurries Don''t know what to write here today, so I''ll just use the chance to thank you all for reading and the continuous support again. Chapter 143: Crazy ''What''s with this guy? How can it be that he suddenly started to be able to notice my Steaming Danger Tyranny Clone? This is troublesome...if he can sense it, then he will be most likely be able to sense my and my summon too if I were to use the mist to hid us, so I wont even try. And what''s with his ridiculous speed?'' - Gengetsu "Ah, found it." - Eiji stopped dodging around and picked up his sword. "Alright, let''s start for real now. You are kinda in my way, so I''ll deal with you quickly." - Eiji got into an Iai-stance. "HA?! Don''t try to sound cool when you are nacked, brat!" - Gengetsu stared to aim with his finger while his chibi clone charged at Eiji. Eiji drew his sword and Gengetsu was cut from a long distance, but he turned into water so the cut wasn''t effective. But instant of having the time to be surprised about it, Eiji sensed how the chibi clone appeared from behind and so he instantly needed to dodge. Even with his Sage Mode completely countering Gengetsu''s mist, Eiji still felt really troubled. It was his toughest opponent he faced so far. Not only was he under constant pressure and needed to move, but Gengetsu''s Hydrification Technique gave him a taste of how his opponents feel when facing his regeneration ability. How could he deal with it? Eiji thought about using Byakko to completely blow the body in water form away, but with the constant pressure, he didn''t have the time to prepare Byakko. So he needed another way that was quicker to perform. Unfortunately, the only thing which came into his mind was to use a Lightning-based Jutsu, but he didn''t know anyway. He looked towards Sasuke''s direction and thought: ''Fuck...can we swap opponents?'' Orochimaru gritted his teeth. Eiji''s shadow clone managed to escape with Kabuto. He didn''t know why Eiji placed such an importance on Kabuto, but he couldn''t let Eiji take his right hand just like that. But Orochimaru knew that he should control his anger and focus on what he has to do. As long as he manages to get Sasuke, everything else wouldn''t matter! He saw that Mu was fighting Sasuke on his own already, so he ordered Sasuke''s parents to attack Sasuke as well. Sasuke saw that and his gaze got darker again. "SASUKE!!" - Naruto came rushing with Sakura and Yamato. After glancing in Naruto''s direction, his gaze became even darker again. He really wasn''t in the mood to deal with Naruto right now, so he did the only sensible choice and fired a Susanoo arow at him. "Wha-" - Naruto stood there and watched the giant arrow approaching. "GET AWAY!!" - Yamato pushed Naruto and Sakura out of the way and raised a wood wall. But this wasn''t enough to stop the arrow, and it flew right through it. Luckily it was enough to at least change the trajectory of the arrow a little, which saved them. "HAHAHAHA!!! Splendid, Sasuke. I knew you were like me..." - Orochimaru snickered when he saw that. However, this pissed Sasuke even more off, but Mu was already attacking him. ''Too many annoyances are here...it will be troublesome to deal with all of them at the same time...'' - while defending with his Susanoo, he glanced towards Eiji. He saw that Eiji was dealing with his own stuff, so he could only rely on himself. Eiji''s shadow-clone stopped after getting into safety and dropped Kabuto on the ground. ''Why is my main body not trying to escape? Is it because of Sasuke? Can''t he just convince him?'' The shadow-clone continued to think while picking his nose, but he suddenly was stabbed by Kabuto''s kunai from behind and vanished with a smoke. "?" - Eiji''s main body received the information and was shocked. ''It''s impossible...how could Kabuto break free of the Kotoamatsukami? No...wait...don''t tell me...are you fucking crazy Sasuke? NO!!! The plan was to revive him only when you can use the Kotoamastukami again...damn... it''s because he doesn''t know what kind of monster he is...THIS DAMN UCHIHA ARROGANCE!!!'' Eiji nearly shit his pants - if he was wearing them. CrusadeAgainstFurries Here it is. A bit later than half a day, but still not evening so please put the torches away... Chapter 144: It was just suppoed to be a bluff… ''Damn it, if this goes on, I''ll run out of chakra...'' - Jiraiya jumped out of the water to breathe, but since it was full of poison above the water, he needed to use the Rasengan just to blow the gas away so that he can breathe. This of course was an inefficient way to use chakra, but since he wasn''t immune to Hanzo''s poison, he had no choice. But with his ample experience, Jiraiya already had a plan on how he could turn the situation around. For his plan to work, he needed to get to Gamabunta who was underwater, fighting with Hanzo''s summon. When he tried to dive underwater again after taking a deep breath, he was assaulted as expected by Hanzo with his Kusarigama. Using Needle Jizo, Jiraiya turned his hair into hard spikes which defended him against the swung Kurasigama. This also discouraged Hanzo from getting near to Jiraiya, but one of the advantages of the Kurasigama was that you could throw it for mid-range attacks, however, because he always needs to pull it back after throwing, the attack frequency wasn''t high. Because of that, through dodging and letting his spiky hair tank hits, Jiraiya managed to get to Gamabunta. To not waste any air, instead of words, Jiraiya signaled Gamabunta to jump with him out of the water. Hanzo''s summon Ibuse couldn''t stop them, since it was in the first place weaker than Gamabunta in direct fights since it specialized in poison attacks. The only reason it wasn''t defeated by Gamabunta until now was that Hanzo, with his torpedo-like underwater speed, was charging from one end of the water to attack Jiraiya and then to the other end back to attack Gamabunta. Now that Gamabunta jumped out with Jiraiya on his head, Gamabunta breathed as strongly as possible to make push the poison cloud away from them, so that a small room appeared where Jiraiya could breathe. "What''s your plan?" - Gamabunta "Huff...huff...Hanzo will try to engage us only underwater since he has a complete advantage over there...but we can bury him there..." - Jiraiya breathed ins as much as he could. "I understand." - with those words, Gamabunta spat as much oil out as much as he could, and soon most of the water surface was covered in an oil layer. And then Jiraiya followed it with his Dragon Fire Technique and a sea of flames completely covered the water. This was however a double-edged sword, since now not only had they to be careful to not breathe the poison in, but the smoke was as well. But Gambunta already after the first jump was clinging to the bottom of the bridge and started to move out of the poison smoke. "This should force him to come out of the water..." - Gamabunta Jiraiya also knew this, and since he had the time, he decided to check the other battlefields out. "..." "Jiraiya, why is that brat naked?" While all the fighting was going on, Kabuto ran past all the fights to reach a certain spot. This spot was where Eiji hid a summoning seal when he came to the bridge a day prior and placed his "back-up plan". It was for nothing else than to summon the coffin with Madara in it. But in truth, it was just to use it as a bluff. He also told Sasuke about it, in case he wouldn''t be able to summon the bluff so that Sasuke could do it in the worst case. Eiji wouldn''t dare to revive Madara without Sasuke controlling him, but Sasuke didn''t know what kind of monster Madara was, so he didn''t fear what he could unleash onto this world. In his eyes, it was manpower they could add to their side just like Orochimaru did with his zombies. So he thought that Eiji was overdramatic when he told him to NOT revive him under any circumstances until his Kotoamatsukami was ready again. So in short, in his eyes Sasuke didn''t betray Eiji - it was more of a tactical disagreement and Sasuke just thought this would make more sense doing it like that. But what influenced his decision, even more, was the fact that Sasuke didn''t know much about the Edo Tensei and that even though rare, there are ways for the revived to complete break out of the control of the caster. And how should he know that? Until now, no one managed to do it. But Eiji knew that something like the Edo Tensei wouldn''t be able to stop Madara... CrusadeAgainstFurries The arc is nearing its climax and I hope I don''t betray your expectations... Chapter 145: Involuntarily Eiji was troubled. He wanted to stop Sasuke from completely fucking the timeline up, but Gengetsu kept attacking him. Unlike how he did in the original timeline against Gaara where he advised the enemy on how to defeat him, the current Gengetsu didn''t want to be defeated against that rude and shameless brat. The only thing which wasn''t bad was that it wasn''t the perfect Edo Tensei, so the revived were weaker than when they were alive, plus they didn''t regenerate. But with Genegetsu''s ability to turn himself into a liquid form and Eiji not having a way to counter that, it didn''t really matter. ''GODDAMN IT!!! INSTEAD OF REVIVING MADARA, WHY NOT JUST ORDER KABUTO TO CONTROL THE REVIVED ONES??!! No...Kabuto might only have provided the chakra and did the hand signs for Orochimaru...still what if it''s not the case? NO, WAIT!! MADARA IS MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!! I need to find a way to deal with the Mizukage right now!'' Even with his immense speed buffed by Sage-Mode, it wasn''t enough to just escape from Gengetsu: he masterfully used his chibi clone to move Eiji across the battlefield, like he was playing at a chess game. His experience truly shined here. For Eiji who never uses his head in battle, and uses raw power and only planning beforehand instead, facing such a smart opponent was difficult. While dodging, Eiji noticed that he soon runs out of natural chakra. Because of that, even though he didn''t find a way, he knew that he had to at least try something. He slashed at Gengetsu who just turned into liquid, but Eiji used this small opportunity to summon Garaga. "Looks like you ar-" "NO TIME TO TALK!!! ATTACK THAT WEIRD HAIR DUDE OVER THERE!!" - Eiji shouted that and summoned two shadow-clones. "Hoo..not a bad summon you got there, brat." - Gengetsu dodged since even if he is liquid, if Garaga would eat him, he would end up in his stomach even in liquid form. Eiji used it to get out of his vision with his clones so that the Zengetsu wouldn''t know which was the right one. With that, he would need to guess and order his chibi clone to attack one of the Eiji''s randomly. Because of this, his clones managed to buy enough time for Eiji to retreat with his speed. He thought about using the time to prepare Byakko, but he figured stopping Madara''s revival was more important than winning his fight. "Snap out of it, you two...Sasuke showed that he is currently hostile to us, so start behaving like shinobis!" - Yamato shouted at Naruto and Sakura. "But..." - Naruto didn''t expect this. Sakura bit her lips: "Naruto, he is right...didn''t you say that if Sasuke doesn''t want to come back himself, that you gonna drag him back to Konoha yourself? Let''s focus on getting Sasuke back...as shinobis!" "Huh? What is Kabuto doing?" - Yamato ''Hm? Why is Kabuto...wait isn''t that a coffin? Don''t tell me...but what is this bad feeling I have?'' - Jiraiya who was still waiting for Hanzo to leave the water glanced over to where Sasuke and Kabuto were. ''...don''t tell me...no...no...no...they couldn''t be that crazy...even I didn''t dare to think about reviving him and only intended to research his corpse...'' - Orochimaru slowly realized what was happening. Then after like being struck with thunder, he started to shout frantically: "QUICKLY STOP THEM!!! ATTACK KABUTO!!!" "?" - Mu didn''t understand what this was all about, but he did as he ordered and used his infamous dust-release to attack. Sasuke noticed it, and he already had a somewhat understanding of his opponent''s attack, so he used Amaterasu to attack directly and Mu directly instead of trying to block it. "Uhm...did I see it right? Isn''t that Madara in that coffin?" - White Zetsu asked innocently. But he didn''t get a response since Black Zetsu was just staring with an open mouth at the battlefield. If Eiji believed he had a bad day, he would change his opinion instantly if he saw Black Zetsu right now. Black Zetsu schemed for centuries and was always in control of how things flowed and developed, but now Eiji came and fucked everything completely up - albeit involuntarily to be fair. CrusadeAgainstFurries Hmm...some of the dialogue feels a bit janky so I might redo them tomorrow, but can''t really right now. Probably after waking up with a fresh mind and reading it (and of course your comments), can I better judge it. Chapter 146: Worth? ''Sigh...Lord Orochimaru is really a slave driver...I used up so much chakra to revive those 5 and now he wants me to perform the Edo Tensei again - all while we are getting bombarded by the enemy...but luckily we have some disposable tools to defend us until I''m finished...'' - Kabuto touched his glasses while looking at Orochimaru next to him. Of course, it wasn''t Orochimaru who was next to him, but Sasuke instead and the "disposable tools" which sacrificed their lives to buy time weren''t some no-name henchman of Orochimaru, but Sasuke''s Susanoo instead. But under the influence of Kotoamitsukami, he couldn''t tell and wholeheartedly believed he was still fighting by Orochimaru''s side. Anyway, he started to gather his chakra. Like with the rest of the current revived ones, finding actually full corpses of them was almost impossible, but with the Edo Tensei, only the DNA is needed to transform an unlucky fellow under immense pain into the person they want to revive. Next, you place a talisman in their heads to be able to control them and after that, you could deactivate the revived and put them into coffins so that you don''t have to do the whole procedure in a battle. This was also the case for Madara, who was in Orochimaru''s hands beforehand - though they intended for him to stay deactivated. So technically Kabuto didn''t use so much of his chakra up for performing the Edo Tensei, but for activating and controlling them: controlling such powerful individuals and even more so that many wasn''t really easy. Because of that, he also maintained their personality and freedom to act how they want while performing their task since fully controlling 5 people was just simply too much for him. But Kabuto didn''t see that Madara was the one he was about to revive because Sasuke knew it wouldn''t make sense for Kabuto to see Madara who was stolen from them or else he might notice that he was under a Genjutsu. The Kotoamitsukami was indeed the most powerful Genjutsu, but it didn''t mean you could behave like an idiot when controlling someone. Who Kabuto was seeing in the coffin, was some random Uchiha he didn''t know. Sasuke Decided to play save here and Kabuto thought it must be some of Orochimaru''s "old stock" when he was still experimenting with the Edo Tensei. He thought that because Orochimaru knew that he was reaching his limit and couldn''t control someone more powerful, Orochimaru let him revive someone weaker instead - plus it was an Uchiha who, no matter if he wasn''t known, could still be helpful against Sasuke. But when Kabuto "activated" him, he immediately lost control and because of that, he even lost control of all the other revived Shinobis. "!" - Kabuto was bewildered and didn''t understand what was happening. But Sasuke was already moving on his own to place his control on Madara before "activating" him. With his Sharingan, when Kabuto was "activating" his parents and the other three, Sasuke could understand how it worked and copied it. Turns out that this was how what he was aiming for on how to deal with the other summons. He didn''t know if Kabuto ordered them to obey Orochimaru''s orders instead of his beforehand, so instead of gambling on the possibility that Kabuto could just order them as Sasuke liked, seeing how each summon needed a considered amount of chakra, letting him lose control like that was the safest thing to do - but only if it wasn''t Madara. Sasuke didn''t understand that in this case, getting the summoned free from Orochimaru''s or Kabuto''s control, wasn''t worth it all... "So it finally happened...it appeared that little brat Nagato managed to grow...hm? Looks like this isn''t Nagato''s doing...things don''t seem to be going exactly according to the plan..." - after inspecting his body he turned to Sasuke: "Who are you? You seem to be an Uchiha?" Sasuke didn''t respond and gulped. He couldn''t explain why, but he felt immense pressure. The same was for all the others on the battlefield. Even Gengetsu stopped chasing Eiji and just stared at Madara - the same was the case for Hanzo who emerged from the water. Time seemed to completely freeze. Uchiha Madara appeared in this world! CrusadeAgainstFurries I wanted to explain something about why Orochimaru acted a certain way or explain his decision about something, but I forgot what it was while writing another paragraph...fuck me. Hopefully, I remember it and include it in the next chapter, so that Orochimaru''s actions make sense so far. Chapter 147: Madara "...this is not a laughing matter. If it gets known that the Shiki Ryuu revived Madara and controls him, the Five Great Countries won''t stand idle...even without doing anything hostile action, this is enough reason for war...I might have the kill Eiji and Sasuke here to prevent that..." - Jiraiya had a dark expression, but even though he made up his mind, he couldn''t move and just continued to stare at Madara like the rest. "Are you the one who revived me brat?...no answer? Hm? Looks like there are some familiar faces..." - Madara didn''t get an answer from Sasuke, so he glanced towards Mu. "...I never thought I would have to face you again...as you can see we were revived by the Edo Tensei...but unlike the other ones who were brought back from the dead, you are the only one who is on the enemy''s side..." - Mu was kind enough to explain the situation to him. "...Edo Tensei? Isn''t that the technique known as a complete atrocity against the entire flow of life and death in the universe? Still...what an amusing situation I''ve found myself in..." - Madara seemed to be in thought before he looked at Sasuke again. "What''s your name, fellow Uchiha? I have to give you my praise, it seems like you not only awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, but you were able to revive me, Madara Uchiha!" - Madara "...Uchiha...Sasuke..." - Sasuke seemed unsure of how he should feel being praised suddenly like that. "Sasuke, eh? I really like your eyes...I can see a bit of darkness in them...how about you join me?" - Madara "NOOO, SASUKE!!! HE BETRAYED OUR CLAN IN THE PAST!!! DON''T TRUST HIM!!!" - Fugaku shouted to his son. Madara heard that and scoffed: "Betrayed you said? Don''t speak about things you don''t understand...so what is your answer?" "Why should I join you when I''m the one controlling you?" - Sasuke finally recovered his mental state and asked in a slightly arrogant tone. When he heard that, Madara sneered: "It seems like all of you weaklings here don''t know about my m-" - before he could finish his sentence, a rib from his Susanoo appeared and the rest of the Susanoo started to form after. But he was only fast enough to protect one of his arms - the other was cut by none other than Eiji who suddenly appeared next to Sasuke with his sword sliding back into the sheath. But before Eiji could lament that he only managed to cut one arm, despite going at his full speed with Sage Mode and sneak attacking Madara, he shouted at Sasuke: "Quick, order him to not use his arms!" Sasuke didn''t understand what was going on, but when he saw Eiji''s panicked face, he subconsciously did as he was told. Or he tried. Before he could even utter one word, they could hear Madara''s words: "Too late!" With just one hand, he used seals to break out of control. Everyone who watched this unfold didn''t understand what was going on. But Eiji knew and dropped his sword in hopelessness. ''This brat seemed to know that I was going to use signs to break out of control, so he specifically targeted my arms...how did he know? Who is he?'' - Madara glared at Eiji. He wanted to ask him, but he stopped when he saw Zetsu appearing next to him. "So you were here, Zetsu? Care to explain how our plan ended up being so derailed? And what about Nagato and "him"?" - Madara "..that''s...most of it is this is entirely this brat''s doing, so I wanted to take care of him..." - Zetsu didn''t know how to best explain, but he was convinced that killing Eiji was currently more important than giving a lengthy explanation. "This brat? He looks like a weakling to me...but there is certainly something curious about him...it almost feels like he knows everything about me...this doesn''t make any sense..." - Madara "!" - Eiji couldn''t believe that Madara''s intuition was so strong, that he could sense something like that in an instant. Eiji could feel it: the reapers scythe on his neck ready to claim his life. CrusadeAgainstFurries That''s it, Eiji ded. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in my next work: Igor no academia! Chapter 148: we are doomed "Oh, I know what''s curious about him... it''s why he is naked, right?" - White Zetsu "I''m wondering why he is naked myself, but this isn''t what I meant..." - Madara decided it was best to just ignore it. Meanwhile, Eiji knew that since it wasn''t the perfect Edo Tensei, Madara''s strength was heavily nerfed. If it wasn''t for that, Eiji was certain that he never would have been able to even cut one of his arms off. Now with one arm missing and overall being nerfed, Madara was currently at his weakest - but the question was, would anyone here be able to defeat Madara before his arms would regenerate from the Edo Tensei? No, simply because it was Madara. Even though the imperfect Edo Tensei heavily nerfed most jutsus, this didn''t apply to techniques like the Susanoo. And Eiji knew that Madara''s Susanoo was enough to massacre everyone gathered here, so he didn''t even think about trying to fight Madara. But he didn''t know what to do, so he just continued to stand frozen there. "Being able to use Sage Mode and still freeze like a coward...it seems like the current state of shinobis is even more pitiful than in the past...?" - Madara quickly lost interest in Eiji and with a look of contempt, he breathed in. And a second''s later everything was engulfed in flames in front of him. "What about Sasuke?" - Black Zetsu asked cautiously. "Hmph, a weakling who can''t survive something like that while having a Mangekyo Sharingan is of no use for me anyway." - Madara breathed in and in a wide ark, almost the whole battlefield was engulfed in flames. When the flames subsided, Sasuke was in front of Eiji with his Susanoo. "What the hell are you spacing out for? Tell me how he managed to break out of my control and how to fix it!" - Sasuke urged Eiji who was with his butt on the ground being protected by Sasuke who carried an unconscious Kabuto (he collapsed due to using too much chakra). But those three weren''t the only ones here. Orochimaru was just watching because even though he was in despair, his curiosity about the legendary Madara took over, but when the sea of flames approached him, he summoned the Rashomon gate again. Jiraiya was still hiding because he wasn''t sure if he should fight Madara or escape with the Konoha forces and report it to Tsunade, so he just continued to watch. Sasuke''s weren''t able to defend or dodge and were completely burned, but given enough time they would regenerate because of the Edo Tensei. Mu who was flouting could dodge it easily, while Gengetsu was still at the battlefield where he fought Eiji so he was far away from it. "What''s that? Hashirama?" - Madara saw how a giant wood wall saved the Konoha forces from the fire and his face turned instantly lively. Yamato panted, seemingly exhausted from using a lot of chakra. "No of course you aren''t Hashirama...who are you?" - Madara But Yamato didn''t answer, since his head was filled with all kinds of thoughts. "Not gonna answer, huh?" - Madara mood seemed to worsen, but Black Zetsu provided an answer: "He is a test subject of Orochimaru and Hashirama''s DNA was injected into him...but more importantly is that the orange-haired brat behind him, is the Jinchuriki of the nine-tails..." When Yamato heard that, he instantly said: "Naruto, this is an order: retreat with Sakura immediately and report what happened here to the Hokage!" "But what about Sas-" "Don''t worry, I''ll help him. He is the only one who might be able to change the situation if he manages to get Madara under control, so I''ll risk even my life for him." "I don''t understand...who is this guy and why is everyone making such a -" "GO NOW! IF YOU TELL THE HOKAGE THE NAME MADARA SHE WILL UNDERSTAND!!" While Naruto was still deciding, on Sasuke''s end he was urging Eiji: "Stop cowering like a coward and tell me what I need to know!" He smashed his fist into Eiji to wake him up, and only after that did Eiji finally answer: "T-there is nothing you can do to get him under control again...we are all doomed..." "..." CrusadeAgainstFurries A day later than I said, but at least I''m back and I hope I could nail Madara''s character here. Chapter 149: Might Sasuke was speechless, but Madara didn''t give him time to gather his thoughts, and Madara''s Susanoo which started to appear smashed against Sasuke''s Susanoo. Sasuke''s Susanoo blocked it with his arm, but the impact shook Sasuke and Eiji who was next to him, despite Sasuke''s Susanoo being fully materialized while Madara''s not. But before Madara could follow up his attack, a white expanding cube flew towards him. Madara dodged it, but someone seemed to expect his path and there was a sudden explosion. "Tsk...because of reckless youths who play around with forbidden techniques I can''t even rest properly and have to do my duty as Mizukage..." - Gengetsu appeared on his clam and Mu flew to his side. Those two rivals, now that they were free from the control and could act as they want, knew that Madara would be a huge danger to their respective villages and decided to their duties. "...to tell the truth, I don''t think we will be able to win, but since we can keep regenerating we don''t have to preserve our strength..." - Mu "Hmph, did all the weaklings decide to group up now?" - Madara said that while blocking Jiraiya''s hair needles with his Susanoo, who suddenly appeared from under the bridge with Gamabunta. "Now it seems like I"ll have at least some fun!" - Madara''s eyes seemed to lighten a bit since he felt that it would be at least a bit challenging for him now. Only Hanzo and Orochimaru weren''t joining, because both of them had nothing to gain from it. Orochimaru still didn''t give up on getting Sasuke, so he waited for a chance while Hanzo would be glad if Madara made the 5 great villages suffer. "Don''t do anything Zetsu, you will just get in my way!" - Madara said that when he saw how Zetsu was about to help him, so Zetsu just nodded and disappeared into the ground. Then Madara dodged another dust release, but his Susanoo''s started now to have tendons and would be soon fully formed, so he didn''t need to dodge everything else except Mu''s dust release. "This defense will be a huge pain in the ass...hey little Uchiha, can''t you do something against it?" - Gengetsu shouted towards Sasuke. But Sasuke couldn''t do much besides occasionally firing a Susanoo arrow since he was defending Eiji. ''Maybe with all gathered here, perhaps there is a chance to defeat Madara while he is nerfed?'' - Eiji tried to get his spirit up, but when he saw how Madara summoned 3 shadow clones, he was brought back to reality. Jiraiya who had the highest firepower of all here used withGamabunta the Toad Oil Flame Bullet, but the shadow clowns used Susanoo as well. "!" Gengetsu whistled when he saw that while Sasuke stared with wide eyes. This should be possible to his understanding! "I can''t effort to play around...buy me some time to enter Sage-Mode!" - Jiraiya said to Gamabunta. Meanwhile, at the Konoha force, Naruto said: "Sorry, but I can''t do that." "THIS IS AN ORDER!! YOU ARE A SHINOBI SO ACT LIKE ONE ALREADY!!"- Yamato "If this is the case...then I will quit being a shinobi..." - Naruto "You..." - Yamato wanted to say something, but then he saw Naruto''s determination - he wasn''t joking. "Sakura, take Naru-" "Sorry, but I will go with Naruto...Kakashi-sensei once said that in the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandoned their comrades are worse than trash...Sasuke is right here fighting and we are supposed to run?" - Sakura followed Naruto. ''Kakashi, huh...'' - Yamato sighed and ordered the uninjured Anbu to join the battle with him. "If you can''t even take care of my shadow clones, then it honestly would be better to cower in fear like the brat there." - Madara''s arm was now fully regenerated and he crossed them arrogantly. But then a blue explosion engulfed one of his clones. Naruto used the risky Uzumaki Bomb again, but the force was enough to crush the generating Susanoo, and then when the clone was without guard, Sakura smashed the clone into the ground where it disappeared with a smoke. "The Jinchuriki now too? This will save me the trouble of catching you..." Sasuke had a mysterious expression when Naruto and Sakura appeared after their surprise attack next to him. "Hihihi...looks like Team 7 is reunited again..." - Naruto happily touched his nose. But Sakura still remembered how Sasuke tried to kill them moments ago, so she had her doubts if they could fight as a team like they used to. "You shouldn''t have come, you''ll just get in the way...you both are too weak." - Sasuke "Sasuke...I may be weaker than you, but this doesn''t mean that I will run from fights...and just you wait, I will surpass you quicker than you can imagine!" - Naruto It was the usual hyper-optimistic remark from Naruto, but for the first time, Eiji was glad about it. Since Naruto''s words are able to uplift and touch many characters, it seemed like it worked on Eiji who these words even weren''t directed to, too. ''Sigh...to think the day a cheater like me would turn into a coward...able to defeat Madara? I already died once, so why am I even afraid? Fuck this...this was embarrassing how I acted until one...at least if I die I should go out in style...'' - Eiji bit on his lips and got up. "Sorry, Sasuke...that was a shameful display from your boss... let''s beat that old man up..." - Eiji got up and stood between Sasuke and Naruto like he was part of Team 7. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACT SO COOL FOR, YOU PERVERT!!" - Sakura screamed and punched the butt-naked Eiji away. "...uhm...I don''t think this is the right time for fighting him, Sak-" - Naruto stopped when Sakura turned to glance at him. "..." - Sasuke didn''t understand why he was always surrounded by weirdos. A woeful cry could be heard, which was louder than all the other nearby cries. Amidst the rumble, the Raikage cried while punching the ground under him. Because of the unique location, Pain''s Shinra Tensei was even more devastating to Kumogakure compared to how it was in the original timeline to Konoha. Civilians who didn''t die from the shockwave fell to their death or were crushed from mountain pieces. The attack came so suddenly that A couldn''t even defend his village as the Raikage. After the initial confusion, he searched for the enemy, but the Deva Path had already left. "WHICH BASTARD DID IT!!! I WILL RIP YOU TO PIECES!!! AAAAAAAARGH!!!" - he cried but he knew that as the Raikage he should calm himself down and assess the situation. But the damage his village suffered was unmeasurable and even his long-time enemies would feel pity for A. "...Lord Raikage...I gathered some surviving shinobis to assess the situation, but it''s impossible to know the casualties currently..." - C who was shaking came to report. "WHICH BASTARD!! WHICH BASTARD DID THAT?!" - A "...a surviving Shinobi who was on guard duty reported how he saw a figure in a black coat floating above the village before the attack...I suspect it was the Akatsuki..." C "AAAAAAAAAAAAARGGHHH!!! IN WHICH DIRECTION DID HE RUN TO?!" - A "...we don''t know...since after the attack no one saw him...but there is another problem...Yugito and B are both missing..." - C When he heard that, A was in such a pitiful state that he couldn''t even cry and howled instead. C who saw and wasn''t sure if A would be able to keep his sanity. He couldn''t control his emotions anymore and started to cry as well. "Is this all? I''m starting to get bored..." - Madara''s main body had now a fully humanoid Susanoo. None of the attacks went through the Shadow-Clone Susanoo so that even more the case for the main body. He and his clones didn''t even attack and were just taking all hits. Why? Because he could. The time window where the Susanoo just started to appear and is at the weakest was already over. Only techniques with high firepower would work, but Jiraiya was gathering natural energy while Eiji still needed time to prepare Byakko. ''Just a bit more...''- Jiraiya gritted his teeth. But Madara didn''t want to wait any longer and with his Susanoo made three hand seals - he was using Tengai Shinsei. ''...now you don''t have a choice other than to come out, Kyubi...'' - a slight grin formed on Madara''s face while his enemies were full of shock and fear when they saw the huge meteorite descending towards them. CrusadeAgainstFurries This double-length chapter was the first one of the 3. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will be the same, so it should equal to 6 chapters which are the chapters I missed, I believed. P.S. I don''t know if the Kumo scene was a bit too depressing...even I felt bad for A while writing this... Chapter 150: Snake Bastard! "...this..." - even the aloof Sasuke couldn''t believe his eyes. "That''s why I tol - sigh...whatever crying about spilled milk isn''t going to help... let''s just do "that" and hope for the best..." - after being knocked away by Sakura Eiji appeared next to Sasuke again, though this time on the other side so that Sasuke and Naruto are between him and Sakura. Anyway, for some reason Eiji felt completely serene while looking at the meteorite descending - it had some strange sort of beauty to him. But he was the only one, everyone else was completely shocked. "Dammit! I didn''t even summon Fukasaku and Shima to enter Sage-Mode faster, but it looks like it''s too late!" - Jiraiya finished gathering his chakra, but he wished he did that before Madara started to drop a meteor on their heads - now even with Sage Mode he wasn''t sure if he could stop the meteor. But he still needed to try and started to form a Rasengan as big as he could. "What..." - Naruto who was full of spirit a while ago, watched with an open mouth. ''...can I stop this? My wood release may be able to stop this, but the amount of chakra I would need to use would make me lose my life...'' - Yamato thought about using his life for the slight possibility of saving everyone else. But he didn''t get the opportunity... "Slow down a bit, it''s not easy to control!" - thankfully the Tengai Shinsei was a slow technique (but that made Madara''s enemies be able to feel hopelessness a bit longer), so Eiji and Sasuke had enough time to make create a storm. ''Slowing down in the current situation? He was cowering a while ago and now he doesn''t worry at all?'' - Sasuke sighed internally but didn''t say anything. "Alright, I''m finished. Now it''s your turn" - Eiji fully formed Byakko, but he still held it in place waiting for Sasuke. But instead of just creating Kirin like Sasuke normally would do, he instead fused it with Byakko. Instead of a giant tiger, the tiger had now electric armor and looked even more majestic and divine. The power wasn''t even comparable to the normal Byakko or Kirin. It was so strong that even while not being released, the electric winds released to the surroundings where Naruto and Sakura even had to defend and the water under the bridge was completely running wild! "HAHAHAHA!!! HOW INTERESTING!!! LOOKS LIKE I WAS MISTAKEN BRAT!!! NOT BAD" - Madara laughed happily while praising Eiji and Sasuke. "Hmm...what should we call it?" - Eiji "Release it already." - Sasuke "Yes, yes...as always you are way too serious..." - with those words Eiji released it. It traveled up and hit the meteor. A loud noise erupted almost like a shriek and the meteor crumbled into thousand pieces. But a huge piece was about to fall onto the bridge which might destroy it, but Jiraiya appeared with his Ultra Big Rasengan and destroyed it. "...we really managed to avoid that..." - relieved, Sakura breathed in. "Nah." - Eiji picked his nose while saying that. "What are you talking about?" - Sakura Instead of answering, Eiji just pointed with his finger above. There, in the sky, another meteorite was descending. "..." "Goddammit!! Hey, Eiji, restore my body quickly!" - a girlish voice could be suddenly heard. "Ha? Why should I help the enemy?" - Eiji looked at Tayuya approaching him. "I''M UKON YOU IDIOT!! I had no choice to take over her body since the snake you gave me died and I run out of chakra, so restore my body finally!" "That''s good and all, but we have currently a bigger problem...you really shouldn''t have come here, or is your comradeship perhaps so great that you decided to follow us to death?" - Eiji looked at the second meteor. "Hm?" - Ukon looked and thought for a second. "Hey, give me some chakra, I used up almost all of mine." "If you want some chakra, ask orange boy over here..." - Eiji didn''t understand why Ukon suddenly asked for chakra, but he really didn''t want his last thoughts to be about Ukon before dying, so he didn''t ask further. "Hey, you give me some chakra!" - Ukon "What? Why should I?" - Naruto asked annoyed. "So that I can deal with that rock!" "Naruto...we don''t have much choice other than to trust her here..." - Sakura wanted to cling to a glimmer of hope. "...alright..." - Naruto grabbed Ukon''s hand and started to transfer chakra with a red face. "?" - Ukon ignored it and when he sensed he had enough chakra summoned Rashomon. It was right on time and the meteor instantly collided with the gate. BOOM!!! No one thought that Gate could block it, but to everyone''s surprise, the meteor exploded. Rashomon''s ability to reflect damage turned out to be the complete counter of Tengai Shinsei! ''Wait...if that''s the case...THIS GODDAMN SNAKE BASTARD JUST WATCHED US ALMOST GETTING SMASHED!!'' - Eiji looked at Orochimaru who was watching happily from the other side of the bridge. CrusadeAgainstFurries Something came up so I can''t deliver the double chapter, but since this is an extra chapter on a non-schedule day, it''s better than nothing I guess. Don''t worry, I will still fill the numbers of chapters I missed one way or the other. Anyway, a lot of you wished for Uka, so here you go. Chapter 151: Sacrifice "NARUTO!! STOP IGNORING ME AND LISTEN TO ME!!" - Kurama''s agitated voice could only be heard by Naruto. "What is it? Don''t you see that it''s currently a bad time for that? The enemy is super strong, you know! So if you keep blabbering I can''t concentrate!" - Naruto tried his best to ignore Kurama and to focus again. Now after the second meteor was countered by Ukon, Madara stopped throwing meteors at them and got his Susanoo to the complete form. "IT''S ABOUT THE ENEMY!! It''s Madara...you don''t stand any chance! Swap with me and I''ll give you all my power!" - Kurama "...what''s up with you all of a sudden? Why are you so generous to me suddenly?" - Naruto "Because if you die it''s the end for me as well!! Now do it quick!" - Kurama "Hm..." - Naruto was unconvinced and because he was squinting, he looked like an idiot who was trying his best to solve a math problem. While thinking, he suddenly heard Eiji''s nearby voice: "Damn...isn''t that kinda overkill what Madara does? Does he think he is fighting Hashirama or what? Nah, he is probably just bored...Sasuke, Ukon, lets just get outta here. And you guys (to Naruto and Sakura) should also get out of here." Until now he couldn''t think clear enough because of the whole messy and crazy situation he found himself in, but now he saw that even though the timeline is fucked, it''s not too bad - emphasis on the "too" since its still really bad, but not everything was lost. They just needed to not die here, especially Naruto and Sasuke, and the rest he could somehow fix with duct tape, metaphorically. But this was easier said than done. Madara''s might made even escaping almost impossible. The only way they could was if a handful of them sacrificed themselves and even then it wasn''t sure if they could buy enough time. "Ha? If we escape now, how will you regenerate my body? My body is still over there..." - Ukon pointed at the location where he fought. His body was nothing more than a pool of blood, bones, and organs. When Eiji saw that he understood why Ukon didn''t carry his body over to Eiji. "Hmm...Sasuke?" - Sasuke was quiet (even more than usual), so Eiji asked. But he could guess what it was about. Sasuke''s parents, after regenerating, were attacking Madara with Gengetsu and Mu, since as undead they made the best vanguard while Jiraiya, Yamato, and the Anbu supported them. But Madara was just playing around. "So many fellow Uchiha''s I see today...and furthermore another one with the Mangekyo Sharingan? You two must be that Sasuke kid''s parents, seeing how you resemble him and always move in a way to be able to protect him..." - Madara was just standing there while his Susanoo did all the work - it was obvious to everyone here that he didn''t take any of them seriously. "Don''t worry about that, Sasuke. I will buy enough time for you to leave with your parents...just make sure to take this idiot (Ukon) with you." - Eiji sighed. "You..." - Sasuke knew Eiji too well to not be surprised about his sudden sacrifice. "I have a plan, so it''s alright. Naruto, go and tell the Konoha forces to retreat as well since I won''t be able to tell them myself..." - Eiji grabbed his sword and carried it on his shoulder with one hand - it would have been a cool pose if he wasn''t completely naked... "What?" - Naruto asked, but was ignored by Eiji who started to march. "Hm?" - Madara was a bit surprised seeing Eiji trotting, but not enough to not just swing a Susanoo sword at him. This was however dodged by Eiji and he continued to approach Madara leisurely: "Hey, let''s make a deal." Seeing a brat (in his eyes) confidently asking for a deal, was pretty hilarious in Madara''s eyes, so he stopped all his attacks and laughed: "Deal? That sounds interesting but I doubt you would have something of value to me..." Eiji ignored Madara''s ridiculing laughter and raised two fingers: "I have two things. The first is information about the origin of the Jubi and its creators...the second is I can revive Hashirama so that you can fight as much as you like..." Dudum. Eiji''s words were total bomb drops and made everyone silent, especially Zetsu who''s black half went pale as his white half. CrusadeAgainstFurries About yesterday...no excuse, just procrastinating again....ahem. Anyway, I''ll start sticking to the schedule again and just upload extra chapters when I can instant of promising and then not doing it again. Chapter 152: wait, what? Madara squinted his eyes: ''I was right, there is something uncanny about this brat...how does he know that I would love to fight Hashirama again? But more importantly...the origin of the Jubi? This is secret is only known to those who can read the Uchiha Stone Tablet...did the Uchiha brat next to him? No...he has only the Mangekyo Sharingan and not the Rinnegan, so he should be able to only read a part of it...'' He continued to think. Fighting Hashirama again was definitely something he would love to do, but not if it would sabotage his plans. And he read the Stone Tablet with his Rinnegan so he knew already about Kaguya, the God Tree, and Sage of Six Paths. So he really didn''t have reason to accept Eiji''s deal, but Madara needed to find out how much Eiji knew. But Madara was unsure if Eiji knew that and predicted it, or he really thought this deal was lucrative to Madara. While these thoughts were running in Madara''s mind, with his vast experience he kept a straight face and didn''t show anything. And then he finally asked: "...interesting...but there is something you have overlooked: First, why would I want the one who defeated me to be revived? Do you think I''m stupid? Secondly, even if I would want to fight Hashirama, why wouldn''t I just revive him myself? And lastly, I already know that the Jubi original form is the God Tree, so everything you are able to tell me won''t be new to me." Eiji listened while picking his nose which slightly irritated Madara but he ignored it. After taking a booger out and catapulting it away with his finger, Eiji looked towards Madara and said: "Well, when you saw wood release being used you had a face like you were about to go into a brothel, so anyone can see that you want to fight Hashirama again. When it comes to reviving him, you won''t be able to because of the snake bastard over here (pointing at Orochimaru): not only Hashirama, but the second Hokage as well were revived by his Edo Tensei, and this idiot still managed to lose and get them both sealed away. Their souls are with the Death God, so no one can revive them. But I know how to get their souls from the Death God back. To the last point...you probably only know about the events concerning that Kaguya bitch, but not about her origins or why it happened." "LET ME GO!! I''LL SKIN THIS SHAMELESS BRAT ALIVE AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" - when Black Zetsu heard Eiji call Kaguya a bitch, he instantly detached himself from White Zetsu and wanted to rush at Eiji, but he was stopped by White Zetsu: "Uhhh...calm down? I don''t think it''s good to be agitated like that..." Even Madara was surprised that Eiji called a goddess bitch and stared at Eiji with an open mouth, while Orochimaru was seething over him being ridiculed. In short. Eiji managed to piss or confuse everyone gathered here. But that''s what he wanted. Sasuke grabbed Kabuto and Ukon (who was cursing and shouting about not leaving his body behind) and rushed to his parents and left with them as quickly as he started to move. Jiraiya, saw that and instantly recognized Eiji''s plan and did the same with Naruto and Sakura while nodding to Yamato who left with his Anbu too. Jiraiya was hesitant about leaving a resurrected Madara behind, but he knew that a chance to escape like that wouldn''t occur as well and that he should take the chance now. "Hmm...you know what? Forget it, I changed my mind. I''m tired and heading to my inn. See ya!" - with those words, he used the last of his gathered natural energy and ran as fast as he ever did. He never intended to have a deal with Madara! "...wait, what?" - Madara only realized now what happened and started to use his complete Susanoo to cut everything in the direction Eiji run of to. Meanwhile, Orochimaru started to transform into a small snake and hoped that no one would notice him... CrusadeAgainstFurries A bit later, but I needed to change a few things. Anyway, many comments say that Eiji is a bit weak, but his strongest jutsu is the Scam no Jutsu! Never forget that! Chapter 153: End of Deal at Bridge arc "He escaped..." - Zetsu was standing now next to Madara who had a dark expression. "..." - Madara couldn''t believe he was played like that. "Uhm..." - Gengetsu looked at Mu who only nodded, before escaping as well. There was nothing to do anymore for them except for fighting a Madara they cant beat and wait until they are sealed. So they thought it was better to just return to their villages and help. "Shouldn''t we chase those two?" - White Zetsu asked carefully. But Madara and Black Zetsu couldn''t care less right now about those two small fries (in their eyes)! Even the godlike Madara wasn''t able to stop Eiji''s escape, simply because Eiji was already specialized in speed, plus Sage Mode and with the head start from surprising Madara. ''Was this all part of his plan? Was he acting like a coward back then to lower my guard?'' - Madara''s mood worsened and worsened the longer he thought about it. But in truth, he was just overthinking it. This was expected however because of the knowledge Eiji displayed about the God Tree, and Madara didn''t know the extend of Eiji''s knowledge, so he felt like there appeared a serious threat to his grand plan. "Zetsu...what was this brat''s name?" - Madara "Eij...Nakamura..." - Black Zetsu "...Eiji..." - Madara made sure to remember this name. Then he breathed in and said: "Since I was revived earlier than expected, I will have to revise the plan a bit...tell me where Obito is..." A haggard group entered a teahouse and the warmth of the interior instantly embraced their bodies which were cold from the snowy weather. "Do you really think we will meet Sasuke here?" - Naruto breathed into his hands while sitting down at a table. "Maybe..." - Jiraiya took down a paper in which was written: Let''s meet at the nearest Shiki Ryuu. It was obvious who wrote the latter and who they are supposed to meet here. While they were escaping, a snake with the letter attached to it appeared in their path. Jiraiya and Yamato noticed the suspicious snake and decided to stop their sprint to check it out. After that, they decided to split up: Jiraiya, Sakura, and Naruto would meet Eiji (and Sasuke as they hoped) while Yamato and the rest of the surviving Anbu would head straight to Konoha to report. While waiting, they ordered some tea and drank it to warm their bodies. And then an employee approached them and asked them to follow him to the VIP room. When they were in front of the door, the employee left. Naruto opened the door hastily and shouted: "Sasuke!" "...damn, do you have to be so loud? A teahouse is supposed to be quiet..." - Eiji picked his ear and had a slightly annoyed face. "Sasuke...isn''t here, right?" - Sakura asked him straight. "Well, yeah. He just reunited with his dead parents, so isn''t it normal that he wants to spend time with them instead of me and you?" Jiraiya sat in front of the desk with a stern face: "Alright, what did you want to talk about? You should know that after what happened today, Konoha will turn completely hostile to you and the Shiki Ryuu, so I hope you have something good to say." "That''s rude, you know? It wasn''t my plan to revive Madara...but Sasuke did it anyway. It''s entirely his fault, ok?" - Eiji picked his nose. "SHUT UP! DONT TALK ABOUT SAS-" - Naruto stopped after Jiraiya glared at him with eyes that said: "Act like a shinobi!" "Even if this is true...Sasuke is with the Shiki Ryuu, so your side is still to be blamed." - Jiraiya returned to the discussion with Eiji. "Yeah, I know...I really feel a bit responsible for that and I want to get rid of Madara too...but to be honest he would have been revived later anyway..." - Eiji turned serious too. "What are you talking about?" "Hmm...do you know why the Akatsuki wants to gather all Tailed-Beasts?" - Eiji smiled while starting to explain. "It''s to merge them into the Jubi. It was a plan devised by Madara himself, but he died of old age, so he had the leader of Akatsuki act to make his plan come to fruition. And then at the end when all Tailed-Beasts are gathered he would have been revived." "...so you are saying the Akatsuki was formed for Madara''s plan? But what do they plan to do with the Jubi?" - Jiraiya "How would I know?" - Eiji pretended to not know since there was no benefit to exposing everything he knows right now. "Then...is this all you wanted to talk about?" - Jiraiya wasn''t convinced and thought it was just an excuse from Eiji''s side so that he wouldn''t need to take the blame. "Of course not...I wanted to share how we can get rid of Madara!" - Eiji leaned back. "Sigh...so I assume you need my or Konoha''s cooperation for that?" - Jiraiya understood now why Eiji wanted to meet them. Eiji showed two fingers: "There are 2 ways: We have to wait until Sasuke can use his ability again to fully control Madara while the Jinchurikis go into hiding. To be honest, this what my plan originally was. Revive Madara and let Sasuke use his ability to fully control Madara, but it looks like Sasuke didn''t want to wait... " "Are you talking about the Kotoamitsukami?" - Jiraiya remembered how Tsunade, who went through all of Root''s documents, told him that either Sasuke or Eiji would have taken Danzo''s eye after the battle back then. "Yep." - Eiji "How long would we have to wait?" - Jiraiya understood what Eiji was getting at. "He used it on Kabuto before reviving Madara...so a few years at the least." - Eiji "..." "What''s the other option?" - Jiraiya "Tobi...I must say that your cooking isn''t too bad." - Kisame was smiling with his shark teeth while eating the Onigiri Tobi made. "Hehehehe...Tobi always dreamed to be a cook in his youth before he lost all his money on gambling and needed to join a criminal organization-" - Tobi was brushing happily his hair. "..." - Itachi didn''t say anything, but Onigiri was one of his favorite food, so he enjoyed it silently. They were currently resting at a nearby river in the wilderness. But then Zetsu appeared. "What''s wrong? First time I''m seeing Zetsu make such a face?" - Kisame asked in his usual nonchalant manner. "Isn''t it obvious? He must be envious that he didn''t get any of Tobi''s onigiri!" - Tobi Zetsu didn''t know where to start. He needed to talk with "Tobi" ins private, but his mental state was in such turmoil that he didn''t know how to do it: "...that''s..." "?" CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for uploading a day later, but you can see that this chapter is longer and I didn''t want to end the arc conclusion somewhere in the middle of Jiraiya''s and Eiji''s dialogue. Chapter 154: Oh crap! "Are you out of your mind? You think I would allow such a disrespectful act? That Orochimaru did it, didn''t surprise me given his personality, but that''s why I won''t allow something like that to happen again!" - Jiraiya didn''t hide his anger. "Pervy Sage is right! I won''t let you disrespect the former Hokage!!" - Naruto "Technically I''m also a former Hok-" - "SHUT UP! I WILL NEVER CONSIDER SOMEONE LIKE YOU TO HAVE BEEN EVER A HOKAGE" - Eiji was cut off by Naruto. "Sigh It''s not like we have a better option than that. The only one who could face Madara is the Thirst Hokage...plus with Kabuto, I''m confident that if you give me some time, we will be able to revive the First with his full strength, which would be ideal since Madara is currently weakened." - Eiji expected this sort of reaction, so he hid his annoyance while sipping on tea. "I won''t let Konoha fall so low that we would rely on such a vile Jutsu that violate the laws of nature...this isn''t only about disrespecting the former Hokage..." - Jiraiya "I also agree...we should let the dead rest." - Sakura voiced her opinion. "Wasn''t the Edo Tensei developed by the Second Hokage though?" - Eiji "But it was also declared a forbidden Jutsu by the Second Hokage later on by himself. We should honor his decision, no?" - Jiraiya was experienced and wouldn''t lose easily in an argument. "Normally I would agree, but all four former Hokage''s souls are currently imprisoned in the Death God''s belly and it''s said that they are tortured for all eternity there...wouldn''t you want to release them from their suffering?" - Eiji "Definitely, but given your explanation about the mask we can release them and don''t need to revive them after that." - Jiraiya ''Oh crap, did I mess up? I probably should have only told him about me having a way and not get specific...'' - Eiji drank from his teacup, giving him a natural way to get time to think. "..." "What''s wrong?" - Jiraiya Eiji couldn''t come up with anything... Tobi, more specifically Obito, looked at Zetsu like one would look at a schizophrenic who babbled nonsense. After forcing himself to calm down (it was Black Zetsu, White Zetsu continued to be hysterical), he decided to just say that the boss ordered Tobi to meet him. With that, they got separated and Zetsu explained to Obito what happened. Of course, it was hard to believe what he heard. It would count as a good joke if it wasn''t real, but unfortunately, it was. But after continuing to stare at Zetsu, Obito breathed in. The way Black Zetsu behaved convinced him that this wasn''t a joke. However, if white Zetsu told him that he would''ve just ignored it. "...sigh...so what''s his plan now?" - Obito was vexed since he started to harbor feelings of going with the Eye of the Moon Plan in his own way since he didn''t trust Madara fully. But now that Madara was revived he needed to play along, so he didn''t say anything unnecessary. "He ordered all Akatsuki members to gather so that they can meet him since he plans to lead it from now one himself." - Zetsu ''As expected...my guess is that after that he will try to accelerate the plan or go for the Shiki Ryuu first...'' - Obito analyzed in his mind. "What about the villages, did they make a move? It seems that after Nagato destroyed Kumogakure, surviving shinobis rushed to the other villages demanding a Five Kage Summit. However since the former Mizukage and Tsuchikage returned to their villages, things got chaotic and Kumo didn''t receive an answer from most of the villages. For now, only Konoha gave an answer and agreed to it." - Zetsu When he heard that Obito scoffed: "They know Madara is revived and the 5 great villages still continue to play politics? They never change, do they? So, where is he now?" - Obito didn''t need to travel to the meetup location, so he decided to not drag this one and meet Madara now. CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry, again a day later than the schedule, but writing this chapter was somewhat pretty hard. Things didn''t flow as they usually do and I needed to take a lot of breaks. Anyway, I hope the chapter wasn''t too dry...I''m setting things up for the next arc and I won''t spoil much but Itachi will play a huge role! Chapter 155: troublesome fellow "...I''m gonna kill those two..." - Ukon woke up in an inn. Next to him in the same bed was an unconscious Kabuto lying. He wasn''t sure if Sasuke just didn''t care or if he started to pick up some of Eiji''s bad habits. Whatever the case was, Ukon was currently in a girl''s body, so this was beyond thoughtless! He looked at his current body and gritted his teeth - he needed his real body back as fast as possible. The reason he was so adamant about having his real body back, wasn''t because he hated not being a man anymore (this too), but more importantly because he lost his only connection to his dead twin brother. Plus, he didn''t get his revenge on Orochimaru, so saying he was in a bad mood was an understatement. But even though he wanted to rip Eiji into pieces right now, he could rely only on Eiji to get his body back. "...fucking hell..." - Ukon looked at the unconscious Kabuto and decided to kick him to blow his frustration off. "...is this really okay, pervy sage?" - Naruto asked Jiraiya when they left the Shiki Ryuu. "I''m also not too fond of it, but it''s the best possible way for now...plus having the Shiki Ryuu with their information network as allies, is beneficial...hihihihihi" - Jiraiya said that with a serious face before he saw some of the Land Of Iron women walking down the bustling street. Sakura wanted to punch Jiraiya''s lecherous visage, but so much happened today that she didn''t have the energy to do so and just sighed: "In the end, he still didn''t tell us where Sasuke currently is..." "Hmph! We should have beaten the information out of him!" - Naruto crossed his arms. "Beat him? Did you forget what happened the last time we fought him?" - Sakura "Of course I didn''t forget! But with Pervy Sage here and my super-strong new technique, it would have been a breeze!" - Naruto Sakura glanced at Jiraiya who was on the ground after being hit by a woman he asked out (harassed): "Yeah...right..." At the Valley of the End, Madara who was sitting on his stone figure''s head, gripped his fist when suddenly Obito teleported behind him: "The drawback of the Edo Tensei is that the revived Shinobis are weaker than when they were alive. Why don''t you cancel it and just let Nagato revive you as it was originally planned? Other than you reviving, everything is still going according to plan, so this might make things less complicated." Without turning around, Madara responded: "Even if I''m currently weaker, there is no one who can defeat me. For the ant, a lion who grew old and weak is still worlds apart from the ant. Besides...a somewhat capable brat suddenly appeared and going with the original plan would be troublesome." "Are you talking about the Lost Hokage, Eiji Nakamura?" - Obito "Lost Hokage? The first time I''ve heard that... what''s with this nickname?" - Madara "I don''t want to let long stories right now, so to summarise: the youngest Hokage in history, and after only a few weeks since he became Hokage he killed a village elder which ended his career. So not only was he the youngest in history, but also the shortest-serving Hokage." - Obito When he heard that, Madara burst into laughter: "How interesting! I''ve never seen a shinobi like him...a pity that he had to cross me..." A short silence. "So, will you take charge from now on?" - Obito "It will make things more efficient. Plus as I said I''ll need to revise the plan a bit. Zetsu already briefed me on the members...so there is another Uchiha besides you? What was his name again?" - Madara "Itachi...but I have to warn you, he is quite the troublesome fellow. It''s always hard to tell what he''s thinking..." - Obito''s expression got darker under his mask. "This doesn''t matter. If we can''t trust him, I''ll just eradicate him...now enough with the talk. It''s time for me to meet them." - Madara got up and glanced at Hashirama''s stone figure before suddenly vanishing, leaving Obito behind. ''Even if you are Madara, it would be dumb to underestimate Itachi...'' CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry for that, but as a said, tomorrow will be Wednesday#s chapter. Also, I''m really hoped for the next arc, since...well it''s Itachi who''ll get the spotlight. I always go with the mindset of trying to make every arc better than the last and I hope I''ll do Itachi justice. Chapter 156: New variable Eiji was wandering out of town. It was the first time in a long while that he was alone. After running into difficulties in the discussion with Jiraiya, he somehow managed to recover and came to an agreement where the plan only slightly deviate from what Eiji originally planned. But he needed to wait for Konoha and the other Shinobi villages for the responses first. And after that, he would need again for Jiraiya to get the Shinigami mask and release the Hokage''s souls. When it came to Sasuke, there was no reason for him to intrude on Sasuke''s reunion time with his parents. So in short, he had a lot of free time for the first time in a while. He thought about slacking off and get some rest from all he went through, but on the same day, he got information concerning what happened to Kumogakure. It didn''t change the fact that he still needed to wait, but now he felt a bit of regret about fucking the timeline up. He was outside on a plain at the border of the Land of Iron with no one around. ''After learning about the nature of Divine Jutsu''s at the Dragon Temple, I didn''t create one because I never planned to sacrifice myself...but with how things are going, the world might end and it would be partly my fault I guess...'' - Eiji scratched his head. He decided to take responsibility and create a suicide Justus akin to the Eight Gates or the Reaper Death Seal - just in case. ''Hmm...this might take a while...but why do I have the feeling I forgot something?'' Somewhere a fuming Ukon was waiting for Eiji... "Weird that the boss called for us to gather all in person...that reminds, didn''t he call Tobi too a while ago?" - Kisame had his typical shark grin. "...if we have to meet in person, something important must have happened." - Itachi "I hope it''s something interesting since we''ll lose the track of our target if we leave this area now." - Kisame Itachi didn''t say anything, but he noticed his feeling of unease. With Danzo being dead and Sasuke not being in Konoha anymore, the only reason he was still in Akatsuki was to continue to spy on them. But he noticed how his illness has gotten even worse again, so he needed to make sure that he could meet Sasuke in the near future. The problem however was now that something weird seemed to have happened in the Akatsuki, so he needed to look out for that. ''...whatever this new variable may be, it''s best to just see for myself what it is...'' - Itachi''s gaze was deeper than usual. At the Hokage office. "I see..." - Tsunade tried her best to remain professional in front of Yamato, but she couldn''t hide wrinkles that appeared on her forehead. First Kumo and now even a resurrected Madara! Silence. After it became unbearable, Yamato did a fake cough and asked: "So...will Konoha go to war with the Shiki Ryuu now?" "This depends on what Jiraiya will report to me after his meeting...and I really hope that there is a good explanation from the Shiki Ryuu''s side...sigh...whatever call Kakashi for me, he should be fully recovered by now." "Yes." - with that Yamato left. The moment he left Tsunade instantly slammed at the table, breaking it in half. "Uhm...you should calm down Lady Tsunade..." - Shizune said carefully. "CALM DOWN?! THIS DAMN EIJI UNLEASHED SOMETHING WHICH CAN THREATEN ALL COUNTRIES CARELESS AND I SHOULD CALM DOWN?!" - Tsunade "To be more precise it was Sasuke..." Shizune "YOU THINK SASUKE WOULD DO THAT ON HIS OWN?!" - Tsunade "..." - Shizune thought it would be wiser to just remain silent. "Huff...huff..." - Tsunade breathed in deeply to calm down. Like with perfect timing, this was the moment Kakashi entered: "You have called?" "Yes...it seems like Sasuke won''t return in the foreseeable future, so you''ll get a new member for Team 7." "I don''t think Naruto and Sakura will be happy about that, but I understand...so, who''ll be the new member?" - Kakashi CrusadeAgainstFurries Sorry about the chapter being later again. Anyway, I''ll try something new for this arc where Eiji will go into the background and Itachi will be the "main character" for this arc. I might fail spectacularly, but if I don''t shoot for the stars why even try, right? Today''s chapter, I''ll try to release it today as well, but if not it will be by tomorrow. Chapter 157: Akatsuki assembled! In Amegakure it was raining like every other day. The rain was crashing against Pain''s Tower and the wet surface made it difficult for any ordinary person to stay or sit on it. But this was only for ordinary people - not Shinobis. Especially if it was one of the most legendary Shinobi''s in history: Madara Uchiha. Madara looked at Amegakure from the top of one of the four faces protruding from Pain''s Tower: "What a gloomy village...I never understood why someone would voluntarily settle in such a location." "Despite that, the people here would sacrifice their lives for this homeland of theirs. The amount of Pain this village has seen because it''s surrounded by three of the five Great Countries is unmeasurable...this is even more a reason for us to succeed with the plan. " - Obito appeared behind Madara. Because of Obito''s teleportation ability, they arrived here earlier than Nagato and Conan who were still on their way from Kumogakure. Madara didn''t respond and instead looked at his hand in silence. Rain was dropping on his undead hand and no one would be able to guess his thoughts at this very moment. After a while, he clenched his hand into a fist and got up. "I don''t doubt that Nagato has grown with him possessing the Rinnegan, but I''m curious what kind of other people you assembled...oh right, I assume you used my name while leading the group, correct?" - Madara "The one who was officially leading the Akatsuki was Nagato, but I approached some of them as "Madara", so they know that "Madara" was leading the Akatsuki in truth...funnily enough, the ones who didn''t know are the ones who died." "There is no need for me to know about the dead...it looks like Nagato arrived..." Nagato, who was linked to a mechanical walker, arrived with Conan from a secret passageway but Madara could sense the chakra. Likewise, they could sense his ominous chakra as well, so Nagato stopped in the passageway and instead used the Deva Path to arrive faster at the location where Madara and Obito were. When he saw that he was speechless. He instantly recognized the infamous face of Madara, but that meant that there are two Madaras now? Conan also arrived with her paper wings and landed next to Deva Path. Madara looked at them and sneered: "Why this puppet show, Nagato?" "What...what''s happening?" - Deva Path pointed his finger at Obito who was sitting nonchalantly next to Madara with his back to them. He turned only his upper body a bit around and said: "My main body was revived, and he''ll take charge from now on." Nagato calmed down and saw the signs of the Edo Tensei on Madara''s body and tried to understand the situation, but before he could conclude anything, Madara said: "Looks like two more arrived. Zetsu has another task to do currently, so that must be all." He glanced towards Obito if this was right, and Obito slightly nodded. This was seen by Nagato, and normally such detail would make him question Obito and Madara, but he was currently in a confused state. And Madara? Of course, he isn''t a rookie that he would such a mistake, but he simply didn''t care enough about not exposing that Obito never was Madara. He was Madara after all and could just use his might to make the member subservient to him. "Hmm...what a place for a meeting. I don''t mind the rain, but we have Conan here and too much rain is bad for a women''s skin...ah, here you are Tobi. I hope boss didn''t scold you too harshly." - Kisame appeared with his usual hideous grin, and next to him Itachi. "..." - Itachi was silent and gloomy as usual. "Hm? Now that is interesting..." - Kisame looked around and his grin grew even wider. But Itachi''s gaze got deeper. ''This is Madara and looks like he was revived by the Edo Tensei...but if this is Madara...who is...'' Madara mustered Kisame and Itachi. He could conclude a lot from Kisame''s appearance, chakra, and the sword he was carrying, but reading Itachi was difficult. ''So, that''s Itachi, huh? For some reason, he reminds me of that bastard Tobirama... CrusadeAgainstFurries I hope you didn''t mind that used more details to describe the scene than usual, but in my head this was a really cool scene and I wanted to convey it as such. Update Sorry for being silent these past days. I''m ill and feel like shit. I don''t think I have covid, but I still need to test myself tomorrow because the symptoms are somewhat similar. Anyways, don''t think I can upload tomorrow, but I''ll try to upload on Tuesday or Wednesday if I''m better. Was longer ill than expected, but Chapters resume tomorrow Luckily it wasn''t corona, but the illness still hit harder than Igor''s homemade vodka. Chapter 158: Simple plan A painful cry could be heard in a dim room underground. Orochimaru panted heavily while looking at his arms. The pain worsened again and his Right-Hand - Kabuto - wasn''t here right now. In fact, he was sure that Kabuto wouldn''t be able to serve him ever again. And the worst part is: Orochimaru''s current body was reaching its limit and he needed a new body as soon as possible. Back then he risked a lot for the chance to obtain Sasuke''s body, but not only was he unsuccessful in this regard, everything else ended in the worst possible way - to call it a complete disaster would be a huge understatement. Another wave of pain assaulted him and he gritted his teeth to not fall unconscious. Normally, Kabuto would get him a full cocktail of painkillers right now, but Orochimaru in his current state wouldn''t even be able to hold a cup, so he could only endure for now. Of course, he could ask one of his many minions instead, but truth to be told, he didn''t trust most of them. The only ones who he trusted were the Sound Three and Kabuto, whom he also didn''t trust completely. But even if he didn''t trust Kabuto completely, he was still better than the opportunistic sla- minions. And he had the medical knowledge, something the Sound Three lagged. However, this all didn''t matter anymore, since the Sound Three were now also a thing of the past. When thinking about this, Orochimaru''s malice towards Eiji intensified even more. At this point, even Orochimaru was surprised that he didn''t lose his mind and started to laugh maniacally. Almost everything he built up, has been lost just like that. Instead, his mind was unnaturally calm, and he didn''t know why. Maybe he went past a point of insanity, where he surpassed the restrictions of a healthy mind. Or maybe not. Anyway, he stopped scheming all kinds of future plans and decided to focus on the more glaring issue. He needed to prepare a body, but he was unable to do it himself, so he needed someone who was trustworthy and wouldn''t backstab him instantly. Only a few seconds passed until he called for a henchman stationed outside of the room. "Call Kimimaro here." - Orochimaru''s eyes glinted. The henchman nodded and disappeared. Kimimaro was on death''s door himself because of the illness, but currently, Orochimaru didn''t have anyone who was more trustworthy than him. So he had to do for now. After a while, Orochimaru could hear weak footsteps coming towards his room. "...you called, Lord Orochimaru?" - Kimimaro who entered the room asked with a weak voice. Orochimaru glanced at the emaciated Kimimaro who was struggling to even stand before replying: "I have a really important task for you..." "The plan is simple. Wreakhavoc!" - Madara''s voice resounded ominously while a thunder coincidentally struck in the distance. Rain clashed onto their heads and robes while a short silence appeared between the Akatsuki members. Everyone had their own thoughts, and Madara used this opportunity to study the expressions of every member. But when it came to Itachi, he couldn''t read anything. ''Tsk, as Obito said. It''s hard to tell what he''s thinking...but this doesn''t matter. He wouldn''t be strong enough to go against us anyway.'' - Madara Finally, the silence was broken by Kisame: "Wreaking havoc, eh? Sounds fun, but it would be good to be more specific." Madara glanced at him: "The 5 villages are as disorganized as ever and it would be a wonder if they managed to unite because of my appearance. Plus...the peace made them weak and naive. They are probably expecting that we would bid our time and collect the Bijus before starting our grand plan. But why should we do that? We can just crush them completely without waiting for them to come up with countermeasures against us." Obito could feel the contempt Madara''s words carried. "That''s good and all, but our current force isn''t big enough for such a feat. Though, we managed to save a decent amount of money over the years with which we could hire a sizeable army of mercenaries. But I assume that''s not what you are going for, right?" - Obito Hearing that, a smile appeared on Madara''s undead face. CrusadeAgainstFurries With this, I''m back. A day later (as usual), but hey, better late than never, right? Since I''m on the topic, since I''m now completely derailed from the original plot, writing takes more time. So chances are that I''ll be late with the schedule. It will still be 3 chapters per week and I''ll let the days be as they are, so that you know at which day you can expect an upload (but more importantly is for me so that I have a schedule and don''t procrastinate the 3 chapters until Sunday), but they often may be a day later. Anyways, sorry for the long wait and thank you for the support! Ehm... shit No excuse...was just procrastinating...sorry. I won''t promise that I''ll be able to do 6 chapters this week to make up for that, but I''ll be able to get 4-5 chapters and the rest next week.