《Naruto: Journey Of The Strongest Teacher》 Chapter -1 - Character sheet Name: Ishizu Sasaki Gender: Male Age: Born 1 year before Kakashi Hatake. Personality: True to friends, a very strict teacher, manipulative Appearance: Tall 1.90 meters high. Muscular body. Distinctive features: short blue hair, manly kin, and red eyes. Family: Orphan, team Minato Likes: Training, using foreknowledge for power-ups Dislikes: Being unable to change the future even if knowing it. Friends: Old team Minato(after that he only interacted with people to help himself) Later: Naruto Enemy''s: Danzo, Akatsuki, Madara Love interest: Secret Hobbies: Finding new ways to use chakra, Using Jutus more effectively as they were in anime. Goal: Becoming the next Sage of the six paths and marrying a certain woman. Chapter -1 - Bingo Book Basic Information: Name: Ishizu Sasaki Age: Mid-20s Recognizing traits: Short blue hair and red eyes Village: Konohagakure Rank: S Personal Data: Student of Yellow Flash and apprentice of Rot-Headed Habanero. Chakra Control: unknown, but thought to be very high. Genjutsu: Low Jonin Ninjutsu: Mid Jonin Taijutsu: Low Jonin Deadly in long range. Warning!: Extremely dangerous with Fuinjutsu. Very unpredictable if put into a corner. Proceed with caution. Wanted: Threatened the 3 Tsuchikage by massive suicide into making a deal. Also used the insult "Old fossil" many times. Order: Kill on sight. Bounty: 800.000 Ryo Amegakure 500.000 Ryo Kirigakure Other information: Main Element: Wind Weapons: Standard weapons, many Fuinjutsu seals Known Jutsu: Yellow Flash''s signature move, the Rasengan. Unknown Fuinjutsu, mostly self made. Chapter -1 - Celebration 5000 ???? I just wanted to say thank you for the 5.000 collections. 5.000 people have put my first fanfiction in their library to read it. Honestly, I care more for the collections than the spirit stones, so it makes me happy to see this number. I hope it will continue growing so we can at least get into the top 200 of Collections in the rankings. So, thank you, and have a nice week. ?? Chapter 1 - The Man named Ishizu Sasaki 25 years has it been since I was reborn in this world. My name from before doesn''t matter anymore since I forgot about it. The name I remember was Ishizu Sasaki. When I was young, I always wanted to be reborn in the Naruto world. It was a dream of a small child, but instead of canon; I was reborn in Kakashi''s time. A time where war was common and child soldiers were trained to kill. I don''t want to tell you about that. To summarize it, I was a prodigy like Kakashi because I had a cheat as my mind was much older and from the beginning; I learned a lot. I also got on the team of Minato, and he trained me as the 4th member. Many things happened and I won''t tell you more about my past for now but you just have to know that I did not derive the story and I didn''t change canon before it started. Still, I made my mind up to help Naruto go through his early life easier as it was in the anime and manga. I dropped the missions I had and started to care for Naruto. I fed baby Naruto when he was hungry and read him stories when he was lonely. I never showed myself to other people, so they started to believe Naruto was mentally retarded. Now, here I am seeing a 4-year-old baby Naruto. I told the 3rd Hokage a lie that Minato wanted me to train Naruto so I could mold him as I wanted. Naruto at this age was like a sponge, ready to be filled with knowledge, but instead, he got treated as a monster. Having the strongest bijuu sealed in a kid was the best that this village could have gotten and instead, they threw it away. Now, Kakashi was a mess and didn''t visit Naruto. I too felt guilty letting Rin die, but I knew I could bring her back later in life. I walked closer to Naruto: "Hey Naruto how are you?" I asked the young Jinch¨±uriki. "Ishizu-niisan I am good but those people aren''t allowing me to buy things except this orange jumpsuit," said Naruto as he looked at me. When I saw it, my eyes grew wide. I knew it was his small-sized trademark, but I had a 20-year-old Ninja lifestyle and a ''kill me'' jumpsuit would not be worn. I looked at Naruto with a smile: "Come Naruto. I will buy you something good and then I will make you a real Ninja." "Really?" Naruto looked at me with stars in his eyes. I took him to a store and bought him a back T-shirt and blue trousers, and after that, we walked to Naruto''s apartment. At Naruto''s apartment. "Now Naruto, for you to become a ninja you have to know a lot. To be a Hokage, you need to know the past as it is important in the future. First comes learning and with it comes jutsus. If you can''t write or read, you can''t understand what is written about jutsus," I explained to the boy. Naruto complained, but finally, he agreed as he wanted to learn some cool jutsus. One thing to know about Naruto was that if he wanted something done, he would do it. It was how he still got strong despite being dead-last in canon. At the age of 5, he could name all 5 main villages and their respective Kage. It took him some time to drop the screaming ''I will be Hokage,'' but eventually, he got over it even though he does it sometimes when someone pisses him off. As his reward, I taught him the first chakra control exercises. He needed 1 month for the leaves, 1 week for the tree, and 1 day for the water. Sometimes I just shook my head why Hiruzen never helped him secretly. For a 5-year-old to have genin level chakra reserves was amazing to see. In the next 3 years, we focused on Taijutsu and the academy 3 but instead of Bushin I told him to just let it be and learn the Kage Bushin when he was ready but I told him to hide this information. I told Hiruzen that giving Naruto love and train him would not only get you a strong Shinobi but also a loyal one. He agreed and I don''t know what he did but the council didn''t speak up since then. Training Naruto resulted in unexpected things. At first, it was hard for Naruto to focus. He was a bundle of happiness and I thought he had ADHD. First, I started reading about our village and the Shinobi, and he listened because it was rare or nonexistent that someone would read him something. Then Naruto started reading to me and I asked him after he finished the questions he had to answer. At 6 years, Naruto could be considered a high Genin in all but battle experience. With his massive chakra, he learned all chakra control exercises. I knew he had ''Wind'' as this prime element but I gave him some Defence Justus such as ''Earth style: Earth Skin'' or ''Head hunter'' Jutsu in case that civilians decided to try something on him. "Ishizu-niisan, will I go learn in the academy because I think I know everything they will teach?" asked Naruto. "I thought it would be nice to get a few friends, you decide it. You probably won''t learn much, and I would recommend that you fail and be dead last. It is for the best because the civil council will think you will not become a ninja and they will stop annoying me. Just tell your closest friends that you need to be dead last for a reason. Deception is one of the important aspects of a ninja. A strong ninja would get killed by a weak one if the weak deceived the strong by appearing weak," Ishizu replied. So the next year Naruto went to the academy and faster than I could imagine 2 years passed. Chapter 4 - The reason for he hate[remake] Ishizu''s POV As I walked to Naruto''s apartment I could clearly see his door being used for graffiti. "Demon brat" was clearly written on it. ''Those bastard''. This life wants to make Naruto suffer. I protected Naruto so much from them and those villagers still don''t give up. I hate being powerless. It was time. Naruto was 9 going to be 10 and it was finally time to tell him the truth. I didn''t care about Hiruzen or the council. Naruto was more m.a.t.u.r.e and wouldn''t go blabbering about being a Jinch¨±riki to anyone. His mothers name was a bonus for being a good student but his fathers name would be told to him after he reached 16 or Chuunin. Knocking on the door I heard "it is open come in". Going trough the door I saw Naruto sitting with a puzzled face on a chair. "Ishizu-niisan I don''t get it. Why are those villagers always glaring and calling me demon brat. Did I do something wrong?"(Naruto) I sat down newt to him and looked him in his blue eyes. "Naruto the reason for that is a stupid S-ranked secret the Hokage proclaimed on the 11. October after the Ky¨±bi accident. What most people know is that the nine tailed fox was killed by the 4th Hokage but this is a lie. Tailed beast, such as the fox, are made up of chakra. They can not be killed in a normal process. So the 4th did something else. He used a jutsu, which takes his life as a price, to seal the fox. Doing his duty he protected the village. He sealed it into a newborn child and that was you Naruto. You are the warden of the Ky¨±bi no Y¨­ko".(Ishizu) I waited for Naruto to scream at me how Minato could do it to a child but I only got a understanding look "Could have told me sooner. Now I understand them but I think they are just blinded by rage and sadness for the fallen ones died during the attack. Can''t differ between a scroll and a kunai huh"?(Naruto) "You,Naruto, are what is called a Jinch¨±riki, a human sacrifice or a better term, a weapon. You are a wall of power that prevents the other nations to attack us. If you die our power would drop significantly and we would have a war. Those villagers think your death would finally get them rid of the fox but they are on a suicide mission. If you died the fox would either die due to the seal or in worst case the fox would recreate itself where it dies. And in a few years Konoha would be leveled to the ground. Still I am here for a different reason. You are doing a wonderful job at hiding you power. Nobody, not even the Hokage could see it truly and he knows I train you. So as a present I will tell you something about you mother". (Ishizu). The moment those words left my mouth I was met with a punch to the face. "You knew all the time! I thought I was alone and had nobody expect you, jiji, and the ramen owner. I knew an orphan means he had no parent anymore but I am not stupid to think I wasn''t born and had at some point a mother. You lied to me"! I expected his reaction but I still felt pain in my heart. "And there is a reason for it. Your parents were well know in the elemental nations. If you would be know to the word as their son you would have assassins coming for your head all the time. So don''t think I did it just to hurt you. I did it to protect you and I still see you getting too emotional".(Ishizu) Naruto relaxed a bit but I could still see him being a little bit angry. "Ok I am sorry I should have thought about it. Now please tell me about her."(Naruto) "Sure, your mother''s name was "Kushina Uzumaki". Here I have a picture of her with me". (Ishizu) Showing Naruto a picture of me getting my a.s.s beaten by Kushina was amusing but Naruto had tears in his eye muttering her name. "Uzumaki, Uzumaki... wait that is a family name or a clan name, isn''t it. Do I have a clan or what"?(Naruto) "Yes you do and you are royalty. Your mother was directly connected in the family tree to the 1st Hokages wife, Mito Uzumaki. You could say you are distantly related to the Senju. The Uzumaki were a clan living on an island east to the land of fire. It was surrounded by many whirlpools hence the name "land of whirlpools". It functioned until the 2nd shinobi war when it was destroyed by a combine attack of Mizu, Iwa and Kumo. All three villages saw Uzushigakure as a threat and launched an attack. Strong as they were it still wasn''t enough to last against 3 shinobi villages. Bonus fact: Although Konoha was allied with Uzu, they didn''t help in the fight. It was funny though as those three weren''t in an alliance and both the Nidaime Mizukage and Nidaime Tsuchikage died fighting each other. The Sandaime Raikage died after he left due to injuries. Now there are only ruins in which many things from Uzoshigakure are still present, behind many walls of Fuinjutsu that is of course. Only an Uzumaki can go in without harm. Truly a dangerous art. People from Uzu were known to have huge chakra reserves and an excellent hand for fuinjutsu. They had a long life expectancy and some had chakra chains capable of holding a tailed beast. It was obvious that Uzumakis were perfect as containers for the Bijuus. (Information from "Plot thief" by Umodin from FanFiction.Net taken. Read it is is awesome) So your clan is both a curse and a miracle. To have a tailed beast in you makes you extremely powerful if you can control this power. Although it is still too early for that as your body can''t contain too much chakra of the fox". (Ishizu) Naruto didn''t look up from the picture but he heard it all as he nodded and after I finished he looked up: "Thank you for tell me this. I will surly become a Chuunin and will get to know my fathers name but please let me have this picture. I want to treasure it and laugh at your misfortune". I deadpanned. "Sure what ever helps you sleep at night. Just try to keep it a secret I don''t want to be punished by the Hokage". Going back home I had a good feeling that everything will be fine. Oh how wrong I was as the day of a horrible massacre came closer and closer. Chapter 5 - Omake 1: Collision of happiness and horror. General POV: It was a sunny day as Minato went to the training ground to train with his students. ''Today is Kushina''s birthday and I want to make a picture of all of us as a memory''. Reaching the training ground Minato could see Kakashi sitting on a stone and thinking. Rin was trying to talk with Kakashi but she was ignored. Ishizu was reading a book and next to him he had many water ballons. Obito was late as usual. "Hello team Minato. I see that Obito is still late but I want you to know that today is Kushina''s birthday and I want to make a picture of us together".(Minato) Rin and Ishizu were smiling. Kakashi had a sour expression. "Sensei why do we have to do it? A shinobi should not waste time with unnecessary thing. I have better things to do".(Kakashi) Kakashi and Minato then had a discussion about why it was important to celebrate someone''s birthday as Obito came running. "I am sorry for being late but I needed to help an old woman to cross the street with her belongings". (Obito) "You are late. As an Uchiha, who are a noble clan, you are a disgrace for being one". (Kakashi) Obito was red as a tomato and Kakashi only continued "Hn, you are as red as a tomato truly a failure"( Kakashi) ''That''s it, today you will feel my wrath Kakashi''(Obito) After the training Minato told the team to come to his house in the evening to celebrate. Obito came to Ishizu who was the only one he could have gotten help. "Ishizu please I need your help. Today Kakashi went to far and I want to remind him not to mess with me. I have brought some tomatoes. Let''s put them in a storage scroll on top of the tree under which we will take the picture and when the picture gets taken Kakashi will be covered with tomatoes all over his body"(Obito) Ishizu agreed always wanting to see Kakashi''s attitude being his downfall. In the evening Kushina arrived. They all had a party and it was time for the picture. "Alright guys come here. Stay under the tree so I can make a picture. Ok Kushina you go right and you Kakashi go left. Obito stand next to Kakashi. Rin in the middle and Ishizu next to Kushina. (From left to right:Kakashi,Obito,Rin,Ishizu,Kushina and Minato) "Now say "cheese"". (Minato) At this moment Obito muttered "Kai" and a large portion of tomatoes came flying down. From this moment everything went downhill. Obito, blinded by his revenge, put the scroll on the wrong side of the tree and Ishizu, trusting Obito, didn''t correct him as a large portion of fresh tomatoes came flying on Kushina''s head. Minato already used his ''Flying Thunder God Technique'' to stand next to Kushina didn''t see the tomatoes the moment the flashlight happened. A picture was taken of a horrified Kushina all red. Obito''s POV ''Oh NOOOO. I put the seal on the wrong side. If I laugh I will be dead. I don''t want to see an angry Uzumaki beating me ever again''. General POV Obito put his hands on his mouth to prevent himself from laughing as he ones tasted the power of a mad Uzumaki. Ishizu, on the other hand, had never seen a mad Kushina and as he saw her covered form head to toes he couldn''t help but burst out in laughter. Ishizu''s POV "Hahahahah Oh my Sage. You look like a ripped tomato. Obi...." General POV ''BOOOM'' Ishizu couldn''t finish his sentence as a fist was imbedded into his stomach sending him 50 meter into the air and then onto the ground. "So you do have the guts to insult me, huh, Ishizu-kun? I didn''t think you had it in you to do so but as a punishment you get to test my fist for only 1 hour". (Kushina) "Wa.. wait a second Kushina-san in was Ob...". (Ishizu) Ishizu couldn''t say more as another fist came. "Don''t you dare talk as I am beating you to obedience". (Kushina) "No it was Ob...." and another fist. "Man I just want to say it was Ob..." and another one. "COME ON WHAT IS THIS, PLOT ARMOR?. I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT IT WAS OB..." "Kushina look here and say "cheese""(Minato). Kushina turned to the camera and smiled as she made a peace sign with her left hand. She had a happy expression of a birthday person. Her right hand was on the stomach of a young Ishizu who had eyes that screamed horror. So was a famous picture made named "The collision of happiness and horror" Present: Ishizu laid in his bad as he looked at a picture. It was the first picture taken with his team/family. "I swear I will do everything I can so you can be together with your son once more and forever. Nobody will hinder me and everyone who tries will be removed from existence". Chapter 5 - Explaining my thoughts So for this fanfiction, I have made some changes which I will base on my belief. So if they are wrong or something doesn''t match, you can correct me, but it will probably stay the same as I have a plan why I did it like this. It is related to obtaining the Rinnegan and the jutsu "Izanagi". 1. Izanagi is too broken so I nerfed it. To activate this jutsu, you have to be a member of the Uchiha clan or have Hashirama cells in your body. 2. Using it costs a normal Sharingan, as shown in the fight ''Obito vs. Konan'', which goes blind( here it only goes white) AND part of your life force. (you basically grow weak during the use). The reason for Madara waiting so long to get the Rinnegan is simple. In this fanfiction, he fought Hashirama when he was like 40~50 years old and used a full delayed eternal mangeky¨­ Sharingan to come back to life. This cost him some life force. Then he basically went into hiding. No "zenkai boost" as he doesn''t fight anymore and waits like a ''female cat''. At some point, like 15~20 years, he finally awakens the Rinnegan restoring his Sharingan. Now he is like 60~70 years. This dude is old as a modern human in a ninja world. Summoning the Gedo Mazo he goes on life support and waits for an Uchiha he can brainwash to do his biddings after he finally goes into his grave. He lives trough 3 f**** wars as he met Obito at the end of the 3rd. Respect for Madara, he lived like 90 to 100 years. Outliving Mito Uzumaki. Now to the main part. We have an a.d.u.l.t in his late 20s early 30s. He is strong. He has a large chakra pool for a normal Shinobi but it is not comparable with an Uzumaki, here Nagato. So using a dangerous form of chakra pool expansion Ishizu transplants the Sharingan''s into his eye, making him basically blind. Lucky for him cough "plot armor" cough he survives it as he is a descendent of the Sage. (the same as Kinkaku and Ginkaku). Imagine that Hagoromo had more children and from one of them Ishizu is a descendent. Now he had to expand his chakra pool using the Sharingan. Kakashi was a prime example of how not to do it as he had a Sharingan longer and went unconscious after fighting Zabuza and at that time he was like between 25 or 30(I hate to look up age so I just use my numbers). You have to use it every time your chakra is full, using it as a muscle, but to not overdo it as it would lead you to death. Still, Ishizu won''t just acquire the Rinnegan and go full power. No, even though he knows the paths, he has to understand them. More so, it will cost him massive chakra to use just the Deva Path. If Ishizu uses a path he knows it will drain him so much chakra that he can''t fight anymore. So Ishizu would probably need the time skip of 2 years to master the 6 paths and maybe get other bodies to give them each a path. 2 paths will be important here. The animal path and the 7 outer paths. Wood clones are the idea which I got my inspiration from "Yami the gamer Kage" from I''mjusttryingtofindmyway from FanFiction.Net. Chapter 6 - 5. The Uchiha massacre Ishizu''s POV I lived in a rather normal apartment. It was at the shinobi district near the hokage tower. I had 3 rooms. 1 living room, a kitchen and a bed. Now here I am, thinking how to make this plan go as smoothly as possible. Even though I knew the massacre will happen I forgot the exact time when. The good thing was that I knew just the right person to stick to and so I stayed with Shisui Uchiha who was my teammate at some point during my Chunin years. My relationship with Shisui was a good one. I was one, if not the only non-Uchiha, he had as a friend. We both trained a lot during our early years and during that time I met Itachi. I also met Sasuke but he was to young to interact with us a.d.u.l.ts. Few days later: I confronted Shisui earlier about the conflict of the Uchiha clan and the possibility of a civil war. I warned him not to trust Danzo as he had some kid of grudge against the Uchiha''s and that if Shisui went to Danzo he would die. Shisui was shocked at first at how I knew about the clans problems but dismiss it as he knew that I could have heard it when he was visiting him in the clan compound. I saw Shisui getting nervous, not knowing what to do, but that nervousness was gone and instead a smile appears on his face. "Now I know what I have to do and you, my friend, will help me". (Shisui) What I didn''t expect him to do next was to pull both eyes out of his sockets. I was experienced with blood and disgusting things but seeing your friend taking both eyes out was not a good sight. "Ishizu I don''t want to think that Danzo would do such a thing but what you say could be true. My Sharingan is to powerful to be in the hands of Danzo. "Kotoamutsukami" is the most powerful Genjutsu I have ever seen. I thought I could trust Danzo but him having my eyes would be a disaster for Konoha and you are one of my best friend aside Itachi. I hope you can use those eyes to help Konoha. I trust you so use them for something good. Please take care of Itachi and Sasuke for me. They are family, as you are all but in blood". (Shisui) I tied to talk him out of it saying he could use it now on the clan head but Shisui waved his hand explaining: "Ishizu, ROOT is everywhere, even if I survive I will be hunted by Danzo and can not come back to Konoha. Please protect Konoha, Itachi and his little brother with everything you have".(Shisui) To trick Danzo Shisui transplanted some other Sharingan eyes and confronted Danzo. I watched,secretly, as it happened and the meeting was mostly the same as in the anime. Danzo got the "fake" eye and when Shisui came to Itashi I showed myself. "Ishizu-san why are you here?(Itachi) "Well I want to say goodbye to Shisui"(Ishizu) Whispering to Itachi: "I hope you know what to do. Choosing between Clan and Village is a choice not even I know how to take. Don''t worry I will take care of your brother. I will help you get the eyes of your parents so Danzo can''t take them. Take care."(Ishizu) I hugged Shisui and let a few tear down my eyes. He was and will be a good friend. I couldn''t watch him committing suicide or prevent it as it helped Itachi awakening his mangeky¨­. This is what I hated the most. Even if I knew beforehand about the events I couldn''t change it. That is why I needed power. I needed to be the strongest so nothing could be taken away from me. In this world people who had power ruled. If I could become the strongest person nobody would die and I would achieve peace. (God complex is strong I know) As I walked away I could hear a faint ''thank you'' muttered. The days went by and Itachi and Obito killed the clan except Sasuke. I acted during the time when Sasuke was put into the ''Tsukuy¨­mi''. It was not easy avoiding both Obito and the ROOT who closed the compound. I even had to kill some of those emotionless shinobi. In the main compound I found Sasuke''s parents lying on the floor. It was a miracle that ROOT wasn''t here. I took Fugake and Mikoto''s eyes. Moving out I saw the motionless body of Sasuke lying on the floor. I knew there would be no better chance so I made my way to Sasuke. He was out cold so he wouldn''t notice it as I took a syringe and a scalpel out of my pocket and collected blood and cells from Sasuke.(I hope you know what I want to do) Chapter 6 - Girls and Scrolls Meeting with Naruto to hear some news about his life was always something I liked to do. The blond boy told me he hung out with Shikamaru and Chouji. What the most unexpected thing to hear from Naruto was that Ino didn''t fight with Sakura anymore. From what Naruto told me, Ino started the same as Sakura. Both girls competed for their ''one true love,'' the small and sweet Sasuke Uchiha. The difference was Naruto, being calmer and smarter, talked with Ino about her obsession over Sasuke and that she could be a better Kunoichi if she trained more. Ino didn''t like Naruto''s remark and challenged him to a fight as she quoted: "If I can''t even defeat the dead-last, I am not worthy to be Sasuke-kun''s bride." They fought and to all wonder, Naruto defeated her without breaking a sweat. Ino was upset at how she was humiliated by Naruto and thought that he would laugh at her as Sakura and all the other fangirls did, shouting at her for loosing against Naruto. Naruto did not do such things. Instead, he helped her up and told her how she could get stronger. The blonde boy told her he tried talking with Sakura about changing but she would get mad at him for whatever reason, saying, she would never leave her Sasuke-kun. Naruto wore blue pants and a black ninja shirt. His blue eyes reflected a mysterious calm aura and his whiskers gave him a charming look. ''Maybe I should try Naruto. Sasuke is never looking at me but maybe Naruto will,'' though the Yamanaka. After that, Ino, as Naruto explained, hung around him when she had the time and didn''t even look at Sasuke. This suddenly triggered something in Hinata, who secretly had a crush on Naruto, and she became more self-confident and didn''t stutter anymore and even challenged Ino to a fight. Being beaten by Hinata turned the wheel as next week Ino fought Hinata equally, having asked her father to train her. Now both girls were around him and once I ''saw'' him red as an Uzumaki at being together with the two having their hands around his arms. After that, I slept in bed with chakra fatigue. Shouldn''t have open the eyes. Naruto still bothered me with regularly asking for jutsus. ''I had changed Canon already so changing it more won''t make it any worse,'' I thought. I looked at Naruto: "Naruto, listen. I have a way for you to learn some dangerous jutsus, but they are forbidden. That means they are illegal to use and if somebody found out you will be punished but if you do what I tell you nobody will find out." Naruto thought and told me: "I will do it. I need to get stronger, so I can protect the people I love. What do I have to do?" "Listen, you know some people still hate you for the Kyuubi and one of them is Mizuki, one of your teachers," I explained to the Jinch¨±riki. Naruto agreed. He knew that Mizuki didn''t like him even though he smiled so friendly. Behind that smile, Naruto could feel the hate directed towards him. "Mizuki is a spy from an enemy of Konoha and he wants that scroll. What you do is fail the exam at Bushin, and Mizuki will probably tell you to steal it. Rather than doing that alone, you will tell me when he will do it and we both will gather at that place. Now, we won''t be stealing the scroll as it would be a crime, but we learn some jutsus and copy some. Then we leave and you will have your first battle with a weak Chuunin who will most likely underestimate you. Still, never think you have everything under control as things can go wrong," I said and Naruto nodded and we both went home. Time skip Graduation exam. Naruto POV I was sitting with both Hinata and Ino at the table as we were waiting to finish the exam to become a Genin. "Good luck, Naruto, I hope you will be on my team," said Hinata while smiling at me. "Yeah you even defeated Sasuke so you will pass, good luck," said Ino. Ahh, I like the girls but I had to fail to become stronger. Strange if you think about it. Both girls passed without a problem. Both the Kunoichis of the year as both fought with each other to be the best. Now it was my turn. I went into the room where Iruka-Sensei and Mizuki were. "Naruto you passed both the Weapon Test and the Fighting now ill.u.s.trate the 3 jutsus Kawari, Henge, and Bushin," said Iruka as he looked at his papers. So I did. "I am sorry Naruto but you failed. It is a shame you did good at the others but a fail is a fail." Iruka was very sad that I couldn''t do it. He really cared for me. I saw from the side that Mizuki was smiling viciously. I smiled inside my head. ''Wait till I beat you to the ground,'' I thought inside my head. The girls had tears in their eyes after hearing my misfortune even wanted to fight the Hokage himself so I told them I will retake tomorrow so they didn''t want to worry. Fortunately, both stopped their march towards the Hokage. I sighed relief. As I sat at my swing, which I didn''t use for a long time Mizuki approached me. "Naruto I am sorry that you failed but I can still let you pass. There is a hidden scroll in the office of the Hokage. At the wall of the tower, there is a small hole where you can pass through it and take it. I will wait here and if you get it in 2 hours after midnight, I will let you pass," said Mizuki with a smile on his face. "Of course I will do it because I will become Hokage, believe it," I proclaimed like an idiot. Mizuki smiled happily and went home and I left to find Ishizu-niisan. At Ishizu''s home: Ishizu POV Being blind sucks, I assure you. I have respect for all blind people. Seeing dark 24/7 is so dull. Also, your other senses sharpen when you don''t use your eyes. Did you want to know when your next-door-neighbor farted? Or worse, hearing the night activity of frustrated women? Of course, I could see if I took the blind off but I would see red and after an hour black if both my eyes were open. During the time of having the eyes, my reserves got up from mid jonin to low Kage. I could fight Naruto and often other Chunin with both eyes closed and win and as visual Genjutsus were useless but others such as Genjutsus which focus on sound were not. I could fight for 2 hours with one eye open and a maximum of 30 minutes with both eyes (not counting the mangeky¨­ version). I could probably activate it but I would be instantly drained of chakra and would die. I heard as Naruto walked into my house and called: "Ishizu-niisan let''s go." I stood up and walked to the door. "Ok let''s go we don''t have much time." I had a clone watching Iruka. I didn''t want him to intervene and hurt himself. He was a good Shinobi and cared for Naruto. If Naruto defeated a Chunin, I could force Naruto to become a Ninja, as his potential was too good to be misused by the council. Mizuki was observed as well so I had everything under control. We come to the wall and I Henge into a younger version of myself. Naruto''s true Henge was wonderful. We both climbed through and went to the scroll. "Now, Naruto, be careful we don''t want to alarm the Hokage," I said to him. Some traps and barriers later we came across a huge scroll placed on a table. I opened the scroll carefully and Naruto''s and my eyes had stars in them. (anime logic) "Incredible! So many jutsus from all elements. Look, there is the Kage Bushin you taught me. It states it is forbidden as it costs a massive amount of chakra and people can die if they make too many. No wonder," exclaimed Naruto. I copied with both Sharigans all jutsus I saw on it. Kakashi''s moniker was "of the Sharingan" as he copied 1000 jutsus and here I am who will be called "Ishizu the forbidden one." I saw many strong jutsus, such as Raikage''s chakra clock or Madara''s famous Fire style: Fire annihilation jutsu. Only they were not my goal. There was one jutsu which was so powerful it could be used to start a war. Although all those jutsus were good there was one that was my favorite in both new and old life. What interested me the most was the ''Edo Tensei no Jutsu.'' I had no idea how some DNA, a scroll, and a living sacrifice could bring back the dead. As it was also a summoning, jutsu one needed blood as a medium. I copied the instructions and the hand signs as I saw a single red hair inside the scroll. ''What is hair doing here? Nevermind, let''s just take it with me maybe it is from some Uzumaki?'' I thought. I looked at Naruto. "Ok, we need to move Mizuki is coming." "Yes, I am ready. Although all these jutsu are hard, I got some good wind and water jutsus," said Naruto. We walked outside and I concealed behind some trees. "Now, Naruto, I don''t feel the Hokage seeing us so show me your strength." 5 minutes later, Mizuki arrived. "Naruto where is the scroll give it to me now!" demanded Mizuki. "I am sorry but I failed I didn''t fit into the hole," explained Naruto in a fake cry. "Well, if I can''t get the scroll, I will have to kill you because you are the Kyuubi who destroyed the village 10 years ago," shouted the traitor. Narutos POV ''Man, this guy was a teacher. When I become Hokage, I will personally see each teacher so such people can''t infect students,'' I thought to myself. I pretended to freeze and let a few tears drop down my cheeks. Mizuki laughed like a retard seeing me freeze and crying. ''This idiot is laughing instead of attacking me.'' I did the right thing at that moment. I attacked instead. I wanted to end this quickly. I had never seen him do jutsus, except the 3 normal ones, and he only had 2 wind shurikens with him, so I dashed at him with Chunin speed and uses Wind style: Wind blade (similar to Baki''s jutsu) to cut him in half. Sadly Mizuki was a ninja and his instinct, even if weak, save his life..... not his arm though. A nice clean-cut was seen as Mizuki screamed and held his arm. "You, demon brat, what have you done???!!!" cried Mizuki in horror of seeing his missing arm in the ground. I closed the distance between us and used my Kunai and to cut his head off. "Doing my job. Cleaning weed, a D-rank." I looked at Ishizu-niisan as he jumped next to me and then everything went black. Chapter 8 - The new Sharingan and a new prophecy? Ishizu''s living room As I looked at the small flasks where the Sharingans were stored I saw two Sharingans looking back at me. Both looked like they were a mixture of Sasuke''s and Shisui''s mangeky¨­ : The first in vitro made eternal mangeky¨­ Sharingan. I was so happy that I stood up and laughed like a madman. After a while I calmed and sat down. I thought about it and theorized that Sasuke''s blood, upon injecting into the eyes, mixed itself with the eyes of Shisui. This process also happens if you transplant Sharingan eyes between two persons. Madara got his eternal mangeky¨­ Sharingan when his brother gave it to him. It probably wouldn''t work if Sasuke didn''t awake his Sharingan during the massacre but I couldn''t confirmed that. Unfortunately it would probably take some years to awaken the Rinnegan but I knew I had to take the risk. I couldn''t wait till they changed or it would be all for the garbage can. At that moment I didn''t realize but the prophecy about the one who will bring peace changed to another more confusing prophecy. Mount My¨­baku Gamamaru the ''Toad Sage'' sat on his chair with his eyes closed when all of the sudden a vision appeared before him. ( Finally a description of the MC) A tall man with a muscular body having short blue hair. He had an oval face and his distinct feature was a manly kin. He had a serious expression on his face. His red eyes(not the Sharingan) had a fire burning in them but as Gamamaru looked further he saw his eyes changed into ones he only saw once when he was young. The Rinnegan, better know as Sams¨¡ra eyes. The eyes of his old friend Hagoromo Otsutsuki. Gamamaru tried to look further to see what kind of person he was and was astonished. He had a heart which could contain both light and darkness in perfect portion. Both Yin and Yang. Normally a person had more yang or yin but his was 50/50. ''Like a panda'' he thought. "This person,who ever he is, will definitely change the future. I need to tell Jiraya about it. A new prophecy had come. The man mastering both yin and yang will guide the child of prophecy but I see greed in those eyes of his. It is unknown if he will betray the child for his own purposes or fight the evil coming together". (Gamamaru) Chapter 12 - Looking for the scroll Time skip Graduation exam. Naruto POV I was sitting with both Hinata and Ino at the table as we were waiting to finish the exam to become a Genin. "Good luck Naruto I hope you will be on my team". (Hinata) "Yeah you even defeated Sasuke so you will pass, good luck". (Ino) Ahh, I like the girls but I had to fail to become stronger. Strange if you think about it. Both girls passed without a problem. Both the Kunoichis of the year as both fought with each other to be the best. Now it was my turn. I went into the room where is saw Iruka-Sensei and Mizuki. "Naruto you passed both the Weapon Test and the Fighting now ill.u.s.trate the 3 jutsus Kawari, Henge, and Bushin".(Iruka) So I did. I Henge into Iruka-Sensei and did the Kawari but failed at the Bushin. "I am sorry Naruto but you failed. It is a shame you did good at the others but a fail is a fail". (Iruka). I saw from the side that Mizuki was smiling viciously. I smiled inside my head ''wait till I beat you to the ground ''. The girls had tears in their eyes after hearing my misfortune even wanted to fight the Hokage himself so I told them I will retake tomorrow so they didn''t want to worry. As I sat at my swing which I didn''t use for a long time Mizuki approached me. "Naruto I am sorry that you failed but I can still let you pass. There is a hidden scroll in the office of the Hokage. At the wall of the tower, there is a small hole where you can pass through it and take it. I will wait here and if you get it in 2 hours after midnight I will let you pass. (Mizuki). "Of course I will do it because I will become Hokage, believe it." (Naruto) Mizuki smiled happily and went home and I left to Ishizu. At Ishizu''s home: Ishizu POV Being blind sucks I assure you. I have respect for all blind people. Seeing dark 24/7 is so dull. Also, your other senses sharpen. Did you want to know when your next-door-neighbor farted? Of course, I could see if I took the blind off but I would see red and after an hour black if both my eyes were open. During the time of having the eyes, my reserves got up from mid jonin to low Kage. I could fight Naruto and often other Chunin with both eyes closed and win and as visual Genjutsus were useless but others such as Genjutsus which focus on sound were not. I could fight for 2 hours with one eye open and a maximum of 30 minutes with both eyes( not counting the mangeky¨­ version). I could probably activate it but I would be instantly drained of chakra and would die. I heard as Naruto walked into my house and called" Ishizu-niisan let''s go"(Naruto) I stood up and walked to the door. "Ok let''s go we don''t have much time. (Ishizu). It was dark as we departed. I had a clone watching Iruka. I didn''t want him to intervene and hurt himself. If Naruto defeated a Chunin I could force Naruto to become a Ninja as his potential was too good to be misused by the council. Mizuki was observed as well so I had everything under control. We come to the wall and I Henge into a younger version of myself. Naruto''s true Henge was wonderful. We both climbed through and went to the scroll. "Now Naruto be careful we don''t want to alarm the Hokage." Some traps and barriers later we came across a huge scroll placed on a table. I opened the scroll carefully and Naruto''s and my eyes had stars in them. (anime logic) "Incredible! So many jutsus from all elements. Look there is the Kage Bushin. It states it is forbidden as it costs a massive amount of chakra and people can die if they make to many. No wonder."(Naruto) I copied with both Sharigans all jutus. Kakashi''s moniker was "of the Sharingan" as he copied 1000 jutsus and here I am who will be called "Ishizu the forbidden one" I saw many strong jutsus such as Raikages chakra clock or Madara''s famous Fire style: Fire annihilation jutsu. Only they were not my goal. There was one jutsu which was so powerful it could be used to start a war. Chapter 14 - Darkness spreads Ishizu''s POV I waited until the Hokage and 4 Anbu arrived. "Ishizu what happened. What was that scream"?(Hokage) "Hokage-same report: It started as Naruto came to me after he failed the exam and told me that he got a mission from Mizuki to get a scroll. At first, I didn''t give it a thought but I got curious which scroll it was as I never heard of such a mission to pass the exam. I searched for him and found him as Mizuki told Naruto an S-ranked secret about his identity. I saw that Mizuki attacked Naruto but Naruto fought against him. I could intervene but I wanted to see if he had the guts to become a ninja. Naruto managed to cut Mizuki''s arm with a kunai by using multiple shadow clones as Mitzuki underestimate him, but Naruto sustained some damaged. I cut off Mizuki''s head as I overheard him talking about using Naruto to steal the forbidden scroll and bring it to Orochimaru. Afterwards Naruto fell unconscious due to his injuries. (Ishizu) The Hokage nodded: "Good, dismissed. Anbu clean up and Ishizu come with Naruto to my office as soon as he wakes up". (Hokage) I didn''t know if it was real but I think I saw my vision go purple for a second and then black. ''Dammit I had both eyes open for too long, didn''t I''? Hokage POV: Hiruzen Sarutobi had a headache. One second he thought about how an academy student defeated a Chunin and the next he sees one of the strongest Jonin fall unconscious. Naruto probably had read the forbidden scroll which was asked by Mizuki. He saw that Ishizu had overused his eyes, but he couldn''t understand why one of his best Jonin did something like basically making himself blind. He knew how powerful a Sharingan was he had just to look at Kakashi who knew almost as much Justus as he. The Chakra drain was also hard and just implant Sharingan''s to make a larger chakra pool was a waste, so he was suspicious about it but dismissed it as Ishizu was a student of Minato and loyal to Konoha. He knew that Ishizu dismissed himself from ANBU, so he could train Naruto. Kakashi was not amused but dismissed it after Ishizu told him to take the Uchiha. Unknown location "Finally someone else awakened the Rinnegan. It is time I meet him to see what kind of person achieved to activate my eyes and summon me from the dead".(Unknown) Chapter 15 - An unexpected meeting Ishizu POV. Darkness. Only darkness. I walked through what I could call a void. ''Hmm, the last thing that happened was me talking with the Hokage as I lost consciousness. Why was I being stupid and let my eyes open for so long'' I signed: "Well, I hope I am not dead as I would like to live a long and happy life".(Ishizu) "You certainly will live long if you take the road you walk now"(Unknown). Hearing a voice I turned around and saw somebody who I didn''t think would appear. Before me stood/floated? Hagoromo Otsustuki, better known as the Sage of the Six Paths. I was surprised seeing him of all the people but I stayed calm: "I didn''t think you would appear before me as I am neither your reincarnation sons". The Sage smiled at me: Yes you are neither of my sons'' reincarnations. Yet you are different from all the others. I can feel that your soul is old although you have a young body. Having lived a life before, you are certainly a mystery to the world. And still, you are wrong about me not being related to you. You indeed combined both types of my son''s chakras but your body belongs to a distant descendant of me so you could awaken the Rinnegan. I am before you because you awakened my Rinnegan. I have seen from the afterlife how this abomination of my mother called "black Zetsu" corrupted Indra and his reincarnations and finally succeeded at Madara. His soul was tainted and I refused to meet him, yours is clear although I see greed and l.u.s.t? in it, it doesn''t matter. The awakening of your eyes gave me a chance to slip through to the living world for a short time. To summit up: I want you to help me. During my time I tried to achieve peace by giving people chakra to learn ''Ninshu'' but instead, they bastardized it and used it as a weapon creating Ninjutsu. I will give you both the six path yin and yang seals. Both are needed in case my mother ever emerges. I will allow you to use them only in dire need situations as they are not destined to be yours and therefore will not be able to use them at even 1%. If you think it is the right time for one of my son''s reincarnation to have it than give it to them."(Hagoromo) I opened my palms and the Sage pressed his hands down. I could feel the power of both seals surging through my body and it was awesome. I have never felt so strong before. Opening my palms I could see in my left palm a black sickle moon and on my right palm a sun. "I will do it. Even though I am biased as I have a better connection to Asura''s reincarnation I will not forsake Indra''s and will give him a chance if he doesn''t fall to the darkness. It is not my destiny to help him, it is Naruto''s" The Sage nodded and I could feel waking up. After Ishizu disappeared Hagoromo''s POV ''This boy is full of greed. He would do anything just to get power. If he follows this path then he will surely become like mother although there was something else that keeps his greed in place which I coudn''t see. I entrusted him with both my powers so he can guide those boys but I have doubt. I hope ''he'' and his familiars can redirect his greed to a more useful path. Chapter 17 - How Naruto will go on[Not a chapter] I think I should give you some insight into how the Naturo fanfiction will go on. After his meeting with Hagoromo, the fanfiction will be split into different parts which will connect by themselves. 1. The team arc: Here will the MC train his Genin team if they can pass his test and No it is not the boring ''Do teamwork and you pass'' bell test. 2. There will be a small self-created filler to let the characters grow and form connections between teams. Some other POVs, from Naruto, will be there. There will also be some OC''s which will only be used just to create a full team for others and won''t be important. 3. Wave arc: I will try to shorten it because I have a great plan for the Chunin exam and don''t want to waste my time in this arc. Still, canon will derive here. 4. I have planned a small crossover. It is to make the fanfiction a little believable and funny together. Still is will have a huge impact on the story and MC. MC is serious AF. 5. Chunin exam: Here I will let my imagination run wild though I haven''t given much thought. 6. Tsunade retrieval: Short 7. Sasuke retrieval arc: Will be awesome. I won''t spoiler 8. 2 years(or more?) and End of Naruto(finally) Chapter 18 - Should have read the instructions Ishizu''s POV Hospitals. I hate hospitals. The nurse seeing me awake runs up to me and checks my vitals. " I am fine just tell your supervisor to get in".(Ishizu) She went out and a doctor came. "Sasaki-San you are awake. The Hokage told me to tell you that if you are feeling fine then you should go to the Hokage tower." I told it was ok and asked him how long I was asleep. "2 days you had almost no chakra we thought you died but a Hij¨±ga confirmed you were still alive." After that, I asked where Naruto was and he told me he is at home. Still, I had something important to do. After coming home from the hospital I went and looked at the storage scrolls I had with me. They looked untouched so nobody used them. I patted myself as right now I was the best Fuinjutsu expert in Konoha, as Jiraija wasn''t here. I took the scroll about the ''Edo Tensei'' out and read it. As I remembered it was a forbidden jutus created by Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage. It used a special scroll to form a contract between the pure land and the living. As payment, a living sacrifice was used. You needed DNA of said person you wanted to reanimate as well as the four hand signs. I loved this jutsu so much because I could see that it was a pretty strong one. Just look at Kabuto who created an army out of those. I am not a fan out creating an army but knowledge of a said person is another thing. Just think what Orochimaru would do if he had information on the 1st and 2nd Hokage. You could bring an old monster back from the grave to teach you. Of course, they had to speak, so they needed to be willing. I looked at the hair I got from the scroll as I never heard there is one left. ''It is red so I could assume it is from an Uzumaki''. I was glad it was not some random hair as I didn''t want to accidentally reanimate Madara or some other madman. "Well let''s see whose hair you belong to". I made the hand signs: ''Tiger'' >''Snake''>''Dog''>''Dragon''. "Summoning Jutsu: Impure world resurrection" as I slammed my hands down my victim, a civilian who hated Naruto, was trying to scream while his mouth was gagged. Many different symbols appeared and slowly made their way to the civilian and a circle appeared around him as multiple papers attached to his body. It was a bit different as thought as I couldn''t see the person as he/she were now in a brown box instead of outside. It was engraved with an Uzumaki symbol. Before I could question why there was a box it was opened rather brutally. The front opened due to a foot and the next thing I see or rather fell as my eyes are closed due to pain is a hand gripping my trough. ''Well ****. Looks like I forgot about safety''. Next, I hear a female voice speaking: "You have guts to use a Jutsu I, myself, was a creator of. Did you believe you could control me or what? Tell me Shinobi from which village are you and who you are. Don''t even try to lie as I can fell if you lie or not". (Unknown) The grip weakened but it was still tight so I couldn''t escape. ''Well hope she doesn''t kill me'' "I am a shinobi of Konohagakure. Jonin teacher and former student of the 4th Hokage. My name is Ishizu Sasaki". The woman processed the information. "Hmm, you didn''t lie and fourth you say well it''s been a while since a was in the living world. Look at me"(Woman). I opened my eyes(they are red again as Ishizu has not activated his Rinnegan which he can retract) and saw a young woman with red hair. I recognized her. There were not many Uzumakis shown in the anime but she was well-known. "Ohh, by your look I assume you recognize me?"(Uzumaki) I tried to clear my through. "Of course. A woman of your power and such red hair isn''t easy to not know if you lived in Konoha. Though you are not the first Uzumaki I have seen".(Ishizu) "You must have met Kushina-chan"?(Uzumaki) "Yes, I knew her pretty well as I was her husband''s student, former 4th Hokage Of Konoha".(Ishizu) "Former what happened?" asked the now perfectly seen Mito Uzumaki. "A lot happened after your death and our Hokage sacrificed his life to seal the fox back". Mito snorted: "The seal shouldn''t break as I am certain my skills were master-level unless... ".(Mito) "Unless she was giving birth and an enemy knew, abducted and extracted the fox from her."(Ishizu) Mito watched me carefully then sighted " I have many questions but we can discuss them later. Now to the more serious one. Why did you bring me back to life? This jutsu which my husbands'' stupid brother created was to be only used during emergencies when Konoha was at the brink of destruction and I don''t see or feel any problems".(Mito) "Well, it is because it has not yet happened. I have information that during our next Chunin exam we will be invaded by an enemy of Konoha".(Ishizu) Mito narrowed her eyes "And which enemy would that be"?(Mito) "His name is Orochimaru. He was a former Konoha ninja and one of the Sanin. He also was one of Sandaime-sama''s students, a former comrade of your granddaughter, Princess Tsunade"(Ishizu) "I may remember him. He was the quiet one of the 3. There was also the pervert who couldn''t keep his eyes of my granddaughter". I cringed "You must mean Jiraiya-sama. I must disappoint you but his antics are still known of today. Now we have different things to discuss. Orochimaru is also in possession of the Edo Tensei. He has an obsession with becoming immortal and used to kidnap children trying experiments on them". Mito''s face darkened and I could feel her killing intend leaking. ''Wow, not even I could produce such amount, what a monster''. "You mentioned he also uses the jutsu, could it possibly be related to my husband and his brother disappearance out of the pure world"?(Mito) "I am not one hundred percent sure how it works in the pure land but I am certain".(Ishizu) She looked at me as looking at a helpless child. "Ok, I could help you if you answer my final question. Why did you not go to the littles monkey if you knew his former student would attack?" I panicked. ''**** I didn''t think she would ask and I can''t lie as she is a walking lie detector. And half lies could be noticed too. Well, only the truth can save me''. "If you want the truth here you go. I believe that it is time for Hiruzen to retire. I know he is a good leader but he made many mistakes during his reign after the death of the 4th Hokage. Also, it would alarm Orochimaru if we would prepare for an invasion. Another thing is that Konoha has many dark ROOTS in them who will be a nuisance if the information is leaked. The last thing concerns a person. As you know that extracting a Bijuu out of a person results in death but you Uzumakis are truly monsters in that picture. Even after the extraction, Kushina held on and protected her baby with her body as the Kijuubi pierced her and her husband''s body with its claw. Both she and her husband protected the baby. With his last strength, the 4th used the Shiki fuujin as he summoned the shinigami, splitting the Kyuubi''s chakra into Yin and Yang. The yin half was taken with him and the Yang he put into his newborn son creating the third Jinj¨±urinki of the Kijuubi. He sealed it with the eight trigrams sealing techniques. He wanted that his son would be seen as a hero but Hiruzen failed as he was old and weak and the dark side of Konoha slowly grew stronger. An S-ranked secret about the boy got leaked and the damaged was irreparable. The village got told a lie that the boy was the reincarnated Kijuubi itself and hated him for it. I protected him during his life but I am only one man and not God. So I believe that Saurtobi can redeem himself by defeating Orochimaru. Finishing what he should have done years ago. If he survives is not important for the village as a new Hokage who is meant for peace and not war should take his place. Your husband was a leader during peace times. Then the shinobi wars came and his brother and the Third came to be leaders. They lived their lives in a war so they were made for fighting. After the 3rd Shinobi war, Minato Namikaze emerged victorious from the war. He was made 4th Hokage and he was perfect. He was a kind soul and even melted trough the thick personality of Kushina. All that ended as he died and the 3rd came back. Being old he was outspoken by the civilian council who grew corrupted during the years".(Ishizu) I realized at that moment that I have never spoken so free without anything hiding. I felt good. A few seconds, then minutes, passed as I watched in silence as Mito digested the information. "You truly believe what you say and when I see it from your point of view I can''t disagree. Now Sasaki-kun I will agree to help you in fighting off the Konoha nukenin but I have a request".(Mito) "And what would that be Mito-sama"?(Ishizu) "I want to have a look at the Uzumaki boy you mentioned before". (Mito)"Naruto? Ok, why not as long as you can sneak past the Anbu sure. (Ishizu) Killing intent was used and my instincts screamed to run. "Don''t forget who you are talking to Sasaki-San. I was Hashirama''s wife and Fuinjutsu expert. Don''t insult my skills. Now lead the way. I want to see my last relative"(Mito) We made our way to Naruto''s apartment. "Naruto, can I come in I have somebody that wants to meet you".(Ishizu) "Just come in the door is open".(Naruto) Coming through the door I could see a cleaned room. "Looks like he knows how to clean".(Mito) "I don''t think it was him but his girlfriends". (Ishizu) "Girlfriend? Let''s see what this boy has to offer".(Mito) Commit into the living room I could see Naruto looking at me as all of a sudden Mito-sama attacked Naruto. Naruto having gotten used to fighting got into a Defence position and blocked the punch. Well tried, as the fist connected with Naruto''s crossed arms and send him flying back. ''What was that?''(Ishizu) "What the hell lady are you crazy or what? You come into my house and attack me all of a sudden if I can''t defeat you I can''t be called Hokage, dattebayo"!!(Naruto) "Hmm, your reflexes are good and your anger issues to go by as well as the last word I am certain that you are an Uzumaki as well as Kuchina''s son. Forgive me for testing as I was curious why you didn''t have red hair. I interrupted "I think his fathers'' gens were more dominant". General POV Ishizu shouldn''t have talked as Mito glared at him who quickly closed his mouth and backed a few steps away. "Good, I think you have experienced a mad Uzumaki before. Let''s hope you don''t interrupt me again or you will not live to tell your children".(Mito) Ishizu could only nod at her ''Never in my life will I ever provoke an Uzumaki. I still have nightmares of THAT day. Mito turned to Naruto. "Now as he is quit I want to look at my last relative".(Mito) Ishizu wants to speak up that Naruto was not the last Uzumaki but quickly shut his mouth as he saw the sharp glare Mito have given him saying: ''One world and you are dead''. "Relative who are you, lady"?(Naruto) "Oh, lady. Well, I am none other than Mito Uzumaki. Wife of the former 1st Hokage and an Uzumaki such as you". Naruto''s eyes begin to shine "Really wow baa-chan you sure look beautiful for being old".(Naruto) Ishizu winced at that statement. He thought Naruto would have a little respect for her as having seen what Kushina and Tsunade did when either was called old or baa-chan. Mito only smiled: "Oh thank you but I am only young because I am a corpse reanimated by that fool behind me. I just wanted to see how the son of Kushina came out".(Mito) Ishizu was on the floor beating it, silently, behind called a fool by her but couldn''t do anything. Naruto was only interested in his mother. "You knew my mother"?(Naruto) "Yes, when she was young. She was a very lively young girl always saying she wanted to be the first female Hokage. She dislike when other people called her out because of her hair".(Mito) Ishizu swallowed at that statement having a flashback at that horrible day of fist flying by a tomato covered Demon. Mito saw Ishizu pale at her sentence. "I see you made Kushina somehow angry and tasted the consequence"(Mito) Ishizu was than ignored again. Naruto looked puzzled "Why did they insult her. Your red hair is the same as my mother''s then how can someone say that it, is so beautiful. I wish I had such hair instead of this yellow one". (Naruto) Mito laughed "Oh what a cute boy you are. Tell me Naruto how has life been? I have heard about your burden as I can relate to being the first one in which a Bijuu was sealed inside".(Mito) Naruto was quiet for a moment and then answered: "It still hurts I can fell the sharp looks on me and the whispers about the demon brat" then he grinned " If it wasn''t for Ishizu-niisan I don''t think I could have overcome it. He protected me when he was at my side. I remember him feeding me when I was hungry and reading to me when I was bored. He started to train me when everyone else avoided me and bought me clothes when everyone else throws rocks at me. He made me into what I am today. I couldn''t be happier. Ishizu''s POV Ishizu''s mouth opened at the world Naruto used. He felt guilty as he only started to train Naruto to use him just like others would use him, as a tool to grow stronger. What he didn''t expect was to unintentionally start to care for Naruto. He started liking to talk with Naruto and was proud of him when he got stronger. ''When did I started to change? Is this the power of a protagonist or the famous "Talk no Jutsu" of Naruto? I knew of it but even though if this strange power exists it appears to me that not even the knowledge and power of a transmigrated soul, such as mine, could be strong to defend itself from this. What a powerful ability indeed. No wonder Obito and Sasuke changed to being good later''. Mito smiled at Ishizu thinking: Maybe he is a good person after all. He radiates power but I could feel his greed for power the moment he summoned me. But now I only see a young man feeling guilty and he probably wonders when he starts to change from a power-hungry fool to a loving older brother. I see that the world is still not lost to evil''. Chapter 20 - Making a new team General POV. After the talk with Naruto, Ishizu went to the Hokage to repeat the case of Mizuki. Naruto got his Hitai-ate headband from Ishizu saying that injuring a traitor Chunin form stealing a forbidden scroll was good enough to be enrolled as Genin. Ishizu POV Hokage office: "Hokage-sama I want to suggest a team I want to take as a Jonin. I think if those 3 were together they would become the best. Of course, I need to talk with three other Jonin if they agree. I suggest I train them for one month. I also want to make a competition where after every month the Genin fight against each other to see who is the best. The competition will be good for everyone". (Ishizu) Hiruzen rose his brow at the statement. "Ohh, you want to prepare them for the Chunin exam right? Which Genin do you want to be in your team?" Ishizu smiled and answered: "I want Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hij¨±ga and Naruto Uzumaki for my Genin team. The reason is simple. Naruto is a perfect frontline fighter. His Taijutsu is almost Chunin Level and his Ninjutsu is high Genin(after the scroll at high Chunin), the Yamanaka could be a good Genjutsu expert or medic as Naruto can''t do a single one and Hinata will be the perfect defender for Yamanaka''s special mind jutsus as well as fighting together with Naruto".(Ishizu) Hiruzen was thinking and after a minute told Ishizu. "Hmm, you have to talk this out with my son Asuma as he wanted the Ino-Shika-Cho combo, the Hij¨±ga with Kurenai and Naruto, well I don''t know if Kakashi wants him. Ishizu bid farewell and left. Street of Konoha: Ishizu was thinking about how to make his plan come true. He wanted to make a team that could soar through heaven and never be defeated. Truly a fitting thing to do for a soon to be God. ''Kakashi will be easy to persuade as he will most likely take Sasuke for Obito''s sake. Hinata can probably convince Kurenai herself to let me train her or I will tell her than she can take her if she can convince Hinata to leave. Ino will be harder as Asuma wants her with Shikamaru and Choji. I hope she likes Naruto more so she will stay. Still, the thought about switching teams was good and maybe I can convince the Hokage to get Anko to teach Sakura so she won''t be useless and provide something useful to the village. The first stop would be the Yamanaka flower shop. Yamanaka shop: Inoichi and his wife were watering their flowers. They both were first afraid that their beloved daughter would become a fangirl like her friend Sakura and never train and doing a stupid diet. That changed when she met the Kijuubi Jinj¨±uriki, Naruto Uzumaki. Ino told her parents that she wanted to train and be a strong Kunoichi. It made her parents very happy. She also took her training seriously, started eating healthy and became one of the best students in the academy. So they were not surprised as one Jonin came into their shop and wanted to talk about their daughter. "What brings you to our shop Sasaki-San"(Inoichi). "Call me Ishizu please Inoichi-sama. I have come to talk about the Genin teams and I want to take Ino into my team. I want her to be with the Hij¨±ga girl and the Uzumaki kid. I know that Asuma wants her in his team but I want to take her for 1 month and train her. I will make her strong and if he truly wants to be with the other two she can go". (Ishizu) Inoichi knew that Asuma was lazy and has also seen Ishizu''s training with Minato. Flashback no Jutsu ''Rasengan''/''Rasengan'' two people shouted. Both Minato and Ishizu clashes with both Rasengan''s in hand at each other. From the smoke created you could see one person flying away. It was Ishizu. Minato stood a few feet away from his attack position. "Well, you made me move Ishizu-kun, I am impressed. I have learned this jutsu in 3 years and you took only 1". Ishizu lying on the floor was laughing: "Sensei, you just wait until I got my elemental chakra into this ball then you will be the one lying on the floor." Standing up he charged at Minato: "I am still not finished!" Ishizu ran at his Sensei only to collapse from chakra exhaustion. Inoichi POV. Ishizu left the shop smiling as the first problem was done. ''Now To convince the Hij¨±ga patriarch''. Hij¨±ga residents: Hiashi POV. I was surprised. Not many things could surprise me. Seeing my daughter defeat her sister easily was unexpected. He wondered how his weak daughter, who couldn''t hurt a fly a few months ago, defeated her sister easily. Of course, I asked her and she told me that she found her reason to fight for and that was to be with the Uzumaki. I was not blind. I saw the Uzumaki being trained by Sasaki Ishizu a good Jonin and former student of Namikaze. The Hatake kid fell into depression but Sasaki pushes through and I had respect for people with a strong will. I knew Naruto''s parents and if he would be as strong as his father I was not afraid to let my daughter marry him. He had a long way to go before he was Hokage but if he could achieve it the Hij¨±ga clan would be connected to the next Hokage and that was prestige. So I was not surprised as Sasaki came to my residents to ask my daughter to be in his genin team. "Give me a reason why I should give you my daughter into your hands Sasaki-san"?(Hiashi) "There are many reasons why: 1. She loves Naruto and wants to be on his team. Both could grow strong together and their relationship would grow. 2. I knew you had Kurenai help Hinata in her confidence but she couldn''t help her and here came Naruto. Of course, her changes happened because she was jealous of the Yamanaka girl who started to get feelings for Naruto and she saw her as a thread. Such emotions triggered her and she started to be more headstrong. 3. Politics. You know very well who Naruto''s parents are and if he marries Hinata you could imagine what benefit it could bring the Hij¨±ga clan". Hiashi nodded at the points Ishizu made. "Good I will tell Kurenai about it".(Hiashi) Ishizu walked away from the compound having a smile on his face. He was 100% sure he could get his team together. He knew that Naruto could grow on his own. Now stronger than his canon part but Ishizu wanted to see his fruits blooming as he shows all that he is the best. Chapter 21 - Teams are formed Graduation day: Naruto woke up early as he didn''t want to be late for his graduation. Walking to the academy Naruto thought about who would be on his team. He really wanted both Hinata and Ino to be his teammates as well as Ishizu as his Sensei. He got his ninja headband personally from Ishizu, who was proud of him to finally start his career. As Naruto walked into the room he noticed that he was early. Only Shino and Shikamaru were there. Shino looked at Natuto for a while then looked away. Shikamaru looked at Naruto with a lazy expression. Shikamaru was confused as he remembered that Naruto was the dead last and even failed the exam. "Oy ,Naruto, I thought you failed so why are you here?" (Shikamaru) Naruto proudly pointed at his headband and lied, as telling people he defeated a Chunin was hard to believe: "I was tested on other things, as Bushin with my chakra reserves would be impossible to do. I got to make a Mizu Bushin which uses more chakra and passed". Both Shikamaru and Shino nodded and didn''t question further as they new that Naruto had a lot of chakra and couldn''t make a normal Bushin, though nobody new why. All three waited for others to arrive. Naruto took a seat near the door and sat in the middle and waited for the girls. A few minute later Hinata and Ino came and sat beside him. Both smiled seeing as Naruto passed: "We both knew that you would make it. I hope I can be in your team Naruto"(Hinata). Ino was not pleased that she was left out: "Hey, he will be my partner. Shikamaru is always sleeping and Choji eats all the time but Naruto is different. He trains hard and listens to my request so he will be on my team. Shikamaru didn''t mind the insult he heard from Ino he just wanted to sleep so he looked up and replied: "Troublesome girl and blonde. Let me sleep and don''t disturb me". Shikamaru dropped his head and fell asleep. Choji who sat besides Shikamaru patted him on his back. Other people started to arrive. Hearing a scream of two girls everyone closed their ears and looked up seeing Sakura and Nasaki Yamanaka, cousin of Ino trying to get first through the door. Both girls were stuck in the door. Each refused to back away to let the other go first. Nasaki screamed at Sakura: "Hey forehead I was clearly first so move out of my way". Sakura didn''t back off and only looked at her man in shining armor: "In your dreams. I was first. Now move I want to see my future husband". Everybody sweatdropped at those two fighting for the Uchiha, who was not happy, and looked at the window brooding. Many people even made bets as to why the Uchiha brooded all the time. A few minutes later Iruka-Sensei came into the room and announced teams. "Good, everyone is present, Mizuki couldn''t come as he retired from being a ninja and you won''t be seeing him in Konoha again. I will now announce the teams who will be together as well as their Jonin Sensei. Team 1.... Team 6.... Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Harano and Sai, who is new and comes from a council elder to make teams even. Your Sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Team 8: Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Kira Inuzuka, ( Cousin of Kiba, an OC).Your Sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi. Team 9 is still functioning. Team 10: Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimishi and Nasaki Yamanaka. Your Sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi". Shikamaru was not amused to have Nasaki as his teammates muttered: "Troublesome. Now I have a fangirl and a banshee as a teammate. Even Ino is better than her. For that comment her received a fist from Nasaki. "Last is Team 11. In it are Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hij¨±ga and Ino Yamanaka. Your Sensei will be Ishizu Sasaki. I need to remind you all that the Hokage made this years Genin groups different. You all will have a mock battle after every month against other teams to see if the groups we''re trained and should be changed to make a more effective team. To make it more attractive there are certain rules. Winning a fight allows the Genin to ask a Jonin to move to his team. You still have to impress the Jonin in the mock battle to be considered, so do your best. Now wait here till your right Sensei arrives". Naruto, Hinata and Ino were happy. All three were together with a teacher that Naruto knew personally. Both girls were told by their parents that Ishizu will teach them and that he was one of the best Jonin Konoha had right now. All of the sudden the temperature dropped some degrees and out of a black hole come a person with a fox mask. Naruto sweatdropped at that man. All other people were paralyzed or fainted by the killing intent radiating from the man. Hinata and Ino moved before Naruto to protect him but still shook from the blood l.u.s.t. Naruto looked at Sasuke, who was the assumably best and saw him paralyzed. Naruto rolled his eyes. ''Wow and he always told everyone that he is an elite. If he can''t handle this much killing intent then how will he face other people''. The person looked at the three and spoke: "Good you three didn''t freeze. You girls shack but that is normal considering you are academy students. You stuck together and didn''t faint like some others. Maybe you will make a great team if you show me you have the will. I am Ishizu Sasaki and I will be team 11''s teacher. Follow me to training ground 43. Oh and by the way". Ishizu turned to the others. Even though one couldn''t see his face behind his mask, he clearly looked disappointed. "You all should either quit being Shinobi or learn how to handle killing intend as some people will take it as an opportunity to kill you. Take an example of the blond". With that he left. "Well let''s go our Sensei is waiting". (Naruto) All three left. It was so sudden that I had no time to react. The killing intend was strong. Not as strong as HIS at that time but I doubt it was his full power. He wore a mask and as I looked around, all of us froze expect Naruto and his girlfriends . ''How can he remain unfrozen? Does he not fear death? I am an elite Uchiha I should be unfrozen how can this dobe be so calm''. The person''s name was Ishizu Sasaki. I heard from HIM that he was a prodigy and a strong shinobi. I even met him when I was little. If he was my teacher he could give me power and I could avenge my clan but instead it was the dobe that got him. Still I was not afraid. When I beat the dobe in 1 month I will demand that I change places with him. His teammates are not fan girls and were Kunoichi''s of the year. They would hopefully not hinder me. Instead I got the Haruno girl who annoyed me to hell and a person so white who I couldn''t read as if he had no emotions. His smile was so fake I didn''t even know why he even used it. Sai''s Pov I am confused as to why Danzo-sama gave me a mission to watch over the Uchiha. He looks weak and is only looking through the window. My other teammate is even weaker considering she is a civilian. She always sits beside the Uchiha and wants to talk to him. I didn''t expect the killing intend and froze for a second. A Genjutus was cast as a man appeared out of a hole. I tensed as he released his killing intend and was ready to charge at him and eliminate him but he told us his name was Ishizu Sasaki and he was a teacher for team 11. Danzo-sama explained to me that I should be careful around Sasaki as he was a former Anbu and would kill me if he ever found out I worked for ROOT. He looked at each of us and explained that he was disappointed and we should take an example of the Kyuubi Jinj¨±uriki. I smiled at him but I felt something coming from his eyes that screamed danger and I looked away. ''I should tell Danzo-sama more about this man. He is clearly a very strong person and could hinder ROOT. Chapter 22 - Introduction of team 11 Training ground 43 Training ground 43 was a small forest compared to the training ground 44. Ishizu took this training ground because it was like the 2nd Chunin exam and for traps and other stuff. Ishizu sat on a stone while his students were waiting for their Sensei to speak: "Now, here we are. This is training will be your training ground for the next month. First, let us start with an introduction. Tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and your reason you want to be Ninja". "Sensei, can you give an example what we have to say"? (Ino) "Ok, my name is Ishizu Sasaki. I enjoy discovering new things about chakra and obedience. I dislike traitors and disobedience. My hobbies are training new Genins to be the best and reading Icha-Icha. I wanted to be a ninja to protect those I love and become the strongest Shinobi in the world. Now you Yellowhead. Naruto had a tick mark as he didn''t expect Ishizu to name him Yellowhead: "Hey you know me better than anyone else but I am Naruto Uzumaki. I like my Sensei, maybe I change that, Hinata-chan and Ino-chan and ramen. I disliked people who can''t understand the difference between a kunai and a scroll, people who say ramen is not the food of gods and my hobbies are training and eating ramen. My dream is to be Hokage, as the Hokage is the leader and the strongest person who can protect the village. I also want to have a big family so the Uzumaki clan can be revived". Both girls blushed at then mentioning of a family. Ishizu smiled at Naruto''s comment. He truly changed Naruto. In the other timeline, Naruto wanted to be Hokage so people could acknowledge him. Now he wants to be Hokage to protect those around him. Although people still gave him glares, Naruto had many people who loved him. Still, he had to tell the girl about the massive fox sealed inside of him but Ishizu believed that this was the least of Naruto''s worries as the girls would love him when they heard his tragic backstory. Turning to Hinata: "Ok pale eye your turn". Hinata smiled like a devil: "You will get it Ishizu-Sensei but never mind I am Hinata Hij¨±ga. My likes are eating ramen with Naruto and making Naruto food. My dislikes are the Cage seal of the branch family members. My hobbies are cooking and reading. I want to be a ninja because I want to have a strong husband and children". ''She already changed from a shy girl who would faint when Naruto spoke to her. With a little help, I could form her into a woman which could give Nagato''s deva path a run for his money''. "Good dream, now the mind reader" Ino snorted: "Sure let me see what you have in your dirty mind, but first, my name is Ino Yamanaka. I like my parents and those who think I am right. I dislike lazy people and those who disagree with me. My hobbies are gardening and learning my clan jutsus. My reason for being a Kunoichi is to become a strong and independent Kunoichi and working at TI". Ishizu grinned at the 3 soon to be Genin. ''Now before they become Genin, I want to tort.., I mean to see if they are ready to be Genin''. "Well, that''s nice and all but you still are not Genin" All three looked puzzled. ''Ah, it is so good trolling little kids. No wonder Kakashi does it''. "Tomorrow at 7 we will meet and make a test to see if you are worthy to be my students. Don''t be late as I dislike waiting. You want to learn, so make me happy and you will learn from me. Disobey, and you will have a new Sensei or drop being shinobi, are we clear"? All three: "Hai Sensei". Team 7 POV Sasuke sat at his table and looked through his window. Their Sensei was late and although he didn''t show it he was raging inside. He needed power and having a Sensei who is already late made him angry. He needed power fast to avenge his clan. Sakura was happy to be together with her Sasuke-kun. Still, deep inside, Sakura felt as if she had lost something important when Ino decided to give Sasuke up and follow the dead last, Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura didn''t know what Ino saw in Naruto. He was the opposite of Sasuke. Sasuke was so cook and Naruto was lame. Sakura tried to compensate her competition over Sasuke with Ino''s cousins but it wasn''t the same. She felt as if she lost something valuable that her love for Sasuke couldn''t give her. Sai didn''t enjoy waiting, but Danzo-sama ordered me to do it . He tried to get information from the Uchiha but he just glared at him to let him be so Sai gave up. He didn''t even want to talk with the pink hair as she screamed at him and it hurts his ears. Kakashi POV ''3 hours. Well, they have to live with it. I hope they won''t be mad at me hihihi''. Walking into the room, I see two boys and one girl. One the first view they look pathetic. From the information I got is that the one with the duck b.u.t.t hair is the Uchiha, the pale boy''s name is Sai, an Orphan, and the girl is a civilian. I want them to fail but the council won''t let me. They want to have their Uchiha trained and ready to make kids.'' The Uchiha looked at me probably thinking if I was worth his time. The other one is calm and smiles at me with a smile that couldn''t be called faker. The girl, defiantly a daughter of a council member, screams at me why I am late. I wonder if it is some kind of Kekkei Genkai or not. My ears hurt. I am a little sad that I didn''t get Minato''s kid but Ishizu told me he wanted to make Sensei''s wish come true. I couldn''t deny him that. Looking at them: "Well my first impression of you is that you are boring and weak. Meet me at the roof in 5 min. Chapter 23 - Ishizu vs. Team 11 Next day 6.50 in the morning Naruto, Hinata, and Ino were waiting for their Sensei to arrive. All three of them ate breakfast as nobody told them not to do. "So, what do you both think this test will be about Naruto? You know him more than we do." (Ino) Naruto looked serious: "Ishizu-Sensei never told me about a test being taken after graduation but I assume we will have to fight him. He likes to fight and probably wants to see if we can work together." (Naruto) "If sensei wants to fight we will do it together and we will defeat him. I am still a little mad about yesterday." (Hinata) As those words left Hinata''s mouth. Ishizu arrived at the training ground. "Good, you are on time. I will do the test like that: I will test you if you not only have the guts and techniques to face other ninjas but also your teamwork. I guarantee it you will someday meet an opponent that you either can''t face alone or not even with you all 3 together. So it is best to work together, as not even the best shinobi can face the power of teamwork. Also, teamwork helps you stay alive. A teammate can decide in a life and death situation if you live or not. Distrust in a team can be fatal so it is you work together or not. I do not allow something in the middle. I will give you 30 minutes to hide in this forest. I hope you brought your equipment with you so use it and make it for me as hard as possible to reach you. If I reach you, I will attack and your goal is to not get unconscious. Time is unnecessary, understood?" (Ishizu) "Hai" Ishizu smiled and held up his hand before throwing it down: "Now go." (Ishizu) 30 min later. Ishizu POV ''Ok time''s up, let''s see what they have up their sleeves.'' Walking into the forest, I was met with small ninja wires. They were placed in different positions so the sun could shine on them, making them almost invisible. ''Good, a Genin wouldn''t see them, and they are attached to kunai, so hitting them will discharge them''. I made my way around the things as I heard underneath me a sound and not even looking I substitute myself with a block of wood. ''Using the strings as a distraction to lure one into the paper bomb trap, huh? Still, it says nothing about teamwork. Let''s make it harder.'' Using my chakra, I feel them. It was easy as feeling the chakra of Naruto was as easy as seeing a mountain in front of you. ''Found you''. I dashed to where Naruto was, while many Trapps were activated. Using my reflexes, I dodged. ''A Chunin would die if he dashed like me but I am far more experienced.'' It was after a few seconds I was met with 10 Shadow Clones of Naruto. They charged at me from all directions and tried to fight me in Taijutsu. It was easy to defeat them as Naruto wasn''t trained in combat by me much and he was only around high Genin. The smoke from the clones was annoying and if not for my instincts my hand would have been paralyzed as a Hij¨±ga came out of the smoke and tried to hit me. "Not bad. Using the smoke as a cover and with your Byakugan you could see me, but I am a Jonin so don''t think this will work. I kicked Hinata away as I saw multiple weapons flying toward me from the corner of my eye. It was Ino throwing them. I dodged but then Naruto and Hinata came at me together and fought me. They were poorly synergizing. Well, it was their first fight as a team. ''They need to work a little more, so they can interact with each other but for now, it is ok. Still, what if I do this?'' I dashed away from the two and focused on the single one who only used ninja weapons. ''Let''s see if they can protect you.'' "Now!" shouted Naruto as he replaced Ino through substitution. I didn''t expect it and I was in a bad situation as I was cornered from three angels. Naruto taking the position of Ino. Hinata rushed at me the moment she saw me moving, expecting me somehow to do it, and I could sense Ino from above going for my head. "I am sorry, you had me in a sticky situation so you got me to go a little serious there. Still, the test is over and I am very sorry". (Ishizu) A moment of silence. I saw the looks of disbelieve on their faces. I Kakashi-smiled "No I am just joking, you did it. Those wires were easily seen, but it was a good distraction for the paper bombs. Hinata''s and Naruto''s fighting was ok, but it needs to be better. I am surprised that you used Ino as bait and I fell for it. It was planned but please don''t do it in a dangerous situation. I only saw 2 jutsus used, so we will work on that. For Hinata, it will be Taijutsu. For Ino, it will be Taijutsu also and Ninjutsu. Also, don''t forget your clans'' techniques. You only used weapons and those will be useless if they can''t reach the target. For Naruto, it will be Taijutsu together with Hinata. If you can move synchronized, nobody would beat you." (Ishizu) The three Genin smiled and bowed: "Thanks, Sensei" "Good tomorrow we will do some D-ranks for teamwork and after that, we will fight against each other". After everybody left, I sat down breathing heavily. ''I just used the Deva Path which I awakened against Genin and that is not the worst part. The chakra drain is too high. One Shinra Tensei and I only have a small amount of chakra left. This is ridiculous. I need to sleep or I will not function properly tomorrow. Chapter 24 - Start of the test fight General POV It has been a month since Ishizu started to train his team. Every day, they did 3 D-ranks and after that, they fought each other or their Sensei. Over the month, you could see the improvements. Naruto and Hinata got better at working together and could fight a weak Chunin if they fought together. Ishizu talked with Hiashi about Hinata. He wanted Hinata to learn a new technique he knew from the anime. Ishizu explained that instead of learning Kaiten she could learn a well-suited technique for her which he came up with. An ultimate defense so to speak. Ishizu called it the "Protecting Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms." It would be a perfect jutsu to use for protection against long-range weapons. Hiashi was amazed and skeptical of how Ishizu knew so much about their style but Ishizu lied explaining that observing Hinata fight he theorized she will be perfect as a supporter and such a style would help her big times, and Hiashi should be the one training her in that jutsu. Ishizu explained Hiashi the theory behind the technique and how it could be used. Over time, Ino got also better at Taijutsu. She wouldn''t be an easy target if picked alone anymore. Ino also learned a few distractions Genjutsus to get a distance from an enemy. She also wanted to start medical Ninjutsu but Ishizu told her she should only learn it after the Chunin exam although she could start with healing minor wounds. The mystic palm technique was out. Now 1 month had passed, and it was time for evaluation with other teams to see the progress. Ishizu was grinning as he wanted to show all other Jonin just how weak it compared their teams to his and that they should train their Genin more or they would die in a dangerous situation. He believed that the Jonin slacked off during peaceful times, but Ishizu knew that those times would soon come to an end. Ishizu considered the only Genin team worth fighting were from team 9 as they were Genin a longer time and could give his team a good fight. He disregarded the others. Training ground 43: Ishizu POV I wanted to talk with my team about the incoming fight. "Ok team it is time for you to spar with the other Genin. I expect you do go out there and show them the power of Team 11. Don''t disappoint me or I will send you to another team. I am sure you will win but expect the unexpected. Now I wish you all good luck." (Ishizu) The Genin nodded, and we separated. 1 hour later. All the Jonin came together to discuss who will fight who. The only ones not present were Ishizu and Kakashi. As Ishizu calmly walking to them Kurenai shouted: "There you are Ishizu we have been waiting for you. Kakashi should come in a few minutes, or he will get punished for being lazy!" One could hear a lazy voice saying: "Hey I am here so no punishment for me." (Kakashi) Ishizu took a small paper out of his pocket: "Guys as I was the one suggesting the fight I also made a list where I think everyone will test their strength to the fullest. We will show the one who loses where his weaknesses are and we Jonin can help the winner point out how he could have won faster." The list Ishizu showed was: Girls Hinata Hij¨±ga vs. Ten Ten Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka Nasaki Yamanaka vs. Kira Inuzuka Boys Shikamaru Nara vs Kiba Inuzuka Ch¨­ji Akimichi vs. Shino Aburame Sasuke Uchiha vs. Lee (If there are other Genin, they are not important. Sai is reporting back to Danzo, and I didn''t want him to fight as I have some personal vendetta against him.) Some Jonin questioned Ishizu why exactly those Genin should fight each other. Ishizu put fake glasses on to explain the reason: "For the girls, it is like this. Gai, Ten Ten relies mostly on range weapon while Hinata is a close combat ninja. It is for both a challenge to beat each other. For Ten Ten, she needs to fight somebody who can defend against her weapons and for Hinata, it is for fighting weapon specialists. I relate the second fight to both of the girls being former rivals. I suspect that Kakashi didn''t train Sakura properly, so I want her to see the cruel reality of being a Shinobi. The last fight will be between Yamanaka and Inuzuka as they are left behind. Next month we can switch the people. As for the boys, Shikamaru is a thinker and Kiba is a brawler. Shikamaru has to come up with strategy fast as Kiba will attack immediately. Kiba, on the other hand, needs to fight an opponent who doesn''t brawl with him. The next fight is the same as the first of the girl. How can a range Aburame defeat a walking bulldozer? The next will be a perfect fight to see a rivalry between Kakashi and Gai. Both are Taijutsu specialists and will not surrender easily. Although Sasuke can perform Ninjutsu, I am certain that Lee should not be underestimated. All Jonin agreed with the teams. The Jonin could see how Ishizu opened his arms to the horizon and shouted: "Now let''s see who will be the best student and the best teacher. Let the fights begin!!" Chapter 25 - Girls fight General POV. Later, all the Genin arrived at the training ground. It was a sand arena without trees similar to the Chunin exam but without spectator seats. One Jonin stood in the middle of the arena as he was elected to be the proctor for the test fight. As Hayate, the proctor, saw that all people were present, he coughed a bit and spoke: "All right listen up, I am Hayate Gekkou and I will be the proctor of this friendly fight. The Rules are: You fight 1 vs.1. We have a list of who will fight who. No killing! If you attempt to kill, I will disqualify you. Giving up, becoming unconscious or when we Jonin see you can''t fight anymore, will be seen as a defeat. And the last thing, don''t test us. Now the girls will fight first. Hinata Hij¨±ga vs Ten Ten. Come to the fighting stage." Hinata shook her head: "Let''s just fright. I want to watch Naruto defeat my cousin." Ten Ten was a bit sad that she couldn''t win as easy as she wanted but she had confidence that the small girl had no chance against her. She knew from Neji that his cousin was a weak academy student who couldn''t even hurt a fly so Ten Ten was ready to end this fight fast. "Well I warned you," replied Ten Ten. Hayate started the fight. Immediately Ten Ten started by opening her scrolls and threw a massive amount of ninja weapons at Hinata. Kunai, Shuriken, etc. Not something amazing as everyone knew she was a weapon expert. What was more interesting was that Hinata stood still and waited for the weapons to come at her. Next, she activated her Byakugan and used something only Ishizus''s team and Hiashi knew of. "Protecting Eight trigrams formation," replied Hinata. With quick speed, Hinata moved her arms elegant in every direction creating a blue sphere around her blocking every weapon flung at her. Everyone except her team had big eyes, wondering how she knew such a Jutsu. The most surprised was Neji, thinking what this technique was as it reminded him of the Hij¨±ga''s Kaiten. Although Hinata blocked the weapons, the force of paper bombs, which Ten Ten threw still hurt her. Hinata had small bruises but looked rather fine. She looked at Ten Ten smiling: "I think you have to reconsider your words. You won''t be able to touch me a single time. I don''t think you have enough paper bombs so every other weapon you will throw at me will be blocked and I believe I have more chakra than you have weapons." Ten Ten was not letting this go as she yelled: "Well, let''s see about that!" As she opened more scrolls and more and bigger weapons came out, but no matter how much she threw, Hinata blocked them the same. After 2 minutes of the same things happening, Ten Ten was finally out of weapons. Ishizu wondered where Ten Ten stored her storage seal because that was a lot of weapons used. From the look on Hinata''s face, Ishizu saw that she had enough toying with her enemy. The moment Hinata saw that Ten Ten was out of weapons she sprinted with incredible speed for a Genin at Ten Ten. Ten Ten, realizing the danger of an incoming enemy, tried to flee, but it was too late. Hinata pointed her hand at Ten Ten''s heart. It was over. The weapon expert dropped in the ground as she couldn''t believe she just lost to a new Genin. "You are a ranged weapon user. People with a wind affinity or someone fast can counter you. You challenged the wrong opponent. I win," stated Hinata with a strict voice. It was silent until the clapping of hands was heard. It was Ishizu and Naruto as well as Ino. Ishizu was clapping as seeing his student defeating Ten Ten was a significant boost for his fame among the teachers. Naruto was clapping as one of his girls won. Ino was clapping because she was happy for Hinata winning the battle. "Wonderful, not only did you win with little injuries, but you also helped your future comrade realize a big flaw in her fighting style. I hope she thinks about it and will have a counter against close combat," Ishizu announced and Hajate declared Hinata as the winner. The next was Ino Yamanaka vs. Sakura Haruno. Both girls face each other. Sakura had a fearless face as she looked at Ino "Ino, I will make this easy for you. You can not win against me anymore. You have given up on Sasuke-Kun but I am still loyal to him. Abandoning him for Naruto was your worst decision ever so I will show you just how wrong you were. Your defeat will show everyone that love will win against everything." Ishizu facepalmed at that statement. ''My god is she delusional or something? Even in the anime, she was never at the level of Naruto and Sasuke. Right now she was no Ninja but a fangirl. Maybe I should send her to Anko so she will learn how a Ninja lives. Giving her to Tsunade helped, but she started too late. Her obsession with Sasuke is hindering her to reach higher levels, and only after Sasuke left did she train. Now, with some help, she can be stronger than in the anime.'' Ino had a tick mark on her head but she didn''t respond to the provocation as she looked at the proctor giving him he "start it" look. "Go," shouted Hayate. Ino rushed at Sakura not caring about style as she didn''t want to hear her former friend and fangirl talking. Sakura didn''t even realize as she felt pain in her lower part of the abdomen, and the last thing she saw was Ino smiling as everything went black. Nobody said anything. Ishizu looked at Kakashi: "Well, that was disappointing. Kakashi did you even train her? This should only happen if she was a civilian but not as a Genin. Ino one-hit Sakura and she is the weakest in my team." Kakashi shook his head: "I tried, but she always wants to stay with Sasuke and doesn''t want to train. Maybe now she will see that love doesn''t triumph above everything else." Last fight Hinata Hij¨±ga vs Ino Yamanaka. No girl talked as both looked at the proctor. He shrugged and said go. Hinata engaged Ino, but the latter evaded her. Ino tried to keep Hinata at mid-to a long-range as she threw shuriken at the Hij¨±ga girl but Hinata blocked them with her new technique. Seeing the opportunity Ino made hand sights. Horse>Tiger>Ram>Monkey>Boar>Horse>Tiger "Katon: Goko¨± no Jutsu". A large fireball came out of Ino''s mouth but Hinata used her protection technique to dispel the fireball. Hinata canceled the sphere as she still felt the heat of the fireball only to substitute as water bullets hit the log. Ino then took Kunai''s, coated with poison, out of her pocket and threw them at Hinata. One of them hit and Hinata had a sour face as she knew that they were poisoned. Hinata had to go to the offense now as her time grew shorter. Hinata formed a plan. She rushed at Ino but the latter avoided her. After a whole minute cat and mouse Hinata threw a smoke bomb. Ino took some Kunai''s and threw them the smoke. As the smoke cleared, she saw a panting Hinata on her knee. Ino, seeing the chance to win, took a kunai from her pouch and rushed at Hinata only to realize that she sealed her fate. Ino wanted to attack a Hij¨±ga in close combat. Even if weakened, Hinata could fight her, and that was the case. Ino was good at Taijutsu, but she couldn''t compete with Hinata. Ino realized her mistake too late and tried to substitute herself as she saw that Hinata had no shadow. It was a clone but the real Hinata ambushed Ino with her Juuken. She could substitute a few times but Hinata calculated it and just kept close to Ino. Even if Ino blocked most hands aiming at her Tenketsus, she couldn''t compete with the speed of Hinata and after a minute she dropped on the ground having lost the feeling in her legs. The winner was clear. Hinata Hij¨±ga won. Hinata helped Ino up and unlocked her Tenketsu''s as both walked to their Sensei only for Hinata to faint from the poison. "Don''t worry I have the antidote," said Ino. The fight amazed the Jonin. Gai was crying tears of joy at how youthful the girls were. Kurenai was conflicted as she saw Hinata''s fight. On one side she wanted Hinata to lose her shy attitude and embrace the shinobi world but on the other side, she felt as she had failed Hinata. She thought that it was Ishizu who helped her grow up and not her. Of course, she didn''t know that it was Naruto''s doing as she never looked into it. Kurenai walked to Ishizu: "Ishizu I see that you helped Hinata our if her shell." Ishizu looked at Kurenai: "Oh that. No, I didn''t do it. It was Naruto''s determination and Ino''s rivalry for Naruto. Hinata needed to be giving a strict choice to a point where it was either one or the other. Naruto was her biggest reason to change, so she did according to it. Seeing Ino flirting with Naruto, a new Hinata was born to fight Ino off as a rival. So you could say Naruto indirectly helped Hinata. I believe you also want to ask if you can train her? If so then go ahead, I have no problem. You just have to convince that you can give her something I cannot." Kurenai smiled at the bold statement: "Oh. I believe I have something you don''t but we will see." With that was the first girl''s match finished. Next, it was time for the boys to compete. Chapter 26 - Boys fight After they cured Hinata of the poison, the boys got ready to fight. 1st match. Shikamaru vs Kiba: The match was... ok. Shikamaru evaded both Kiba and Akamaru pretty good and even trapped Kiba in his Shadow, but Shikamaru gave up as he was low on chakra or in Nara terms, lazy. Ishizu took the time to talk with Asuma about Shikamaru''s behavior: "Asuma I notice that your student is ready to be a Genin if not a Chunin in mind but what makes me nervous are his chakra reserves and his attitude. He didn''t lie when he said he was low. What worries me is when he will do a dangerous mission and it leaves him with no chakra. He can''t just give up, that is not a game. Talk to him about what he would do if your life was in danger." Asuma nodded, understanding what Ishizu meant. Maybe Ishizu''s worlds could make him less lazy. The fight between Choji vs Shino was also a disappointment as Choji tried to rollover Shino while the latter just dodged and s.u.c.k.e.d him with his insect''s dry of chakra. Now the next fight could be watched without falling asleep. Next round: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Lee. Lee was hyped as he shouted: "YOSH LETS FIGHT UCHIHA-SAN. I WILL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF YOUTH." Lee looked at his Sensei as Gai gave him a thumb up and both hugged. Everyone else watched as their heads met and they saw a beach behind them as the sun began setting. The girls shrieked, and many muttered ''Kai'' but they could not dispel it. Ishizu had raised his eyebrow because he could not see through it with his Rinnegan. ''I always wanted to know if this Genjutsu is stronger than "Tsukuyomi" and it seems it could compete with the infinite one.'' Lee jumped to the ring and was ready to fight. "Go Sasuke-Kun you can win against the creep," shouted Sakura, who was awake. ''Hn, let''s see what this guy has to offer'' thought Sasuke. "Ready? Go," shouted Hayate. Lee sprinted at Sasuke who also charged. Sasuke took the initiative and threw a punch at Lee who avoided it and went behind Sasuke and tried to kick him with his leg. Sasuke jumped, turned around and blocked it with his leg. He used his other leg and kicked Lee''s head but the latter was too fast and duck and hit Sasuke in the c.h.e.s.t with his fist. The Uchiha jumped away panting. ''Dammit, what the hell is this guy. How can he be so fast? I can''t hit him. No matter, I am the best, I can''t lose. I have to defeat him. If I lose now, I will not be strong enough to kill him. The rage of Sasuke, thinking he will lose, activated his dormant Sharingan. ''My vision, it is red? Is this my Sharingan? Finally, I am one step closer to defeat him and I will not lose now.'' Sasuke gaining a huge confidence boost because of his Sharingan and charged at Lee. Lee blocked the punch thrown at him and jumped away. "Hey what''s wrong. Why are you running away?" asked Sasuke angrily. Lee looked at his Sensei: "Gai Sensei, can I do it?" Gai made his famous thumb up posture and replied: "Sure Lee take them off." Sasuke watched, waiting for Lee to finish whatever he was doing. Ishizu shook his head, already knowing what will happen next. "Gai, you know if Lee takes them off Sasuke will land in the hospital, don''t you?" Kakashi was confident in Sasuke: "He can take it. I assure you that Sasuke is tougher than he looks like." Lee took some weights from his legs. "So what if he takes some weights off? If he thinks that will help him, then he is wrong!" shouted Sakura. Naruto smiled as he saw the weights. He knew them as Naruto also used to wear those things. "Hn, what will some lowly weight change?" Sasuke didn''t believe that taking off weights will help him against the Sharingan. Lee threw the weight behind him. "BOOOM" the weight of those things created a small hole in the earth. It shocked Sasuke seeing such a thing and grew angry as he had fought against an impaired opponent. ''Impossible, what were those weights? Dammit, I can''t lose.'' Sasuke charged at his opponent but his eyes widened as Lee disappeared and after that Sasuke felt pain in his abdomen as Lee hit him multiple times. ''How is he so fast I can''t see him?'' Lee punched Sasuke and then wanted to use his white wrist band, which he had around his arm. The moment Lee took the white band in his hand, he felt 2 people standing next to him. "I am sorry Lee but I and Gai won''t let you use the forbidden lotus. Sasuke lost and even if he is not my student, he is a Genin of Konoha so please go back," said Ishizu. Gai looked at Lee. "Lee I am happy you won, and you didn''t open your gates but please consider the health of others around you." Lee was ashamed as he bowed to Sasuke. "Hai Gai-Sensei. I am sorry Uchiha-San next time I will surely hold myself back." Sasuke grinned his teeth at his loss. Before Lee left, he told Sasuke: "Although I am strong, I am not stronger than my other teammate Neji." Both fighters left the stadium and two new came down. They were Neji Hij¨±ga and Naruto Uzumaki. It was the last fight. Neji looked at Naruto and sneered: "You should just give up. You are an orphan and you think you can defeat someone from a clan like me? You are destined to lose." In the spectator seats, a certain Jonin smirked. ''I think your destiny makes sense here Neji. A puny Hij¨±ga from the branch family fights against the son of the 4th Hokage and a former Jinch¨±riki as well as an S-ranked Shinobi. I wonder who would win by destiny? Poor Neji.'' Neji narrowed his eyes: "Impossible, how could you counter against my Juuken with closed eyes?" Naruto laughed: "I could say it is destiny for you to lose as you fight against your worst opponent. I am a teammate of your cousin and my Sensei forced me to let her fight alongside me. We also fought against each other. During the last month, I memorized her fighting style so I can basically predict your attacks as they are the same for Hinata. Though I can say she uses them better. I tell you the same as you said to me. "You can''t win." Naruto summoned 20 Shadow Clones who all at the same time attack. Neji started to rotate quickly, creating a blue orb similar to Hinata. "Kaiten". The clones hit the sphere and were destroyed. Stopping the attack Neji ran at Naruto. After exchanging some Taijutus Neji smirked: "You are in my Zone." ''Eight trigrams sixty-for palm''. Neji hit Naruto at various points of his body closing the chakra flow. As he was finished he sneered and walked away thinking he won. Naruto stood still in the arena. Naruto''s mindscape. "Hmm, pathetic. I am not stupid to think you did it intentionally. You want to use my chakra right," asked the Ky¨±ubi? Naruto didn''t turn around but nodded: "Yes. I could defeat him without your help but I want to know your charka better so that I can handle it." Kyuubi sneered: "Don''t think you will get my chakra every time you ask. Now be gone I don''t want you to see for a while." Outside Naruto stood still as a small layer of chakra cloaked him. The Jonin were alarmed at the sight but Ishizu held his arms to the side as not to interrupt the fight. "I permitted him to use the chakra. The moment I see he can''t control it, he will be disqualified. He needs to use it or he will be a danger for others around him," reassured Ishizu. The Jonin calmed down but remained on guard. Naruto had a smile on his face as he looked at the shocked Neji. His eyes were red and Neji could see a fox figure inside Naruto''s stomach: "You think you''ve won because you sealed some chakra point? Well, I must disappoint you but what is closed can be reopened!" With a burst of red chakra, all the closed Tenketsu''s were opened. ''Impossible. How can this guy open them?'' Neji had no time to think as Naruto summoned some clones and attacked him. Although shocked Neji quickly regained his confidence: "You can open your chakra points, so what? Your only use of Shadow Clones won''t help you defeat me. Kaiten," screamed Neji as the Shadow Clones disappeared as they hit the sphere. As he stopped, he saw that Naruto was gone. Neji looked alarmed in each direction but he was alone. Suddenly his legs were grabbed from the ground, and he was dragged in. Naruto used the smoke created by the clones to dig himself into the ground. "Head Hunter Jutsu and to finish this, Naruto Barrage!" The spectator could see as the Naruto in the ground pooped. Neji struggles to come out of the hole but he couldn''t. Then the real Naruto who was in the sky fell with a leg on Neji''s head, knocking him unconscious. The winner was Naruto Uzumaki. Everyone was silent and rubbing their eyes as they saw one of the strongest Genin be defeated by the dead last. Only Ishizu was laughing in his mind at the priceless faces of his colleague. If only he had his smartphone in this world. "Wonderful Naruto. Although you used one Ninjutsu you fought against a Hij¨±ga purely with Taijutsu. He didn''t underestimate you but overestimated himself making his defeat sure. If you look at the others, they clearly didn''t expect you to do it." All the people had different expressions, seeing Naruto defeat Neji. Kakashi was shocked at the power Naruto showed and asked Ishizu: "Ishizu, did you train Naruto to such a state?" Ishizu smiled, replying: "I know pretty well what this kid needs. His potential is infinite, and I just unlocked a small part of it. He is only hindered by his body, but when he grows up, he will be more powerful than any of us. Making his dream of being the strongest Hokage reality." Many people had different opinions after the test fight. The Jonin considered training their teams harder so they could earn some praise. Others such as Sasuke were mad that they lost. He couldn''t even take revenge or demand to fight Naruto as Ishizu denied it. The most annoying thing for Sasuke was not to be defeated by Lee but seeing Naruto defeat a Genin who Lee considered stronger than himself. So what did this mean for Sasuke who was the NO.1 student? With that, the first test fight ended. Chapter 27 - The monk The following day Ishizu avoided Sasuke as the latter probably wanted to be in his team. ''This guy is always pissed when girls are around him and now he is looking for me just like his crazy fangirls. I remember when I had to deal with that one particular girl.'' Flashback no Jutsu: A young Ishizu was sitting on a stone reading a book as he closed it and dodged a kunai aiming at his neck. Looking at the person revealed a young girl with purple hair. It was Anko who looked at Ishizu like a hungry person looking at a good meal. "I have finally found you my prey. Don''t think you can escape me now." Anko licked her other Kunai in her hand. Ishizu has a deadpanned face as he observed the crazy girl. He did not understand what this girl''s problem was. Most girls were looking at Kakashi or some Hij¨±ga but Anko was only interested in Ishizu. "I never hid from you. I do not understand what your problem is but when you started to train under Orochimaru-sama you changed. I will probably never understand why you attack me as some kind of prey but I warn you that I won''t hesitate to harm you if you are serious" answered Ishizu. Anko''s look said that she didn''t care and attacked Ishizu. Flashback no Jutsu end: ''I am happy that she lost interest in me.'' Ishizu looked at as two Genin came to him to talk with him. ''I better hope that I receive some good news.'' Sometimes later: One could see a young man sitting under a tree and sulking. It was Ishizu Sasaki, who was depressed having heard what his two female Genin told him. "Sensei, we both want to talk with you," spoke Ino, smiling at her Sensei. "Yes, what do you two want?" asked Ishizu. "We want to leave for a month Team 11 and go to other Jonin. Is it ok with you?" asked Hinata. Ishizu was falling on his bottom as he looked at his Genin. He didn''t expect them to leave by their own will, so he asked the reason: "Why I am pretty sure I am good enough for you two or do you have something against me?" Both girls laughed: "No Sensei we don''t mean it like that. I want to go to Kurenai-san to learn some Genjutsu and how to flirt," said Hinata flushing at the last part. "Yeah, I have permission to train with Anko Mitarashi to help me with poison," explained Ino. Ishizu grew pale thinking what Anko will do to his cute Genin. Ishizu coughed a bit: "I can''t say no as it was my rule. I am a little sad but I hope you have fun." "Thanks". Both girls went home, leaving a depressed Ishizu sitting alone. "Yeah, but I need at least two people to train and one is not enough or the council will see me favoring you," answered Ishizu. "Then you can train me." Looking to the voice, one could see Sasuke Uchiha coming to them. Ishizu didn''t look at him: "Oh, so you want to be trained by me or do you want to use me to gain power?" Sasuke smirked: "You have avoided me good but you need another Genin to train Naruto so why not agree." Ishizu leaked a bit of his killing intent to look more dominant because the attitude of Sasuke annoyed him. "There are many reasons I don''t want to train you: 1. You want to use me and no one uses me for anything. 2. You lost yesterday against Lee even with your new Sharingan and 3. Do you want to have me as a teacher who was a friend of your brother or would you let your pride fall and beg to be trained?" Sasuke was silent for a moment before doing something legendary. The Sasuke Uchiha, prideful and last loyal Uchiha, knelt and begged: "Please, I need to become stronger! Kakashi is too lazy to train me and I need the power to defeat my brother for what he has down so please." Ishizu didn''t expect Sasuke to let go of his pride. Feeling a burning sensation Ishizu saw that on his left palm the moon was shining. Ishizu turned to Naruto: "Naruto, I will let you decide if you want me to let him train with us." Naruto without thinking told Ishizu. "I agree that Sasuke wants power but without it we are nothing. I have no problem with it." Sasuke was smiling thinking he could get stronger. Ishizu smirked: "Good but not today. I have something else to do. I will let you know when we will train, but right now I must go somewhere else. If you want some tips, just ask your other teammate Naruto. Start with chakra control. Now I am off." An hour later. Place: Training ground 43 I concentrated as I opened my eyes projecting the Rinnegan as I murmured: "Chikush¨­d¨­" ''Boar''>''Dog''>''Bird''>''Monkey''>''Ram'', "Summoning Jutsu". I felt my chakra being drained and as the smoke cleared I saw something black and white coming through. What I didn''t expect was for the summon to talk to me: "Hmm, why hello there brother human. How and why did you summon me? Such a curious ability you have. I see through brothers'' eyes too" said the summon with a cheery voice. I would be confused by how this animal talked, but it was something else that caught my attention. It shocked me: "What the hell. This is so horrible to see through someone else''s eyes." Turning to the summon: " And what the hell are you? How did I summon a panda?" Before Ishizu stood a 6-foot tall male panda. ''I thought I get to summon some prehistoric bird or a three-headed dog. Instead, I get a panda who speaks like some kind of monk? Nevermind. For now, I should see what he wants.'' I put on a smile on my face and greeted the panda: "Hi, my name is Ishizu Sasaki and I am sorry to have summoned you as I wanted someone else." The panda just smiled at me: "Oh, don''t be sad young human. My name is Tau. You can call be brother Tau. I am as confused as you because we pandas never had a summoner so I am a bit perplexed about how you could summon me." I tried not to cringe at how the panda talked: "It''s OK. I don''t know, but is it possible for you to de-summon yourself? I want to try it again." Tau walked around me: "Naturally, but I want to do something much better, so stay calm and try to not scream." I didn''t expect him to say that. "What?" I had no time to react as Tau appeared next to me, put his paw on my shoulder and I was gone. Chapter 28 - Meeting the Panda Sage named... Unknown location One could see a panda waiting for a human who was stuck face down in the dirt. "Now Brother Ishizu, come, we don''t have time," Tau told the human. Ishizu crawling out of the dirt was not happy: "What do you mean to come with you? I thought you were my summoned familiar but instead I got a panda monk who suddenly teleported me somewhere away from Konoha. I assume that this would be the Summoning realm for your species, right? Fitting for you gluttonous animals." The panda chuckled "Breath brother human. We are indeed in the Summoning realm of the pandas. It is called the *Dumpling Dynasty*. Our elder Sage named it after his favorite food. It was written in the old scrolls that our Sage helped the Sage of the Six Paths defeat his mother and sealed her into the moon. As a payment, the Otsutsuki descendent would not create a scroll to our realm. Only those who had two conditions fulfilled would have the chance to meet us. You are the first human aside Hagoromo Otsutsuki who entered this realm, so you should at least show some respect. We pandas are prideful and we love our traditions." Tau took some water from a nearby lake and drank. Then he continued: "If you want to know how we know about the other realms, then it is simple. We can communicate with others, but they can''t come here. Also, it is forbidden to speak about our realm to other humans. The dogs from your Inuzuka clan were once from a Summoning realm. They left and lost the ability to wield nature energy. Still, there descended are bound to the contract to never tell. That is if they even remember us. Now come let''s meet our elder he surely wants to see a human boy who is like us." The panda looked forward and began walking. Ishizu, on the other hand, tried to digest the information about everything the panda just explained. He never heard of any pandas in Naruto and they never showed it in the anime that Hagoromo and Hamura fought their mother together with a panda. The whole thing with Kaguya is totally random as Kishimoto thought Madara wasn''t enough for Naruto so maybe this is not the anime I know as there was no mentioning of any panda before. The whole past of Naruto may be different. "Wait a second. You teleport me without my consent and then you tell me you want to come with you just because I am like you. Sorry but I am not like any of you." said Ishizu stopping. Tau turned around: "But of course you are one of us." Tau looked at Ishizu and got confused as the latter started to realize what he heard earlier. Ishizu realized that when Tau told him the name of the land, he wasn''t talking in the common tongue. Instead, he spoke a language Ishizu knew from his previous life: "Did you just say *Dumpling Dynasty*? Tell me Panda, I am a Shinobi and right now I am pissed. If you don''t tell me how you know English, I will get it from your corpse." (They speak Japanese in the elemental nations. Here it is called elemental. So: "Elemental", *English* ) Tau stood still for a second. One could see that he clearly was stunned at that moment. The panda was even more amazed at the human than evermore. He could understand him when he spoke the language of the Sage. ''Truly, this human amazes me more and more. Let''s see what you will do if you meet our Sage.'' He turned to Ishizu and looked amazed. *Oh, you can understand our language. You are truly a mysterious human. No human should know this language as our Sage told it to us and he explained then none knew this language*. Ishizu snorted at their statement. Of course, he knew English. It was a must-learn language to communicate in his old life. *Yeah, I can. It was a long time ago, and it feels weird to speak it after such a long time. Still, I demand you to tell me how you know it.* Ishizu leaked killing intent which could make many people leak fluid form various places. Tau on the other hand just smiled dismissing it: "If you want to know you have to speak to the elder Sage in his language as he can''t understand elemental. There is a story about the reason for it. Ones, the Sage was asked why he didn''t want to learn elemental and his reason was: "Why my language is awesome. 1000 times better than their boring language. I can''t understand those letters and my father taught me his language so I won''t abandon it." Ishizu could only shake his head. "Although People believe him, some older pandas claim that he is just too lazy to get his mind to work and learn. So it stayed that way but we needed to communicate with the other realms so the younger generation learned it." As Ishizu listened, he started to observe the realm more carefully and he could see a lot. In the grass, one could see many pandas lying around, sleeping or eating dumplings in tons. There were no trees but only bamboo. The sun was shining on him but he didn''t feel hot. Instead, Ishizu felt the power surging through his body. "Au, why did you hit me?" asked Ishizu. Tau smiled: "Just For fun. Now let''s go because the elder Sage is waiting." Ishizu reluctantly agreed as he did not understand how to come back so he just followed the panda. One could see as a human and a panda walked to a large throne. "Here, we have arrived at the throne of the elder Sage brother Ishizu". On a large throne that looks like a dragon''s mouth, one could see a huge panda sitting and eating dumplings. His face showed a blissful state as he put a huge paw into his mouth enjoying the taste of them. *Hmm, nice dumplings just give me a moment. These dumplings are so delicious I could eat all day* Ishizu grinned his teeth. ''I am at the end of my nerves. First, I walk 3 hours and when I arrived, I see a fat panda eating dumplings. This is insane. Ha, even Gamamaru looked better'' thought Ishizu. *Elder Sage we have a guest who would like to speak to you* said Tau. The big panda didn''t look up as he ate: *A guest? Tell him that I am busy eating those delicious dumplings. Let him come in like 2 years*. Tau still continued to speak: *Elder Sage, you should know that we haven''t had a guest, like forever. This is the first time, and he is not an animal but a human.* It pissed Ishizu off as he was ignored so he spoke up: *Yes, a human who can understand you and I really don''t like it when someone does not even glance at his guests.* The big panda stopped eating and looked at the small human standing in front of him. *Well, why didn''t you say so before. You, humans, are so boring,* said the Sage. Suddenly clouds transformed as Ishizu heard a dragon roar. The panda lifted himself from the throne as clothes appeared on him and he rose from the ground. He waved his hands in elegant matters forming some kind of energy behind him. *Look at how awesome I am human. I am the pinnacle of strength. I am the master of the sky. I am the heavy eater*. The light started to fall on him and one could see that he formed a dragon out of the energy. *I am the Dragon Warrior Po*. Chapter 29 - The Strategist Ishizu POV As I woke up, I had a strange dream. I was in a summoning realm called *Dumpling Dynasty* and met a movie character from Kung Fu Panda. Yeah funny. As I looked around, I saw the same panda looking at me worriedly. *Now I had never seen someone fall unconscious because of my presence but I am sorry if you got hurt* said Po trying not to laugh. I took a seat and tried to collect my thought: *Let me have a second and rewind what happened. You say you are the Dragon Warrior Po. The panda who was trained by Shifu and fought together with the warriors five.* Po chuckled: *You are surely an interesting individual. Experiencing my life without me knowing you. But that is the strength of reincarnated souls such as yours, isn''t it?* It shocked me hearing his words: *How do you know that? Nobody knows my secret.* Po started to chuckle:* Dude, I am the Dragon Warrior and I also can see souls. Yours is special as I classify it as an old soul. There are merely two ways to have something like that. You are truly old or you have been reincarnated. And seeing your young body, I am certain that you are in the second category.* I just shook my head: *I can''t even defend that statement.* Po''s face got serious: *Now on to relevant matters. You summoned someone from my family, and that is something rare to see. The last person who could do that was Hagoromo but I don''t have to tell you who that is as you have his chakra and his eyes. No wonder you could do that but what is different about you is that although Hagoromo could positively connect with us, it was only when he was the Jinch¨±riki of the ten tails. Before that, he had a lucky encounter with me while I visited the new toad clan. You are special having natural yin and yang synergy. Now it is the first time such a thing developed and I don''t want to experiment with words so I''ll be direct. Become the next Panda Sage.* The conversation was going too fast and I could only respond: "What?" Po continued: *You see, even I age, and I am over a thousand years old. I want to meet my old friends and master again. They are in the pure world, but every land needs a Sage to supply the nation with energy so it can develop. So I must mention it again, train under me and grow into the first Panda Sage*. My head tried to collect the knowledge Po said but my small human brain just couldn''t take in and I fell unconscious again because of information overload. After Ishizu woke up again, he finally calmed down and after thinking it over, he accepted becoming a panda Sage. ''Why not? I always wanted to be a Sage. Getting a teacher such as Po could be awesome and who knows how strong the Sage Mode of the Pandas is. Additional power will help me reach my goal, so if I get power served on a silver plate, I will take it.'' I still had enough time, so I concentrated on making my current students stronger. An invasion was coming. For the next month, I taught both Naruto and Sasuke together. I sweatdropped as I learned that Kakashi didn''t even give them the tree walking training. Sasuke complained but I shut him up telling him that in my training he does what I tell him and chakra control was important. Naruto would learn more Ninjutsu and ways to counter Genjutsu as he s.u.c.k.e.d in them. When I had free time, I reverse summoned myself to improve in a special Taijutsu style. It was called the Panda Style. Original name I know. It was a technique comprising 3 types. Attack, defense, and speed. Each different from the other, but if mastered, one could fuse them. Each style of the pandas countered another. The attack was better than the defense. Speed was better than attack and defense was better than speed. I started to learn the defense style first to be safe against fast enemies. The defense style focused on guarding the whole body against opponents who didn''t attack directly with there fists, but with small weapons and weak jutsus. It was like a weaker version of ''Haki'' from One Piece. One could not use it as an attack if he didn''t know the attack style. A week later: It was not how I imagined traveling to the land of waves. The Hokage called me because he received a note from team 7 requesting support. Although their team defeated the two Mizu ninjas Kakashi had no Naruto to motivate him to continue without sending help. On the other side, Naruto never protested about D-ranks and we missed it, or I honestly forgot about it. Now Naruto, Hinata, Ino and I were jumping from tree to tree to catch up with Team 7. "Ishizu-Sensei where are we going?" asked Hinata. "To the land of waves. Kakashi sent help because the client lied about the danger of the mission. A man named Gato, a crooked businessman wants to control Wave and doesn''t want to allow the bridge to finish. If he purchased Nuke-Nin of Mizu with his money, thus I assume Zabuza Momochi will be also there." The genin looked at me: "Who?" asked Ino. Ishizu had a serious face: "He is a Nuke-Nin of Mizu as he tried to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage. A-ranked shinobi, experienced in silence killing by using one of the seven swords of Mizo, Kubikiribocho, the executioner''s blade." Moving on the sea team 11 reached team 7. By the looks of it, they already fought off Zabuza. Kakashi looked bad as he nearly fainted because of chakra exhaustion. Sakura fainted. Sai and Sasuke looked ok. Sasuke only had some wounds while Sai only had a few bruises. Ishizu got serious as he looked at Ino: "Ino I know your healing jutsu is weak but it will help to heal the two boys. Naruto please try to wake Sakura up. Hinata stay next to the client and protect him." I moved to Kakashi who fell unconscious as he saw me because of his Sharingan overuse. I activated my mystic palm technique and healed Kakashi''s wounds. We talked with Tazuna that we were the reinforcement and so we left for his house. After a few hours, Kakashi woke up and looked around seeing Ishizu. "You look awful Kakashi. What happened that you got beaten by someone like Zabuza? You used to be stronger than me but that ended after Obito and got worse when Rin died. Instead of getting stronger, you became like Obito, being late and using those pitiful excuses. I don''t blame you for what happened to Rin, and I think that Obito would forgive you too. You keep telling yourself that you failed them." Kakashi looked down and asked: "What would you do in my shoes then?" Ishizu stood up and walked away while saying: "Do what you want. Live your life to the fullest and teach the next generation so that they don''t repeat our mistakes. Everyone has to find their meaning in life because if you don''t, then why do you still live on? If we do it right, then one day, some people will live with so much knowledge from the past that they have a perfect life. For now, you should focus on what is now and not what happened or will happen. There is a saying: ''Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, and that is why it is called the present.'' Now relax. I believe that Zabuza is alive. With us both here, he won''t stand a chance." ''Well, I could defeat him alone but it is too troublesome'' thought Ishizu. Kakashi and I told the teams that Zabuza was still alive but he won''t be around until a week so we had time to train. The week went by normally until Naruto fell asleep while training. This was my chance to meet Haku and follow him to Zabuza. I wanted to let both of them live as I didn''t want them to be used for Edo Tensei if it even happens. Also, he could be an ally in the war. I watched them interact. It was cool to watch Naruto telling him/her? that he had an awesome teacher. As Haku walked away, I waited for the perfect spot and appeared behind Haku with a kunai at (I go with her) her neck. "One wrong move and you are dead. I don''t think Zabuza wants a useless weapon. Now it sounds weird, but I want to talk with Zabuza about his work with Gato. I have important information that Gato is betraying you and I can give you double his payment if you let us do our mission. Now talk." Haku swallowed: "Why should I believe you. You could just use me to kill Zabuza." I smiled: "Oh, you have no idea. I am a sensor. I already know where he is and I could kill him. But instead, I choose to talk to you first, so what is your answer?" Haku didn''t know what to do. She was a tool but if she broke now, she couldn''t protect her master. "Ok follow me." We walked to the hideout and entered. I took the initiative before Haku could. "Well, look who it is. Hello Zabuza, long time no see. I have heard you got your a.s.s kicked by a bunch of Genin and Kakashi. I have thought you would kill some of them, but I see from your "tool" that you have got a heart for beautiful things." Zabuza gave me a stare: "Hm. So I will take my last breath by you, huh? I didn''t believe to see you here. S-rank, flee on sight, Ishizu Sasaki also called ''The Strategist.'' The last time we have met was 10 years ago so tell me why are you here?" "I came as reinf¡­" Zabuza interrupted: "No, I know you are reinforcement for Kakashi but here, why are you talking to me and not killing me?" Ishizu looked at Haku: "As I told your adoptive daughter, I want to tell you that Gato is betraying you and I would pay you to double if you could let us do our mission." Zabuza tilted his head not believing a single word. He was a Shinobi of the bloody mist. He would be dead if he trusted everyone who told him something. "And what proof do you have? You could lie." Ishizu shook his head: "If you go to Gato and spy on him tomorrow as I go there he will expose himself and then you can kill him. If he doesn''t, then I will let you leave without harm. I promise you that with my life." Zabuza closed his eyes: "You are truly a crazy guy. All S-ranks are crazy. Haku what do you think?" Haku stood beside Zabuza: "Zabuza-sama I believe we should trust him. He could kill me earlier but he didn''t so let us put our hopes in him." Zabuza laid down on his bed: "There is your answer." I smiled as I turned around: "Nice. Then I will see you tomorrow at Gato''s hideout. Chapter 30 - Start of the Exam Next day. I walked into Gato''s hideout and killed every bandit that was in there. I wanted to be done as quickly as possible so I let them scream to draw Gato out. He came with some man and stared at me smirking. "What do you think you doing sc.u.m? Are you looking to die?" I looked at him in disgust. People like him made me sick, and I wanted to kill him instantly, but I had to play dumb: "I heard you hired Zabuza to assassinate the bridge builder. As long as he is not here, I will kill you and take the money." Gato started to laugh: "Money?! Ha, this is all my money. Zabuza can die, I don''t care about him. He can just perish so I can collect his bounty." I just shook my head. ''Is it only Gato or are most useless characters in Naruto just straight-up dumb? You don''t tell your enemy what you want. It makes it easier for them to kill you. Nevermind, he sentenced his death willingly.'' I just sat down, smiling. "You can have him. I can''t believe he told it bluntly to some random individual. He sure is confident with his bodyguards. He is all yours." From the shadow, one could see the mist rolling around. Gato and his henchmen started to freak out as the mist surrounded and I heard them scream: "What is this? What is this mist? Where is everyone?" Gato panicked. From the mist came only one word: "Dead." Zabuza swung his sword and took Gato''s head. Outside of the hideout. Zabuza stood across Ishizu: "You were right. This bastard wanted to double-cross me and now he is dead. I don''t like to say it, but you have my gratitude." Ishizu smiled: "Yes, thank you for believing me. I didn''t want to fight you and your adopted daughter, so I came up with a strategy." Zabuza just looked annoyed at the comment: "No problem, I didn''t go to fight as it would be unnecessary and stop calling Haku my adopted daughter. You have my thanks and that''s all, now goodbye." Ishizu waved at the leaving Zabuza and Haku: "I hope you meet Terumi-san so you can have many babies." Haku giggled and Zabuza just ignored Ishizu. Before leaving Ishizu explained to them that Mei Terumi is looking for more forces to defeat Yagura. Zabuza and Haku believed Ishizu as he stated to them that the war will soon end and with Terumi winning. Zabuza believed Ishizu as his moniker wasn''t just for the show. With Zabuza in their team, it would be quicker and fewer people would die. After that, both parties left. Everything went perfect afterward. The mission ended as Zabuza didn''t show up and Kakashi relaxed after I mentioned to him about the encounter with Gato. We headed back to Konoha, and it was finally time for my plan to move into play. 1 month until the exams. I used my foreknowledge to apply as the proctor of the second exam because I wanted to observe Orochimaru during his attack on Sasuke and not risk Anko''s life. Using the Hashirama cell I had in me, I tried to create the wood style. It would come in handy as wood clones were very troublesome to distinguish and only Madara knew how, and second it was good to have it if Naruto went berserk. Learning it was difficult, and I had to go through trials and errors to make a few wood clones but that was enough for the moment. I also didn''t neglect my Genin team. I focused more on training Hinata as I wanted her to climb in the Chunin exam. During the month, I observed Naruto as he encountered Gaara. Some things took place like in canon and some different. The encounter with the Suna Team happened without Sakura chasing Konohamaru but with Ino as the young boy called her ugly. Then Konohamaru had an encounter with Kankuro and Hinata protecting him from the Puppeteer. Gaara revealed himself to my team. I rolled my eyes when Sasuke showed up just to be cool. Gaara asked for only Sasuke''s name and that''s all. I was angry and leaked some killing intent, which froze Gaara as he tried to find it. ''How dare you not see that the strongest is Naruto! Well, never mind, he also wanted all their blood for his mother. Maybe I should check on his seal later.'' General POV Training ground 43. Naruto, Hinata, and Ino, after meeting the Suna team, came to the training ground to meet with their sensei to ask about the Chunin exam. "Of course I enlisted you. It is in one week so prepare yourself. What do you think those friendly fights were we did each month?" said Ishizu while reading an Icha-Icha book. The week went by and Ishizu prepared everyone for the Chunin exam. Many people looked forward, but the most excited was Ishizu because he could have some fun at this time. Ishizu POV I could see Orochimaru using his disguise as a grass shinobi. ''This guy is superb at hiding his chakra. Only with activating the Rinnegan can I see his ugly charka''. My team passed the Genjutsu and watched as Sasuke challenged Lee. With my training, he could hold up against Lee for a while and Lee even considered opening the first gate but was stopped by Gai. Next, I noticed Kabuto coming in chatting about his cards. Sasuke asked Kabuto to tell him what the cards about Gaara and Naruto said. I listened to Kabuto talking about Naruto and wanted to see what he perceived about me, but it was a disappointment as he didn''t talk about it. I am sure this creep knew about me but only a small portion. After I received the Rinnegan I never fought with 100% so that''s why I was so excited to fight at least against Orochimaru with some power than ever. All the important people passed the 1 exam, and it was time for my entrance. As Ibiki finished his sentence, the room turned cold and from a black hole a person with a fox mask came out. ''I love this type of entrance.'' "Greetings young Genin. I will be your proctor for the second exam. My name is Fox. Follow me to the training ground 44." I didn''t want to say my real identity as you never know what Orochimaru would do. I hopped out of the window and people either jumped or used the long way with the stair. Training ground 44: I looked at the Genin: "Welcome to the training ground 44 also known as the Forest of Death. The exam is done as followed: Each of you will pick up either an Earth or Heaven Scroll and you need to get the other from your opponents. The how is not important, though killing is not forbidden we do not welcome it. You have 5 days to secure both scrolls and come to the black tower in the middle of it. If you disobey, I will disqualify you and your team." I handed each one a scroll, and the exam began. ''Now it is time to make some changes in the exam.'' I had to watch out for Sasuke that he didn''t die. Me being born could already mess things up, so I had to supervise such an event like the curse seal. Surviving a 1 in 10 death sentence was not a thing I wanted to have up for luck. Then there were Orochimaru and the sound team. I didn''t want to interfere but if worst comes to arise I will. Naruto''s team was at the other end of Sasuke''s so a meeting wouldn''t happen but just to be sure I had a clone on the lookout. There was also another clone I made to have a certain girl watched and helped. I wanted to strengthen Konoha and weaken Orochimaru even in the future. The best way was to diminish his future minions. One of the being Karin. She was an Uzumaki and had inherited the chakra chains. Such a person was useful for both Konoha and me as well as a family member to Naruto. And that''s why I learned the wood style. With that, I made many clones to follow certain people and see if they are all right. The main me followed Sasuke. Ishizu''s POV Team 7 It happens on the 4th day that Orochimaru appeared. Sakura was useless as ever, but Sai did well. Still, Orochimaru knocked Sai out and implanted Sasuke with his cursed seal. I could interfere but fighting a Sannin without showing the Rinnegan was not smart. I made a bet with the devil that I trusted Orochimaru not to kill the other two but it seemed that I gambled well. After he left, I entered disguised with a strong Genjutsu so Sakura wouldn''t see me and looked at the cursed seal. ''Bah. Such wasted potential. It is like a Horcrux from Harry Potter. He put a part of his soul into the seal. It functions to corrupts the user slowly and without Orochimaru, the user would die even if he survived the procedure. On the other side, it has Jugo''s Senjutsu in it which was precious. I will take some of it to look into it later. Let''s use this moment to know how another one of the Paths works.'' I focused my charka into my eyes as they turned into the Rinnegan and muttered: "Ningendo". With that, I placed my hand on the curse mark to feel the soul of the snake. My charka started to drain, and I didn''t want Sakura to see me. ''Damm, I need to find it fast or my chakra will be gone.'' After a few seconds, I found the foul soul and took it out. It was not over as I made special hand signs: ''Hare>Bird>Tiger'' "Fuinjutsu: Nature''s Calm." It was a special Fuinjutsu I created studying Jiraiya''s Sage mode. It uses natural energy to clean the body and soul without me interacting with it directly so I wouldn''t turn into stone. With that, I could lessen the corruption to some extent but the main purpose was to take some sage charka out of the seal and seal it in a specific scroll for my later study of Senjutsu. During Sasuke''s time in Konoha, I needed to apply it one more time to completely transform the mark, but it wasn''t the time now. As I finished my work, I hid and waited for Sasuke to wake up and for the sound team to arrive. Chapter 31 - Authors thoughts As I have written my chapters, I concluded to ask the readers if they really want to see me writing those things or not. But first, I will say what I have already written in advance. I won''t spoiler too much. 1. Chunin Exam arc: Will differ only a bit from canon. I will include those fights that are interesting or non-canon. Naruto will also learn something ''new'' here. 2. The Konoha crush arc: I made sure that our MC has a part in the fight between the 3rd and Orochimaru. 3. The search of Tsunade: Somebody who our MC knows and fears will appear. Naruto advances his ''new'' Jutsu. 4. Sasuke Recovery Arc: Ah, how I hate that arc but unfortunately I had to rewatch the anime. It will be a surprise. 5. Fillers or Naruto end? Question for readers: Should Karin be in the harem or like a sister to Naruto? Harem: Sister: If Harem: Don''t expect me to write H-scenes before Shippuden if any. Two girls are a lot for me and I do not understand love as I am single. Do you want to read fillers between the main chapters? Many fillers: A few: No fillers: Note: If the majority wants fillers, then they will differ from canon. (Why write fillers if you can watch them) E.g. The sword of the 2. Hokage for the Sasuke retrieval Arc or between Naruto and Shippuden. Chapter 32 - The Uzumaki that can look into your soul Ishizu''s clone POV I watched how some Kusa teammates (ab)used young Karin as a medical station. I felt sad for her and didn''t want to waste any more time seeing her like that so I henged into a younger version of me and approached them. "You are truly disgusting using your comrade like this. I don''t even consider you as humans so I won''t feel bad killing you. I see you also have an earth scroll. I will take that before I will break every bone, every muscle which not even the girl can heal," I said, making my way to them. They didn''t freeze but started to laugh. ''The hell? It is like Gato. Dumb people always overestimate themselves. I have read about it in my past life. I think it was called the ''Dunning-Kruger effect.'' "Hahaha, you sure talk big. We outnumber you so... " He didn''t get to say more because I hated useless monologues, so I killed him and his partner quickly. From Karin''s expression, I could tell that she was shocked, seeing her abusers dying but deep inside she was happy that they were gone. She looked at her savior, hoping he didn''t hurt her. I dropped my henge as she didn''t want her to think I am hiding something. "I hope you are ok. I am a Konoha Shinobi and I can see by your hair that you are of the Uzumaki Clan. We from Konoha had always a good connection with Uzu and even have an Uzumaki here in Konoha," I said as I kneeled to help her up. Karin''s eyes immediately opened as she heard a relative was alive. "Really, there is a cousin alive?" asked Karin. I smiled at her innocence: "Yes, and if you come with me, I will heal you and after that, you can meet him." Karin had tears in her eyes. "Yes. Please. I will go do anything so please take care of me." Karin got on Ishizu''s back and they left for the main body. During the time on her savior, Karin tried to feel Ishizu''s chakra, and it amazed her at how much chakra he had. On the outside, his chakra felt warm and strong. As she looked further, she started to shiver as if she was coated in snow. Ishizu''s charka was like he wore a happy mask but behind it was so much sadness followed by selfishness. It nearly suffocated her. Seeing Karin''s expression Ishizu could guess that she felt his charka and he couldn''t hide from her ability. "You don''t have to look further if it makes you sick. The world is horrible and even I am not an angel. So I hide my true feelings from others and show it in dire situations only. But. There is something that helps me from falling completely into the darkness. See for yourself." It shocked Karin because no one knew of the ability she possessed, but she wanted to see further. Deep in Ishizu''s soul, she saw a d.e.s.i.r.e to conquer everything. He disliked being weak. He also regretted things. Ishizu wanted to rule, to be on top of everything. Then, deep in a corner of his soul, she saw a small light wandering around. It was so pure of love, one-sided love, for a single person. It was of a woman she had never seen before. This light, which was so small, controlled the whole darkness like it was the leader. "Who is this woman?" asked Karin, wondering. Ishizu smiled: "She is the one who controls me from going insane in this world. She is my light shining in the darkness. Her name is Anko Mitarashi." (I just wanted to troll :) "Her name is Kaguya Otsutsuki." Ishizu''s POV Near Sasuke I saw the sound team approaching and trying to kill Sasuke. Lucky, the latter woke up feeling power surging through his veins as the cursed Mark activated but it was weaker because of the Fuinjutsu and the first thing he did was to break; I think his name was Zaku, arms. Taking the soul of Orochimaru lessened the corruption which helped Sasuke not to attack his teammates but he already tasted the forbidden power. Team 7 made it to the center and passed. And so ended the second exam. All Genin who passed the second exam healed in the tower. The other clones arrived, and I took them inside my body, learning what had happened. Taking Karin with me, I talked with the Hokage about her. He agreed to let her stay for the moment and would talk with Kusa after the exam. After that, I walked with her to Naruto. Karin''s character changed like a switch. She started talking non-stop with Naruto. The fellow Uzumaki overwhelmed Naruto, but he was happy that he met a relative. He showed her a picture of his mother. Karin was surprised by hearing the name of Naruto''s mother. She told him that her mother told Karin that Kushina was of royal blood. That made Naruto a prince. I summoned another wood clone just to keep Hayate Gekko alive so he won''t die by Baki and Kabuto''s hand and also for an experiment. Time passed, and it was time for the 3rd pre-exam. I sat in a seat, waiting for the first fight between Sasuke and some random Kabuto henchmen to start. I would sleep through most of the fights as they were boring, and I knew who would win. The henchmen''s job was for Sasuke to rely on the mark but my Fuinjutsu kept it sealed for the time. Unfortunately, it couldn''t suppress it all the time or the curse Mark would adapt. Kankuro won against Kabuto henchmen #2. Ino defeated Sakura but not with one punch like I expected as Kakashi finally started to train his students. On a scale from 1 to 10, the fight was a solid 5. Not too entertaining but not as boring as in canon. Shikamaru won against Kin of sound. "Naruto Uzumaki vs. Kiba Inuzuka," coughed Hayate. At the mentioning of my student, I glanced down. "All right Akamaru, let us show the dead last what we can do," shouted Kiba. I shook my head at his proclaim. ''Is he stupid or is this normal for an Inuzuka? Didn''t he see that Naruto defeated Neji?'' Both came to the arena and began to fight. Kiba transformed Akamaru into another Kiba which jumped on the Inuzuka. "Human beast clone. Let''s go Akamaru, Gatsuga," Kiba screamed as they started to rotate creating a tornado that came directly at Naruto. Naruto just stood there only for smoke to appear before the Gatsuga crashed into him. As the smoke cleared, one could see both Kiba and Akamaru in the wall and Naruto perfectly fine. Kiba didn''t give up: "Come on Akamaru one more time. He can''t dodge forever. Gatsuga!" The same happened as Naruto threw a smoke grenade and the attack went through just for Naruto to appear unharmed. Kiba got angry at his failed Gatsuga: "Damit, how can he dodge it? Doesn''t matter if I can''t see him I can smell him. Akamaru let''s do it." Akamaru jumped into the air and to every horror of women, strayed his urine all over Naruto. Naruto only looked disgusted and didn''t dodge: "Is this your attack? Spraying me with dog pis?" Kiba grew a tick mark but smiled: "You just wait and see. Let''s go: Gatsuga smell attack!" Again another smoke sphere appeared but Kiba laughed: "Ha, I can still smell you. Now be gone." Instead of hearing an impact, he heard a ''puff'' and the smell of Naruto disappeared. ''How can the smell disappear I knew I marked him?'' As Kiba thought about it he didn''t see hands gripping him through the ground immobilizing him in. Out of the ground came Naruto. Kiba struggled to come out but Naruto held a kunai to the poor Akamaru. "I won, Kiba. For you to comprehend what happened. I created smoke to spawn a clone first and then hide in the ground. My clone then dodged your attack. The last attack hit him because you could smell him but as it was only a clone, you lost his smell after he disappeared. I wanted to see if you improved but you are still headstrong, thinking you can defeat me only because I was dead last. People chance Kiba, so should you." A clap was heard and as people turned around, they saw Ishizu clapping. "Good job Naruto. The tactic was good but I hope your next fight won''t be as boring as this one was." Kurenai glared at Ishizu but the latter shrugged: "What? Train your genin better or you will only humiliate yourself, Kurenai." Naruto returned and was happy to see Hinata and Ino cheering for him at his victory. The next fight was Hinata vs Neji. This was the most interesting fight Ishizu wanted to watch as it was for him to see if he had trained her to be stronger than Neji or not. General POV. Both Hij¨±ga''s stared at each other. "Your face shows no fear of me. Why is that?" asked Neji. Hinata smiled: "Because I know that I will win. Not by destiny or that I am from the main branch but by pure skill and determination. I have something to fight for and trained under my sensei like there was no tomorrow. Now come Neji-niisan. Let me show you how faulty your destiny truly is." Hinata charged at Neji who blocked her attack only to be sent a few meters away by the sheer force of Hinata''s palm. Many people were shocked by the strength Hinata showed in that attack. Ishizu laughed as he saw the faces from the others. ''What?'' Neji had no time to react as Hinata continued to attack. Every attack from Hinata put Neji into a difficult situation. No matter how Neji blocked, Hinata''s strength was off the charts. ''I will not be defeated by her,'' thought Neji. The Hij¨±ga put himself together and attacked Hinata with full strength. They exchanged the Juuken with no one of the backing off. People cheered. All thought they were evenly matched albeit only 3 knew the opposite. Ishizu watched as Hinata slowly increased her power with each attack. Neji, too, felt the increase of the hits Hinata made. He had to act fast or he would lose. "I will end it," screamed Neji. "You are in my field of view!" "The same goes for you," muttered Hinata. "Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou/Shugo Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou." Both attacks clashed. Every single time Neji tried to come close to Hinata, she blocked with her special rotation. No matter what Neji did, he couldn''t harm Hinata. Hinata waited for the right moment to finish it. "Now it is over." Hinata leaped at Neji and stopped with her hand before Neji''s heart. Neji or anyone else didn''t imagine the speed Hinata showed as he couldn''t counter. "I won, Neji-niisan. Not because of destiny but because I trained hard and have friends to fight for." Neji looked at Hinata''s hand silently and let his head hung down. After this lovely fight, where Ishizu almost cried because of happiness and made a dance together with Gai, they held the next fight. Dosu won against Choji and the next fight was between Gaara and Lee. Ishizu thought about interfering but let it happen. Gaara crushed Lee''s leg and Gai stopped him from killing Lee. Sasuke, Gaara, Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Dosu, Shikamaru, Kankuro, Shino and Temari. (I know that I didn''t include some fights but you know them as you probably watched the anime.) The fights in 1 month were followed: Naruto Uzumaki vs Hinata Hij¨±ga Gaara vs Sasuke Uchiha Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame Temari vs. Shikamaru Nara Ino Yamanaka vs Dosu Ishizu had a smile on his face. Everyone would remember the next fight between future husband and wife. Chapter 33 - The birth of The Strategist In Konoha, Ishizu was relaxing with his Genin team, eating ramen. "Hey sensei, can you tell us why you are called Ishizu the strategist?" asked Naruto. "Yeah sensei, tell us about the awesome things you had to do to be named that," said Ino. Ishizu stooped eating as he looked at his team. Then he shuddered. "I can not say I am proud of it. The only thing I got out of it was a bingo book entry in Iwa as a kill on sight, with a bounty of 1.500.000 million Ry¨­, as well as an arch enemy known as the 3. Tsuchikage Onoki or as I call him, old fossil. You have to know that when I was young, I was a bit paranoid. It took place on a certain day during the 3. Shinobi War Flashback no Jutsu. Somewhere in the Land of Earth. A young Ishizu was seen together with his sensei walking around aimlessly through a forest. They got separated from the others by an ambush from Iwa. "Minato-sensei what should we do now? We are deep in the enemy''s territory. The enemy knows who you are, and that is not good. If somebody sees you then that old fossil Onoki will show up so we need to get out." Minato patted Ishizu''s head: "Don''t be so paranoid Ishizu-kun. We will come out of here alive." Ishizu just looked at him: "Yeah, sure, you can easily survive that crazy man but I am not that strong. Not to say that if I die, you will have to explain yourself to Kushina." Minato laughed awkwardly. After some time, both of them found an Iwa camp. "Ishizu-kun we need to go inside that camp and steal a map so we know where we are. I will look out for enemies while you go in." Ishizu looked horrified: "Are you crazy? Do you believe I can sneak into that camp with no one noticing, steal a map and come out alive?" Minato look got serious: "Ishizu, you are a Chunin and you should trust in yourself more. Being paranoid is good, but too much is not good. Your knowledge of Fuinjutsu should help you with that mission. You also have me so if something happens. I will help you, don''t worry." Ishizu reluctantly agreed while muttering something about Kushina and revenge as he made his way down to the camp. As Ishizu got closer to it, he got more and more paranoid turning every two meters to see if someone was behind him. He got this feeling that something would go wrong. "I know that my gut feeling never lets me down so let''s look around first," muttered Ishizu as he made his way into the camp. Instead of going into the headquarters to look for a map, he made his way to the other tens. ''Minato-sensei always said that one should have a trump card up his sleeves.'' As Ishizu sneaked into one tent he saw injured Shinobi lying on the ground. ''This is a camp for wounded Shinobi! This will be good.'' Ishizu went quietly in and made a sealing array in every tent he saw injured Shinobi. ''Good that I learned Fuinjutsu from Kushina.'' The array was remotely based and it would kill anyone inside if triggered. ''I am not paranoid. I am just doing it to save myself from danger,'' thought Ishizu to himself. As Ishizu made his way to head tent, he saw a rock flying out of the tent. "So, you dare to come here? You are a foolish Shinobi who will die accomplishing nothing." Ishizu cursed his gut because out of the tent flew an old man out. It was Onoki, the 3 Tsuchikage. Onoki''s voice alarmed the other Iwa Shinobi. "I will finish this quickly: Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique." Ishizu quickly substitutes himself with a log to save himself from being killed. "Give up tree hugger. Namikaze won''t help you. He has fallen for my trap." Out of the tent came Ishizu''s sensei who had chakra suppressant on him. "You have nowhere to go. Give up." Ishizu tried to think of a situation to help his sensei while avoiding Onoki. His mind was on overdrive to think of something. Then he remembered his sensei''s worlds. ''Always have a trump card.'' Ishizu smirked as he started to laugh. Onoki''s face darkened: "Have you lost your mind. Do you see that you lost and just won''t accept it?" Ishizu stopped as he grinned: "Oh I won''t die you old fossil. You will willingly let me and my sensei leave." The Iwa Shinobi started to laugh but only Onoki frowned. "And why should I do that?" Ishizu made a single hand tiger sign: "Because, before I went here I looked through the other tents and what a wonderful view I had. So many injured but alive Shinobi, old fossil. What would happen if all of them would blow up?" The laughter stopped as hatred filled eyes stared at Ishizu. "You are bluffing. No one could do that," a random Iwa guy shouted. "Then you have no idea what Fuinjutsu could do. I am the student of the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. I know what I have done. I rigged every tent with an array that I can activate within a second. You could kill me and my sensei, but you also would doom every injured Shinobi in this camp, old fossil. What would the people say about their leader? He sacrificed hundreds to kill two?" Onoki''s face grew more furious as he shouted to some random Iwa Shinobi to see it was true. After a minute he came back. "Tsuchikage-sama he is telling the truth. He rigged all tents with some kind of Fuinjutsu." Ishizu smiled: "So, what will you do, Tsuchikage-sama?" Ishizu asked sarcastically. "Unbind him." The Iwa Shinobi behind Onoki looked dumbfounded. "I said unbind Namikaze and let him and this boy leave!" shouted Onoki. The Iwa Shinobi complied and released Minato who went to Ishizu. He smiled at him: "A good strategy, Ishizu-kun." "Yes, a good strategy indeed. Tell me, boy, what is your name?" Onoki asked Ishizu. Ishizu saluted: "My name is Ishizu Sasaki, old fossil." Onoki nodded: "Good. I hope you will like it, seeing your face in Iwa''s bingo book, Ishizu Sasaki: The Strategist. Now leave." Before both of them were ready to leave, killing intent washed over Ishizu. "If you dare trigger the seals after you leave, I will personally come to Konoha and kill you, are we clear?" Ishizu started to sweat bullets as he nodded. "Good, now leave. Next time I see your face I will pulverize it with my Dust Release." Flashback end. "Cool, so your rival is the 3 Tsuchikage?" asked Naruto. Ishizu shook his head: "Rival is the wrong word for it. You can say we have a mutual hatred towards each other. You know Naruto, with my strength right now I could put that old fossil into the ground although I won''t have to dig deep." In Iwagakure: "Grandfather, what happened?" asked Kurotsuchi. Onoki looked around the whole room: "My senses scream that someone is plotting against me. That can only be that ''Strategist boy.'' If I get my hands on him... AU, my lower back! Damm you Sasaki." "You are too paranoid, grandfather." Chapter 34 - Sage meets Fox Training ground 43. Ishizu POV. I waited for my team to arrive so I could discuss what to do with them for the next month. All of her showed up on time, so I started: "I am both impressed and happy that my whole team could fight in the finals. I will tell you the truth. This one month I won''t train you. You all will search for a sensei who can help you. Your other Sensei will help you figure out about your enemy." I glanced at Naruto and Hinata: "I look towards the match, Naruto, Hinata." "No problem Sensei, Hinata and I already know where to start," announced Ino. Hinata looked at Naruto: "I hope you will be ready, Naruto-kun." I smiled: "Good, now go, I have something to discuss with Naruto." After they left, I turned to Naruto. "I know you are sad that I won''t help you, but I have someone different in mind." Naruto looked curious: "And who might that be?" "Your Godfather," I told him. Naruto frowned: "Can you give me more information?" I smirked: "I won''t tell you his name but if you wish to meet him, just go look around some women''s bathhouses. I believe he is in Konoha. If you see an old man peeking at women while writing in a book than you are in the right place." Naruto looked at me with disbelieve in his eyes: "Sure. So you want a pervert to train me?" I laughed: "This man is not a pervert. He is a self-proclaimed super pervert, as he would call himself, but I told you not to be deceived by appearance or character. All old monsters have some kind of crazy personality, but they survived not because of it, but because of it their strength. Now go. If you have some questions, ask me but don''t expect me to help you otherwise." Naruto''s POV. "Women''s bathhouses. Who in their right mind would peak at women? If they find out, you would be beaten black and blue," I muttered. As I went through the streets, I saw a man sitting on a roof that was part of a bathhouse. ''Hmm, old age, white hair, grinning at women while writing in a book. He deserves what happens next.'' I breathed in deep and yelled. "There is a pervert watching women. Look out!!!" I could hear screams and a person falling to the ground. I closed my eyes as I heard multiple women beating the men who squealed like a girl. Then a door opened as I heard a voice speaking. "Thank you for telling us. We know him. He is a pervert." "Hey, I am not a pervert I am a SUPER pervert." More hitting and whining. "Now, you be quiet. Boy, wait a few seconds and you can open your eyes. This is a thank you." I felt a warm kiss on my cheek but didn''t look up. After a minute I was certain I could look and when I opened my eyes, I saw a man being hit black and blue. ''Told you it would happen if they see you. Women are scary and dangerous.'' "Now you must be the person my Sensei wanted me to meet so you can train me. I can tell you, I am not impressed." The man stood up as if nothing happened: "You don''t even know me and already want to be trained by me. Let me introduce myself." He summoned a big toad and jumped on it. "I am the mighty Toad Sage who is known as Jiraiya the Sannin so give me my deserved respect." I looked at him: "I lost all respect I had in you when I saw you watching n.a.k.e.d women." He didn''t think so: "I call it research. Young people have no respect for the work I do. See." Jiraiya pulled a book out of his poker which Narut¨­ knew, as his Sensei read it if he had free time. "Do you know what that is?" asked Jiraiya. I nodded: "Yes. A book for perverts and closet perverts. My Sensei owns one." Jiraiya''s eyes had a spark in them: "Oh, and who is your Sensei?" the super pervert asked. I answered: "Ishizu Sasaki." ''Well, what do you know? That student of Minato trains his son,'' thought Jiraiya. "Ah yes, Sasaki-kun. A wonderful person as he appreciates my work. Now, what do you want?" asked Jiraiya. "I have one month for the Chunin finals and Ishizu-sensei told me to go to you and tell you to train me or he will personally drag my mother from the grave so she can beat you for not teaching your godson." That gave a reaction from the Toad Sage. It seemed that he didn''t know I knew who my mother was. Unfortunately, I didn''t know my father''s name. Sensei is strongly against tell me his name. "So you know that I am your Godfather and you also know your parents?" asked Jiraiya. I shook my head: "No, Ishizu-sensei told me only about my mother as a gift but he believed I am too weak to learn about my father and he will only tell me if I become Chunin or reach 16 years old. So I hope you can indirectly help me learn about my father''s name." Jiraiya didn''t know what to do, but he knew that Ishizu was serious about Kushina. This boy learned from her personally. Jiraiya remembered when he met the boy. He used his charm to chase Kushina on him when he saw him peeking at women. So he shrugged: "I don''t know. I need to write my book so I don''t really have time." I sighed: ''Ok, I have no other choice. Sensei told me to learn this jutsu. I thought he was crazy but let''s see if it truly works on strong opponents.'' "If you want material, here." "S.e.xy no Jutsu." Before Jiraiya stood a beautiful version of Naruto. Jiraiya''s eye went wide, and he flew with a nosebleed away but quickly stood up and wrote something in his book. ''Wow, Ishizu-sensei didn''t lie. It works. Maybe it is true that most strong people are perverts.'' "Ok you got me, kid, I will teach you hehe.." (Jiraiya having a nosebleed) Near a pond: General POV "Ok Naruto, tell me what can you do?" Naruto thought for a second: "I know the three basic chakra control exercises. I am learning to control my natural element. I know some wind and water Ninjutsu. My Taijutsu is low Chunin and my Genjutsu is not existent. My favorite jutsu is the Shadow Clone Jutsu." ''I know some others from the forbidden scroll, but I can not use them in a spar and I should not tell him.'' ''Wow, this kid is not only strong but knows a lot, for a Genin that is. Ishizu-kun didn''t slow down his training,'' thought Jiraiya. "Then I have just the right jutsu for you. The Summoning Jutsu. Here let me show you." Jiraiya bit into his thumb to draw blood: ''Boar''>''Dog''>''Bird''>''Monkey''>''Ram'' Summoning Jutsu. Smoke appeared and one could see a Toad. "With this jutsu, you can summon toads to help you aid in battles. Here signs this contract so you will be able to summon them." Naruto shrugged and signed it with blood. "Now try it." Naruto POV ''Hey fox, give me some of your chakra I want to impress him,'' I called out to the fox. Inside Naruto, the Kyuubi snorted: "And why should I do it? My chakra shouldn''t be used to summon some useless Toads. I also have some grudges against them as the boss of them landed on my precious fur last time I was out of the seal and tasted freedom. The next thing I smelled was oil." ''Come on, if I impress him I will help you with one wish if it has nothing to do with you getting out of the seal,'' I pleaded. The fox smirked inside the cage: "Sure, I hope you won''t betray me. I will tell you my wish when the time comes. Now go, I want to sleep." Naruto felt his chakra growing. Using the hand signs, he placed his hands on the ground and a huge smokescreen appeared. Naruto was standing on a huge toad, smoking a cigar. "What the hell!? Why did you summon me Jiraiya," asked the big Toad. Naruto looked down and smiled: "I am sorry it was me who summoned you." The big Toad laughed: "Don''t make me laugh, only Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze had the privilege to summon me so get off my head. Wait, you remind me of someone. What is your name by the way?" Naruto smiled: "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I will be the next Toad summoner." The boss toad''s eyes grew: ''Oh, so he is Minato''s brat. Maybe he will be a good summoner, not like Jiraiya.'' "Jiraiya this kid is good unlike you. He will be a good summoner," said the Toad. Jiraiya was crying tears. Not only had Naruto succeeded on the first try, but he also summoned Gamabunta, the Boss Toad. "You want him to be your summoner?" asked Jiraiya. Gamabunta shook his head: "No, but for my son. He can still summon me if he fights something strong. Now bye." Gamabunta disappeared. The next thing Naruto did was summon toads. He became really close to Gamakichi, son of Gamabunta. He also trained on his Taijutsu as he knew he had to fight Hinata and she wouldn''t go easy on him. On one particular day of training, Jiraiya showed up but was too drunk to teach Naruto anything. The Uzumaki was mad and told him to give him something in exchange. Jiraiya, who was too drunk to register things clearly from the sake, showed Naruto a jutsu just for fun to let him sleep in peace. The Toad Sage didn''t believe Naruto could learn such a hard jutsu anyway. How wrong he was. Chapter 35 - Lovers Fight Sasuke POV I looked at the scoreboard and saw that I had to fight the Suna guy. This was going to be difficult. I had lost against Lee and this guy is on a whole different level. I hope Ishizu can help me. At trading ground 43. "What do you mean you have no time?" I asked Ishizu. Ishizu looked at me with a boring look. "As I explained to you I have to prepare for important stuff and can''t let myself be distracted by teaching." I was not mad at him but sad as I knew that Ishizu-sensei was strong and he could help me. General POV Sasuke changed after he lost against Lee. He realized that there are people stronger than him in his year and he needed to ask for help, not demand it. So instead of creating a tantrum because of his Uchiha pride, he asked if Ishizu could help him otherwise. Ishizu felt a warm feeling from his left palm. Looking down, he saw the Yin seal glowing. ''I can''t teach him but I know who can.'' Ishizu sighed: "Look I can''t help you, but I can give you tips and I will make Kakashi''s life miserable if he won''t help you." Sasuke was happy that Ishizu wanted to help him. Not directly, but help was help. "So what can you tell me?" Ishizu stood up: "You fight against Sunagakure''s strongest Genin. A Jinch¨±riki of the Ichibi. If you don''t know what a Jinch¨±riki is then real about it and the Bijuus. He uses sand attacks to kill his opponent. He has an automatic defense, so you need to be fast or just pure destructive. Raiton attacks are what you need. Learn them and go to Kakashi and tell him to teach you his signature move called ''Chidori''. It will help you against his shield." It amazed Sasuke at how much information he got. He thanked Ishizu and went to look at the things Ishizu told him. ''Bijuu, Jinch¨±riki, wonder what that is. I have to look it up.'' Ishizu''s POV. ''Finally, he is gone and I can concentrate on my mission''. I jumped to the platform where the 3rd and Orochimaru would fight and placed a Summoning seal there so I could summon myself during the fight and help Sarutobi fight the snake. I also reversed summoned myself to the *DD* to learn the first style: Panda Style: Defence. General POV "So are you ready Hinata?" asked Ishizu. Hinata nodded with confidence: "Yes Ishizu-Sensei. I will do my best to become stronger and win over Naruto so he will accept me as his wife." To Naruto''s misfortune Ishizu told Hinata a lie that if she wins against Naruto, Naruto will accept her as his wife. Ishizu got into how fighting stand: "Ok show me your determination." "Hai" Days before the Chunin Finals. Ishizu''s POV. I watched as Hayate was left for dead by Baki and Kabuto. I waited for them to leave and then went to him. I felt his pulse to see if he still breaths and to my luck, he was on the brink of death. ''Now let''s see if it worked.'' I pushed chakra into my eyes and felt my vision change. "Jigukodo" I watched as the King of Hell appeared before me. I put Hayate into his mouth and in 10 seconds he was out and with no injuries. I felt my chakra dropping and an alarming rate but held on. He was alive, but I made sure he wouldn''t be waking up before the invasion. I felt a chakra signature coming and saw Hayate''s girlfriend. "Who are you and what have you done to Hayate?" I could see from her body figure that she was ready to attack so I answered: "I have saved his life and now he will be fine." I left very fast with my remaining chakra so she couldn''t follow me. I went home to sleep in my bed as the first big event was near. The days went by. I went through my plan many times over as to not make any mistakes. And like that the month went by. Chunin final exam Many people grouped together to watch the first fight between the two teammates. Ishizu noticed that a lot of the civilians cheered for Hinata to win the first fight against Naruto. In the Hokage room, two major figures were sitting. They were the Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and the ''Kazekage'' Rasa. "So what do you think about these years Genin Kazakage-sama?" asked the Hokage. The Kazekage chuckled: "Oh I am really looking forward to seeing these years Genin. I heard that Sasuke Uchiha, being the number one, will fight against my younger child." Hiruzen smiled: "Yes, but I can tell that he is not the strongest one in these years Chunin exam". It surprised Orochimaru, hearing Hiruzen telling him that the Uchiha was not the strongest. "Then do tell Hokage-sama who is the best in Konoha''s Genin." With a proud voice, Hiruzen answered: "Of course it is Naruto Uzumaki. During one of our new exercises, the Uchiha lost against Rock Lee, who can only use Taijutsu. Lee''s teammate, however, who was stronger than Lee got defeated by Naruto." From the outside Orochimaru showed surprise: "Ohh, but they didn''t fight against each other, am I right? Maybe the fight will be held today to see who is the better one." Hiruzen didn''t waver: "I am not biased but I doubt that Sasuke will win against Naruto. Naruto''s teacher is one of the best Jonin we have in Konoha. He could very well be the next Hokage if he didn''t reject me. He trained Naruto and his other teammates a lot. Even the first fight will be against two of Ishizu''s Genin. While Kakashi Hatake is well known for his laziness." Underneath the Kazekage''s hat, an Orochimaru snorted. ''I had enough of these praises. You, old man, will soon take your last breath. It is unfortunate that you didn''t make me Hokage but instead the Namikaze but for now, let''s see what this Genin''s have up their sleeves.'' "Hinata Hij¨±ga and Naruto Uzumaki please come to the arena." In a second, one could see both of them standing in front of the proctor. It shocked a lot as they only seen the Body flicker technique used by Chunin and Jonin. Seeing Genin''s using it was not heard of. Some looked at Ishizu who was sitting and as he felt the gazes on him he looked at the looks given to him. "What? They both were ready to learn it. It is also an easy technique. I believe everyone should learn in sooner." People sweatdropped but dismissed him as they wanted to watch the fight. Ishizu leaned over the arena and shouted: "Hinata if you win, I will fulfill the promise I made to you. I swear on my pride that I still have!" In the arena, Naruto felt a shiver running down his spine as he watched Hinata''s eyes started to have a fire in them. ''Oh, what has Ishizu-sensei told Hinata that made her so aggressive?'' He liked her sweet side, but he feared the side she was showing now. Hinata showed a smile that only was seen from a devil as she looked at Naruto. As Ishizu looked at Hinata''s eyes, it reminded him of a certain redhead. "Naruto-kun please surrender so I won''t have to break every bone in your body." Naruto stood firm and proclaimed: "Never! I will not lose and I will show you and the others how strong I am. Now let''s go." The proctor started and both Naruto and Hinata charged at each other. As they fought, one could see that Hinata was the initiator, and Naruto was defending himself. ''Damm, her Juuken is fearsome, I can''t fight her any longer in close combat or she will eventually hit me,'' thought Naruto. Naruto summoned a dozen Shadow clones that attacked Hinata. The Hij¨±ga girl didn''t even consider the clones as opponents and used her Juuken to destroy them. As she looked at the real Naruto, she saw a mist covering the arena. "Hidden Mist Jutsu. Let''s see how you can deal with this. Your Byakugan is useless against the mist." (I don''t know if that is true but here it is because of Chakra Mist) Hinata''s smile didn''t waver as she made hand signs: "That would be true if you would fight against a standard Hij¨±ga. Fuuton: Daitoppa." Wind was formed but Naruto wasn''t finished. "I will take that as a helping hand. Making hand signs Naruto breathed many small fireballs at the wind, which increased due to the wind and were heading to Hinata. Hinata activated her protective eight trigrams jutsu to block the fireballs. As everyone was amazed at the awesome defense of Hinata, Ishizu closely watched Naruto. He was not impressed at the moment waiting for Naruto to show more of ability. He knew that Naruto wouldn''t use Kurama against Hinata but Ishizu would give Jiraiya hell if he didn''t train Naruto properly. Against Kiba, Naruto could play around but not against someone like Hinata. Underestimating her would be his biggest mistake. As Hinata defended against the fireballs Naruto created shadow clones. Some charged at Hinata while two stood by Naruto''s side. Hinata used her barrier to destroy them. Ishizu started to smile as a small blue ball forming in Naruto''s hand. It was far from the original he created in canon but it was earlier than in canon. Ishizu wondered what Naruto did so Jiraiya would agree to teach him. ''Hmm, I would be disappointed at Naruto if he couldn''t use it.'' "Let''s do it," the clones shouted before dispelling. "Rasengan!" Naruto ran at Hinata and slammed the mini Rasengan at the barrier. The barrier was destroyed because of the sheer force the mini Rasengan had and Hinata was thrown away. She tried to get up, but Narut¨­ stood above her with a kunai in his hand. "I surrender Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled and held a hand for Hinata to grab. The crowd was silent. Many spectators were civilians and wanted the Hij¨±ga to win. They could not believe that the demon brat won against a Hij¨±ga. Ishizu frowned at the civilian. He would try to use this hatred to make Naruto into a good Shinobi. Not a blind follower of Konoha but a more calculating one. He still could become Hokage or what not, but not with a mindset like in canon. One should not live for the village but for the people you love. Buildings could be remade but people not. Chapter 36 - Invasion of Konoha At the spectator''s seats. The Jonin recognized the Jutsu and narrowed their eyes as they looked at Ishizu: "Ishizu, did you teach him this jutsu?" asked Gai. Ishizu was laughing while shaking his head: "No. I didn''t train him. It was Jiraiya-sama who trained Naruto during this month. It also amazed me that he performed this Jutsu although a significantly weaker version it is still a Rasengan. I am proud of being his teacher." ''Although I have no idea why Jiraiya would teach it to him before Tsunade,'' thought Ishizu. Naruto was announced the winner but no civilian clap. The next fight was Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara but it would seem that Sasuke was not present. He would have been disqualified had it not been for the Kazekage to announce that they should delay his fight. "Ok, the next fight will be Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame". "I surrender," shouted Kankuro. Many people were shouting profanities at Kankuro and even Shino glared at him. "As Kankuro surrender I declare Shino as the winner so next fight will be Temari vs. Shikamaru Nara." Ishizu expected the fight to be like in canon with Temari being victorious as the Nara would surrender but he was wrong. It seemed that Asuma talked some sense into Shikamaru. That his laziness could cause the death of a teammate made the Nara work harder. Shikamaru was more focused in the battle and defeated Temari without the hole Naruto created in Canon. "Shikamaru is the winner." The next fight was going to be Ino Yamanaka vs. Dosu. Ishizu closed his eyes as he knew that they would wait another 5-10 minutes for a dead person to show up. Poor Dosu was too overconfident and got himself killed thinking it was easy to kill a Jinch¨±riki of the Ichibi on a full moon. While waiting, Ishizu went over his plan again to see if he made no mistake. This was an important battle he had to win. 10 minutes later, Dosu was disqualified and they would wait another 5 minutes for Sasuke to show up. At the last minute, both Kakashi and Sasuke made it and the final fight started. Ishizu waited for the feather Genjutsu to start as both Gaara and Sasuke fought. Sasuke tried many jutsus, but they all were useless as Gaara''s sand blocked them. Then Sasuke ran the wall of the arena up and performed many hand sights. Ishizu whispered to Kakashi: "So you taught him Chidori? With it, he could win, but against Naruto, he won''t stand a chance. Naruto showed everyone that he is the son of Minato and Kuchina Uzumaki." Kakashi''s eyes widened as he looked at Ishizu thinking that he told Naruto about his parents. Ishizu saw Kakashi''s look: "He only knows his mother''s name from me. He still needs to become Chunin." "Has the Hokage agreed to it?" asked Kakashi. Ishizu nodded: "Naruto is not dumb. He knows the consequences of proclaiming his name to random people. No, he is m.a.t.u.r.e enough to know. That is if I deem him worthy and his usage of the Rasengan gave him a boost." Ishizu smirked: "Still, I am the best Rasengan wilder right now. Even Jiraiya-sama does not compare to me." Kakashi rolled his eyes at Ishizu''s confidence. The Sharingan user thought that Ishizu was boasting but nobody knew that Ishizu had already mastered nature transformation. Back in the arena, Sasuke charged at Gaara with his Chidori and broke through Gaara''s sand shields. As Gaara saw his blood he went insane, and the Genjutsu was casted. Ishizu''s POV. I dispelled the jutsu and looked at my Genin. They were fine so I commanded: "Ino, Hinata we are getting invaded. I order you to protect the civilians and stay safe. I trust you so be careful." The girls nodded and jumped out. Turning to Naruto. "I know what you think about, Naruto. He is the same as you. So go help Sasuke and defend your village. Use every means possible to calm the Ichibi Jinch¨±riki." Naruto nodded and chased after Gaara and Sasuke. ''Now is the time to act.'' I made my way to the violet barrier and saw some Anbu waiting. "What are you doing? You should go help the civilians instead of wasting your time." One ANBU said, thinking Ishizu was some noob but as they looked at Ishizu, they recognized him. "The Hokage is currently battling Orochimaru," answered one ANBU, bowing. Ishizu facepalmed: "I know that. I am not blind. As the Hokage cannot give you orders, I will as your superior. Now go and help the civilians. I will deal with the situation." The Anbu nodded and disappeared. ''Finally, they are gone. I can do my big entrance.'' As I walked to the barrier Kidomaru, the spider guy taunted me as I couldn''t help my Hokage. I smiled: "Oh, and who thinks I am not prepared." I summoned a scroll and performed hand sight and with a poof, I was gone and reappeared inside the Barrier. From the inside I looked at his face: "This is how you come inside a barrier." I charged at Orochimaru to get him away for the 3rd. The Hokage saw Ishizu and shouted at me: "Ishizu, what are you doing here and how could you come in?" I jumped to the Hokage: "I am always prepared for the world, Hokage-sama." Turning my head to Orochimaru. "It has been a while Snake man. By your appearance, I can see that you truly are a pedophile as you look like a kid. I see you still have a grudge against your former Sensei to not be elected as Hokage. I would say you''d made a bad Hokage. Minato-sensei was and would always be a better Hokage then you will ever be." Orochimaru chuckled: "Yes, you still amaze me Ishizu-kun. If only you would be on my side, it would be so much easier. Maybe killing you will help me achieve my dream." I further tried to anger Orochimaru: "Bah, you are even weaker than Jiraiya. You can not even perform Sage Mode. Instead, you use some kind of bastardized version of a seal you put in Sasuke. That would only a weakling do." Orochimaru clearly was not happy about my comment: " I will show you both just how strong I am." Seeing it was time I waited for the perfect time. "Ishizu what are you going to do?" General POV The Hokage saw the grin on Ishizu''s face. Sarutobi knew Ishizu from the time he was with Minato and Kuchina. That also meant seeing many expressions he would do. One of these was his grin and it only meant one thing. Ishizu would only do this face if he was going to do something unpredictable. Minato had warned him about it. "No way will I fight against him directly. I will do what most will do in such a situation." "I will call for help." Chapter 37 - Title at the End General POV. One could see from a bird''s perspective as both Orochimaru and Ishizu performed 4 hand signs and slammed their hands on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu: Impure world resurrection." On Orochimaru''s side, three coffins started to emerge. Each coffin had the number 1,2 or 4 engraved, but as the 4th coffin tried to come out a skeleton hand shot out from below. Only Ishizu saw the hand with his eyes. It gripped the coffin and dragged it back. Both coffins opened and the previous Hokage came out. On the other side, a coffin with an Uzumaki symbol was seen and out of it came Mito Uzumaki. "Ishizu, why did you summon me?" Mito was not amused being out again. Ishizu saw the face of Hiruzen. "I do everything to protect the village and with Mito-sama''s permission, I can do that so I summoned her," explained Ishizu. The appearance of Mito startled Orochimaru and both previous Hokage. "Mito-chan is that really you," asked Hashirama. Mito snorted: "Hmm. Don''t talk to me. I am still mad at your stupid brother for creating this jutsu. As you can see Tobirama-baka, your jutsu is used by a Nuke-nin against the village." Tobirama gnashed his teeth, not happy with his brother''s wife making fun of him. Even after her death, she mocked him. Hashirama went into a depression mode, being rejected to speak with his wife. Orochimaru clearly was not happy and put his special kunai into the heads of both Hokaga''s and ordered them to attack. "Hokage-sama please fight against your former student. Mito-sama and I will take care of the other two," said Ishizu. Hiruzen nodded and charged at Orochimaru. "You know that those kunai are not working so I will give you your time with your husband as I will try to explain my plan with Tobirama first," Ishizu whispered the plan to Mito. "Do what you want. I am ready to beat both of them," was the response of the Uzumaki. Ishizu POV I went into my new defense panda stance and attacked Tobirama. When I felt that nobody was listening, I spoke. "Hello, Tobirama-sama I know that you are not that weak to withstand those controlling kunai''s. I would like to talk to you while we fight about your old student. The 3rd Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi." The eyes of Tobirama came to life as he looked at me, frowning. "And what do you want? I am still pissed that you actually summon Mito back to life so I could hear her rambling about me being stupid. I am also surprised that you know we can still keep our consciences. Who are you?" asked the second Hokage. Ishizu shook his head, blocking a strike. "I am of no concern right now, but Hiruzen is. I talked with Mito about it and I want your honest opinion." "And what do you want to talk about?" asked Tobirama now curious. "It is about Sarutobi''s retirement. I believe he served his village long enough. Don''t get me wrong, he was a good Hokage who fought for Konoha his whole life." I blocked an empowered strike to the head. "But, we are now in an Era of Peace and if it was not for our late Hokage''s death we would live peacefully. Hiruzen grew weak with age and your former student Danzo fell into darkness. I want your permission to let Hiruzen perform his last deed to defeat his former student and give the hat to a more useful person." Tobirama''s face grew cold as he attacked me with a strong water jutsu: "You want my permission to let Hiruzen die?" He was not happy as his jutsu hit me. "No, I believe he is ready to die, but I am conflicted to help or let him die," I told him as I substituted myself. "You are conflicted to let your Hokage die? A question I would always answer with a No but the Hokage is not as important as the village itself. If you truly believe it is the best for Konoha to let Hiruzen die and he also wishes it, then allow him to do so. If it is for the village, then I have no problem." Tobirama''s killing intent grew and as he looked at me. "But if you lie to me and Hiruzen dies with regret, I will personally come back and drag you to hell. Am I clear Shinobi?" The killing intent excited me. He was a strong opponent, indeed. If he was alive, I would want to go all out against him. I looked at him seriously. "I swear that Hiruzen Sarutobi''s death will not be in vain." When I was in range, I shouted for Mito to switch and as I looked up to fight, the ''God of Shinobi''. Instead, I was greeted with a depressed-looking man being scrolled by his wife. "Man, I am sorry for you Hashirama-sama. I didn''t know Mito-sama would do that to you," I apologized. "You have no idea how mad she was." His looks changed "Now Mito told me about your plan and Hiruzen''s death and I am not happy about it." I explained to the Hokage my reasons and that Hiruzen was ready to give up the hat. "So who will be the next Hokage after Hiruzen? Do you see yourself ready to command a ninja village Ishizu-kun?" Hashirama asked me curiously. I thought for a second but shook my head. "No, I am not a leader but somebody who defends from the shadows, but I know a person who would be perfect." I smiled and Hashirama got curious: "Ohh, and who would that be?" I grinned: "Well, of course, your granddaughter, priceless Tsunade." I almost laughed when Hashirama felt on the ground, clearly not expecting my answer. "You are joking, right?" he asked me. "I am serious. If you don''t look at her gamble and alcohol addiction as well as her fear of blood, I believe she would make a great Hokage. After the fight, I will even summon you to meet her to change her mind if you want," I said, shrugging. He smiled: "I would gladly see my granddaughter. How you do it is up to you." Then he signed. "I am not happy about your plan, but I will allow it." I nodded, happy with their approval. "Good, that was what I want to hear." I looked at the Uzumaki. "Mito I am ready." "Ok, I had a lovely chat. Here you go." She threw me Tobirama as I concentrated and my eyes grew purple. That cleverly surprised Hashirama and Tobirama but I gave them no time to react. "Hokage- sama I need your help to seal them away," I shouted. Hiruzen nodded and summoned two Shadow clones. Snake ¡ú Boar ¡ú Ram ¡ú Rabbit ¡ú Dog ¡ú Rat ¡ú Bird ¡ú Horse ¡ú Snake. "Shiki Fuin." Now it was my turn. "Asura Path and Human Path." As the Shinigami''s hand came out of Hiruzen''s clone, I too took stuck my hand into the Kage''s body. The next thing I felt was unbelievable. I could not describe it well, but the eyes of the Shinigami fell on my body. This was one of the few times I was so close to death. I created a tug of war between me and the God of Death with the two souls as the reward and the Shinigami didn''t want to let go of the souls. I knew that I could not win this fight with strength but by being tricky. ''No, I will get at least one soul, Shinigami. If you want a soul so much then take this.'' I opened the King of Hell and a small soul came out. With my last strength, I de-summoned Mito so she would not interfere in the worst case. I was on my knee taking deep breaths as I looked at Hiruzen. Even if I saw the scene back when I was a kid, it looked so much more awesome. Hiruzen held tightly Orochimaru as the arm of the Shinigami held the souls of Hiruzen and tried to take out Orochimaru''s. But the Hokage''s stamina was not enough and a sword was in Hiruzen''s back which Emma the monkey king tried to take out. "Sasaki-san, come help me!" screamed Enma. Hiruzen chuckled, seeing the state I was in: "No, Emma he can''t move and it is already too late. Ishizu, I heard what you planned from Mito." My eyes grew wide. Mito told him my plan. "But, I agree. I got weak and even let Orochimaru escape. Still, I am the 3rd Hokage and you will follow my last will. You will be my substitute Hokage with one mission. Your last mission will be to search for Tsunade as I elect her as the next Hokage." Then he turned to Orochimaru. "Now my foolish disciple. I can''t take you with me to the next life, but I am sure as hell can take something from you that you are proud of. Consider it the punishment for everything you have done." Orochimaru did not like the smile his old Sensei gave him. It was of a man who had nothing to lose. "Damm you Sarutobi, let me go!" Orochimaru screamed, struggling to break free, but Hiruzen''s iron grip didn''t let go. With the Rinnegan, I could see how the arms of Orochimaru appeared and the Shinigami took his knife and cut them off. Orochimaru screamed, losing sensation in his arms. The holy arms that Orochimaru used for his many jutsus turned black and because useless. "Damm you Sarutobi! What have you done?" screamed the Snake. Hiruzen coughed blood and with his last words, he said: "Stupid disciple, I took your ability to do jutsus. You were always so proud of them. Let''s see what you can do without them." With that, the Shinigami took the soul from Hiruzen and he fell down. Title: Hiruzen''s death Chapter 38 - One vs. Nine Orochimaru called for the Sound 4 and left. The barrier was lifted and the Anbu came in and saw Ishizu. "What happened Sasaki-San?" asked Cat ANBU. Ishizu tried to talk, but it was hard. Using a new Rinnegan ability while bargaining with the Shinigami took a lot of his charka. "The... 3rd... Hokage... is dead. ... But... he sealed... the arms of... Orochimaru... with him¡­ He told¡­ me... I need... to look... for the next... Hokage." The Anbu were shocked at the statement, but then they saw the body of the 3rd. "And who should that be?" asked an Anbu. Before Ishizu could answer his adrenaline which held him conscious stopped and Ishizu fell unconscious. Naruto POV After Ishizu-sensei ordered me to stop Gaara, I had a problem to follow him, but I got help from Kakashi''s summon, Pakkun. I followed Pakkun and we encountered Kankuro, the Suna puppeteer. I got lucky that Shino wanted to fight against him so I could chase further. As I came closer, I saw Temari of the Sand fighting Sasuke. ''I know Sasuke can handle her and he probably would hate me if I came for his help. I know we were told to work together, but I believe he will defeat her.'' "Come, Pakkun, show me where Gaara is," I called. "Do you really think you can defeat Shukaku? Even though he is the weakest of us 9, he still is stronger than a weak human," the Kyuubi spoke in my mind. "Oh, you decide to talk? What is the reason for it?" I asked, curious about why the fox made a conversation. "I particularly dislike Shukaku and it would be bad for my pride if you would die against him, so I will allow you to use a little of my chakra. You better be praising me." I snorted at the pride the fox had: "Sure if you want to give it to me for free, I will take it." I felt the power surging through me. I was lucky to have a good danger sense as I dodge a sand arm, coming after my life. Before me stood Gaara and he looked horrible. A massive sand construct covered half of his body. "Naruto Uzumaki, come, Mother wants your blood. Die for me!" He was not in his right mind. Gaara laughed as he charged at me. "Multiple Shadow clone Jutsu." I summoned 50 clones as a distraction as I ordered them to attack. Gaara used his large arm to summon a wind blade to destroy my clones. "Here take this." I throw a kunai at him. He blocked it with his sand hand. "Hahaha, do you think this will do anything?" Gaara laughed, but I smirked: "No, but that paper bomb will do good." ''Boom'' The paper bomb exploded and created a good smokescreen. ''Come on, Fox. I hope your chakra is good enough. I concentrated on my right hand as a Rasengan was being created. ''Now it the chance.'' I summoned a clone for distraction and charged at him. "Here I come, Gaara," clone me shouted to distract him. My clone attacked him and he fell for it. Gaara destroyed the clone with his right hand. "Now take this, Rasengan!" Gaara screams as he took the Rasengan head-on. As the Rasengan hit Gaara, he swirled multiple times and destroyed a few trees. Inside Naruto''s mind, the Kyuubi laughed: "Hahaha, take that you stupid Tanuki." ''Hope he is down for good''. My luck was short-lived as Gaara came out of the rubble. "Come, give me more. I will show you the true power I have." Gaara formed a Ram hand sigh. "Play Possum Jutsu." With that Garra''s body fell asleep. ''Oh no, this jutsu''s name is not good,'' I thought. Gaara grew in size as he finally transformed him into Shukaku, the One Tails. "Haha, finally I am free and I also see the first one to die. Take this Futon: Renkudan." A massive air bubble hit me and made me fly a good chunk. ''Damm he is big, as are his attacks. How do I defeat him? I need something as big as him.'' Inside the Kyuubi smiled: "Naruto, do you hear me?" I frowned hearing the fox calling for me: "I don''t have time right now. I am fighting a big Tanuki." "Do you remember the time when you told me that you would fulfill my wish?" asked the fox. I grew curious. Why did he want to talk about it now? What did he want? "I remember. What does it have to do with this?" I asked, waiting for his answer. "My wish is for you to summon me. Allow my charka so guide you. It won''t affect you, much, but with my consent, I can allow you to summon me." I shook my head: "I told you I will not agree with freeing you." "I will be bound to you and won''t escape. You told me you will hold your end of the deal, Naruto," the fox explained. I frowned, but I knew he was right so I sighed. "I will do it but if I see that you aren''t helping I will de-summon you. Am I clear?" The fox grinned: "Loud and clear." "Then let''s do it!" I jumped on the ground. Here goes nothing. "Summoning Jutsu: Kyuubi." Out of the smoke came a large fox. He looked just like 12 years ago but with the necklace which was the seal hindering him from leaving Naruto. "Ah, good old nature. How the wind blows around my tails. It feels good to be out of the sever. Even if I am still bound to you, brat, it feels good to be outside and take my anger out with the crazy Tanuki." Seeing the fox, Shukaku started to laugh: "So it is you. Come here so I can show you how strong I really am. This boy on your head I will also kill, Ku¡­" Shukaku could not say the fox''s name as a handful of trees flex inside his mouth. I was hoping to hear his name, but it would seem that he would hate me if I tried to ask Shukaku. "Be quiet. Everyone knows your name because you brag with it all the time, but mine is sacred. It was given to us and should not be used casually. Nobody should know it until I deem them worthy." The Ky¨±ubi charged at the One Tails and held him down with his claws. Shukaku screamed: "Let me go you stupid fox with a superiority complex." The fox looked at me. "Go, I will have a nice view from here looking at this weakling." I nodded and jumped on Shukaku. I summoned 10 Shadow clones and ran up to Gaara. Unfortunately, my clones couldn''t make it far as the sand around Gaara protected him. It was also not easy to move as the fox hit the tanuki and I had to dodge. "Be careful. I am on him!" I shouted at the fox but unfortunately, he didn''t hear me or he didn''t want to as he was laughing. ''Just ignore the fox, Naruto.'' "Let''s see how your sand will deal with this," I shouted as I made a Rasengan in my hand and charged at Gaara. I was close, but the sand pierced me, but to all wonder, only smoke was seen. The real me sneaked up to Gaara and I place my hands on his shoulders and grabbed him tightly. The sand came to my feet and hands but I didn''t need them. I smiled: "Now, you made quite the mess, but it is time you WAKE UP." I put all strength in my head and head-butted him right on his forehead. Shukaku screamed as he saw that his time was up and crumbled to dust. The Kyuubi frowned seeing his punching bad disappearing. I felt that letting the fox partially out of the seal cost also a lot of chakra, so with a POOF he was gone. Both me and Gaara fell on the ground, and the battle between Jinch¨±riki was decided. Naruto Uzumaki has won. Chapter 39 - The Start of the Search Skip the part where Naruto uses his "Talk no Jutsu." Ishizu POV. The funeral was on the next day. People silently cried about their loved ones who died in the attack. Although Konoha was attacked by two villages, it had the least casualties. When Suna saw that their Jinch¨±riki had lost, they immediately retreated. The Sound was not well off as my few wood clones slaughtered a lot of the Shinobi. If Danzo wasn''t such a bitch, I could have killed a lot of them but the warmonger let some of them escape. Before I lost consciousness, my clones dispelled to hide the fact that those people were wood clones. Even though people died, I was happy that I could save a lot more. Naruto had a few bruises, but he was fine. Sasuke didn''t even fight against Gaara and Sakura was helping the civilians. Everyone did their best job. The death of Hiruzen hit the people hard who were closest to him. People who were very close to Hiruzen were silently crying. They were Naruto and Konohamaru. For them, Hiruzen was a grandfather that they loved dearly and now he was gone but I was happy. I repeat, I couldn''t be more happier. Because of this attack, the new generation was seeing that this world was not all happy but one needed to be stronger to survive the hard reality. The faster one learned the truth the stronger one could react to changes. Everyone has to go through it. Nobody was spared. General POV Hokage office. "The 3rd''s last words were to find the next Hokage and I will tell you both that I won''t take it for myself," said Ishizu as he looked at the Hokage hat. Both elders were looking at Ishizu concerned. "Sasaki-san, we want to know the reason for the decline. You are one of the best to take the mantle and the hat. Hiruzen even wanted to make you Hokage. Being the student of the 4th makes you the perfect candidate," explained the old man. Ishizu looked annoyed at the old man. "And I tell you I will consider the words of Hiruzen and look for a suitable person. I already have someone in mind." A voice was heard as Danzo came to the office. Ishizu narrowed his eyes. "I won''t even say anything about you coming here, but I suggest Tsunade Senju. She is the last Senju and I believe you also want her to be in the village instead of roaming the continent and gambling her money away." Danzo nodded: "Of course I want her in Konoha but we do not know where she resides." Ishizu smiled at that: "Yes but we have a spy agent and a former teammate of hers. That''s it then: I announce as the substitute of Hokage that Jiraiya the Sannin and Naruto Uzumaki have an S-rank mission to retrieve Tsunade Senju back to Konoha at all cost." Ishizu couldn''t see Danzo''s expression, but he knew it annoyed him. Ishizu smirked: "To be 100% sure that the Kyuubi Jinch¨±riki is not killed I will also come with them." "No, this is not acceptable. You are a capable Jonin and to go for such a stupid mission is under your worth Sasaki. Jiraiya can protect the container just fine and I could dispatch somebody else," announced Danzo. Ishizu put a serious expression on his face: "I know how strong Jiraiya-sama is but he also has a great weakness and that are women. I heard of a group called Akatsuki who hunt after Jinch¨±riki and Jiraiya can be misled by them and they will capture Naruto. I will come with them and that is final." ''And no way in hell will I let a ROOT come with Naruto.'' Danzo showed his disappointment but left. Ishizu sighed: "We will leave in a few days. I will leave the village to the Shinobi and civilian councils." The two advisers nodded and left. Later Naruto and Jiraiya were standing in the Hokage office. Naruto smirked as he saw that Ishizu didn''t wear the Hokage hat: "Hey Sensei, why don''t you wear the hat? I think it looks good on you." Ishizu rolled his eyes at Naruto''s remark. "I am no Hokage. Too much paperwork and I don''t like it. The important matter is that I am a substitute for the next Hokage." Ishizu looked at Jiraiya who quickly crossed his arms thinking Ishizu knew what he wanted from him. "I don''t mean you. I mean your comrade, Tsunade Senju. The 3rd gave me the last order before his death, and that was to find a suitable Hokage. I know you don''t want to be the next one, Jiraiya, so I made a mission to find Tsunade. You and I will go together with Naruto to find her. If I remember correctly, she liked to drink and gamble so she is in some casino." "The reason I will come is that I want to make sure nothing happens as I have a bad feeling as someone came into the land of fire to cause trouble." Jiraiya thought for a second before agreeing as 2 teachers were better for Naruto to finally master the Rasengan." Next day. Ishizu POV I waited for the two to arrive at one of Konoha''s gates. I wanted to leave as soon as they got here as I knew that Itachi and Kisame will be in Konoha in a few hours or so. As the two arrived, we left to find clues. One hour after the 3 left two hooded people walked into Konoha. Even with the disguise, 3 Jonin recognized them sitting in a bar. A fight was coming. (I will skip the fight between Kakashi vs Itachi as it is the same as in canon.) Search for Tsunade Team POV 2 weeks past as the team left Konoha. The Tsunade search arc was important. He knew that he changed things but it was mostly inside Konoha so the changes outside should be small. Still, Ishizu looked for potential danger around Naruto. The worst case would for Pain to meet Naruto outside. It was a stupid thought, but it could happen. Ishizu was interrupted from his toughs as he heard Naruto celebrating his complete grown Rasengan. ''So he did it before Tsunade. I hope she will come back without challenging Naruto,'' thought Ishizu. Ishizu walked over to Naruto. "I see you did it. And even before the time Jiraiya thought you would," said Ishizu. (The Original needed 37 days, but this could already do a mini version so to add chakra he needed less time.) "You did good but don''t think that is all to it. See, the Rasengan is a special jutsu, but at the moment it is weaker than the Chidori of Sasuke. The reason: Elemental transformation. The Rasengan has no element. It is neutral so it is weaker, but if you add an element, it will be powerful. Another reason the Rasengan is so strong is that it can be combined with almost all elements. Kakashi made the Chidori as he couldn''t combine his Raiton with the Rasengan but you can do it with Futon. Here let me show you the next step." Ishizu opened his palm to show him the normal Rasengan. "This is the normal one but this..." Naruto saw as the Rasengan began to change and small saw-like rings formed around it. "This is the next step." "Futon: Rasengan." "Now let''s go back to rest." In the room, Naruto collapsed and fell asleep. Chapter 39 - Time is Ticking The next days were pretty boring. Tsunade used every method to find a way to heal Lee''s leg. Others used the time to relax or do D-ranks. Ishizu was one of the few who trained. Summoning himself to the Panda realm and training his new Taijutsu. He saw the destruction of his incomplete Sage mode. It was even worse than Jiraiya''s as he could only do one attack and was weakened after it. During his visit to the panda realm, he met another panda. A big fat panda. He was the nephew of Po. His name was Brother Long. Most of the time he was eating and complaining about life. Believe it or not, but this big guy was the teacher for Ishizu in the style of speed. How someone like him was a master in speed was a mystery to the Shinobi. Ishizu, after a few months, was on getting the hang on with his defense style and only started in the speed style. After he finished, he went back to Konoha, and an Anbu informed him to come to the Hokage. Hokage tower. "You wanted me here, Hokage-sama?" asked Ishizu as he came in. The new Hokage sat in the new seat as she smiled at Ishizu. "Yes, I have a B-rank mission for you. I don''t want you to sit all day here in Konoha or go to the panda realm. You are a Shinobi of Konoha and not of the pandas. You have a duty as a Jonin. You are going to the land of tea with two Genin." Ishizu nodded and looked for Naruto and Sasuke. He remembered that after this filler came the Sasuke retrieval arc. So he took them both to the land of tea to help Idate, or whatever his name was, win the race. It was boring for Ishizu as it was a filler episode. Sometimes Ishizu wondered why Kishimoto used them. Most of them were boring and usually, nothing impressive happened. There were only a few good ones. During the filler, Ishizu observed Sasuke''s reaction to Naruto, and even with a weaker curse seal, Sasuke''s pride was still hurt as he saw Naruto''s growth, thinking he was growing weaker. Back in Konoha, Ishizu walked to the Uchiha district after the mission. He knew that Sasuke wanted to fight Naruto. So why not fuel it for his goals? Sasuke was already marked, so he had to go to Orochimaru. No, he could stay as Ishizu had the ability to take the seal away with his Fuinjutsu and Rinnegan, but would it help Sasuke? Sasuke wanted to know the truth about Itachi and staying in Konoha would not help him in finding the truth. As long as Sasuke was loyal to Konoha or trusted Ishizu, he could go to Orochimaru and spy for him. The plan was to show Sasuke that Orochimaru could help the Uchiha get stronger, but Ishizu would be the one who would nurture him from the dark. He would be a wonderful little Uchiha spy, helping Ishizu in finding important things from the Sannin. Knocking on the door Ishizu was greeted by Sasuke. Although Sasuke didn''t like most of the people in Konoha, Ishizu was an exception. He trained him and helped him through his problems. "What can I do for you Ishizu-sensei?" Ishizu smiled: "Can I come in? I want to talk with you for a moment." Sasuke invited Ishizu, and both sat across each other. "What can I do for you?" asked Sasuke again. "I am concerned about you, Sasuke. During the last mission, you showed many emotions toward Naruto. I know that you feel that it lowers your pride because Naruto is getting stronger but do you think you aren''t strong? You have pride and I know this feeling so I will help you. If you want to see who the strongest of you two is, then I will arrange a fight between you and Naruto. Come to the training ground 43 tomorrow and show me and Naruto just how strong you are," explained Ishizu. It shocked Sasuke to see one of his Sensei helping him fight Naruto. He nodded and Ishizu left. Ishizu POV After the talk with Sasuke, it was time to convince Naruto to a ''friendly spar'' with Sasuke. Naruto welcomed me in and I started to explain my reason for visiting him. "Naruto, I see that you have grown stronger every time and I am proud but not everyone sees it like that. As an Uchiha, Sasuke is very prideful and seeing you becoming stronger makes him question his strength. I want you to have a friendly spar with Sasuke to show him how to improve," I explained to the boy. Naruto was sad that Sasuke only wanted to fight him for power, but he still accepted. Maybe he could punch this attitude out of the Uchiha. "Then come tomorrow to the training ground 43. I will be the proctor." With that, I left. Ishizu house General POV Ishizu lay in bed but couldn''t fall asleep. He thought of the fight tomorrow and if it was necessary. There were many reasons to make the fight. The first was to see how strong Naruto had become. He trained him since he was young and Ishizu wanted to see his training paying off. Teacher''s pride and whatnot. The other reason was for Sasuke to go to Orochimaru. Ishizu weakened the seal so Sasuke''s corruption would disappear, but in doing so, Sasuke wouldn''t accept the power Orochimaru offered as he had Ishizu as a Sensei. The fight between both of them would leave a scar in Sasuke''s pride, and that would be the perfect time for Ishizu to ''suggest'' Sasuke to go to Orochimaru and get the training of a Sannin. In doing so would give Ishizu a spy who would monitor Orochimaru and as payment for leaving Konoha, Sasuke would gain power from the snake. The problem was how to give Sasuke the Mangeky¨­ Sharingan in the future to grow him stronger. In canon, Sasuke gained it after Itachi died and hearing the truth of his clan from Obito. The annoying thing lies in how to activate it in Sasuke another way. He first needed a m.a.t.u.r.e Sharingan which he already had because of his training. Then he either had to kill someone he loved or seen someone he loved die. Stupid way to gain stronger but even though, who did Sasuke love? Sasuke didn''t get it in the fight with Naruto at the Valley of End but when Itachi died. Killing his brother only to hear that Itachi loved his brother dearly activated the Mangeky¨­. So the plan was for Ishizu to give Sasuke the Mangeky¨­ before the fight with Itachi. Then convince Sasuke to let Itachi alive. After that, swap the eyes of Itachi and Sasuke. Ishizu shook his head knowing he was overthinking things. He had a lot of time to think about it during the time skip. Itachi''s illness could be either healed by Tsunade after Itachi is redeemed or by using the King of Hell. Now, Ishizu could do the first part of healing Itachi if one person died. The warmonger, Danzo. Ishizu hated this man so much. If he thought back, then Danzo indirectly helped create the mess with Akatsuki. If Danzo died, Ishizu could give Tsunade the papers regarding the truth behind the Massacre which Ishizu knew where they were, and with that, he could find Itachi and drag him to Tsunade to heal him. But Ishizu couldn''t just walk into Danzo''s ROOT hideout steal the doc.u.ments and kill Danzo. He was the problem of the Uchiha''s and he wouldn''t kill steal from them. Ishizu needed a strategy to get Danzo to focus on other things and find a way to get rid of his arm. So what to do? Ishizu shook his head. It was still early to make his move. Nothing would be safe from him after his training before Shippuden. Everything needed to be done step by step. A few hours later Ishizu was walking down the street while thinking about what to do. It would take some time before Sasuke would defect from the village. Ishizu could train in the Panda realm but he was also a human and doing the same things every day was going to be boring and brother Tau told him to come back when he loses his boredom. Ishizu didn''t look ahead when he bumped into a person. "Au watch it!" a female voice was heard. Ishizu looked up and saw it was his student Ino. "Sorry Ino, but I was thinking deeply and didn''t look ahead," apologized Ishizu. Ino stood up and forgave her Sensei. Then Ishizu got an idea. He told Ino before that she should learn more medical Ninjutsu but only after becoming Chunin. Unfortunately, the invasion happened and nobody got promoted to Chunin. Now would be a perfect time. "Hey, Ino remember that I told you that you will get a chance to learn the mystic palm technique? You didn''t get Chunin but only because the invasion happened. I happened to have free time so why not come with me and learn?" Ino''s eyes lit up: "Oh thank you Sensei. I thought you forgot about it!" Ishizu smiled and both went to the hospital. Hospital Ishizu talked with Ino about the anatomy of the body and how the mystic palm technique worked. Ishizu was no Tsunade but from a scale of 1 to 10 he was a 7, while Tsunade was a 10. Ishizu remembered how Tsunade taught Sakura and applied the same strategy. Unfortunately, Ishziu couldn''t help Ino by talking with Tsunade so she could take Ino as her student because she was working on fixing Lee. The next week Ishizu helped train Ino in becoming a medic. If Ino wanted to study alone Ishziu looked for Hinata. Hinata''s life changed a lot after the Chunin exam. Neji was talking with her again and her younger sister loved her more than ever. Her father finally acknowledged her and loved her as a real father should do. As Ishizu entered the Hy¨±ga compound, the guards escorted him to Hinata. "Why are you here Ishizu-sensei?" asked Hinata, seeing her sensei. Ishizu smiled as he patted her head: "I could tell you some lie but honestly I have nothing to do so I came by to see if you wanted to train. Ino is working in the hospital and Naruto is training. So do you have free time?" Hinata agreed and both of them fought in the compound. During the fight, Ishziu thought if giving Hinata the Tenseigan in the distant future would be a good idea. In the movie, an Otsutsuki of Hamura''s lineage could take Byakugan eyes to awaken the Tenseigan. Hinata had his charka so if Ishizu could get to the moon, take some blood from someone there then he could inject it into Hinata and she could awaken it. It worked for Ishizu so why wouldn''t it work for Hinata? There was also that big energy vessel from Hamura that could help Ishizu in getting more power. Still, Ishizu didn''t know who lived right now on the moon and if they were hostile so before he could master panda Senjutsu he had to wait. After training with Hinata, Ishizu went to look for Karin. Ishizu POV The Uzumaki was living a wonderful life in Konoha. I thought she would start going all fangirl on either Sasuke or Naruto but something was different. I wanted to pry into it so I knocked on her door and asked her the reason for it. "Uhh, I don''t feel any perverted emotions to boys," said Karin with a blush on her face. I rose an eyebrow. This was awkward to ask. "So is there someone you like?" She blushed and whispered: "I like girls." There was silence between the two of us. "So... you like girls. Well, I hope you find the right one." She smiled: "Thank you." I quickly left. This was something new. Well, she was hurt by boys during her stay in Kuso so maybe she has a liking to girls? Let us hope she will find a girl who will love her. Chapter 40 - A Crow and a Shark Ishizu POV Some hours passed after Naruto fell asleep. I had to hide my chakra as I knew they would come. Naruto woke up when someone knocked on the door. As he reached for the doorknob, I held Naruto''s hand. "Wait for a second Naruto." I positioned myself so I could hit the door with full force. My foot made the door fly away and I heard a painful scream coming from the other side. I smiled as I saw the stoic face of Itachi Uchiha: "Hello gentleman. I am sorry, but we have closed. Please leave and never come back." Itachi didn''t speak, but I had to dodge a mad shark, swinging his big sword at me. "I don''t care if we have to take the kid alive, but I will kill this guy," screamed Kisame. Itachi put his hand on Kisame''s shoulders. "We have a mission. Get the Jinch¨±riki, I will stall him." I looked at Naruto. "I hope you are ready to defend yourself against two S-rank Shinobi, Naruto." General POV Although Ishizu had a calm expression, he was very nervous. He couldn''t use his full power as showing his Rinnegan to both of them could lead to a confrontation with Pain, Obito or Zetsu. He needed time to accustom to his strength so now he had to fight Itachi without looking at the Uchiha in the eyes as he didn''t want to end up like Kakashi. Naruto made his Rasengan and charged at Kisame but his OP sword just absorbed the chakra and flung Naruto back. Turning to Naruto was a mistake as I had to block a kunai aiming for my neck. "Ishizu Sasaki, you should give up. Even if you are an S-rank Shinobi, you have no chance against the Akatsuki. Surrender and hand over the Jinch¨±riki of the Nine-Tails," said Itachi. Ishizu couldn''t respond as he saw Sasuke seeing Itachi. ''Dammit. Not only can''t I fight Itachi, but now I have to put the young Uchiha out or Itachi will torture him.'' "I have finally found you. Itachi, I will show you what I got stronger." Sasuke activates his Sharingan. Anger filled his eyes but less hatred. With this Chidori, he charged at Itachi. Unfortunately, Itachi got hold of his arm, broke it, and slammed his brother against the wall. Ishizu grew angry: "You are going to pay for this, Itachi." "Futon: Rasengan." The area was not good to go all out. Ishizu was glad that the older brother couldn''t put Sasuke in the Tsukuyomi. ''Sorry, Itachi, but I don''t want you to destroy my work so stay away from him,'' thought Ishizu as he knocked Sasuke out so he would not interrupt. Seeing that Jiraiya was not here and Naruto couldn no longer dodge Kisame, Ishizu decided. Teamwork was something that Konoha taught him. And if there were no allies around, then he would get them. Ishizu POV. "Summoning Jutsu." I looked where Naruto was and shouted to the summon. "Go and help Naruto. This one is mine." Out of the smoke, the Panda flashed towards Kisame and hit him in the side, making the shark fly away. "Bastards, I will kill you! No one hits me like that and lives," screamed Kisame as he swung his sword against the Panda, but to the sharks'' surprise, the Panda dislocated Kisame''s hand very quickly as if he was a child and took his sword with incredible speed. "What a good sword you are. Your name is Samehada? Unfortunately, I am not a sword wielder," the panda smiled at the sword in his paw which purred like a cat. I looked at the Panda. "Master Tau? Can we please end this?" Tau nodded before looking at the sword. "You want to go back to your master? Sure here you go," Tau threw Samehada to Kisame with such force that Kisame flew a few meters. Itachi saw that they were outnumbered and his Genjutsu was dispelled so Jiraiya was coming. "Kisame we are leaving. They outnumber us." Kisame agreed reluctantly feeling that the strength of the panda was no joke. Jiraiya came and tried to stop them, but Itachi used his Amaterasu to escape. Gai came in and drop-kicked Jiraiya in the face. Sometimes I really enjoy the small things in this world. After that, Gai took Sasuke back to Konoha and we continued the travel. I searched for a moment where nobody was looking and summoned a Shadow Clone to follow the two S-ranks. Clone''s POV After 20 minutes of traveling, Itachi and Kisame saw me. "So you finally found me, Itachi, Kisame." Itachi''s face showed no emotion, but Kisame was ready to fight. "I am a Shadow Clone so you will get nothing from killing me, Kisame," I explained to the shark, feeling his blood l.u.s.t oozing out of his blue skin. "What do you want?" asked Kisame. I smirked: "I am here so you can listen to me what I have to say. Your both work for Akatsuki, but do you even know the goal of it?" I looked at Kisame. "You believe that Madara told you the truth? That he can achieve true peace with no lies? Did you ever question the idea of how he would make a world so different from the one right now? Pain wants to use the Tailed Beast as weapons so everyone can fear only him and be at come together to opposer him. A noble cause but Madara''s idea is different." Kisame interrupted: "Listen, buddy, I don''t care how you know things but come to the point." My face got serious: "Madara Uchiha is dead. The one you know is only his puppet, a fake, that he uses after his death to fulfill his mission. Now I come to the whole plan of fake Madara. Both of you imagine a world covered in a massive Genjutsu. Would you like to live in it?" Kisame laughed: "No, too boring. There would be no meaning in living altogether... Wait you mean..." I nod: "And that is what Madara wants to achieve." Itachi''s eyes widened, realizing what I talked about: "The Infinite Tsukuyomi." Kisame looked at his partner. "The what?" "It is believed that the Infinite Tsukuyomi is a powerful Genjutsu where the user projects his very eye on the moon to bring peace to the world. I could only see part of what was on the stone stable in the Uchiha shrine with my Mangeky¨­ Sharingan. You mean the fake Madara wants to use it?" Itachi looked at me. I smiled: "If only it was so easy. The Jutsu itself brings no peace but a false peace. It will trap you in a Genjutsu for the rest of your life. You will live peacefully but your whole life will be a big lie." ''I don''t think I should tell them the whole truth about Kaguya.'' "This is bullshit. Who would want that?" raged Kisame. I shrugged: "Madara, probably. He wants to rule the world. Using the Infinite Tsukuyomi he would put everyone under the Genjutsu where you could live your life as best as you think," I explained. "Now I think that is enough for a chat. I should warn you to not tell your leaders about the information I gave. It would cost you your life. The fake is not weak and is a strong Uchiha as well. I just wanted to tell you that, when you are going to start collecting the Tailed Beast, a friend of mine will come. You should watch out because he will show you that he can mess with the Akatsuki. Don''t interrupt him in his mission. I can guarantee your lives if you let him be." I turned to Kisame: "If you want to see a world filled with no lies then I can guarantee you that that is impossible without killing everyone, but it is possible to lessen the corruption of the nations. Think about it and the next time we meet, tell me your answer." I turned to Itachi. "I dislike it very much how you use your young brother like that for revenge. I will not tolerate it even if he is your brother. Sasuke is not a puppet, so I will cut the strings you have on him. You can have your little reunion after he gets stronger. I won''t tell him the truth, but if I see you meddle with me further, I won''t hesitate." Seeing my expression Itachi sighed: "You are truly a dangerous person. You have my word that I won''t tell anyone about you but if you harm Sasuke..." The last sentence was filled with killing intent. Ishizu nodded accepting the deal and both departed. The clone popped and the real Ishizu smiled. ''Good, now those two will not be a problem. Let''s continue with the gambling addict and the paralyzed Snake.'' "Ishizu-sensei you have that creepy face again," said Naruto. Ishizu looked at Naruto: "Tells me the kid who smiles like a fox." Chapter 40 - Who is the Best? Next day. Ishizu POV I stood in a clear area on the training ground 43. I gave both of them a message to arrive at noon. Both of them arrived at the same time, which made me believe that someone was manipulating the events. I made two wood clones beforehand with equal strength for the fight. "Good, you are here. It is time to see who of you is the strongest. I made two special clones that won''t be destroyed after one hit like the shadow clone. The task is to defeat the clone, but I will evaluate you based on your performance. Both of these clones are strong to harm you so fight as if your life depends on it, give your best, as they will see you as an enemy. Now, the fight between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha will begin. I will be the proctor of this fight. You can do every Jutsu you know to destroy the clone." I looked at them. "Ready? Go!" I shouted and both attacked. Sasuke POV I activated my fully m.a.t.u.r.e Sharingan and fired a massive fireball at Ishizu-sensei''s clone. The clone made hand signs and fired a massive water bubble into my fireball. They came into contact and the water evaporated, leaving a mist behind. Out of the smoke came Ishizu-sensei with a kunai aiming at me. I took my own kunai and blocked his attack. I attacked him with my Uchiha Taijutsu style, but he blocked it easily. "Come Sasuke, you can do better. I memorized the Uchiha-style so that won''t help you," said the clone as he expected more of me. I frowned as I kicked him away and made several fire phoenixes that flew toward Ishizu-sensei. "Boring, Earth style: Earth wall," yawned Ishizu. I started to get angry no matter what I did I couldn''t hit him. Taijutsu was out of option. My fire techniques were useless. Let''s try Genjutsu. I sprites toward him and tried to punch him. He blocked it but I wanted him to do that. "Now I have you, Genjutsu: Sharingan." I took my kunai and aimed for his neck, but a log was broken and not the person. "I must say that was good. I didn''t expect the Genjutsu and most people would be trapped in it but I am not ''most people.'' The fight continued with me using every option I had available but the clone was strong. I had to find an opportunity. "Now show me your strongest attack," challenged Ishizu. Naruto POV "What is the reason for this fight Ishizu-sensei?" I asked my Sensei as I attacked him. He smiled: "So you looked beneath the simple fight, did you? See, Sasuke wanted to fight you in a 1vs1 but that would be boring." ''And would either be the same as canon or you would beat his a.s.s,'' though Ishizu. "Instead, I made you both fight my clones. I will value your effort on how you decide of fighting an opponent stronger than you while you can''t flee. Of course, it matters how strong you are, but even a weak Genin can defeat a Jonin if he makes the right choices. Power is not everything, but it is part of us. The same goes for the information you gather from your enemy. But enough with the taking. You are in no advantage as Sasuke is also smart and would figure it out and I also won''t go easy on you. Instead, I will make it harder for you because you talk before you fight," explained Ishizu. I nodded and summoned 50 Shadow clones and attacked him. "A good choice to use number advantage but if you all are weak, then it doesn''t matter," mocked Sensei. Ishizu-sensei destroyed my clones, but I could see through the clone''s memory and look for an opening. I knew I had to go all out or I won''t beat him with just Shadow Clones. Then I got an idea. Sensei would never expect such a nice combination. I summoned two more clones, took some shuriken''s out and infused them with a bit of wind chakra. "Let''s do it," all three of us said. The 3 of us threw them at our Sensei. "Shuriken Kage Buchin no Jutsu together with Wind style: Windshruriken. Combination Jutsu: Massive Windshuriken." General POV Hundreds of shuriken flew towards Ishizu as he fought against Naruto''s clones. Ishizu''s eyes widened as he saw the massive amount of shuriken but the small amount of wind chakra was overlooked as the Shadow Clones were disrupting him to see the threat clearly. "That is one hell of an attack but still not enough. Begone, Wind style: Great Breakthrough." Unfortunatly, the wind generated from Ishizu not only slowed them down but also increased the shurikens which looked like Fuma shuriken. Seeing that it didn''t give him the d.e.s.i.r.ed attack but the opposite Ishizu substituted to avoid the dangerous things. "Ah, substitution is always a good jutsu," smiled triumphantly Ishizu, but he didn''t expect a voice to be heard behind him. "Yes, it is, but as every jutsu, even this has a flaw and even a massive one. It is easily predictable." Behind Ishizu made his new Rasengan. Sasuke POV I made my Chidori, but I knew that if I blindly attacked him, he would avoid it. I had to set up my plan. He was mocking me to get angry, but he is underestimating me. I will use this as an advantage. "Oh, you finally think before you attack? I am proud of you Sasuke," Ishizu''s voice sounded from behind the smoke. ''Let''s see if you can handle this.'' General POV Sasuke''s fight Ishizu saw as Sasuke came out of the smoke, attacking him with his Chidori. He was confused as to why he attacked him directly, but he just threw some kunais at the Uchiha to see what the kid would do. Sasuke dodged and tried to hit Ishizu. Ishizu was experienced in the assassination technique and with a quick hand motion he just grabbed the Uchiha''s hand, breaking his attack and looked at him curiously, wondering what Sasuke had in mind. "Why would you do something so stupid?" asked Ishizu. Sasuke smirked: "Because you would fall for that." The ground behind Ishizu moved and another Sasuke came forth. The one in front of Ishizu was a clone made to disturb the Jonin. At the same time, both Genin attacked their Sensei with their strongest jutsu. "Wind Style: Rasengan/Chidori." The attacks hit the clones and both resulted in a different defeat. The clone who was hit by Sasuke had his lower abdomen ripped apart. Sasuke smirked as the clone fell down and disappeared. As he looked at Naruto''s side he was first shocked, then started to get frustrated. Naruto''s attack completely obliterated the clone as well as some trees behind the clone. The real Ishizu came back, clapping his hands. "Wonderful. You both amazed me and I am proud to be your teacher. You actually destroyed the clones at the same time. Both of you engaged in a battle where the opponent had the upper hand and you couldn''t overpower him with brutal strength. You had to use your mind to find the flaws in the opponent and you both did it. Remember that strong opponents usually have a tendency to miss the simplest things so make use of it. I am no exception. The winner of this fight is..." Naruto and Sasuke listened to their Sensei closely. Somewhere drums were rolling. "Nobody. You both impressed me and you made the right decisions. Congratulations, you both won." Although Ishizu said it like that, he knew that Sasuke was angry that he lost in power to Naruto''s Rasengan. His Chidori was nothing against the wind-powered Rasengan. So he watched as Sasuke thanked him for the fight and left without saying anything to Naruto. ''Good, with that done he will accept the invitation but not without me having a chat with Sasuke. I can''t let him leave without saying goodbye.'' Sasuke left the fighting ground. As he was running he had flashbacks when his brother nearly killed him and that made his anger stronger. Ishizu, on the other hand, activated his Rinnegan and summoned some wood clones. "Find the Sound 4 but don''t attack them. Observe from afar and listen to the conversation between them and inform me before Sasuke leaves." "Understood." The clone vanishes. Ishizu cracked his neck a few times as he looked at the moon. "Finally, the plot is rolling and I can''t wait for the next fight. I am one step further to get you. Just wait for me, Kaguya." Chapter 41 - Fox, I have come to bargain With the appearance of the Akatsuki as well as the state of Kakashi and Sasuke, Jiraiya''s determination to find Tsunade skyrocketed. In the anime, Naruto only started to learn the Rasengan at this point, but now he already learned it and Ishizu told him about nature transformation. At night Jiraiya was sitting at a table drinking Sake. On the other side sat Ishizu as he drank the same staring at Jiraiya. Jiraiya sighed, having something on his mind: "You know Ishizu, I had planned to train Naruto in the Rasengan during this time, but it seems you have trained Naruto more. You know that it will have consequences do you?" Ishizu put his sake down. He knew that a day would come where somebody would question him about the training: "Hey, it is not my fault you never came to Konoha to help Naruto with his fox problem. I took him under my arm to train him so he could become like Minato-sensei and he learned like a book. I hated it to see how the civilians treated his son with such hatred." Ishizu took some Sake. "Kakashi was a mess at that time and jumped into ANBU. I waited for the right time to approach and made him into a Shinobi he deserved to be. I can not imagine what would happen if he was left alone. He would have no friends and he could start hating the village. Worst case, he would leave and nobody would want that. So I started training him like you did Minato. By the way, you decided to train him in the Rasengan in that one month. Who could have known he could make it?" accused Ishizu Jiraiya. Jiraiya was still not happy. "That''s all good but now I stand here with nothing to teach him anymore. What should I do with him? He already learned the Rasengan in such a short time due to your training and he also can summon Gamabunta. He is a genius just like his father. So tell me Ishizu-kun, do you have an idea?" Ishizu thought about it. At the moment, Naruto was one of the strongest Genin in Konoha. What could a young boy need at this time. Yes, something that neither jutsu nor intelligence can give you. Then he made a Kakashi smile: "You train him in information gathering." "Naruto has two girls waiting for him in Konoha, but he is too shy to interact with them on a new level. Teach him how to interact with women and I will do the Shinobi teaching." Jiraiya was still not impressed. "Maybe he could help you in your research with his s.e.xy Jutsu?" asked Ishizu, giving the pervert something better. At the mentioning of that Jutsu, Jiraiya had a nosebleed and agreed on which training regime. Next day. "What is this Ishizu-sensei? Why do I have to make a clone to go with Pervy-Sage to the red-light district?" asked a curious Naruto. Jiraiya held his shoulder: "Because your Sensei told me you have no ideas about how to gather information and also have a problem with females. I will combine both. Let me teach you the wonder of the female s.e.x." Jiraiya had a smiling face as he dragged the clone away while the clone was horror-struck. Ishizu looked at the real one. It was time to make Naruto stronger and Ishizu had the right idea how to do it. Abandoned place outside of the town. Ishizu and Naruto stood across each other. "So Ishizu-sensei, are you going to show me how to do the elemental Rasengan?" asked Naruto. Ishizu shook his head: "Too early for that Naruto. I have something else to do." Ishizu pointed his index finger at Naruto''s stomach. "We are going to talk to the furball." Naruto paled for a moment. "Are you sure, Sensei? I don''t think he will appreciate you." Ishizu smiled: "Oh you have no idea what I could do to him if I was angry. Now, let''s do it. Make a fist and try to imagine the place where the Kyuubi is." Naruto did what his Sensei instructed and made a fist. Ishizu bummed Naruto''s fist and closed his eyes. Both could feel their chakra connecting. This technique was only known to people who lived a long time ago. It was taught to the people by the Sage to connect with each other. But the people grew greedy and wanted to use the chakra not to connect with other but to conquer. This was the teaching known as Ninshu. What Ishizu did was only a mere glimpse of what it fully could do. Here, it allowed Ishizu to connect to Naruto and the Kyuubi. Naruto POV Opening my eyes, I was met with a sewer. ''I do not understand why this is a sewer.'' I looked around, but I couldn''t find Sensei, so I walked around. "There you are, Naruto. Come, let us meet the big, bad, evil fox." Turning around Naruto saw my Sensei. "I hope you know how to navigate in this place," asked Sensei. I nodded and we walked to the place where the Kyuubi lives. After some time, we reached the huge gates. I heard a deep voice: "So you gave me a visit, huh? What do you want?" I didn''t like the way he talked, always thinking he was the most important animal here. Before I could say something Ishizu-sensei came before. "I came here and make a deal." The Kyuubi roared as he slammed his claws against the cage: "You! Leave. Your presence reminds me of Madara Uchiha. I don''t even know you and I already hate you." Ishizu POV I frowned. How dare he compare me to someone like Madara. I am much better than him. Maybe I am not as strong as he was now, but I surpass him in other things like trust issues. I am not dumb enough to let myself be controlled by some plants. "I don''t care what you think about me. I am no Madara but I could be much worse if you piss me off." I flared my Rinnegan as I stared into his red eyes. The Kyuubi had his eyes widened: "Those eyes. How could you have those eyes?" He roared. "I awakened them. Did you think your father was the only one?" I explained to the fox who started to calm down from his tantrum. The room was silent for a moment when the Kyuubi finally spoke: "How can you know who my father is human?" I smiled, knowing I had awakened his curiosity: "I know so much more about your family than you know, but if you want to know more, you have to agree to my deal." General POV The Kyuubi thought about it for a while. He was curious as to how this human with his father''s eyes could know so much about him. He remembered long ago when humans did not fear him. Kurama had a small slither of hope that this human could somehow understand him. If only a little. "Tell me what kind of deal do you have?" Ishizu opened both his hands as he clapped his hands together: "The deal is as followed: You help Naruto handle your chakra better. No messing around or whatnot. With it, Naruto can become the Hokage he always wanted to be. Now you think ''what do I get out of it?'' See, if Naruto becomes Hokage his words are law and if he wants, he can set you free. Fuinjutsu can do many things and maybe there are some that can extract you without killing Naruto. I truly think that freedom is something everyone deserves no matter who, and you are not a mindless beast." I took a breath. "So summing it up: You give Naruto as much chakra as he can handle and we both promise on the Sage name that when the troublesome times are over, we will set you free. As a bonus, I will tell you my secret as to how I know you. So, do you accept?" asked Ishizu. Chapter 41 - Deal with the Devil Clone Ishizu POV I yawned when Kakashi talked with Sasuke about his teammates and Itachi. The main one shouldn''t have told Kakashi about the fight, but the copy Ninja was also Sasuke''s teacher so now I had to hear the boring rambling about it. The only thing that made me shake was when Kakashi told Sasuke that his best friends were already dead but I dismissed it. Much interesting was the Sound 4 which infiltrated Konoha without a single Anbu noticing, pathetic. Well, my orders were not to attack them. I watched as Kakashi left and the Sound 4 started their mission. If it wasn''t important to see what happens, I would have fallen asleep. Even if Sasuke was stronger than in canon, he couldn''t win against 4 Shinobi with full control of their curse mark. I saw that they provoked him with mentioning Itachi and I could see that the Fuinjutsu which was on the curse Mark weakening. ''Hmm, the main one should renew it before he leaves.'' They gave him an ultimatum and left. My work was done so I made my way to the main body. General POV Ishizu met with Naruto and Sakura at Ichirakus, where Sakura talked with the Jinchuriki. He saw how Sakura looked and he knew that she was concerned about Sasuke. She remembered how Orochimaru told the Uchiha that he would come to him and she didn''t want him to leave. Naruto was also concerned but somewhere in his mind, he didn''t believe it. He didn''t believe that his best friend would leave. "Ishizu-sensei do you think Sasuke would leave the village for power, Orochimaru would give him?" asked Sakura all of a sudden. Ishizu thought for a moment. Would he really do it if there was no curse corruption in his mind? Many fanfictions tried to write this scenario, but only Kishimoto or some approved psychiatrist could answer such a question. "A good question. He would need a good reason for that. Think about it. Sasuke wants power to get revenge for the horrible thing his brother had done to him and his clan. Orochimaru is offering the power in exchange for his body. To counter Orochimaru, we need to give Sasuke the same thing for a lesser price so he won''t leave." Sakura shook his head: "But Sensei won''t Sasuke just stay in Konoha because he has friends?" Ishizu could only mentally slap himself. ''Oh god how I hated this episode from Naruto. Sakura''s uselessness is at its peak here. Make a mental note to make this girl into a good Kunoichi.'' Still, he tried to show his best smile he could muster. "I believe he likes you very much," answered Ishizu. Naruto put down his ramen: "Yeah, and if he decides to abandon us, I will drag him back to Konoha." Ishizu smiled. ''Someday Naruto you can do that, but not this time. You will have to go over my body and you are not strong enough for that.'' Ishizu POV I saw that Sakura had an expression that made me stand up. It was time to go. "Alright, I am going home. Good night." They both said good night and I left while monitoring Sakura. She had some kind of ''Sasuke is going to deflect'' sensor. My clone came back and gave me the information I needed. ''Now it begins. The new Sasuke Retrieval Arc. It will be awesome.'' I watched from a tree how Sakura begged for Sasuke to stay in Konoha. Her words were good but Sasuke wanted and needed power so he gave her a knock into the back of her head and she fell unconscious. That was my time. As Sasuke walked away, he saw me walking toward him. "So you are going with those 4 weaklings, am I right?" Sasuke looked down and gnashed his teeth, thinking I would stop him from his goal but he was wrong. "So you saw it. Will you detain me and lock me up so I won''t leave because this village needs their precious Uchiha?" I shrugged: "Why should I care what this village wants. I can relate to you Sasuke. I lost everyone I cared in my life one after another, killed by someone I considered a brother. ''It is true, Obito killed most of them.'' So I won''t tell anyone and let you leave." Sasuke was happy, but I wasn''t finished. "But that comes at a cost. See, I don''t really like the snake and you won''t either after he gives you the power you need. Orochimaru will even try to take your body before you can take revenge so let''s make a deal," I smiled. It shocked Sasuke how his Sensei would betray the village but listened. "What kind of deal?" He asked. "I will let you go to Orochimaru without telling the Leaf. They will probably send somebody to retrieve you but I will help you reach your destination safely. As a bonus, I will give you a gift that will help lower the corruption of the seal so you won''t fall into madness. On the other side, you will be my little spy. The gift I will give you will function as a sensor, so I will know where you are and visit you from time to time to help you grow stronger. The moment you think Orochimaru is not worth it anymore you will kill him and I will help you locate your brother for your sweet revenge. So how does it sound, deal?" The smile Ishizu had was that of a devil. Sasuke processed the information. "I agree if you tell me how I can achieve the Mangeky¨­ Sharingan." I looked at him amused. "Ohh, that is simple. See, Itachi probably told you that you have to kill someone you love to achieve it but that is not the entire truth." Sasuke''s eyes widened. "Itachi already had his Mangeky¨­ when he killed your clan. He got it after seeing his best friend Shisui committing suicide. I know that because I was there with Itachi and Shisui. So if you see someone you love die it will trigger the Mangeky¨­ to awaken." Sasuke was happy with the information. "Then I will accept if you help me achieve it." Ishizu didn''t change his expression but frowned deep inside. "That I will promise when we confront Itachi. Right now it won''t happen no matter what." ''I won''t let you have it now or my plan will be for naught,'' I thought. "Good I accept," said Sasuke and we both shook hands. "Splendid. Then let me do my thing first. I researched a lot about the curse Mark and I have an idea what those 4 will do to you. I will make a sealing Jutsu that will help you get stronger while taking the side effects out." Sasuke took his shirt off and I looked at the seal. ''Nice. Those 4 will seal Sasuke in that pot to help him reach stage 2 of the mark but I won''t let that happen. During my stay with the panda, I learned a nice Fuinjutsu.'' "Let''s do it. Panda Sealing Technique: Turn Dark to Light." It was a complex seal that would prevent Sasuke from reaching stage 2. It would activate the moment Sasuke was put into the pot. The result would be a Sasuke drawing power from the seal without turning into a monster. In the end, the curse seal would be a small container of Senjutsu, which Sasuke could rely for a short time without turning. A scientific Sage one could say. Also, the seal was infused with a tracker so Ishizu knew where Sasuke was and could visit him. "It is done. Have a good night. I will see you after you come out, Sasuke." Chapter 42 - The Slave Contract When Naruto''s clone popped, Jiraiya wondered what happened and left to find the two. From the town, he heard that they saw a monster fighting a young man outside the town. He immediately sprinted there. In the middle of a crater stood Ishizu next to an unconscious Naruto as he breathed heavily. "What the hell happened Ishizu? What did you do?" asked Jiraiya. Ishizu took a deep breath. "Well, I can explain." Flashback no Jutsu: As Ishizu left Naruto''s mindscape after Kurama agreed to the deal, he was hit with a fist and flew away. As Ishizu came out of the rubble, he saw a 4-tailed Naruto. ''Dammit, this fox used me to weaken the seal and now his chakra is leaking out. He got me good. Sure, it helps Naruto get accustomed to the chakra, but why should I be at the receiving end of it? And now I have to face off against a 4-tails Naruto. Well, a warm-up fight is it then,'' thought Ishizu as he cracked his knuckles. "Come, show me your power, KURAMA!" Rinnegan flared up as both engaged in a battle. Flashback Jutsu end "So, maybe I lowered the seal a bit so Naruto could get used to the fox chakra, but the stupid fox used it to let his chakra spill and I had a nice fight," explained Ishizu. Jiraiya was not amused with Ishizu''s idea to meddle with the seal. Although he knew Ishizu was a seal master, Ishizu was still not as good as Jiraiya or the Uzumaki''s so after the fight, both fighters lay on the ground. Naruto as he lost against Ishizu and Ishizu from a mad Jiraiya. A few hours later The tree Shinobi got a hint where Tsunade could be so the went to the city. There they heard a report that a huge snake destroyed a building. Both Shinobi realized that it could only be Orochimaru. Ishizu decided to tell Naruto of the incoming enemy. He disliked the stupidity of Naruto when he saw Kabuto, thinking of him as a friend rather than an enemy. So after finding nothing of Tsunade at the scene, Jiraiya went to a bar. Ishizu, recognizing the place, put on a mask as he didn''t want Tsunade to realize who he was. He had a good reason. The reason dates back a few years ago. During one mission while Ishizu was a Chunin his whole squad was killed. He was the only one alive, but he was heavily wounded. By sheer luck he found Tsunade playing in a casino. Thinking she could heal him, he tried to blackmail her into healing him. He temporarily sealed his wounds with his Fuinjutsu so nobody could see them and asked Tsunade to a gamble. The slug Sannin agreed but to Ishizu''s and Tsunade''s surprise, Ishizu started to lose his money. Both had different expressions on their conditions. Ishizu was dumbfounded because he was losing the money he wanted to use for blackmailing Tsunade. From his past memories, he thought he could easily win but something was not right. Tsunade was suspicious because she usually never won except in specific situations and that was when something bad would happen. As a medic, Tsunade already noticed the wounds on Ishizu and smirked: "You sure a going on with those injuries of yours. Even before your facial expression showed that you were in severe pain, I knew and now that your seals are not working you still fight on. I am impressed that you even have those special seals." Ishizu coughed blood. It seems his death drew near so he looked at Tsunade and smiled: "Then let''s make a final bet, shall we? If I win a game of poker, you will heal my injuries. I know of your fear, but I am sure your pride is much higher. I will give you a bonus and only if I survive. The bonus is that I will be your slave for 2 months. During that time you can order me to do whatever you want and I won''t complain." Tsunade''s eyes widened by such a bold statement. "And what if I win? What could you possibly give me?" Ishizu took a deck of cards and placed them on the floor. "Then you can have everything on me. I am sure you checked your bingo book and saw my face in it. You could cash in the bounty and get rich. Now let''s play." Tsunade agreed and both started to play. Both had their cards and Shizune put the first card on the ground. It was an Ace of ??. Then a King of ??. Tsunade has a happy face as she called. Ishizu smiled: "If that is my last game, then I will try this." Ishizu looked at Tsunade: "I go all-in." "Then show me your hand!" shouted Tsunade. As the Chunin threw these cards on the ground, they showed an Ace of ?? and a Jack of ??. ''He is crazy. The boy hoped for a royal straight flush?'' thought Tsunade. Before Tsunade could show her cards Ishizu fell on the floor unconscious due to the blood loss. Shizune panicked and begged Tsunade to help him but Tsunade ordered Shizune to something else. "Put the cards down. I want to see if he has the devil''s luck or not." Shizune complied and put the next two cards down. They were the King of ?? and the last card... a 10... of ??. She had the King of ?? and the King of ??, a four of a kind, but he defeated her with a Royal Straight Flush. Tsunade was brought back to reality as Shizune shook her, demanding her to heal the boy. Although she hated to see blood, her pride didn''t let her go. She took his body and they ran to a nearby house where she healed him. Shizune was shocked as she saw his body. He was bleeding from a lot of places. His liver was damaged and he had many broken ribs. How he could talk was a mystery, but maybe it was due to the seals he had. She never saw them before. Tsunade exited the room. She had done everything she could. His own body would heal him now. She still was shaking from the blood as Tsunade remembered her lover and younger brother lying dead next to her. Ishizu healed quite good and when he woke up, he saw that the Sannin held up her promise. He had a grin on his face. "I told her that I will be her slave but I didn''t mention when. May the day never come where I will be her slave." Ishizu made a note where he thanked Tsunade and vanished before talking to her. Flashback Jutsu end As Naruto saw Ishizu putting on a mask he asked him: "Ishizu-sensei why did you put on an Anbu mask?" Ishizu froze. Thinking it over, he agreed to tell Naruto the truth as lying was unnecessary and could backfire. "She knows me as I met her a long time ago so she would go mad if she sees me. Just think about what Ino and Hinata would do if they got mad. So please don''t mention my name," pleaded Ishizu. Naruto paled but understood as he nodded. As they entered the bar, they saw two women sitting on a table. "Tsunade!" shouted Jiraiya as he went to greet his former teammate. "What do you want, Jiraiya." Jiraiya looked hurt as he held his c.h.e.s.t where his heart was. "Oh, can''t I come to see a friend?" Tsunade just looked annoyed at Jiraiya. After a bit of talking, Jiraiya got serious. "I have come here to tell you that you have been assigned to be the next Hokage." Tsunade''s eyes widened. "So he is dead as that snake said." Jiraiya''s mood darkened: "So Orochimaru came to you. Tell me what did he want from you?" It was a demand rather than a question. Tsunade didn''t answer but took a drink. After the drink she looked at Jiraiya smirking: "He wanted me to heal his hands. I don''t know what Sensei did, but it looked pretty serious." Ishizu snorted under his mask: ''Hn, even if you are the best medic, I don''t think your jutsus can bring back the souls of hands.'' Tsunade heard the snort and looked and the masked man. "And what do you have to say, Anbu?" Ishizu wanted to tell her that she wouldn''t be able to heal Orochimaru''s arms but just shook his head not wanting to talk as she could recognize his voice. Shinobi had good memories. Seeing no response of the Anbu, Tsunade turned to Jiraiya. "I refuse. All Hokage died. Even the fourth didn''t live long." Ishizu could see that although Naruto was more m.a.t.u.r.e he still couldn''t contain his anger about the mockery towards Hokages, especially his father. "That''s it! I am going to kick your ass!" screamed Naruto as he charged at Tsunade but was held down by Jiraiya. "Don''t you dare say anything about the Hokages! They had protected the village their whole life until they died. You, on the other hand, left the village to drink and gamble. You are not worthy to be called a Shinobi, much less a legendary one. I challenge you to a fight, old hag." Jiraiya had a horror expression while Ishizu just smiled at Naruto''s outburst. Tsunade was ready to beat the kid but smirked. "Oh, and on what do you want to bet?" Naruto took out his purse and threw it on the table. "My whole money. If you win, I give it to you but if I win you will apologize, you heard me?" Tsunade stood up. "Then come outside." Ishizu just shook his head. Even with the training he had, he stood no chance against a Sannin. Drunken or not. Outside. Tsunade held up her finger. "I just need one finger do defeat you." Naruto grew angry as he charged at her with a kunai in hand. Tsunade dodges the kunai took it from Naruto''s hand and struck him with her finger against his c.h.e.s.t. Naruto flew away. Tsunade asked Naruto why he wanted to become Hokage and he answered that it was his dream and to protect the ones he loves. Tsunade was out of her mind as she remembered her lover and younger brother. Naruto saw the moment and he made a Rasengan. But this Rasengan was not the weak Rasengan he used in the anime. No, Naruto charged a small ''wind style Rasengan.'' It amazed Ishizu, seeing the progress Naruto made. ''When did he train with it?'' As Tsunade saw the elemental Rasengan, out of panic she struck the ground and Naruto lost balance. Naruto cried as he saw that he lost but Ishizu smiled behind the mask. ''Tsunade was so afraid of the Jutsu that she used two fingers.'' After knocking Naruto out, Jiraiya invited Tsunade to a drink. As both drunk Tsunade counted the money from Naruto. Ishizu used this time to talk, thinking the alcohol would affect Tsunades'' perception. "You know that you don''t deserve this money. You were so afraid of that Jutsu that you used two fingers." Tsunade just smirked. "So what? Not even Jiraiya saw it. If the boy can''t even see if I cheated then he can''t expect me to fulfill the deal." Then she turned to Jiraiya who was clearly drunken. "I can''t believe you taught him that Jutsu. It was even a new variant. I didn''t know you could infuse elemental chakra into it?" Jiraiya with no limiters on his mind after the drinks started to laugh. "Hahaha, no, I can''t do that. It was Ishizu who thought it to Naruto," said Jiraiya, pointing his finger at Ishizu. Tsunade, hearing that name started to think. ''Ishizu, Ishizu..... wait, I know that name.'' Tsunade turned to the masked man. Ishizu tensed as he only had one thought. ''Jiraiya, I will get you for that.'' On instinct, Ishizu struck the incoming fist with his. "Damm you, old hag. You hit like a monster," w.h.i.n.ed Ishizu as he observes his pulsating hand. Tsunade has a grim expression. "Take off that mask or I will make more of your body hurt." Ishizu sighted defeated: "Calm down. Don''t hurt me. I can explain." Chapter 42 - Teacher vs. Student Ishizu POV After I left Sasuke, I went home and had a good sleep. Unfortunately, my sleep was interrupted when Naruto burst into my house. "Sensei, we need your help. Sasuke left the village! We need you to come with us." I was still in my bed and being separated from my sleep was not good so I fell asleep again. "Come back later," I murmured, not realizing what Naruto said, and honestly I didn''t care. General POV An annoyed Ishizu was dragged to the Hokage office by a blond boy. "Why can''t Ishizu-sensei be coming with us," asked Naruto as they stood before the new Hokage Tsunade Senju. "Because I can''t afford to send more Jonin out of the village. Shikamaru made a team with the objective to find Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back. A Suna team was also sent out to help you. Now go!" said Tsunade. Ishizu was happy as he didn''t want to help the Genin fight. They needed that to grow stronger and he wanted to sneak out of Konoha while a wood clone stayed here. No way would he miss this opportunity. Ishizu has to make sure that Sasuke was safely ''delivered'' to Orochimaru. The retrieval team left Konoha and Ishizu followed behind them. He watched the first interaction between both parties. The big guy stayed behind while the rest continued while Choji stained behind. Ishizu left with them knowing that Choji could win the fight. After that came Neji and spider guy. The teams comprised Tayuya and the two face creep, while on the other side were Kiba, Shikamaru, and Naruto. Ishizu only remembered Tayuya''s name because she had red hair and maybe she was an Uzumaki. Worth saving Ishizu guessed, if only for being his underling. Orochimaru should already use his new vessel so he couldn''t take Sasuke''s body. The fights went on and Kiba and two face creep fell somewhere to fight alone. Kimimaro arrived and took Sasuke with him. Naruto followed the Kaguya while Shikamaru fought Takuya. Ishizu made a clone to prevent her from dying. Her curse seal was not a strong one, so taking it away and some improvised Talk no Jutsu or mind-altering could make her his follower. On the grass plain Naruto confronted Kimimaro. Ishizu was excited to see how his student could fight against the Kaguya boy. In canon, Naruto stood no chance. Even Lee couldn''t win. Only Gaara could defeat him and only because Kimimaro was already with one foot in the grave due to his immune disease. Now a much stronger Naruto stood before the ill Kaguya. As Naruto was more m.a.t.u.r.e, he didn''t get angry and let Kurama''s charka help him. No, he attacked the bone boy straight up. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu," shouted Naruto. A smokescreen and out of it came a hundred Naruto''s which attacked simultaneously Kimimaro. Kimimaru didn''t expect so many of them and went into stage 1. With that, he used his bone dance, destroying the clones. "We are not finished, Rasengan!" The real Naruto came out of the smoke with a Rasengan in hand. Kimimaro didn''t think taking the attack head-on was a good idea as he created a massive bone shield to counter the attack. "You are strong. Too strong to let you live for long. I don''t have much time," said Kimimaro. Ishizu wanted to see more, but it looked like he had to move as he felt Lee coming closer to Naruto and also because the Pot was opened from the inside. Ishizu POV ''My time to shine.'' I put on my fake Otogakure headband and jumped to the pot. It confused Kimimaro at my sudden appearances as I was very fast. "Orochimaru-sama send me to retrieve his vessel. He wants to say that you were very useful to him Kimimaro-san." Kimimaro couldn''t do anything but to agree to trust my fake headband. "Hey what are you doing? Give Sasuke back!" Naruto attacked. Ishizu took Sasuke out of the pot. "Finish it Kimimaro. Make Orochimaru-sama proud." Sometime later "Let me go! I can walk by myself," shouted Sasuke as I carried him. "Be quiet. I need time to apply the seal and I don''t want anyone to interrupt me," I said without looking. Sasuke realized that it was me so he kept quiet. "My seal did what it should do. You didn''t reach stage 2 but still got stronger. I would advise you to use the seal only when nobody is looking. Even if Orochimaru finds out that it is not working, and I doubt that, he won''t do anything to acquire your wrath. He still needs you." We reached The Valley of the End. In all my life in this world, I never had the time to visit this place. Those magnificent statues of the two strongest people stood across each other. On the right side, a man who was called the God of Shinobi. One of the founders of Konohagakure and husband of the first Kyuubi Jinchuriki. A master of his famous wood style and Asuras reincarnation. His name: Hashirama Senju. On the left side, the strongest Uchiha who has ever lived. The patriarch of the Uchiha clan and Indra''s reincarnation. The one who could use his eyes to capture the strongest of the bijuu and take him under control. He who fought against Hashirama but lost but didn''t die. The man who acquired the famous Rinnegan and even now his presence is seen in the world. His name: Madara Uchiha. "Here we are. This place is truly amazing." We made our way to the Madara Uchiha statue. Sasuke looked and saw two statues facing each other. "What is this place and who are they?" asked Sasuke. I smirked: "That, my dear Sasuke, is The Valley of the End and these two are the founders of Konohagakure, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha." Sasuke''s eyes widened and the mention of one of his ancestors. "Now stay still. I need to place my seal. Fuinjutsu: Nature''s Calm." With that finally, the seal lost its original function and was only a reservoir of Senjutsu. Before Sasuke could leave, I saw Naruto running to us. "It seems like my other student doesn''t want you to go, Sasuke. A bummer that he will face me." Sasuke looked at me. "Why?" "Hmm?" "Why do you do some much for me? You betrayed Konoha and even want to fight Naruto so I could gain power. What have I done to deserve it?!" cried Sasuke. I smiled as I patted his head. "Because you are also one of my students, and I will do anything to make them happy. If the means to betray Konoha and fight my other student, then so be it." Sasuke cried a little and started to walk away. "Hey, Sasuke, you won''t leave. I will bring you back to Konoha! How dare you leave your Sensei and your friend behind?" I walked in front of Sasuke. "Go, I will handle him." Oh, that is going to be fun. Facing a furious Uzumaki is difficult, but this was but a boy, unlike the two women. Only better than last time. Naruto and I hit our arms against each other, a gesture to measure one''s strength. "Naruto Uzumaki and Jinch¨±riki of Konohagakure. I will not let you near the vessel of Orochimaru." Naruto''s eyes were starting to get red. "If you hinder my path that I will walk over your corpse and I will drag him back." I smirked under the mask. "Hard words for someone so young. Show me your strength! My name is Yamamoto Kansuke, the Wood God." The battle between Yamamoto Kansuke and Naruto Uzumaki started. General POV Ishizu didn''t remember a lot about the canon fight, but one thing was still in his memories. That annoying plant would watch it from somewhere safe. He couldn''t reveal his Rinnegan or the next time Ishizu would have to face a mad self-proclaimed god and a brainwashed Uchiha. Fortunately, Fuinjutsu was his friend. ''Dragon>Horse>Tiger>Hare>Monkey>Boar> Tiger>Snake.'' "Fuinjutsu: Reality warping." It was a special type of Fuinjutsu that Ishizu had invented during his studies with Mito. A Fuinjutsu mixed with Genjutsu. It created an illusion for outsiders to watch what the user wanted as long as they don''t enter the reality bubble. With that, Zetsu would be fooled thinking it was Sasuke who fought Naruto and not Ishizu. Naruto and Ishizu clashed. "You have a long way to go before you can match against me young Uzumaki. I have faced other Uzumakis and you are by far the weakest." Naruto summoned numerous Shadow Clones to overpower Ishizu. "I will defeat you. You won''t be able to get Sasuke!" Ishizu smiled, Rinnegan shining behind the mask as he pointed his right hand at Naruto. "Shinra Tensei" The invisible force rushed at the clone, blowing them away. ''The chakra drainage is much better. The training helped me a lot,'' thought Ishizu. Ishizu had to dodge a kick as he grabbed Naruto''s leg and slammed the boy into the water. "You are a fool if you think you can just drag the Uchiha back to the village as nothing happened. It is not that he cannot go. He must or he will die." Ishizu jumped away as the massive chakra erupted from underneath. Naruto dragged himself onto the water; his eyes were red and Kuruma''s chakra was leaking from his body. "Why should he die? He has us to protect him! Everyone who challenges me will fall!" The blond boy charged at his sensei. His fist got blocked by Ishizu, but the Rinnegan wielder felt the power increase as he was flung several meters back. "A curse is not something companionship can erase. He had to sacrifice himself to save his friends. The power gain is just his misguided belief to kill his brother. I am only supporting Sasuke Uchiha because it needs to be done," explained Ishizu but Naruto didn''t want it to hear it as he again attacked Ishizu with a roundhouse kick. Ishizu block crossed his arms to block it, smiling underneath his mask at the power the boy had. Then he punched Naruto in the stomach to send him back. Coughing for a second, Naruto again stood up feeling as the foxes chakra kept getting stronger. ''More. To defeat him, I need more!'' mentally shouted Naruto. "Don''t you tell me what to do. I am giving you as much as I can. If I give you too much, you will lose control you idiot human," shouted the Kyuubi. Naruto stood up as he glared as his enemy. He didn''t care if he would lose his sanity. Nobody would stay between him and his friends. Not even Yamamoto Kansuke the Wood God or any other God. He would defeat them all. "Then I will go with Sasuke and kill that bastard of a snake. How dare he do something to him? Let me go!" Seeing his enemy shack his head in denial Naruto only had one thing to do. A burst of chakra came from Naruto as he went into 2 tails mode. "This is as far as I can help you without you losing your sanity so make the most of it," spoke Kurama. ''Damm, this kid got strong fast. I think I have to calm him down or he will destroy the reality bubble himself,'' thought Ishizu. Naruto ran at his sensei, but the latter took his time in blocking the rage-filled blows before grabbing Naruto''s arm and throwing him into the Hashirama statue. A burning sensation got Ishizu''s attention. His hand with which he grabbed Naruto was red and blisters were forming. ''His chakra is dangerous. I should avoid getting hit by it.'' "You should take some time and relax. This much chakra is bad for your health. Let me help you with that fox problem." Ishizu made hand sight. A jutsu that would counter Kurama''s chakra. "Wood Style: Wood Dragon." A dragon emerged and flew towards Naruto. It was rather small compared to Hashirama''s massive one, but Ishizu was only starting to use the Wood Style. That also meant that it had not the d.e.s.i.r.ed effect. When the dragon surrounded Naruto, trying to drain him from his chakra, a clean cut was seen as the blond boy broke out of it. "Yamamoto, give Sasuke back!" The voice of Naruto was almost that of another person. An indicator of him losing control over Kurama''s chakra. A claw stretched out to grab Ishizu, but he used another Shinra Tensei to send it back. More and more arms came from Naruto aiming to kill. "I think you are losing your control, Naruto. I have to finish this." Ishizu''s answer was a roar as another tail emerged. Naruto lost his mind to the fox but still could make a massive wind infused Rasengan. His last attack it would seem. Ishizu''s eyes widened at the size of the Rasengan. What made Ishizu worry was the not that it was the normal reddish Rasengan Naruto made during his fight with Sasuke. No, this mad Uzumaki got so much chakra from the fox that he made a Wind Style: Rasenshuriken with Kurama''s chakra. ''Holy Sage. That''s a big Rasengan and also not an ordinary. If I clash with him, the bubble would defiantly be destroyed and everything would be for naught. Fortunately, I am a Shinobi, so I think I have to cheat a bit.'' Under the mask, Ishizu was smiling proudly, seeing his students finally completing the next step of the Rasengan. Unfortunately, he was the person who the attack was going to hit so he had to respond. ''I am proud of you Naruto. You made me use the last Rinnegan ability against you so don''t be disappointed that it won''t hit me or it would damage your hand.'' Ishizu''s Rinnegan shined brightly as he charged at Naruto. "ROOOOOOAAR!" Naruto roared as he jumped at his enemy, wanting to slam the Rasenshuriken and defeat his opponent. "Gakid¨­." As the Jutsu hit the Preta path, it was absorbed together with the Kyuubi chakra. "???" Naruto had no time to react as Ishizu used this moment to hit his student in the back of the neck and the Jinchuriki lost consciousness. The fight between the student and the teacher was over and the teacher won. Ishizu POV I stood next to Naruto''s unconscious body as I felt that Zetsu was gone, believing Sasuke won. I fell on my b.u.t.t to take a breath. It would take some time for Kakashi to arrive so I could take some time to recover. Luckily for me, I had covered my body with a strong odor so that Pakkun wouldn''t identify me after that. ''You amazed me Naruto. I didn''t expect you to go into 3 tails mode trying to defeat me and going so far to help your comrade. I cannot wait to mold you into the Shinobi you always meant to be. Jiraiya will comprise taking you with him on his trip but no way will you watch him look at women while doing nothing. No, let me handle Jiraiya. You have to grow stronger. It is my duty as a teacher to strengthen you. I will make you train so hard that the next time you face Orochimaru or any other Akatsuki, you will destroy them.'' I felt Kakashi''s chakra entering my sensor range, so I stood up, glancing one last time at Naruto before quickly disappearing and heading home to Konoha. Chapter 43 - An Unbelievable Reunion What happened last time: Tsunade has a grim expression. "Take off that mask or I will make more of your body hurt." Ishizu sighted defeated: "Calm down. Don''t hurt me. I can explain." Now: Unfortunately, Ishizu had no time when a fist collided with his mask. "Damm you old hag. You hit like a monster," w.h.i.n.ed Ishizu, rubbing his face. Tsunade, seeing the face of the same boy she healed many years ago, had many expressions. Mostly consisting of rage. Ishizu sighed, seeing Tsunades expression: "Yes yes, calm down. I can explain." Jiraiya was looking between the two: "What the hell what have you done to make Tsunade mad?" Ishizu smiled not taking his eyes from Tsunade, fearing for his life. "Oh, I made a bet with her. She fulfilled her part, but I left before I could fulfill mine." "You better have a good reason I shouldn''t hurt you," said Tsunade as she cracked her knuckles. Ishizu shook his hands. "I gave you a note saying that I had to finish my mission and that I won''t forget what you have done." Tsunade lowered her hands and smiled. "And now is the time for it. I will think of a punishment later." Jiraiya still couldn''t comprehend what was going on. Ishizu looked at Jiraiya: "As of now I am her slave for the next two months." Jiraiya spilled his drink as he looked at Tsunade. Tsunade got red: "You idiot I didn''t mean it like that." The talk went on as in canon and Tsunade made a bet with Naruto. If he could master his new Jutsu, she would be the new Hokage. During those days when Tsunade did not order for Ishizu to pay the loan sharks, he used the time to train under the pandas. He started to learn his new fighting styles. Ishizu finally got to meet the panda boss. To his surprise, it was not the giant panda names Gon whom Ishizu once saw in *DD* and played a bit of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but the very first panda he summoned Master Tau. As Jiraiya drank it, he passed out of the drug. Just as Tsunade wanted to leave, Ishizu came out of his hiding spot. Ishizu POV I clapped as I made myself shown to Tsunade. "You are really a tricky one, Tsunade-sama." She looked at me with a shocked expression as she didn''t expect me to show up. Her face changed as she smirked. "You still are my slave, so don''t you dare stop me." I shook my head: "True. I am not able to do anything but I won''t be me who will convince you." "And who will it be, the blonde?" asked Tsunade, stopping. "I only need 4 hand seals," I said. "Summoning Jutsu: Edo Tensei." Two coffins came out of the ground. Tsunade stepped back. I smiled as I opened my arms like a madman: "I believe Orochimaru wanted to bribe you by giving you back your loved ones. Maybe I can''t do it with those two, but I can do it with somebody you know better than anyone." As the two coffins opened, they revealed the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and his wife, Mito Uzumaki. Their coffins were placed so they couldn''t see Tsunade so when Mito saw Ishizu she gave him a smile: "Sasaki-kun, tell me, why have you summoned us again? If it is for something stupid, I will show you what pain is." "Mito-chan, be friendly. Maybe he has a reason for it" said Hashirama, trying to calm his wife. Tsunade was shocked as she heard voices which she only heard when she was young. "Well, turn around and see the reason," answered Ishizu. Both turned around and as they saw Tsunade standing, they stopped moving. After a while of silence, Mito was the first to run and hug Tsunade. "How I have missed you my little Tsuna-chan. You have grown so much." Tsunade said nothing for a while but then broke out in tears as she hugged her grandmother. Hashirama stood next to Ishizu. "I don''t believe you summoned us only to see our grandchild." Ishizu shook his head: "No, the reason was that right now she needs somebody who can hold her in her arms. She lost so much. Her lover, her brother... you. I also indirectly killed her Sensei. I wanted her to show that people still loved her. Once a strong Kunoichi and the best medic and now a woman who has hemophobia. I summoned you here to help her." Mito and Tsunade parted away and Ishizu could see a smile in Tsunade''s face she didn''t show before. Tsunade turned to Ishizu: "I can''t thank you enough for doing something like that but the question remains why did you do it." Ishizu smiled. "I bet Orochimaru told you he will give you your loved one''s back but did you not think he could use such things against you? I summoned those two to help you with your problems. It looks like I manipulate you with them but they are not under any control. I will let you alone with them so you can have a nice conversation." With that Ishizu left the three to talk. Tsunade POV I didn''t know what to say as Ishizu left me alone. I had a burning sensation in my heart as my grandmother hugged me. I couldn''t try to control my emotions and let them all out. I told myself to never cry again after Nawaki''s death but seeing my grandparents I just couldn''t. I told Mito how my life was a living hell when I lost my lover and my younger brother. Mito said nothing and just hugged me tighter. It helped, and I started to calm down. When I could talk, I started to tell them how my life was. I sounded like a small girl trying to impress my grandparents. At one point Mito hit Hashirama when I told her that I gamble and drink. I knew that I got it from him but Mito wasn''t happy about it. I told them what I had planned to do to Orochimaru, and it stunned me as they told me that they would love me no matter what. I was a grown-up woman and I could decide for myself. Ishizu walked in and asked what my decision was. "Come, we go to Orochimaru." Ishizu just nodded and put his mask on and de-summoned my grandparents. "Aren''t you going to prevent me from going?" I asked curious about his decision. I could feel that he smiled under his mask: "It is your decision and I am still your slave so I can''t disobey you." I smiled. Before we went to Orochimaru, we looked to see Naruto. He was asleep, and I was sad that he couldn''t do it. "Oh, Tsunade, don''t jump to conclusions. He finished it. I saw it with my own eyes when you talked. Don''t underestimate the son of Kushina," said Ishizu behind me. General POV Ishizu and Tsunade left for Orochimaru. Ishizu was under a mask as they approached the snake. Orochimaru was smiling but as he saw Ishizu he frowned. "Tsunade, I thought you would come alone. Who is he?" Tsunade looked at him annoyed. "He lost a bet a long time ago and is my slave, he won''t bother us. He has a Jutsu preventing him from speaking. Now enough about him. You want me to heal your hands, don''t you?" Orochimaru looked at Ishizu but then turned to Tsunade and smiled. "Yes, we had a deal. I will bring back your loved one and you will heal me." As Tsunade was about to touch Orochimaru, a kunai interrupted the process. It was Kabuto. He saw the killing intent radiating from Tsunade and prevented more damage to his master. "Kabuto, what are you doing?" hissed Orochimaru, furious as he was denied healing from his subordinate. Kabuto bowed: "I am sorry but Tsunade didn''t want to heal you. I felt the killing intent from her Jutsu." Orochimaru looked at Tsunade angry: "So you betrayed me, Tsunade?" Ishizu stepped forward: "She never betrayed you, pedomaru, as she would not help you in the first place you pedo snake." Orochimaru smiled: "Then I will just kill you both." Kabuto moves to the front. "Be careful Orochimaru-sama. The person with the mask is Ishizu Sasaki." Orochimaru laughed. "I couldn''t be more happier. Now I can kill him for helping the old man in sealing my hands. Let''s see if you all will survive." Both Ishizu and Tsunade chased after Orochimaru and Kabuto as both went to an open area. Tsunade attacked Kabuto while Ishizu moved for Orochimaru. "Last time you were at full power Orochimaru but now with no hands let''s how hard it will be for you to take me on," said Ishizu attacking Orochimaru who used his Kusanagi sword to defend. Ishizu POV Annoying. That''s what it was. Orochimaru still had connections with Akatsuki through Kabuto and Sasori so I couldn''t activate my Rinnegan. Not only that but even without his arms, this snake was so agile that I could only hit him a few times. Strength was not everything a Shinobi had. Orochimaru was a smart Shinobi and I had to be very careful not to make a mistake. "Tsunade!" Shizune screamed. It seems Naruto, and the others arrived. I peeked for a second and saw that Kabuto used Tsunade''s weakness, Hemophobia. Orochimaru used my carelessness and kicked me away. Instead of fighting Naruto, Kabuto jumped to Orochimaru. ''That''s different from the anime,'' I thought. Something was not right and I had a tingling sensation in the back of my head, signaling me to be ready for a hard fight. "I presumed you would somehow appear here Sasaki-kun, so I made something just for you. Consider it a present. I don''t want you to interfere in this fight anymore," said Orochimaru. Kabuto used Orochimaru blood to perform hand signs. My eyes widened. ''Damm, Kabuto is using this jutsu.'' 4 hand signs and a coffin came out of the earth. "Jiraiya, Naruto, no matter what is inside the coffin, I will protect you from it. Naruto help Shizune defend Tsunade from Kabuto. She needs to calm down from her shock. Jiraiya, you take on Orochimaru," I commanded. Orochimaru laughed: "Ku Ku Ku, I think it will be quite a hard time to fight her. She was someone you knew pretty well Sasaki-san." As the coffin opened, I saw red hair. It shocked me to see here reanimated. The horror was alive. "No. It can''t be," I muttered. Out of the coffin came Kushina Uzumaki. Mother of Naruto Uzumaki and wife of the 4th Hokage. "Where am I and why can''t I move?" asked Kushina, waking up from her slumber. "Go, attack him Kushina-chan," commanded Orochimaru. Kushina moved with incredible speed towards me: "I am sorry Shinobi-san but I hope you can survive." Nobody knew that I was ready for this as I couldn''t stop myself from grinning. General a POV Naruto had tears in his eyes as he saw his mother. Jiraiya was furious to see his former friend using his student''s wife as a weapon against them. Shizune fought against Kabuto while Tsunade looked down in fear of the blood. Only one of them was smiling. It was Ishizu, himself, although not seen under the mask. "Hahaha, finally I can make one of my dreams come true!" Ishizu laughed like crazy. Kushina wondered what was wrong with him. "You do not understand how long I have waited to fight and defeat you, you RED HAIRED ONI FROM HELL!" screamed Ishizu from the top of his lungs. The last words stopped the movement of Kushina even when she was controlled. Even Orochimaru looked at Ishizu, wondering what his problem was. It dumbfounded Naruto as he saw his Sensei insulting his mother. Jiraiya could only shack his head as he knew the reason for it. Tsunade also came out of her shock. The most important reaction was that of Kuchina herself. "This name¡­ Ah, so it is you, right?" The former Jinch¨±riki has a smile that quickly changed. Her hair began to define gravity, and it appeared like 9 tails. "How dare you say something like that to me, Ishizu!" With unbelievable speed, Kushina ran at Ishizu and before the latter could block, a fist was implanted into the mask, shattering it, again. Sometimes Ishizu wondered why women hit him in the face. Ishizu flew a few meters and landed on his feet, before shaking his head. This was the second mask a woman destroyed it. They were not cheap. Kushina strolled to him, having a smile which one could see only on a devil: "Now, Ishizu-chan, please greet me like I always told you." Ishizu spits out some blood from his mouth as he grinned at her. "It is good to see you again¡­....¡­ okaa-san." Chapter 43 - Changing ones Mind After the fight, everyone was sad that they couldn''t bring Sasuke back. Shikamaru explained to the Hokage that somebody interfered with his enemy and that she was most alive. The Nara boy was at a loss because he couldn''t understand why someone would save only Tayuya and let the other one die. Flashback no Jutsu. Shikamaru, Temari vs. Tayuya General POV Ishizu''s clone observed the fight between Shikamaru and Tayuya. ''Her Genjutsu is impressive. A sound-based Genjutsu is very strong as your opponent uses his ears as much as his eyes. Orochimaru had a gem in his layer but never bothered with her much. Well, I will take over.'' The fight continued and Temari showed up. When he saw her doing the summoning Jutsu, the clone rushed to Tayuya and activated his Rinnegan to counterattack with Shinra Tensei. Shikamaru''s POV Man, this girl destroyed the forest but where is she. "Hey let me go. Who the **** are you!" the scream of my enemy sounded, showing she was alive. I looked to where her voice was coming from and saw her on the shoulder of a man. "Enough. You should be grateful that you survived her attack. Without me, you would be dead, Tayuya. Now, be a good girl and sleep." The man did something to her and she went unconscious. Then he turns to us and I don''t know what it was but I never felt so helpless before. I was no sensor, but I knew that if I did something wrong, he would kill me instantly. Fortunately, the man did not attack. "Relax. I am not here to hurt you. I have business with this foul-mouthed girl. A Genjutsu user like her is not someone who should die. You have won, congratulations, but I wouldn''t say that about the Uzumaki boy. Goodbye." With that, he left us. Flashback end. Fortunately, nobody died so Tsunade could heal everyone up. Ishizu was happy that his plan went as planned. Sasuke was with Orochimaru and he wouldn''t be found in the next 2 years. Tayuya was hidden where he would give her an ultimatum as well as taking the seal of her. She already started training in medical Ninjutsu, so helping her was good for doing something in the meantime. As Shikamaru spoke with Naruto, Sakura overheard them. "You know if you want to say something then go in and tell him," a voice said. Sakura quickly turned around to see Ishizu standing there. "You made Naruto promise something that he couldn''t keep but what did you do during that time. It is good that you stated with medical Ninjutsu but you are still weak." Sakura could keep silent as she knew that he was right. "Saying nothing is also unnecessary. Why don''t you start where you lack strength? Come with me." Ishizu took her hand. "Where are we going Sasaki-san?" asked a confused Sakura. Ishizu smiled: "We will take one of my students and then you and she get a teacher." Ishizu and Sakura went to the Yamanaka residence. Sakura had a nervous expression because her friendship with Ino was rather bad. Ishizu saw her expression: "You should talk with Ino about this whole problem that started with Sasuke. It would help you. Ino was once the same as you. A fangirl who chased after a boy who didn''t want girls. You concluded that you should diet so you would look beautiful. With your intelligence, you didn''t even look at other Kunoichi. You would have seen that there are no fat ones. Sakura, you made yourself useless. Ino had luck. She found somebody like Naruto who gave her a feeling of love back. She is one of the strongest female Genin in Konoha right now. Compared to you, she is miles ahead. Now, I am Ino''s Sensei but I am also a Konoha Shinobi and seeing someone like you who is smart and is wasting her talent I won''t look away. I will take you to the one who will mold you into a Kunoichi you are worth." General POV Ishizu took Sakura to the Yamanaka residence, and they waited for Ino to come ours. As Ishizu saw Ino, he shoved Sakura to her while telling both of them to finally get over it. Ishizu didn''t listen to their conversation, but he heard crying and then he saw both of them coming out holding each other''s hand, smiling. Ishizu knew they finally managed to sort things out. Friendship was very important in Konoha. It was one of the reasons why Konoha survived most of the fight against other villages. Obito''s and Kakashi''s sentence about being trash or worse than trash was the perfect example. The 3 of them went to Tsunade and Ishizu explained to her that Sakura and Ino should be her apprentices. Both of them exhaled greatly in medical Ninjutsu. Tsunade reluctantly accepted but would first determine if they could be her apprentices. Now with that out of his way, Ishizu made his way to his prisoner. It was time to create his own small spy network. During his stay with the pandas, Ishizu wouldn''t have much time to know about the things happening in the elemental nations so to compensate it he decided to gather people into his group that would help him. Tayuya was one of them. Somewhere in *DD* "So, mind control? A rather ''extreme'' way to get a follower, ne?" asked Tau as he watched Ishizu working on a seal. "It is not mind-control. Sure, I will enter her mind but I won''t change her personality. If everything goes right she will still be the bratty girl but her loyalty will be with me," explained Ishizu. "Loyalty, what a difficult word. Tell me Ishizu, do you know of the Power of Friendship. It was something Master Po told me once when he lived with his teacher and friends," asked Tau and Ishizu stopped his work. Then a small smile appeared on his lips. "The ultimate weapon against mind control, brainwashing, etc. In my past life, I have read many books where the villain manipulated his enemy only for his friends to come to help and with some words about friendship they brought their friend back, ultimately destroying the mind-control. I have never seen it for myself but I am a believer of it." Tau smiled as he came closer to Ishizu and sat in front of him. "Then why are you trying to change Tayuya?" "Because every weapon has its shield and I know how to block it," answered Ishizu. Tau looked amused. "Then do tell." "The problem is not the person I try to get to me but the others. As long as they don''t exist nothing will happen. In Tayuya''s case, she has no family. Her comrades are dead and the only person she served will soon die. Orochimaru isn''t someone who would go to the end to get Tayuya back. She is disposable to him, making it easy for me to gain her trust. To counter the Power of Friendship one has to get rid of the friends first. Take Obito for example. Sure, Naruto got him back from Madara''s control with his own Power of Friendship, the Talk no Jutsu, but he was not the only one who helped. Most people forgot that Kakashi played a very important part. He was the last thing that Obito had in this world. If Kakashi was dead, Obito had no one and not even Naruto could come through him. Now, this is all theory I believe, as nothing I have said was proven in any way but I am taking this into account. That''s why I don''t try to brainwash people like Naruto or Sasuke or any other important people. First, it is not my type of style, the second, I don''t have the necessary things and third, I fear it either won''t take effect or it will be counted by the PoF I don''t want to screw my palms up." After a pause, Ishizu looked at his seal. "The best way to get somebody to join you is to open his mind for the other to see, therefore eliminating betrayal," said Ishizu. Tau''s eyes widened. "You are going to use ''it''?" Ishizu nodded. "Like is said. Sometimes the truth is the best way to gain followers." Ishizu''s secret layer. Ishizu POV I opened the door and was hit with profanities from the former Orochimaru slave. "Where did you even learn such words? I don''t think Orochimaru taught you them." Tayuya glared at me: "Open those seals and I will show you how I learned them!" I sighed: "Please don''t. I don''t really care but you should, as what I am going to do will make you speechless." She started to shake as she saw my grin. I bet countless things went through her head. Most of them would be what male Shinobi did to Kunoichis. She has luck as I was not into such things and I still was a v.i.r.g.i.n up to this point. I shook my head: "I am not going to do anything bad. No, I will do the opposite. I will remove the bad stain you have on your body and mind. It is time you see the light, Tayuya-chan." Tayuya tried to move with all her might, not believing me a single word. She was frightened, believing I was another Orochimaru who would to inhuman things to her. I doubt her first few months with the snake were good. She acted though but deep inside her she was broken. I would fix her. "Stop moving or you will hurt yourself more," I commanded her. She stopped and looked at me with fearful eyes. My eyes turned to the Rinnegan and I grabbed her head as I used the Human Path to look for the soul of Orochimaru. The process was very hard to control and I had to concentrate as the mortality of this procedure was high. I had to search for the tiny part of Orochimaru''s soul before grabbing it and pulling it out. I was not a master at this path as I felt the soul struggling against me, trying to remain in her body. I made a mental note to learn this in my time in *DD*. Tayuya stayed awake during that procedure and she looked horrified and she saw a ghost-like Orochimaru coming out of her body. "What the hell was that?" she asked. I answered her: "That, my dear Tayuya, was what was inside the curse mark. A part of Orochimaru''s soul. You are still under the influence of the curse mark but just give me a minute and your mind will be clear." I made a sealing array around her. "This will hurt a bit as I will completely extract that seal of you. It is a weaker version of Sasuke''s so it won''t take long." Fuinjutsu: Complete Absence of Evil. This was the best Fuinjutsu I had at the moment for getting rid of something disgusting like that. With years of studying Anko''s seal plus the time I had with Sasuke and together with the Senjutsu Jugo provided, I made the perfect seal to completely eliminate the Curse Mark. Not only would it erase the mark but the Fuinjutsu would enter into the souls to clean it from any long-term effects the seal had on the user before. Essentially cutting the bond between Tayuya and Orochimaru. I would be happy if it was the perfect seal against everything evil but nothing ''perfect'' exists. It would not work on people who took the dark path with their free will. People like Orochimaru, Danzo, or Madara would completely be unharmed. As they choose their path. It would not affect Obito as he believes Madara''s plan to create a perfect world, making the Fuinjutsu useless. The same goes for Nagato who believes his way of achieving peace is the right way. Tayuya was screaming as the seal was pealed from her body. She collapsed and that was my time to use ''it''. Ninshu. Hagoromo made it so people could connect with their chakra. With that in mind, I entered Tayuya''s mind through one of the Yamanaka''s mind jutsus. I didn''t want to see her memories or some secrets. No, I wanted to find the girl who was imprisoned in her mind because of that seal. Tayuya''s mind: I was in a labyrinth and annoying flute music was heard. It was dark but the darkness slowly faded. It seemed that the darkness was the curse. I walked around the labyrinth and saw a little girl crying. ''That must be Tayuya''s psyche.'' Well, thoughts could be heard as she looked at me. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" asked Tayuya frightened. "Everything will be fine. Those demons will not hurt you anymore," I said as I crouched to her eye level. She was reluctant to agree, so I utilized my Ninshu and connected with her. The thing with Ninshu was that once you connect, you cannot lie to the other person. It opened every thought for the other to see, but I was not afraid. I wanted her to live as I saw her potential. Of course, I wanted to use her but everyone in this world was like that. I was no different. People used people and were being used. Such was the life of humanity and as long as both benefited nothing bad would happen. I would use her and she would use me and we both would gain benefits. Our minds connected and she relaxed. The labyrinth slowly crumbled as a light shone on us. "Good girl, Tayuya. We both will get what we want. You will be a great spy. I will depend on you. Let''s work together to achieve our dreams, ok?" With that, I left her mind, picked her up and let her sleep on a bed. I made my preparations for the upcoming adventure I would do. Who wouldn''t be excited to learn Senjutsu, from a legendary Panda like Po nonetheless? Chapter 44 - Ishizu’s Life Everyone looked at Ishizu as he called Kushina his mother. "Ishizu-sensei what do you mean by your mother? Are you my brother?" asked Naruto. His voice startled Kushina as she looked at the blond boy who resembled Minato. Ishizu smiled at Kuchina: "So you realized who he is, don''t you, Kushina. He is your son, Naruto Uzumaki." Ishizu turned to Naruto: "I am sorry Naruto that you couldn''t reunite with your mother in a better condition but this is something I have to do to restore my pride." With that, Ishizu attacked Kushina. It was his only chance to defeat her. He suffered too much during his childhood. Ishizu loved her like a real mother as she gave him something than any child needed. The love a child deserved form a mother. Flashback no Jutsu. A 3-year-old Ishizu roamed the streets of Konoha. He was an orphan. He did not remember his parents, or he did not care. Living in an orphanage was a no-no as Danzo was very much active. So when he thought he could survive alone he left. For a 3-year-old Ishizu was quite skilled. People''s bodies in the Shinobi world m.a.t.u.r.ed much faster so Ishizu could already walk and speak very good. His brain was more developed than his body. That did not mean Ishizu had an easy life. No, on the opposite. He survived by stealing food from the people. His chakra system was not fully developed but he could already do the Henge which he stole from an academy student and used it to frame others as to not get caught. On one fateful day, he saw a person sitting near a ramen stand. Ishizu never had any ramen, so he prepared his raid. Just as they gave the ramen to the customer Ishizu rushed in and with a quick leap which you don''t expect from a 3-year-old child, he took the ramen and ran. "Hey, that''s my ramen. Come back here you thief" the feminine voice of the person called out to Ishizu. Ishizu smirked seeing his plan succeed but as he turned around, he saw a demon running at him. He froze in place as he saw her. A nine tails Oni. Ishizu was so focused on the ramen that he didn''t see who he was stealing from. As he saw Kushina running at him, Ishizu just dropped his head awaiting punishment because he knew he couldn''t escape from her. "So you realized that you can''t escape? Good, now give me back my ramen," Kuchina demanded. Ishizu obliged but as soon as he gave her the ramen, his stomach was heard. "Hey kid, come, I will treat you for some ramen," said Kuchina as she gave him her hand. Ishizu smiled and took her hand and as they were eating together Kushina asked him about his name, life, etc. Ishizu did not know why he told her, but he knew she would not harm him. It amazed Kushina by how m.a.t.u.r.e a 3-year-old was but she felt said when he told her how lonely he was. Kuchina stood up as she smiled at the young Ishizu: "I have decided." Ishizu looked at her, questioning what she had decided. She gave him a hug and whispered into his ear. "I will adopt you as my son." Although Ishizu was an a.d.u.l.t inside a child''s body, he still longed for a mother and a father. The emotions he had inside him started to leak out like a fountain, and he cried as he leaped in her arms. At Kuchina''s home, she told Minato of her new baby. Minato tried to reason with her but one glance shut him up. Ishizu loved them both. He was nervous to call Kushina his mother, so he always called her a red-haired Oni from his first encounter when he misbehaved which gave him many beatings from Kuchina. As time passed, he started to grow closer and closer and started calling Kushina his mother and Minato his father. Minato introduced Ishizu to the Shinobi world and taught him many things. Through Kushina, Ishizu got his love for Fuinjutsu. He always fought Kuchina but never won. One day Ishizu stormed into the kitchen when Kuchina was cooking. He pointed his finger at her and proclaimed: "Here my world okaa-san. One day I will defeat you and then I will be called the Oni-slayer." After the academy, they put Ishizu into Minato''s team. During his life with both of them, he encountered Jiraiya and Orochimaru. Jiraiya and Orochimaru grew to love him or in Orochimaru''s case to accept him as a smart child. Jiraiya for Ishizu''s love for women and his books and Orochimaru''s acceptance for the theory of chakra. Ishizu still remembered Kuchina''s look when she caught him and Jiraiya peeking at women. After a small conversation, comprising pummeling Ishizu to unconsciousness, he stopped doing it, fearing the wrath of the Oni. Ishizu quickly grew a bond with Obito as he accepted him as a friend as well as Rin. He had some conflicts with Kakashi but both tolerated each other. At one point, Ishizu started to yearn for power, as his first 3 years showed him the true nature of survival. His life in a new family smoothened it but Ishizu was so focused on training that only when he heard that Obito ''died'' did it reminded him of the reality. He considered his life, until Obito''s death, as easy but that quickly crumbled as he realized the truth. Only with power could he protect his loved ones. So he trained and trained and made many plans to get the power. His encounter with Onoki gave him his moniker "The Strategists". His goal for power showed him a side of love. In his early life, he always loved how Kaguya looked and felt sad that she was sealed away. He thought they were meant to be together and fell in love with her. It was only because of the God tree that she was lost in madness so Ishizu got a new goal to go for power. To reach her and make her his wife. But this goal came with problems. Ishizu was so blinded by his goal for power that he was too late to change the future for a better. He wasn''t present as Rin ran into Kakashi''s Chidori, killing her, and Obito''s rampage. The same thing happened during Kushina''s birth. Ishizu knew about Naruto being born, but he was so much into training that Ishizu was on the other side of Konoha, completely forgetting about Naruto''s birth. Only when he saw Kurama did he rush towards them only to see both of his parents dead. Seeing that he was lost in seeking power, Ishizu swore that he would change the future. His first mission was to help Naruto grow into the Shinobi he always meant to be. He would get the power to make everything right. And from there it is history. Chapter 44 - The End of Naruto Ishizu walked towards Naruto''s apartment. He didn''t know when it would happen, but he didn''t want to miss the departure. Everything that happened was like he wanted it to be. Sasuke would start his training with Orochimaru. Ino and Sakura got accepted as students of Tsunade. One time Ishizu had a crazy idea and even asked Katsuyu the Slug if she would be willing to have a Sage just like the toads. Unfortunately, she denied my request, explaining that only one could become the Slug Sage and only if he or she was worth it. Seeing that he couldn''t convince the slug otherwise, Ishizu accepted her response. Of course, Ishizu didn''t forget about the other student he had. Hinata would perfect her Taijutsu during the next years. Ishizu thought about a way to go to the moon to see if he could acquire Hamura''s DNA so he could infuse it to Hinata, awakening the Tenseigan. That, like any other crazy idea, would take some time, but it was not impossible. Now the important person was Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto''s apartment Ishizu POV "Naruto, open the door. Your Sensei wants to talk with you," I slammed at the door. "Just come in Sensei," Naruto said from the inside. I opened the door and what I saw I would never forget. Naruto was drinking calmly his green tea while Jiraiya, one of the strongest Shinobi, was on the ground beaten black and blue. I slowly turned back to the door: "I think I will come next time." The door was shut and a Fuinjutsu was placed on it, sealing the house. I knew I could escape, but what could be so bad? "Come, Sensei, sit," gestures Naruto to a place across from him. I looked at him, pitying him for whatever he has done to deserve something like that. "Don''t worry Sensei. If you answer my questions without lying, nothing will happen to you." I raised an eyebrow at that. "And do tell me would you know if I will lie." Naruto smiled while pointing at his seal. "I have an agreement with the Fox," came the response. I nodded, coming to an answer myself. "Now Sensei, please tell me who my father is." I shrugged as the words came out of my mouth: "Your father is Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage as well as Jiraiya''s student and my Sensei." Naruto nodded, knowing it was the truth. "Please tell me why you never told it to me?" was his next question. I picked my nose: "I told you that I would tell you if you reach Chunin or 16 years. By your performance in the Chunin exam, I would definitely place you as a Chunin but as the 3rd Hokage died and the exam was canceled I was bound to my oath to hide it. If somebody is to blame it, then it is Jiraiya or Tsunade as I am not the Hokage." Naruto took a sip from the herbal tea: "Can you tell me the reason for keeping such information?" I wondered why he asked me such questions. "Well, the first thing was that the 3rd Hokage forbade to tell anyone. It was a well-kept secret, and only a few knew that your mother was pregnant. Minato-sensei made a lot of enemies during the last war, especially Iwagakure. The old fossil would definitely rage if he knew that I was the Sensei of the Yellow Flash son. I am hated by Onoki, but your father had killed over 1000 Shinobi of Iwa in a flash. If Onoki knew you were his son, you would be targeted by assassins non-stop." Naruto''s eyes widened. "So the highter ups thought I would tell everyone that I was the son of the 4th and then I would be hunted, right?" I nodded. "That''s good. Now Sensei we had this discussion a long while ago and I want to ask you again. Why did you take blood from me? The Kyuubi was also questioning it and wouldn''t leave me alone. So please tell me." ''That''s what you get Ishizu if you teach Naruto reasoning. He will adapt and be like Minato. Nothing will escape him. His ability allowed him to see through lies so I can''t back off. He would lose his trust in me, but would he trust me if I told him the truth? The only way to get away from an Empath is, to tell the truth, but not everything. I took a deep breath. "The reason I took your blood was to strengthen myself," I began telling my story. "What do you mean by that, Sensei?" asked Naruto. "Your blood is very special as it contains a certain type of chakra. I found out about it and I needed it to get stronger so I could reach my goal I have." I opened my eyes revealing the Rinnegan and looked at Naruto. "This is the result I got. The fox knows about those eyes so he can tell you more about them." Deep inside Naruto''s mind, Kurama remembered when Ishizu showed him the eyes before. "Naruto, get him in here!" shouted the Kyuubi. During the time Naruto was in his mind and not looking at me I took out a special seal from my pocket. Glancing at Jiraiya, I confirmed that he was out cold and secretly placed the seal on his back behind his hair. It would be a long time before I would use it but now was the best time to place it. Naruto then opened his eyes. "The Kyuubi wants to talk to you. He seems pissed." I laughed: "No wonder. I would be pissed too if my father''s eyes were on some pathetic human. Let''s go." We both connected our fists and then stood inside Naruto''s mind. A claw was pressed against the cage. "Human, we had a deal remember? I would help this kid with my chakra and you would tell me how you got those eyes and know my father. Now speak! I demand an answer right now," the fox spoke, remembering he still had the deal with me. I looked around inside Naruto''s mind, not answering the question immediately. "With those eyes, I can see every chakra present. There are 5 types of charka present here," I explained mysteriosly. Naruto and the Kyuubi narrowed their eyes, listening. "Naruto''s own charka is the first. The second one belongs to you, fox. The thirds belonged to the younger son of the Sage of the Six Paths, Asura Otsutsuki. The last two are remnants from humans before their death; your parents Kushina and Minato." The Kyuubi listened and his eyes widened. "How do you know about Asura?" I smiled as the truth was complicated. I knew about him from the series of my old life but I also had a talk with Hagoromo so I went with the second. "Your father told me personally when I got his eyes. His spirit visited me and explained to me who he was and who you were." Naruto looked at us both. Confusion was written on his face. "Hey, I don''t understand a thing. What is so special about those eyes?" The Kyuubi laughed: "Special? Those eyes were the eyes of my father. The Sage of the Six Paths. Don''t you dare make fun of him, Naruto." I looked at Naruto: "The Kyuubi is right. During the time you killed Mizuki I unconsciously awakened them and met Hagoromo Otsutsuki." "But why do you need them? I know Dojutsus are powerful, you just had to look at Sasuke with his Sharingan. I bet this Yamamoto has also some kind of special eyes. My question is what is it that you want to achieve?" I smiled trying not to cring at that last part. He got to the important part and I would answer like I told many others. "I want to use them to find my wife. She is in a place I cannot reach at the moment. With those eyes, I hope I can get her. I hope you are fine with that answer." I prayed to whatever God there was that he didn''t pry into more of my life. I don''t know why but people often changed the subject if it came to the matter of love. Naruto nodded: "I will ask you about it later if it is not the right time." Before Ishizu left, the Kyuubi asked me one last question. "Human, tell me, you have met my father he would have told you about us and my name, right?" Naruto got curious as he stopped and listened. Shukaku the One Tails almost said it to him when he fought Gaara but the Kyuubi was very mad that he even threw trees at the tanuki to shut him up. "I remember hearing you scream it when you fought Naruto once." "Really, that happened?" asked Naruto, not remembering that time. I looked at the fox. "Oh, I know every name of you 9, but I won''t tell anyone if you don''t deem them worthy. I promised that Hagoromo." The Kyuubi nodded and we left. I opened my eyes. ''I am lucky that they didn''t question me further who and how I would get Kaguya back. That''s what I would call protagonist luck.'' I glanced at the Sannin. "Hey Naruto, can you tell me why Jiraiya is in such a state?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a disgusting look. "He got drunk and I wanted to see if I could get some information out of him so I transformed into my mother and asked him a question about my father. Drunken as he was he didn''t even think about lying and told it to me. Well, you see what happened after I found out my father was the Yondaime Hokage." I was pissed at Jiraiya and jealous. I wanted to be the one to tell him who his father was, but I was too late. "Never mind. I heard that you will leave in a few days, am I right?" Naruto nodded, somehow sad: "Yeah. For about 2 years we will journey through the whole elemental nation. I will miss you sensei." I laughed. "Oh, don''t be sad, Naruto. If I have time, I will summon myself to you. Also, I still have to show you the next step in the Rasengan." At that moment, Jiraiya opened his eyes. "You want him to complete that Jutsu you used when we searched for Tsunade?" I smiled: "Yes, but there is a side effect that he has to overcome." Training ground 43 Naruto and Jiraiya stood a few meters away for me to show them the technique. I knew that Naruto already did the next step of the Rasengan in his 3-tails mode, but he was unaware of it. "Naruto, you already managed to infuse wind chakra into the Rasengan but what would happen if you put more into it?" Their confused looks made me continue. "Well, I will show you." I made a Rasengan and infused it with wind style. "Now, this is your normal Rasengan plus the wind charka. Now see what happens when I add more. But before that, I have to get some help as I am still not ready to do it without help." Doing the summoning jutsu, I summoned Tau, who would help me once again. "Ah, brother Ishizu. How nice to see you again," greeted Tau, trying to have a nice conversation, but unfortunately, I had summoned him for better things. This panda always wanted to talk about things that were not important right now. "Not now Tau. I need some chakra." Tau signed, shaking his head: "Always chakra this, chakra that. You should sometimes relax and enjoy the wonders of life and eat some dumplings." "He sounds like Kakashi," murmured Naruto while Jiraiya agreed with a nod. I ignored the panda as I infused more and more wind chakra into the Rasengan, and it turned into the Rasenshuriken. "This Naruto is the next step: Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. The only problem with this jutsu is that you have to touch your opponent just like the normal one but in doing so the tiny wind blades inside the Rasengan will also hit your arm, damaging it on a molecular level. If you use it too much, you will lose the ability to move your arm." Jiraiya frowned at this negative effect. Why would he use something with that drawback? I smirked seeing Jiraiya''s face, knowing why he didn''t like it. "However, there is a way to get rid you that side effect. By throwing it and that is accomplished by using Sage Mode." General POV The panda sighted as he knew what was going to happen. Tau put his paw on Ishizu''s right shoulder and Ishizu''s face changes. It was still very risky for Ishizu to use Senjutsu, but for a demonstration, it would do. "Now, here we go: Panda Senpo: Wind Style Rasenshuriken." Ishizu threw the massive Rasengan into the air where it exploded in a bright flash and a big boom. Ishizu took deep breaths in and out after that, still having trouble maintaining the chakra control over such a jutsu. At least he didn''t fall uncouncious. "If you can master Sage Mode, you will be able to do more than one," huffed Ishizu. Naruto was amazed by that Jutsu. Already having images of him throwing many of them. He would have to talk with Jiraiya about this during their training. "So you haven''t finished it, Sensei?" asked a curious Naruto. Ishizu shook his head in denial. "Then let us make a race. The one who will be the first to do it will be Hokage." Ishizu laughed: "Sure, I don''t care." Then Tsunade, Kakashi and 4 Anbu''s arrived. "What the hell happened here? We got information that a massive Jutsu was used. Was it one of you?" asked the Hokage angry. Naruto, Jiraiya as well as Tau pointed their fingers at Ishizu. "You traitors! I show you my awesome Jutsu and you betray me? And you too, Tau?" cried Ishizu, not believing he was betrayed so easily but them. Tsunade used the moment of betrayal and shock as she gave Ishizu an uppercut. The Rinnegan user flew into the air and lost consciousness. "You also won''t leave before all of you give me a complete description of what happened." Tau just smiled before dissapearing. "Hai, baa-san/ Hai Tsunade-hime." After Ishizu woke up, Tsunade questioned him what kind of Jutsu he used. Ishizu explained, and Tsunade banned it immidiatly to be used inside of Konoha and classified it as an S-rank Jutsu. Outside of Konoha''s gate. "Ishizu-sensei you just wait. After two years I will be stronger than ever." Ishizu laughed: "I don''t question that. We will meet each other during your journey. I wish you luck." Before Ishizu left, he whispered to Naruto to meet him on his father''s head before leaving. Naruto waited for Jiraiya and told him he had something important to do. On the head of the 4th Hokage. "So what do you want, Sensei?" asked Naruto as he came closer to his sensei. Ishizu smiled at Naruto. "I remember that I did not give you a present for becoming Chunin. Even though you were not given it officially because of the invasion, I still see you as a Chunin. My present should have been telling you about your father but that super pervert beat me to it. That is why I will give you another more valuable present." Ishizu made 4 hand signs and two coffins appeared. Both were Uzumaki symbols. Naruto knew this jutsu seeing it in the forbidden scroll. "Sensei, this is a forbidden Jutsu." Ishizu smiled at the reaction of Naruto. He was not the only one who viewed this jutsu as one of the bad ones. "People think that Edo Tensei is an evil Jutsu as you bring back the dead to let them fight, but a jutsu is neither evil nor good. It all depends on how you use it, and nobody uses it as I do. To let those who couldn''t see their loved one do it now." The coffins opened and revealed two redheads, Naruto''s mother, Kuchina Uzumaki, and Mito Uzumaki, the Shodaime''s wife. The moment Kushina saw Naruto she ran to him and hugged him, recognizing her son. Mito looked at Ishizu: "Why have you summoned me for?" Ishizu shrugged: "Seeing Kushina how she suffocates her child? I thought you want to come out and see this heart-filling scene. I don''t know how the other world is but seeing a reunion between a mother and a child will melt even your heart." Mito only shook her head: "Using this jutsu for such things. I cannot say that it is wrong." Mito turned to Kushina how saw the child turning blue: "That is enough, Kushina. You are suffocating your child." Kushina shook her head: "I don''t care. I am finally able to see my son and being in control of my body. That reminds me." Kushina let go of Naruto, who was happy for breathing again, and jumped at Ishizu. The sudden attack by the former Jinchuriki made the man take a step back. "Let me go? What have I done to you?" Then Kushina hugged him, freezing Ishizu in place. The Shinobi forgot how nice it was to get a hug from his mother. Then Kushina hit him on his head. "Au! Why did you hit me?" "Never attack your mother ever again, am I clear?" Ishizu cringed and nodded quickly, knowing that one should always agree with an Uzumaki even if they were wrong as they were always right no matter what. This was not something told by Kushina, but rather by Minato. Naruto, who was unconscious during that time, asked Ishizu what had happened. Ishizu smiled weakly: "I might have thrown a Rasenshuriken at Kushina." Naruto was taken aback at this situation. "And why would you do that?" Now all eyes were on Ishizu. That latter frowned as he stood up and pointed at the three: "Hey, don''t look at me like that. What should I do if I was faced with an angry Uzumaki with Adamantium Chains who has unlimited chakra and wants to kill me? I end it with one move." Kushina hit Ishizu again: "You don''t throw such attacks at your mother, no matter if I want to kill you or not." Ishizu felt like he got a concussion. That is why he feared Uzumaki''s. He could not imagine Minato surviving it. Maybe being in the stomach of the Shinigami had something good. "Ishizu can you bring back my father?" Naruto asked, trying to diffuse the situation. Ishizu shook his head in denial: "That is impossible right now. Your father''s soul is in the stomach of the Shinigami, so he is safe from your mother." The last part should have been muttered, but he forgot. This earned him a glare from the young Uzumaki. "When I fought Orochimaru he tried to summon your father but before the coffin could come out a hand took it back." Kushina hit Ishizu again. "I know that you are hiding something. I can feel it." ''Damit woman. Do you want to kill me? Stop hitting me,'' w.h.i.n.ed Ishizu in his mind. Ishizu sighted: "Yes, it is possible to bring him back." Naruto shouted: "Tell us Ishizu-sensei!" Ishizu looked at Naruto: "You have to find the mask of the Shinigami, put it on your face and slash your stomach. Everything you do, the Shinigami will do, but I don''t know if you can survive that." Naruto looked sad at that statement. "I will find it Naruto, don''t worry." After that Naruto and Kushina had some small talk with Mito and after that Ishizu de-summoned them. "If something happens to my child, I will come back from the dead and gut you. Are we clear, Ishizu-chan?" Kuchina said with a demon smile before she went inside the coffin. Ishizu gulped, but reassured her that he would keep her son safe. "Don''t worry Naruto. I will find a way to bring both of your parents back, I swear," said Ishizu as the coffins were gone. With that ended the Naruto series. Naruto and Jiraiya left but before that, Ishizu gave him secretly a scroll so he could summon himself to him if he ever needed so time to talk. Ishizu told Tsunade that he will also leave to train with the pandas. She agreed if I would give her a monthly report. Now Ishizu stood again in the same place where he once summoned Tau. ''Ram''>''Monkey''>''Bird''>''Dog''>''Boar'' Reverse summoning Jutsu. With that, Ishizu was gone to *DD* to train and get as strong as possible. The future unknown. Chapter 45 - A New Sage Rises The fight between Jiraiya and Orochimaru was the same as in canon but Kabuto has trouble fighting Naruto. Naruto was already Chunin level and only because of his high regeneration was Kabuto better. Ishizu didn''t think Kuchina''s arrival was such a shocker for Naruto that Kabuto used the moment to attack Naruto''s heart muscles. Tsunade seeing Naruto in such a state gave her power to clear her mind. What she didn''t expect was Naruto to stand up and red chakra surrounding him. "Ishizu, stop him. Naruto is using the fox" shouted Kuchina. Ishizu looked for a second but didn''t leave. "I trust Naruto as his Sensei that he won''t do anything severe. Now, our fight is not over, Kuchina." Inside Naruto''s mind. "I told you to use my chakra from the beginning, but noooo, you wanted to have it your way!" shouted the Kyuubi. Naruto had a tick mark: "Hey, it is not every time you see your mother alive you stupid fox!" Replied Naruto. The Kyuubi snorted: "Doesn''t matter. Your body took my chakra already but only for one attack and then you will rely on that woman. His attack weakened your heart muscles." Naruto smiled: "I trust her." Outside Kabuto attacked Naruto again, but his eyes widened as a reddish ball was formed in Naruto''s hand. A Kyuubi empowered Rasengan slammed into a Kabuto who flew away. That was enough for Naruto as he dropped. Seeing her son in this condition Kuchina narrowed her eyes. "That''s it Ishizu. How dare you not do anything to my baby boy?" "****," Ishizu cursed. Fighting an Uzumaki was hard enough. Fighting a mad Uzumaki was suicide. He knew Naruto would handle it but Kuchina wouldn''t tolerate it. That was the love of a mother. Ishizu knew it all too well. And to his horror, Kuchina summoned her Charka Chain. "Damm you Kuchina! Why can you summon those things even when you are dead?" Ishizu didn''t have time as the chains flew towards him. Ishizu dodged, knowing enough what could happen if he got hit by them. "Is that all you got, Ishizu-chan? I thought you got better with your age?" mocked Kuchina. That was it for Ishizu. How dare she moke him like that? He will be the Oni-slayer. "Nevermind, you are right. It is time to end this." In both fighting places, four people performed simultaneously the same Jutsu. "Summoning Jutsu." On one side Manda, Gamakishi and Katsuyu appeared. The famous 3 man-deadlock-formation. On the other side, a single small panda the same size as Ishizu appeared. Orochimaru looked curious at the panda as well as the others. "Ah, student Ishizu, it is good to see you again," the panda said, seeing his student. Ishizu glared at him: "No time for formalities, Tau. I need to end this quick and she is a strong opponent, so I need something strong to render her useless for a few seconds. I need you to do it." Tau shook his head when he took out bamboo from out of nowhere and hit Ishizu with said bamboo: "It is still ''master'' Tau for you, apprentice, and you still can''t properly connect with nature energy. Do you remember what happened last time you used it?" "You don''t have to give me a lot. Just give me some for one Jutsu. That all I need, master Tau," asked Ishizu. Tau sighed but placed his paw on Ishizu''s back. "You will regret it, my stupid student," said Tau. Ishizu summoned a shadow clone to perform it. "This is the end for you Kuchina. I told you that I will surpass both you and Minato but I could only do it now and only for Minato." Ishizu''s eye orbits started to change. The Rasengan formed by his clone grew bigger and adding wind element it grew to a Rasenshuriken. "This is the final form of my Rasengan for now." Master Tau infused more nature energy into Ishizu and his face also changed. "Be obliterated by my strongest attack." "Take this." "Panda Senpo. Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!" Ishizu threw the massive Rasengan at Kuchina who tried to block it with her Chakra Chain but it was futile. The gigantic ball of compressed wind chakra flew easily, like a knife through butter, through her chains. "BOOOOM" The explosion was enormous. ''Now or never!'' thought Ishizu as he ran into the smoke cloud activating his Rinnegan. He saw that Kuchina''s soul started to regenerate, but she couldn''t do anything in that state. "Thanks, Pedomaru, for this soul. Don''t worry, Mom. You will see your son soon enough," muttered Ishizu. With his last chakra, Ishizu summoned the King of Hell, grabbed the soul and put it into the King. His chakra was very low and Ishizu dropped unconscious because of chakra exhaustion. Outside Master Tau shook his head before leaving. "He still needs to go through the trial to be a full Sage. Using nature energy as he did before is not good at all. I should tell Sage Po to forbid him to use it so casually." Nobody except Jiraiya knew what Ishizu had done before running into the smoke. Ishizu transformed into an incomplete Sage. Orochimaru had a suspicion of what Ishizu was doing, but he was uncertain. The fight was not good for Orochimaru so he and Kabuto retreated. Naruto woke up and challenged Tsunade as she announced that she would become Hokage. Ishizu also awoke but couldn''t really move from his reckless attack. He watched amused as a sober Tsunade crushed Naruto and the kissed him on the forehead. "Heh, if you kiss many people then you could get yourself a husband but I am sorry, I am already taken," proclaimed Ishizu. Tsunade wasn''t so happy to hear Ishizu talking about her age and so he got his a.s.s whopped. Back in the village, Tsunade healed Kakashi. Sasuke was not inside Tsukuyomi but had a broken arm. She told Lee to give up as a Shinobi but inside she didn''t believe in numbers and tried to find a way to help him. In Ishizu''s apartment: Ishizu had the privilege to lie in his bed. It took him 5 days to recover, and instead of an easy day, 6 students stood in front of his door. "Ehh, why are you here?" The people who stood in front of his house were: His team and team 7. "Ishizu-sensei can you tell us how Kakashi-sensei looks like? He always has this stupid mask on and maybe you could tell us how he looks" asked Ino. Ishizu only cringed. It was a filler episode and one he knew. He didn''t want them to know as Kakashi would get him back so the only thing to do was to lie. "I am sorry but even I have never seen his face. I think he has it since I first saw him." They looked sad but then Naruto smiled. "Maybe you can help us find it out?" Ishizu thought for a moment. For the moment he had nothing to do. It would take some time for the Sound 4 to arrive and because of ''Nature''s calm'' Sasuke was only partly dependent on the snake. So why not? "Sure I will help." So a small group of children an a.d.u.l.t went to uncover one of many mysteries of the Shinobi world. Unfortunately, no matter what they did, Kakashi always was one step ahead. Then came the Moya Triad, but let''s skip that. The latter smiled and looked at Ishizu. "I am in your debt that you didn''t reveal it." Ishizu smiled: "You have the honor to show them." Kakashi turned to the fuming Naruto and smiled. "If you really want to see what is behind my mask; you just had to ask. Here I show it to you." Kakashi slowly put his and on his mask. Everyone waited for the moment. Somewhere in the background was a drum playing. Under Kakashi''s mask was... another mask, what a surprise. Later that night, one could hear people shouting profanities. Chapter 45 - Important Announcement Hey reader. I finally did it. I know it is not a major achievement in my life, but I am still happy that I made it through whole Naruto. I just started this FanFiction to see if I could write my own stuff, but I never thought I would make it up to this point. Almost 70k worlds. For me, that is a lot. And now we are finished with Naruto. There won''t be any more chapters about it. People will think why. Are you dropping this after you made it this far? Are you one of those who made it to the middle only to give up? Well, the reason is simple. At this point, ''Naruto'' is finished so there won''t be anything to write about it. After this comes Naruto ''Shippuden.'' This not Naruto as it has a Shippuden in it. Ok.... yeah, I just wanted to troll and see if people fell for it. But let''s come to what I wanted to say. Of course, I will continue, but it depends on my motivation and how my life goes. I know people don''t care about others especially if they are just writers on but I hope you won''t leave me because there will come times where I will take breaks just to relax. I am publishing 2 fanfictions. One is hard enough, but two? Give me a break so I can make new chapters. Just like in December, I will go on Hiatus somewhere around May because I have exams and if I fail, you have to wait for me to post. So the bigger question is: What happens after Naruto? Sure, there are some flashbacks about Naruto''s training with Jiraiya, but from my point of view, he didn''t learn much. If I remember correctly, he learned to do a much bigger Rasengan, how to dispel a Genjutsu and tried to control Kurama''s chakra that failed. And of course how to properly fight. I read somewhere that he left to get to know Jiraiya better. There are many theories but we are here in my FanFiction so I do as I like. Some like Jiraiya teaching Naruto and some not. Here we focus on Ishizu. He is Naruto''s teacher and already made him stronger than in canon. So, will he let him go with Jiraiya to basically learn nothing? Hell no! The next chapters are going to cover what will happen during the time skip. Our Mc will grow stronger up to the point where he won''t be defeated. And of course, he will help Naruto as he is his student. Through the next chapters, original characters are going to be introduced who will at some point re-appear so I will make an extra chapter to write down who is who so people won''t get confused. Now for the training. I won''t spoil much, but both Naruto and Ishizu will learn Sage Mode. The latter already started so he will finish it. For Naruto? At first, I made chapters where he mastered it quickly, like in canon, but then I saw that this would destroy my future chapters. Ah yes, the downside of making someone OP to quick. So, just as I did for the Izanagi, I will use the power of Author to change things to my will. Meaning Naruto will start learning Sage Mode, but he won''t master it, even after 2 years. He can maybe use it for a minute or less. Why? Because I don''t want to. So don''t write about nerfing things because you want to see a more OP Naruto. It won''t happen for now. As Ishizu will have a long time to train, he will learn a lot but don''t think he will just become a God-like being, kill Obito, Nagato, and Zetsu, get Kaguya as his wife and happy end. Noooooooo. That would be too boring. Sure our Mc will be strong, but even he won''t learn everything. Only in dire situations one can break through their shell and reach new hights. He will also take breaks as I am a lazy person and so is Ishizu. Nobody would train 24/7 even if you have a goal. Or is it only me? So expect there to be times where the Mc does not completely destroy his enemies, especially if somebody is around who sees it. There will be other times where he will learn more things, such as after the time skip. We have to be low-key and wait for the right moment. I will make use of my famous ''learn a new technique and chakra almost gone'' that I used in with the Rinnegan where people complained about it. So be warned! I don''t want you to complain, as it won''t happen much. ''I have to reread but I think it happens only once so be happy.'' Ishizu has to be careful not to reveal himself to his enemies and friends, especially Naruto, so I will make use of his other form of Yamamoto the Wood God to confront his enemies. Coming to a different thing. All the next chapters will be original, my own creation, and I put a lot of work into them. In those chapters, I will create my own ideas of how ''things'' work that you will read so I won''t spoil. I will only say this: I will make use of the plot holes Kishimoto had in the original. So things that are common knowledge as they stand in the wiki will be different from here. They are not perfect, and I hope they are understandable. What those changes are will be explained in those chapters. I just hope you will go with the flow and don''t question much as I probably won''t reply back as to not spoil more. Also, something important is that those OC chapters will have an effect on the future and that significantly. This means that some arcs will stay the same, others can slightly change while others never happen in the first place. The changes created by Ishizu will have an effect on people''s life. People who died in the original won''t or vice versa. As for dying: I am not a fan of killing off characters and only do it if they are not important or I hate them. Hate me all you want. I am a ''female cat'' and I am fine with it. Meaning there won''t be a lot of death. Only one thing is sure. Orochimaru must die! Wow, I have written a lot and I am not even sure if I wrote everything I need to say because things can change as I write more and more. To summit up: There will be Oc chapter with Oc characters, Mc will become OP, if he isn''t already, but won''t roll over the others. Things will change in Shippuden due to Oc chapters, and some people who died won''t die. If you are here, then I salute you for reading all of it. I hope you enjoyed up until now and will continue reading Naruto: Journey of the Strongest Teacher. Peace out. Chapter 46 - Omake 2: The Panda Sage Mode Reminder: This happened in the month of the Chunin Exam Ishizu POV I waited for my Sage Mode teacher to arrive. Po said that it will be a surprise who will be my teacher. "I hope I am not late, Sage apprentice Ishizu." I turned around and met a familiar panda. It was Tau, greeting me. "You? You are my teacher?" I asked. Tau nodded. "From now on, during the training, call me master Tau. I will teach you the Panda Sage Mode. Now, listen up. Every Sage Mode differs from each other. The usual thing that Sage Mode does is increasing all of you Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. Your other senses are heightened by a certain degree. You will get a third source of chakra in your body. You have spiritual and physical, and now you will learn to gather nature energy. The difficulty lies in that with the first two you are born with them. The other one you have to learn to gather from nature. If you gather too little, it will be useless. Too much, and you will turn into the animal where you train. With training, one can gather more and more energy." "So what do I have to do, master? Stay completely still?" I asked. Tau nodded. "Yes, patience is key. First, you will do it on the ground. After that, you will see the next step. I don''t want you to be overexcited. You are not a child so you will have trouble at first gathering it, but as you have a natural condition for Sage Mode, you will quickly master it later. The first hurdle will be the hardest. Now, sit down and eat a dumpling." I looked at Tau. "Why should I eat dumplings?" Tau looked at me sighing: "Because we don''t use toad oil. We use these dumplings. We fill them with nature energy. Eat one, sit down and don''t move a muscle. Simple isn''t it?" "Sure, but can you tell me the special power one gets when he masters Panda Sage Mode. I know that Toads can use the Sage Mode to make an invisible attack and Snake Sage mode allows its user to manipulate nature itself. If I think about it, Kabuto was super strong and was defeated by a deus ex machina Izanami. So what can I do?" Tau smiled: "Our Sage Mode allowed us to surround our body with nature energy. Here, try to hit me," said Tau gesturing to me. I shrugged and threw a punch at Tau. The punch didn''t connect as my hand started to hurt. "This is what we call Panda Armor. The nature energy surrounds my body acting as a second shield of my body. It is not only good for defense but it helps to get rid of air friction, allowing me to reach speed as fast as teleportation. I can use it as an extension on my body to hit you with. The toads later used the attack version for their frog kata. It improved our Taijutsu style to a whole new level." My eyes widened, hearing such a thing. "I wouldn''t think about it much. You have a long time to even feel the natural chakra alone without using the dumplings. Now eat and be quiet," said master Tau. I took the dumpling and put it into my mouth, chewing it. I felt an unfamiliar energy invading my body. I felt pain in my head. I opened my eyes and saw that Tau hit me with a bamboo stick. "Again. Close your eyes take a bite and if I see you''re turning into a panda, I will hit you with the bamboo," said Tau smiling. "Do you enjoy hitting me?" I asked. Tau continued smiling: "No, but you will either enjoy it or not. And I told you to call me master." This continued for the whole day. Taking a bite of the dumpling, feeling the nature energy and getting hit by bamboo. As there was no night I didn''t know how long I sat until Tau spoke up. "That''s enough. I think you started to feel the difference between your chakra and my." Afterward, I went back to Konoha and later came back to train. In that month, I could distinguish between nature and my own energy. I even could do an empowered Rasengan if Tau gave me a supporting hand by physical contact. But this had a negative side effect. When I first did it, I was unconscious for a day. The problem was that my control over nature energy was so horrible that when I used the Rasengan, the energy would drain together with my own chakra, leaving me with heavy chakra exhaustion. The days went by and I did nothing but eat, feel nature energy and get hit by Tau, I mean master Tau. The panda was very strickt when it came to names. One day I decided to try out something new. I walked to master Tau. "Master Tau, I want to see if I can do my new jutsu." Tau looked at me as if I was crazy. "You do remember what happens last time when you used a Ninjutsu together with my sage energy?" I nodded: "Yes, but this is something that has to do with pride, master." Tau sighed but agreed. "If you drop dead, I won''t be the one who killed you." I agreed and I made my normal Rasengan. I summoned two shadow clones who added wind into it and it grew larger. I put more into it and it looked like a Rasenshuriken. "Come, master Tau, help me!" Tau pressed his paw on my shoulder and I felt the energy rushing into me. From the outside one could see how Ishizu''s features changes. His face had the features of a panda. His left eyes orbit was white while his left was black. He was no Sage so he couldn''t control the nature energy. Only through master Tau, Ishizu didn''t turn to stone. ''Let''s do it. I will be the first to make this happen.'' I could feel that I had enough to throw it. "Panda Senpo, Wind Style: Rasenshuriken," I shouted as I threw the massive wind blade into the air. It exploded midair. I started to laugh. "Take that Naruto, Sensei, and Jiraiya. I am the first to do it. See that master Tau." Tau looked at me. "3...2...1... Good night my stupid apprentice." I didn''t know what happened but my vision went dark. Chapter 47 - A Christmas Special I made this chapter to say thank you for all of you who added this Fan Fiction to your collection. We finally reached 1 million views. Have fun reading it and Merry Christmas. Ishizu POV As I opened my eyes, I saw a forest in my sight. ''What the heck, where the hell am I?'' I asked myself. This was not my house where I lived. "Hey, man. What are you doing here?" I heard a voice behind me. I quickly turned around and was met with a face I haven''t seen for ages. A young Obito Uchiha looked at me curiously. As a Shinobi I calmed myself and stood up. "You can call me Fox. I am a Konoha Anbu. My mask got destroyed by an enemy Shinobi," I lied. Yeah, I didn''t know a better excuse, but kid Obito wasn''t the smartest and it looked like the young Uchiha believed me. He smiled. "Oh, cool. Let''s go my Sensei is here." I nodded but inside my mind, I was panicking. No way in hell would Minato believe the same excuse I made with Obito. I still didn''t know where and how I was here but seeing a young, innocent Obito made me believe I was in the past. My thoughts were interrupted as Obito called for me. We walked out of the open air and to my horror I saw my Sensei and the worst, a younger me. I quickly made a Genjutsu to change my face. "Minato-sensei I found an Anbu in the woods and he has lost his mask." I had to hold my hands back from Obito''s throat or I would have killed him. Minato smiled, but I knew his smiles all too well. It said: One wrong move and you are dead. Well, can''t do anything. I didn''t want to fight my Sensei or whole Konoha. "Good job, Obito-kun. Could you go with Ishizu-kun to help Kuchina in the kitchen?" Obito nodded while my other self looked at me frowning. ''Little shit knows something is wrong.'' As they left I looked at Minato but he was gone and his kunai was at my throat. "You Genjutsu is very good, but I see that it is a Genjutsu. Tell me who you are. If you think you are lying to me, you will have a good time at T&I." I sighed: "I hope you won''t kill me accidentally if I remove my Genjutsu." Minato nodded but was still at my throat. I dispelled my Jutsu and for a moment Minato looked baffled but quickly put his kunai near my coronary artery. "I told you to dispel you Jutsu not to make it looks like one of my students." I got angry for his stupidity. "Oh, you are always so slow in your brain. Do I look like I have another Genjutsu on me? I always thought you compensated your teleport Jutsu with your brain speed. You idiot of an adopted father. It is me," I whispered the last sentence so only he could hear it. Minato backed off clearly trying to process the information. I smiled: "Yes, think. If you could think faster maybe okaa-san would love you more." Minato had his eyes widen: "It is really you, Ishizu." I shrugged: "Who else would I be if not me." Minato looked past me: "But that is impossible. You went with Obito to Kushina." I shook my head: "This is the ninja world. If you can teleport from one point to another, then you can time travel. Simple as that." He took my arm and in a blink of a second we teleported and I lost consciousness. When I woke up and looked up, I saw a curious Kushina looking at me. I made a small smile: "So I am in hell, huh? I always knew the Red-headed Oni would torture me. Oh, how I miss my life," I sarcastically said. Kushina looked at Minato. "He is the real one." As she looked at me she smiled while I nearly pissed myself. "I hope you still remember what I do to you if you call me like that don''t you Ishizu-chan?" I slowly nodded as Minato took the sealing array of me. Then Kushina hugged me and I hugged her back. I used all my mental power to hold my tears back. "You look so old Ishizu-chan," said Kushina. I frowned: "Hey, I am in my late-30s and I also have a wife." Kushina''s eyes looked like hearts. "Oh, you are so going to tell me all about her." At the kitchen table, I sat with Minato while Kushina was cooking. "Where are the other kids?" I asked. Kushina answers: "Obito is with Rin buying stuff. Kakashi is somewhere training and your younger self, well you should know better than us." I had a sad face remembering: "I was stupid. Right now I am somewhere in the woods learning the Rasengan instead of sitting here with you and enjoying the company." Minato looked at me. "Don''t be so hard on yourself Ishizu." My emotions went crazy that the worlds out of my mouth came like a river. "You know if I spend more time with both of you I would have been there when the Kyuubi came out and destroyed half of Konoha. If I wasn''t so focused on getting stronger, I would have saved both of you!" "Shh, it is ok. It is not your fault," said Kushina. My mental block broke and I, an a.d.u.l.t, started to cry in her arms. I told her what would happen during the mission of Kakashi and Obito. How Obito ''died'' and was manipulated by Madara. Rin also died by suiciding with Kakashi''s Chidori and how Obito was so brainwashed that he released the Kyuubi on Konoha. Both listened, but they said nothing. Then Minato said an important thing. "I have heard that the 3rd wanted someone to go to the Kannabi bridge. You mean that is where Obito would die, right?" I looked at him and nodded. Minato smiled: "Well, why don''t we help them both? You said that I was somewhere else but what if I stayed hidden from them and we waited until we see this Zetsu you talked about? With him, we could find Madara and kill him." I looked at him with awe: "So your jutsu doesn''t compensate for your brain?" Kushina''s laughter filled the house. Minato and I talked about our abilities so we could fight Madara and Zetsu off. Old training ground 43: "Ah, how I love this place. It is the same where I trained my students. Now let''s see what you have in your sleeves old man," I said as I attacked Minato. Minato took 5 of his special kunai and threw them into different directions. "Wood Style: Wood clones." I summoned 4 wood which went after each kunai. Minato formed a Rasengan and vanished teleporting to another kunai but I already had one of my clones there to attack. As soon as Minato saw the clone he teleported away while throwing a kunai to me. I dodged. Instead of blocking as Minato teleported to the kunai. "No fun. You know my moves," cried Minato as he did not hit me with his Rasengan. I smirked as I activated my Rinnegan and summoned a Rasengan with a fire element. "Let''s see if you can dodge this: Flamerasengan." Minato quickly teleported away as the fire Rasengan hit his kunai and disintegrated it. "I think we should end this. I don''t think I will survive a single hit from something like that," laughed Minato. I shrugged: "Well, even if you died I could bring you back to life." "That doesn''t mean I won''t feel pain, does it?" asked Minato. I just grinned, confirming his question. A week passed by. I didn''t know that I missed my adoptive parents so much. During the week I avoided interacting with my other self but just one day after Obito and Kakashi left for the mission the younger Ishizu came into the house. "All right. What is going on here? I haven''t seen one of you in the last week." As he came into the kitchen, he saw me talking with Minato. He saw my face and facepalmed: "I knew I shouldn''t have come here." He looked at Minato: "Why is he here and you didn''t tell me about it." Before Minato could answer I did: "Because you were too focused on training. You didn''t even know that Obito and Kakashi are going with Rin to the Kannabi bridge. You remember what will happen, don''t you?" I already told both Minato and Kuchina that I was someone who reincarnated, but they still loved me. Young Ishizu''s eyes widened as he tried to storm out of the house, but Minato held him back. "Let me go! I have to help them!" shouted young Ishizu. "Well, when I was young I didn''t, but why do you want to do it?" I asked him. My younger self shouted at me: "Because they are my friend!" I shrugged my shoulders: "So? I know you have more important stuff to do. Enjoying making the Rasengan better and improving your Fuinjutsu. You could just let it happen as I did." Young Ishizu fell on his knees: "I am sorry, ok? I wanted to become strong so nothing like that would happen. I can''t fight Madara and Zetsu with a weak body as I have now. I wanted to protect my family!" Kushina who came from behind and heard him say that hugged him: "And there is nothing wrong with that. But sometimes you have to rely on your friends and family. It will always help to have someone help you. That''s why teamwork''s so important." I stood up: "Then it is decided. I suspect that Obito will be trapped in a day so we have to hurry and save him. Me, okaa-san and otou-san are enough to give this old fossil a grave. And also that mama boy." I looked at my younger self: "You will come as well. You will help Obito and Kakashi." The young Ishizu looked skeptical at me: "And how are you going to fight him? Even if he is old, he is at a high Kage level." I smirked as I activated my Rinnegan: "Oh, he will fall. That, I can guarantee you." My younger self had stars in his eyes as he saw the Rinnegan. "We will have a talk, young man, about taking blood from my son, you hear me?" said Kushina from behind. Both I and my younger self paled but nodded. Near the Kannabi bridge. We saw as the Iwa Shinobi made the cave collapse. At the same time, Minato killed the Shinobi, and we both sprinted into the cave. I saw that it was not too late. Obito was already under the rock but I had confidence in my Rinnegan to make Obito the same as he was before. Minato took Kakashi and Rin out and I approached Obito. "It.. is... you... Anbu-san. I am... gland... to see... you... again" coughed Obito. I smiled at him: "Oh, Obito, you are far from going to the pure world. Just relax and everything will be fine." He closed his eyes. I made a wood clone to look like Obito. I moved the stone and took place the clone inside. Outside, younger Ishizu healed Kakashi and Rin while I summoned the King of Hell to heal Obito. "Now, Zetsu will find my clone and will transport him to Madara. The moment Madara sees my clone he will know that somebody tricked him. What he doesn''t know is that the clone will summon us to him. Be ready." Minato and Kushina nodded, and I sat down to draw natural energy. "So you are a Toad Sage like Naruto will be? " asked younger Ishizu. I smirked as I felt the power flowing into me. "Oh, Ishizu-kun, you do not understand how wrong you are. Pandas are way cooler than Toads." My eyes began to change. (I won''t spoiler how he looks like a perfect Sage) Madara''s hidden base "Madara-sama, I have brought you the Uchiha!" said Guruguru, one of the Zetsu clones. An old Madara was sitting on a throne connected to the Gedo Mazo. "Good, show him to me. He will help me fulfill project: Tsuku no me," said Madara with a deep voice. Guruguru showed him the body. Madara looked, but he soon frowned as he saw the body. "Damm you Zetsu, that is a clone!" The clone stood up and kicked Guruguru away: "Yes you old fossil and this will be your doom!" The clone made hand signs and summoned the real Ishizu, Minato, and Kushina. As the cave broke open because of the summoning, Ishizu performed together with Kushina a massive Fuinjutsu. "Fuinjutsu: Complete Isolation!" It was a jutsu made against any intruders and things that wanted to escape. No matter how. I saw Madara''s activating his Susanoo and injuring Minato, so I called him back: "Otou-san move back I will handle it. You and Kuchina look after that plant." Minato teleported back, and I made my way to Madara. "Oh, you have no idea how long I waited to dance with you again, my dear Madara," I smiled. Madara looked at me emotionless: "I don''t think we had the opportunity to meet." My smile grew wider as I opened my Rinnegan with my Sage Mode: "Then I am sorry for you. I hope you will have a good afterlife. Say hi to Hashirama for would ya." His eyes widened as he saw the Rinnegan. I read his thoughts: "Your question will not be answered but I can tell you that you were also a pawn in the big game. A stupid son who wanted his mother back used you, am I right Black Zetsu?" Minato and Kuchina held Black Zetsu in place so he couldn''t escape. "Damm you! How did you know? I made everything perfect for my mother''s revival." I smirked: "It doesn''t matter. You and Madara lived too long, rest now." My whole appearance changes. 9 Truth-Seeker Orbs flew behind me. Madara attacked with his Susanoo but I commanded my Orbs to fly with such speed that they easily broke through Madara''s Susanoo like it was paper. I teleported behind him and with a quick grip I snapped his neck before he could do anything. "That is finished. Now, what to do with you," I said, walking to Zetsu. "You made many people suffer when you worked behind the shadow. Let everything come to light." Suddenly a portal opened above me and a beautiful woman came of it. The woman wasn''t happy seeing Ishizu. "There you are, stupid husband. I looked everywhere and then I see that you traveled back in time. How dare you do that without me knowing that!" I sweatdropped: "Hello sweetheart, I am busy right now. Could you come back later?" Kaguya gave me a look that said ''shut up, I talk, you listen.'' Black Zetsu cried out: "Mother, help me!" She looked at him annoyed: "I said be quiet. I am taking." She used her Rinnesharingan and Zetsu was gone. She looked at me: "Now you have a lot to explain." I tried to say something but just hung my shoulders down and walked to her. "My, she knows how to handle her husband," said Kushina. Kaguya smiles at the Uzumaki. "I think we will like each other. Let''s go back to your house. I always wanted to talk with my mother- and father-in-law." Kaguya teleported all of us to the Namikaze/Uzumaki residence. At home General POV "Kaguya, my love.." Kaguya gave Ishizu a stare to be quiet. At the time where both males sat quietly as Kaguya talked a lot with Kushina. Many things about how to control your husband and whatnot. "You got yourself a good wife, Ishizu. I am proud," said Minato. Ishizu could only sigh. "I think it is time to go home. You have made enough problems already. I will punish you at home. Say goodbye to your family," said Kaguya as she stood up and left. I smiled and Kushina and Minato hugged me. "We will miss you. Never think that you made the wrong choice," told Kushina Ishizu. I wish you good luck Ishizu. Hope you are alive next time we meet," smiled Minato. Kushina glared at Minato who shut up. Ishizu walked to my younger self, who was hugged by Kaguya. "Hey! Why don''t I get a hug as he does?" Ishizu asked his wife. Kaguya giggled: "Because I love your younger face." Ishizu couldn''t believe it. He lost against his younger part. "See. No matter how strong you are, I will be the winner. Nevermind, I wish you luck in your life." Kaguya saw his sad face and smiled:" Oh dear, don''t worry. I talked with myself in this world and told her about you. Just wait a few years and she will come." Young Ishizu smiled and hugged her. "Hey enough. She is my wife." Young Ishizu just smiled like a pervert. "Damm you! Hands of my wife!" Unknown Place "Wow, that was one hell of a dream." Ishizu woke up. "Are you all right?" came a voice from behind the door. The door opened, and it revealed Kaguya. "Yeah, I had the wildest dream ever. I was in the part and helped my family with problems I never could have done in the past. I don''t know but I feel as if I lost something which hindered me for a long time." Kaguya smiled: "That''s what dreams are for. They help you with real life. Now come and eat. Your friend, Ender, and his wife Melascula will arrive in the evening." Ishizu nodded at stood up, forgetting about the strange dream. Back in the house "Stupid husband. He dares to forget the punishment I gave him for creating a new time stream. I will enjoy punishing him again for forgetfulness." Chapter 48 - 1 Month Hiatus Yes, you read it right. I am going on a hiatus for a month. Probably until the 25th of January. Reason: New Year and Winter Exam. It will also give me time to look over my old chapters to remake them. I think 17 chapters need to be looked up and I will probably delete and repost them to make each one around 1.000 words long as most of the readers tend to look at the first chapters. If they see 300 words, most of them leave thinking it is a waste of time. Therefore, I have to apologize if the comments are deleted as well. I just don''t know why the updated versions where I corrected my mistakes are not shown on mobile phones and only on the Pc. If you have an idea of how to do that feel free to tell me. Maybe I will write one chapter if I have time but don''t hope for it. This time will also help me think about the future of new chapters. I am very far ahead in writing but¡­. I HATE FILLER EPISODES. ESPECIALLY THE LONG ONES. I won''t spoil but those fillers are very important, so don''t think they will be boring. So. That''s all, folks. See you next year and Happy New Year. Chapter 46 - Old and New Teachers While Ishizu was training with the pandas, Naruto had other problems. Since the departure of teacher and student, Jiraiya was doing a bad job as a teacher, and Naruto knew that as he compared him to Ishizu. And Naruto was sure that Ishizu was better. The first thing Jiraiya asked Naruto was how good he could control the foxes chakra. Telling him the truth was a big mistake as the Sannin summoned a frog that held the key to the cage of the fox. Thinking it was a good idea, Jiraiya opened up the seal for a bit and Naruto transformed into the 3 Tails immediately. "What is this guy doing opening up the seal so suddenly? He is crazy thinking that boy can handle this much chakra. The last time this happened was with the other guy," mumbled Kurama inside Naruto''s mind as he watched from the inside the cage. "This is not good. I cannot control this any longer. I need to do something," said Naruto as he felt losing control before remembering the scroll Ishizu-sensei gave him. Back in the Dumpling Dynasty, Ishizu was eating dumplings and getting a better feel for the nature energy when he was suddenly transported. Looking around, he saw Naruto before him, covered by the Kyuubi chakra. "Sensei, help me," asked Naruto and he went into 4 Tails mode. ''What the hell is going on?'' thought Ishizu as a Kyuubi arm hit him and sent him flying into a tree. Jiraiya, too, was caught off guard by Ishizu''s appearances and was attacked by Naruto. Unfortunately, the Sannin flew into a house and hit his head going unconscious. "Perfect. My first time being summoned by Naruto and not only is it so early, but I have to fight against this one again. Soooo annoying," muttered Ishizu as he got up from the tree. Inside Naruto''s mind. "Hey, I can see what is happening outside," said Naruto. "Yes, but you can''t do anything else. Just hope your sensei can contain you before something bad happens," answered the Kyuubi. Outside, Naruto started making a Tailed Beast Bomb. Ishizu''s eyes widened, knowing what would happen if he fired that thing. Opening his Rinnegan, Ishizu transformed his arm into a laser cannon. "Oh, no you don''t," said Ishizu before firing it at the small dense chakra and it exploded. With his Rinnegan, Ishizu could see what happened inside the smoke and he cursed. Another tail emerged from Naruto''s back. Ishizu frowned. "I can''t go all out with him. Maybe using the preta path could help, but he knows that from last time. Dumb beast or not, he learns from mistakes." That''s when Ishizu saw the sealing toad. "You are the toad that has the key to the Kyuubi seal, right?" asked Ishizu and got a nervous nod. "Well, I am the student of Minato Namikaze and I need access to the key to stop this thing from reaching more tails. Be reasonable and give me access." The toad only nodded before opening up its torso, and Ishizu printed his hand on the seal, making him another key holder. Turning to Naruto, he saw his clone getting demolished. "I have to make this quick before Jiraiya wakes up." Both charged at each other while Ishizu held his right hand behind his back, activating the key to seal the chakra. With a Shinra Tensei, the 5 Tails flew back before getting dragged back by a Bansho Ten''in. "And sleep, Naruto," said Ishizu before slamming his right hand into Naruto''s stomach and turning the seal to close it. Naruto g.r.o.a.n.e.d as the red chakra disappeared. It was good for Ishizu to have the seal in case something like this ever happened. Writing a note for Naruto, Ishizu left. After that Naruto and Jiraiya woke up and the Sannin didn''t remember at all that he tried to open the seal of Naruto and wanted to try it again only for Naruto to decline. Like that another week past. Naruto POV I''ve had enough. I am starting to like the fox more than my own godfather. "I would smile if I was not in this cage," smirked Kurama. "Can''t you help me somehow? I need to be strong to fight against the Akatsuki that Jiraiya talks about, but I doubt my current strength is enough," asked Naruto. The fox thought for a second: "I could try, but what would I get in return? "We can do business." I looked at the seal: "I need to call for Ishizu-sensei. If you help from inside and Ishizu helps from the outside, we can do it." The fox snored: "Sure, I don''t care." I poured chakra into the seal. The seal vibrates and I placed it on the ground, waiting for something to happen. In the *DD* Ishizu felt his seal activating. ''What is it this time? I need to train, Naruto.'' That''s when an idea came up for Ishizu. "Master Tau, can I bring Naruto here?" Tau shook his head: "Not right now. We will tell you when he is allowed, but this is not the moment. Our sacred ground is not to be seen by outsiders. You are the only human we allow entrance because you are special. Others have to be chosen by master Po." Naruto POV From the seal, Ishizu appeared and looked at Naruto, expecting a fight again. "What is wrong, Naruto? It has been only a week since that incident and you already summoned me." I looked at him: "That is because I am bored and afraid. Pervy Sage just goes to a bar and drinks with women, leaving me alone. Then he tells me to work with the fox and I don''t want ''that'' to happen again. Can you help me somehow?" Ishizu thought for a minute. He expected for Jiraiya to leave Naruto to train for himself but Naruto was more m.a.t.u.r.e and wanted to grow stronger. No wonder he didn''t learn anything good during the time skip in canon. "I have a suggestion for that. This is one of the time offers from me." I would do everything to get stronger. I had to defeat Yamamoto, Akatsuki and bring Sasuke back. "Tell me what I have to do to become strong so I can protect my loved one." Ishizu smiled at the determination he saw in Naruto''s eyes. "That''s the spirit. I am going, to be honest with you. Jiraiya won''t teach you anything serious about fighting. His last student, your father, was a genius. I am not saying you are dumb, but he was different from you. I don''t want you to leave him as there are other things you can learn from only him. So we will trick him. You will make a blood clone that will switch every month with you. The real you will go to the Toad Mountain to learn Sage Mode secretly. Communicate with your clone and switch places if you encounter something which your clone can''t deal with or the month is up," explained Ishizu. I smiled, thinking that training with the Toads would help me. I saw the massive Rasengan Ishizu-sensei used and wanted to do it too. "But won''t the Toads tell Pervy Sage that I train with them?" I asked. Ishizu shook his head: "No, they don''t care. As long as you train and show results, they will listen to you and keep this thing a secret. I wanted you to come to my place, but the pandas are not allowing it. Maybe later." After that, I summoned Gamakishi to talk with the elders of the toad clan to be reversed summoned. Gamakishi nodded and after a while, a small old toad appeared. "Hmm, so you are the apprentice of young Jiraiya? My name is Fukasuke, one of the two toad elders. You seek our attention, why is that and where is Jiraiya?" asked Fukasuke. Ishizu pointed at a bar where the Sannin was sitting with two hot females and drinking. Fukasuke wanted to go to Jiraiya, but Naruto stopped him. "I believe that my training with Jiraiya-sensei will not help me much and Ishizu-sensei suggested to ask if I am allowed to learn from you without Jiraiya''s notice?" I explained. Fukasuke then looked at Ishizu more clearly and his eyes widened. "Y-you are a Sage?! ... No, you only reek of nature energy but you are not a Sage." Ishizu smiled: "I am a Sage apprentice of master Tau." Fukasuke was shocked, but he was also happy. "Ah, yes, brother Tau of the sacred Panda Clan. Our elder had a vision about you but he forgot to tell Jiraiya. He never summoned us to meet you, so I am happy to find you, Naruto-kun. Now, let''s go. I will allow you both to come but first, we must eat," said Fukasuke and with a poof, we were gone. Mt. Myobaku General POV Ishizu and the rest appeared in the realm of the toads, but before they could go to Gamamaru both humans were invited to eat a good, healthy diet from Shima. Naruto has to hold himself from gagging but Ishizu was happy eating something different form dumplings and took the insects with a smile. After the wonderful food consisting of insects, Fukasuke walked them towards the elder Sage. "Elder Sage, we have guests," said Fukasuke. The old toad did not move, but just stared in the emptiness. The elder toad tried again, this time louder, but it looked like Gamamaru was deaf. "Hold on. I know what to do when something like that happens," smiled Ishizu before going to the Sage. The rest watched and wondered what the Sage apprentice was going to do. Standing before the big toad, he took a deep breath before screaming. "Wake up, you old fart! You have guests, you drug addict. Stop smoking weed all day and greet your guests!" Naruto, as well as the other toads, had their jaws on the ground at the rudeness that was displayed. The elder Sage just blinked before looking at Ishizu. "The stuff is good. You should try it also," said Gamamaru, showing him his pipe. "Elder-sama, please stop giving children drugs. They are not good for humans. We have come here to ask if the young Uzumaki boy can train in Sage Mode," explained Fukasuke. The big toad looked at Naruto. "He got strong." Then he looked at Ishizu. "The one who changes fate. Teacher, they call you. Be careful of what you are doing. Changing things now can cause massive changes in the future." Ishizu smiled in response: "I think I know what I am doing." "Then I hope Po made the right decision to help you. I allow the child of prophecy to learn from you Fukasuke," said Gamamaru. With that, Ishizu made sure that Naruto could start his training with the Toads. Ishizu could make Naruto train the whole time Sage Mode, but Naruto needed free time. Jiraiya wasn''t a bad person to neglect. He was just bad at training others. He had other things Ishizu could never teach Naruto. One month each would make Naruto grow both in power and make a bond with Jiraiya. With that, Ishizu left Naruto to go and finally have his peace. Chapter 47 - A Rift in Time Naruto POV Today was a day where I spent some time with Jiraiya Training with Genjutsu. As a Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, I had not enough chakra control so instead of learning it, Jiraiya told me to learn how to dispel it. If I think back, Ishizu-sensei never told me much about Genjutsu. Maybe it was because he didn''t use it much or he knew I could not use it. Either way, we were somewhere near Yugakure when Jiraiya decided to teach me how to dispel a normal Genjutsu. He summoned a female toad that looked disgusting. And then she kissed me! My head spun and I saw Hinata and Ino with the faces of that frog. "Enough! Wake up, you brat. Even I get nightmares seeing such a thing," spoke the voice of the Kyuubi. "And how do I do that?" I asked. "Let me help. I will use some of my chakra to flush your chakra system and break the Genjutsu." "How did you break through it so fast?" asked the Sannin. "The Kyuubi had a problem with seeing the images of the toad so he pushed some of his chakra into mine to disrupt it," I explained. Jiraiya nodded and we went to find a hotel. As we both sat and ate, I saw two people whispering. I decided to listen to their conversation while Jiraiya flirted with the waitress. "It happened again?" asked the woman. The man nodded. "Yes. The mist came out of nowhere and took Mina-chan again. Her mother worried for the whole day and everyone thought she died this time. Her mother even smiled, telling her she named Mina after a friend she had when she was young. Mina-chan claimed to have spoken with her grandmother, but that is impossible as her grandmother died some time ago. Something is wrong with the mist." ''A mist that makes people disappear and then a person reappears and knows about the past? What is happening? Should I call Ishizu-sensei?'' I shook my head. He was training and I could not summon him every time I needed help. I saw Jiraiya drinking and walked away to find out about the mystery. "Now, where would this mist be?" I thought. "Are you Naruto Uzumaki?" I hear a voice behind me and quickly turned around to see a small girl standing there. "Who are you?" I asked. The little girl smiled. "My name is Mina." "You are the girl people talk about?" I asked and she nodded. "How do you know my name?" I asked. She smiled as she pointed at the mist that appeared out of nowhere. "If you want an answer you have to go through the mist." I frowned as I looked at the mist. "Do you really want to go inside?" asked the fox. "I have to do this alone. I can''t always rely on others," I said and moved into the mist. Unknown place. General POV Kurama cursed as he felt the mist invading Naruto''s body. Whatever it was he could do nothing to stop it. Then he felt something hit him and he fell unconscious, cutting the connection between him and Naruto. Naruto POV I opened my eyes and found myself in a different location than I have been before. Mina was not here, and so was everyone else. ''This must be the place beyond the mist.'' "You are a Konoha Shinobi? Help me get rid of those fools! They are coming!" screamed the person. I had no time to look at him better as I saw Iwa Shinobi''s attacking us with kunais and shuriken. "Futon: Daitoppa!" the guy next to me yelled. I dodged the attacks. "Look, Daisuke. This kid looks like that bastard Namikaze. Maybe he is his child?" asked one of Iwa Shinobi. Daisuke frowned. "Then kill him. Namikaze''s child can''t be kept alive. He killed my brother!" shouted Daisuke. This Daisuke guy then attacked me while the other attacked the other one next to me. My opponent was not difficult but his Doton jutsu were very sturdy. "Die Namikaze boy. I will avenge my brother!" he screamed as he charged at me with two kunais in his hands. "And I don''t care what my father did. Rasengan!" I shouted before killing him. Then I turned around to see the other opponent get defeated by the guy with another Rasengan. He looked over to me before seeing both of the Iwa Shinobi dead. Then he laughed like a madman. "I am alive! **** those Iwa Shinobi. **** the old fossil. Because of him, every Rock Shinobi knows about me and wants my head. Onoki, I hope you die fast and not of old age as that will take about 30 years," the boy cursed load into the air before collapsing due to exhaustion. This gave me a better look at him. He looked similar to Ishizu-sensei. No, he did not look just like him. He looked exactly like him. There weren''t many Konoha Shinobi I knew who had such blue hair and red eyes. But why would I see a younger version of my teacher behind the mist? Where the hell was I? I took the younger version of my sensei over my shoulder and took him with me. I couldn''t leave him alone as I didn''t know where I was and he was the best bet I had. A few hours past as I waited for the Ishizu mini clone to wake up until I heard him groaning. "Am I finally in heaven?" he asked, slowly opening his eyes. "Nope, you are alive," I replied. He slowly turned his head to see me and frowned. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, still with half his eyes open. "One should introduce himself before asking questions," I said as I raised an eyebrow. He pointed with his thumb on his heart while showing a smile. "Best Fuinjutsu expert in Konohagakure. Ishizu Sasaki, the Strategist, at your service." So he really was my future sensei but how was that possible? Did I time travel? And even if I did how? Then I smiled hearing what he has said. "The ''best''? My parents are the best, Ishizu-san," I replied. He frowned at my comment. "And who the hell are your parents? I bet I can easily outclass them." "I doubt you would say that to my mother, Kushina Uzumaki." He paled hearing the name of my or our mother. "Eh? And who is your father?" he asked, clearly confused. "Minato Namikaze," I answered. I knew my sensei was a strategist, so maybe he could figure out what happened. "They both don''t have a kid unless...." His eyes opened and he stared right at me. "How the hell are you here, Naruto?" Now I was confused. I thought he could figure out I was their son, but how did he know my name? "And why are you so small, Ishizu-sensei?" I asked him, trying to make a conversation. "Sensei? Look, kid, I am just a few years older than you. I am not even a Jonin, and I doubt I would take Genin as a team. I have a dream; you know? I want to achieve it," he said with a smile on his face. "You mean finding your wife?" I asked. "And how do you know that?" Ishizu asked. "You told me? You are my sensei. In the future, that is." "Listen, Naruto. You don''t know me and I don''t know you. This could just be a dream and you or I will just wake up and forget everything. And I doubt I would have a dream about you. I am not meant to be a teacher. Kakashi is." "Then you are not the Ishizu I know," I said with a frown. "Naruto or whoever you are I don''t know how you came here as I have no idea how time travel works, but this is not your time. We are in the 3rd Shinobi War. Time Travel is possible but unheard of and I still find it hard to see the child of my sensei''s here with me." "If time travel is unheard of, then how do you know me? My parents had me after the war was over." Ishizu smirked, knowing that he could not tell the truth even if he thought this was a dream. "I have a certain gift. From young, I could see a bit into the future. I saw you with your parents when I found Jiraiya''s book." ''So he didn''t see my parents die?'' I thought. "Then you forgot to mention you are also my brother," I added. Ishizu frowned. He would never think he would find himself in a situation where somebody knew more about him than himself. "Can you please stop talking? Can''t you just like go to your time and do whatever you did?" he asked. I shrugged. "No idea how to do that? You are the strategist, so make a strategy and bring me back to my time." "Am I a god? I bet I told you about how I got this stupid title. So you should know my true feelings about it. Oh, by the Sage of the Six Paths. Please, just give me the Rinnegan and let me have my peace," w.h.i.n.ed Ishizu. I chuckled as I knew the future. "Why are you laughing? I bet you have no idea just how cool those eyes are." "It is not that, sensei. Seeing you like this is so different from when you are older. You are calm and friendly and you don''t w.h.i.n.e. But here I see how you were before that. You are scared." He glared at me. "No shit. This war has nothing funny about it and you just wait for the 4th Shinobi War, if it ever comes," he added the last part. "Well, at least be happy that you got your Rinnegan," I told him. His eyes went wide. "Y-y-you are not lying, aren''t you?" "No, but you took my blood without my permission. Your wife would be happy to hear if she found out you took children''s blood." "Kaguya is the best woman in the universe! How dare you say something like that?" ''So her name is Kaguya.'' I finally got the name of his wife. Then Ishizu sighed as he looked up into the sky. "I hope this war is soon over. Try fighting a war with Iwa Shinobis, wanting to kill you for the money your head is worth. I ain''t going to die by some no-name Iwa Shinobi." I sighted too as I thought how to get out of this place. Back in the Dumpling Dynasty, a certain panda sage smiled. *Did something happen, master Po?* asked master Tau. *Indeed. Something that could destroy the entire world if left untreated. A rift in time has occurred that, if left untreated, will change the time stream. That is why we from the panda clan are here for. To fix mistakes such as those. I will be gone for a while. I have to fix the timeline.* Back with Naruto and young Ishizu Naruto POV "Can you stop following me!" said Ishizu. "I have nowhere to go and if you leave me and I find Konoha I will tell my mother. I have seen how strong her influence is over you when you summoned her from the dead. You even told me about her birthday." "Broken Uzumaki ability to make people listen and talk with me," muttered Ishizu. "Whatever! You Shinobi have no idea how the butterfly effect works. First, I didn''t want to hear it but I come to realize something. Your presence here already destroyed the whole future, so I don''t care anymore. Just go with the flow," Ishizu raised his hands in frustration. "If you don''t care then I can ask you some questions, right?" I asked him. Ishizu shrugged. "Just ask. I don''t care anymore." "Then how do you use Sage Mode to make a Rasenshuriken? Where I come from I saw you do it, so maybe you can give me some tips?" Ishizu stopped and looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow. "You do know I have never used this Jutsu, right? I can just use the basic Rasengan and I am just working on the Futon Rasengan. And I have no Sage who can train me. The toads and snakes are the only ones I know and I doubt the toads want me and I have no time to fight with Orochimaru about the snakes." I chuckled at that as I knew who his teacher was. That got a reaction out of Ishizu. "Don''t tell me I learn Sage Mode? Who?" he asked, or rather demanded. "The animal is a panda," I answered. "A panda?" His voice spilled disgust. "Who the hell would want a panda to be their summoner? They are lame, boring, and eat only bamboo. On a bear tier list from F to S they are F," said Ishizu now knowing a shadow appeared over them. "Well, you learn something every day no matter how old you get. That is how my summoner things about us? I believe I must teach him a lesson later," said a voice. Naruto and Ishizu turned around to see a giant panda on a tree branch and smiled at them. Ishizu paled, feeling the power the huge panda radiated from him. If he knew how strong this panda was he would never antagonize him. "I am sorry," he said as he bowed in apology, knowing he had no other option left. "Are you from Ishizu-sensei''s time?" asked Naruto, hoping he was here to bring him back. Po nodded. "My name is Master Po. I felt a shift in time and came looking at the cause. Normally, time travel is ok. That is if you are not changing things from what they should be. In your case, it would cause huge problems. You both know too much from this encounter so I have to seal those memories until the time is ok for you to remember." "It is ok, master Po," said Naruto, knowing something like this could happen. Still, Naruto was happy to meet his young sensei and have a nice chat with him. He would eventually regain his memory of this encounter and would tell everyone how his sensei was. Ishizu, on the other hand, was confused. "Po? Like in Po the Dragon Warrior?" asked Ishizu not thinking somebody would understand what he said. Po grew a smile as he looked at the young boy who would become his successor. *The one and only, my dear summoner,* replied Po in English. Before Ishizu could say anything, Po touched both of their foreheads and sealed their encounter. Back in Yugakure, Naruto woke up with a smile on his face. He didn''t know why as his memories were cloudy, but he knew something happened that made him stronger. Then he saw a young girl coming his way. "Did you find what you wanted?" asked the girl. Naruto looked at her before smiling. "I don''t know, but I had a wonderful dream about my sensei. I know I have learned something but I can''t seem to recall it." The girl smiled. "In time you will remember." A mist came and as Naruto looked back the girl was nowhere to be seen. Chapter 48 - The Cave of Deep D.e.s.i.r.es Dumpling Dynasty "Damit! Why isn''t it working?" a male voice shouted in frustration. It was Ishizu who was struggling with his Sage Mode training. "I don''t want to end up like Jiraiya. I want to master the Sage mode as Naruto did. Hell, I want to do it while moving and without Shadow Clones." Someone put pressure on Ishizu''s shoulder and the latter looked up. It was brother Tau. "My dear brother, you are to focus on it. You have to clear your mind of everything, but something deep inside you is hindering you." Ishizu frowned: "I have nothing that hinders me." Tau just shook his head. "Let us meet with the Sage Po. Maybe he knows what you lack." Ishizu followed Tau to meet Po. At the thrown Po was eating happily his dumpling as he was his favorite human coming. "Hey Po, I need your help," shouted Ishizu. Po didn''t listen as he wanted to take a bite out of the dumping, only to see that it was gone. "You dare to take my food?" asked Po shocked. In an instant, an invisible force flung away Ishizu as he hit a rock. ''Man, he is a monster. I only took away his food and in the next second I am crushed into a rock.'' As Po calmed down, he looked at Ishizu. "You are here because you can''t control the Sage Mode? It is simple. Your heart is not pure. Something inside of you is preventing you to reach equilibrium. Maybe think about how your student reached the Sage Mode?" Ishizu wanted to fight Po, despite knowing he would lose, but took a moment to think what the old panda said. At first, Naruto couldn''t do it. Only after Jiraiya died, he managed it. So did he have to lose someone? Impossible. He already lost so many. No, it was something else. Naruto was mad that Nagato killed his Sensei and wanted revenge. Only when he let go of that hatred could he do it. So maybe it was that? "You are suggesting I should let go of my hatred for my uselessness when I was young?" Po nodded his head: "Maybe? All I know is that deep inside your emotions are conflicted. You say what you are doing is for the best, but something or someone is thinking differently. You blame yourself for forgetting about your friends and your sensei. Your soul is conflicted and it makes your training useless. Only if you bring peach to your soul, can you reach Sage mode. That is the reason why you cannot achieve the perfect Sage Mode." Ishizu shook his head trying to find something to deny Po''s argument but failed. "How should I do that? I can''t just accept my failure. I went to hell and come back to be who I am now. I can''t let it go! Everything I did was worth it" shouted Ishizu. Po chucked: "You don''t have to let go. The past can''t be forgotten. You just have to accept it." "How?" pleaded Ishizu. "Come back with your student. I will show you a place here in the Dynasty where you can do that." Ishizu nodded and left to take Naruto with him. Ishizu POV I was pissed at Po, telling me to accept what I have done. If it was so easy. If I wasn''t stupid and l.u.s.ted for power, then I could have saved everyone. Instead... Naruto''s voice interrupted me as he ran to me. "Ishizu-sensei what are you doing here?" asked Naruto. I forced a smile as I greeted my student. "My teacher told me to fetch you so you can see where I train." Naruto''s eyes had stars in them. I told him where I was but he never saw the panda realm with his own eyes. Today was the day and Naruto was excited. Jiraiya saw me and I explained to him what I wanted to do. He agreed but told us to hurry. "Let''s go Naruto." Back in the Dynasty Ishizu POV As both Naruto and I arrived, brother Tau greeted us. "You made it and it seems you brought your student with you. Greetings, brother. My name is Tau. You can call me brother Tau." Naruto greeted Tau, and then we followed him. After some time, we reached a cave. What was so different about it was that nothing was seen in it? It looked like a black hole. After some point, we saw no light. "Cool, what is that cave?" asked Naruto. Tau smiled. "That, Naruto, is The Cave of Deep D.e.s.i.r.es. Sage Po told me to bring you here. The cave is mysterious and everyone sees it differently. Everyone who went inside never talked about what happened, but everyone had a different expression when they came out. Some never came out. You and your student have to go inside, pass the test, and come out. If you manage to come back alive, you will be stronger than ever, but if you fail, then you will never come out and will eventually die." Both my and Naruto''s expression turned grim. We both looked at each other and then smiled. "Whoever is the last to come out will have to take the other for a whole month to Ramen for free," we both said at the same time. Then we ran into the unknown. Ishizu POV As I entered the cave, Naruto was nowhere near me. I walked like an endless hallway before seeing someone walking to me. I got ready to attack, but it stunned me as I saw who it was. "So, you finally showed yourself, thief?" the person spoke with a frown. Before me stood... me? Or someone who looked like me. "Who are you? Are you the one preventing me from reaching Sage Mode?" I asked. He laughed. "Me and preventing you from reaching Sage Mode? You are just a thief of this body and I will help you see the reality." He waved his hand, and a mirror appeared before me. As I looked at it, I saw something that shocked me. I saw myself, but not me. It was the body I had before I was reincarnated into the Naruto world. "This is you! I am Ishizu Sasaki, not you. You are just a thief who got lucky inhabiting my body. You stole my life from me. I was but a child, abandoned by my family, when your soul came and kicked me here into this deep place of your subconsciousness to make yourself a good home. But I stayed strong. I found your memories about this world and learned. I looked through my eyes how you interacted with the world and I found it disgusting. Using others to help you reach Kaguya. I waited for a long time to take back what is rightfully mine and finally I can do it." I was ready for him to attack me, but he laughed again. "What do you think you are doing? Do you really think you could even hit me with a single attack? Even if you know how to fight, you are stuck inside the body of a civilian. I doubt you have chakra and we are not in the real world. I am in my body and I have your memories. With that, I will easily kill you and take over your life. From today the true Ishizu Sasaki will come to life." I looked around, trying to find a way to get out. "Are you thinking about how you could defeat me?" the other Ishizu asked. I looked at him with a frown. "No, I don''t think I have a chance to defeat you. Po told me to accept what I had lost, but never have I imagined there to be another soul inside of me." The other Ishizu had a smile on his face. "Oh, so you are just going to accept me as Naruto did with his hatred? I doubt that it is going to work. I am not a deep hatred for the people of Konoha. I am the soul of the original Ishizu Sasaki and there is nothing for you to accept. I will kick your soul out and make myself home." What the other Ishizu didn''t notice was that Ishizu came closer and closer during their conversation before he had enough space to grab the other one. "I will not let you take over this body. Po said that for me to use Sage Mode I have to be free of any problems. So merging with you and becoming one again will make me a Sage." The other Ishizu tried to get away from the thief, but he couldn''t. "This is not over. If you think this is all that it takes to win against me, then you are wrong. The cave is not the only thing inside. I have seen it. You will rot behind the Waterfall. Such an illusion will not break that easily." With that, the two souls merged and everything went dark. Outside of the cave "Sage Po, do you think they will handle it?" asked Brother Tau, concerned as he looked into the cave. Po smiled as he ate his dumplings. "Both of them will have a hard time going through the problems they get. The Cave awakens the soul, and our sage in training had a dormant soul in his body who awakened. Ishizu did the right thing. By merging both souls together, he became whole again. The first step to being a Sage is done, but he still has to get out. For the Child of Prophecy, it will be very hard. I don''t believe he will handle it alone. Naruto-kun will directly arrive at the Waterfall of Endless Happiness. The cave will find his deep d.e.s.i.r.es and he will experience endless happiness. For a child like him, it is impossible to leave without any help. They will struggle to get out of there as it was Kaguya-chan who was so generous and helped me create that cave and waterfall after all. Ishizu-kun survived his encounter with the other soul, but he will most likely not enjoy seeing where he is now. That is, if he realizes it. The Cave of Deep D.e.s.i.r.es and the Waterfall of Endless Happiness do what their names imply. They show deep d.e.s.i.r.es and create endless happiness. And who doesn''t want to stay inside a world when there are no problems? Chapter 49 - The Waterfall of Endless Happiness Part 1 Naruto POV It was mysterious how Ishizu-sensei suddenly disappeared and left me alone. It was pitch black and I had to move very slowly in fear of tripping. Then I saw a small light and decided to walk to it. Reaching the light, I saw a huge waterfall in front of me. It was exquisite and I would watch it for longer if I had nothing else to do. "So what do I have to?" I asked myself as I stood before the waterfall, looking inside its clear water. Then I heard a female voice speaking. "Reincarnation of Asura, sit down and meditate at the Waterfall of Endless Happiness. Let your mind cleanse and your soul awaken." "Waterfall of Endless Happiness? Why does in have such a name?" With my eyes closed, I heard the water falling down before drifting into sleep. Ishizu POV My life couldn''t be better. I opened the door to my house to see my beautiful wife standing before me. ''....al. It.....eal.'' "How has your day been, my beautiful husband?" asked my wife. "It was perfect. Perfect like you," I said before kissing her on the lips. ''Thi....a....rap.'' I frowned. Those annoying words kept appearing in my head. "Is something wrong?" asked my wife as she placed her hand on my cheek. I shook my head. "No, everything is fine. I just thought I heard things, but it is just my imagination." Kaguya smiled as she made her way to the kitchen. "Well, I hope you didn''t forget what day it is. We can''t just stay here forever. Have you bought the cake?" asked Kaguya. ''An i...sion.'' "I will do it right now. Wait for me, just for a moment." I turned around to go back. Naruto POV A room I have never seen before. Where was I? "My boy is everything ok?" I heard a voice calling me. Turning around, I froze. Before me stood my mother. In flesh and blood and not the cold cops made by the Edo Tensei. "Mom?" How was she here? She came towards me and hugged me. "How are you, my baby? Did you have a bad dream?" "I-I-I missed you so much!" I cried into her arms. "It is ok, my baby boy. Your mother is here. Nothing is going to happen. Everything is perfect." I nodded under the sobs. "Come, your father is in the living room. Your sensei and your teammates are also coming." I was beyond happy. I was so happy to see both my mother and father. This was the best day ever. Everything was perfect. Ishizu POV As I made my way to the bakery, the voice in my head became more annoying. ''Wa....up.'' ''This is.....a....illu....on'' "Can I do something for you?" a voice brought me back. I was in the bakery where I wanted to buy the cake. "Yes, I had reserved a cake here. Can I buy it?" I asked. ''Not real. T....is....is....not....real.'' "Sure. We have it here." She handed me a big chocolate cake. ''W...k....up.'' I thanked her before walking back. ''You ....ll.....die.'' I stopped. This had to stop now. "Show yourself. I don''t care who you are. I will fight you." ''In y....mind.'' "My mind? So you are in my mind? Well, I just know how to enter my mind." I sat down and meditated. Opening my eyes, I was greeted with a large grass plane. In the middle of it were 10 pillars that formed a circle. Each pillar had a large purple orb with rings that looked like an eye producing a chain that went to a person sitting in the middle of the pillars, incapacitating him from head to toe. "What is this place?" Hearing my voice the other person looked up with a relieved face. He looked a bit dehydrated and was not in good condition. "Finally, you are here. You had no idea how long I had to shout for you to notice me. I thought that fusing with that soul would get rid of my problems but he was right. It was not over. Then the next thing I remembered I was chained to this place and see that another version of me is walking inside an illusion completely unaware of it. Who the hell made this place? It looks like somebody copied and pasted the Infinite Tsukuyomi." The person talked and talked before I interrupted him. "Who the hell are you?" He looked annoyed. "I am you, sherlock. You have to free me of those chains so I can get back." "And why should I do that? I doubt you are me," I answered. "Don''t you get it? This is an illusion. Everything you do is not real. So is food and water. You or rather I will die of dehydration if you continue living that life. So let me out!" I have had enough of his crazy talks so I closed my eyes to appear back where I was. "I will deal with him later. I have a birthday party to prepare for." Inside Ishizu''s mind. Ishizu screamed as he tried to move but the chains held him in place. "ARHHHH! What is this place? Cave of deep d.e.s.i.r.es, my ***! This is a murder cave. I bet that fat sage panda knew about it and just wants me to suffer. Hey, I got it. It fulfills the deepest d.e.s.i.r.es, but at what cost? Pandas and humans die because they don''t want to leave. I have to get this guy back here." Outside Ishizu POV "Kaguya-chan, I am back and I have the cake with me," I said. Kaguya smiled as she took the cake with her. "Wonderful. Let us go to the Namikaze residence and greet the birthday boy." We made our way to the house to find many people were there already and waited for the birthday boy. "It is good to see you, Ishizu," greeted Kakashi. "Yeah, we thought you were late again, unlike me," said Obito as he stood next to Rin. They both were together but Obito didn''t have the guts to confess his love. "Yosh. Let us run 1000 l.a.p.s on our arms around Konoha to celebrate Naruto-kun''s birthday, Lee!" shouted an excited Guy as he made his famous pose with a shiny tooth. His mini clone was also hyped up. "Hai, Guy-sensei. I will follow your orders until death!" "LEE!" "Guy-sensei!" Both hugged each other. Outside of the cave, Po had to use his power to hold the illusion in place. *What the hell is happening? This is not their doing, but somehow an even stronger Genjutsu is being cast and it is fighting mine. It is almost as strong as the real deal. If not for me this would be all for naught. Who the hell can do that?* Naruto POV I was so happy. This was the best day ever! I met my father and later Ino-chan and Hinata-chan came to me. This was the perfect day. Everything was perfect, and I prayed that it stayed perfect. I felt a little weak and my mouth was dry but this would not hinder me. As I opened the door to go out of the house, I was greeted with a big surprise. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NARUTO UZUMAKI NAMIKAZE!" people I knew shouted. I saw everyone I knew outside my house waiting for me. "You guys." Tears started to roll down my eyes. "This is the best birthday ever." Inside Naruto''s mind One person or rather beast was not at all happy for the birthday boy. "Damit, Naruto, wake up! This is an illusion!" The Kyuubi roared as he slammed his claw against the seal, only for the seal to look unharmed. "What happened? I am completely shut down from the brat. This is bad, really bad. Everything is so real that this boy doesn''t realize he is in an illusion. If this goes on, he will die of dehydration and I can''t give him chakra as something is preventing me from doing so. I hope the other human is also here because he is the only hope that''s left." General POV Inside the Namikaze residence, people were chatting and eating. Only one didn''t feel well. Ishizu felt sick. Something was terribly wrong, and he didn''t know why. His mouth felt dry and no matter how much water he drank the thirst didn''t go away. He asked the others but they couldn''t help him either. ''Com... t....me.'' There it was. Ishizu heard the voice of the man that was in chains. Maybe he knew what was happening. He was his last hope. Ishizu entered his mind to see the chained person. "So, you finally came back. I told you this is an illusion. My body is connected to your body and you are finally starting to get dehydrated too. You have to release me so we can go back to the real world." Ishizu frowned. What did he mean? "What ''real'' world. This is the world I live in." "You are wrong. This is but an illusion," the man in chains said while shaking his head. Ishizu shouted at the man. "My world is not an illusion! How come my wife is with me? Everyone is with me. I am happy where I am!" The man with the chains smiled as he looked up. "Every illusion has some flaws and so does this. I''ve had enough time to recognize what they were. Now, answer me a simple question. Do you remember how you became the husband of Kaguya?" Ishizu smirked. Of course, he knew. She was his wife, his everything. How could he not know that he met his wife in... He met her in....? Nothing. He couldn''t remember. Ishizu clutched his head. How could he not know where he met his wife? He was here husband. Such things couldn''t be forgotten. "See, you can''t remember or rather, this is the flaw of this world. Nothing is perfect even if this one tries it to be. This cave, although it looks complicated, has a simple design. It finds your deepest d.e.s.i.r.e of life and creates a world that fulfills those things." Then the man smirked. "But it forgets an important factor. It is only through hard work that we remember our achievements. You don''t remember the day you met Kaguya and married her because you didn''t have to do anything to get her. She just was and there lies the contradiction of this world. A world cannot be perfect. Humans can''t be perfect. It is in their very nature to be imperfect and that is what makes us so special. We are not an exception!" Ishizu''s mind started to hurt. He tried to counter the arguments, but he couldn''t. "You and I are the same. We both have the same goal, but what is there to be happy about if everything is already there and there was nothing to work for? I failed once and let mother and father die. I let Rin die and didn''t intervene when Obito was brainwashed. And I have to live with the consequences for the rest of my life but if you free me, we will try and make everything we can right. Ishizu looked back. "But¡­ my wife." "Your wife is not real! Do you remember how you became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki? Did you get Kaguya out of the God Tree? Did you kiss her and she fell for you? NO! This one is fake! And you will never meet the real one if you don''t free me." Ishizu knew that he was right. A world with no achievements was boring and dull. It was only through our achievements could we create a purpose in our lives. He walked towards the man before grabbing each chain and ripping them away. The man jumped up and stretched himself. The relief was clearly shown on his face. "Finally! Now let us merge one more time and get the hell out of this place." Both Ishizu''s made a fist and connected them to each other. Outside Ishizu opened his eyes, Rinnegan shining as he looked towards Naruto''s home. "Finally. Now, to get Naruto out of this hellhole." Chapter 50 - The Waterfall of Endless Happiness Part 2 Ishizu POV Being back in my body was nice. Looking around, I frowned. "It really is a good illusion. Even the air is nice to breathe. I can''t imagine any other person surviving this cave." From my memories, I knew where I had to go and so I made my way to Naruto. Opening the door to the house, I saw Naruto blowing out candles from his cake. "Happy Birthday, Naruto!" Kushina and the others congratulated Naruto. Look, your Sensei came back to congratulate you." I frowned. There was no time for this. We were running low on time. "Yes, and now I will give him the best gift ever. Naruto, come here, we will go." Naruto looked curious. "Where to, Nii-san? We have everything here. Everything is perfect. Come celebrate with us." He was fully captive by the illusion. Can''t blame him. He had everything he needed and his life back in the real world is nowhere near as good but better gave a hard life than no life at all. I grabbed him by his shirt and tried to make him realize it by himself. "Are you dumb? This is an illusion. Wake up and realize that we don''t belong here! Kurama, tell this boy he is in an illusion." There was silence. "Husband, what is wrong with you." The voice made me freeze. I heard that voice before when I was chained but hearing it now was different. I slowly turned my head, but I didn''t get the chance to see her when I felt a fist in my cheek. "How dare you say this is an illusion? This is my life." Somebody didn''t like hearing the truth. It didn''t matter if he wanted or not. I would drag him back even if I had to fight him. I smirked. "You dare to hit me? Your Sensei? Let''s go outside and rule it out like Shinobi. If you won''t listen, then I will punch it out of you." Naruto ran outside before I followed. I felt a hand on my shoulder and for the first time saw Kaguya Otsutsuki looking at me with concerned eyes. She looked amazing. It was unfortunate she was not real. I doubt her personality was even right as I never knew her before. I smirked as I looked into her eyes. "You just wait. I will defiantly make you my wife. I promise." Outside "Let''s get this over with. I have no idea how long we were in this illusion, but I don''t want to die." I said. "Then I will finish it right now!" Naruto screamed as he charged with a Rasengan at me. ''This is an illusion, so I shouldn''t be harmed. If so, I can do this!'' I thought as I made a special form of the Rasengan. "Take this, Naruto! Wind Style Rasenshuriken." Both Jutsu collided and Naruto was lying on the ground, showing the winner of the charge. "I will not give up. This is the life I have always wanted. You will not take it away from me!" Naruto cried as he stood up. Naruto was fine, but I? My arm hurt like hell. This illusion was very good. Even the pain was real. Still, it didn''t matter. I would use the same tactic I did to make my other self believe this world was fake. "So, Naruto, you have everything you wanted, right? You say this world is perfect, right?" "Then what of the promise you made to Sakura?" He stopped. "Don''t you want to bring Sasuke back to Konoha as you promised? Did you not want to defeat Yamamoto, for it was he who stopped you?" "Sasuke is....?? Yamamoto is¡­??" Naruto didn''t understand. Sasuke wasn''t with the rest of the people. There it was. The face my other self did. "Where? Where is your rival? Where is Yamamoto? Shouldn''t Sasuke be in Konoha at the party? If Yamamoto is dead, where did you kill him? Tell me, Naruto?!" I shouted at him. Naruto shook his head. Kurama''s charka started leaking. "Fight it Naruto!" The charka quickly expanded and 4 tails came out. "Oh, god. Not this thing again. How often do I have to see you," I rolled my eyes. The Mini Kurama looked before charging at me. My Rinnegan glowed in all its beauty. "Heh, Shinra Tensei." The gravity force pushed Naruto away but quickly got up and charged a big Bijuudama. "Again the same thing like last time? You never learn." I waited for it to fire. "Preta Path," I said before absorbing it. I frowned as I felt my stamina depleting. My attacks worked, but my body got weaker. I had to get us out and get nice and cold water. I could say the same thing about Naruto as the tailed beast bomb took some toll too. I used this moment to shunshin to Naruto and gave him a strong hug. This would serve the purpose of incapacitating him, slowly draining him of chakra and giving me the time to talk some sense into the boy. After some time, the red chakra slowly started disappearing. "What happened?" asked a weakly Naruto. "No time to explain. Meditate, Naruto. Meditate with me so we can escape this hell." The demand didn''t work as Naruto regained his normal stated and shook me off. It seemed he still wanted to stay. "Naruto, tell me, where were you after we separated?" I asked before Naruto walked away, but not before I took his arm. Naruto''s eyes were filled with hate. "It was called the Waterfall Of Endless Happiness. What does it matter? I have better things to do than to talk to you. Now let me go, I have to go to my family." I looked at him sadly. "So you don''t consider me as your family? Who was it that cared for you during your childhood? Wasn''t it me who trained you into the Shinobi you are? Is all this time I spent with you not real?" Naruto stopped realizing what he said and tears fell down his face. "I am sorry. I didn''t mean it. I... I just wanted to see my family." I smiled as I patted his head as I hugged him again. This time a real hug filled with love. "I know how you feel. I saw my future wife and my old friends again." Naruto looked at me. "So she is the person you like?" I nodded. "Yeah, but Naruto, this world is an illusion. She, like everyone else, is not real. I only saw her in my mind so not even I know how her personality truly is. The cave and the waterfall brought us to a world where everything is like you wanted it to be. Endless happiness made by our deepest d.e.s.i.r.es. Po warned us that people never left. Who wouldn''t? They stayed here as they didn''t want to leave, but this is not our life." Naruto''s eyes widened, realizing the truth. "So, how are we going to escape?" I looked around. "Come, Naruto, sit down. We will meditate while thinking of our real home. This world is all happiness, but we need all emotions to form a character. Happiness and Joy are not the only emotions that make us who we are. Sadness, Hatred, Jealousy, and Envy and all the rest are all part of us. All of them together make us who we are. Think about everything we have done. Think about the goals you want to accomplish." We both meditated. We heard people calling our names to come back and live a perfect life. "Don''t open your eyes, Naruto. Those voices are not real. They want us to stay and die. Think about Ino, Hinata and all the other ones who fought with you through life." "Ishizu, husband, come back," a voice said to me. I smirked with my eyes closed. "Oh, I will, but you aren''t real. I haven''t even fought you for our marriage. If you want me so bad than you are not my wife!" The voice quiets down and as I open my eyes; I saw Po smiling at me as he handed us cups of water. "Naruto, open your eye, we are back." Naruto looked to me and hugged me. "I know and I am sorry." He shook his head: "No, you were right. It wasn''t real." We both then took the water and drank as if our lives depended on it. Po spoke up as he clapped his hands. "So you made it. I thought you would take longer. How did you like the cave and the waterfall? Pretty awesome, eh?" I glared at him. I had to contain myself from not jumping on that guy and crushing his neck as it would look bad in front of Naruto. Seeing me, Po just shrugged. "Well, you did it. That''s all that matters. Congratulations." After that, I said goodbye to Naruto as he left to go to Jiraiya. I turned to Po as I shouted at him. "What was that?!" He looked at me, grinning. "What do you mean? Wasn''t this a nice adventure?" Out of anger, my Rinnegan turned on. "To hell with you Po! This was like the Infinite Tsukuyomi. How is that possible?" Po just smiled, not minding my outburst. "I built both the Waterfall of Endless Happiness and the Cave of Deepest D.e.s.i.r.e. But even I had problems making it for others to believe it was real. So, I asked a friend of mine who had better experience. Your future wife, Kaguya Otsutsuki. We based it on the Infinite Tsukuyomi she created. To be a complete Sage, one has to let go of the illusion of happiness. No matter who you are and what you do, there will always be anger, sorrow, or hatred. The land you walk on is filled with the blood of dying humans and it tainted the land. If you can accept the truth and make the best out of it and not fall for the illusion than you can be a true Panda Sage. And see, you did it. Now try gathering natural energy. See for yourself how this little adventure helped you." I sat down and started to gather nature energy. I felt that my mind was clear and the speed explodes. General POV Po and Tau, as well as all the other Pandas, gathered around Ishizu as they saw Ishizu''s body changing. More and more nature energy was filling Ishizu and his faces morphed into that of a panda and he grew black and white fur from his skin. Many pandas grew concerned as he was only a step away from turning into a panda, but Po stopped them. Po had great confidence that his student would make it. After a while, something that later would be known as a miracle happened. The white fur disappeared and instead, Ishizu''s left eye had a white circle around it. Then the black fur vanished and on the right eye, a black circle appeared. Both black and white rings around Ishizu''s eye glowed, and on Ishizu''s forehead, a Yin-Yang Symbol formed. As Ishizu opened his eyes, his left pupil was black while his right was white. Seeing this, Po shouted into the crowd. *Rejoice pandas of the Dumpling Dynasty a new Panda Sage was born!* Chapter 51 - The Tale of Wine Snakes and Dancing Two figures stood across each other in the grass plain of the Dumpling Dynasty. One was a human while the other one was a small panda who couldn''t even reach to the human''s waist. Both of them engaged in Taijutsu and one would assume the large human would win, but it wasn''t in this case. The small panda was very agile, but his weapons were his pawns with which he struck the human in his arms. The name of the panda was Denku. He was Ishizu''s teacher in the attack style of pandas. There were many attack styles dedicated to each species. Denku was one who studied human anatomy and was the most knowledgeable of this style. To learn the style, one had to understand human anatomy and use Sage Mode. For Ishizu fighting against Denku was like fighting a Tsunade possessing a Sharingan and Byakugan who knew your whole body in and outside while giving Ishizu the most painful strikes. The fight went like this. Ishizu uses his speed to close the distance between them and aimed his punch at Denku''s stomach, striking his solar plexus and trying to immobilize him. Unfortunately, Denku predicted his attack but let it pass while waiting for the right moment to strike with fast motion into Ishizu''s hand. The fist connected with Denku and he flew a few steps back but looked unfazed by his student''s attack. Ishizu jumped back as he couldn''t feel part of his body. He examined his hand. It shocked Ishizu as he didn''t understand what his teacher had done. "What did you do to my hand? I learned medical Ninjutsu and know that one can cut the nerves if one is good in medical ninjutsu, but I don''t think I could do that. I am questioning if Tsunade could do that so precisely." Denku smiled as he walked towards his student. "The human body is a wonderful thing. My technique is far superior to your Hokage''s. Even without the knowledge of human anatomy, one could damage the opponent, but it is better to know where you hit to get the best effect. As you are a Sage now your next step is to refine it. Gather small amounts of nature energy into your fingers as I did. If you strike an opponent with your Sage infused strike, the nature energy will transfer to the opponents immobilizing the area where you hit for a moment. You can''t gather much to turn somebody into stone, but enough to paralyze the arms and legs or any other body part you hit. The attack style is very easy to combine with the defense style. You can wait for your opponents to come closer and hit him at the same time as he does. Combine it with speed style and you won''t even need to wait for the opponent. Just beware that your time as a Sage will shorten if you use it too long. Now, enough with the training. Let us drink some good wine," said Denku as he showed a smile. Tha''s right. The small panda was a fan of alcoholic beverages. Especially since red wine was his favorite. Ishizu smiled: "You like wine? What is with others, like sake?" Denku shrugged. "I have tried human sake, it was good but it can''t compare with red wine. Why do you ask?" Ishizu laughed: "You definitely have to meet Tsunade. You both are a match." "So what can you tell me about my fighting?" asked Ishizu. "You have your Rinnegan and your Shadow Clones, so use them. To fight someone like me, you can''t let me get close to you. Use the Rinnegan to cover your blind spots with making Shadow Clones and use the clones to keep me away from you," said Denku as he drank his wine. Ishizu POV It was nice having some alcohol after a fight with my new teacher. Denku was the panda who was the least annoying as he acted like a gentleman rather than a monk or the other bunch. Denku showed me that only learning Sage Mode was not enough. He also showed me how much I still have to go and that I should not rely on it too much. It also stopped me from thinking I am invincible. I had free time before I could have more Sage Mode training, so I visited Po to ask him a very important question. Even during my training, I haven''t forgotten about my other student. It was time I helped him a bit. *Hello, Ishizu. I thought you have forgotten about poor old Po. What can I do for you?* asked Po as he saw his favorite human come to him. *Do you think you can let me enter the Ryuchi Cave to meet the Snake Sage?* *And why do you want to meet that little smoking girl?* asked Po, now curiously looking at me. His stare was making me feel like a weak human. Technically, I was in front of him, but I started to sweat. *I don''t think the snakes are better than pandas it is just that I have a student I want to visit and maybe help him with starting his senjutsu training?* Po''s stare continued until he burst out laughing. *Hahaha, I can''t get enough of your face when you meet someone stronger than you. It feels like you want to run and at the same time you want to fight.* I just sighed at his antiques. Po calmed down after a while. *Sure, I can help you meet that little girl. One of my pandas will accomplish you to the cave. He will wait outside. Also, please say I want to see the Snake Sage dance again.* I nodded without giving it any thought and left. Outside, I expected Tau to appear and greet me, but I saw my new teacher Denku. Denko raised an eyebrow. "So you want to meet the old snake? It sure will be fun to talk to her if she wants to, that is. Let''s go." We made our way into a tree where a small clear lake was. "What is that?" I asked. "This is a special lake that connects us with every summoning realm. We use it to communicate with other species if we have something to discuss. You just have to think where you want to go and then you will appear there. Now come, let''s meet her." I held Denku''s paw before we jumped inside. Ryuchi Cave The snake sage was having a boring day like usual when a portal appeared in front of her. The black and white circles indicated a panda was coming. ''A panda is visiting? Why should they come?'' Out of the portal came one familiar face and a human she never saw before. Ah, humans. She loved their species. They always sought power to destroy each other. It was a mystery for the snake sage why they did it so when a human entered her cave she asked him questions about him. Naturally, she was shocked to find out how disgusting the human in front of her was. It enraged her to find out a human actually dared to transform into a snake. A human monkey wanted to be one of them? And not only that, he demanded from her to learn Sage Mode. She couldn''t do anything about the summoning contract he had with most of the snakes, including Manda, as it was none of her business, but she forbade the human to enter her sacred cave. Seeing a human together with a panda made the Snake Sage think about the humans once more. Why did the pandas, a clan who never interacted with humans had one with them? "Hello Denku-san, it has been a while since you visited us. Tell me why do you bring a human with you?" asked the Snake Sage curiously. Ishizu had enough encounters with important and powerful figures, so he knew the rules. You shut our mouth and only answer if you were asked. He knew that women were very pushy about it, as he had experienced it with two Uzumakis already. "Oh, he is special. He is our new summoner and our new Sage. His name is Ishizu-kun." Ishizu bowed to her. The Snake Sage was having problems grasping what the panda said. This was blasphemy! Did everyone want a human sage apprentice? There was the Toad clan who already has one, although he was incomplete. She also heard from her spies they want to make a new one. She too had a candidate in mind, but she didn''t want to select him as he was but a slave to the former human that visited her. But now the pandas were faster than her? Those who never had contact with the human world since the sage, were having one? The Snake Sage turned her body towards Ishizu and the human gulped as she starred with her eyes into his own. It felt like she wanted to tear out his soul. "Speak, Sage apprentice. Why have you come to my cave?" Ishizu bowed again. "I have come here to ask the Snake Sage if your excellency will see if this lowly one''s candidate for a snake sage is worthy." Ishizu hated to speak so formally as it was beneath him, but in front of her, he wanted to succeed. Even with his Rinnegan, he didn''t think he could win, not to mention the other snakes here. If a fight would happen, he would be outnumbered so better be friendly and avoid unnecessary trouble. Ishizu had pride, but that was worthless if you were dead. Be respectful to the elders, most people say, and they are right as most of them could kill you before you even realize it. The Snake Sage''s eyes widen. "So you think you have someone who could be of worth to us? The last time somebody wanted to learn Sage Mode, I kicked him out and forbade him to enter my cave." Ishizu had to conceal his grimace as he knew who she meant. "Yes, your Excellency. You probably know him and if not some snakes can tell you about him. He is living under Orochimaru, his name is Sasuke Uchiha." The Snake Sage started laughing. "This is hilarious! This is the best joke I have ever heard. Your suggestion is a student of the very same human I threw out? Why should he be worth to be trained under me?" Ishizu tried not to cringe. ''Why are you laughing? Even Kabuto learned it, and he was more Orochimaru than anyone could ever be. This freak literally injected himself with Orochimaru, gross.'' "I can assure you that Sasuke is defiantly not like Orochimaru. He is much better. The only reason he is training under him is that he wants to get stronger and as soon as he is he will leave that man. He is an ambitious young man who is unfortunately driven by revenge, which is pointless. I am sure you would have a better opinion if you meet him in person." The Snake Sage glared at Ishizu. How dare he question her? Still, somebody who is seeking pointless revenge? Now that is something you don''t hear a lot. "Tell me, why is his revenge pointless?" asked the Snake Sage. She was curious and loved hearing such tales. "During Sasuke''s childhood, his brother killed his whole clan while letting Sasuke the only one alive. Itachi, who is the older brother as well as the murder, told Sasuke to get stronger. Sasuke swore to avenge his clan by killing his own brother." "That is all wonderful, but where is the pointless stuff?" interrupted the Snake Sage impatiently. "That lies in the problem that Itachi is a pacifist and only because of the pressure the village put on Itachi that he had to decide. His clan was out for a civil war where a lot of people would die. The village elders gave Itachi the order to kill the whole clan to stop the civil war from happening. Although Itachi loved his clan he loved the village more, but still, he loved something more than the village." "And what would that be?" asked the Snake Sage. "His brother," Ishizu answered. "He loved his brother more then anyone. More than his father or mother. He accepted to kill everyone under the condition that the village would leave his brother alone as he was only a child. The village accepted the condition and Itachi murdered everyone without mercy. Unfortunately, the young Sasuke saw his dead parents inside his house. Right in front of his brother. Not knowing they did the Seppuku so Itachi wouldn''t kill them with his own hands. Seeing his dead father and mother, Sasuke asked his brother what happened as he didn''t understand what was going on. Itachi felt sad for he wanted his brother to live a happy life. And at that moment he decided. Sasuke should hate him for everything he had done and when he reached a certain strength, he would die under Sasuke hands. That is the tragedy of the Uchiha brothers." Silence. To both Ishizu''s and Denku''s surprise, the Snake Sage cried. ''I would imagine her to laugh but never did I thought she would cry because of a human problem. Maybe Kabuto did the same and told her about his tragedy?'' thought Ishizu. "What a sad tragedy. Let me meet this Sasuke Uchiha and I shall decide if he is worthy of becoming the Snake Sage." Then a smile formed on her face. "But he won''t be the only candidate. Before you came, I had another one in mind for this position. I want to see who will be the true Snake Sage. The slave of Orochimaru or Sasuke Uchiha." Ishizu was happy for Sasuke, but hearing he had to compete with Kabuto was something he wanted to change. Killing him would be good. "It is decided then. If I see that the Uchiha has the will to become the next Sage, I will train him and the slave. There will be a fight between the slave and the Uchiha to see who is worthy of being the right one," announced the Snake Sage before she looked to Ishizu seemingly knowing what he thought. "No cheating, human. You will not interfere with my decision. If I hear you killing Kabuto Yakushi, I will personally come to the human realm and kill you. Am I understood?" Ishizu could only nod. His hands were bound. It would seem that Sasuke would eventually have to fight Kabuto. "Now go. I will send someone to bring me Sasuke Uchiha and then I will decide if everything I said will happen," said the Snake Sage. "Oh, I almost forgot. Sage Po asked me when you would like to dance with him," said Ishizu. The eyes of the Snake Sage went wide and her face went red before she roared and jumped at Ishizu. Denku quickly put his paw on Ishizu''s shoulder and they disappeared. "What was that?" asked Ishizu, baffled. "Sage Po often comes to the Snake realm and teases the Snake Sage. Her mother was a friend of Po and when she was young Po always asked her to a dance. They are like stepfather and daughter," explained Denku. Ishizu could only nod without understanding much. Some Orochimaru hideout "That is enough Sasuke-kun. You can go rest for a while," said Orochimaru as he watched Sasuke defeat his opponent. Sasuke nodded and left the training room. In his room, he saw a snake looking at him. "Are you Sssassuke Uchiha?" the snake asked. Sasuke nodded but was a bit surprised. He had seen Orochimaru summon snakes, but they never talked so when a snake spoke to him he was curious why she was here. "I have a messsssage from the Sssnake Ssssage. Sssshe wantsss to meet you." Sasuke thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. It was getting boring. A change in scenery would do good. Without any further waiting, he was summoned to the Cave. Ryuchi Cave Sasuke appeared before the Snake Sage. He could feel the countless eyes of snakes looking at him. "Are you the one who wanted to speak to me?" asked Sasuke, completely ignoring the rest. The Snake Sage laughed. "Is it confidence or arrogance I see in you? How I love the latter trait. Yes. I am the Snake Sage." "What do you want?" asked Sasuke. "A special human visited me and humbly asked if I could train you. You should know him. His name is Ishizu." Sasuke''s eyes widened. He didn''t expect Ishizu to help him, even if he was no longer in Konoha. "What does he want me to do?" asked Sasuke. The Snake Sage smiled: "He thinks you are worthy to become the next Snake Sage. I think he is wrong. Do you want to see who is right?" Sasuke smirked: "Bring it on." Chapter 52 - Souls of the Dead Part 1 Somewhere in the Dumpling Dynasty A few scrolls laid on the ground, each placed in a special place next to Ishizu. They weren''t many, but the names on the scrolls would give many people a flashback. The reason was that those were the names of people who have died. "I know that Kabuto will reanimate most of the kages and other strong characters as well as the cannon fodder to fight in the 4th Shinobi War. I can''t kill him because of the Snake Sage, so I have to work around him. The war must happen so the villages can see that being united is better," Ishizu spoke to himself. Looking over the scrolls, Ishziu took the one closest to him. It was a very special scroll from a person special of Ishizu as well as the first he created. Those scrolls were a modified version of the Edo Tensei. Special people who Ishizu knew and had a connection with were inside the scrolls. What the modified version of the Edo Tensei was? A mystery for now. "Still, those people are mine and nobody will use them but me. It is not like Kabuto used them in canon, but you never know what can happen so better be prepared for the future." As Ishizu as examining his scrolls a panda came from behind looking at the scrolls. *Experimenting with the souls of the dead? I am impressed that you humans found a way to bring them back.* Ishizu didn''t turn but still looked at the scrolls. *War is one of the best times for creations to flourish. Tobirama Senju was the best example, as he was the creator of this jutsu and many other we Shinobi use today. Chakra is so unique. War gave him the idea to use his fallen brothers. He brought them back once more to life by killing the enemy so they could fight again,* responded Ishizu. *But you are different. You don''t use this jutsu to kill others, but use their wisdom to learn from them. Making a jutsu that has its purpose to kill change into a jutsu to learn. Imagine in the future people would bring back the dead so they could tell their history,* explained Po. *Really?* now Po smiled. Ishizu sighed as he remembered the encounters he had when he went outside of *DD* to get his first corpse for the special scrolls. Flashback "Where are you going, apprentice Ishizu?" asked Tau as he saw his student packing things. "Last month I worked hard on my Sage Mode so I need some distancing. I have a very important mission to do. It will make me feel like Kabuto, but I need corpses for the Edo Tensei. I also need to look at what Tayuya is doing and get to know what is happening inside the elemental nations. My concern lies with Zetsu and the corpse of Madara Kabuto will resurrect. As I can''t kill Kabuto or I will face the wrath of the Snake Sage I have to prepare for a reanimated Madara Uchiha. A better version of the one Kabuto used. I don''t want to use hundreds of corpses, but only the one necessary. For my special squad, I will reanimate 10 people and make a special seals one of which is to block the sealing of the normal Edo Tensei. I don''t want Kabuto reanimating Madara only for him to break free and cause me a headache. An immortal Uchiha who has the Rinnegan and unlimited chakra is too annoying to take down. Those 10 people will hold him and any other people in place. Maybe when my plan worked, I can fight him, but I don''t want to risk my life for a stupid fight." "So, are those people¡­?" asked Tau. "Mostly friends, but also people who have an emotional connection to important characters even when they are dead. Those two Uzumaki''s will play an important role in the war. I just have to find more bodies and make the seals. That''s why I am going for a hunt. I need bodies as I have the DNA of most of the people I want to summon. There were many whom Kabuto forgot, and I want the end game to be as emotional as possible. People have to remember the war as something special. Sure, some will die as it is the case of all wars, but I want to minimize the death and instead make it a heartwarming reunion of the dead. This will give me enough time to go through my plan." Tau shook his head. "Playing with emotions is very dangerous, Sage Ishizu. Under strong emotions, humans can unleash a potential that nobody can imagine. One wrong move and you fail." "I know that, Tao. I have seen this happen many times. It is scary to know what a single human can do if his emotions reach others. Don''t worry, I know what I do." That''s when brother Tau smiled. "I have a wonderful idea. Why not let us make this a type of training?" suggested Tau. "What do you mean, training?" asked Ishizu. "You and I both know that you could easily abduct some nobody with your Sage Mode and use his body but you won''t learn anything out of it. We pandas don''t want an overconfident Sage who relies too much on nature energy. You are a strategist, right? If so, then I have the perfect mission for you," spoke Tau. "And what do I have to do?" "Instead of going to a random place and grabbing some civilian, I will get you to a special place where you have to find somebody evil, subdue him and bring his body back. This will test your stealth ability where you will be limited as much as possible. With you growing stronger Sage Po and I fear you will lose yourself in power so this will be a good exercise to see how you can go into enemy territory, fulfill your mission and get out of there without being noticed. Sounds exciting, right?" Ishizu sighed. "Sure, and where will you send me?" A small smile appeared on the panda''s face. "Oh, no spoilers for you but I can tell you it won''t be easy. Oh, and one thing. You should conceal your chakra or the enemy will know you are in their territory," added Tau. ''Where the hell is this guy going to send me?'' thought Ishizu as he tried to imagine the place the monk panda would send him for his amus.e.m.e.nt. 2 hours later Ishizu made a plan before making his place to the sealing array and getting teleported back to the elemental nations. Tau stood still and looked at the fading Ishizu. "I hope you will have fun where I sent you, Ishizu-kun. It is a place you know and I doubt you won''t have fun in one of the most secured and isolated places of your continent," spoke brother Tau. Random place. Ishizu POV As I excited the sealing array, I found myself back in the elemental nations. The surrounding trees got me an idea that I was somewhere in the Land of Fire. I saw an arrow with a panda paw pointing in a direction and followed it. It took me a while before I saw rain in the distance. ''Rain? And it is not moving toward or away for me. Oh, this tricky little bastard. This is the border to Amegakure. That ******* panda didn''t lie about concealing my chakra. This is the home territory of Pain, Konan, and occasional Obito. Pain uses this rain to see if anyone enters or not. If I go inside without concealment, Pain will immediately know and come here. So that is why it is stealth? Let''s do it.'' I was ready for the challenge. Concealing my chakra to that of a civilian, I entered the territory of Akatsuki. The moment my body touched the rain I felt the Rinnegan of Pain watching my every move. I stayed cool, not giving Pain the sign I knew he watched me and moved to the nearest village. Inside of Amegakure "Someone entered Ame," spoke the Deva Path as he looked at his city. "Is it a Shinobi?" asked the blue-haired girl named Konan next to him. "His chakra level indicates he is a civilian, but I am curious why he entered Amegakure. No one of sane mind would enter Ame without a purpose. He is near the border of the Land of Fire. Monitor him, Konan. If you see anything suspicious... kill him." "It will be done, Pain-sama." Ishizu POV Even in this situation, I knew I was on the enemy''s radar. My instincts told me I was being watched and by the papers flying around, I knew the person. The advantage I had was that I knew exactly who Pain-sama and Lady Angel were. The problem was how to get a living body without getting caught. I had a plan, but for it to work I had to be patient. Before leaving, I made a cover for the worst case and look and behold it helped me. I was a writer from a small town who wanted to sell his books. I poisoned one of my books so if I gave somebody the wrong book and he opened the first page, they would fall asleep in an hour. A mere genin or Chunin would not see the poison, but if somebody with knowledge of poisons would see the poison, it would blow my cover. I had to find the right person to give the poisoned book. I had to find a person who had an evil soul. Even without those rules, I would never kill a child or a pregnant woman. I was not a monster. Walking down the streets, I listened to conversations hoping to find an abusive husband or some generally bad person. One where I could easily take the body and nobody would notice or even if they wouldn''t care. Finding the most crowded place, I placed the books on the ground with some cover from the rain and shouted for people to buy it. I also listened to the conversations of people who walked past me. "I think I once saw Lady Angel. She looked so beautiful." "Don''t lie. She is too beautiful for your ugly eyes to see." I turned my head. "Lord Pain is so strong. Living under him is so good." Again, I listened to others. "Did you hear that Gerdo-san hit his wife again? I hear their daughter prays every day to Lady Angel to help with her father, but nothing happened." Now that brought my attention. An abusive husband was evil and was a good catch for me. Now the problem was to find him without looking like I want to. I came to the women and asked them if they want to buy one of my books. They declined and I left for a hotel. Konan POV I observed from above how the civilian walked through the crowd before sitting down in the hope to sell his books. He was just like any other civilian. Weak and useless. So why did he come to Ame? Maybe it was because his book was so bad that nobody wanted to buy it in the other villages so he came here? Few people bought it and my curiosity made me henge and buy one myself. It was a book about pandas and how to feed them. No wonder people didn''t buy them. They were useless even for normal civilians. I continued observing him until he went into a hotel, probably to sleep. I placed a paper owl near the hotel that would notify me if he ever came out. For now, I would let him have his peace, but if he ever harmed our village, I would kill him immediately. Chapter 53 - Souls of the Dead Part 2 Ishizu POV Inside the hotel, I went to a bar in the hope to find more information about this Gerdo. The bartender was an old man with a small black beard who was very talkative. "Hey man, I am new and I was looking for a room." I handed him some money and he smiled. "I have heard from two lovely ladies that there is a man named Gerdo who is abusing his wife. Is that true?" I asked him. My question made the bartender frown. "Oh yes, that guy. Unfortunately, he is a Chunin here in Ame and his wife is a civilian, as is his daughter. He blames his wife for not producing a Kunoichi for Ame and Lord Pain, so he beats her up for being a failure of a wife. Sometimes he comes in here for a drink or already drunk after a mission and rambles about his wife being useless and whatnot," answered the bartender. And oh boy, if I wasn''t the main character. The door to the bar opened and a man came inside. "Hey, Kensuke. Give me some nice alcohol and as fast as you can!" shouted the man. The bartender sighed and started filling some beer up. "Are you perhaps Gerdo-san?" I asked with excitement. "Huh? And who wants to know that?" Rude and dumb. Easily to manipulate with compliments. "Oh, I have heard you are one of the strongest Chunin in Ame. I wanted to say thank you for helping Pain-sama and Angel-san happy," I said while keeping my smile up. His frown vanished and he boasted. "Yeah, that''s right. I am the strongest Shinobi after Pain-sama. Without me, they would have it hard to maintain the order." "Then let me buy you some drinks for the great protector of Ame. To Gerdo-san." And just like that, the man drank and drank and drank. The bartender didn''t care as I paid and after 20 drinks the man was completely drunk. "You know... that wife of mine... is so.... dumb. I... told her... to give me a... boy, but she had a.... girl and a civilian none the less. I have to.... go and beat some¡­. sense into her. Goodbye." "Oh before you go, Gerdo-san. Here, take this book with you. I believe it will bring your family something good," I said as I handed him the poison book. He opened it and the small poison attached to him. He just closed it, thanked me, and left. ''Now I have to wait 1 hour for him to be asleep.'' As I had no idea where that guy lived, I opened some of my chakra to make a clone with whom I switched and used a concealment jutsu to attach myself to Gerdo''s back. His chakra would hide me from Konan, whom I knew was watching me until his death from being found out. I watched from Gerdo''s back how he entered his home and shouted for his wife to come to him. Seeing his wife, I felt sad. She was beautiful, but she had many bruises and scars which were from domestic abuse. Her left eye was bandaged but I could see the blue color under it. "Where is my son you *****?" Gerdo shouted at his wife. "W-w-we o-only have a daughter, dear," the wife answered with fear in her eyes, knowing he was drunk. "I told you to bear me a son! You didn''t listen. It seems I have to educate you." He raised his hand and I already wanted to come out and kill this man, but before I could do so a girl appeared before him with her arms raised. "Please, daddy. Don''t hit mommy or Angel-san will be mad at you." The girl protected her mother while tears fell down her eyes. Gerdo laughed. "That **** can do nothing in my house. Here I am God and what I say is the law." He raised his hand and aimed at his daughter with such a force that even a Genin knew what would happen if such an attack hit her face. She was a civilian, and he was a drunken Chunin who underestimated his strength. Enough was enough. I didn''t care if the poison took more time. It was either wait or the death of the girl would haunt me for not helping. Before he could hit his daughter''s face, I grabbed his hand and twisted it in an angle the arm shouldn''t be in. He screamed as I broke his arm. "You consider yourself as a God? Even your leader Pain isn''t one. If you think you are God, then let me be the devil and punish you for you have sinned." I didn''t care what he wanted to say. With my left hand, I hit him in the back of his head rendering him unconscious. I wanted to kill him so badly, but I needed his living body. I took the body and sealed it inside a scroll. "Are you really the devil?" I turned around to see the girl hugging her mother. The mother was confused but I could see she wanted to cry out with tears of joy seeing her nighmare was finally gone. "You could say so. I am the one who watches over your God and if he ever tries to go overboard, I will put him back down." "It seems my little stunt blew my cover, huh? He could have lived a nice hour before the poison took effect, but he had to lift his hand against his daughter. Shouldn''t you be God''s ambassador, Angel-san? Where were you when this little girl prayed to you to help her? For her to be in peace, the devil had to do the job." My taunts did not affect Konan. "It doesn''t matter who you are," spoke Konan with an emotionless voice. I shrugged. "It seems it doesn''t as my mission is done. We will see each other again, orphan girl." With that, I performed my reverse summoning and was gone before I had to fight her or Nagato''s Deva Path. "You are back? That means you completed your mission?" asked Tau as he saw me standing before him. "It depends. I found the perfect candidate and the mission went well. It was until I saw him raising his hand on his daughter. Drunk as he was I saved the daughter. I was found out because I couldnt''t watch her die and protecter her in the last moment. He was one of those people who are unnecessary to earth. People like him should not live, so I did them a favor by getting rid of this trash," I said as I explained what had happened in Ame. "Well, you got the body and the family has no abusive husband anymore. So I would say you passed," said Tau. "Yes, and now it is time to bring back the first person for my special team. I just hope she won''t yell at me too much." General POV Ishizu placed Gerdo on the scroll before waking him up. "Wh...where am I?" Gerdo asked, confused. "You are here to be judged and I am the judge. Gerdo, for your crimes as an abusive husband, I sentence you to be used by the Edo Tensei to bring back someone from the afterlife. No one is against it? Then so be it." Opening the scroll, I placed some hair of the person I wanted to bring back and I performed the Edo Tensei. The screaming from Gerdo was like music to my ears. The papers covered Gerdo and another person stood before me. Someone I knew very well. A girl with straight brown hair and brown eyes with purple markings on her cheeks. The girl was at the age she died. She opened her eyes and looked around, confused. "What? Where am I? I should be dead... Kakashi!" I chuckled as I saw her panic. She turned around and saw me. "Who are you?" she asked, or rather demanded. I kept my mouth shut, hoping she could figure it out by herself. She kept glaring at me before her eyes wandered to my head where she saw my blue hair. "Blue... Ishizu-kun?" "It has been a while hasn''t it, Rin?" "I-I should be dead. I know that Kakashi used his Chidori to kill me and..and OBITO." ''So she saw him before dying?'' "Why are you doing this, Ishizu?" asked Rin with a demanding tone. That question interrupted my thoughts as she didn''t use ''kun.'' That always meant she was not happy. "What do you mean, Rin?" I feigned ignorance. "I have read about this jutsu in a book of the Nindaime Hokage. This is a forbidden jutsu where one has to kill somebody to bring the dead back. Who did you kill to bring me back and why?" she asked. My face grew cold. "The person I killed was an abusive husband and to why? Well, of course for my strategy to work." "What happened to Obito? I saw him in my periphery before Kakashi killed me." Rin looked at me intensly. Can''t blame her as she knew me all too well. She hung around me when I was part of her team. So seeing me not getting shocked by Obito''s survival made her frown. "You don''t seem shocked by me saying Obito was not dead. That means you knew, but how?" "The ''How'' is not important. Obito is alive and as to what he is up to? World domination or enslavement are the best words to describe it," I explained. I told Rin the truth about what happened to Obito. How he didn''t die by the rock and how he was brainwashed to be Madara''s pawn. The questions about the ''how'' I knew weren''t going to be answered. "If you don''t want to say that then please tell me what is my use?" asked Rin. "Excuse me?" I asked. "I am not dumb, Ishizu. You brought me back for something, right? I doubt you wanted just to meet me for some nice chat or say something like ''I am sorry.'' What do you need me for, Ishizu?" Rin''s eyes glared as if she could see my soul. Despite being just a soul in a dead body, she radiated a scary aura. Not as scary as Kushina as she was not human, but still scary. "You won''t let this one go, huh?" I asked. Seeing her shaking her head I shrugged. "My goal is not new to you. I am planning to save my future wife and you will help me in controlling Obito if he decided to intervene. Him seeing you will make him lose his mind for a moment and that is all I need." "Wife? No, please, not this again. Are you still talking about the woman on the moon? There is no one on the moon, Ishizu" Rin said. Believe it or not, but when I was young, I told my team I wanted to marry a woman who was sealed in the moon. I never gave away the name, but I never lied either. How Obito didn''t question me after Madara explained his plan was a mystery to me. Or maybe Obito didn''t know about Kaguya? "I don''t need to hear this from you Rin. Your rage clouds your thinking. If everything goes right, I will use my eyes to bring you back to life. It was not Kakashi''s fault that you died but Madara''s. You deserve a second chance. Kakashi and Obito can fight over you. I don''t care." "So I am just an object to you? Someone who you will forget when I lose my purpose." My Rinnegan came up and I glared at into her eyes. "You are my comrade, a friend I loved having around! Don''t put words into my mouth. If it was a years ago I would have felt guilty but while training I have accepted by mistakes. Maybe I could have saved your life and Obito''s as well as Kakashi''s depression, but this is in the past. Would people believe me if I told them that Obito survived and was brainwashed by Madara Uchiha? I was weak! I had to wait for the right time. Don''t think I didn''t cry after your death. I am human too. I have a heart and emotions like any other. Unlike everyone else, I knew that you would die and I couldn''t tell anyone or people would think I was crazy. Now that I have the strength, I will make everything right. Minato and Kushina as well as you will come back to life. I lost too many people when I couldn''t save them and now that I have the power I will use it to correct my mistakes. I just hope that people will forgive me." At the last sentece I dropped my head. Rin smiled. "So you still are the same boy I knew before. Despite having such crazy dreams, you still care for us. Kushina did good work in raising you. And here I thought you changed." "I changed," I replied. There was silence until I spoke. "I think that''s enough. I have to train. It was nice talking to you, Rin. I hope your enthusiasm can help Obito changed." "Until next time, Ishizu-kun." The coffin closed and Rin was gone. I smiled at the place where she was before. "It was nice talking to you, Rin." Chapter 54 - Learning the 6 Paths Inside the Dumpling Dynasty, a youthful man was attempting to blast a panda away, but the latter just stood like a stone, unmoving. "Grr, again! Shinra Tensei," shouted Ishizu. The big panda laughed as he felt the force but dispersed it. "You can''t be serious. This is one of the strongest attacks, and you take it as if it was nothing. There is some kind of hax for this attack to be so strong as to destroy Konoha." The other pandas just laughed at the human. "Don''t be so sad, brother Ishizu. You know that each technique has to be trained for it to unleash its full potential. Even if you know how the jutsu works, it still doesn''t mean you can use it properly. That is why brother Long helps you with the Deva Path," explained Tau. "Come, brother Ishizu and try again," said brother Long as he ate his dumplings. Now Ishizu was pissed. "You want to eat dumplings? I think those are mine!" shouted the human before stretching his head and fixing it on the dumpling. "Bansho Ten''in." The dumpling vibrated in Long''s hand, but the panda just smirked and placed the dumpling inside his mouth, gulping them down his throat. "If you can''t get me to move with your gravity, then how do you expect to get my food?" asked the big panda. Ishizu glared at him, but he saw the basked filled with a good deal of dumplings before using Bansho Ten''in on them. Long just rolled his eyes. "Again? Nothing can get between me and my food." Ishizu smirked. "Then I will be the first one to do so. Stay away from my dumplings, Shinra Tensei," shouted Ishizu as he simultaneously tried to get the dumplings and tried to stop Long from advancing. Tau watched how the Deva Path stopped Long for a second, just enough time for the Bansho Ten''in to work. The human already had saliva dripping down his chin before they heard a war cry. "NO ONE GETS TO EAT MY DUMPLINGS!!!" screamed Long as he broke the Shinra Tensei. Ishizu''s instincts screamed to favor his life rather than the dumplings. Seeing the panda charging at him with full speed, Ishizu knew he couldn''t dodge, so he somehow had to stop the charge. It was life or death. If he couldn''t stop the charge, the panda would roll over him. Maybe not life or death, but having a massive panda running over you would break some bones. So Ishizu put his arms behind his back, glared at the panda before pushing his arms out front, and with the best Ian McKellen''s voice shouted: "YOUUUUU... SHALL NOT... PAAAAAA.S.S!" The Shinra Tensei coming from Ishizu was the strongest he had ever made. Tau watched how the unstoppable force met the immovable object. "My dumplings!" "You shall not pass!" To Ishizu''s surprise, Long made a big jump over Ishizu before grabbing the dumplings and eating them. With a sigh, Ishizu dropped his head onto the ground. "You actually did it," stated Tau. "What do you mean I did it? I couldn''t stop him," spoke Ishizu with his face in the dirt. "Your mission was to stop Long. I never said for how long. You only started training and with more experience, you will do it," explained Tau. With that, the training for the Deva Path ended. A few days later, Ishizu started training another path. For the Preta Path, Ishizu made his way back to the Elemental Nations, precisely the Land of Earth, where he searched for rogue Shinobi to test his abilities. Near a small town, a human and a disguised panda were seen. "Daisuke Borutshuchi, B-rank rogue Shinobi of Iwagakure. Killed and r.a.p.ed a noble family after seeing the daughter of the head family and wanting to marry her. He was refused, and in his rage, he killed all of them. He has an appreciable amount of Ninjutsu and is mediocre with Taijutsu. I am confused why humans act like that?" spoke Tau as he read the Bingo Book. "I am not sure of myself. Don''t try to understand humans. We all are different, so it is impossible to do so. He is sc.u.m, and like all of them, we should punish them for their crimes. I picked him for being a good user of Ninjutsu. He will have a meaning in his life before I take his head," said Ishizu. "So, how are you going to fight him?" asked Tau. Ishizu smirked as they entered the town before stopping at a bar where Ishizu got the information the Daisuke was lurking. "We are in a Shinobi town. Most of the people inside are like him so it doesn''t matter if I kill him or others." "Whatever but you can only use your Preta Path to absorb Ninjutsu. I forbid you to use other paths. Only Taijutsu may be used to defend yourself, but without Sage Mode. Now, go and have fun," said Tau. Ishizu POV Entering the bar, I saw how everyone glanced at me for a second and then turned around to continue their everyday life. I scanned the room and in one corner I found the man I was looking for. He was alone, looking at the a.s.s of an adolescent girl who was dancing. Starting a fight here would be easy, but I couldn''t do anything besides the Preta Path and Taijutsu and trashing a favorite bar of many men would make me their target. So I sat down at the bar and waited for him to get drunk and leave. After what was like an eternity, Daisuke finally left. Outside when he turned around a corner, and I followed him, my instincts screamed to dodge and I did. It seemed that he knew I followed him and used the best strategy. Kill the one who wants to kill you. "You think I let you follow me so easily. I don''t care who sent you but you will end up like every other hunter who was sent after me." I waited for him to end his monologue, but to my misfortune, he ran. ''****. Why does he run? I thought we would have an epic fight where I would play with him before killing him, but he just ran.'' 2 min later He was not fast. That I can tell you. I quickly caught up to him and engaged him in a Taijutsu fight. He did some earth jutsu that I absorbed, but then I felt 4 more chakra signatures from each direction coming closer. At first I thought it was reenforcement, but the face Daisuke made was not one of relief as a massive earth wall appeared covering both of us. "Earth Style: Earth Wall" "What the hell are you doing? I am still inside. Let me out!" One of the 4 smirked. "Change of plans. We kill you both and take your bounty for us. Now be still while we kill you." Then all 4 of them released fire jutsus on us. Daisuke screamed as the fire burned his body, leaving a recognizable but burned corpse. I smirked as I activated my Preta Path and absorbed the fire, feeling my chakra refilling. The chakra bubble created by the Preta Path was nice. The 4 thought to find 2 corpses, but instead, they found themselves dead when I emerged unharmed and killed them quickly. "What a wonderful display of the Preta Path, brother Ishizu. Using it to create a bubble to absorb the fire was a clever idea. Let us go back," said Tau, and we left. A few days past and I was ready to get accustomed to another Path. Learning the Asura Path was boring as I had to sit around and see how I could change my body parts. I remembered how Asura Pain used its body and when Edo Nagato made his hand into a laser cannon. I had a basic understanding of how weapons worked, but it was Po who taught me about fire weapons. I asked him how he knew, and he responded that he has seen enough weapons to understand them. The laser cannon looked outstanding and combined with a Chibaku Tensei would make for an epic finish. I already knew on whom I would use it. For the Animal Path, I had to summon panda children who roamed around the Dumpling Dynasty. It helped me train in using the Rinnegan with the Animal Path and it would be of enormous help when I would summon all the important pandas. The ''cruelest'' training was of the Human Path. My mission was simple. A bandit camp was destroying the surrounding villages and collecting their money before hiding it in some secret place. I had to infiltrate the camp, and by extracting the soul I would need to find the money. It was a gruesome technique because I had to kill the person to get the information, but they were bandits so no problem with that. After the bandit camp, my second mission was to infiltrate a wealthy house and stealing the money inside. The difference here was that I was not allowed to kill anyone and could only search through the memories before putting the soul back. Before the second part, I went into the forest and searched for animals before grabbing their souls and putting them back in. After I was certain I could do it with no deaths, I began the second part and passed it. The only thing to mention was that taking a soul was easier than putting it back inside, causing no damage except making the person unconscious. The Nakara Path was an excellent interrogation tool. Nobody could see him, and the King of Hell knew if somebody lied before pulling their tongue out. That is how I learned the 6 Paths, but wait. I knew that there was more. Deva, Preta, Animal, Asura, Human, and Nakara were the 6 but there was one more. The Outer Path. The ability to bring the soul of a dead person back to life and summoning chakra chains that connected the Bijuus to the Gedo Mazo. No wonder Nagato called himself a God. With the Rinnegan he could control life and death. Still, it was also one of the most dangerous abilities. I would have to discuss this ability with Po before doing it. It would embarrass me if I died by giving my life for some random Shinobi. I had to speak with Po about the usage of Wood Clones to go around the problem I was facing. The Outer Path was one of the best, but also one of the hardest to master. I smirked as I knew I had time to learn it. Turning around, I made my way to Po to discuss my problem. Chapter 55 - The Special Containers Part 1 Time passed and everyone grew stronger. Ishizu was sitting on a single bamboo while eating dumplings. "You seem bored, sage apprentice Ishizu. Can I do something for you?" asked Tau, who sat across Ishizu. "I am bored. I am not a panda like you who can eat kilos of dumplings," explained Ishizu, as he took a deep breath in. Tau smiled as he opened his eyes. "I remember you telling us you had trouble with collecting Bijuu chakra. We know that your student has it, but for some reason, you don''t want to hurt him. That made me think. Maybe you can get the chakra from someone else?" The words from Tau made Ishizu''s concentration crumbled before he had to jump down. As he landed on his feet Ishizu looked at Tau. "There are few certain individuals who have the Kyuubi chakra. The first that come to my mind are the Gold and Silver Kumo brothers, Kinkaku and Ginkaku who were brought to life by Kabuto''s Edo Tensei. Unfortunately, they are dead and I don''t have their DNA. I think the next time I have a meeting with Orochimaru I will kindly ask him where he has them. The second one is my old Sensei and father, Minato Namikaze, who if you don''t know is also dead. He has the most chakra of the Nine-Tails, exactly half of it. I won''t use him or my relationship with Naruto or Kushina will decrease 0 after they find out. I also don''t want to open the stomach of the reaper. It is too risky. The next that comes to my mind.... is Sora. If I remember there was this useless ''Asuma gets some screen time before dying'' filler. He is the easiest of all of them from whom I could take the chakra. He won''t do anything important in the story." "I hope you are not against kidnapping children?" Tau had a confused look on his face. "Why should I or other pandas care about the lives of other humans? We only care about our brothers and sisters. You are an exception as you are part of our clan. So you don''t have to feel sad about something so insignificant." Ishizu smiled. He liked the ideology of the pandas. "Then let''s go and infiltrate a fire temple." A few months ago I asked an old panda female who was good at sewing to make me my own Akatsuki cloak. I didn''t want to go with my usual Yamamoto appearance. It was better to give all the blame to the organization. I found the location where Sora should be, so the mission was simple. The best thing to do was go into the fire temple, get the boy, leave the temple without alarming the priest, seal the Kyuubi chakra into the containers I made without killing the boy and then return him without them noticing it. Mentioning the containers. They were my best creation ever. I knew that Fuinjutsu was amazing, but it goes beyond that. Those things made my plan so much easier. Flashback no Jutsu. *You should concentrate on training your Sage Mode, brother Ishizu. Instead, you are making something I can''t comprehend with those... boxes?* said Po while eating his dumplings. Ishizu smiled as he looked at his creation. *This is something that will help me tremendously shortly. I would almost say it will save me a lot of trouble if I use it right. Using my knowledge from the blade of the 2 Hokage, together with the knowledge from Mito Uzumaki and Kushina, I created these special containers. Their purpose is very simple: Sealing Bijuu chakra without killing the host.* Po tilted his head in confusion. *I don''t get you. With your foreknowledge, you know where most of the Jinch¨±riki are. You have the Rinnegan and have mastered Sage Mode up to a point where no one can beat you in a 1vs1. Together with us, you are invincible. It is as simple as I said. Instead, you make your life difficult by creating those Fuinjutsu containers that can extract the chakra without killing the host. Why not use just the simple route?" asked Po. Ishizu burst out in laughter. If everything was so simple as he said then Obito and Nagato would already have every Bijuu. *A good question, my dear panda. I will try to answer your question with what I know about humans. The reason is that I wouldn''t be better than the rest of the Akatsuki. Naturally, I will kill anyone who will resist me, but if I can, I will save them. This saves me the unnecessary trouble of being labeled a bad guy. It leaves an unpleasant taste if I could save a life and I didn''t and that is something I got indoctrinated by Kushina during my childhood.* Po grinned: *You say you would kill anyone who would be in your way, right? No answer came from Ishizu. *Still, I am surprised so I must ask how did you come up with something like that? Such creativity must come from somewhere* asked Po, started a new conversation. *I am not the first one who came up with that idea. My idea came from the teacher of Utakata but instead of taking the Bijuu out, I want to make a small container that can store immense amounts of chakra of the Bijuus. I want to create 9 of them. Each container for one Bijuu. My goal is to only extract so much chakra as I need, without killing the host,* said Ishizu. Po only shook his head. *Ok then why not do it like this? You have enough time to learn Sage Mode and master the Rinnegan before the Akatsuki go on their hunt. You know where most of the Jinch¨±riki are. Nothing would stop you to go to find them, take the Jinch¨±riki and extract the chakra and leave the person alive. You would be finished by the time the Akatsuki would start.* Ishizu facepalmed at the words of Po. *You think like a normal person. You don''t think about the consequences.* *And why should I? Strength is what matters in his situation. You are strong enough to do it and nobody can stop you,* responded Po. *Actually, I have thought about doing it as you said but I came to a certain problem. I would probably make it until Chomei before the leaders of each village realized what is going on. They would see the treat and what do humans do when they can''t fight alone? Right, the group together. It would escalate to the point where I would have to fight against the world. I am strong, but I am not sure if I can fight alone against everyone. Let''s consider I am strong enough and can defeat anyone who is going after me. Even if I get my hands on all Tailed Beasts, I would still lose at the end. The reason is very simple from a normal human point of view. The connections I built with everyone and the people I call friends; I would lose them all. They would hate me. Say, I managed to extract some remnants of Gyuki and Kurama without killing Bee and Naruto and transform into the Jinch¨±riki of the Juubi, what next? I will not use the Infinite Tsukuyomi so Black Zetsu can shove his hand through my ribs. I am not going to be madarad. I want Kaguya to be my wife but I don''t know her personality and I don''t want you to tell me. What if I free her from the God Tree only for her to see how I betrayed everyone only for one goal? She would be happy to be free, but would she love me or would she think of me as sc.u.m who betrayed his best friends only to get to her? I would not only lose Kaguya, but everything I had. My life would be worthless. Instead, I will do it stealthily, taking chakra from each Jinch¨±riki when the time is right. I want Obito and Kabuto to be the center of attention while I control everything from the shadows. I won''t trigger a war and die a useless death. I still have to think about how I will get the chakra from each Jinch¨±riki. I already have something in mind when Akatsuki kidnaps Gaara. I will let them know not to mess with me and will give them a welcoming gift. With Matatabi, I will have a nice fight or save her from Hidan and Kakuzu. Isobu is free or will be, so he will be easy. Son Goku and Koaku. To be honest, I am not sure when Akatsuki managed to capture them. The same with Saiken, I hope there will be a filler with Utakata but my memory about it is hazy. I will travel to Takigakure and rescue Fu before taking her chakra. I really like her personality and having her in Konoha would make her life easier. Gyuki will be a hard one. I could find where Orochimaru holds the horn of Gyuki with its DNA. In due time I will see it for myself. Kurama is the hardest. I will send Tayaya to find information about the scrolls of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. I revive them before taking it for my own. If that is not enough I will have enough time to pour the nature energy of this place into the containers That should be enough to summon the Ten-Tails.* Po chucked: *Normally you would have to have the whole chakra from the Bijuus extracted to form the Juubi but with you mastering Sage Mode, you can compensate the incomplete Bijuu''s. I will permit you to extract the nature energy from the Dumpling Dynasty to create a complete Juubi. Then you will emerge and become its Jinch¨±riki.* Ishizu waved his hand not to interrupt him. He had to finish his masterpiece. Flashback end. Chapter 56 - The Special Containers Part 2 Ishizu POV I was summoned by some pandas a few miles away from the fire temple. It would take a while before I reached my destination, so I made my way towards the temple. I noticed the 3 chakra signatures following me and became curious. I didn''t know who they were, but they were targeting me. One of them came very close to me and I saw from behind how a lovely lady greeted me. "Hello, beautiful man. Do you want this lovely lady to give you a night you will never forget?" she asked me seductively. I raised an eyebrow. I didn''t expect her or anyone else from that group to show up. I only knew her because she was the second person who kissed Naruto. She looked just like in the anime. She had long coppery red hair and a sweet face. Fuuka, that was her name. I wondered if she was from the Uzumaki clan and even if not there was one jutsu she used that fascinated me; Reapers Kiss. Such a Jutsu would come in handy at the right time. Still, I wondered why she was here? Her sweet voice had no effect on me as I was immune to it due to a certain snake lady chasing me during my youth. I also wanted to stay pure for Kaguya, so I kindly declined her offer. I already felt the other two coming closer. "Oh, but can you let me lick you for a second?" I was getting annoyed. I had a mission to do and talking with her wasted my time. "Enough with this time waste I have a boy to kidnap; Water Style: Giant Vortex." Being so close to me, Fuuka had no time to react as the water crashed into her and pushed her off me. Seeing that Fuuka has failed to seduce me, the other two attacked me from my blind spot. "Shinra Tensei," I muttered. I watched how the gravity attack pushed them into a tree. Realizing that in all the time training, I never tried using the other ability of The Other Path. I was talking about the black rods or chakra receivers one could use with the Rinnegan. Unlike the other paths, pulling some of them from my hands was very easy and not chakra consuming. Before the two could get up I threw a few of the rods at their vitals, pinning them to the ground and immobilizing them both. "Now that was not nice of you attacking a lady such as me. I hope your chakra tastes delicious." Fuuka ran at me but stopped in fear when she saw me entering Sage Mode before I looked into her eyes with my Rinnegan and released my killing intent at her. Usually, a Shinobi would only hesitate for a mere second before attacking, but the sheer difference in strength that I displayed made Fuuka realize how futile her attack was. Fuuka fell on her knees and I could see cold sweat running down her skin. "You have two options now. You either die like those two, a useless death, or you become mine for the rest of your life." Tears fell down her eyes, and she couldn''t speak because of fear. "Nod once for death and twice for servitude," I said, and she quickly nodded twice. "A superb choice. Remember this day as it will be the best you ever had. Working under me is not bad. As long as you do your job you won''t be treated badly." I hit her in the back of the head and she fell unconscious. I summoned the King of Hell and placed her inside. I would later read her mind about what she knew and about her Kiss jutsu. She would be like Tayuya, but with less freedom. She had to earn it. The other two still struggled to move. I heard their pleas for mercy, but today''s mercy was reserved for only one person. Fuuka was an exception, so everyone else who interfered would die and those two did. Just like that, I put them out of their misery. With that finished, I made my way toward the temple. I sneaked into the temple and looked for Sora. It was easy to avoid those monks as they were no sensors. I found one monk whom I thought was some kind of leader and ripped his soul out to see where Sora was. ''He is here but in a sealed area. No problem for me.'' I made my way towards the sealing array and looked at it with the Rinnegan. ''Hmm, for an array it is not bad. I would give it a 6 out of 10. I could use the Preta Path to go in, but that would alarm the priest.'' Out of the smoke came a panda that was a head smaller than Ishizu. She looked like any other panda with the difference that her fur on her face was snow-white with only the eyes having black fur around them. Her name was Yang Yang and I immediately regretted not turning to the side as she jumped on me and gave me a bear hug that made me exhale the air in my lungs rather forcefully. "Brother Ishizu, you finally summoned me! You always summon that boring Tau. Now you are here and I will hug you until you die," Yang Yang said. This was one reason I disliked summoning her or her sister. Only the elder pandas had seen a human and that''s why she acted like a child having her favorite toy with her. At least her personality wasn''t so extreme as her sisters. After struggling to get her off me, I succeeded. "Huff, Yang Yang, please concentrate. I summoned you to help me, not for you to kill me." "I told you to call me Sister Yang Yang. Now, my dear Ishizu, what can your sister do for you?" I pointed at the sealing array. "Somewhere inside is a boy. Find him and, if possible, take him out and bring him to be. Don''t kill him, are we clear? If you can''t enter, then signal me where he is and I will do the rest." She gasped: "My, brother Ishizu, I didn''t know you were into men?" I grew a tick mark before grabbing her by the head and threw her into the barrier. The reason I had no fear in activating the sealing array was simple and one reason I interacted with this particular panda. Yang Yang could negate Fuinjutsus easily with no one noticing. She landed gracefully behind the barrier, not making noises. She quickly speeds to every house to look inside. With my Rinnegan, I watched through Yang Yang''s eyes to see if she found him. When I saw her opening one house I saw Sora inside sleeping. ''This is him. Now take him to me without waking him up,'' I told her through our mental link. She knocked Sora unconscious before gently grabbing him and taking him out. As soon as Sora was out of his house, an alarm went off. ''****, they marked him so that an alarm would go off if he would leave his home.'' Yang Yang ran to me and dropped him off. "There you go, sweety. I hope you have a wonderful night together," said Yang Yang. I only thanked her, and she vanished in smoke. I took Sora and ran towards a special place which I prepared beforehand near a cave. I raised an eyebrow as I felt the two chakra signatures following me. Both were very determined to get Sora back. Unfortunately for them, I had to extract the chakra now. I couldn''t go to *DD* because Po said it would be too easy, so he forbade me to do such things inside his land and I would not risk his wrath if I disobeyed him. Near the cave was my base of operation. Once I entered multiple barriers activated, preventing anyone to enter surrounded the area which I used. Some would call it being paranoid. I would call it thinking many steps ahead of your enemy. And look and behold as I placed Sora on the stone in the middle and prepared the extraction two people stood outside of the barrier trying desperately to break it. I recognized the monk as Chiriku. The other guy should be the actual father of Sora, Kazuma. "Give me back Sora or you will face the might of my ultimate technique," demanded the monk. "I encourage you to try, but I would take care of the person next to you," I gestured towards the other one. Chiriku looked and his eyes widened as he saw Kazuma. "Traitor, so you finally showed yourself after seeing your own blood being kidnaped? I was right to never tell Sora the truth about you." Kazuma frowned but looked at me with hatred in his eyes. I smirked at the man who was Sora''s biological father. "What a laughable amount of killing intent. You don''t care about your child, do you? You only care what is inside of him, but fear not. He won''t be that for a long time." Their eyes widened at my words. "No, stop it. You will kill him and he is not the Jinch¨±riki of the Kyuubi," Chiriku cried out. "Oh, I know that," I reassured them as I put my special container with the number 9 out and placed it next to Sora. "Let''s see how full we can make you." "Fuinjutsu: Six Roaring Pandas." It was a Fuinjutsu I came up by myself. I based it on the Gedo Mazo technique to extract the bijuus, but this one would do it without killing the host. Slowly red chakra began flowing out of Sora''s body while I directed it into the container. As no bijuu was inside Sora, I didn''t have to prevent any bijuu from interfering. Chiriku and Kazuma attacked the barrier with everything they had in fear of losing Sora. Both wanted to save Sora, but both had original reasons. Chiriku wanted Sora to live and be happy, Kazuma wanted Sora to use as a weapon. But no matter what they used, the barrier didn''t bulge. It took 20 minutes before no chakra came out and that gave me the signal to stop. The container closed, and I saw that one out of nine marbles shined. 1/9 of the chakra was collected. That was a lot compared to how much Kurama had inside. He lost a lot during the fight with the Konoha Shinobi. It was not enough, but for now, it would be all right. "That''s it, spectators. The show is over, and we have a winner, and that is me. I am happy to say that the boy is alive and well. Unfortunately, we will never see each other again you filler characters. If we do, I will quickly kill you." I threw Sora''s body to Chiriku, and the latter grabbed him, checking his pulse. "He is alive, how?" "That is a secret." With that, I reversed summoned myself back to *DD*. "So you did it," said brother Tau as he saw the container with me. I gave him a thumb up. "1/9 of the container is full. I am glad that it was this much." With that, the first container was filled partially. 8 others were waiting. Chapter 57 - Tayuyas Life Part 1 Tayuya POV (Expect some inadequate words.) My former life was shit. I don''t even remember the faces or the names of my parents. I do know that they sold me to Orochimaru for unknown reasons. It was probably money. He said I was special and as I was a tiny kid who had nothing; I believed his words. He was my everything and I viewed him as a father, but I soon learned that I was not the only one. I wasn''t even the best. I thought I found a person who loved me, but I was wrong. Nothing I did was worth his notice, and I soon realized that I was but an object to this bastard. Escape was impossible because where should I have gone? The only people I knew were the snake bastard and people who worked for him like creepy eyes. My role as a human was to be Orochimaru''s barrier guard. We all had unique abilities, and mine especially was Genjutsu. With 14 I killed lots of people as they always underestimated my sound Genjutsu. Usually, people would think of a Genjutsu as one performs with eyes as the Uchiha do, but mine was with sound. My flute was my weapon and my summons were my shield. It hurt like nothing I''ve ever felt and I could feel something was inside me. Controlling every action I did. Whatever it was, it held me tight to the asshole and made me unable to leave that shit hole. Then we invaded Konoha and the asshole fought the 3rd Hokage. To my knowledge, I was confident that our barrier would hold everyone out, but this belief soon shattered when I saw a person approaching it with a confident smile. A smile that showed ''I know what I am doing''. Kidomaru bragged first about him not being able to go inside, but he somehow teleported inside. The mission was a success, but at a high cost. The bastard... You don''t know how happy I am saying it because I always had to address him as Orochimaru-sama or master. F.u.c.k, I don''t want to think about that. Whatever, something happened to him during the fight with the Hokage. He got more violent and wouldn''t even bother with us. Then the most important mission came. We had to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, the last loyal Uchiha. A new vessel for the snake. I never understood how a person would create such a Jutsu. How crazy he must be inside his brain to think about the possibility to do so. But who was I to ask him such a question back then? I was a nobody who would die someday. The mission seemed easy at first. The Uchiha was greedy for power and power he would get from the curse mark. He came willingly. On our way back we encountered some Jonin and had to use our curse mark to fight them off. They were strong, but our teamwork got us out. We were resting when some Konoha Genin came at us. One after one had to stay behind so we could fulfill the mission. Deep inside I hoped for the others to die. I doubted they had a wonderful childhood and were just like me who were used by that bastard. Then it was my time to fight as Kimimaro came and took the Uchiha. My enemy was a smartass Nara Shinobi from Konoha. He was good. He even broke through my Genjutsu by breaking his own finger with his shadow. I was desperate to kill him, but then his reinforcement came. An enormous wave of wind came and the force should have killed me as I was on the brink of death, but somebody saved me. Saved me? Would you believe it? All my life I depended on myself and would never think somebody would risk his life to save me. Not even the others would save me. Then I remembered. I doubted he did it as a Good Samaritan. Just like that snake bastard, he would use me. I was under the control of the curse mark and cursed at him before my vision went dark. He captured me and at that moment I knew he wanted something from me. I shouted profanities at him, but he was unfazed. He looked at me with a strange smile. Not the creepy smile the bastard used when he saw a new experiment, but one filled with something else. The next thing I thought he was a creep, but more of the perverted type. He assured me he wouldn''t touch me indecent but I had none of that. He subdued me and placed his hand on my curse mark. I felt a tingling sensation as if you squeeze something through a tiny hole. A creepy silhouette came out and it freaked me out. Something told me that it was good but another part of me told me to let go. I had no say in this as o heard the man speak Absence of all evil. It was like heaven. After so long I could think clearly. I wanted to kiss the person in front of me and didn''t care who he was. I was free. The relief made me blackout again. The next thing I saw, I was in some kind of labyrinth. I saw the man coming to me. Describing the feeling with one word would be Unity. It was like we were soul-deep connected. I could see his very thoughts. About everything. About me. He wanted me to be part of his team. He saw me not as an object but as a living being. Equal exchange. He would help me and I would help him. I knew that this person would be my everything. Present time. "You want me to do what?!" Tayuya screamed. "Are you sure you are not from the Uzumaki Clan? Your exhibit traits that are common. Like your red hair and your language. My step-mother was also an Uzumaki and I bet she had the same tone of voice when she was young. Now again. You need something to do. You can''t just do nothing and be weak." "Yes, but what part of your damaged brain got the idea to send me to Suna?" asked Tayuya. "Han, the Jinch¨±riki of the Gobi was seen near the border of Sunagakure. You know why I need to know where he is. See it as training. Maybe you will get something out of it. Also, it is not like you will go alone," explained Ishizu. "That''s right, Tayuya-chan," said a voice and Tayuya hugged the panda that appeared. "It is so good to see you again, Yang Yang," said Tayuya with a smile as she rubbed her cheeks at the fur of the panda. "So did you manage to talk him out of going for Kaguya? He is such a handsome man. Such beautiful blue hair and red eyes. How can he not see your beauty, Tayuya-chan?" replied Yang Yang. "You know I can hear your right?" asked Ishizu who didn''t even look up from his book. "Then you should know that Tayuya is s.e.xy. Look at this red hair. It is so smooth. Look at those curves. Every man would give his soul for such beauty. I know you have a fetish for dominant women as you inherited it from your non-biological father, Minato. You think that Tayuya-chan is from the Uzumaki as she has a dominant personality like Kushina. She would make a splendid wife." Tayuya''s face matched that of her hair while Ishizu''s book fell out of his hands and his mouth was wide open. "Hehe, was that a secret I read in your diary and told it? Ups?" "Run, Yang Yang, and pray to Po I won''t kill you." "Gotta go, Tayuya-chan. I will see you when he calms down. Some husband he will be," said Yang Yang as she dodged the food that aimed for her face. A Sage Mode Ishizu with his Rinnegan was not happy. "I will kill you, you sniffing panda!" Tayuya walked away from the two as she was far behind in the skills they displayed. Chapter 58 - Tayuya’s Life Part 2 30 minutes later Tayuya saw Yang-Yang walking towards her. She had some bruises from her ''fight'' with Ishizu, but overall she was fine. "Let''s go, Tayuya-chan. To the Land of Wind." In the desert "How can''t you have difficulties with this extreme heat?" asked Tayuya as she saw Yang Yang walking without stopping. "Oh, I use nature energy to the heat out. If you could handle nature energy, I would give you some of mine, but you can''t." As they stood on a sand hill, Yang Yang stopped. "A huge chakra signature is to our left. The possibility of it being the Jinch¨±riki of the Gobi is high." Tayuya nodded, and they walked calmly toward the signature. After 5 minutes, they found an enormous person meditating in the middle of the sand. He wore armor around him with a furnace on his back. "Who does he have that thing in his back?" asked Tayuya. "Oh, Kokou the Gobi gives his Jinch¨±riki the Steam Release. She is very gentle in nature, but I don''t know how the human is. Do you want to approach him?" asked Yang-Yang. "No way! I have no idea how he will react. What should I tell him? That I just wanted to find his location? He will attack me and I doubt I can fight him." "Then who are those people?" Yang Yang asked as she pointed at a group of 3 approaching Han. One particular Tayuya recognized, making her frown as she remembered her. "That Suna chick is here. She was the one who almost killed me." "So, what are you going to do?" asked Yang-Yang, curious what the former Orochimaru slave would do. "They know either way that I am alive. Last time I was almost out of chakra but now I want to see how I compare to her." Yang Yang just shrugged as she performed a tiger seal. The female panda was gone and now stood a tall woman with beautiful white and black hair. Tayuya stared at the transformation. "What is wrong?" asked the female human panda. Tayuya has to rub her eyes to make sure she saw right. "This is still you right, Yang Yang?" asked Tayuya just to confirm the impossible. "Of course it is me," replied Yang-Yang. "How can you look so beautiful in human form?" Yang Yang shrugged. "You humans have a unique view on being beautiful. No panda would love seeing me like that. Still, thank you for the compliment. It gave me an idea how to tease our Sage." The conversation was interrupted when the heard Han''s furnace steaming. "The Jinch¨±riki is not happy seeing the Suna chick. It was an excellent idea not going to him," commented Tayuya before she used her flute to perform a Genjutsu on all of them. "Genjutsu: Sound of Harmony." The two rookies who came with Temari fell asleep while Temari struggled to be awake. Han didn''t seem faced by it, but he looked at Tayuya. "Do you have a problem with me?" asked Han. "I have no aim to harm you in any way. Though I have a grudge at that Suna chick." That''s when Tayuya turned to Temari. A smile on her face. "We meet at last, Suna chick. Last time you almost killed me, you bitch. I''ve come for revenge," said Tayuya before she heard a rumbling sound. She had no time to turn around, but she was lucky for a tall woman to appear before her and holding Han off. "My, what a rude boy. Attacking my friend with no warning." Han''s furnace steamed more, but no matter how much it steamed, he couldn''t go through Yang Yang with brutal force. A huge wind-wave appeared as Temari regained her composure and attacked Tayuya while the latter dodged. "Not this time, bitch. This time I know how your attacks work and won''t make it so easy for you." Now, with the help of Ishizu, her training in Taijutsu went up. Temari had it hard keeping up with Tayuya. "Ninp¨­: Kamaitachi no Jutsu," shouted Temari as she used her Giant Folding Fan to create a massive wind attack. Tayuya smirked as she made hand signs with her last being snake. "Doton: Dory¨±heki." A massive earth wall protected Tayuya from the wind. While Tayuya was fighting Temari, Han attacked Yang Yang. "You are strong," stated Han as he looked at Yang Yang. "Oh, my. Unfortunately, I must say you are weak. If you can''t even defeat me than what about the rest from my clan? If Denku was here, he would have paralyzed your entire body by now. I am only mediocre in Panda Defense Style but it is enough for you it seems," commented Yang-Yang as she provoked Han. "Then I will show you my power." "Boys," Yang Yang rolled her eyes as she saw Han drawing power from Kokuo. "I am not going to fight you in that form. It will ruin my beautiful fur. If a boy wants to fight, then why not fight another one? Fuinjutsu: Helping Hand," said Yang Yang as she slammed her hand on the ground. Han with 3 chakra tails behind his back ran at Yang Yang through the smoke that she created only to be sent away flying. "My dear sister Yang Yang. Why am I here?" asked a drunken male voice from behind the smoke. Yang Yang ran at the panda and hugged him. "Please, brother Denku. Help me. This bad human wants to abduct me," cried Yang Yang. Denku has an empty wine bottle in his hand as he swung it. "Get off me! I was having a delicate glass of red wine when you summoned me before being attacked." "But brother Denku. He is evil. He said he hates wine." Denku frowned as he looked at Han, who, by now, was in Stage Two of his Jinchuriki cloak. "Why are you fighting a Jinchuriki? You are not a fighter, Yang Yang." Yang Yang pointed her finger at Tayuya. "It is her fault." Denku rolled his eyes before seeing in his periphery Han attacking. "You own me 10 bottles of fine red wine, am I clear?" asked Denku. Yang Yang only nodded in fat motion. Han''s fist connected with Denku''s. A scream was heard, but it came from Han. The reason was that Han''s fist broke on the impact with Denku''s. "You are a tough guy, aren''t you? For saying wine is bad, I will teach you a lesson. Also, I want to go drink again so would you excuse me?" asked Denku before he hit Han in various places. Han''s cloak disappeared before Denku grabbed him by the head. "And off you go!" shouted Denku as he threw Han into the desert. Then Denku looked at Yang Yang. "Don''t forget the 10 bottles of superb red wine and don''t you dare ask Sage Ishizu for it," said Denku before leaving. With the fight between the panda and Han was over Yang Yang looked to Tayuya who cheered as she stood victorious over Temari''s body. "Who is the loser now, bitch? That''s right, it''s you. You are lucky I don''t want to kill you. On the contrary, I want you to grow stronger." Tayuya looked at the other two genin of Suna, "He will come. Yamamoto will come and bring peace to this world," said Tayuya before stepping away from Temari and walking to Yang Yang. "Let''s go. We have nothing left to do." In the Dumpling Dynasty "What do you mean I have to buy you 10 bottles of red wine?" shouted Ishizu at Yang Yang. "Please Sage Ishizu. It is only 10 bottles," w.h.i.n.ed Yang Yang. "Do I look like a rich person to you? Wine is expensive," stated Ishizu. "Why do you even want red wine? I bet it has something to do with Denku. He loves drinking it." "Well, I had to summon him to help me fight the Gobi," answered Yang Yang. "Han? Why did you have to fight him? I told you only to watch him and not to engage." "But he attacked Tayuya, so I had to help her." Ishizu sighed. "I should have gone with you to collect some of his chakra. Fine, I will see what I can do, but first I will talk with Denku about this wine." Yang Yang paled. "Noooo! Don''t tell Denku about it. Ehh, yes, that''s right. He will have his birthday and I wanted to buy him 10 bottles of wine so please help me." Ishizu frowned but he didn''t know it was a lie so he bought Yang-Yang the wine. Later. "Why are you attacking me, Denku?" asked Yang Yang. "Because I know you got the wine from our Sage. I am not stupid thinking you actually bought me the wine," answered Denku as he attacked Yang Yang while Ishizu sat under a tree with an empty wallet and watched the scene waiting for his turn on Yang Yang. Chapter 59 - A Week with Naruto Part 1 Ishizu was fighting with Denku as a message came in. The disturbance of the other panda caused made Ishizu to get hit by Denku in the stomach. "Never let your opponent out of sight even if you see something else or you will die." Ishizu stood up and looked at the panda: "I have news from the whiskers boy, apprentice Sage. He wishes to speak to you," said the messenger. Ishizu nodded. "I think we had enough for today Ishizu-kun. I have a date with some delicious red wine. I will tell Sage Po that you will go to see him, right?" "Yes. See ya, Denku." With that, Ishizu went to his home to prepare himself. It was some time ago since Naruto needed help, so Ishizu prepared himself for any kind of danger. Focusing on the seal he had on Naruto, Ishizu teleported away. "Do you think it is a good idea to interrupt his training, Naruto?" asked Jiraiya. "Oh, I know that Ishizu-sensei can''t train 24/7. Not even he can think about training all the time. The only ones that can are Guy and Lee. Besides, I want to spend some time with him. With me gone, you will have no one who can annoy you about your book. So it''s a win-win situation." The Fuinjutsu Naruto prepared, activated, and Ishizu appeared inside of it. "You have the best timing, Naruto. Any longer and Denku would cripple me. I own you one," said Ishizu. Naruto shook his sensei''s hand. "So Ishizu-san, now that Naruto has summoned you to have a week off, what are you going to do?" asked Jiraiya, curious where Ishizu would take Naruto. He wanted to know the place because he feared Akatsuki would attack them if they went to a sizeable village. It was Naruto who answered. "It is my decision where we are going and I will not tell you. It''s a secret, but it is a place where the Akatsuki won''t find us. I will only tell Ishizu. Now leave us alone and find an open bath to peek at women. Your book doesn''t write on your own, Ero-sennin." Jiraiya walked away grumbling about elders and respect. Ishizu looked at Naruto because he had also no idea where Naruto wanted to go. "So where do you want to go? The elemental nations are large, but we have an entire week. With our speed, we could travel anywhere you want." Naruto took out a map and pointed at a marked X. The X was located on the east of the land of fire. A place Ishizu knew but never visited because there were only ruins. "I have read that Uzushiogakure was on the far east of the Land of Fire. I want to see the place where my clan was from," explained Naruto. Ishizu thought for a moment but agreed to help Naruto. He could probably get nothing out of it as Uzu, although destroyed, was covered in seals. Even now those seals could activate and kill you. So he agreed under the condition that they could later search for the Hidden Waterfall Village. Ishizu wanted to take some chakra from Chomei and maybe take Fu with him so Akatsuki wouldn''t kill her. With that, both of them ran to Uzu. During the time they ran, Ishizu asked Naruto how far he was with his training. Naruto explained that he only started training in Sage Mode. It would take him more time before he could fully do it. His Fuinjutsu was ok but not near the level of Ishizu and Jiraiya. No doubt if Naruto found some knowledge in Uzu he would be better than both of them. After a few hours, they reached the water. "We either run or get a boat, but I would suggest we ran to shorten the time," suggested Ishizu. Naruto agreed. "Naruto, be careful. I read that Uzu is surrounded by whirlpools and if you fall into one, you will most likely not come out alive." It took two hours of constant running to reach the first whirlpool. Avoiding them, they reached the ruins of Uzu. "So, this remains of my mother''s home," Naruto said as he looked at the ruins that once were a major village. What was once a significant village that could rival any of the others, was nothing more than a ghost town. "This happens if you grow too strong and others see you as a threat. They combine and fight you to balance the world," spoke Ishizu. ''This is also the reason I don''t want to show others my true strength and my goals so something like Uzu won''t happen to me.'' "Let us go Ishizu-sensei. Maybe we can find something in these ruins." As they stepped on land, Naruto ran off like someone has found a new toy. Ishizu didn''t chase after him but walked calmly around, his Rinnegan activated, to see if any barriers were intact. And look and behold, there was one small chakra fluctuation that got Ishizu''s attention. ''So they couldn''t get everything out of Uzu? I wouldn''t believe that the 3 villages could take everything from a village that specialized in seals.'' Ishizu stepped into a burned house and looked at a stone wall. To a normal person, it would look like a normal wall, but Ishizu''s Rinnegan saw a massive seal on it. Ishizu stepped a few steps away just because he couldn''t see the whole seal. ''Holy ****. This is one heck of a seal. Even with the knowledge I have about seals, I can''t understand how it works. Whoever created this type of seal must be a master. And by a master, I don''t mean me or Jiraiya. Hell, I doubt Kushina or Minato could have done such a seal. The complexity is insane. I wonder how long a person needed to make such a seal.'' Ishizu put his hand on the wall and quickly backed off. He knew that he could destroy the wall with brute force, but his instincts screamed that he would regret it. Ishizu trusted his instincts and backed off a few more meters. "Naruto come here. I have found something," shouted Ishizu. Naruto came in seconds. "Have you found a treasure? I couldn''t find anything. Everything is burned or unreadable." Ishizu gestured at the wall. "Touch the wall and tell me what you feel." Naruto shrugged and went to the wall and touched it. The moment Naruto touched it, he went stiff. Ishizu narrowed his eyes as he observed Naruto, not daring to touch him. It seemed like Naruto was in a trance. After almost half an hour passed, Naruto came out of the trance. "You are back. I was getting worried." Naruto was silent for a second. "It felt like I was in the past. I watched how Uzu was attacked by the enemy. I also know what is behind the wall but it seems only I can enter." Ishizu understood what Naruto meant. The trance was some kind of recording seal, showing the last days of Uzu as well as what is behind the wall. "This must be a blood seal, am I right? Only those from the Uzumaki clan can enter it." It shocked Naruto seeing his Sensei coming to the right conclusion. "Wow Sensei, you are really smart." Ishizu got a tick mark on his head: "My eyes can see the massive seal placed on the wall. Not even I can comprehend it, but when I touched the wall, I knew that I should stay away from it. Uzumaki''s were masters in blood seals, and this is one masterpiece. So go ahead, I will wait outside. Don''t take too long as I want to go to Takigakure." Naruto nodded, and when he reached the wall again, he passed right through it. Chapter 60 - A Week with Naruto Part 2 During the time Naruto was inside the wall, Ishizu looked for other things. If such a massive seal survived the extermination, then maybe something else did. With this Rinnegan activated, Ishizu found another chakra fluctuation, but when Ishizu reached it, he froze in place because he never expected something like this. It was as if one would enter another dimension. At first, you see ruins and then all of a sudden there was a forest right in front of you. His Rinnegan indicated a massive amount of nature energy coming from this place. Like in a trance, Ishizu walked inside. To Ishizu''s surprise, the raw and concentrated nature energy was being absorbed by his body. Soon Ishizu panicked because he couldn''t control the energy. Something was off about this energy and it was resistant to Ishizu''s control. He was already too deep inside before he realized his mistake and could only watch as his body would turn to stone. "So this is where I die? I, a Sage, being petrified by nature energy? What an ironic way to die." Unbeknown to Ishizu, the nature energy changed his face but not into his regular Panda Sage Mode. The raw nature energy synergized with Ishizu''s Wood Style. "What is happening? The nature energy stopped flowing inside me," asked Ishizu himself after some time passed. He didn''t see he had dark brown markings on his face, strongly resembling those of Hashirama Senju in his Sage Mode. As he looked around, he heard a voice calling his name. Following the voice, he came to a mysterious place one would describe as beautiful. But inside the pond was a small island with a tree. No flowers were blooming. A bleak place. It was as if the area around the tree was devoid of all life. All of those were fascinating, but the most important thing was the transparent person floating before him. "Hello, young Sage. It is a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to welcome you to this place. My name is Kenji Uzumaki. Welcome to my paradise," the ghost greeted Ishizu. Ishizu had mixed feelings about this person. He knew that some Uzumakis survived, maybe more than he thought he knew, but he never heard about ghosts. So seeing this person floating near the tree that firmly screamed nature energy put Ishizu on the edge. Not to mention that he looked like a ghost. Kenji saw that Ishizu was taking his distance from him. "I can not harm you, Ishizu-san. I am no longer a living person. You could call me a ghost or a soul that wanders the living world." Ishizu frowned: "How do you know my name? I have never met you in my life." Kenji smiled: "I give you a hint. The world ''connect'' is what you seek." Ishizu thought for a moment and then realized. Connection two souls to learn from each other. He used it with Tayuya. It was Ninshu! "That''s right, Ishizu-san. I can use Ninshu too. During my life in Uzu, I have stumbled on some old books from monks dating back many hundreds of years. One of those books mentioned Ninshu and how to perform it. It fascinated me. They called it the predecessor of chakra, claiming that it originated from the legendary Sage of the Six Paths. Before humans misused it and fought with it. I spent my entire life studying Ninshu and later also nature energy. I formed this place after many years of work unknown to the rest of the world. I build it upon the idea of the summoning realms that have abundant nature energy. This place is a paradise for everyone who can use Sage Mode," Kenji explained before closing the distance between the two. "The reason you came here was that you were drawn to this place like animals to water. You came in and unconsciously went into Sage Mode. A unique version from the summons you practiced. That of nature itself. Knowing you had problems controlling it, I stop the inflow of energy to not petrify you. Look into the water to see," Kenji signaled Ishizu to look into the lake. Ishizu looked down and saw he had dark brown circles around his eyes. "Now, the question is, what do you want?" said Kenji. Ishizu looked around: "I didn''t know that such a place existed in Uzu. I never came here to find something. My student came here to see the remains of Uzu and learn about his clan. I don''t know what I can take from here with me." Kenji smiled: "Ah, yes, the last Uzumaki Prince. Don''t worry, he is safe. He is inside the largest library of Uzu. Of course, you can''t enter. It is sealed with a massive blood seal I created. He will be inside for a while with my wife, so I will focus on you. You say you can''t take things with you, but why does it have to be material? I doubt you need jutsu scrolls or some magical flower. What you need is knowledge. Knowledge is so much more valuable than books or items." Ishizu sat down, listening to the old Uzumaki. "What do you have in mind?" Kenji sat down across from Ishizu. "You have the basic knowledge about Ninshu but you are far from understanding it. Meditate under this tree and see if it will help you." Ishizu nodded before crossing the lake. As soon as he stepped onto the land, he felt a pressure on him. Something was weird about that tree. It was as if there was something inside. No, not something, someone. Ishizu sat down under it and closed his eyes. Naruto''s POV When I walked through the wall, I found myself in an enormous library. Large hallways filled with bookshelves with countless of books filled his sight. "Man, I have never seen so many books in my life. I bet Sakura and Ino-chan could find something amazing here." Walking for a while, I finally found the center where to my confusion a beautiful redheaded woman sat while reading a book. "Uhh, excuse me? Do you know where I am?" I asked carefully. It seemed my voice startled the lady because she dropped her book and looked at me. Something was off about her. She looked like a normal woman, but she was translucent. "So you are the person who came through the wall? Tell me, child, what is your name?" asked or rather demanded the woman. Her voice felt like I was speaking to a Hokage, so out of instinct I answered. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, ma''am." She looked around for a moment before she frowned. "I don''t find you in any book. I would have labeled you an intruder, but if you can enter this library, then you must be an Uzumaki. That means you were not born in Uzushigakure, weren''t you?" I shook my head in denial. "I was told that my mother, Kushina Uzumaki, left the village when she was a child." Again she closed her eyes before a smile appeared on her face. Her dominant aura disappeared and I sighed in relief. Uzumaki women are scary. "So you are Kushina''s son? Welcome, Naruto Uzumaki. My name is Konoka Uzumaki. I am the wife of Kenji Uzumaki and the builder of this place. I am also a ghost if you think I am alive. Welcome to the major library of Uzu, last Uzumaki prince." It fascinated me to see another Uzumaki besides Karin. "Cool, you are a ghost. Can you teach how to become one?" My question startled her. "You are in the biggest library of the elemental nations, and the first thing you ask is how to become a ghost? From the knowledge I have about Kushina, I cannot say I am surprised." "Did you know my mother when she was alive?" I asked. She smiled. "I do and I do not. I have lived many years before Kushina and we have never met, but I do know her. The reason is this library. This library has everything stored inside about the life of Uzu and its inhabitants. I was managing the library when I built it, and even after my body died, I continued to store everything that happened in Uzu. From the names to the likes and dislikes of every Uzumaki that has ever lived. From the moment someone is born until their death, the library makes a book to write a person''s life. That''s why I also know that your mothers died protecting you from the Kyuubi. As even after Kushina left her birthplace, the book continued writing about her life until her death. Your story is not written inside, as you were born outside of Uzu." A book formed from thin air and Kokona took it. "Only those with Uzumaki blood can enter this place. So when you entered, the library recognized you and it formed this book. The library searched through your memories to make a story and will write inside the book until you die." Konoka looked through the book before an enormous smile appeared on her face. "I am happy that there is another Uzumaki alive. If you are a good boy, then please bring her next time to visit so it can make a book about her. You don''t have to worry about the books. It is impossible for somebody to steal them and nobody except you knows about this place." I didn''t care. As long as the books were safe from enemies, and no one except Uzumakis could come inside I was ok with it. "So, after introducing the library, do you want something to learn from me, Naruto? We Uzumakis love teaching the younger generation about our knowledge and even after death, I want to do it. Tell me what you want?" Konoka asked eagerly. I thought for a moment. "I have little time as my Sensei wants to leave in a few days." Konoka interrupted me. "Time is of no concern. Your teacher has other things to do and I will tell you when he is ready to leave. The only things you need are water and food so you stay alive and don''t die. It would be a shame for you to die here because you forgot about human necessities." "If that is so, can you teach me the history of Uzo and some Fuinjutsu? My senseis are better than me and they are not Uzumaki''s." That got a reaction as many books came flying towards me. "That is blasphemy! No one is better in Fuinjutsu than an Uzumaki. Even if this Ishizu Sasaki was adopted by Kushina, you are her biological son. Come Naruto, I will teach you everything you have to know. They are level 10? That is nothing for an Uzumaki. This will be a challenge for me to see to which level I can train you. Now sit down and read!" Her change in character horrified me, so I nodded quickly: "Hai Konaka-sama." Chapter 61 - A Week with Naruto Part 3 In the meantime, when Naruto was learning with Konoka, Ishizu was sitting under the tree meditating. Suddenly, the branches of the tree came to life and slowly but gently wrapped around Ishizu until it covered his entire body in roots. Ishizu POV It was hard to explain the feeling I had. The best words to describe it were ''warm'' and ''safe''. Like when somebody entered his home after a long time away. I didn''t know how much time passed until I opened my eyes. What greeted me was an unfamiliar place. I realized that I was not in my body anymore because I couldn''t see myself. I knew I was but I didn''t know what I was. I kept walking or floating or whatever I did to move forward to find some kind of life. After a while, I stopped because I felt something breathing down my neck, so I slowly turned around. And oh boy, I would never forget this moment. What greeted me was something I never expected, and I expected many things. A massive Ten-Tails stared at me with his eye. It was smaller than I saw him in Naruto, but I nearly pissed my pants if I had any on. I had nowhere to run, so my best bet was to attack it but before I could I noticed that I didn''t even feel my charka. I expected the Ten-Tails to attack me but he just stared at me or rather in the direction I was as if he couldn''t find me. ''What is happening? Why is it not attacking me? Also, why can''t I feel my chakra?'' "Who are you and how are you here?" a voice called out. I followed the voice and on top of the Ten-Tails head was a small wooden cage. Inside sat a woman. No, not any woman. My heart stopped for a second before starting to beat faster. This was the first time I saw the women I loved. A woman with pale skin and long white hair. Her eyes were pale and she had two horns on her forehead. "Kaguya Otsutsuki?" I asked. "I can not see you but I can hear you. Who are you and how do you know my name?" Kaguya asked. ''So she and the Ten-Tails really can''t see me.'' I didn''t want her to wait any longer, so I truthfully answered. "My name is Ishizu Sasaki, my lady. I am a human who lives many years after your life." Kaguya nodded, clearly satisfied with my answer. "So you are one of those humans born with chakra after my foolish sons sealed me away?" "Yes. Unfortunately, Hagoromo''s use of chakra, called Ninshu, was misused by humans. I don''t want to anger you but your creation, Black Zetsu, was also responsible for it." Kaguya frowned as she crossed her arms. "That is why I did not agree to spread chakra to humans. I thought I could have peace on this planet, but some stupid Toad convinced my foolish son that I was killing humans and turning them into soldiers." I was listening closely because I wanted to know if Kaguya was the same as the anime showed her. Kaguya used the God Tree to make an army to prepare against her clan. "I also heard that you wanted to create an army of what is known as white Zetsu. You say that it is not true?" I asked to confirm my theory of a parallel world. Maybe the anime was right? Or maybe not? Kaguya shook her head in denial. "That is a false accusation. This was the belief of that narrow-minded Toad. I won''t entirely disagree, but I wanted humans to grow. With my power, I could make their bodies sturdier and safer. Free of any diseases. But before I could finish, my son attacked me. My only mistake was fusing with the God Tree and creating the Ten-Tails. This God Tree in particular grew by absorbing the blood of humans. Fusing with it I lost my mind and my sons thought I went crazy. I bet you also think they won against me because they were stronger, am I right? No, even under the influence of the God Tree I still had some control left. The only reason I lost was that I couldn''t bring myself to kill my only life. My love for them stopped me from killing those two. And what were their thanks? I created Black Zetsu intending to bring me back to life. From that moment I was here. Sealed with this monster called Ten-Tails. Now, I have told you my story. What are you going to do with it?" ''I am glad it is not Kishimoto''s version of Kaguya. She has the personality of a princess, but she also cares for others.'' I looked around. I theorized that her inability to see me was because I was made of nature energy in this place. I concentrated and a small blue line came out of my body and slowly reached Kaguya who gently took it and we formed a bond between both of us. The scene changed and the white room was gone and instead a rainbow color room was there. In front of me was Kaguya in all her grace and no longer inside the cage. "It is good to be outside of that cage." She looked at me and smiled. "So you are Ishizu? You look handsome. It is nice to meet you." I bowed: "The honor is my." Kaguya looked at me as if she was inspecting her prey. "This Ninshu is certainly useful. Hagoromo was always good at inventing things." I realized that while Ninshu connects two people both can feel emotions of the other. I could tell she was interested in me, but she could also feel my emotions and thoughts. "You are not like I remembered humans to be. My last husband betrayed me and never loved me. You are a man who is many decades younger than me, who I see for the first time. I am surprised why you have such love towards me. Tell me, why is that?" The answer came to her immediately through the connection. Her eyes widened: "So a reincarnated soul? We Otsutsukis''s have something similar, though you are far different. And you fell in love when you saw me in what you call a show? From your emotions I can say your love is genuine, I can''t deny it. Oh, and you are the apprentice of my sweet panda friend, Po. When you are back, tell him to prepare tea for me." She vanished and reappeared before me, taking my chin, and looking directly into my eyes. "Now, you want me to be your wife, is that right? But why should I agree? I am a princess and for you to take my hand you have to deserve it. I am not some damsel in distress willing to go to bed with any person I find. I am not a whore. You must earn your place as my husband. And there is only one way. Free me from the Ten-Tails and fight me. If you win, I will consider you as my equal. Be defeated and you will suffer the same fate my last husband had. Do you accept the challenge?" asked Kaguya as a smile formed on her face. My mind was calm. I have prepared for this many times. I never thought it would be easy. I looked into her white eyes with determination. "I accept your challenge, Kaguya Otsutsuki. I hope you will watch how I earn my right to be your husband. I will surely conquer you!" To my surprise, she lowered her mouth and kissed me on my lips. "I shall wait and see for myself how you do it. For now, this is goodbye." She pushed me away and I appeared back under the tree. "So how was your enlightenment?" spoke Kenji. I looked at the tree more carefully. "Now you know why this tree is so special, right?" "I can''t believe it. How is that thing here? It should be have been divided into the Gedo Mazo and the Bijuus. Kenji smiled. "This is a remnant of what was once the Ten-Tails. I found it during my travel. I am not sure how it came here." Kenji floated today the tree. "I will also have to ask you to take this tree with you." I was taken aback: "Why? Doesn''t this tree help you contain this paradise?" Kenji shook his head. "It created this paradise but after Uzu fell, the tree absorbed the blood of the dead. It wanted more and I had to contain its greed for more. I know that you have something that can take it away so I hope you can help me preserve this place." I understood and took out my nine containers. Kenji performed a ritual where the tree grew in size before transforming into a massive ball of chakra. "Now you have to put the chakra inside." I had to close my Rinnegan because the massive chakra was hurting my eyes. I opened my eyes and directed the chakra to the containers. The chakra ball split into 3 parts, each part went into the 4th, 5th and 8th container. The 4th container got 2 marbles full. The 5th got also two marbles and the 8 got one marble full. This was unbelievable how much this small tree had chakra inside. "I think you should take your student now and leave before he dies of dehydration." I turned around. "What? Why?" "My wife sometimes forgets about such things as she is also a ghost so she doesn''t need to eat and drink. Here, I will show you the way to the library but you are not allowed to read, am I clear?" I nodded and Kenji created a path that I followed. Before the stairs, Kenji spoke to me: "This is as far as I can go, Ishizu-kun. I was happy to meet you. I hope you got something useful from the time you were here." I bowed: "I thank you for that time. I would say that nothing material could measure the happiness I feel right now, thank you very much." Kenji laughed and vanished. I looked towards the stairs and walked down. General POV Library "Noooo! Why don''t you have more water!" "Now you have no strength to go back and eat. You will die here," said Konoka as she looked at the poor Uzumaki lying on the ground. Naruto m.o.a.n.e.d in pain because he too forgot to bring more water with him on this trip. Konoka''s lectures were strict and the Uzumaki boy concentrated hard so his energy depleted fast. "No problem, Uzumaki-san, this is why I am here. To guide my student so he can learn." It was Ishizu who walked towards Naruto. "So Kenji gave you permission to enter?" asked Konoka. Ishizu nodded: "Yes, but I am forbidden to look through the books. I just came to take my student back with me. I hope he learned for you?" Konoka smiled: "He wanted to learn history and Fuinjutsu. Unfortunately, his food supply was over so he couldn''t learn much. If he visits again, I am 100% sure he will be better than you." "And why do you want that to happen?" asked Ishizu. "We have pride, Sasaki-kun. Even if you were a student of Kushina-chan, Naruto-kun is a true Uzumaki and he must be the best. Tell him to come again and I will show you how I mold him. Not even your Rinnegan will save you." Ishizu smiled as he took Naruto over his shoulder. "I will take him with me now. Goodbye, Uzumaki-san. Say goodbye to her, Naruto." Naruto waved to her weakly before passing out. Ishizu ran up the stairs and saw that he was outside of Uzu. After that, Naruto woke up, drank a lot, and both talked about what happened during their time. Naruto explained to Ishizu how he learned the history of Uzu. He was sad that he forgot to bring more water so he couldn''t learn much Fuinjutsu but it was enough to challenge his sensei to a fight in Konoha. Ishizu explained to Naruto that he met his future wife and that she challenged him to a fight for marriage. Both thought that they spend a few days inside Uzu, but it was only a few hours. When they replenished their energy both sensei and student made their way to Takigakure. Chapter 62 - A Week with Naruto Part 4 The distance between Uzu and Takigakure was very long. It took 90 hours with rest to reach it. The problem was to find the Waterfall Cave under which one had to dive to find the village. Ishizu had to summon Yang Yang to help them locate it. "Hello, my precious. How are you?" asked Yang Yang as she clung onto Ishizu. "Do I need to use a Shinra Tensei to get you off me or are you going to do it willingly?" Ishizu asked. The panda girl thought for a moment before smiling. "I still want to have you," Yang Yang said as she hugged Ishizu tighter. "SHINRA TENSEI!" Ishizu shouted before the crazy panda could lock lips with him. "Ungrateful but still available." "Get to work Yang Yang and stop molesting me." "I wonder how your wife is going to react when she finds out about this panda," commented Naruto. "You have no idea. She is the sane one. Her sister is far worse. Sometimes I question myself if it is really worthy of being the Panda Sage." Yang Yang shrugged and searched for an hour before finding the entrance and now it was time to be a true Shinobi. On a tree, Ishizu pointed at a waterfall. "All right. Naruto it is time for you to master stealth. Takigakure is under this waterfall and we have to infiltrate it with no one noticing us." Naruto looked curious: "Why not go inside? Aren''t we allies?" Ishizu could only shake his head: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Naruto. We can not just walk inside a hidden village, even if we are an ally. If somebody tried to enter Konoha without permission, ANBU would immediately detain them and would have a friendly chat with Ibiki. It doesn''t matter which village they are from. Takigakure is also a hidden village so Taki Shinobi would question us how we found it, not to mention why we want inside." "So why do we want to go inside, Ishizu-sensei? You never told me the reason for doing this" asked Naruto. Ishizu smirked: "Inside the village is a person who needs our help. She is very important, but you will recognize her immediately. She has a tough life here and I hope you can convince her to come with us to Konoha." Naruto didn''t get what Ishizu meant, but they sneaked inside the village. Takigakure Sneaking into the village was easy. It was easy because Taki Shinobi were prideful that nobody knew where their village was. Both Naruto and Ishizu used Naruto''s perfect Henge to blend into the population. "Who are we looking for, Ishizu-sensei?" asked Naruto, as he started to get bored. "We are looking for a girl with mint green hair. She should live on a tree. She tries to hide her real personality under a cheerful one, always wanting to find a friend. But she is a fragile girl who needs our help. That happens when you are being called a monster by the civilians." "She is a Jinch¨±riki like me, isn''t she?" asked Naruto. Ishizu turned around. "What made you ask that?" Naruto shrugged. "Well, dumb civilians and hate plus the fox told me he felt the happy-go-lucky beetle somewhere, so I asked him whom he meant and he told me that somewhere there is another one like me. Is this the person you are looking for?" Ishizu nodded. "She is the Jinch¨±riki of the Seven Tails." "Then follow me. I can feel her," said Naruto. Both walked to a tree standing outside of the market. There were no people around. An isolated place. Just perfect for the likes of her. Ishizu searched out with his chakra to see if anyone was observing them but Taki was full of themselves, thinking their village was hidden for enemies to come inside and talking with their weapon. On the tree sat a young girl with darker skin color and orange eyes. "You are like me! Chomei told me that he felt his kin. I did not know there were others like me," Fu spoke excitedly. Naruto smiled: "Yes, I am like you. My name is Naruto." With his hands, he made the number nine. Fu smiled and did the same with the number 7. "Chomei doesn''t talk much but when he felt your chakra he informed me about one of his brothers is here. I was so happy to see you." Ishizu listened as both Jinchurikis talked and he saw by Fu''s micro-expressions that she hated living in Taki. She had it worse than canon Naruto. In Konoha, Naruto had the 3rd Hokage and the ramen family. And during his life, more and more people came to like him. Fu had no one. The only one she could consider family is Shibuki, but he only wants her to stay a weapon. During the talk with the Jinchuriki, Ishizu made a wood clone who went after Shibuki. Ishizu didn''t want the boy to interfere in his plan, so like any other who was in his way and had no connection with him had to die. Searching some time the clone found the boy inside the house. "She is unstable, Shibuki. We have to find another vessel for the Nanabi. The council demands it," spoke some old man. "I don''t know. She is just happy. That''s all," answered Shibuki. "She should be a weapon. As a weapon, she is useless if she has emotions. We should kill her and give a child the Nanabi so we can train her from the beginning." ''I get strong Danzo vibes from this old man. Maybe they are related?'' thought Ishizu. Under the pressure of the old man, Shibuki accepted. Ishizu waited before the old man was gone before summoning a chakra receiver that killed the boy. Afterward, Ishizu burned the body. A quick, perfect Henge into Shibuki and the plan was ready to begin. The plan was simple and would work. Kill Shibuki, henge into him, tell Fu that he hates her and only used her to become loyal to Taki and that he never thought of her as a friend. Tell her she has one day before her execution is ready. The last part is stupid, but it will help dramatically. Everything else was for Naruto to do. Fu would have no one in this village to love as the only person who had shown pleasant emotions betrayed her and even wanted to kill her now. The news would devastate her. Full with darkness, the light named Naruto would come and save her. Naruto as another Jinchuriki would help her and Ishizu would suggest for her to come to Konoha. Shibuki would then kill another Fu clone. Taki would fear leaking the information outside. It would eventually leak because Zetsu is a pain in the a.s.s, but it would give Ishizu time before Akatsuki would move out. And like that, it happened. Ishizu killed Shibuki and the clone told Fu that he hates her. Ishizu forced Naruto to remain hidden or the boy would have killed the clone. It devastated Fu to hear from a person she considered a friend of such things. She broke down when she heard about her execution. I created another clone who henged into Fu and both walked towards the Kage tower. "That''s it. We are going to take Fu with us. I won''t let her be killed," Naruto spoke as he had enough. "That''s a wonderful idea, Naruto. I will make a clone that will be bait for Fu. With that we will be able to help Fu from dying," said Ishizu. Fu, seeing hope in Naruto, immediately agreed to come to Konoha after hearing she would die in Taki. Naruto was happy and the three sneaked out and left Taki without their Jinchuriki. Now, Ishizu was not done with Taki. For they stupidly they would pay. He would show Taki their worst nightmare for what will happen if their Jinchuriki dies without sealing the Tailed Beast. Shinuki Clone POV My plan was simple. I dragged the other clone to a tower where all civilians and Shinobi could see us. I shouted to the village how Fu did a horrible job at being a worthy Jinch¨±riki. The stupid crowd first cheered when I pressed a kunai at Fu''s throat and before somebody sane could react I killed her. The dumb cheered, thinking they were free of the demon. Those who knew how important Fu was panicked. Before somebody could make his way up to me I killed myself and sent the memory to the boss. As the Shinobi panicked at the loss of the Nanabi, the trio left Takigakure. At night when Naruto was sleeping, Ishizu made a sealing array. Out of a storage seal, Ishizu took a container with the number seven out. ''Now my dear Chomei, I don''t want you to awaken your host, so you will also sleep little bijuu. I will just take some charka from you.'' The Fuinjutsu Ishizu made was based on the Waterfall of Endless Happiness. People or Bijuu who slept would enter a dream-like state. During that time, they would feel nothing that is happening outside. "Let''s do it. Fuinjutsu: Dream of Endless Happiness." Ishizu saw the smile on Fu''s face and knew that it had worked. "Now, give me your charka, Chomei." "Fuinjutsu: Six Roaring Pandas," whispered Ishizu. The red chakra started coming out of Fu. It would take longer as the seal was different from Sora''s and it was a real bijuu this time. It took 6 hours until 4 of the 7 spheres were full. That was enough. Fu would feel weak for a brief time, but Chomei would regenerate the chakra quickly. After that, Ishizu told Naruto that he should take Fu with him. She would be safe under Jiraiya and if she would be seen now in Konoha, people would suspect something. By people, Ishizu thought of Danzo. No way would he give that person a Jinchuriki. Naruto was happy to stay with her. They bid farewell and both groups went back to where they came from. Naruto and Fu left to meet Jiraiya and Ishizu reverse summoned himself back to *DD.* Dumpling Dynasty Po watched as Ishizu walked to him. The panda felt that something was different about the boy. *So you came back. Tell me, Ishizu-kun, what happened? Something about you is off. It is as if your soul is dancing.* And it was like that. Deep inside Ishizu''s soul, the small light which controlled the darkness grew in size. Ishizu smiled. "I visited Uzu and met some awesome people." Po returned the smile. *That is good to hear but that doesn''t answer my question. It is as if a barrier in your heart opened.* *Well, there was this moment where I met Kaguya Otsutsuki. Not in flesh, but in spirit.* Po''s eyes widened in shock. *I proclaimed my love and she challenged me for my right to be her husband. I accepted and now I will prepare to meet and fight her.* Ishizu left a stunned Po before turning around. *Before I forget. Kaguya told me to prepare some tea. It appears she missed your delicious tee.* Ishizu didn''t see the face Po made as he told him the news. ''This boy is really something. I have to prepare that special tea with an extra aphrodisiac,'' thought Po. Chapter 63 - The Second Chunin Exam General POV After getting the Kyuubi''s chakra from Sora and the Nanabi''s chakra from Fu, Ishizu found a good timing to fill another container. Shukaku, the One-Tails, was the first to be captured and sealed by Akatsuki. If Ishizu had the containers during the invasion of Konoha, he would have used it but thinking about the past wasn''t of any importance right now. This was one time where Ishizu had the time to get Gaara''s chakra. Fu was saved, but Han was probably gone. Ishizu waited for the Chunin Exams which were held my Suna and Konoha to start. Fu would not take part as she was with Naruto, so Akatsuki would hopefully not appear. The reason for Ishizu to use this time to go to Gaara was that many Shinobi who waited for Akatsuki heavily guarded Gaara. The best thing to do was to wait for the monk to appear whose mission was to extract Shukaku and use him as a scapegoat. Ishizu would use the monk to get as much chakra now and if he needed, he would finish the rest later. During the time where the monk would try to extract the Tailed Beast completely, Ishizu would use this moment to take Shukaku''s chakra instead. The Chunin Exams started and Ishizu watched the filler with half-closed eyes almost falling asleep. He chuckled that a filler episode from Naruto would help him in his plan. Ishizu watched Ino and Hinata as they destroyed the competition. Ino grew more beautiful and would give Naruto a nosebleed if he saw her right now. Hinata was also starting to develop, mostly her b.r.e.a.s.ts. When the second stage started where the genin had to cross the demon desert, Ishizu activated his Rinnegan to look for the monk. As it was a filler, Ishizu saw the episode, but it wasn''t really in his mind, so he had no idea when it would all start. The only clue was that it was in the desert where Fu took part in. So Ishizu waited. Finally, after some hours of observing the desert, he found a new chakra signature. Ishizu watched how the monk tricked Gaara to reveal himself and started extracting Shukaku. Silently, Ishizu sneaked behind the monk, unaffected by the barrier the latter created. Ishizu came prepared using a chakra mask so nobody could detect who he was. As soon as he saw the chakra chain piercing Gaara, Ishizu grabbed the chain with his own hand shocking the monk. "Thank you, filler monk. You have made my mission much easier," Ishizu thanked his benefactor with a nod. "Fuinjutsu: Six Roaring Pandas." Ishizu connected his technique with the chain the monk used. That had the effect that Shukaku was not being extracted, but rather his chakra was being stolen. "How could you come close to me? I have erected a barrier?" spoke the monk, baffled by Ishizu standing next to him. Ishizu did not even look at the monk, but concentrated on his container being filled. Unfortunately, the process was much slower as he was using the chains of the monk as a medium so he had to stop after the single marble was half full. He didn''t want to draw more attention as Neji cut through the monk''s chain making them useless. "Your usefulness is over, filler character. As a thanks I give you a quick death," said Ishizu turning to the monk and killing him. He would let no one alive who saw or heard his techniques. A quick slice through the carotid artery and the monk was dead. Leaving the place, Ishizu took his mask off after making sure he was not being tracked only to get a direct hit of Murphy''s Law by the appearance of the immortal duo. ''****, I have the worst luck to meet them. Why are they even here? Fu does not take part in the exam, or did they receive false information about her?'' thought Ishizu as he cursed his bad luck. ''Cough ''Plot Convenience'' Cough'' Kakuzu was the first one to speak recognizing him. "Ishizu Sasaki, The Strategist, you have a big bounty. While we failed to find out target, you will bring a lot of money to our organization." Hidan was not so calm as Kakuzu and just attacked screaming for his opponent''s death. "I don''t care how much he is worth! We came her for nothing! I will sacrifice him to Lord Jashin!" Ishizu evaded Hidan''s scythe with little difficulty, but needed to substitute as he saw Kakuzu launching a massive fireball at both of them. Thank the log. Ishizu created a massive earth wall to separate the two form each other. The problem Ishizu faced was not Hidan nor Kakuzu. Hidan was one of the weakest of the Akatsuki, and the only thing of importance about him was his immortality and his blood ritual. He was more annoying than dangerous if one knew how his abilities worked and evaded getting hit. The problem was them fighting together. With Hidan taking all the attention of randomly swinging his scyth, Kakuzu could attack from range and he didn''t care if his attacks hit his partner as Hidan would survive anyway. Shikamaru did a good job in the series separating those two. Ishizu needed to distance both of them like in the anime and deal with each one separately. Alone he could handle them, but together they were very dangerous. Fighting them now was also not something Ishizu wanted to do. Everyone had his time. "Come to daddy and be sacrificed by Lord Jashin!" screamed Hidan as he attacked Ishizu who dodged each strike. Then the latter put back on his mask so he could activate his Rinnegan. The earth wall would give him a few seconds before Kakuzu would break it, but that was all he needed. "Bansho Ten''in," whispered Ishizu, forcing Hidan to fly towards Ishizu fast, where he decapitated the immortal in a quick slash. At the same moment, Kakuzu broke through the wall and expected the result in front of him knowing Hidan all too well. "Kakuzu, help me up. He cut my head off! This heathen deserves to die!" Hidan''s head screamed in rage while Ishizu took the head by the hair and spinning it around while grinning at Kakuzu. "Do you want your dog back? Then fetch!" Ishizu threw the cursing head into the horizon, powered by a Shinra Tensei. Kakuzu looked between Ishizu and the location where the head went. He was debating what to do before glaring at Ishizu. "This is not over. The next time we meet, I will get your bounty," grumbles Kakuzu. "Shu, shu. Go fetch your dog, Kakuzu. I let the body here so don''t worry." Kakuzu grunted, but he left in the directions where Hidan''s head was. Ishizu deeply sighed as he survived the confrontation between the three. Still, Ishizu smiled as he had made a small seal on Hidan''s head with which he could track him down later when the time was right. Chapter 64 - End of the Bloody Mist Part 1 General POV In *DD* Ishizu was sitting on the grassy ground while he was holding a string of hair in his hand and examining it. "This is so boring. You looked at that hair for over an hour like it is a treasure. Is it so mesmerizing?" asked Yang Yang as she rolled around Ishizu. "This is no ordinary hair of some random person. It belonged to a human coming from the special Kaguya clan, Kimimaro Kaguya." Suddenly a voice came over Ishizu''s shoulder. *Oh, then is it connected with your future wife, Kaguya Otsutsuki?* Ishizu jumped up, seeing Po behind him with a smile. "Stop doing that and maybe. The boy had a Kekkei Genkai that could make bones to weapons, but you can''t compare it to Kaguya''s all-killing ash bone. Kimimaro Kaguya died, but if not by battle then he would have by genetic mutation. It must have been an autoimmune disease where the more he used his bones, the faster his own body rejected him. Incompatible DNA. My theory is that the Kaguya Clan inherited Kaguya''s genes from Hagoromo. A lot of inbreeding to keep the Kekkei Genkai alive helped them maintain the genes but unfortunately, there were problems. Human and Alien DNA combined, backed with a lot of mutations over the centuries, made it so if somebody got the Kekkei Genkai they wouldn''t survive it. That was the problem, but what if I could combine this DNA with another DNA from the Otsutsuki?" Ishizu scratched his head while thinking. "Is there even a DNA that is similar to Kaguya''s and it survived?" asked Yang Yang curiosity as she gazed at the hair strand trying to grab it from Ishizu who stopped her with his foot. "As the descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki, the second son of Kaguya, the Hyuga''s are the next relative. The question is if I give Kimimaro''s DNA to Hinata, would she awaken Kimimaro''s Kekkei Genkai or the Ash-bone? If nothing happens, then maybe going to the moon and getting some Otsutsuki DNA from them would do it." ''In the movie, Toneri awakened the Tenseigan by getting Hanabi''s eyes. If I inject Otsutsuki DNA into Hamura''s reincarnation, then maybe Hinata might awaken it.'' *So you will inject your student foreign DNA to strengthen her?* asked Po with a smile only for Ishizu to frown. "Do you think I am a monster like Orochimaru? Even if I could do it, it is still too much trouble explaining the reason and I need to test it before being sure. No, I will ask her to undergo this procedure if I know it is safe and if she declines I won''t pester her. It''s her decision. Naruto has already a destiny ahead of him and there is already a plan being made for the next Slug Sage. I told my students from the first day we met that I would make them each a powerhouse and I won''t go back on my word. The thing is that giving Hinata the Tenseigan will only be done when I think nobody can defeat me. That will take some time because as you know I am very paranoid." Later Ishizu POV I was walking around *DD* when I heard someone calling for me. A small panda ran to me and handed me a scroll from one of the messengers. Kirigakure was in turmoil, and a major battle would soon happen. This was a good time to get some chakra from Isobu. I wanted to see how Zabuza and Haku were doing, as well as establishing a beneficial relationship between Konoha and the future Mizukage, Mei Terumi. "Tayuya, I will be going to Kiri. Do you want to come with me?" I asked the former Orochimaru minion. The redhead stopped fighting a panda before looking at me. "Kiri? Are you crazy? Those guys are in a war. Why should I risk my life going there?" asked Tayuya. "That''s a no, huh? Well, have fun." Scene skip Kirigakure ''Hmm, I should find the rebellion first. Those should be the guys that fight against the current Mizukage. Yagura is under the control of Obito, and helping Mei win the war would make it easier for the villages to help each other in the future.'' I activated my sensor ability and widened it out. Rebellion camp "What is wrong, Ao?" asked Mei when she saw her bodyguard stiffening before looking outside. "Somebody powerful just scanned us. Going by his chakra, he is an S-rank." His eyes widened in horror. "He is heading towards the camp!" Someone that powerful alarmed Mei, so she quickly headed out to confront the person personally. "Zabuza, Ao, come with me. Try not to start a fight. We need our strength to fight Yagura." Ishizu POV I made myself comfortable on a stone and waited for their arrival. After a few minutes, I felt 3 chakra signatures closing up with one following closely behind them. Mei Terumi, a dark red-haired woman in her 30s or 40s, arrived as she looked at me curiously but ready to fight if I showed a threat to her group. "Who are you and why are you hiding behind a mask? A Shinobi of your power should show his face to a woman like me." Despite feeling my chakra, Mei held her composure. No wonder she would be the next Mizukage. I bowed to show my respect. "Many reasons. First, it is for protection against your bodyguard. His Byakugan can''t see through it which goes with the other, identity reasons. If a fight is going to happen, I have an advantage as I know a lot about you and your two bodyguards hiding. Maybe I will show you my face if you get your bodyguards out. The Yuki girl can also stop hiding. I am a very powerful sensor." Mei turned around. "You all come out. The same goes for you, Haku," she commanded and the three Shinobi came out. "Haku, I told you to wait at the camp. You are no match against him," said Zabuza as he glared at his student. "He was never a match. The last time we met, Haku gave me your location, Zabuza," I spoke in a musing tone. Zabuza''s eyes widened in realization. "So it is you. I always wondered when you would come." Mei turned to Zabuza: "Who is he?" I interrupted the coming conversation. "Ah, ah, ah, Miss Terumi. Before those two give away my identity, I want to tell you the reason I have come here. I don''t want to fight you during a time such as this." Mei glared at me. "Speak." "I was the one who let Zabuza and Haku live when I could have killed them, but you know that nothing is for free. I am here and ask them or your rebellion for help." "And what kind of help do you want from us? We have more important things to do then help a stranger who is hiding his identity," asked Mei as she crossed her arms. "Simple. I can help you stop this civil war," I told her my goal in a single sentence. "Your voice carries confidence. You speak as if you could do it alone. If we could do that so easily, there wouldn''t be any more fighting," spoke Ao in a disbelieving tone. "That is true, but now I am here. I am sure that some of you already suspected that someone controls your Mizukage and that is correct. I also understand the reason for this. It''s simple: He hates you. I mean, Kirigakure. You took someone from him during the last Shinobi War, and now he seeks revenge. He weakened your power by manipulating Yagura and going on a Kekkei Genkai hunt. I am here to help you stop this war once and for all." "And what do you get out of it? There is always a catch. What do you want from us if I agree?" asked Mei impatiently. "I want to have a beneficial relationship between my village and yours," I explained to her. I looked at Zabuza. "You can tell her my identity. It is not something that they can abuse anyway." Mei turned to Zabuza. "Who is he?" "He is a famous S-ranked Shinobi from Konohagakure, Ishizu Sasaki the Strategist," answered Zabuza as he took out a Bingo Book and showed her a picture. "Ah, the picture is so hot. Do you want to be my husband?" came the direct question out of nowhere. Everyone looked at her with familiar expressions. I smiled before shaking my head and taking off my mask. "I am sorry. You really are a beauty and I wish you all the best, but I know my future wife won''t let it slide if I get into another relationship and I guarantee that she is more powerful than I am. I value my life. Thank you very much." Mei sighed in disappointment. "A bummer. Now Sasaki-san, tell me why should I believe your claim to help my village?" I shrugged. "Because why not? Do you want to fight all the time against other villages? War is costly. Also, a peace treaty between our villages could be the beginning of a new era. One without constant fighting. My student will be one of the next Hokage and he will change the world. His name is Naruto Uzumaki." "Oh, a relative? My grandmother was one, and I know how strong-headed she was. If I agree to your demands, what can you do to end this war?" I smiled. "I am confident I can fight against Yagura. All you have to do is draw him out and handle his henchmen. The only thing I can''t guarantee is that he will survive our fight. If he dies by my hand, I will compensate by telling you the location of the Sanbi and Konoha won''t interfere with getting it." I could see that Mei wanted to disagree. Nobody would give away the location of a Bijuu to another village if they could get it by themselves, so I quickly spoke further. "What if I could give you a person with a Kekkei Genkai that you thought have lost?" Mei returned the smile, not believing the last claim. "There were many powerful clans with strong Kekkei Genkai in Kiri that were hunted down by the enemy. Who do you have in mind?" "I have somebody from the Kaguya Clan, with the Shikotsumyaku." "There lived many people in the Kaguya Clan but all died and I never heard their found one with this particular Kekkei Genkai. Why should I believe you that not only is one of them alive but he has this Kekkei Genkai?" asked Mei with a frown on her face. "This one is alive because when he was young Orochimaru took him before his clan died. I captured him so he is in my custody." "Something tells me there is more to it, right?" asked Mei. I nodded. "Yes, there is a problem. See, Kimimaro, that is his name, has an illness. It prevented Orochimaru from taking his body. An autoimmune disease. His own bones are killing him, and not even the best medic from the snake could heal him. I found a way to cure his disease so if you agree to my request I will give him to you in perfect condition. "So there is something in Kirigakure that only the rebellion has and that can cure this boy?" asked Mei with a raised eyebrow. I pointed at Ao. "I need some Byakugan cells. Not the whole eye, but cells to cultivate and inject into his body. The Kaguya and Hyuga are distant relatives. If you give me permission to do so, I will give you the boy with the Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyaku. So what do you say? Do we have a deal?" Chapter 65 - End of the Bloody Mist Part 2 General POV Ishizu carefully took some samples from Ao while Mei and Zabuza surrounded him. A bit of sweat come down his forehead. He had to act carefully because if he made a mistake and somehow injured the only Byakugan user then the whole rebellion would be on his neck and he didn''t want that to happen. Ishizu managed to take some samples and told Mei that he will reverse summon himself and come back with Kimimaro after everything would be done. Thankfully, she trusted Zabuza enough to let him go without anyone coming with them or else the Pandas would be mad. *DD* "If you die, do I inherit something?" asked Tayuya with stars in her eyes. "Tayuya-san, this is not how you should talk. Please be quiet. Our master will perform a dangerous jutsu and hoping for his death isn''t nice," Fuka scolded Tayuya by hitting her with a fan over the head. That''s right. The female woman that Ishizu picked up when he extracted part of the Nine-Tails from Sora finally, after some discussion with Po, was allowed to enter the Dumpling Dynasty. Unlike Tayuya, who had a brash mouth, Fuka was like the loyal housewife one could wish for. "Thank you, Fuka. I will perform a dangerous jutsu that can cost my life, so please leave." "Let''s hope nothing bad happens," mumbled Tayuya before felling a pawn on her shoulder. "Don''t stress him, Tayuya-chan. Our Sage wants to bring somebody back from the dead. This jutsu is not like the Edo Tensei where you only put back the soul into a dead vessel, but he will restart a body that was dead for some time," explained Tau. "Yes, and for that I need to prepare myself. Now, all of you, please leave." Ishizu POV I gulped down the clot in my throat because I was very nervous to perform this jutsu. One single mistake could cost my life, and if I messed up, then everything I did up to this point would be for naught. The knowledge I had about this usage was from a fanfiction, so, yeah, I wasn''t even sure if it would work. Unfortunately, I had no other choice. ''Let''s hope Yami did it right and my Plot Armor is enough.'' I used 50% of my chakra to summon a single wood clone. "I hope it is right with you. I don''t want to die." "Hey, what about me? I die if it happens." I looked at him in confusion before rolling my eyes. "You are me. You won''t die unless I die, so let''s do it." I took out a scroll and opened it to reveal the stiff body of Kimimaro. I didn''t need to do it Madara style with the Edo Tensei as I had his whole body, so I signaled my clone to activate his Rinnegan. "Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique." I saw how the King of Hell appeared from the earth. Out came a transparent arm and pierced the clone before an enormous chunk of chakra was s.u.c.k.e.d out. The moment the chakra ball left the clone, it turned to wood and withered away. The mouth closed and the King chewed the chakra before he opened his mouth and a soul appeared inside. The moment the KoH took my chakra out of the clone, I fell on my knees and took in deep breaths of air. While the clone was still functioning, I could feel the charka in him, but ripping 50% out instantaneously wasn''t something I could handle well. I signaled the King to wait before giving Kimimaro life as I had to take a break. After 5 minutes, I was ready enough and took the soul out and placed it inside Kimimaro''s body. Immediately I saw the results. His heart started beating again and his skin changed to a more lively color as blood flowed through his body. General POV Mei and Ao saw Ishizu coming back. As Sensors, they could feel that his chakra was still low from last time they saw him. "What have you done to deplete your chakra like that?" asked Ao. Ishizu waves his hand. "Every Jutsu has its price. Nothing comes for free," said Ishizu cryptically. Ishizu took out a scroll and Kimimaro appeared before opening his eyes. "Where am I? I should have been dead." Ishizu looked at him, bringing his attention to him. "You are in the land of the living, Kimimaro Kaguya." "Who are you?" "I am the one who gave you another chance." Kimimaro tried to stand up, but he fell to the ground as his muscles still needed to adapt. "I need to go back to Orochimaru-sama." Ishizu had a slight smile before whispering into his ear: "You died, Kimimaro. This means you are worthless to Orochimaru. He has the Uchiha, and that''s all he needs." Kimimaro stiffed in responds. He could not believe that his master left him. His life was worthless. Ishizu put his hand on Kimimaro''s shoulder. "Orochimaru left you but that doesn''t mean that you can''t be of use." Mei came to Kimimaro and sat beside him. They talked about something and Kimimaro agreed to be of use to Mei. Getting some Byakugan cells was just a snack for Ishizu because after reviving Kimimaro and giving him to Mei, they agreed to launch an ultimate attack at the Yondaime Mizukage. Ishizu smiled at the others. He knew that Kimimaro wouldn''t talk about his death because Ishizu himself made it so the boy would forget it soon and think it was a dream. Ishizu didn''t want people to know that he could control life and death. It was a miracle that it worked and doing it every day would be impossible; for now. The battleground of Kirigakure Ishizu scanned the place where the last fight would be held. It was the base of the current Mizukage. Normally, Mei wouldn''t attack it fearing to lose, but this war had to end now or never. "I need to get him out of his hiding. That means we have to kill some Kiri Shinobis," Ishizu spoke to Zabuza and Mei. Mei shouted at her subordinates to attack. The fight started, but Yagura didn''t come. Seeing how this fight was useless and people were dying just for nothing, Ishizu sighed as he prepare himself. "If this won''t let him come out, then maybe I will." Ishizu made a snake seal. "Wood Style: Deep Forest Emerges." The large wood forest moved incredibly fast but only pierced the enemy as if it knew who was on its side. "He is a Kekkei Genkai user. Kill him and avenge our brethren," shouted a Kiri Shinobi, but he soon was killed like the others. Before the forest could crash into the main building, a coral reef appeared and blocked it. "There you are. I hope Obito is not looking through his eyes, but I can''t be too certain," said Ishizu as he placed his mask on his face and moved to Yagura. The current Mizukage Yagura narrowed his eyes at the figure that had the audacity to attack him. He didn''t expect the rebellion to have someone like him, but it didn''t matter. He would die like the rest of them. "You wish to forfeit your life away that fast? If that is what you want then I will gladly make your wish come true," said Yagura as pointed his staff at Ishizu before charging at him. His arm blocked the staff that was aiming at Ishizu''s head before Yagura felt a foot implanted in his abdomen. "So you are the Yondaime Mizukage? Children shouldn''t be on the battlefield. I hope you won''t disappoint me," said Ishizu with a smile behind his mask. Yagura stood up and swiped the blood from his mouth. "I will make you pay for that a hundred times." Yagura swirled his staff above his head before slamming it into the ground. "Water Style: Coral Area" Ishizu watched as the surrounding ground turned to coral spikes and shot towards him. In response, Ishizu used his wood style to surround himself in a wood house. Inside, he took out a container with 3 marbles on it. ''A good time to take some chakra from him.'' Yagura attacked Ishizu by breaking into the wood safe house with his staff, making Ishizu smirk seeing the boy. "And Basho Ten''in." Yagura''s eyes widened as he felt his body moving on his own. He tried to move away, but Ishizu held Yagura by his throat and started absorbing his chakra. "Urgh." Ishizu had to let Yagura go as he felt pain near his legs. That son of a ***** hit him in his precious balls. It hurt. A lot. He would pay for this. Then Ishizu was sent flying as Yagura hit him in the face with his staff. He flew a couple meters before crashing into a rock that left an imprint of him. "Hmm, you aren''t bad. For a child. But trying to make me impotent...," spoke Ishizu as he spat out a bit of blood with a hand on his balls. "I will kill you." Yagura narrowed his eyes before immediately going into his 2nd Bijuu mode. Ishizu still in the rock sighed as he saw the red beast charging at him. ''And here I wanted to have a nice fight.'' Yagura raised his right claw in an attempt to decapitate Ishizu before being blown away by a Shinra Tensei. Ishizu cracked his head before coming out. "You will be an excellent practice for my technique." With a roar, Ishizu ran at Yagura and both started fighting. The fight went on for about 10 minutes when Yagura finally decided to go all out and transformed into Isobu. ''Thank god we are on land right now. Big turtle is big, but without water it can''t escape and is just a huge target.'' Then Isobu fired a large water bomb at Ishizu. It hit Ishizu with its full force and send him flying into the same rock with his imprint on before destroying the rock completely. Getting up, Ishizu smiled as he cracked his shoulders. ''I think I have to end this. Let''s use another path.'' Yagura/Isobu transformed into a round ball and rolled towards Ishizu to burry him. Closing his eyes, Ishizu concentrated as his right hand transformed. "Let''s see if you can survive this, Yagura. I know you were controlled, but you have to die as extracting Isobu''s chakra out of you while fighting is impossible. I can revive you if Mei wants it later on either way," said Ishizu as his arm transformed into a massive laser cannon and fired a laser beam. The massive beam of light came out of Ishizu''s arm and pierced the hard skin of Isobu. Isobu stopped and transformed back to Yagura, who laid motionless on the water as blood came out of his stomach. The rebellion cheered as they saw the body of Yagura while the other side retreated at the defeat of their leader. Ishizu took the body back to the main camp to end the deal. Mei''s rebellion camp. "You did it. You alone defeated Yagura. I thank you on behalf of the rebellion," said Mei as she bowed to show her gratitude. Ishizu smiled. "I held up on my deal. I am sorry I couldn''t bring him back alive." Mei shook her head. "It doesn''t matter. With Yagura dead, the rest of his shinobi will give up and peace will finally return. I will send out an envoy when the land is stable to form an alliance with Konoha." With that, Ishizu left the battlefield. He had a nice fight with his new abilities. Taking out the container, Ishizu sighed. He couldn''t get a single marble full. He had to wait until Isobu reformed and make a seal that could extract charka better while fighting. Chapter 66 - Start of Shippuden Information No chapter today because I need to go through the Shippuden chapters and take care of all my mistakes. I also started writing new chapters: Hurray. To sum it up, Ishizu had enough time to learn to complete Sage Mode. This, plus his ability to use Fuinjutsu, Edo Tensei, and the Rinnegan, would be quite easy to just overpower everyone. I mentioned it in a previous chapter, but I want to remind you all that he will do it low-key and not Rambo Style. For Shippuden Canon: Since the time skip made a few changes, there will be some differences in Shippuden. This was quite hard for me to write, so I don''t expect everyone to agree with everything I wrote. Examples of the changes are: No Sora arc. Don''t need a whiny kid. Some people will survive completely, while others will survive only to die at a later date. One last thing. Sage Mode. Yes, Naruto knows it but he can maybe use it for a minute or so. Like I understand, Naruto is smart but Jiraiya trained for years and wasn''t perfect, and Naruto perfected it in like a week. This won''t be here. The time Naruto can enter it in early Shippuden is reduced and he needs to train to extend the time. For Sasuke even less. Don''t expect Naruto to one-shot enemies now who are S-ranked. See ya next Sunday. Chapter 67 - The beginning of Shippuden General POV On a mountain somewhere in the Dumpling Dynasty, Ishizu balanced himself with one leg on a bamboo. He opened his eyes when he felt a familiar presence across from him. It was Po sitting across from him while eating a handful of dumplings. "It is time Ishizu-kun," spoke Po, and even though he was speaking with a full mouth, Ishizu could hear him loud and clearly. "Is it already over? Time sure flies by. I can''t wait to meet everyone again and see how strong they become. I will kill myself if they are as weak as in canon." Scene Break Ishizu observed his beautiful village while he stood on top of his late sensei''s stone face. Unfortunately, this wonderful view would soon turn bleak thanks to a certain self-declared god. This time, however, would surely be different. Activating his Sage Mode Ishizu scanned through the village to see where everyone was. He felt Hinata in her home while Ino and Sakura were shopping. The other Rockies were also present. He found Kakashi enjoying his smut book and Gai doing crazy training with Lee. ''Naruto told me he would arrive here today but where is he?'' thought Ishizu before his instincts screamed for him to dodge and he did so as a fist was where his head was a second ago. "That was a nice try, Naruto. Sneaking up to me with your Sage Mode. If I had been a second later, I would lie on the ground." The hand retracted to Naruto, who stood behind Ishizu as he canceled his Sage Mode. "If I had hit you I would not consider you my sensei anymore," smirked Naruto and Ishizu shook his head before the two hugged each other as a sign of welcome. "Let us go to see our beloved Hokage. I want to relax, so let''s get this over with." With that, they both left for the Hokage tower to meet the 5th Hokage, Tsunade Senju. The Anbu hiding in the shadow recognized the two and just watched from behind the shadows. Knocking on the door, Tsunade called them in and Naruto went first. Inside the room sat the blonde woman with a large sake bottle and tried to hide the bottle but failed miserably. "Hi baa-chan, long time no see," Naruto greeted the Senju woman just before dodging an incoming fist that broke the door. "I told you not to call me that, and what is this? You two don''t just casually walk inside so after 2 and a half years and talk like nothing happened." Ishizu looked through the door-sized hole before walking in. "I have arrived Hokage-sama and am ready for duty," Ishizu bowed to his superior. "So much paperwork, now that you are here. Anyway, where is Jiraiya?" The moment Tsunade asked, Jiraiya walked through the door in with a girl following behind. "Hime, it is good to see that your beauty is still as good as ever. Maybe we can go to the bath¡­" Tsunade hit him and he flew through the door. "As perverted as ever. Now that you are all back." Then Tsunade looked at the newcomer, Fu. "I thought you couldn''t go lower, Jiraiya. Tell me who that is?" Ishizu signaled the ANBU around the Hokage to leave. Before he could make a barrier so nobody could listen, Ishizu frowned and quickly dashed to a corner where he held a man on his neck with a mask. "Didn''t I make myself clear? I told all who are not welcome to leave. It was meant for you too. Danzo got c.o.c.ky over the years. This will teach him not to listen to private conversations. ANBU, take him to T&I and wait with him." An ANBU appeared and vanished with the ROOT agent. "Those are my ANBU Ishizu. You can''t just order them around." Ishizu shrugged in response. "Technically, I was Hokage for a while, so they also listen to me." After that whole scenario, Naruto, together with Jiraiya, explained to Tsunade the situation of Fu being the Jinchuriki of the Nanabi and how Ishizu and Naruto infiltrated Taki and took her with them. Tsunade nearly destroyed the chair before nearly attacking Ishizu for such a dangerous and stupid thing. Why? Well, stealing a Jinch¨±riki from another village that wasn''t even on bad terms was something like a declaration of war. "I don''t care if you are a Sage or not but stealing her was a mistake." "It is only stealing when they know who it was. I should make this a hobby," responded Ishizu. This made Tsunade even more angrier and just threw her punch hat Ishizu who sidestepped. Unfortunately, he was near a window where Kakashi appeared and the poor man was hit and made a typical Team Rocket move. Ishizu felt bad for him because he just wanted to get a new Icha Icha book and welcome Naruto back home. "Anyway, since you both are back, I want to see if this whole training outside made any difference. Let us go to the training ground 43 to see your improvements," said Tsunade, but Naruto shook his head. "I would like to but after I visit my teammates. I haven''t seen them in a long time. I wonder how Hinata, Ino as well as Karin turned out. Do you know where they are baa-chan?" Tsunade told Naruto that Ino, Karin, and Sakura are medic-nin students, so he had to look for them while Hinata was probably the Hyuga compound. "I can tell you without seeing them that they turned out quite nice. I know my students even if I didn''t see them for years," said Ishizu with a smirk and Naruto''s face turned red before he jumped out of the window and left before a confused Kakashi came back. Tsunade facepalmed before getting back to drink. She looked at Ishizu. "Give me a full report of what happened while you were away." Ishizu nodded before suggesting for Fu to stay at his home before she got her own apartment. At home, Ishizu sealed the home off so he was certain nobody was spying before he went to a table and placed nine containers on it. Almost all contained had at least a bit of chakra inside, but only the 7th container was the closest to be full. Ishizu needed one more time to extract chakra from Fu, and he could leave the poor girl alone. The first container also needed only a bit more. Son Goku''s contained needed only two more, but unfortunately, Itachi and Kisame would get him first. The Five-Tails was gone too. Kurama''s container needed far more chakra because Sora''s residue chakra was far form enough. Yugito Nii''s, Utakata''s and Killer B''s containers had a long way to go. Ishizu opened the first container and pushed his charka into the container for Shukaku and saw how the container began to glow, but he soon had to stop because those two chakras didn''t mix well. ''Guess cheating the system with your own chakra isn''t working so good as I had hoped. This will take a long time to do,'' thought Ishizu. Ishizu went through scenarios where he could sneak out of the village to confront Yugito to get her charka from Matatabi. The best moment was to do so before the immortals came for her bijuu. The downside to this was that Ishizu would probably have to fight her. Losing wasn''t an option, but he would rather have her as an ally instead of an enemy. The other, better, option was to wait for Kakuzu and Hidan to attack her and then come as the knight in shining armor and help her escape. He already marked Hidan with a seal so he could easily locate him in the elemental nations. Thinking about it, Ishizu went with the second option and that was to wait for the enemy to make their move. Isobu''s charka would reform, and since fillers existed, Ishizu would find Utakata as well. For Gyuki, Ishizu had to think later about it. ''Soon those containers will be full and I can fulfill my promise to Kaguya.'' Chapter 68 - All Men are Perverts General POV During the night Fu slept on Ishizu''s bed while the latter extracted the last bit of chakra from Chomei. At last, the girl could live a life without any problems and he had his first container full. ''1 full and 8 to go.'' He missed his bed, but he knew that there was no time to relax. Akatsuki was going to make a move and Ishizu needed to be one step ahead, so he made a wood clone to move to Sunagakure to monitor Gaara from afar before falling asleep on the couch. Ishizu still needed some chakra to fill the first container, and what better time was there when the Akatsuki will try to extract Shukaku. The wood clone had enough chakra to survive until they extracted Shukaku, so Ishizu was not worried about anything to happen. The only downside to his plan was that he had to reveal himself during the extraction to both Akatsuki and Konoha and would be seen as a wildcard. Ishizu fell asleep with a smile because he could not believe his luck to meet Kenji and his wife in Uzu and having been gifted so much chakra. Next day Ishizu woke up by a knocking on his door. An ANBU told him to come to the Hokage office. The Godaime Hokage wanted to speak to him. Hokage office. "You wanted to speak with me, Tsunade-sama?" yawned Ishizu, coming through the door. It was early in the morning and Ishizu wasn''t quite awake. Tsunade nodded as she saw him. "Since Naruto and you left so fast yesterday, I had no time to test you. I want to see how strong you and Naruto have become. That''s why, right now, we are going to a training ground to see for ourselves what those years did." Ishizu yawned while waving his head before nodded and they both went to the meeting place. Training ground: Ishizu watched from the side as his old team 11 arrived. He saw a few months ago how Ino and Hinata developed, but seeing them in front of him was a different view. "Ah, this brings back memories, seeing all of you together," said Ishizu with a smile which Hinata and Ino returned, seeing their sensei back in the village. Naruto had a grin on his face. "All right, listen up. This friendly spare will be between the 3 of you against your Sensei." Ishizu g.r.o.a.n.e.d in annoyance. He was still tired, and fighting his students in a mock battle wasn''t something he wanted to do right now. "You have to be kidding me, Hokage-sama. I will have to be extremely careful about fighting Naruto with his new strength, but I am sure I will have to go all out to fight 3 of them at once," lied Ishizu to get away from responsibility. "Stop complaining. You are an S-Rank Shinobi. Have you no shame thinking that fighting some Chunin would be hard?" "Can''t I at least get somebody too?" "Fine. You will get help. Kakashi get your lazy a.s.s over here!" Tsunade screamed. "Yes, yes, I am coming. No need to scream." Kakashi strolled to Ishizu. He too seemed tired, and both Jonin looked at each other. "So, are you ready for the fight?" asked Kakashi with a raised eyebrow. Ishizu only sighed. Of course, he had to be partnered up with this guy. "Not only do I have to fight them, but I also get you as my teammate." Kakashi smiled with his eye. "I enjoy having you as a teammate." Ishizu only grumbled. "So attack and attack and attack until the enemy is gone, huh?" asked Ishizu to which Kakashi nodded. "Ok, the fight between Jonin''s Kakashi Hatake and Ishizu Sasaki vs. Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, and Ino Yamanaka. This is a mock battle so no dangerous Jutsu such as the Rasengan, Chidori, or any other crazy technique you learned. Start now!" Hinata and Naruto rushed forwards while Ino got back. Ishizu looked at Kakashi who nodded and they made a smoke bomb to hide inside. Out of it rushed Ishizu and engaged Naruto. Naruto started off by using his standard Shadow Clone. When Ishizu destroyed one Clone he was blown away by an explosion. "Ah, the good old Bushin Daibakuha. Worked on so many Iwa shinobi''s that even the old fossil had to give a speech to their shinobi not engage me blindly," replied Ishizu with a smirk. "If I remember you and your clones were screaming in fear of dying that it was such a good bait for the enemy not to kill your clone," remakes Kakashi with a smile. "Hey! Not talking about those things. It''s embarrassing." Their talking was interrupted by 10 Shadow Clones that attacked Ishizu while Hinata engaged Kakashi in a Taijutsu fight, but Kakashi was avoiding Hinata from closing his Tenketsus. Ishizu quickly disposed of the clones with shurikens, avoiding the explosive clones. "Enough of those Shadow Clones. I want to fight the real ones. Kakashi let''s do it, make them fight us seriously." Kakashi jumped to Ishizu, and both made hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, Wind Style: Great Breakthrough." Fire and Wind combined and a massive firestorm rushed at the 3. Hinata made her rotation to block the firestorm, but she was hurt. Seeing the damage Hinata had taken, Naruto ordered Ino to help her. "Ino heal Hinata. I will take them both on," Naruto slammed his fist against his other hand, gesturing to be ready to fight. Ishizu raised an eyebrow while Kakashi eye-smiled. One Naruto vs. two Jonin. "You think you can take us both down, Naruto? Ishizu and I have been on a team for a long time. We have trained under your father. While we don''t interact with each other much since we have different missions, we were a team in the last war." "Who said about defeating you? I just need to stall time and my clone has already enough chakra gathered." Ishizu who was a good chakra sensor snapped his head towards a direction where he could feel a clone of Naruto vanish and he could feel the nature energy building up in Naruto. "I hope you are ready as the new Toad Sage is coming." "Sage Mode? I thought we weren''t going to use crazy techniques?" Ishizu looked up to argue with Tsunade. "Just do what you want as long as it isn''t deadly," was her simple reply. As Naruto went into Sage Mode, Kakashi, in response, opened his Sharingan. Ishizu went into his Panda Style: Speed Mode and rushed at Naruto. "I know you have been training with the Toads, but in no way have you mastered it already! Take this!" Ishizu went for an uppercut, but Naruto barely dodged it thanks to the speed the mode provided. As a response, Naruto used his leg aimed for Ishizu''s face, but the latter avoided the attack only to feel a force still hitting him and pushing him away. ''Frog Kata is annoying.'' "Be careful, Kakashi. Toad Sage Mode can hit you with invisible nature energy. Don''t engage him in very close combat." Since Naruto could use Sage Mode than in response Ishizu made a Rasengan and rushed with it at his student. "Hey, that''s my technique! Don''t copy me, Sensei!" Ishizu stopped for his attack when he heard Naruto''s words. "Copy you?! I was the one who perfected it first. It was you who copied me!" Ishizu''s outrage gave Naruto enough time for summoning 5 Shadow Clones, and smoke appeared. "I will bring you down, Naruto!" "Hehe, this fight is at its end. Face this forbidden technique I made especially for you." "Harem no Jutsu: Sensei Style." As the smoke cleared, Ishizu''s eyes widened in shock at the sight in front of him. "Oh, Ishizu-kun? Don''t you want to be with me and have a nice time in bed?" the feminine voice said. "My shoulders feel kind of stiff. Can you give me a massage?" "There is a wet place in my body. Do you want to touch it?" Ishizu could not hold back the blood rushing out of his nose like a fountain at the sight of 5 n.a.k.e.d Kaguya''s trying to seduce him. Flashback no Jutsu "Hey sensei. If you can''t tell me the name of the person you love, can you at least show me how she looks like?" asked Naruto with a smile. Ishizu had no problem doing that. So he drew a detailed picture of Kaguya Otsutsuki as he knew her from the anime. Of course without the horns, Byakugan, and Rinne-Sharingan. Ishizu didn''t know if Kurama knew of her, so he made her look perfectly human while still preserving her beauty. Flashback end Naruto used the harem jutsu based on the picture and created a perfect Henge of human Kaguya. It was very effective. Ishizu was on the ground. Out cold. Kakashi has a small nosebleed as well but could still move and used this moment to go behind Naruto and hit the Jinch¨±riki in the back, sending him flying into a tree. "Are you all right, Ishizu?" asked Kakashi as he came closer to Ishizu collapsed due to blood loss. Kakashi helped his comrade up, and Ishizu mumbled something before shaking his head and wiping the blood from his nose. "Yes, I am fine, but I think I have anemia and need a session with Inoichi." Kakashi smiled and gave his teammate a thumbs up. "I always knew you were a pervert. You would make Jiraiya proud." Ishizu glared at him in response. "Finally, you are together. This was a big mistake, sensei!" came a voice from the tree. Ishizu raised his eyebrow at the bland claim. "And what was the mistake?" Ishizu saw Naruto putting his hands on the ground. "I have teammates and I am an Uzumaki who can do Fuinjutsu." Ishizu turned around and saw Hinata and Ino pressing their hands on the ground. Ishizu jumped up but hit a barrier. Kakashi looked around with his Sharingan. "They trapped us in a barrier, clever." Ishizu who has was trained by two of the best Fuinjutsu experts could immediately see the weakness of the barrier but he was too tired and anemic to do anything so he just stood and observed. Naruto smirked as he made a Tiger sign. "It is over. You have only to look down to realize it." Ishizu and Kakashi looked down to see paper bombs laying on the ground. "While you were focusing on fighting us, Ino-chan prepared everything. Naruto-kun needed to lower your guard, Ishizu-sensei, for just a moment so this could happen. The barrier is strong enough so you would not escape the barrier unscratched," Hinata explained to the two jonin. Both jonin looked at each other before yawning and raising their arms in surrender. "I should have paid attention to Ino. I focused too much on Naruto," said Ishizu. "Yes, they have really grown up," nodded Kakashi in confirmation. "I think I need to go home. I need to change my pants," muttered Ishizu before leaving the training ground with an awkward walking style. Ishizu looked down, seeing a bulge in his pants. ''A pervert? I ain''t denying it. I just hope this taught me a lesson to not freeze when I see the real deal.'' Chapter 69 - A New Player has entered the Game After the fight with his students, Ishizu went home and started preparing his raid against the Akatsuki. "Summoning Jutsu." The smoke cleared to reveal a female panda smiling at Ishizu. Ishizu was a few meters away, ready to defend himself with various utensils from the monster he summoned. "You don''t have to be on guard every time you summon me," spoke the panda before her nose recognized a particle smell and a grin formed on her face. "Oh my, you smell like you''ve been in heat. Did you think about me?" asked Yang Yang in a not so nice voice. Ishizu''s response was to glare at the panda. "Stop asking such trivial questions and listen to what I have to say, Yang Yang. I have a mission for you. Go to Sunagakure and find my clone. When you do look out for two cloaked individuals. Maybe they will already fight a young boy with red hair. If this happens make a small summon array and switch the clone with the real me." "Why do you need a wood clone here in this village? Just go." "When Gaara is defeated, Naruto will surely want to help him. As his sensei, there is the possibility I will have to come too, but the real me can''t go with him. I have to sabotage the Akatsuki during the sealing process, so I get enough charka from Shukaku." Yang Yang smiled as she clings to Ishizu who failed to see her move. "That is why I want to be your wife. You are so serious when it comes to working. Come, give me a kiss." "Yang Yang, I already have a wife and I won''t cheat. I will fear for my life if she finds out I cheated on her and that with one of my summons. Now go. I doubt this will be like in canon." The reason I made Yang Yang go to Suna was because of her small structure and her decent speed. She would be in Suna in no time and wouldn''t be seen, unlike Long. I just hoped that she would be there before the mad bomber and puppeteer got there. I had no idea where the barrier was, and the best thing to do was to follow them in secret. The next day Yang Yang arrived and to my luck, the Akatsuki were not there. I activated my Rinnegan to communicate with Yang Yang. "Yang Yang, prepare a small sealing array outside of Suna where nobody will see it. The moment you see two people with cloaks walking to Suna give me the signal." She understood and went to work. The following day, I got confirmation that the Akatsuki were entering Suna. This was also the moment Naruto came into my house. "Ishizu-sensei, you have to help me. I think we have to go to Suna. I believe that something bad will happen to Gaara." Now, this was something new. How did Naruto know Gaara needed help? This shouldn''t be happening. I calmed down Naruto and we immediately went to Tsunade to go and help the new Kazekage. Tsunade didn''t believe such a claim as it had no truth, and sending out her Shinobi for nothing wasn''t something she would do. I reasoned with her. "Hokage-sama. Both Naruto and Gaara are Jinchuriki. Maybe they have a connection between them and one feels that the other is in danger?" Of course, Tsunade didn''t believe this was possible. Although it was and going by the sweat drop Naruto had which was caused by Kurama screaming that his stupid brother was being attacked. In response, Naruto slammed his hand on the desk. "I don''t need proof if I feel that a friend is in need. Let me go!" Tsunade sighed and made a team just to get this boy out of her office. But it had to be a team capable of protecting Naruto as he was a Jinch¨±riki. What a surprise it was to see Sakura and Kakashi. I had hoped for Ino to replace Sakura, but although Ino was a good medical shinobi, she paled in comparison to Sakura''s strength and fine chakra control. Sakura was basically a weaker mini Tsunade, while Ino was a mini Anko without a crazy attitude. Unfortunately, I was forced to go with them so I had to contact Yang Yang who switched me with the clone. General POV Ishizu and Yang Yang watched from afar how Deidara flew over Sunagakure and engaged in a battle with Gaara. "Are you not going to help him?" asked Yang Yang as she put a dumpling inside her mouth. Ishizu shook his head. Gaara had to be defeated in order for him to get the chakra. The annoying part was that Konoha was coming faster than in canon. Ishizu had to think about a plan to make this into a benefit. Ishizu POV "There is no need to do anything. If this plan works the Kazekage will be alive even after the extraction. I also prepared my grand entrance for the Akatsuki to show them there is someone out there who can match them." Soon Deidara outwitted Gaara and both he and Sasori left. I followed at a safe distance, my Rinnegan gazing at them. Kankuro, the side character, tried his best to stop them but was curb-stomped by Sasori, who was just a better puppeteer. When we arrived at the sealing place, I saw the barrier, and like a snake sneaked inside. I held my breath when Sasori''s puppet turned around towards the sealing and starred at it. "What is wrong, Sasori-dana, un?" asked Deidara. Sasori looked around the room to find something, but I was hiding quite well. "I thought something came inside, but it must be your mouths making the noise," answered Sasori before a projection of Pain appeared who summoned the Gedo Mazo. When my gaze fell on the Gedo statue, I could my Rinnegan unconsciously activating and I felt a familiar feeling from the statue. A connection between the statue and me was established. "I see you," I heard a whisper. Nobody had that voice. ''Is the statue speaking to me?'' I thought curiously. While Ishizu was trapped inside the barrier, Naruto and the rest met Temari in the desert. Because Naruto left earlier, they could advance back to Suna without the storm interrupting them. On top of each finger of the Gedo Mazo emerged the other 7 figures of Akatsuki. I suppressed my chakra to the minimum as I did not want to be found out. Having 10 S-ranked shinobi in one place where most are against you is not a good place to be, even if most of them are astral projections. Thankfully, once the process started, I could do what I want. I saw the perfect opportunity when the nine phantom dragons emerged. As soon as the dragons crashed into Gaara, I jumped on the last finger, which was Orochimaru''s with my mask on. Ready to introduce myself. Chapter 70 - Stealing from Akatsukis Nose Ishizu POV "It is an honor to meet the famous Akatsuki. Let me introduce myself. I am Yamamoto and I hope that I won''t interrupt your sealing," I introduced myself to the rest with a bow. Everyone turned around and I could feel the Rinnegan and a Sharingan glaring at me, but I did not falter. Why should I? "Zetsu, I told you to look out so nobody could come inside. How is this person here?" asked Pain in an annoyed voice. He wasn''t happy about my intrusion. The plant looked at the newcomer. Both white and black halves observing me in curiosity. The white one probably thinking how I tasted while the black one thinking of me as a human puppet. "He evaded me. I don''t know how, but he suppressed his chakra to the minimum," Black Zetsu spoke. "We should eat him and see how he tastes," the white half said. I smirked in response, gaining attention again. "You should talk less and concentrate more on the extraction. Since I came here uninvited I will, as compensation, give you a helping hand." I took my container out and placed it on my head. Before going through my hand seals to activate my Fuinjutsu, I slammed a seal on the container. As the seal activated one phantom dragon changed direction and went for the container. "What are you doing?" asked Itachi while I could literally feel the killing intent coming from Astral Pain, who was confused as to how I could control the statue. "I told you. I am here to help. I will contribute my chakra to the statue without the ring. This will shorten the time for the extraction, but as compensation, I will take some chakra from One-Tails. A good business, isn''t it?" "I will kill you when I find you, heathen!" I heard Hidan screaming for the first time after our last encounter, and my ears weren''t happy. The seal I slammed on the container was a counter I produced with Po. It took me 1 1/2 years to make a few of these babies. The seal had two purposes. One, by using a suction motion, was to steal chakra from Shukaku before it went to the Gedo Mazo and therefore filling the container instead. The second, more important purpose, was a safe lock designed to leave Gaara alive while letting Shukaku''s presence stay in the Kazekage. Basically, the statue would drain Shukaku dry while his spirit would stay inside the human. In the end, the last phantom dragon would leave a tiny amount of chakra in Gaara. The good thing was that Gaara would live, although it would take some time for Shukaku to emerge fully inside Gaara. The phantom dragon acted like health support. Side effects on Shukaku weren''t known. The other thing was that it was enough chakra for the Gedo Mazo. The statue did not need the spirit of Shukaku. It just needed enough of each tailed beast chakra and it would get it. A win-win situation. "Can we not just cancel the jutsu and kill him, un?" asked Deidara, who was ready to throw his bombs at me. Pain shook his head. "No, if we break the jutsu, we will lose all the chakra. Continue the extraction and then kill him afterward. And show me the body afterwards." 1 day later. General POV "You have guests, Akatsuki." This got a reaction from Zetsu, who got a telepathic message from another Zetsu. "He is right. Somebody is approaching this place from different directions. Two teams, both from Konohagakure. One team is with Maito Gai and the other with Kakashi Hatake and Ishizu Sasaki. The Kyuubi Jinch¨±riki is with the second team." Pain thought for a moment before he looked at two members. "Itachi, Kisame, use the Jutsu from Sasori and stall them. They shall not disturb us." Wood clone Ishizu POV Arriving in Sunagakure we met Lady Chiyo, who due to her dementia mistook Kakashi for his father and attacked him to avenge her son''s death. After the misunderstanding was cleared I helped Sakura in healing Kankuro faster and Lady Chiyo came with us after hearing that Sasori was part of the attack on the Kazekage. I wasn''t surprised when Itachi appeared before us. Kakashi stopped in fear, but my boy Naruto wasn''t having any of it. He stared right into Itachi''s Sharingan and like everyone who does so was caught in the Uchiha''s genjutus. The surprise came afterward. "Stop daydreaming, Naruto. I feel ashamed for you to be put into a Genjutsu. And from an Uchiha at that," the Kyuubi''s annoyed voice spoke through the bars before an arm came through them and hit Naruto over the head. Just as Kakashi was about to engage with Itachi, Ishizu turned to Naruto, and saw the pigmentations appearing round Naruto''s eyes. He was entering Sage Mode. A one-handed Rasengan formed in his hand and Naruto blitzed forward and slammed his attack into Itachi, who rotated a few times before falling on the ground. Sakura and Lady Chio were frozen by the powerful Naruto did. Ishizu could only give the Jinch¨±riki a mental thumbs up. He saw that Naruto was not in a good mood. A normal Naruto was strong, and an angry Naruto was extremely strong. Gai and his team were the same as in canon, probably. Ishizu did not know and, honestly, did not care. Ishizu POV A smirk went over my mouth when I saw Itachi appearing before Kisame. I didn''t know the reason for his early return, but I could guess it was Naruto''s doing. "What happened? Why are you back so fast?" questioned Pain not expecting the Uchiha to return so fast. The Deva Path showed no emotion, but it was clear he wasn''t happy with what was going on. "An Uchiha underestimating his enemy? Not the first time I see that. All macho about their famous eyes but we all see the result." The mockery had no effect on the stoic Itachi. "We underestimated the power of the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. He got strong and is very fast." ''He didn''t mention Sage Mode. Clever bastard.'' "It does not matter. Thanks to our friend here we are already done," smirked Pain in triumph as the process was finished. "I guess you are right. We are done. Thank you for doing business, Akatsuki. You have made yourself an enemy who is not to be fought with. I will take the body," I informed them. I smiled as I took the container off my head and saw the sphere full. Perfect. Another one full. Slamming my fist against the seal a second time shook the Gedo Statue and the phantom dragon went inside Gaara. I debated if Pain would see with his Rinnegan that Gaara was still alive, but the Kazekage looked like he was dead. An astral projection could not see such an extreme case of death state. The phantom dragons vanished, and the statue opened one eye. ''So it was true what Po said. The statue does not need the whole chakra.'' ''More. I need more.'' ''Again the voice. Who was talking?'' Ishizu wondered. "Deidara, Sasori, kill him," ordered Pain, and the astral projection vanished. I immediately sealed the container away before an explosion hit me. Main Ishizu POV I smiled as I managed to achieve my goal. Sakura opened the barrier, and we came inside where I made a quick switch with my clone. Sasori and Deidara jumped down from their fingers and looked at the explosion. "You should aim your attacks better, Deidara. I think a good firework is much better than such bombs." A masked person came through the smoke completely unarmed. His glance directed onto the blonde boy. "I see we meet again, Naruto Uzumaki." Chapter 71 - 54. Ishizu vs. Naruto Rematch From the dust, the clay bombs Deidara made came a voice and Ishizu''s clone come out. "I see we meet again, Naruto Uzumaki," the voice echoed from the walls. Naruto and the others looked at the masked man holding Gaara''s lifeless body. "How are you alive? My art should have taken you to hell, un!" shouted Deidara. The nuke-nin wasn''t happy to see someone survive his art. Because art was an explosion and people usually died from those. The clone chuckled at Deidara and flipped him off. "I doubt a man who looks like a woman with months on his hands can kill me with clay." The wood clone turned to face the Konoha team, especially Naruto. "It has been some time since we''ve seen each other. I do hope you remember me." Everyone looked at Naruto, but the latter shook his head before answering in a deadpanned expression. "No idea who you are." The clone had to grasp his c.h.e.s.t as if being hurt by Naruto''s worlds. "That is a fist to my pride. Hurts more than anything else. Well, let me be a nice person and remind you. About two years ago, we had a lovely fight against each other. You had a mission, and I had mine. Your nindo to save your friend burned like a forest fire but my nindo was like a huge tsunami. Mine was stronger than yours. I completed my mission and you... failed the rescue. Ring any bells?" The real Ishizu who stood next to him could see Naruto''s eyes slowly changed to the Kyuubi''s. He remembered the battle at The Valley of the End and wasn''t so happy. "I think we should take this battle outside," spoke clone before dodging a metal spike as well as Deidara''s clay bombs. Both Akatsuki members had enough of the intruder and wanted the man dead. "Catch me if you can, Mad Bomber," mocked Ishizu. "Deidara, kill them all. We did our mission," ordered Sasori. "Kakashi, you and I will take on Deidara. Chiyo-san, you would be best to fight against Sasori. Sakura will aid you. Naruto I trust you to handle the other one," Ishizu ordered the team to have a one on one with Naruto. The team nodded, and they created 3 groups. Sakura and Chiyo would fight against Sasori. Kakashi and Ishizu chased after Deidara, who tried to grab Gaara but failed, and now tried to flee from the two jonin. Naruto, on the other hand, chased after the clone who had taken Gaara with him. Naruto vs. Clone Outside of the cave, Ishizu made Naruto follow him to a clear plain where he dropped the Kazekage on the ground and stood next to him. Seeing his friend in such a miserable state made Naruto angry and Kurama''s chakra oozed out. "Your emotions are all over the place, Naruto," Kyuubi''s voice rang out from behind the bars. "I don''t care. He has Gaara and I will get him back." "He stinks of Senju. Makes me sick to look at him," spat Kurama before closing his eyes. The Clone watched Naruto carefully. His training with the Toads helped him with Sage Mode, but his control over Kurama''s chakra was still weak. Seeing one of his best friends and a Jinchuriki in such a state would let Kurama''s chakra flow out of the seal and clouded his judgment. ''I shouldn''t toy with him. An enraged Naruto going into 4 Tails Mode or worse, higher, is a danger for everyone,'' thought the clone before placing Gaara next to a tree. Ishizu crossed his arms while tilting his head to the side. "Using the fox against me would not be the wisest choice. I have done what I came here for, so would you listen to what I have to say?" Thankfully, Naruto had enough self-control to calm himself enough and not attack. "No matter what kind of deal you are suggesting, I will take Gaara, and if you try to stop, then my fist will be in your face," said Naruto. The clone smiled. "It is simple. We have a brief fight. If you manage to defeat me, you can have your friend back, but if you win, you will let me go." "What do you even have to offer for me to spare you, let alone let you leave after you took my friend? I could knock you out, get Gaara, and capture you." Ishizu smiled as he pointed at Gaara. "Why I bet the life of your friend, the Kazekage. See, I kind of sabotaged the sealing process of the Akatsuki. This had a positive effect on the Kazekage''s life. The Akatsuki think he is dead, but thanks to me he isn''t. You should thank me instead because I saved your friend. He is in what we call a near-death state. If you defeat me and let me go afterward, I will promise you to wake him up. As it is only I that can do it. If I lie, you can kill me...So do we have a deal?" Naruto punched his fist against his palm. "Sure, I will pummel you to the ground to show you how strong I''ve become. I am not the same kid you could defeat last time. I will defeat you and take Gaara with me." With that, Naruto initiated his first attack. Both parties engaged in a Taijutsu fight. Naruto went all out. Shadow Clones popped into existence and charged the clone, Rasengans swirling in their hands. "Wood Style: Deep Forest emerges," responded the clone. A massive forest appeared from the ground and clashed with the Rasengan''s. From the smoke created, Naruto emerged and kicked Ishizu, which the latter stopped. They restarted their fight until the clone grabbed Naruto by his foot that he caught and flung him away. "This is not enough to defeat me. Show me the strength of the son of Minato Namikaze!" ''Let''s go with Obito Style,'' thought Ishizu as a wood branch appeared from his sleeve. The clone snapped it and threw it at Naruto. "Wood Style: Cutting Spring Jutsu" The spear flew towards Naruto ready to pierce him but instead hit Naruto''s clone, which jumped in front of the real one to block the attack. Ishizu used the moment to speed up and hit Naruto in the face, but also got a hit in the stomach. Both flew a few meters away from each other. "That''s what I want to see, but you are still not fighting seriously!" laughed Ishizu, "Are you thinking I won''t kill you?!" asked the clone slowly coming up. Naruto stood up and spitting blood from his mouth. He could feel it around the man. Nature energy was flowing like calm steam around him. He was a Sage. Naruto was also confused because but this wasn''t someone who had the intention to kill his opponent. "No, I think you have another reason to fight me. Each attack you made was non-lethal, and even that wood spear was made knowing I could block it. I am not the one who is holding back. You don''t want to kill me. Who are you?" The clone smirked as he fell down on his knee. His energy almost gone. "You got really strong, Naruto. Unfortunately, I have to disappoint you. I am only a clone and my time is almost up." Naruto frowned, realizing he was played. "I thought only the Shodaime could use Wood Style. Again, who are you?" Naruto demanded to know. "Someone who will change the world," the clone looked into the sky, "The one controlling the Akatsuki thinks he knows everything, but it is me who will come up on top. I think we talked enough. You won and will get your reward." Both made their way to Gaara. Naruto glanced at the clone waiting for an attack, but the clone had no need to fight. "He is alive. I assure you," assured the clone, placing his hand over his heart where it began to beat again. Naruto glanced at him. "I heard from my Sensei that the extraction kills us, so why is he alive? What have you done? Why save him?" Naruto demanded to know. "I told you I will come out on top no matter what. His survival was just a side effect of my experiment and it wasn''t bad, wasn''t it? On the opposite. Helping him survive got you into making a deal with me. I know with whom to make an enemy and with whom to make friends. Such ability can save you countless times." The clone stood up as he pointed at Naruto. "Hear my words, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. Just as you have a dream I have mine. I will do everything to fulfill my mission. I won''t harm anyone you love. On the contrary, your dream for peace is something I can accept. I will help you achieve your dream." The surrounding air changed. "Should you hinder me in my attempted I will use everything I have to fight you because this is my ninja way." "Tell me, what is your goal?" asked Naruto as he looked at this mysterious man. The clone smiled as he started turning into wood. "I have made a promise to a certain person. I have to fulfill it at any cost." "Then I hope we can achieve it together," Naruto smiled and somehow knew the man bind the mask did so too. "Maybe we will. Who knows? I am sure we will meet again Naruto. And hope that it is as friends." The clone dissolved into wood, leaving Naruto with Gaara. Chapter 72 - Power of Friendship Sasori''s fight Sakura did not think she would ever accomplish so much in her life. She was a civilian who started going to the academy to find her one true love. And she found him. The young Uchiha boy named Sasuke. She was so focused on him that all her classmates started going ahead in strength. At first, she didn''t care, but it was only after Sasuke left for Orochimaru did she realize how weak she truly was. It was in this time of need that Sasaki-san, a sensei from Ino''s team, came to her and woke her up from the foolish dream she had all the time. He showed her the truth behind the Shinobi world. That if you don''t work for it, everything around you will crumble to dust. She didn''t want that to happen, and so she asked for help. Sasaki-san knew what to do with her. Seeing her amazing chakra control, he ordered her to study medical Ninjutsu. At first, she was reluctant, but now she could say that it was the best decision she could make. Her training paid off when Sasaki-san introduced her to Tsunade-sama together with Ino. It was thanks to Sasaki-san her friendship with Ino flamed up and they both became friends. Sakura didn''t know what her life would have been if not for Sasaki-sensei. Sakura POV In response, Tsunade-sama summoned the slug Katsuyu, and she explained to us that to become her Sage a few conditions had to be fulfilled. For there to be two people had to compete against each other. We thought that since Tsunade-sama was always alone, she couldn''t fulfill the condition. Both Ino and I were determined to become one and agreed to do the test. If only we knew what the second condition was, we would have never agreed. Once two candidates were selected both of us would be sent into Katsuyu''s summoning realm and covered in nature energy infused slime cocoons. Both of us had to fight off the corrosive effect of the cocoon, and the first one to emerge would be trained to be the next Slug Sage. Once I was surrounded by the cocoon, I could feel a weird energy invading my body and I used my chakra to push it out. I don''t know how long it took, but I emerged out of the cocoon and saw Ino still inside her cocoon. I was beyond happy to be the first one to emerge. I won and would be the next Slug Sage. "Congratulations, Sakura," I saw Ishizu sitting on the ground facing me with a small smile on his face. "So when will Ino emerge?" I asked wanting to show off. Ishizu''s smile fell, and I could see grief on his face. "Only one can emerge out of the cocoon, Sakura. One is strong enough to break through while the other one will be turned to stone." "What?!!" I screamed as I fell to the ground. My strength leaving my body. "Sometimes you have to give things up to gain something else. Ino''s funeral will be held tomorrow. The last thing you could do is destroy the cocoon and give Ino a sweet death," Ishizu explained, making Sakura freeze in fright. "No! I won''t accept this. I didn''t want to lose my best friend to become some Sage," I shouted in rage. "So you would refuse to become the next Slug Sage so your friend can live?" asked Ishizu with a raised eyebrow. General POV "I refuse/I refuse," both Sakura and Ino screamed at Ishizu before hearing each other''s voice. They snapped their heads in each other''s direction to see the other girl standing a few meters away. Both immediately jumped at each other and engulfed the other one in a tight hug. "I thought I had to kill you," tears ran down Sakura''s eyes. Ino, too, was happy Sakura was alive. Neither of them wanted the other one to die for strength. "So, how do you think, Katsuyu? Neither of them would sacrifice the other to obtain power," Ishizu asked the slug. "They both passed. It will take time before they will be able to use the full power of a Slug Sage," the summon answered. Sakura POV And it was true what Katsuyu said. Even since that time we haven''t even picked up that much. On the contrary, we only started to tap into nature energy as we also had to study with Tsunade, but some perks were starting to show. One such helped me against Sasori. Being in the closed environment of nature energy in Katsuyu''s realm granted the complete immunity of poisons. That was something that puzzled Sasori as his victims died by poison. "How are you still standing? I know that you got hit by my poisons several times. You should be dead by now," Sasori spoke in annoyance. He hated to fight for so long. I smirked, not giving him an answer as I attacked him with Chiyo, destroying his puppets one by one. Even after Sasori got out of his puppet and used his trump card, the 3rd Kazekage, he was still not a match against me. General POV Sakura used a feeble version of the Sage Mode to enchant her speed and rushed at Sasori. Her left hand punched the Kazekage puppet into oblivion and her right fist connected with Sasori''s body sending the puppet flying through the air and crashing into the wall. Sasori survived by transferring his heart to another puppet and went to kill Sakura, who was out of energy. Thanks to Chiyo''s quick reactions, he was ultimately killed by his parents'' puppets. And so the first Akatsuki member, Sasori of the Red Sand, died being defeated by Sakura Haruno and his grandmother. Ishizu POV Kakashi and I were following Deidara. Since Kakashi needed time to activate his new ability, Kamui, I used Deidara as target practice with a few jutsus. I didn''t really care if the Mad Bomber died now or later. Losing only Sasori would be better since then only Obito had to fill space. So I made it up to luck and fate. I just used a few long-range Ninjutsu attacks on the Akatsuki member. Some Fireball Jutsu and Wind Release techniques. Each one Deidara dodged without any problem. "Are you ready, Kakashi?" I asked my partner. He nodded, and I saw his Sharingan change into the Mangeky¨­. "Kamui," Kakashi voiced out as he glanced at Deidara. For a while, nothing happened, but with my Rinnegan, I could see the time and space continuum warping around Deidara''s head. Unfortunately, since it was Kakashi''s first time using such a taxing technique, he could not aim well and only managed to take Deidara''s arm instead of his head. I thought about going after the mad bomber but saw Kakashi''s chakra exhaustion and decided to stay with him. Gai and his team would have their way with Deidara. General POV After a while, everything was over. Deidara, being an S-Rank Shinobi, was the only one who managed to flee from Gai and his team. Naruto won his fight against the Wood Clone, and Sasori died ''happily'' in his parents'' arms. Before his death, the puppeteer told Sakura about the place where he should meet with one of his subordinates to exchange information about Orochimaru, who would later be Kabuto. With that ended the Kazekage rescue arc. Gaara was alive, and Chiyo did not have to sacrifice her life for the Kazekage. Naruto and Gaara exchanged a heart-warming reunion while Ishizu sat at the side and yawned. Ishizu POV And it was time to go back to Konoha. Since Kakashi used his new abilities, the famous rule applied. New abilities cost so much energy, leaving the user unable to do basic things for a while. Hey, it applied to me when I used the Rinnegan. I glanced over at Kakashi, who''s shoulder was over Gai. Judging by the face Gai was making he was not happy with this situation. ''Oh, boy. It''s going to happen,'' I mentally sighed. "Waaaaaah!" Kakashi''s voice was heard when he was thrown in the air. Ah yes, the famous piggyback carrying pose. It almost made me laugh. The rest of the squad wasn''t thrilled to see it. Rather, they were disgusted by it. "Let''s gooooooo!" Gai shouted, giving his speech about youth. Aaaand the two Jonin were off. Lee, seeing this as another form of youth training, was ready to follow. He was quickly being shut down by Neji. Back in Konoha, Kakashi was placed in the hospital and Sakura informed Tsunade about the meeting Sasori should have with his spy in 10 days. Unfortunately, Tsunade wasn''t the only one in the room. 2 useless advisers, Homura and Kohaku together with ''I love Izanagi'' Danzo were present as well. Hearing that there was a chance to bring Sasuke back, Danzo was quick to ask Sai to help retrieve Sasuke. Danzo had a good argument. Since Ishizu took Naruto with another team Danzo placed Sai on Team 7. Ink boy was so unnoticed that even the author forgot about him for a while. "Who would you recommend going on the missions, Ishizu?" Tsunade asked the man when the others left. "Since Danzo wants one of his to be on the mission, then so be it. They can keep an eye on him. Since Sasuke was from Team 7, then let Sakura come with him. The same goes for Naruto. They were friends." A fight with Orochimaru would happen. Better to have a Jinch¨±riki with them. "We are talking about Orochimaru. We can''t let Naruto go without protection. Would you offer yourselves?" "I am done, for now, Hokage-sama, but I have someone in mind that could protect Naruto not only from Orochimaru but also from himself should the Kyuubi break out." Saying that he was done was a complete lie. Since Ishizu came back from training, he was itching for a fight to just stomp someone. His clone had a small fight with Naruto, but this wasn''t him, and he did not fight against Deidara. The time was also near to rescue Yugito from Hidan and Kakuzu. Their last encounter was rather boring, so maybe he could team up with Yugito and go all out and maybe kill his first Akatsuki pair. But first was the beloved Tenchi Bridge, where Kabuto should meet with Sasori. Since Ishizu gave Yamato the position he could go outside with his Yamamoto personally to take the fame and assist in a special event that would happen. Ishizu has deemed the time right for Sasuke to leave Orochimaru and to kill him at the exact same moment. He didn''t need more people who could use the Edo Tensei. Orochimaru has done enough things to give him a death sentence. Ishizu remembered watching Boruto and shaking his head after seeing Orochimaru alive. There would be no forgiveness this time. The snake was going to die. Chapter 73 - The Death of a Snake Part 1 Ishizu POV I contacted Sasuke through his summons that I would come to him and he should wait in his hideout where I would pick him up. Yamato introduced himself and a new, or old, team formed. It was a new Team 7 comprising Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato. I make a wood clone to stay in the village and left to the place Sasuke told me to arrive. Time passed, and I stood in the location. I had my disguise on as I saw Sasuke approaching me. I greeted him with a nod. "We haven''t seen each other for some time. You should have grown stronger. I hope this won''t let you think you can take over the world," I joked. Sasuke had a small smile on his face. The seal really helped. Sasuke was much calmer and showed emotions. As much as Uchiha''s did. "I did not have much time to train under the Snake Sage as Orochimaru was monitoring me closely, but do you think it is time for me to leave him?" Sasuke asked me. "Not only leave. You will kill him." "Are you sure?" I nodded in confirmation. "After you kill him, you''ll have enough time to train more in the cave. During that I will search for Itachi and tell you where your brother is. I promised you the power and your confrontation with him." That was also one thing that changed. Sasuke still hated Itachi for what he did, but instead of just killing him to avenge his clan, the Uchiha wanted answers for Itachi''s doing and Ishizu told him he will get some. "So how am I going to kill him? I wanted to wait until Orochimaru could no longer be in his body and would be at his weakest," explained Sasuke. I smiled because I had the perfect plan. "Oh, you won''t be fighting him alone. Naruto is coming too. There will be a confrontation between him and Orochimaru in a few days. If we see an opening, we will kill him. I know you want to see him again. You are best friends, but Itachi comes first." Sasuke nodded, and I started to prepare myself for the Snake. For a slippery snake to be captured, one has to make a giant room with no escape. It was time to skin a snake. Sasuke and I were hiding in a tree, masked by my Sage Mode. The meeting between Yamato and Kabuto was the same when Kabuto attacked the fake Sasori since he was loyal to Orochimaru. Orochimaru appeared and mocked the 3 to come out. I mentally snored. ''Look how you are gloating because you sensed them while I am here with Sasuke.'' I looked at Sasuke. "I will make a big wooden cage together with my Fuinjutsu so you and Naruto will have your fun with Orochimaru without him being able to escape. I will watch and as your teacher will evaluate how strong you''ve become. Show me what you''ve learned." General POV Naruto did not go berserk by the taunts but still punched Orochimaru away. Ishizu used this moment to appear behind Kabuto, leaning against the latter''s back. "I am sorry to say, but I will not anyone interrupt the upcoming fight between the 3." Ishizu kicked Kabuto away before doing hand signs. "Dragon->Dog->Monkey->Tiger->Tiger-Monkey->Snake: Wood Style Fuinjutsu: Wood Jail." Out of the earth, a massive amount of wood appeared. It soared into the sky before collapsing on the other side created massive wood cube. The area it covered was a few kilometers, but there was enough free space in between to let the sun inside to make the area visible. Everyone was shocked to see another figure appear here with them. "You are the one who was at the extraction of the Kazekage," exclaimed Sakura, remembering Ishizu before he left to fight with Naruto. "How are you able to use such refined Wood Style?" Yamato asked, shocked seeing somebody else using it besides him with so much power. Ishizu rested his back against the wood. "You are not the only one who can use it. While you are an experiment, I have it naturally," Ishizu gave him a lie. Ishizu POV I turned to Kabuto, grinning under the mask. "I would suggest that you run. Orochimaru may be able to defend against Naruto but he won''t do that if the Uzumaki has help." Kabuto smiled at me with that annoying smile. "What do you mean? Nobody can defeat Orochimaru-sama." I could only chuckle at the delusion of a win for that snake. "My poor, poor Kabuto," I began my monologue. "I mean that Sasuke Uchiha was never under Orochimaru''s thumb. Without me, your godlike master would have never gotten Sasuke in the first place. It was me who helped Sasuke infiltrate your hideouts to suck out enough information. I always knew where you were. The curse mark was also rendered useless by me. Everything I did until this very moment was for this moment. The Snake will die and nothing will stop this process." "Does that mean that Sasuke never wanted to leave?" asked Sakura in confusion. I nodded at her question. "That''s partly correct. Originally, Sasuke had to go to Orochimaru or he would have died. I helped him lessen the corruption of the curse mark he received. His reason for staying with Orochimaru was to grow stronger and fulfill his dream. Now that Orochimaru is useless, he can die." "That means he will come back, right?" asked Sakura in hope. "I am sure he will if he wants. That is, after he gets his revenge on his brother. Until then, I will protect him. I suggest you watch the fight. Breaking this Fuinjutsu is useless, so just enjoy the show from every possible point of view." I walked calmly to Naruto, who must have realized I was here. Naruto experienced both of Yamato''s and mine Wood Style, and it was clear mine was superior. "It is time to kill you, Orochimaru." Naruto turned around. "So it is you. Why are you here?" "I told you, Naruto, that the next time we meet will not be as enemies. I have brought you a friend that will help you fight against the Snake." It amused Orochimaru to see people trying to kill him. Many have tried, and those were now dead. He wasn''t a sannin for nothing. "Oh, do you really think you are enough to kill me?" mocked Orochimaru. I turned to Orochimaru. I wanted him to see my grin on my face so badly but I couldn''t show my face. "You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment. This is the place you die, Orochimaru. Don''t think I didn''t come here prepared. Do you not see the wood cube surrounding you? The curse mark you gave Anko was lifted, and I undid Sasuke''s so if you die here, you die permanently. No more slipping away like the c.o.c.kroach you are. Maybe at another time, you would have made an outstanding teacher for Sasuke, but your usefulness here is over. Long ago, students surpassed their teacher by killing them and the same will happen to you." This is when Orochimaru saw Sasuke appearing behind me and calmly walking towards Naruto. "What is the meaning of this Sasuke?" Sasuke stood next to Naruto. "So you are really here, huh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, seeing his old friend standing side by side. Sasuke gave his friend a nod. "Good to see you again, Naruto." "Are you going to come back after that?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. Sasuke shook his head. "No, I still have one thing to do?" "Do you still want to kill your brother?" asked Naruto, having heard about his revenge. "No. I want to know the truth behind that day. Ishizu-sensei told me that Itachi was too soft to kill. He would not have the strength to kill the children and my parents. It was only later that I realized that our parents let themselves be killed." Being left of this conversation, Orochimaru took out his blade and attacked. "Are you done? The Snake is coming," Ishizu pointed at the S-Rank shinobi, who was rushing at them with the intent to kill. Orochimaru saw that he was in a difficult situation and decided to kill them quickly. "So you have betrayed me, Sasuke?" Orochimaru was pissed. He wanted the Uchiha''s body and he would do everything to get the famous Sharingan eyes. Sasuke took out his own sword and clashed with Orochimaru''s Kusanagi. "You have been fooled for a long time, Orochimaru. Since the beginning, I was never on your side. I knew that you wanted my body, but I would never give it to you for revenge on my brother." From behind Sasuke, Naruto stuck a Rasengan in Orochimaru''s gut, but the snake dodged. "Naruto, Sasuke, show that Snake what the power of nature is all about," Ishizu told the two. Naruto turned to Sasuke in shock. "You know Sage Mode?" Sasuke shook his head. "I am far from mastering it. I did not have enough time to complete it, but I will show you what I can do." That''s when Ishizu placed his hand on Sasuke''s shoulder. "As your teacher, I will give you a helping hand." Ishizu used his own nature energy to help Sasuke go into a perfect Sage Mode. It would only last for 5 minutes, but it was enough to kill that disgusting snake. Chapter 74 - The Death of a Snake Part 2 General POV Sasuke''s transformation differed from Kabuto''s. Slowly, Sasuke''s black pupils changed to a brighter yellow with a thin black layer surrounding them. Silver snake scales formed on his hands and legs. Naruto entered Sage Mode too. I smiled at Orochimaru. "Fighting Hanzo together with Jiraiya and Tsunade earned you the title of a Sannin, a legendary Shinobi. I will name you the next Sage of the Six Paths if you survive against two Sage users. Although I must say that the odds are not in your favor. Now go!" Orochimaru opened his mouth and dozens of snakes came out, rushing at Naruto and Sasuke. "Let me handle this." Sasuke placed his hands against each other. "Sage Art: Eternal Snake" A ghost snake shot out from Sasuke''s hands, penetrating Orochimaru''s snakes and turning them to stone. ''That''s not what I expected.'' Naruto created a giant Rasengan to smack it against Orochimaru, but he summoned a Rashomon Gate, blocking the attack. Sasuke charged at Orochimaru with his sword and both engaged in a fight. Sasuke used a Genjutsu on the Snake so Naruto could punch Orochimaru in the gut with an enchanted Sage punch, making Orochimaru fly away before he regained his footing. ''Well, he is still a strong opponent and still has strength, but the question is how long?'' Ishizu decided not to attack with his body, but rather with his words. Mocking Orochimaru in a life or death battle was funny, as the former did so many times too many of his enemies. Karma was a *****. "How long do you think will you last, Orochimaru? The 3rd Hokage gave you a pretty big curse for being a fool to attack Konoha. Changing bodies helped you delay the inevitable, but it must have hurt a lot." It had some kind of effect as the bastard charged at him. "I am not your opponent." "Wood Style: Wood Shelter" Ishizu surrounded himself, but Orochimaru hit the blockage with his foot and broke it. ''He is serious.'' Fortunately, Naruto and Sasuke had business with him and gave him a roundhouse kick in the back. Ishizu made a wood pillar to see the spectacle from above and to not disturb the 3. "Senpo Wind Style: Rasenshuriken" "Sage Art: Majestic Fireball Jutsu" Both of them launched their attack at Orochimaru. One Wind and one Fire. A massive Fire-based Rasenshuriken flew at Orochimaru, ready to obliterate the latter. To counter the attack the Snake summoned the 3 Rashomon Gates. ''This will be a big¡­'' ''KABOOOOOM'' Ishizu looked with his Rinnegan and saw that Orochimaru was still not defeated. "He is still alive," Ishizu shouted. "We know," both of them answered, annoyed because this was getting boring. Orochimaru used another summoning technique. This time he summoned Manda personally. "Oh, no. That is against the rules. No summons allowed." "Wood Style: Wood dragon" Ishizu used the dragon to catch Manda and render him immobile for the moment, giving Orochimaru no way of help. "Someone like you will not defeat me. I am Orochimaru the Snake Sannin. I will achieve immortality and your body will be mine, Sasuke!" shouted Orochimaru in rage. Kicking Naruto away, Orochimaru used a massive earth jutsu to be with Sasuke alone. With the Rinnegan, Ishizu looked through the earth wall to see what was going on inside. Naruto was charging another Rasengan when Ishizu appeared before the earth cave. "Out of my way, Yamamoto!" "You cannot help him now. You have to trust in Sasuke," spoke Ishizu in a calm voice. Naruto was reluctant but waited for Sasuke to come out. Sasuke POV Being engulfed by a white snake was disgusting. "I wanted to do this later, my dear Sasuke-chan, but you leave me no choice than to take your body now." I looked around the area. It looked disgusting. As soon as Orochimaru''s hand touched my body, it turned to stone. "No! I will not lose. Your body is mine," furiously screamed Orochimaru. I smiled at the white snake. "I believe you always wanted to be a Snake Sage. Well, why don''t you be one?" I pressed my hands on his body and pumped the rest of my energy into him. Orochimaru''s scream died down as his body turned to stone. The surrounding wall crumbled, and I saw Ishizu and Naruto standing outside. General POV "So he is finally dead. I thought there would be more to this. Guess you weren''t that important," spoke Ishizu as he saw the body of Orochimaru. Dispelling the jail, Kabuto came rushing to Orochimaru''s body. "What have you done?" screamed Kabuto in horror at the sight of his former master. His entire world shattered. "I killed him," replied Sasuke. "No, you can kill him. It is Orochimaru. He can''t die. HE CAN''T." Kabuto took a body part of Orochimaru and left. Ishizu stopped the other ones. "Leave him." Ishizu looked at the rest of Team 7. "You have done your mission. Orochimaru is dead. Leave or I will consider you as my enemy." "You can just do that. We came for Sasuke." Ishizu took out a wood spear and pointed it at her. "I already told you that he is under my protection. He does not want to come back." Yamato and Sakura wanted to protest, but Naruto stopped them. Ishizu nodded. "Sasuke, leave. We will meet later." "Yamato-taicho, Sakura-san, Sai, we are leaving." Sasuke left, and only Naruto and Ishizu stood at the battlefield. "You have something to say, don''t you?" asked Naruto. Ishizu nodded. "Yes, it has something to do with Sasuke." Naruto told him to go on. "What do you think are the odds that Sasuke will return to Konoha?" Naruto frowned. "This has something to do with the massacre, hasn''t it?" Ishizu clapped his hands. "You are very smart. Smart people live longer but have many enemies. Yes, the reason has something to do with it. The moment Sasuke learns the truth, no one can say what he will do, but it could direct his hatred to Konoha." "I have always known that the village is not as happy as it looked like. My Sensei showed me the dark side of it." "Ah, yes, Ishizu Sasaki. We had a few meetings during our lives. He is one of the few who know the truth behind the massacre. If you want to know what really happened, you should ask him. I want to warn you that if Sasuke learns the truth, there will be a possibility that you will fight against each other next time." Naruto nodded. "I see what I can do." With that, both parties left. Team 7 was going to report that Orochimaru was by Naruto, and Sasuke with the help of the mysterious man, Yamamoto. Ishizu was going to help Sasuke make a team find Itachi. He would not be going with them as he saw that Kakuzu and Hidan were moving to Kumo. A cat needed help, it seemed. Chapter 75 - Preparation for the Immortal Duo General POV Ishizu was relaxing in Konoha, as he knew it would take a while for the immortal duo to track down Yugito. The Sora arc would not happen as his chakra was already inside the 9th container and the filler people were either dead or not important. Except for Fuka, of course. The free time Ishizu had he used on working in his Fuinjutsu. While he was an expert or even the best living sealing expert, he knew that what he could do wasn''t the top. Fuinjutsu could do anything. One just had to look outside the box and find the way to do it. Ishizu expected 1 or 2 weeks to experiment, but during his training, an unexpected guest arrived. Ishizu didn''t expect to use one of the reverse summoning scrolls he gave Naruto in case he wanted something from him to use. "You want to speak to me, Naruto?" Ishizu asked, curious why the blond boy came to him. "When I, together with Sasuke, fought Orochimaru, there was this man who helped us. He was also the one who fought me in the Valley of the End and later was present in the Akatsuki base. At first, I thought he was an enemy, but the more I see him, the more I believe he is helping us. Helping me; for whatever selfish reason. He uses Wood Style, and he mentioned you. Can you tell me about him?" Ishizu looked surprised at that mention. Well, how to tell your student about your other secret persona? "Hmm, a wood user outside Yamato? Ah, yes. I remember a certain individual who matches your description. I first met him during the 3rd Shinobi War. He saved me from certain death and told me to repay him a debt the next time he came to me." "What kind of debt?" "While I had my suspicions about the Uchiha and the incoming massacre, I wasn''t sure what to do. It was then that he came and told me to repay the debt. I had to secure the Sharingan''s of the fallen Uchiha during the massacre. It was a secret, and the only ones who know are him and me. Why do you ask?" Naruto was thinking deeply before a deep sigh escaped his lips. "It is because I want to know why the massacre happened. Konohagakure isn''t all sunshine and happiness. During my childhood, I wanted to be Hokage so others could acknowledge me, but the older I got them more I saw I had people who acknowledge me. Even if it was only a handful. The others, especially civilians, would never accept me as one of their own. As time went on, I realized I was not loyal to the village but to the people living inside. I want to know the truth behind this village to see if I should even be loyal to it." There were only a few instances Ishizu didn''t know what would or could happen. This was one of them. Knowing Naruto, Ishizu expected him to be extremely loyal to the village, but his presence and interference caused some things to change. Ishizu did not want Naruto to hate the village and desert. Where would he go? Would this be a desert Naruto fanfictions? ''No. Not gonna happen,'' thought Ishizu. The easiest thing to do was to kill everyone who was not accepting Naruto. That meant the civilian who hated Naruto as well as Danzo. Naruto could rule over a much better Konoha that way. But that would be stupid. People could change; at least some. The Pain Arc would be the point where people would acknowledge him since he saved them and became their hero. "Ok, let''s calm down. First, let''s talk about the massacre and then about your inner conflict." Ishizu explained the problem with the Uchiha Clan, but leaving Obito out of it. How Danzo was an *** and what it could have prevented if he just died. "Wow Sensei. You really hate this counselor. I have seen him sometimes and he gives me creeps." Ishizu frowned when he thought about Danzo. "You have no idea how I want to kill him." Naruto raised an eyebrow. Admitting to killing a citizen of Konoha wasn''t something one should do. Ishizu rolled his eyes. "I am telling you this because I trust you. That man, while indeed he did a great job stabilizing Konoha during times of war, he is a man out of his time. He did many horrible things in the name of Konoha and while he is better of dead. Unfortunately, I think Sasuke wants a piece of him first." "Yeah, he was the one who made the massacre happen. So what should we do?" Naruto asked, hoping his Sensei knew the answer to such a tough question. "Simple: We train until we are strong enough to change things on our own. We should focus more on the Akatsuki since they are the bigger threat out there. They extracted the Ishibi so they are going for the Nibi, Yugito Nii. I believe our mutual friend is going to prevent that. I don''t know why they want the bijuus, but knowing a handful of villains, I think they want to rule the world with a massive weapon such as the Bijuus. We just have to find out. You, Naruto, have to find a way to let the fox help you." Inside Naruto''s mind, a certain fox snorted. "As if. I would not even change my mind if Madara Uchiha was alive." "Train your body and next time we meet I will help you with the fox." Ishizu POV My seal showed me that Hidan and Kakuzu were moving from west to east. They would move to Kumo and there they would find Yugito. The seal I put on Hidan was a tracer with which I could locate him and not a Hirashin to where I could teleport. The two options were to move to the two immortals and wait for the fight or find Yugito first and confront them. Since the two were near the fire border next to Takigakure, I had enough time to contort Yugito. I took out a scroll and looked at it. While I could summon every panda from the Dumpling Dynasty, they also had a right to refuse. I frowned, seeing the names blacked out telling me they couldn''t be summoned. My frown turned to horror. ''This is the worst timing. Everyone is not available, and it seems the only option is to summon her. Please, Sage, have mercy.'' Using the summoning jutsu made a big, slim panda appeared. Her name was Yin Yin, sister of Yang Yang. The moment I summoned her, I was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug, knocking the air out of my lungs. "My lover. You finally had the courage summoned me." I struggled to get free while being kissed on the head by her lips. "Get off me, Shinra Tensei!" I flung Yin Yin away, but she instantly regained her balance midair. "Stop you childish act. I have a mission for you, Yin Yin." She turned her head, made a pouting face, and avoiding me. She was mad that I flung her away and interrupted our time together. "Hn, I won''t help you. You are always summoning Tau or my sister, but never me. This time I made special dumplings for everyone so you couldn''t help but summoned me." ''She was the reason for this?!!'' I screamed mentally. She sure was an evil panda. Using dumplings to make everyone unavailable. "Fine. If you do this mission for me I let you cling to my for 5 minutes, but no touching important parts and not kissing on the mouth, ok?" Thankfully, she smiled. "What can I do for you, Panda Sage?" "Go to Kumo and find the Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails," I showed her Yugito''s Bingo Book picture. "If you find them before the cat, tell me telepathically so I can prepare myself to teleport. Make a one-person sealing array and wait for orders." The best word to use for her would be Jack of all trades and a master of none. She could handle a Chunin, was fast as an average Jonin, and had enough knowledge to make a simple array to teleport. Yin Yin nodded, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and vanished. It would take some time before she reaches the land of lightning, but before she could I needed to prepare. You don''t just go to interact with an enemy Jinchuriki and two immortals without preparing. General POV The Akatsuki members expect Hidan and Kakuzu. "Why did we get here?" asked Deidara, annoyed. "Because I have important news," said Zetsu. "Then tell us. We don''t have all the time," said Kisame. "Orochimaru is dead," said Zetsu, and the room was silent. "I say this: Whoever killed the snake, I will kill myself. How dare he or she take him from me," raged Deidara, missing the opportunity to get revenge on the Sannin. "Speak, Zetsu. Who killed Orochimaru?" asked Pein. "Orochimaru fought against Sasuke Uchiha and the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki. Orochimaru was betrayed by Sasuke and the Wood Style User Yamamoto. I don''t know how and where, but it seemed that Sasuke trained with him and after he was strong enough they betrayed Orochimaru," summarized Zetsu. Itachi''s Sharingan was shining brightly, but he didn''t speak. Pain''s Rinnegan eyes stayed open for a second before the Pain close them, ending the transmission. Chapter 76 - A Fight with a Cat In Konoha General POV Naruto watched how his Sensei bought many things from various shops. It looked like he was going to war. Naruto was curious and confronted his Sensei. "Hey Sensei. Can you tell me where you are going?" Naruto''s voice startled Ishizu, who turned around. "I am not going anywhere. Tsunade-sama would not allow it." Naruto looked at the huge stuff he carried around and not even storing it in a storage seal. Totally not suspicious. "Then do tell me why you are buying things as if you are going to war?" Ishizu saw that Naruto would not let him leave, so he took him home. "So? Tell me what secret do you have?" Ishizu looked at Naruto. "Our mutual friend confronted me and he needs some items as he is the one who is going to war." "Who is his target?" asked Naruto. "My prediction was right about him. He will engage with the Jinchuriki of the two tails, Yugito Nii, and sabotage the Akatsuki. He got information about the two Akatsuki members coming for her and wants to intercept. He couldn''t stop them by Gaara, but he is going to fool them there." Naruto consumed the information and nodded. "A bummer that I can''t help." "Me neither, but he gave me some useful information. He told me that the Yondaime Mizukage died some time ago and he was the Jinchuriki of Isobu, the three tails. He will be back in a few weeks or months and I bet we can find him. So prepare for it, Naruto." Naruto left after getting the information he needed, and Ishizu sighed in relief. Sometime later It was time for Ishizu to move. Yin Yin contacted him of her whereabouts and that she has found Yugito Nii, and Ishizu was ready to have a good fight. Making a wood clone to stay in Konoha, Yin Yin summoned him. "She is a few hundreds of meters south. She is not alone, so be careful my darling," said Yin Yin as she made a blowing kiss. Ishizu immediately dodged it and Yin Yin vanished. I was excited to fight someone strong, such as Yugito with my new strength. It was sad that I could not go all out since that would kill her, but strength is not everything in a battle. I went into Sage Mode as I approached her squad of genin. Not hiding my presence, Yugito sensed me as she twisted around and stood before her team to protect them. I came out of the hiding place. "Identify yourself," ordered Yugito with a sharp tone. "My name is of no concern for now. I am here to test you and see if you are worth it. I am benevolent and will allow your team to leave since I don''t want them to disturb the battle," I explained my made-up motive, which made me look like a villain who had honor. I usually dislike lying to people. Learning Ninshu made it easier for me to connect to people without speaking a word. If she was someone I could recruit, I would have bluntly stated the truth, not caring about the consequences. Unfortunately, little miss kitty cat was very loyal to Kumo. "Never! We will fight for our Sensei," one of the genin''s shouted. I didn''t even look at them or how they looked. It''s not like I see them as side characters...I had enough encounters with people who I thought were just that, and I almost regretted it. No, they were children and should just leave. I sighed as I looked at the Jinchuriki of the Two Tails. "You decide if you let them stay with you or not. I cannot guarantee their safety once we begin. I also know you will not go all out if they are here, so why not make it easier for both of us?" The Genin protested, but Yugito whispered something in their ears and told them to run, but not before saying that everything would be alright. How touchy. Oh, everything would be like I wanted it to be. "Now let''s see how strong one of the two Jinchuriki of Kumo are," I cut off my villainous monologue, which I was getting the hang of because I saw a foot flying towards my head. Dodging the foot next came the extended claws wanting to pierce my eyes. I grabbed two kunais from my pouches and began blocking the onslaught. I could feel the determination in her eyes....plus the killing intent directed at me, but I shrugged it off. That amount was pathetic. After encountering old fossils Onoki, angry Uzumaki''s, and Senju''s, I was practically immune to anyone else''s killing intent. "You are fast. Not many could deflect my claws," she said, as if her display of strength was anywhere near mine. Ah, I couldn''t help but smile underneath my mask. I shrugged before blitzing her, punching her in the stomach, causing her to fly away. "This is speed. You are far from reaching my strength." "You are still careless," she spoke as she got up. Feeling a tingling sensation, I looked at my arm, which had two new holes in it. She must have fought a lot against A, so even if she couldn''t block, she could still damage me. I was slightly impressed since the attacks pierced my nerves. I was playing with her and believing there wasn''t anything in her pockets that could kill me. I was kind of careless, but with the power I had, I could afford it. I just showed her my arm as it healed back. Healing factor op. "You were saying?" "Then I won''t hold back." And that''s when she transformed. Wonderful. Instead of a young blonde woman, a giant blue flame-burning cat greeted me. If glares could kill me...eh, I would have made something that could prevent it. "Ah, greetings Matatabi. It is nice to meet you. Let us see who is stronger, me or you," I greeted the Bijuu. Matatabi''s response was to jump up and firing multiple blue fireballs at me. I remained standing while I just expended the nature energy I had gathered outside. A greenish chakra cloak formed around me, which I called the Panda cloak. ''Only one bijuu attack and the cloak is gone? That just shows I have more to learn.'' The giant cat didn''t waste time and jumped towards me. Claws extended from her paw before they were engulfed in a fire as she struck my head. I got into the defense panda style began blocking her attacks while she hammered down on me. Her strength was formidable, and the fire was annoying since it made me sweat, so I activated my Rinnegan and I pointed my hand at her. "Shinra Tensei" It didn''t matter if she was a giant cat or a small fly. Gravity took effect, sending her flying away. Since she was a cat, she caught herself in the air and got right back up. "Come kitty kitty kitty, Bansho Ten''in." A force dragged the cat towards me. She struggled for a second before pointing her face at me and fired more blue fireballs at me. "Preta Path" The fireballs got absorbed into me. "Asura Path, chakra pistole." Just before Matatabi could crash into me, my left hand transformed into a pistol as I shot the cat away. Seeing Matatabi struggled to come back at her feed, I saw she was struggling to keep up. I couldn''t blame her. Nobody could. Yes, she was a Jinchuriki and she would probably win against most Jonin or Anbu. But fighting somebody who had a Rinnegan and Sage Mode, I was just out of her league. Seeing that wasting time wasn''t necessary, I decided to end this game by summoning some wood clones which went to make an array to extract as much chakra as I could before the immortals came. "You will not defeat me, human!" Matatabi screamed in frustration as she charged at me. I smiled as I got into the position of the Panda Style Attack. "We will see." The moment she was near me, I jumped and hit her straight in the face. I wanted to attack her more, but I held myself back, seeing Matatabi transforming back into Yugito. ''Oops, I hit too hard. Well, she was strong, but now is the time to do the extraction.'' "Are you ready?" I asked the clone. They nodded, and I took the body of Yugito and brought her into the array. Fuinjutsu: Dream of Endless Happiness. With that, I was sure the cat was out. "Now let us begin the process." I got my container with the number 2 out and started, but a few children interrupted me. "Fight us, you cowards!" "Let''s our Sensei go!" "Please don''t kill her!" Guess Yugito''s genin team was trying to steal my opponent. "Don''t worry. She will soon be back but I have to do it so don''t disturb me or she will die," I said in a threatening tone to make them shut up and stopping them from attacking me. Finally, I could begin. "Fuinjutsu: Six Roaring Pandas" Slowly the bijuu charka came out from Yugito and entered the container. Since the last time with Gaara, I made some fine-tuning to speed up the process, so it took only a few hours to extract about 90% of Matatabi''s chakra. She would live, and when the duo came, I would have already prepared my plan for the Akatsuki. Chapter 77 - Ishizu and Yugito vs. Kakuzu and Hidan Ishizu POV Sealing the chakra away, I thought over my plan as I watched Hidan and Kakuzu coming closer. They were like 1-2 hours away, and hearing Yugito groaning made me sign in relief. "What...where am I?" asked Yugito as her vision became clear and she saw me staring at her through the mask. "You!" "Relax, woman. If I wanted you dead, you would not wake up anymore." "What do you want? You beat me, s.u.c.k.e.d out my chakra. Do you want to defile me while I am conscious?" she spat at me and I felt offended by that. "I do not practice raping young women. Now for what I want...I want to help you and Matatabi to survive," I stared at her revealing my Rinnegan. Yugito was shocked that I knew her Bijuu''s name. Inside Yugito, Matatabi narrowed her eyes as she saw the Rinnegan, the eyes of her father. "What do you want from me, human?" Ishizu saw the eyes of Yugito changing. It seemed that Matatabi took control of Yugito and was reasonable to talk. "I came here to test the both of you because your next enemies won''t be so benevolent to let you live. The coming enemy you are facing is too strong for both of you. You don''t have enough information, but with me by your side, we can get rid of them. The question is, will you agree to help me or should I watch you die?" Matatabi went back inside Yugito and both discussed the deal. Yugito looked at me before nodding. "We have a deal, so tell me who they are." "Akatsuki. An organization whose goal is to get the chakra from all 9 beasts. I won''t tell you the exact plan, but you only have to know that they want to Matatabi and they get her by your death. The ones who are after you are called the Immortal Duo." "What is your plan?" And so I talked. Time skip I felt that they were near, so I needed to finish my talk. "They are coming closer, so I make it fast. The one who is talking a lot is a true immortal. No physical attack can kill him. You can cut his head off and he will still be alive. Don''t let him get blood from you or he will use a Jutsu to kill you. He is not that strong, but his immortality is annoying. The other one is quiet and smart. He has 5 hearts due to a forbidden Jutsu he stole for him to stop moving we need to destroy every single heart. I will take him on so your only job is to avoid the scythe and we will win." "I take the crazy guy and you take the quiet one, got it," summarized Yugito. Just as I was finished, I saw both of them coming and I concealed myself. "Hey Kakuzu, I see the ****. I will make this fast," said Hidan with a voice of arrogance. "Than do as you said, Hidan. You know, time is money," grumbled Kakuzu. Without further ado, Hidan attacked Yugito, but unlike other shinobi, she began to evade him. "Come here, ****. Let me kill you!" While Hidan was trying to get some blood from Yugito, Kakuzu too wondered why she tries to stall. The question was why, and the only answer he came up with was that she somehow knew his ability. Before he could voice out his concern, he felt a hand coming through his c.h.e.s.t. "A big mistake, waiting for your stupid friend to finish." It was Ishizu who used the moment to take the first heart. Jumping away, Ishizu looked at Kakuzu who was on the ground playing dead. "I know you are alive, Kakuzu. Takigakure''s forbidden jutsu is something very interesting. To have 5 hearts is something entirely different from your normal human. That means I need to kill you 4 more times so you won''t move." Kakuzu got up as he glared at Ishizu. "How do you know so much about me?" "You know better than anyone that information is important. The moment I made myself an enemy by infiltrating the Akatsuki hideout and stealing some of the Ishibi''s chakra was a moment I had enough information to fight against you. And right now I am in a good mode to fight," Ishizu said while preparing for a nice fight. Kakuzu opened his back and 4 black monsters came out of his body. One fell to the ground. Looking at the mask, Ishizu confirmed it was the lightning one. "You made a mistake waiting for your opponent to attack. This will be your doom," said Kakuzu as one of his masks attacked. "Water Style: Great Water Pump" "Earth Style: Earth Barrier," responded Ishizu. The water crashed against the wall. Then Ishizu had to dodge an elongated arm coming from behind the wall. "Katon: Zokuku." "Futon: Ataugai." Two masks fired the attacks, and they started to combine. Ishizu smiled as his eyes changed. "Preta Path." ''He absorbed my Jutsu?'' Who is this man to go unnoticed for so long?'' Kakuzu thought. He lived for a long time and he never heard of a person such as this man. Ishizu smirked as he started attacking Kakuzu. Still, even only relying on the Rinnegan, Kakuzu was a tough opponent to fight. He was not some weak Shinobi that relied on a single Jutsu. As Ishizu said before. Old Shinobi were dangerous, and Kakuzu was no exception. Ishizu was not making himself look weak. It was because of another reason. Sure, Ishizu could kill Kakuzu if he went all out, but he still had to hold back for two reasons. 1. Collateral damage. If one fully powered Rasenshuriken would hit Kakuzu, the former Taki Shinobi would die definitely, but the radius of the explosion would affect Yugito, and if feeling the chakra signatures of her students; them too. 2. Information. Murphy''s Law was active and everything could happen. Even if Ishizu killed both Akatsuki members, he still had the Kumo Shinobi. She was loyal to Kumo and would definitely tell the Raikage about him. If Ishizu showed the power of defeating two S-ranked Shinobi without any difficulties after defeating a Jinch¨±riki, then everyone would search for him for various annoying reasons. The best thing to do was to show the power that was reasonably strong, but not too strong. "This is fun. I love fighting against opponents like you," laughed Ishizu. What made him frown was the smirked Kakuzu showed after a while on his face. "What is so funny? Do you accept your defeat?" Ishizu knew something was wrong and his fears came true when he saw what was behind him. Murphy''s Law hit Ishizu pretty hard. What happened was that Hidan saw one of Yugito''s genin hiding and, since he wasn''t a complete moron, took one of them hostage. Yugito was in a dilemma. Either she stood surrendered or her student died. She surrendered and her leg got pierced with his curse. Hidan was a true sadist who enjoyed his victim''s suffering. "You made me work so long. Die!" screamed Hidan as he positioned his blade near his heart. "No!" screamed Ishizu. He had to stop Hidan, but Kakuzu used this moment to attack Ishizu with the other hearts. "Shinra Tensei!" The attacks were blown away as Ishizu ran to Yugito. He hated himself for dragging this fight out and forgot about Hidan. ''I can not let her die. Everything I have worked for would be thrown into the trash if she dies. I will not this happen.'' As Ishizu ran to Yugito, his Rinnegan had a silver hue around it as he looked at Hidan as the fanatic wanted to kill the cat. Hidan stopped and looked at his scythe. "What? I don''t understand," said Hidan, confused. "Hidan do it! What are you waiting for? We have to end this. The enemy knows about us so what are you doing?" shouted Kakazu at Hidan. "I don''t know what to do! How can this be!" screamed Hidan, before he was roundhouse kicked out of the ring by Ishizu. ''What was that? Why did he stop his attack and why the hell do I have a massive headache?'' thought Ishizu as he went to Yugito. Taking out a smoke bomb to hide from their view, Ishizu began thinking of an alternative plan. Inside the smokescreen "Are you all right?" asked Ishizu while he clutched his head in pain. Yugito nodded, but both of her legs were showing something else. "He got lucky. It hurts. I can not stand, but you did something to stop him." "Yeah, and whatever it made my head spin like crazy." Kakuzu made his way to Hidan to help him up. "Stop messing around Hidan and let''s get the Jinch¨±riki." "**** you, Kakuzu. I can''t believe I forgot how to kill her. This is blasphemy. I shall atone for that by killing the other one with the cat!" Before Hidan could attack him by Kakuzu. "No, we are doing this together. No more delay." Deep inside, Ishizu was glad that Hidan stopped his attack. The reason would have to be found out later. Yugito could not fight anymore and his head was killing him. "Listen, I have a plan for how you can survive this. You have to trust me. Either that or we both die," explained Ishizu. Yugito saw that she was at his mercy, so she agreed to his plan. Placing his finger on his right shoulder, a small scroll popped out. "Release!" With a Ram sign, the scroll opened up, revealing a complex Fuinjutsu formation. "Here, place his formation around your heart." "What is that? I have never seen such a complex Fuinjutsu. Not even the seal to contain Matatabi isn''t that complex." "Well, because it had a different purpose and I am a much better Fuinjutsu expert than anyone in Kumo. Now do it or it''s too late." With a bit of hesitation, Yugito placed the seal over her heart. She felt as if a lightning bolt passed through her body before losing consciousness. ''Good. Now the only thing that''s left to do is to stall them out until the seal is saturated.'' Creating a wood clone, Ishizu switched places with him before creating a wood shelter around him and Yugito. From the outside, Kakuzu and Hidan show the wood clone coming out. "I will defeat you!" "Wood Style: Deep Forest Emerges" "This is your grave," screamed Ishizu in an over-dramatic voice to sound as if he was about to go down. Kakuzu used his hearts to pulverize the Wood. Hidan chased after the clone and finally got blood which of course wasn''t his since clones down bleed or not this one. The blood was actually Yugito''s but even when Hidan stabbed himself in the heart while the clone faked being stabbed, Ishizu was confident that the stab wouldn''t hurt her. Being certain Kakuzu burned the body from afar, not doing a mistake to come closer and lose another heart. Having defeated the clone, Kakuzu opened the wood shelter to find Yugito lying on the ground; alone. ''He just left her? He died and left her here without protection? Something is wrong,'' thought Kakuzu. "Hidan, check if she is still alive," said Kakuzu, distancing himself from her and checking the surrounding for any ambush. "She has a weak pulse. She ain''t dead. I bet this guy thought he could win against the two of us." They took the body, but Kakazu felt that something was not right. The fight was over too fast. His thoughts were broken when Hidan started annoying him by doing his prayer. And true, they didn''t account for Ishizu''s famous Fuinjutsu and a certain ability of the Rinnegan. Not too far from the Akatsuki was Ishizu, who used his King of Hell to protect Yugito after Hidan stabbed himself. This allowed her to survive the stab and not die. "Man, that was a risky maneuver. Now your brats can open your mouths," said Ishizu while watching the Genin running towards their Sensei and inspected her. "She is fully healed. How is that possible?" asked one of them, having seen Yugito tacking damage. Ishizu smirked. He had a nice fight and even though the fight turned out different from what he expected; he gained a new ability that he had no clue how it worked. Not only that, but it gave him a massive headache, which made it hard to think. It was as if something was forcefully put into his memory. Chapter 78 - Fooled, not once, but twice Yugito woke up and saw her Genin laying on her. "So you woke up, huh? I welcome you back to the living world." "What happened," she asked. "After you lost consciousness, I tricked the two. I did not want to risk your life, so I made them think they got you. They did not think much about my fake death too. Now you are alive and your squad is fine too. What are you going to do?" Yugito looked to her Genin. She sighed in relief that Ishizu kept his promise. "I will go back to Kumo and report about it. Those Akatsuki are too dangerous to be left alive." Ishizu POV I nodded at her reasoning. It was also time for me to go back too. With that, Akatsuki got the Yugito clone and the seal would slow down the extraction, making it seem like they transferred enough chakra. I can only hope that they won''t be so stupid to go into the land of fire. Either way, my next objective was Isobu. It should be time, and I think I will call for Tayuya so she can get me the location of Guren. With Orochimaru''s death earlier than canon, I need to be informed about Kabuto''s moves. I have to have him monitored somehow because I don''t need him to go crazy earlier on. Shortly after Yugito left, I left for Konoha. Akatsuki hideout. "You have the Jinch¨±riki of the Nibi. Let''s begin the extraction," said Pain as he summoned the Gedo Mazo to extract the chakra. "What is wrong, Kakuzu?" questioned Pain, looking at the unnerved man. "When we got the Jinch¨±riki, someone attacked us. From the voice I found out, it was the same Shinobi who was here during the extraction of the One Tails. We fought, and he died, but I can''t seem to think there is something wrong." "If you are certain that he is dead, then there is nothing to worry about. The Jinch¨±riki is here and we are extracting the chakra now," said Pain. The only one that frowned was Tobi, who was shadowing the extraction. The extraction of Shukaku was short because there was one more person available, but with Sasori''s death and him not being introduced yet, the chakra extraction took longer than 3 days and 3 nights. Something was wrong. He could feel it, but he couldn''t find the cause. After the extraction, Tobi teleported to the corpse and examined it to find something. "Zetsu, tell me what do you see." The plant came out from below and analyzed the corpse. "It''s a Wood Clone?" the white part said confused. "No wood clone could handle the extraction of the statue. Whoever made this copy must have used the Wood Style and something else to hide it from me. How can that be?" asked the black. "There is a hint of Wood Style there so whoever it was can use the wood release and could extract the chakra of both the One Tails and the Two Tails. We saw the chakra coming from the clone so by default Yugito Nii should be dead, but I somehow doubt that," Tobi hypothesized before his gaze fell on Zetsu. "Go to Kumogakure and look if Yugito Nii of Kumogakure is alive. If she is, then she will most likely report to the Raikage about us, and this isn''t good. I will talk to Pain about this probability. The Tree Tails will soon come out, and we know the location of the 4 to 6 Tails. Killer Bee is somewhere in Kumo and we still have no location or the 7 Tails." "After you are done with Yugito, go and find the location of the Seven Tails. I believe or little friend has found her and is hiding here somewhere. If this goes on, we will have to fight the other nations. We need the 10 Tails for this." Zetsu nodded. "It will be done." With that, he disappeared into the ground. Tobi looked toward the sky. "I don''t know who you are, but no matter what you do, you will not survive. If you think you can get the 3 Tails, then you are mistaken. I will personally come and kill you." Back in Konoha, Ishizu sneezes. "Someone is talking about me. The timing should be where the Obito and Zetsu found out about the clone. Zetsu should see the difference after the chakra was extracted. That means they will move faster. I have enough chakra from the God Tree for the 4th and 5th Tails so all I need is Isobu, Saiken, and Gyuki. Maybe if I find Kabuto next time, I can get him to tell me the location of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. With Killer Bee... let''s hope Itachi or Kisame will go for him so I can know when it happens. Somewhere in the land of fire. A clone of Ishizu was waiting for Tayuya, who appeared moments later and bowed. For Tayuya, Ishizu was like a god. She instantly started to dislike Orochimaru when she heard about the curse mark''s true nature. Tayuya quickly let go of Orochimaru and devoted herself to Ishizu. When she heard that Orochimaru was killed, she started to cry and curse him for what he had done for a few hours. "Are you done, Tayuya? If so, I have a mission for you?" Tayuya nodded. "What is my mission, Ishizu-sama?" "I hope your sky network knows where Guren is. With Orochimaru dead, I need information about Kabuto''s whereabouts and what he is going to do. Find her and then report to me as quickly as possible." Tayuya bowed. "It will be done." After that, she disappeared. Back in Konoha, Ishizu watched his old team 11. Naruto was facing off against Hinata and Ino. The two girls were coordinating perfectly so that Naruto entered Sage Mode to win the fight. "Ishizu-sensei, how were we?" asked Hinata as she saw him with his Byakugan. "Wonderful. I am proud to have been your teacher. I am happy for you to Ino. Soon you will be a full Sage just like me and Naruto," said Ishizu. "Yes, and I will be one before Sakura," proclaimed Ino proudly. Days went by and it would seem that Hidan and Kakuzu weren''t going on another mission to the land of fire. Ishizu shrugged. The moment Ishizu would get the message that the fire temple was attacked, he would find the two and kill them, but it seemed that they stayed dormant. They were going to concentrate on finding the Bijuus. It was only a matter of time until Zetsu would spot Fu. He could come inside Konoha easily, and even if Ishizu could find him, it would probably only be a clone. Killing him would signal the other that someone could find him and make him even harder to track. At one point, Tayuya sends Ishizu a message she found a hideout of Orochimaru with Guren inside. Unfortunately, and ANBU has spotted Tayuya, and the Hokage held a meeting. "ANBU report, what you have seen," said Tsunade. "During my mission, I spotted a hideout belonging to Orochimaru. He is confirmed dead, but I spotted someone else." "Who was it?" asked Tsunade. "I could confirm thanks to Shikamaru Nara that it was the Kunoichi which took part during the 3rd Hokage''s death and was saved by the unknown Shinobi during her fight with Shikamaru Nara and Temari of the Sand." "Do you think it was the same person who stopped you at the Valley of End and the same one that sabotaged the Akatsuki as well as the one who helped you kill Orochimaru?" Naruto frowned, "I don''t know his motives. He helped Sasuke with the curse seal, but he prohibited us from taking him back to Konoha, saying that he had to fight Itachi. The Kunoichi is probably his spy, but I don''t know for what." "Maybe he is going to get the 3 Tails? questioned Ishizu. "Explained Sasaki," ordered Tsunade. Ishizu sighed, "You all know that the Yondaime Mizukage was killed a few years ago during that whole civil war by the current Mizukage, Mei Terumi. You can not kill a Bijuu so after the death of Yagura, the chakra of the Sanbi scattered and I think he knows where it will come back so he sent the spy to confirm the location. What the right-hand man of Orochimaru is doing there, I don''t know. Whatever it is, it ain''t good for us." "Then it is decided. If the Sanbi is truly there, we have to seal it so the Akatsuki or the unknown Shinobi won''t get it. Ishizu, you are a Fuinjutsu specialist. Come up with a sealing Jutsu that can contain the Sanbi. I will make a team for finding out what is going on there. If the Sanbi is there, send a message so I can dispatch a unit to seal it. If this mysterious person is an ally, we have to ask him for help. If not...," said Tsunade. Meanwhile, Ishizu frowned. Why was Kabuto there? He should be infusing himself with Orochimaru''s DNA to become a monster and a Sage later. ''Questions, questions, questions. I don''t need them. I need facts.'' Chapter 79 - More C.o.c.kroach than Snake Ishizu POV The first team to investigate was made. The information-gathering team: Kakashi, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, and to my annoyance, Naruto. They allowed him to go as his hand wasn''t damaged, but that meant I had to be careful. Fighting Naruto near a bijuu was not good, and I had to make sure that Tayuya didn''t get captured. So I went ahead of the teams. I needed to prepare and see what the hell Kabuto was doing. General POV Hideout Kabuto was running through the hall. Opening a large door, Kabuto entered a room that was filled with paper and other stuff. One would get a feeling they were in a room for doctors or a professor who liked to experiment since in the middle of the room was a glass container with liquid. And inside of it was a person. "What took you so long, Kabuto?" the person asked. Kabuto bowed, "I had a run-in with Guren. Everything is ready. We just have to get the Sanbi, Orochimaru-sama." Inside the container was Orochimaru on life support. Kabuto, in his abnormal devotion to his master, used an earlier, not perfect snake mark, and brought his soul from someone back. But was not with drawbacks. The once-mighty snake Sannin who toyed with genin and fought the 3rd Hokage couldn''t even move. Half of his body looked like Crocodile from One Piece s.u.c.k.e.d the water out of it. "I need a new vessel and that as fast as possible, Kabuto. Seal the Sanbi into the boy and give him my mark so I can take over and regain my power." At the lake of the Sanbi General POV "I am sorry that I was discovered," kneeled Tayuya. She tried hard to be helpful, but now she was spotted by ANBU. Ishizu shook his head, "It doesn''t matter now. You have to be careful not to get caught by either side. Our time comes when I tell you." "I heard a conversation where Kabuto mentioned that Orochimaru is still alive," spoke Tayuya. Ishizu instantly frowned at this information, "What!? You should have told me this information sooner." "I didn''t think this was possible. You said yourself he was dead." Ishizu shook his head, "Argh, why do those annoyances pop out every now and then. Fine, I will deal with him later, but I can''t do this recklessly. I need more information about the reason why Orochimaru needs the Sanbi. Tayuya, you''ve done your job. You can go back, but I will keep in touch if I need anything. I don''t want you to engage with Konoha since my student is there and a fight between you and him is not good. I will wait for the right moment to interfere. I also will deal with Guren. Her crystal style could be useful. You did well. Now go!" With that, Tayuya left, and Ishizu sat down on the ground and started gathering nature energy. The information to hear that Orochimaru could be alive just made the mission more annoying at most. His first mission was to get Isobo''s chakra and for that, he needed to see where everyone was. "Let''s see where you are. "Sage Style: Forest Scan." "What is wrong? Why have you both stopped?" asked Sakura. "Someone just scanned through the whole area really fast. His chakra is enormous," said Yamato. "That''s him. The one I fought before. He showed abilities the same as Yamato-taicho. He probably wanted to see where everyone''s location is," explained Naruto. Kakashi nodded, "All right. Be careful. Don''t engage him alone." Ishizu opened his eyes, "Now, I just have to wait for the boy to get Isobu out of the water. I should prepare." With that, Ishizu left for the lake. Near the lake, Ishizu put a container out with a 3 on it. The first marble was a bit filled from the last time Ishizu fought Yagura, and now he would fill the rest. "I need as much chakra as I can get and without getting into troublesome fights. Naruto wouldn''t go all out against me or he would destroy everything around, and he thinks of me as a way to connect to Sasuke. I just hope that Guren won''t be captured before they can get the Sanbi out." Summoning a wood clone, I ordered him to go and see what Naruto''s team is doing and if possible protect Guren. Yuukimaru needed Guren to follow instructions. Wood Clone POV I looked at the crystallized Hinata. ''Hmm, maybe some things are going to be like in canon no matter what you do. I just hope it is not going to be all the time. Let''s just hope that it stays that way. Guren''s crystal style is very dangerous.'' I had to dodge the Rasengan coming from behind as a wild Naruto appeared out of the grass. "Annoying. And here I thought I could spy on you, but you found my location." The rest of the group protected Hinata. I smiled, "Oh, I don''t care about the Hij¨±ga girl. She is alive and I think that matters for you, isn''t it?" Naruto wanted to attack again, but Yamato held him down. "Naruto, we are here for another thing and I doubt that he is even the real one," said Yamato. "Clever thinking. Of course, I am not the real one. The real one has some stuff to do, and I am only here to see what you are doing. It would seem that I have to take this seriously if a Jinch¨±riki is here." Naruto glared at me. "What are your intentions with the Sanbi?" I chuckled, "The Sanbi has a name, Naruto. Its name is Isobu and you should respect it. As to why I am here... Well, my original plan was to extract some chakra from Isobu, my goal is secret, before leaving quietly. Unfortunately, Tayuya discovered something that gives me more work. I know that each Sannin is strong on its own, but unlike how Jiraiya is a toad and Tsunade is a snail, Orochimaru is more like a c.o.c.kroach than a snake. I was 100% sure he was dead, but he exceeds even my expectations." It shocked the Konoha Shinobi that Orochimaru was still alive as they thought that Naruto and Sasuke defeated him. "Can''t we work together? We both want to protect the Sanbi," said Sakura. "And how are you going to do that? The Sanbi is a sentient creature. It has emotions like you and me. Just ask Naruto and he will tell you that the Fox is not a mindless beast as many think. If you were in his condition, wouldn''t you do everything to be free? Isobu is the only one right now who is free from a human container because Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, was defeated and died. I know what I am doing and I know that I don''t do harm to the Bijuus. You can ask the current Kazekage or Yugito Nii whom I had the chance of meeting. Both of them are alive only because I was there to save them from their doom. I even had to fight Akatsuki''s immortal duo before I tricked them." "Who is Yugito Nii?" asked Naruto, not knowing her. "She is a Kumo Shinobi," answered Kakashi. "And the Jinch¨±riki of the two tails," continued Ishizu. "Wait, Naruto knows Fuinjutsu, and his Sensei is working on a seal to protect it from the Akatsuki. Maybe they could help you protect the Sanbi," suggested Sakura. Ishizu had a sad smile, "And what do you suggest? The only options are: 1. Your method. Wait for the Strategist and hope he finds the perfect Jutsu. 3. Kill him. Number two is out of option, as Kiri will demand him back, and I don''t think you want to see Mei Terumi mad and risk a war. The third option is also not good. You would just prolong the problem while Akatsuki has time to grow even stronger. You could try sealing him but first I need his chakra and even if you managed the first, I would think first about sealing a sentient being forever. I am not a heartless monster." The clone looked to the sea as Hinata''s crystal broke, "It seems that I have made my position clear. I would suggest that we don''t fight here, Naruto. Not everyone here is a Shinobi who could just go through mayhem and destroy everything. Now, I have a meeting with the crystal user. Think about what you want to do, Naruto." The clone got into the wood and made his way to the original. Ishizu smiled, "Now, show me what you will do, Naruto. How can you solve this problem?" Ishizu POV I watched how Guren, Kabuto, and Yuukimaru got in a boat and set sail to the middle of the lake. I grinned and rubbed my hands in an evil way. "Let the fun begin." I hid under the water as Yuukimaru released his chakra. I felt the chakra to determine why it influenced Isobu. At first, I felt nothing, but when I activated my Sage Mode, and oh yes, I felt it. One could firmly smell the sea in this chakra. ''The chakra feels like the sea and it draws Isobu to it,'' I concluded. Yuukimaru was not able to keep control, so when Isobu flung the bout away, I come out of the water. "I am glad that I made a few preparations." I activated the sealing array, which Tayuya prepared beforehand. My thought process was simple. Why should I engage in a fight with a Bijuu, endangering my life (not really) and let others see my skills? Not only that, but if I did something only Ishizu could, I would have a problem. The sealing array was something I experiment with a while ago that would make the extraction easier. A massive Fuinjutsu extracted the chakra of the Sanbi in a small amount of time. It was such a small amount, so I had to place a Wood Clone here to watch over it if somebody would destroy the array, but Isobu wouldn''t notice it. I touched Isobu and activated the chakra absorption before hiding. With this, I needed to learn why Orochimaru need the Sanbi and how he came back to life. "Crystal Style: Crystal Wall, 8th Formation." I looked at the crystallized Sanbi. ''My oh my. Crystal Style is a strong Kekkei Genkai. I must admit, but I want to see what it can do.'' "That is a very unique ability, but I have to interrupt it since it hinders the chakra absorption." ''Sage Style Attack Mode'' I punched the crystallized Sanbi and the whole thing shattered. ''Impossible?! How could he destroy my Jutsu so easily?'' thought Guren in shock. She prided herself in her unique Kekkei Genkai and felt humiliated for somebody to just destroy it with a punch. "Wonderful weather we have today, am I right, Kabuto? A little bird whispered to me about a certain c.o.c.kroach still being alive. Do you know how much work I put into it so he could stay dead? Maybe I was mistaking letting you alive. You are becoming more of a threat than an annoyance. If you continue like that, I will not hesitate and grant you a quick death. I could let you all live if you answer one single question." That was complete bull**** since Kabuto had plot armor hanging around his neck on which was written Next Snake Sage Candidate. I could kill many people and suffer far less consequence, but killing or even leaving permanent damage on him would make me a target for the snakes, which I don''t want. So better threaten him with worlds rather than with actions as I flared my killing intent and said with a deep voice. "What do you want with the Sanbi?" Chapter 80 - No today No chapter today since I am pissed I couldn''t fly to my home country due to some new rules. I dislike Corona very much and I am sorry you can''t read. Either way, the next chapter will come the next week if I can get back home. See ya. Chapter 81 - Sanbi Filler #1 General POV ''Dammit, why is this guy here? Everything went as I planned. We underestimate the power of the Sanbi, but with Guren we could contain it. Now, this guy is here.'' "If I tell you, why would you consider letting us do our thing? Orochimaru is not here, and you most likely changed his hideout. What do you say?" suggested Kabuto. "Kabuto, are you betraying Orochimaru-sama?" shouted Guren. Kabuto glared at her, "Be quiet. This guy is on another level. He was the one who used Sasuke Uchiha and almost killed Orochimaru." Kabuto looked at Ishizu, "If I tell you, will you let us go?" Ishizu shrugged, "I just want to know how you defied fate. I will not go against you if you tell me the truth." Kabuto nodded, "We need the Sanbi as a stabilizer. If we manage to get ahold of it, we can give Orochimaru-sama its chakra so he can get back to his old self. Is that enough?" Guren glared at Kabuto, but Yuukimaru awoke. Ishizu frowned as he knew that Kabuto didn''t tell everything, but it was enough for now. "So you had another seal, huh? Well, I will hold my promise and let you go." ''For the moment. No way will I let this opportunity go to kill him.'' Ishizu vanished, waiting, as Isobu''s chakra was slowly getting absorbed. ''Maybe I have to use ''this'' if Naruto gets out of hand,'' thought Ishizu as a couple of clones started meditating, drawing in sage energy. What Ishizu wanted to accomplish would take some time to prepare. Ishizu POV I watched how Yuukimaru saved Guren. When both were on land, I appeared. It was time to put some doubt inside the heads of both. I didn''t like the idea of blindly following and even giving one''s body to another person. "Summoning Jutsu." From the smoke, Tau appeared, and he looked at me with his amusing smile. "Good day to you, brother Ishizu. I have heard you had finally got the courage to summon Yin Yin a while ago. Denku had to pay me 20 dumplings, so I am in a good mood. What can I do for you?" Tau gave me a smile. "You bet on wh...? Never mind," Ishizu shook his head. What the pandas did outside of his work didn''t concern me. No matter how ridiculous it sounded. "I need your help with those two. The elder one in particular. I have read in Po''s books about the panda''s ability to communicate through the mind. My goal is to put a sliver of doubt insider their head about this whole operation. I am not 100% sure why they need Isobu, but anything that has to do with Orochimaru is bad. Yuukimaru and Guren could become great allies, and a crystal-style user could have powerful children," I explained to my summon. "Oh, how evil of you, Ishizu-kun. To use one of our most sacred techniques that resemble the Ninshu as mind control. It wouldn''t hurt, right?" said Tau as he has an amusing smile on his face. The panda knew how to tease me. I frowned, "Hey, it''s utilitarianism. If it is for the greater good, it is morally correct." Tau shrugged and put his paw on each of their heads, and we both entered the very soul of them. This technique was scared for the pandas and no human could learn it because only pandas could do it. I couldn''t find the reason why. The ability to go into one''s soul. If I think about it, Ninshu is similar. Maybe Hagoromo based it on this? "Now what do you want me to tell them?" asked Tau. I thought for a second. This was the hard part as to what to give them doubt about. Yuukimaru was easy as he was completely loyal to Guren. The crystal-style user was different. She was loyal to Orochimaru to the point where she wanted to give him her body. I made up my mind about what to tell them. "Give her the doubt that Yuukimaru will die if she continues going with Orochimaru and that he is more important than the snake. She already has a mother''s feeling for the boy. Blind follow won''t compare to the love a mother has for her son, no matter if he is adopted or not. Would you do it?" Tau nodded as he changed the very soul of Guren. Over time, she would love Yuukimaru more and more, and her love for the snake would be gone. The technique wasn''t like Mind Control per se. For it to work there has to be some feeling from Guren to Yuukimaru. While Mind Control forced a changed of mind, this technique would simply give Guren another option. If she took it or not was for her to decide. I would just tell her that one option is better than the other. "It is done and the boy will not remember seeing us," said Tau, and we came back to reality. General POV Guren woke up as she saw Yuukimaru smiling at her. She had a dream where she lived her life with Yuukimaru happily. Without Orochimaru. "Hey, Yuukimaru, if I were to leave Orochimaru, would you come with me?" It was a stupid question, but Guren risked it. Yuukimaru smiled, "I will always follow you, Guren-san." Guren nodded, "Let''s find the other ones, shall we?" Meanwhile, Ishizu was sitting near the lake, drawing chakra from Isobu. "Ishizu, Ishizu, let me talk to you," a voice called out. Ishizu had his eyes closed as he concentrated on the chakra. "Go away and stop disturbing me. These illusions are weak. My love is not here. I have seen Genjutsus better than that." Activating the Rinnegan, Ishizu absorbed the surrounding chakra. Back in Konoha, Ishizu formulated a plan. Tsunade already told him that if he can''t make up a sealing Jutsu, they will seal the Sanbi in another dimension. Now Ishizu was working on a sealing Jutsu that could draw out the chakra out of the best and trap it inside and making it sleep. It was made from the previous Jutsu, Dream of Endless Happiness. He presented it to Tsunade, and she made a team to go and seal it. Back at the lake, Ishizu watched as Yuukimaru''s fever got higher. With the doubt placed inside Guren''s soul, she started to doubt Orochimaru more and more. One ultimate thing could change her perspective of life, and that''s what Ishizu would do. "His fever is going to kill him. If the boy tries to connect with the Sanbi again, his body will collapse and he will die," said Ishizu on a tree. Guren immediately got up to protect her adopted son, but his cough made stop attacking. "I thought you would leave out missing to us? Why are you here?" asked a Guren in an angry tone. "I am not attacking you, am I? I am just telling you facts about the boy. As a civilian, to have such an ability is dangerous. The pills he takes allow him to use the chakra, but his body can not handle this huge amount of it. The fever is a symptom of the negative effects of the pills." "He won''t die. Orochimaru will use him as a vessel and he will live," explained Guren. ''Ah, now I get it. Clever hiding it from me, Kabuto, but I figured it out. This is what you are after, Orochimaru. You want to inhabit the body of Yuukimaru. Guren and Kabuto''s job is to seal the Sanbi inside the boy and then let Orochimaru take over. Making yourself a Jinchuriki, are you? A clever tactic.'' "You have such deep and blind trust in a person who lies and uses others? Most people under Orochimaru died." "He, he... he saved me," was Guren''s answer. "From what? Yes, he gave you home, but he let you do things one shouldn''t ask from a child. He made you into a weapon and the moment you aren''t needed he will leave you like garbage. A good example is Kimimaru. You should know him as he once was a vessel for Orochimaru, but his disease made him unusable and there was not worth anything for Orochimaru but a disposable. But unlike you, he went a step further. He found people who would value him like he is a human, not a weapon. Orochimaru is killing Yuukimaru. Simple as that. If you decide to stay by his side, the boy will die and you will lose him forever." Guren was now crying, holding the boy in her arms while the latter just smiled. "I can help you, Guren. I can save Yuukimaru from Orochimaru. You could have the life you always wanted. You just have to tell me where Orochimaru is." Chapter 82 - Sanbi Filler #2 General POV "If I tell you where Orochimaru is, will you help us get away from him?" asked Guren as she held Yuukimaru tightly. Ishizu nodded. "I will, but you have to be careful. The one with the bats is a spy from Kabuto who is looking over you to see if you are loyal. For the moment, you should just do what Kabuto tells you." Ishizu POV Guren gave me the place of Orochimaru''s hideout, but I still wasn''t finished with Isobu. The absorbing rate was slow, and I wanted as much as possible to get from Isobu. The sealing team should now arrive with the rest and formulate a plan against Guren''s team and me. Troublesome. I hope they will fail fast and leave before Deidara and Tobi come. My clones are still gathering nature energy for this one thing I have in mind for Naruto. Let''s hope they will use my jutsu and try to seal the Sanbi. It won''t work as they want, but it will help me gather more chakra from him. Konoha team POV "We have to be careful. Our enemy is the Crystal user and the unknown Wood Style person. It is unclear what he wants from the Sanbi. We have a suspicion that the crystal-style user is working for Orochimaru, and they have a child who can control the Sanbi. Naruto believes they want to use the child to let him become the Jinchuriki," explained Kakashi. "Then we should split into two groups. The sealing team will use the jutsu Sasaki-san and Tsunade-sama provided to weaken the Sanbi and then seal it. The other group will confront the enemy and protect them from us," said Shizune. "Let us make the teams." General POV The sealing team activated the Fuinjutsu and began searching for the Sanbi. Inside the lake, Ishizu felt the chakra fluctuation with his Rinnegan. "So they started, huh? I will give them a welcoming gift." Activating his Rinnegan, Ishizu followed the chakra train to the sealing team and released his killing intent. Shizune POV The feeling that came with these eyes was unbelievable. Naruto-kun told us the unknown enemy would find us, but he wouldn''t attack. When he radiated this thick killing intent, I started doubting Naruto. I almost slipped my chakra control when I felt his presence lurking over me, but somehow I felt safe. I couldn''t understand, but it felt like I was in the presence of Ishizu-sensei. Somebody who wouldn''t hurt me. Hinata POV A feeling of killing intent washed over us, but I felt something different. It was not directed at us but laid around us like a protective layer, protecting us from the predator. It almost felt like I was in the presence of Ishizu-sensei. General POV Ishizu stretched his muscles, preparing for a nice battle. "This should get everyone away from the sealing team. The clones are almost ready. I just need to be careful not to go overboard with them. No matter how strong one is, Shinobi can exploit that weakness and redirect it against you. I also have to be careful not to use jutsus such as Rasengan." Ishizu sighed. "I have to handicap myself again, but what would I do to go for a nice fight with Naruto? Well, let me wait for them to fight each other before doing my work. If I see Naruto overpowering his enemy, I will give them a hand." Battle with Guren "Where is Yuukimaru?" asked Naruto as he and the team fought Guren and her bodyguard. "He is none of your business. Besides, he is in safe hands. Now let us fight!" said Guren. Naruto summoned his shadow clones and attacked Guren, but the Crystal User quickly destroyed them. Naruto wanted answers about where the boy was, so he used everything to capture her. At the lake, the sealing team activated the seal which grew larger in size. The team of Yamoto defeated their opponents and stood guard before the sealing team. The large sealing array didn''t disrupt the absorption jutsu of Ishizu, as both were invented by him. ''I hope Guren-san is going to be fine. I would do everything to ensure her safety,'' thought Yuukimaru as he sat, surrounded by rocks. "Don''t worry. I will protect her. I promised you both that," said a clone of Ishizu. The real Ishizu looked to the battle of Guren, feeling the chakra rising in the woods. ''It seems Shino will attack Guren with his bugs. Let''s see how she will handle it.'' Everything worked like Ishizu intended it to. Now it was only a matter of time before both sides would use up their chakra. The real Guren came and looked at Ishizu''s clone. "I am here to take Yuukimaru." Ishizu looked at her. "Do you have to do it? I told you I could protect you both from Kabuto and Orochimaru. What is it that hinders you to take my offer?" The question was met with silence. Ishizu shook his head. "If you think Kabuto''s blackmail is going to control you, then you are wrong. You just have to trust me, and I can even help you forget those memories of the tragic past. What do you say?" Guren looked at Ishizu. Ishizu smirked, feeling the familiar charka outside of the forest from one of his clones. ''So he is here? I thought they will come later. I hope you like the little fuinjutsu I have prepared for you and Deidara. You won''t interfere with me for some time, Obito.'' Chapter 83 - Sanbi Filler #3 General POV "We have to hurry. The Konoha Shinobi already started the sealing process. Come, Yuukimaru, take the pills," said Kabuto. The young boy hid behind Guren, fearing the glass freak. "We don''t have time. Guren, do it!" instructed Kabuto. Guren did not listen as she remembered the world Ishizu said. ''I will protect you from both Kabuto and Orochimaru. You have to trust me.'' "No, I will not give you Yuukimaru. He will not become Orochimaru''s vessel," finally said Guren. She was done following Orochimaru and seeing her adopted son getting hurt. Kabuto adjusted his glasses as he smirked. "I think you have no say in this, Guren. Orochimaru wants the boy and he will get him." Kabuto tried to grab the young boy but Guren threw a crystalized kunai at Kabuto who blocked it. "I think that is enough, Kabuto. They clearly told you they don''t want to work anymore for Orochimaru, so respect their wishes. If not, then I will be your opponent," said Ishizu as he sat on the cube. Kabuto frowned as he saw the masked Ishizu. The spy knew Ishizu was an opponent he couldn''t face without getting serious injuries or even death. "I thought you would not intervene in our plan. What happened that you broke your promise?" asked Kabuto, smiling while getting angry deep inside since he couldn''t fulfill his mission. Ishizu returned the smile behind the mask. He remembered watching the show when he was a teenager, and he always hated that smug smile. It literally screamed ''Punch me in the face, I deserve it'' but Ishizu held back. "It broke the moment Guren told me the location of Orochimaru. You could fight me now but risk the life of Orochimaru or go to your master and maybe be able to save his life. I will give you the time to go to him if you leave now. Choose, Kabuto Yakushi." Kabuto''s face was priceless as he immediately left, not even negotiating with Ishizu. Guren held the young Yuukimaru in her hands, trying to hold her tears back. "You actually forced him to go back by lying to him. I couldn''t be more thankful," said Guren. "It is not over. I still need your help. Kabuto''s spy doesn''t know that Kabuto left, so you have to play your part. It helps me with my mission. Distract the Konoha Shinobi for a while. When you see me jumping into the air, run as fast as you can away from this place as you can," explained Ishizu. Guren nodded, and they prepared the plan. "Hey, Tobi. What the hell is this? Why are we back at the beginning? Is this a Genjutsu or what?" "I don''t know, Senpai. It seems we both got trapped in a loop. Oh no, I don''t want to be the guy from Groundhog Day," said Tobi in his playful voice. "WHAT THE HECK IS GROUNDHOG DAY! GET US OUT OF HERE! WE HAVE A MISSION TO DO!" screamed Deidara. "I am sorry, Senpai, but you have to live with me for the rest of your life. Poor Tobi has to hear his whole life of ''Art is an explosion talk.'' ....Did I say that out loud?" "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" While Tobi was running away from a mad Deidara, he activated his Sharingan to see the chakra surrounding them. ''Whoever did this, didn''t want to let us in. This is not a simple Genjutsu, but a large-scale barrier set up to hamper anyone who walks inside. It attacks with one''s senses that I can''t even teleport out of here. The problem with those jutsus is that if you find a key point, the jutsu breaks down. I have to find it quick.'' At the sealing team, Guren engaged Lee and Ten Ten in a battle. Naruto and Shino soon came, and it was a 2 vs. 4. ''Where are you? I cannot fight this anymore. My chakra is almost gone,'' thought Guren. "That is enough, Guren. I thank you for helping me. For your service I will let you have your life with Yuukimaru," muttered Ishizu. "Wind Style: Air Pressure." The air under Ishizu''s feet catapulted him into the air right above the seal. Clenching his fist, Ishizu punched the seal, but secretly he put his own seal on it and therefore overwriting the one the sealing team had. On the outside, it looked like he destroyed it with a single fist attack. "Impossible. How could he do that with a single punch?" said Shizune in disbelief. The rest had similar expressions. Guren, seeing him, immediately ran away. Shino tried to stop her, but the tsunami created by the Sanbi, who now was free and pissed, separated them. The Sanbi first saw Guren and was about to fire a massive water ball at her. Yuukimaru saw the danger Guren was in and activated his ability to stop him. This gave Guren the chance to get to safely and stay by Yuukimaru, but they did not leave the area. Ishizu jumped on Isobu and looked at the container. Two and a half marbles were full. That was enough. Ishizu put the container away as the Sanbi started moving as it felt the presence of Ishizu. "Oy oy, Isobu. Don''t cause such a ruckus. I have everything I need. Now let us a fun." Jumping onto the water, Isobu glared at Ishizu. The latter returned with a genuine smile. "It is an honor to meet you. This is the first time I meet one of you 9 outside of a seal. Nice to meet you." The answer Ishizu got was a water attack. "Shinra Tensei." The water attack vanished as Ishizu with his Rinnegan stared at Isobu, signaling him who the boss was, but he felt another chakra signature close-by. "So you came, huh? Naruto Uzumaki." "Oh, and you brought some friends with you. I think we will have some fun." Naruto opened his eyes, showing the Sage Mode of the Frogs. ''Even now I find it hard to believe that he mastered Sage Mode. In canon, the boy had problems doing teamwork with his summons and here I see him showing me his mastered Sage Mode. It would be so much easier if he wasn''t so strong, but I can only blame myself since I trained him. Naturally, this would be a troublesome fight if I didn''t have a plan for it.'' thought Ishizu. That''s when the clones who were absorbing nature energy popped, and the chakra came to Ishizu. Naruto saw the chakra fusing with Ishizu and got ready to battle. "If you think using Sage Mode against me is going to help you win the fight, then I have to disappoint you. You, Jiraiya, and even your sensei are not the only ones who achieved the path of a Sage. While you have trained in Frog Mode, I will give you a demonstration of mother nature herself. Black markings formed on Ishizu''s eyes. They circled around his eyes and then curved down to his chin. "Let me show you the strength only Hashirama Senju wielded. The power of mother nature itself. Get ready, Naruto. Here I come!" Chapter 84 - Sanbi Filler End Ishizu POV The feeling of going into this type of Sage Mode was breathtaking. I felt like I was nature itself. I could feel every tree and every single animal living in the forest. I was nature. I didn''t expect this to work. I have already leaned to harness nature energy to be a Panda Sage and therefore the chance to learn from others was gone. But since I had acquired Wood Style, I could learn Nature Sage Mode since nature didn''t have somebody to learn it from. I already respected Hashirama Senju because of his strength, but I saw him in a new light. Not anyone could learn Sage Mode without help. I certainly needed it or else I wouldn''t be here. And even then, I had a long time to collect and store the nature energy than for the Panda Sage Mode, and I was far from even thinking to combine if that was possible, but this was something worth doing. Enough thinking about this and more thinking about the upcoming fight since I saw Naruto''s eyes widened as he saw me. Probably seeing the chakra surrounding me. Naruto POV I saw through the Sage Mode how a massive amount of chakra flew into the Shinobi. What shocked me was that he took it all into him, essentially fusing with nature itself. If it wasn''t for the faint traces of his own chakra, I would think he was a tree. Even though I had to do my mission and protect my comrades and if he stood in my way, I would defeat him. General POV Ishizu cracked his neck. Why did he do this? Hell, why did most people did it? Who knew, but it looked cool, so maybe this was the reason. Whatever. "I believe our score is 1:1. I defeated you at the Valley of the End and you defeated my clone near Suna. Let us see who is the stronger one now." "Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees." While Wood Style is far better near a forest and less so on a lack, the use of Sage Mode compensated for it and a massive amount of trees came out of the water and charged at Naruto, who summoned multiple clones, all with Rasengans in their hands as they ran at Ishizu. Most of the clones were destroyed, but some survived and those jumped into the air. "Sage Art: Multiple Rasengan Barrage." The Shadow Clones destroyed the trees Ishizu had around him. The smoke created by the destruction of the clones gave Naruto an opportunity to kick Ishizu in the side and sending him flying. "Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan." "Wood Style: Wood Dragon." A dragon emerged and hit the Rasengan. Again, Naruto summoned Shadow Clones and attacked with them. ''This is getting annoying,'' thought Ishizu as he made hand signs. The technique Ishizu was about to use was a weaker version of Hashirama''s but it should do the job. "Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands." Instead of a thousand hands with a giant statue, only a wood fist emerged and destroyed the clones. Ishizu clashed with the real Naruto in hand-to-hand combat. Ishizu had the upper hand as he was much more experience than Naruto, having fought and survived against strong opponents in the last war, but the blond didn''t give him many openings. ''I think I have to use my last Wood Clones to put him down for a moment. I have what I need. Leaving is the best option for now. Obito by now should have found the Fuinjutsu and taken it down. It is the best to leave before he sees me,'' thought Ishizu as he blocked the punch from Naruto that was made for his stomach. The other Konoha Shinobi fought against the fusion of the henchmen of Guren. "I think we should end this here. I have what I need and I also have places to be." Naruto glared at Ishizu. "Try me. I will defeat you!" shouted Naruto, red eyes glaring at him. "This is the end. I have just the right Jutsu for you to calm down and let me go." The rest of the Wood Clones dispelled, and Ishizu felt the energy. He had to use all of it now. "Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates 4." From the sky, 4 massive red torii fell on Naruto and pinned him down. Naruto was immobilized. He tried to move, but nothing helped. "What the hell are those things?" asked Naruto in confusion. "Those things will keep you in place for now. They are a creation of Hashirama Senju, able to hold down the Kyuubi. I had my fun with you, but I have to go," Ishizu panted a bit since using so much nature energy took a toll but he couldn''t just leave. A few minutes and he would be back. "A snake is still on the loose and has to be taken down. I have what I need from the Sanbi. What you do from now on is not my problem. In a few minutes, you will be able to move. This fight is your loss. I hope next time you will give me a better fight." Before Ishizu left, he looked at Naruto, who glared at him. "You better search for Itachi Uchiha. Sasuke is ready to know the truth about his brother." With that, Ishizu vanished into a safe place. As Isobu was freed from the Seal, it quickly fled back into the ground. The teams retreated together with Naruto. Many were shocked when Naruto told the rest about Ishizu''s ability to use Wood Sage Style. Hearing about the mission, Tsunade ordered them to leave the mission to the Anbu. Everything was like I wanted. Tsunade ordered the rest back, and I waited for my clone to teleport me to Orochimaru. Since I had to wait, I decided to have some fun. Making a clone, I looked up to see Deidara descending on his bird. I jumped towards the sky and used the surprise attack to kick him into the water. "You are late. How was my little Fuinjutsu trick? I hope you had fun," I taunted them. "Deidara Senpai, there is still someone alive," shouted Tobi in his fake voice. "I know, you idiot. He kicked me," responded Deidara in rage as he came out of the water. "Deidara, the Mad Bomber, and the other looks like a comedian. It is good to see you again. I believe we have met before, Deidara. It was when Sasori got killed by his grandmother and the Konoha Kunoichi." Deidara''s eyes got red in rage. Nobody mocked him. Anyone who did would taste his art. "I kill you!" he shouted as he threw his C1 bombs at me. "Well, I don''t care for now. I have what I needed. You Akatsuki can have the Sanbi. Even with him, you will lose against me. Nothing will stop me from achieving my dream. Not even you," I said when Tobi flung a precise kunai at my heart. "I am just a Wood Clone. I will see you soon, Akatsuki," I said to Obito before dissolving into wood. Somewhere near Orochimaru''s base. General POV One clone of Ishizu summoned him near the place. "I hope he is still inside. I don''t want to lose him now. Orochimaru has outlived his usefulness a long time ago. He dies right here right now and I will make sure he won''t come back due to some deus ex machina bullshit." The clone nodded and gave the real Ishizu the information he needed. Kabuto was still not here, so Ishizu had my time to look around. He would level this whole place upside down in a few minutes so he could take some things he needed. Most important was the Edo Tensei''s from Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Ishizu POV Walking through the rooms, I went into the main room. "Kabuto, is that you? I hope you have the boy?" a voice came out of a breeding container. I came closer and smiled. "It is good to see you again, Orochimaru. You look...good." The face Orochimaru made was priceless. "Did you expect someone else? Kabuto should be here in a moment. He wants you to leave, but since I am here now, it is too late." "Wait, wait, Ishizu-kun. You don''t want me dead. I could be of use to you. Yes. I will give you anything you want as long as you let me live," Orochimaru said, trying to spare his life. "Sure. I can let you live. Tell me where your Edo Tensei scrolls from the Kumo Brothers, Kinkaku, and Ginkaku are. If I have them, I will leave," Ishizu assured him. "They are in the upper left corner of the right shelf. Both scrolls are inside." Ishizu looked there and found two scrolls, both with the names on them. Just then Kabuto rushed inside, screaming to leave immediately with Orochimaru. As he saw Ishizu, he paled. "What are you doing here?" he asked Ishizu. "I just came to collect my blackmail. I have all I need. Hope we never see each other again," said Ishizu as he left. Both villains sighed in relief. Outside, Ishizu smiled. "I said I won''t kill him, but my masked persona is another thing. Now let us try this little thing." Inside, Kabuto unplugged Orochimaru''s body from the container to free him and leave with him. They didn''t know what was about to happen. Outside. Ishizu clapped his hands together and muttered two words. "Chibaku Tensei." A small black orb appeared inside Ishizu''s hands before flying into the sky. Inside, Kabuto felt that something was wrong. Then he saw the roof getting blown away before flying into the sky where a giant orb formed. Kabuto wasn''t stupid. He knew his life would be over if he stayed by his master''s side. While Kabuto was extremely loyal to Orochimaru, the will to live was much stronger in him so he did what any human being would do. He preserved his own life instead of his master. "KABUTOOOO!" Orochimaru screamed as Kabuto let him go to save himself. The snake smashed into the rock and others flew and trapped him. Ishizu halted the formation when he saw Orochimaru being trapped inside. He took out a large shuriken and threw it at him to sever his arm just before the rocks crushed him. That wasn''t enough to kill him. That guy survived his own soul-stealing Jutsu. No, Ishizu would make 10000% sure this guy wouldn''t come back alive. His arm transformed into a laser weapon. "I believe this was a move Nagato had in a game before." "Asura Path: Laser Canon." The laser beam fired through the orb and obliterated it. Nothing was left alive. Ishizu controlled with his Rinnegan if every life form was extinguished, and only when he saw nothing did he collect the arm and left. "Now the snake is finally dead. I pray to Kishimoto so you won''t ever be coming back or I will end my life." With those words, Ishizu left for Konoha. The Sanbi Arc was finally over. Chapter 85 - The Cat Village Part 1 General POV Back in Konoha, Ishizu made his plans for the next important arcs. Jiraiya would search for Pain and Naruto would pursue Sasuke. Sasuke is training in his Sage Mode for his battle against Itachi. It would be bad to leave him there as Ishizu promised Sasuke to arrange a battle between the two. Ishizu would collect Suigetsu and Jugo for Konoha and replace Karin as the sensor of Team Hebi, as Ishizu was certain that Karin would come with the team to retrieve Sasuke thanks to her special sensor ability. But they could be hampered with him being next to Sasuke. Jiraiya leaving Konoha to find Pain during the time of Sasuke''s fight with his brother would make it hard for him to protect the Sannin. Fortunately for Ishizu, he was a Konoha Shinobi and knew the best way to protect someone if one alone couldn''t was to ask for help. ''They'' would come and handle the problem with the Sannin. Back in Konoha, the teams informed Tsunade about their failure to seal the Sanbi. Days past and Ishizu prepared to meet Sasuke. Naruto was also training hard after his defeat by Yamamoto. It was very interesting listening to Tsunade and the other Jonin about a plan to take Yamamoto down. Many ideas were thrown into consideration, a few Ishizu found funny, but it didn''t matter what they would plan, as Ishizu would always know. Leaving a clone in Konoha, Ishizu got reverse summoned to *DD*. A meeting was held, and many pandas listened to their new Sage. "It is almost time for the showdown. I have ordered you here to help me with one important decision. A friend of mine; the teacher of my father is going to fight a foe who is stronger than him. I know you like to sit here and eat, but I ask you as the new Sage to help me. He isn''t only a friend, but I consider him family, and family sticks together." "A wonderful speech, Sage Ishizu. Your emotions touch us. Tell us what we have to do and we will do it," said brother Tau. The other pandas cheered, and Ishizu smiled for the help they could provide. "I want some of your best spies to look after Jiraiya of the Sannin, Toad Sage, and teacher of Naruto Uzumaki." The pandas nodded, and Ishizu made his way to Sage Elder Po. *Ah, Ishizu. It is good to see you. What can I do for you? By the way, nice speech. I am impressed that you want to save the old man. My question is why?* asked Po. Ishizu smiled. "When I saw it happen in my old world, I was very sad about it. It was as if I could feel the same thing Naruto felt. Some would say I am wrong; that I should let him die so Naruto can understand what Sasuke felt. I say **** them. I don''t care what others think about me. I do what I want. Humans are selfish, and I am no exception. I have seen enough dead people." Ishizu activated his Rinnegan. "And with those eyes, I will change the story. No more death of my friends and loved one." Po kept silent as both made their way to jump the Snake Cave. Ryuga Cave "SSSassske-sssammaa, you have a guesstsss," said a snake. "Let him in," ordered Sasuke. Through the door walked Ishizu, smiling. "It is time for you to leave. Your battle with Itachi is coming soon." "Good. I need some people to gather, and we make a team to find Itachi. Let us go," said Sasuke, and both went to find one of the two other teammates, Suigetsu. The ''true'' death of Orochimaru was only known to two individuals, that being Ishizu and Kabuto. Everyone else thought that Orochimaru died in his fight with Sasuke. Not that it mattered. Dead was dead. Both made their way into the chamber where Suigetsu resides and opened the container. ''It feels weird replacing Karin as a sensor,'' Ishizu chuckled at that thought. Sasuke freed the water boy, and Ishizu had the opportunity to meet him. Ishizu did not expect much from him. He was arrogant like others from the same family of Kiri Shinobi. Bragging to Ishizu how if they fought he would win. The Rinnegan wielder sighed, thinking how Sasuke could handle this guy. True, if Ishizu showed him not to mess with him, Suigetsu would stop, but maybe he would start wanting to fight more and Ishizu didn''t want to accidentally kill the boy. As Karin was in Konoha because of Ishizu, they directly went to get Jugo. Ishizu had a marvelous view of being a sub-ordinant of Sasuke. Sasuke was quiet most of the time and only spoke when he needed something done. Sasuke quickly dealt Jogo with. "Hey, Jugo. If you really want to see Kimimaro, then I can arrange it. He is still alive," said Ishizu to calm the boy. Jugo looked shocked, as was Sasuke. "W-what do you mean by he is alive? I heard he died when he protected Sasuke-sama?" asked Jugo. "He did, but he wasn''t dead. I helped him survive and now he is recovering. If you help Sasuke, then you can see him again," reassured Ishizu. Jugo agreed to follow Sasuke as he saw him as another Kimimaro. Ishizu Clone POV Finding the Uchiha Hideout was not easy. Like, almost impossible, since I had no idea where to look for it. I had a good grasp of the story even after so many years of living here, but small stuff or things that were never shown the exact location made me stumbled. To find its location, I had to find those who knew where it was. The Uchiha''s were dead; well most of them, so it came to those who allied themselves with them, the Neko. I had to travel to Sora-ku before Sasuke and the main one came here. Sora-ku was an old town with many enormous buildings that looked like it was a city from the future, but all those buildings looked abandoned and one would think nobody lived here. That was of course not the case since as soon as I stepped into the city, I felt countless eyes watching me from every corner. Most of them were of people who controlled the black market and who wanted to see if I was here to kill them. The others who were more hidden were the ninja cats. Most eyes left after I didn''t make a sound, but when I found the shop I was looking for the eyes of the cats glowed in the dark. "Hello, I am coming in. Please don''t kill me," I said as I opened the door where a teenage girl greeted me. "Welcome to the shop. What can I do for you?" ''A civilian girl. I think she must be her granddaughter.'' "I want to speak to Nekobaa. Is she here?" I asked politely. The girl introduced herself as Tamaki. She nodded before disappearing behind the door. I glanced around me and rolled my eyes. Being watched so obviously was annoying. Either you do it right or you don''t. "So, are you going to watch me the entire time or are you going to do something?" The next moment a fishbone came flying at me with some speed. I grabbed it out of the air before looking at what it was. I had no time as many cats from the shadows pounced at me. "So many versus only one? Can''t say you aren''t sneaky." Activating the Rinnegan, I used the Deva Path to push them away but not so strong to destroy the house. I didn''t want to be banned from here. "Enough! Stop attacking my customers. Even if you all attack him, you wouldn''t stand a chance," the voice of Nekobaa was heard as she opened the door. General POV Ishizu felt the old woman laying her eyes on him. She quickly roamed over his body before a smile formed on her face. "Oh, Sasaki-san, you look so young. It has been a long time since I have last seen you." Ishizu scratched his head as he laughed a bit. He knew the woman well. "Well, it is good to see you too, Nekobaa. How have you been?" Suddenly, a cat came forwards and sniffed him. "This can''t be the same boy we met some time ago. He even smells like wood. No way is this person Ishizu Sasaki. He radiates a feeling of superiority and confidence. The Ishizu-kun we know was always too paranoid and got spooked from everything that moved," said the cat while glancing at the man. Ishizu cringed at that comment. What the cat said was true, and it reminded him of the mission he had here a long time ago. A certain mission with a certain Uchiha and his meeting with a certain cat. Chapter 86 - The Cat Village Part 2 General POV Flashback no Jutsu. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konohagakure, was reading a scroll while two Shinobies were standing in front of him and waiting to speak. With a quick glance at the two he saw one of them having a large smile on his face, not even trying to hide his emotions while the other one did the same but with a large frown and the glared he send the first one. "I am sorry for interrupting this silence, Sarutobi-sama, but why must I have a mission with this particular individual?" asked the latter while pointing his finger at the former, almost poking his eye. The smile on the other Shinobi didn''t waver as he just placed his arm on Ishizu''s neck. "Don''t worry, Hokage-sama. I will make sure our Ishizu-kun here will survive whatever you throw at him. All of us know that paranoia is a good affinity, but it won''t help him with the mission. I can handle him." "Who are you calling -kun?!" Hiruzen sighed. He knew sending those two together without supervision was crazy, but he had no choice. The mission was important, but he couldn''t spare others who were needed elsewhere. "No, please. I don''t care if you give me a SS-Rank mission or just send me to fight against 50 Iwa Shinobi, but please reconsider your option, Hokage-sama. Why do I have to go with him?" w.h.i.n.ed Ishizu as he desperately tried to get the arm away from his body. To Ishizu''s annoyance, the arm didn''t like to be moved away, and it got on Ishizu''s nerves. "I swear to Kishimoto or whoever is responsible for this world, if you don''t get your arm off me, Shisui, I will use my life to summon the God of Death and put it inside his stomach!" threatened Ishizu, but all those threats couldn''t penetrate the Uchiha''s mind. "Relax, Ishizu-chan. When was the last time we were on a mission together?" Shisui elbowed Ishizu while the latter gave him a death glare. "2 months ago, under the protection of both Fugaku-sama and Minato-sensei. I still have a grudge against you for putting me in a Genjutsu." "But it wasn''t my fault since you looked right into my Sharingan when I used it on the enemy you were fighting." "That''s enough, Shisui. And for your knowledge Sasaki; do you know where you need to go?" asked the Sandaime curiously. "Well..., no, but I can find the location without him if you tell me where to go," reassured Ishizu with confidence. "Nope, you can''t," Shisui popped the p and Ishizu had to stop his left hand with his right, which was about to chock the Uchiha. Really, Shisui was an enigma to Ishizu. He was the only, and he meant the only Uchiha that talked so much and even made jokes. No Uchiha made jokes. ...Ok, there was still Obito, but Obito is something else. Uchiha''s were stoic, prideful, and pretentious about their all so precious Sharingan. Clearly gaining this trait from their ancestor Indra Otsutsuki. Ishizu had no problems going with one of them since they usually stayed quiet and let him have his peace. "Only the Uchiha clan has the location of the Cats, and if I remember correctly, you aren''t one," teased Shisui. "I am called the Strategist so I can figure it out by myself," said Ishizu, puffing his c.h.e.s.t. It was only a month or so after he got the title, and he was very proud of getting a name people could fear when they said it. "So? There are many monikers out there. Hokage-sama is called ''The Professor'' and with my Shunshin I too will have one soon. Also, I don''t think your Fuinjutsu can help you track a clan full of cats." "Don''t you dare mock my Fuinjutsu!" Ishizu was ready to jump at the Uchiha when Hiruzen spoke. "Enough, Sasaki. This is an A-rank mission in importance only, but it can be considered a C-Rank. We need as many allies as we can get, and the one you have to find is very hard. Since you are a Chunin and Shisui a Genin, I will expect you to behave appropriately. Now go and I expect good results." "Hai, Hokage-sama," both said before the Hokage left. Outside. "Where are you going, Ishizu-sensei?" asked Shisui as he watched the elder boy leave for his home. "I am not your sensei so just call me by my name and to prepare for the mission, what else? I am going to an unfamiliar land where everything can happen," explained Ishizu as he went to his house followed by Shisui. "You are kidding me? Even if this is an A-rank, Hokage-sama told us it is C. We won''t really encounter anything dangerous on our way. Do you think we will encounter some giant beast that is composed out of all 9 bijuus?" joked Shisui. Ishizu just stopped for a second and stared at the Uchiha with a deadpanned face. ''Did...did he just made a joke about the Juubi?'' "You sound like Omoi," muttered Ishizu, getting a confused look at who that was. Making a quick stop at his home, Ishizu took his stuff, which of you right could blow up the entire hidden village of Konoha, and both came to a stop at the gates. "I still don''t get it. Why you have so many Fuinjutsu scrolls with you?" said Shisui, seeing the countless scrolls Ishizu put into his bag. "Don''t question the strategist, Genin Shisui. Those babies will make anyone run with their pants down; be it demon or god." Shisui only shook his head. Sometimes it was best not to question the world. As the two walked to the town, Ishizu thought about the mission. If he remembered correctly, there was an episode about the city and an elderly woman called Nekobaa. It was one of those fillers which made it hard to remember. He only knew that it was about cats and an old woman who lived there. Poor bird blew up just because it was protecting its home. Inside Sora-ku, both of them greeted Nekobaa. "Oh, Shisui-kun, how nice to see you again and you have brought a friend." Ishizu bowed and introduced himself before looking around very quickly. "Oh, no. It is happening again," sighed Shisui, seeing the spectacle. "What is going on?" asked Nekobaa. "Ishizu-san has one of his paranoias." "What is going on this time?" asked Shisui. Ishizu frowned as he looked around. "Someone or something has been following us since we entered the city; someone strong. A cat, no doubt, very strong. Very skilled in stealth and very dangerous. I need to prepare and that fast," said Ishizu as he took something out of his backpack. "Don''t worry about him, he is always like that. Hokage-sama told us to gather allies, but I don''t really know which one he meant." "I think I know who the Hokage meant. It is Tamara-sama," explained Nekobaa. "Never heard of the nin-neko," said Shisui, wondering who it was. "She is the strongest Neko I have known," explained Nekobaa. "Can''t be. The strongest cat is defiantly Matatabi," said Ishizu as he slowly formed his seals. "And who is that?" wondered Shisui at the name. "It is the Nibi''s name," said Nekobaa, but she was curious how a human from Konoha knew the name of one of the Bijuu living in Kumogakure. "It has a name?" doubtfully asked Shisui. Ishizu scoffed at the question, but kept in mind that people often saw the Bijuus as natural calamities and not as sentinel chakra beings. "Of course she has. Anyway, it has nothing to do with the mission. The question is, where is this Tamara?" asked Ishizu, relaxing a bit after the presence left, but frowned in his mind at the information about this mysterious strong cat. ''A cat called Tamara? In my old world, this could also be a name of a cat but not of Japanese origin. Or maybe it is? I do not know, but it seems fishy.'' "So we have to find this Tamara and ask her if she could help us, right?" asked Shisui. The old woman nodded. "Yes, but you have to use this special scroll to get to her." Immediately, Ishizu''s interest was peaked as he jumped at the woman and took the scroll away before his eyes were roaming all over the scroll as Ishizu examined it. He even gave it a lick to taste it. Shisui was about to apologize to the woman for taking the scroll without permission, but she let it be. "Hmm, I may not be an expert like Kushina-san and Minato-sensei, but no doubt about it. This... is a summoning scroll. And a powerful one at that. There are also those special markings at the side which a normal summoning scroll doesn''t have. This scroll is not to summon an animal, but I believe it will teleport the user to the place it is designed. It is similar to the Reverse Summoning!" Ishizu narrowed his eyes before dropping the scroll and with a shunshin escaped only for Shisui to use a better shunshin and throwing him back. "You stay here." Ishizu jumped up and pointed at the scroll with a glare. "Are you crazy?! This is by no means a simple A-Rank mission. I am the leader and I ain''t going to some summoning realm to meet what I presume to be the Boss Cat to ''negotiate'' with her. Reverse Summoning is extremely dangerous since you don''t know what kind of animal you can encounter. The death rate of a Reverse Summon is 95.5%! Only an idiot would do something so risky." Somewhere in the elemental nations, a Sannin sneezed. "While you are indeed the leader, this is a mission from the Hokage, and we have to follow it no matter what," Shisui spoke sternly, "Just relax, Ishizu, nothing bad is going to happen." "Before you go, you have to take those with you or the cats won''t understand you," said Nekobaa before showing the two the cute pink cat ears. Ishizu paled as he remembered this part of the filler. "Alright, Ishizu, let''s do it," said Shisui with excitement. Ishizu muttered some insults at the Uchiha but complied as he put the thing on and opened the scroll. "If we never come back and end up in the afterlife, I will find a way so that someone can use a Jutsu to bring us both back to life, so I have the opportunity to kill you myself. Do you hear me, Shisui?" Shisui only laughed. "Then let''s do it, reverse summoning!" Chapter 87 - The Cat Village Part 3 Location: Cat Realm On a large grassy plain, a smoke cloud appeared, and out of it came a boy fully armed with kunais on each finger and even one in his mouth ala Zabuza style. His eyes were roaming around the area he was summoned to, analyzing every single sea tail that came into his eye if anything was a danger to his existence. "I am ready for battle," was the sound spoken through the full mouth. "I think I have to talk with Namikaze-san about your behavior," g.r.o.a.n.e.d Shisui, who emerged out of the smoke. Both looked around, and Ishizu''s eyes widened at the sight before him as even the kunai dropped out of his mouth. The place was like out of a movie. The sun shined brightly into the valley before them. The grass reflected the sun''s rays, making it look hypnotizing to the person, and the small drops on the grass gave away that it had recently rained. Ishizu took a deep breath of air into his lungs and exhaled as he smelled the grass. ''What a beautiful sight! If not for Konoha, I would want to live here,'' Shisui thought while Ishizu had other things in his mind. ''This beautiful scene reminds me of a movie I watched a long time ago, yet I can''t remember it. Still, I have to say it is truly a beautiful place.'' "Ishizu, come. I know this place looks exceptional, but we have a mission to do," said Shisui. Ishizu woke up from the trance and followed the Uchiha. Even during the walk, Ishizu felt conflicted about the scenery. His brain was working at high speed to remember why this place looked familiar. He couldn''t remember, but he had a feeling that staying here for a long time would be dangerous. Ishizu trusted his feeling over mostly anything and would therefore stay vigilant. "Let''s get this over with I have a bad feeling that if we stay too long, we will end up in a dangerous position," commented Ishizu as he followed Shisui. "Halt, strangers! You are coming close to the residence of the Cat Clan. Leave, or we will show hostility," said a cat while holding a spear up at them. "We are from Konohagakure. Our Hokage has sent us to find allies to help us in the war," explained Shisui. "We don''t care about your world, humans. This is Cat Haven, a paradise for cats and cats only. How do I know you come here without ulterior motives?" Ishizu was not having a good time as this got really quickly to a bad thing. Cat Haven, really? Something was wrong, and Ishizu would either find it out or leave with Shisui underneath his arm without risking his life. Better be alive and fail a mission than dead, since when you are dead you can''t enjoy life. "Enough, Dendo! They are guests, so give let them pass." Ishizu''s eye fell on the one that spoke. A white cat with a few black spots around her face revealed itself. It was obvious that she was of a higher standard than the first cat since the latter quickly lowered his head. "I am sorry, Lady Guinevere. I will let them pass immediately," apologized Dendo while bowing his head. "Come, Shinobi, Lady Tamara is expecting you." As they walked, Ishizu came closer to Shisui. "Did you hear her name?" whisper Ishizu. "Yes. It was somehow hard to pronounce," mused Shisui. ''Yeah, for you. For me, not so hard. Come to think of it, the cat pronounced her name without an accent. How is that possible? I think I heard it wrong.'' Ishizu quickly blocked the thought as his eyes set sight on the gigantic castle. The castle looked ancient with its walls having large cracks on them, yet it looked impenetrable. Two small miniatures in the shape of cats were seen in the front. Yet despite the gorgeous view, Ishizu only frowned. The reason for that being? Konoha had a few castles, but they were made in the style of the Japanese, but never had he seen a medieval castle in the Elemental Nations. "I have a very bad vibe about a certain movie," muttered Ishizu. "What are you talking about?" asked Shisui. "Nothing. Let us meet the Boss and get this over with." The entrance door to the castle opened to reveal an enormous hallway. The long hallways had a huge dining table with many chairs around it. Just at the end of the table was a much larger...that didn''t look like a chair at all. More like a cat''s nest made by humans for cats. There, inside that thing, laid a ginger with black and white spots all over her body. She had a long, beautiful whitetail that kept twitching now and then. ''A calico cat usually indicates a female, so this must be Tamara,'' thought Ishizu. (Yes, male cats can also have three colors, but this is extremely rare and is a genetic defect of the XXY chromosome for those who are really into genetics. It is equivalent to the Klinefelter syndrome in humans) "Welcome, humans. I am the Cat Boss of Cat Haven, Tamara-sama. I welcome you, but before we talk business for you coming, let us have a feast," spoke Tamara. Her voice was beautiful to the human ears. Like it was meant to hypnotize them to do very stupid things. ''I have a VERY BAD feeling about this,'' thought Ishizu as they were guided into a special room to prepare. Tamara had spare clothes for humans and to eat they had to dress accordingly. As Shisui and Ishizu were getting dressed, Ishizu took a small piece of paper out of the backpack. The Chunin was thankful that he had at least a bit of privacy here. "If they think I will eat anything they offer me, then good luck with that. No way will I eat something here. This little boy will help me trick them. No one will know I have not eaten," muttered Ishizu in a low voice. Opening his mouth, Ishizu stuck his tongue out and place the seal he prepared on his tongue. It was a small storage seal, so when the food came in contact with his tongue, it would be absorbed before reaching his stomach. Entering the dining room, Shisui and Ishizu saw many cats serving the table with various delicious-looking food. "Come, let us eat and talk about the problems you have and I should deal with," said Tamara as she invited the two humans to eat. Shisui observed the food for any poisons before taking some milk and was instantly drawn to more. He couldn''t help but eat since it was so delicious. Ishizu looked at the fish and placed it on his tongue so it could disappear before its taste would affect him. "Wow, Tamara-sama, this is really delicious, but we came here to discuss if you were to help us in the war," said Shisui after finishing his milk and a plate of fish before looking strictly at the cat boss. "Oh, the war you humans are having. I have to think about it. See, I don''t have so many cats who can fight outside of Sora-ku, and those dogs sometimes harass our realm. So instead of training my followers, I came up with another method to gain followers," explained Tamara as a huge grin formed on her face. "And those would be, how? Where do you get your followers?" asked Ishizu, slowly reaching for his leg where a storage seal was. That was the moment he had been waiting for. His breathing became slower, his eyes focused on Tamara, and his adrenalin was just about to be released. "Why you, of course. Turning humans into cats is my motto," said Tamara in a casual tone, as if it was a daily occurrence. Yeah, Ishizu realized why this place seemed too familiar and why he had thought it was similar to a movie. The place outside plus the food was a bit hard to connect but turning humans into cats.... The Cat Returns was a movie Ishizu enjoyed watching when he was a child. He loved it so much he even bought a DVD for it. If Ishizu was a civilian, he would have panicked, but being paranoid gave him the advantage of always be prepared and not be consumed by fear. "I think I''ve heard enough," said Ishizu as he quickly stood up, grabbed the paper bomb out of the storage seal, and threw it at Tamara before grabbing Shisui by his back and escaping. "After them! Don''t let those two escape!" shouted Tamara from behind the smoke. Kicking the cats away that were in his way, Ishizu ran with his comrade when he heard a voice. "I think I don''t feel so good, Ishizu," said Shisui in a whispering voice. Ishizu looked at the Uchiha and to his shock, he saw real cat ears protruding from Shisui''s head. His human ears were gone and Ishizu theorized that if they didn''t leave, more would change. ''****, this is totally like The Cat Returns.'' "Don''t freak out, Shisui, but you are turning into a cat," explained Ishizu to the Uchiha, who froze. Slowly Shisui looked at his hands as they too were slowly transforming into paws. Shisui sighed at what was happening. He should have been more careful about this mission, but he didn''t expect the cats to betray him and Ishizu. "You were right. They had ill intentions. I am sorry," apologized Shisui with a head bow. Ishizu rolled his eyes at the apology. It wasn''t Shisui''s fault since the Uchiha and the cats were comrades. His duty now was to safely escort Shisui and himself back to Konoha and report the mission to be a failure. "In any other circ.u.mstance I would like to gloat about such thing, but at this moment I couldn''t care less if I was right or not. We have other things to worry about, like escaping crazy boss cat unharmed. This Tamara just shrugged off a paper bomb to her face without even getting a burn mark from it. Talk about the boss cat. She is strong and I like to pride myself, but even I am not stupid to think I can defeat her alone. I need to prepare for such a big boss. You have to stall for me when I prepare everything in my backpack." The two stopped and Ishizu took out his scrolls and put a small genjutsu barrier around himself while Shisui stood guard before he saw Tamara and a handful of cats coming closer. "So...you have stopped running? I thought you were going to give us a bit for fun," said the Cat Boss, as the cats surrounded Shisui. They could attack him, but Tamara waited. "Where is our friend? He also should be turning into a cat. He is quite paranoid to use Fuinjutsu to stop the food, but even if he ate nothing, he will turn into one. It is only a matter of time which I have enough. Never mind, we will find him too, but first...Take him down!" Tamara ordered the cats who engaged Shisui. Shisui smirked as he activated his Sharingan and used the body flicker technique to take the cats down. He didn''t kill them, but only put them unconscious since infuriating Tamara wasn''t a good idea. "You Uchiha''s are good, but against me, you can do nothing," said Tamara, smirking as hold up her right paw. Shisui narrowed his eye when he saw what looked like gems of excellent quality. There were sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. "Your other human thinks he is so special just because he dubbed himself in some Fuinjutsu, but I am a special type of cat who has special gems." Suddenly, the gems began to glow and Tamara threw them around the battlefield and a massive barrier of red, green, and blue color was erected. "Fuinjutsu: Gem Dome." Ishizu looked up for a second as he saw the massive barrier being erected. Naturally, Ishizu had knowledge about barriers, but he had never seen Fuinjutsu being combined with gems. Yet there was something more. He didn''t know how he could know, but there was no chakra embedded in the stones. "As long as nature energy is flowing through the gems the barrier cannot be broken. Surrender, human, and I won''t break all of your bones." Chapter 88 - The Cat Village Part 4 General POV The barrier around Shisui made it very difficult to dodge the claws and tails of the cats. His right arm was heavily bruised, and he was panting due to chakra exhaustion. Then, with a plop, Shisui turned into a black cat with Sharingan eyes. "Give up, Shisui Uchiha. You have lost." Tamara went towards Shisui and grabbed him by his neck, but she noticed he wasn''t struggling and the smirk on his face made her frown. The Genjutsu hiding the other human dispelled, and Ishizu Sasaki shot forwards with a determined look. He crouched underneath the cat while he held a spiral blue orb in his hand. "Get away from my comrade, you crazy cat. Here, have a taste of this, Rasengan!" Ishizu screamed as he hit the Rasengan into Tamara''s stomach. The cat rotated a few times as she flew into the barrier and crashed into it. The remaining cats were too shocked to move, and Ishizu used the moment to help Shisui. "Oh ****! You turned into a cat. What do I say to the Hokage?" "Miauu," miaued Shisui, and Ishizu widened his eyes. Not only did he fail his mission, but he let Shisui turn into a cat. He wondered what would happen if he returns. "What? I cannot understand you," Ishizu panicked. How would the story progress if Shisui couldn''t talk? His future knowledge could flush down the toilet. Shisui signaled with his paw to the cat''s ears and Ishizu facepalmed. "Oh. Right. I have to wear them to understand cats." Tamara POV ''That hurt a bit,'' I g.r.o.a.n.e.d inside my head as I stood up and cracked my head. Rasengan, huh? By how the chakra formed it in his hand, it looks similar to a bijuudama from the Tailed Beasts. No wonder it gave me quite a bruise, since my fur and skin protect me from most attacks. I looked down to see a pale area and shook my head. A few months and it should be as good as before, but this was hardly the problem. This fight should have been over by now. Shisui Uchiha turned into a cat-like he should, yet Ishizu Sasaki remained human. I knew he used a petty Fuinjutsu mark that let him avoid consuming food, but there had to be at least a bit of change since he stayed in Cat Haven. A finger turned to a claw or his nose being cat-like. Something had to have changed her, I couldn''t find it. Why?! How?! How did a human remain perfectly human! How was that possible? The question was how? "Ishizu Sasaki. You are not a regular human, are you?" General POV Ishizu nodded to Shisui after talking about the plan they come up with. Ishizu grabbed his backpack and placed many things outside he finished making. Shisui came towards Tamara, ready to fight her again despite the unfavorable circ.u.mstances he was in. "You are going to fight me? You had no chance against me as a human. What do you think will happen if you fight me as a cat?" Tamara stared at the small cat-human in front of her. She was the boss cat for a reason. Many cars have challenged her. One of them was Nekomata. He was still part of the clan but lost his residence in Cat Haven after a foolish challenge to marry Tamara and losing badly. "Let''s see it then. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." Despite being a cat, Shisui managed to form a decent-sized fireball. Yet Tamara only needed to raise a claw where she held a Smaragd. "Smaragd: Gem Protection." The blue barrier easily blocked the fireball. "Ishizu, can you please finish? I can''t do this the whole time," shouted Shisui as he dodged another claw from Tamara. "Shut up! I am already working! This takes some time," shouted Ishizu as he made finger signs. During the fight, Ishizu looked at his equipment. He had enough time to build everything he needed. Now it was time to bring the big cat to sleep. "Argh!" Shisui screamed as Tamara grabbed Shisui by the throat and slammed him on the ground. "Hey, Tamara!" screamed Ishizu to gain her attention, which he managed since the cat was curious what the human would do in such a situation. "I think you are in need of some relaxation time. Eat this! Ishizu Sasaki Hiden Fuinjutsu Secret (Badass) Technique: Unlimited CatNip Bombs!" Ishizu threw the catnip bombs by kunais at the cat and while the kunais did no damage the storage seals exploded, releasing a huge green cloud of catnip. Tamara coughed as she inhaled the smoke. Now, if only it was just regular catnip then Tamara would have handled it, but who knew she was going up against a crazy person like Ishizu Sasaki who had enough time to prepare a special type of catnip if given enough time. Everyone, from the cats in Cat Heaven to Hagoromo Otsutsuki in Limbo, watched how the human jumped high into the air; the sun shining brightly behind him, giving the onlookers a spectacle they would remember until their death and would tell to their children, so this moment would live on forever. "I AM NOT DONE! FEAR THE POWER OF THE FUINJUTSU STRATEGIST! UNLIMITED CATNIP BOMB, HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Shisui watched at the spectacle of a human screaming like a madman, throwing what seemed unlimited catnip bombs at the Cat Boss. ''Is everything Ishizu had in his backpack catnip or where did he get it,'' thought Shisui as he watched his comrade taking out more and more catnip. The catnip too was affected him as he felt his brain going hair-wire. After 5 minutes, 5 Minutes!, of constant catnip bombardment, everyone was hallucinating and breathing quite heavily from the lack of oxygen and when they saw the human stopping, they thought that this was the end, but they were wrong as they watched a grin forming on Ishizu''s face as he made a ram sign. "And now... for the Great Finisher." As the dome dissolved, the catnip didn''t leave the area but condensed into a small ball thanks to Ishizu before exploding, expanding in every direction possible, coving the whole castle, and many things more. This had the effect of stopping the cats outside of the dome from engaging in battle as they all started hallucinating. Some even fell asleep and had a pleasant dream while others... well, you''ll see. "Good job, Ishizu. You won," panted Shisui as he looked at the pale face of Ishizu. "Why are you looking like that?" "This took a lot of chakra from me. I think I need a break," said Ishizu before falling unconscious. Tamara POV "Ohhhhh..... myyyy. What is this feeeeling? I have neeever feelllt soooo gooooooood," I m.o.a.n.e.d in delight as I inhaled the fragments in the air. The feeling was so good that I wanted it to be known to everyone in Cat Haven and dissolved the surrounding barrier. I saw Sasaki-kun using this moment to compress the heavenly catnip into a giant ball. I saw Shisui trying to wake Ishizu up during the walk, but the latter was out cold and didn''t move one bit. Back in the castle. "You... are letting us go?" asked cat Shisui, confused after I told him he could leave after Ishizu woke up. My reason? I would have a lot of soldiers in the next year. That catnip Ishizu Sasaki scattered wasn''t just one for hallucinations, but it awoke our primal instincts and made both male and female cats go into heat. I bet countless cats that lived together but for some reason didn''t have s.e.x were in bed and making out. Believing my claims, Shisui Uchiha sighed, but my curiosity wasn''t over as I glanced at Sasaki. My answer to why he never turned to a cat wasn''t answered, and I wanted to know it. I gave Shisui a lie, saying I needed to monitor Ishizu''s health to let him leave so I could examine him and find the answer to my question. First was his body. It was... average. I saw many humans that had more muscles and more scars on their bodies, so it wasn''t the body. I sniffed the air and frowned as I looked at the human closely. Something was different with his chakra system. My nose was special in regards that I could pick up the affinities of living beings. It also allowed me to differentiate between a male and a female, as males generally are shifting towards Yang than Yin. The reverse summoning scroll humans used to come here protects not only them from the nature energy here, which would turn them into cat statues but also injects Yang chakra into their chakra system. Since males have more Yang than Yin, they naturally transform much faster into a cat than a female human. I was 100% sure there was nothing wrong with the scroll since Shisui Uchiha turned into a cat, but what makes this human different from the rest? There were a handful of living beings that knew I was older than I looked. I was a master Sage and to get my answer I gathered the nature energy to forcefully synchronized my chakra with Ishizu''s. If Ishizu was awake, he would be shocked to see the cat boss using a one-sided Ninshu. With the connection a success, I found the answer to her question. A being of perfect Yin and Yang, something I have only seen in only one other human. That being Hagoromo Otsutsuki. No wonder the transformation never happened. His Yin part would counterattack the excessive Yang part to bring it back to an equilibrium. This boy, whoever he was, would have a huge impact on the world. ''The pandas will be happy to find one of their own,'' I smirked at the things I saw. Ishizu POV Chakra exhaustion sucks. I hope something like that would not happen in the future. Opening my eyes, an unusual sight of cat Shisui greeted me sitting on my c.h.e.s.t. "You are finally awake," stated Shisui, and he stretched himself. "Get off me," I g.r.o.a.n.e.d, trying to sit. "My, you are awake, Ishizu-chan." I turned my head to see Tamara walking through the door. I tried to move quickly but the chakra exhaustion was still on him so I fell back into the bed. "It is alright, Ishizu. Tamara-sama agreed to help us in the war after you¡­ eh¡­ gave her time to think," explained Shisui getting a blush on his face after Tamara explained to him what wonderful present Ishizu gave them. "I am glad to help. By the way, when you return home you will gain your human appearance back, so don''t worry Shisui Uchiha," said Tamara. General POV The conflict was over and after two days of Ishizu resting, both were ready to depart. After Shisui teleported away, Ishizu looked at Tamara. "Do you know a human named Haru?" asked Ishizu, quite curious, wanting to confirm a theory he had in his mind. "Hmm, my mother was named Haru, but I don''t know any human by that name," responded Tamara, and Ishizu sighed before vanishing. Minutes passed before Tamara looked back before speaking out her thoughts. "Wait, if I remember correctly, my grandparents named my mother after a human called Haru who saved both of them. Well, can''t think too much about it." Tamra shrugged and went back to sleep. Chapter 89 - Gems for Catnip Flashback end General POV Ishizu looked at the cats, who accused him not being the same. "Well, it is me alright. I had enough time to grow up from the paranoid little boy I once was to an a.d.u.l.t with a bit of wisdom and enough strength to stand my ground to most of the threats in this world. Plus, while I don''t hate old me since I can tell you that my old personality helped me greatly in surviving this world." The cats smirked at the human. "You will always have a place in our clan as the human who made the whole royalty high on catnip," said one cat as all of them burst out laughing. Ishizu rolled his eyes at the spectacle. Since that accident he was hailed as a celebrity and they gave him the nickname ''Baby Merchant'' since after that day there was a kitten boom. "Enough with this! Tell me, Sasaki-kun, why have you come here?" asked Nekobaa. The room fell silent as the cats also were curious why the drug dealer came to them. It surely wasn''t to sell them his catnip, although they would greatly appreciate it. "The reason I came here is for two things. 1. I need the location of the Uchiha Hideout and 2. I have to get ''those things'' from you," Ishizu quoted. Nekobaa nodded. "Hmm, so it is time. Both brothers are going to meet." "Sasuke is one of my students, so I have to help him find his brother. I have done my best to teach him about life so he will decide for himself if he lets his brother live or not." "And why do you need ''those things''?" asked the old woman in curiosity. "Those things are going to be used to show an Uchiha that he should not underestimate me. Sasuke will soon reach this place to stock up on supplies, so don''t tell him I know all of you," said Ishizu as he turned to the cats. "I am currently out of stock, so if you really need them you have to see Tamara-sama and ask for permission to get them," said Nekobaa. Ishizu frowned at the information he got from the old woman. He thought he would get this over without any problems, yet here he was, forced to act. "So, I have to talk to the Cat Boss... again?" A sigh escaped his lips. Meeting Tamara was not in his plan, but if Nekobaa didn''t have what he needed, he had to go there and hope she let him leave without a fight. "It is good that Sasuke doesn''t know of her so I can have a quick chat," muttered Ishizu before Nekobaa threw him the scroll. Ishizu glanced at the scroll, and he knew it was the same he used with Shisui. Since he greatly improved in Fuinjutsu, Ishizu could see far more on the scroll than his past self could. Just like last time, he could see the markings indicating for a reverse summon but Ishizu could see the tiny change in the scroll he didn''t see before and the ones he didn''t understand. ''Why is that here?'' thought Ishizu before he connected the dots. ''That''s why Shisui turned into a cat. As we teleported the nature energy infused with him so he wouldn''t turn into stone, but the Yang chakra turned him into a cat.'' Tamara was clever, thought Ishizu. The nature energy prevented humans to turn to stone when they entered her realm, but the Yang part would turn them into cats. Servitude or death. What was better? Either way, he had to ask for permission. Akatsuki Hideout Play Akatsuki Theme for impact. Itachi and Kisame had Roshi with them, as they called the others. The images projected on each finger of the Gedo Mazo. "We have the 4 tails," spoke Kisame as he threw the old man on the ground. Roshi had no chance of winning against Kisame, whose Suiton destroyed the Yoton. "Good, we will begin the sealing of the 3 tails and the 4 tails," said Pein. "Yeah, I defeated the 3 tails all alone," proudly spoke Tobi as he danced in excitement. "Shut up, Tobi! We had more problems than that," said Deidara angrily. "What happened?" asked Konan. "This bastard from before. The one with the wood release came before us to the tailed beast. I wanted to kill him, but he said that he already finished what he came for and it was only a measly wood clone," Deidara''s astral projection stopped on the ground in rage. "He is very good at Fuinjutsu," added Tobi in his childish tone. "Let us seal the tailed beast before I will give each order to find him and kill him," answered Pain. Yamamoto proved to be a hindrance Pain wanted to eliminate now. "We believe that Sasuke is making a team with the one who is a thorn in our eyes. Both of them formed a team with one of the Hozuki brothers and Bipolar Jugo," explained Zetsu. "Let us just kill them all," screamed Hidan. "Silence. Leader-sama will tell us what to do. I don''t want to be the one who collects your remains after you get decapitated again," growled Kakuzu. "You two will continue your search on the Nanabi," said Pain before they started the extractions. Cat Realm Ishizu POV Making my way to the castle, I remembered the time I had been here and still marveled at the scenery. The cats looked at me, probably wondering what a human was doing here and if I would become one of them. The guards opened the door and inside the hall, I could see the big cat eating some kind of fish. She completely ignored me as Po did but I was on a tight schedule so instead of waiting I just threw a kunai at her. Unfortunately, a barrier blocked the attack, but I didn''t care, as it had the desirable effect of getting her attention. She smirked as she spits the fish bones at me. The bones flew quickly and precisely, but a quick Shinra Tensei blocked them. "A guest after so long time? I welcome you to the realm. I would explain who I am then we would have a nice banquet while you would slowly turn into a cat. This would happen if it would be your first time here, yet there are only two humans who managed to leave Cat Haven. It is good to see you again, Sasaki-kun," spoke Tamara as she stretched herself and yawning showing off her very sharp teeth. "Now be a dear and tell this old cat what made you come to me after all these years? If I remember correctly, you left saying you wouldn''t come back... or maybe the life of a shinobi has gotten onto your nerves and you decided to be turned into a cat and live your life in this paradise? Not that it is possible, so what do you want?" she grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "I came to have a set of your fuinjutsu gems, but Nekobaa was out of stocks. The fight between two Uchiha brothers is going to happen and I want to prepare against a nasty time-space jutsus," I told the cat Sage who hummed. "Against time-space jutsus, you say? That''s something I can''t give so casually. What do I get out of it?" "If it is in my possibilities and if I can give it, I will try to fulfill your request," I told her, hoping she wouldn''t ask for something outrageous. "I may be old, but not even I can forget the day you and Shisui came here and graced us with that spectacle. What I want is the recipe for your famous catnip. If you give it to me, I will give you the gems," bargained Tamara. That... was something I could do. The catnip was something I came up with on the run and wasn''t some secret technique I feared to be leaked out. Taking special Fuinjutsu gems in exchange for a recipe was perfect to trade. "I will give it to you after the fight as I don''t have it on me." "I trust you. It''s a deal then. Take these gems but bring them back after you use them, since they need to be recharged, or else there will be useless," said Tamara, before throwing me a handful of gems. Those gems were unique. Unlike other Fuinjutsus barriers which could be destroyed by sheer force, these gems could produce a special barrier that was impossible to penetrate with Ninjutsu or Taijutsu. I doubt that even if Gai opened all 8 gates and ''Night Gai'' it, the barrier would still stand. Not that I could confirm it. On top of being impossible to come in, once inside nothing could escape it. Not even the chakra absorbing techniques like the Preta Path or space-time jutsus like Kamui or Flying Raiju could teleport you out. This Fuinjutsu was the Ultimate Defence. Yet it wasn''t perfect. No Jutsu was. The problems here were location, time, and area. The larger the area to mark, the faster the nature energy would deplete, which was stored inside the stones. Here in Cat Haven, the stones could take the energy out of the air since it was so thick, making the problems irrelevant, but back in the Elemental Nations, each problem had to be considered. If you wanted to fight someone in a 1 vs.1 with no one interrupting, you could throw them in each direction to make a small death arena and the drain would be minimal and it would last for a long time. For what was about to happen between Sasuke and Itachi, I had to make a large barrier around the compound so Zetsu couldn''t come inside and watch the interaction of the two. I sure hoped they wouldn''t fight, since a conversation doesn''t last longer than a fight. Zetsu would probably inform Obito about what was happening, since the barrier would obstruct him from both entering and seeing. The face he would make, seeing as he couldn''t come inside too, would be nice. With the gems at my side, I made my way to the compound to place them. Chapter 90 - Filler Goddammit Kishimoto General POV "Goddammit, Kishimoto!" Naruto Uzumaki watched how his Sensei stormed off after something caught on fire. Since the moment he became a genin under his Sensei, he would hear Ishizu curse in a different way than the rest. Most would curse the Shinigami and thank the Kami, but he would both curse and thank this Kishimoto person. And so one question came up in Naruto''s mind. ''Who the hell is this Kishimoto.'' "So, let me get this straight," spoke Ino, "you want to find this Kishimoto person Ishizu-sensei uses when cursing?" "Well, don''t you find it strange why he uses this name? I have never heard of anyone with such a name." "Naruto-kun is right. We should ask someone about this Kishimoto. Maybe they can help us." As if people would believe that. After the library failed to get them an answer, the three came back together to discuss what they found. "I got nothing," mumbled Naruto, and Ino shook her head too. "Maybe one of the Jonin knows who he is. Ishizu must have cursed when they were together," commented Hinata, and the new search began. "Kishimoto? Yeah, I heard Ishizu saying that name once or twice when something was going bad, but I never thought of it as something," said Asuma. "Nope. I have no idea who this guy is. Must be some god Ishizu beloved in," replied Kurenai. "My old comrade Obito once asked the same question, but he never got a rely from him, sorry," apologize Kakashi, and the team was back to square one. "Dammit!" Naruto hit the table which they were sitting around. "This is like knowing what is under Kakashi''s mask. A mystery we will never know." "What about the summons of Ishizu-Sensei? asked Hinata and once again hope was seen in their eyes. "That could do it. We have to summon Brother Tau," exclaimed Naruto before running home and after 5 minutes coming back with a sealing tag. "I still have one leftover seal from my training with the Toads. With this, we could summon him." With no further interruptions, Naruto activated the seal, and in response, Brother Tau appeared. Before Tau could question why he was summoned by someone, Naruto began asking questions before Ino shut his mouth with one hand. "Could you repeat yourself? I doubt I understood your question, Naruto-kun," Tau smiled at the boy. "Naruto asked if you know a man named Kishimoto. Ishizu-Sensei used this name when he cursed and we are curious who this is," asked Hinata only to be again disappointed when even Tau, one of the closest beings, didn''t know who this was. Scene change. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Hinata asked, worried. "Don''t worry, Hinata. Everything will be fine." Ino facepalmed. What did he mean, everything was fine? Ishizu Sasaki''s home was one, if not the most secure place in whole Konoha and maybe even the elemental nations. Fuinjutsu upon Fuinjutsu covered the surrounding place, and even if you somehow managed to enter, even more horrible things awaited you. So how could those 3 enter? Well, they just knocked on the door and spoke: "We want to borrow something. Don''t kill us." And nothing happened. As long as you didn''t have any ulterior thoughts, you could easily enter. So they just entered their sensei''s home and took a mask Naruto said would summon the Shinigami. Even Ino wouldn''t go to such masses to find a secret, but Naruto convinced her. They caught some random thug who was out under Ino''s mind control and sacrificed his life to summon the Shinigami. The Shinigami rolled his skeleton eyes at what was going on. Usually one would summon him in exchange for their lives to take another, yet here he was being summoned by the child of prophecy to ask him about some man named Kishimoto. He didn''t know why, but speaking the name send a shiver down his spine. He didn''t know, but whoever this person was, he was even beyond him. So he shook his head in denial of knowing the said person. The trio was back again at Ichiraku''s Ramen eaten in frustration. "Maybe we should ask Ishizu-sensei himself? He should at least know the answer," commented Ino, but unfortunately the man went on a mission and wouldn''t be back. "Hey, what are you sulking over here?" a female voice came from the side, making all three turn their heads to meet the purple-haired Anko. "We tried and failed to discover one of the secrets of Konoha," sighed Naruto as he devoured another cup of ramen. "Oh, what kind of mystery?" the woman grinned, hoping to hear something interesting. "Who in the elemental nations is Kishimoto? We asked everyone who knows Ishizu-sensei. Even his summons have no clue. Hell, we even summoned the shin..." Ino held Naruto''s mouth shut. The three didn''t expect Anko to grin. "Well, I doubt you would find anyone who knows him. It isn''t a person who exists," she spoke, but was interrupted by Ino. "Yes, we know that. Ishizu-sensei uses this man instead of Kami or Shinigami, but we want to know why!" "I know." The head of the three snapped towards a grinning Anko. "How?" was Naruto''s simple question. "I... am just good at information gathering." Flashback POV "Did you hear? Anko is back from a mission," muttered Kurenai, and Asuma sighed. "Wasn''t it a seduction mission? Oh, no. When she sees him..." ~Boom~ An explosion occurred, drawing everyone''s attention where an 18-year-old Ishizu was throwing paper bombs at a 16-year-old Anko. "Come here, Ishizu-kun. I am something to show you," Anko licked her lips while Ishizu took another paper bomb into his hands. "I curse Kishimoto for having you as my nemesis! What have I ever done to you to deserve such unneeded attention?! I am some random side character not worthy of anything now, yet here you are causing my unending misery. Just die!" While Anko dodged the kunais, the explosion still hit her, giving her a few burn marks. After one hour of cat and mouse, Anko somehow managed to catch Ishizu and was now dragging him into a place she called home, but was one of Orochimaru''s labs. "Help! Kishimoto, get me out of here!" A piece of cloths muffled his shouts was stuck into his mouth. Kakashi just stared as his teammate was dragged into a dark place, but before he could help him he had to run away from his own rival that was trying to get to him. Ishizu POV Being a well-known Jonin in a world filled with monsters such as Madara, Nagato, and future Obito wasn''t so good since all of them had other people in the sight to murder and as long as you stayed in the shadow they wouldn''t bother you. Compared to them, I was weak and therefore not on their death list. I could easily blend into a conversation and just hand around to gather information and secretly grow stronger. Yet for some reason, Kishimoto decided to give me my own Gai to Kakashi, but instead of an overly enthusiastic Taijutsu specialist, I''ve got a professional torture prodigy who for some reason set her eyes on me from a very young age. My Fuinjutsu could stop many things. Minato-sensei praised me for my work, yet not even the mighty seals could protect me from anesthetic senbons. "Mitarashi-san, why must you be so cruel to this insignificant one? Can''t you just leave me alone?" I asked, while being chained down to a wall. "Silence! I had to spend two months to seduce that ugly ******** but he found out I was a spy so even when I killed him I wasn''t happy since my mission failed. So I need you as my subject to experiment on," she spoke while I saw the long tongue coming out of her mouth. "Oh, for the love of Kishimoto, how old are you? 16? You are even crazier than an Uzumaki!" I began to move so I could escape this crazy girl. She was 2 years young than me, but for some reason, she was as ruthless and as perverted, only to me, as she would be as an a.d.u.l.t. "Oh, don''t worry, Ishizu-chan. I won''t hurt your innocence. Today is all about information gathering and just now I have one. Who is Kishimoto?" I stared at her with a confused look. Why did she want to know that? The information was both useless and useful, so in my foolishness, I kept quiet. "So it is something worth trying to get out of your mind, hmm? Let''s use those babies I have with me to make your mouth speak of everything." I screamed for help as I saw the torture devices, but she threw them away. "Don''t worry, I won''t inflict pain on you since you are a leaf shinobi. Seduction missions have to be carried out differently from normal interrogation. Sometimes...," a grin formed on Anko''s face. "Instead of inflicting pain where the victim talks and begs to make it stop, I will inflict p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e on your body until you beg for me to continue. All you need is a bit of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e from a young and innocent girl to make a man talk." "Innocent? Ha! As if you are innocent. Also, if you think I''ll let you defile my body, I dare you to try," I glared at her but she shook her head as she brought a hand to my stomach. "My dear Ishizu-chan, there won''t be any s.e.x.u.a.l i.n.t.e.r.c.o.u.r.s.e between us. Maybe if you stop chasing your imaginary wife..." "No!" My glare made her roll her eyes. "Fine, have it your way, but I don''t need to have s.e.x with you to give you p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. There are plenty of ways to stimulate a man without the need for a v.a.g.i.n.a and a p.e.n.i.s." Nobody heard the cries Ishizu was giving off, but after an unknown amount of time Kakashi found the Ishizu in his apartment sleeping and when he woke up and was asked what happened he only opened his mouth, blushed, and shook his head. Flashback end Ishizu wasn''t the only one that blushed and Anko laughed, seeing the faces of Naruto, Hinata, and Ino. "Ergh, thank you for the... detailed explanation, but that still doesn''t answer the question," Ino was the first to collect herself. Anko blinked, "Oh, right. I must have got carried away. During our session, I managed to get some information from Ishizu. Apparently, he believes Kishimoto to be The God. Not one god like Kami, but the one above all. The one who created the elemental nations and this universe. When I asked him how he knew, he said he read a book about him when he was young." "So this Kishimoto is the strongest being in the world?" asked Naruto, confused, not sure if he understood Anko. "Something like that. Ishizu said you and I will never get to meet him since he is busy doing his new work, which he apparently disliked. When I asked him about that, he cringed and muttered something about a young, spoiled blonde boy who can kill gods with a giant Rasengan at a very young age. At that point, I stopped my interrogation." "Thank you for this in-depth information. I am sure we can learn something from it," said Hinata with a small smile on her face which only Anko saw, but for some reason, Naruto shivered and looked at Hinata in fear. ''I don''t know why, but I should probably be a lot nice to her, or else something bad will happen.'' Somewhere in the elemental nations, Ishizu sneezed, and a familiar feeling overcame him. "My Anko Radar is active. She must have done something I most certainly will regret, but I can''t say that I didn''t learn a lot about the male and female body during that time with her. With only 16 years, she sure had more knowledge than most s.e.x.u.a.lly active people." Even now Ishizu couldn''t forget what Anko did to him, but he thanked her for it since it would help him tremendously in the future. Chapter 91 - Because Art... Uchiha compound General POV After Ishizu''s clone found the compound, he placed the gems around the compound and dispersed, giving the real Ishizu the information he needed. "Hey, why are you smirking?" asked Suigetsu as he saw the smile forming on Ishizu''s face. "Just a joke. It is nothing," lied Ishizu without a second of thought. "Nevermind that, I am a sword user and I don''t have a sword. How can I fight?" cried Suigetsu in frustration. "They don''t call me the Strategist for no reason. I have made preparations to have you in the best condition for the team. (Even if you don''t really need you) Therefore, I made a small detour and asked an old friend of mine if I could borrow his sword," said Ishizu, smiling, before opening a storage seal on his body where a small scroll was. He threw it to Suigetsu, who caught it wondering what he should do with it. Ishizu rolled his eyes. What do you do with a storage scroll? Open it! "This... How did you get it?" asked Suigetsu with wide eyes and water was flowing out of his mouth as he saw a sword appearing in his hands. Somewhere in Kirigakure, a famous Shinobi screamed. "SASAKI! How dare you steal my sword! I don''t care how strong you are, but no one takes my sword without my corpse!" Mei and Ao rushed into the room to find it completely destroyed by a furious-looking Zabuza. Her eyes roamed the room to find a letter laying on the ground. Mei picked it up and read it. After finishing, she began to chuckle. "Don''t cry Zabuza. He just ''borrowed'' it so you can at least sign in relief that he will return in," said Mei mockingly while making quotations marks at the word borrowed. "The next time I see him, I will gut his intestines." Back by Sasuke''s team, Suigetsu petted the sword as if it was a cat he never wanted to give away. Sasuke looked at the sword before ignoring the crappy noise the waterman was doing. Ishizu used a hearing Genjutsu to block the Gollum sound Suigetsu was making. All factions were moving. Sasuke''s team reached Cat town, Deidara was up to fight either Konoha''s team or Sasuke and in Konoha Naruto made a team to search for Itachi to find Sasuke and bring him back. When Sasuke''s team entered the cat town, two cats greeted them. As a present, Sasuke presented them with some catnip. "It smells good, but not like the one from Sasaki-kun brought," said Hina, the female cat. All eyes were on Ishizu. Even in the silence, Ishizu knew what the question was. "What? I am much older than you and there was a time when I visited this place with an Uchiha. Don''t think too much about it. Get your stuff and we are leaving." After all, they gathered the things they needed before leaving. Inside a forest, the team dispatched before they disappeared. "Why are you not going?" asked Sasuke, seeing Ishizu sticking close to him. "I am going to stick to you. The information that you killed Orochimaru should have reached Akatsuki by now, and many did not like the snake and after he left, they wanted him dead since he could snitch. I believe they are coming for you, so I will be your backup. They are always a two-man cell, so it is best if I stick around," explained Ishizu, knowing they could meet Deidara and Tobi. "Don''t get in my way when they attack. I can handle them myself," said Sasuke, a bit prideful, which didn''t bother Ishizu at all. All Uchiha''s were prideful in some manner and Ishizu had his fair share of arrogance. "If they attack you, I won''t help. Though it depends on who it is." ''It is good that Obito keeps his Tobi persona up. I hope this fight will be fast, as I will most likely have to deal with happy-go-lucky Tobi. How troublesome.'' Ishizu put on his mask and hid in the shadows. The time went by, and Ishizu frowned, as he couldn''t find Deidara or Tobi. ''By now Konoha''s team should look for Sasuke. As long as I stay in a certain range of Sasuke, Karin will have trouble finding him, but if we separate, then they will find him. Then there is Kabuto. Hard to say if he will approach Naruto and talk with him about Akatsuki. If I think about it, telling them about Akatsuki is good, as both Hidan and Kakuzu are still alive. Watching Naruto on tv is far easier since you see all the important parts, yet I am only one man and can''t be at all places. Let''s just hope there won''t be many changes," Ishizu thought as he followed Sasuke. On the other side, Kabuto showed himself to Naruto and gave him the book about the Akatsuki. Sasuke felt the chakra change and turned around. "I know you are here. Show yourself," demanded Sasuke. From behind the tree, Tobi revealed himself. ''So Ishizu was right. Akatsuki came after me for killing Orochimaru, but who is this guy. I know about most of them from the snake, but I have never seen him before.'' His distraction was not bad as Sasuke had to dodge the bird from the other one who came from above. "Deidara-senpai, we did it," shouted Tobi in his annoying voice. "Of course. No one can escape my bombs." Sasuke glanced behind him, where he saw Ishizu narrowing his eyes. "I will take the one with the mask. You take the mad bomber. I will give you a tip; use your Raiton to counter his clay." To Ishizu''s misfortune, Sasuke charged forward and, with his blade, cut through Tobi. The latter fell to the ground, motionless. "Hn. Weak. And here I thought this one was more dangerous," commented Sasuke while doubting Ishizu''s concern about the weakling. Ishizu only facepalmed at the stupidity of the Uchiha. If Obito was serious, he could have killed Sasuke, but since he was using his Tobi personality, he wouldn''t. Grabbing a seal from his pouch and taking a kunai in his hand, Ishizu appeared in the sky and descended towards Tobi, but instead of hitting him with the placing of the kunai, the latter rolled comically on the ground to avoid the attack. "Atata, that was close. You saw through my Jutsu! But you''ll never catch me!" Tobi laughed, but Ishizu wasn''t done. He went into his panda attack stance and attacked Tobi with quick slashes of his kunai. Yet all attacks were avoided by Tobi, dodging them without any effort. That did not surprise Ishizu. Obito was by no means weak, but his goal was not to hit Tobi with the kunai. "Oy, oy! Stop hitting me with those deadly kunais!" Tobi shouted before taking out a wood stick and slamming it into my mask. I jumped back, making him believe I was processing what he just did with that stick, but instead, I smirked since, during the time he hit me, I managed to place my seal on him. "Tobi''s almighty stick will punish you!" "Just shut up and fight." With that, Ishizu made his way to Tobi. Ishizu''s POV A fight against Obito was going to be nice. I am not sure if he would go all out against me, but I sure would love to see his shocked face behind his mask when I touched him. I looked at the second seal that would help me cancel out his Kamui, but to my misfortune, it burned away. As a fuinjutsu master, making seals isn''t hard and the rate of failure is minimal. Well, unless you are me who had to make a fuinjutsu that blocks out a special ability from a Mangekyo Sharingan. Since the seal failed, I had to avoid getting absorbed by his Kamui. "I believe we had enough of your comedy, Uchiha. I believe right now you are not in the mood to tell some jokes, am I right?" I could see him glaring at me with his Sharingan eyes. "You made a big mistake making me an enemy," spoke the masked man with his serious voice. I smirked and muttered under the mask. "When I was a kid, I always liked your personality and when you went under a certain health bar, you became like that. The next thing you are going do to is¡­" I had no chance to say more because two massive fireballs care rushing at me. I dodged and immediately threw kunais at Tobi, only for them to pass right through him. "You will die here." "Lady Death hasn''t called my name yet and with you here, Sasuke will finish Deidara quickly." We both circled each other, carefully analyzing each other''s move. "I do wonder who you are behind that mask. There are only two Wood Style users and one of them is dead and the other one is somewhere in Konoha. So who are you?" asked Tobi. I smirked, feeling a sense of superiority over him not knowing me. "I can ask the same question about you. A Sharingan user who lives after Itachi Uchiha massacred the entire clan except for his little brother, Sasuke. No, wrong. He was not alone. You were there as well. You are stronger and older than Itachi, so either he asked for your help or you did it secretly. Madara Uchiha is sleeping inside his grave, so you are either a rogue one or someone who is following Madara''s will after his death. While I doubt that man would care about descendants, I can''t be 100% sure about it so you could also be his spawn," I lied as I was not stupid to tell him I knew who he was. We fought for a while and Tobi started getting frustrated, as I never let him near me, so he could use Kamui to suck me inside his dimension. "Your ability is very dangerous, but even with no knowledge, the 4th Hokage Minato Namikaze managed to defeat you with his incredible speed." I was rewarded with multiple fireballs that I dodged. "But you are facing an opponent who knows of your ability to phase through objects. Sure, I cannot say I know everything, ''which is a lie'', but I know enough to contain you for Sasuke to finish Deidara off. Soon your little group of Akatsuki will fall and only one will stand victorious and it will be me!" I cringed a bit since the last sentence sounded like a line from an end boss, but from my peripheral version, I saw a giant Deidara growing like a balloon. ''So this is Deidara''s C4? I think this chit-chat is over with Obito. He was also testing my powers, but I know that next time we meet, I will make sure to show him just how weak he is.'' Just like me, Obito saw the C4 from Obito and teleported away. I let him be as I casually made my way to Sasuke, not minding the giant Deidara exploding. I activated my Rinnegan, but had to shut them as the millions of tiny chakra signatures made my vision blurry. "Preta Path," I called out to absorb the chakra before those microscopical bombs could reach me. Chapter 92 - IS AN EXPLOSION!! Sasuke POV I was glad that Ishizu took the other guy away because one Akatsuki was enough for me to fight seriously. His ability to create bombs out of clay is nothing worth mentioning, but what makes it so dangerous is how he managed to make the best out of it. No matter how small his bombs were, I could still see them and they were no match for me. Unfortunately, he stayed at long range and therefore had me at a disadvantage. I just had to come close and he would be dead, but it was not so easy. I didn''t know how much clay he had, but it looked like he was not going to end soon. Seeing me attack him, he made his bombs to gain distance and make what looked like a dragon. From there on, it went from annoying to dangerous. His ability to fly high up made me unable to get him with my Raiton attacks. "Not so easy now, Sharingan boy, huh? You won''t be able to dodge all the time. You should have been dead by now if it weren''t for your partner. Tobi and I are the perfect pair." I ignored the crazy guy as I stalled for time. My single Shadow Clone should have made enough nature energy for me to use for one attack. I saw as another one of the small projectiles came at me. "Die!" screamed Deidara, hoping to end the life of a person who thought his art was nothing in their eyes. Instead of dodging, I ran at it, but when it was almost near me, I dodged. The force of the explosion still hit me, but I was near him. I felt my Shadow Clone pop, and I felt the nature energy flowing through my body. Running forward, I used the power-up I got from the nature energy to boost my body. The Akatsuki was dumbfounded as he saw the earth cracking underneath me before realizing that I was almost near his dragon. He used his dragon to dodge and was lucky as my sword didn''t cut his head, but only his arm. "You bastard! I have had enough. I will finish this once and for all. I don''t care if Tobi is here or not. He annoyed me enough so you both shall die by my art." I saw how the Akatsuki vomited a sizeable amount of clay onto the ground that transformed into his own image. "Take this! My ultimate weapon, C4!" The massive clone exploded, and I saw a massive chakra cloud coming towards me. The radius was enormous, but his jutsus were of Doton origin. When I saw his microscopical bombs invade my bloodstream, I shocked myself with my Raiton, therefore, deactivating them. Just then, someone appeared behind. "Guess I am a bit too late, but who am I to doubt you wouldn''t find the weakness of his C4. My fight took some time, but I am glad Deidara used his C4. With this, his partner left, and I could help you," said Ishizu. I turned around and for the first time; I saw those eyes. Eyes that radiated respect. He looked like a God one had to bow to. "I am alright," I told him because I didn''t need to be held by somebody''s hand. "Do you need help or do you want to defeat him by yourself?" asked Ishizu calmly. "I need information about Itachi. If he has some, then I need him alive." "Don''t bother with him. He is way too proud to give his information away. He''d rather do suicide than give a Sharingan user the satisfaction of knowing things." General POV Sasuke told Ishizu to let him fight Deidara. Both fought while Ishizu surveyed the surroundings in case Obito would emerge from somewhere. "I''ve had enough of you. Give up and tell me where Itachi is," Sasuke spoke, making Ishizu look at them. Deidara was out of chakra and laying on the floor while Sasuke was standing. Deidara started laughing. Yep, he was going to use it. What better way to die for an artist like him? "I''d rather die than tell an Uchiha anything. You will be the witness of my ultimate art, Sasuke Uchiha." With that, he opened the sealed mouth and put a large mass of clay inside. "No matter what you do, this last explosion will be your last," Deidara''s c.h.e.s.t mouth chewed on the clay, and black tendrils formed on his body. The bomber was transforming his own body and chakra into one hug bomb. Ishizu had enough and appeared before Sasuke. "I told you he won''t give away any information." "You both will die. My explosion will go off immediately when I die, so you either wait for the boom or die now. No matter where you go, my explosion will reach you. Say goodbye, Uchiha. My final art will kill anyone no matter if he is born with a Kekkei Genkai or not." Ishizu smirked as he looked at Deidara with his Rinnegan. "Maybe it would in another time, but as I am here, there we will never know." Deidara''s eyes widened as he saw Ishizu''s eyes. "Those eyes. You have the same eyes as leader-san." Then he shook his head. "It doesn''t matter. Nobody survived my art." "Because Art..." Deidara''s skin started going transparent as more and more chakra formed in the mouth. Ishizu started making hand signs. "IS AN EXPLOSION!" Just as Deidara detonated, Ishizu slammed his hands on the ground, and smoke appeared. Not even Obito knew what happened to Sasuke and his friend as a massive explosion erupted where they were. "I hope you stay dead. Your presence made it hard for the Akatsuki. With you dead, project Tsuki no me will finally be achieved," said Obito as he kamuied away before the explosion reached him. In the Akatsuki layer "Deidara has done it. He always talked about his Art but doing something like that is just like him," commented Kisame in an amused tone. "It is a pity that Deidara died, but we still are going to on." "Aren''t you sad that your brother died?" Kakuzu looked over at Itachi, who remained silent. "Sasuke Uchiha was together with Yamamoto. It is unclear if they both survived or not," Zetsu informed the others. "What happened to Tobi?" asked Hidan. "Probably dead," answered Zetsu. Even if it wasn''t said, everyone was glad the loudmouth was gone. With that, the Akatsuki canceled their Jutsu. "So you think your brother is dead, Itachi?" asked Kisame as they were back in the cave. Itachi was silent for a while as he looked into the sky. "... No, he is alive. Isn''t that right, Yamamoto?" Kisame turned towards the trees where Itachi was looking. "To answer your question. Yes, he is alive. I got him out of Deidara''s massive suicide bomb, but I doubt he needed help. I just wanted to be safe. Unfortunately, I also doubt our mutual enemy saw our escape. ''Tobi'' and I had a nice encounter, and he also escaped. I am not sure if he thinks I am dead or but let''s hope he does." "Tell Sasuke after he healed to come to the old Uchiha hideout. He will know what I mean. I will wait for him there." Nodding, the shadow clone left to tell the original. Amegakure "Do you think he is dead?" asked Konan as she stood next to the Deva Path. "It doesn''t matter if he is alive or not. Zetsu found the Nanabi. Just as we thought she is in Konoha together with the Kyuubi," said Pain as he started with his Rinnegan in the direction of Konoha. "So what shall we do?" asked Konan, but this question was not directed to Pain. A man came out of the shadows. "At first I had my doubt and hoped he died, but something like that won''t kill him. I found Sasuke with his team but there was no trace of Yamamoto. Either way, we can hunt them as long as he isn''t with the Nanabi and Kyuubi. You will get ready and go to Konoha and get both Jinch¨±riki. Kakuzu and Hidan will come with you. It is time that our enemies shall fear the name of Madara Uchiha again." Time of the explosion Sasuke looked around and saw that he was in a cave. "Where are we?" asked the Uchiha. "I transported us away from the explosion. Unfortunately, we have to leave. This place does not welcome strangers. There is something else," said Ishizu, gaining Sasuke''s attention. "What is it?" "One of my Shadow Clones found your brother, but from this moment, I cannot travel with you. I have to leave for a while. My encounter with the masked man will bring attention to us if he sees you with me again after the explosion. Akatsuki should think I am dead. I will watch over you, but you have to find your brother on your own from this point on. He said something about an abandoned Uchiha compound. He will wait there for you." Sasuke nodded, knowing where he had to go. Ishizu grabbed his bag pack and took a seal out. "If you find him, place this seal before entering and I will make sure nobody interrupts your conversation." Ishizu handed Sasuke the seal and said goodbye. With another ''poof'' Sasuke was teleported to Suigetsu. "So? Are you ready to do it?" spoke a voice in the shadow. Ishizu stood up. A fire burned in his eyes. "Yes. For my love, I will do everything." Then he looked at the silhouette. "I will prepare the things for you. I hope everything is going like I want to and the encounter with ''him'' won''t be as hard." Chapter 93 - Title at the End Place Konoha General POV During the time the original Ishizu worked with Sasuke, one Wood Clone was hiding in the Hokage room. Its mission was simple: wait for Jiraiya to enter the room and listen to what he says to Tsunade. And today was that time as the white-haired Sannin came and announced he found the place where Pain was, the Village Hidden in the Rain; Amegakure. The clone smirked at how smart Jiraiya was, taking Tsunade into the open to talk with her, knowing that people could be listening and in the open, it was paradoxically easier to ignore them. Yet a Wood Clone was something nobody thought could be there, so he followed them. Clone POV Listening to their conversation was interesting. Amegakure was known to be the battlefield in the second Shinobi war between Iwa, Konoha, and Suna, and as in most wars, not even civilians were spared. Many people died, be it old or young, healthy or sick, and as a result, to end the suffering, it gave rise to the original Akatsuki. Since the war, Amegakure was never stable, with a paranoid Hanzo controlling it and people living in poverty. Ishizu believed in one theory: Ame became like it was now thanks to one person; Shimura Danzo. Only a handful of people knew the true reason Akatsuki was created, and it wasn''t to collect the Tailed Beasts or to create some giant genjutsu. After Yahiko died by suicide which was orchestrated by Danzo, Nagato lost his shit, and Pain was born who controlled the land as a self-proclaimed god due to the belief that only a god can have the Rinnegan. Nobody knew what happened inside since then. "It is dangerous to go alone. If you need a strategy, then talk with Sasaki. He will help you," said Tsunade. "I am a Sannin. I don''t need help from him. I can handle it alone," was Jiraiya''s response. The Toad Sage was confident to find out the truth. ''In another timeline, we would have seen what happened, but I am sorry, Jiraiya. Not this time.'' I listened to them until the sun started to set. ''Soon he will leave and then I will make the hardest decision I have ever made.'' Hearing Jiraiya making a bet on him living or not made me smile. ''This time, Tsunade, you will lose.'' Seeing Jiraiya leave and feeling he was out of range, I made myself known by making a wood prison around Tsunade and placing power seals and genjutsu seals around the area so we wouldn''t be disturbed. It was time. General POV As soon as Tsunade realized she was trapped inside stood a wood prison, she jumped up and hit it with her fist, only for it to stay normal. "My grandfather''s wood style. Yamato is with Naruto so the only one who can do it is.." "Me," came the voice as part of wood opened to let a masked person inside. "Yamamoto," growled Tsunade, getting ready to fight. "Don''t waste your strength. Jiraiya is already out of range and the Genjutsu I alloyed on it will make even a trained Anbu not see us so we can have a pleasant chat." "What are you doing here? We thought you are with Sasuke looking for Itachi Uchiha." "For being the granddaughter of Hashirama, you certainly forget that he could do a special kind of clone. One that normal means can not distinguish. What stands in front of you is but a Wood Clone while the original is with Sasuke currently on our way to Itachi while easily avoiding the Konoha team your send after us." Tsunade had many questions about how he got the Wood Style, but it shocked her because he knew the information about the team sent for Sasuke. "For how long were you spying on us? You knew about the Kazekage and the Sanbi, but we concealed our conversations with one of the best Fuinjutsu experts we have. Not even Danzo could hear what we talked about unless¡­" If Yamamoto didn''t have a mask on, Tsunade would see a grin appearing on his face. "Unless I was one of the people who were inside the room." Tsunade''s mind raced through every single person she knew who was inside to find the right one, but she couldn''t find a sleeper agent. As if Ishizu read her mind, he spoke. "I ?ssure you, I am not from ROOT. Danzo has no power over me. I was born in Konoha and was adopted by the best parents I have ever had. I couldn''t be happier living in this village." "Then why? Why are you doing all of this to your comrades? If you had such a good life, then why did you betray them?" questioned Tsunade while she grabbed her hands in frustration and hit the wall next to her. "Because I have a dream. And to fulfill this dream, I had to give up on being a Konoha Shinobi. I am coming closer to achieve it and I don''t want you to feel betrayed in the future, so I came here to resign as a Konoha Shinobi," Ishizu spoke calmly, yet his heart was beating faster than ever. "If so, then I demand as the Godaime Hokage to show me your face so I can label you as a missing-nin," demanded Tsunade as tears flew down her face. A sigh could be heard underneath the mask. "As you wish, Tsunade-sama." And with that, Ishizu took off his mask and looked directly into his Hokage''s eyes. In response, Tsunade gasped and took a step back. "Why?¡­ Why are you doing this, Ishizu?" asked Tsunade in shock seeing him standing before her. Her mind was completely blown away. The one who they thought was another enemy. The one who fought against Naruto and let Sasuke leave with Orochimaru was none other than one of their best shinobi, Ishizu Sasaki. "I already told you I am doing this for my dream." "AND WHAT KIND OF DREAM ARE YOU FOLLOWING THAT MADE YOU BETRAY YOUR VILLAGE?" shouted Tsunade in frustration before trying to hit Ishizu with her fist. The latter just stepped out of the wooden cage and appeared on another side. "My personal one. The time is drawing near, and I want to make it a reality." "Please tell me why you don''t ask for help from us? We could help you, Ishizu. Your friends¡­ Naruto¡­. we all could help you, so why? What made you think you have to betray us?" "Unfortunately, this is not possible. The steps I have to achieve are selfish and I am already halfway finished. I need a lot of chakra and by a lot, I am A LOT. Only the tailed beasts can provide me with enough," Ishizu started telling Tsunade. "Just like the Akatsuki, one of my goals was to find the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beasts but instead of su?k?n? them dry off their chakra and leaving them for dead, I made a plan where I would find each Jinchuriki and slowly take their chakra away without killing them. Even if I followed my dream, I would never fall so low as to kill children, friends, or my student. It stops one from going crazy." "Then Naruto and Fuu?" "I came up with this plan during my stay with the pandas to extract the chakra eagerly. The first chakra I took was for the Nine-Tails." Ishizu held up his arms, signaling for Tsunade to not charge at him. "It was not Naruto, I swear. I couldn''t bring myself to take chakra from Naruto, for he is my student, and I swore I would never harm him. The seal his father made is one of the most complex ones and tempting with it would risk freeing the Kyuubi. No, I went to the fire shrine, where I found the Pseudo Jinchuriki. Surely you must have heard about that. If not, then I can ?ssure you that he is alive. Fuu was my next target. When I had my free week with Naruto, we went to the Waterfall village where I took her with me. You can call it kidnapping and I''ll call it taking advantage of people''s stupidity. Just like Naruto, she was treated horribly, and as I did with Naruto, I gave her a home with a family that loved her. She would have died either way as the Akatsuki knew where she was. As compensation, I took some of the Nanabi''s chakra. She has a glorious future ahead. Then I saved him again, where I took my personality as Yamamoto and let Gaara live by sabotaging Akatsuki. I encountered Yugito Nii and the Nibi a few months ago and helped her survive against two immortal Akatsuki members who she stood no chance against. For the Sanbi, you know what happened, so I don''t have to say it. For the Yonbi and Gobi, I got through a different meaning I won''t tell you." Tsunade listened to what Ishizu''s clone said and was baffled. "The boy you took the Kyuubi''s chakra did not have much. We know that the Akatsuki kill the Jinchuriki to get every last ounce of chakra, so I doubt that little inside this kid was enough. If you didn''t take it from Naruto, then where did you get more?" asked Tsunade, trying to get more information and hoping somebody could find them. Ishizu knew she was stalling, but he didn''t care. "To know about it, I have to tell you that Sasuke did not kill Orochimaru." "What?" "I had a similar expression you have now. I thought by getting rid of Sasuke''s cursed seal and him killing Orochimaru would cause the snake''s death, but even I underestimated the loyalty of Kabuto and the stubbornness of the snake sannin to finally die. How ironic, once a dangerous Shinobi, he was reduced to living in a tank, just like his experiments. My spy got the information that he survived and I promised Sarutobi on his dying breath that I would finish what he could not. But before I could do so, I found a certain scroll with two special individuals. Have you heard of the Gold and Silver Brothers?" "They lived during Tobirama''s reign as the second Hokage and killed him. What about them?" "Yes. It is not well known but once upon a time before your grandfather went on Bijuu hunt, they tried to capture the Kyuubi to gain power but failed. The fox literally ate the brothers and, like many, they would have died if not for them getting the ridiculous idea to eat the chakra the fox was made of. How they did it, I don''t know. Some bullshit from Kishimito, but let us focus. Every other person would have died from consuming such chakra, but they survived. Why? Maybe they were lucky or some think they were descendants of the legendary figure, the Sage of the Six Paths. What matters is that they, just like the shrine boy, transformed into Pseudo Jinchuriki, but with much more chakra. Lucky for me, Orochimaru told me where he stored the scrolls of the brothers he had, begging me to let him live, but I did not. I was the one who killed your formed comrade and monster. Hate me all you want for it but he deserved it." It was silence for a moment before Tsunade spoke up. "Even if you have enough chakra from the Tailed Beast, you still have to find the Hashibi." "Ah yes, Killer Bee. The brother of the Fourth Raikage, A. Said to be in full control of his Tailed Beast. Orochimaru had once an encounter with the last Jinchuriki from the Hashibi, but that chakra he stole was not enough. As soon as Sasuke finishes his talk with Itachi about the truth behind the massacre, he is going to be the next target. He is strong but I have my ways to get the chakra I need." Tsunade didn''t talk, processing the information, so Ishizu continued. "I think I spoke enough about my plan. Now before we go further into why I am doing this, why don''t I give you some good news." "And what ''good news'' do you have?" Tsunade spoke with partially closed teeth. "Your little bet with Jiraiya is already determined," said Ishizu with confidence. Seeing her confused expression, Ishizu smiled. "Honestly, I think Jiraiya is a moron. Thinking he can take on Nagato and his 6 Paths. Alone at that. This is a suicide mission and we both know it. Going alone means death. He would stand no chance against someone like him. Not that he wouldn''t go even if he knew the truth and all the power Nagato had, as it would only aggravate him to go even more, seeing as he was once his student. No, what matters is that I, or rather my partners, come in for. I will watch over him, Tsunade, and I will guarantee that he will survive." Then Ishizu took his headband from his forehead. He glanced at it as memories filled his head about all the things he did while it was on him. A symbol of his home. Then he threw it before the feet of Tsunade. "I won''t need this anymore. It was nice having this, but with what I am about to do, I will never be a Shinobi of Konoha. I don''t expect it but I hope you and Naruto and everyone else can forgive me." Tsunade could believe that Ishizu Sasaki, a student of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, as well as the teacher of Naruto Uzumaki, deserted. Title: The Deserter Ishizu Sasaki Chapter 94 - A Mighty Finger Hold General POV "Why are you crying?" a young voice spoke, making Ishizu look down to find a small baby panda on the ground. The latter placed his hand on his check to feel the tears running down. "Huh?" Ishizu wished his face to see tears dripping down his face. "It is nothing. Just the wind. Now go play with your brothers and sisters." In reality, Ishizu just got the information from his clone before he did the ultimate betrayal. He defected from Konoha. Many thoughts passed through his brain. Some asking if it was the right thing to do. Others told him it was the only choice he had. It didn''t matter now. He did it, and there will be consequences he would overcome. Nothing would stop him from freeing his wife. Still, somewhere deep inside Ishizu''s soul, he feared Naruto would hate him for what he did. Ishizu would still go on with his plan, but hearing that his student hated him, he would lose a part of himself. Ishizu loved teaching. He could have left Naruto alone and took his and Sasuke''s blood without their consent, but he wanted to train Naruto. Seeing your students growing up and becoming stronger than they had been in a story made Ishizu proud that he did the right thing. If the same student now told him he hated him for abandoning him for a woman, he would accept it, but part of him would break and Ishizu knew he would never be the same. That''s why Ishizu defected now and not later. Given time, Naruto would understand why he did it. "There is still time until Sasuke reaches Itachi, so what should I do?" In *DD* "Brother Tau, Sage Ishizu''s message came, telling us to be ready," Denku informed the other panda. Tau was eating dumplings, but this message made him stop for a moment. "So it is finally time to make our grand entrance? I was wondering when it would happen." Out of nowhere, two pandas tackled Denku, who was about to pick up a dumping. "Gahh! What the hell is wrong with you two?" shouted Denku as he grasped his head in pain. "Oh, don''t be such a sissy. It didn''t even hurt," said the first. "Yeah. You should be grateful we bless you with our presence, Denku," said the second. "Do they really have to come with us? They are so... annoying," Denku finished the sentence with a frown. "Hn. That''s why you will never find a girlfriend, Denku. You have to show respect to the female gender. Just like our new Sage does," said Yang Yang as her eyes morphed into hearts. Denku rolled his eyes before taking a dumpling and finally ate it. "The only thing he does if you latch onto him is to ''Shinra Tensei'' you, but for some reason, it makes you want him more. You females are all confusing. I am at a loss." "And that''s why, me dear Denku, you will be forever single," teased Yin Yin. "You just don''t have the right vibe." "Girls, Stop teasing Denku. He is too stupid to understand you." "Hey!" "Stay here and wait for Sage Po to arrive. We will wait for the seal on Jiraiya''s back to activate and teleport us to him. Our priority is to secure the old Toad Sage." "That means we won''t engage in battle with the Rinnegan wielder as long as he stays away from us." "But if he does...." spoke Yang Yang, rubbing her hands together. "Then we will show him the power of Yin and Yang," said Yin Yin with a creepy smile that gave Denku goosebumps. ''I pray for you Ishizu-kun to never meet them again.'' In Amegakure, Jiraiya was confronted by Konan and one of the Paths of Pain. The Sannin was shocked despite not showing it that his former students were alive. Unfortunately, his words were not coming through as Pain attacked his former master. The battle was one legend and showed just how strong Jiraiya really was even though he had no idea what the abilities of the Rinnegan were. Back in the Dumpling Dynasty, Brother Long and Sage Po arrived with the others. *Sure thing, Old Man. We will show that little boy what real pain is. Am I right Yin Yin?* Yin Yin, who stood before a mirror and was doing evil laugh impressions, nodded. Denku could only facepalm. *Didn''t I say you aren''t going to fight?* frowned Tau, only for a staff to hit the ground, turning everyone''s head to the noise. *If somebody will fight, then it will be me,* states Po. All of them looked at him with a shocked expression. Po smiled. *It brings back memories of fighting a Rinnegan user. Hagoromo was quite strong, and he still was no match for me. This boy? Ha! *Master Po, shouldn''t our priority be to save the Toad Sage?* inquired Tau calling out the real reason to go out. Po just waved his pawn in the air. *Of course we will save him. It''s our mission. That''s why YOU are going. I will fight with the wannabe god while YOU take the toad boy with you. Do YOU have a problem with that?* Tau shook his head, knowing that if the Sage wanted something, he couldn''t be stopped. *It is time. Let''s go!* In Amegakure, the Paths of Pain pierced Jiraiya with their chakra receivers, rendering him immobile. Using his last strength, Jiraiya raised his hand to write down the truth about Pain in his secret code before a large seal on his back activated. "Wha-?" coughed Jiraiya before collapsing on the ground, not being able to write on Fukasuke. *So this is the other Rinnegan wielded. Going by the corpses in front of us that are controlled by the chakra conductors, the real one is not here,* a disappointing voice from the middle of the smoke spoke up. *I am sorry to inform you, Sage Po. We are in the Elemental Nations. They don''t speak this language here. That is why I told you to learn it,* the voice from the right explained. *And I say they should learn my language. Even Ishizu-kun knows how to speak it. Why can''t the rest?* A paw grabbed Tau''s shoulder. *Don''t argue with him, master Tau. Let him have his moment,* spoke Long. "Who are you?" asked, or rather demanded, the Deva Path. *Your Doom,* came the reply that, like before, nobody understood. "It doesn''t matter. Everyone will fall before Pain." Each Path immediately charged at the middle panda but with a slight wave motion, every Path except the middle one got flung away. "Your bow head before elderlying men. Those eyes too, he not worthily attacking me," Po spoke in broken elemental. The rest of the pandas surrounded Jiraiya and Fukasuke. "Master Tau. Why are you here? How?" asked the old toad as he worried about his student. "There is no time. Your student here is on the brink of death. We shall take him to our sacred land and see if there is any hope for him. Go to Konoha and inform them that Jiraiya found out where the leader is," spoke Tau in a commanding voice. Then the atmosphere around Tau changed as he looked at the small toad. "There is only one thing you cannot say." Fukasuke shivered. The presence of Tau was enormous. "What is it?" "You cannot tell anyone that your student Jiraiya survived the encounter. Even we are not sure if he will. Konoha has to face the danger that is coming if we fail to do it. We are no babysitters. Sage Po allowed only one person to know the truth of Jiraiya state. We are not sure if he will be fine, but the person who can know what happened here is Tsunade Senju and only if she is alone. This is our message from our new Sage. Failure to comply will have severe consequences. Not only for you but also for your Toad Clan. Am I understood, Fukasuke-kun?" Fukasuke''s mind raced. He didn''t understand what was happening, but he knew that to anger a panda was certain death. He nodded in agreement and ran. While Po had his dealing with Pain, the rest of the pandas analyzed Jiraiya. "Wow! So cool! This human is still alive after so many injuries. He lost his arm, all of his ribs are broken, his throat is crushed and his intestines are ruptured. It is good that we are here and can heal him but that is only happening because his will is so strong," spoke Yang Yang, clearly amazed at the tenacity Jiraiya showed. "Get him immediately to DD and get him in life support. Our goal is to let him live until Sage Ishizu arrives," commanded Long. Long, Denku, and the sisters Reverse-summoned to DD while Tau stayed behind and watched how his Sage fought the enemy. He enjoyed watching his Sage completely humiliating his enemy, who thought he was a God. Somewhere a certain red-haired man was frowning as he watched through his Rinnegan. No matter what his Deva Path did, nothing worked on the big panda in front of him. He was being mocked! His Shinra Tensei, as well as his Bansho Ten''in, were shrugged off as if gravity centered around that ''Big Fat Panda''. Meanwhile, the panda yawned as he scratched his belly as he casually slapped another Shinra Tensei away with his pawn. Suddenly, his face hardened, and he glared at his enemy. "Did you just thought I am a big fat panda?" The panda disappeared and even the Rinnegan couldn''t trace the speed. Then he reappeared before Pain and out of reflex the Deva Path tried to hit him, but his fist was caught with his index finder held by the paw while Po''s pinky was up. "I am not just a big fat panda." Po blinked a few times as he remembered something. *Wait, didn''t I say that to Tai Lung too? Well, either way. I am THE Big Fat Panda. Unfortunately, you are not Tai Lung and I am too bored to explain to you how this works so, Skadoosh,* said Po as he flexed his pinky. Only for nothing to happen. There was silence. ... "What¡­ are you doing?" asked Pain. *Hmm? This should send you to the spirit world. Am I forgetting something?* Pain had enough as he kicked Po away, only for the fat to absorb the attack and repelling him away. *Hmm? It is on my tongue but I can''t remember why it is not working?* Po sat down midair and began thinking. *Maybe because this is not a mortal? You told us that in your youth you couldn''t perform the Wuxi Finger Hold because your enemy Kai was a spirit warrior and this Pain is but a corpse,* explained Tau. *That''s right. I am getting old.* Then Po looked at the Deva Path. *It seems our fight ends here. Our mission is over, so I can''t pummel you to the ground, since neither will learn from it. By the way, your eyes are not your own. Uzumaki''s such as you cannot be born with them. Take this lesson from somebody who fought against the Sage of the Six Paths personally. You are being used by the masked man. If you want to learn the truth of how you got your eyes the try to invade Konoha. We won''t stop you but there you will find your answer,* spoke Po in his own language so everything he said wouldn''t be understood by Nagato. Inside Ame, a weak man with the Rinnegan looked up. "I am not sure why, but whatever this panda said would be groundbreaking if I could understand it." Chapter 95 - Sage Art: Chrono-Stasis Back in the Dumping Dynasty, the rest of the pandas appeared. "Quick, we need him to bring to one of the sealing arrays before he died," shouted Denku. "Let me do it." Brother Long took the beaten Jiraiya in bride style before sprinting towards the direction of the nearest sealing array. The others followed closely behind. None of them talked. Not even the always cheerful girl who now had a serious expression. They were given a mission of uttermost importance, and they would do their job. No time for funny comments. Brother Long appeared at the sealing array before moving to one position. The others arrived and positioned themselves, forming a square around the human. "You know what we have to do," spoke Denku, while the others nodded. "Sage Art: Secret Panda Sealing Technique: Chrono-Stasis." Each panda took a handful of dumplings and ate them. Circulating the nature energy, the pandas drew it out of their body. A mixture of black and white engulfed the Sannin before he turned into stone. In normal cases, the sealing would only work until the nature energy left the pandas, leaving Jiraiya to die, but the sealing arrays were connected to the very land of the Dumpling Dynasty providing unlimited nature energy for the sealing to work. Seeing that Jiraiya was turned to stone, the pandas walked towards the statue to examine it. "It has worked. Even in this state, I can feel his chakra circulating through his pathways. It is like he is in a night of eternal sleep," states Yang Yang, confirming that Jiraiya was alive, somehow. "And he will be in this state until Sage Ishizu cancels it. The Toad Sage was at death''s door when we put him here. He will be after he cancels the technique. Nobody knows what the person experiences during the time in Chrono sleep, but the sooner he gets out, the better. This is no life," said brother Long. The others stayed silent before walking away from the sealing array to find where Sage Po was. Near the throne of the panda Sage, two pandas appeared. *Now that''s what I call an entrance, right, Tau? Using smoke to mark it before engaging the puppets and block each of them. Why do you think I took all of you? Of course, to match the numbers. I could have easily protected the human, but I made our entrance totally awesome. Do you think I went overboard?* asked Po. Hearing this, Tau had to resist the urge to roll his eyes and voice out his genuine feeling. *I doubt it. You showed that boy how strong you are.* Po chucked. *You should take a course in lying. You suck. Now, where are the others? Let''s hope they saved him.* Walking a few meters, the two pandas saw the rest coming to them. *We have successfully sealed the Toad Sage in the sealing array,* brother Long bowed to Po, who smiled in return. *Outstanding job as always. Now you can relax as we wait for our beloved human Sage to come back and do his job.* Back in Ame, Zetsu appeared. "What happened here?" asked the black half as he saw that every path except the Deva was destroyed. "Someone knew that Jiraiya of the Sannin wanted to infiltrate. Fearing that he would die, the same person used a Fuinjutsu. 6 pandas came out of it and took injured Jiraiya with them, but I doubt they saved him. The damage done to his body is enough to kill him. I got a mission from Madara to capture the Nine-Tails, but it seems we have to delay it for a bit," said Pain as he looked at his paths. "I will contact Hidan and Kakuzu to stand down and wait for orders while you repair your bodies. I am going to watch a very interesting fight for the time," said black Zetsu before disappearing. While underground, black Zetsu didn''t know, but the mentioning of pandas gave him a sense of fear. Something in his very nature feared pandas, and he didn''t know why. In another place, the original Ishizu appeared before the Uchiha compound as he saw his Wood Clone approaching. "You have done what I told you to do?" asked Ishizu, his clone. "We place each gem where it should be. No one, not Itachi, Sasuke, Obito, or even Zetsu, can break through the barrier once we erect it. We will draw attention to the sheer size the barrier will make, but they will all fail to enter," answered the Clone. "Perfect. Now I just have to wait for Itachi to arrive. He will wait for Sasuke, thinking his little brother wants revenge, but in truth, he wants answers. He will get it either from his brother or from me. It is time for Sasuke to learn the truth about the Uchiha clan. If he still doesn''t want to accept the truth..." Here Ishizu took two scrolls out and looked at them. "Then somebody else will tell him." "What about Naruto and the rest of Konoha?" asked the Clone. "A good question. Originally, Tobi would block the attempt by Konoha to enter the battle of the two Uchiha brothers. Even if Naruto is strong, Kamui is a powerful ability if you don''t know how it works. But. The appearance of the Gem barrier will draw Obito''s attention. Zetsu will probably contact Obito, saying he cannot reach the inside of the barrier. Obito''s curiosity will be awake and he will see for himself what is going on. Therefore, leaving Naruto and the rest in peace to continue to the barrier. And this is where everyone will stay as nothing will penetrate it. No Rasengan, no Gentle First, no Bugs. Nothing. Everyone will patiently wait, wrecking their brains out what might happen inside." "What about the fight?" asked the Clone again. Ishizu shrugged. "Depends on what Sasuke wants. He will hear the truth either way, but if they will fight or not is up to them. The rest will naturally watch if there is going to be a fight outside of the compound, as the barrier is translucent. The outcome is obvious. Sasuke won''t kill his brother, for he doesn''t have hatred for him. And the King of Hell will heal Itachi''s illness. I even give them a present when I arrive." "I never mentioned it and I believe Danzo was quite furious as I took them before he managed." The scroll poofed and two glass containers appeared in Ishizu''s hand with two eyeballs inside. "Looks creepy to give them their parent''s eyes but I have no use for them so they can do whatever they want with them. Burn them or maybe take them as a memento?" Ishizu''s words were interrupted as he felt two familiar chakras. "The two arrived. It seems we have to wait and see what happens now. Let us also hope that Po and the rest saved Jiraiya from Pain." With that, the Clone merged with Ishizu, and he disappeared. At the same time, in the Valley of the End, a masked man was sitting on Madara''s statue. "So the fight is coming and there was no sign of this Yamamoto near Sasuke. Let''s see who is going to win, Itachi or Sasuke. Either way, I win." With Sasuke "Who was that?" asked Suigetsu as a Shadow Clone got destroyed by Sasuke. "Nobody of concern. We are almost there. Let''s go," came the reply of Sasuke. Kisame waited on the roof before Sasuke arrived when he felt a familiar chakra. "So you came? I thought your friend Yamamoto would give us a chance to meet. He seems strong and I would want to fight him," said Kisame as he soon saw Ishizu walking towards him. "Didn''t I tell you that I am Yamamoto? It was just a name I used to confuse the Akatsuki, and it allowed me to do my business without trouble." "Whatever. I just have one question." "Ask." "What do you intend to do after this? I love fighting, but that doesn''t mean I am dumb. Last time you said you want to create a better world and would tell me, so how are you going to do that?" asked Kisame, his eyes narrowed on Ishizu. Ishizu looked directly into Kisame''s eyes before a smile appeared on his face. "By starting a war." Chapter 96 - Uchiha Confrontation Alternative title: Gems are truly, truly outrageous. General POV "A war? And do tell how is that going to lessen the corruption of this world? We already had 3 Shinobi Wars, and they changed nothing. Even before the villages were created by the first Kage, the Shinobis of old fought and fought. They spilled huge amounts of blood for nothing. So tell me, oh great Strategist, how are you going to create peace with causing a war?" asked Kisame in a mocking tone as he glared at Ishizu. One wrong world and Kisame would attack. He heard enough talk about making things right, and each one was a lie. The best one was from ''Madara'' or whoever he was. Now he waited for Ishizu''s answer. "As I said before. Your leader, Pain, or as he is really called, Nagato, had a pleasant start. People always fight against others who they don''t like. So Nagato thought: If we collect the 9 Tailed Beast, people will stop focusing on others but would direct everything to him and he could rule over everyone as a god. Unfortunately, that''s where our similarities end. And no, I don''t want to rule people as a god. Nagato''s belief was to create a forbidden jutsu to instill fear in the people. He would have a weapon with which he could destroy a nation instantly. I think otherwise. A war must happen. A war so large and dangerous that the Kage and the rest must realize that without each other, they will not win. Fear draws people together. A worldwide fear of war will make the Kage realize that they have to come together and negotiate to combat the enemy. The Tailed Beasts are the bait for the Kage''s realizing what is happening. Our little Uchiha friend wants a war, and he is going to get one, but you and I both know that war leaves corpses. I am not saying that this one won''t be without them as I would be lying, but the war will happen with a winner already. The nations will combine their strength to fight, and they will win. Such a battle will make them realize that they are the same. An era of peace will follow. I am not going to say that there won''t be any bad people, there will and always will be. But the companionship that will be developed during the war will keep the villages together. The new generation who fought together will protect the peace against any outside forces," explained Ishizu in an excited tone. He truly believed in what he was saying. "Maybe you are right? We just have to see, don''t we?" Kisame showed him a toothy grin. Ishizu felt Sasuke''s chakra coming closer. "I know you have developed a bond with Itachi during your time together. He is a genius. Come find me after their fight. I have something to do for you." "And what is it?" asked Kisame, not showing any signs of approval of Ishizu''s talk about Itachi. Ishizu smirked in response. "Well, you said you want to fight me but I can give you a better opponent." That made Kisame raise his eyebrow. "Oh, and who do you have in mind?" a smirk formed on Kisame''s mouth. "The Hashibi Jinchuriki of Kumogakure, Rap God Killer Bee." "You should go the moment you see a massive barrier coming to life. Our little Uchiha friend is somewhere here, probably stalling the Konoha team that is after Sasuke. Use the seal and I will find you and I will take you to him for you to have a good fight." Kisame took the seal and put it away and Ishizu left before Sasuke appeared before Kisame. Just like in canon, Kisame only let Sasuke through while Suigetsu decided to fight against Kisame and his sword Samehada. On the other side of the forest, the Konoha team encountered a masked person. "Hello, Konoha team. I, the magnificent Tobi, will fight you," said ''Tobi'' in his fake happy voice. "Who the hell is this guy?" asked Kiba. "The book Kabuto gave us didn''t mention him," said Yamato. "Oh, I am a newbie, so go easy on me on?" replied Tobi as he made a mental note of Kabuto and information leakage. Then Tobi saw Naruto smirk before turning around to see another Naruto fly at him with a Rasengan in hand. Unfortunately for Naruto, he just passed through. "You missed, haha," laughed Tobi in a playful matter. Whenever Ishizu talked about personalities in fights, he was always serious. "Never, and I mean it, never, never think low on your enemies who have a crazy personality. There is a difference between pure carnage, madness, and your common thug, who thinks he is stronger than you, AND a special personality. You will find it out the hard way if I don''t tell you this, but never think about people like they are weak. On the contrary, most people who exhibit such traits are monsters in sheep''s clothes and only wait for you to lower your guard to strike the moment they see an opening. Let me give you an example by speaking about all three Sannin. Tsunade is gambling and drinking somewhere in the Land of Fire but can smash your skull to paste with one fist. Jiraiya is a super pervert and likes to peep into women''s baths to write his smut book but controls a spy network and can drown you in Sage Mode-powered attacks. Orochimaru... well he looks creepy, so one should be wary when seeing him even if he isn''t about to steal your body and trying to learn all the jutsus and be immortal. Then we have Kakashi Hatake, who is chronically late and reads smut in public, yet is a dangerous opponent who was a Sharingan and many jutsus that are deadly. There are many, many more. I have seen my share in the last war." This is where Ishizu''s eyes darkened. "But, the worst are those that have a happy personality. When you see one of them, stay close to your friends. Their happiness only indicates that he doesn''t fear you and if he wants, he could kill you," explained Ishizu to a young Naruto. ''Maybe Ishizu-sensei knew I will face such an opponent one day, but so soon?'' thought Naruto. Somewhere in the forest, Ishizu sneezed. "I don''t need a cold right now. I am going to perform the hardest Fuinjutsu barrier ever. A cold is not going to stop me." Naruto looked around and found that Karin was panting. "Karin, what is wrong?" asked Naruto in a whisper. "His... chakra. It... is so dark," Karin stuttered in a shiver. Now Naruto was certain about the masked man was strong and was only playing with them. "Guys. We have to be careful with him. Karin said his chakra is dark, and he is strong," said Naruto to the rest. ''So it finally begins. It is a pity that I have to activate the barrier myself and not a clone, therefore being unable to go inside. A Shadow Clone shall go then.'' Producing another Clone, Ishizu ordered him to wait inside and watch what was is going to happen and only to interfere if one of them was dying. Ishizu looked at the timer he and the other 3 Wood Clones had. When the timer reached 0, they would activate the barrier. Sasuke POV Finally, it was time to confront my brother and learn about the truth Ishizu talked about. I will never forget what happened that night, but I need to learn the truth. Why Itachi, why did you kill the clan? "So we meet at last, Sasuke?" I saw Itachi sitting in the chair. I activated my Sharingan. "And this will be our last fight. You will tell me the ''real'' reason why you killed our clan." I wanted to talk, and he attacked me with Shuriken. "You came here to kill me and I have not the slightest idea what you are talking about," said Itachi as I matched him and fired a fireball at his own. "You want me to die, right? Then show me if you are capable." We engaged in Taijutsu. "Those were my thoughts after you used your Tsukuyomi on me up until the academy. I felt weak and under Kakashi, I didn''t learn enough. Then I was beaten by Lee and I saw how the dead last, Naruto, beat up the strongest Genin at that time. I felt angry at my own weakness until the point I met Naruto''s sensei." During the time we fought, I focused on Itachi''s eyes before I put my sword through his body. "Enough with the Genjutsu. I want to know one thing before you talk. Who is the person that helped you kill the Uchiha Clan? You said it before that there is one more Uchiha. Tell me!" "His name is..." "Not Uchiha Madara," came another voice, and I turned around to see somebody leaning on the wall. "Ishizu," said Itachi as we both looked at him. I saw Itachi frown at him, meaning he thought the person he worked with was Madara. "As I told you before, Itachi, Madara Uchiha died. I even know when. While most think he died against Hashirama Senju, this is not true. Don''t ask me why, but Madara used the Izanagi to cheat his death and lived for a long time. Up until the end of the 3rd Shinobi War. At that point, he was but a husk of his former self. At that time, Madara found the person who would later take on the name of his master and wreak havoc in the elemental nation by¡­" The clone couldn''t talk anymore when Itachi killed him with a kunai to its head. "It doesn''t matter what he has to say. This is only between us, Sasuke. You came here to kill me for what I did to our clan; to our mother and father. Show me you are worthy of the Mangekyo Sharingan." I cursed inside. Ishizu-sensei was right. Something is wrong with Itachi. It seems like he wants me to kill him. I will go with his facade before getting the truth out of him. I know Ishizu-sensei will not let anyone interfere with the fight, so I have plenty of time to question my older brother. "Then let me show you how strong my eyes got after the last time." Ishizu POV I pinched my nose at my mistake to underestimate Itachi''s determination to die. Now I had to concentrate and couldn''t use my chakra to make another clone. All that was left was to hope Sasuke could convince Itachi not to die. I smirked as I looked at the Gem I had before me. I know this is an important moment for the Uchiha brothers, but it is also the same for me. I am going to use the strongest Fuinjutsu barrier there is. It is stronger than the 4 crimson ray formation. If you do not include stable Juubitos''s 6 crimson ray formation, this is the strongest Fuinjutsu barrier somebody can perform without being the host of the Juubi. Unfortunately, its name reminded me of a certain support character from a game I used to play before being here in Naruto. Not sure why I remembered it this vividly since I had a love/hate relationship with it. I should have noticed that when I saw the Gems with Tamara. The name was on my tongue when I was told the name of the barrier and for the barrier to work, not only did I have to shout the name of the jutsu but I had to do two phrases of that certain man for it to work. That''s when I remembered. Tamara wanted to explain who the barrier belonged to, but was confused when I told her I knew who she meant. It also confused me about how Tamara knew about him. We were in Naruto, but maybe this was different as Po also was here. Multiverse and all that ****. I sighed and had to maintain myself not to cough blood up. "Let''s do it, guys." "Hai!" the clones replied. I took a deep breath as I said the two phrases. "That glimmer of hope you see, that''s me! Gems are truly, truly, TRULY outrageous!" I coughed blood up, speaking the last ''TRULY'' extra loud and with force as I saw the barrier appearing, and a man with a hammer ?ssaulted my mind, wearing nothing but pink. "Pick me the next time and you will surely reach Dia, you PP, meaning you Platinum Pleb," he spoke, presenting me his muscles and as he vanished, gave me a last wink. I had to keep my will together and refrained from shouting at that man every profanity I knew of. "Hiden Fuinjutsu Barrier: Gem Prison." Chapter 97 - A Friendly Talk What happened last time "Hiden Fuinjutsu Barrier: Gem Prison." The gems around each Ishizu started glowing and connected with each other before going up and connecting themselves in a rectangular shape. "That should stop anyone getting inside. I hope they don''t fight each other, as I will not take the barrier down until I know for sure everything is fine. Let''s see how everyone else reacts." As Kisame blocked Suigetsu''s attack, he saw how a barrier formed just behind him. ''That must be his doing. He doesn''t want anyone to interfere.'' "What is happening, Jugo? What kind of barrier is that?" asked Suigetsu. "A strong one. We cannot break-in," answered Jugo. ''Slam, Slam.'' "We cannot pass through," said the white half. "What is that thing? We should be able to pass through everything. Tobi told us to tell him what happens inside," said the black half. Zetsu tried again, but the barrier was rooted deep inside the ground, not allowing him to enter. "We should group up with Tobi to tell him we can''t go inside," said the white half. "Then let''s go," answered the black half. With the Konoha team Tobi frowned when he saw a massive barrier emerging. That was not part of his plan. He would stall the Konoha team and let Sasuke fight Itachi. Sasuke would win due to Itachi''s illness and he would take him with him and make Sasuke his sub-ordinant. Now, this barrier appeared. He just hoped Zetsu could go through it. Just then, Zetsu appeared. "Oh no. What happened Zetsu-san?" asked Tobi. "The barrier won''t let us through. You have to do it yourself," answered the black half. "I will fight you another time. Goodbye." With that, Obito teleported to see for himself if he could enter. As Obito was gone, the Konoha team also made its way to a newly formed barrier. "There is someone behind the barrier," Hinata pointed out. Naruto quickly dashed towards to see a person sitting behind the barrier. "So, we see each other again, Naruto Uzumaki," the voice spoke in a calm tone. "Yamamoto. So you are the one who created this barrier?" asked Naruto as the rest appeared. "Greetings, Konoha Shinobi. It seems you all are here for Sasuke, but as you see, you are so close and yet so far away. Sasuke is already inside and confronting Itachi. It is unfortunate that I have to be here and have the barrier up so nobody can interfere," said Yamamoto. Karin frowned as she looked at Ishizu, who smiled at her. "Can''t read my chakra, Uzumaki? This barrier blocks all kinds of abilities." "But you did it not for us, right?" asked Naruto. "What do you mean, Naruto? For whom should he use the barrier," asked Kiba. "The masked man. We saw him using a space-time Ninjutsu. This barrier he created was for the sole purpose of letting him out of the fight, am I right?" asked Naruto. Yamamoto smirked. Naruto sure knew how to connect dots. "Clever boy, just like his father. Yes, it is true. This barrier is the strongest Fuinjutsu barrier I ever created. For people like him or any other space-time Jutsu users who think they can go wherever they want. A dangerous opponent indeed." "You know who he is," stared Kakashi. "I don''t know his name but I know what he has done to all of you, especially Naruto," said Yamamoto. "I have never met him in my life, but his power was crazy. My teacher told me about people like him. So how should I know him?" asked Naruto. "Oh, I was the one who taught Sasaki-san about people like him. As to how you know him..." Yamamoto smiled. "He is the reason for your parent''s death." The atmosphere turned glumly. Everyone started at Yamamoto. "What do you mean?" asked Yamato. "16 years ago, a masked man infiltrated Konoha. He used his space-time ninjutsu to find the 4th Hokage and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki." Naruto''s face turned grim. "He found out that when a female Jinchuriki is giving birth, the seal of the Kyuubi weakens. The masked man found Minato and Kushina killed everyone else and, with a surprise attack, he took the newborn child as his hostage to capture the Jinch¨±riki and extract the Kyuubi. Having done so, he let the Tailed Beast loose on Konoha while using the Mangeky¨­ Sharingan to control him just as once Madara Uchiha did against Hashirama Senju. Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage, stopped the Kyuubi''s Tailed Beast Bomb, but he was dragged into a fight against the Uchiha. The Hokage won due to figuring out how to fight his opponent, but the damage to Konoha was already done. Not only that, but the forceful extraction of a Tailed Beast meant certain death. Kushina survived for a little longer due to having the Uzumaki gens. Seeing no other option, Minato used the forbidden Reaper Death Seal to split the Kyuubi into Ying and Yang. Sealing the Yang into his son while taking the Yin into himself. The Kyuubi, filled with hatred, seeing his freedom would be taken once more, wanted to pierce the newborn with his claw, but he couldn''t. Using the Reaper, the Kyuubi was sealed into father and child and both parents died, leaving their son alone. They wanted him to be a hero, but they forgot the stupidity of the people," Yamamoto finished the story. "Truly a tragic story, am I right, Naruto?" By a bit, the people understood who Yamamoto was talking about. Naruto''s expression was well hidden, but he contained himself not to lose himself. There was always something else. Look beneath the underneath. "There is more to it," stared Naruto. "Telling me my birth story is not everything, right?" Yamamoto sighed. "There is so much more. He is the reason why Akatsuki became a terrorist organization." "Wait, they weren''t one before?" asked Kiba, confused. "Everything has its beginning. And so does the Akatsuki. A group of Ame orphans that wanted to bring peace to their village formed them. Unfortunately, the masked man fouled their plan and their leader died. The other one who saw him as a friend went mad and killed every enemy before creating a new Akatsuki. The one you know now. Amegakure is the main quarters of the Akatsuki base and where Pain resides." "What is your purpose in all of this?" Kakashi asked and Yamamoto sighed, waiting for them to answer the question. "Just like the Akatsuki, you want to get the Tailed Beast but you have to go through us to get Naruto... " Yamamoto interrupted him. "How wrong you, Kakashi Hatake. I don''t need Naruto for his Kyuubi chakra. I already have it." This stunned everyone. He just said that the extraction of chakra means certain death, yet Naruto was alive and well. "But how? You need Naruto to get the fox''s chakra," said Yamato. Naruto frowned as he glared at Yamamoto. The confidence he had made Naruto worry. "Actually, no, I don''t. There are 4 different people who happened to have the Kyuubi''s chakra inside them. For the first, you have to know that when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, he released a lot of his chakra into the environment. This chakra was also the reason why many civilian children died since it was so corrosive. Some people who sought to do something unrelated to this here later collected it and infused the chakra into a monk boy from a fire temple. A pseudo-Jinch¨±riki was created. He was the first I took the chakra and since he doesn''t have the beast inside but only his raw chakra, he was alive after I took it. I don''t kill innocent people like him, so he is back to living his normal life. He is the only one alive to possess some of the fox''s chakra. The rest are dead, but even death won''t hinder me from fulfilling my dream. The second who has the most of Kyuubi''s chakra is the 4th Hokage himself. As I told you, he sealed half of the Kyuubi inside of himself and is still inside the Shinigami''s stomach." "And you need a special mask to get it, which I know you don''t have. It is safely hidden with Ishizu Sasaki and nobody can enter his home without dying," answered Naruto. Yamamoto paused for a second. He really wanted to break Naruto''s smug face, but he kept it cool. "I am not going to do that as I have respect for Minato and won''t disturb the dead more than I already did." Then Yamamoto smiled. "But there is a 3rd source that no Konoha Shinobi knows. The only ones who know are the higher-ups of Kumogakure. A few decades ago, long before Hashirama Senju captured the Bijuu, Kumogakure tried to contain the Kyuubi by themselves. The ones who lead the attack were the Gold and Silver brothers; Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Like many others who are not of Uchiha descent, they failed and were eaten alive. It should have been certain death for the two, but they survived by eating the chakra of the Kyuubi. Now, that should have also killed them, but it was speculated that they were descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths. Eating the chakra of the Kyuubi they could go up to 6 tails worth of Kyuubi chakra," explained Ishizu. "But they are dead. How can you get the chakra of a dead person?" asked Kakashi only for Yamamoto to roll his eyes behind the mask. "You should know that one can do many things with chakra. After the Sanbi incident, I found out that Orochimaru was still alive. The bastard was so sneaky that he even evaded me. I found him, and for his life, he gave me the Edo Tensei scrolls. He died afterward anyway, but the chakra sealed inside of them is still there, even after they died. That alone is enough, so I don''t have to fight Konoha. I may be confident, but even I know when to stop antagonizing people." "So how much chakra do you have? Humor us," asked Naruto. Yamamoto showed his 10 fingers to them. "I saved Gaara of the Sand and took some of his chakra during the past Chunin exam and during the Akatsuki attack. I saved Yugito Nii from the Zombie Duo of Akatsuki. I fought Yagura of the Mist, who was controlled by the masked man before he died and the Sanbi escaped. Later I got enough chakra from our last time. Akatsuki captured the 4th and 5th tails. The 6th Tails is still on the run. I got the chakra from Fu of Taki or is it of Konoha? When I was in Konoha, I slowly extracted it from her when she was asleep. Killer B with the Hashibi is still alive and nobody knows where he is. I have enough chakra from the fox. 2 Jinch¨±riki is all I need and nobody is going to stop me. You all have to protect Konoha when the leader of Akatsuki is coming to get Fu and Naruto." Ishizu saw the Konoha squad frown, as they knew his world was true. Chapter 98 - Brother (Re-)Union General POV One of Ishizu''s clones raised his eyebrow as he saw Zetsu appear before him. "Well, hello there. If it isn''t one of the Akatsuki members? Having trouble coming inside to see what is happening?" Behind Zetsu, Obito came through his Kamui and frowned. "How is it, not being able to enter this barrier? A barrier that blocks space-time ninjutsu and prevents people like you to sneak inside uninvited. I hope I didn''t hurt your feelings." Obito''s Sharingan glared at Ishizu. "I had hoped you died from Deidara''s suicide attack, but you like to cheat death like Orochimaru. What is your goal?" This is where Ishizu smiled. "Oh, it''s nothing important. I am just a guy who wants to bring his wife back from the dead. I don''t want to give my life for that so I will use the power of the Bijuus to get enough chakra together and use a forbidden Jutsu to reanimate her." "All this for a woman?" asked Zetsu, making Ishizu smirk inside his head, knowing full well how funny his sentence was. "What do you know? You are just a plant monster," answered Ishizu drily. "You made a big mistake antagonizing me, Yamamoto. There were only a few who could stand the ground against me, Madara," said Obito. "Oh, don''t think I will piss in my pants and run away crying just because I heard your name. I have full confidence I can hold my ground. You are old and with age comes weakness. I am young, at the peak of my strength, and I will defeat you if you stand in my way." The glaring contest took another minute before Obito disappeared. "You will regret what you did, Yamamoto," said Zetsu as he went into the earth. Inside the Uchiha hideout. "Fire Style: Fireball jutsu." Both Uchiha''s fired a huge fireball at each other. Sasuke cursed as he attempted to have a conversation with his brother failed. "You should focus on your opponent, little brother," said Itachi as shurikens were thrown at Sasuke. "And you should answer my questions, big brother," countered Sasuke as he blocked them with his own. "If you won''t talk, then I will make you talk!" said Sasuke as he performed the summoning jutsu and two white snakes appeared. "Mara, Kora, lend me some strength." "Of course Sasuke-sama," the snakes said as they moved under Sasuke''s clothes. Itachi narrowed his eyes, as he didn''t know what was going on. He thought these snakes were from Orochimaru, but they followed his brother''s order. Then his brother engaged him in Taijutsu. Itachi tried to block his brother''s fist, but the first hit made him know that something was strange with Sasuke. His power grew stronger. With his Sharingan, he made out the differences in his brother''s skin. Scales around his arms and face. "If you think Orochimaru taught me much, then misunderstood something. Orochimaru taught me nothing I needed to know. I still was made after Ishizu let me go to Orochimaru, saying that I could learn something from that Snake but he was wrong. Still, I immediately dismissed the thought Ishizu wanted me to be weak. No, he introduced me to the ones where I could gain the most power. The Ry¨±chi Cave was an amazing place. If it wasn''t for Orochimaru, looking after me all the time, I would have stayed there the whole time. And this is the result. Senp¨­: Muki Tensei." The walls of the Uchiha compound started to move like they were alive. Everyone from the outside saw what happened. Inside, Itachi was amazed at how strongly his little brother grew. Never in his life had he imagined that Sasuke would learn Sage Mode. A small smile appeared on his face as he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and used Amaterasu to stop Sasuke. Seeing the chakra build-up in Itachi''s eyes, Sasuke had to dodge to the left as the flames came at him. "I am not done yet!" shouted Sasuke as he used his last nature reserves to use the inorganic material of the compound to capture Itachi. Unfortunately for him, a large red cage appeared before Itachi. "This is the power of the one who awakened the Mangekyo, Sasuke. My ultimate defense, Susanoo," said Itachi before he held his hand before his mouth and coughed. Everyone outside saw from the distance how something red manifested around Itachi. "What is that?" asked Hinata, pointing in the fight''s direction with a bit of fear in her voice. "The Susanoo. Every Uchiha who acquired the Mangekyo Sharingan can perform this technique. It is a technique capable to fight the Kyuubi. Well, it happened before when Madara fought the Kyuubi," explained Ishizu. "Unfortunately, this technique puts the user in unimaginable pain and if one uses it too often, the user gets blind. Such is the curse of the Mangekyo." On the other side, Obito cursed as he still was unable to move through the barrier. Seeing Itachi using his Susanoo, he knew that the fight will end in a few moments. Both Uchiha''s had sweat on their head. Both were low on chakra but Itachi still ha chakra to maintain the Susanoo. Sasuke felt that this was his brother''s trump card. Fiering 2 fireball the shield of the Susanoo blocked both attacks effortlessly. "Give up, Sasuke. I have won. Let me take your eyes to achieve the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan," said Itachi as he slowly made his way to Sasuke. Sasuke wanted to move, but his legs stood at the place. Itachi came closer and closer before the Susanoo dispersed. Just as Itachi held his hand to grab Sasuke''s eyeball, the young Uchiha suddenly gained strength and hugged his brother. "I forgive you. Please, don''t die." Itachi smiled. "I love you, little brother." Sasuke held onto his big brother''s body as his tear fell. Grief and sadness filled his thoughts, and it triggered something and what followed was the transformation of Sasuke''s Sharingan. "Please, Itachi, wake up." But Itachi was motionless. "Take my hand and I will get your brother back," said a voice. Sasuke looked up to see a small panda, b?r?ly visible to anyone, looking at him with the Rinnegan. Sasuke didn''t know who it was, but a panda was the summoning species of his sensei, so he took the hand, and both together with Itachi''s body left. "YAMAMOTO!" Obito screamed as he saw both Uchiha''s disappear. The next time they met, he would definitely kill him. The battle was lost, but the war was still going on. With that in mind, Obito disappeared. "Where are they?" asked Kakashi as he looked at Yamamoto. "Gone. I didn''t expect Itachi to have such feelings as to die at his brother''s hands. This will be a pain in the ?ss to heal them both," Ishizu commented, shaking his head at the circumstances happening. "You could bring them to Konoha," suggested Naruto, but Ishizu shook his head. "I appreciate the concern, but I will manage alone. You should leave. Your mission failed, but maybe you will see them again. After all, both of them are still Shinobi of Konohagakure." With that, Ishizu let go of the barrier and everyone thought it would disappear, but it didn''t. "This barrier will be here for a few minutes. Enough time for me to leave without you following me. Beware, Pain is coming for Konoha." With that, Ishizu used the reverse summoning jutsu and left. In the Dumpling Dynasty, Sasuke sat next to the lifeless body of his brother. "Oh, stop crying. You don''t even listen when I told you that your brother is going to be alive," said Yang Yang, the panda that teleported them away. "And how? Itachi is dead, and I killed him. I should have focused on his coughing and blood. He was sick, and I didn''t recognize it." "How? Like every answer, it is your sensei," said Ishizu as he walked towards Sasuke. "Can you really bring him back?" asked Sasuke with hope. "When my little panda didn''t mess up. This all wouldn''t have happened if Itachi didn''t destroy my clone. Yang Yang, I gave you the Nakara Path just for this moment. Please tell me you have it." The female panda smiled as she activated the Rinnegan and summoned the KoH. The KoH opened his mouth, and a soul came out. "If his death has been any longer, I would have to perform the Rinne Tensei. It is good that it is only a few minutes after his death, so putting back his soul should bring him back without any problem." Grasping the soul, Ishizu placed his right hand on Itachi''s ?h?st and put the soul back inside. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. "He should have woken up by now. Something is missing," stated Ishizu as he looked at the motionless body. Everything was perfect. There should be no reason for Itachi not to wake up and still his body laid rigid. "Give him a reason," whispered Yang Yang with a smile. Ishizu and Sasuke turned around. "What do you mean?" asked Sasuke. "For him to wake up, you have to give him a reason to continue living. He wanted to die and embraced death with open arms. I took his soul but for him to continue living he needs a reason," explained Yang Yang. Ishizu raised an eyebrow at that explanation. Somewhere he had heard it before. It sounded almost clich¨¦. Sasuke got close to his brother''s ear and whispered in a low voice so that even Ishizu and Yang Yang didn''t hear it. And like a miracle, Itachi opened his eyes and looked around him. "Nii-san," cried Sasuke as he hugged his brother, fearing he would leave him again. Ishizu smiled at the scene in front of him. He was happy seeing such a reunion. Now that this was over, Ishizu had to make preparations with the arrival of Pain. So he made his way to the only other person that was here besides the two Uchiha brothers. Jiraiya. Chapter 99 - New and Old Jinchuriki Ishizu POV I left the two Uchihas some time for themselves. It would take a while before Itachi could fight again. Fighting a battle against his own younger brother before dying and getting back to life is not something you can just let go. For now, I had to care about the toad summoner. Fukasaku would keep his mouth shut about Jiraiya''s death. Tsunade won''t tell either, as she isn''t sure if Jiraiya is alive or not. No doubt, when Pain invades with the remaining Akatsuki, meaning Hidan and Kakuzu, there will be chaos, but Naruto won''t be late so Nagato won''t destroy Konoha. Speaking of Konoha, the two Uchihas will come with me when Nagato invades Konoha. But they won''t fight in the open against the Akatsuki. No. They have their personal enemy, Danzo. I have to make a wood clone to see the fight. "Sage Ishizu, you finally decided to come and see what we did while you were casually watching those two brothers fight?" asked brother Tau in a sarcastic but calm voice. "I had no doubt you could do it," I answered as I looked at the floating human. "So, how is he?" I asked the only question. "He is doing fine. The Chrono-Stasis is holding him. What are you going to do now?" asked Tau. "The two Uchihas have to stay here for a while. Itachi is still weak from his new life, so they won''t go away. When the older brother is ready, he will tell Sasuke the truth about the massacre. With Itachi''s help Sasuke won''t go ''I now hate Konoha.'' I have to find Kisame and find get him to fight Killer Bee. A clone will stay here and find Utakata, as I will go with Kisame. He and Killer Bee are the last Jinchuriki I need to get the chakra from. Naruto will also have a meeting with Utakata and if he sees me I don''t know what will happen. I believe Tsunade will tell Naruto the truth after the mission as to not depress him further. General POV Obito was furious. He was glad that Itachi finally died. The Uchiha was a thorn in his eyes. His plan was simple. After Itachi died, he would take Sasuke back with him and when he woke up, he would explain to him the truth about what happened during the massacre. Obito would then use his new pawn Sasuke as a new member of the Akatsuki to find the Eight-Tails. But Yamamoto stopped him. His plan to find Killer Bee was delayed. He wanted to contact Kisame, but the latter has disappeared. Something was wrong, and Obito had no doubt it was Yamamoto''s doing. Somewhere in the elemental nations "Where is he? He told me to wait, but it has been a day," said Kisame as he looked into the sky. "It takes some time to revive the dead, but now I am here," said Ishizu as he walked towards the stone where Kisame laid. "Heh, I still find it hard to believe that it was you all the time who was behind the Yamamoto facade. How is Itachi?" Ishizu gave a thumb up. "He is alive. Itachi needs some time before getting ready to fight again, so during the next days I will be your partner." "The strategist, eh? So what kind of strategy do you have against the Eight-Tails?" asked Kisame as the two began to walk side by side. "You are my strategy. I have complete trust that you can fight him on your own. If and only if something happens that I deem beyond your capability, will I intervene." Kisame laughed. "Now I see why they call you the strategist. I can''t imagine how many plans you made. There is even one where I can lose! Fighting against you would be a pain in the ?ss." "Then let''s go. To the valley of clouds and lightning." After some walking, Kisame started a conversation. "So tell me, Sasaki-san, how strong is this Killer Bee?" asked Kisame. "Out of all 9 Jinchuriki, he is the one who has perfect control over the Eight-Tails. Not even the other Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, had that much control. Killer Bee and the Hachibi are partners. A lightning-style user who can combat with 7 blades at the same time. A one-on-one fight is hard, but when he is teamed up with A, the Raikage, then they are unstoppable. Have a nice fight with him. Don''t underestimate him, as he isn''t easy to kill. If you do that you will defeat him." For a few hours, Ishizu and Kisame continued walking without both of them speaking to each other. "What is your goal, Sasaki?" asked Kisame with a more serious voice. "My goal? What do you mean?" "What is it you want to achieve. You said you will bring peace to this world, but this is not your primary goal, isn''t it?" "A question many have asked before. My goal is to bring a person, a woman, to be exact, back to life," Ishizu answered. "A woman? Hahahaha! So you left your village for a woman. I have heard a lot, but never that. We shinobi rarely think about such things as life is too short and dangerous. Having a loved one will only leave you vulnerable to your enemies. I can''t believe you do everything for a woman." Ishizu smiled. "Then what will you do if peace is achieved? People like you from Kirigakure only lived during the war. You know nothing else but to fight. You are also a criminal, so after this is over and you survive, you will be persecuted. Let''s imagine you don''t fight to the death and accept your fate. Mei Terumi, the new Mizukage, is a generous person. She even pardoned Zabuza. If you help her in making Kiri a better place, she will help you too. And then what? Peace is a wonderful time to enjoy other things, such as the touch of a woman. If you fear for your loved ones to be captured and used against you, who is to say you can''t train them. Imagine you find a wife who is perfect. Being a parent is a wonderful thing. Training your children in the arts of Shinobi will warm your heart. Think about it, Kisame." And that is what Kisame did for the rest of the walk. A few days went by when both of them reached Kumogakure. Ishizu had a map, and he knew where B was, so he didn''t have to find people and get the information out of them. "That is a lot of stairs," commented Kisame lacing towards the top. "And at the end is your fight," added Ishizu. (Author comment: I will not write Bee''s world as rap because I doubt I can make it work.) "So he is the Jinchuriki of the Hashibi?" asked Kisame, clearly not impressed by the idiot. Ishizu nodded. "He likes to rap, so don''t expect him to talk normally. He is all yours. Go and have fun." Just as Kisame moved towards Bee, Ishizu grabbed him and jumped back. "Tsk. And here I thought we could kill you too easily. Why are you here, Yamamoto?" asked the voice who was Yugito Nii. "Who the hell is that chick?" asked Kisame. "Jinchuriki of the Nibi." Ishizu looked at Yugito. This was not what he expected, but when were his plans like he wanted? "It seems me saving your life isn''t going to give me a pass to take his chakra, right?" Yugito shook her head. "Kisame Hoshigake is a criminal ?ssociated with the organization Akatsuki. You, Yamamoto, have no problems with Kumo, but if you are with Akatsuki, I will fight you," said Yugito. "I am going. Get that chick off me and everything will be fine," said Kisame, taking out Samehade before running at Bee. "I won''t let you," shouted Yugito, but she had to engage Ishizu. "I am sorry, Yugito, but you have to let those two fight. See it like this. I can guarantee he won''t die. We just need some of his chakra." Yugito and Ishizu engaged in a Taijutsu fight only for Yugito to realize that her claws couldn''t penetrate Ishizu''s skin. Seeing that she was at a disadvantage, Yugito transformed into Matatabi. "Ah, Matatabi. It is good to see you again. I wanted to take some of Bee''s chakra but if you present me yours on a silver tablet, I won''t say no." Matatabi jumped on Ishizu, but the latter smiled as a giant wood dragon coiled around her. "I finally got better at Wood Style. Let''s see how good I am in a fight against a Bijuu." Matatabi was pissed as she used her blue fire to burn the wood. "Hmm, some training has to be done. Oh, that is not good," said Ishizu as he saw the Bijuudama. Using the Wood Sage Mode, Ishizu formed a snake seal. "I do not need to fight you, Yugito. Let me show you what I can do. Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates; 2 Gates." Two massive red torii fell down on Matatabi, breaking the Bijuudama and incapacitating Yugito. The gates were infused with nature energy-draining Yugito''s chakra. "What are those things?" asked a weakened Yugito, slowly transforming back into her human form. "A jutsu designed for Bijuus, such as Matatabi," explained Ishizu, walking over to her. "How, how do you know her name?" Ishizu smiled, sitting just next to her and enjoying the view of a fight between two monsters. "That, my dear, is a secret." Unfortunately, their conversation and peace was interrupted when a huge water bubble appeared around them. Looking behind him, Ishizu saw Kisame used his Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shouha to create this massive water bubble and then fused with Samehada. ''Oh, he is serious now.'' Chapter 100 - Filler: The Teacher and Student Ishizu POV Kisame was going all out, but that meant the water hit everyone. As Yugito was under the gates, she was incapacitated and unable to swim away and if no one helped her, she would drown. I saw no reason to let her die, so I activated my Sage Mode. I quickly swam towards the unconscious woman, grabbed her, and took her out. Placing her on the ground, I turned around and jumped back in. I didn''t know Kisame too well, so better be safe and see if he didn''t kill Bee. In the middle of the water bubble, I could see a heavily injured Kisame. His whole body was covered in wounds, but the worst injury was his left arm. There was no left arm. The Hashibi Jinchuriki was not dead, as I felt his chakra weakly pulsating. Kisame released the water before a laugh escaped his lips. "Hahahaha! That was a good fight! I had never such fun." I shook my head. Despite such heavy injuries, he was smiling. I bet he didn''t even feel the pain of missing an arm. Battle junkies were a type of people I disliked fighting. "Do you want me to heal you or would you rather prefer the one-arm style?" I asked him, who was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting me to heal such an injury, but, hey, I brought people back from the dead. "I don''t want to be a cripple, so I would prefer to be healed," answered the shark man. Summoning the KoH, I guided Kisame inside. While it would be fast to heal Kisame, I made it slower for a single reason. "Fuinjutsu: Six Roaring Pandas." Red chakra came out of Bee and filled the container. Unfortunately, he was already low on chakra due to Kisame, so 2 more marbles filled up, leaving me with 3. In the end, it was enough. Sure, I could get more, but it would affect him negatively. I also took a bit from Yugito just to have more chakra from Matatabi. Afterward, I opened the KoH to see Kisame walking out. Swinging his new arm, Kisame smirked. "Good as new. So, now what?" I shrugged. My last Jinchuriki was waiting. My plan was coming to its end and Kisame could do whatever he wanted from now on. "I don''t know what you want to do. Itachi will take some time before getting out and I see nothing to do for you. The only thing I would recommend is going to Kiri and asking for forgivingness from the new Mizukage. Mei Terumi is a nice lady." Kisame frowned. "You do know that I am a criminal. The moment I enter their territory and surrender, I will be placed in a cell. I doubt they will get anything from me by torture, but if I hate pain. Not only that, but I will lose Samehada." The sentinel sword purred clearly not wanting to leave Kisame''s side. "But they will release you once Tobi is going to start his war that will involve the whole nation. You, a former member of Akatsuki, will provide important information and are one of the strongest Shinobi alive. Hell, you beat the Hashibi Jinch¨±riki, someone who could control it. Mei would be stupid to let you in prisons when the world is at stake. If it still happens, I will get you out, and as I am in your debt. How does that sound?" Kisame shook my hand. "Deal." With that, Kisame walked away to Kirigakure hoping to find a new purpose. I made a clone that would be faster and inform Zabuza of Kisame so he would be welcomed better than getting attacked. I sighed as I used the Summoning Jutsu. Time was flying by fast. The war was coming closer, but not only that... "Sage Ishizu, how can I be of service to you?" asked the big panda. "I need your help to carry me. Your speed is superior to mine. I hope you can get me to my destination as fast as possible." Brother Long nodded before signaling for me to go on his back. As I held tight, the panda started running and hell did he run fast. I had to press my body into his fur, fearing I would fall down. Scene change In Konoha, Tsunade was debating if she should get Naruto back to Konoha or not. A message came from the Tsuchigumo clan asking Konoha to help save a forbidden jutsu and their team was closest to the destination. She heard nothing from Ishizu after he left Konoha. A missing-nin of Ishizu''s caliber running around freely was dangerous. As the hokage, she had to issue the Anbu to search for Ishizu. The clans and the council discussed the betrayal of Ishizu. The civilian council was furious and demanded his head. Spouting about him being corrupted by the Kyuubi''s power. Ishizu''s decision confused the Shinobi clans. They knew he was Namikaze''s student, Naruto''s teacher, and an influential person. Who didn''t know the crazy fuinjutsu guy from Konoha? If he resisted, there was no other way than to kill him. Everyone agreed to such a vote. Back in Konoha, Fukasuke managed to locate the Hokage office. He had no time to see if the pandas were victorious in fighting Pain. He just had to hope that Jiraiya was alive, but even when he was, he was ordered not to tell the truth. Inside the office, Tsunade was sitting and drinking from her sake. She still felt hurt by the betrayal of Ishizu and used the alcohol to drown the pain away. From her periphery, she spotted Fukasuke entering through the window. "You are the toad who went with Jiraiya. Fukasuke, am I right?" "Yes, it is me." "Where is Jiraiya?" asked Tsunade and even if she tried to sound serious, there was a hint of fear inside her voice bracing for the worst. She prayed to whatever deity and even to Ishizu that Jiraiya could come back. Even if Ishizu defected, Tsunade hoped he held up his deal. "I... I don''t know. The leader of Akatsuki was too strong for us. Jiraiya would have died if it wasn''t for the pandas of Ishizu-kun. They took the badly beaten Jiraiya and told me to flee. I was told by their Sage to tell the others he is dead. I can only speak to you about this," explained Fukasuke. Tsunade sighed as the pressure on her was partially gone. Only when she saw a healthy Jiraiya face to face would she be happy. "I don''t know how I will tell Naruto about Jiraiya. I can''t lie and tell him he is dead. I am not powerful enough," sighed Tsunade, slumping down on the chair. "I will do it. I don''t feel it is right to tell Naruto a lie, but he has to gather the strength to fight Pain. He is just about to master Sage Mode completely and when he does, I have no doubt he will defeat Pain," said the toad elder. In the end, Tsunade decided to wait for Naruto to come back to Konoha and wait so the toad elder could tell him the news personally. Tsunade sent a messenger bird out to inform the group to split up. Naruto''s team would go and help the Tsuchigumo clan while the rest shall return to Konoha. In the land of Fire, Naruto and the others received the mission and encountered the girl and Utakata, who quickly left after seeing the Konoha Shinobi. The girl, Hotaru Tsuchigumo, told them to let her alone when they heard something coming through the trees. Naruto and the rest quickly jumped to protect Hotaru, only to be blown away by the massive beast that ran into them. "Long... stop. We are here." Ishizu clutched his head, trying to stop vertigo. Long moved fast. "I hope you were happy with me, Sage Ishizu," commented brother Long with a bow. "Yes, yes. You did a good job," Ishizu waved him off, placing a hand before his mouth to stop the gag reflex. "Are you the one that is after me?" asked Hotaru. Ishizu''s eyes fixated on the girl in front of him. The Utakata filler arc wasn''t one of his favorites, and he b?r?ly remembered the story. Something to do with a giant fuinjutsu bomb sealed into the back of a girl. She must be the one. And if she is here, Utakata shouldn''t be too far away. "I am not. I came here for another reason," casually answered Ishizu. "Ishizu-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, seeing his sensei coming out of nowhere. Ishizu froze for a moment. Naruto greeted him normally, which meant that Tsunade didn''t inform his student of him being a missing-nin. He had to act normally, and even if it was painful, deceive Naruto. "I got a mission to find a certain person. I got the information that he was around this area, but it seems like he is somewhere else." "Sasaki-san, who are you looking for?" asked Yamato. "A secret. I can''t disclose my mission if the enemy is listening or somebody I don''t know," said Ishizu as he looked at Hotaru. "Then we won''t tell you about our mission," said Naruto as he puffed his cheeks. Ishizu eyed Hotaru. While he didn''t know the girl specifically, he was a master of fuinjutsu and naturally had studied about the secret. "You are the carrier or the Dohatsuten. Granddaughter of En no Gyouja." "Hey, that''s not fair. How did you know that?" asked Naruto. "Naruto, Jonin like Sasaki-san, knows about things concerning fuinjutsu," explained Yamato, having seen the explosion from his root training. "I could accompany you but I need somebody to trace my mission." Ishizu did his summoning Jutsu and quickly dodged to the right as a panda tried to jump on him and landed on Naruto. "So mean, Ishizu-chan. I want to hug you and not Naruto-kun. Why are you even with them? Didn''t you betr..." faster than ever, Ishizu tackled the panda and covered her mouth with his hand, preventing her from being stupid. "Are you stupid?! Focus, Yang Yang. I need you for this mission. You know what to do." Yang-Yang''s face turned crimson as she saw Ishizu''s hand on her mouth. "You kissed me." "What?" "Your hand. It touched my lips." Ishizu ?r??n?d in frustration. Why must the pandas be so... argh! "Stop being an idiot and find him." "If you''ll give me a hug, I''ll do it," Yang Yang grinned. Ishizu had no time to being annoyed with her and opened his arms before she crushed him. "E-enough." Grinning, Yang Yang stopped crushing her summoner and left. Her mission was to find Utakata and mark him so Ishizu would know where he was. Since Ishizu was with them, the team left for the hidden village. Yang Yang POV It was hard to muster a smile while looking at Naruto, but I had to act as my Sage was still a Konoha Shinobi. Either way, I had to fulfill my mission. I ran through the wood to find the Shinobi, who used bubbles as his weapon. At one point, I felt a high chakra collection and followed the scent. The forest ended and on the grass plain, 4 people surrounded a young human. The 4 must be people after the bubble guy, but he said they were not worth our notice. I could see it. The barrier they made together was not weak. No, weak was not the right word. Pathetic, laughable, or a shame to good Fuinjutsus would be a better word. From the strength that came of the Jinch¨±riki, I knew he could break through the barrier, but it would take some time. So instead of waiting, I used the nature energy to infest the Fuinjutsu and break it from the inside so the young man wouldn''t notice me. Not only that, but I left a bit of nature energy on him so I could find him at any time. Still, my instincts told me to stay away from the girl that was with Naruto and my Sage. She felt like a huge container of nature energy sealed by a seal that had a special key. I couldn''t imagine the damage that would be produced if the seal would break. Chapter 101 - The Six-Tails JinchÅ«riki General POV Ishizu looked around the village and yawned. All those fillers had some boring parts, and he just wanted to finish it and come to the important thing. The interesting thing was that the back of the girl, Naruto, and the rest had to protect. The Third Hokage allowed Ishizu to read about the information they had about the Dohatsuten. Sarutobi Hiruzen labeled it a kinjutsu because of the destruction value, but Ishizu knew more. Only a few could ''see'' it. What En no Gy¨­ja compressed in the back of the young girl was nature energy. That in itself was a feat to be praised since even Ishizu only managed to seal nature energy with fuinjutsu during his training with the pandas and even now he hadn''t perfected it. The reason was simple, as the jutsu had a simple purpose. Compressed amount of nature energy inside the girl was used to draw in even more nature energy from around her. Such concentrated nature energy was highly dangerous. Opening the seal would allow the nature energy to burst out with such speed that it would create a tremendous explosion. Ishizu stood hidden from the rest before he saw Yang-Yang appeared before him. "Mission was successful. Sage Ishizu, I am concerned about the girl," spoke Yang Yang. "I know what you mean. Such jutsu shouldn''t be in the hands of humans. The leader of this bandit group could fu?k up the jutsu and kill everyone here. It was a long time since I watched this episode so I am not sure what will happen. Our objections are to prevent the jutsu from activating, but at the same time, we have to wait for Utakata to release his bijuu chakra. This will make it easier to fill the container. Yang Yang, get your sister and prepare a sealing array for the concentrated chakra bomb. I will try to remember what will happen." While Naruto and his team went back to the town, Ishizu followed the chakra from Utakata, but when he came to the place, he found 5 people there. Ishizu took out a Mizu Anbu mask he had in his storage and placed it on his face. These people were filler villains. They wouldn''t even suspect that an enemy was posing as somebody else. "Well, this is unfortunate. I thought he was here, but you guys must have scared him away." The leader looked at Ishizu. "You are a Mist Anbu. Are you after his head too?" asked the leader. "He must die. I have no need for his money. As long as you don''t get in my way, we will have no problem." Behind the mask, Ishizu rolled his eyes. ''Man, this boss looks ugly. He looks like he was summoned by the Edo Tensei. Bah.'' "I have found the enemy, but no Hotaru. She must have escaped. There are 5. 4 of them match the description. The other one is probably the leader. There is also another chakra, but he is avoiding my detection." Then Naruto turned towards another place. "I found her and the other bubble guy," announced Naruto. Scene change Utakata had it difficult fighting against the Mist shinobis. "Panda Senpo: Attack Style." With a flash, all the Mist Anbu were down and in the middle stood a man Utakata knew. He was with the Konoha Shinobi. "It seems I came at the right moment." "You made a big mistake, Konoha Shinobi," spoke one of the Anbu. Ishizu sighed. Why must he always get into annoying situations? "And you have no idea who you are dealing with. I have good connections with the current Mizukage. I doubt she will be happy hearing about you making my life difficult." "Your mission is to..." Ishizu didn''t give him the chance to speak and let the others discuss the problem. Naruto and the rest as well as the captain of the Mist Anbu appeared and they''ve come to an agreement. Ishizu, Yamato, and the Mist Captain had a conversation. "Utakata will be with the girl until your mission is over. After that, he will be coming with us." "Whatever. I doubt he will stay with you. I already sent a message to your Kage asking for allowance to keep Utakata company," said Ishizu, which of course was a lie. The Mist captain looked at Ishizu. "He is a rogue ninja. As long as he is one, we will fulfill our mission." "Then it is simple. Terumi Mai will correct the Bingo Book. Utakata won''t be a rogue ninja anymore." "You have no idea what you are dealing with," snapped the captain. Ishizu smirked. "Oh, I know all too well." Yamato ordered Ishizu to leave and let him handle the conversation. I few meters away Ishizu performed the summoning Jutsu. "Is it time to fight, brother Ishizu?" asked Tau, as he appeared before him. "No, not now. I want you to send a message to the Hidden Mist. I have changed my plan. At first, I wanted to just take the chakra from Utakata and Saiken, and let the guy die, but why do I have to go by canon?" A grin appeared on Ishizu''s face. "Also, I want Obito to rage more. Tell Mei that Konoha will take Utakata into custody and will protect him until the problem with Akatsuki is over." Tau nodded and disappeared. "You know why master Utakata doesn''t want me to call him master, right?" asked the girl. "And what makes you ?ssume that?" Hotaru had no time to answer as she fell down. As Sakura wasn''t with them, Utakata ordered the team to look for medical herbs while he looked over Hotaru. Ishizu came with them as he had knowledge of medical ninjutsu. "I ask you nicely to not talk about my past, Sasaki-san," Utakata whispered to Ishizu, clearly knowing about the latter''s identity. "You can''t run away from your past, Utakata. You have to let go of it." "I want to live free. I don''t want to be a mere tool to my former village." Ah, yes, the problem of Jinchuriki. "I could help you, you know? But if I told you how, you would attack me in fury. Just know that you are not the only one who has such a burden. There are 8 more." "So you do know about me," stated Utakata. "And my opinion about you doesn''t change. I trained a Jinchuriki myself. I know how people looked at him. They either saw him as a monster or as a weapon. Your village saw you as more of a weapon, but the village you once called ''Bloddy Mist'' has changed." The conversation was interrupted when Naruto appeared. "What is that behind her shirt?" asked Naruto, his eyes showing pigmentation indicating he was in Sage Mode. ''He must have seen the nature energy in her back.'' Ishizu glanced at the girl, who nodded, giving him permission, and he gently lifted the clothes to reveal the seal. "This, Naruto, is the seal for the forbidden jutsu. It was placed into her back when she was young." "Then I will get it out," said Naruto before Ishizu appeared before him, shaking his head. "Your Sage Mode should tell you what this jutsu is. Look closer." Naruto focused, but he couldn''t find the problem. "You are looking, yet being blind. It is the concentration, boy. Her whole back is carrying compressed nature energy. If it is allowed to draw in more and be released without proper management, it would blow everything apart," explained Kurama, annoyed because he didn''t like explaining things to Naruto. "This.... this is horrible." "So what? I wanted it to be done!" shouted Hotaru. "I asked my grandfather to inherit the jutsu." Naruto couldn''t say more. After that, the team returned to Sakura, and Ishizu listed to Naruto talking to Hotaru''s servant. He noticed the leader of the bandits spying on them, but he had no need to for them. What he wanted to see was the scroll the servant had. If he had the scroll, he would have it easy to remove the jutsu from Hotaru''s body. But Hotaru didn''t want to remove it and instead choose to search for the leader of the bandits. At night, Utakata came to Ishizu. "It is Naruto, right? He is the same as me." "Oh, you figured it out? Yes, he is the Jinchuriki of the strongest Bijuu. The Kyuubi." "I see." Saying nothing, Utakata left. The next day, Ishizu felt a powerful chakra signature invading his territory. This was not your ordinary Shinobi. "Summoning Jutsu!" "My, oh, my. You are summoning me, Sage Ishizu? What is it that you are summoning so many pandas these days? The sisters are working on the seal and Tau is also gone. What do you want from me?" questioned Denku. "Somebody strong is here. I can''t get a read on his chakra, but compared to your average jonin, he is strong. Find him and tell me who it is. I have a bad feeling." "Will be done, Sage Ishizu," replied Denku before leaving. While the team was searching for the bandit leader, the 4 other enemies caught Naruto, but unlike in canon, Naruto defeated them with ease. "Naruto, I have a bad feeling. Something is happening to the girl," declared Kurama. "Yeah, me too. Let''s find Utakata and get Hotaru back." Meanwhile, Ishizu was watching from far away over Hotaru. He didn''t feel the strong presence anymore, but he needed Denku back to confirm it. Denku POV "My oh my. You are one big d????, aren''t you? Do you want a dumpling? Unfortunately, I am not looking for you but for your master. Be a good pet and show me where he is." Dogs were really stupid since this one didn''t take the offer of the dumpling and tried to bite me. Much rude. "And I thought dogs were smart. Maybe you were just born dumb?" With a quick strike to one head, I dispelled the dog. "Shinro Tensei!" "Panda Style: Defense." The gravity pushed on my body but it was useless. Guess I found my target, and it is none other than the other Rinnegan wielder. Pain, I think, was his name. Original. "So the pet owner came after he felt his dog lose?" He was vulgar just to glare at me with his Rinnegan. He wasn''t even intimidating. "So the pet owner is the puny God? The last time I''ve seen you, you were in bad shape. What brings you here? Revenge?" "All shall die by God''s hand, Shinra Tensei." Denku only shook his head. "You don''t get it, do you? If it was any other panda besides Tau or Po, they would clearly struggle against you, but you had the bad luck to meet me. Do you want to know why?" The Deva Path didn''t answer. Why don''t living beings talk more? Vocal cords are there for a reason. "Because I am your worst nightmare when it comes to those eyes." Chapter 102 - The Betrayal General POV While Denku and the Deva path were fighting, Ishizu activated his Rinnegan to see the bandit leader activate the forbidden jutsu. "Come on, you two. I need the sealing array now." Ishizu summoned a panda child. "Tell the sisters to come with the sealing array. It has started." "Aye-aye, Sage," shouted the child. More and more nature energy was pumped into Hotaru that even Naruto felt it.. "Hotaru is in danger! We have to find her now!" screamed Naruto. Utakata and Naruto came to Hotaru at the same time as Yang Yang, and her sister appeared. "No time for a lovely chat, you two. We have to find the perfect target. Is the sealing array ready?" asked Ishizu in a hurry. "We have finished it, but are you sure you want to use it? If Naruto sees you now without your mask...," started Yang Yang. "I know, but it is either now or later. I will spare him the unnecessary problems. Let''s do it!" Ishizu gathered his massive amount of nature energy that came to Hotaru and took some of it inside him to transform. He appeared in front of Hotaru and the leader. "Ishizu-sensei, you came!" shouted Naruto. "You! You are that mist ANBU. What are you doing here?" asked the leader in confusion. "I have no need for you," spoke Ishizu as he knocked him out. "Nice, Ishizu-sensei." "I am sorry, Naruto," bitterly spoke Ishizu before performing hand seals. "What do you mean, sensei?" asked Naruto before a wood dragon appeared from the ground and coiled around Naruto, draining him from chakra. "Hotaru is getting more and more nature energy inside her body. If it will continue, she will burst and die as well as many kilometers of this place." Ishizu turned to Utakata while Naruto had a horrified expression. "This jutsu... It can''t be." "She is someone you love, right, Utakata? Would you give your life to save her?" asked Ishizu. "Sensei! Tell me this is not true!" shouted Naruto, but Ishizu''s eyes were on the other Jinchuriki. "What do you want, Sasaki-san?" Utakata narrowed his eyes, thinking what the man wanted from him. "I can seal this jutsu away and even take it from her, doing no damage to Hotaru. But. In exchange, you must release your Bijuu chakra for me." Naruto''s entire body was trembling. His brain working at high speed to come to terms with what was happening. Ishizu waited for Utakata before the latter agreed in defeat. "You made the right decision, Utakata." With that, Ishizu suddenly opened the seal, releasing the accumulated chakra. In response, 5 chakra tails appeared behind Utakata, who hoped to suppress it. Yet the seal master took out a 210 x 297 mm (normal paper size) seal that had a small black point in its center. Now: Panda Fuinjutsu: Gluttony Hole." Quickly, Ishizu took out his container with 6 marbles and pointed at Utakata. "And Fuinjutsu: Six Roaring Pandas." The tails were quickly absorbed and 4 out of 6 marbles were full, leaving an exhausted Utakata was panting on the ground. Turning away from Utakata, Ishizu''s eyes momentarily stopped and met with Naruto''s. Unlike his normal sky-blue eyes, only reddish fox eyes were staring directly at him, fueled by Kurama''s chakra. Both student and sensei looked each other into the eyes, with the former seeking an explanation only for the latter to fold at the stare Naruto was giving. Relief overcame Ishizu when Denku appeared from the sky and dusting himself off. "Puh, that was a nice fight." "You... are back, Denku. Who... was it?" "It was that fake God from Amegakure. He sent his little puppy and killed the Mizu Shinobi. When I sent the pet home, the Deva Path appeared. We fought for a while but he was really resilient, so I made a tactical retreat. You should do that too." Then Denku turned to Naruto and even if he wasn''t there when the betrayal happened, he could feel the tension in the air. "I apologize for what he has done..." "Enough Denku!" Ishizu''s calm attitude broke as he screamed at Denku, causing the panda to stop his sentence. Ishizu gnashed his teeth and turned to Utakata. "Because you cooperated with me, I will give you some advice that will save your life, Utakata. The team that was sent to retrieve you is dead. A person who is hunting the Tailed Beasts murdered them. I have sent a message to Mei Terumi asking to take you to Konoha for his own safety. Due to some circumstances I am not able to help you go to Konoha, so I will give Naruto the mission." It was hard for him to even look at Naruto as he was now but he used his last mental strength to speak to Naruto although he couldn''t look him in the eyes. "I won''t say more than I have already done. Go to Konoha and you will get your explanation. Goodbye, my student." Before Naruto could form words in his head and throw them at his sensei, he was gone in a puff of smoke. "So what happened? I knew that Utakata was captured, but it was one of those fillers that I forgot most about. So how was the fight against Pain?" Ishizu asked for an explanation. He was sitting on a stone with his head submerged between his legs and arms. "Well, after you sent me looking for the problem, I found the corpses of the Mizu Shinobi. Pretty mutilated. There was this gigantic dog with more than one head looking at me with their Rinnegan. I quickly disposed of the summon but that only attracted the master. I remembered him from our last meeting with Sage Po. I wanted to leave, but he attacked me. No big deal, I thought, as I knew how his attacks worked. The fight continued for a moment before he decided to cheat and summoned the other 5 paths. I am strong but fighting 6 of them is a pain in the ?ss and I love my pretty fur, so after finding a good place, I faked my death and left," summarized Denku in a steady but low voice. He had to talk with Po about the outburst of his Sage. Betraying his student wasn''t easy as it sounded. Emotions had to be controlled or else something bad might happen. Ishizu nodded. "That''s good. I need him confident enough to invade Konoha." "Ishizu. All you are talking about is this invasion. Not once did you speak about Naruto? You were his sensei, and you betrayed him. I thought you wanted the Hokage to tell Naruto about you." Ishizu pressed his lips against each other while glaring at the panda. Denku was a fighter and shouldn''t be speaking with him about s?ns?t?v? topics such as this. "Plans change and I adapt to them. It doesn''t matter if he gets to know it now or when he reaches Konoha. What matters is that he knows. Still, it doesn''t mean I won''t help Konoha survive Pain''s attack. I know Kushina will gut me if she hears I could have saved Konoha and didn''t. That''s why my next mission is to return to Konoha and make an anti Shinra Tensei battier in case Nagato uses his big Shinra Tensei to flatten the entire village." "What about the Uchiha brothers?" inquired Denku. "Itachi should be healed by now. He will either meet with Kisame or accomplish Sasuke to the snakes. Pain''s invasion is the perfect opportunity to get Konoha''s major thorn out of its body. Danzo has contributed nothing useful during the last years. Sure, he has done enough for the village, but the negatives outshine the positives by a lot. But before that, I have to ask them if they want to exchange eyes. Itachi is blind. I made the KoH heal him but spared his eyes. It is their decision to do it." Back in the elemental nations, Naruto reunited with the rest of his team and they left for Konoha. Utakata accepted going to Konoha after a letter from Mei arrived saying Utakata is no longer a missing-nin and that he can stay in Konoha before she personally comes to Konoha and takes him with her. While Naruto and Utakata saw Ishizu leave, Naruto asked Utakata not to talk about it to anyone and Utakata agreed since it was none of his business. In Naruto''s mind. "I can''t believe it," Naruto spat out the words like they were poison as he ran in front of the cage while an amused Kurama looked down at Naruto. "Quite a big reveal he made. Who would have thought." "Big reveal?! He was, or is Yamamoto! He was the one that stopped me from taking Sasuke back. He was the one who stopped us from sealing the Sanbi. I can''t believe he betrayed the village; betrayed me. After everything he has done for us. WHY?!" For the first time in a long time, Kurama laughed while also reflecting on his hatred towards humanity. "You are a Shinobi, right? Your emotions blind you to finding the truth. Your question for why he''s done it can be answered if you look for it as you are now." "Answer? There is only one answer. He is the same as the Akatsuki. He hunts for us Jinchuriki to take our chakra," Naruto replied as he ran at the cage and hit it with his fist resulting in a ''CLANG''. In return, Kurama slammed his claw against the cage, causing a shock wave to hit Naruto and pushing him back. "Enough! Leave this place, Naruto. As amusing as it is to watch you be controlled by anger, I want my late-night sleep. As long as you can''t control your emotions, you will never find the answer. I know betrayal hurts, but you either let it go or deal with it. If left alone, it will consume you." With that, the Kyuubi kicked Naruto out of his mind. "You are back?" asked Utakata. "Stupid fox, thinking he knows everything and kicked me out. He thinks I can''t think straight." "It must hurt knowing your sensei betrayed you. When I thought my sensei betrayed me, I was also furious. In my hatred and fear, I killed him. Over time, I''ve come to regret what I''ve done and maybe he wasn''t doing what I thought. We are Shinobi, Naruto. Nothing we do is simple. Look underneath the underneath." Chapter 103 - Problems everywhere General POV On the grassy plains of *DD* sat a man and in front of him were 9 containers. Each container had marbles that Ishizu tried to fill. No, with the chakra of the Jinchuriki, the remnants of the God Tree, all marbles were filled enough to awaken the complete Ten Tails. "I''ve done it. After all, I actually did it." Even now, Ishizu had a frown on his face. The betrayal still lingered around his head. "Congratulations, Sage Ishizu. Now, when are you going to awaken the God Tree? You have all ingredients.. You only need to summon the Gedo Mazo and ''bam'' you have a full Gedo statue," Tau filled himself some tea as he spoke. "Brother Tau, you think simple, but the truth is far from it," spoke Brother Long, shaking his head as he filled himself the same tea. "And please tell me how?" inquired Tau with a smile while dumping a dumpling inside the tea. "Sage Ishizu d?s?r?s peace between the villages. As a strategist, he wants to wait for the right moment when everybody is concentrating on the war. He will sneak behind them and take the price. Am I right, Sage Ishizu?" asked Brother Long, and Ishizu looked up to the big panda and gave him a nod. "That''s pretty damn good and accurate, Long. There are other factors that play a role. As you said, I have to wait for the war to happen. I am not sure how the Gedo Statue works when two Rinnegan users summon it and I don''t want metal sticking out of my back. I still haven''t completed my special squad of Edo Tensei. The last and most annoying problem: I need special help is to contain the Yuubi. I got a pretty good picture seeing Obito being mentally ripped apart when he absorbed the Yuubi and only through willpower alone did he survive. I ain''t going to do that without knowing if I have enough mental strength or plot armor. I will play it safe and wait for the moment to come. Though there is the question of what to do with Nagato? If he survives, Obito will either kill him and Konan to get the Rinnegan or force him to use the Rinne Rebirth to awaken Madara. There will be casualties in Konoha, but they will be reduced to 0 minus Danzo when and if Nagato uses his Outer Path to resurrect all of them. If he does, he will die, and Konan will take him back to Ame. I will get a special Edo Tensei and save Konan from dying. For the war to happen, I have to give Obito at least one Rinnegan. Due to my impact on his plans, Obito will most certainly take Kabuto as a partner to compensate for the missing Tailed Beasts. With the Rinnegan, the Zetsu army, and Kabuto, Obito will grow enough confidence to declare war on the nations. Killer B was attacked, as well as Yugito twice. Even if the Raikage is a brash individual, he won''t let it slide and will induce a Five Kage Summon." Ishizu paused for a moment. He was explaining a lot of the future that wasn''t even written in stone. Some many things could happen. "¡­ I think too far ahead. Let''s just see what the Uchiha''s are up to." "That you do, my student." The pandas and Ishizu turned their heads to see Po walking over to them. He was holding a stick in his hand and before anyone could realize what was happening, Ishizu was flying through the air. "May I inquire what this lesson is about?" Tau asked, confused by the sudden action of violence, but Po just smiled and walked towards the human. "Why did I deserve such welcome?" Ishizu asked sarcastically, spitting out a bit of blood from his mouth. "You need to calm down. One can only hide their intentions by so much, but I see that your reveal to Naruto had a more severe effect than you thought it would. Even if you thought about the future and what you can do to resolve this situation, it is still the future." "And the future is a mystery," spoke Po before charging at Ishizu, who now was ready to welcome Po. "Your master''s speech, Po?" Ishizu frowned, blocking the wooden stick Po casually swung at him. "You are still a human being, Ishizu Sasaki. Future knowledge or not. You have emotions that make you do mistakes. That in itself is perfectly fine. All living beings with emotions make mistakes. It''s what you do with those emotions is what defines us. That rambling about the future... this was a bit of leakage from the emotions you are suppressing inside. One can only hold that many emotions underneath them and when you won''t expect it will burst." The attacks became stronger and faster and Ishizu had a hard time deflecting and listening to what Po had to say. ''Crush'' The stick Po was holding broke in two and Ishizu took a deep, deep breath before exhaling it all at once. "Feeling better?" Po asked with a grin. "I actually do. Thank you, Po." "Hehe, that''s what teachers are there for. To guide. I hope you can relax and think about the present since... well, it is a gift any living being should appreciate." Back in Konoha, Fukasuke was resting from his injuries and hoping that Jiraiya was fine. But even when he was told by Po himself not to tell the truth. Tsunade sighed as she poured herself another bowl of sake. She glanced at it before placing it back. The next drink would be with Jiraiya. "I don''t know how I will tell Naruto about Jiraiya. I can''t lie and tell him he is dead. I am not strong enough," said Tsunade. "I told you I will do it. I don''t feel it is right to tell Naruto a lie, but he has to gather the strength to fight Pain. He is just about to master Sage Mode completely and when he does, I have no doubt he will defeat Pain," spoke the toad elder. "As of now, the Akatsuki are not the only problems. Ishizu Sasaki is the newest S-rank missing-nin of Konoha and people don''t enjoy having those freely around in the world. He was Konohagakure''s Fuinjutsu Master worth Jiraiya and as both are gone, we had to change the barrier code." "One that was easy to break and enter the village without anyone noticing, like me," said a voice before a glass sound was heard. Tsunade and Fukasuke turned to their left to see a panda sitting near the window and drinking what looked like wine. "You are one of the pandas who were in Ame," spoke Fukasuke, recognizing him from the fight. "That''s right. Name''s Denku. Nice to meet you. I just wanted to inform you that Naruto''s group had a lot of problems during their mission." "And how do you know that?" frowned Tsunade. "Well, our Sage was with them when they did their mission. Now, it would be a coincidence, but Sage Ishizu knew what he wanted. Before I forget why I came here, take this," said Denku as he handed Tsunade a letter. "What is that?" asked the Hokage. "Well, it has to do with what Ishizu was where you sent your team. They encountered the Jinchuriki of the Six Tails. He would have died if it wasn''t for Ishizu and me, as I had the honor of fighting the self-proclaimed God of Amegakure." Fukasuge and Tsunade starred at Denku. "You alone fought Pain?" asked Fukasuke, amazed by the strength of one panda. Denku only chuckled and rubbed his back in shame. "I could fight him 1vs1 very well, but then he cheated and the other five came. I ain''t risking my life fighting him. Not worth." Tsunade took the letter and read it. Her eyes widened and in rage, she slammed the paper on the desk, cracking it. "THIS BASTARD! How dare he decided whom to send to MY village or not? I don''t care if the Mizukage agrees or not. I am Hokage and I decide who enters and who doesn''t." "Ah, Sage Ishizu knows you well. He said you would say that. He also said that you have no choice, as your village is the next target for Akatsuki. With Utakata, you have a total of 3 Jinchuriki in Konoha. Two of them wouldn''t be alive without Ishizu''s help." "Answer me my question, panda. What does he get by taking the chakra from the Jinchuriki? Hell, why does Akatsuki need it? After all the time we have no idea why they do it," Tsunade demanded to know answers she didn''t have. Fukasuke reminded Tsunade of what Pain told Jiraiya and his talk about peace. "Unfortunately, that is not how the Bijuus work," interrupted Denku with a smile. "What do you mean, panda?" "The use of the Tailed Beast is special. To know that you have to ask those that have lived a long time and saw the creation of the Bijuu. Either way. I have done what I came for. Naruto-kun should arrive in due time. His mastery over Sage Mode is phenomenal, but will it help him defeat Pain?" Denku turned to Tsunade. "We should definitely drink together. I bet you like having a drinking partner. Though I prefer wine over sake." With a puff, Denku left before a fist crashed into the wood where he stood. Chapter 104 - Back to Kiri General POV Ishizu walked towards the place where Sasuke and Itachi were, only to find Po and the Snake Sage arguing. "Oh, how I missed you, Azara. You look just as beautiful as your mother, Viper," Po smoothly talked to the snake, who definitely wasn''t happy at all to see the panda. "Silence, Po. I have come here for my Sage candidate because my snakes couldn''t find him. You will explain to me why MY SAGE is in YOUR realm?" the Snake Sage scoffed. Sasuke and Itachi were baffled as they both looked at the two Sages arguing. They released a sigh when they saw Ishizu emerging. "I was the one who took them here.". Azara turned her head and hissed at the human who casually spoke to her. Her head snapped towards Ishizu and her eyes opened up just before him. "Then tell me, Ishizzzzu Ssssassaki, why is my precious Uchiha with this b¡­ panda?" Ishizu ignored the slip at the end while Brother Tau placed a paw on Po''s back to comfort him, who was crying silent tears. They apparently had history. "They had their battle, and I took them with me to aid in their injuries and to stop a crazy man from having his way." The Snake Sage looked at Sasuke and his brother before her eyes settled on the newcomer and elder Uchiha. "So you are Itachi Uchiha? Your eyes are calm as a fire burning in a silent forest. You don''t fear death and would embrace it with open hands. How... uncommon." "I love my brother very much, thank you," Itachi nodded. "I have healed everything except your eyes, Itachi. You both have to decide if you want to exchange your eyes to gain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, EMS for short." "Eternal? There is another step after the normal?" asked Sasuke. "If a person uses his Mangekyo too often, they will go blind. Itachi is blind because he overused his Mangekyo. The only person who has ever achieved the EMS is Madara Uchiha. He and his brother got it during the Warring State, and Madara saw the power he had. He used and used the Mangekyo before realizing he went blind. His brother offered him his eyes to see again. When Madara put the new eyes inside, the curse of the Mangekyo lifted and Madara grew even stronger to the point. He controlled the Kyuubi and fought Hashirama," explained Ishizu. "Then let''s do it," spoke the younger Uchiha, only for a snake''s tail to coil around him. "Not if I have a say in this. The fight between you and Kabuto grows closer and right now, you aren''t his match. I don''t want to see a one-sided battle. You will have your power-up after you have masted Sage Mode. After you finish your training, I will allow you to do the surgery." "Lady Sage is right, Sasuke. You have time before that," spoke Itachi, agreeing with Azara. "And I need you after the training in Konoha. Sasuke''s training should match the one from Naruto. After that, you both have to infiltrate a village." "You mean Konoha?" asked Itachi, confused. "That''s right. Pain will invade Konoha. And since Kakuzu and Hidan are still part of the organization, I believe they will play a part too and go after the Jinch¨±riki. Konoha has enough information about them, but the problem comes from the inside." "That''s right. You and Sasuke have a single mission. Kill Danzo Shimura. After all, he was the one who let Shisui''s plan fail, took a handful of Uchiha''s eyes. If you don''t know, he has a whole right arm full of Uchiha eyes. Orochimaru did a good job of implanting them." "He has what?!" shouted Sasuke in rage. Hearing that his clan''s eyes were worn on somebody''s body like trophies made him boil in anger. "I don''t know how many but he has a lot of them." "You know the reason?" asked Itachi. "I look into it. Danzo had an incredible fear of death. It''s one of the forbidden jutsus of the Uchiha Clan; the Izanagi." "Izanagi?" Sasuke was too uninformed about that, which wasn''t a surprise. It wasn''t common knowledge. "For the price of one Uchiha eye, the user can rewrite reality and escape death," explained Itachi in simple terms, keeping in mind how Ishizu and Danzo knew about this Uchiha secret. "Both of you will have the EMS, so I doubt you will face many problems with ROOT, but Danzo and his close guards are always together. I will give you the information I have about them later. For now, Sasuke should go, or else a fight between pandas and snakes will escalate." "Oh please stay, Azara. It was so long since I''ve last seen you dance," spoke Po before casually dodging a snake tail aiming for his head. "If you weren''t so goddam strong I would have killed you." Po sighed. "Many have said that and tried. And to this day nobody did it." Azara turned to Sasuke. "We are leaving, Sasuke. Come." Ishizu looked at Itachi, who didn''t know if to stay or to go. "While you were here with Sasuke, I had a pleasant view of seeing how Kisame operates. I don''t know about you, but he wants to see how his partner is doing. Will you accomplish Sasuke or not?" "Even if I see him now, I doubt I will see him," stated Itachi without even a smile. "Was that a joke?" asked Ishizu. "Itachi Uchiha can visit you while you come with me. A snake will stay by his side. When he wants to come, he just has to ask," spoke the Snake Sage before she left with Sasuke. "Do you even see right now?" asked Ishizu, waving his hand in front of Itachi''s face. "I am almost blind but I can differ between people and Kisame is not your common person." Ishizu took a map out to find where Kisame was. After they separated, Ishizu marked Kisame in case he ever wanted to see him again. "It looks like Kisame took my advice by heart and is walking to Kirigakure," commented Ishizu. "Why does he want to go there?" asked Itachi because he knew about Kisame and his view of Kiri. "He is a criminal, but after this whole Akatsuki problem is over, there will be peace. People like Kisame lived their whole life in a war, so they have to either die or be reeducated. He chooses the latter. We can see him if you want." Itachi nodded and both former Konoha Shinobi left the summoning realm. Somewhere near the border of Kiri Kisame POV Seeing the seas flowing around me and smelling the salt, I knew I had reached the Land of Water. After Sasaki-san left me, I had enough time to digest his words. On my back, Samehada purred. I knew she didn''t want to be separated from me because she knew where I was going. I grabbed Samehade from my back and pointed it in a certain direction. "Your stealth is good, but I am not some runaway Jonin. Show yourself or I will have Samehade have a taste of your flesh." A Kiri hunter ninja jumped out with senbons in his hands. "Well, who do we have here?" I asked before a glowing paper seal activated on my back. Flashback "I will plant this teleportation seal to come to you if I ever need something from you," spoke Ishizu as he placed the paper seal on Kisame''s back. Flashback end. General POV With a flash, Ishizu and Itachi teleported next to Kisame. "We are here," stated Ishizu as he looked around and found Kisame looking at them. "A bad time coming here," muttered Kisame before spotting Itachi. He was happy to see his colleague again. "Hahaha, Itachi, you look awful. I''ve seen enough to know you had a bad day." Itachi had a small smile as he nodded to Kisame. Meanwhile, Ishizu looked at the hunter nin. "Time sure flies fast by. It has been a while, Haku." Haku bowed, recognizing the man in front of him. "It is good to see you again, Sasaki-san. We received your message about Kisame and, while many have a problem with his situation, our Mizukage wishes to see him. I hope you can follow me peacefully." Ishizu looked at Kisame and Itachi. "Let''s go, you two. Itachi, you can later join Sasuke but in the meantime, we can follow Haku to Kirigakure and see what the Mizukage has to say." The former Akatsuki Duo nodded, and they followed Haku. Sometime later General POV "I would have never imagined seeing Kirigakure like this. It is so quiet, nobody is screaming for another to die and not even a bit of blood lying around though the smell is still there¡­ but less," said Kisame as he looked around, recognizing the village from before he left. "We had enough time to reconstruct the village. After Mei-sama came to power, she changed a lot of things. No more fights against Kekkei Genkai users and no more war. We stopped sending people outside of the Land of Water to focus on the economics," explained Haku. Entering the Mizukage office, Ishizu spotted the two bodyguards of Mei and Mei herself. "Ah, the Tailless Tailed Beast, Kisame Hoshigake returns to Kiri. I hope there weren''t any problems. How do you feel?" Mei greeted him in a friendly tone. Kisame frowned. He was still ready to fight in case something happened. It was an instinct one had to have to stay alive in Kirigakure or else you die. "If I am being honest; I am confused. Never in my life have I imagined seeing this village so¡­ quiet." Mei smiled, seeing she had an effect. "Oh, you can thank Sasaki-san for that. He was the one who got rid of the late Mizukage. Without him, the rebellion won and we could establish peace." Kisame looked at Ishizu like he was mad while the latter shrugged. "Don''t interpret things. I did it for myself. Don''t expect me to help Kiri just for the good. I got what I wanted, and that''s all. What happened afterward is their doing." Then a young man appears before the Mizukage. "Lady Terumi, I have finished everything." Mei smiled as she petted the person on the head. A small smile formed on his face. "Good job, Kimimaru. You have done well." "We are now ready to leave for Konoha," said Kimimaro. Now that caused Ishizu to freeze. This was not good. Not good at all. "Wait for a second, Konoha? Why do you want to go there?" "Why? Because we want to establish a good relationship with your village. Itachi Uchiha is still wanted, and I thought you could accomplish us as a Shinobi of the Leaf. You, a Konoha Shinobi, who helped Kirigakure," Mei replied with a smile, showing how happy she was living without a civil war. Ishizu cringed as the others looked at him. "Weeeeeell, I don''t think I can help you with that." "And what is that Ishizu-san?" asked Itachi, his eyes narrowing. Slowly, Ishizu reached behind his back to scratch the back of his head. "It might have to do with this tiny problem. See, I left Konoha, and I am considered a rogue-nin." "YOU DID WHAT?!!" everyone shouted. Chapter 105 - Preparation for Training General POV Kisame was on the ground, clutching his ?h?st and laughing his ?ss off. Zabuza and Haku just stared between Ishizu and Kisame, not knowing which one was weirder. Kimimaro looked confused, while Mei still has a smile on her face. "What do you mean you''ve gone rogue?" asked Itachi while his Sharingan spinning angrily. "It was some time ago just after Jiraiya left to fight Pain. I took the opportunity to have a delightful conversation with the current Hokage. I don''t know what happened afterward, but I know for sure that the civilian council and Danzo jumped at the opportunity to brand me a rogue. My status as a leaf shinobi was removed and I am now a missing-nin," effortlessly Ishizu lied to everyone else. "Now my little brother had two rogue Senseis," sighed Itachi.. "Oy, don''t you compare me with that Snake. I have done nothing evil." Ishizu felt somebody touch his shoulder. Glancing behind, he saw Mei smiling at him. "If you have no allegiance..." Ishizu shook his head, knowing what the Mizukage wanted from him. Her charms wouldn''t work on him. "Sorry, but I don''t want to become a Kiri Shinobi. If Kushina found out I left the village, she would just hit me for being not careful. If she found out I changed to another, she would kill me. I''d rather live with pain than not at all." "That doesn''t matter. Even if you are no longer a Konoha Shinobi, why don''t you want me to go to Konoha? Utakata should be there and I''d rather have my Shinobi back," spoke Mei curiously. "Because you don''t want to enter Konoha while it is waiting for an attack. As of now, Konoha has 3 Jinch¨±riki, and the Akatsuki seeks all of them. They know who they are and they want them." "3? I thought you only had 2?" asked Zabuza. "I think you''ve heard the panic about Taki losing their Jinch¨±riki?" "Didn''t Akatsuki get it?" asked Kimimaro. "Naruto and I had an encounter with her. Seeing her being treated so harshly, Naruto took her away. Unfortunately, Akatsuki''s spy found her and now they are coming. If you move to Konoha, you will be seen as an enemy." Mei looked at Kimimaro. "Is my luggage ready?" Kimimaro shook his head. "Then we will depart once it is." Ishizu could only sigh. "Women. You tell them no and they still do it." Kisame thanked Ishizu for everything and went together with Mei while Itachi called for the snake to go to Sasuke. Ishizu stood alone, looking at the sky. "Now is training time. I need to train those two for the upcoming battle and I know the perfect place." While Ishizu left to do his things, there was another important conversation going on. "Say... that... again," each word left Naruto''s lips like a freezing breeze. One could feel the room temperature dropping by a few degrees. "Jiraiya of the Sannin died fighting against the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain," repeated Tsunade. Every word that came out of her mouth burned her throat, but she kept going. She had to do it. "You mean to tell me that my first Sensei betrayed the village while my other Sensei died against the Akatsuki?" Naruto''s voice was calm, but everyone knew he was on the brink of destruction. One wrong world and it would rain disaster. What made the rest stunned was that Naruto knew about Ishizu Sasaki. "Naruto, what do you mean you knew about Sasaki-san?" Sakura looked at him, confused. She saw him and Naruto interacting just like normal. "It happened when Horoka''s forbidden Jutsu activated. Out of nowhere, Ishizu stepped in. I thought he would help us, but he used Wood Style to incapacitate me while he blackmailed Utakara into giving him the chakra of the Six-Tails. He knew, he knew! that Utakata was a Jinch¨±riki." Realization hit Naruto like a brick. "Now I know why we traveled to Taki to meet Fu. Everything he did was for his own self." With those words, Naruto stormed out of the office. Nobody followed him. Inside Naruto''s home. "Naruto-kun, with Jiraiya''s death, we need you to finish Sage Mode. You need to be in perfect condition to fight Pain," spoke Fukasuke in a calm voice. "Leave. I need my peace," responded Naruto through the closed window. Many people came to Naruto''s home to be rejected out. Even Hinata and Ino couldn''t come inside. [Knock, knock, knock] I signed. Another one I had to tell to not disturb me. "I don''t care who you are, but I don''t want you to come in." "...eh, it is me, Naruto." That was Karin. What did she want? "What do you want?" "I know that you don''t want people to tell you to train, so I came to ask you about another thing. Do you remember you told me about the ruins of Uzo? You wanted me to show what was inside." My eyes widened. Of course, there was that place. I had to get away from Konoha and clear my head. General POV "You are a genius, Karin. If you didn''t love Fu I would have kissed you," spoke Naruto. "W-what is going into you?" asked a confused Karin. "I had enough time to think about it, but I came to the conclusion that Sage Mode wasn''t enough. Even if I won my ''late'' Sensei would call something like that plot armor and I don''t want to leave everything for chances. Your suggestion helped me a lot." Naruto ran before he stopped. "And you are coming with me," added Naruto before grabbing Karin, and off they were. Hokage office "You want to what?" shouted Tsunade. "Chill, Granny. I told you I want to go to Uzo, and I am taking Karin with me. I am good enough with Sage Mode and if the leader has the Rinnegan, I need to go to Uzo." "But why do you have to take Karin?" asked Ino. "When I was there with... him, he found a blood seal that hid a massive library full of knowledge. Last time I learned about the history of Uzo. The Uzumaki ghost I met told me to come again with another Uzumaki. Karin is perfect," explained Naruto. "But Naruto-kun. If you combine your Sage Mode with the Kyuubi''s chakra..." spoken Fukasuke but was interrupted by Naruto. "I talked with the fox and he wasn''t happy." Flashback. Back in the depths of Naruto''s mind was the cell with the mightiest of the Biju. Currently, the fox was standing on its back legs with his front ones crossed. "I refuse!" shouted an angry Kurama, moving his head away from Naruto, who was standing before the cage. "Why not?" asked Naruto after another attempt failed to convince the fox. "Because you already have my chakra. At least I am alone and have my peace when you use Sage Mode, but under no circumstances will I share my place with toad nature energy. No amphibian will share a mind space with me." ''One day you will crumble you tsundere fox,'' thought Naruto. Flashback end. "No chance, but can''t we open the seal a bit?" asked Naruto. "Unfortunately, we need two components to open it. We have the key, but only the key holder can do it. Jiraiya can''t do it." "So as I am the next Sage I should automatically become it, right?" asked Naruto. Fukasuke nodded. "That would be correct if there weren''t another key holder." Naruto could tell by the toad''s voice who he meant. "It''s him, isn''t it?" "Yes, Naruto-kun." "Then I can leave with Karin, right?" "If it wasn''t such a special situation, then I would have said, but as we are racing against time, I will allow you to go to Uzo with Karin," Tsunade gave in. ''Is this karma or why do I have to go there now?'' thought Karin before Naruto dragged her outside. In the Dumpling Dynasty "Come on, bitch. I bet you have more in your arsenal," a woman''s voice resonated. "Somebody should really teach you how to speak. No wonder you have no beautiful man by your side," countered another. "Like all the ones you su?k?d out of their chakra with your lips? I bet I could get more men in bed than you!" challenged the first. "Then you should start soon because I am way in front of you," replied the second with a smirk. On the side, two pandas watched them fight. "Do you understand them?" asked Yang Yang. "No sister, I don''t. Why do they want to compete with how many men they lay in bed? Just grab one and fu?k his brain out," responded Yin Yin. "Too troublesome. They would scream and the s?x wouldn''t be amazing if you had to hold them down. You have to seduce him, show him you are his and make him your pet. He will fulfill your every wish." "Ha! You talk as if you had a man in your life. The only thing you ever had close to a man was our Sage who has to use the Rinnegan to get you off him," spoke a male voice. The two pandas looked up to see a small panda sitting on a tree and drinking his lowly red wine. Both girls turned to each other. "He is right. We should find a nice male panda and fulfill our d?s?r?s," spoke Yang Yang. Yin Yin smiled. "And I just know the right panda." Denku gulped before drinking up his last wine glass before sprinting away. After a while, a human male appeared at the scene. "I thought the sisters were watching them?" asked the human before shrugging. Who knew where the crazy siblings were? "Hey, you two. It''s time to find out about your ancestors. Stop bitching around. You can do it later. We have a special place to visit." In another area of *DD* A tremendous explosion destroyed part of the flora and one could see a shadow chasing another. "Both of you are crazy! ''Make him your pet''? What kind of thoughts run through your miserable brains? Also, you will never catch me!" Another explosion followed by screams. "Shouldn''t we do something, brother Tau?" "No need, brother Long. I enjoy it quite a lot. It is a change from the boring times." "True. You are right." Both enjoyed the scenery with a few dumplings and some herbal tea. Good times. The Dumpling Dynasty was as lively as ever. Sometime later. "Hehe, you have underestimated us, Denku." "Finally he fell for the trap." Both female panda''s eyed K''Oed panda on the ground. Even now, in this state, he held his glass of wine in his paw. "I know just the right thing," said Yang Yang as she whispered her sister something in her ear. "Ohh, you are so evil, sister. I like it." A simple stun trap caught poor Denku with wine as bait. If only he knew that his addiction would lead to this, he should have stayed sober. Listen, kids, don''t be an alcoholic or you can find yourself with crazy females like those two. Chapter 106 - Assembly of the Uzumakis General POV "Naruto, can you explain to me why we are going to the ruins of Uzu again? Because I am sure that this is not just a vacation trip," asked Karin. She wanted to go there as a vacation but she clearly recognized this wasn''t Naruto''s reason. "Information wins the battle. The book Kabuto gave us about the remaining Akatsuki is going to be really important. Unfortunately, the book doesn''t have any information about Pain. We only know he possesses the Rinnegan and there are 6 of him. I''ve seen the Rinnegan on... Sasaki-san, but I never questioned who they worked. The library in Uzu is gigantic, and it survived a long time. I bet there is some information about it." "You are still mad about Ishizu-sensei?" Karin knew the reason... hell, everyone knew the reason why Naruto was mad. His teacher broke the law, yet she didn''t believe that Ishizu betrayed the village. She felt his chakra from the time she saw him. Yes, he was fixed on the woman she saw in his mind, but Karin also saw how Ishizu felt about Naruto and the rest. His feeling for his students was genuine, and Ishizu would never leave Naruto or anyone behind. This was not in his nature. But Karin saw Naruto didn''t want to hear any of that, so she stops pressing the subject any further. It was only a matter of time before both student and teacher met. After a few days, both reached the water and continued on. The whirlpools that sprung out from the water amazed Karin. She could feel a sense of homesickness. Something deep inside her was calling to her here. "We are here," stated Naruto as he looked up ahead. "Let''s go." On the other side. "We are here, you two. Let''s see if you are Uzumaki''s or not. On the other side is a huge blood seal. Touch the wall and hope you can enter. I will have to go another way as I am not an Uzumaki and therefore can''t enter the same way. I hope we will meet inside," Ishizu explained to the two before moving out. Both girls shrugged and left to find the wall their leader mentioned. They didn''t show it on their faces, but both were excited to find something about their past. Tayuya remembered to have had a mother at some point in her younger day, but those memories were fogged because of the things that happened after Orochimaru found her. Fuka, on the other hand, had no memories of her parents. She grew up in a brothel and was later trained in the arts of seduction. Thoughts about her parents never crossed her mind as she dubbed them unnecessary. This changed with her savior and master, who hoped that she was part of something big and she, too, hoped so because it would please him. With Naruto and Karin. "There it is. Come, Karin. Behind that wall is what we need to find," spoke Naruto as he touched the wall and disappeared, leaving Karin alone. "You idiot. Don''t leave me behind!" shouted Karin before touching the wall and also vanishing. "So you think he meant this wall?" asked Tayuya, her eye roaming over the vast wall. "Haven''t you listened? Of course, it is this wall," Fuka scoffed at the audacity that her master was wrong. "Then touch the damm wall and see if it works." "Of course it will work. My master has taken me in because he saw me as an Uzumaki." Fuka touched the wall and vanished. Tayuya stared at the barrier. She looked around to see if anyone was looking. "Please let me be an Uzumaki. Please let me be an Uzumaki," prayed Tayuya before touching the wall. In another place of Uzu. Ishizu looked at how his body absorbed pure nature energy. Now that he could control the Wood Sage Mode, he could easily enter this place. This place was awesome for Sage Mode users. "You came back?" asked a familiar voice as he was midway inside. "Yes, I did, Kenji. But it is still not the time to move. I came here to ask entrance for the library." Kenji''s ghost formed raised an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, we forbid you from reading the books inside." "I am well aware but I can look for specific books for the two girls I had with me." This time, a smile formed on his face, and his form vibrated. "Ah, I felt them enter the library. One who inherited the Chakra Drain technique and one with diluted Uzumaki blood that inherited the Genjutsu Corps'' special ability. What do you want them to learn?" "The one thing all Uzumakis are known for. Sealing. I want them to summon their chakra chains," responded Ishizu, hoping they would achieve it. It was not like he needed them, but they would contribute a lot to his plan. Kenji grinned. "You really want no issues in that, right? Fine, I will allow you to enter." "Konoka, do you hear me? I am back and I brought you a visitor," shouted Naruto through the library. "Woah. What is happening?" asked Karin as she saw a book materializing before her. "Karin Uzumaki, huh? Going by the blood you left on the wall, you are the last survivor of the Healing Corpse from Uzu. Welcome to the Uzumaki library," spoke a voice and both turned to find a woman floating with books around her. "I am pleased to see you have returned, Naruto Uzumaki. I welcome you too, Karin Uzumaki. My name is Konoka Uzumaki and I am one of the two guardians of this place." "It is an honor to meet you, ancestor," said Karin as she bowed to the elderly Uzumaki. "No need for such formalities. What can I do for you?" asked Konoko, curious why they showed up. "I need to work training and Karin will help me in finding a book that explains what the Rinnegan is and how it works." "The Rinnegan? Well, I can point you in the direction where some books are, Karin. You stay here for a moment, Naruto. I will be right back," spoke Konoka as she disappeared. Somewhere in the library. "So I am inside?" asked the voice. "That you are, Fuka Uzumaki. I hope you enjoy your stay in the library." Fuka looked at the ghost. "You must be Konok-san. The ghost of the library my master has mentioned." "That I am. Your master, as you call him, is also here, but I am observing him very carefully. If he opens any book, he will be punished. But let''s talk not talk about him. What I want to know is about you, Fuka. How can I help you?" "My master wants me to learn about the special chains of the Uzumaki clan. He believes I can summon them," explained Fuka. "Then let''s go. Another Uzumaki will teach you this." "What about Tayuya?" asked Fuka, concerned about her friend. "Unfortunately no. Her blood is too dilated to activate the chains, but she has the genes for the Uzumaki Genjutsus. She will find what she seeks here. Now let''s go." "Who is that?" asked Naruto as he saw both of them coming back. "This is Fuka Uzumaki. She came here to learn if she was of Uzumaki descent. She wants to learn to summon the chakra chains," explained Konoka, not mentioning that she was with Ishizu. "Fine by me. Nice to meet you, Fuka. Name''s Naruto Uzumaki." Fuka smiled as she shook Naruto''s hand. "It is nice to meet you, young Uzumaki. I hope we both learn what we came for." "Be quiet! The lesson has started. You will not speak until I say so. Do you understand?!" Konoka made both of them stand straight. "Yes, Ma''ma/Hai-Teacher!" was the response. In a large hallway of the library, Karin looked at the books. "Wow, there are so maybe of them, but they only talk about the Sage of the Six Paths having it. Not a single one talks about how it is acquired. Was the Sage born with them? How can I find a book about the Rinnegan?" asked a frustrated Karin as she dropped yet another book that didn''t have the information she needed. Where would she find more information about the legendary eyes? Chapter 107 - A Helping Hand in Need General POV "Maybe I can be of help?" asked an amused voice from behind. Karin turned around to see a famous man with blue hair looking at her with a smile. "Ishizu-sensei!" shouted Karin as she jumped at him, surprising the rogue-nin by the friendliness the girl carried towards him. "Whoa there Karin! I don''t think you should do that to a rogue Shinobi like me," spoke Ishizu with a smile. Karin buried her face in Ishizu''s body. "Do you know I have felt your chakra? You would never betray us. I know you are still the same person I saw the first time in the Forest of Death." Ishizu has a small smile on his face as he patted Karin''s hair. "Well, you found it out." Karin took a breath. "I am just too smart. Well, I can''t say that about Naruto." "That''s because of our connection, Karin. Right now Naruto''s emotions are in turmoil. He cannot look beneath the underneath and doesn''t know my reason for doing it. Still, I never thought he would come here. Shouldn''t he finish his Sage Mode training?" "Well, Fukasuke-sama wanted Naruto to go to their place, but he refused. After I told him about Uzo, he changed from sulking to active again. He didn''t tell me exactly why he wanted to come here again. Only that he didn''t want to rely on what he called ''Plot Armor''." Ishizu failed to suppress his cringe. "I never thought he took that so serious. Either way, I didn''t come here to see Naruto but found you. You are here to learn about the Rinnegan, right?" asked Ishizu, to which Karin nodded. "Then I am the best teacher to have." Ishizu activated his Rinnegan. "Let''s start with a bit of history first. There are only 3 people who have ever possessed the Rinnegan. I bet you have read some ancient books that mentioned the Sage, Hagoromo Otsutsuki. We don''t want to make this too complicated, so we just say he was the first who had it. His sons didn''t inherit the Rinnegan. Instead, the power was split between his two sons, Indra and Asura. The Sharingan and the Wood Style. The chakra between the two sons didn''t disappear after they died but reincarnated in two others. The second individual who acquired the Rinnegan was Madara Uchiha. During the fight between him and his rival Hashirama Senju, Madara bit some flesh out from Hashirama." Then Ishizu looked at Karin. "What I am going to tell you is something only a few know. I hope you don''t tell anyone or many people could die. I hope you understand, Karin." Karin nodded quickly. The history lesson was amazing, and she didn''t want Ishizu to stop. "Unlike in the textbooks, Madara didn''t die in his battle with Hashirama." "Wait, he survived?" asked Karin. She had read the books about the time of Hashirama and Madara. Everyone knew that Madara Uchiha died at the hands of the First Hokage. "Sometimes even books cannot tell the truth. Uchiha''s are known to cheat death in many ways. Madra used a special Jutsu to bring himself back to life. In secret, he fused the chakra of him and Hashirama who at that time were the reincarnations of Indra and Asura." "And by combining the two chakras together, Madara gained the chakra of the Sage," stated Karin. "Good, you can connect the dots, but it took Madara decades to fuse the two chakras, since the use of his jutsu had been paid. He aged heavily before he got it. Using the Rinnegan, Madara lived up until the end of the 3rd Shinobi War. Before that, he saw that with his current age he couldn''t change the world anymore, so he took his Rinnegan out and put it into a child. But not a normal child. One that could bear the chakra demand and had a long lifespan. An Uzumaki." Karin''s eyes widened. "So this Pain is an Uzumaki and had the Rinnegan from Madara?" "That is the truth." "But how can you have the Rinnegan, Ishizu-Sensei? You must have done the same as Madara." "Correct. The reincarnation cycle of Indra and Asura began once again after Madara died. Naruto is Asura''s reincarnation and Sasuke is Indra''s. With their help, I fused both chakras to obtain it." Ishizu saw that Karin was discussing something with herself about something. "I-I want to know why you do everything. I don''t want to be left in the dark," spoke Karin, with a glare in her eyes that wished to seek knowledge. Ishizu saw the determination in Karin''s eyes. "I could show you what I know, but the price you''d have to pay would be immense. Do you really want to make such a deal?" asked Ishizu. Karin smiled. "You are known as The Strategist and I doubt you will harm Konoha. So yes, I will do everything to learn." Ishizu nodded before sitting down. "Come, Karin, sit." Karin sat down across from Ishizu. "Your ability to see into one is quite good, but I will show you a technique that is as old as the Sage. He was the one who created it. It is the precursor of Ninjutsu, Ninshu." Karin starred in her eyes. She wanted to know and Ishizu would show her. "Ninshu. That sounds awesome." "Now, close your eyes and stretch your hand out and make a fist." Karin did as instructed before she felt Ishizu''s fist on her. "Feel my chakra and let it flow through your chakra system. We will connect on a level no two people can." Karin felt the sensation of Ishizu''s chakra entering her body and circulating inside while he let her chakra fly into him. Then she saw it. The same woman she saw before. Ishizu''s soul revealed the name she back then heard. Kaguya Otsutsuki, the mother of the Sage of the Six Paths. The mother of all chakra. She saw everything. The contact broke, and Karin opens her eyes. "So, how was the information?" asked Ishizu. "Amazing. I could go on forever." Then Ishizu felt a hug. "Why?" "I knew you could leave me in the Forest and I would be Orochimaru''s slave. I thank you again for the life you gave me." "No problem." "So what are we going to do now?" Karin broke away and smiled at Ishizu. Ishizu signaled Karin to open her mouth before placing a seal on her tongue. "A Fuinjutsu to prevent you from feeling anyone about what you saw. You have learned too much and I don''t want anyone to know. For now. You can have it only for yourself. That is only for safety. There is another thing." "You want my Uzumaki chains, right?" Karin saw what Ishizu wanted her to do. "You saw what I am going to do. I don''t want to mess it up, so I want you to l use the time here and learn. Maybe find Naruto or the other two girls who are here with me. When the time is right, I will call you and I hope you will heed it." Karin nodded. "I will don''t worry." Both departed and were going opposite ways. Chapter 108 - A Glimpse of the Future Naruto POV The lectures of Konoka-Sensei were very informative, but I couldn''t feel that I was being stared at by Fuka. "Do I have something on my face or why is it that you stare at me so much?" The smile the woman gave me send shivers down my spine. I couldn''t concentrate on Konoka if a predator was giving me such a smile. "Don''t take it wrong, Naruto," Konoka floated in front of us. "It is in her nature to be drawn to such scent you give off. Those who possess the unique ability to draw in chakra natures have to as an instinct and your chakra is like an aphrodisiac to her." I could feel a red tint showing up and Fuka chucked. Hey, I was a teenager and knew exactly what the Uzumaki ghost was referring to. Though I didn''t know if smelling strong was something to be proud of. "You see, Naruto-san, before my master found me, I was but a lackey to a man who used me and would discard me the moment he didn''t need it. At one point, we even wanted to destroy Konoha because of some foolish grudge I have forgotten that man had. Everything changed when my master found me. He was unlike any other who wasn''t disgusted by my ability to steal chakra from others. My ability is called Kiss of Death, where I steal the chakra from somebody and gain their chakra affinity. I used it to kill many men and was even stupid that I tried to steal from my master. I miscalculated, and he defeated me swiftly. He could have killed me there, and nobody would remember me since I was a nobody. But instead, he gave me a choice to live and be his. My life was on the line, so naturally, I agreed. Up to this day, it is a day I never forget. My master is the nicest person I know. He told me that my ability could be used to help people with chakra exhaustion. Did you believe an ability used for killing such as mine could be us to heal? I can store huge amounts of chakra. I can kiss somebody and help them recover from chakra exhaustion. It blew my mind. And now I am here to learn about my clan," explained Fuka in excitement before gripping her ?h?st. Konoka stopped the session as she saw Fuka beginning to pant. "Naruto, be a dear and leave for the moment. I will help Fuka with her task so see if you can find something else." Konoka didn''t have to tell him twice as I took a run for his life away from the woman who was looking at me as if he was a delicious steak. No, thank you. Thank god I escaped her. As I was trying to collect my thoughts, I realized I wasn''t in the library anymore. ''That can''t be. Uzu should be completely in ruins. Where does this forest come from?'' I got curious about this forest and ventured deeper. The forest grew thicker and I ha for good deeper. General POV Kurama''s eyes snapped open when he felt a strange feeling. Living inside a seal was boring, but at least he was chained to a rock and, therefore, could enjoy his sleep So it quite annoyed him what the reason was for his awakening. He expanded his senses outside and recoiled back at the overwhelming wild nature energy invading the space. "Where the hell did this boy venture in?" Kurama stood up and began channeling his chakra into Naruto. Kenji''s eyes watched from above as Ishizu''s student entered the nature forest. Even after Ishizu took away the remnants of the Ten-Tails, the nature energy remained saturated. The Uzumaki ghost could see orange pigmentations appearing around Naruto''s eyes, a sign of him entering his Sage Mode, unintentionally. Naruto was moving like he was being controlled, going closer to the center. Kenji watched as the young, entranced Uzumaki moved closer to the lake. It seemed that he couldn''t resist the call of nature. ~step, step~ "Oh? What''s the reason for coming here?" Kenji asked with a small smile as his eyes moved to the person standing next to him. "Because I am his teacher," was the only explanation Ishizu said before moving towards Naruto. Naruto POV What is happening to me? I didn''t feel my body. I felt nothing at all. No, I could feel nature. I was one with Mother Nature. People materialized in front of me. The first was a shadow. Its eyes opened, and I saw a Rinnegan staring straight at me. This wasn''t Pain. Something about this person was different. It looked down at me as if I was beneath it. It was locked away, but I could hear its name. Y+=$|. Ot&¡ì="!&/ The next was a person with long, spiky silver hair. His colorful eyes were different from the clan, but Naruto could see a resemblance between him and Sasuke. J#^} Uchiha His eyes narrowed. He could see me, but before I could hear what he said, the vision faded. Next ¡­ General POV Location ??? "Inner peace." The words held power as the animal that said them with closed was levitating under a Sakura tree. "Inner p¡­ now you shouldn''t be here." The animal''s eyes slowly opened its eyes to see the phantom flying over him. It took out a stick and swirled it over its top, creating a strange symbol. "And off you go!" Back in Uzu, Ishizu was about to disrupt the nature energy when something happened as Naruto''s body began to produce a cloak of red bijuu chakra. "Brat! Wake up!" Naruto recoiled in pain, and his eyes opened wide. "What happened?" Naruto looked confused at the Kyuubi''s chakra but the Kyuubi didn''t respond. "You''re back. Congratulations. I feared you wouldn''t wake up and become a tree." What Kenji didn''t tell Naruto was what he saw in Naruto''s eyes. A combination of Sage Mode and Kyuubi. Who knew those two could combine? Ishizu sneezed as he went back to watch what was happening inside the library. Just had quickly as the combination lasted the same, it disappeared without Naruto''s knowledge. Kenji didn''t voice it out to Ishizu. Inside the seal, Kurama frowned as he saw the Kyuubi Sage Mode. To not lose Naruto, he had to pour out his chakra, and he felt it combine with the Sage Mode. The feeling¡­ It¡­ Wasn''t¡­ Too bad. Chapter 109 - Uzumaki Ancestors General POV "I think I lost my way," said Karin as she wandered through the library. The Poor girl took a wrong turn. She should have gone left but instead took a right and ended up somewhere else. "Hey, redhead over here!" Karin was happy to hear a human voice, so she ran to find a girl looking at her. "Who the hell are you?" asked Tayuya, seeing someone else besides Fuka here. "Why should I tell you, huh? You could be some thief to steal something," responded Karin while grabbing a kunai out of her pouch and was ready to fight. Tayuya smiled at the opposite redhead. Few had the guts to speak to her like that. She liked people with guts. "Nice to meet you. Names Tayuya." "Are you one of the girls who Ishizu-sensei took with him?" Tayuya didn''t show her surprise at her knowing her master, but nodded in response. "Yeah, but I''ve found nothing in his shitty library. The history is all nice and all, but I want to grow stronger." A bright light appeared and blended into both of them. "A book?" Tayuya looked confused at the shady book. "Maybe the library wants us to read it?" asked Karin. "Let''s not waste time and get this over with," said Tayuya as she opened the book. Tayuya wasn''t someone who liked books. They had too much writing in them and most of them were useless. What she didn''t expect was to hear a scream coming out from the book, making Tayuya drop the book out of reflex. "Ara ara. That is not nice. You should nurse books with care." "Sister, you are too friendly. See this girl there. Yes, that''s right! She is of my blood. Hell, even her mouth is similar to mine, hahaha!" Karin and Tayuya looked up to see two ghostly Uzumakis floating in front of them. "Who the hell are you?" bluntly asked Tayuya. The second female ghost flew closer towards Tayuya. So close that they almost touched. A grin spread across her face. The ghost has short red hair and green eyes that were looking straight at Tayuya. "I like you already. Sup, my name''s Kaya Uzumaki. Master of the Uzumaki Genjutsu Order. And while you are here, I will teach you what you want." "Awesome. I waited long enough. Let''s go," cheered Tayuya, not even questioning the appearance of her ancestor. Both of them disappeared in some dark corner, leaving the Konoha girl alone, who looked at the remaining ghost. The other ghost had her hair in a ponytail and her blue eyes roaming over Karin''s body. If one would try to describe her body in one world, it would be MILF. An angelic face combined with a slim body and a booty that could suffocate any man. Though her large br??sts would captivate most men. Despite them being only a bit smaller than Tsunade''s, they could defy gravity, making them appealing. "You don''t have to fear my little one. Unlike my sister, I don''t use such vulgar words. My name is Nora Uzumaki. I am your ancestor. I was the one who created the Uzumaki Healing Corpse. Do you want to learn from me how to use the Uzumaki Chains?" asked Nora. "Yes, please. Teach me," Karin smiled and bowed in respect, seeking a giggle from Nora. While everyone was learning, one was left alone who made his way to the exit. "Oh, poor Ishizu-kun. It must bore you only walking those hallways not able to read in a single book," spoke Konoka in a provocative voice, as she appeared behind Ishizu. The latter stopped in his walk and slightly turned his head to the ghost. "You are wrong. Yes, I am sad that I can''t read about the Uzumaki Clan and broaden my horizon, as there are only a few things I know about it. Your clan saved my life countless times and it will be people from your clan that will help me in my mission. If they can get something out of here, then why should I feel said. In fact, I am pleased. I think you are also overjoyed to know that so many Uzumakis are still alive. I believe they are enough to repopulate a clan. Aren''t you happy?" The grin on Konoka''s face fell, and she genuinely smiled at Ishizu. "Oh, I am quite happy. I cannot wait when children will rush those hallways seeking information from their ancestors. You don''t know, but every book houses a soul of an Uzumaki. They are dormant, but they will wake up once people seek their knowledge. With that, the Uzumaki clan will never die. We will preserve the knowledge for the young." Ishizu has a slight smile on his face. "I have collected the chakra of each Bijuu. It is only a matter of time before the war starts. I hope you will be ready to help me when I come here." Konoka waved her hand. "Don''t you worry about such things. This is a moment that has to be written down in history. Kenji and I don''t care if you fail or succeed. I just want to see the spectacle and record it while my husband wants to see the power of the Ten-Tails. We will come." "Good. I will be going. I have to prepare for my next move." With Tayuya Tayuya growled as she released another genjutsu. The Uzumaki girl expected some training, but this wasn''t what she often did. Genjutsu overlaying another and another. She had to break free from each one and try to describe how she knew this was a fake reality. Tayuya speculated that when Kaya was alive, she most definitely was a sadist. She could hear the m??ning of her ancestors when she was struggling to break the illusion. Screaming at the ghost only made it worse because she apparently enjoyed it. "Finally... done," panted Tayuya as she broke through the last genjutsu. "Your affinity for Genjutsu is remarkable. I am happy to have had you as my student. You are ready to go and show the outside world how strong you are," said Kaya. "You bet I will. And thank you for everything." A book opened and Kaya Uzumaki disappeared into it. Karin''s teacher was more benevolent than Tayuya''s. Nora never spoke a bad word to Karin and encouraged her even to try her best. The younger Uzumaki enjoyed the company of Nora as she reminded her of Karin''s late mother. A gentle soul ready to help anyone in need. With Nora''s help, Karin could now easily summon and move her chakra chain around and knew she now could help Ishizu-sensei in his mission. "You''ve learned everything you need to know about the chakra chains. If you have to come to visit again and I will help you more with your special body," gently spoke Nora Uzumaki as she moved around Karin. "I thank you so much, Nora-sama. I will never forget about you," said Karin as she bowed before seeing Nora disappearing in a book. "I hope you have learned what it means to be an Uzumaki, Fuuka-chan." While the Chakra Chains were a delightful bonus for Fuuka, she has learned so much more from Konoka. Fuuka knew her master would be happy with what she had learned. If you ever need help you back," spoke Konoka. "Thank you very much Konoka-Sensei," Fuuka spoke before leaving. Ishizu stood outside of the library while everyone else was still inside. "Summoning Jutsu." 3 pandas appeared before him. "Hmm, it has been a while since you summoned me, Sage Ishizu. It is nice to see that you still need my help after all this time," spoke brother Tau. "Finally. I was getting impatient. What do you want from me? A kiss, a hug, maybe something more ?r?t???" asked Yin Yin, fluttering her eyebrows. "Stop talking, sister. Our Sage needs us now and going by his look, it seems this is serious," said Yang Yang. "It is. You, brother Tau, go to the Snake Sage and sent both Uchiha''s to the meeting place of *DD."* Ishizu turned to the sisters. "You two will leave for Konoha and set up a massive barrier around Konoha with my instructions. Your abilities should make it impossible for the Shinobi of Konoha to spot you. The normal barrier is useless against Nagato and the other two. You know where to set the activation point. Come back when you are ready. I have to prepare myself and see my Toad Sage patient.. His time in the Dumpling Dynasty has exceeded his time." Chapter 110 - Christmas special: A Father and Daughter reunion General POV "Mommy, is daddy coming back?" The mother put her daughter in her lab and started combing her hair. "Your father is doing something very important," the mother tried to calm her child, but she jumped up. "He promised! He promised we would celebrate as a family!" Her mother tried to stop the daughter, but she ran up into her room. She jumped into her bed and hugged her stuffed animal. It was a gift from her daddy. She cherished it since it once was his, but now he wasn''t here. This was Christmas! "I''ll get you back!" It was quiet in Konohagakure, and nobody noticed a portal appearing outside of Konoha. Out of it came a small female figure that folder her hands together. Many civilians would try to pet her on the head because she looked so cute, but if a sensor Ninja would see her, they would have screamed about the impossibility. The girl looked around before her eyes began to change into a purple spiral shape. "Where are you?" a small tear formed on the girl''s face as she walked into the village. As soon as she stepped into Konoha, Naruto froze when he felt the presence pressing down on him. "Kyuubi, did you feel that?" asked Naruto as he opened the door. "Wasn''t hard. Whoever this is either wants us to feel them or is terrible at hiding. What matters is that it is coming closer," responded the Fox. Naruto knew he has to confront whatever it was so he followed the charka. Naruto expected everything from an enemy Shinobi to an alien but to find a pale girl with short blue hair who wasn''t older than 6. As soon as the girl saw Naruto, her eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head. "You are not him, but you have his scent," the girl said with a frown. "Who are you?" responded Naruto in defense as he saw her Rinnegan. "Mitsuko¡­ you''re not my daddy," the girl said before her Rinnegan glowed. Naruto didn''t know what hit him, but the result was him crashing into a house. "What the hell was that? Also, that hurt." "Getting bested by a child," laughed Kurama. "Stupid fox. She manhandled me. She can cause massive damage if we let her roam freely. We have to contain her." With a groan, Naruto got up, but the girl was gone, as was her chakra. Scene change "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." When a summon gets summoned, they usually know who is summoning them so they can know on whose side they are fighting. So when Po felt the message to get summoned, he was confused since his summoner was training his Panda Sage Mode and clearly wasn''t using any hand signs. Feeling a story being developed, Po answered the summoning, and with a poof of smoke, he appeared¡­ next to a little girl. By itself, this shouldn''t be possible. Every panda knew Ishizu was the first and only summoner, so how could this girl have their contract. Naturally, Tau had his suspicion, but he couldn''t confirm the theory. He wanted to confirm the theory. "You are not Lin Lin," the girl stared at the panda, who just returned a smile. "I am not, nor do I know, any panda with such a name. Can I ask for your name, sweetheart?" The atmosphere around the girl change immediately as she returned him a smile. "My name is Mitsuko. Hey, I know you! You are Uncle Tau!" the girl screamed in excitement as she hugged the panda. Tau returned the hug as he felt her face snoozing into his fur. Grabbing her, he reversed summoned back to the Dumpling Dynasty, leaving his summoner alone. The current main protagonist, Ishizu Sasaki, was on Training Ground 33 going through his Panda Style Taijutsu when he felt something missing. A feeling he couldn''t describe as he had never felt it before. "I don''t know, but for some reason, I feel something crazy is about to happen." In the Dumpling Dynasty, Po felt Tau return with somebody else. A human. For a second, a frown traveled through his face, knowing that one of his pandas broke a law yet it left the same instant he felt the chakra signature of said human, or rather half-human. He guess by her appearance who this child''s parents were and ?r??n?d at the headache forming. Long blue hair, small horns protruding from her head, and the famous Rinnegan. Her face was more features of her mother but the eyes and definitely her father''s. "Time Travel shouldn''t be done, little girl. You know how fragile the space-time continuum is," Po spoke to the girl, who lowered her face but clenched her fist in frustration. "He forgot my birthday!" she screamed at Po, making him recoil at the anger only to sign as she started crying. "Daddy said he would come, but mommy said he is on his last mission. He promised before leaving that he would come home, but he broke his promise. That''s why I came here to punish him for breaking his promise." Po slumbered into his seat and rubbed his eyes while also trying not to laugh. A child of their Sage in this timeline. The Dragon Warrior checked the time stream and found it intact, meaning her means of coming here and her existence weren''t creating a paradox. ''Oh, thank goodness. That means more freedom.'' A grin spread across his face. This only meant one thing. He and everyone else could have some fun. It got boring for a little, and a bit of fun was what Po needed right now. "Don''t cry, Mitsuko. It''s Christmas, so why not surprise your daddy and prank him?" Po almost laughed as he saw the grin forming on the child''s face. He approved of her already. Now, what would be a suitable Christmas gift for his student? "I have an idea¡­" Ishizu Sasaki POV I sat down at the bank after I completed my training. Today was just another day in my life until I saw something from my periphery. I cloaked figure was standing just outside the training ground. ''Somebody came? I didn''t feel it. Who is that?'' Cloaking figures had always something to hide. It was almost cliche. I was ready for anything. "Are you Ishizu Sasaki?" asked the figure and I could make out a sweet voice of a female. My heart was pumping blood into my muscles, ready for an attack. Instead, she dropped the cloak to reveal a Hij¨±ga similar to Hinata. How did a Hij¨±ga manage to appear so close was disturbing? I didn''t know any young Hij¨±ga''s outside of Hanabi, so she must have been someone else child. "That''s my name. What do you want from me?" I demanded to know. I didn''t know if it was my tone of voice or my posture because I somehow offended her, seeing her hands turning to fists and her biting her lower lip. Then her face turn grim and tears began coming out of her eyes. A crying Hij¨±ga was a shame to their clan, but this wasn''t what disturbed me. Rather, it was the pain I felt in my ?h?st. Why the hell would I feel pain and it wasn''t even physical. Metal? No. What made me feel pain seeing this person? "How could you?" I b?r?ly heard her voice through the whisper. My eyes widened in shock when her eyes suddenly turned into the Rinnegan. This wasn''t possible. "You forgot it!" shouted the girl and stomped on the ground, breaking it. The next thing I saw, or rather felt, was something hitting me from the side, sending me straight into the Forest of Death. Many questions swirled through my brain which I had problems focusing on that''s to the pain. One of those questions was that even as her attack struck, I couldn''t feel any killing intent directed at me. Also, correction. Not a Hij¨±ga, but an Otsutsuki. Again, how was that possible?! I was sure the only Otsutsuki I knew right now was sealed away, and any others were far, far away. Canon was screwing me over, not to mention the girl had a personal hatred again me. I couldn''t focus more because I felt a tug on my body. "You are not running away, Bansho Ten''in!" General POV The girl pointed her hand at him and Ishizu felt gravity pull on him. In response, Ishizu activated his own Rinnegan to counteract the Jutsu. He was at a disadvantage because they were close to Konoha. From what he knew about Otsutsuki, they could obliterate this planet through this individual had set her eyes on him, so if he could draw her outside, it would be for the best. He considered getting help, but right now, this wouldn''t be a good idea. There was also something that confused him. The part of missing killing intent. It was a skill one quickly learned as a ninja. The easiest and most common way to learn it was to get hit by it multiple times. At one point, both body and mind would memorize the feeling and how to apply it to others. The will to kill, so to speak. A lack of killing intent like his opponent had could have many reasons. One being the opponent didn''t consider you worthy or beneath you to even exclude such a thing. It was what Ishizu theorized first when he saw his opponent was an Otsutsuki, yet the emotions she showed made him drop the theory as quickly as it came up. The other theory was more ridiculous and Ishizu wouldn''t have considered it if not for that particular feeling he felt. That being, she couldn''t use killing intent because she didn''t know how. The confirmation had yet to wait. Pulling kunais out, he threw them at the girl who placed her hand in front of her and stopped them. Ishizu frowned when he saw her eyes. His kunais were meant to kill, but her eyes showed fear. What? Why? This made little sense. Using this time, Ishizu ran away from Konoha, and she followed him by flying into the air. Glancing behind, he could see something hiding in her hair, but he couldn''t see it clearly. She was talking to it. There was somebody else. "Use the following hand signs." Mitsuko repeated what Po told her through a small headphone inside her ear. "Eh, Misty Terrain Jutsu," Mitsuko spoke out the Genjutsu that created a visual terrain making others avoid it. Mitsuko was used to Jutsus since both of her parents could do them. She saw them fight against each other and sometimes she snuck away to her aunt, who taught her a bit. Mitsuko knew that her current father didn''t know her, but she still was shocked to see him trying to kill her. If her mother knew, it would end badly, so she would keep it a secret. "Don''t worry, dear. I''ll make sure he won''t harm you and the other way around. That brat has still a lot to learn, so go get him. Now say those words." "You p-pathetic creature..? I''ll make sure to end your l-life with as much pain as possible." Mitsuko had to keep calm and try to be as angry as possible, which she was, yet some of those words weren''t in her vocabulary. Like pathetic. Though she expected it to be a bad word. Back in the Dumpling Dynasty, many pandas were listing and watching from the small piece of technology. Some were already rolling on the ground laughing their ?sses off while others were trying their best to keep it inside. Usually, the pandas of the Dumpling Dynasty would laze away by eating dumplings or some bamboo. This time, however, many pandas were lively as ever to see the spectacle unfold. "This is so awesome!" screamed Yang Yang as she heard the little girl speaking. "I¡­ I can''t. Hahaha! This is the best!" Yin Yin was rolling on the ground as tears were clouding her vision. Denku was drinking his wine while Long was reading a book, but his eyes were focused on the screen. Back with the two, Mitsuko concentrated, and a sweating Ishizu saw a Green Rinnegan looking at him. "Look, I don''t know who you are and I don''t get what I''ve done to you, so could you at least explain it to be?" asked Ishizu. With his Rinnegan, Ishizu could see what had hit him before. ''A black and white version of her. She has the same ability as Madara¡­ but why is this one younger?'' What Ishizu and the rest didn''t know was that even with the Genjutsu over Mitsuko that made her older, but the illusion didn''t work on her Limbo clones. Before Ishizu could question his future daughter about this, somebody broke through the illusion. It was Naruto Uzumaki who found the illusion and thought this was where the girl was and he was right. "Ishizu-Sensei? What the¡­ it''s that!" Ishizu cursed seeing Naruto entering the field. "Nobody attacks my sensei!" A Rasengan formed in Naruto''s hand as he jumped at the girl. "No, Naruto. Don''t!" Ishizu screamed. Though Ishizu didn''t know the ability of the Green Rinnegan, he knew not to attack recklessly. Not Ishizu nor the pandas expected what happened next. Mitsuko didn''t even glance at the Jinch¨±riki as a large portal appeared before Naruto and out came¡­ A giant fu?k?n? tiger in a blue t-shirt. The tiger had toy-like yellow hair covering his whole body, with small black ears protruding from its head. The same green Rinnegan that Mitsuko had stared at Naruto. Naruto couldn''t move away and hit the tiger with the Rasengan, resulting in an explosion in which Naruto got thrown away. The smoke cleared and Ishizu could see that there wasn''t any damage done to it. "Ziggy, play with him," spoke Mitsuko and the tiger wobbled in a funny style towards Naruto. Naruto POV If somebody ever told me that I would fight against a toy tiger, I would consider it a poor joke. Now this joke turned into a reality. I created a few Shadow Clones before making a combination technique with fire and wind. The firestorm washed over the giant bear and I cursed, as it did no damage at all. ''Guess I''ll take this up one step.'' I could see the tiger was slow, so I had time to gather enough nature energy for this move. "Sage Mode, Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!" General POV Mitsuko recognized the Jutsu Naruto was about to throw at her Ziggy. She had seen her daddy using it a couple of times. Her parents taught her pretty early how to control her special Rinnegan, since it reacted quite harshly when she was younger. More aggressive. Ziggy wasn''t just a normal toy tiger for cuddling, though Mitsuko used him sometimes as one. Her daddy would call him a moving Truth Seeking Orb, being immune to any ninjutsu. Nature energy could hurt him, and that was a problem. By doing so, Ziggy would enter Stage 2, Enraged State. Her parents, especially her daddy, told her what to do in case this would happen. It was a drill for Mitsuko. She closed her eyes, giving Ishizu the time to attack but a Limbo clone blocker his attack. As Naruto''s Rasenshuriken hit Ziggy, it tore his right side to shreds. The problem was that the green eyes turned red. Ishizu knew that Naruto was in danger of seeing the tiger going into his enraged state He began forming the seals to summon Po, knowing they both could deal with it but instead of the panda a small paper appeared in his hands. "I am sorry, but this is family business," the letter read. ''Family business?'' Then, to Ishizu''s surprise, the tiger began to glove and ceased to move. His eyes looked up at the girl and back at the tiger. The girl was gloving and a white layer, like a cocoon, was placed over her. Gears were running at high-speed inside Ishizu''s brain. ''Think, think, think. Female Otsutsuki, looks similar to Kaguya, has a grudge against me but doesn''t leek killing intent and her Limbo clones are much younger than the real one. And the tiger looks very familiar.'' Ishizu knew time travel was possible. It was also Christmas, a family holiday where parents and children come together to celebrate and have fun. The result of his deduction left him speechless, but now he could see the similarities. He had a daughter. "Naruto, did she ever introduce herself in on you?" Ishizu turned to Naruto as both stared at the cocoon. "She said her name was Mitsuko, and she was looking for you," replied Naruto, a bit confused at everything happening. ''Mitsuko. Light Child.'' "Soooo¡­ what next?" Ishizu didn''t know how to answer the question. Apparently, his daughter from the future was here¡­ he didn''t really want to think about that. Knowing meta knowledge was enough for Ishizu but knowing his future. He wanted it to be a surprise. It had already spoiled some things, and he was sure to get his mind wiped or else things could go south. Looking at the cocoon, he could feel his daughter sleeping inside. There was a connection between them, but only a small one. She was his daughter by DNA alone. His future self had a much larger one, though it bugged him why he wasn''t with her. There must have been a good reason for his future self to go and do something. Ishizu shook his head to stop thinking about the future and look for the present. The white cocoon shouldn''t stay here and the illusion his daughter created was gone. "We''ll take her to my house and see what we can do to break this barrier," Ishizu said while touching it. When Naruto tried to do the same, he was electrocuted. "Au, what the hell," he dropped to the ground. "That thing eats chakra," Naruto. Don''t touch it again or else you''ll die." Naruto agreed with the fox. One touch sapped half of his entire chakra. "A defense mechanism, most probably. Even with my sealing proficiency, I can''t decipher the seals. A blood seal combined with chakra absorption for anyone that isn''t of her lineage. Quite clever and dangerous," commented Ishizu as he grabbed the white ball. "I''ll remember that," muttered Naruto as they bo entered Konoha again. Many eyes drifted towards Ishizu and the giant ball he was holding, but nobody dared to ask a Shinobi about what they do. Before any ANBU could question them about what happened, Ishizu closed the door to his home and activated his seals. Nobody would dare to knock if they loved to live. "What will you do now?" Naruto asked and Ishizu was for again for so long¡­ lost. What could he do? The barrier was alien to him. He could fumble with it, but he didn''t want to see what other security mechanisms were implanted in that thing. He knew perfectly well that he would do the same if he had a daughter. All for protection. ~knock~ Ishizu turned towards the window because it made a knocking sound. He looked outside to see Hinata and Ino standing outside. He opened a window. "How did you knock? My security would have roasted you to crisps." Ino held up her hand to show she had some pebbled in her hand. Both of them knew about the security but to circumvent it with stone pebbles¡­ "We want to come inside. Everyone saw you carrying that huge ball with you." Ishizu turned to Naruto for help, who just shrugged. The door opened, and both Kunoichi entered the room and stood amazed at the white ball. "Wow, what is that?" Ino asked as she expected the barrier, but before she could touch it Ishizu grabbed her hand. "Remember Rule 1 Number One?" Ino gulped and retracted her hand. Ishizu sighed, as he knew that every one of them should remember the rules in his house. The first was to never touch something unfamiliar without asking for permission. A sealing master''s home wasn''t meant to be touched. There were many dangerous things lying around, never to be seen by anyone beside him. Even Ishizu didn''t know half of the things in his house. There were days when Ishizu woke up with an idea stuck in his head from a dream, and until he did what the dream he did, he couldn''t function. "Now, to answer your question. This is a barrier." "And underneath is apparently sensei''s future daughter," Naruto interrupted from behind, causing the eyes of both Kunoichi to grow comically out. "Sensei''s daughter?/Sensei has a daughter?!" A groan escaped Ishizu''s lips. And more people knew about her. At least it were people Ishizu could silence, but women were gossipers, especially Ino. That''s why he turned to the blonde Yamanaka "I will place a seal on your tongue, ala. Danzo style if I have to stop you from spreading rumors." Ino back off a bit and nodded. "So¡­ why is your daughter in his giant white barrier things?" Hinata asked as she tried to use her Byakugan only for her to scream and close her eyes. "Hinata!" Naruto rushed towards the girl and looked over at her. There was nothing but Hinata knew that something happened when she opened her eyes, revealing not the pupilless eyes but black eyes with black irises. "I can''t activate my Byakugan," exclaimed Hinata in shock. Meanwhile, Ishizu frowned as he watched Hinata and the barrier. ''A built-in protection mechanism against the Byakugan? Ah, for other Otsutsuki, not Hyuga.'' "Let me see your eyes, Hinata," Ishizu voiced out as he moved to his student and looked at her. His eyes focused and roamed over every millimeter carefully until they widened. There, in the right upper corner. He had to double-check if he really saw it. A seal. ''Holy shit. How the heck does this work?'' "Is there a problem, Ishizu-sensei?" "Yeah. Your Byakugan triggered the seal and sealed it away." "You can remove it, right?" Naruto asked only for Ishizu to shake his head. "I am sorry, but I have no clue how to extract a microscopic seal from one''s eye. My future self is a very protective father." "But why would he do that against the Hyuga?" asked Hinata and Ishizu couldn''t really say the truth. "I can''t tell you since I have no clue either. The only thing I am sure of is that somebody will come after her since she is missing. Or maybe not? Time travel is weird, and it''s best not to think too much about it. Sorry, Hinata." The girl only sighed. "So, what now?" "Good question." Elsewhere. "Go after her or else there won''t be s?x today!" a female elegant voice shouted out before the door of the house opened and a man was seen being kicked out of his home. A black figure looked out from the door and looked back inside. "~whistle~, that was a nice kick, Kaguya. I hope he brings her back." "He better or else¡­" "Only a few hours late," muttered the man as he held up a strange device with a tracker hat read ''Outside range''. "Clarify!" ''Outside current timeline,'' the divine responded. "Time travel? She knows that it''s dangerous. Locate time frame." The divide blinked a few times before giving a response. "Why did she go there? Sigh, doesn''t matter, I have to retry and apologize. I hope she isn''t made or else the gifts I brought won''t help." A portal opened, and the man entered. Meanwhile, back in Ishizu''s home, the owner stopped Hinata from going back home. "Under no circumstances. Your father will kill me if he finds out. Let me try to examine you more throughout." Ishizu really didn''t want Hinata to go back home, where every single Hyuga could see that somehow their Byakugan could be sealed off. But just before Ishizu could do something, a portal opened next to the white cocoon and a man with a mask stepped in. The man had long blue hair with a white kinemon on. Ishizu tried to activate every single seal to stop the intruder from doing anything, but nothing worked. His home didn''t recognize the unknown man as an invader. The masked man looked around at the battle-ready Shinobi and shook his head. "Sooo not good," he muttered before waving his head. "I''ll be taking her home to her mother. I believe there is no problem," the masked man looked at Ishizu. Even without words, both knew what the other thought. "Ano, are you future Ishizu-sensei?" Hinata asked. The now correctly identified future Ishizu sighed underneath the mask and the mask dissipated, showing a familiar face. There were a few changes, one that the future Ishizu looked paler and a bit more m?tur?. How was that even possible? "The mask is worthless. Yes, it''s future sensei. I believe you all know why I came here?" he pointed his thumb at the barrier. "Sensei, your future self looks cool," exclaimed Naruto, only for the man to facepalm. Future Ishizu noticed Ino poking him. "Yes, Ino?" "Can we speak with your daughter?" she asked with excitement only for future Ishizu to sweatdrop. "If your Sensei didn''t tell you already but I will erase your memory of this who fiasco." All students shouted in outrage while present Ishizu only shook his head, knowing perfectly well that it had to be done. "Can you fix my eyes, Ishizu-sensei?" asked Hinata. "Oh, yes, sorry Hinata. The seal gets triggered by the Byakugan. Let me have a look." A few moments later and Hinata''s eyes were back to normal. "I don''t care if we lose our memories. I want to speak with sensei''s daughter!" Ino didn''t care if she lost this experience. Future looked at present who just gave a shrug. A hand wave and the cocoon glowed and dissolved, and Mitsuko opened her eyes. "Papa!" a cry of happiness came out of her mother and she tackled her father, who embraced him. "Au!" The future one exclaimed in pain as his daughter hit him with her small fists. "You promised to come home!" tears were starting to gather in her eyes. "Ehehe, I am here now. Sorry sunshine." "Anyway, I have two Papas. Look!" she looked back to see Ishizu awkwardly looking at them. Well, how should one react when they see their future self and future daughter? At least there won''t be any headaches afterward. Then Naruto, Hinata, and Ino surrounded the little girl. "Mitsuko, how old are you?" "Mitsuko, what is your favorite color?" "Is there something you dislike?" "Who is your mommy?" "Nope, I don''t want to hear that!" the present Ishizu loudly voiced out. "Why not?" asked Naruto, turning to his Sensei, who shook his head. "I have my reasons. Don''t go into my relationship with my future wife. Man, I feel weird." While the students were surrounding Mitsuko and having fun, both Ishizus sat across the dinner table. "You are killing me," present Ishizu ?r??n?d out, only to earn a chuckle from his future self. "Hey, it''s Christmas. At least you don''t have to celebrate with Ender and his family. God knows what can happen with that guy around." "Ender?" asked present Ishizu confused and the future one cringed. "Oh¡­ riiight, you don''t know him yet. Well, since I will erase your memory, I can tell you anyway. He is just like us. A self-insert but was in the world of Seven Deadly Sins. Little shit is over 3000 years old but still acts like a child¡­" "¡­ I got it. Can we not talk about that?" "Sure, want to ask any questions?" Present Ishizu rolled his eyes at his future self. "I have a lot of questions, but some don''t matter now. The only question I want to know is if you are happy with your life?" Future Ishizu didn''t answer at first, but a genuine smile formed on his face. "Yes. I have achieved my dream and have a wonderful family. There is so much more to what I or we initially thought. Just stick to your plan and you''ll see it." "Thanks." Present Ishizu smiled and they both just sat and watched Naruto and co. interacting with Mitsuko. All 6 of them celebrated the day with presents before it was time for the future father and daughter duo to depart. "We will miss you, Mitsuko-chan," Naruto hugged the little girl as tears formed in his eyes. The little girl gladly returned the hug. "Oh, stop being so sentimental," the present Ishizu slapped him over his head. "Au, why aren''t you sad?" He didn''t answer Naruto and just nodded to his future self. "Have a nice day you two." Before the two could leave, a portal opened and a black figure crashed into a table, destroying a few things that were on the table. "Dammit, those stupid time portals are so complicated." Future Ishizu only ?r??n?d and everyone could see he knew the creature all too well. "Aha, there you are, Ishizu. We need to go and that fast. Oh, and you found your daughter. Hi, Mitsuko." "Hi, uncle Ender," the girl returned the greeting. "Mitsuko, through the portal," future Ishizu gestures to his daughter, who waved one last goodbye and left. "You will not ruin this world. Let''s go," future Ishizu grabbed the Enderman by his head and threw him through the portal. He turned to everyone else. "You won''t remember me, but have a nice day." An invisible Genjutsu surrounded everyone, making their eyes blank for a second, which the future Ishizu used to leave through the portal. Ishizu POV I blinked a few times and saw that I was in my home with my Genin team. Why was I here? We were talking about something but I can''t remember about what. Eh, whatever. Though I didn''t know why but I felt happy inside. It''s as if I met someone precious. Family. Huh? A nice feeling. Well, happy holidays and happy New Year''s everyone. Chapter 111 - Healing Jiraiya General POV Having done what he needed in Uzo, Ishizu''s next destination was the Summoning Realm, where he would plan for his next move. His destination was a clear grassy pane with four stone stalagmites forming a square. Looking up, Ishizu saw found the body of the Sannin floating in mid-space. The nature energy kept Jiraiya in a frozen state. *You are letting him out?* asked Po, who stood beside Ishizu. Ishizu didn''t reply at first but observed the fuinjutsu in front of him. He rarely, if ever, complimented somebody else''s work in Fuinjutsu after he became a master himself. Yet looking at the spectacle in front of him, he couldn''t help but marvel at the work. The pandas did a very well job. *While Naruto is learning in the library of Uzu, I will prepare for the invasion of Konoha. If Jiraiya survives, I hope he and Naruto can both convince Nagato to stop his whole revenge against the world. I won''t interfere much because I want to see how Naruto developed.* Po looked at block rods still inside the body of the Shinobi. *How will you heal him since his condition? That man''s throat was crushed, AND he was stuck with the chakra disrupters into the back. The moment you let him out, his soul will leave his body.* Ishizu opened his Rinnegan before concentrating really hard. It was a long time since Ishizu saw the white moon on his right hand. The Yang symbol Hagoromo gave him way back. *Originally, Jiraiya should have died during his foolish attempt to figure out about Nagato, but now here he is, on the brink of death or what I would call limbo. The chronostasis fakes a living life and keeps the soul inside the body. Yes, you are correct. The moment I shut down the sealing array, the soul will try to leave the body. I need to act fast and heal the body quickly while also grabbing the soul.* Ishizu grinned as he cracked his knuckles and bend his hands. *This will truly be a challenge and I can''t wait long as I don''t want to use the Outer Path before such an important event. I will use the Yang Symbol to rejuvenate Jiraiya''s body to a pleasant condition before placing the soul back into the body. It has to be fast, or the soul will reject the body. You can easily trick a body, but you can''t trick a soul.* Ishizu enjoyed the feeling of a challenge. Saving Jiraiya would make a couple of people happy. It would lessen his guilt, too. ''Play Naruto Akatsuki Theme for more emotion'' Amegakure Nagato, Deva Path POV It was time to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. I was finished replacing the injured paths with new and better ones. The mortal Yamamoto tricked us twice, but through Zetsu, I found out almost all Jinchuriki were in Konoha. With them capture it would be easy to capture the Hashibi and show the world what pain is. I looked at the two immortal members of our group that were still with us. Yamamoto took Itachi and Madara couldn''t find Kisame. It was of no matter now. The plan would go on without them. "Are we finally going to kill somebody?!" asked Hidan as he swung his scythe. "Yes, we are. Now be quiet. I have to read about the Konoha Shinobi and their skills. We don''t want to attack a Shinobi village without information," responded an annoyed Kakuzu. "Ha? You said something, you bastard? Should I just kill you now?" "We are departing. Kakuzu, Hidan, let''s go," said the Deva Path that made the other two look up to see Pain standing on a rock. Being old had its ad- and disadvantages. One such advantage was to feel the surrounding air. I have lived during Konoha''s founding, taken part in all 3 shinobi wars, and have developed a danger sense towards Konoha. More often than not, this feeling proved to be right. I knew something would happen. With Jiraiya''s death and the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi gone, the village was a target for any enemy outside. There are many enemies that Konoha has, but the most important was currently Akatsuki. No doubt they would attack the village to get the Jinchuriki. With one more in Konoha, it would happen soon. The leaves could fall, but the root would stand. It was also unfortunate that Ishizu Sasaki defected from Konoha. The reason was unknown, but him joining Akatsuki was high and had to be accounted for. I sent some ROOT after him, but they couldn''t find his whereabouts. If only I had Shisui''s Sharingan, but that brat somehow knew about my intentions and replaced his eyes with other Sharingan eyes. "Fuu, Torune, we have to prepare. The time has come for a new Hokage to take his place. One that can bring Konoha to be the best." The two Root Shinobi nodded and followed their leader. Ishizu POV I looked at the stone statue floating above me. This was a moment where I couldn''t make a single mistake and had to hasten, so I calmed myself. One deep breath in and one deep breath out. "JUST DO IT!" screamed somebody from the sidelines. "Shut up, Yin Yin. Go back to Konoha!" I responded before Tau and other pandas grabbed her by her neck and took her away. ''Finally, inner peace.'' I concentrated and felt the familiar energy in my right hand. Opening it, I saw the familiar sun-like pattern on my palm. "This must be the first time I use you, but at least it will be for a good use." I gathered nature energy and entered Sage Mode. A ritual stone rectangular table with various symbols appeared from the ground. With a Ram Seal, I deactivated the sealing array and Jiraiya''s stone body statue fell on the table. First, I had to extract the nature energy residing in his body. Focusing on my right index finger, I placed it on Jiraiya''s head and started pulling out the nature energy while slowly dragging my finger downwards. In my hand was the icy body of Jiraiya, and he would stay cold if I did nothing. Now I had to act quickly! Activating my Asura Path to get more hands before taking out each chakra receiver simultaneously and throwing them away. Next, I pressed my right palm on his ribs where his heart was. I had a slight smile remembering the scene I watched where Naruto did something similar when 8 Gats Gai destroyed half of Sage of Six Paths Madara with his ultimate technique, Night Guy. It was one of the most epic scenes in the series. The Yang Seal pulsed, forming a familiar pattern all over the Sannin''s body. Meanwhile, my Rinnegan was looking over his body and when Jiraiya''s soul stayed inside his body and made no attempts to leave the body, I fell on my bu?? with a sigh of relief. "I did it." "Why isn''t he waking up?" asked Yin Yin as she poked Jiraiya with a stick. "Could you please not stick this stick in his face or I will stick it inside of you," I growled. "Oh, honey. I know exactly where you can stick it in." Oh, god. Why did I deserve such a panda? "It appears you did it. I must congratulate you, brother Ishizu. The Uchiha brothers are waiting for you to depart." "Thank you, Tau," I replied. "So, what are you going to do with him? You must not forget that we pandas don''t take well with outsiders," spoke Tau. "He won''t wake for now. In a few days or even hours, Pain will attack Konoha. I changed canon up to where the immortal duo, Hidan and Kakuzu, are still alive. Plus, I don''t want Konoha to be demolished by a chaotic Shinra Tensei, which in my opinion was done to make Pain look badass and strong. I don''t want my house to be destroyed so I have to depart now with Itachi and Sasuke. Let''s see how they are doing." Itachi and Sasuke were waiting for Ishizu and nodded when they saw him. "Are you both ready to depart?" asked Ishizu. "We are. I know where Danzo is hiding.. I will lead Sasuke there and we will finish what I should have done long ago," said Itachi.