The next day Dix went to check on Tsunade to see how things are going. Also he had something to do. Upon his arrival he was given an audience right away, as he was something akin to a VIP.
"Good morning, Lady Tsunade. I came to apply to become an ANBU ninja. I believe I will be able to help the village way better from within the shadows, while also keeping my exact location and identity safe." Tsunade was writing something on random papers which Shizune was regularly switching out for her, but hearing Dix's request she put her pen down and looked up at him.
"I... You want to join the ANBU? Why? You are way stronger than any jonin, you can stay how you are and help out the village when we are struck by a crisis. As an ANBU you would be required to keep regular shifts and duties distributed by either me or your unit captain. You don't seem like someone who willingly follows instructions. Are you sure this is what you want?"
"Yes, this is what I want. I've defended the village and even bigger chunks of the Land of Fire by myself before. Now I can cooperate with you to make it coordinated and more efficient. I am willing to follow orders, so you don't have to worry about that."
"... I see. If you are adamant in this matter then I shall not stand in your way. You are the strongest asset of this village, so exploiting your powers more would certainly be beneficial for us. But first, I have to get a good grasp of your skills. Come with me." Tsunade stood up and walked towards the door with Dix in tow. They moved over to the reinforced training chambers under the Academy. Tsunade led him to the middle of the arena where a few jonin and ANBU-level ninjas were sparring with each other. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing as soon as the new Hokage stepped into the room.
"If you want to join the ANBU then you will have to show us your skills so I know what kind of missions I should give you. Give us a rundown about your abilities."
"Sure, but don't ask me for demonstration. This place would most likely crumble when subjected to many of my abilities. First I'd talk about my shadow clones." he answered, then immediately summoned 9 clones, so altogether there were 10 of them.
"Right now I have enough chakra to supply 10 instances of me with approximately kage-level strength. All of these inherit my knowledge and most of my abilities, as any other clones. I can make around 150 jonin-level clones and a few thousands of chuunin-level ones." he said.
Tsunade's skin is always a bit pale, which is simply part of her natural beauty, but hearing this her skin lightened a few shades right away. Some present who heard the Dix's claims gasped either in amazement, fear, or snorted in doubt.
"Those... Those are quite high numbers. I don't want to call you a liar, but I believe what you are talking about is far above the limits of human capabilities. I would like to ask you to demonstrate your power." Tsunade gave way to her doubts, so she had to ask Dix to back up his words.
"Fair enough, I really am a bit special. I can't have you fight one of my kage-level clones as you are a support-type ninja, while I am good at practically anything. I'd rather summon those 150 clones and ask a few of the present jonins to check their skills." Dix answered, despawned the existing clones then started rapidly bolstering his ranks with... himself.
In a matter of seconds the clones started multiplying, quickly whipping up the 150 strong army of Dixes. Seeing such a huge army of clones was already frightening to see, but also the thought that each one of them are potentially jonin-level strong was simply mind-bending for every single viewer.
When Dix was ready Tsunade instructed three of the present jonins to have one on one bouts with the clones. They could easily win using any of their special abilities, like FTGT, but Dix opted to use conventional ninja methods to fight them. All of the present ninjas were strong specialists, some of the best of the village, so the clones had a hard time without abilities, but in the end two out of three fights were won by the clones. One fight was lost because the jonin there specialized in sneak attacks, and at the last exchanged he managed to create and use an opportunity to hit a vital point of the clone, which dispersed.
Even though not every fight was won, Dix's words got justified. Right now he had the approximate strength and manpower of a whole ninja village. It was once again quite scary for everyone present to get a glimpse into the depths of Dix's power. It was kind of a false result, because at least 500 clones were stationed at HQ for R&D and training. The squads were cut down a bit as there are less and less avenues to exploit for him to get stronger.
"Okay, with this I can work. I know about your space-time jutsu, can you specify what it can do?" Tsunade asked as the duels finished.
"Certainly. I can put down my formulas by touching any surface. In a radius of approximately a meter around them and between them I can use teleportation without any restriction. That is the summary, its strength is only limited by one's creativity and battle-sense." Dix explained.
"That is quite horrifying. But I've already made peace with this. Anything else?" Tsunade answered.
"Yes, I have a few enhancing attributes. I can use natural energy, so technically I am a 'sage', also as its widely known, I am the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Beast. I already made peace with him and now I can freely use his chakra and powers." He is almost permanently in sage mode due to the multi-core seal he invented and uses that automatically enriches his body with natural energy. Because of this he just transformed into Kurama mode which fused with sage mode.
It was quite flashy and the show of power was overwhelming. The combined transformation technique is so strong and potent in energy that the weaker people around already had a hard time breathing, while everyone else was mildly restricted simply by being in his presence.
"This is... Marvelous..." Tsunade could only say. Seeing their struggle Dix quickly activated the seals across his body to restrict the chakra leaving his body. Suddenly the pressure was gone which surprised Tsunade a bit. As the seals activated white lines started forming all around Dix's body, something like a fishnet cloth atop his usual transformed appearance.
"What happened?" Tsunade asked. She looked around to see everyone around her had the same experience. "Where did your chakra go? I..." she didn't finish the sentence, but closed her eyes to focus her senses. "... I can't find it at all. Even your presence is completely gone. How is this possible?!"
"I've devised a way to completely seal the chakra I passively emit at all times. This was required when I was learning the Eight Gates technique. With it I can partially negate the drawbacks of using many gates at once."
"What... you mean you can open some of the Eight Gates? That's... How many of them can you open?" Tsunade asked, once again stupefied.
"Currently just 6, but I'm on the way to the 7th."
"Marvelous. Almost at the level of a peak taijutsu user. Who taught you this?"
"Nobody. I used my own inner-sense to find the gates. Every technical detail I needed were there in Uncle Hiruzen's library. I just needed time."
"Incredible talent, as it would seem. Do you have anything else?"
"Well, I can use every technique and jutsu that was recorded in the Hokage's private library, also I can use every elemental release. I am also quite good at stealth, which is also boosted by the seal that is on my body, which makes me virtually invisible."
"Oh my god... I can't even get surprised anymore... This is insane. Okay, that's enough of that. Go and get your equipment. You will have to wear the uniform equipment of the unit. Dezo, take Naruto to the ANBU quarters. Get him a set of clothes and let him choose a mask. Off you go now."
At her call suddenly an ANBU member appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Dix obviously knew he was there along with the personal bodyguard detachment of the Hokage which is usually hidden and only responds to either the Hokage or dangers.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade." came the answer from the ANBU, who then looked back at Dix and gestured with his head towards him while also pointing at the door. "Lets go."
"Yeah yeah, got it." came the answer.
"Report to me when you are done." Tsunade instructed before the door closed behind Dix.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
You find the official discord for the novel here: https://discord.gg/XCEDp7H9tA
Thanks for the read, I'd appreciate if you were to leave your thoughts in the comments and donate some stones.
Cheers! :D