Naruto slowly unsheathed his sword as his eyes picked up a person emerging from the forest, and it seemed this person was a ninja as his chakra level were clearly of Jounin level or even higher.
But the alarming thing was that several other chakra of similar magnitude levels were converging on his position from all sides. It only meant one thing...
Ambush!
"Naruto, there are 20 of them. And their chakra is evil...I can clearly feel it" warned Kurama quickly,
"I know"
The Jinchuriki muttered only these two words before he stepped up into the center of the field as 20 shadows rose from the ground. However what surprised Naruto was the fact that they were Konoha Anbu.
Naruto was not able to contemplate the intent of his fellow shinobi, but he could clearly sense something was off about them. There was a foul stench in their chakra, just like Anko had due to her cursed seal.
BINGO!
His assumptions were proved correct when the Anbu around him started getting absorbed in black marks that were emerging from their necks. And Naruto was not surprised when their chakra levels sky rocketed instantly.
While his opponents were undergoing their transformation, Naruto faintly sensed another chakra hiding in the shadows. It was so faint that even he had missed it despite being a sensor, if this person was not coming out then there were two reasons.
Either he was waiting for a chance to strike him from the back, or he was the one co-coordinating the ambush.
Anyway, one thing was clear to him that tonight his contact with Orochimaru's forces was now imminent.
"That leaves me without my sharingan." thought Naruto seriously, as his enemies KI increased greatly.
"Naruto, you will lift your sword against your comrades?" asked Kurama in shock,
"It pains my heart to fight my brothers, but they have already been lost to darkness. Look at them Kurama, can you see anything besides an animal? I will free them from this curse"
Kurama had to agree with his container's statement when the Anbu's bodies turned blue in color, their hair grew up to their back as their masks cracked to show their demonic faces. Their limbs turned into abnormal shapes resembling claws, swords, and all kinds of monstrosity.
He was further surprised when a clone of Naruto popped beside him, both of them shared a nod and the clone quickly transformed into a hard shield of steel.
In all their times Kurama had seen Naruto fight with a sword, but never had the boy used a shield as a weapon.
Naruto sensed his Biju's question and pointed a finger towards his eyes.
"Without my sharingan it will be very difficult for me to predict their moves. Anko mentioned that when she used the cursed seal her power increased 10 times, and I don't want to expose my trump cards like Ryuujin Jakka and my Mangekyo right now when someone is watching me from the shadows. I'm Capatin Naruto Uchiha of 11th squad, don't underestimate me. Kakashi trained me to fight even without my sharingan" explained Naruto briefly,
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
One of the beasts roared madly before jumping straight on top of Naruto, as the young Anbu captain quickly raised his shield. However Kurama was astonished when in a blink of an eye the shield was twisted in Naruto's fingers and instead of colliding head on with the transformed Anbu, it cut clean through the man's right side of neck as a shower of blood erupted like a fountain.
But Naruto was not done as he channeled wind chakra in his sword, and before the wounded beast could even hit the ground he sliced his head off in an instant.
THUD!
Kurama was stunned by such a display, for years he had thought that his partner was severely handicapped without his sharingan, however the Anbu captain standing in front of the Biju was proving this assumption wrong.
Three other Anbu charged madly towards Naruto as the boy got into a fighting stance with his shied at front, and his sword ready to parry the incoming attacks.
One of the enemies swinged his claws straight towards Naruto in order to shatter his shield, but the boy already ducked and rolled beneath his opponent as a slicing sound was heard in the entire area.
The Anbu's entire body was cut clean in half as a bloodied Naruto emerged from beneath the sliced corpse.
Naruto quickly blocked another tentacle with his shield and in a quick motion he twisted his body and reached behind his 3 opponents.
SLASH
"Rule 38: Never attack an enemy without a firm footing, it will leave your back open to attacks"
Naruto's swords efficiently sliced the 3 cursed seal warrior's neck in a blink of an eye.
A single person hiding in the shadows was pleased with such a magnificent display, these were some of his best cursed seal warriors and Naruto had eliminated them with pure skill. So, the rumors were true, this man's prowess in battle was indeed magnificent.
After all, he was the son of the Fourth Hokage.
So, this was the boy's prowess in Kenjutsu.
This person was surprised when Naruto made a hand seal as the entire sky became shrouded with dark clouds, and moments later rain fell down heavily from the sky.
"Amazing, he can convert water from the air. So, this is one of his special abilities"
Another one of his beasts charged towards Naruto with great speed as the boy made another hand seal as his shield transformed into a spear.
Naruto quickly grabbed his transformed weapon and channeled fire chakra into it. His dark blue eyes keenly watched his charging opponent and in a flash he threw the burning spear towards the transformed Anbu.
SLASH!
Kurama couldn't believe his eyes when the spear pierced clean through the beast's skull and with such a force that sent it tumbling 30 feet away where the weapon pierced the brains of another 4 beasts before lodging all the bodies in a straight line against a tree as the bodies were quickly engulfed in fire.
Another beast charged towards Naruto however the boy gave a devastating kick to his opponent pinning him on the ground, as his sword pierced clean through the beast's head and engulfed it in fire.
11 of the transformed cursed seals warriors were killed by Naruto, and the boy hadn't even used any ninjutsu.
"He fights as if he is the Hachiman reincarnated. Neither Minato or Kushina had such magnificent skills.." thought Kurama proudly,
Hachiman was considered to be the God of War and a protector of lands in the era before the Rikudo Sennin, a legend whose tales were even greater than the Rikudo Sennin. Kurama had heard how powerful Hachiman was, and now that he thought about it the Sage's mother never revealed who was the father of Rikudo Sennin.
The people of the shinobi world still worshiped Hachiman, as the greatest warrior of their world.
And seeing Naruto's prowess in battle made Kurama question about the possibility of Hachiman being the Sage's father. The Rikudo Sennin often told him and the other tailed beasts about the victorious tales of Hachiman.
The most interesting thing was the sage of six paths was considered to be the strongest human born in this world, and his descendants were the three famous clan: Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki.
Each of these clans had produced numerous warriors who were considered to be the greatest ninja of their time.
Madara and Izuna were legendary warriors of Uchiha clan, while Hashirama and Tobirama were warriors of equal prowess and skill rivaling that of the Uchiha brothers.
Even Minato was a great warrior, he was claimed to be the fastest ninja of their world.
Mito Uzumaki and Kushina Uzumaki were powerful enough to subdue Kurama himself, the strongest Biju of the world.
And now there was Naruto Uchiha, who was the descendant of all these three clans and if Kurama's hypothesis and all the glaring facts of history were proof enough, then Naruto was a son of Hachiman, the God of War himself.
Kurama watched as Naruto jumped towards 3 of the cursed warriors and effortlessly severed their heads from their necks.
One of the creatures grabbed Naruto from behind, but Naruto grabbed the beast by his hair and lifted him high in the air followed by thrashing the beast on the ground spilling his brains on the bloodied grass.
The ground was stained with blood and flesh of the 15 dead cursed seal warriors, and the remaining 5 were scared of the boy in front of them.
"If this is his power in his weakened state, what kind of monster would he become at full strength?"
The Biju's concerns were proved correct when Naruto made a hand seal and thousands of water needles fell from the sky quickly slaughtering the remaining enemies, as the rain falling from the sky cleansed Naruto's body from the blood and flesh of his deceased opponents.
Naruto quickly performed a set of hand seals and slammed his fingers on the ground, as the dis-shelved bodies of the dead Anbu were engulfed in flames which quickly burnt them to ashes.
Kurama watched silently as Naruto raised his sword towards a tree on the far end of his right side.
"Show yourself, coward!"
The boy's thunderous voice echoed in the entire area as he leaked his enormous KI in order to prove how deadly serious he was.
Moments later the sound of clapping reached his ears, as a person emerged from the shadows. This person was wearing a dark purple shirt with a high collar, and a white under-shirt beneath it, followed by dark purple finger less gloves with armoured plates on the back of the hand, with a white cloth waistband worn at an angle around his dark purple pants, while his feet were covered by blue sandals, and a shuriken holster on his right leg.
The person was a male who appeared to be in his early 20's, he had onyx eyes and light silver colored hair that were neatly tied in a ponytail. He was also wearing a strange headband that Naruto had never seen before, while there were a pair of dark glasses through which the person was giving him a sinister look.
"You have 10 seconds, talk or die!" said Naruto sternly, as the person slowly lifted his hands as a signal for peace.
"There is no point for any more blood shed, I only wish to have a peaceful discussion" said the person slyly, however Kurama could clearly feel the malicious intent behind his sweet and innocent voice.
"By ambushing me in the forest, I fail to fathom how that would prove as a base for a discussion" said Naruto mockingly, as the person pointed his finger on his headband.
"That was merely a test to witness your amazing battle prowess. You truly are a warrior of Kami-sama..." complimented the person, but Naruto just increased his KI more and more.
Both the men glared at each other for a few moments until a sly smile came on the man's face.
"You win, my name is Kabuto Yakushi, and I'm a messenger from Orochimaru-sama, one of the 3 great Sannin. If I'm not mistaken, then you harbor a deep hatred for Konoha and he believes we can be of help to each other" said Kabuto smartly, as a small smile came beneath Naruto's face mask.
So, the snake had finally made his move. After destruction of Gato and his army, Orochimaru must have suffered a major setback both financially and militarily. And when news of destruction of Sky ninja would be discovered then the man's desperation would be beyond limit.
But it seemed the snake had became impatient, Itachi was going to take care of the renegade mercenary army of Iwa that Orochimaru wanted to use. Their plan was progressing perfectly, but still he had to act properly or the plan would fail.
"And what of it? I have no interest in any business with your kind..." said Naruto arrogantly, he knew he had to appear difficult to convince or else he might get discovered or make his enemies suspicious.
"Try to understand, we share the same enemy. Orochimaru also hates Konoha like you, and would like to lend you a hand in getting your revenge for the mistreatment the village gave you," said Kabuto slyly, but he was shocked and angered when Naruto spitted on the ground and started walking away.
"Fuck off, I have no need for weaklings like you"
Kurama was impressed with the boy's acting skills, he practically curb stomped the proposal from Orochimaru. Now they would be able to know how desperate Orochimaru was...
However the Biju suddenly felt very uneasy when a victorious look appeared in Kabuto's eyes.
"Too bad Naruto-kun, we could have given you your mother Kushina and your daughter back" said Kabuto devilishly, and an excited grin spread across his face when he noticed the shock evident in Naruto's eyes.
Kurama felt as if the ground beneath him had shaken, this was not supposed to happen. This was bad, really bad...
Naruto had freezed in shock, not a single part of his body was willing to move. His mind was overwhelmed with two thoughts only, his mother was alive?
And he had a daughter too?
Kabuto had to instantly duck as Naruto tried to slice his head off, the boy's anger had skyrocketed and the amount of KI he was leaking was making it difficult for Kabuto to breathe, a feat which only Orochimaru was capable of performing till now.
"I'll fucking kill you for sprouting such lies. My mother is dead and I never had a daughter!" said Naruto furiously, as Kabuto shunshined far away from him and now stood on top of a tall tree.
"It is true that your mother died years ago, but Orochimaru-sama can bring her back. And you are mistaken, you had a daughter whom you never knew" said Kabuto firmly,
"More lies, nothing can bring the dead back except Edo tensei. And I won't let my mother be controlled like a puppet" said Naruto vehemently, as Kabuto looked at him seriously.
"So, he knows about Edo tensei. Which means he does have the forbidden Scroll and seeing his battle prowess and all the information we have obtained from our spies in Konoha, it is true that he is a traitor of Konoha. If I can just maneuver him to our cause...then Konoha would be in ruins. Besides Orochimaru-sama can bring Kushina back without Edo Tensei, a small price in comparison to the benefit of having a warrior like him on our side. Plus, when Kushina finds out what Konoha did to her son, Kami knows how badly she would want to destroy the village." thought Kabuto briefly,
"You underestimate Orochimaru-sama, he is the greatest scientist of this world. And he would like to reunite you with your beloved mother. Tell me, Naruto-kun...wouldn't you like to see your mother, to hold her, to embrace her, to be loved by her? I'm an orphan too, so I understand how you feel...join Orochimaru-sama and we will help you get revenge on Konoha, and return your loved ones to you. Konoha even hid your daughter from you..."
Kabuto smiled when Naruto's sword fell down on the ground, as the boy couldn't digest such a shocking information. Now he just had to give the final blow.
"Konoha gave you nothing besides hatred, Orochimaru-sama understands how you feel as Konoha did the same thing to him. Together, we can get revenge against all those who have done injustice to us. Join us, brother...and see all your wishes fulfilled" said Kabuto sympathetically,
Naruto suddenly felt as if his entire world had turned upside down, just what the hell should he do? What if Orochimaru could truly bring his mother back?
He had suffered his entire life for a village who never loved him, he wanted to see his mother, to feel her touch, to hear her call his name...it was his dream, and he even had a daughter?
When the hell did that happen? Kurenai was never pregnant with his child, plus the prostitute with whom he had sex years ago was dead.
Flashes of a certain little girl started occurring in his mind, as his heart beat increased to tremendous levels.
"Can you truly bring my mother back?" asked Naruto silently, his voice was so soft and gentle as a cornered child in comparison to that of a warrior moments ago.
"Naruto, you seriously cannot be thinking of joining Orochimaru?" asked Kurama angrily,
"Shut up. I don't know what to do, here is a guy telling me that he can bring my mother back...and I even have a daughter? I don't know what to do"
"Obviously, he's lying. He works for Orochimaru...listen to me, Kushina would never want to you to work with such an evil man" said Kurama seriously,
However this just angered Naruto more and more, how dare everyone tried playing God in his life?
"Too bad, she doesn't get to decide. You killed my mother, she sealed you in me making me a Jinchuriki without even asking for my consent. All my life, people have used me for their purposes and cast me aside when they are done...but not again" said Naruto furiously, no longer would he be controlled by anyone.
But Kurama was not going to back down, the enemy had smartly lured the boy into an emotional trap.
"So, you would betray everyone for your selfish reasons. If you side with Orochimaru, then it will lead to the deaths of all the people you loved, Sai and Shin's sacrifice would be for nothing. I know you want to see your mother, but this is not the way...don't fall for their lies" advised Kurama sagely,
Realization dawned on Naruto, his friend's word brought him back to reality. The enemy was trying to lure him into a trap...but still,
Kabuto noticed Naruto's hesitation for a few minutes, and decided to fulfill the task he came here for. Everything had gone according to plan, he had personally assessed Naruto's skills and confirmed he was a traitor, he also discovered Naruto indeed possessed the Forbidden Scroll if he knew of Edo Tensei.
He gently adjusted his glasses, he was a damn good spy.
"We don't expect an answer from you now. Orochimaru-sama has a legion of warriors that can help you get your revenge. You won't be discriminated there, if your prove yourself Orochimaru-sama will make you the leader of his armies in return for your aid in destroying Konoha. He will personally meet you at Hiraken Bridge, after 7 days...we hope you see reason" said Kabuto smartly and quickly shunshined away.
Naruto was left all alone in the forest, what was the truth? What was he supposed to do? He really wanted to be with his mother, he deserved to be loved after every sacrifice he made. And...
Did he really have a daughter? And if so, then why was he not told about her? Where was she?
"Kaa-chan...what should I do?" asked Naruto tiredly to the skies, but no answer came.
"FUCK!"
Kurama cursed Kami again as Naruto angrily smashed the ground beneath him with his bare hands!
Operation Ghost just got a lot more dangerous.