"We've received a hidden message in an invoice from Kuba-town. They export iron to us to craft shinobi-tools. They are currently suffering attacks to steal refined iron before they send it out. Evaluate the situation, act as necessary."
It is not a smart idea to steal from one of the 'Big Five' nations. Kuba-town is but one of many sources of Konoha's iron within the Hi no Kuni, but one does not simply steal from Konoha without retribution. If the culprit refused to cooperate and leave town for good, well… They wouldn't be lasting much longer.
This is Team 7's fifth C-Rank mission. Thankfully none of the C-Rank missions they have done since Nami no Kuni have been particularly dramatic or dangerous. Mostly actual escort missions, with one valuable stolen item retrieval thrown in too.
The town is only a day away from Konoha, and Team 7 quickly questions the residents to understand what's happening. Bandits have killed two townsfolk for resisting and they return every week to collect the majority of the iron that is mined. They do not wear any markings that denote them as operatives of a village, although a village may be buying the resource that they're stealing.
Naruto and Sasuke have proven that they are capable of working on their own, so Kakashi tells them to let loose if the culprits decide they can take on a unit from Konoha. Unfortunately, hungry men are desperate men and the desperation of the bandits tells them that they are not laying siege out of greed, but for survival. Thirty bandits are the entourage of one man that appears to be running the gig, and they arrive in town a few days after Team 7 does.
Kakashi attempts to negotiate. He tells them to return home as hunters of meat and as farmers or craftsmen.
"We don't have a choice. Our Lord-" The middle-aged leader spits the word. "-is arming Shinobi. Shinobi that kidnap our children if we don't comply."
He and his 'bandit' allies arm themselves with mediocre weaponry.
"I am sorry, then." Kakashi draws a kunai.
The boys immediately set to work dividing the bandits into groups by each killing a few of those who rushed at the start. Sakura herds them apart by projecting a Genjutsu of an Earth Wall between them. She uses this on a few bandits in the middle to cause them to bump into the others who are looking for an alternate route.
Anyone who gets past the two boys is met by Kakashi who defeats them swiftly and cleanly.
Naruto's group attempts to flank around a building so he pursues. He is too quick for them to really compete. He cuts them down one by one until he is left with a lone survivor. A survivor who is out of view of anyone, gifting the boy with a golden opportunity.
"It is unfortunate that you didn't run." Naruto comments with little emotion. With Kakashi out of sight, he is free to practice.
The bandit quivers in fear and his body refuses to respond. His disbelief at this many people being slaughtered by one person is palpable. He sees Naruto's dark hair flick in the wind, and the right eye hidden under his hair is glowing crimson.
"Tsukuyomi."
Yusuke 'wakes' in a realm of pure white. He tries to take a step but it is disorienting and he's unsure of how much of the surface he is walking on is the floor.
He puts aside the queasy feeling and looks up to see the same Shinobi boy with the red eye. Only this time he has two. He lunges at the boy with his blade.
"You won't be needing that in here." The child says, waving his hand.
Yusuke feels and sees the weapon vanish in his hand. His confusion lasts a second before his survival instinct kicks in and he charges the boy with his bare hands instead.
A staircase forms between them and the boy is elevated several metres higher than him. He doesn't have time to think, all he can do is attack and hope that this shinobi trick ends. He runs up the stairs before one of them collapses like an eggshell and he finds himself falling.
Into a dark abyss.
He can't help the panicked scream that tears itself from his throat. The feel of his velocity increases his fear tenfold. He closes his eyes and then immediately lands in a pool of water.
Yusuke opens his eyes and tries to get his bearing. He can only see red and can feel the thick liquid cold on his skin.
'Blood!'
He claws his way through the blood to the surface. When he reaches it, he takes long gasps of air under a red moon. Yusuke realises that his hands aren't going back under the blood and using this newfound knowledge, pulls himself on top of the surface and stands up.
Yusuke looks at the moon and the starry sky around it and starts to hyperventilate.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" Yusuke screams at the moon.
"Very well." A deep and loud rendition of the child's voice booms from everywhere.
Out of the bloody sea rises a gargantuan version of the boy he'd locked eyes with. Blood drips off his long spikes of black hair, his eyes are unholy crimson lanterns. The monster stops with its shoulders just out of the liquid.
"Where am I?! What do you want from me?!" Yusuke demands fearfully.
"I desire only your knowledge. Your life possesses little value to me. Give me the knowledge I seek, and I shall free you from this realm in which I control all things."
"Shinobi tricks! We were told what to do if we get caught in one of your illusions!" Yusuke realises what he is seeing and pulls out his pocket knife.
Yusuke stabs himself in the thigh, and knows that the immense pain will knock him out of the illusion.
Only it didn't.
"Genjutsu still operate under the sensations that the victim is feeling in reality. Even a strong breeze and the sensation it causes on your skin may be enough to remove you from an illusion. But you are no longer in your own reality. You exist in my realm now. A realm in which I am GOD."
Nine etheric light blue skeleton hands rise up out of the blood lake. In the fist of each were real skeletons, one hadn't even fully rotted away yet. Skin forms on some of their faces, long tongues hang out of slack jaws and muscles and flesh refuse to stick to the bones, falling into the blood. One of them manages to form a functioning but rotten head and speaks to Yusuke in a gurgling voice that echoes several times.
"Kill meeee."
Yusuke threw up violently.
"These are the ones who came before you. They did not give me the knowledge that I desired, so I have kept them here for eternity. Their minds have deteriorated so much that they no longer remember the secrets that I wanted. This is a fate you will share, if you refuse to bequeath upon me the circumstances of your task."
"Why- why does that matter to you?" Yusuke thinks hard. He has a ticket to get out of this… dimension.
"The boy you saw in your reality is my vessel in which I can manipulate the existence of mortals. He has been given a task by his village leader to assess your group's efforts. It is my thanks to him for allowing me to share his body that I obtain the knowledge that he desires."
"I will tell you- anything you desire!" Yusuke drops to his knees in front of this God.
"Then we have an accord. Allow me to restore your wound. In return for your secrets, I shall return you to the mortal plane."
Yusuke's leg healed and even the pants he is wearing stitch shut as if they were never damaged.
"We have a handler, he's a shinobi." Yusuke starts off with. "White hair, two dots on his forehead. He killed ten people in our village with bones that came out of his body. He told us to get resources by any means necessary or he'd kill our families. He's apparently a part of some new ninja village in Oto no Kuni. The lord of our land is giving the leader of this new village free reign to do whatever he pleases to us-"
Naruto cancels the Tsukuyomi early. The stress on Yusuke's chakra network and mind puts him in a vegetative state. He took pity on the bandit and stabbed a kunai into his head. Even if the man could be saved, he'd seen too much.
His 'playing god' act had fooled the man well enough to make him spill everything he knew about this new village, it wasn't much but still something.
Only a second had passed on the outside while his Tsukuyomi took place, which gives him enough time to fake a scenario in which he could have reasonably extracted that information. He waits a few minutes before returning to the main group and joins Sakura as defense for the townsfolk that they'd ordered to stay indoors and barricade up.
Sasuke makes short work of the remaining bandits before Kakashi stops him from killing the last one.
"This is our chance to practice what we talked about." The Jounin ties up the survivor.
"Kakashi," Naruto steps in with his new tale of half-truth. "I had one of the bandits tell me why they're doing this. They have a Shinobi coercing them into stealing the iron. He said if they didn't cooperate, the Shinobi would murder their families."
"This Shinobi is using normal people to do his dirty work, hmm? Looks like they don't want anyone to find out what they're doing."
Sasuke activates his Sharingan, which whirls with three tomoe in each while Kakashi holds the man's head still and forces his eyes open.
'Practicing hypnosis to get information.' The hypnosis potential of the Sharingan took much skill before one could be considered a master of it, and even in control of a person's mind it still fell far short of the legendary Genjutsu of the Mangekyou; Kotoamatsukami. Using the standard hypnosis could only get gleams of information and Shinobi could lock out someone from their mind with some effort. Naruto had wondered what it might be like to wield a Jutsu like that, but figured the Mangekyou must be primarily hereditary. He could use Tsukuyomi with his right eye and Amaterasu with his left, just like his grandfather could.
"Try and focus on that and draw out anything like it." Kakashi coaxes. Sasuke nods and focuses his eyes.
Naruto and Sakura are treated to a boring wait. The pink-haired girl had grown far more confident in herself over the six-months that she'd been a Genin and actually strikes up conversation with Naruto rather than disguising her fear of him with verbal assaults.
"What do you think it's like?" She asks while twiddling her long pink hair. They sit down next to each other on a bench left out at a Dango shop.
"You might need to be more specific with me, Sakura." Naruto comments, idly shaking his own hair back into place after whipping it around chasing the bandits. He had grown to cover the Uzumaki insignia on the back of his shirt.
"Having a Kekkei-Genkai, I mean." Sakura clarifies with some wonder in her voice.
"I guess it must be different for everyone who has one." Naruto feels like he's gonna go off on a lecture but figures that Sakura is the most likely to listen to it. "If you think about it, someone born with a Kekkei-Genkai probably doesn't feel any different to a normal person. They can just do something with their body with a power that they're born with, to them it's probably no different from being like us. It's just natural, just like it's natural for me to be good with Katon and Futon, or your affinity to Genjutsu and Medical-Ninjutsu."
"That's true I guess." Sakura concedes. "People with Kekkei-Genkai don't really seem that different on the outside."
"But there may also be other kinds of difficulties that normal Shinobi don't have. I'd bet that clan culture plays a pretty important part in how Kekkei-Genkai Shinobi see themselves. You had a Hyuuga in your class, right? She's probably under a whole lot of pressure from her clan to maintain the image of strength of the Byakugan, just like Sasuke wants to master his Sharingan and prove that it's something fearsome in honour of the Uchiha."
Sakura nods along, seeing reason in his words. "I didn't really think about that. Hinata was kinda shy, it must be hard on her to live up to something like that."
"There might be other psychological things too," Naruto continues without a beat. "A few years ago, someone from an enemy nation tried to kidnap a young Hyuuga so that they could have the Byakugan for their village. The leader of the Hyuuga clan killed him and got caught up in some political incident because of it. The Hokage sorted it out and nothing became of it, but it mustn't have been a good experience for the kid who nearly got stolen."
"That must have been Hinata!" Sakura realizes in shock. "I bet that incident traumatized her and she got all shy because of it!"
Naruto blinked. Surely Sakura would know this already? "She was your classmate, wasn't she? You weren't friends?"
"Not really. I mostly kept to myself and Ino, she was my only friend." Sakura sighs, looking a bit down. "We kinda had a fight and it wasn't the same between us."
"I'm sorry." Was all Naruto could say. He didn't care much for the drama but he'd dealt with growing apart from friends. The people he lived with in the orphanage all went different ways after Tsukimi-baachan passed.
"It's not a big loss, I think." Sakura actually leans her head on his shoulder. "I like you guys more anyways."
"You're turning me to mush." Naruto stated with deliberately fake emotionlessness.
She flicks a lock of her hair in his face for the tease but the two remain in comfortable silence until their teammates are done.
Kakashi and Sasuke walk over to them, with the latter having turned off his recently-matured Sharingan.
"What I got just now was about the same as what Naruto said." Sasuke starts to list off what little intel he could draw out. "There's a new village in the nation that these guys came from. They have some Kekkei-Genkai Shinobi who's killing off their families if they don't obtain resources."
Kakashi speaks up with his opinion of the matter. "It was sloppy. They didn't research who this outpost is delivering to and gave us the opportunity to find out that the new hidden village is arming up. Hokage-sama will want to hear this."
The Jounin looks around.
"Well, that's still another successful C-Rank. Good job everyone! Let's give the all-clear to these people and head back to Konoha."
Team 7 is sassed with questions about 'what if they come back?' and 'are we really safe?' and the short answer to each is 'We need to return so that Hokage-sama can send out border-guards'.
Naruto is suspicious about why Kakashi didn't ask how he got the lead in the first place.
Kakashi stood before three of Konoha's most experienced Shinobi.
Tsunade, Homura and Koharu are seated on higher perches compared to the other Shinobi in the room. Behind Kakashi, many Jounin and high ranking affiliates are seated before the venerable elders and Hokage. Only the most trusted operatives of every faction in Konoha were permitted to be present. Loyal and talented many may be, but Tsunade had only a handful of people that she can trust explicitly and to not leak intel unintentionally or otherwise.
Kakashi had finished his report on the clear armament tactics employed.
"Another Hidden Village? This is most troubling." Homura pushes up his spectacles on his nose, looking dignified and stern.
Koharu nods along. "This work is quite sloppy. Whoever is pulling the strings does not expect their nation to last long. It is clear that this village in Ta no Kuni is serving a singular and temporary purpose. We must investigate immediately."
"They have even changed the name of the hosting nation. The Daimyo has elected to rename it to 'Oto no Kuni'. I believe the initial investigation should be into Daimyo's court and who he interacts with that may be causing this sudden armament." Homura suggests reasonably.
"We have also received this as of a week ago." Tsunade plants a stack of folders on the table. "This is all of the Chuunin Exam nominees from participating nations. One of them is listed as 'Otogakure'. They're only sending one team, but the timing is too suspicious to ignore. I'll send word to my best 'agent' to discover as much as they can, as soon as possible."
"You mean..?" Koharu almost looked disapproving for a moment before shrugging it off. "Every field team is to report any mention of Otogakure or attempts of armament."
"Understood." Is the chorus of affirmatives from the elites.
"Alright, all of you with Genin teams remain behind. Those of you leaving, please let the Genin team leaders know they're expected to enter in ten minutes. No sooner." Tsunade orders, looking rather tired. "Kakashi, I need to have a word."
Tsunade waits for everyone else to leave. Homura and Koharu remain, and neither appeared to lighten up.
"How did Naruto obtain this information?" Tsunade asks without hesitation.
"I don't know," Kakashi replies honestly. "But I do know that it is some kind of Jutsu that requires an enormous amount of chakra. Whatever it is, it functions instantly and can be performed without needing to gather chakra conventionally."
"A high-level interrogation technique. This is beyond the scope of a Genin, even one who has been reported to have unusually powerful chakra." Koharu points out shrewdly. "Is he aware that you know?"
"Perhaps not fully. He understands that I've been trying to get more information from him, but I don't think he knows that I was using a Jutsu to assess his chakra levels throughout the mission. I'm afraid I don't have the sensory talent to be able to understand what exactly he did, but I know for certain that it requires more chakra than any interrogative technique that I've ever witnessed." Kakashi tacks on his explanation of his lack of sensing skill. It is a very rare talent to be able to sense if someone is using a Jutsu, or determine what their chakra nature is. Naruto's Mind's Eye of the Kagura as he called it, was truly one of a kind.
"Why is the boy hiding this? He is clearly not suited for stealth or other ANBU positions, Uzumaki Naruto clearly possesses the same front-line wrecking ball potential that his father did. He has nothing to gain from keeping something like this hidden. Have you discussed with him this behaviour?" Homura's assessment of Naruto's abilities rings true. There's no chance in hell that someone like Naruto would desire to go into ANBU.
But his habit of keeping secrets is making people suspicious. With each mission it becomes clear that he is not being challenged and makes it more obvious that he's hiding something.
Kakashi puts forward what he's managed to read from his student so far.
"I've had a chat with him about it. All he will tell me is that he's waiting for a moment in which the entire world will see what he can do. I tried to explain that he could catapult through the ranks quickly if he just chooses to show off, but he's determined. Every time I ask he just tells me that-" Kakashi sighs, realising that it sounds ridiculous. "-that he's at risk."
Homura exchanges a look with Koharu.
Tsunade leans forward with her head on her hands, eyes stern.
"At risk of what?"
"If he reveals the full extent of his abilities too early, he believes that internal factions of Konoha will seek to recklessly reproduce that power. If it is stolen, or altered, or diluted by giving it to other people without correct instruction, that it may very well destroy Konoha instead of protect it. He insists that this ability is one-hundred-years of hard work culminating into him, and that it must be shown to enemy nations at the same time or else... Konoha will lose the biggest possible deterrent of war since the Shodai Hokage."
"So, he thinks he has some Kekkei-Genkai that is absolutely vital for Konoha's future?" Homura's tone could be considered dubious at best.
Koharu clearly agrees. "This is the posturing of a twelve-year-old boy with an inflated sense of importance. Uzumaki Naruto may be a prodigy of even the same caliber as his father, but unless his ability is... clairvoyance, then I suggest that you continue to pry information from him, and determine if he is whispering promises of being a savior for the sake of deflecting attention from an ulterior motive."
"What does he mean by 'internal factions'?" Tsunade latches on to the phrase with narrowed eyes.
"The Hyuuga Incident is the example he gave me." Kakashi tells a condensed version of the story he got from Naruto. "I think he isn't aware that distrust toward him is high right now, because he is focused on the potential that Konoha may very well be like Kumogakure. In his mind, Konoha trusting him isn't the issue. It's Konoha that needs to earn his trust by proving that it will not manufacture circumstances that will rob him of agency within the village hierarchy."
"You are saying that Naruto thinks there's a chance that we will turn him into... breeding chattel?" Tsunade asks quite disbelievingly.
"Ridiculous." Koharu mutters.
"Regardless, that's the story he is sticking with and hasn't deviated from." Kakashi is dubious of it himself, but he doesn't know anyone who is more stubborn than Naruto. Asking too many questions of Naruto is the fastest way to get him to make fun of your weak efforts.
"And Naruto makes waves everywhere he goes." Tsunade sighs and rubs her forehead. "Word of the incident at the start of his Genin career involving several Chuunin has spread around the village. His graduation was also quite public and showed nearly all of the current clan heads that he's worth paying attention to. Throw in a rumour of him completing an A-Rank mission, and every eye in the village is on him and most of them are friendly. If we try and get this information from him without allowing him to show it himself, it will brew discontent that a young, talented and friendly shinobi is being picked on by higher-ups. He has weaved the circumstances leading up to these Chuunin Exams quite well, intentionally or otherwise."
Homura also adds a more current issue. "We cannot afford not to have Team 7 compete in this exam. They are by far the strongest team of Genin in Konoha, if we wait any longer to show their skills we may face scrutiny for holding back a team and waiting until they are strong enough to decimate any competition. It would be the same as letting actual Chuunin compete, and you know that the other nations will cry foul. This appears to be the perfect conditions for Naruto's terms of revealing his true power. Sunagakure is sending a team composed entirely of the Kazekage's children. One of which is a Jinchuuriki."
"Without your team causing a ruckus, the Genin heirs of important clans within Konoha are at extreme risk. You know very well that the parents of those children will push for their Sensei to recommend them for the exams. Sasuke is the highest profile target on the team, and with your teachings it is likely that he will ally with fellow Konoha Genin and provide a deterrent towards teams in the forest that are seeking easier targets." Koharu provides a blatant opinion that the Genin clan heirs are weak, and that Team 7 may be the only ones with the potential to protect them through the team survival phase.
Kakashi gets the message. He was going to recommend them anyway, but Team 7 must compete. The suspicious behaviour of a new hidden village and the unusual amount of teams participating made it likely that some foul-play would be involved.
"I'll slip word to my team that they're to keep an eye on friendlies."
"Good." Tsunade pushes the intercom on her desk. "Send in everyone who's here for Chuunin Exam purposes."
'Finally.' Kakashi thought tiredly. The evening is nearly over and he could soon flee to the comforts of home.
His screaming, tantrum-throwing little ray of sunshine is a preferable alternative to being stuck in a meeting.
"Alright Uzumaki-kun, I'll add these to your medical record for later review. Same as the others."
"Thank you."
"I can't help but be curious, however." The doctor turns his chair and looks Naruto in the eye. "I hope you understand. From the tests you've asked for over the past five months, I can easily see from the scans that you're developing new chakra pathways in your brain and to your eyes. Your vision and reflexes seem to be, well... Improving."
"Then there's no cause for alarm?"
"No." He shakes his head. "I know that you must be up to something but if you've found a way to do something like this, surely you must understand that whatever you're doing to yourself could help many people with impaired vision?"
Naruto nips that in the bud quickly. "I can't tell you what I'm doing. What I can tell you, since you've been a good sport and presumedly upholding my confidentiality, is to bet on me in the upcoming Chuunin exams and you'll see for yourself what's happening to me."
"Confident, are we?" He smiles indulgently, realising that Naruto wouldn't respond if he asked any further.
"You have no idea how sure I am of my victory, Iyashi-san."
"My wife would kill me if she caught me betting on children killing each other." Iyashi comments dryly.
"Your loss." Naruto states but leaves it at that. He stands up and puts his forehead protector back on.
The doctor gets his last word in. "Please do be careful, Uzumaki-kun. I don't know what you're doing, but Ninjutsu that affect the eyes and brain are no joke. Anything could go wrong if an unpracticed method of improvement is used."
"You don't have to worry." Naruto assures with no doubt in his voice. "If all goes as planned over the Chuunin Exams then you probably won't be seeing me again anyways."
Iyashi raises a brow but doesn't push it.
"Well, I'll cheer you on for your imminent victory." He indulges the bravado of the black-haired boy.
"Remember what I said." Naruto slowly shuts the door behind him. "Bet on me."
Naruto knows for certain that he will not be defeated by anyone during these exams. He would be able to use his full power freely and without restraint. The doctor all but confirmed this over the past few months of him having awoken the Mangekyou Sharingan. At first he'd been extremely hesitant to use it at all. Naruto used it sparingly for practice purposes only and started booking in monthly tests to see if the enzymes in his brain released from using the Mangekyou were making his eyesight deteriorate.
But as it turned out, nothing was causing his vision to fail. After the first two visits, Naruto got bolder with training the use of his newly awoken abilities. He could bring all sorts of things to set on 'fire' with Amaterasu into his hideout where his grandfather spent most of his last days. Tsukuyomi had to wait for missions and privacy but even then he'd managed to use it on some poor souls.
Naruto has no fear of losing the light in his eyes. Madara's meddling has ensured it will remain. That thought made him reflect on the stories and memories that the old man had imparted unto him.
Madara had used Tsukuyomi on Naruto only once. The reason for him doing it had several purposes; chiefly among them was to explain with reason granted by experience Madara's hatred of the Senju, his distrust of Konoha's elite structure, the circumstances of his turn from Konoha and the Uchiha Clan, and the new secrets of the Sharingan that no other man had discovered before him.
These memories given to him using Tsukuyomi however were not Naruto's. He didn't experience them, and while he could feel the burning rage and hate, the woozy desperation, and intoxicative love, these were not his memories and therefore took some concentration to bring back out.
Madara had only used it once to ensure that Naruto's brain wouldn't start adjusting to match Madara's. If too much information were imparted directly to Naruto's mind, the body and brain would follow suit as best as it could and the then eleven-year-old boy would inevitably have a mental breakdown and identity crisis. Seventy-two hours is already a long time to be in another person's sandals, a little boy would not be able to handle the strain.
What still needed to be discovered is the reason for the fundamental differences in the development of his Sharingan compared to his grandfather.
Uchiha Obito had been implanted and augmented using strange organic material. The matter functioned as replacements for his destroyed organs and limbs, and vitalised the body by cycling chakra from what remained of the implantee's body through new artificial pathways. The chakra sent to the 'Zetsu Matter' would return to Obito's real flesh, and since the Zetsu Matter was created through cloning Hashirama's life force, the result would have the implantee gaining the characteristics of Hashirama's chakra.
Obito had gained the ability to use a rudimentary form of the Mokuton Kekkei-Genkai. His wounds began to heal rapidly, his chakra strength magnified and most importantly to the Uchiha, he didn't go blind from consistent use of the Mangekyou Sharingan.
This led Naruto to believe that his immunity to blindness from using the Mangekyou is due to the powerful influence of the cells in his body that are similar to the Senju. The Uzumaki are a walking Kekkei-Genkai. The primary trait of their clan is their world-renowned powerful chakra and lifeforce. It affected them passively, it was not something that was 'activated' like a Doujutsu, or expressed through a unique Nature Transformation, or through the use of other bodily abilities such as turning into water or smoke or making bones come out of their bodies.
Uzumaki Chakra is raw power. Every Uzumaki was on a different level for any Jutsu they use. Near-endless stamina, monstrous reserves and an incredible lifespan and natural ability to bounce back from injury. It was no wonder why the Uzumaki were so feared that three entire nations had banded together in fear to destroy a clan whose size barely matched that of the Uchiha and Senju. It made him wonder if he'd learn to use the signature Adamantine Sealing Chains that his mother possessed. And it also made him quite sad to know that he'd never get to meet his Kaa-chan.
But while the immunity to blindness could be explained by the abnormal strength of his life force, the conditions in which his Mangekyou had awoken is still a mystery. Even Obito, augmented to barely be an Uchiha anymore, had awoken his unique power by experiencing a mind-shattering loss. The grief and stress matched every other known instance of it occurring in the entirety of history. Madara was the pioneer who discovered the intricacies of the Sharingan, but even his wealth of knowledge could not be drawn from because nothing similar to Naruto had ever occurred.
Naruto had felt Madara's pain. He knows what it takes to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he knows that he hadn't experienced such strong negative or even positive emotion before.
Sasuke's initial Sharingan had awoken from need and desire. Naruto's Sharingan awoke really just out of the blue. Just 'because'.
He doesn't want to boil it down to a simple answer. But all he can think of was that Madara's Sharingan had become 'whole' after transplanting the Mangekyou eyes of his younger brother into himself. No longer did his vision degrade through overuse and in fact, it seemed that his mastery had grown tenfold. There was no longer a painful burn every time that Madara used those powers. It was as if the Sharingan was always meant to be that way.
At no point had any other person achieved the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. Madara's augmenting himself using Hashirama's flesh may have made the change to his physiology permanent. So therefore, it stood to reason that his descendants would also possess the same 'different' Sharingan.
...Could it be, like puberty which allowed for more bodily functions after it occurs in teenagers, that the innate Doujutsu he was born with was simply ready to be used to this degree? That he had grown up enough that his body said 'Yep, it's time for the next phase in your life'.
The thought makes him want to laugh. Waking up one day and spotting hairs on your chest and as if that were some right of passage, you now had the Mangekyou Sharingan.
It couldn't be that simple.
Could it?
In Kumogakure.
Yondaime Raikage Ay sat in his office, and the Jounin Sensei and Genin of the one team he was sending to the exams stood before him. Two other elite and trusted Jounin joined in on the meeting.
"I'll be blunt," as he was wont to do. "There is one Genin team leaked from Konoha that is concerning. You may need to take efforts to avoid them until their abilities have been gauged successfully."
It pained him to say that his strongest Genin would need to watch out for Konoha Shinobi.
The Genin in question were silent before him. Karui and Darui, a pair of talented swordsmen. They had proven adept in their three-year tenure as Genin, even catching the eye of other gifted Kumogakure Shinobi. Darui had permitted them to receive additional teaching from anyone willing to offer. Like many Shinobi in their village, they are both gifted in the use of Raiton to an abnormal degree.
But the point of concern and reason for the meeting was Yugito. Far exceeding the abilities of her teammates and peers, the sixteen-year-old is also the Jinchuuriki of the Nibi.
The only reason the team had been refused entry into any Chuunin Exams was due to the slowly simmering spite from Konoha Shinobi for their disastrous attempt at kidnapping several years ago. Any mission that crossed paths with Konoha over the past few years always ended in vicious attacks. The diplomatic situation had only improved in the past year, but Ay didn't want to risk sending the best of the bunch to the Exams only to be killed before they were ready.
"Raikage-sama?" Darui is the team Sensei and long time diplomatic 'bodyguard' for the village leader. Knowing the Raikage, Darui sees that if they're even being spoken to at all like this, then the Yondaime has reason for concern.
Mabui, the assistant of the Raikage, is the one to list off the known details catalogued of the people of interest.
"Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan has taken on three students. Even the weakest of his students has excelled under his tutelage. Haruno Sakura, Age: 12. Civilian-born but according to leaked documents, she is currently under evaluation to determine if she could be a candidate for apprenticeship under the Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade."
The Genin turned to each other in disbelief. Twelve, and considered for apprenticeship under the Hokage?
"Uchiha Sasuke, Age: 12. Only known survivor of the Uchiha Incident, younger brother of S-Rank Missing-Nin, Uchiha Itachi. Records show that he awoke the Sharingan during his Academy Graduation Exam and has grown experience in its use from the teachings of his Sensei. The boy has proven prodigious and resourceful. His mastery of the Sharingan grows, as does his arsenal of Ninjutsu. If he is even half as talented as his Sensei and brother, it may prove extremely difficult to counter him."
"Neither of these sound that bad." Yugito speaks up, crossing her arms under her chest. "They're talented, we get it. We still have three years on them."
"Do not underestimate potential enemies." Ay scolds crossly. Yugito should consider herself lucky he hadn't started shouting yet.
Mabui speaks up before Yugito can complain again. "The main point of concern is this boy." She pulls out a copy of the Academy Graduation photograph.
"Woah. Gimme!" Karui seems very impressed by his looks.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Age: 12."
Darui, C and Samui all look alarmed at the word 'Uzumaki', which does not go unnoticed by the Genin.
"Known to have fought six Konoha Chuunin at once and won with Taijutsu alone. He possesses unnaturally potent chakra, of which is believed to nearly match the Hokage herself in density and capacity. He is known to use advanced Katon and Futon Ninjutsu as well as the forbidden Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, of which he can perform to a degree that outclasses elite Shinobi in Konoha."
Quite the list of absurd claims, but the way Mabui read it off made it seem all too serious.
"You want us to avoid this crazy strong guy?" Omoi rolls his lollipop around to speak without drooling.
Darui answers for his Genin, already knowing full-well the circumstances around this mystery student of Kakashi.
"It's not just a matter of avoiding him. He may actively decide to come after you if he notices your presence."
"Is he some bloodthirsty killer?" Karui clearly wants to know more about this potential threat.
"That remains to be seen." Mabui replies clinically. "But if the boy is aware of the history between Kumogakure and the Uzumaki Clan, he may very well single you out for that reason alone."
The history is lost on the youngest people in the room, and they seemed a bit too nervous to ask outright.
Ay stood up and faced the window. He peered out on to his village. The decisions made by him and his forebears over the past forty years had severely affected national relations towards Kumogakure, and his people were struggling because of it. Dissatisfaction with his leadership is at an all-time high, so any plotting done would have to be for fixing their broken image.
"We can't afford not to send a skilled team this year." Ay says. Although facing the glass panes, his voice carries through the room easily.
Samui, who had been silent so far, spoke up. "Our Daimyo and his office have been giving many missions to neighboring nations. Our geographical location already made it harder to obtain missions outside Kaminari no Kuni. The Sandaime Raikage attempted to fix this nearly forty-years-ago by creating an alliance to attack the number one village who was accepting these redirected missions. The purpose of the attack was three-fold; Destroy Konohagakure's number one ally, re-obtain the mission contracts sent to Uzushiogakure, and to destroy the Uzumaki Clan, said to rival and in some ways surpass the Senju and Uchiha Clan's. The aftermath objective was to obtain surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan for Kumogakure, but every attempt has so far failed."
"We must set the example that Kumogakure Shinobi are capable." C, diplomatic bodyguard, spoke up. "The destruction of Uzushiogakure was a severe hit on our reputation but served its greater goal of returning those contracts. The lasting effect on our reputation has not ceased however, and we no longer have a leg to stand on. We cannot take the same 'immoral' choice by attacking another nation and committing genocide again, if we do... it will be the end of our village."
Samui continues the impromptu history lesson.
"Konoha waged war against all three nations that attacked Uzushiogakure. Against Uzu, we had the element of surprise and the entire Shinobi force of three villages, and we still nearly lost. The fearsome reputation of the Uzumaki Clan was well-earned. We were also not expecting Konoha to retaliate, but they did so by taking on Kumogakure, Iwagakure and Kirigakure all at once. They used vast networks of spies and collaborative Hiden Clan Jutsu and with extraordinary Shinobi like Namikaze Minato and the Sannin, well. They won. Uzushio was a small, remote nation comprised of only one clan, and three nations had barely destroyed them. We never stood a chance against the very first Hidden Village, one that was founded by the likes of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara."
"Senju Tsunade is descended from the Shodai Hokage." Ay recalls the legendary medics profile. "Senju Hashirama was given Uzumaki Mito's hand in marriage as good-will for their alliance. This makes Tsunade part Uzumaki, and you are guaranteed that a woman as vicious as her has not forgotten what we have done. That much was proven after our attempted abduction of the Hyuuga Clan Heiress."
"And before that, one Uzumaki Kushina was sent to Konohagakure before the destruction of her village. We attempted to abduct her as well, but she killed nineteen captors single-handedly before she was officially 'rescued' and recovered by Namikaze Minato. The remaining member of that squad was tortured by her before being released. He had to make his way back to a spy hideout with broken bones before giving his report and then killing himself from the trauma. Kushina was the only living Uzumaki in Konoha at this time, so it is likely that Uzumaki Naruto is her son."
The three Genin looked significantly nervous and looked ready to sweat.
"This is starting to sound like suicide." Yugito gives her quiet opinion.
"Kumo's reputation must be rebuilt from the ground up," Samui gives her calculated assessment. "Ordinarily, we wouldn't divulge this kind of information openly, least of all to Genin. However, we need you to have the best conceivable chance at being successful enough that you make it to a round in which your fighting prowess will be publicly visible to any fledgling lords looking to hire Shinobi. You three are the strongest Genin in the village and we can't risk sending any more teams when we're already struggling. If we send weaker teams, they may be hunted just for sport, and it will reflect poorly on Kumogakure that only one team out of many are capable Shinobi."
"We only tell you this information so that you understand how in danger you are, and also how much not just you, but all of Kumogakure has to lose by not competing at all." Ay divulges sternly. "We need at least one team to test the waters as our first reappearance into the exams since the Hyuuga Incident. I would have liked to keep those parts of our history buried, but we are on the cusp of dying quietly in the night. We need to have a strong public team, any later and the Daimyo may just hand off the rest of our contracts."
To everyone in the room, the message is clear. They don't have a choice. For the good of the village, they must compete and get as far as conceivably possible while a monster was potentially hunting them. It's a very bad situation to be in and the first of this kind of caliber for their team.
Yugito feels frustration and hatred bubble up inside her. How could she be expected to serve this village when such horrible crimes had just been admitted to her?!
"Calm down." An internal feminine and dignified voice advises.
She does so, but the resolute looks on her teammates' faces disgusted her.
"We can speak later. This may yet provide an opportunity to you."
The Nibi is wise. Maybe it would be best to cool it until Yugito could hear her out...
"You're dismissed." Ay states, sitting back down at his desk with the near-perpetual scowl he'd worn for nearly a decade now. The Genin leave and the Raikage is left with his closest Jounin.
"It is suspicious that this information has leaked from Konoha. Not only that, but rather detailed information as well. Almost as though it came directly from a personal record." Samui picks up on the unusual happening.
"This is a bribe, I think." Darui observes with a tired demeanor. "Whoever leaked this information to our spy outpost wants us to join in on their little operation to hinder Konoha. This new village is exclusively attacking Konoha-led infrastructure and trade partners."
"We will act only at the last moment and no sooner." Ay says decisively. "Only if Konoha's destruction is guaranteed. If not, we leave as though nothing is happening. This is too delicate a time to be placing all our faith in a clumsy plan such as this."
Samui and Darui bow and leave.
In the seal of Yugito, she and her Bijuu conversed.
"Your home is bringing about its own destruction, and you may be powerless to stop it."
"I don't want to care." Yugito huffs bitterly, tucking her head to rest on her knees.
Matatabi acknowledges the careful 'don't want to', meaning that Yugito still does for reasons she knows already from a millennia of experience.
"Indeed. I understand that humans desire a home. My father was unusual for a human, but even he desired the security and peace of mind that a home provides, not only for himself but for all of his children."
"What's that got to do with anything, Matatabi?" Yugito asked impatiently.
"Patience my dear. What I am going to tell you will not make you happy, because it is not an easy choice to make. You have broken the shell of indoctrination that your village impressed upon each of my previous hosts, it is only right to tell you that you do not owe this nation anything."
"'Tabi?" The human asks confusedly.
"The boy from that... photograph?" Matatabi recalls the word humans used for it. "He bears an uncanny resemblance to the one who could control the strongest of us without being a Jinchuuriki. My father was a loving man, he loved all of humanity despite their flaws, but he loved his children more than anything. His human children were no exception. This Konoha was founded by his descendants, and it appears that some live on strong to this day. Yugito... That nation will never truly fall. It may be burned to the ground, it may be blown away, but the sons of the Sage will never be extinct, and their home will be rebuilt no matter what. Action against them will only incur the hatred embedded in them towards us. Father blessed his children with potential unfathomable to normal humans such as yourself and everyone else who ever lived and died in this village."
"Matatabi, what are you suggesting? That I just let Kumo destroy itself and go live my own life?"
"You heard for yourself what the Uchiha and Senju's village do to those who murder their people. Even branded a traitor, you would be safe in the arms of that village."
"Treason." Yugito gulps and clams up.
Yugito vanishes from the sealscape, but Matatabi feels that her pragmatic reasoning will at least be food for thought. The life of and happiness of her favorite human is at risk after-all.
It took her one-thousand-years to reach this point, but she truly had grown different from her father.
Matatabi is her own being, and makes her own decisions. Regardless of Hagoromo's philosophy.
These villages would never get along. Such is the nature of man.
In Kirigakure.
Mei glared at the flippant Mizukage. He had grown a habit of disregard for the lives of his subordinates over the past few years.
"Just send a handful of the weak ones and we'll call it a day, hmm?" Yagura chuckles, apparently not seeing the issue of village image being damaged.
Yagura was nothing like this when he first stepped in as Mizukage. He'd been an earnest young man, full of hope and aspirations for a better Kiri. Despite being a Jinchuuriki, he was a bright and loving person.
For reasons unknown to them, his moral code started to degrade. He sent out bloodline users on reckless suicide missions and endorsed a brutal and murderous graduation exam. Many in Kiri felt that if he didn't regain his sense soon, there would be civil war.
Officials suspected foul play. That Yagura is being manipulated somehow, but they'd yet to find definitive proof. Even with the assistance of a... requisitioned Dojutsu, anything that might be affecting Yagura was doing so at a deeper level than the Dojutsu could see.
And if the Byakugan couldn't see deep enough into a person's chakra that they could see Bijuu-manipulation, then nothing could.
"Don't glare at me like that," Yagura waves an arm gaily above his head. "If they are strong enough to live, then they will."
Mei's stare intensified. She'd already gone through the leaked documents of this fearful Genin team from Konoha and Yagura simply held no concern in the slightest.
She stormed out the room and slammed the door behind her.
Yagura chuckles again, and it seemed to echo a voice that did not belong.
His right eye flickers red.
'It really is a shame, isn't it? Kirigakure has brought this upon themselves. Perhaps they shouldn't be so quick to anger those who are stronger than them. It's retribution, really.'
Yagura nods to himself. His own thoughts had never failed him before, right?
In Iwagakure.
"Just send someone old man!"
Onoki resolutely refused to send any Genin team after this Uzumaki boy had been revealed.
He knows that this exam will be a waste of good blood. Better to focus that young vigor into missions in Tsuchi no Kuni.
The boy's description matched that of an Uzumaki's abilities and traits.
But he knows that the boy is not as cut and dry as only an Uzumaki.
Onoki covers up the young face with another stack of papers on his desk.
"No means no, Kurotsuchi. Now stop your complaining, and go do something productive!"
Better that she stay safe in Tsuchi while monster spawn was lurking in Konoha.
In Kusagakure.
'What is that name?!'
Karin tries futily to recall the name 'Uzumaki'. The word sings to her but it feels like there's a wall in her mind stopping her from remembering!
She stops her nervous fretting when some creepy older Genin she has never seen before enter the room.
"As agreed, you will enter the exams as our Genin." Zosui, her handler, speaks to the weirdos.
"Much obliged." The tall female chuckles creepily, a long tongue slipping out of her mouth.
Karin resists the urge to pick the scabs on her arms. She is scared still but she knows the nervous tick would only make her wounds worse.
She just doesn't want to turn out like Kaa-chan.
"Let's go." The de-facto leader of her own team orders. Karin trails behind him and remains silent.
'I just want to be happy.'
In Konohagakure.
Naruto felt that a bit of training wouldn't go astray before the exams, so he set to mastering his Mangekyou Sharingan in the privacy of his grandfather's hideout.
After reminiscing about his mother, he felt strangely attached to the idea that he'd be able to use her Adamantine Sealing Chains as well. He didn't possess any scrolls or memories that might push him in the right direction so he was going off trial and error alone.
The walls of the hideout are completely covered in seals that prevented his chakra signature from being detected on the outside. Originally they were maintained by Madara but following his death, the seals disappeared and Naruto was forced to figure out how to place them himself. Madara learned how to perform it from his wife in the Uzumaki Clan and passed on that knowledge to Naruto.
He wants to train to use Susanoo and Kongo Fusa at the same time, but attempting such advanced Jutsu was impossible for Kage Bunshin to manage. Kage Bunshin could be used to rapidly learn basics like accessory Ninjutsu or Basic Nature Transformation, but until he mastered it to a better degree, he would need to train the old fashioned way. With Kage Bunshin being composed entirely of Chakra, any Ninjutsu used by them would rapidly compromise the integrity of the clone and it would begin to 'forget' things that it learned and generally lose cognitive function. If he overdid it, the clone would dispel without returning any knowledge gained back to the real Naruto.
So he has to do it the old fashioned way. One at a time, and with discipline.
Just like the old man taught him.
Chapter 6 End.
AN:
So this chapter is pretty expository. I wanted initially to write the first stage of the Chuunin Exams but felt that set up would be required going forward, as well as an explanation to the conditions of Naruto's Sharingan advancement. I felt that this chapter may fall flat for some of you but it would have been too overwhelming to also add on the exams if you got bored with this one.
Explanation of Susanoo colour: It will be light blue, as alluded to in the Tsukuyomi scene this chapter. I wanted to give Naruto a colour that would be visually striking at night and on a battlefield, or even the sky in certain lighting. I want readers to be able to visualize that in their heads when they read upcoming scenes in which Naruto uses his Mangekyou Sharingan. I felt that light blue can have some distinct contrast with Amaterasu and regular Katon and that you guys would be able to see that. Even on a cloudless sky where it is just plain blue, I felt that the contours of the Susanoo would still help it stand out by ccasting shadow on itself.
For those of you who are wondering about pairings: Yes, there will be a pairing but I have been conflicted with who I want to choose. I will however point out that there will strictly be NO YAOI. Naruto's pairing will be with a female only, and will not be a harem.