Zabuza grunted as Haku wrapped the last of his wounds. He couldn't remember the last time he suffered such grave injuries. In truth, this was the first time he was injured to a degree that he almost died if not for the timely intervention of his tool. He shuddered when he remembered the attack that almost gave him a one way ticket to the afterlife and the boy who made it happen.
Uzumaki Naruto.
He shuddered as he remembered the innumerable slashes he suffered under the boy's blade as it pierced his skin and drew blood. He shuddered at the boy's calm eyes, eyes that showed countless battles, power beyond belief, and a mind that surpassed any genius he could think off. He thought that Konoha grew weak compared to his home, Kirigakure no Sato. But his beliefs were dashed. How could Konoha be weak if they could train such…such monster!
No, Momochi Zabuza knew that if he ever faced Uzumaki Naruto again, then it would be a fight to the death, a fight that he would surely loose.
Despite his pride as a swordsman, his pride as an A-rank shinobi, he would never face Uzumaki Naruto if he could help it.
"Haku, how long do you think I will make a full recovery?" Zabuza asked the teen.
"A week. Two at the most, Zabuza-sama." Haku reported. Despite his rather feminine looks, his voice gave away his true gender.
"Why is it taking so long?" Zabuza growled.
"Your body can't keep up with all of the wounds you sustained, Zabuza-sama. This…Uzumaki Naruto gave you more than fifty wounds in a span of thirty seconds. You lost quite a lot of blood and you broke some of your bones when he kicked you to the ground. You…you were lucky, Zabuza-sama. I thought you were dead. You were lucky." Haku said in a morbid tone that was quite new for him. They had been in life and death situations before and they usually came out unscathed if not for a few wounds here and there, nothing critical to merit worry. But now, after facing the blonde swordsman with powerful techniques that doesn't require hand seals, they finally saw death for the first time. It was…frightening. He was lucky he didn't get to face the boy, no man, directly but his master certainly did and it wasn't a pretty sight.
Zabuza merely nodded, Haku's report cementing his decision.
"When you think that my wounds are healed enough for us to travel, we will abandon our contract and hightail it out of here." He finally spoke after a few minutes of silence.
"Are you sure, Zabuza-sama?" Haku said with some surprise. He knew that Zabuza's pride as a swordsman demands a rematch, a fight to the death to bring back his lost honor as a wielder of the blade; more so his pride as one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. He definitely didn't except this. "You don't want a…rematch?"
Zabuza gave Haku a long look. "For once in my life, Haku, I don't think pride will save me nor it is a good emotion to indulge in. I know my skills as a shinobi and a swordsman are top-notch; I will gladly face a Kage in battle without fear. But this…this Uzumaki Naruto. There is something about him, something that inspires fear. I don't know why but something inside me is telling me that I was lucky to survive. He is not someone you would face without an army behind your back. For once, it is better to count our losses and seek some missions elsewhere even if Gato promised to pay us big money for the bridge builder's death. My goal can wait for a few years."
Haku was about to say something when a chuckle echoed around the room. He immediately pulled out three senbons with a flick of his wrist, prepared to face the intruder. Even Zabuza was prepared, a kunai in his hand since he wasn't strong enough to wield his zanbatou.
"This is practically the first time I heard a compliment like that outside my ANBU friends and the Sandaime. I am flattered." said the voice.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Zabuza demanded, preparing for a fight.
"There's no need for hostilities, Momochi Zabuza, Haku. If I wanted a fight then you two would be dead before any of you could make a move." Naruto finally materialized beside the door with a soft smile on his face. His appearance caused quite an amusing reaction to those present other than him – Haku was now standing in front of Zabuza, his face showing fear but there was steel in his eyes and the determination to protect his master, to the death of need be. Zabuza showed fear in his eyes but the same determination was there. These two weren't going down without a fight.
"What are you doing here? Come to finish the job?" Zabuza growled, grip tightening around his puny weapon.
"I'll keep him occupied while you escape, Zabuza-sama. Please prepare." said Haku in a determined voice while throwing three senbons at Naruto who merely grabbed them from the air and examining them one by one. He smiled.
"As I said, Haku, I am not here to kill you." stated Naruto as he lazily threw the weapon to the side without a care in the world.
"Then why are you here?" asked Zabuza, his voice held more curiosity than resolve.
"To talk, nothing more nothing less." he replied casually as he made his way to the lone chair in the room by the window. "Can I take this seat? I've been standing all day and it's quite tiring."
Zabuza and Haku looked at the blonde with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Out of all the things they expected, they didn't expect this…this…man to simply ask them for a seat. Whatever Naruto said must have fried their brains since the only thing they did was nod.
"Thanks." said Naruto before sitting himself with a sigh. He was standing for 4 hours on that damn Hover Board and his legs weren't used to doing nothing. Sure, he could stand for a whole day if need be but not stationary. "Now, as I said before you went hostile on me, I merely came here to talk."
"What do you want to talk about?" Haku asked, his stance showing his alertness and readiness to attack.
"I have a proposition for the two of you." Naruto started, smile still plastered on his face. From what these two showed, he definitely wanted them in his group. They might not have the brains to help him with his inventions but having a few helpers wouldn't be amiss. Clones do tend to get boring after a while. He paused for a bit since he had this feeling that he was channeling Sephiroth all of a sudden but dismissed it. "In a few hours, I will unleash my…summon upon Gato and wipe out all of his forces to free Wave from his tyranny. However, I have no fight against the two of you and I am quite impressed with both of your skills. So here is my proposition, I want to hire the two of you to be part of my team, so to speak."
"What?" Zabuza and Haku exclaimed in unison. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Instead of being brutally murdered, they were being given an option for employment. It was surreal even for their standards.
"Hm, I think I was clear in my intention but no matter." Naruto quipped, amused by the two's reaction. Really, was it hard to believe that he had no intentions of killing them? "I wish to hire both of you. I can use my…position in the Konoha Military to conscript the two of you as my personal…team of sorts. Of course, you have a choice. You can either work for me as a Konoha shinobi or I will hire the two of you with pay. What will it be?"
Haku didn't say anything but Zabuza certainly did.
"That is an intriguing proposal. But let me ask you this, if Haku and I refuse your offer, what will you do to us?"
"Nothing." Naruto answered immediately without hesitation.
"I find that hard to believe." Zabuza scoffed.
"Hard to believe but it's the truth, Momochi Zabuza. Let me ask you then - would you still be my enemy IF Gato is no longer in play? And what will I gain in killing the both of you?"
That brought Zabuza short and he definitely knew the answer. "No, if Gato is out of the picture then we have no quarrels with each other. As for what you would gain, notoriety for one and the bounty of my head especially if you cash it in Kiri."
"Then I have no reason to take your lives on both counts. I don't need to be famous just by killing a missing nin. I can easily achieve notoriety through my own actions and inventions. As for the money, I have the Hokage backing up my inventions and experiments. My parents also left me quite a sum so I'm not worried. I am also earning an equivalent of C to S-rank missions with my inventions alone. So no, I don't see any benefits in taking your life." Naruto said simply. "However, good help are hard to find these days so I took the opportunity when it presented itself."
"What does this…job entail?" asked Haku, curious now over the whole thing since he couldn't feel an ounce of malicious intent from the blonde swordsman. That and he was getting tired of running around dodging Hunter shinobi after their heads, more specifically, his master's head.
"I am an inventor, or you can even dub me as a Shinobi Inventor if you wish." Naruto said with some amusement. "I am currently the head of my own department in Konoha ANBU, the first Research and Development Division with the goal to invent useful items for the betterment of the village. The reason why I want to hire the two of you is two-fold. One, I need a team that would help me test my inventions without exhausting Konoha's resources. As I said, good help is hard to find these days so I definitely need to form my own team for this venture. The second reason is that it is quite lonely working in a department with only one person to run it. So I guess the second reason is company."
"Let me get this straight, you want to hire the two of us as your personal lab rats?" Zabuza asked incredulously. He briefly wondered if this guy was a second Orochimaru.
"Lab rats? Kami no! I am not going to use you two as my experiments." Naruto said dryly, insulted by their assumptions. "Let me give you an example. Let's say I invented a method to properly test a few enhancements on a certain sword. Of course, Zabuza would be testing the sword for me. So that is your job, after I make sure that my inventions are safe to handle, you will be tasked to test it out for me, find problems that needs fixing, issues that needs correcting and all that rot."
Zabuza thought of the offer and couldn't deny the fact that it was good. If the Hokage doesn't accept their joining then they could easily slip out of the village and resume their trials to accomplish his goal. If the Hokage agrees then they won't be having problems with Hunters any time soon. He looked at Haku and saw his partner-slash-tool looking at him with excitement. He guessed that settled it.
"Fine, we accept your offer. But I have a request…or more specifically, a favor." Zabuza grunted out with Naruto looking at him in curiosity.
"Does this have something to do with the goal you mentioned earlier?"
"Yes. The reason why I'm a rogue shinobi is because I tried to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage. I think you already know that he started the Bloodline Purge in Kiri, correct?" Naruto nodded, telling Zabuza that he knew what he was talking about. "That is the reason why I tried to kill the bastard. I failed and was declared a missing nin. Haku here is, um, my partner. I picked him up after he killed his father using his bloodline when the idiot killed his mother. I trained him to the best of my abilities and he saved me a lot of times during our many missions. My goal is to support the underground movement who are planning to raise a revolution, oust and kill the Yondaime Mizukage, and bring Kiri back to the way it was before. I am taking a lot of missions because I am funding the movement until their goal is met." Zabuza explained.
Naruto nodded in understanding before he smiled slyly at his new…helper. "So let me guess, you are either asking me to forward your salary to the Kiri Rebels or you want me to devise a way to help you with your plan to get rid of the tyrant. Which one is it?"
Zabuza grunted. This boy, no, man was definitely out of his league. He read him like a book. "The latter. Since you are an inventor and have the Sandaime's ear, maybe you can help me find a way to help the rebels destroy the Mizukage once and for all."
Naruto thought for a bit before answering. "That's a toughie. You do know for a fact that Konoha can't directly help you in this regard, correct?" Zabuza grunted in affirmative making Naruto smirk. "However, I find your request…intriguing. Very well, I will help you with your request. However, this will be done my way. Agreed?"
"Do I have a choice?" Zabuza asked somewhat sarcastically causing Haku to flinch, expecting their new employer to lash out at them. He didn't except for Naruto to smile at the man though.
"Everyone has a choice, Zabuza. It is up to you if you make the right one or not." Naruto said sagely before getting out of his seat and made his way to the door. "Now, that's over and done with, I am going to pay Gato a little visit. However, a word of warning, no matter what happens; don't leave the safety of this room. I can't guarantee your safety if you're out there with what I'm going to do. Understood?"
Zabuza grunted in agreement.
"As you wish, Naruto-sama." said Haku with a bow causing Naruto to quirk an eyebrow at the sudden use of honorifics.
"You don't have to call me that, Haku." Naruto chided the teen who he knew was much older than him, possible two or three years if he surmised a guess.
Haku shook his head. "Since we are now under your employment, it is only normal for me to give you the respect you deserve, Naruto-sama." He said with a smile on his face.
Naruto shook his head before looking at a rather amused Zabuza. "He won't change his mind, will he?" he asked dryly.
"Nope. Better get used to it." Zabuza quipped before releasing a hearty chuckle. He didn't know why but his gut feeling was telling him that he made the right choice in accepting the inventor's offer.
"Ugh. Fine. Stay here and don't open the door." Naruto said with a sigh before teleporting out of the room to the shock of his underlings.
Naruto appeared under the shadows of the trees just outside the reach of the thugs' illumination. He mulled over ideas on how to finish Gato and his goons. The Destroyer in him wanted to wade in everyone's blood. The innocence in him wanted to just knock everyone out, take Gato and let him face justice under the hands of the people of Wave. The inventor in him, however, decided to test his abilities to see if he had what it takes to move to the next step of his training.
It was the inventor who won the vote.
Naruto grinned as he channeled every drop of magical energy in his body. This would be the first time he would try his hand at summoning a powerful entity that was rarely known during Sephiroth's time. Luckily for the blonde, his past counterpart was so curious about the myths and tracked it down until he found the materia that housed its spirit. As far as Naruto could tell, Sephiroth only used it once and once alone. Naruto was going to attempt to use it for the second time.
Charging up his magic, he started whispering the words of summoning.
"God of the Underworld, Ruler of Death, Judge of the Guilty and the Damned. I call upon the hated foe of Life, the end of all, the ultimate demise of all that breathes. I summon thee from the depths of Tartarus. Listen to my call, God of Death. Come forth and do my bidding. Hades!"
Naruto felt all the magic in his body gush out of his being towards the summoning circle that appeared in front of him. Slowly, the circle rotated until it picked up speed, glowing in eerie light, as a being of power and death materialized within its confines. Naruto couldn't help but feel awed at the power of the summon in front of him, a power that none of this world now possessed except him.
"Who dares call upon the God of Death? Who dares summon me, the feared Hades!"
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, reincarnation of Sephiroth, summon thee, Hades, God of the Underworld." intoned Naruto in a powerful voice. Despite emptying his magical reserves, he didn't have any plans of showing weakness to any of his summons.
Hades regally lowered its gaze to look at him, the fire in the summon's eyes seemed to bore into his soul, judging him, measuring him. It lasted for a few second but for Naruto, it seemed like hours.
"What is your command, summoner?"
Naruto pointed at the mansion in front of him. "I summoned thee, Hades, to reap the souls of these evildoers. Leave none alive except for two that is my ally."
"So you wish it, summoner, so it will be done." Hades boomed as he bowed to Naruto who watched with morbid fascination as the God of Death released an inky black smoke from his mouth, smoke that traversed the grounds of Gato's headquarters, sapping the life of anything it touches. One by one, Gato's men simply fell to the ground followed by the rest. Shouts were heard as the men noticed their comrades die before their very eyes before following the same path themselves. Naruto watched the smoke enter the mansion before hearing screams and shouts of fear coming from the people inside. A few minutes later, the shouting ceased as silence reigned. Hades bowed to him once more before sinking into the summoning seal, disappearing completely into its depth before the circle followed.
Naruto watched the ground for a few minutes before sighing in relief. "That was interesting." He said tiredly before noticing the emptiness that was his magical core. It was slowly replenishing itself but a bit too slow for his taste. "Definitely need more training if I want to bring out the bigger guns." He mused before shaking his head. "Who am I kidding? Hades IS one of the bigger guns, idiot."
After Hades ended Gato's tyranny over Wave Country, Naruto went back to Zabuza's quarters to inform the two that it was now safe to come out. He didn't tell them how he destroyed Gato but he didn't need to since they heard the desperate screams of the thugs from their location. Deciding that Zabuza was needed to clean out Gato's base, he healed the man much to his and Haku's amazement before giving them their respective tasks. Sure, he could have made dozens of clones to help him get this done but he reasoned that he wants to see how useful these two were and if they were trustworthy enough to give them the benefit of a doubt.
Naruto respected their skills and abilities but only time can really tell if he trusted them enough for important things.
Zabuza was tasked to search Gato's mansion for documents regarding the man's activities in the Elemental Nations. The man grumbled when he heard that order since he was a fighter, not a desk junkie. Naruto ignored him his rant as he sorted through the fat businessman's paperwork.
Haku was tasked to sort out Gato's financial empire since the man kept a detailed record of his monetary dealings, a job that Haku eagerly complied since the teen had a knack for anything that involved finance. He was just weird that way. His second task was to find transaction records concerning the people of Wave since they needed to return the money to the townsfolk before going back to Konoha.
Naruto took the liberty of getting rid of the bodies. Since his magical energy wasn't up to snuff for high-tier spells, he resorted to using his chakra-based jutsus since he had plenty of it in stick. He spammed fireballs that burned the dead bodies to ash. He enjoyed it but the smell of burning flesh turned his stomach. When that was done, he called up Kakashi on the communicator to inform him that Gato was no longer a problem. He didn't answer his surrogate brother's question as to how he achieved such a feat but merely hinted that it was a bloodline thing. It was quite obvious that Kakashi didn't believe him.
Naruto was sipping a glass of wine pilfered from Gato's stock underneath the mansion while thinking of a certain projects he wanted to start. The man may have had his faults but he had good taste. Zabuza was drooling when he found a hidden room that showcased the businessman's wine collection. It was safe to say that the Demon of the Mist was going to enjoy every single one of them. He was kind enough to give Naruto a few bottles out of the goodness of his heart much to the blonde's amusement.
The blonde was specifically thinking of Project Black Leaf as he enjoyed the silence of Gato's sitting room.
Naruto smirked when he remembered how he and a dozen of his clones talked about Sephiroth's memories of Shinra's many organizations. They were trying to brainstorm over some of Shinra's technologies and how they could replicate it using the limited tech they have at their disposal. He didn't know how but the brainstorming session over technology shifted to the creation of an organization under R&D that was similar to the Turks. If ANBU was the shadow of Konoha, the one Naruto and his clones had in mind was going to be the public face.
After hours of brainstorming, ideas being passed back and forth, a lot of theories, and some food provided by helpful clones, they were able to come up with a set of guidelines for the creation of such organization that would be independent from Konoha's Military System but under the command and jurisdiction of the Hokage.
Finishing the wine in one smooth gulp, sighing as the fiery brew ran down his throat and setting his stomach on fire that pushed back the cold night air, Naruto pulled out his com-panel and placed a spare earpiece on the slot. He turned it on and waited for the static to die down.
"You awake, jiji?" Naruto started and smirked when he heard the aged leader coughing to get his bearings under control.
"You're going to be the death of me, Naruto-kun. Could you please add a bell or something to this communication system of your so I don't get startled every time you call?" the Hokage whined which made Naruto snicker.
"Will do, jiji."
"Thanks. This isn't a social call I take it?"
"Not really." Naruto admitted. "Did you let a clone install a computer in your office?"
"That I did and I'm really happy that you offered, Naruto-kun. It made my job a lot easier. I can easily sort through mission reports without having to stamp papers all day. Well, I just read while the clones stamped but I digress. Is something the matter?"
"I'm going to send something to you in a minute. It should pop out on your screen." said Naruto before putting the panel on mute while channeling a bit of chakra to his private line with his AI. "Kuroto, could you please send the specifics of Project Black Leaf to the Hokage's computer and make sure that its open since I don't think jiji knows how to interface with my private server as of yet."
"As you wish, Naruto-sama."said Kuroto through the ear piece.
"Thank you." said Naruto before removing the mute form his conversation with the Hokage. "Did you see a window with the label Black Leaf on it, jiji?"
"I am reading it right now, Naruto-kun. This is a very ambitious project."
"Uh huh. Scroll down a bit. You'll see the list of members I have in mind."
"You do know for a fact that most of the people in this group are rogue shinobi, right?"
"I know. I worked with Kuroto for three days to go through the Bingo Book. I have a criteria regarding the members I plan to induct into the organization and, as you can see, their crimes are minor enough to warrant them a second chance. This way, I don't have to train the members since they are already trained. All they need is a bit of refinement and they're good to go."
"I'm sorry to say that I can't approve of this project, Naruto-kun. The risk of betrayal is quite high and with the weapons you plan to equip them with…it would be a disaster to the village."
"I already thought of that, jiji. Scroll down a bit, you'll see how I'll make sure that betrayal won't be a problem." Naruto listened as the line went dead for a bit before the Hokage's shocked voice blared out of the speaker.
"This is ingenious, Naruto-kun. Is the modification already finished?"
"Not yet, old man. I still have to tweak it a bit to make sure that they can't find a loophole in the matrix. There aren't that many Seal Experts or Seal Masters in the Elemental Nation but I am pretty sure that there are only two people who are able to work it out, me and Jiraiya of the Sannin."
"I agree. You really made this old man proud, Naruto. You definitely surpassed your parents with your inventions and innovations."
"Thanks, Hokage-jiji. So what do you think? Will Project Black Leaf become a reality?"
"I will have to discuss this with my advisors but I don't think they would go against it. I'm sure Danzo would find this appealing."
Naruto scoffed. "As if we care what that old warmonger thinks. If he is against this idea then we can blackmail him to agreeing."
"I still don't know how you were able to find out about his ROOT being active."
"The first time I met Danzo when you visited my laboratory, I sensed something fishy about the man. I had a few of my clones under invisibility spell watch him. He has quite a few underground bunkers all over Konoha and they are filled to the brim with his 'bodyguards'."
"I see, I think Danzo and I will have a long talk about this. I already ordered him to disband his ROOT Program but it seems that my dear old friend is up to his old tricks again."
"Leave it be for now, jiji. I already have a complete inventory of all his 'hidden' locations and we can strike anytime we want. For now, let's keep this between ourselves since we can use it to our advantage later if he decides to muddy up the works."
"Fine. I'll leave that to you. I'll call the Shinobi Council and my advisors in the morning to discuss this organization of yours. I can already see a lot of benefits this will give to Konoha as a whole. Why didn't you consider inducting our own elites into the group? That would save you the trouble of tracking your potential members down."
"That would reduce Konoha's resources, jiji. Let's face it, most of the Jounins and Elites you have in the ranks are already famous. If I induct them into the group then it's like the organization is riding on their coattails. No, I want this organization to start at the bottom and work our way to the top, earning notoriety with our abilities and mission rosters."
"Hm, definitely an ambitious plan. Alright, I'll discuss this with the council and advisors. How long do you need to get this group up and running? I saw the list of weapons you plan to equip them with and I can safely say that they are definitely unique and powerful. Do you already have them on hand?"
"Not yet. Most of those are still in the woodwork while some are still in paper. I will devote all my time in this project when I return to Konoha tomorrow."
"Ah, your mission is a success I take it?"
"Gato is out of commission, jiji, and we are currently ransacking his mansion for anything important we can use for the village. Oh yeah, before I forget, I already have Zabuza and his apprentice under employment. The two of them will be the first to join the organization if it is approved."
"You definitely work fast, Naruto-kun. I take it you want me to induct them into the ranks?"
"Yes, but only on a temporary basis, jiji. In fact, they won't be visible for quite a while since I plan for them to help me test some of my inventions."
"You're going to use the seals on them?"
"When completed, yes I will."
"Hm, if that is the case then we need to be covert about this project. Here's what you're going to do, I want you to move all your inventions concerning Project Black Leaf to your lab underneath your apartment. ANBU HQ is quite open to those who know of its location and I want complete secrecy on your inventions concerning this operation. Leave the public experiments visible to avoid suspicions. Keep Zabuza and his apprentice on a tight leash in your apartment. Tell them not to show themselves to the public since I don't want Kiri on our throats right now even though they don't have the manpower to declare war with anyone."
"You got it, old man. I'll rendezvous with Kakashi in the morning before leaving for Konoha. We will enter the village at night under secrecy."
"Do that. Is there anything else I need to know about?"
"Not at the moment."
"Alright. Over and out."
Naruto grinned as he stowed his com-system back into his pocket dimension. He was happy. Project Black Leaf was moving in the right direction. He just hoped that the council and advisors won't be giving him a headache when they learn of his plans.
It has been two months since his mission to Wave Country and Naruto has been very busy since returning to the village. Zabuza and Haku were now officially his employees and were living with him in his newly-renovated apartment complex. He had a meeting with the Hokage regarding his many projects upon stepping into the leader's office, after debriefing of course.
Gato's documents were forwarded to a team of ANBU to track it down to possibly consolidate it into Konoha while working on the side of closing some of the more shady business the dead business had in his portfolio. All in all, Konoha's coffers would enjoy a major boost and the Hokage promised Naruto getting a chunk of it for his department's budget. The blonde swordsman couldn't be happier with the result. After all, who was stupid enough to say no to money?
Two days after his return, he was immediately called to a meeting with the Hokage, Koharu, Homura, and Danzo regarding Project Black Leaf. The project was accepted since Naruto had Kuroto compile ALL the details about it, pointing the advantages to the village's overall performance and popularity. However, he was given a condition that he needed to finish the weapons he planned for the members and tested to completion before they would start recruiting. Danzo adamantly refused the inclusion of rogue shinobi into the ranks but a whispered threat from the Sandaime regarding his 'bodyguards' immediately quieted the man. Naruto knew that there would be a confrontation between himself and Danzo in the future; he was going to make sure that he came out on top if that ever happened.
Speaking of projects, Naruto's worked with the ones requested by the Sandaime alongside his experiments and innovations for Project Black Leaf.
For the Sandaime, Naruto was tasked to replace the outdated power plant in Konoha with something much better. The reason for this project was the large population in the village that was more than the small power plant could handle. Naruto's solution was quite simple. He riddled the walls around Konoha with chakra absorption seals and coupled it with interconnecting relay seals to divert it to a central storage battery deep inside ANBU HQ. There, a large converter seal was created to slowly filter the converted electricity into the power plants sub-stations before released to the various houses and buildings in the village. From an outsider's point of view, Konoha was dependent on their power plant. But for a chosen few, the village was now powered by the ambient chakra. It was a saboteur's nightmare since that was one avenue they couldn't use to destroy Konoha from within.
Naruto made a special point to tell the Hokage that he wanted a cut on the project since it would help fund his future experiments with the aged leader giving in due to the excess money it would generate since they won't be maintaining the power plants operation due to it no longer producing electricity.
Another project the Sandaime commissioned Naruto to undertake was the improvement of Konoha's defense grid, more specifically, the barrier that surrounds the village to monitor people entering and leaving the village. From what Naruto learned, the barrier system surrounds Konoha in a sphere, covering both the air and ground. Its size was dependent on the large wall protecting the village since the seals to maintain the invisible construct were there, all of it connected to a team of specialist in ANBU HQ to monitor and maintain it.
Naruto's task was to find a way to make the barrier solid enough that it could withstand an assault. In a way, the Sandaime wanted a way to immediately turn Konoha into a stronghold just in case. The barrier would keep invaders from entering the village and anyone from leaving. Naruto assigned quite a lot of clones for that project since he was also quite excited on the research potential alone considering the date he would get from it would help other experiments and projects currently in the backburner.
Currently, Naruto was enjoying a cup of coffee while facing a large screen. In the middle of the screen was a visual of Mitarashi Anko's Cursed Seal given to her by Orochimaru, her sensei before he went rogue. This was the latest project the Sandaime gave to him – the safe removal of the Cursed Seal and to really find out how the cursed hickey works. He immediately jumped on the project since it was related to how Mako affected a SOLDIER from Anko's description of its effects. Despite being a fuuinjutsu construct, or a juuinjutsu to be exact, Jiraiya wasn't able to make any headway on its removal. However, Naruto had no problems thanks to the many seals he acquired from Uzu. One of them being a Diagnostic Seal that could scan and analyze any seal it was placed on, a seal that he used in many of his experiments to break down known seals and studying how they worked, allowing him to learn the intricacies instead of the finished product.
The first scan yielded a fount of information about the Cursed Seal of Heaven that gave Naruto a grudging respect for Orochimaru's twisted mind.
For starters, the Cursed Seal of Heaven was a combination of chemical-based enhancement guided by a sealing script that bound it to the person's chakra pathways. The enzymes, which Naruto didn't know how it came to be, amplifies a person's chakra potency allowing for a boost in power. However, the enzyme has a psychological side-effect that brings out a person's negative personality, turning a person into a berserker with a chemically-induced sugar-high.
The sealing script surrounding the enzyme has two primary functions.
The first function was giving Orochimaru some hold over that person using the juuinjutsu as a medium. He could do anything with that person if truth be told, like putting them under torturous pain, shutting down their motor functions, or even a form of mind control if he had enough time to completely dominate the person using his chakra.
The second function of the seal was to slowly destroy a person's willpower using their primal urges, or in this case, their lust for battle. Naruto was confused over the second function since it would end up destroying a valuable pawn.
However, scanning the seal structure itself revealed the purpose of the second function. It would seem that Orochimaru found a way to inject a piece of his soul into the matrix, thus giving light to the second use of the Cursed Seal of Heaven. It would slowly eat away the person's mental defense that would make it easier for Orochimaru to possess that person's body. The soul inside the seal would slowly open up a connection between the body and Orochimaru, making it easy for the Snake Sannin to possess them.
He couldn't help compare Orochimaru to Shinra's Professor Hojo – demented, diabolical geniuses the both of them.
This was why Naruto was currently studying the seal matrix surrounding the enzymes in hopes of removing it, or as a last resort, contain it so effectively that it would turn it into a non-functional tattoo.
"Removing the Cursed Seal of Heaven on subject Mitarashi Anko would theoretically require two procedures. The first requires breaking down the enzymes and separating it from the subject's chakra pathways. The second procedure would involve destroying the seal matrix to fully release a person from its effects. However, the scan results show that the seal matrix acts as an anchor, allowing it to attach to the subject's chakra coil, making it almost impossible to remove, and Orochimaru's soul fragment reinforced that anchor with a great deal of durability." Naruto mused while Kuroto recorded it for future reference. "First theory for removal involved the use of a high-powered Dispel but dismissed the idea since the Cursed Seal of Heaven is not an energy construct. It's more like a drug with a brain."
Naruto punched a few more buttons on his keyboard to bring up another window, this one containing a list of Seal Arrays his clones encoded after reading the various Uzumaki scrolls on the subject.
"If removal is impossible, the next logical solution would be to contain the seal that it won't harm the subject. At the moment, the subject's Cursed Seal is bound into a state of inactivity using the Evil Sealing Method, a seal matrix that forces down cursed seal into a dormant state through the subject's willpower. In other words, if the subject's mind wavers then it is a high possibility that the Cursed Seal will activate." he narrated as he took notes of some sealing techniques known only by his family. "There are three Uzumaki sealing arrays that could easily contain the Cursed Seal more effectively than the Evil Sealing Method. One is the Five Barrier Evil Sealing Method, the Eight Point Chakra Lock, and the Shinso Seal Lock."
The Five Barrier Evil Sealing Method was an Uzumaki Sealing Array that was commonly used on shinobi that suffers an effect caused by a technique. For example, if a person was subjected to a form of 'curse' then the Five Barrier Evil Sealing Method would put a containment barrier around the 'curse' to effectively cut it off from the victim. It doesn't remove the 'curse' but merely contain it in a separate dimension. For Naruto, this was the most effective containment seal for Anko's Cursed Seal.
The Eight Point Chakra Lock was mostly used on prisoners to permanent seal away their chakra. Naruto immediately disregarded this since this would destroy Anko's shinobi career. The seal wouldn't target the Cursed Seal's corrosive chakra; it would seal away ALL chakra, effectively turning said person into a civilian. He knew that this avenue was not advisable.
The last was a Shinso Seal Lock, a variation of the Eight Point Chakra Lock but can be turned off. This was mostly used as a way for a shinobi to pass off as a civilian during missions since Uzumakis had such huge chakra reserves that it was almost impossible to suppress them. The only drawback to this method was the five-minute delay it would take to deactivate. For a shinobi, five minutes was already too long to safely consider.
Naruto sighed as he ended the recording and saving all the notes he compiled on the Cursed Seal of Heaven. At this point in time, there was no way to safely remove the seal or devise a more effective containment array other than the Evil Sealing Method. He made a special point to assign a few clones to devote on the project and maybe have Anko brought in for further examination on the Cursed Seal, like getting a sample of the enzymes that makes it tick.
Naruto turned on his chair to see a large monitor showing Zabuza and Haku training underneath his apartment complex. One of his instructions to his 'employees' was to make sure that they kept their strength at their peak so they shouldn't slack off in their training. The two definitely loved the idea since they had no intentions of weakening themselves anytime soon. Naruto pressed a few buttons that opened up two smaller windows on the screen that showed real-time information on duo's overall physical and mental health. He finally finished the seal matrix he would apply on the members of Project Black Leaf and he couldn't help but be happy that he found the solution on the many Uzumaki scrolls he acquired.
The now-dubbed Black Leaf Seal was a combination of different seals rolled into one with a twist hidden under the guise of three Konoha symbol forming a triquetra with the Uzumaki Symbol in the background.
For starters, it incorporates a diagnostic/scanning seal that would allow Naruto to assess their physical and mental health, like what he was doing now. It also has a locator seal connected to his GPS system managed by Kuroto so he would know where the members were located. The matrix also incorporates his hybrid storage seal giving them the ability to store unlimited number of items without having to bring scrolls all the time.
Finally, the last and hidden capability of the seal was a mind-wipe array. If a member betrays the organization then the mind-wipe seal would activate, erasing all memories that person had after the seal was applied that pertained to Project Black Leaf. Naruto was opposed to the idea of killing that person so the next best thing was to erase all of the person's memories of the organization.
Naruto had a variation of this seal for the ANBU which they now use since it was completed. It was superimposed on their ANBU tattoos so he wouldn't have to redo everything all over again. This way, the Hokage could track his shadow units. It was modified since the array didn't include the hybrid storage seals since that were for Naruto and Project Black Leaf only. He did, however, gave the Hokage one grafted on the back of his palm. Tenten also had one too for her many weapons.
He was brought out of his thoughts as he watched Zabuza evade Haku's ice senbons when Kuroto spoke through the speakers.
"The Hokage just entered the building, Naruto-sama, and currently on his way to your laboratory."
"Hm? Jiji's here? Wonder what he wants." Naruto asked himself as he turned off the screen and turning on his chair to face the door that just opened to reveal the Sandaime puffing on his pipe. "Good evening, jiji."
"Good evening, Naruto-kun. Doing well, I hope?" said the aged leader who took a seat in front of his surrogate grandson, noting the high-tech machinery one side including multiple monitors that served as his surrogate grandson's workstation. Orochimaru would be drooling with envy if he saw Naruto's inventions.
"No problem so far though Orochi-teme's juuinjutsu is giving me a headache." Naruto admitted with a wry grin on his face.
The Sandaime nodded since he understood what Naruto meant. His former student's work was definitely mind-boggling. He was a genius, a demented genius but a genius all the same.
"What have you found so far?" he asked his surrogate grandson who now became one of the most respected shinobi in the village thanks to his many contributions to the military in terms of inventions and weapons. The modified senbon launcher that could store an unlimited number of senbons and launch them at enemies at faster than the usual speed was definitely a welcome one and fast becoming of the ANBUs favorite weapon. Last time he heard, Anko was showing it off to her fellow Jounins since Naruto gave her one as payment for letting him study the cursed hickey as he dubbed it on her neck. Those who saw its capabilities were practically combing the village where to get one since Anko was tightlipped as to where or who she got it from.
Naruto took a folder out from his drawer containing the printed results of Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven.
"See for yourself." he said before sliding the folder towards the leader who immediately took it and read its contents.
Sarutobi frowned since the results opened up certain memories involving his former student and his inhumane experiments.
"This is worrisome. It would seem that my student found a way to complete his life project or a perversion of it if what this document reveals." he murmured with a hate and regret in his voice.
"Life project?" Naruto asked curiously.
The Hokage sighed. "What do you know of my former student, Naruto-kun?" he asked the blonde inventor.
Naruto shrugged. "Aside from what the Bingo Book had on him and from the stories I got from Anko, not much to be honest."
"I see. Let me tell you then. You see, Naruto-kun, the reason why Orochimaru went into human experiments and his growing obsession of it was because of his parents. One day, when Orochimaru and I visited his parent's grave, we found a white snake on their tombstone. I told him of a myth that a white snake symbolized immortality. I don't know what happened but that sparked his interest in immortality, thus his life project in finding a way to achieve it. From the results of your studies on the Cursed Seal of Heaven, we can safely deduce that the version of immortality Orochimaru developed is to possess bodies, more specifically, those he infected with his Cursed Seal."
"Body swapping as a form of immortality?" Naruto asked with some disgust. "That has to be the most cumbersome way to gain it. If I was in his shoes, I would look into preserving my life or achieving a form of heightened regenerative factor to live forever not that I'm contemplating it of course. Really, immortality is overrated. I have no intentions of living forever since that would be very boring."
"I'm glad that you thought that way, my boy." Sarutobi said with pride shining in his eyes. "That is the difference between you and my former student. Despite the fact that both of you became inventors, successful ones I might add, you are more focused in helping than furthering your own goals."
Naruto blushed at the praise, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment making the old man chuckle. "Well, I do have my own goals, jiji, but I share my inventions to the world in hopes of making Konoha a better place to live. Sure I make weapons but I don't do them for war, I do them to ensure that our shinobi come back in one piece."
"That you do, my boy, that you do." said the old man with a chuckle. "Anyway, the reason I came here was to inform you of the Chuunin Exams in four months."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Chuunin Exams? You want me to take it, I presume?"
Sarutobi nodded. "Yes. There are two ways for you to achieve the rank of Chuunin. One is to take the exam with a team and the other is to be promoted on the field. Field Promotion is mostly reserved in times of war or a crisis, something that we thankfully don't have. Because of this, the only way for you to advance in rank is to take the Chuunin Exams."
"Interesting." Naruto said as he rubbed his chin, noting some stubble. He made a mental note to buy a razor. "Earning Chuunin is definitely something to look forward to. However, I don't think I can join. Correct me if I'm wrong but the Chuunin Exams require a full team to participate and require a Jounin sensei to recommend said team. Both I don't have both at the moment." he pointed to the Hokage who smirked.
"Technically, you HAVE a Jounin sensei. Since I am the one who gave you your position as head of the ANBU Research and Development Division, I am technically your Jounin sensei."
"Nice loophole." Naruto said with some admiration. "And the team?"
"Well, you already have one. All we need is another which I have an idea as to who it would be but it would need a bit of your help to make it happen."
"Oh? Who are they?" Naruto asked with intense curiosity.
"The first is Haku. Since he is technically a Genin being without a village to give him a rank, I can easily sign him up as one. The second is an ongoing problem that we handled badly a long time ago. Tell me; are you familiar with the Kurama Clan?"
"Kurama Clan? Isn't that the clan well-known for creating illusions that affects reality?" Naruto asked after remembering a reference on the clan from the many history books he read during his free time and studies.
"Correct, roughly six years ago a few months after the Uchiha Massacre, the Kurama Clan gave birth to a girl named Kurama Yakumo. She was a prodigy in genjutsu and the Kurama clan's bloodline limit. However, something happened that forced her evil personality to resurface, forcing me seal her powers for the good of the village. Now, considering that you're the current Sealing Expert in the village, I was hoping that you have a method to completely seal this evil personality of hers so that she could safely use her bloodline limit without problems."
"Really? Now that is an interesting turn of events." Naruto said with a smirk. "Tell me, old man; is this…evil personality along the line of a curse?"
The Sandaime thought for a bit before answering. "Hm, since you put it that way, I think you can say that it is a curse since those who are quite gifted with their bloodline tend to have an evil personality coupled with their weak physical health closing the avenue of them ever becoming shinobi."
"Ah, if that is the case then I think I have the method to help her." said Naruto as he punched a few keys on his keyboard before turning the monitor facing the Hokage who read the information displayed there. A smirk crossed his face before turning into a full blown laugh.
"You are definitely one of a kind, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said with a huge grin mimicked by the blonde. "You solved the problem in a minute that took Jiraiya countless of months without even finding a solution. You are definitely a prodigy in the Sealing Arts."
"Oh I wouldn't say that." Naruto said with a smirk, not bothering to tell his surrogate grandfather that he didn't came up with the seal to fix Yakumo's problem. Well, technically, he did since the seal was an Uzumaki Clan creation.
"When can you apply the seal on Yakumo and can you find a way to counter her disability?" the Sandaime asked with some enthusiasm.
Naruto frowned. "I just need to practice with the array a bit until I can do it in my sleep, other than that, we can proceed with the sealing anytime once I mastered it. Regarding her disability, I think a few of my spells can help her out but I don't know if it will work."
The Hokage shrugged. "Well, there's no harm in trying. I'll send her your way in a week if that is alright with you."
Naruto nodded. "A week is fine, jiji. I am a bit busy this week since I am finalizing some details on Crucifix before I can test it."
"Crucifix? You completed it?" the aged leader exclaimed, shocked. He read the details on the heavy-duty weapon Naruto was working on and he couldn't help but be scared and amazed at what the boy was able to cook up on his own. As far as he knew, the project was still far away from being completed. The boy was definitely a miracle worker.
"Not completed but I'm getting there. I just need to solve the upgrade on the chakra transformation and storage matrices then I'm good to go. I'll be done in a few days since my clones are working on it right now." Naruto said with a grin, enjoying the look on the man's face.
"Good. Please keep me informed on that project. I want to see it in action if you're going to test it."
"Will do, jiji." Naruto agreed before the two of them talked over random things for a few hours before heading to bed.