Kouske was right now bowing in front of Fukasaku and his wife.
Kouske: PLEASE TRAIN ME.
Fukasaku: I do not know how you came here child, but you are too young. I suggest you go back and return once you are older.
Kouske: This is mount myoboku. I have taken a dip in total of 712 bodies of water to come here. I want to be a sage.
Fukasaku: 712?
Shima: Ara, this child is really serious. Why don't you train him?
Fukasaku: This child is not serious, I would use the word mad. Who would make such a plan just to come here? This is crazy. Also, Even if I want to train you, to be a sage you need to have a huge amount of chakra. Right now, you are not even close.
Kouske: I know, But that does not mean that I cannot start my training now. Also, you can teach me more than just sage jutsu.
Fukasaku: Hmm, Fine. But first you must pass my test.
Kouske: OH! What test is it? Do I have to fight a toad? Show you my ninjutsu?
Fukasaku: No, You have to babysit.
Kouske: Babysit? What do you mean?
Fukasaku: Follow me.
Fukasaku took Kouske to a lake. In the lake, a couple of small toads, as small as puppies, were fighting and bickering.
Fukasaku: See those new kids, babysit them for 2 months and make sure they don't cause problems or fight. I will then train you.
Kouske: WHAT? But I am a child myself. I haven't babysit human children and you want me to babysit toads? I know nothing about babysitting.
Fukasaku: You see, those children are full of potential and are this land's future. But they are mischievous and they also fight with each other a lot. Their parents do not have the time to babysit as well. So babysit them for 2 months and I will train you.
Kouske: Oh, damn it. Fine. But you better train me after 2 months then.
...
Meanwhile, in a territory far away in the land of fire. In a diamyo's castle, a marriage just happened. The guests were having their feast but two figures were having a meeting separately. They were Aoi Shiru, the heir of the Shiru clan, and a diamyo named Shigetomo. Aoi is 16 years old and Shigetomo was a new diamyo after his father just died a month ago, he is 22 this year.
Shigetomo: Now that you have married my younger sister, we are family. I now need your full support in conquering some more territories. After all, you have to rebuild your clan right? You and your clansmen have helped me greatly in defeating my closest neighbour. With his territory now in my control and management, I foresee that in a few months, we would double my income. I will start investing in both territories and make them flourish. With more income, we can hire more shinobi and you will be the commander of all of them. Good thing you came to me after your clan's demise. Now we can both grow and conquer together.
Just before the end of the Shiru clan, the clan head and elders gathered as many of their young generation as they could and allowed them to escape through a secret passage. They then destroyed it so that no one could chase them. Aoi as being the eldest son was made the new clan head and given the responsibility to revive the clan. A total of 50 children between the ages of 8-19 were able to escape and survive. Aoi decided to go to the furthest territory in the land of fire that borders the sea. The closest to this territory is the land of whirlpool island, which will become the land of waves after the Uzumaki clan's demise. In which, in the far future, Naruto will experience his first shinobi battle. The diamyo of this land was weak and because he was away from the centre of the land of fire, he has avoided battles till now. His only enemy was his neighbour and Aoi helped the son of the diamyo into usurping his father's power and defeating his closest neighbour so that he could settle in this territory with his surviving clansmen and rebuild. He also married his younger sister so that their alliance is permanent.
Aoi: Do not worry Diamyo-sama, I will help you. No, I and my clan will help you. We will make you the only diamyo in the land of fire. You have avoided battles now because the battles are concentrated in the territories near the centre. But I foresee that In a few years, even you have to take part in those. You would have to clash with other diamyo to survive. By defeating your nearest neighbour, you have just decreased your enemy by one.
Shigetomo: How about attacking my other neighbour and taking his territory as well?
Aoi: I can do that but do you have the manpower to take control of this territory?
Shigetomo: I heard that he is hiring shinobi after I had my recent victory. You take him down before he hires his new shinobis or even if he is under the protection of some shinobis right now. After you have dealt with him, I will send some people to take control of the governance. His territory has mines as well so it will be better for us to take his territory before some other diamyo does it.
Aoi: I will go back and have some of my people get ready to leave. They will leave tomorrow morning.
Shigetomo: Good, This cup of saki to us and our victory.
Aoi: To us and our victory.
Both took a cup of saki, cheered for each other and drank it.
...
[Later that night in the diamyo's castle]
Aoi: Aoto, I will leave this mission in your hands. Take 5 more with you and get it done.
Aoto is the second child of the previous clan head and younger brother of Aoi.
Aoto: I will brother. Do not worry.
Aoi: What about that bastard Kouske? Any news? It has been 9 months.
Aoto: I am sorry brother but no news of him. It is like he just vanished.
Aoi: I knew father was supporting him too much. He alone caused the demise of our clan. He is also responsible for our father and others' deaths. We will take our revenge against all of those clans and him as well. Give my orders to everyone, if they spot him anywhere, they are to kill him. No need to capture him, just kill him and bring back his head. Lastly, how is everyone's training going?
Aoto: Everyone is improving quite fast. I mean after what we have gone through, if we do not want to lose more clansmen, all of us have to get stronger. Some are even experimenting and trying to develop new Jutsus as well. Particularly Naohiro and Airi, both of them are training the hardest. They were in that bastard Kouske's batch and they have the greatest grudge against him.
Aoi: Good, I can't wait to kill Kouske with my own hands.
...
[Meanwhile, In Hikari's castle]
Akira: Hikari-sama, congratulations. You were able to take down another diamyo. Now you have already defeated 4.
Hikari: We can not get happy just because we have the advantage Akira. I thought you already learned that lesson due to that kid.
Akira: I am sorry, I just thought it is a moment to celebrate.
Hikari: Have they got any news about him?
Akira: No, Nobody knows where he is.
Hikari: He is a beast Akira, a crafty beast. He is a beast who has sharp fangs but hides them until his opponent lets his guard down. If I know him well, then he is probably sharpening his fangs further. I actually thought he would infiltrate and assassinate me in the 3 months after we destroyed his clan. I even made thorough preparations, but he did not come. Right now, He is probably doing some hard training, developing new ways to kill me. It is not gonna be easy, whenever he decides to attack.
Kouske right now is babysitting. He is trying to stop the toad babies from fighting.
Akira: I think Hikari-sama, you have to focus on your next opponent. He is nothing like your previous ones.
Hikari: I know. That old man is in his 50s but he wants to wage war.
Akira: They say diamyo Nagamasa is really wise and smart. Also, the three clans of Nara, Yamanaka and Choji under him work well together to get out of tough situations. Like you, he has defeated many of his neighbours. He has already defeated 5 and now controls their territories. The clans under us informed me that he is hiring more shinobis.
Hikari: We can rest easy, winter is here so there will be less fighting during it. Also, the constant wars are costing me too much. I think it is time to stop picking new fights and stabilise my current territories. That old man also just won a difficult battle against his opponent. I am sure even he does not want more war and he will probably focus on his territories as well. We can rest assured, no major battle will break out in 3-5 years but minor battles will happen constantly. We will decrease the number of shinobis for a while and save some money there.
Akira: Are you sure? if we decrease the shinobis we have hired, it won't be good if something happens.
Hikari: I am sure. Due to winter, food becomes more important. Also, constant wars just destroy the economy. That old man knows this better than me. As long as I do not launch an attack, I know even he would decrease the shinobi he employs and save some money.
...
[Meanwhile in Nagamasa's castle]
Diamyo Nagamasa: This battle was a hard one. Thankfully, we won with minimal casualties due to your planning Nara clan-head.
Nara clan-head: No, you are also quite the strategist yourself diamyo-sama. You fed the opponent wrong information about our numbers and you had your opponent buy poisoned supply through a third party merchant. That plan really worked wonders for us.
Diamyo Nagamasa: HAHAHAHA, I can be quite scheming can't I. Now then, that girl Hikari has been amassing too much power. She also employs 6 clans. Does she not care about how much money she spends on war?
Nara clan head: I do not know about that but war against her will not be easy.
Diamyo Nagamasa: Her grandfather is also a diamyo. That guy is troublesome as well. Thank God, his territory is the one that borders the Land of the Grass. If he was close to the centre then things would be much more troublesome. Also, I am thinking of decreasing the number of shinobis for the next 3 years. I have nothing against you and other clans, but I need to stabilise my current territories.
Nara clan head: I understand, please do not worry. I will tell the other clan heads.
...
[Meanwhile, in the training grounds of diamyo Shigetomo]
Two shinobis, a boy and a girl were sparring. Several others were watching them as they fought.
The boy was using a chained sickle while the girl was using a sword. Both were clashing really fast and the clashes of their weapons produced sparks. The boy created a distance and spun the sickle in his right hand and then sent it flying towards his opponent. The girl parried and redirected the sickle to her right. The boy then spun the weight attached to the chain in his left hand and threw that for the attack, at the same time he positioned his right arm so that the redirected sickle, which has now extended with the chain, will spin around him in anti-clockwise and he would then attack with it again once it completes a circle meanwhile his opponent dodges or maybe do something about the weight he just used to attack. The girl used her sword to wrap the chain attached to the weight and decided to pull with her right hand. Her left hand only had index and middle finger extended, it moved towards her chest and she executed a jutsu.
[Water-Style: Water Bullet Jutsu]
She spewed a 1 meter diameter water bullet from her mouth.
The boy saw this and executed his jutsu as well.
[Fire-Style: Flame Wrapping Sickle Dance Jutsu]
The sickle that already did 3 quarters of the anti-clockwise rotation, caught fire. The boy further manipulated it so that it will fall from the 60 degree angle towards the ground and will cut anything in its path.
Boom
The flame sickle and the water bullet connected and the flames on the sickle exploded. It also cuts the remaining water. There was fog where both jutsus connected and the sickle hit the ground and was lodged in it. The girl used this opportunity and came out of the fog and was running on the chain that was attached to the sickle. The boy made the weight and the chain attached to it burn and swung it towards the girl from his left to right, as if the chain would slash the girl. The girl, who was already in the range of the weight and its chain, stabbed her sword on the ground and jumped to stand on its handle. As the sword was lodged with a 90 degree angle to the ground, the chain with the weight connected with the sword and wrapped around it. The chain was then immobilised due to this. The girl made a cross hand sign and the boy let go of the chain so that he could take out his kunai to attack. The girl with her cross hand sign completed, jumped from the handle of her sword, which she was using as a footing. Throught the jump, she was moving towards the boy. When the girl was only 300 centimeters away, she executed her Jutsu. A puff of smoke appeared behind the boy and another girl having the same face as the one in front appeared. This girl was a clone and it raised its sword and put it against the boy's back signalling that the boy had lost.
Airi: You lost Naohiro.
Naohiro: DAMN IT!
Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap
Aoto: Well done Airi. You both have improved a lot.
Airi: Brother.
The girl went to her sword and took it out of the ground to sheath it. The boy also decided to take his weapon back.
Aoto: I would expect nothing less from my sister, you have grown quite strong.
Airi: I still have a lot to learn.
Aoto: EVERYBODY! We have a mission.
All the people who were watching got serious.
Naohiro: HAVE WE FOUND THAT BASTARD KOUSKE?
When that question was raised then the atmosphere got really deadly. All the people here hated hearing that name and hated even more the person.
Aoto: Unfortunately, No. I will tell the details to the people who will be doing the mission. THE REST OF YOU, I HOPE ALL OF YOU KEEP ON TRAINING. DON'T FORGET, THAT BASTARD KOUSKE IS NOT THE ONLY ENEMY. WE HAVE 6 OTHER CLANS AS OUR ENEMY AS WELL.
Everyone: HAI!
Naohiro: DAMN IT! I SWEAR I WILL BE THE ONE TO KILL THAT BASTARD.
Airi: NO YOU WON'T. I WILL BE THE ONE TO DO IT.