"The finals of the chunin exams between Konoha and its allied nations are about to begin. When the exams end, that's when we return to Konoha. There may be no avoiding a fight, so make your preparations. This time, we're coming back in force." In a small village within the Land of Waves, not far from the Land of Fire, Uchiha Musashi spoke.
Behind him stood a line of powerhouses with three-tomoe Sharingan.
This was a fledgling shinobi village Musashi had recently founded—Fan-nin Village—built with Gato's money.
Why the name Fan-nin? Because the Uchiha clan crest is a fan.
In the village, only the Uchiha adults were adults; everyone else were children taken in from all over. The reason? Simple—avoid anyone doing something stupid out of greed.
After all, the Uchiha's status needed to be kept secret. Right now the Uchiha were everyone's coveted prize across the shinobi world.
If exposed, anyone would try to take a piece. The name "Sharingan" is simply too big.
Unless something earthshaking was done to sober up those shinobi, who knows how many would try to covet the Uchiha's eyes.
Even if Musashi were strong, could he kill his way through them all? He's one man. Unless the Uchiha clan produced several more Kage-levels, or Musashi's power reached Uchiha Madara's level, he wouldn't deter them.
If this time they could re-enter Konoha and gain a foothold, then announce the Uchiha clan's forceful return, fewer would dare covet them. Or even if some still did, they wouldn't dare make a move inside Konoha.
The premise, of course, was eradicating Danzo's Root.
That wasn't much of a worry—there was still the main body, Meruem, to help.
"Yes, Leader." The several men behind Musashi answered respectfully. Though they'd all reached elite jonin strength, the stronger they grew, the more clearly they saw the gulf between themselves and Musashi.
They were no longer even in the same tier.
"Impure World Reincarnation. The main body may not care for a ninjutsu of this level, but for me it's plenty practical. I'm not like the main body—my power is limited, but with a forbidden jutsu like this I can summon plenty of enforcers." Several coffins stood beside Musashi—the result of one of the shinobi world's most practical forbidden arts. The more relics you possess, the more you can summon. It's a forbidden technique said to let one hold back a hundred—Impure World Reincarnation.
A month isn't long or short. For some, it's nothing; for shinobi, even one month can bring significant gains.
On that day, Konoha of the Land of Fire was bustling—because it was the day of the chunin exam finals. And unlike usual, many high officials of the Land of Fire and other countries were present to watch.
They cared about only one match: the Uchiha survivor genius Uchiha Sasuke vs. the Sand's prodigy, Sabaku no Gaara.
In their eyes, it was a fine little monkey show.
Yes, you heard right—just a monkey show.
This is one of the Naruto world's bizarre phenomena—like the Celestial Dragons in One Piece. The Naruto world's daimyo, like the Celestial Dragons, are high-status mascots who serve no clear purpose and have nothing to do with the main plot.
Though some fan works depict daimyo as shrewd, power-wielding, or fat and greasy—
In the original, they're scrawny like the malnourished, speak like eunuchs, and can't grasp how serious things are.
And since they're not much to look at, even their mascot role loses the cute factor.
Most importantly, they're utterly useless.
Undercurrents swirled beneath this year's chunin exams—not only the Sand and Sound plot, but the Uchiha also had their eyes on it. Meruem had come to Konoha early, targeting the village's storehouse of forbidden techniques.
The Scroll of Seals—recording powerful ninjutsu—held the Reaper Death Seal and the Flying Thunder God Technique. Although owning a four-dimensional space meant Meruem could, in a sense, teleport, Flying Thunder God was still highly practical.
There ought to be other worthwhile techniques as well. Having completed five chakra nature transformations, Meruem hoped to find the method for yin–yang chakra transformations in the Scroll of Seals. Though literally "yang" is the body and "yin" is the spirit, he still had no idea how to complete those two transformations.
Once those two were done, he could produce Truth-Seeking Orbs. Bloodline Convergence—an extremely practical technique.
A giant Shukaku appeared from the forest near the arena, followed by the Sand's incursion, the Sound's assault, and giant summoned snakes rampaging in the village—Konoha instantly plunged into chaos.
"Heh, Konoha's been peaceful too long—its vigilance is gone. As the head of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, after this I'm afraid they'll decline again. By the Five Kage Summit, they're even pressed by the Cloud—the alliance leader is the Raikage. Unthinkable in Hashirama's or Tobirama's time. But none of this concerns me. Heh—I'd really like to see what kind of plot unfolds when the Uchiha return in force after this attack." Having easily killed the Anbu and jonin guarding the Scroll of Seals, Meruem toyed with the giant scroll, then tossed it back into the Four-Dimensional Apartment.
"Tsk, even now that old Danzo is still holed up in Root, refusing to lend a hand. No wonder Konoha declines. Their original strength should still put them atop the five villages even now, but the inside isn't united at all. Just like the Mist—originally upper-middle among the Five, under Obito's control they slaughtered kekkei genkai users and nearly fell out of the Five entirely. Heh—should I go cause Danzo some trouble? Forget it—leave it to Musashi."
"Shukaku, huh? Little tanuki—since you're here, why not say hello?" Cloaked in a golden glow, Naruto faced off against a giant monster.
One-Tail Shukaku—drawn out by Gaara via pseudo-sleep.
"You're... that damn Nine-Tails fox!" The giant monster felt the chakra on Naruto and roared.
"Does Naruto have a monster like that in his body too..." Sasuke, with three-tomoe Sharingan active, stared up at the massive head and spoke with difficulty.
He had three tomoe now, his strength around special jonin level.
But against a monster like Shukaku, he had no chance at all. The opponent was too strong—and his eye techniques too weak.
"Teacher Sarutobi." On the stadium rooftop, Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, faced his teacher, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The Anbu and the Hokage's Guard Platoon were helpless before the Four Violet Flames Formation. Even with their curse marks in second state, those four were barely jonin level.
Whereas the Hokage's guard were at least jonin, and regular Anbu at least elite chunin.
Even so, they could do nothing against the barrier. While formidable, it wasn't completely without solutions—one Anbu even died on it.
Konoha truly had declined.
The Third was indeed old—his stamina and chakra couldn't match Orochimaru in his prime. With Impure World Reincarnation summoning the First and Second, he was ultimately forced to protect Konoha with his final move—the Reaper Death Seal.
He sealed the First and Second's souls and Orochimaru's two arms along with them.
Naruto's Nine-Tails Mode vs. incomplete Shukaku also ended—with Naruto's overwhelming victory.
But Naruto didn't "talk-no-jutsu" Gaara as in the original. He told him instead that he wasn't alone. There are nine people in this world like them—those with monsters sealed inside.
People call them—jinchuriki.
Where the leaves dance, the fire burns unceasing. The fire's light will continue to illuminate the village and make new leaves sprout.
This is the Will of Fire.
Looking at the Third's corpse, Naruto felt something indescribable. Did he hate him? Naruto didn't know. Because of Sarutobi's cover-ups and inaction, he'd had such a childhood. Though he'd suffered abuse, the old man hadn't ordered his execution—and he truly loved the village. Naruto knew that well. Such a Third was worthy of respect.
He felt lost.
"Strive to become Hokage—go find the answer in your heart. Take back everything that should have been yours, including your name—Namikaze Naruto." The Golden Silkworm Gu sensed Naruto's state and spoke. This had been Naruto's purpose from the beginning—to take back what was his.
After meeting Konohamaru, he'd once asked himself: why, as fellow descendants of Hokage, could that kid run wild in Konoha while he received only malice, bullying, and abuse?
The Golden Silkworm Gu told him then: because you're weak. Become strong—until you take back what should have been yours. And cut down every last person who once bore you ill will and harmed you.
(End of Chapter)
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