Chapter 1
Antiseptic. That was a scent Kenji would recognize anywhere. He'd only ever visited the Konoha hospital a few times and always after Kushina-nee-chan had punched the top of his head over a prank gone too far. Not because she actually hurt him, but because she panicked and worried she hurt him. He'd never gotten more than a well deserved bump.
Naturally, she would then get mad at him for worrying her, despite it all being her fault. Even in his sleepy haze he smiled at the thought of hos Kushina-nee-chan was going to panic about him being in the hospital.
He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. It wouldn't do to laze about. He wasn't surprised by the sight of the sterile white ceiling above him, or the sound of the heart monitor now that he was paying attention. He looked around and paused at an unexpected sight, though not unwelcome, “Kakashi? What are you doing here?”
Kakashi was something of a friend slash rival and the only still living student of Uncle Minato. He sort of saw Kakashi as something of an older brother. Even so, it was strange for him to be in the room instead of Kushina-nee-chan. He knew not to expect Uncle Minato, he was far too busy as the Hokage most of the time.
Kakashi's single dark eye, the only visible part of his face, focused on Kenji. There was something wrong with his eye, it looked... hollow. Kakashi sighed, it was a soul crushingly despondent sound, “You don't remember?”
“Remember wha...”
Kenji's eyes widened and his pupils dilated down to pin pricks. His breathing became rapid as he hyperventilated, “No no no no. Tell me it was a nightmare!”
Kakashi was across the room in an instant with his arms wrapped around Kenji tightly, “Deep breaths.”
Kenji continued to hyperventilate as memories of the night before came back in full force. Kushina going into labor. Sitting in the empty house for hours because he wasn't allowed to be there for the birth. Minato arriving in a panic and leaving his new nephew, Naruto, in his crib before vanishing. The absolute horror of feeling that hateful chakra of the nine-tails as it attacked the village.
Then Minato returning to grab him and take him somewhere else. Having him lay in a prepared circle. Then... The Monster stabbing Minato and Kushina-nee-chan. The sealing...
His breathing got heavier as he shoved Kakashi away and scrabbled at the blanket and his hospital gown until he tore through both and revealed his stomach. There, in vivid black, was the fresh seal looking so simple with its swirling design with eight spikes coming out of it. He clawed at the seal on his stomach, “It's in me! It was never supposed to go in me!”
Kakashi grabbed Kenji's hands and held them tight to keep Kenji from hurting himself. Kenji stuggled, cried, and screamed. His family was dead. Everyone he loved died right in front of him, killed by the monster now sealed inside of his body. There was no one... No, no that was wrong. There was someone!
“Naruto! Where's Naruto?!” Kenji asked in a near manic voice.
Kakashi answered immediately, “He's just next door. He's asleep. He's fine. Perfectly healthy.”
“That's... That's good.” was all Kenji managed to say before he passed out, completely emotionally spent.
Kakashi gently lay Kenji back down and returned to his seat. He sat silently, staring at the wall with thoughts similar to Kenji's running through his mind.
-----Line Break-----
The next time Kenji awoke, he wasn't better, just more stable. He found Kakashi still sitting in the same spot though it must have been hours since he passed out. He opened his mouth to talk but ended up coughing. Kakashi was by his side with a cup of water before he could blink. Kenji gratefully took the cup and greedily drank the cool liquid.
Once he finished he spoke, “Naruto, I need to take care of Naruto. It's...” He hiccuped, “It's what they wanted.”
“He's just next door and being taken care of. You can see him soon, but the Hokage wants to talk to you, first.”
Kenji frowned, “They picked a new one already?”
Kakashi shook his head, “The third retook the hat.”
Kenji nodded. That made sense. The old man was old, but not that old. Kenji breathed deeply and slowly let it out. He was training to be a ninja, he needed to get control of himself and report to the Hokage. Then he could take Naruto home. He didn't know what was going to happen in the near future, but he remembered all the conversations he'd had with Kushina-nee-chan and Uncle Minato about what to do if they died. It wasn't something they liked to talk about, but given their jobs it was a distinct possibility. It meant he knew all the preparations they made should the worst come to pass.
He focused on Kakashi, “I'm ready.”
Kakashi observed Kenji for a bit before he nodded, “I'll let him know.”
It was less than an hour before Kakashi returned, following behind old man third. Hiruzen gave Kenji a look of sympathy, fully understanding how the young man felt after the events of the night before. Unfortunately, both of them had to push through their mutual pain over lost loved ones and get to the bottom of the events that transpired, “Tell me everything you know, Kenji-kun.”
Kenji took a deep breath and started from the beginning of the previous night.
-----Line Break-----
Kenji sat at his desk in the main room of the house working on a sealing problem Kushina-nee-chan had given him. She and Minato had been teaching him sealing since he could pick up a brush. Both had declared him a talented genius at the art, able to do things they'd taken weeks to learn in a matter of hours. Things they took months to learn, he learned in days.
He paused in his work as he heard a loud explosion from the backyard followed by a rush of memories. He frowned as yet another Kage Bunshin blew itself up with a failed sealing formula. He frowned at the failure, then made a cross sign with both his hands and summoned another clone. It didn't even need instructions as it grabbed a piece of paper and one of many spare calligraphy brushes before making its way outside.
“If you blow up my yard one more time brat!”
Kenji cringed at Kushina's yell. It wasn't his fault! The clones let him do all kinds of fun testing without worry! It's why they taught him the forbidden jutsu in the first place! He just wished they'd let him make more than one at a time. He had more than enough chakra! According to Kushina-nee-chan he had more chakra than most adult Uzumaki's had! More than enough to make a hundred clones easily! It's why his chakra control was such crap, but trade offs! It was so unfair.
“Minatooooooooooooooo!!” Kushina's voice rang through the house.
Minto immediately came running out of his study and toward the kitchen where Kushina had been cooking, “What?! What's wrong!?”
“It's time! He's coming!”
Suddenly there was a flurry of activity as Kushina and Minato began grabbing everything they needed for the coming birth of his new nephew. Kenji watched from his seat, saddened that he couldn't go, but he understood. A Jinchuriki giving birth was extremely dangerous and the possibility of the nine-tailed fox escaping wasn't zero, even with all the preparations they'd made. Kenji's only option was to sit at home and wait.
Once they had everything, Kushina and Minato left, though Kushina gave Kenji a quick kiss on the top of his head. No matter how old he got, she continued to do it as a 'big sister's prerogative.' He always complained aloud, though secretly he liked it. Case in point, he gave Kushina a playful shrove, “Knock it off.”
Kushina laughed and playfully swatted his shoulder, “See you soon, twerp.”
He watched the pair leave then turned to go back to his work. Only he couldn't think properly anymore. He was excited and worried in equal measure as he waited for his nephew to be born and his family to return with a whole new member.
He didn't know how much time passed when Minato suddenly appeared with a small crying bundle in his arms using his Hiraishin. Kenji jumped to his feet, but Minato ignored him, instead he ran over to the crib he'd built for Naruto and set the small bundle in it. His worried gaze locked onto Kenji, “Watch Naruto, protect him with your life!”
“What's happening?!”
“No time! I have to get back!”
Then he was gone, vanished as he left with the same method he'd arrived. Kenji frowned and felt nervous. Something was going on, something bad, he just knew it. He shook his head and made his way over to the crib where he got his first look at his tiny little nephew.
Naruto looked adorable, like a mini Minato. That probably upset Kushina a bit with the bright yellow hair and all. It was a bit of a shame his nephew did share the same Uzumaki red that he and Kushina shared. It would have been nice to have someone else share the misery of being teased for it.
He reached into the crib and gently rubbed the infants belly slowly getting it to calm down. Then, IT happened. A massive wave of chakra slammed down on his senses. He shivered in fear as he felt the violence and anger of the evil chakra. Naruto immediately began crying at full blast once more undoing all of Kenji's progress in getting him to calm down.
Frankly, Kenji understood. He wanted to scream and wail in fear as well. Only his promise to protect Naruto kept him from losing his mind. He stayed next to his nephew while enduring the oppressive weight of what could only be the nine-tails chakra.
Minato suddenly appeared once more. His head snapped to Kenji and Naruto at the crib, “Kenji, I need you to come with me. I'm sorry, but it's time.”
Kenji swallowed down a scream. He knew. He'd known from the moment he'd felt the nine-tails chakra. For that to happen, it had to get free from Kushina-nee-chan. If that happened, it meant... He swallowed hard again, it meant she was dead. No jinchuriki could survive having their Bijuu removed. He wanted to scream denials, but he was a ninja, even if he was still in the academy. He gave Minato a firm nod even as his eyes grew suspiciously wet.
Minato reached down and placed his hand on Kenji's shoulder, “I'm sorry.”
The next moment they were in a clearing with a stone alter. Kenji gasped she he saw a rough looking but alive Kushina. He immediately ran toward her, “Kushina-nee-chan!”
They grabbed each other in a feirce hug, ignoring the giant furry monster she was restraining with her chakra chains, an Uzumaki clan trait he shared with her. They hugged with all their strength for a moment before Kushina pulled him back, “I'm so sorry that you have to bear this burden Kenji.”
Minato squeezed his shoulder to get Kenji's attention, “Hurry, onto the alter.”
Kenji did as asked and lay down. He knew what would come and he was terrified. Minato began going through hand seals while Kushina continued to struggle to remain alive and restrain the giant fox. There was a furious roar from the nine-tails. Kenji watched, in horror, as one of its claws extended rapidly toward him with the clear intent to kill him.
It only got worse when both Minato and his sister interposed themselves between him and the giant claw. Tears flowed freely as he watched Minato continue to perform the jutsu. Kushina looked at him tenderly, “Kenji.” When he focused on her she continued, “I love you, I always will. Tell Naruto that I love him too, that I would do anything, give anything, to be there to watch him grow up. You'll have to raise him now. Make sure you both eat your vegetables, wash behind your ears, and keep the house clean.”
Minato finished his hand seals causing a ghostly image of the Shinigami to appear above and behind him. Kenji couldn't watch the work of the Shinigami as Minato began speaking, “I know you will raise our Naruto right. You're a good boy Kenji and I know you will grow to be a great man some day. Tell Naruto I love him more than anything else. I'm sorry I wont be able to teach him like I taught you. Do it in my stead, alright? And do as Kushina says, but be sure to eat more than ramen for all of your meals.”
The fox roared while the Shinigami grabbed it. Minato grimaced and continued on a more serious tone, “Listen closely. This was no accident. A man claiming to be Uchiha Madara came during the birth and ripped the nine-tails out of Kushina. Only, he was far too young to be who he said, that was a lie. He was an Uchiha though, he used the Mangekyo Sharingan to control the fox and attack the village. His eyes gave him the power to phase through my attacks, it's not perfect though.”
Kenji could barely see through his tears, but he could feel. There were no words to describe the sensation of the fox being sealed inside of his body. It was ice cold. It felt like his insides were on fire. He felt like he had enough energy to run to the moon. He felt exhausted and like he couldn't keep his eyes open.
Then, it was over.
Then, there was darkness.
-----Line Break-----
“And then I woke up here, Hokage-sama.” Kenji finished his retelling of events from his perspective.
Hiruzen sat in silence for a long moment, digesting the information he'd been given by Kenji. Sadly, it wasn't much. An Uchiha in a mask with the Mangekyo Sharingan claiming to be Uchiha Madara was not a lot. Over the years many Uchiha had died or been lost. Any one of them could have had an eye stolen. There was no telling if it was a real Uchiha or someone from another village pretending. Whatever the truth may be, it was a dangerous individual.
“There is more we must discuss. Your nephew, your living arrangements, and your new... status.”
Kenji looked down with a scowl, “Jinchuriki.”
Hiruzen nodded, “Yes. With the nine-tailed fox now sealed within you, you've become an important asset to the village.”
There was a sigh from Kenji, “I know. I discussed this with Kushina-nee-chan many times.” He looked into Hiruzen's brown eyes, his own violet eyes, a match for his sisters, “I can graduate from the academy at any time. Kushina-nee-chan wanted me to go to school for as long as possible before I entered the dangerous world of shinobi.”
Hiruzen sighed, “As much as I would like you to graduate, there's not much point. As things are now, Konoha needs to project strength. You going out into the field is, currently, impossible. You are needed here, at home. Once you graduate you can join a genin team, get proper training, and once you become a chunin we will see about getting you some training to control the chakra of the nine-tails.”
Kenji didn't argue, what was the point?
“While I normally wouldn't allow someone your age to raise a child, I am making an exception in this case. With a minor condition. I'm going to assign a jonin to look in on you and make sure you're doing alright, on occasion.” He gave Kenji a playful smirk, “After all, we can't have you trying to feed an infant Ramen for dinner.”
Kenji flushed slightly. He had no intention of feeding his nephew Ramen! Even if it was the food of the gods...
Speaking of, “When can I see Naruto?”
Hiruzen smiled kindly, “I'll have a nurse bring him over after I leave. Before I go, is there anything else you need to tell me? Anything at all?”
Kenji thought hard, but eventually shook his head, “No. That was everything.”
Hiruzen nodded and climbed to his feet with an exaggerated groan, “Then I must depart. Unfortunately there is a lot of work to be done. Thank you for speaking with me Kenji.”
Kenji nodded then watched the Hokage leave his room. A few minutes later a nurse came in carrying a small bundle that brought a bright smile to his face. He happily accepted the infant from the nurses arms and looked down at the face of his nephew, “It's just you and me now, Naruto. But we'll be just fine. I can take good care of us.”
Little Naruto giggled and waved his chubby little arms in the air bringing a bright smile to Kenji's face.
-----Line Break-----
Kenji stared at the door to his home. He hadn't even stepped into it and he could already feel it was different. His home was missing something vital and it always would from now on. He fought back tears as he carefully opened the door while balancing Naruto. The nurses had given him a bunch of helpful tips for taking care of an infant as well as some formula he could feed him.
He stepped through the threshold, closed the door, and froze. There, in the middle of the entrance way was a book laying on the floor. It was plain black leather with no title on the cover. It looked small, innocuous, but it was something extraordinary. Just from a single glance, Kenji knew what the title of the book was.
The True Otaku Encyclopedia.
His whole body locked up as memories surged within his mind. Memories of another life. Memories where the world he now lived in was nothing more than entertainment. Entertainment where no Uzumaki Kenji ever lived, or if he did, he was never mentioned. Worse, he remembered the story, if only bits and pieces. It had been a few decades since he'd watched the show. He remembered major things, like the attempt by Orochimaru, who was currently a well known and loyal ninja of Konoha, to destroy the village along with the Sand and Sound villages.
That was incidental though. The last memory he had of his old life was having a bit of fun filling out an interactive CYOA. His whole goal had been to make the ultimate Uzumaki Fuinjutsu master. He'd spent a long time carefully navigating the CYOA to make sure he would have everything he would need, even taking some gnarly drawbacks.
He walked over the book and into the house. He carefully navigated his way to the nursery where he gently lay Naruto down. Once he was sure his nephew was safe and sound, he left the room and closed the door. It wasn't until he was standing back over the book that he let his emotions go. His fists clenched tight while his whole body shook with suppressed rage.
He had specifically chosen NOT to become a Jinchuriki. It was an option of the CYOA but not one he wanted! Not one he picked! Then there was his current suffering, the loss of his loved ones. Whoever, or whatever, did this to him had one sick sense of humor as his current life fit what he had selected as his background in the CYOA.
He'd chosen to be born in Konoha, be ten years old, and be an orphan academy student, all during the cold war era before the fourth shinobi world war. Even his selection of the A-ranked Jutsu Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was naturally inserted into his life. He'd expected to be the same age as Naruto, maybe even in the same class, not to be a ten year old while Narto was an infant. The problem was, it all fit with what he selected but had been twisted.
His choices twisted to make him the younger brother of Kushina and uncle of Naruto.
At least his positives had come through as expected. He was an overall genius with a great talent in Fuinjutsu. He had massive chakra reserves on par with twelve year old Naruto after he'd absorbed so much of the nine-tails chakra through the seal. Now he would gain even more chakra as he now had that seal.
WHICH HE SHOULDN'T HAVE!
Yet, despite how much what had been done pissed him off, he was also thankful. His memories changed nothing for him as far as family went. He was still Kenji and Kushina was still his nee-chan. He would gladly suffer the burden of being the nine-tails jinchuriki to protect his innocent nephew from such a fate. He was proud to do so even!
He bent down and grabbed the book. It was one of the things he'd selected as a perk. It was an Encyclopedia of everything Naruto. It contained all information on the source material that he could have access to in either of his lives. In short, it was the entire Naruto wiki on top of all information he could access in world. Including, but not limited to, jutsu.
To read the book it was necessary to perform a specific jutsu, which Kenji did singlehandedly with ease, the CYOA having ingrained it into him. The moment he did the book was filled with writing. His gaze focused firmly on the first page which had the giant title “READ ME.”
-----Line Break-----
Hey, if you're reading this then you just got home with your little nephew and must be pretty steamed. Sorry about that, but your choices in your CYOA just presented to great of an opportunity for a 'what if' scenario to me and my friends. So, we made some changes.
We are fully aware of what you intended to do when you filled out our CYOA and we took advantage of that to push things further. We're not sorry. We're also not complete assholes. Being a Jinchuriki required the taking of two specific drawbacks, which we have given to you, Hunted and Village Demon.
Hunted is pretty obvious, beware the red clouds. Village Demon is also not difficult to understand, you're the new Naruto and your secret wont stay that way for long. Sorry not sorry.
Now, obviously, if we're going to stick you with more drawbacks, you would obviously be due more points to spend. Granted, picking the Jinchuriki Trait and picking the Nine-tails as your Bijuu would have eaten up the drawback points, and more. Like I said, we're not total dicks so those two traits we gave you for free.
That left us with the question of what to do with said points. So, here are the things we gave you. You got Fire Affinity for free for being born in Konoha and you selected Lightning for yourself. Kind of going a bit Uchiha there, but we can dig it. We gave you Wind, Water, and Earth so you now have an affinity for all five basic elements. Congrats! You're a freak of nature!
To cover your ass we made it so that all Kyuubi Jinchuriki gained an affinity for all the elements. We wouldn't want one eyed men with a fetich for collecting eyeballs to think you were more special that he already does. You did select Normal difficulty after all!
Next, you already selected the perk to make yourself an expert on the use of the Replacement Technique. We added the Transformation Technique to that as well. Congrats! You now have the fabled 'real' Transformation of fanon fame!
The last few points were spent giving you some skills, namely Acting, Silent Code Talking, Cold Reading, Internal Clock, Internal Compass, and Spatial Awareness. Yes, we fully expect you to, eventually, crack Minato's Hiraishin at some point. You can thank us later.
Anyway, that's about it. Everything else you picked should be the same, including your ultimate goal of founding a new Uzumaki Clan. We'll be watching for that!
Good luck and have fun!
-----Line Break-----
If he didn't need the book for all the information it contained he would burn the damned thing! Those omnipotent assholes essentially rewrote half of his CYOA for shits and giggles! The only thing that kept him from completely hating them was the fact they gave him some decent benefits in exchange for screwing him over.
He closed the book and walked over to his work desk where he sat down and dropped the book. He needed it now more than ever for all the information it contained. He flipped the book open and started with the obvious, the Naruto Manga. He needed to read through the whole thing, maybe more than once, and make notes of any events he could interfere with without drawing too much attention to himself. After that... wait, what after that?
He crossed his fingers and circulated his chakra. There was a massive explosion of smoke as he summoned twenty Shadow Clones. They immediately split up and went to work on new Fuinjutsu. He wasn't a Master, but between Kushina and Minato, he was definitely a Journeyman. He knew enough and the books in the house would teach him more. Something half of his clones put into practice while the other half stepped outside and began to experiment. He had a lot of ideas that needed to become reality.
-----Line Break-----
Kenji opened the door and smiled when he saw Kakashi on the other side. It'd been weeks since he'd last seen his friend-rival-elder brother figure. He didn't hold it against Kakashi though, every able bodied ninja in the village had been working overtime to finish missions and project strength to the other villages. This was probably the first moment Kakashi had time for something other than sleep. The fact he chose to spend it coming to Kenji's house spoke volumes of his priorities.
Kenji immediately grabbed Kakashi and pulled him into a hug that Kakashi reluctantly returned. He wasn't normally one for overt shows of emotion, hospital breakdowns not withstanding. Once the hug ended, Kenji stepped back into his house and waved for Kakashi to follow him, “Come on, Naruto is inside eating lunch.”
Kakashi frowned behind his mask as he asked, “By himself?”
Kenji snorted, “Of course not!”
Kakashi saw what Kenji meant the moment they stepped into the nursery where another Kenji was holding Naruto and bottle feeding him. The Kenji next to Kakashi dissapeared in a puff of smoke while the one holding Naruto grinned at the memories, “It's good to see you Kakashi. How are you doing?”
Before Kakashi could answer a mild tremor shook the house causing some dust to fall from the ceiling. You would think with how many explosions there were daily that there would be no dust left. Yet, somehow, there was always a little more left to fall.
Kakashi looked in the direction of the explosion then at Kenji, “How many clones are you using?”
Kenji rocked Naruto and smiled down at his nephew. He spoke in that voice all adults use when talking to small animals or young children, “Just a few, isn't that right little guy? Uncle Kenji can't afford to hold back anymore, no he can't!”
Naruto gurgled and continued to drink the formula. Kakashi sighed but didn't scold Kenji for using more clones than Kushina would have allowed him. He knew just how much Chakra Kenji had and that a few Shadow Clones wouldn't cause an issue. He knew all about the clones and what they could do after spending time around Kushina of Kenji when they were experimenting. He was honestly surprised he didn't have more hearing damage from the sheer number of explosions he'd been privy to.
Kakashi moved closer and looked down at Naruto with his one visible eye, “How is he doing?”
Kenji gently rocked Naruto while he ate his lunch, “He's been doing fine. The clones really help. I can keep an eye on him day and night. Though, shockingly, he sleeps pretty well at night. I always heard that babies cry a lot, but he's been pretty good so far.”
Kakashi nodded and stepped closer to look down at Naruto gently, “What have you been up to?”
Kenji shrugged his shoulders, “Studying, mostly. Some Fuinjutsu experimentation but nothing too dangerous or ground breaking.” He looked up into Kakashi's eye, “I want to do them proud, but I can't risk something happening to me so I'm taking things slow.” He snorted, “Besides, I'm stuck in the Academy for the rest of this year and next year. The village can't risk its weapon being out in the field during such a vulnerable moment.” Kenji sighed and looked back down at Naruto, “Which... half of me hates but the other half is grateful for. I don't think I could deal with leaving this little guy with a stranger all the time.”
There was a long moment of silence before it was broken by Kenji, “What about you? How have missions been treating you.”
Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, “Same as always. Go here, do this, do that, come back.” Kakashi sighed, “Though there have been rumors of rumblings coming from Kumogakure. It's not much... but be careful when you do go out into the field. Kumo is always looking for the chance to kidnap people with bloodlines and I doubt they would hesitate to take you. They went after Kushina-san once before.”
Kenji nodded once. He remembered that, barely, but Kushina and Minato had both told him of it several times to warn him of Kumo's treachery. Given what he'd read in the manga for the Naruto world, he knew that to be true. If things held as they did in the story, Kumo would be trying to kidnap Hyuga Hinata in just a couple of years. He didn't have an exact date, only that Hinata was three, but it would be easy to figure out when it drew closer. He just had to wait for the supposed peace delegation from Kumo to show up.
Until then, he would make plans to prevent the incident from getting as bad as it had. Along with other plans. There was so much bullshit that happened before Naruto graduated from the Academy that it wasn't even funny. He had so much he needed to do and so little time to do it in.
Kenji gently lay Naruto down in his crib and conjured up a few more Shadow Clones before facing Kakashi, “C'mon, you can stick around for lunch at least, right?”
Kakashi gave Kenji a flat look, “Is it ramen?”
Kenji flushed slightly, “Nooooo...” He looked away from Kakashi, “It's Udon.”
Kakashi rolled his eyes, “That's just a different noodle soup!”
“But it's not ramen at least!”
Kakashi rolled his eye, but did join Kenji for lunch.
-----Line Break-----
Kenji carefully studied the Fuinjutsu schematic on his desk. It was his first original creation and probably his most important one. It had taken him a solid month of effort and the deaths of countless clones to get it right. Now it was perfect and he was giving it one final look over before he had the seal applied to his body.
With a final nod he summoned a single clone and began stripping off his clothing. The clone said nothing as it prepared the sealing ink and brush. Once naked, Kenji lay down on the floor. His clone immediately got to work drawing the complex rune scheme not just on his body, but on the surrounding floor a swell. It took hours for the clone to draw out then double and triple check the work. Using Fuinjutsu on a living being always had to be done with the greatest care... if you cared about the targets survival.
Once everything was prepared, the placed his hands on a specific spot on the seal, “Ready?”
The original Kenji nodded, “Do it.”
The clone fed the last of its Chakra into the seal and dispersed. Kenji lay there and tried not to move as the seal wiggled and crawled around his body. It didn't hurt, most sealing didn't, but it did kind of tickle. The seal work crawled over his bare flesh and came to rest at five specific points on his body, his wrists, ankles, and neck. With the seals in place they gave a gentle flash as they activated and sank into his skin where they were no longer visible.
Kenji sat up with a soft grunt of effort. He could already feel the seals doing their job. He slowly stood and went through a few basic taijutsu kata to test the feel of the seals. Even going slow and doing something so basic soon had him breathing heavily and sweating profusely. The seal was a clear success.
A trope of many fanfictions he'd read was to use things like Gravity Seals or super heavy weights like Rock Lee to train physically. He'd always found the idea of Gravity Seals to be rather ineffective. Despite ninja magic, the people of the Naruto world were still human. Gravity training might work for saiyans in Dragon Ball, but it wasn't the same for humans. Besides, gravity only pushed in one direction, usually.
Instead he went for the other trope, Resistance Seals. His were designed to automatically increase their resistance to match his strength while also letting just a little more show over time. He couldn't just stall in his growth all of a sudden, that would be suspicious. Instead, his growth would now 'slow' with the seal concealing the majority of his strength while constantly helping it grow with every movement he made.
In short, instead of being able to work out and lift an extra five pounds at the end of a week, it would be more like two pounds of visible growth while his hidden growth is closer to seven pounds. Or something to that effect.
After testing the seal he took a shower to clean off, got dressed, and immediately stepped outside to summon fifty shadow clones. The clones immediately split up to get to work on a variety of things. If it weren't for all the privacy seals both Kushina and Minato had erected, he wouldn't so willingly have his clones work where they could be viewed.
Although, just to be safe, he had his clones working on something else to help with more privacy.
Until then though, he had his clones working on a variety of things. The majority were currently working on elemental training so he could master all five of his affinities. It would also help with his abysmal chakra control. He'd long since mastered tree and water walking, Minato had insisted, so he needed something more difficult, thus elemental practice.
Other clones were always studying. Between his sister and uncle there were tons of books on various levels of Fuinjutsu and he planned to perfectly memorize every last one. Then he was going to experiment like there was no tomorrow until he had become a Grand Master in Fuinjutsu. Given his genius, talent, and army of clones that should only take a couple of years at most.
For now though... time to spend a little time with Naruto!
-----Line Break-----
Kenji stared down at his brand spanking new Hitae-ate. The last two years had gone by in a flash. He'd trained, studied, and learned as much as he could while he was stuck in the Academy. He'd tried to send a clone to the Academy, but it had been seen through and he'd been scolded for it. So, sadly, far too many hours of his day had to be wasted sitting in the classroom.
Now? Now, he was free.
“Alright, those of you who passed are expected to be here tomorrow where you will be assigned your teams and introduced to your Jonin-sensei. Don't be late.”
With that dismissal, Kenji quickly left the Academy. A couple of uses of Shunshin had him home in a matter of moments. He walked in and smiled at the sight of little Naruto playing with one of his clones. The moment he stepped through the door, Naruto waddled over to him with his arms raised in the air, “Nii-chan! Nii-chan! Up! Up!”
Kenji chuckled and picked up Naruto. The little boy giggled and poked at the new headband on Kenji's forehead, “Shiny!”
Kenji chuckled, “Yup! Today I became a ninja.”
Naruto squirmed in excitement, “Ninja! Ninja! Gunna be ninja!”
“You will one day buddy, I promise.”
He walked further into the house as clones began to dispel in small groups sending information to him in chunks so he could process it properly. Even now, his clones worked and experimented daily with Fuinjutsu. At this point the only living master of the art greater than him was probably Jiraiya. He hid a scowl at the thought of that bastard. Two years and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of that jerk. Not even a letter!
He used to think of Jiraiya as a fun uncle when he would come by sometimes. He'd even been happy when Jiraiya had been picked as Naruto's god father over himself. Now he could see how much of a mistake that was.
But, it was okay. He'd designed a specific seal just for that bastard as punishment for abandoning Naruto like he had. Just thinking of the seal made him smirk. Jiraiya was going to suffer for his choices in the future.
Back to happier thoughts though. He carried Naruto into the kitchen where a clone was working on dinner. Kenji sniffed the air and smirked at the lovely scent of homemade Ramen. He kept his promise to not eat Ramen at every meal, which was hard. But this meal was special! It was vegetable Ramen, about the only way he could get Naruto to willingly eat his veggies.
He paused as a presence stepped across the threshold of his property. He smiled brightly and made his way to the door to open it. Kakashi paused with his hand up to knock. He slowly lowered it with an eye smile, the Kakashi special. Kenji grinned while Naruto shouted, “Kakshi-nii-chan!” while sticking his arms out for the older boy to hold him.
Kakashi obliged and accepted Naruto from Kenji. In the last two years Kakashi had turned sixteen and grown a fair bit taller. Other than that, he looked pretty much the same, even wearing his hitae-ate over his Sharingan eye. Naruto immediately tried to play with Kakashi's mask, the little tyke was always trying to pull it down to see Kakashi's face.
While Kakashi played with Naruto, he also spoke with Kenji, “Congrats on your graduation. Do you know who your sensei will be yet?”
Kenji shook his head, “They'll tell me tomorrow.”
Kakashi nodded and moved closer, his voice lowering, “We need to talk.”
Kenji sighed and nodded. He had a feeling he knew what this was about. He called a clone over and had it take care of Naruto so they could talk. Once they were alone Kakashi turned serious, “Kumogakure just declared war on Konohagakure.”
Kenji frowned, “Just Kumo?”
Kakashi nodded, “It's not a world war again, thankfully. But Kumo has already been probing our borders. We're not sure why they're doing this but we have to respond. The Hokage is already gathering our forces for a counter attack to push them out.”
“How are the other villages acting?”
“Sunagakure is silently watching. While erstwhile allies, they're not likely to move as long as there is nothing for Rasa to gain. Iwagakure is watching closely but Minato-sensei's actions against them left them too weak to do anything drastic. No one's really sure what Kirigakure is up to, but they are silent for now.”
Kenji sighed, “At least things aren't looking like the worst case scenario.”
Kakashi nodded in agreement, “Unfortunately, this means the village will be busier than ever. I'm not sure how often I'll be allowed time off to visit while it's going on.”
Kenji sighed, “And I'll be stuck here under the guard of a Jonin-sensei with my fresh team and kept far from the front lines. Probably not even allowed to leave the village on a C-Rank mission.”
It wasn't so much that Kenji wanted to go to war and kill people, but he also felt remarkably useless just sitting at home on his ass raising Naruto. Don't get it wrong, it was a good life, but he wanted to do more for the village. It definitely had its issues and things he didn't agree with, but it was still home and he wanted to protect it.
It looked like it was time.
Kakashi nodded in agreement with Kenji, “Probably. As the Jinchuriki of the village you're too much of an asset to risk. If you died, Konoha would lose a lot of combat power and appear vulnerable in the eyes of the other villages. The Hokage and elders would never allow that. So, unless something drastic happens, you'll be staying here.”
Kenji nodded, “Not like it matters much. I'll only begin training to use the furballs chakra in the near future. By the time its usable, it'll be useless.”
Kakashi didn't argue with him. No one expected this war to last long, neither side had an abundance of troops to throw at a pointless war. Kenji knew it wouldn't last long if the manga was anything to go by. While no war was specifically mentioned as happening around this time, the fact that in a year or so there would be a peace delegation now made far more sense. Why would Kumo need to send over said delegation if there was no reason to push for peace?
He honestly hoped this whole thing wasn't one big ass excuse for Kumo to get a man inside of Konoha to kidnap a Hyuga. If it was, he would truly be disgusted with that entire village for the sheer waste of life in a vain attempt to steal a bloodline.
“I just wanted to let you know what was going on and...” Kakashi looked serious, “If something happens to me, I'm leaving everything to Naruto. Make sure he gets it in that case will you?”
Kenji glared at Kakashi, “Nothing is going to happen to you. You bring your ass back here alive no matter what it takes, understood? Consider this an order from your future Hokage.”
Kakashi chuckled and gave a mock salute, “Sure thing, future boss.”
With the changes Kenji's presence made to the world, he highly doubted Naruto's dream would be the same. In this timeline he would grow up with a loving family, even if it was a small one. Kenji, on the other hand, was determined to become the Hokage for entirely different reasons than Naruto had been. There were too many things wrong with this village and he planned to take over as Hokage and fix them all.
Hiruzen might have been a good Hokage, once upon a time, but after Minato's death he became a scared old man who capitulated too easily and sacrificed things he shouldn't have. Case in point, the Uchiha. He could see it in the eyes of the villagers. If they weren't glaring at him for being 'devil spawn' they were glaring at the Uchiha police force. The village was rife with hatred and fear and it would lead to many negative things.
He put those thoughts to the side for now and addressed his friend, “Stick around for dinner. There's plenty.”
Kakashi's gaze turned drier than the country of wind, “Is it ramen?”
Kenji flushed, “Well... yes. But it's vegetable ramen! It's the only way I can get Naruto to eat his vegetables without a fight!”
Kakashi's gaze didn't change as he stared at Kenji. Then, with a sigh, he broke eye contact and nodded, “Sounds good.”
-----Line Break-----
“Team seven, Uchiha Kaien, Fujimoto Rei, Uzumaki Kenji. Your Jonin sensei will be Kisaragi Shuzen.”
At the instructors words a man in his thirties wearing standard Jonin apparel stepped forward, “With me kids.”
Kenji stood up along with the other two named students. Kenji looked at his new teammates and wondered what it might mean. Kaien was the number one male of their year while Rei was the number one female. Kenji had slacked off pretty badly in the academy but he was nowhere near the bottom of the class. So this clearly wasn't a normal team seven setup of the two top students with the bottom last one.
As they followed their new sensei he realized what was up. Kaien and Rei were the strongest of their class, meaning they had the best odds of growing strong enough to protect him, if necessary. He didn't really appreciate that, but he understood the intent and accepted that. At least he would have competent teammates, which meant their Sensei must be pretty good.
He ignored the glares he got from the civilians in the village as they brazenly, and rather lazily, walked to the training ground Kisaragi was leading them toward. He spent his time going over what he knew of his new teammates.
Uchiha Kaien looked pretty much like every other Uchiha with light skin, spiky dark hair, dark eyes, and the typical fashion for their kids, that being shorts and a short sleeved shirt with the red and white fan on the back. Kaien was good with the Uchiha's Interceptor Fist, could use the Great Fireball Jutsu, and was decently intelligent. He hadn't, yet, unlocked his Sharingan but that seemed to be the norm for someone his age. It was rare for anyone younger to awaken it. That was left to geniuses like Itachi, who was Kaien's cousin if he remembered correctly.
Speaking of Itachi, he should be graduating the academy next year at age seven. He'd have to find time to hang out with the Uchiha's at some point. Having one as a teammate should help with that.
He moved on and focused on his next teammate, Fujimoto Rei. She was slightly short for her age with a slim, though not malnourished from dieting, body. She had charcoal-black hair that she kept in a side ponytail and bangs trimmed to keep from blocking her steel gray eyes. In class she was known for being smart, nearly perfect chakra control, and actually being the most physically fit female in the class. In short, she was better than Sakura in every possible way but smarts, where they tied.
Lastly, he looked over their new sensei, Kisaragi Shuzen. Shuzen looked to be in his late thirties or early forties making him a veteran among shinobi forces. He was rather tall, close to six feet at least, with lean compact muscles. His hair was a light brown with hints of gray beginning to show on his temples. His eyes were dark amber in color and completely focused on the task at hand. He looked professional in his typical Jonin gear.
He'd never heard of him and there was no mention of him in any of his reading, but that wasn't too much of a surprise. It wasn't like every single Jonin had been introduced, just a handful of what had to be tens, if not hundreds. Not to mention Anbu and ROOT members.
Eventually they arrived at the training ground and he was surprised to recognize it. It would be hard not to considering how iconic the three wooden pillars in the center of it were. It shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise really, this was the training grounds for Team Seven in all of its iterations over the years.
Shuzen turned to face them with his hands behind his back and standing at attention, “Alright, listen up kiddies. In a few moments you're going to be taking your final test, one that sixty-six percent of students statistically fail.”
When no one said anything, he looked slightly impressed and continued, “If you fail this test you will either be sent back to the academy or into the genin corp. I have high standards and low expectations of you passing. Though your odds are higher thanks to the two clan kids in the team.” His gaze brushed over Kaien and Kenji, “Still, that is no guarantee.”
He looked into the middle distance and continued, “The test is relatively simple. You three will fight me. I will judge if you are worthy of being genin.” He looked from one genin to the next, “I suggest you come at me with the intent to kill, otherwise you have no hope of success.”
He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small mechanical timer. He set and wound it then placed it on top of one of the logs, “You have three hours to impress me.” He turned the timer on, “Begin.”
All three genin jumped out of the clearing and into the brush of the forest surrounding them. Kenji quickly made his way over to where Rei was, “Follow me.”
She nodded and followed him as he led her directly to where Kaien was hiding. As they got close Kenji whispered, “Alright, we obviously stand no chance against a veteran jonin one-on-one, so it's a good thing we're a team. I would have preferred to do this before fighting began but whatever. We need to introduce ourselves and out primary skills so we can make a plan and execute it.”
Kaien remained stoic but nodded while Rei smiled and agreed. Kenji smiled at their acceptance, it was so good working with mature people, “I'm Uzumaki Kenji, I specialize in Fuinjutsu and Ninjutsu though I don't lack in Taijutsu. Due to being the nine-tails Jinchuriki, I have an affinity for all five elements.”
It was no secret at all that he was the Jinchuriki. Hiruzen had made it an S-Class secret after it became public knowledge so anyone born in the last two years, and in the future, couldn't be told, but it didn't matter when it came to his peers.
Kaien spoke softly, but firmly, “Uchiha Kaien. I focus on Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, especially my clan's Interceptor Fist. My affinity is for fire.” He focused on Kenji, “If you know some Wind Jutsu we can combine them.”
Kenji nodded while Rei spoke up, “I'm Fujimoto Rei. I'm from a civilian family so my chakra capacity isn't great, but that helps with my chakra control, which is near perfect. I know I'll never be a strong fighter like Tsunade-sama, but I can become a clever one. I've studied human anatomy and can use the Chakra Scalpel Jutsu with high efficiency in my Taijutsu. I don't know what my elemental affinity is.”
Kenji considered that. The whole team had a bit of a focus on close range combat with their focus on Taijutsu, so it looked like they would become an assault team. Both he and Kaien could use Ninjutsu from mid-range. But only Kenji himself could use long range, defensive, and trap formations with his Fuinjutsu.
Kenji grinned and began to lay out a plan taking advantage of all their skills.
-----Line Break-----
Shuzen quietly stood in the clearing of the training ground wondering what his little genin were up to. He could have easily spied on them and learned whatever they were planning but he wanted to be surprised. As it was, he found it hard not to know where they were at the very least. The genin he'd been assigned were pretty good at stealth, for genin. It would take a lot more work on their part to hide from him. Especially the poor Uzumaki with his bright red hair that stuck out like a sore thumb. Unless the kid was willing to cut and dye his hair he would never be the best at stealth.
Then again, he was an Uzumaki and they were known for something completely different from stealth.
Shuzen's head twitched slightly as he subconsciously caught the subtle sound of leaves and grass moving as someone tried to move stealthily through the woods around him. He paused a moment as the count of people moving was not the same as the number of students. He distinctly heard nine people moving around where there should be three. He realized instantly, of course, that Kenji must have used his Kage Bunshin Justsu. He had full dossiers on his students and Kenji was specifically noted to be a master in the use of the shadow clone technique. Creating six with his chakra reserves would be child's play.
So, two fake groups and one real. The question was, which was which? That was the great thing about Shadow Clones, you couldn't tell which was real and which was fake until you punched them. So, that was what he'd do.
He picked one of the three groups and dashed toward it. He didn't move anywhere near his top speed, just a little faster than would be expected of a typical genin. When he popped out of the woods and into the small clearing they were hiding in, he immediately took in the situation. Kenji was knelt down with his hand on the ground and a sealing formula spread out on the ground beneath his fingers. Shuzen wasn't a master at Fuinjutsu, but he had picked up quite a bit about it over his long career. So, while he couldn't tell exactly what the formula would do, he could see it was going to be some sort of barrier.
First conclusion, trap. Second, defensive fortification. Third, distraction. Finally, fourth, part one of three for a much larger barrier.
Solution, don't let Kenji finish. Priority target: Uzumaki Kenji.
Without changing his speed, Shuzen moved into the group of genin. Kaien took the standard stance for the Uchiha Interceptor Fist, predictable. Rei, on the other hand, went through a few hand signs and finished a Jutsu usually only seen in the hospital, the Chakra Scalpel. Interesting.
The two quickly engaged him to defend their teammate so he could finish their work. Good. He engaged the pair in Taijutsu. Kaien was decent with his clan's Taijutsu style, but nothing special. He was more wary of Rei. She wasn't better than Kaien at Taijutsu or anything, how could she be using only the Academy Style? It was more the glowing chakra on her hand he was wary of. Rei was clearly inexperienced with using the Chakra Scalpel in conjunction with her Taijutsu which meant that she had little control over what she would cut with it. An expert could easily control the scalpel to just nick the skin in a spar. Whereas a complete amateur could accidentally slice though skin, muscle and veins without meaning to.
His threat assessment made, Shuzen redirected a jab from Kaien throwing the youngster off balance and engaged Rei as a primary target to disable first to get to Kenji. When Rei lashed out at him with a chopping motion, he caught her arm by the wrist. With a deft twist of her arm he spun her around and locked her arm behind her back. A swift jab from his free hand to her kidney caused her to explode into a cloud of smoke.
Shadow Clone.
Interesting. He was unaware Kenji knew the Chakra Scalpel technique, it wasn't in his file.
His focus shifted to the Kenji clone still working on its Fuinjutsu and moved to engaged. He paused in his charge and drew a kunai to block a flurry of shuriken coming at him from the side. When he finished, Kaien was already in front of him and punching toward his torso. Looking more closely, he could see that it was clearly a clone. He'd seen plenty of users of that particular style and a closer look showed just how inexperienced with it 'Kaien' was. Clearly Kenji had observed the style enough to mimic it, but had no real experience with it.
The clone, seeming to realize the jig was up, instantly switched to what was obviously a more familiar style, the Uzumaki style, if he wasn't mistaken. He'd never fought against it, but he'd heard stories and gossip. No one liked to gossip more than ninja. The style focused on flowing from form to form and delivering heavy blows at any given opportunity. It was a highly flexible style good at both offense and defense. It's flaw was that it was slow when compared to other styles. Even so, each hit from the Uzumaki Whirlpool Style carried profound power behind it.
Of course, 'profound power' from a twelve year old, even a ninja one, wasn't all that much in the grand scheme of things so Shuzen had no difficulty redirecting or even blocking the blows being directed at him. It wasn't hard for him to redirect one of the attacks and counter attack with a blow that popped the clone.
With the guards dealt with, he could return to his primary target, the engagement having only taken a handful of seconds. He covered the distance between himself and the final clone in an instant. But, as he pulled his hand back, he caught sight of the smile on the clone's face and instantly retreated on instinct.
As he touched down a dozen yards away the clone violently detonated in a powerful explosion that cratered the ground where the clone had been. Exploding Shadow Clones, interesting and dangerous. It was impossible to tell the difference between a Shadow Clone and the original, even for the Shaingan and Byakugan. If it hadn't been for the smile on the clones face tipping him off to something happening he would have been caught in the explosion.
Impressive. Even more so as the first two clones hadn't detonated leaving him with the assumption that the final clone would be the same. Most impressive. He expected almost all genin, many chunin, and even some less cautious jonin would have easily been caught by such a trick.
Regardless, his mission was accomplished. If the Fuinjutsu Kenji was attempting did require three formula to be placed down, it would no longer work. If each one was an individual barrier, then the other two groups had likely succeeded in finishing their work. He would need to be cautious in his approach. After all, he had told them to try and kill him and Fuinjutsu would definitely be one method to do so.
A smile smile ghosted across his face before he wiped it away with a professional air.
His gaze swept over the forest to note the last two positions that his genin were sitting at. Given they weren't moving away, it was safe to say they were laying a trap for him. Given the explosion, both groups would know the one at his current position was down. They would need to adapt their plans. He wouldn't give them the time.
He left the small clearing before the last bit of debris from the explosion even touched the ground, his mind having processed everything and come up with a course of action in mere moments. He swiftly moved through the forest, though, once again, he kept his speed limited to just above expected genin speeds.
When he got close to the next clearing, he saw that all three genin were waiting for him. He decided to open with something easy by digging in one of his pouches and pulling out a dozen shuriken. He sent them flying through the air, being sure to hold back as usual.
All three genin jumped out of the way and spread out. As he moved into the clearing he took in everything in a moment. The group was mostly the same as the last. Kaien taking an Interceptor Fist stance and Rei summoning a Chakra Scalpel. However, this time Kenji wasn't focused on his Fuinjutsu and instead had drawn a kunai in his left hand and taken a stance for the Whirlpool Style. He didn't see a single sign of the Fuinjutsu meaning it either had failed with the destruction of the last one, or it was hidden. Going with the cautious approach, Shuzen assumed it was hidden and acted accordingly.
He withdrew more shuriken intending to use them to force the group further apart so he could single them out. He immediately abandoned his plan when he felt the heat of a Grand Fireball Jutsu coming toward him from Kaien'd direction. Using such a technique was honestly a foolish mistake on Kaien's part. While it was a flashy jutsu, it also rarely, if ever, actually hit anyone. Case in point, he blitzed through a few hand signs and slipped into the ground while using the fireball's explosion as cover.
He swiftly moved through the ground, though he heard a muffled, 'Did you get him?' from the female of the group. That was a mistake, as was her standing still after he'd disappeared from sight. He decided to answer her for the group. His hands burst from the ground and grabbed her by the ankles. The subsequent scream of surprise was music to his ears. With a tug, he completed the Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Double Decapitation Technique) by buring Rei in the ground up to her neck.
Unaware if the Rei he'd just buried was a clone or not, or whether it would explode or not, he used caution and ended his Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Hiding like a Mole Technique) and immediately made distance between himself and the girl. His caution proved fortuitous as the Rei clone detonated. Being buried most of the explosion was underground leading to a volcano of debris being blasted high into the air.
Shuzen decided the best course of action moving forward would be to engage the last two clones at range. He was fast but the clones could detonate at any moment that he was near them. There was no guarantee he could retreat from the blast range even at his top speed. Best not to risk it.
His hands flashed through signs as he knelt and slammed his hands onto the ground. Normally, he wouldn't call out the name of his Jutsu, but he was giving the genin a chance, “Doton: Tobi Tsubute (Flying Thrown Stones)!”
The ground in front of Shuzen exploded and sent a spray of stones about the size of his fist flying directly toward Kenji. The stones slammed into the boy and, for a moment, it looked like he'd hit the original, until the clone exploded into a cloud of chakra smoke. Shuzen turned to face the Kaien clone when he spotted something in the smoke, a log!
He wanted to smile, but held back. The Kenji clone had expertly used the substitution technique to save himself from being dispelled and used the brief moment to hide again. It only took a moment for him to notice where, but he was impressed with the speed and precision of the switch regardless.
Shuzen shifted his gaze from the broken log and toward Kaien, pretending not to notice Kenji hiding in the bushes behind him. Kaien blitzed through hand signs and Shuzen felt the need to shake his head in dismay, which he ignored. Sure, it was well known to be tied to the Uchiha clan, but did he have to use...
“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!”
...all the time?
“Fūton: Daitoppa!”
Shuzen's brows rose as the Kenji clone used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to enhance the firepower of the fireball, literally. The powerful wind from Kenji's technique hit Kaien's fireball and enhanced its speed and power dramatically. Without much choice, Shuzen tapped into his full speed to blur through a series of hand seals and vomited out a massive wave of mud as he used Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Wall) to create a tall thick wall between himself and the enhanced fireball out of the mud. He had other options, plenty of them, but he wanted to see what the clones would do if the attack was blocked.
He was also rather impressed that Kenji was using two elements so efficiently that, for a moment, he forgot that the Kaien he was fighting was a clone. The boy was good, but this also presented a problem. So far, he'd only seen Kenji fight and that wouldn't do for a test like this. At least he'd get to learn more about the other two when he went after the final group.
The fireball slamming into his stone wall was pretty dramatic, something he was sure the kids loved, but also completely unnecessary. At this point he was just playing along a bit to give the kid a 'real ninja fight' as he probably imagined them. Once the flames ended he stepped out from behind his wall and charged the duo.
Kaien charged toward him in return and engaged him in Taijutsu. Shuzen was surprised, then thoughtful. This Kaien was far more proficient with the Uchia style. It was also hitting harder.. .because it wasn't a clone, it was the real Kaien. Interesting! He continued to exchange blows with Kaien, testing him, while dodging or deflecting supporting shuriken fire from the Kenji clone.
His observations gave him a better understanding of why the team had been put together as it was. E had, of course, been briefed on the purpose but seeing it was different from reading it. Clearly Kaien was the physical superior of Kenji and, most likely Rei as well. His hit were harder than Kenji's had been even when using the Whirlpool style meant to enhance the power of the users blows. He was also faster and more competent in taijutsu.
While he wouldn't label Kaien as a genius on par with the likes of Hatake Kakashi, he would at least label him as competent. He was also impressed with the amount of chakra Kaien was showing himself to have. Most genin would have trouble getting off a single Great Fireball, let alone two in quick succession. Speed, strength, Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. Even without his clans famed ocular prowess, Kaien was a decent genin.
Kenji joined Kaien in the Taijutsu battle, the two boys working together rather well for it being their first time. Kaien seemed to be taking the lead with Kenji looking for openings to step into. Now that he had both throwing punches and kicks, he could feel the difference in their power. Kenji was just a little slower and weaker than Kaien. But, given Kenji seemed more than proficient in Fuinjutsu, it could be expected that he didn't have as much time to train physically.
Shuzen allowed the taijutsu battle to go on longer than necessary so he could slowly ramp up his strength and speed to put pressure on the boys and see how they would react. Soon enough the duo were on the defensive doing their best to not get taken down by Shuzen.
That's when things changed. The previously inert Fuinjutsu set by Kenji came alive. Sealing script burst out of a small pinpoint on the ground and expanded out dozens of yards in an instant, faster even than Shuzen could process and avoid. The script snaked under his sandals and locked his feet to the ground.
His head swiveled around to take in as much information as possible. Doing so allowed him to see two additional lines of sealing script come through the forest and connect with the circle he was trapped in. He sharpened his sense and frowned when he noted that the final group of three he'd ignored thus far had moved to the area he'd previously cleared out. He'd been so focused on restraining himself and testing the boys that he'd not paid close enough attention to his surroundings.
His gaze shifted over to where Kaien and the clone were only to see the smoke from the dispelled clone and Kaien quickly retreating. Why was he retreating when Shuzen was supposedly trapped? He got his answer when a blue barrier jumped up from the two lines of sealing script that had convened on the circle of script he was stuck on. In the blink of an eye he was trapped inside of a blue tetrahedron, or three sided pyramid, made of chakra.
Shuzen found himself very impressed. Though if they thought trapping him was enough...
He filled his limbs with chakra greatly enhancing his physical might. With a sharp tug he ripped his feet free from the Fuinjutsu trap. Doing so shattered the schema and broke the trap, which noticeably did not break down the barrier. Two seals? It made sense. One to temporarily trap him so the other could be activated and trap him in a better box.
He moved to the wall of the barrier and cocked his fist back. He used his full chakra enhanced might to punch the wall as hard as he possibly could. The barrier didn't even ripple. It did, however, suddenly begin to shrink. He stepped back from it and watched as it closed in on him. The barrier flowed across the ground and around trees without damaging them giving him an idea.
He flashed through hand signs and attempted to dive into the earth once more. Attempted because just an inch below the surface was the fourth side of the barrier. Clever. They would have have to plan that before they even saw him using earth release jutsu. It showed that they planned ahead, something he appreciated.
He wasn't sure what the barrier was designed to do, other than hold him and shrink, or how strong it was. So, since he couldn't think of any Fuinjutsu in his rather large arsenal to use against the barrier, he tried summoning earth spears, which were promptly crushed. As was the wall he summoned next. He even tried forming a dome over himself but it too was destroyed.
So, he tried the old fashioned approach, hit it until it broke.
His blows against the barrier wall did zero visible damage and didn't slow its progress in the least. Eventually, he was back in the middle of the training ground where he'd issued the challenge. Eventually, the tetrahedron stopped shrinking when the point of the three-sided pyramid was seven feet off of the ground giving him a little headroom but not much space where he could stand to his full height.
Once he was locked in place there was a quiet pop followed by a hissing sound. He sniffed the air but didn't smell anything, not that a lack of scent meant anything. He finally understood the whole plan. The three groups surrounded him fully intending to lock him in the barrier. If he'd just stood around the barrier would have gone up without him even hoping to stop it. His attack had probably slowed their progress but clearly hadn't stopped it. Once he left his spot, they placed the poison gas in its spot and set it off once the barrier shrank and locked him in a space with very little area to it thus enhancing the potency of the invisible and scentless poison.
He wasn't worried in the least. As a fresh genin, there were a minuscule number of odorless and scentless poisons that any of them could have got their hands on, even the two clan kids. Unfortunately for them, he had built up an immunity to all easily available poisons. Something any jonin worth their salt did. Which meant he would be fiiiiiiii...
He swayed as his vision began to darken and his head grew light. He lost control of his body and collapsed to the ground. The last thing he saw were the small army of his little genin walking out of the woods toward him.
Maybe he shouldn't have told them to come at him with the intent to kill him?
-----Line Break-----
AN
Soooo I may have been excited to write this. I mean, it's only 12k words long...
I've wanted to do a Naruto fiction for a while but never had an idea I thought was good enough. Then, a few weeks back, I stumbled onto a nice CYOA for the series and thought, 'Hey! I wonder if I came make the ultimate Uzumaki?'
Yes, yes I could. I set the character up in my mind to be JUST an Uzumaki with things like Fuinjutsu and their Chakra Chains. I also, originally, planned for him to be a contemporary of Naruto's, meaning the same age. I also, specifically, avoided making him a Jinchuriki because, duh, that was Naruto's role.
But then, I was truck with a lightning bolt! The cold war era I picked as his starting point covered from the end of the 3rd world war up to the end of Naruto, everything after the time skip was considered the 4th shinobi wolrd war era.
That meant, technically, that since I picked for him to be betwee nages 8-10 and an Academy student orphan, that I could totally fuck with the character. So I did, as you can see! It was so easy to put him in as Kushina's baby brother and with that being the case, it also made sense, in a twisted way, that Minato would much rather sacrifice Kenji to cage the nine-tails than his infant son. Kushina was older than that when she became the Jinchuriki so it wasn't impossible, especially with the seal Minato chose to use.
So, I made Kenji the Jinchuriki of the FULL might of Kurama. He's got BOTH halves. Minato would see no reason to split Kurama since he was sealing the bijuu in to a full blooded Uzumaki who had some Fuinjutsu training of his own, rather than an infant only hours old.
So, yeah, with these little things, Kenji will be 22 when Naruto graduates the Academy. For reference, he is 4 years younger than Kakashi and 5 years older than Itachi. Which makes him the middle genius of that particlar trio.
BTW for those wondering about the Kumo war going on. I know it's not stricktly said in canon that Konoha and Kumo went to war, but I couldn't think of any other reason for there to be a peace delegation visiting Konoha other than a really short war between the countries. Given Kumo's obsession with the Byakugan, I could see them going to war just to make a chance to steal some eyes and get their hands on a main branch member. They were shown to have a fairly uhealthy obsession with the Byakugan.
Well, either way, its canon to MY version of events now. Just don't expect Kenji to get involved. I believe Hiruzen would want to keep Kenji in the village and safe rather than risk him dying and having no one alive capable of sealing Kurama into Naruto, or someone else. I don't think even Jiraiya is capable of sealing Kurama. Uzumaki Mito sealed Kurama the first two times, and Minato (taught by an Uzumaki) did it the third time using the reaper. Maybe Hiruzen could do it since he knows that technique too? I'm not 100% on if he would be strong enough though. It could be debated either way I'm sure. Point is, it's not a pointless risk he would take to get just one more okay newbie genin on the field.
Well, that's it for now! I'll put up the next vote later today or tomorrow. For now, my fingers hurt.
OH! The title! I can see it now, "Naruto is an Uzumaki!", but... is he? The only Uzumaki traits he has is their strong life-force and large chakra. Fuinjutsu? Pfft, no. Chakra chains? No. Healing Chakra (think Karen being bitten), nope. Mind's eye of the Kagura? Nuh uh. He doesn't even have red hair! In short, Naruto is a Namikaze, not an Uzumaki. Logically, he was only named Uzumaki Naruto to hide his relationship to Minato. Asassins would have swooped down and murdered his ass if he was name Namikaze Naruto. Hell, his most used primary attack, Rasengan, is a Namikaze invention... I think you get my point. So, Uzumaki Kenji, a red headed Fuinjutsu Master is definitely the Last Uzumaki.
You know, other than the other Uzumaki out there. >_o
Anyway, later!