Naruto: Amongst the Whirling Tides Chapter 27

Hi all, Here’s the first chapter that I owe. Naruto travels to Mt Myoboku, and some interesting information is revealed.

Chapter 27

The sound of hammers rang out as construction on the new building began. 

Naruto observed the construction as he stood in the street, watching the structure take shape right before his eyes. It wouldn’t be long before he and the girls could move in. When Shinobi was on the crew, building a house took very little time.

The layout of the village was rapidly taking shape. If you looked at the village from above, you would notice that it was organised in a spiral shape, with the Merchant's Square in the centre, which housed the main businesses, services, and administrative offices. From there, several streets were being built, in a concentric circle pattern that radiated out from the centre of the village. 

His house was located on the second circle closest to the centre and would be a two-storey house with a small backyard. When there weren’t many villagers, and you had plenty of space, then you were afforded the luxury of having a bigger house.

Naruto proposed the village design to represent the Uzumaki Clan's symbol, which was approved after some debate with the council. If it hadn’t been a functional design, then it wouldn’t have been accepted. The design would deviate from this convention as the village expanded further. Once the fuinjutsu arrays that allowed for the island's terraforming were restored, cultivating the land would be much easier. Crop planting would require sections of land to be more uniform in shape. 

"Don't just stand there!" the construction supervisor yelled at him. "I need you to gain some construction experience so that we can abuse... I mean, make better use of your clones in the future.”

Naruto sighed. “Your ulterior motives are so transparent.”

But he stepped forward and started passing up beams so the crew could construct the roof. The frame was nearly done, then all the electrical and plumbing would be next. It was early afternoon, but the crew had promised to work late to get as much done as they could, in exchange for Naruto giving them some clones to use once he was allowed to use chakra once more.

"Naruto," Gamakichi said, suddenly appearing beside him. "The toads have allowed you to bring Kushina with you to Mt. Myoboku."

“Cool,” Naruto said. “I would have given up on the idea if Kushina couldn’t go as well.”

The girl refused to be away from his side for a few days after he had just gotten back from his mission, so he had no choice but to get permission from the toads. He had already cleared the trip with Jiraiya, after he had promised not to use any chakra while he was away. If his progress was good, then he was allowed to stay for longer, as being able to master senjutsu would be a huge asset to the village. 

Naruto continued to assist with the house construction until late in the evening. The building was almost complete; it only needed the interior to be finished and the utilities to be connected. Since he would be leaving tomorrow, he handed over his wallet to Karin, who would buy all of the furniture, appliances, and interior decorations required to make it livable. 

He hoped she didn’t go overboard and make his house too girly. He had also hired the Yamanaka’s to create a nice, landscape garden in his backyard, since he didn’t fancy doing the work himself.  All of the ryo that he made from selling the chakra metal ingots was rapidly depleting, but he could always make more.

The village had been using Minato to obtain additional supplies that they didn’t have on hand, to allow them to build the village’s infrastructure. He had been teleporting throughout the Elemental Nations and avoided staying in one place for too long to avoid attracting attention. The majority of the furniture came from the Land of Waves, which had a large population of artisans. Naruto had recommended them because he knew how skilled they were, and he wanted to help them get back on their feet after being oppressed by Gato.

Naruto took a quick tour inside with Karin and Kushina. It was a four-bedroom house, with two bathrooms, and a large kitchen that Naruto secretly hoped Karin would take a liking to, as he didn’t like cooking at all. They would all have a separate bathroom, and there would be one left over to be used as a guest room.

He was listening to Kushina as she explained to Karin what she wanted in her room, when he heard a knock at the door. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune entered the house, holding some bottles of alcohol in their hands, and took a look around.

“Not a bad place, brat,” Tsunade said. She waved the bottle at him. “We brought some alcohol.”

“I don’t like the stuff,” Naruto reminded her. “And I’m only thirteen years old; need I remind you.”

“Your loss,” Tsunade said, pulling out a cup from her clothes and pouring herself a cup. “You're a Chunin now, right? Virtually an adult already. You’re plenty old enough to kill, which makes you old enough to drink, and old enough to f—”

Shizune hastily covered Tsunade's’ mouth before she could finish the sentence. “Tsunade! Don’t speak so vulgarly in front of Kushina.”

"Since when has something like age prevented her from being rude?" Jiraiya muttered.

Tsunade ignored him and smiled at Kushina. “Hello, little red. Where did the squirrel come from?”

“I found him at the restaurant,” Kushina told her. 

"You have even got it on a leash." Tsunade remarked, noticing the collar around its neck. “Are you sure it wants to stay by your side?”

“Yes! I am taking good care of him and feeding him lots of food,” Kushina replied. “I will take him with me to see the toads.”

Naruto’s stomach rumbled. “Speaking of food, did you bring any? I’m starving.”

Shizune pulled out a storage scroll and laid it out on the ground. “I thought you might be hungry, so I made some food for you.”

“You’re the best!” Everyone sat down on the floor and started eating their food. “Shizune, if I was ten years older, I would marry you.”

Shizune laughed. "Am I too old for you now? I only turned twenty-eight this year.”

"Yes, that’s old,” Karin snorted. “Don’t be a cougar and go for someone around your own age.”

Shizune glared at her. “I wasn’t being serious.”

"Ladies," Naruto said, raising his hands to appease them. “There’s no need to fight over me. I have plenty of love to go around."

Karin and Shizune turned to him simultaneously. “Shut up, Naruto!”

“What’s a cougar?” Kushina asked.

"That is a special lady who doesn’t let normal social conventions get in the way of their pursuit of love," Jiraiya said, laughing.

Kushina took some time to process what he said, looking perplexed. "Thank you, Pervy Sage!"

Jiraiya choked on what he was eating. “Don’t call me that. Where did you even hear such a name?”

Kushina pointed to Naruto, who was rolling on the floor laughing.

“It fits you perfectly,” Tsunade said, her lips twitching. 

“Don’t encourage them,” Jiraiya grumbled.

They carried on eating their meal. Kushina was getting sleepy because it was so late, so Karin offered to take her home. She would sleep in her tent alongside her. The squirrel begged Naruto with pleading eyes not to leave with the girl, but Naruto ignored him. Maybe he should free the unfortunate squirrel at some point, but he didn’t want to take him away from Kushina right now.

After the girls had left, Jiraiya offered Naruto some saki, which he accepted. Although he didn’t really like the stuff, he could drink it on occasion. 

Naruto realised that someone was missing. "Where is my old man? I assumed he would be here."

"He is currently away from the village." Jiraiya explained. "He is on a mission to investigate something for the council."

“What is it about? Or can’t you say?”

“It’s not really a secret,” Jiraiya said, pouring himself some sake and taking a sip. “We have spent most of the Ryo we had on hand to purchase all the supplies for the village. Taking down pirates isn’t going to be enough. So, we have been brainstorming ways to earn more Ryo.”

“What did you come up with?”

Jiraiya beamed. "We plan to start a mercenary company and sell our services to the public."

Naruto frowned. "Do you mean like the Akatsuki?"
"Yes, but without all the evil ulterior motives. But if you think about it, we have more in common with them than anyone else."

“What do you mean?”

"Well, they are a group of people who exist outside of the traditional Shinobi system. Just as we are attempting to establish a new Shinobi system in this village."

“We aren’t all criminals, though,” Naruto pointed out.  

"All Shinobi can be considered criminals, at least in the eyes of civilians," Tsunade stated. “We lie, cheat, and steal to achieve our objectives. We aren’t afraid to kill if it becomes necessary, and many of us don’t care about collateral damage, such as killing innocent civilians or damaging their property. They are helpless to the whims of the Shinobi.”

Naruto struggled to understand that perspective, but he couldn’t deny that her words had a ring of truth to them. Still, it left a sour taste in his mouth.

“That’s why we have missions to capture such criminals,” Naruto argued. 

Tsunade snorted. “Some of those crimes are being committed by Shinobi who are part of a hidden village, which fully endorses their actions and protects them from any fallout.”

Jiraiya sighed. “The hidden villages are no different from us or the Akatsuki. All Shinobi can be considered mercenaries, doing distasteful jobs for the sake of Ryo. We don’t discriminate about who hires us, so it could be possible that we are working for the bad guys and hurting innocent civilians in the process.”

Naruto clenched his fists in his lap, feeling angry that all his beliefs were being challenged, although he already knew a lot of the injustices beforehand. “We will be different. I don’t want to be part of a mercenary group that works for the bad guys. We need to be more selective in who we choose as clients.”

Jiraiya smiled. “I totally agree.”

“How is it going to work?” Tsunade asked, her scepticism evident. “You need to establish yourselves first. It’s not going to be easy to break into the market that the hidden villages have a monopoly on.”

Jiraiya nodded, acknowledging her point. "We will charge significantly less than the hidden villages, allowing us to quickly build a client base. There are only so many missions we can take, due to the number of Shinobi we have, so it won’t cause too many waves if we are careful.” 

Naruto raised his hand. “Wait a moment. There are still many logistical problems to address before establishing a mercenary company. First and foremost, have you forgotten that we are trying to hide out here? If we start appearing on the mainland, we will quickly attract attention. It will not take long for Konoha to put the pieces together and figure out who we are."

Jiraiya opened his mouth to speak, but Naruto persisted. "Secondly, how will we get our Shinobi to the mainland quickly and without being seen by others? We cannot just rely on Sai's ink beasts to get them there, or on me, once I master Hiraishin. Third, how many Shinobis do you intend to dedicate to this company? Are you going to leave our village vulnerable while they are out on missions?"

“Have you finished?” Jiraiya asked, when Naruto paused to take a breath.

"I am nowhere near done."

“Too bad. Let me address the issues you brought up,” Jiraiya said, raising a finger. “First, we are going to make it a requirement that all mercenaries be disguised. We may still be recognised due to the techniques we perform, but there is no getting around that.”

Naruto nodded.

Jiraiya raised another finger. “Secondly, I already have an idea of how we can transport our mercenaries without being seen. Do you remember showing me the designs for the new ship you found on the computer in the control centre?”

“Yes, I thought it looked interesting.”

"Well, there was another design I discovered on the computer. It was a design for a submersible vehicle that travels beneath the water rather than above it."

“How is that even possible?” 

Naruto had never heard of such a thing. However, thanks to the Uzumaki's unique abilities, they had been introducing a plethora of new technology into the world. They used the Yin-Yang release to help bring their inventions to life before developing the means to manufacture them more conventionally. Prior to its destruction, Uzushio was the most technologically advanced village in the Five Elemental Nations, with remnants scattered throughout. 

“It’s only an idea on paper at the moment,” Jiraiya cautioned. “We need the right materials to build the thing, along with the right individuals to make it. But if we succeed, it will give us a huge military advantage over the other nations.”

“I recommend that you put Yusuke in charge of it,” Naruto suggested. "He has a lot of experience building ships, so he should be able to catch on quickly. What about the third issue?” 

"That is up to you," Jiraiya said. "Once you have mastered the Hiraishin, we can invite the remaining Suna people to join our village. I am confident they will not object to the idea. That should provide a sufficient number of Shinobi to both protect the village and serve in the mercenary company.”

“No pressure, then,” Naruto said. He suddenly recalled that he wanted to speak to Jiraiya about an important topic before he left. “Tell me about the prophecy.”

Jiraiya sighed. “I promise to tell you when you return. You may discover some of it when you are training with the toads, anyway.”

“I will hold you to your promise."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The following morning, Naruto and Kushina were reverse summoned to Mt Myoboku.

He looked around and realised he had returned to the same location as before. Gamakichi, Fukasaku, and Shima were waiting for them. 

“This place is so pretty!” Kushina exclaimed, clutching the squirrel to her chest while she looked around at all the giant fauna looming over her.

“Thank you, young lady,” Fukasaku said. “We take great pride in our home. I suggest you hold onto that squirrel, as some of the toads here may see it as a tasty snack.”

Kushina’s eye grew large, and she held the squirrel even tighter.

"I will look after the little squirt while you train," Gamakichi said, raising his foreleg in greeting. "We are going to have so much fun together!"

"Kichi, no eating the squirrel," Kushina said firmly.

"My taste is more refined than resorting to eating a squirrel, Kushina."

“Gamamaru wants to see you before we start your training,” Shima said. “Let’s get moving.”

Kushina climbed onto Naruto’s back, and the elderly toads jumped onto his shoulders. He remembered the route from last time, so he dashed across the ground, with Gamakichi following behind him. When they arrived at Gamamaru's shrine, the old toad looked alert for once, and observed them as he climbed the stairs to greet him.

Naruto placed Kushina on the ground, and she approached the giant toad to examine him. Gamamaru briefly looked at the girl, but his attention seemed to be drawn to the squirrel, who chittered and hid his face in Kushina's arms. 

"Such a bright little thing, resulting from a horrible practice," Gamamaru said. "It warms my heart to see you thriving, little one.”

“You’re huge,” Kushina said, staring up at him. “It must take a lot of squirrels to feed you.”

Fukasaku and Shima laughed at Gamamaru's puzzled expression and explained what they had said to her.

Gamamaru lowered his head. “Miss, Uzumaki, you should be more worried about yourself. You have much more meat on your bones than a mere squirrel.”

Kushina gasped, retreating from Gamamaru and hiding behind Naruto. 

“Naruto, you have finally returned,” Gamamaru said in greeting. "I see that you have recently been in conflict, and your inner self is in turmoil."

“I’m working on it,” Naruto replied. "I even got a meditation exercise from the Yamanaka's to help me."

Gamamaru nodded. "You are referring to the clan capable of reading minds. You may be able to apply the technique to your training here. Senjutsu requires mental stability, which is difficult to achieve with the Kyuubi, but it does provide some benefits. Compared to your father and Jiraiya, you will find it easier to gather nature energy and incorporate it into your body.”

“Why is that?” 

Gamamaru didn’t immediately answer him and turned to Naruto’s summon. "Gamakichi, could you show Miss Uzumaki where she will be staying? I’m sure she doesn’t want to have to listen to my long, boring explanation.”

“You got it, boss,” Gamakichi said, leading Kushina away.

"Nature energy must be balanced with your other chakra energies before you can use it safely," Gamamaru said. "Because nature's energy is found everywhere in the world around us, its supply is nearly infinite. Hence, it takes a significant amount of chakra to balance it out. Then there is the matter of your third chakra source.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. “You know about that?”

“Little escapes my sight,” Gamamaru informed him.

"Except for ninety percent of the time, when you are sleeping," Fukasaku quipped, laughing.

Gamamaru didn’t bother to respond to his rudeness. “May I see the form your golden chakra takes?”

“No one else can see my chains,” Naruto told him.

“I’m not just anybody.”

Naruto nodded before summoning his chains. It might have been his imagination, but they appeared much more robust and vibrant than the last time he saw them.

"How is this possible?" Shima approached him and poked at the chains, only to have her hand pass through them.

"What is happening?" Naruto exclaimed. “Why can Shima see the chains?”

Gamamaru cleared his throat. “That’s because these chains contain nature energy. Or, at the very least, a variation on it. Nature energy is usually imperceptible, unless you learn how to sense it, which is why no one else was able to see the chains. I believe there is something else, as Jiraiya should have been able to sense the chains as well."

Naruto sat on the ground. “Explain.”

“Did you know chakra is actually another form of nature energy?” Gamamaru asked, and Naruto shook his head. "Nature energy isn’t something anyone can use easily, as it’s really potent, but the Sage of the Six Paths developed a method for the human body to automatically convert nature energy into chakra, which is an internal energy rather than an external energy. When a Shinobi has used up his chakra, they need to rest to replenish their reserves. In actuality, their body is passively absorbing nature energy and converting it into chakra until their reserves are full again.”

Naruto was aware that Shinobi couldn’t usually store extra chakra in their bodies, so the amount of chakra they could use was usually limited. But he was unique in that he had a chakra core, which provided him with additional reserves that he could draw on at any time.

"What does this have to do with my chains? The gold chakra Are you saying that the gold chakra is a mutation of nature energy?"

"To some extent," Gamamaru acknowledged. "But I suspect your chains aren’t the result of a natural mutation. I believe someone attempted to artificially infuse your body with nature energy, making you the ideal vessel to wield it. But something went wrong during the process. Nature energy is difficult to control, but it did manifest to some extent."

Naruto felt silent. He knew it had to be his mother who was carrying out the experiments on him, because she was the one who transformed his mindscape into something much more. He wanted to know what she was trying to accomplish by doing what she did. He wasn’t complaining because her intervention provided him with some useful abilities, but it could have been disastrous for him. 

What truly disappointed him was that she had done these things to him while he was still in her womb. She didn’t have time to transform his mindscape with the Eight Trigram Seal and conduct some experiments in the span of a few hours during the night of Kurama's attack on the village.

He paused for a moment, wondering if he should tell Gamamaru about the Sakurai Burashi. Ultimately, his desire to understand his mother's actions drove him to tell him everything, including his encounter with Hagoromo.

"So, there was such a story," Gamamaru sighed. "This could explain why the gold chakra has manifested as chains. The Adamantine Sealing Chains are a sealing technique that emerges from the user's torso. It’s possible that she altered the chains to perform changes inside her own body, which explains how she experimented on you while you were still in her womb. Something went wrong during the process, and your new power manifested as chains as a result."

“Why would she do such a thing, though?” Naruto yelled, and Kurama’s chakra briefly emerged from his body due to his anger.

"Calm down," Gamamaru said, reaching out and placing a hand on his head. Naruto's anger immediately subsided and the chakra vanished.

"I’m not sure why your mother would do such a thing," Gamamaru admitted. "But I can see another hand at work here. It’s possible she wasn’t doing it alone.”

"Who are you referring to?" Naruto asked, before realisation dawned. "You’re not talking about Hagoromo, are you?"

"It wouldn’t surprise me if he is still meddling with us even after he is no longer with us."

His mother had undoubtedly interacted with Hagoromo in the past, as she had to hold the Sakurai Burashi to obtain the Yin-Yang release. It is possible she returned to the chamber and spoke with Hagoromo sometime before he was born. 

Naruto frowned. “I can’t really prove that, so I will put it aside for the moment. How will senjutsu training affect my chains?"

"Did you see how your chains reacted when they emerged?" Gamamaru asked. "That is because Mt Myoboku is filled with nature energy. I believe your chains will be strengthened once you are actively using it."

"The chains allow me to read people's intentions to some extent," Naruto explained to him. "It is far from omnipotent, though, and I have encountered Shinobu with strong mental shields that prevent my attempts to read them."

Gamamaru released a wheezing chuckle. “When you have mastered Sage Mode, you will have the ability to sense evil, and the harmful intentions of others. Perhaps we will see something entirely new when it’s combined with the ability of your chains.” 

Naruto grinned. That was as good a motivation as any to train hard and master senjutsu. That, and seeing the expression on Jiraiya’s face when he realised that he had mastered it much faster than he did.  

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Killer B watched from his position in Kushina’s arms as Gamakichi showed her around the house she would be staying in.

It was hard to describe the level of frustration he was feeling at the moment. He was supposed to get intel on the village, but it was hard to do so when he was now stuck here. Although he had already obtained some key information, it was far from enough to satisfy A. 

He would be very interested in the fact that Minato was alive, albeit not in the traditional sense. But it also complicated matters because the man was a powerful Shinobi who no one, including Killer B, wanted to face without backup. If they were to proceed with the invasion, they would need to find a way to deal with him.

There was also some interesting information about Naruto Uzumaki. The boy was already aspiring to the same heights as his father, based on snippets he had gleaned from overhearing his conversations with others. Aside from being the container for the Kyuubi, he was proving to be a formidable Shinobi in his own right.

Not only was he attempting to master Hiraishin, but he was also a chakra powerhouse who had previously learned the Rasengan. Now, he discovered that the boy was going to learn senjutsu, which would only make him even stronger. If he grew into adulthood, he would undoubtedly surpass his father and become a big threat to Kumo. Especially once he gained complete control over his tailed beast. If they couldn’t recruit him, then they may have to eliminate him.

That wasn’t what he wanted. He would rather live in harmony with others, but he was also loyal to his brother and Kumogakure, so he was torn over what to do. For the time being, he was going to stick with his mission and see where it led him. 

Killer B was tempted to break the connection with the squirrel to summon another creature and return to the village from where he was resting in the cave. He didn’t know how long he would be here, and he had a feeling the giant toad noticed something was off about him. 

There were only two reasons he didn’t abandon the squirrel. He was curious to learn more about Naruto Uzumaki, and there was still plenty of time before he needed to obtain the intel on the village. Of course, this had nothing to do with disappointing the little girl. If he severed the connection, the squirrel would die because the vessel was empty without him controlling it.

Killer B chittered, and Kushina looked down at him. 

“Bubbles, you need to behave. We are surrounded by hungry toads that will eat you up if you get close to them.”

“Bubbles?” Gyuki snorted from within his mind. “That’s a great name. I will call you that from now on.”

“There is no need to be cruel. Stop making me look like a fool, Yo.”

“How are you going to get away from the girl so you can spy on Naruto Uzumaki?”

“I’m still working on that.”

Gyuki changed the subject. “Don’t you think this girl is strange?”

“What do you mean?”

"Didn’t Kumo attempt to kidnap a girl of the same name? The same girl who married Minato Namikaze and gave birth to Naruto Uzumaki?” 

"Now that you mention it, it seems strange. The girl has the same red hair as the woman. She might be one of the Uzumaki descendants who survived the village’s massacre. Naruto then adopted her and named her after his mother."

“Maybe,” Gyuki said, his tone full of doubt. “Perhaps we should kidnap her. She could prove to be a valuable hostage.”

“Are you for real? Kidnapping kids from other villages, I never saw the appeal.”

“It was only a suggestion. I don’t approve of the practice either. But what would A want you to do?”

“Screw A. I'm not kidnapping any girls. The mere thought of it makes me want to hurl.”

Now, how could he escape the strong grip of this little girl? He didn’t know how much more he could take from this torture.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Naruto was led to another area with a waterfall that emptied into a fountain at the bottom. He had no idea where the water was going, but he assumed there were some hidden pipes sending it back up to the top of the waterfall, creating a never-ending cycle. 

The fountain was surrounded by large stone toad statues, each in the same meditative position. Naruto had a strange feeling when he saw them, as if his mind was trying to point out something obvious to him. 

Fukasaku noticed the direction of his gaze and smirked. “Do you want to know who these toads were?”

Naruto nodded.

"They are all the people who died while attempting to absorb nature energy into themselves. To create senjutsu chakra, the user must balance the nature energy they absorb with their own chakra. Senjutsu cannot be used if there is insufficient nature energy in the balance, but too much causes the user to turn to stone; in the case of humans, they first become animals before petrifying.”

Naruto shuddered. “Why am I doing this again? I don’t feel like becoming a decoration piece for this fountain.” 

Fukasaku grinned and grabbed a staff from near the fountain. “Don’t worry, if something goes wrong, I will simply beat the nature energy out of you before you can transform.” 

“You look far too happy with yourself,” Naruto grumbled. 

Fukasaku grabbed a pot and motioned for him to sit down at the edge of the fountain. “Take off your shirt.”

Naruto followed his command and then sat down. Fukasaku stuck his hand in the pot, and it came out, covered in a slimy substance. 

“What is that for?” Naruto wrinkled his nose at the smell.

“This is toad oil, which will help you absorb nature energy,” Fukasaku replied, before he started applying the oil to Naruto’s back. “Before we reach that step, he must first learn how to sense nature energy. This is where meditation comes into the equation.”

Naruto pulled out the scroll that showed how the Yamanaka meditation technique worked and browsed through it. “Alright, I’m ready to get started.” 

So, what do you think? In the next chapter, Naruto makes huge progress, and a confrontation with Killer B is looming.

Thanks for reading.