Naruto: Amongst the Whirling Tides Chapter 21

Hi all,

Here’s the next chapter. A little late, but better late than never. The next post will be on Thursday when I finally release HP: The Gamer’s Dimension.

Chapter 21

Naruto waited for his father to begin his lesson. He was most excited to learn the Flying Raijin of all the things he was going to teach him.

Minato pulled out a kunai with his seal formula written on it.

"To make things easier, I will refer to the Flying Raijin Technique as Hirashin from now on," Minato said. "It was a technique invented by the Second Hokage. It’s incredible that it was invented in the first place, but it wasn’t perfect."

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked.

"First and foremost, the total number of seals he could use was limited, and they would fade over time," Minato explained. “This wasn’t an issue when he was in a battle, as he only needed them to last as long as the fight did.”

“That would involve a lot of extra work to maintain them outside of battle, though.”

Minato nodded. “The technique had a limited range. For example, he couldn’t use it to travel from one end of the Five Elemental Nations to the other. He could only travel short distances, so he had a network of hundreds of seals set up throughout the Fire Nation. It wasn’t very efficient.”

“Then you came along and perfected the technique.”

"I was benefiting from the foundation of someone else’s work. The Second Hokage was a genius, so he would likely have improved upon it if he had lived longer. But yes, I saw how Hirashin could be improved upon and devoted a lot of time to improving it. This technique isn’t easy to learn, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get it right away."

Minato threw the kunai to Naruto, who caught it deftly. He examined the kunai, running his hands over the seal formula carved into the surface.

"We will have to go see the blacksmith to have your own set of kunai made," Minato explained. "They are made of chakra metal, which is resistant to damage."

“Are you being stingy, old man? How come I can’t use yours?"

Minato shook his head. “I have a limited supply because I only recovered a few of them when I was resurrected. The rest are either lost or used in my network of teleportation destinations. Besides, you should always have your own set of tools and avoid relying on others."

“Alright. I suppose I will have to inscribe the seal on them as well.”

“That’s right, but it won’t be as easy as that,” Minato replied. “Take a closer look. Although the formula appears simple, it’s far more complicated."

Naruto squinted. Now that he was paying attention, he could see that each kanji character was made up of hundreds of smaller characters. How on earth was this accomplished?

Minato continued. "Hirashin uses space-time jutsu, allowing me to teleport to a specific location instantly. The seal serves as both a beacon and a means of facilitating the creation of a rift in space."

"Will I have to learn this? It sounds like a lot of tedious work."

Minato rolled his eyes, muttering, "He is just like his mother."

Minato vanished and reappeared next to Naruto, startling him. He pressed a kunai against Naruto's neck, the blade threatening to pierce his skin.

“What the hell was that for?” Naruto exclaimed.

“I’m just demonstrating the technique,” Minato grinned. "The seal may appear complicated, but that is the easy part compared to the next steps."

“Lay it on me, old man. I’m ready for anything."

"The first challenge you will face is opening a tear in space itself. This feat can only be accomplished by vibrating your chakra at a specific frequency. The combination of this vibrational energy and the seal is what allows the tear to form."

“This sounds damn confusing." Naruto frowned. "What is the place you traverse through when you teleport? Does it allow you to travel through outer space? To other planets?”

"It is theoretically possible, but it’s not something I have ever come close to accomplishing," Minato admitted. “I even tried it once when I was experimenting, but the results were rather unpleasant. Let me try to explain it better."

Minato grabbed a branch and began etching an image onto the ground. He started by sketching a circle, followed by a smaller one inside it. Following that, he drew crude stars and planets around the circles to represent space.

"This is Earth," Minato explained, pointing to the inner circle. "With the help of a seal, I can travel to any location on this planet as long as I have the necessary chakra. I no longer have any limitations because I have unlimited chakra reserves, thanks to Edo Tensei. Well, it’s more accurate to say that my reserves regenerate so fast that they appear infinite."

He then pointed to the outside circle. “There is an invisible barrier that surrounds the Earth and prevents space from being disrupted, which is how Hirashin works. If I wanted to use the technique to travel into space, I would have to find a way to break through the barrier."

“How would you even know this? Can you even get a seal up into space in the first place?”

Minato flicked Naruto’s forehead. "What do you think I use the kunai for? It’s for accessing inaccessible places. I only needed to launch my kunai into the sky until it broke through the atmosphere. It took me a few tries to accomplish it.”

"What happened after that? Did you really try teleporting out of space?"

Minato shrugged. “I bounced off the barrier and fell back to earth. That was an interesting experience.”

Naruto reached out and flicked his father's forehead in retaliation. “Are you an idiot? There were so many things that could have gone wrong."

"Your reaction is similar to Kushina's when she discovered what I did," Minato muttered. "Although her reaction was more violent."

Naruto snotted. "Did you consider how harsh the environment is in space? What if your body imploded the second you appeared there?”

Minato used his finger to emphasise his point. "In theory, the chakra I use to protect myself from rifts should have also protected me from the harsh environment in space."

“Is that another requirement? Shielding myself from the environment inside the rift?”

“Yes. Travelling through the rift without shielding yourself will most likely kill you. It wasn’t designed to be traversable by humans.”

“I wonder how the Second Hokaged discovered that fact."

"Most likely by nearly killing himself."

"Sounds like the two of you are the same," Naruto remarked. “So, I need my own kunai. I have to learn how to open a tear in space, and I need to be able to shroud my body in chakra to protect myself from the extreme environment. Is there anything else I should know?"

His enthusiasm for learning the technique was waning. If others heard him say that, then they would likely beat him to death because he had his clones at his disposal to help him.

“That about sums it up.”

"But I didn’t notice you cloaking your body in chakra when you teleported," Naruto frowned.

“That’s because it was over in a flash,” Minato joked before explaining properly "Edo Tensei has made my body a lot more durable, so I don’t need the protection. Enough with the explanations. We will begin by practising writing the seal formula. "

Naruto grinned and performed a hand seal. Twenty shadow clones popped into existence.

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

Naruto returned to the Uzumaki clan's secret lair the next morning. He entered the chamber with the pedestal. He hadn’t been able to find anything else the last time he was here. This time, armed with Hisashi's knowledge, he knew exactly what to do. He took out the brush and wrote "open" on the pedestal.

The back wall moved, sliding sideways to reveal a small room. Naruto stepped inside and discovered a spartan space with only two notable features.

In the room stood a bookshelf filled with a collection of books and scrolls. While he felt a strong temptation to browse through them, it was the peculiar table positioned against the wall that truly caught his attention. This table boasted an array of dials, knobs, buttons, and displays, complete with a sizable screen mounted on the back wall. The screen showcased a floating symbol belonging to the Uzumaki clan, yet the remainder of the display remained empty.

He sat at the desk and examined the table more closely. He assumed it was some kind of advanced computer based on his limited knowledge of them.

“Where is the on switch?”

Naruto started pushing random buttons until the screen came to life, revealing a menu listing several functions to choose from. Judging from their contents, it seemed like this was some sort of control centre for different operations on the island. He figured the fog surrounding the island was one of these operations.

"How does the fog array continue to function to this day? It must be obtaining chakra from somewhere. Are they absorbing energy from the environment?"

He examined the console more closely and discovered controls that enabled him to navigate the menu. He chose the first option, which was an interactive map. It was extremely detailed, revealing important information about the island. The island's dimensions, any resources, structures, and any arrays that are still operational, including the one that controls the fog on the island and the array that allowed Hisashi to exist in such a state.

The truly remarkable aspect was that it displayed their developing village in real-time, capturing every significant change to the island. The mechanism behind this was unknown, but its potential to improve village planning was undeniable. Even though they had already planned their settlement, this feature would allow them to achieve greater accuracy and minimise errors.

Naruto furrowed his brow as he noticed that only two arrays were still active. He could tell by the green border around the text, which also displayed the percentage of chakra supplied to each array. All of the other arrays, by contrast, were highlighted in red. This meant that they were not working for some reason. He wondered if the arrays had been damaged in some way.

As he examined some of the arrays, he noticed that several of them had been used to terraform the island, increasing its natural diversity and changing the soil composition to allow for a thriving farming industry to feed the population. This endeavour reminded him of Yamanaki's efforts, though on a much larger scale. The Yamanaki had mentioned how difficult it was to grow enough crops due to the extensive maintenance required, which inevitably limited their production capacity. With the current crop yield, they were unable to sustain their current population.

Naruto was perplexed that an island in a subtropical climate could be so dry. Something had changed the landscape, turning it into a desolate wasteland. However, the Uzumaki clan had devised a solution: they had created fuinjutsu arrays to transform the land. Restoring these arrays would allow them to increase their crops and bring life back to the island.

The second most common function of the arrays was to protect and monitor the waters surrounding the island. He couldn’t understand how Uzushio could have been so easily invaded with such arrays at their disposal. Were they incapacitated before the invasion began? But that would have necessitated someone with access to this room betraying the clan. Perhaps he should ask his great-uncle about it.

Naruto returned to the menu and chose the next option, which was related to the Uzumaki clan's research projects at the time of the invasion. He looked through them, but the majority of them were purely theoretical in design and had not progressed beyond the early stages. One entry piqued his interest: a design for a new ship that looked a lot more advanced than anything currently available. Considering this idea was conceived over thirty years ago, it only made it even more incredible. He made a mental note of it, as having such a vessel could be useful in the future.

He paused when he came across another research project called Genesis. He was denied access to the information when he attempted to access it. A prompt appeared, requesting a password. Naruto frowned. What could be so sensitive that the person in charge of the research project felt the need to password-protect it? How many people had access to this room? There couldn’t be many.

His suspicions were confirmed when he discovered that all of the arrays had been damaged.

The next option on the menu was in charge of managing the arrays. His suspicions were confirmed when he discovered that all of the arrays were damaged. Given the large number of arrays destroyed, it appeared that their destruction was deliberate. He made a mental note of the location of each array, determined to find a solution. He planned to do a physical inspection later to determine the extent of the damage to the arrays and whether they could be repaired. Surely, the information on their design was saved somewhere in this computer.

Naruto skimmed the rest of the menu, but the majority of the other options were mostly databases with information on various subjects. He was particularly interested in the detailed history of the Uzumaki Clan. Someone must have transferred the information from the written record to the computer at some point. There was even a section dedicated to the clan's jutsu and fighting techniques. He would have to take a closer look later, but he had too much on his plate right now.

He looked through the bookcase before leaving and discovered a book about the Adamantine Sealing Chains. He took it with him and went back to Hisashi's chamber.

Hisashi appeared in front of him. “How was it? Were they surprised that the Uzumaki Clan possessed such an amazing feature?"

"Who had access to the control centre at the time of the invasion?" Naruto asked, getting straight to the point.

Hisashi let out a sigh. "There were only a few of them. You want to know who could have betrayed the clan by destroying the arrays?"

"You must have a good idea who did it," Naruto said.

"When the invasion began, I was on the front lines," Hisashi explained. "I was so caught off guard at the time that I didn’t think about questioning why the defence arrays weren’t working."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "I’m not asking for proof, but who do you believe did it?"

Hisashi looked off into the distance as if remembering something. "I had always had my doubts about an elder in the clan who was close to my brother. His name was Himura, and he was both radical and ruthless in his thinking. He influenced my brother on numerous occasions, and we had a lot of disagreements about it."

He sounded like another Danzo. Why were these people given positions of power when they could cause so much harm?

"Do you think he was the one who sabotaged the clan?"

"Perhaps," Hisashi replied as he began pacing within the array. "He was involved in a highly confidential research project. Only my brother knew anything about it. The only thing he said was that it was a secret weapon that would keep us safe from the other hidden nations."

“What does that have to do with sabotaging the clan?”

Hisashi came to a halt and turned to face Naruto. "This is pure speculation, but I believe Himure purposefully sabotaged the arrays for the invaders to gain access to the island. He most likely intended to use the weapon on the invaders and eliminate them all at once."

"That seems like a stupid plan," Naruto commented. "Why would he destroy the arrays? He could have turned them off and it would have worked just as well."

"Perhaps he was afraid that someone would show up and reactivate the arrays."

"He must have known there would be an invasion if he was able to do so much damage ahead of time,” Naruto said.

Hisashi nodded.

"Did you happen to see the secret weapon in action?"

"No, I was killed early on in the invasion." Hisashi gave a wry smile. "I must have been a primary target because they sent a wave of Shinobi at me until I was overwhelmed."

There wasn’t anything else to go on, so he could forget it for the moment. For all he knew, the secret weapon was a massive failure that was buried along with the rest of the village. Naruto made his way to the exit, already thinking about what he was going to do with the rest of his day, when he was called back by Hisashi.

“There is one avenue you can use to learn more about Himura and his secrets,” Hisashi said. “There’s a small island about thirty miles to the north of here that belonged to Uzushio. He used it to conduct his experiments in privacy.”

“Do you believe I will find something after all this time?” Naruto asked.

Hisashi shrugged. “There is only one way to find out.”

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

Naruto returned to the village, his mind still mulling over everything he had learned in the control centre. He needed to report to the leaders because the situation was too big for him to handle alone. If he could reactivate the fuinjutsu arrays and even create more, it would have a huge impact on their survival on the island.

From an elevated vantage point, he could see the village below rapidly expanding with the arrival of more villagers. A perimeter of buildings had now formed around the encampment, which would soon house various shops and services. The tents would be removed once every villager had their own home, transforming the area into a bustling trading square where business would take place.

Some people had already moved in and were reorganising their businesses to meet their needs, including the blacksmith, whom he needed to see soon. When he noticed a tall figure enter the store, he decided he might as well get the process started. He took a piece of paper from his pocket that listed the specifications for the kunai he would require. They were made of a specialised chakra metal that was rare. Hopefully, the blacksmith has some on hand.

As he entered the store, a bell rang, and he noticed that it was nearly ready to open. The shelving had been constructed, and a variety of weapons were displayed on the wall. He walked over to inspect them, curious as to which weapon he would employ if he decided to incorporate it into his fighting style. The majority of them were swords, ranging in size from small kunai to massive, two-handed great swords.

Naruto rubbed his chin, thinking. Although he didn’t intend to use a main weapon, he needed another set of shuriken. He had some Ryo saved up and had no intention of spending it on anyone other than Kushina.

"May I help you?"

Naruto turned to see who had spoken. Standing behind the counter was a tall, slender man with an ordinary face and a thick beard. Though Naruto felt a sense of familiarity, he was unable to recall the man's name.

"Hello," Naruto said as he approached the counter. "Do you own the business?"

"That is correct. My name is Shiro. You are the Uzumaki kid, correct? There is no mistaking you for anyone else."

Naruto ran his fingers through his hair. Even though his hair was still short, it was growing back quickly, and he no longer had to endure any more bald jokes. "I will take that as a compliment. I'm Naruto. Are you also a blacksmith? To be honest, you don’t appear to be built for wielding a hammer."

Shiro reached for a two-handed sword on the counter with one hand. He swung it around with ease, displaying his strength. “Appearances can be deceiving. I was an apprentice of Higarashi’s before I deserted Konoha along with the other villages. I'm originally from Takumi Village, which is well known for its artisans.”

Naruto had no idea what any of those names meant. "Well, I would like you to make something for me. I require a kunai made from a specific chakra metal."

"The same as your father, right?" Shiro accepted the piece of paper Naruto handed him. "He placed an order for the same thing, but I am afraid I will have to disappoint you. I don’t have enough metal for one kunai, so two dozen are out of the question.”

Naruto scowled. "Do you know where I might be able to get some?"

"You would have to return to the mainland and buy it. Or locate a mine that contains the specific ore used to create it."

Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wonder if my old man has a solution.”

It occurred to him that he could potentially recreate the ore he required by using the brush, but he dismissed the idea right away. If he relied on it to solve every problem, he would become reliant on it. It would be better to reserve it for more important projects.

"Hey, Naruto," Tenten said, appearing in the doorway behind the counter. "What are you doing here?"

"Why else would I come to a blacksmith?" Naruto grinned. “What about you?”

"I work here," Tenten explained as she leaned over the counter. "I use so many weapons that I figured I would learn to make them and save me some Ryo."

"She is my first apprentice," Shiro said, smiling. “It helps that she is a hard worker.”

“That’s cool. Tenten, you are pretty good at fuinjutsu, aren’t you?"

Tenten shrugged. “I'm alright. I learned fuinjutsu primarily to use the sealing scrolls to store my weapons, but I also make explosive tags."

"Would you like to improve even more?" Naruto inquired. "We can study it together, and you might even get some individualised training from Jiraiya or my father."

“Really?” Tenten's eyes widened. "Wow, that is a generous offer. I have been depressed ever since I asked Tsunade to be her apprentice and she turned me down. I don’t have the chakra control to be a medic-nin."

"That stinks," Naruto exclaimed. "However, being able to do fuinjutsu isn’t something that everyone can do. You need to play to your strengths."

"It would undoubtedly benefit the store," Shiro added.

"I guess so," Tenten said. Her eyes narrowed, suspiciously looking at Naruto. "Wait, why are you asking the question in the first place? Do you have an ulterior motive?"

Naruto averted his gaze. “Of course not. "What makes you think that?"

“Naruto!”

Naruto groaned. "I am learning fuinjutsu with Sai. He also has a talent for it."

“Do you mean the root operative?”

"He used to be an operative. I am attempting to rehabilitate him so that he can officially join the village. Having another friendly face around would be beneficial."

Tenten tapped her fingers on the counter as she considered the idea. “Alright, I will join you. But if Sai calls me any insulting names, I am going to punch him."

"Nice," Naruto said with a smile. "I have to get going. The next training session is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Please meet me at my tent."

Naruto exited the store, relieved to have found another recruit. He believed that if they were to restore Uzushio to its former glory, a group of Shinobi skilled in fuinjutsu would be required. Perhaps he should enlist Karin's help as well, as she has a good chance of being proficient at it considering that she is an Uzumaki.

He went to find Jiraiya and told him what he had discovered earlier. Jiraiya appeared to be interested in exploring it himself, but he stated that he would first discuss it with Mei to determine how they would utilise the control centre from now on.

With all of the training and projects involving the Sakusei Burashi, it appeared that he would be kept busy for the foreseeable future. There were also arrays that he needed to inspect and repair. He didn’t have to do it alone because his father and Jiraiya were better suited for the job, but he would like to learn as well. He would also be taking a Chunin test soon, with all the added responsibilities that entailed.

Even though he had his clones to cut some corners with his training, there were some things he could only do on his own.

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

“This is boring,” Kushina pouted. The leaf sticking to her forehead fell to the ground and she kicked the ground. “I want to learn some jutsu.”

Naruto groaned inwardly. Is this how he sounded when he was younger and bugged everyone to teach him jutsu? He seemed to be getting what he deserved for being so annoying back then.

“You need to improve your chakra control before you even think about learning any jutsu,” Naruto said. "Plus, you need to build up your chakra reserves.”

“Why do I have to stick a leaf to my forehead? Isn’t there something better?”

“I already explained why,” Naruto sighed. “You need to start with the basics. I had to do the same when I was your age.”

“When can I learn that?” Kushina asked, pointing to the clones that were busy practising the various tasks Naruto had assigned them.

“You mean the shadow clone jutsu? Not for a long time. There are no shortcuts.”

Sai looked up from a book he was reading nearby. “Do you know how hypocritical that sounds?”

"Quiet," Naruto said dismissively, waving his hand. "I can smell your envy from all the way over here."

"I smell something, and it’s not pleasant," Sai said with his usual creepy smile.

Kushina giggled.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Keep working on the leaf exercise, Kushina. If you manage to stick it to your forehead for a minute, I will take you to get some ramen.”

“Yes!” Kushina grabbed the leaf and stuck it to her forehead.

Naruto kept an eye on his shadow clones as they worked. He had summoned a total of forty, and he didn’t want to push it any further. It was tempting to increase it even further, but he didn’t want to risk depleting his reserves from his core. He still needed to save some for the next device he was making with the Sakusei Burashi.

He was considering making two separate measuring devices for his blood and chakra so that he wouldn’t have to use as many resources at once. It was a more viable method after he completed the theoretical design of each with his design tool.

The clones were divided into three groups. Twenty of them were still working on the Hiraishin fuinjutsu formula, which he thought was the most important to finish. Another ten clones were learning wind elemental transformation. They were holding leaves, and they needed to shape their chakra into something resembling a scalpel to cut the leaves perfectly. It wasn’t an easy exercise, and they hadn’t made any progress so far. The last ten continued to work on learning the jutsu that his father had suggested. Minato wanted him to learn jutsu other than wind and water release to make him a more balanced ninjutsu specialist.

Naruto moved closer to Sai to speak with him. He had an idea that had been circling in his head for a while, and he wanted Sai's thoughts on it.

“Sai, what kind of beasts can you draw with your Super Beast Imitating Art?”

Sai raised an eyebrow at him. “Anything that I can draw. There are some limitations, such as the beast's need for a physiologically viable form that mimics how they would normally move around. Because of this, I usually imitate existing animals or something similar."

"Could you draw a bird to carry an individual?"

“Yes. But since my creations are made of ink, it doesn’t take much to dispel them. If this occurred from a sufficient height, the individual is unlikely to survive the fall."

Naruto shrugged. "So, a minor risk. I’m not asking them to participate in combat. How long would a beast last, and how many can you control at a time?”

Sai placed the book down. “Why are you asking all these questions?”

“Just humour me.”

“Once they are created, they will stay around indefinitely. I don’t need to specifically control them, but I can issue some basic orders for them to follow. That being said, my limit is about a dozen at the moment.”

Naruto grinned. “Awesome. That makes my idea even more feasible."

“Are you going to tell me now?”

“It’s not complicated. I just thought that relying on ships for surveillance was too inefficient. If we had a means of watching from the sky, then our range of sight would be drastically increased."

“That’s a surprisingly good idea for someone like you,” Sai said, causing Naruto’s eye to twitch. "However, the other villagers still don’t trust me. Do you believe they would agree to such an idea?"

“Let me worry about that,” Naruto said.

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

Back on the mainland, three people stood on the cliffside, gazing out at the sea. They were a Kumo team on a mission to find the individuals who had abandoned Konoha. They finally followed them to the coast, where they boarded a ship and sailed away to an unknown destination.

"We must dispatch a messenger bird to the Raikage," Samui said. "We are getting close to locating them."

Karui shook her head. "All we know is that they boarded a ship." From here, they could have sailed anywhere. Who knows where they ended up after all this time?”

“Are you that stupid?” Omoi snorted. “Please engage your brain.”

“What was that?” Karui shook her fist at him. “Do you want a beating?”

“Enough,” Samui ordered. "Although they could have gone anywhere, there is one obvious possibility that would make a good hiding place."

Karui snapped her fingers as she finally caught on. “Are you talking about Uzushio?”

“That’s right,” Samui replied. "However, we must proceed with caution. They might be watching, and we do not want to give ourselves away."

So, what do you think? Kumo is close to discovering the village. Can Naruto do anything to stop them?

Thanks for reading.