Chapter 18: The Eternal Guard & Preperation
During Last Chapter, ????
The soft rocking of water against the sand of the beach was constant. His heartbeat was low, his breath steady. His eyes remained closed. Just like how they had been for so long. A sacrifice he was willing to make, one that wasn't needed, but would in the end better the world. For he would be the last bastion that would protect the world from its wrath and the world from hers. For, in the end, he realized - he had made a mistake all those long nights ago.
If it was any other person from her clan, any other, and not his dear wife whom he had done it to - they would have already revived themselves making them immortal. With the chakra imprint of her made while the Reaper Death Seal was active, any Uzumaki, and to be honest - any Fuinjutsu Master could have attempted to reincarnate themselves.
But his wife hadn't. He was lucky in that regard. He loved her, but was it worth the risk? Was it worth the risk if their daughter accidentally died in the life of the Shinobi before meeting her? He didn't know.
What would the Chakra Imprint of his wife do in that scenario? What would he do? It's why when he made the Jutsu he had immediately destroyed all of his scrolls for his work on it - it was far too risky.
What would an Immortal, unaging, undying Madara Uchiha be like? He didn't know, and if he knew it was a possibility - he would have never made the Jutsu. What about Danzo? Onoki?
But, he supposed, it was worth it. After all, although he couldn't be there for his daughter he could at least watch her. His Sage Mode granted him at least that, no matter how terrible he was at it. But...
It also let him see too much. Her struggles. Her joys. 'Oh, my dear daughter. I'm so sorry.' Oh? 'She entered the seal. Interesting. Let's see what will happen. The seal is at no risk of collapsing no matter what happens...'
His eyes opened in shock, and for that brief moment his near-perfect Chakra Control buckled, and a fragment of his Chakra escaped from him. A moment later it was back under control. 'Hah! Who would have suspected that? But still, it seems the Kyuubi is going to be a softer nut to crack.' He listened to the conversation with a soft smile on his face, unperturbed by the revelations within. After all, who could escape his senses? The answer was no one. Especially not when he had entered Sage Mode after the Masked Man had taken Naruko. 'It is interesting though. So that Chakra's name is Asura? I think I've heard that name somewhere...'
As the Kyuubi's claw pierced through his daughter's chakra body he turned his head. Long spikey blonde hair brushed his Jonin Flak Jacket as he slowly raised a hand.
He snapped.
The Kyuubi was instantly forced to the ground as nine titanic wooden gates crashed down onto its tails before a tenth one pinned its head. He let his presence be felt by the beast. "Do that again Kyuubi, and you can reform inside of my Daughter."
He turned back to the ocean he had made, closed his eyes, and began his eternal watch once more.
For that was his duty as the Yondaime Hokage and as a Father.
-The next morning-
Stepping out of the shower she'd completely ignore the old man that was sitting at her kitchen table. 'Because no one fuckin' knocks.' Sitting on her bed and drying off her hair she finally said, "Your ANBU need to chill the fuck out, old man."
His brows wrinkled. "You were leaking it's Chakra Naruko." She let out a groan. 'For fucks sake, it's like these people forget that Kushina was specifically selected out of a clan of Chakra Gods.'
"No shit. But was I rampaging? No. Did I even move a singular inch? No. Did a Chakra Cloak form? No. Did I grow any tails? No. There was barely enough extra Kyuubi chakra going into me to change my eyes. Guess what old man! That's a natural part of the seal when I use too much of my chakra, or when my emotions are too high. Like, I don't, seeing the fucking Kyuubi, y'know?" He had a large frown on his face. But the furrow of his brows lessened, "That doesn't change the fact that you were leaking its Chakra when your ANBU were in the same room as you. What if something happened?"
"Don't even try that old man. Trained fucking ANBU with a Senju Mokuton user less than 30 seconds away from me. There were 23 Jonin in the apartment building at the time, and I had sensed 3 of those special ANBU two streets over, one of which blatantly has a Sharingan. There was no risk to anyone. If your ANBU got scared when you yourself were literally just a Shunshin away, then they should just quit being Shinobi. The Akimichi clan head is also only a Shunshin away. The reality is, that your ANBU over-reacted. Most of the Jonins prepared themselves, but none of them left their apartments. Some of the Jonins didn't even MOVE because they realized there was no issue. Your newbie fucking ANBU you assigned are just a bunch of retards that overreacted that caused Coyote to overreact."
The frown and furrowed brows were replaced by a blank mask. "I see. Thank you for explaining the situation. I'm sorry about this Naruko, I'll have the situation dealt with."
He stood up. "I'll make sure things are properly explained." With that, he stepped out of her apartment. 'Strange... He went from disappointed to like a steel-trap. What did he notice? The Sharingan bit? No, it's blatantly obvious Danzo would take a few.' She let out a sigh. Truly what a fucked situation because a bunch of little babies couldn't handle some Chakra. 'This is why people think ANBU are Fodder. Honestly, remove most of the duties of the ANBU and just keep the Captains and people who can actually be Captains in the future be the black cloaks. If ANBU is meant to be the Elite of the Elite, just giving talented Chunin and a bit above-average Jonin some extra training doesn't do that. Jonin are Elite, but that's also the limit of a normal human. A squad of ANBU should be able to deal with the weaker S-Class Shinobi. As it is now... I bet a regular squad with one Captain would have 3 deaths for that to maybe happen.'
She rubbed her eyes while letting out a sigh, before standing up and beginning to pack her stuff for another day of training.
-Hiruzen Sarutobi-
He took slow, but purposeful steps as he left the apartment before the second he closed the door Shunshining back to his office. "Did your ROOT?" His voice was harsh and cold, the wood beneath his feet cracking a little from him applying too much of his strength.
"No." The shadows writhed as Danzo materialized, holding by the neck a croaking ANBU. "Jonin Genjutsu-Infiltration Specialist. He induced Uzumaki to go into a deeper meditation when it happened lowering her mental guard. He had been doing the same to the other 3 ANBU. We found who he replaced dead. Coyote didn't notice something was wrong as she never has dealt with a Jinchuriki before."
Hiruzen let out a sigh. "Ame?"
"Iwa." The voice of Danzo was cold and biting. His eyes pierced into Hiruzen. In response, Hiruzen slowly let out a sigh.
"You were right, are you happy?
"Of course not Hiruzen. What I am is livid! We have Iwa hounding at our doors, Kumo sharpening their blades, Kiri is preparing for war, like always, Sasori of the Red Sands has been spotted doing border runs, and now Jiraiya's fuck up is ready to fight everyone at once! We aren't ready! Our up-and-coming Jonin aren't there yet." Hiruzen bowed his head in thought.
"Have ROOT cripple Iwa's supply lines in the Land of Fields. Blow up the North-East mine of Kumo. ANBU notify the Academy that wartime training is to be done. I'll deal with Rasa and notify Shibuki." Danzo nodded his head with a glint in his eyes before the shadows swallowed him up. 'Why couldn't you all have just waited a few years before beginning to prepare for war?' He let out a sigh before summoning a messenger Monkey and giving it a message. 'Let's hope we can delay this for a few years. It should give us enough time to gain quite a few Jonin across the Land of Fire, and some of our Elites should be able to cross that border with some more guided training.'