Note as to why I was away for so long:
First off...OUTSIDE COUNTRIES ARE A B*TCH! I travelled overseas for holiday, and as it turns out, this country bans EVERYTHING, the websites I use to write, the websites I use to find info, the apps I use to read and write, EVERYTHING! As a result, I spent days figuring how to get the VPN of THIS country to work whilst getting a membership for it in a language I cant frickin read, so really sorry about this! Anyway, enjoy!
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After guilt tripping the two siblings for a while, they finally got all the points across, and Naruto dropped the pitiful act as he straightened himself with a smile.
"Alrighty then, mind if I ask one last thing"
"Go ahead"
"Why was there only one of them? I thought it was the 'four' celestial symbols men, not one, where are the other three?" He asked
"That...perhaps they thought they only needed one person, which honestly wasn't exactly wrong, considering what happened" Temari replied solemnly
Naruto lifted a brow
"Doesn't make sense why they wouldn't use their full force for someone like Gaara, even if they had confidence in their tools" He muttered
Even if they knew it could trap him, if anything went wrong and Gaara broke free, then one person certainly will not be enough, especially when Gaara and Shukaku are no longer in conflict with one another.
"Unless..."
Naruto stood up and scanned the area with his chakra.
As soon as he scanned the area, his pupils shrunk
"...nothing???" He gasped
He had initially thought that perhaps they were preparing the revival ritual here, where they stood, and the man earlier was there to keep them all in the same spot.
But...there is nothing here?
He couldn't help but wonder if he should be worried or relieved.
"Could be because they're idiots" Kankuro joked
"No...I think you're actually right" Naruto muttered
"Huh?"
"It's not uncommon where a person's intelligence is high in regards to certain aspects, but it drops when they are tasked to use that intelligence in other aspects" Naruto said
"So there is a chance that they crafted incredible tools, thought of them to be sufficient, and overlooked all other circumstances" Naruto said
"...you can't be serious"
"I'll find out soon" Naruto said
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Naruto smiled
"I'll be right back" After saying that, he teleported away.
The location he arrived at was the usual bombing zones where he tests the tail beast bomb capsules made by Orochimaru, a place where no one will see him.
He took out the coin containing Hoki's body, and undid the seal.
*Puff*
His body appeared on the ground before Naruto, his eyes still lingered with a trace of terror.
Naruto then began drawing a seal around the body, and scattered some talismans around. He then formed a hand sign as his chakra condensed.
*Whoosh*
The talismans began moving, wrapping around the body as the seal drawn around him lit up. It began glowing brightly as the swirling talismans wrapped the body up completely.
*Rip*
The exterior ripped, and from within, Hoku sat up, tearing through the talismans. His body is cracked, and his eyes hollowed, leaving only the pupils hovering within the dark void in his eyes.
"Wh-Where am I" He muttered
He turned to Naruto
"Wh...Who are you" He stared at Naruto cluelessly, seemingly forgotten who he was.
Naruto crouched down
"I am your master, and you, you are my slave" He smiled
"I'm...your slave?" He stared at Naruto in a daze
Naruto nodded
Hoki suddenly adjusted his position and knelt down
"Gr-Greetings master, I-I'm...I'm Hoki! One of the four celestial symbols men of Takumi village" He said
Naruto smiled
'It seems the adjustments to the edo tensei worked' He chuckled in his heart
His version had two distinct differences to the original, the first, he can forcibly erase the memories of the target, being his memories of Naruto. The second, is that the caster can give the victim a command that they will follow, and his command was that Hoki was his slave. He did this as he knew the flaw of the jutsu.
If a person maintains their ego and memories perfectly, then a repeat of what happened with Hashirama and Tobirama will occur, they used the little freedom the jutsu gave them to allow Naruto to have the upper hand when facing them. As a result, the best option was to make them forget about the user, and follow the user as their master.
Of course, unlike with Raiga, he didn't want to erase his ego either.
'A craftsman cannot craft good tools if they don't have their own personality after all'
"Hoki, what was your plan when you attacked Gaara" Naruto asked
Hoki stared back
"I...I will bring Gaara back and extract the tail beast's chakra to revive our ancestor, Seimei" He replied
"Uh, anything else? Or is your solo attack really the entire plan"
"Of course not, had I failed to capture the jinchuriki in the chains, I would have lured him elsewhere to trap him, my role was simply a bait, and then...and then...tss" He held his head as he tried to remember what happened after his battle with Gaara, but found his brain blanking completely.
"Just explain the plan" Naruto said
"R-Right...I also had a puppet of the girl we captured, it copies her appearance, so if Gaara was too much, I'd have used that to lock him down and lure him away, but I was able to capture him quickly, so the rest of the plans were unnecessary" He replied
"Why didn't all four of you just come?" Naruto asked
"That...the formation to revive our ancestor required a large amount of preparation, the other three were setting it up, so the moment I bring Gaara, we'd be able to proceed with it" He replied
"And you didn't have it set up before going because...?"
"...we were in a rush and didn't think it through" He replied
"..."
'I was f**king right, they were idiots' Naruto thought, feeling a little speechless
They may be genius' when it comes to their craft, but strategising is clearly not part of their forte.
"Hah, well, where are the other three?" Naruto asked
"They are in the canyon to the west of where I fought the Suna brats" He responded
"Mn, I'll be sure to enslave them as well then" He muttered
"Pardon?"
"I said I'll be sure to enslave them" He repeated
"Oh, I knew I heard it right" Hoki nodded
Naruto formed a hand sign
"For now, get sealed"
"Pardon?"
*poof*
With that, he was turned into a coin once more. Naruto tucked the coin away and returned to where Temari was to relay the information he got.
"Yeah, they were idiots" He said
"Huh?"
"I questioned his corpse" Naruto said without elaborating
"P-Pardon?" Temari asked
"I said, I questioned his corpse" He replied, once more, without elaborating
"A-And...he called himself an idiot?" Temari's lips twitched as she asked
"Nah, I figured they were idiots when I asked him for their plans" He said calmly
Holding in her anger, she played along
"And what did that...'corpse' say their plan was?" She asked
"Capture Gaara, revive Seimei, get revenge, that's it" He responded
Temari sucked in a cold breath
"Anything else? It feels like you're skipping a lot of details"
"Nope, that's literally their entire plan, I also wondered if they had any additional details, but as I said, they were idiots and sent only Hoki because they were in a rush" He said
"...seriously?" Kankuro asked
"Dead serious" Naruto replied
"You're f**king with me, aren't you" Kankuro questioned
"If I were, I'd be recording this, and showing it to your kid in the future" Naruto said with a dead pan expression
"..."
"And you got this information out of...a corpse?" He asked
"Ye~p" Naruto nodded
"Can you please explain how you questioned a corpse?"
"Well, I just asked him some questions, and he answered" Naruto replied
"..."
"I won't ask any more questions, asking more will just raise my blood levels" Temari rubbed her temples and sighed
Her gaze then became sharper ask she spoke
"Then, have you found where the others are?" She asked
"Naturally, you wouldn't believe how I found out" Naruto said with a cheeky smile
"Let me guess, you asked a corpse?" She crossed her arms and asked
"Goodness, you must be a great fortune teller, how'd you know?"
"I wonder" Temari rolled her eyes and said
Naruto knew that the gig was getting old, so he laughed as he moved on. He turned his attention to the chains that were left behind, and walked over to pick it up. When he grabbed it, he felt his chakra flow slow down a bit, but it wasn't to the degree that it sealed his chakra entirely.
'Perhaps it's chakra density, though Gaara has the one tail, he has yet to access the majority of its chakra and use it as his own, but even so, it shouldn't have sealed him off as thoroughly as it did' He thought
"It seems the denser one's chakra, the less effect this thing has, still, it's a fascinating tool, though I find it odd that it was able to incapacitate Gaara so thoroughly" He muttered
"Uh...actually" Kankuro coughed
"Gaara was already exhausted when he got chained, so that may be the reason, we were initially ambushed by all four, and in order to protect the kids, Gaara expended quite a bit of chakra, and immediately gave chase when Matsuri was captured, so he hardly had time to rest" Kankuro explained
"That explains it then, this chain has some effects, but against Jinchurikis whose chakra are as dense as they are, it shouldn't have worked" Naruto said
Kankuro stared at the chains as a thought came to mind
"If you don't mind, cand I have those chains? I wish to study it, and perhaps integrate it into my puppets" He said
Naruto's eyes lit up
"Great idea! Take it, take it, when you gain some more insights, don't forget to share" He said
"Of course" Kankuro nodded as he took the chains off Naruto
*Pfft*
He immediately dropped the chains
*Clang*
"Uh...I forgot it sealed my chakra on contact..." He coughed awkwardly
Naruto picked the chains up, and drew a seal on it
"This should halt its effects for some time, don't take it off until you get back" He said as he passed it to Kankuro
"Thanks"
"Don't say thanks between friends" Naruto smiled
"Haha, alright"
Naruto picked Gaara up, then threw him over to Temari
"Take good care of him for now, I'll head to their hideout and rescue that Misturi girl"
"Matsuri" Kankuro corrected
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get Monkeyri back as soon as possible" Naruto waved his hands and said
"You're just f**king with us again, aren't you?" Kankuro sighed
"Indeed I am" Naruto smiled back
"Sometimes I seriously want to punch you, you know?" Kankuro grumbled
"Aw shucks, my other friends all say the same thing, especially Tenten" Naruto laughed
"You really deserve a beating"
Naruto shrugged
"Be careful, if they have more weapons like that chain, even if it doesn't affect you as much, it can still be dangerous" Kankuro said
"Of course, that thing is indeed quite dangerous" He still remembered the property it had, it sealed not just chakra, but space.
If he got caught, he won't be able to escape with the flying raijin.
"Wouldn't it be better to wait for Gaara to recover first? We can attack their base together" Temari asked
"It would be better...but where's the fun in that?" Naruto grinned
"Th-That-...are you serious?"
"Temari, life is too short to care about small things like that, having fun is very important" He chuckled
"...I won't stop you, but I hope you won't take any risks while you're there" She said in a low voice
"Don't worry, I've got a fabulous plan~" He said with a playful laugh
"And what will that be?" Temari gave him a rather distrustful expression as her brows lifted
Naruto didn't respond right away, instead, his smile widened. A wicked smile, one that made Temari feel the urge to punch his face despite him being here to help. Instead, she can only clench her fist tightly as she muttered "control yourself" continuously in her head.
"I wish you the best of luck" Temari sighed faintly before saying this
Naruto nodded, but before he left, he said one more thing
"By the way, Shiki said he misses you" He said before teleporting away
"H-Huh!? Wait, what?" Temari wanted to ask, but he left the moment he finished speaking!
In frustration, she stomped her feet as a faint pink hue appeared on her face
"Th-That b*stard, he could have at least told me everything before going...tsk, Sh-Shikamaru misses me? That sounds unlikely, I mean, would he? He wouldn't, right?" She muttered to herself
Kankuro was somewhat in awe, he has never see his sister act this way before, so he was quite fascinated. On the other hand, he was also surprised his sister took an interest in someone.
'Shikamaru, he's the one that worked with sister during the Chunin exam, right? I should send him a gift' He thought to himself, thinking he should give a greeting gift for his future in-law.
Meanwhile, Naruto teleported out, and brought Hoki back out.
"Lead the way" He said
"Yes"
-Konoha-
Inside the Hokage's office, a heated argument had started, leaving Tsunade with a dark expression. Facing her isn't just one person, but Danzo, along with the elders council.
Their expression solemn, with neither side backing down.
"Hokage-sama, as elders of Konoha, we have the right to know" Danzo said
Tsunade scoffed
"The right to know? What right do you have to pry into my matters, huh?" She scowled
Danzo slammed his hand against the table
"The fact that Menma's identity is still unknown to us is already too much, we have tolerated that for so long for the sake of the village, but now, he brought an outside in?" He shouted
He met eyes with Tsunade, while the elders behind nodded
"That's right, we didn't question you much when you brought Menma in, and introduced him as a special force you trained in secret, you've only been in the village for so long, how can you have trained anyone in secret? But we overlooked it" One of the elders said
Tsunade crossed her arms, awaiting for them to finish speaking, though she didn't seem very patient, and seemed to be ready to strike if they annoyed her any more.
"Those were fine, he has protected our village, and gained great fame, however...now, he has brought an outsider in, that is not something we can just overlook" Danzo said
"Why is that" Tsunade asked
"We do not know who Menma is, you may trust him, but as an elder of the village, do we not have the right to know? Otherwise, how can we continue placing our trust in a person whom we know nothing of?" He responded
He shook his head and sighed
"Hokage-sama, we speak for the village, please tell us who Menma is, and why he has brought in that girl of unknown origins" He said with a fierce glare.
Tsunade's expression grew darker
"You-"
*Bang*
"Did someone call?" He cold chuckle came through as someone walked in.
Behind him was a girl with a mask over her lower face, though it didn't hide her playful expression.
"M-Menma-san" Danzo, as well as the elder council were all taken aback by his appearance here
"Luckily for you, I'm just a clone" Menma responded coldly
Danzo gulped when their eyes met as an uneasy look appeared in his eyes.
Menma walked over, with Fu following closely behind. She looked around at the elders, then hopped over to Tsunade.
"So~, am I not welcome here?" Fu asked
"Right, is she welcome here?" Menma asked as he sat down, facing the elders, eye to eye.
*Gulp*
Menma's glaring red eyes left them in silence, before he arrived, they still had the confidence to speak, but when they met him in person...the pressure was intense.
Only Danzo kept his cool as he glanced over
"Menma-san, I hope you don't mind this offence, but-"
"So you knew it was an offence, yet you still did it?" Menma crossed his arms and asked
"I am doing this for the village, your identity is still unknown to us, thus, we cannot put our full trust in you" He said, not backing down even when met with Menma's glare.
Menma tapped his arm lightly as he stared back, no one knew what was going through his head at this moment, but the longer the silence, the more nervous they became.
"I see...Fu, we're leaving the village forever" Menma stood up and said
"Eh? Okay~"
"H-Huh!?" The elders and Danzo all gasped
"Wh-What do you mean, Menma-san?"
Menma shrugged
"I'm quite the free spirit you see, I'm sure any village will want someone like me" He chuckled
"W-Wait a moment, let's talk through this calmly" The elders suddenly interjected
"I am very calm" Menma responded with a friendly look glance, but that made it all the more scary to the elders.
"Th-Then-"
"I'm leaving" Menma said
Sweat rolled down the face of the elders, then, they heard a sigh
It came from Tsunade, who leaned on one hand
"Well, take care, quite a pity" She said
"Indeed" Menma nodded
"W-Wait, let's not get hasty" One of the elders blocked his path and said with a nervous smile
"I'm not hasty" Menma replied calmly
"...i-if you feel offended, we apologise..." The elders said
"...I see you're not being sincere" Menma said as he continued to get up to leave
The elders shuddered, if Menma were to leave...the possibility of an attack isn't low if such a thing were to happen...
"Are you really going to become a missing nin for such a pointless discussion" Danzo asked
"Would you be surprised if I said yes?"
"..."
*Phew*
Danzo clenched his fists, while the elders panicked even more
"Menma-san, no, Menma-sama, what do we need to do to quell your anger" They said worryingly
It was only then that Menma stopped, as a smile grew under his mask.
'As expected of dad, he got what he wanted so quickly' Fu gasped
Before coming here, Menma said he'd force the elders to say that exact line, and he really did it!
"Anything?" He asked
"Anything" The elders nodded
Menma let out a faint chuckle
"Then I want..."
-Five minutes later-
The elders left the office with a depressed look, while Danzo looked as if he lost his soul.
"M-My money" He muttered over and over again
Normally, he wouldn't be so bothered about losing money, but when the number reaches an absurd amount...
*Slap*
Tsunade and Menma high fived one another
"So, sis, you satisfied with the amount?"
"More than happy" She replied
The two grinned
"And I know just where to use it" Naruto removed his disguise and said with a wide smile
"Ooh, and I know where"
"I know you know where" Naruto grinned
"Of course you know that I know where"
"It's only natural that I know that you know I know you know where"
"...I'm confused" Fu said
"Aw, don't worry, we're going to drink till morning basically" Naruto said
"B-But...it's morning right now" Fu said
The two simply smile at her
"As I said...we drink till morning"
"...holy sh*t"
Fu exclaimed in shock
But immediately after, she nudged Naruto
"I never got to drink before, can I join?" She whispered
"Huh? Kids shouldn't drink" Naruto replied
"Aren't I older than you!?" Fu asked
"But you're my daughter now, and as a responsible adult, I cannot let you drink" Naruto said as he pulled out a bottle of wine
"..."
Tsunade nodded
"Indeed, drinking isn't for someone as young as you" She said, as she too, pulled out a bottle of wine
"...b-but he's younger than me" She pointed at Naruto and said
"Hush, the adults are drinking" Naruto interjected as he opened the cap
"Why am I even here..." Fu sniffled
"To show you how I work" Naruto replied
"By drinking?"
He shook his head
"How I intimidate the elders and threaten the council" He said as he began drinking
"And how he acts around them, as his daughter, you should act accordingly as well, keep your head up high with dignity, they can't do sh*t to you" Tsunade added as she began drinking as well
Fu nodded, but as time went on, she leaned over to them again
"J-Just one sip" She asked
"No, how can a kid drink?" Naruto said
"Hypocrite!" Fu huffed
"Yeah, you should know that by now" Naruto said calmly
"I hate that I can't refute that!"
"Haha...anyway, I wonder how the main body is doing" Naruto muttered
-Sunagakure-
*Bang*
"Well, it was what I expected, but also not really" Naruto muttered as chains wrapped around him completely, with four people on all sides.
[What a formation, the four of them has the brat tied up! He tries to use his chakra, but as it turns out, his chakra has been sealed by the chains!]
"Hoki, how did you lose to someone like this?" A large man laughed
Hoki glanced at them
"Uh, well...he first chained down my chains" He said
[Here it comes, the psychological warfare!] Kurama howled in Naruto's head
"He what?"
"Then he bombed me" He continued
"Bombed? What?"
"Then he revived me"
"Hold on, I can't keep up" A woman by the side said
"Then he said I was his slave"
"Okay, I'm lost, anyone else?"
"Lost"
"Very lost" The other two responded promptly
"Then he told me how he captured me" Hoki said
"..."
"And lastly, I led him over and pretended to be escaping to lead you all into a trap"
"Wait what?"
*Boom*
From below the ground, chains burst out, wrapping around all of them in an instant...including Hoki. The chains also began wrapping up the chain around Naruto, pulling it down and crushing it into the ground.
[Hahaha! They thought they had him trapped, but it turns out that their leader was one of his men! How will they react? Will they be able to make a comeback from this situation! How will he escape!]
"Wh-What! But he's chained, his chakra should be sealed!" The large man exclaimed
Naruto lifted a brow
"I mean, yeah~, but nah~" He said
*Poof*
He turned into a puff of smoke and vanished
"A-A clone!? We spent all that effort on a clone!"
"Yep, bet you all feel pretty stupid now" Naruto appeared next to them, crouching there with a faint smile on his face.
His carefree expression made them all jump in fright, though none could really move with the chains tying them up.
[My goodness, who would have known, it was a clone! What a twist! Why a fight! He has them cornered, what a battle! What a boring battle!]
'Kurama, you already know my plan, why do you act so surprised?'
[Kid, when it comes to commentary, you need to be oblivious to everything, and overly exaggerate everything that happens to have good impact] Kurama spoke like a professional, sounding rather profound for a moment.
Naruto sighed as he turned his attention to the group
"I hope that was as fun as it was for you as it was for me" Naruto smiled
"I didn't have fun" The woman scowled
"Oh, good, cause I didn't either, though I expected it to be this boring, but who am Ito blame except myself for having expectations, right?"
"Y-You!"
The three glared at Naruto, but then at Hoki
"You! You were our leader! Why did you betray us!" They yelled
"H-Huh? I betrayed you? B-But I'm just following master's orders"
"What?"
"Didn't I say? He revived me and I became his slave" He said with a serious expression
The eyes on the three of them slowly turned red as they turned to Naruto
"What did you do to him! Turn him back right now!" The woman yelled
Their reddened eyes started to water as they yelled, anger filling their hearts when they realised the man they call their leader has been brainwashed.
Naruto sighed
"Why do you make me look like the bad guy? What have I ever done wrong?"
[Literally everything] Kurama said
'Besides that 'everything', I've also done plenty of good' Naruto huffed
[...]
'Why aren't you talking?'
[I was listing all the good things you did in your life] Kurama responded calmly
'...'
Naruto faced the four he has chained up
"Master, can you release me now?" Hoki asked
"Mnn, no~" He reploed
"C-Can I ask why?"
"You see, I have minor OCD, four is a good number, even and simple, if I release you, won't I only have three people held captive?" He replied with a serious glimmer
Hoki stared back with a blank gaze, then soon nodded
"Oh...makes sense"
'Makes sense my a*s!'
"Just what did you do to Hoki-san! How did he become such an idiot!" The woman yelled
"Don't blame an innocent man, he's always been an idiot, okay? Only thing I did to his brain was make him think he's my slave, I'm very upright, got it?" He huffed with a righteous expression
"If you're upright, then I'm a monk!" The woman snapped
Naruto crossed his arms, and decided to be the bigger man, as to not argue with these 'unreasonable' people.
He then looked around, and noticed a large contraption with a spherical object in the centre.
"So, how were you going torevive your ancestor anyway? What was his name...Semen, right?"
"It's Seimei-sama!" The large man yelled
Naruto rubbed his chin
"Ooh, I don't care, how were you going to revive him anyway?" Naruto asked
"Why should I tell you!"
Naruto sighed
"Slave one, answer my question"
"We were going to absorb the Ichibi's chakra with that cage over there, and the chakra will be processed, and Seimei-sama would become a vessel, then..." He began explaining the theoretical parts of the contraption, which Naruto found great interest in.
After listening, he found it to be more and more interesting
'This isn't like the edo tensei as I initially assumed, the soul is pulled back, and the vessel is perfectly merged with it, so they won't be pulled in by the pure lands like how it works with the edo tensei'
'The pure land is like a law, so souls cannot simply leave at will, the edo tensei breaks that law, resulting in the soul undergoing strain, extended period will cause excruciating pain'
One may think, if that is the case, what about Raiga? Well, if anyone asked, Naruto will simply reply respond, "What about Raiga?" with an unbothered expression.
As he thought about the contraption, he walked closer to it
"So, does it need to absorb the Ichibi's chakra, or does any beast work?" He asked
"Any will work, but the Ichibi was the closest" Hoki replied
"Stop telling him everything dammit!" The woman yelled
"Can't help it, he's my master" Hoki replied
"He's not!"
"But he said he was" Hoki said with a serious expression
"Gosh! It's like talking to a five year old! He is NOT your master!" The woman screamed at Hoki, with her face turning red from anger
Hoki tilted his head to the side
"But...he said he was"
"...how did you even become our leader???"
"Dunno, how did he become my master?" Hoki replied with a rather proud look, as if he came up with the perfect response to her question, however, that only served to further lower their opinion on this man they once called leader...
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at these people argue
"Alright, you can all stop arguing now" He said
"Shut up! If it weren't for you, our ancestor, Seimei-sama would have been brought back, and we could have taken our revenge!"
Naruto sighed
"I plan on-"
"You damned brat! Unreasonable!"
"I said, I-"
"Wretch! I hope you stay single for life!"
"I'll have you know I have-"
"Frickin weirdo"
"..."
Naruto's expression became dark as he snapped his fingers, dragging all four of them together as he approached them. He raised his fist up and...
*Bang*
"Ouch!"
*Bang*
"Tsss, that hurts!"
*Bang*
*Bang*
Relentless strikes came down on them, he even removed the chains to bash them around into the ground, and stuck the large man's head into the earth.
Their cries rang out every time he struck. He grabbed the back of the woman's head and dragged her face across the ground, before throwing her against the wall. He proceeded to repeatedly bash each member, including Hoki.
"Wh-Why me as well" Hoki spoke with great difficulty
"I believe in equality, it doesn't matter if you're on my side, I keep things even" Naruto replied
"...m-makes sense"
"How does that make sense!" The woman screamed
"Oh? You still have the strength to scream? More for you then" Naruto cracked his knuckles and walked over
"S-Stay back, get awa-AHHHHHH"