Yo guys sorry about the mistake in the previous chapter, lol. I fixed it. Here another 4k words!!!!!! LEAVE A REVIEW NOW, WE'RE A 100 IN ALREADY.
Chapter 100: Mind's Eye of Kagura, The Demigod's Successor, The Trailblazers of the Next Era
"Yoru, you're back!"
Yoru had barely stepped out of the Hokage building when a figure came flying toward him.
Kushina Uzumaki leaped onto him without any concern for the people around them, arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Yoru caught her, his expression carrying a trace of surprise. "Kushina, how did you know I was back?"
"Hmm, guess."
Hanging off him with both arms around his neck, Kushina wore a mysterious smile, her expression impossibly smug.
Yoru knew perfectly well that Kushina was not someone who could keep a secret. And he had come straight to Hiruzen the moment he arrived, without running into her anywhere along the way.
It wasn't impossible that she had spotted him walking through the streets by chance. But that kind of coincidence wouldn't produce that particular smug expression on her face.
Ruling that out, there was only one way Kushina could have detected his return the moment it happened: she had sensed his chakra.
Sensed.
Yoru's eyes lit up. He wrapped both arms around her waist and asked, "Did you awaken the Mind's Eye of Kagura?"
"You guessed it. Pretty impressive, right?"
Kushina lifted her chin, showing off without any attempt to hide it. "The Uzumaki clan has three unique abilities in total. Awakening any one of them marks you as a genius, and I..." She left the sentence hanging with a triumphant little hum.
At this moment Kushina looked exactly like a child who had come home with a perfect score and couldn't contain the pride.
She had every right to be proud.
Yoru praised her without holding back. "Incredible. That's exactly what I'd expect from you."
"Heheh."
Finally getting the reward she had been waiting for, Kushina broke into a delighted smile.
It was a shame that the round face that had looked exactly like a tomato was gone now, gradually giving way to a refined oval. Otherwise that slightly goofy smile would have been impossibly cute.
The people around them watched the two with warm, fond expressions.
Yoru didn't enjoy being stared at. He held Kushina and teleported them home in one step.
"Yoru, you ungrateful..."
The moment they arrived home, Kushina transformed completely.
She slid off him and immediately reached out to pinch his sides.
Using his superior neural reaction speed, Yoru stopped her hand as easily as catching a fly with chopsticks, then gave her a light smack on the head. "Where did you pick up that habit? Are you trying to kill someone?"
Kushina pressed both hands to her head, puffed up with indignation. "You bit me so many times recently and I never said it hurt, but I try to pinch you once and you hit me?"
"You can bite me back. Pinching is not allowed."
Yoru pinched her cheeks with both hands and gave them a gentle tug, smiling. "Only I get to pinch you. You don't get to pinch me."
The directness of it sent a flush spreading instantly across the girl's face.
To hide the embarrassment, Kushina grinned mischievously. "Fine, then let me bite you back."
"No problem."
Yoru immediately made a move toward his belt.
Kushina stuttered. "Wha... what are you doing?"
"Letting you bite my backside." Yoru said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're always showing your teeth. There's no better place to offer you."
"Go die."
Kushina's hair practically levitated with her fury. She swung a fist at him.
Yoru had been expecting it and dodged easily, and the two of them fell into their usual comfortable chaos around the house.
From their exchange it wasn't hard to piece together that Yoru had been coming back frequently during the training period to let Kushina use her Body Healing to restore his regular chakra.
Over a month of intensive training produced the entire A-rank Chidori series, brought shape transformation to a new level, and allowed him to develop the Laser Beam as a derivative of the Space-Time bomb. Beyond the second evolution's talent enhancement, Kushina deserved the most credit.
Every time Yoru burned through his regular chakra, he would use Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha, draw on Kushina's Body Healing to restore it, then go straight back to training. Without that, no matter how exceptional his talent, he could not have pushed his Lightning Release nature transformation and shape transformation to that level in just over a month, let alone successfully developed a new Space-Time technique on top of it.
From room to living room to kitchen, Yoru wore the expression of someone who knew exactly how annoying he was being, using his neural reaction speed to stay just out of reach and lead Kushina around like she was on a leash. But something made his attention sharpen inwardly.
With each missed punch adding to her mounting rage, Kushina's hair rising like a Super Saiyan, her violet eyes had at some point shifted to red vertical pupils.
Those eyes, paired with her bared teeth, her red hair, and her rage, made her look exactly like a fox that had taken human form.
It was the first time Yoru had seen her eyes look like this. He was not unfamiliar with what it meant.
This was the early sign of Nine-Tails chakra beginning to leak.
In the original series, Naruto Uzumaki, who possessed powerful seals, went through tailed beast transformation in stages. First his eyes turned to red vertical pupils and Nine-Tails chakra leaked uncontrolled. Then he began borrowing the Nine-Tails' chakra. Emotional turmoil would push him into partial tailed beast transformation. Finally came the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode where he suppressed the fox and claimed its chakra for himself, and eventually the Kurama Mode earned through the Nine-Tails' recognition.
Kushina did not have the Eight Trigrams Seal formed by two Four Symbols Seals. She also contained the complete Nine-Tails, not just half.
She would not go through it stage by stage the way Naruto did.
Previously, with Mito Uzumaki's chakra protecting her, Kushina had simply been an exceptionally talented Uzumaki clan member with the jinchuriki's healing factor, and her vast chakra reserves influenced by the Nine-Tails' presence. That was the extent of it.
But now that Kushina's eyes had turned to the Nine-Tails' eyes, it meant the chakra seal Mito Uzumaki had left behind was beginning to weaken.
Once the Nine-Tails broke through that layer of protection, and Kushina had no means to suppress it, she could enter partial tailed beast transformation at any moment. Not a gentle one either, but the kind where multiple tails manifested and a Tailed Beast Ball could be fired.
Without a Sharingan or sealing techniques to suppress it, Kushina alone could destroy Konoha.
It seemed this vacation period, in addition to studying the Spiritization technique, would also require setting aside time to train in sealing techniques.
Yoru made a mental note.
.....
Time flowed like sand through an hourglass, each grain carrying a different scene. Ordinary people going about their lives. The luxury of nobility. Shinobi fighting and dying. Major events playing out. Individual lives unfolding their stories.
Without anyone quite noticing, Konoha Year 36 came to its end, and a new chapter was about to begin.
During this period, the Sand frontline between Rain Country and River Country, and the Stone frontline between Rain Country and Grass Country, had still not withdrawn. They continued trading blows with Konoha's White Fang frontline and the Danzo frontline.
But the situation now was considerably better than before.
Amegakure's withdrawal, and the deterrence provided by the Demigod's continued existence, allowed civilians who had fled Rain Country to return. Surrounding small nations dared once again to enter the Land of Rain for trade, or pass through it to reach the Land of Fire and other destinations.
This was the Land of Rain's importance.
Situated at the intersection of three great nations, any time war broke out here it became the primary battlefield. When that happened, surrounding small nations were forced to confine their trade to limited areas.
Otherwise they had no choice but to pass through the Land of Wind and River Country, or through Grass Country and Waterfall Country and the Land of Earth, or travel by sea around half the ninja continent just to reach another region.
The time and money that required was astronomical, and the risks of encountering bandits or rogue ninja were real. Hiring ninja for escort almost always became necessary, and ninja villages would charge whatever they liked based on distance and duration.
Two years of four-nation warfare had disrupted not just the economies of the nations directly involved, but the economy of the entire ninja continent. Only now was the situation beginning to improve.
Southern Land of Rain.
A small river wound quietly through the landscape.
On the river's surface stood a small figure, hands moving rapidly through one hand seal after another.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
At the shout, countless tons of water rose up in the form of an enormous dragon from the river surface, flew an impressive distance, then crashed back down into the river, sending up a massive column of water.
Watching this, the small figure's first reaction was not a satisfied smile. He turned immediately to look toward the riverbank.
Only after seeing the person on the bank clapping for him did a happy smile appear on his face. He trotted over and asked, "Konan-sama, how was that?"
"Amazing. Really amazing."
Konan gave Nagato a genuine thumbs up. "It's been fewer than three months since you became a ninja, and your chakra reserves have already far surpassed mine. You built Water Release nature transformation from nothing, then learned the B-rank Water Dragon Bullet in under a week and simplified it from forty-four hand seals down to seven."
"Nagato, you are absolutely a super genius."
Receiving the praise, Nagato smiled shyly. "Konan-sama flatters me. My jutsu talent is nothing compared to you, who is already developing secret techniques."
The smile on Konan's face stiffened slightly. Then, making full use of her absolute height advantage, she gave Nagato a light knock on the head.
Looking at the confused boy rubbing his head, Konan lectured him. "That is not how you compliment someone. You have no idea how long developing a secret technique has taken me, or how long I've been stuck without progress. Saying something like that is very easy to offend people. Understood?"
"I... I'm sorry." Nagato apologized immediately.
"Hmph. You're forgiven."
Looking at the soft, almost girlish Nagato, Konan finally understood what it felt like to be an older sister.
So this was what raising a little brother was like. Just like raising a pet. Quite fun, actually.
Though this little brother seemed absurdly strong.
Yoru had already mentally prepared her, but watching Nagato surpass nearly two years of her own effort in under three months, Konan still felt a wave of disorientation and genuine pressure in her chest.
She had to develop Paper Release as quickly as possible, then obtain Amegakure's explosive tag Fire Release technique, use Paper Release combined with it to cover for the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, then layer Yoru-sama's sealing techniques on top of it all.
Otherwise she would have no authority or dignity in front of Nagato as his "Konan-sama" and older sister figure.
"Let's move. Keep looking for ways to get stronger."
She gave Nagato another light tap on the head, then walked away with both hands in her pockets, imitating Yoru.
Nagato hurried after her, his eyes following her back with unmistakable admiration.
Nagato before his corruption was the male version of Konan.
More accurately, he was the same type of person as Konan, Haku, and Kimimaro. His parents had died at the hands of Konoha ninja, yet he harbored no resentment toward Konoha and no desire for revenge. He had simply fallen into a state of confusion.
Once Konan rescued him and he became a ninja, he attached himself to her completely. His motivation for becoming stronger was to repay her and help her achieve "that important thing."
Konan, Haku, Kimimaro, and even Kushina Uzumaki were all this kind of person. It seemed to be a shared trait of war orphans.
In contrast, Yahiko, also a war orphan, had from the beginning held a different vision. Not achieving peace through non-violent means, but becoming a god of this world.
His death had pushed the Nagato who had been attached to him into darkness, and Nagato had built Yahiko's corpse into the Deva Path of Pain to fulfill that original vision.
Speaking of Yahiko, the scene shifted to Amegakure's tower.
With White Zetsu's clone secretly assisting in the shadows, Hanzo of the Salamander, now fully recovered, looked down at the orange-haired boy kneeling on one knee before him, shirtless, and his eyes filled with appreciation.
"To endure unto death and be reborn from it. I didn't expect someone who isn't even a ninja yet to possess such extraordinary will, to survive an ordeal that claimed so many others. Perhaps this is fate."
After saying this, Hanzo's expression turned serious. "Yahiko, would you be willing to become my disciple?"
"I will!"
Yahiko raised his head with shining eyes and answered loudly without hesitation.
Looking closely, one would notice a sutured scar on Yahiko's lower left side. Something surgical had been done there.
Which was indeed the case.
Hanzo didn't know that someone had helped him from the shadows. He believed he had survived because Yahiko's timely signal flare had allowed Sagawa to locate him and bring him back to Amegakure for treatment.
Among all the caves in that rocky terrain, he had by sheer chance stumbled into the one Yahiko was living in. The boy was a war orphan from Amegakure, and had become his savior. This combination of fate and debt of gratitude led Hanzo to decide he would repay the young man.
When he asked Yahiko what he wanted, the answer had been the same as canon Yahiko asking to become Jiraiya's student. He wanted Hanzo to accept him as a disciple.
Hanzo had hesitated.
Not because he was unwilling. On the contrary, Hanzo had always longed to find someone capable of inheriting his legacy.
But becoming his disciple required passing a test. That test was having a poison sac implanted in one's body and surviving.
Over the years, many Rain ninja with exceptional assassination talent whom Hanzo had deemed promising had fallen at this hurdle. Eventually this had made Hanzo believe he was a singular exception, and he had stopped thinking about taking on disciples.
Yet now, a child who wasn't even a ninja yet had somehow passed the trial that had stopped so many geniuses cold.
Combined with the thread of fate, the debt of gratitude, and Amegakure's withdrawal from the war and his own abandonment of impossible dreams, finding a successor now made Hanzo feel as though this too was the work of heaven.
As though the heavens had not wished to see Rain Country carved up and erased from the ninja continent's map after his death, and had deliberately sent an heir to his side.
And so the figure who in the original series had ruled Amegakure as the Deva Path of Pain was now walking a very different road.
.....
"Rasengan!"
Konoha. A training ground in a wooded area.
At the shout, a blond-haired young man held a blue-white sphere of energy in his palm and drove it into a large tree.
With a tremendous impact, the sturdy trunk instantly exploded inward, a spiral-patterned crater bursting through it. Then the wood let out a groan of snapping and the tree toppled to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
Having leaped back clear of the dust cloud before it even settled, Minato Namikaze's face carried a smile. He murmured to himself, "Finally got it."
Clap, clap, clap.
Jiraiya walked over and gave him a firm thumbs up. "Under five days to learn Rasengan. I knew it. Rather than calling you a genius in Body Flicker and sealing, it's more accurate to say your chakra control talent is at the same level as your neural reaction speed."
"I'm becoming more and more convinced you will definitely become Konoha's third Flying Thunder God user."
At this, Jiraiya's face lit up with excitement. "Once you learn Flying Thunder God, I am absolutely going to go rub it in Orochimaru's face. My eye for talent has never been wrong."
Seeing that Jiraiya had already placed him among Flying Thunder God's users in his mind, Minato smiled slightly awkwardly. "Jiraiya-sensei, I'm still a long way from actually learning it."
His mouth said that. His blue eyes told a different story, a flame kindling inside them that could only be called fighting spirit.
Even now, still behind. But just like in the academy, he seemed to still have the right to chase.
Among all those who had been shaken to their core by Yoru's rise from an obscure genin to a name known across the entire shinobi world over these two years, the ones most deeply affected were not Kitsuchi, who was a few years older and had been watching Yoru's climb the entire time.
It was the classmates. The people who had graduated from the same class, the same year, and who had not gone to the frontlines but had joined support forces, spent most of their time in the village, and only occasionally rotated out to escort supplies to the three major defensive lines.
While they were all still stuck in support roles because their strength wasn't enough to be deployed on the frontlines, one person from their class had already gone to the front.
In under two years that person had gone from genin to ace combatant, become one of the commanders on the border defensive line, and compiled achievement after impossible achievement, ending with the defeat of the Demigod of the Shinobi World.
Every time they rotated out to the three defensive lines and heard the latest news about Yoru, those classmates felt a wave of disorientation wash over them.
Former classmates who had once looked down on Yoru, along with older and younger students from the academy, had even begun to feel a strange kind of pride born from admiring his strength.
Even Minato Namikaze, whose strength and ninja rank were completely mismatched, whose Body Flicker speed was extraordinary and who could defeat and kill high-ranking ninja through assassination tactics alone, could no longer see any hope of catching up.
Minato's talent and growth rate had earned repeated praise and astonishment from Jiraiya-sensei.
But compared to Yoru, it was as though they weren't even in the same dimension.
Just from what Minato had heard: the super S-rank Flying Thunder God Technique and the S-rank secret art of the Yin Seal. The unmarked technique Rasengan, which paired perfectly with Flying Thunder God and had been developed before Yoru even graduated. The powerful Black Lightning secret technique, and the apparent synthesized bloodline limit of Storm Release.
In the eyes of most people, Yoru was a once-in-several-decades super genius, one who in all probability would reach the level of the Second Hokage, Second Tsuchikage, Second Mizukage, Third Raikage, and Third Tsuchikage, the pinnacle tier of Kage-level power.
Achievements and talent this terrifying gave the name Gojo Yoru its own inexplicable weight. Hearing it alone was enough to inspire helplessness and fear, let alone any thought of catching up or competing.
But the private scroll Jiraiya had handed him not long ago had reignited a flame of hope in Minato.
The core requirements for Flying Thunder God were an extraordinary neural reaction speed, followed by sealing talent, or more accurately chakra control talent at the same exceptional level as the neural reaction speed.
Both of those core requirements, Minato had.
Apart from Yoru who had already mastered Flying Thunder God, he was the person in Konoha with the best chance of learning it. If he succeeded, he would be Konoha's third Flying Thunder God user.
Yoru had mastered many techniques. But both of his titles, Black Flash and the Shinobi World's First Divine Speed, had been built on Flying Thunder God. Flying Thunder God was the foundation of everything he had accomplished.
If Minato mastered Flying Thunder God and continued building out his ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu repertoire, catching up might not be entirely impossible.
The moment that thought took hold, Minato felt his drive to grow surge.
Two years had passed, and Minato had long since set aside unrealistic fantasies. That flutter of feeling for a red-haired girl had faded and disappeared. His desire to chase Yoru was nothing more than a genius's pride, the simple refusal to accept being second forever, and the wish to beat Yoru just once.
Jiraiya had no idea his student had quietly made that monster Yoru his target to surpass.
If he had known, he certainly would have spoken up to discourage it and told Minato to give up on a goal he couldn't see the end of.
Not even Hanzo of the Salamander, the Demigod himself, had managed to drag out anything more than that blindingly fast laser beam from Yoru. Jiraiya still didn't know, to this day, the secret behind Orochimaru's absolute certainty that Yoru would become the new generation's God of Shinobi, or what the Slug Sage had meant by calling him a new shinobi world miracle.
He was certain that whatever Yoru was hiding, it was not simply a synthesized bloodline limit of Black Lightning and Storm Release, nor something like Dust Release.
And certainly not Flying Thunder God, which had been exposed from the very beginning. After all, the Second Hokage who invented Flying Thunder God hadn't even reached the level of demigod.
Yoru had no idea about the butterfly effects he had set in motion, how they had altered the fates of certain important figures and sent them down paths completely different from the original. Enough changes that the next era might see many more trailblazers than canon had.
Even if he had known, Yoru wouldn't have cared.
It was inevitable.
From the moment he had intercepted Kushina, he had triggered the greatest butterfly effect of all. One that made the appearance of Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist of the original story, highly unlikely. And even if that person did appear, they would not be a Nine-Tails jinchuriki, and would certainly not share the Uzumaki name.
Yoru could even say, decades ahead of schedule: "I did not kill Boruto, but Boruto died because of me."
Compared to that butterfly effect, the changes to Orochimaru and Konan's fates, Nagato no longer being Yahiko's follower, Yahiko becoming Hanzo's disciple, and Minato mastering Rasengan early while no longer needing to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, were all small things.
As the butterfly whose wings had set all of this in motion, Yoru would continue triggering more and more effects, gradually losing the advantage of knowing the original plot.
Because the plot was becoming something unrecognizable.
***
20+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces