Chapter 20: The Forest Fortress Surprise
The cool hush of the forest was interrupted only by the sudden whoosh of chakra and air displacement as Naruto appeared in the heart of a hidden fortress.
Not alone.
Three figures dropped beside him like silent shadows—Electra with her unreadable dark-elf stare, Punisher bristling with fur and fury, and Daredevil tilting his head like the trees had secrets to tell.
Naruto didn't flinch. This was the start of something new. Something quietly powerful.
He turned and grinned. "Welcome to the Forest Fortress, base of my soon-to-be world-class, vaguely terrifying intelligence unit."
"Oh, good," Daredevil murmured. "I was worried this would be normal."
A moment later, another flicker of space and chakra, and Clementine popped into existence mid-stride—mug of tea still in hand and pink bunny slippers on her feet.
She blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Okay," she said. "Either I'm dreaming, or you just teleported me away from my morning stretch. I was halfway into downward scythe pose."
Naruto looked incredibly pleased with himself.
"Surprise, Commander."
Clementine stared at him.
"Commander of what?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.
Naruto stepped back dramatically, sweeping his arms toward the trio like a stage magician revealing an underwhelming card trick.
"My ANBU," he announced. "Elite covert agents. Your squad. Congratulations. You've just been promoted."
For a moment, Clementine looked at the three.
Electra, who blinked slowly. Punisher, who was cracking his knuckles like a walnut vendetta was about to begin. And Daredevil, who raised two fingers in greeting and then leaned slightly toward her.
"Heart rate's fast," he said. "Excited?"
"Shut up, Batboy," Clementine replied with a grin.
Naruto snorted.
She folded her arms, taking it all in. "You're serious?"
"Always," Naruto said with a smile. "Except when I'm not. But this is one of the serious ones. You've got experience. Discipline. And enough bloodlust to make nobles wet themselves. I want you leading this team. Training them. Guiding them. Maybe occasionally threatening them."
She blinked again.
"…I was just getting used to being a glorified butler."
"And now you're a glorified commander," Naruto said brightly. "With your own private ninja unit."
"I didn't sign up for this," Clementine said.
"Yes, you did," he replied. "Somewhere between 'I'll follow you' and 'you're not so bad.'"
She rolled her eyes—but there was a small smile forming there too. The kind that slipped out when someone felt genuinely seen.
"…Fine. But if they mess up, I get to use the scary voice."
Daredevil chuckled.
Clementine turned back to the trio, eyes narrowed like a cat evaluating three half-trained dogs.
"I know you lot," she said. "You're not useless. But you're not me, either. And if you want to survive under me, you'll need to fix that."
Electra's eyes gleamed. Punisher snorted. Daredevil tilted his head again.
"Let's begin," she said, already tossing her tea aside and stretching her limbs like she was ready for a fight.
Naruto backed away slowly as the sounds of grunts, clashing blades, and Clementine's very enthusiastic yelling filled the forest training grounds.
He crossed his arms, feeling just a little smug.
Not bad, he thought. Not bad at all.
His ANBU might be small. But they were his. And with Clementine training them, chakra-infused armor in the works, and his own seals pushing their potential daily—he was no longer alone in this strange new world.
And soon?
Neither would his enemies be safe.
-----------------
The clearing rang with the sound of clashing metal and the occasional oomph of someone getting thrown. Clementine, barefoot and grinning like a wolf with a toothache, was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Naruto leaned against a tree with his arms crossed, Sage Mode gently flickering in his golden eyes as he watched the impromptu spar unfold below.
It was… instructive.
Daredevil was the first to impress him—not through strength or speed, but through ethics, of all things.
He moved like water on stone: fluid, graceful, with the kind of precision that spoke of years of training. Even without eyes, the man dodged Clementine's blinding kicks as if he saw more clearly than anyone.
"I don't fight to win," Daredevil said, breathless and determined. "I fight to protect."
Clementine blinked.
Then she punched him in the gut.
"That's cute," she said. "But you'll need to fight to survive first."
Naruto chuckled under his breath. Righteous to the point of annoying, he thought. But he'd get along with Iruka. He's just like me but without chakra and humor.
Punisher, by contrast, was a mountain with legs.
He didn't speak much—just grunted, roared, and occasionally hurled entire trees at Clementine when she got too close. His bear body was a marvel, rippling with muscle and ferocity.
"Silent type," Clementine muttered, dodging a flying axe that landed with a thud deep in a boulder. "My favorite."
But Naruto noticed more than brute strength.
The way Punisher handled his weapons… the controlled rage behind every strike… the pain behind his eyes when Clementine mentioned nobles?
Vengeance, Naruto thought. Weaponized grief. That could go both ways.Reminds me of Sasuke.
Punisher's firearms, however, made Naruto wince.
They were outdated—more like glorified fireworks strapped to pipes. His own world had chakra-powered cannons, seal-triggered artillery, and elemental-infused launchers that made Punisher's gear look like museum pieces.
We'll fix that, he thought. With the right knowledge, he'll be a walking siege weapon.
Then there was Electra.
Naruto watched her twirl midair and land soundlessly behind Clementine, only to vanish again into the shadows.
Graceful, elegant, deadly.
She didn't just fight. She danced. Sai spinning in hand, bow slung across her back like an afterthought, her movements were part seduction, part assassination, and part… theater.
And there was her mind ability—a literal information sponge that could slip into people's memories with the right touch.
"That's scary," Naruto muttered.
"I heard that," Electra said sweetly from a tree above him. "Thank you."
Naruto jumped slightly.
Yeah. Definitely scary. Like Ino.
Her weapons weren't a problem—Sai and bows were simple enough. All he needed was to forge them with chakra-infused metal and maybe embed a chakra gem or two. Easy peasy, once he knew how to actually forge anything beyond a ramen pot.
After an hour of sparring, Clementine stood in the middle of a semi-destroyed training ground, hands on hips and wild-eyed with delight.
"Not bad," she declared. "Not great either. But I've trained wild dogs with worse potential."
Punisher grunted, Electra rolled her eyes, and Daredevil smiled like it was a compliment.
Meanwhile, Naruto was still thinking.
If I'm going to lead this unit… If I'm going to give them gear worthy of ANBU… I need to learn more than fuinjutsu.
He scratched his head. I need to learn forging. Enchantments. Chakra metallurgy. Maybe even magical smithing. Ugh. I miss Tenten.
He looked toward the sky.
"I'll have to find a teacher," he said out loud.
From the side, Clementine piped up, "What? Gonna learn blacksmithing now?"
"Apparently," Naruto sighed.
"Good. Maybe you'll finally stop asking me to sharpen your kunai."
------------------
After leaving the trio of would-be assassins to endure the bootcamp-from-hell under Clementine's ever-enthusiastic, borderline-violent tutelage, Naruto vanished in a flicker of chakra and reappeared on the sunny veranda of his mansion.
Birds chirped. A breeze rustled the ivy hanging from the balcony. Somewhere in the distance, a kettle whistled.
Home.
And not just any home—his home.
He stretched with a loud yawn that startled a nearby squirrel.
"Another day, another terrifying secret organization conquered," he muttered, rubbing his stomach. "Time for breakfast."
Inside, the kitchen-dining room hybrid was alive with the aroma of fresh bread, sizzling eggs, and something sweet—cinnamon?
Arche stood at the stove, wearing an apron several sizes too big for her petite frame, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, her face focused in a way that said Do not speak unless you're dying or on fire.
Naruto wisely chose silence.
Across the long polished table, the twins were already seated and arguing about something. Again.
"I get the extra honey because I'm cuter!" Kuuderika declared, puffing up her cheeks like a proud marshmallow.
"You think you're cuter," Ure replied, pushing up her imaginary glasses like a tiny professor. "But my face is more symmetrical, and that's scientifically proven to be more beautiful."
"You're imagining things again, nerd-bug!"
"You're ignoring reality, pea-brain!"
"Girls," Arche said without turning. "Use your indoor voices or I'll feed Naruto your pancakes."
There was immediate, horrified silence.
Naruto raised a brow. "Since when am I a threat?"
"Since I made extra for you," Arche said without looking. "And you will eat all of it. You look like a matchstick."
"I have abs," Naruto said defensively.
"Abs don't mean you're not skinny," she replied with a huff.
By the time breakfast was served, Naruto was grinning, the twins were elbow-deep in syrup, and Arche had finally sat down with a cup of tea and the exhausted patience of a mother who'd already lived through a war before 9 AM.
"You're unusually quiet," she said, looking at him over the rim of her cup.
"I'm plotting how to become a blacksmith," he said, sipping his tea.
Arche blinked. "Please tell me that's a metaphor."
"Nope," he said cheerfully. "Real anvil and hammer stuff. Chakra-forging. Weapon enchantments. All that jazz."
Arche stared at him. Then took a slow, long sip of tea. "Of course. Because when you're not founding ANBU units or seducing ancient dragons, you apparently want to become a magical handyman."
"I don't want to. I need to," Naruto explained between bites of toast. "I've got a new ANBU squad—Punisher, Elektra, Daredevil—"
"I know them," she said casually. "Used to be mercenaries-for-hire. Bit dramatic, but competent."
"Right? They're decent but their gear's trash," Naruto said. "So I figured if I want them to be actual elites, I need to make sure their equipment is custom, chakra-enhanced, and deadly."
"Reasonable," Arche admitted, nodding slowly. "Still insane. But reasonable."
The twins, faces now sticky with honey and syrup, stared at him with wide eyes.
"Are you gonna make swords that explode?" Kuina asked.
"Or bows that sing?" Eina added.
"I was thinking more like arrows that track targets and kunai that bite back."
The girls gasped in unison.
"You're the coolest big brother ever!" they cried.
-------------
By the end of breakfast, Arche had promised to look into any forging tutors in the city and the twins were busy crafting "Super ANBU Logos" with crayon and glitter glue.
Naruto stood up, brushed crumbs off his shirt, and took a deep breath.
Time to find a master smith, he thought. Or a scroll that teaches me how to not set my pants on fire while forging.
"Back soon!" he called as he walked to the door.
"Don't die!" Arche called back.
"Bring snacks!" the twins shouted.