The camp was already alive when I stepped out into the cool morning air. Mist clung to the earth in soft ribbons, rising from the grass like breath from sleeping giants. The sky above the coast was a pale gray color as clouds had blanketed the sky during the night.
Rows upon rows of shinobi stood at attention across the open field, grouped neatly by unit. The jonin had already gathered their chunin and genin based off of which group they were joining, either by outposts or strike teams. I climbed the few steps to stand on a platform in front of everyone, flanked by Shikaku, Choza, Inoichi, and Fugaku. Nearly seven hundred and fifty sets of eyes were staring at me expectingly, which caused me to truly feel the weight of command as my decisions were responsible for. Of course, my eyes were drawn to my team which were standing behind Nawaki.
I took a deep breath then spoke loud enough for them all to hear me. "The jonin all have their orders and know their duties, so I'll keep this short. You've been assigned to an outpost or strike team and will be given orders by your jonin leaders. You have two priorities while out in the field: alerting of a Mist incursion and protecting yourselves and comrades. We're here to protect our borders and our people, so I want all of you to return to the Village as the heroes you are!"
The crowd cheered, mostly the younger ones, but it achieved my goal of inspiring the troops. Shikaku gave me a smirk as I turned around while Inoichi and Choza had looks of approval and Fugaku simply looked expressionless. They followed me off the platform, though Fugaku, Choza, and Inoichi all split off to direct the forces that were leaving the main camp. Shisui joined Shikaku and I as we returned to the command center to go over any last-minute alterations that we might need, though there were not any.
Within an hour, the two groups, going east and west, had gathered all of their gear and supplies. I left the command center with Shisui following behind and headed to the top of the western wall as the two forces began to trickle out of the camp. For a while, I watched the western force as they moved out together. My team was among them, marching towards their own future and legacy, and while I was happy for them and trusted them, there was still concern in my heart since we had become so close.
Shisui stood a few paces behind me on the wall with his hands tucked neatly behind his back. "They look confident," he remarked quietly.
"They should be," I replied. "I've spent years training them, so it is time for them to show the results of it."
He hesitated, then asked, "Are you worried?"
I smiled faintly. "Always but worry keeps you alert while its panic that gets you killed. There's a difference."
The wind shifted, carrying the sharp scent of the salt water not too far away. I knew that my team could hold their own, so I just needed to trust their strength since I could not hold their hands forever. It was time to let them stand on their own.
"Come on, we've got work to do," I said finally, jumping down from the wall.
Shisui followed without a word. We walked back to the command center where Shikaku was sitting at a table, going over a report. He glanced up at us, but almost immediately returned his attention to the scroll in front of him. I flashed through over a dozen hand signs then slammed it into the ground, fully drawing Shikaku's attention now.
"What are you..." he started to question as a set of stairs formed in front of me leading down.
"I already told you that I was going to spend a lot of time training. You don't expect me to do it in front of everyone, do you?" I chuckled. "This way, if I notice a signal, I can still alert you quickly."
He sighed, shaking his head, and looked back at the report. I smirked and motioned for Shisui to follow me down. The chamber underground was the same size as the command center and completely empty, but that was just for now. I summoned my Earth clone and then pulled out a couple of storage scrolls.
"Get started on the second floor while I set up this space with Shisui," I told my clone who nodded then used the same jutsu that I had before and walked down the new set of stairs.
"What are you planning, sensei?" Shisui asked.
Instead of replying right away, I summoned the objects out of the scrolls which were furniture and a few crates, which made Shisui's eyes go wide since I had stored so much. "I had to beg Kushina for these, so don't expect to learn how to make these anytime soon as I still can't. My plan is simple, this floor will be for causal usage like fuinjutsu practice, meals, and I even included a pair of cots for us to rest if needed. My clone is setting up an agility course for our training below us and then a third open floor for sparring and jutsu practice."
"You really planned ahead," he remarked with appreciation.
"More like using my position for a small personal luxury, but as long as I don't go overboard or become lazy, few would complain. Get the table set up, and that crate has lanterns if you want more light," I said, pointing out one of the wooden boxes.
I placed the portable grill onto another crate then picked up both and carried them off to a corner. Inside the box were cooking utensils, packages of spices and salt, and dried vegetables, which should last a few months. Later, I would have Earth build a proper chimney, counter, and maybe even some shelves since it was much more difficult for me to do detailed work than her.
Next, I grabbed a cot and started assembling it. Shisui helped me with the second one after he finished the table. I had him place them in different corners as I opened the crate of lantern and took one out. As he walked back to me, I lit the lantern and instructed, "Grab another and follow me down."
It had not been long, but my clone had already covered half the floor in a forest of stone pillars that were at various angles and even had a few spots where they branched off randomly. I placed the lantern on the ground, casting shadows on the wall behind the pillars.
"Light yours and place it wherever you want then start weaving through the pillars. You need to touch one wall then the next, back and forth, as many times as you can without getting hit," I explained with a smirk.
"Hit? By what?" he could not help but ask with a hint of alarm.
I opened a pouch strapped to my thigh and pulled out a handful of small stones that I had collected during our march to the front. "These... If you can dodge a rock, you can dodge a blade. Don't worry, you'll get bruised at most, but I'll let you get used to the space before I start throwing... and no Sharingan; I want you to work on your spatial awareness."
"But, sensei, even with my lantern, it is very dark down here," he replied.
"And? You can't use that excuse when you're ambushed at night and low on chakra. Your Sharingan is a powerful tool, but ultimately, it is still a tool. What if someone stole your eyes? It has happened in the past with powerful dojustu like yours, so you must learn not to depend on it. You can practice with your Sharingan later, but we start with your foundation first," I retorted.
"Yes, sensei!" he agreed with understanding.
Shisui lit his lantern and carried it over to the far wall, placing it opposite my own. He moved to the wall on the right side slowly as he mapped out the pillars around him. Placing a hand on the wall, he paused for a moment then took off into a full sprint.
He vaulted and twisted through the obstacle course with surprising grace for someone so young. I followed with my eyes, tracking his rhythm and balance, as he began to find a steady flow between the two walls. I waited for a bit then flicked out one of the small stones at his back. He seemed to hear it a moment before it struck between his shoulder blades since he tried to twist, but it was simply too late.
"Too slow," I called. "Anticipate, don't react. You have the advantage of knowing where I am, and I'm not moving."
He did not answer with words but rather with actions, adjusting his path and increasing his speed while keeping an eye on me. I threw out another stone, but he twisted in midair and dodged it successfully. His landing was not as graceful as his earlier movements, but he kept moving forward without any real difficulty.
To my surprise, he lasted just shy of an hour as he continued to dodge my stones while running back and forth. It was not even that he willing stopped, but rather, he stumbled due to his exhaustion and nearly faceplanted into a pillar, but I teleported next to him and caught him by the collar before he could. He was drenched in sweat and huffing for air, making me shake my head.
"While it is good to push yourself, it's just as important to know your limits," I chided lightheartedly as I helped him straighten up. "I'm not going to be mad that you are tired."
"Did I... do good?" he asked between breaths.
"Better than good," I chuckled. "It won't be long before you join me on reinforcement missions." Once his breathing steadied, I nodded toward the stairwell. "Go rest and eat something. I'm going to train on bottom floor, and Shikaku can managed the command center for the day."
"Yes, sensei."
He bowed slightly then made his way toward the stairs despite the wobble in his legs. When the sound of his footsteps faded, I exhaled slowly and picked up one of the lanterns.
"Make sure that no one comes down here while I'm working," I said to my clone.
"Will do," Earth responded as she continued to make new pillars on the other side of the chamber.
I nodded then started down the last set of stairs. The floor was completely empty, but that suited me just fine. I sat down with my back against one of the walls and placed the lantern to the side before I called up my system.
Fire: B 3,079,826 / 40,000,000
Wind: B 2,922,439 / 40,000,000
Water: B- 7,314,012 / 8,000,000
Lightning: B- 7,446,119 / 8,000,000
Earth: B 3,183,623 / 40,000,000
Yang: C+ 960,751 / 1,000,000
Yin: B- 6,943,364 / 8,000,000
Space-Time: B- 5,361,032 / 8,000,000
Lava: C 253,689 / 200,000
Scorch: D+ 112,604 / 40,000
Phanton Realm: C- 5,891 / 200,000
Boil: D+ 8,151 / 40,000
Wood: D- 967 / 1,000
Fuinjutsu: B- 516 / 8,000,000
Taijutsu: C+ 935,428 / 1,000,000
Shurikenjutsu: B- 1,875,811 / 8,000,000
My skills had improved over the months that I had been stationed at the Sand front, but nowhere near as much as they could have if I could have focused on my training instead. Now that I had the chance to focus on it heavily, my plan was simple. I would make as many fusions as I could and raise each to the D rank to be able to summon a clone then move onto the next.
I had advanced my Boil Release enough while still out in the River Country, though I had no need to reveal it yet. My Wood Release, if you could call it that, was something that I had started practicing recently when I was in the village, but I certainly was not about to become the next Hashirama anytime soon. The extent of my Wood Release could only make a thin vine, less than a pinky finger in thickness, and it would only reach about a meter in length, so I could only hope that it would get stronger in the future, or it would be embarrassing to use it in the future.
I was not too far away from gaining my clone with it, so I knuckled down to grind out the last casting of the element. Within me, I tapped into the Wood Release and rotated chakra through me as I visualized a massive tree like the ones in the Forest of Death then slammed my hand down. A green bud pushed through the rock in front of me and grew rapidly, but unfortunately, it was still just a thin vine.
I had learned over the years that visualization was far more important than hand signs when using chakra. Hand signs seemed to reduce of cost of jutsu and definitely made them easier to teach, but they restricted a lot of what could be done. That was how I had developed my elemental taijutsu and the groundwork for my custom jutsu, leaving my clones to experiment to find hand signs that worked.
"I wonder if I can use my war credits to request Edo Tensei... Tobirama's help could really help me with creating techniques for all of my new Kekkei Genkais."
After an hour or so, I finally heard the chime of my system announcing that I had advanced to the D rank with Wood Release. Instead of summoning my new clone, I just stretched then pulled out two small vials from one of my pockets. One contained sand and the other iron scrapings, which I poured out before me. By canon, Magnet Release was a combination of Earth and Wind, but the logic of my last life told me that Lightning would need to be involved for a true Magnet Release. Gaara's Sand Release seemed more like an application of Earth and Wind, so I had prepped both options for learning it.
Just as I closed my eyes, I sensed a disturbance in the space around me. Both my Space-Time and Phantom Realm clones appeared beside me almost in unison, having been sent out last night to layout the pathways along the route of the outposts. They were breathing slightly hard, so I could guess that they were low on chakra.
"Eastern side, completed," Phantom said as she sat down.
"Western too," Space added, sitting down as well.
"Thanks; rest and meditate. I doubt there will be any attacks today or tonight, but we need to be ready just in case," I said.
"Magnet Release?" Phantom deduced from the small piles in front of me.
"Yeah, I just pushed Wood to the D rank, so I moved onto the next Earth combination."
"You might want to rethink your focus. At our current level, a trip to the farthest outpost will drain us carrying another person while you would barely be able to reach them on your own," she warned.
I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose with annoyance. "I should have thought of that. I'm already employing an altered version of the technique with the network and can barely manage a dozen jumps in combat unlike Minato. Hmm... Gravity feels like a fusion of Earth and Space-Time; I think the Tsuchikage uses a justu that manipulates gravity to let him fly. I could try that first."
"Space, Time, and Matter... the building blocks of the universe," Space mused aloud.
I shook my head as I closed my eyes to focus. Reaching within, I began to circulate both Earth and Space-Time chakra through my body. My other fusions had a clear example of what to expect, making the idea of what I wanted easier. Still, I tried to think about the concepts of gravity while overlapping the two chakras, yet every time the Space-Time chakra would consume the Earth chakra. It was nothing like when I fused Space-Time and Yin as the two seemed equal in strength while resisting the combination at first; I had not seen this problem in my other fusions either.
"Perhaps Earth is not the key, but that does not mean there is not another path," Space commented when I opened my eyes.
I glanced at Phantom, then remarked, "Space-Time and Yang... but what Yin and Yang different? My affinity is stronger with the basic elements than all three."
"It could be for that very reason; they are basic elements. Yin, Yang, and Space-Time have the most unique, and significant, manifestations in this universe," Phantom theorized.
"Sounds responsible for my own musings, I guess," I chuckled. "Fine, Space-Time and Yang... but what does that look like? No offense, but I created you by accident before; I was trying to use a genjutsu on myself in a half-baked idea of Yin's."
"Space-Time has two parts to its name while Yin and Yang complement each other, so why not consider the opposite? Time, which you need most, and Life, as the counter of illusion. Reversing Time to heal wounds? A Life-enhancing chakra that helps the body resist aging, maybe making a fuinjutsu seal like Tsunade's, but real effects instead of an illusion?"
"It's the only way that I'm going to have a chance to get to the upper ranks," I remarked with a scoff. "Alright, I'll give it a shot."
For Phantom Realm Release, I wanted to create a visual representation of marks in Space, so I used a similar idea for this. With my new fusion, I wanted to control Time's hold on Life, which gave me a stupid idea on what to use as a focus. I pulled out a kunai from my tool pouch then made a shallow cut across my forearm. It was a bit barbaric, but compared to Tsunade who had poisoned herself intentionally to test antidotes, I could do worse.
Rotating both Yang and Space-Time chakra throughout my body, I pushed them together as they passed over the wound. My first try backfired, ripping the wound bigger, but the second pass had no reaction. On the third rotation, I felt my chakra consumed, and a chime rang in my ears.
[Ding!]
[Unlocked: Chrono-Vitality Release – Rank F-]
A silver glow with flecks of yellow shined from the wound as the pain began to fade. I kept going until I advanced to the F rank then stopped with a sigh. To heal that small cut and advanced used the same amount of chakra as a surgery to reattach an arm or close a major gut wound. It was clear that this would be a costly Release, but it had even more potential than Phantom Realm in the long run, so it was not surprising.
"It worked, Chrono-Vitality. It's exactly what we talked about," I explained as I wiped the blood off my arm which was now healed. "It seems like the system really makes anything possible, so maybe the reason why I could not fuse Space-Time with Earth is because I need to fuse the five basic elements."
[Ding!]
[Deeper understanding of System achieved! Rank Guide Unlocked!]
"Motherf... show me the Guide damnit!" I growled despite only needing a mental command.
F-Rank stabilizes Elemenetal Release
D-Rank unlocks Clone
C-Rank unlocks fusion of elements
> Restriction: base elements of twin-fusions must be at C-Rank or above
> Restriction: twin-fusions of triple-fusions must be at C-Rank or above
> Restriction: triple-fusions of quadruple-fusions must be at C-Rank or above
> Restriction: quadruple-fusions of quintuple-fusion must be at C-Rank or above
B-Rank unlocks Clone Fusion One clone can fuse with host at a time
A-Rank unlocks Clone Fusion Improvement Up to three clones can fuse with host at a time
S-Rank Unlocks Super Clone Fusion Improvement A maximum of five clones can fuse with host at a time
"Seventeen years and you finally tell me how this system works?!?" I nearly screamed but kept it silent since I had not completely lost my mind to my fury at the normally silent system.
There was no response, but I had expected as much. Still, the Guide was helpful as my eyes locked onto the Clone Fusion ability. I could not resist and stood up then summoned my Fire clone. When I first unlocked my first clone, the system had given me a bit of knowledge with the proper unique hand signs to summon them. I had never received anything about Clone Fusion from the system, but there was one classic clique of the series to symbolize characters' bonds and lending power that I knew I had to try.
Fire raised her fist, and I placed my own against hers. The moment she directed her chakra into me, I felt a sudden rush of chakra as her body dissolved into a red glow that moved up my arm and down my other arm, so that both of my hands had the same red glow connected by a thin line across my back.
Once the feeling settled, I walked away from Space and Phantom then threw out a punch. What normally would have been a weak fireball was now on the scale of a Fire Dragon Bullet. I could achieve similar results when I followed up my fireball with a wind blast, fueling it, but this was a single move and the same price as my usual move.
"I can work with this," I chuckled, looking down at my hands. "I wonder, are the hands for everything or just Fire?"
I dismissed my Fire clone which caused glow to fade then summon my Wind one and repeated the actions. I absorbed her body as it transformed into a pale green light and rushed up my arm. This time, though, the glow did not engulf my hand and made a line down my arms. I checked my legs and found similar lines, but no complete glow like before.
"The glow is around your head," Phantom told me.
"Interesting, I would have thought it would be on my back or feet. Hey, Earth, come down here for a moment," I called.
While I waited for her to get down here, I tried out another technique, swinging my hand like a knife. A blast slicing wind erupted from along the trail of my fingers and shot out. I could tell that it was strong enough to leave a deep cut to anyone wearing traditional ninja light gear. I also noticed that the end of the pale green line of the hand I used brightened as I released the Wind chakra.
"What's this?" Earth asked as she gave me a strange look.
"Clone Fusion, I unlocked... found out about this a little bit ago," I explained then dismissed my Wind clone. "I'll let you meditate tonight, but you've done enough for now. Let's try this out then I'll give you a break. Fist bump."
"Really?"
"When in Rome," I retorted with a shrug holding out my fist.
She rolled her eyes and pressed her fist against mine. She shifted into a brown glow and left the same lines on my arms and legs. The strong glow surrounded my chest which likely left my legs and feet for Water and Lightning once I got them to the B-rank. After I dismissed my Earth, I removed her memories, including how I looked with my Wind Clone Fusion activated.
The pale green lines continued onto my back and connected in a spiral of five branches, the fifth coming down the back of my neck, in the center of my back. Around my head, the strong glow made vague twin points with a helmet-like shape. I smiled with anticipation, but I knew that I had years of training before I could see more. For now, I had more important things to and had two genuine pigs to practice on.
"Space, let me see if I can channel this into you and speed up your chakra recovery, and we can compare you to Phantom's recovery," I suggested as I returned to the pair and sat down.
"It has potential since you can reverse damage to the body," Phantom agreed.
"Then you volunteer; your recovery is slower than my own after all," Space retorted.
"Good idea," I chuckled then placed a hand on Phantom.
She sighed but resigned herself to her fate. Both closed their eyes and started to meditate... well, they tried to. I exploded them both four times before I finally figured out the right balance, but it worked by the end of the night, and my ranking had risen to F+ with Chrono-Vitality. I also used some of my gift from the Yamanaka clan, which eliminated the headache and strain from the pairs' memories.
When I finally laid down to sleep that night, I knew that I would need to get closer to their clan if I wanted to ask for their help with my clone issues. They had to have some technique or guidance they might share for the right price. I just needed to find the compromise that would work with both of us.