Naruto: Path of Uchiha

Chapter 20: Bringing Back The Slug Princess

After a month of traveling, Naruto and Jiraiya had finally reached the place where Jiraiya suspected Tsunade to be.

As for the rasengan, Naruto still couldn't do it with only one hand. He focused on quality rather than quantity, ensuring he masters the jutsu before learning to unleash a bunch of them at once.

'Where is she? We have been looking for the whole day', Naruto asks, his shoulders slumping from the constant searching.

'Let's take a break. We will continue tomorrow after breakfast', Jiraiya says.

Naruto releases a sigh of relief.

***

Naruto's POV

The next morning, Jiraiya-sama and I headed out to continue our search for the lost Sanin.

But first, we stopped by a cafe to have some breakfast.

We take our seats and give our order. As we wait for the food to come out, we hear a loud scream from someone sitting two seats behind us.

I turn my head and recognize the person instantly. Tsunade Senju.

'Oh damn, that's surprising'

'She must be getting attacked for her debt', Jiraiya-sama says, getting up, ready to fight off the debt collectors.

'Wait, I have a plan', I say, causing him to stop.

My plan consisted of taking on the debt collectors on my own and having Jiraiya-sama in hiding. Having saved the slug princess, I would ask her for a favor. A favor to return to the leaf.

'Stop teasing the women now', I say, making my way to my opponents, referring to the Sanin and the woman beside her, who seems to be her friend.

'Oh? What's the little kid going to do? Don't interfere, kid; the fun has just started', one of the men says.

I observe the scene. The man possibly couldn't have scared the Sanin, so they used her weakness, blood.

'You're wrong; the fun will start right now', I say, smirking.

I make twenty shadow clones, sending five to each of the four men.

They get occupied in a spar for a bit, and having learned that their advantage has gone now, the men scurry off.

'Shadow clone jutsu? Where did you learn that?', the Slug Sanin asks as she composes herself.

She helps her friend up as well.

Both of them look very shocked, to say the least.

'You're from Konoha?', the woman besides the Sanin asks, noticing my forehead protector.

'Yeah, I was on a mission here', I half-heartedly lie.

'Alright. Thanks for saving us. We will be off now', Tsunade-sama says.

'Wait, wouldn't you do me a favor in return for saving you?', I ask, raising my eyebrows.

She halts, 'what could you possibly want?', she says, frowning.

'Come back to Konoha, work as a medic; the village needs you', I say.

'What-', she begins to say, but gets interrupted halfway.

'Tsunade', Jiraiya-sama pops out from the corner.

'He couldn't wait?'
'It doesn't seem like it'

'Jiraiya? What are you doing here?', she asks, clearly bewildered.

'I'm here with this boy on a journey/mission, to train and to get you back to the village', he explains.

'Why do you need me? The old man is tired already?', she asks, referring to Ji-chan, of course.

'Tsunade. Sensei is dead', he states.

'What?', she asks, clearly in shock.

Jiraiya-sama then explains everything to her. He tells her about the attack during the chunin exams, Orochimaru, and Obito Nii-san becoming the new Hokage.

'Oh', was all she could say.

'And who might this boy be?', she asks, looking towards me.

'Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. Son of Minato Namikaze, adopted by the Uchiha clan', I introduce myself.

'You're Naruto? Oh god, I should've figured. You look so much like Minato', she says, scanning me up and down.

'I'm Tsunade. But I am sure you know that. This is Shizune, my close friend', she introduces.

'Pleased to meet you, Tsunade-sama, are you going to Konoha now?', I ask, getting straight to the point.

'No. I haven't decided yet; I don't plan to', she replies.

'Come on, Tsunade, you have to go back', Jiraiya-sama pleads.

'The village doesn't need me, Jiraiya; it has a capable Hokage right now. I don't want to associate myself with the village anymore', she says.

'Tsunade-sama, I think we should go back now; it's been a while since we returned', Shizune-san says.

'After what happened, no', she doesn't budge.

'You know, just like Nawaki and Dan, this boy right here also wants to be Hokage', Jiraiya-sama says.

I assume he's talking about her late lover and brother.

'You're right', Kurama confirms.

This piques her interest. 'You do?', she asks.

'Yes, my goal is to become the Hokage', I answer honestly.

'Prove yourself to me then. Anything remarkable that you can do?', she asks.

'I can do the rasengan', I say, shrugging.

'You've mastered it?', she questions, masking her shock with a straight face, the only giveaway being the slight widening of her eyes.

'No, he can do with using a shadow clone', Jiraiya-sama answers for me.

'I am giving you three days to master the rasengan. With one hand of course. Do it, and I will come back to the village', she says.

'Alright', I say, shaking hands with her to confirm the deal.

I go to exit the cafe, assuming the two former teammates must have a lot to catch up on.

'He will be able to do it', I hear Jiraiya-sama saying as I leave.

'I don't think so', Tsunade-sama answers.

We will see about that.
___________________________________

For the next three days, I gave it my all to master the jutsu.

With help from Kurama, I finally managed to master it on the third day.

Now I could perform the jutsu with one hand, but it does take a lot from me in return.

'Good job, kid',

'Thanks for the help, Kurama'

'Thank me when it helps you in battle.'

I drink some water from a nearby river to hydrate myself, then go over to the two Sanin's to showcase my achievement.

But what I see is not two Sanin, but all three.

'Danger literally loves you'

'Oh? It seems like the Jinchuriki is here too', Orochimaru says, noticing me.

'I have a name, you know', I say.

Observing the scene before me, it looks like the three are in a battle of some sort.

'My apologies, Naruto, right? You must be wondering why I am here', the snake summoner says.

Shizune-san hurries beside me; 'he got-', she begins to explain but gets interrupted.

'I heard there was a reunion of the legendary Sanin taking place, and I just couldn't miss out', Orochimaru hisses.

His tongue disgusts me.

'I have more interest in you though; you got my lackey, Kabuto, captured! Fortunately, I managed to find a new one', he adds.

Just then, the same coffin-like structure that Team 7 encountered during the Land of the Waves mission appeared from beneath the ground.

Except there was a different person inside.

Inside was none other than Kabuto Yakushi.

'You thought getting him captured, getting intel from him, and getting him sentenced to death would do it for you? I already had planned for this to happen after his death', Orochimaru laughs, a very sinister laugh.

'Damn, he's smart. Orochimaru'

'Don't worry, I have a plan'

'You always do'.

I have seen Obito Nii-san fight reanimated Danzo, so I kind of know how to deal with him.

Genjutsu? I don't know how to. Sealing? I haven't learned it yet. What I do know is my rasengan.

'Jiraiya-sama, I will deal with him. You should focus on Orochimaru', I say, looking towards him.

'Alright, Naruto, I trust you', he says, getting ready to fight off Orochimaru.

All three Sanin do their summons. What an incredible sight. But I don't have the time to admire it, as I have an opponent at hand.

'I'm pleased to fight you again, Naruto. This time, I will kill you', he laughs.

I ignore him.

I give the first attack, a simple chakra-infused punch. As expected, he regenerates immediately.

'Kurama, help me out a little'
'Alright'.

As soon as I feel the orange chakra, I take advantage of my fast speed and continue throwing punches at him non-stop.

'You're just going to throw punches at me? That's lame. You know what? I don't even want to bother to dodge', he says, confidence lacing his voice.

Perfect.

He hits me back once, and I get thrown far back.

Taking this opportunity, I switched myself with one of my shadow clones.

Now the shadow clone will be throwing punches at him.

Kurama stops his chakra output. Glad that I didn't faint this time, I make the rasengan, throwing myself at Kabuto.

He obviously didn't expect this. The hit from the rasengan was a huge one, leaving a noticeable mark—a wound that was taking time to regenerate.

This gives me the chance to try the sealing jutsu. I replicate the hand signs I saw Obito Nii-san use, hoping they would work, or else I would be dead-meat.

To my surprise, they did. Kabuto was sealed in an instant.

It was a risky move, but I, Naruto Uzumaki, had defeated Kabuto Yakushi for a second time.

I look over to the Sanin, noticing their fight has ended. Orochimaru had escaped.

With this, I gained acknowledgement from Tsunade Senju, who had no choice now but to return to the leaf.