Ten Tailed Puppet Master (from fanfic.net)

Chapter 10

"Okay, so… run that by me again?" Anko asked while rubbing her temples, trying to wrap her head around what happened with Naruto and Zabuza. Her team and she were currently sitting in Tazuna's house in Nami no Kuni, Naruto actually not working on a puppet, opting to explain what he did.

Naruto sighed. "After I used my new puppet and the repaired Sharpshooter – I'm thinking of changing his name to 'Hex' – Zabuza made me realize that I rely too much on my puppets and the Sharingan portion of my doujutsu, so I limited myself to only the Rinnegan portion. I used the Six Paths through clones and myself and fought him to the best of my ability. As you can see, I kicked his ass. But I know he's not dead; that hunter-nin used senbon, which are really hard to use to kill, and those needles went in special spots that induced a death-like state. I estimate Zabuza will be back in a week." Naruto reminded her. He had a couple ideas to improve the three original puppets, Karasu, Kuroari, and Sanshuou.

But until he was finished, he would also be working on his personal skills instead of puppetry or his doujutsu; he relied on them far too much. The kenjutsu he learned from Hayate was going to waste when he didn't used Kenshi or Gilgamesh, so he decided to put it to use; however, he didn't know if Hayate's teachings would transfer to what he had in mind for a weapon. Then there was the matter of learning more of his taijutsu; the last time he used it was in the 'skirmish' with Danzo and his Ne. Speaking of which, he hasn't really used the human puppet. Gah, too many things at once!

First step: personal weapon, he agreed with himself. Forming a wooden staff out of his torso, he set about creating his weapon of choice, using Steel Release and seals for the mechanisms and blades it would require. While he had a clone do that, he joined his team in training, learning the Juuken from Hinata while helping her with Suiton techniques and variations of her clans taijutsu that would utilize her flexibility, learning Shadow jutsu from Shikamaru and helping him with his Doton and chakra reserves, and training with Anko in his taijutsu; no puppets, no elements.

Speaking of taijutsu and puppets, while he took off the seals that had the portions of Predaking on his body, he thought about dismantling and remaking the massive puppet, making it one large one instead of five normal ones that combine. After Anko beat his ass into the ground with her superior taijutsu and experience, she agreed with him that the process of summoning all five and combining them was time-consuming. Granted, before he could dismantle it, he'd have to think of the new design; no need to have a bunch of useless parts hanging around until he did. So that would wait. He managed to further his proficiency in his Fox Claw style and learned to utilize his youki states into his taijutsu, since the foul chakra could bend to his will and extend his attacks. As a side note, he was learning to balance his human chakra and youki control, getting them as close to equal as he could. By the time the team was done training for the day and it was time for them to join Tazuna at the bridge for today's work, Naruto's clone finished his weapon and left it for him leaning against the wall next to the couch. Seeing his weapon, he grinned at the looks his teammates gave it, for it was an odd weapon, indeed.

The wooden staff now had a segment of it replaced with a metal shaft so both ends could collapse into it when he channeled chakra to seals that pulled them in, a leather grip on the surface that had the texture of a metal file, the kind that can shave through steel bars, so he didn't destroy his hand. At the head of the staff was the cause of their stares.

It was like two circular chainsaws overlapping, held by a sleeve-like mechanism that allowed them to rotate without wearing down the inside. The blades were segmented so they could be broken down; for what, only Naruto possibly knew.

"N-Naruto-kun… what is that?" Hinata asked first.

"That is my weapon of choice, the Saw-staff." Naruto explained, walking over to it and picking it up, tilting it in his hand to become familiar with the weight. When he nodded to himself, he channeled chakra to the seals in the metal shaft and to the blade, watching as the wooden sections slid into the middle and the blades broke apart and reformed into two parallel saws around the length of the shortened staff, an opening for his hand, as he strapped it to his back. 'That takes care of the second order of business. And Anko-sensei helped with the third, so let's go back to step one: Karasu, Kuroari, and Sanshuou.' He went over his mental checklist and nodded, setting up a workstation to create the last puppet, his Karasu twins and Kuroari triplets off to the side.