20 Chapter 19

Their injuries were healed, and slowly the group made their way back. Sasuke kept looking at Bastion as if unsure if he was there. Bastion recognized the look and nodded. He was here and Orochimaru hadn't killed him. This almost guaranteed three years of training. In a week he would be 6 and in three years 9. He may well be 10 before the Pein attack. He would need to train hard before then. Already the damage to his coils from over expansion was reseeding. In a week or two he was confident in his ability to raise his reserves more.

They went through the gate and reported to the Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobe looked pleased more than pleased. "Tsunade it has been a long time. I'm glad I was able to see you once more." Hiruzen said.

"Can it, old man, I'm here for the hat. Its time I steered this ship back on course." Tsunade said. Hiruzen stared at Naruto and smiled before nodding his head.

"Well I've finished the paper work and the shinobi council will gather shortly for you to announce your ascension. I'm glad I was able to give the hat to you. Don't worry Naruto I'll try to stay around to see you accept the hat as well." Hiruzen said cheerfully. Bastion had to admit, the old man's shoulders looked lighter. "Come along Bastion now that my day job is over we can get to what I've wanted to do. Whip the next generation into shape and force my experience down their throat through boring monologues." Hiruzen said with a chuckle. He then grabbed his all-seeing orb. "This is mine by the way, and yes I use it to spy on the hot springs." Jiraiya and Tsunade seemed to bend as if they had no idea what was happening. Sasuke face palmed and Naruto laughed out loud like a lunatic. Bastion nodded accepting the old man for what he was and left behind him.

The second the door closed the room was in an uproar. Hiruzen chuckled the whole time. They traveled to a random training ground. There were tons of dummies and a shed full of training equipment. Hiruzen lit his pipe and took a drag of it.

"Now then, from what I understand you don't use your muscles at all when you move. No to be more precise you constantly work your chakra. Even now there is a small layer of chakra moving your arms and legs for you. This would be exhausting for anyone. But you constantly replenish your reserves with natural energy. So, the first thing you are going to do is wear this chakra seal and run 100 laps around the field with no weights. Your muscles need to have some shape. From now on you will do this every day." Hiruzen said.

Bastion took off his weights and put on the ceiling tag. Instantly, he went from nearly god like speed and strength to the power of a five-year-old. Getting back up to his feet after the loss of power was humbling. The tag was special. If he wanted to use his chakra, he could. It wasn't a strong seal, but if he chose not to use chakra, then the tag would hold it from effecting his body. As Bastion began his run Hiruzen took out an orange book and began to read it.

Once the hundred laps were completed Bastion put his weights back on under his sensei's gaze. "While you were busy with conditioning, a report came to me. I understand you have improved upon your earth jutsu and created a false body made of stone. My former student toyed with you with lightning jutsu, if he had wanted to kill you, you would be dead. Have you learned from your mistakes?" Hiruzen asked.

"I plan on adding lightning rods and cables to a personal golem. They should give me vast amount of protection from lightning." Bastion said as he began to work his way through strong fist stances. Hiruzen nodded at his words.

"Good, lightning rods and cables to disperse the energy should help. When you create the first prototype of your custom golem, I'll test it." Hiruzen said. Bastion bowed to his sensei.

"What are we going to do next?" Bastion asked. Hiruzen flashed through some hand signs and summoned a few stone slabs.

"We are going to enhance your reaction time with the rasengan. It is a powerful Jutsu that is easy to produce requiring no hand signs. Your reaction time should be .01sec with chakra enhancement. I'll chunk these stone slabs slowly at first. Don't create the rasengan until they are in the air." Hiruzen said. Bastion nodded, he didn't think of it. If he could make the rasengan second nature, well it would help.

Bastion stepped behind the line and sensei picked up a stone slab and chunked it. It flew at around 50MPH slow to his sharingan. The rasengan formed in his hand and he smashed it into the flying stone. For a second, he had to brace himself then the rasengan tore through the stone and shattered the slab. He dispersed his chakra and prepared for the next one.