Chapter 22: The New Generation steps up

I let out a soft breath as I sat in the middle of a small training field, my focus turned inwards as I began to experiment with my chakra. Specifically, separating the Yin and Yang aspects of my chakra, which… was not easy. The human body had evolved to mix the two aspects together, diluting their potency to allow it to be used safely. There were some clans that had a bit of a tilted balance, like the Nara clan who had a balance in favor towards Yin Release, or the Senju who leaned towards the Yang Release.

I knew it was possible to use yin and yang chakra separately, Kokuo had shown me that pretty plainly with the use of the Bijuudama. I was trying to seperate my Yin and Yang chakra from each other, specifically the Yang aspect in a bid to enhance my medical jutsu.

And progress was… painfully slow.

It was not easy reversing a natural process of the body in a way that wouldn't kill me doing so. But on the upside, it was a rather good practice for chakra control.

Letting out a sigh I opened my eyes as I came out of my meditative state. "There has to be something I'm missing with this," I grunted as I stood up properly, stretching out my body as I prepared to continue with my training. "It's possible, I know it is, so why can't I do it?"

It was honestly rather frustrating that I was hitting a stumbling block with this. It wasn't the first time I had an issue with a new technique or new training, but even then, I never completely stalled out in it like this… it was… rather irksome to be honest.

Shaking my head I pushed the thoughts out of my head as I worked on my next project, combining the principles of Minato-sama's Rasengan with the chakra scalpel.

It wasn't as easy as it seemed to be on paper. Yes, both techniques were raw chakra given shape and form, but with one little slip up while combining the pair, I almost lost my arm. On the plus side, I now have a general idea of what putting an arm in a blender feels like.

It hurts, a lot.

The three steps of forming the Rasengan were rotation, power and containment. All of those combined were what gave the jutsu the sheer power that had made Minato-sama feared in close quarters combat. I had, rather arrogantly, thought that my baseline knowledge of the three steps that I had learned in my former life would be enough to make it through this jutsu creation without a hitch.

Thus the arm blender incident.

I had received quite the scolding from Roshi for that. Suitably chastised, I had gone back to basics and learned the Rasengan myself. I admit to have borrowed the original timeline Naruto's idea regarding the usefulness of Shadow Clones in this, but only until I had levelled the [Rasengan] to Level 10. After that, I could perform it one-handed.

Now I was ready to try to combine the two jutsu again, this time with a much, much better understanding of both jutsu.

Taking in a deep breath, I formed the [Rasengan] in my hand, giving it a nostalgic look before focusing as I began to form a [Chakra Scalpel] in the same hand, using the principle of the [Chakra Flow] to meld the two justus together without them blowing up in my face.

It was… difficult to say the least, adding in a new component to the [Rasengan], especially given that it was the highest level of Shape Manipulation already. I had studied it a bit and deduced that increasing the size of the area to be compressed would diffuse the power slightly, but that would be made up for with the added effect of the [Chakra Scalpel]. How the canon timeline Naruto had managed to create the Oodama Rasengan was a bit beyond me.

I swallowed tightly as the sphere began to bulge and shift a bit as the cutting chakra of the [Chakra Scalpel] was pushed into it. It swelled a bit, growing to a size about maybe half again as large as it normally was before it settled into a stable size and shape, making me let out a sigh of relief.

Well… guess it's time to test it…

I looked at a nearby tree before charging forward and thrusted the ball of chakra into it.

The regular [Rasengan] ground things into dust.

This modified [Rasengan] however?

It shredded it completely.

The trunk of the tree exploded as I pushed the ball of chakra into it. It seems like the addition of the [Chakra Scalpel] made every single swirl of chakra in the ball that gave it it's signature shape, into a scalpel thin blade of chakra.

This… was not going to help improve the bloody aspect of my reputation at all. And this bloody thing wasn't even fully complete!

Yeah, this form of it was devastating, but I could feel it in the way the jutsu worked, it was incomplete. Kinda like how the original [Rasengan] was an incomplete jutsu, it was lacking something that would fully complete it.

Frowning, I stepped away from the wreck of the tree and folded my arms as I contemplated what it could be missing. It definitely wasn't an elemental component, while that had been Minato-sama's original intent with the [Rasengan], there was just so much more that could be added into it with who knows what kind of effects to enhance it.

Not to mention the malleability of the [Rasengan] itself. In canon, Naruto was able to shape it in accordance to the situation, so…

I paused as an idea struck me, granted it didn't seem like it would be the thing it was missing… but…

My eyes narrowed as I began forming the new [Rasengan] once again, but instead of forcing it into its basic form, I allowed it to shift and change its shape, only keeping the two techniques from imploding on one another.

The result… actually surprised me as the formerly sphere like jutsu took the shape of a sword… somehow. Don't look at me like that, jutsus are weird at the best of times.

Letting out a sigh I turned to another tree and experimentally slashed my chakra constructed sword at it. The chakra sword maintained its shape, surprisingly - most offensive jutsu being a 'one-and-done deal'. The tree on the other hand…

Imagine if you will… someone decided to make a sword, into a drill, and then still used said weapon as a sword. Aside from being very impractical, the result would be basically what my sword shaped [Rasengan] accomplished, it wasn't just a single slash, it was a continuous shredding within the single motion of a slash.

My new chakra sword still wasn't on the same level as Naruto's thrown [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken] would be, but it was scary enough that I instantly classified it as a Low S-Rank Jutsu, while the completed elemental form of the [Rasengan] was definitely a Mid-S-Rank.

You have created a new Jutsu! [Rasenken - Level 1 - 0.00%] - A fusion of the Yondaime's Rasengan and the Chakra Scalpel, creating a chakra sword that is capable of shredding almost anything it cuts into pieces. Even armour is of no help before this jutsu, as it retains some of the chakra scalpels' ability to cut through an object. All armour is reduced by 50% when faced with this jutsu.

I let the chakra construct dissipate as I ceased the flow of chakra before I reformed it again, repeating the process several times to ensure I had it down for when I needed to call upon it in battle.

"Nee-san!" a familiar voice broke me from my concentration from my training as I allowed my chakra to rest in a natural state as Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun came flying into the training ground. "We've been looking for you!" Naruto-kun called out in his usual cheerful manner.

"Well, it seems you found me," I commented dryly. "Be more careful when entering training grounds that are in use though; I was throwing around an S-Rank jutsu until just a moment ago. I don't need to tell you what could have happened if you'd walked in on that, do I?"

The gulps that the pair of them made told me I had made my point.

"So, what is it you needed me for?" I asked after a moment.

"Oh right! We got a C-ranked mission!" Naruto-kun declared happily, beaming at me before frowning a bit. "But our client's a drunk!"

"He tried insulting Naruto's ability because of his height…" Sasuke-kun grumbled, looking away with a frown as he folded his arms.

I smiled warmly at the two. "Well, you get clients like that, unfortunately," I informed the pair patiently. "So it's an escort mission, I take it?"

"Yeah! We've gotta escort Tazuna-ji-san to his home in Nami no Kuni and then protect him while he finishes a bridge or something." Naruto-kun nodded excitedly.

The Wave Mission...great. My meddling in the timeline had just thrown a spanner in the works here. Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice, Haku Yuki, had returned to Kirigakure not long after the death of Yagura. With them out of play, there was no telling who that rat bastard Gato would hire. There were several missing nin that I could think of from the canon timeline who even Kakashi would have a hard time with.

Such as any member of Akatsuki. Fortunately, if the filler arcs were anything approaching accurate, right about now, Akatsuki was busy either trying to track down Orochimaru, who had fled after trying and failing to grab Itachi's body, or building up their reputation by taking mercenary work. Fingers crossed, they wouldn't be near Nami no Kuni.

"A C-Rank means you'll be facing bandits at worst." I mused aloud. "But what does a ninja plan for, boys?"

"The unexpected." my two little brothers chorused in unison. That was something I had beaten into their heads with every lesson I gave them. Prepare first for what you're supposed to expect, and then prepare for the unexpected.

"That's correct," I confirmed, smiling at them proudly. "Come on, let's go home and get started on packing your things, I'll get started on something special for dinner to celebrate your first C-rank."

"Awesome!" Naruto-kun shouted eagerly as he lept into the air energetically. Even Sasuke-kun smirked softly. For whatever reason, I seem to be a very tolerable cook in this lifetime, which was a full 180 from how it was in my first life.

I smiled warmly at the pair and ruffled their hair affectionately, making Naruto-kun laugh as Sasuke-kun scowled slightly, turning his head to hide his blush before we headed off towards our home.

"Welcome home!" my mother greeted as we landed on the balcony entrance.

"Mama!" Madoka-chan cheered happily from her playpen as she stood up, holding her hands out to me.

"Madoka-chan!" I returned cheerfully, picking up my daughter and hugged her as she squealed happily, making me smile brightly as she nuzzled into my neck. Really now, this daughter of mine was just too adorable for words.

"Yuriko." Roshi greeted me. "Han just wrote to tell us he'll be heading over this way again for a visit and he was wondering if there was anything we needed or wanted as he was passing."

And people say that Han's scary. Pfft. The man's a big softy once you get to know him. He doted on Madoka-chan like a godfather should, and whenever he came over to visit, he brought along regional specialties and the like sealed up in storage scrolls as gifts.

"Hmmm...some of that lovely nabe that he brought last time would be nice." I mused as I held my daughter in my arms and bounced her. Really, it was getting to the point that I'd have to start training her soon. My, how time flies...

Roshi chuckled in amusement as he nodded in understanding. "I'll let him know then," he replied. "Also, I'll be away on a mission for the next week, escorting a merchant to Taki no Kuni."

"Oh?" I replied, smiling at him with a raised eyebrow. "So your just leaving me all alone to raise Madoka-chan as you run off with some kunoichi?" I asked him teasingly, getting a humorous smile in response.

"Well, you know how I am, I just can't handle the responsibility that comes with children," he said with a dramatic sigh. "Not to mention being with just one woman is a tiring experience."

I let out a snort as I lightly smacked his arm. "Oh fine then," I drawled sarcastically. "Go and have your fun with strange women, see if I will heal anything strange you pick up."

The two of us chuckled as we moved through the house, our daughter babbling happily away to the two of us as I placed her in a high chair to get started on cooking dinner.

I may not know what the future holds anymore, but, when I was with my family, I found myself not caring one bit.

Naruto Uzumaki was of the firm belief that his life was very good.

He had a loving older sister - even if it wasn't by blood, who raised him to be the most kickass ninja ever.

He was going to be even better than Yuriko-nee-chan, believe it!

"Hey, Naruto, you got your sealing kit, right?" Sasuke called out to the blond genin, drawing Naruto's attention to his adoptive brother.

"Of course I do," Naruto replied, rolling his eyes at Sasuke. "Nee-chan wouldn't let me out of the house without it! What about you? Remember your ninja wire?"

"I only forgot it once, dobe." the Uchiha rolled his eyes. "And that was barely a week after we started training with it."

As the two almost-brothers bickered, they headed towards the main gate of Konoha, where they were supposed to meet their team. Naruto was glad that Sakura was the kunoichi assigned to them, as his nee-chan had taken her under her wing and taught her a lot about medical ninjutsu and other things, so he knew that she would be a kick-ass medic, believe it!

Hinata would have been good too, but she had been assigned to another team, with Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka. The jonin was a woman called Kurenai Yuhi, and Naruto remembered that his nee-chan had visited the woman and come back with a scowl on her face. Yuriko-nee-chan had muttered something about 'smothering kunoichi' and refused to say anything more.

Weird.

Speaking of weird, Team 7's jonin-sensei was a weirdo as well. He was late a lot of the time, had one of his eyes covered up by his hitai-ate, wore a spandex mask over the lower part of his face and read orange books that Naruto's nee-chan had said he couldn't even look at until he was sixteen.

The silver-haired man was strong though. Not as strong as his nee-chan, but strong enough to cream him, Sasuke and Sakura going almost all-out.

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out as she approached them, and rather than the red dress she wore in the academy she was wearing a pair of long spandex shorts under a pair of somewhat loose short shorts with a sleeveless crimson red short jacket with a black tank top underneath, obviously taking inspiration from Yuriko's own outfit, a simple kodachi strapped to her back with the handle peeking over her left shoulder and large medical pouches were strapped to her lower back, while her long hair was pulled up into a tight bun. "You two ready?"

"Yeah, I guess," Naruto confirmed with a small sigh. "I hate working with drunks, the smell of alcohol always throws me off…"

The curse of having a slightly superior sense of smell compared to the average person. He was privately very relieved that he wasn't an Inuzuka; gods alone knew what that stuff would smell like with their dog-like sense of smell!

Sakura winced in sympathy as the trio began to make their way towards the main gate where they would be departing for their mission from. "Well, hopefully he'll be limiting his drinking on the road since we're going to be walking the entire way," she pointed out hopefully, guarding drunk clients while on the road was a complete nightmare from what Yuriko, Roshi and many others had told them.

Sasuke grunted in agreement as they walked, waving at the occasional acquaintance as they did. With Sasuke being the named Clan Heir of the Uchiha, for the time being as he stated before he doesn't want to deal with the paperwork that came with being a clan head, Naruto being the Uchiha Clan Head's ward and Sakura being said Clan Head's unofficial student, most people in Konoha knew them by reputation, if not appearance.

This also placed a lot of expectations on them as well. Many expected Sasuke to match Yuriko's martial poweress', Sakura to become her equal in the medical arts and they expected Naruto to match her skill with the sealing arts. Yuriko herself had told them that they could remain lifetime genin as far as she was concerned and she'd be proud of them.

"Yo," a lazy voice drawled out as they approached the gates of the village, their sensei leaning against the massive gate next to the client, Naruto grimacing at the slight scent of cheap booze on the man's breath. "Good to see you all have your things, because there is no coming back for anything you forgot."

"Are you sure these brats are good enough to guard this super bridge builder?" the client grumbled as he narrowed his eyes at the three genin before him.

"Considering that these three were all trained by Konoha's Sword-Scalpel herself?" Kakashi retorted with a raised eyebrow. "And I'm not talking a few lessons here and there, throughout the Academy she trained all three of them. I wouldn't call them prodigies, but they are competent."

Naruto scowled at the client for a moment before pushing his irritation at being looked down upon to the side and turned to Kakashi. "We're ready to go, sensei," he announced calmly, getting a nod from the silver haired jonin as he pushed off from the gate.

"Very well then, let's get moving then, shall we?" Kakashi said with his famous eye smile as he began to leisurely stroll down the road. "After all, it is a long walk to Nami no Kuni!"

The three genin sighed in unison at their teacher's lackadaisical attitude, just from looking at him, one wouldn't think he wasn't a harsh taskmaster when it came to training, but once they proved they knew how to work as a team he really started pushing them hard for training, including a ten mile hike in the rain with 75 pounds of gear on their backs.

That had been a terrible night, as he chose to do it right before they were supposed to return home for dinner and were exhausted from the training that day, and lasted a good part of the night. Yuriko hadn't done anything about it except to tell the silver-haired man to inform her of any late-night training sessions in advance in future.

Which she later told them was good training, as you never know when you may be deployed for a mission or to reinforce a deployed team. She wished that she had undergone that sort of training before being deployed to the front during the war.

Still, didn't change the fact that right here, right now… they hated their sensei's casual disregard for such things as 'human limitations'.

Naruto grumbled something rather… unkind under his breath about the client's drinking habits messing up his sense of smell as he tried to sniff out any strange scents. Even he knew that there was good sake, bad sake and bad cheap sake, and by the scent of it, this guy had bought a bottle of the worst cheap sake he'd ever smelled. The kind you bought because you didn't much care how badly it tasted, only that it got you plastered quicker than you could say 'knife'.

Even as he grumbled, however, he still kept himself on the lookout for possible dangers, after all, even with being as close as they were to Konoha, about a five-hour walk at a civilian pace, there could be dangers such as stupid chakraless bandits who underestimated the danger of ninja or overestimated their own skills. Yuriko-nee had told him once that the one thing just as constant as death and taxes was human stupidity.

Next to him Sasuke suddenly stiffened as his eyes zeroed in on a rather innocuous looking puddle on the side of the road. Naruto opened his mouth to question his brother about this when a grey haired man with a strip of blue battle paint running over his nose under his eyes suddenly appeared behind Kakashi-sensei wrapping him up with ninja wire.

"That's one!" the man declared with a chuckle before he pulled on the wire, causing it to tighten up around the silver haired jonin who didn't have time to even speak before he was ripped apart by the wire.

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted in horrified shock.

Naruto's own eyes were wide with shock for a moment before he noticed a distinct lack of the smell of blood in the air despite the amount of red liquid that was sprayed as a result of the ambush.

Pushing the thoughts out of the way Naruto growled as his senses prickled, causing him to leap out of the way as the puddle Sasuke had been staring at lashed out at him.

"Heheh, what's wrong, Hisame?" a new masculine voice called out mockingly as a masked man dropped from above to attack Sasuke with a pair of kunai, the Uchiha managing to leap out of the way, drawing his chokuto in response. "Having trouble aiming?"

"Shut up Kirisame!" a feminine voice shouted angrily as a blue haired woman in a revealing outfit rose up from the puddle. "Kid's got sharp senses is all, nothing that will save him."

"Stop bickering," the third stated flatly, glaring at the pair of them. "Dispose of the kids while I deal with the old man."

The bridge builder whimpered in response to the declaration as the three genin quickly got into a defensive formation around him. "Plan, options?" Sasuke questioned as he stared at Kirisame who was chuckling sadistically.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the situation. "Sakura, defend Tazuna," he announced, his face growing solemn as he took command of the situation. "Sasuke, firebug."

Sasuke's eyes flicked to him for a moment before nodding his hands flipped through a set of seals. "[Fire Release: Great Fireball]!" he announced as he spat out a large fireball that made the trio chuckle.

"[Water Release: Water Whip]!" Hisame shouted as she 'grabbed' the water from the puddle and lashed out, forming a whip with the water to cut the fireball in half. "Idiot boy, using fire against water use-"

"[Wind Release: Wind Slicer]!" Naruto called out as he slashed his tanto, coated with wind chakra, at the woman, launching a blade of sharpened wind that caught the woman off guard as it opened her throat up. "Now, Sasuke!"

"Right!" Sasuke called out as he charged at Kirisame who was still in shock as Naruto charged at the surprised leader. "[Lightning Release: Electric Shockwave]!" the Uchiha announced as he thrusted his chokuto forward, allowing a jolt of electricity leap from the blade and connect with the kunai the missing ninja was holding.

"Gah! Damn brat!" Kirisame shouted in pain as he released the kunai only for Sasuke to close in with his sword and stabbed it into the missing ninja's stomach and proceeded to rip it out by slashing to the side opening not only his stomach, but intestines as well. "W-what… the hell?" the man managed to gasp out before he collapsed to the side in pain.

"Tch, this is all wrong…" the last man standing growled angrily as he dodged out of the way of Naruto's attacks. "We were told it was just a jonin with some wet behind the ears genin! Not… whatever you are!"

"Don't blame us for you three dropping the ball and not scouting the target properly." Sasuke snorted coldly.

"Yuriko-shisho was very insistent about that," Sakura pitched in as she held a kodachi in a defensive stance before Tazuna.

"Yuriko…?" the man questioned for a moment, his brow furrowing before his eyes widened as his eyes darted to Sasuke. "Well… suddenly an even larger prize appears before me," he announced with a malicious smile. "Heheh, wonder what we could get her to do, if we had her brothers captive…?"

"And I think that's enough of that," Kakashi's voice called out as he suddenly appeared behind the missing nin with a kunai to the man's throat. "I was wondering if you were after them or the bridge builder, but you answered my question, thank you for that," the silver haired man announced before he suddenly ripped the man's throat apart with his kunai and allowed him to drop to the ground.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura questioned hesitantly, one thing that had been drilled into their heads had been to be careful of familiar people randomly appearing out of nowhere; they could be enemies under a Transformation Jutsu and looking to make you drop your guard.

"Good work you three," their sensei announced with an eyesmile. "Although, Naruto, you were a bit delayed with the release of your jutsu, you should have launched it almost right away after Sasuke's [Great Fireball]."

Naruto let out a sigh in response to Kakashi's criticism, yup, he was definitely their sensei alright, only he would criticize their battle strategy just after killing a shinobi.

"But, other than that, your strategy was excellent and well executed," Kakashi continued, patting the blond on the head. "Now then… I do believe we have something we need to speak about, don't we, Tazuna?"

The bridge builder gulped nervously as the one-eyed jonin pinned him in place with a bored look that underneath the boredom said that the wrong answer will result in something very painful for his immediate future.

"Hehe… well… you see…" Tazuna trailed off as he braced himself for a long conversation.

Naruto frowned as he folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes in thought, processing everything Tazuna had told them, about Gato taking control of Nami no Kuni, of his attempts to free his country with the bridge that would connect them with the mainland without the need of the shipping industry that Gato had a stranglehold of, the death of his son-in-law Kaiza, his daughter's desperate attempt at keeping the family fed and homed.

Really, it was a depressing story, Naruto could admit that much and he did want to help them.

The problem was that he lied about the danger the mission presented, while higher ranked missions were more expensive, there were payment options that the client could choose in order to afford the needed shinobi.

All the same, however, it wasn't the bridge builder that needed them, it was the country.

"So, what do you three think?" Kakashi questioned, looking at the trio with a raised eyebrow. "What do you think we should do?"

Naruto took a mental step back at that. It was obvious what they should do, at least according to the standard procedures laid out in the Konohagakure Field Operations Manual; retreat with all due haste to Konoha and have the Hokage renegotiate the contract with the client, slapping on a hefty fee for deliberately under-rating the dangers faced on the mission. THEN the client would get shinobi of appropriate skill levels for the mission.

Still...

"I think we should continue," Sasuke announced calmly. "If we pull back now, then it will only give them a chance to hire more mercenaries or higher level missing nin to eliminate the client or take his family hostage."

"He's right," Naruto nodded in agreement. "We should continue on and push our advantage while we can."

"We could also send a message to Hokage-sama asking for reinforcements if it is absolutely necessary as well," Sakura pitched in.

"Well then, we shall continue onwards," Kakashi nodded in acceptance before looking over to Tazuna. "Once we have arrived at your home, we will be having a conversation about the payment you owe Konoha."

Tazuna swallowed tightly before nodding his understanding of the situation before him. At least they were willing to help him, things could only get better from here out now, right?

END CHAPTER!

Yuriko's Stats

Name: Yuriko

Level: 79

EXP: 9,047/39,500

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Title: Uchiha Clan head (+50% to all reputation gains, command of the Uchiha Clan)

Secondary Title: Equal to the Clan Killer (+50% to all stats, +200 HP & CP per level, Reputation with Konohagakure and Uchiha Clan is set to [Exalted])

STATS - Current

HP - 12,000

CP - 38,500

STR - 100 (175)

INT - 140 (210)

DEX - 160 (280)

VIT - 100 (175)

WIS -135 (202)

LUK - 41 (61)

Ryo - 39,115,254

New Jutsu

[Rasenken - Level 1 - 0.00%] - A fusion of the Yondaime's Rasengan and the Chakra Scalpel, creating a chakra sword that is capable of shredding almost anything it cuts into pieces. Even armour is of no help before this jutsu, as it retains some of the chakra scalpels' ability to cut through an object. All armour is reduced by 50% when faced with this jutsu.