Training Begins

*Door Opens*

Minato took a look at Naruto who was sleeping on his bed peacefully.

He then thought back to his earlier conversation with Hiruzen.

…

"Lord Third," Minato called out.

"hmm…?"

"What is it, Minato?" Hiruzen asked.

"I have a question,"

"If you had hidden Naruto's identity as my son, then how did you fail in hiding the fact that he was the nine-tails," Minato asked.

"…" Hiruzen was silent.

"Lord Third, Please don't mistake my question for anger,"

"In a way, I am happy on seeing Naruto's growth turn out for the best,"

"However, I still have a duty as his father," Minato said.

"Minato…"

"At this point, It is not that I am trying to hide the person from you, but it is just meaningless to pursue this matter," Hiruzen said.

"…" Minato, however, stared at Hiruzen silently.

*Sigh!*

Hiruzen looked at Minato.

"It was Danzō," Hiruzen said.

"Danzō-sama again I see…" Minato murmured.

"Minato," Hiruzen called out.

"Hm…?" Minato looked at Hiruzen.

"Leave Danzō to Lord Second for now,"

"We must focus on the plans and developments for the near future," Hiruzen said.

Minato thought back to Naruto's words during the meeting.

He understood that Naruto's suggestions were the better choice, which was to wait for Itachi.

Hiruzen then pulled out a map in front of Minato.

"What's this?" Minato asked curiously.

"This is the plans for the train around the Hidden Leaf," Hiruzen smiled.

"Aren't we building this too soon?" Minato asked.

"Haha," Hiruzen laughed.

"It is only during peace that this kind of development takes place faster," Hiruzen said,

Minato nodded.

…

Minato continued to look at Naruto who was sleeping peacefully on the bed,

("In the previous timeline, nothing major happened until you came back from your two and half years journey with Jiraiya-sensei,")

("I hope you will be able to enjoy in peace until then,") Minato thought following which he closed the door.

Naruto, however, was not asleep like Minato thought.

Deep within his psyche…

Naruto stood in front of Shū.

"Naruto,"

"What's your plan for now, other than waiting for that boy named Itachi?" Shū asked.

"For now, I plan to train for the next few days," Naruto replied.

"Weren't you supposed to go to the sage frog for a prediction?" Shū asked.

"Oh, You mean the Great Elder,"

"Thanks for reminding, I will visit him tomorrow," Naruto said.

"Did you check that jutsu your dad gave you?" Shū asked.

"Ah!"

"I didn't!" Naruto exclaimed, following which he immediately got up from the bed.

*Lights up the room*

Naruto took his ninja pouch and looked within for a particular scroll.

"There," Naruto took out the scroll.

He opened it.

The first line of characters on the right read: Flying Thunder God - formation zero - Instantaneous Shadow Style Clone Switch Jutsu.

("Huh…?")

("Clone switch?")

("The name sounds cool, but it is too long,")

("How about, Flying Thunder God - Clone switch…") Naruto thought following which he continued to read.

("The technique will allow the user to switch his place with a clone instantaneously,")

("The switch is not limited by distance, For example, if the clone is in another nation, the user can switch places with the clone instantaneously,") Naruto read.

("Whoah, this is too good,")

("Too bad I can only start training tomorrow,") Naruto thought following which he put the scroll back in and switched off the light in his room.

———————

The next morning…

Naruto had his breakfast along with his dad after a bath,

"Naruto,"

"From now on I am going to work with the Third daily," Minato said.

"I understand," Naruto said.

"You seem a bit sad about that," Minato asked.

"Not that, I understand that as a Hokage, our first concern would be about the village more than anything else,"

"For the past few months, after my arrival here, I have been feeling lonely," Naruto said.

Minato stared silently.

"Boruto and Himawari are not there,"

"I am not married to Hinata yet,"

"Not to mention the fact that I had to get used to living alone once again…" Naruto said.

"Naruto…" Minato murmured.

"I was glad that I could hang out Sakura and Sasuke like before along with Kakashi-sensei again,"

"And the best part was when you came along," Naruto smiled as tears slid down by the side of his eyes.

"I may be selfish, but I also wanted to see Mom, now that you are here Dad," Naruto said.

Minato also felt like crying; however, he steeled himself up as he looked at Naruto.

"Naruto,"

"No matter how much we wish for it, it is wrong for us to use another person's life to resurrect your mom," Minato said.

"You don't need to tell me, Dad,"

"I already understand," Naruto said as he cleaned his tears away.

"Naruto,"

"You are not wrong to think about that at all,"

"As humans, it is only natural that we have a certain amount of selfishness,"

"However, if this were true, then Obito would have used a person to resurrect Rin himself,"

"But the fact remains that peace will never exist in this world,"

"Though you managed to achieve temporary peace, troubles kept coming one by one," Minato said.

"Mm!" Naruto nodded.

"And Obito understands this,"

"Because if he were to resurrect Rin, the same could be said for countless people who shared a similar fate to him, who would want to revive the person closest to them as well, which would once again inevitably result in war," Minato said.

Naruto knew this fact; however, Minato's reminder also helped reinforce his determination to save those who were close to him once more.

"If your mom was to be resurrected then someone else might bring that idea as well, which would slowly enter a cycle of taking and giving life, which will bring about hatred from others…"

"a cycle of hatred which you did a splendid job at keeping at bay by defending against this kind of threat," Minato praised Naruto.

"Remember, As a kage, it is our duty to make sure the villagers have a peaceful time while we do our best to protect them from these kinds of threats," Minato explained.

"Mm!" Naruto nodded as his expression changed to one that brimmed with determination.

…

A while later,

Minato went to the Hokage Office while wearing a mask once again while Naruto went to the training field.

…

(Whoosh!)

Naruto landed at the center of the field.

("Naruto,") Shū called out.

("Hmm…?") Naruto responded.

("I am going to transfer a memory about my conversation with the sage of the six paths,")

("Sage of six paths?") Naruto asked.

("Yeah,")

("It is important for you to know before you start training,") Shū said following which he transferred the memory.

…

("Laws?") Naruto asked in surprise.

("Yeah,") Shū responded.

("So, are you going to teach me laws?") Naruto asked.

("It's not as easy as you think,")

("For ninja mortals like your kind, it is still a doubt that if you could learn it,")

("It might take more than a few decades to grasp laws ") Shū said.

("I see…") Naruto thought as he started to do his routine workout, which he had missed out on for the past ten days…

(Whoosh!)

(Whoosh!)

Naruto punched at the space in front of him continuously.

("Shū,") Naruto called out.

("Yeah?") Shū responded.

("The laws, what other examples can be found here other than the ones used in the rinnegan?") Naruto asked.

("You mean, are there other people who have used it in this world?")

("Of course, for example, there's the Nara clan, who manipulate laws of Light using their Yin release to control their shadows,")

("There are a few more examples, but they are not so close to laws,")

("However, there's one that's particularly bothered me for a while, in fact, it could be accurate to say there are two such jutsus,") Shū said.

("What are they?") Naruto asked.

("The Izanagi and Izanami,") Shū said.

Naruto frowned.

("Each law has different levels which are profoundly different from each other,")

("these, levels take quite a long time to overcome,")

("However, these two jutsu's have reached the highest levels in their execution,") Shū explained.

("These two jutsu's are on par with the highest levels of laws?") Naruto felt it was rather reasonable considering the prowess wielded within,

("Yeah,")

("It is rather justified for a mortal to sacrifice his eyes for using these jutsus because this sacrifice pushes the capability of the jutsu to the highest level possible for a certain time limit,") Shū explained.

("So which laws are these two jutsus a part of?") Naruto asked.

("The laws of illusion,") Shū explained.

("You have already heard the story of how Madara fooled Hashirama by creating a fake dead body while the real one survived using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path,")

("to put it simply, the highest level of illusion is reality which is what the Izanagi did in this case.") Shū explained.

("Then what about the Izanami?") Naruto asked.

("The Izanami is actually at a lower level compared to the Izanagi,") Shū said.

("But the Izanami that Itachi had used was said to have stopped users of Izanagi in the past,") Naruto said.

("That's because no one knew laws at that time.")

("Anyone skilled in illusion laws can easily break the loop upon finding the point of Origination and the point of repetition.") Shū explained.

("I see…")

("Well, for now, I am going to concentrate on training in this new technique,")

("Later in the afternoon, I will go to Mount Myoboku to hear the elder sage's prophecy,")

("After that, I will continue to perfect this technique")

("Once, I have finished learning this jutsu, I will be ready to learn the laws,") Naruto said.

("Yeah,")

("The laws, unlike others, requires time to perceive while meditating,")

("It's like training the training you did to sense Nature energy, but this time there won't be oil to help you sense the laws or anything,") Shū said.

("Got it!") Naruto nodded as he continued to train.

——————————————

In the Village of Hidden Mist….

Inside a cave that was located near the village,

A masked man stood beside the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura who was in a daze.

He stared at the light that entered into the cave from its entrance.

*Sh!*

Zetsu appeared from the ground.

"What is it?" The masked man asked.

"A recent news from the Hidden Leaf village," Zetsu said.

"Ohh…" The masked man was surprised.

"They are holding an event in the celebration of their treaty over their past years," Zetsu said.

"That's funny," The masked man replied.

"Hmm…?" Zetsu was curious.

"The treaty does not have an anniversary on this date as I recall," The masked man said.

"…" Zetsu was silent.

"Whatever, Send your clones a message for all the members to settle down for a meeting," The masked man said.

"Got it," Zetsu said as he disappeared into the ground.

However, Zetsu came out again.

"What is it?" The masked man asked.

"I forgot to mention that the Hidden Leaf has taken Orochimaru prisoner," Zetsu said.

"What?"

"I told Nagato to send Deidara and Sasori to kill him,"

"Well forget it,"

"I'll see them in the meeting anyway…" The masked man said.

…

Soon Zetsu through his clones appeared at the locations where the Akatsuki pairs were and informed them of the meeting.

All the pairs soon found a spot and soon prepared to head into the meeting.

However, before the meeting began the masked man had communicated his plans to Nagato in advance.

…

*zz!*

All the members had appeared virtually in the meeting room.

"You had called?" Kisame asked.

"Kisame," Pain stared at Kisame who had spoken following which he looked at every member in the room…

Konan and Himself stood side by side.

Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Zetsu.

Kakuzu stared at Pain.

"I still do not have a partner," Kakuzu said.

"Be patient, there's one that I have my eyes on who is still in the development stage," Pain explained following which his eyes landed on the Sasori and Deidara pair.

"Sasori,"

"Deidara,"

"You've failed the mission, I've given you," Pain said.

Sasori looked at Pain.

"The sand village had sent some higher-ups which gave Orochimaru the opportunity to slip," Sasori calmly replied.

"Orochimaru has now been imprisoned in the Hidden Leaf," Pain informed.

"What?" Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, and Itachi were shocked.

Itachi looked at Pain,

"Who all were involved?" Itachi asked.

"he was captured by the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage along with some ANBU units," Pain explained.

"I see…" Itachi murmured.

Pain looked at the people in front of him.

"Right now, Akatsuki is working in a small-scale; thus failures can be forgiven once,"

"However, once we start large-scale operations. There will no longer be an option for failure," Pain said.

The people in front of him silently accepted the fact.

"There's an event announced by the Hidden Leaf Village which will take place in ten days from now,"

"It's an opportunity for money and trade,"

"Who will take the mission?" Pain asked.

Itachi looked at Pain.

"Kisame and I shall take the mission," Itachi said.

"Hehe," Kisame grinned.

"Then it's settled," Pain said following which he turned to Deidara.

"Head over to the Hidden Rain immediately,"

"There's a mission for you," Pain said.

"Mm!" Deidara nodded.

"This meeting is adjourned until our usual monthly," Pain said.

"Mm!" The others nodded as they unraveled their visual forms from the place of meeting.

…

In the grasslands elsewhere,

Itachi opened his eyes,

Kisame looked at Itachi,

"Looks like we will be going to the place you grew up," Kisame said.

"Yeah…" Itachi murmured as he stared at the open grasslands in front of him.

("Sasuke, I will get to see you again…") Itachi thought.

However, his other main purpose was to meet a boy that Hiruzen had mentioned.

——————————

Post Chapter Shorts

——————————

Naruto: Hi there Webnovel readers and novel planet readers. Today we are here for a usual interview with author-san.

Author-san: Hi!

Naruto: The past three days have been hard on us with bushy brows going on a full rampage and destroying the set…

Author-san: Tell me about it.

Naruto: Hehe…

I am also excited to see Itachi-san on the move.

Author-san: Itachi-kun is a legend after all.

Naruto: By the way, what was that mission Pain gave to Deidara.

Author-san: It's related to the upcoming arc, So all I can say is just wait for it to happen.

Naruto: I see…

Onto the q/a session we have about five questions today.

Author-san: I am lucky that only five questions were asked in the last three chapters. Haha!

Naruto: Yes, the first one is from a user named kali_Graphy addressed to Author-san,

Will you make Hinata stronger considering her husband is one of the strongest ninjas in the future and make her more useful than she was in canon?

Author-san: It depends on how the story proceeds, for now, we are only at the phase where everyone needs to train to improve themselves, So if there is any mission in particular that she can help with, then you can expect Hinata to demonstrate her new abilities. Speaking of which, there's a medic ninja on the rise that everyone has to watch out for.

Naruto: Wow, Hinata is going to be stronger now huh… That's great.

Onto the next question, it's from a user named FujiTatsumaki addressed to Author-san.

Author-san, is it possible to ship Neji x Tenten in your fanfic?

Author-san: Well, Seeing that nothing has been made official yet, It might be possible, however, It all depends upon how things proceed.

Naruto: Neji x Tenten, Neji died protecting Hinata in the previous timeline. I think he should get a girl after all.

Author-san: Indeed! Neji-kun is a true hero.

Naruto: Onto the next question is from a user named MemeDaoist addressed to Author-san.

Author-san you good?

Need an icepack or something? I don't know, a drink, a massage? Hell! Is someone blackmailing you?

Author-san: Ah!

MemeDaoist-san, Thank you for asking me.

The truth is, It's just me trying to improve my chapter which somehow goes beyond 1500 plus words. Today's chapter is a staggering 2937 words.

Naruto: Author-san, Hang in there!

We know how much hard work you put in.

Author-san: Thank You Naruto-kun. To be honest, I want to see you guys live another life, so that's why I work hard.

Naruto: (Sob) (Sob)

Thank you for your hard work!

Author-san: …

Naruto: Onto the next question, it's from a user named Ahmednassef addressed to Author-san.

Will Naruto get another power than what he already has?

Author-san: I believe you have got your answer in this chapter.

Naruto: Onto the next question, it's from a user named Chadliu.

Is sakara going to fall in love with Naruto which will completely not follow the main plot??? Because that's what I've been getting for the last few chapters

Sakara = Sakura-chan?

Author-san: Well, Sakura is still in her growth-phase. Her ability to judge a person for the truth will keep changing as she gains experience. For now, there is no definite answer; however, Naruto-kun will still be with Hinata in the end. I hope that answers your question.

Naruto: Well, That concludes the Interview for today. See You all tomorrow!

Author-san: See You all tomorrow!

——————————————

Naruto: Next time on NRe - Prophecy of the Great Elder Sage!

——————————————

Author-notes -

Upon a request from a fan, I'd like to make a poll for a troll chapter or an interview, which might be uploaded sometime in future starring the wielder of the infinity stones.

(The one with most likes will be selected)

PS - I need your power stones!