•3-War Start•

"Impossible… it makes no sense!"

Kou's mouth dropped as if he had witnessed the sage of six paths descend from above while he was watching Yuudai stroll on the water in deep thought.

Why? Because he had only taught him how to channel chakra for two hours!

He had learned to control multiple leaves in under thirty minutes and mastered it alongside tree walking in an hour. It was unheard of.

"It's a little like Qi… but slightly different," Yuudai murmured. "It doesn't circulate in the dantian and instead in these 'tenketsu.' Oddly, I can't seem to expel chakra from all my tenketsu, only the ones on my hands and feet. I wonder why that is…"

It was here that he became stumped with no ideas as to how to proceed.

"Yuudai-San?"

Yuudai glanced at the Uzumaki, confused.

Kou smiled. This was his chance. He could tell something hadn't quite clicked with the younger man and as a senior this was his chance to show off his knowledge. "If you can't figure something out, you can confide in me."

"Sure. Well, it turns out I have a question Kou-San," said Yuudai.

"Ask away." Kou puffed his chest proudly.

"Why is it that I can only expel chakra from my hands and feet through my tenketsu?"

"That's a good question! That I do not have an answer for," Kou chuckled alongside Yuudai.

There goes his attempt to seem cool. They say when you don't know, say it. He wasn't a man that would knowingly give out false information.

"BUT! Perhaps the little foxes hidden behind those bushes might have some ideas to your question, hmmm?"

Under the intense gazes of a Jounin level shinobi and an unknown three-eyed man, three teenagers stood up.

"Ehehe… sorry, we were just a bit curious," said the boy who seemed to be the leader of the group.

Narrowing his eyes Kou simultaneously shook his head. "Yoshio, Susumu, and Miki… the village is in a state of urgency and you three brats still have found the time to come and linger around here."

The three shinobi in dark red armor lowered their heads.

Kou and Yuudai could tell from their body language that the threat of war was affecting them. Perhaps this was a way to distract them from it.

"What we're you children curious about?" Yuudai asked.

"Ah!" Yoshio's head instantly shot up. "We were curious about you. See, this village is really small, so word gets around pretty fast."

The other two nodded.

"You're telling me that you idiots decided to ditch your duties and come here to play around?!" Kou raised his voice, and they lowered their heads back down. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. As the most responsible of the group, I expected more from you Miki-chan."

"I couldn't stop th-"

"I think they've learned their lesson Kou-San," said Yuudai chuckling once more. "Anyway, what would you kids like to know?"

What would they like to know?

A lot!

Where to start?

How about…

Miki raised her slender hand, "What does that eye do? It's a doujutsu right? So that means it has special abilities, right?"

Covering her mouth before she said anymore Miki peeked around and hid her flushed face between her fingers. "Sorry…"

Yoshio and Susumu hid their laughs while Kou openly rubbed it in her face.

"Jeez… so which question should I tackle first? Yes, I guess you could call my eye a doujutsu. And yes, it does have special abilities. As for what they are…"

At this, Kou's ears perked up. There was no way he would tell a child what he couldn't even tell Ashina-sama, right?

The suspense caused by Yuudai caused the hairs to stand up on their arms. What was it? What did it do? Yuudai could practically see their thoughts forming on their heads.

"I can do..."

The silver hue in Yuudai's third eye became dominant as he reached out a hand towards the forest.

-Boom! -

Looking behind them, the trio's brows raised alongside Kou's. A row of thick trees had been hurtled backwards into the surroundings, creating a giant explosion leaving debris in the air.

"Something like that. Although, that's just the tip of the iceberg."

Kou's eyes nearly popped out from their eye sockets and flew away for the second time today.

He didn't doubt that Yuudai's words were true from the unbothered temperament he held. 'It's like it was child's play…!!'

The shine of Susumu's eyes couldn't be hidden as he ran over, kowtowing to Yuudai. "Master!"

Susumu worshipped the strong. People like Hashirama, the god of shinobi and Madara, the ghost of the Uchiha. His aspiration for figures like this could be said to be as strong as his will to live.

And this was such man. He was physically imposing, unlike their clan head, and had the power to back it up. This was someone he deemed worthy to call master.

Yoshio cursed. 'Fuck, he beat me to it!'

He also ran over doing the same as Susumu, their long hair covering their faces as their foreheads touched the earth.

Miki covered her pretty face wished to drag the two shameless boys back to their spots. But she was much too weak for that, and it was already too late.

'I have to let Ashina-Sama know. We may have picked up a really strong ally!'

Kou's grin couldn't be hidden. Maybe their Uzumaki clans' survival wasn't zero anymore. He came back to reality as he heard the two boys shouting beside him. "You idiots stop bothering Yuudai-sam-"

"I don't see why not. If all of you three can survive this war, I will let you all become my disciples."

"Really?"

"Really?!"

"R-really…"

"I'm a man of my word," Yuudai smiled.

Surviving this war could be counted as their first test. Should fate have it, they would all become his disciples. If not, only death awaited.

While giving them a reason to push further as the war would soon start, it would give him a reason to look forward to living this life.

It wasn't good for a human to live such a dull life after all. Why not have a few bright personalities to liven it up?

"Yuudai-sama can I also-"

"No."

-

Fuinjutsu was comparable to high-level math. In order to successfully install a seal, one needed to fully understand the intricacies of that seal and how it worked, otherwise it was doomed to fail and backfire.

Similar to a modern-day programming a shinobi would need chakra as a catalyst to trigger their 'program' or 'formula'. Like this, the shinobi first needed to write lines after lines of Fuinjutsu commands and then expose it to chakra in order for the Jutsu to work.

It required immense amounts of mental strength and physical strength to complete even just one A rank seal. That was why Ashina walked around inspecting all of the seals before they were deemed ready for use.

He was a master of Fuinjutsu that knew the language like the back of his hand. Even so, he knew that he had only barely scratched the surface of its possibilities.

He let a breath go as he finally finished transcribing foreign symbols into the ground in front of the group of Uzumaki. "That should keep the poison in place. Remember, undo this seal in the right circumstance, otherwise you might all perish with the enemy."

The group nodded. They knew the potency of this poison after multiple test subjects on chakra beasts. It had the power to even instantly kill a Chuunin shinobi who had been fooling around with the seal.

From there on they continued working on different seals. A reverse gravity seal, sense removal seal, chakra draining seal, and even Barrier ninjutsu's.

They were going to pull all of their cards out for this war.

This was their last stand.

-

Uzumaki Norio had boarded a small boat with other Uzumaki children around similar ages.

He glanced around as the boat continued to row on the calm waters. He was surrounded by strong fear inducing trees and coupled with the strangeness of the whole situation; his young mind couldn't be put at ease.

There were four older Uzumaki on the boat, including a young woman with a baby in her arms.

Norio gazed at the baby. 'So small... so pure...'

Like an angel that had been born into the world. Nagato observed as the baby clutched at her mother's finger and giggled, bringing a smile to his face. 'If I had a mom and dad, would they care for me like her?'

He could only look at the sky, letting the smooth breeze soothe his face.

-

"It seems your nature transformation affinities are water and lightning Yuudai-Sama," Kou finger scratched his head. "Although I suppose that won't do you any good as there isn't enough time to teach you any techniques related to those elements since the war is right around the corner."

"Thats fine," Yuudai said. "You've taught me how to control my chakra and hand signs. I know you are a busy man, and you took time out of your schedule to come help me, so thank you."

Kou smiled, "You are very welcome."

'It feels damn good to be complimented for my hard work! You hear that Ashina-sama? He said thank you! Hehe...'

They walked through the almost emptied out village. Most stores were closed down and buildings vacant as everyone was on the move outside of the village.

Occasionally, a group of Uzumaki would run through the village in a hurry. Compared to peaceful times and now, there was an obvious difference in the overall mood of the village.

"Here we are. The armory," Kou took the taller man in the rusty old building. "We, as a clan don't use many weapons besides kunai, shuriken, and swords so you won't see many varieties in here. What kind of weapon do you like to use, Yuudai-Sama?"

Yuudai had used every weapon under the sun. From needles to a spear that towered ten feet over him. He was well-versed in all weapons and tended to quickly pick up what he was taught.

Even with all of the weapons he had wielded in his lifetime, he did have a preference. "Something long, like a spear, but with a large blade as well and a thick handle."

With his eyes lighting up the place Kou led him through a series of doors. Opening the last one he came into a room full of weapons like spears, naginata's, and staffs. "I'm sure you will find something you like in here."

Yuudai stepped towards the back right corner of the room. There he saw a bisento with a black handle and silver linings running down the sides. The blade was a shiny silver and was incredibly sharp.

"Ah, I suggest you don't get that one." Kou walked over to his side. "This one is a real piece of work. It weights nearly three hundred pounds, and we are unsure as to what metals it's made of to make it weigh so much. It looks nice, but it would definitely slow you down in battle."

Cocking his head to the side Yuudai couldn't help but become interested. A blade that weighed three hundred pounds.

"Nice."

He strolled over and picked the bisento off the ground as if it were a strand of hair.

Kou, who had been shaking his head moments before had jaw go completely slack. He glanced back and forth between Yuudai and the bisento.

'He actually managed to pick that up?!'

The bisento was nine feet tall with a three-inch width. Yuudai thrusted and swung the spear around his body with the finesse of a swan. "I'll take this one."

"S-s-sure. Go ahead, ahahaha..."

-Two Days Pass-

The silence before the war.

The Uzumaki had long detected the force of eight thousand shinobi on the move. Now they lay in wait behind the dense forests and Rocky Mountains.

A cloudy morning like no other. Tensions were high.

The nervousness radiating off children and adult alike could be felt by the more experienced shinobi within the squadrons.

Standing at the top of the tallest and oldest tree was Yuudai. He held the thick bisento upright with one hand as his red pupils hawked the area. His ears twitched at the slightest movement and his nose picked up the faintest scents.

He wore the Uzumaki flak jacket, a black long sleeve shirt, and similarly colored cargo pants with ninja boots. His mighty figure made he seem as if a god looking at his creations.

Seconds passed...

-BOOM! -

-BOOM! -

-BOOM! -

Explosions from the east. Yuudai tightened his grip around his bisento as a savage grin spread across his face.

He leaped from the tree and his body dipped towards the ground headfirst like a comet from space. Before colliding, he flipped in the air and landed, cracking the earth into pieces.

Then, like a bullet he zoomed across the forest, leaving the air to rise and the leaves to shake immensely

The war had begun.