Prelude to War

Chapter 29: Prelude to War

I kept my breath smooth and easy as I focused on my surroundings, the sun vanishing into the skyline as I kept perfectly still. I was in my final week of my time in the training ground, the Zetsu had been kicked into overdrive with their desire to kill me, and several of the 'special enemies' had actually come close to doing so.

One of the most dangerous had actually been Kai Leng, the Assassin of Cerberus. An experienced soldier, outfitted with Reaper cybernetics and high tech gear, yeah, it was a pain to beat him. He had the ability to go invisible AND summon force fields, not to mention the fact that his sword had been able to cleave through metal with ease thanks to the fact it was a goddamn monomolecular blade. Plus, it could electrify whoever it cut. A sword I now had stashed away in my inventory.

But seriously, he was tough, able to deploy a seriously strong field as he applied medi-gel to the wounds I inflicted on him and cloaked himself to try and get the drop on me. On the upside, I got proof that my enhanced [Sharingan] was able to pick up the minute shifting of space that stealth fields made.

But, I was still alive, and now I was about to attempt to finally put an end to the Predator that had been harassing me this entire time! The reptilian bastard had hunted and harassed me for weeks no matter how I modified my camping protection. I was starting to really hate balls of plasma…

Hell, when I camped out underground, he freaking blew up the area I was camping in!

No respect these days.

The sun vanished into the horizon as I waited for the Predator to show himself, my enhanced eyes twitching with every movement in the forest around me before I finally noticed something, space warping around in a peculiar manner.

I reacted immediately, throwing out a brace of kunai and applying a quick [Kage Kunai] jutsu to one of the kunai in the brace before triggering a quick teleport to another location, the forest I chose as my hunting ground being covered with Hiraishin kunais at this point.

My eyes were wide as I watched the forest for any sign of movement as my kunai tore through the trees, sounding almost like a heavy rainstorm before teleporting into a new location.

One thing I learned fighting the Predator, never stay in one spot for too long, it made you too predictable. It also didn't help if it came to respect you as prey...it meant that the damned thing didn't underestimate you.

Speaking of.

I leaned back as a ball of plasma passed through the space my head had been before teleporting to another kunai as an explosion rocked my previous position. I quickly began moving by foot as I spotted my own prey's silhouette.

The Predator reacted quickly, drawing out his collapsible staff/spear as I descended upon him with my kodachi. The sounds of metal clashing sang through the trees as I pressed against him with an unrelenting attack only for him to shock me as a mine detonated at my feet.

A cloud of smoke and debris clouded the Predator's vision as the mine went off, the alien taking some splash damage himself, even as he threw himself back, only to be immediately beset upon as I came hurtling out of the forest, flanked by another two 'mes'.

His shock was visible as three of my shadow clones clashed with him, even from my position, hidden in a tree, a cloak lined with temperature regulating seals and a number of other ones that would hide me from his vision as I continually attacked him with my shadow clones, waiting for him to be moved into position.

And honestly, the shadow clones were awesome, but seriously impractical unless you were both an Uzumaki and a Jinchuriki. It cut my chakra in half every time I used it, so making the seven clones I did dropped me to only hundreds of chakra points remaining, out of my tens of thousands.

Seriously, only reason Naruto-kun was able to make as many as he could, was because of the frankly, insane amount of base chakra he had, and the ridiculous regenerationrate the Kyuubi granted to him.

Even Roshi and Han admitted they wouldn't be able to spam the jutsu like Naruto-kun was able to.

But, it would be worth it, because somehow, the Predator figured out how to track chakra, and with mine being so low, and my control suppressing it even further, it basically made it look like I had no chakra within me.

Letting out another small breath I restrained myself from making any moves as the Predator got even closer, another one of my clones vanishing as he managed to get through its guard, only for it to be replaced by another clone as they pushed it into position.

I held my breath, each one of my muscles tensing as he got closer, before finally, the tension snapped as I launched forward, not making a single sound as he focused solely on the clones in front of him.

Right before my sword slide into his chest and some of my remaining chakra detonated within him as a sort of 'Scalpel Bomb', choosing to ruin every organ, rather than surgically choosing specific ones.

A wet gurgling sound came from the Predators throat before it twitched it's arm to bring it around, only for a clone to step forward, cutting it off smoothly seconds before the Predator vanished in a flash of light.

You have assassinated the Prefect Hunter, the Predator!

Looted and stored the Hunter's Mask in your inventory!

I blinked in response as I stared at the alert box before letting out a happy sigh as I dismissed my remaining clones. "Thank kami that is done with," I groaned out as I moved into the forest towards my camp, letting out a long, tired yawn. "I need to sleep, been planning that out since his last attack on my camp…"

Shaking my head, I leapt up into the hammock I had set up and closed my eyes, allowing myself to slip into a light doze.

A Special Enemy has arrived to investigate the death of a number of Zetsu!

I carefully eyed the pop-up in front of me warily, I only had five hours remaining before the end of my time here in the training zone, so, something told me to be careful for who the enemy is.

So I began searching, keeping myself carefully hidden as I moved through the zones, feeling a strange tension as I tried to locate my target, only to find nothing.

A frown flickered on my face as I crouched on a tree branch, it was strange, but, whomever my friend summoned here, was a master at stealth, equalling even me as I was unable to locate him.

Which was troublesome because that meant I wouldn't be sure that he could see me.

I was jerked out of my contemplation as a strange scent filled the air before my eyes widened as I flooded my lungs with healing chakra, purging the poison that was starting to fill them as I leapt away.

A crack echoed as a part of the branch exploded from an impact of a bullet.

I quickly tracked where the shot came from and teleported using one of the many kunai I had scattered through the forest.

Well, that's troubling, someone had got the drop on me for once. Been a while since that's happened.

So poison and some type of rifle, not a lot to go on, but a start.

I began ghosting my way through the forest with a frown on my face, if he was able to find me, then I guess I would just have to give him something else to look for.

Triggering another teleportation I formed a single shadow clone before the two of us teleported again, the two of 'us' repeating the process, leaving each of 'me' with a quarter of my total chakra and, hopefully, confusing my opponent trying to figure out who the real 'me' was.

A scarce minute or so after I teleported away, I jerked in surprise as two of my clones were destroyed; one by some kind of explosive, while the other one was beheaded from behind. Who the hell was doing this?!

A snarl almost escaped my throat as me and my final clone leapt from our perches and vanished into the ground. I was not used to being outclassed anymore, even if I was sure I could crush whoever it was in seconds if I went all out, my own pride refused to allow me to break my self imposed rules.

Okay, Yuriko, calm down, getting angry won't help anything.

I let out a calming breath as I moved through the ground, my clone moving in the opposite direction as I began to call on the more tactical part of my mind.

Whoever was attacking me was a master of stealth, assassination and traps, so basically I should treat this like I was fighting myself.

So, if the situation was reversed, what would I do?

I would turn my opponents actions against them, like he was doing already.

Okay, so what would be the best way to break the pattern?

By not playing the same game as my opponent.

But that would mean breaking my own rules.

Is it worth letting yourself get killed?

Well… that puts things into perspective.

Coming to my decision I sent my clone up to the surface where it had one goal, cause as much chaos as it possible could before it was dispelled, either from a lack of chakra, or by being 'killed'.

And oh boy, did it ever, starting off with a [Fire Release: Heaven Quenching Flames] that set nearly the entire forest on fire with the Zetsu dropping like flies, only to spawn back into the flames, and die again.

After that, my clone was forming another set of seals when it was killed, only this time, 'I' was able to see my opponent as he killed my clone, an older looking man - from how he moved he seemed like that anyways - with an orange and black mask and similar coloured armour.

Only one person matched that description. Slade Wilson, Deathstroke the Terminator.

Hm, no wonder he was able to get the drop on me so often.

Also, the forest is a no go; without my clone to control the flow of chakra, the firestorm it had started was running rampant.

So, that left one of the other biomes to fight Slade in.

After a moment's consideration I ended up choosing the grasslands, and pulled myself out of the ground and dusted myself off, waiting for my opponent to show themselves as the fire raged in the background.

I tilted my head with a smirk as a bullet brushed past me as I began to move a bit, my enhanced eyes seeing each and every bullet being fired by the modified rifle hidden in Slade's staff. I formed a single seal with my hand and inhaled. "[Fire Release: Fire Dragon Song]!" I intoned before spitting out a dragon shaped flame that swept through the area that Slade was taking his shots from, my eyes catching his movements.

I cut him off from hiding from me again as I slashed at him, the supervillain catching my sword with his staff and spun it to try and knock me off balance.

I simply chose to let go of my sword as I inhaled again and let out a [Fire Release: Great Fireball] directly into his face as I leapt away from him, my Sharingan morphing as I triggered [Kamiyonanayo] and [Ame-no-Ukihashi] to surround him with several more fireballs converging on his position.

A scream of pain echoed through the plains as the surrounding ground caught fire from my attacks as I formed a set of seals that I completed as he came charging out of the flames, the cloth parts of his armor having burned away, showing his slowly healing skin.

"[Earth Release: Crushing the Heavens]" I announced in a cold voice as the earth began to rumble beneath us before the ground began to tear and rise into the air, dragging the mercenary assassin with it as he was clipped by several of the larger chunks. I smirked as he and chunks of rock and earth reached at least 500 feet into the air before I raised one of my hands, and then chopped it down, prompting the chunks to start propelling themselves towards the ground at near terminal velocity, dragging Slade with them.

I quickly formed the ribcage of my [Susano'o] to protect me from the sudden rocking of the earth as I essentially dropped several meteorites into the ground around me. Even as the clouds of dust and debris covered my vision I held and out as I began to channel chakra, forming a [Rasengan] before morphing it into my [Rasenken], waiting for the debris to dissipate, or my opponent to show themselves.

"This… I wasn't… briefed… about…" a gasping, rasping voice called out as the dust began to settle. "The… client… didn't… say anything… about elemental control…"

I smirked a bit. "Because, I decided to break my rules, just for you, Slade," I announced as my [Susano'o] receded, trying to conserve my remaining chakra before turning to face him, wincing a bit, honestly, the man was a mess, missing an arm, large gashes that were struggling to close, his mask shattered as the man glared at me. "But really, I should commend you. It's not often that I find somebody superior to me in something, so, honestly, good work. You really are the best assassin I have encountered, period."

Slade grunted as he slowly dragged himself to his feet, struggling to pull out his sword from his back as he pointed it at me. "I will complete my job…" he panted heavily as he coughed up blood.

I chuckled a bit in response as I held out my [Rasenken]. "That is a good work ethic to have," I said to him honestly. "Really, a shame I have to kill you here, I would have loved to have you in my village," that wasn't even a lie, if Slade had been able to get the drop on me, then he would have been able to do so much in my world. "But, alas, that isn't in the cards, sorry about that."

I launched myself forward, Slade letting out a defiant roar as I closed in on him, before trying to slash out at me, only for me to sidestep the clumsy, off center swing before ramming the [Rasenken] into his chest, the man letting out a choked scream of pain before vanish in a flash of light, seconds before everything for me flashed out of existence.

You have killed Slade Wilson, Deathstroke the Terminator!

Modified Ballistic Staff looted and stored in inventory.

Quest Complete!

Survived in the Zone for 25 days

Bonus Objective

Assassinated 25 Special Enemies - Completed

Killed 10,000 White Zetsus - Completed

Assassinated the Hunter - Completed

Killed 1,000 White Zetsus with Traps - Completed

Remain Undetected for the entire quest - Incomplete

Quest Reward

1,000,000 EXP

+500,000 bonus EXP per bonus objective

2,000,000 EXP gained!

EXP from Kills will now be tallied

…

Tally Complete!

2,500,000 Experience points gained from kills!

You have leveled up 21 times!

115 Skill points to spend!

You have broken past level 100! Title [God of Shinobi] has been earned!

[God of Shinobi] - You are considered to be untouchable by the average Shinobi, you are what they aspire to be. +100% Reputation with all allied Shinobi +10% Damage with all ninja arts. Perk [Aura of Absolute Command] gained!

[Aura of Absolute Command] - Your status of being a God of Shinobi gives weight to your words, when allies are fighting nearby they are inspired by your presence. When enemies fight nearby, they will be frightened by your presence.

Naruto frowned as he looked down at the sealing array his sensei was showing him. Training under Jiraiya was an interesting experience for the young teen who was used to the strict no-nonsense training of Yuriko, or the absolute limit-pushing extremism of Kakashi. Compared to those types of training, Jiraiya's laid back, relaxed approach to training really threw him off.

Not that he didn't appreciate the ability to relax between his grueling training periods as he prepared himself for the finals of the chunin exam. But, that didn't mean that Jiraiya's training wasn't challenging in its own way.

Between trying to get his new Toad summons approval - which he had after remaining on the boss' back for nearly a full day as it did its best to knock him off. Then after that, it was a process of trying to work the toads into his fighting style and finding the best toads he worked with to make them his familiars, who turned out to be the two sons of the current boss summon, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu.

All the while Jiraiya had him working on his understanding of the sealing arts and their application in battle outside of explosive notes and barriers. In fact, that was a lesson Naruto learned the hard way after Jiraiya thoroughly trounced him using only fuinjutsu in a spar.

So, Naruto set to work learning more about the art beyond what his sister had taught him. Which really wasn't anything against her mastery of it, according to Jiraiya, the two of them just took different approaches to its applications in battle.

"If I wanted to break this seal, then I would start here," Naruto informed as he pointed out a section of the seal. "It's the weakest point that leads to the core of the array."

Jiraiya nodded as he pulled it back. "Exactly," he said approvingly before looking up into the sky. "Right, looks like it's getting to that time," he announced after a moment, dusting himself off as he stood up. "I think your sister should be getting back home today too, is that right?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to show her how much stronger I've gotten!" Naruto announced cheerfully as he climbed to his feet, a broad smile on his face as he stretched out.

"Well, make sure you keep some surprises for the chunin exams," Jiraiya advised with a smile. "Remember, a good shinobi always keeps an ace or two up their sleeves."

"Right!" Naruto replied, throwing the sannin a salute before he began to run home. "Later! Ero-sennin!"

He chuckled a bit as he caught the groan of the older man in the background before focusing his attention to the path before him as he made his way home.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out in greeting as the Uchiha landed next to him and matched pace. "How was training?"

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto greeted in return, high-fiving his brother in response. "It went pretty good, actually, just putting the finishing touches on some things. You?"

"Bout the same," Sasuke said, the two of them sharing a grin at their unsubtle attempts of getting info on the other's training. "So, nee-san should be back today, right?"

"Yeah, wonder how much stronger she'd gotten?" Naruto mused in contemplation. Honestly, she was already pretty strong in his opinion, and she seemed pretty content with her level of strength. "Wonder why she felt the need to take some time off to do some training, I mean, it takes Roshi-nii and Han-san teaming up to get her to take a break just to relax."

Sasuke shrugged a bit as he eyed a group of chunin who seemed to be just hanging around. "I think something is happening," he murmured quietly. "A lot more shinobi have been on the streets as of late, and in key positions while looking like their just hanging out."

Naruto nodded, his fingers twitching in a signal. 'Preparation for an attack?'

Sasuke shrugged in response. "Anyways, let's get home," he grunted out. "I'm starving, Kakashi-sensei had be working on endurance training, which meant he had me skipping lunch to work on managing my caloric output."

Naruto winced, in sympathy, with the Kyuubi inside of him supercharging his natural healing factor to the point of near regeneration, the amount of calories he went through in a day was crazy, enough so that he had specially made, high calorie energy bars in his equipment pouch, just to be on the safe side.

"That sucks," Naruto sympathised as they approached the apartment building and wall ran up to the top floor balcony.

A familiar face greeted them as soon as they returned. "Nee-san!" Naruto shouted exuberantly as she leapt at his sister in a flying hug that she easily caught with a small laugh.

"Hello to you too, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," Yuriko greeted the pair warmly. "You two have definitely grown."

The pair preened under her praised as Sasuke accepted his own hug with his sister. "Now, both of you, go and get ready for dinner," she informed the two of them with a smile. "We can catch up as we eat."

"Okay!" the two of them chorused cheerfully, happy that their sister-figure was back in Konoha.

I let out a small sigh as I looked through my stats and checked the number of stat points I had available, reclining in bed, leaning against Roshi as he read a scroll that had been leant to him by Jiraiya.

With over a hundred stat points available to me, I definitely had my choices on what to increase

I decided to try and keep my balance, somewhat, with adding 40 points to my dexterity, 20 points to both my intelligence and wisdom, 15 points to strength and vitality and the last five points into my luck stat, which I still hadn't quite figured out.

Name: Yuriko

Level: 102

EXP: 4,021/650,000

Age: 23

Gender: Female

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

Secondary Title: God of Shinobi (+50% to all stats +100% Reputation with all allied Shinobi +10% Damage with all ninja arts. Skill [Aura of Absolute Command] active)

STATS - Current

HP - 20,025

CP - 95,800

STR - 115 (201)

INT - 160 (240)

DEX - 200 (350)

VIT - 115 (201)

WIS -160 (240)

LUK - 50 (75)

Ryo - 342,761,998

For reaching 200 DEX, you have unlocked a new perk!

[Godlike Reflexes] - your base Speed, Evasiveness and accuracy increased by 100%. In addition, your mental processing of what you see is increased by 100%

I blinked at the screen in front of me before letting out a sigh and closing both of them as I lent into Roshi a bit more. "Mm, it's good to have a real bed again," I murmured quietly as I allowed myself to relax.

Roshi chuckled in amusement next to me. "I know how that feels," he agreed in amusement as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Especially since I started living with you, rich people get the best of beds."

I giggled a bit in amusement. "Mm, it's why we became rich, so we can have good beds," I joked lightly, Roshi joining my laughter. "Mm, Roshi.".

"Mm?" Roshi replied with a questioning hum.

"I love you," I mumbled out as I felt my eyes droop tiredly now that I was actually able to completely relax.

"I love you too," Roshi told me, his voice sounding a bit distant for some reason. "Have a good sleep, Yuriko."

I tried to respond only for incomprehensible mumbled to come out as I fell into a deep sleep.

I felt really relaxed as I moved through the streets of Konoha, heading towards the Hokage's Tower for my debriefing with Hiruzen-sama. A full night's of complete rest without having to be on the lookout for any threats re-energizing me completely.

I never really realised just how good I felt after a good night's sleep until I had to keep an eye out for an overly aggressive asshole of a super hunter all night. For a month. Never again.

I waved a few times to people who called out to me in greeting before entering the Tower and headed up to Hiruzen's office, who's door was open.

"Jonin Yuriko Uchiha, reporting in after training leave, Hokage-sama," I reported in respectfully as Hiruzen looked me over carefully, his eyes widening a bit.

"My… it certainly has been productive, hasn't it?" he questioned, smiling at me proudly. "You… the way you hold yourself… it reminds me of the Shodai…"

I blinked in surprise at his words, my head tilting a but as I studied him.

"I believe, you have reached the same level of power as Hashirama-sama and I, although, my strength certainly has waned in the last few years," he told me. "I know that people will be calling you the fourth God of Shinobi."

My back stiffened in response as I took that in. While I certainly had the title now, for the public to call me that, would be another matter altogether.

Letting out a breath, I relaxed myself before smiling a bit at the Hokage. "Well, I'm not one to do things by half," I said with a slight smirk. "Although, I am never going to do that kind of training again if I can help it; I almost died half a dozen times!"

Hiruzen-sama chuckled a bit in amusement as he gestured for me to sit at the chair next to his side of the desk. "I know the feeling of that," he commented as I sat down. "I remember my days of training, they were intense and just as dangerous."

Somehow, I doubted he had to fight the likes of Kai Leng, the Shredder and Deathstroke, let alone the Predator, as mere training. "I'm just glad it's done with," I admitted. "How have things been in the village?"

"Quiet, mostly, Onoki and Terumi-san will be arriving tomorrow with their retinues," he explained calmly as he lit up his pipe. "The Kazekage will be arriving the day after. There have been some movements outside of our walls, Orochimaru thinks his people are subtle, but they're not."

I nodded in understanding as I considered the situation. "I am ready to deal with them whenever you deem it time," I told him, getting a smile and nod in response.

"I know you will be, but, it would be best for us to strike when they are at their most confident," he informed knowingly. "Break them when they feel strongest, and scatter them as they recoil in fear."

"It will be done," I assured with a smile.

"I know," he replied. "Now, you mind giving me a hand? I would like this pile cleared before the other kages arrive."

I smiled as I moved closer to his desk and started helping him with his paperwork.

END CHAPTER!

Yuriko's Stats