God finally, what took that bastard so long?

 

Reviews for this chapter have been pretty lulzy so far.

I swear to God half the people who read the end notes think I'm doing a Wave arc.

So much for reading between the lines.

 

Lol! Wut!? Read between lines? Didn't you pretty much state that there won't be any Wave arc?


Anyway, I liked the new chapter even if it hardly advanced the plot. The fights were cool, although it seems a bit unrealistic that Hanzou somehow found time to have a conversation with his summon during the battle.

Also, it's a bit iffy that Hanzou has mastered Element that isn't his affinity. I'm not sure if any canon character has shown such ability. Use jutsus of different Elements, sure, but none has displayed elemetal manipulation with a second Element. It's not that unbelievable as Hanzou is a super-shinobi, but it might be better if he used some kind of insulation jutsu instead of direct elemental manipulation.

 

I thought I did, but apparently people took my rather obvious dig at Wave arc rewrites as an admission that I'll be doing the same thing.

Makes me wonder sometimes.

 

I demand a sneak peak for the next chapter

Please?

 

Naruto doesn't go to Wave Country.

How's that?

 

Fat!Pain bothers me. I know his ability is canon, but it seemed to make the entire battle almost trivial.

"Super water-lightning combo Jutsu!"

NOM NOM NOM

"Eat hot plasmatic death!"

NOM NOM NOM

"Fukken Hax"

GET OVER HERE!

*Stab*

 

You almost had me with that Author's note... though of course that was before I finished reading it.

 

Huh.

And I didn't even have him use his shield of invincibility.

Basically what I've come to realize is that it's literally impossible to look good while fighting the Six Paths - which I think is also canon.

Not until Naruto faces off against them will they be brought down and then only because Naruto will have a massive power advantage.

Then there's Nagato to worry about.

 

True. The only reason that people have managed to put up the fights that they have against Pain in the Manga right now is because he's split himself into groups.

I'm sure if we see all six Pains fighting together again it'll be a brutal beatdown.

Or maybe not. Drama always trumps sensibility in shonen manga.

 

I liked Chapter 7 a lot.

'Achilles Last Stand', indeed.

Hanzo's fatal flaw seemed to be that he had been a badass for so long, that he thought that he had no limits. He also seemed too hungry for combat. His obsession with image and his reputation played a part as well.

I liked the pace of the battle. It had a slow-fast-slow tempo that seemed just right. 2 Kage level shinobi going at it like maniacs for a minute or two, then breaking off to reassess and start on a new offensive.

I agree with the statements made. Skip over the canon Wave scenes. They have been done beyond death. If Wave needs to be included, how about this:

Naruto has been sent to assassinate Gato and take some of his more important resources and money for Akatsuki. This is a few years before he hires Zabuza, so Gato would still have normal redshirt goons who could be killed with the snap of a finger.

I also agree with what has been said about staying the fuck away from the 'precious people' statements. They're annoying, naive, and quite trite when they are used.

The only ones why would qualify as precious to Naruto would be Pain and Konan, as they built him up from a leper and pariah in Konoha into something greater, even if he still has a ways to go before he's messing up ANBU squads with a flick of his wrist. But even then, Naruto doesn't need to say that Pain and Konan are precious to him, he already knows that. He doesn't need to verbally validate that to everyone like canon Naruto does.

About Hanzo's ultimate jutsu: would that classify as some kind of elemental fusion? Plasma jutsus seem powerful, but rarely used at all.

As far as Naruto's involvement with Konoha, seeing as how Naruto might be identifying himself as Namikaze Naruto, seeing as how Ajisuke insisted on it, that would attract Konoha's attention, as well as others. But Hanzo is dead, and Akatsuki, through Pain, controls Amegakure, so they could start the first steps to moving openly. Having the son of the Yellow Flash out in the world somewhere would be cause for concern, but what could Konoha really do? they're still so much in the dark it's not even funny.

Thoughts?

 

I already have the next arc planned out, and it will definitely be longer than the first, but by how much I'm not sure.

Naruto will be going to Konoha at age 13 - which is compliant with canon - to take part in the Chuunin Exam, but obviously not simply so that he can be promoted.

There will be no Wave arc, as I can see no real reason for anyone to care about some no-name country. Despite the attempts Kishimoto made to build up Gatou as some important figure in the Naruto world, looking back it's clear that he's a nobody, as is everyone who isn't a shinobi.

I mean seriously, he employs only four ninjas and no one has bothered to assassinate him? The guy can't be that big of a deal.

Hanzou's final jutsu was, in my mind, just a high-powered lightning technique. It's important to remember that the elemental jutsus aren't always just applications of an element in a particular form.

For instance:

Kakuzu's jutsu hardens his skin to the consistency of iron, yet is considered an earth ninjutsu. In reality though, earth has pretty much nothing to do with what is actually going on when the jutsu is used.

Hanzou's jutsu is similar. While it isn't simple electricity, I'd still consider it to fall under the greater family of lightning ninjutsu.

 

Hmmm...

Still taking part in the Chunnin Exam...

If the world does not know that Pain killed Hanzo, they would still think that there is Business as Usual in Ame.

So Ame could send a genin team to participate in the Exams, officially, while they are really there for Pain's orders. Or Naruto could be the only one of the genins working for Pain.

Orochimaru is still causng trouble, and Akatsuki has a vested interest in messing up his plans, if not killing him outright...

 

Now we're getting somewhere.

 

It's not terrible logic, but it would probably be wiser to just take some measure to warn Konoha (in my fic, I had Itachi pass intel to Naruto who passed it to Sarutobi, but that's not applicable here) than to trust one 13 year old kid to derail Orochimaru. Though I'm sure you have other things you want to do with Naruto in Konoha too.

 

I touched on this in Chapter 5 in passing.

Obviously Akatsuki is upset that Orochimaru left.

Madara, on the other hand, doesn't want anything done that will assist Konoha. He wants Orochimaru's invasion to succeed - at least to an extent.

Honestly, I think that Sarutobi did in fact know about Orochimaru's invasion beforehand based on his talk with Anko and the ease with which the attack was repelled.

And I'll just put this out there right now, Naruto is not going to be strong enough to fight Orochimaru even after a four year timeskip.

 

Why? I mean sure, Naruto isn't as powerful as the Sannin by a long shot. But if Orochimaru doesn't suspect how powerful Naruto is, and he gets the drop on him, he could possibly cripple the Sannin if not kill him?

I'm all for Naruto not owning people yet (even after 4 years, makes sense too), but it's also lame to say "Naruto can't win" just because he isn't powerful. Tactics/Intelligence can turn the tide of a fight that should be slanted against somebody.

Also, no wave arc is fine by me. Haku and Zabuza are fun characters, but totally unecessary for your story. Wouldn't be much of a challenge either, since Naruto just wiped the floor with a bunch of Ame nin (who have to be tougher than a single jounin and chuunin companion put together).

Great chapter. I was surpriesd by the Salamander bit, and I actually like the summon. He seems sensible, though Naruto won't be able to summon him until it's OK to reveal that Hanzou is dead (since somebody ilke Jiraiya or Sarutobi would recognize it), which probably won't be for a while...

What are your plans with Naruto and Sasuke? Honestly, I'm hoping you don't give him the honorary status as "Naruto's rival" (let him earn it at least...) like every other author seems to do.

 

I suppose Pain's plans for Gaara would factor into the Chunin exam arc. I too liked the Salamander summon. It was unique, I think I've seen two stories outside HotH, with Naruto having a salamander summon and I like the way you've done it.

 

In a normal Ninja/vs/Ninja confrontation Stealth/Skill/Intel/etc. are the key to victory. Bloodline limits/summoning/etc. however mess up that equation, as they usually confer enough power to bulldoze through a situation. And that's when they're being used mindlessly. Orochimaru is a genius who, among other things, has found a way to 'shed' his skin, healing damage and after being cleaved in half (waistline) reattach himself with no ill effects. Using snakes. He's modified his body so much he basically has artificial Bloodlines.

 

Why should Naruto have a rival at all, Chime?

This story isn't about Naruto having a pissing contest with anybody. I always thought that at least half of the Naruto/Sasuke dynamic was a pissing contest. For Sakura's affections, for recognition that Naruto is just as good as Sasuke, etc.

All that is unnecessary here. Naruto doesn't need to prove himself to anyone, except Pain and Konan, and even then not really, as they have accepted him and have taken a vested interest in him, both from a personal, familial standpoint, and from a shinobi weapon standpoint. Even Pain, who is a hardass and has the whole 'I am God' ideology has mellowed out considerably with Naruto in the picture. This is good as it allows for a deeper insight into his character and what Pain means for the story in the future.

Having Naruto in the picture seems to have stabilized Pain and Konan from fanatics to highly driven, focused individuals. This, I think, is for the better.

But I can't wait for the inevitable shitstorm when Jiraya finds out that his former student and his godson, who should have been his apprentice, are working together.