His eyes shot open in a panic, and he suddenly jumped away from his position, unsteadily standing up while cautiously looking around the room. It was a minimally furnished room with a single bed, a side table, and a window. Honing in on the window, he didn't hesitate and ran toward it. He raised his arm, and it morphed into an expanded form, growing large enough to be as wide as the window. He destroyed it and quickly jumped out through the window. When he looked down, his eyes widened in slight panic as he realized that he was much higher than he had expected.
His arm morphed into a large claw, and he grabbed the wall, stabbing his fingers inside as he controlled his descent by momentarily stabbing the wall.
Just as he landed on the crowded street, a hand on his shoulder made him stiffen up.
"Kawaki, right?" A pleasant voice spoke, making him turn to the source. It was a blonde man with a tacky orange jacket and a white cloak over his shoulders.
"Let me go!" Kawaki shook off the man's hand and leaped away.
"I can't do that, kid," the man spoke, grabbing Kawaki's arm as they both teleported away from the crowded street. "You see, I'm the Hokage. And it is my duty to make sure that everyone in my village is doing fine."
"You're the guy that woman was talking about," Kawaki spoke, recalling his conversation with Hanabi.
"Naruto Uzumaki in the flesh," Naruto said with a bright smile. "And this is Konoha village." He opened his arms and gestured to the view behind him.
"Damn …" Kawaki took in the scenery of Konoha from his location at the top of the Hokage Mountain. A massive wall surrounded the entire village. Two-thirds of the land was covered by buildings, ranging from tall structures like the hospital and commercial malls to smaller ones in the residential areas. The remaining third was green, looking to be covered by trees and grass. He could even see outside the walls as trees covered most of the village's surroundings, with two paths leading to and from the village, one of them a road for normal traffic and the other with tracks for the train.
"I'm glad you like it," Naruto said. "You're going to be staying here for a while."
"No, I'm leaving." Kawaki suddenly jumped down from the mountain. His arm morphed into a large claw again, and he was about to stab the Fifth Hokage's face with it to slow down his speed. Suddenly, he was encased in a golden mass of chakra that stopped his fall and started pulling him up.
"Seriously, Granny Tsunade would've pummeled you if you destroyed her face on the mountain," Naruto said with a relieved sigh. "Anyway, you don't get to go anywhere for the time being. Kara wants you for something, and I'm going to make sure that they can't get to you, no matter what. You got that?"
Kawaki was looking at Naruto's figure with widened eyes.
"What are you?"
"Oh?" Naruto looked intrigued. "Did you sense something?"
"Never mind," Kawaki said, shaking his head. "I ain't lettin' you use me for whatever you want." A red tattoo spread out from Kawaki's left palm, covering his hand and extending over to his arm as it enveloped it and moved up to his left eye. It looked as if a crimson tribal tattoo had suddenly appeared on his arm and extended over to his face. "I'm leaving."
"It's for your own safety, Kawaki," Naruto said. "Try as you might—" Naruto casually blocked Kawaki's punch and slammed him to the ground. "—You are going to stay in Konoha for a long time."
Kawaki growled as his arm expanded into spikes to stab Naruto, but he casually struck the morphed arm with his palm. The transformed mass cracked and fell down, leaving Kawaki's arm bare as it fell limply.
The kid twisted in his place and kicked upwards to push Naruto away. The Hokage blocked the strike but still took a step back, which allowed Kawaki to regain his footing. Kawaki punched Naruto with his tattooed arm, and suddenly, a projectile was released from it, surprising Naruto, who barely dodged the point-blank attack.
"Phew … That was close. The Kāma is a fascinating technique," Naruto said, wiping his sweat off as he looked at the small explosion that was caused by the attack. Kawaki tried to attack him again, but Naruto casually suppressed him with a massive golden chakra arm emerging from his back. He was forced to the ground and had trouble even sitting straight. "Your physical stats have been enhanced by more than fivefold. It even somewhat enhances your reflexes and gives you muscle memory beyond what you should have. Such potential."
"Since you like it so much, take it from me. It is nothing but a curse to me. I don't care if it kills me."
"You will be just fine, kid," Naruto said. "Come on, I'll show you something." This time, he didn't grab Kawaki or force him. He simply extended his hand toward the fallen kid to help him up.
Kawaki looked at Naruto with a look of undisguised anger, feeling like his misery was completely brushed off. But the previous suppression had left him helpless, so he decided to bide his time and look for an opportunity to escape. He grabbed Naruto's hand and stood up. A few seconds later, the two disappeared from the Hokage mountain.
"How are you doing this?" Kawaki asked as they appeared in another location. "You don't have the Kāma or any other tricks that I sense …"
"It is a sealing jutsu," Naruto said. "See this kunai?" He pointed to a three-point kunai with a paper wrapped on its handle. "This is the anchor. Now, look forward. This is why I brought you here."
Kawaki looked where Naruto pointed and felt confused. Almost fifty people were solemnly standing in the grass with a number of stones spread across the large yard covered by a fence.
"What's going on?"
"You see those seven rocks?" Naruto pointed to seven equidistant rocks that were in front of the group of fifty people. "They are the tombstones of the people we lost in yesterday's battle. Come, we should move closer."
As they walked forward, Kawaki noticed a white-haired man dressed in black and white robes speaking about allowing the spirits of the dead to rest. Beside him stood the Hokage.
Kawaki had to double-take. He looked between the man participating in the funeral procession and the man beside him.
"This is my clone," Naruto explained. "As the Hokage, it is my duty to pay my respects to those who have fallen in battle and give them their deserved farewells." Kawaki and Naruto stood some distance from the crowd so that they wouldn't disturb the proceedings.
"Why have you brought me here?"
"How many tombstones do you see?" Naruto answered with a question.
"Seven."
"That's how many people died yesterday. Four of them were killed by Outers when they realized that we had already taken you. As for the other three. They were traitors. They were subdued and interrogated before being assigned the death penalty."
"How could traitors be given the same treatment as those who lost their lives in battle?" Kawaki asked. "They shouldn't even be given graves. Their families should be exiled, to root out the bad blood."
"You might be correct, though a bit extreme if we are going by pure logic," Naruto said. "But those traitors had impactful lives. They were successful shinobi. They had influence in the village. If they are suddenly declared as traitors, that would reduce morale and make people feel that things aren't stable anymore. It wouldn't serve any purpose beyond weakening the illusory peace that we have right now."
"So it doesn't matter if one is loyal to you or not? They get to be buried beside traitors all the same?"
"It isn't that simple," Naruto said. "The traitors also spent their lives serving Konoha faithfully. Their only lapse was that they betrayed us in the end. If they hadn't taken that single action of betrayal, they would still be considered our allies and comrades."
"I don't get it."
"And you don't need to." Naruto patted his head. "You are still a kid, after all. I brought you here to show you the sacrifice that was made to bring you to Konoha. To make sure that Kara doesn't obtain you."
"You don't understand them," Kawaki said. "The Inners are different. Every single one of them is a monster of untold proportions. You are making a mistake if you think that you can hold them off."
"You think so?" Naruto smiled. "Once the funeral proceedings are over, my real self will talk to you. You will then understand what a monster of untold proportions is."
Kawaki scoffed, clearly not taking the clones' words seriously.
***
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