Pushing Through the Limit Chapter 55: Those Who Came Be Four (Patreon)

I found myself sitting at a two person table at a restaurant. Morning was in full swing with more than a few people crowding it, aiming to grab a quick, filling meal before they had to continue with the day ahead of them.

With the threat of the Sky Nation gone, the population could breathe a lot easier. The village had already taken great strides in repairing the damage done by the surprise attack, there was still a small amount of construction left, but it was so little that it almost seemed like the village hadn’t been attacked at all.

Konoha was nothing if not resilient.

“Will that be everything, sir?” A waitress asked. Placing a set of plates on the table, she was startled when the plate in front of me was stolen by Anko.

“I think we might need another two… Make that three plates, please,” I answered, watching Anko snatch Dango from each plate.

“Make sure that they each have a different sauce,” Anko said, her voice muffled by her meal. “Sweet and savory.”

“I’ll… I’ll get right on that,” The waitress replied, her eye twitching.

Watching the waitress leave, I turned my attention back to Anko who had already finished her meal. She was definitely going to be stealing the next few plates as well, but that was alright. With the day I had ahead of me, skipping breakfast would actually be for the better.

“So where were you yesterday?” Anko asked, leaning on the table.

“Just helping move a few things with the Hiraishin,” I hummed lightly. “I ran into Shizune when I got back… She said you were looking for me.”

“Of course I was looking for you. We just finished our first mission as a team again and I wanted to go out and get some drinks to celebrate,” Anko replied, sitting up. “The timing didn’t exactly line up… Shizune was busy at the hospital and you weren’t even in the village.”

Although she hid it quite well, Anko did seem a little bothered by it.

“We could always celebrate tonight,” I suggested.

Last night, I’d watched Tsunade chug an entire gourd worth of Sake only to end up a little tipsy for a little less than ten seconds before her body burned through the alcohol, rendering her sober. My body would likely be the same.

“Sounds like a plan,” Anko grinned. “Or, we could have a small glass right now.”

I rolled my eyes at the suggestion. Sure alcohol could serve as a semi disinfectant and that could come in handy a little later today, it would still be a better idea to keep my stomach as empty as possible.

“Later Anko,” I replied.

Looking around, I noticed that the restaurant was beginning to get a little full. Customers were beginning to flood in.

“You’re Uzumaki Naruto, aren’t you?”

“…Yes,” I answered, cautiously turning towards a man dressed in a green flak jacket.

“You can relax, he doesn’t have any negative intentions,” Kurama reassured.

“Wow, I didn’t expect to run into you here. You don’t know me, but I was one of the Shinobi near the walls when the Sky Nation invaded, I got a real close view of what happened and how you protected the village. You’re the reason why I got to go home that day,” The man said. Digging in one of his jacket pockets, he pulled out a small blank booklet along with a pen. “Do you think I could get your autograph? My son’s a huge fan of yours.”

Anko stifled a snort of laughter at my surprise.

Alright, I hadn’t been expecting that. For the most part I’d taken to ignoring any looks the villagers sent my way, content to let others think what they like. Now, however, it seemed that their image of me had changed drastically.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” I said, a little unsure. “Do you want one from just me or the both of us?”

“Hey, don’t drag me into this,” Anko squawked. “I’m not gonna sign any autographs… Unless someone adds to my tab.”

“I was actually talking about the Kyuubi,” I hummed, coughing to hide my laugh at Anko’s comical outrage. “It wasn’t just me who protected Konoha, the Kyuubi also helped.”

“I’m not signing my name.”

‘Then just do a K,’ I thought back. ‘I once told you that I want everyone to view you and the rest of the Biju as individuals, instead of weapons. This would be the first step towards that.’

“…I can see that you’re not going to let this go,” Kurama relented. “Just one… To see where this goes.”

The man placed his booklet and pen on the table in front of me before taking a cautious step back. “Um, I’m not sure, but… Both would be good.”

Nodding, I grabbed the pen and signed my name, before holding it out to my side. Sprouting from my back, Kurama’s tail wrapped around the pen and brought it down to the paper, signing a large K next to my name, before it dropped the pen and retreated back into my body.

“There,” He huffed. “I doubt it’s going to do anything… I probably just scared everyone in the restaurant.”

“Thank you,” The man said, bowing deeply before retrieving his booklet and pen. “My son will love this. I’ll make sure that he keeps it safe.”

I gave a short wave as he left, feeling a little smug. It was slow, but the people were finally coming to accept Kurama, just like I thought they would.

“That proves nothing, it was just one man,” Kurama argued. “Besides, you’re forgetting that I can sense negative emotions and the entire restaurant is currently bathed in a nervous energy.”

“Then I guess we’re just going to have to get people used to you,” I muttered under my breath as someone else approached our table.

“Great,” Anko sighed. “If this is gonna be the rest of my day, I’m gonna need a lot more Dango if I have to put up with this.”

Well, I couldn’t exactly spend all day here… The rest of the early morning, maybe. I did have something I had to do a little later.

…PTL…

“Sorry I’m late,” I apologized as I appeared in Tsunade’s office. “I was at a restaurant and everyone wanted the Kyuubi’s autograph.”

I was met with two equally blank stares and an exasperated Tsunade.

“That’s a new one,” Kakashi muttered. “I might need to use that in the future.”

Yeah, it did sort of sound ridiculous when I said it aloud.

“I’m gone for less than two years and you’re already acting exactly like Kakashi,” Jiraiya sighed, palming his face. “It makes me wonder how things would have gone if I got to take you on that training trip I’d planned… You might have a far greater appreciation for the female form like me.”

“…It’s good to see you too, Jiraiya,” I deadpanned, not really knowing how to reply to that.

Coughing, Tsunade drew our attention back to her. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time to get to the reason for why you’re both here,” She said, looking towards Jiraiya and Kakashi.

“About that,” Jiraiya chimed in. “I was busy with an investigation in the Land of Rice… It was fairly important. Are you sure that my presence here is absolutley necessary?”

“Trust me, if this goes how Naruto and I think it will, you won’t want to miss it,” Tsunade said confidently.

“Hoh, you’ve certainly piqued my interest,” Jiraiya hummed. “So what’s this about?”

Stepping from around her desk, Tsunade smirked. “We’re going for a little field trip and if everything goes well, we’ll be meeting some old friends.” Stopping in front of us, she placed her hand on my shoulder. “Naruto, if you would…”

“Right,” I hummed.

Grabbing a hold of Jiraiya and Kakashi, I transported them to one of my markers that existed on the outskirts of Konoha. Our surroundings instantly changed to that of a forest with a large temple that looked to be a strong breeze away from collapsing.

Climbing the stairs of the run down temple, Tsunade followed closely while Kakashi and Jiraiya lagged behind, examining their new surroundings.

Catching sight of a large weathered spiral imprinted in the ground, Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. “The Uzumaki clan, huh… We’re not in Uzushiogakure, are we?”

“No,” Tsunade chuckled. “We’re actually still in Konoha.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place,” Kakashi hummed softly as he looked around.

“That’s by design. This place has intentionally been kept out of the public’s eye,” Tsunade explained. Looking towards a collapsed section of the temple, she sighed. “It might have worked a little too well. It’s been abandoned for decades… The last Uzumaki that entered this temple was my grandmother, Mito.”

Grabbing a piece of cloth that hung from the ceiling, I gave a short tug, ripping it out of the way, revealing a wall filled with inhuman masks, each with their own distorted look and distinct face.

“Why did you bring us here?” Jiraiya asked. He reached out towards one of the nearby masks.

Lashing out, I grabbed his arm, stopping him before he was able to make contact with the mask. “You really don’t want to do that.” The Uzumaki clan probably trapped all of the decoy masks, it’s what I would have done.

Pulling back, Jiraiya regarded the masks warily.

“Just what is this place? Everything about it feels off… Even the air feels wrong, like it’s dead,” Jiraiya said, looking towards Tsunade.

“The Uzumaki clan were once feared for their sealing capabilities and created some truly terrifying seals,” Tsunade explained. “One such sealing ability was passed on to Konoha and has only ever had two users due to its great cost, the Sandaime and the Yondaime Hokage’s.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Minato-sensei,” Kakashi muttered under his breath.

“Summoning the Shinigami costs the user their soul, forever barring them from the afterlife,” I explained, plucking the Shinigami’s mask off the wall. “With this, however, we’ll be able to free them. The Kyuubi will be whole again and since Minato sealed it within him, we might be able to meet with him for a short time.”

Jiraiya and Kakashi froze for a moment upon hearing that, not that I could blame them. It was a lot to take in. Hell, even I was a little eager to see Minato again.

“I’ll do it,” Jiraiya said, holding his hand out. “A technique like this no doubt has some backlash. I failed my student and I failed my teacher… I’m not going to fail again… Not with something like this.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I hummed, holding the mask firmly in my hand just in case he decided to try and take it. “Out of everyone here, only Tsunade and I are able to survive this since we can both regenerate, anyone else would need to be rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.”

“But…”

“They wouldn’t want you to kill yourself in order to free them,” Tsunade interrupted. “Both Hiruzen and Minato gave their lives in order to keep this village and everyone in it safe. Don’t think that you’re not a part of that.”

“Fine,” Jiraiya relented.

Looking down at the mask in my hand, I glanced up at the group. “It might be for the best if you back up a little.”

I’d planned on doing this myself ever since I first made contact with Kurama, now the moment was finally here. Jiraiya and Kakashi took a few steps back, while Tsunade didn’t move from her spot, looking more than a little worried.

‘You ready?’

“And waiting,” Kurama replied eagerly. “You’ve got this, Naruto.”

Palming the mask in my hand, I took a quick breath and lifted it, giving one last grin before it covered my face.

For a moment, it seemed that nothing was happening, but then I felt it. Something cold engulfed my body as a new presence formed behind me. Feeling an invisible weight pressing down on me, my arms suddenly snapped to the side.

Arching my head to the side, I briefly caught sight of the Shinigami floating behind me before forcing my gaze forward. I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted.

Reaching up in front of my face, the Shinigami was forced to follow my movements and grab the blade that it kept in its mouth. Bringing it down, I stabbed it into the Shinigami’s stomach, feeling the wound reflect on my body. Taking a quick moment, I readied myself for what came next.

“Just like ripping off a plaster,” I muttered softly as I jerked my arms to the side, cutting a deep line through my stomach. Blood forced its way out of my mouth as the wound sealed itself nearly instantly.

Four small orbs of Chakra fled from the Shinigami’s stomach and floated in front of us. Reaching out towards the one that had a portion of Kurama’s Chakra attached to it, I pulled back as all four orbs collided with my body.

“Naruto, get in here right n…” Kurama said right before the connection was broken.

‘I’ll be there in a second,’ I thought back, already having a good idea of what had just happened.

Allowing my curiosity to get the better of me, I turned around and came face to face with the Shinigami, its face stretched into a grin, no hint of displeasure on its face even with its wound.

I came to a quick conclusion… The Uzumaki clan was fucking nuts!

Removing the mask, I watched as the Shinigami fizzled out of existence, before placing it back on the wall.

“That seems to have gone well,” Tsunade noted, glancing down at my damaged, blood soaked jacket. “Is Minato in there?”

“Along with a few others,” I nodded, wiping the blood from my mouth.

We couldn’t afford to waste too much time, especially with the Hokage now occupying my body, however temporary.

…PTL…

Upon entering my seal, I was greeted to the odd sight of a mass of trees restraining Kurama and his Yin counterpart. Tobirama stood to the side, chatting with Hiruzen who readied himself to jump in if the trees restraining Kurama failed.

“Naruto… You’ve certainly grown since our last encounter,” Minato hummed. “And you’ve brought others this time. It has been a while, Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi… And it’s nice to meet you again, Tsunade.”

Well that answered the question of if he remembered our last meeting.

“Minato-sense… Meeting you again feels almost unreal,” Kakashi said, his lone eye misted over.

“The feeling is mutual, Kakashi,” Minato smiled before turning towards Jiraiya who was oddly silent. “Sensei… I’m really glad to see that you’re still alive and well. Thank you for keeping your hand on things in my absence.”

Jiraiya flinched at that. “I didn’t…”

“I know you’ve faltered here and there,” Minato interrupted. “But the important thing is that you continued moving forward.”

“Well said,” Hiruzen called out, landing in front of us alongside Tobirama. “I am glad that I had the chance to reunite with my old students once more, Tsunade, Jiraiya.”

“Although it was a needless risk,” Tobirama muttered, crossing his arms. “Releasing the Shiki Fūjin was incredibly foolish. It appeared to have fully released the Kyuubi. If not for my brother, they would have been free to wreak havoc on Konoha!”

“Funny thing,” Minato chuckled. “I’ve been trying to tell you three about Kyuubi…”

“Wait for me, everyone,” Hashirama called out moments before landing. “You must be the new Jinchuriki, don’t worry, I was able to restrain those two before they could cause any problems… Although I had to use your clone’s Chakra in order to do it… Wait, is that little Tsunade?!”

Tsunade let out a long, painful groan. “Hello grandpa.”

“It is you!”

I sighed as I struggled to think over the cacophony of voices. Everyone was talking over each other, Kakashi was talking to Minato, Jiraiya was talking to Hiruzen, Hashirama with Tsunade, even Tobirama pitched in, joining whatever conversation suited him at the moment.

In fact, the only one that was quiet was Kurama who was restrained, waiting to be released while his Yin half fought tooth and nail to free himself from his wooden restraints.

Stepping passed the group, I looked up and met Kurama’s gaze before he rolled his eyes. Clapping my hands together, the trees rumbled as they released the pair of foxes.

The majority of the Kage moved into action, each racing through their own method to restrain the fast approaching fox, only for a massive tail to collide with it, sending the fox rolling to the side.

A wall of wood and trees grew, seeking to restrain Kurama once more. Slamming my palms into the wood, I took control of the Chakra within and halted its growth.

“About time you freed me,” Kurama muttered, casually approaching.”I kept trying to tell those idiots that I wasn’t the issue here, but they wouldn’t listen. It didn’t help that my other half kept attacking them.” He glared at his Yin half who was beginning to stand up.

“That would do it,” I nodded.

“What’s going on here?” The Yin half asked, growling deeply. “Why’d you stop me? I almost had him!”

“Simple,” Kurama hummed, shifting to the side. “He’s one of the few humans whose company I actively enjoy. It’s like father mentioned before…”

“You think this is the one father was talking about?!” The Yin half asked incredulously. “Don’t make me laugh, look at him, he’s just like the rest. I’ve long since stopped waiting for that fairy tale to come true.”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Kurama smirked. “The winds are changing and if we do nothing, this world will be destroyed. We’ve already met up with four of our brethren and they’ve all agreed to help.”

The Yin half narrowed his eyes. “And what exactly do you mean by that?”

“It’s a long story, one you’ll learn when we become whole once more,” Kurama explained. “Just know that Madara is trying to resurrect the Jubi.”

“Madara?!” Hashirama interrupted. “That can’t be. I killed him.”

“You did, but he used the Izanagi to rewrite his death as an illusion,” Kurama said simply. “He also must have gained a portion of your flesh as he managed to awaken the Rinnegan.”

Realization lit up in Tobirama’s eyes.“I see,” He hummed, stepping forward. “The Rinnegan awakens when one merges the Chakra of an Uchiha and a Senju. That must be why your current host has altered his body in such a way.”

He caught on extremely fast. The fact that he was able to sense the different Chakra signatures that existed in my body, even after they’d merged into one was nothing less than impressive.

“You’re sharp,” Kurama commented. “Naruto awakening the Rinnegan by himself will be unlikely, but he will have an easier time fighting one who has a Rinnegan of their own, especially once his Chakra finishes maturing.”

“I can’t believe Madara faked his death,” Hashirama sulked. “Was I really that bad of a friend that he felt the need to hide from me?”

“You did kill him. Although he had it coming,” Kurama deadpanned.

“Yeah, I suppose I did do that,” Hashirama sighed.

Coughing lightly, Hiruzen stepped forward. “We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. Perhaps we could get back on topic. Although we can’t offer any physical support, we can still offer advice on how to go forward, knowing the full picture would help with that.”

“It couldn’t hurt,” Tsunade shrugged. “But things have changed since you died, not all of your advice will be applicable.”

“A fair point. I must say that I never expected to see you helping protect Konoha after everything you went through, Tsunade,” Hiruzen noted.

“It’s in the job description,” Tsunade said, giving a knowing smirk.

Hashirama blinked before his eyes widened dramatically. “Wait. You’re the current Hokage?!” His expression darkened. “Is the village still standing?”

“Better than it has in years, you crappy grandfather,” Tsunade snapped. “We’ve even managed to secure a proper alliance with Kumo and an agreement with the Land of Iron.”

Upon hearing about the alliance, Tobirama’s eyes took on a calculative gleam as he glanced at Minato and myself.

…PTL…

The conversation was slowly beginning to die down and devolved into idle chatter. It wouldn’t be long before the four Kage passed on to the afterlife.

There were probably a few methods that could be used to keep the departed Kage here, but they deserved their rest… And I really didn’t want a bunch of new voices in my head, especially not Tsunade’s grandfather and my father… That would make things incredibly awkward.

“I wonder,” Tobirama idly muttered, glancing at me before turning his full attention to Minato. “Who were your parents?”

I listened closely, curious about this myself.

“Tobirama, you can’t just ask something like that,” Hashirama scolded him.

“It’s no longer the warring states period, brother,” Tobirama deadpanned.

“Even still…”

“No, it’s alright, I don’t mind,” Minato waved him off. “My father’s name was Namikaze Ito and my mother’s was Hikari, they were both civilians.”

“Do you perhaps know about their parents and where they descended from?”

“Well… Father did mention that he came from a long line of fishermen that lived by the ocean,” Minato said, rubbing his chin. “And my mother once said that she might have a few relatives up north somewhere. Could I ask why you’re interested?”

“It was just a passing curiosity,” Tobirama explained. “I wanted to see if I met any of your ancestors and it seems ever more likely that I have.”

We waited for a few moments, but it soon became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything further.

“…And?” I asked. “You can’t just say something like that and not tell us.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard for you to figure out,” Tobirama replied, smirking as he crossed his arms. “You do bear a passing similarity to them, it must be your markings… Although you’re probably not a direct descendent.”

My markings? Did he mean my whisker marks? The only other Shinobi that had those were…

“You think we’re related to Ginkaku and Kinkaku?” I asked. “These whisker marks come from exposure to the Kyuubi’s Chakra from before I was born.”

“I could be wrong, it is after all just a theory,” Tobirama admitted.

It did sort of make sense in a roundabout sort of way. I’d always thought that Minato had some form of connection to the Senju clan, especially since he had enough Chakra to learn how to access Sage Mode, but Ginkaku and Kinkaku also fit.

They did have a large amount of Chakra, but that didn’t automatically mean that they were our ancestors. Plenty of Shinobi developed massive amounts of Chakra.

Hiruzen hummed aloud.

“It seems that our time has run out,” Hiruzen commented, revealing his hand that had begun to fade. Looking up at Jiraiya and Tsunade, he gave a satisfied smile. “I am happy to leave things in your capable hands… Naruto, you’ve truly grown into a capable Shinobi. I have no doubt that you will succeed in your mission.”

“Thank you,” I nodded. “And… I’m sorry for not being able to help you.”

“You’ve helped more than enough,” He finished, smiling wistfully as his form faded.

The remaining Kage’s forms began to flicker as their bodies slowly faded as well.

“Well, it looks like this is it… Again,” Minato said. “I… don’t really have any last words to say that I haven’t said already, you all know how I feel. Take your time here, alright. Don’t be in a rush to come join this side… Oh, and Jiraiya, I really did like your book. It gave me something to aspire to when I was a Genin. I hope I lived up to it.”

“You exceeded it long ago, Minato,” Jiraiya laughed fondly.

Minato’s form finished fading, leaving behind the Senju brothers.

“You know, I’m pretty sure that I could stick around if I tried,” Hashirama commented. “Your Chakra is pretty similar to mine, Naruto. I would only need a little to…”

“For the love of,” Tsunade muttered. Stomping up to her grandfather, she whispered something to him that none of us were quite able to make out.

“Oh,” He muttered, his eyes going wide, before he looked right at me. “I can see how that would be a problem. I’ll just… I’ll just go now.”

Hashirama’s form seemed to fade faster. Tobirama followed closely behind, seemingly forgetting to give a final few words as he was too busy wondering what exactly it was Tsunade had told him.

I glanced towards Tsunade only for her to send an amused smirk my way. Yeah, I was definitely going to ask her what it was she said to him.

…PTL…

“Well that was an ordeal,” I muttered to myself as the world twisted around me.

Leaving the seal, I found myself standing in the mask temple. Shifting to the side, I sighed as I felt my shirt pull on my skin. I’d been in such a rush to see what was going on inside my seal that  I didn’t have time to clean the blood off my body and now it was beginning to dry.

Damnit, I was going to have to get rid of this shirt.