Naruto: Tango with Death

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Since I didn't have any sense of time, I decided to go on until I got satisfying results.

To test my Tenketsu Points, the first round was the easiest as I only had to test each Tenketsu once and note down its effects, but now I was at the most important part of the process, and that was to pair up every tenketsu between them.

Some would work, while others wouldn't. Those that work together would be able to form pairs in the future, reducing the number of possibilities for effects, so it was an important step.

It was also a rather long one as there were quite a few possibilities. The math was rather simple, if I had N Tenketsu, then the number of combinations was n*(n-1), with n being the number of tenketsu.

In other words, there were 361*360, or 129960 combinations. Actually, if we want to be fun, the real equation was (n*(n-1)^k-1, with n being the total number of Tenketsu and k being the number of Tenketsu in a chain. It means that when I get to chains of 3 Tenketsu, I would have have to try (361*360)^2 combinations, but that was without considering the invalid combinations.

But enough nerditity for today.

Back to my present steps, considering it took me around a minute to test one combination, if I was in the outside world it would take me three months of non-stop testing to get to the end of this.

However, I couldn't really use the number of combinations as a time stamp since my perception of time was wrapped and my mind was working faster than usual, so I decided to go by my body's reactions.

I may not sense the outside, the inside was magnified, meaning I could feel my hunger and thirst rising.

Since they were intensified, they were also harder to ignore, so I did not stay for as long as I wanted to. However, I still managed to test more than thirteen thousand combinations, which was slightly more than a tenth of the total number of combinations.

Exiting the statue was very easy as I simply had to make the same thing than to dispel a Genjutsu.

Opening my eyes, I found myself to be higher than before. Looking around, I realized I had reached the top of Hagoromo's statue.

"I thought we would never see you again."

I looked down to see the Owl Sage had mysteriously appeared below me, and I was sure he wasn't there a second ago. Knowing about Stealth though, I said nothing about it and instead groaned, "I'm getting thirsty, and hungry. How long was I in there?"

"Around 24 hours. I would offer you food and beverage, but we hardly have anything you could eat. Unless you eat raw meat."

I smiled and shook my head. After a moment, the Owl Sage asked in concern, "Do you have regained enough control to use the Reverse Summon Jutsu?"

I nodded and said, "I made great progress. It's still a little hard to control my chakra, but not to the point I can't use my jutsus. When I've eaten and drunk, I'll come back here with some supplies. May I continue using the statue?"

The Owl Sage smiled and reassured, "Everything on this mountain is at your disposition." I smiled back and thanked him, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Reappearing in my apartment, I stretched for a while before hitting my punching bag. The big bag of sand I usually struggled to move actually swung so hard it nearly flung off its support.

I could feel I had grown stronger, but it was hard to quantify until now. And while I still couldn't really quantify it now, I was at least several times stronger than before.

I would say I overpower Izumi in terms of pure physical strength, despite the years separating us.

Then, after stopping the sand bag from swinging, I jumped to my ceiling, and managed to stick myself to the ceiling with my fingers. Good, I had reached a good enough level of control to use tree walk.

Done with my testing, I made myself something to eat, drank some water before heading off to the hospital. Unfortunately, I still couldn't see my team, although I was told they were all going to make a full recovery. Physically at least. My suspicions on my two teammates increased though.

Then, I sped off to the Hokage's Tower, where I met Minato, and although he was surprised I changed my mind so quick, I asked him for a leave. A month, enough for my team to get out of the hospital, and more than enough for me to recover from my condition.

But as I returned back home, I saw a shadow move. A literal one too as it stuck itself to mine, and I suddenly felt as if the very air around me pressed against my body, blocking me from moving.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?"

A blond head walked out of the kitchen, a teasing smile on his lips and a superior expression on his face as he asked, "A little easy to catch, for a Genin."

Who could it be, other than Naruto? Looking around, I saw Sasuke, Choji and Kiba walking out of the darkness, as well as Shikamaru, who stood in a corner of the room, his face pale.

I tensed my muscles as I used every single one of them to fight against the shadow binding me.

The Shadow Imitation Technique was very strong as it could immobilize its target for several minutes when well mastered, when a single second was enough to end a fight.

However, Shikamaru had only recently learned the technique it would seem, as his hold on me was weak, and added to my now much stronger body, I managed to break out of his hold as he staggered backwards.

Grinning proudly, I said, "You were saying something Naruto?"

The blond looked away, whistling, "What a nice weather!"

I rolled my eyes before looking at Shikamaru, and praised, "That was really good for a beginner. Unfortunately for you, you chose the wrong target."

Without even looking at it, I threw a punch at my sandbag, almost sending it flying across the room, shocking my friends. Yes, I was blatantly showing off, and it felt good.

Stopping the sandbag swinging back at my face with ease, I asked, "So, how's the academy, children?"

Kiba snorted, "Pff, you're the same age, you're the child."

I shook my head and reasoned, "Sorry, but in the eyes of the law, I am an adult. Come now, don't be shy, tell aunty Sukaina all about your problems."

Shikamaru facepalmed, "What a drag…"

That made me smile, and I turned to Choji and asked, "Got some chips for me?"

Choji, who had a hand in a bag of chips, looked at it with reluctance, before handing it to me. I couldn't help but laugh, "Keep it, it's already opened."

Choji looked like holy light had shone on him, and Sasuke suddenly asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

I turned to look at the dark haired boy, who looked a little gloomy. I smiled and said, "I'm taking a leave to train. I'll be gone for a month."

Immediately, they reacted strongly.

"What?!" "A month!" "Where are you going?!"

I shook my head and explained, "Out of the village. In the Summon World."

Naruto instantly asked, "What's the Summon World?"

I shrugged, and made a handsign as an owl appeared next to me. It was Yuki, the snow white owl. Perched on my shoulder, she looked at me with her big round eyes as she asked, "You summoned me, Sukaina?"

I nodded and said, "Those are my friends. Let me introduce you to them, so that if I ask you to deliver them a message in the future, you will know who to search for."

Yuki's eyes turned to my friends as they started introducing themselves, and of course, Naruto added some spice to it. So he had somehow turned into the greatest ninja this world has ever seen. Yeah, just that.