(Three Days Later)
It's been three days since Naruto was forced to journey through this side of the forest of death on his own, a sector that was nicknamed "No Return." True to her word, that was a section of the forest that Anko never showed him before. His assigned objective was to survive and find his way to the tower on his own after he recovered the earth scroll that Anko hid somewhere in the sector of the forest she placed him in. From what Anko explained, most Jounins and even some of the ANBU wouldn't dare enter that secret sector of the forest.
During the days Naruto was in sector No Return, Naruto wasn't ten minutes into the forest when he was ambushed by massive and deadly insect creatures and human-sized tarantulas and other abnormally larger mammalian and reptilian predators. It wasn't that Naruto didn't know about these creatures in the forest however, it was the fact that those in this sector were deadlier, and harder to fight and kill. His time in the forest was a constant fight and he barely had five hours of sleep before he was up and engaged in another fight with creatures that were stronger than Anko let on that were trying to make a meal out of him. On top of this, he had to make sure that his heaven scroll wasn't lost or destroyed by any of the creatures he had to fight, otherwise he'd be instantly disqualified from the Chuunin exam.
It was fortunate for Naruto that he had been trained by Tsunade and Shizune almost all his life in medic and healing jutsus or he'd be in a much worse shape than he had been placed into after many of his battles. Also during his three days in that sector, he hadn't seen another human being in sight.
"That damn Anko-chan," Naruto swore, "That woman is such a freaking sadist! I could just ring her neck!"
"Quit your infernal bitching kit," Kyuubi growled, "And do something useful like finding the earth scroll your Anko-chan hid somewhere in this pitiful forest! We can discuss the preparations for her burial later."
Oh shut up, Naruto retorted before he continued on his way through the forest. For the next few hours, Naruto made his way through the forest and surprisingly he wasn't ambushed by any of the creatures in the forest. Strangely enough, the atmosphere around Naruto was quite unsettling. Fifteen minutes later, Naruto's eyes saw something from a distance. When he got closer, his eyes widened on what he was seeing; Team 8 and Team 10 were lying on the ground unconscious and heavily beaten and bleeding. The wounds and injuries around their bodies proved to have been the works of a high Jounin-level ninja.
"Hina-chan! Ino-chan!," Naruto cried out as he ran over to the six of them. Just a mere second upon reaching them however, a large spinning spike-covered boulder came crashing into him with brutal force, sending him flying into one of the trees before puffing out of existence with the rock mace deeply lodged into the large tree.
"Shit," the female Jounin cursed, "A kage bushin!"
"You never know when to quit," Naruto said as he stepped out of the shadows and into the opening in front of where Ryota was standing.
"I still have a score to settle with you for humiliating me," Ryota said as she retracted her boulder-sized rock chain mace back to her. Team 8 and Team 10 dissolved into small rocks, revealing themselves to be tsuchi bushins (earth clones). Both Naruto and Ryota stared at each other wordlessly. For the next few minutes, nothing was said between them as though they were waiting for the other to attack first.
"Senju Uzumaki Naruto," Ryota spoke breaking the silence, "Son of the famous medic specialist, Miracle Healer and Slug Sannin, Senju Tsunade, the now Godaime Hokage. You live with both Tsunade and your Shizune-neechan."
"I do so what of it," Naruto retorted.
"I find that you live an interesting life son of Godaime," Ryota grinned, "Or should I refer to you by your true name, Namikaze Naruto, son of Yondaime!"
Naruto's eyes widened on hearing that.
"Your father was none other than Namikaze Minato known as Konoha's Yellow Flash," Ryota continued, "The very person who also sealed the Kyuubi No Kitsune into your body, thus turning you, his own flesh and blood child, into a Jinchuuriki; just as Yondaime Kazekage did with his own son; quite the irony really."
"How much do you know," Naruto asked cautiously.
"Enough," Ryota remarked, "I owe it to the stories both you and your Jounin instructor Anko shared with each other, they were really something. It helped to answer a lot of questions I had about you and why others who faced you suffered dearly."
"If that's the case," Naruto retorted, "Do the smart thing and leave me alone, and remember to never mention what you learned to anyone."
"I didn't report this revelation to my village just yet," Ryota said, "They would have sent a massive army against you if they have found out who you really are before I had my shot to prove which one of us is stronger. I want the pleasure of bringing back the last legacy and only son of Yondaime for myself! Your last victory over me will not be my reputation's undoing!"
Ryota dispelled the mace boulder before she pulled out a particular object that Naruto had been looking for, for the last three days.
"Recognize this," Ryota said, "I believe this is the earth scroll you've been looking for. Ironic don't you think that you had go through so much trouble to retrieve an earth scroll only to have it found in the hands of an Iwa Jounin like myself? I came across it the other day. You can have it and your freedom if you can defeat me."
"As ambitious and arrogant as ever," Naruto spoke, "You're a bother."
Naruto had to be cautious with her. Over the past days, he used a large amount of chakra battling the creatures in the forest and healing himself with medic jutsus. He noticed that Ryota didn't have a single scratch on her body nor were her clothes and gear damaged in any way.
I'm sure she entered this forest from the same direction I came in, Naruto contemplated, Coming from the directions the other Genins entered the forest through would have resulted in her losing time finding me when I'm alone and noticeably weakened from my previous battles. My question though is how she was able to be here and not have a single injury or scratch on her. Surely she had to battle against the creatures in this forest before finding me…
"How about we skip the warm-ups and go straight to the good stuff," Ryota said, "I held back in our last encounters but I don't intend on doing that this time. I say that we raise the stakes to higher levels."
After saying that, she speedily went through a series of complex hand seals. A moment later, the ground shook violently.
"Kuchiyose…," Ryota said before a yellowish brown glowing kanji for "living earth" appeared underneath her.
"Raibu Tsuchi No Yoyoi (Live Earth Armor)," she said before a beam of light burst forth from underneath her, completely concealing her from sight.
"What is this jutsu," Naruto asked to no one in particular.
'I think we're about to find out,' Minato said.
After a couple of moments, the beams gradually died out to reveal Ryota in what looks like body armor made of carved smooth marble rocks and gems. She had gem-covered marble rock armors on her forearms, her legs from the kneecaps down, breasts, at the sides of her waist and a helmet that looked like a tiara. She grinned at the blonde as she studied his shocked expression.
"What do you think of my jutsu son of Yondaime," Ryota said confidently, "It's my own specialty. These armors increase my strength and durability as I feed chakra into them. The freaks for animals and insects in this damn forest didn't stand a chance against me and neither will you. I have a mission to complete and you will be brought back alive and heavily beaten or in a body bag to be studied by my fellow Iwa Jounins. You'll be my greatest trophy and triumph, Namikaze Naruto."
Ryota started gathering and focusing chakra into her armors while the area around them started shaking and cracking with rock particles and dirt levitating off the ground and into the air. Naruto was about to move when he felt something holding him down. He looked at his feet to see a pair of tentacles made from the ground holding his ankles and feet to the floor.
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