Chapter 4

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In a different dimension, a place filled with unusual plants was the home of a being of extreme malice and trickery. The Ancient being that loved corruption was enjoying watching the mess he had created of the lands of Gaia and taking care of some other things to pass time, like trying get his complete memory back, as it had been too long and some battles had damaged his soul.

As he had been watching the people grow in power, The Ancient thought about his next step, "It's time for the mortals to know something's about the void period; obviously not all but half truths which make it so easy to manipulate them. AAAH! The joy of seeing their faces filled with despair turns me on so much, such an exquisite hobby I have."

While he writhed in passion, the ancient use his powers to make changes within the planet of Chakravartin.

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Yulan Continent

The continent named by its people after the name of the plane of existence, Yulan Plane also called Chakravartin by the inhabitants of Gaia. It was a unique place on this world, as many traces of the powers of Immortal had been left behind and many such traces could be found.

It was a continent with two different systems of powers, Ki users and spirit users also called mages. These two focused two different paths, as Ki users were warriors while a mage used his spirit to conjure spells. A warrior lacked the range and versatility while the mage lacked the strong body and vitality but this difference disappeared at a stage that both strove for.

In this continent many Kingdoms and even empires exist but the major power were the Yulan Empire, O'Brien Empire, Holy Union, Dark Alliance, Rohault Empire and Rhine Empire. All these empires consisted of the largest territories within the continent and their rules were the strongest in their respective regions.

The chakra-born were secretive to these people and had not extended their claws in to this giant piece of treasure. The continent was unknown to them and there were too many threats from inside.

The Shinobi Kingdoms had slipped into these lands but never went too far and sent the weakest of the weakest for the job with a failsafe.

But this time, Konoha had taken the first step to know the limits of the Yulan Continent by sending Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi was one of the leaders of his generation with his power and intellect, he had shown his capabilities and been chosen for this task. He knew that it might lead to death but his loyalty to the Hokage could not be questioned.

Itachi wore normal clothes as he walked up the War Immortal Mountain, his presence invisible to the inhabitants as one glance and they forgot about him.

'Nothing impressive till now. They have good strength but we have better and they lack skills and discipline.' Itachi thought as he walked casually into the region of the strongest being on Yulan Continent known to the public, he had lived through the ancient war and Itachi was interested in this person after knowing of this nugget of information.

'This feeling'

"Interesting, I haven't seen your kind for a long time." The man muttered in a curious tone and his voice made Itachi tremble at the intensity of the power behind the words

"O'Brien" Itachi muttered with force as his legs buckled and he almost threw up blood from the pressure

'Susanoo' An ethereal entity covered Itachi to help him resist the aura. It was an armored giant made from red chakra with a shield and a sword

"OOOH, Wonderful. I remember seeing this but is it strong enough." O'Brien muttered as he remembered the scene of a giant of similar type but even bigger and robust five thousand years ago

With just a single poke of the man, Itachi saw his strongest defense crumble like a sand wall.

'How can this be?' Itachi was shocked speechless but didn't become inept as his Mangekyo spun, activating Tsukuyomi

The world changed as O'Brien found himself about to be dragged into a prison of his mind but just his aura crushed the unblockable technique.

"You are not really learned, are you?"

"Kid, I am a demi and just a step away from being immortal. You are not even a saint; your abilities can never affect me. I found it a nostalgic experience but now you need to disappear." O'Brien Frowned, he felt enraged as a child had barged into his place without permission

'A genius to have gotten close to Saint level in his twenties but he is not mine.'

Before he could continue, water vapor started to gather in front of him taking the shape of Tobirama Senju and his cold voice rang.

"I apologize if my subordinate has disrespected you but he had no such intentions in mind and was here to meet your honored self."

O'Brien shifted his focus to Tobirama and felt resistance for the first time in thousand years. Fire and water did not get along, nor did their aura.

"Oh, what do you really want then?" O'Brien asked cautiously, he decided not to engage in combat as his mountain would be uprooted in the combat

"Alliance and a peace agreement with us. We will trade and help each other." Tobirama replied as he observed the man

'Not out of my expectations. I can probably win but I will be too damaged by then.'

"You can send your servants to talk to the Emperor about such things and the rest we can talk between us. I am interested in your kind and your abilities." O'Brien said as his danger like gaze was directed at Tobi with clear intentions

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Konoha

Itachi appeared in front of Tobirama, proving that O'Brien was dealing with a clone, and got down on his knees and apologized for his failure, he felt really disgruntled at being manhandled and the dėsɨrė to become stronger had been stroked with fury. Tobirama told him not worry as the opponent was a crafty old fox and out of his league, so no problem other than that he warned him not do the same thing and underestimate the outsiders.

Itachi felt ashamed at making such a disgraceful mistake and asked, "Sir I had like to ask for a leave from duty for some time to go through the surgery."

Tobirama understood what he wanted and accepted his request while letting his ȧssistant inform Obito that he had been reassigned to Yulan along with Torune and Danzo. Itachi thanked Tobirama and left the office heading for the Uchiha main clan house to meet his family and girlfriend, as he missed them a lot and he need to talk to them about the procedure.

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While a meeting was taking place between two of the top dogs of the world, in of the Kingdoms of Yulan continent an ancient ruin had been found by an explorer with great knowledge as she was one of the rare few that didn't focus too much on power but knowledge.

Nico Olivia along with her daughter and ȧssistant had uncovered something of phenomenal value that would uncover secrets of the past. The parent daughter duo had stumbled upon a ruin in their travels to different lands and would have missed it if not for a sudden earthquake which seemed to have pushed it from underground revealing it to the world.

The duo had explored the insides and translated the information into modern language and informed the King about the discovery.

The King didn't even know about the Shinobi and didn't understand what those terms meant but with the help of pictures and the explanation, he understood that the Shinju was an enormous parasitic tree that would destroy the world and that a clan lived above the barrier with the shell of the beast formed from the tree.

'They can do anything with us like that.

Have they been always looking down us?

Are they the ones responsible for the barrier mentioned in the texts?' Clayde was confused but knew that he needed to send this information to the higher ups in the radiant Church

His gaze landed on the beautiful woman but he didn't feel like taking her at the moment.

"Guards, take them to the guest quarters." Clayde muttered in a benevolent tone and the guards understood what he meant

The women went without a word and with joy on their faces to have done service for their Kingdom.

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Gaia (5 Years ago):

"Now little one, lie down on the floor and relax. The procedure will be painful but I want you to endure as this the only method to accelerate your growth to fight against the ancients, we do not have time to wait for you naturally keep up with them. The world will not give us that opportunity, so endure my child." The women said with extreme fondness visible in her eyes and tone while rubbing the child's head.

The child hugged the woman and replied, "I understand grandma and will do my best to live to your expectations." He lied down while the woman took her position and placed her hand onto his back. She started transferring her dense chakra through his body to strengthen his chakra by force and to increase his chakra levels but the procedure would fail on most if they did not have natural healing ability and strong connection to the each other.

The process carried on for days while the child had gone hoarse from screaming in agony and his body had become deformed from the violent reactions of his body, which had started healing after the course had ended and to increase the process the grandmother had fed him a healing pill.

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With Naruto:

"I hope I am not disturbing."

Red eyes glared at him when Naruto said those words and he found himself looking at a lookalike.

"Interesting"

"I know I am interesting but I have to say you look dashing as well." Naruto replied with a smile as he chilled in the icy pond filled with seals to keep an absolute zero temperature

"I came here to talk so why don't you entertain me."

Menma was not happy with that tone and Naruto found himself surrounded with chains with sharp ends.

"A test is it, I shall pass like always." Menma muttered, he was under the impression that Naruto was something prepared for him

"Haha, man that's good. Try your best, I am going to sit here and let you." Naruto chuckled at the mental gymnastics the kid was doing

"Everything is an opportunity to test myself so show me what I lack." Menma broke his denial, surprising Naruto that he just moved on like that

'A monster indeed, in spirit and talent.' Naruto thought as the chains attacked him, they were enforced with chakra of different natures

But were unable t break his wind barrier, "There is a large gap between us that you cannot cross with your power. Only time can tell but now impossible."

Menma sighed and clenched his hands with force, making them bleed as the chains disappeared.

'I have lost to a person of similar age.' His body was shaking as if the world was crashing down

"Relax kid, I am 28 years old and I am you from a different world. This is the result of a love quarrel between the world and I." Naruto slapped his nȧkėd back and spoke in an encouraging tone

"Am I the strongest being in existence?"

"Yes, you are looking at a bonafide Immortal beast."

Menma nodded with a smirk as he returned to his usual state, "The resistance might also be the result of your power being too high for this plane of existence. You might need to leave to higher realm before it comes back as your presence could endanger this plane."

"Chill, I got that all covered. So what's up with you pushing everyone away? You know it gets lonely at the top. Look at me; I am prime example of a bored person."

"They are weak, why should I be like them. I need to be the strongest, it is my goal and the purpose of my life as it is the wish of my grandma."

"Hmm, I get you but weak doesn't mean boring. You can still find them for talks and playing with them. Also I can understand why they call you a monster; you really need to stop making a show out of killing weaklings. They are worthless so just making them disappear with a thought."

Menma looked at Naruto; it was like looking at the mirror except the expressions and the aura was totally different.

"It creates fear when they know how painful an encounter with me is. It enhances my power as my image and reputation grows."

"That is just messed up and I don't mind but you can't make our parents sad." Naruto chuckled and hit Menma on the head, forcing his head into the water

"They disrespected grandma" Menma glared at Naruto with anger and had to restrain his instincts, the necklace on his ċhėst was flashing with light

"Did you never think that it might be because of you? You are an insane bastard so obviously they are going to unhappy with your grandma, the one responsible for it. Apologize to them and explain to them, they are your parents so appreciate their presence.

Everything you have is because of them. Yes, even your grandma."

Menma shook his head as he heard those words, 'I might be the reason, why did I never think of that.'

"You will learn a lot so get ready for Naruto Time." Naruto said in a happy tone and hugged Menma

'This kid is more powerful than me when I was 17 with my bijuu sage mode. A fuċkin monster indeed and I am going to enjoy playing with him. Tobi, you did a great job.'

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Chakra born the natural predators of the world, the difference between the mortal blood and them was further accentuated by the fact they developed faster mentally and physically while having long life spans. The children of chakra born would not bother playing with mortal blood in most cases because of the inherent maturity rate they had. Even if the chakra born was 3 years old, the child might be more mȧturė than a teen or have an ȧduŀt level intellect in very unusual cases. Chakra was the energy formed from physical and spiritual energy, the higher chakra someone had the faster the learnt things and smarter they could be. This is the case because a stronger soul learns faster and has higher potential, but that does not imply wisdom as that is earned through time.

Sakura Haruno the girl dreamt big and had big heart that loved the world along with its inhabitants, was getting herself ready for the morning ȧssembly. She was taking extra care of her looks, so as to not look like someone who didn't take care of their outer appearance and anger somebody by mistake. After she was done she hurried through the hallway, the dormitory and to the amphitheater where the ȧssembly would be held.

She arrived there ahead of time but the place was already getting packed, she looked for a place to sit when she heard someone call out to her. She turned around and came face to face with a mildly attractive elder with sharp eyes and wearing a combat Gi that was white and green. The gaze was intense that it made her feel embarrassed at getting the interest, she had seen that look on other guys and thought that he was interested in her but like always she didn't intend do anything about it.

The guy stood in front of her and analyzed her, then said with a powerful voice, "Hello my name is Might Lee. I would like to befriend the you, which is like the beautiful sakura blossom. Please honor me with your name."

Sakura felt herself flush from embarrassment at the honesty and feelings behind the words along with how corny they were but she felt her heart tingle in excitement at his words. She decided he was better than none and there was no one else to learn for now, so she compromised and replied in a friendly tone, "Thank you for the complement and my name is Sakura Haruno. We can be friends if you will accept my presence and I would appreciate your guidance."

After shaking hands, Lee guided her to where his friends were sitting and Sakura was introduced to Neji Hyuga and Tenten Higurashi. She felt really excited to sit along with people who were on the young dragon list and wished to learn from them but held herself back as they had just met. Sakura sat by Lee side while the other two were on the other side, Tenten had looked her up but just said greetings after which she went back to talking with Neji who had just ignored all together.

Sakura just sat there patiently waiting for the ȧssembly to start, while she heard the conversation on her side but as she didn't really focus she only got snippets. She heard that HE was not attending which had them feeling a bit let down, as they seemed want to some time and that HE had been gone for some kind of clan mission.

Sakura was getting interest in the topic which was about the leader of the young dragons but her concentration was broken when she heard the loud call for everyone to quiet down. She looked towards the stage where the 2nd Hokage had come along with his beautiful wife; he himself was one of the most sought after targets by the females as polygamy was normal but Tobirama Senju was happy with just one. On the other hand his wife was one of the strongest female fighters in the kingdom known for her mastery in water that pushed anyone who dared of thinking about the 2nd down, as there was an incomparable ditch between them.

Tobirama gave a speech to encourage them to work hard, the goal towards future along with some other instructions. After which he took his seat and it was announced that the first year students would go through mock battles to see if any high ranker would like to take them as disciples. Sakura was not expecting this as it was unusual for this to happen and this took place within the second year after the students had shown their potential.

She felt really nervous and felt like drilling a hole there to hide but her savior in green put a hand over shoulder and told her give her best, that there was no real pressure as she could still have another chance. Sakura felt her heart calm down and realized her ignorance; she thanked Lee by giving him a hug and went to stage where she could wait for her name to be called.

Today should be called her unlucky day, as she was chosen to fight against the second on the dragon list known by the title of Forest Fairy. She was cute in appearance but a menace in combat just like her mother Senju Tsunade, the young dragon Senju Kusano had entered the stage looking carefree after analyzing her foe.

They both did the greeting and took their stance, Sakura felt under pressure but after seeing her opponent she relaxed as he had already lost of winning. When the bell was rung, Kusano did not move and allowed Sakura to show her abilities. So she complied by throwing causing the ground to launch mud bullets at her and some were mixed with shuriken for extra damage.

Sakura threw a smoke bomb as she saw Kusano dodging her moves, this blinded her but she felt her presence through the earth as her chakra had been masked. Sakura decided to try her trump card and do her best at close combat as it was impossible to hit Kusano or damage her with long range because she lacked such arsenal.

Sakura charged flashed towards Kusano's right side with extreme speed gained from chakra enhancement pushing her to mach 4 and charged her leg with higher chakra that concentrated on the skeletal structure, the speed increased further to mach 5.5 which seemed to have unexpected along with her strength as Kusano seemed to have been surprised but the outcome was still the same as her leg was hit with a well place punch that hit her foot and threw over the stage.

Sakura felt immense pain like never before course through her body and knew she had her leg completely shattered with that impact. She screamed in agony but was helped by Kusano who looked at her in warmth, "You did well, so now rest and we will meet later." Sakura couldn't say anything as was already feeling faint but felt the pain lessen and she lost her consciousness.

The show had some surprises and had led to Sakura creating interest in others for her, especially Lee who had been cheering her forward and had been excited to see her show such skill, even his friends had changed their opinion of her after this one match and asked Lee to tell her that they were sorry for being rude as he was accompanying her to the infirmary.

While that was going on, Sasuke who had been chosen by the Raijin as his master felt his future go bright at the opportunity and wished to get advice that might help. But along with excitement he felt that the commoner girl was interesting to make Kusano actually use 50% of her strength even if that was by surprising her, it counted, and that exquisite control of chakra was marvelous that even he felt jealous of her talent. He marked her as someone that he could interact within his age group and potential recruit for his team.

On the stage in the sitting place of masters, where the monsters in human shape had gathered to get a new sacrifice, the Sannin were in deep conversations about the candidates. Tsunade had become interested in the pink haired girl who seemed to have demonstrated perfect control in chakra which was miraculous as there had been no other example of such case except for the legends about the immortals. Chakra increased with time and even after intense control training it wasn't perfect, which could be done by instincts and without any waster whatsoever.

It could happen for techniques which have been used for very long time but being natural about it and doing it with in short period, is what makes it significant, as there are many high level skills that require delicate control not just chakra level. But Tsunade couldn't be sure about it, so decided to test her when she got the chance and let the girl experience normal academy life for some and get to know others. While Orochimaru was also intrigued by the girl for having such a unique talent and wanted to make her one of his servants.

As for Jiraiya he was just boasting about his daughter Kusano like every time she fought except for that one time when she had been thrashed in the regional tournament. It had taken all his will power to not to go up there and break that kids jaw and wipe off that disgusting smile, which had just reminded him of Orochimaru when he deals with his prey.

As the Sannin had made their decisions they left to handle other responsibilities, the war could be on the horizon and he had heard some dark prophecies from the elder. Jiraiya could feel the pressure of the world on his shoulder as he needed to find that savior who would save the world but things were changing to fast and the hero had possibility of being the destroyer which had been increasing off late. He hadn't shared his worries with others, as they tended to over react and might cause worse problems.

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Sakura had woken up after three hours to the white ceiling of the infirmary, she felt drowsy from the affect of the medicine given to her along with slight pain in the healed leg. By her side was her one and only friend in this new place, Lee who was watching over her for hours. The actions taken by Lee made her appreciate him more and she felt like he was someone she could always depend on; lost in the moment she gave him a peck on his cheek.

The kiss took Lee by surprise but he felt very happy and embarrassed at the same time, he felt his heart beat increase and felt he could do anything at the moment. So he asked out Sakura for an outing around the city as she was new here, to which she agreed and they decided to meet at the main gate after changing to casual clothes.

At the gate Lee was standing in his casual clothes a pair of jeans with a blue shirt and Green jacket with the Logo of roaring Dragon that was the mark of the House of Might and represented the strongest techniques of their fighting style. While on the hand Sakura was wearing a white sundress that went down below her knees and sandals, the look she had going for made her look extremely cute and Lee willing showered her with praises.

Sakura felt really happy after going through some real shit storm in the morning, this helped her forget the disappointment of not having achieved anything. Sakura was shown around places that she mentioned as places of interest, so they went through places like the Hokage the palace, the library which she decided to visit if she needed to as there was a on campus library that had specifically books for the students need and the inter clan training ground where she could interact with people of importance.

As it had been hours and she hadn't taken breakfast, Lee guided her towards a restaurant that he frequented with his pals. On the way they were passing by a store that had children standing outside holding cards and taking about how their cards were so cool. Sakura became intrigued by the topic and asked Lee what they were, to which he guided her inside for a look.

Lee told her in an excited tone as it was one of his interest too, "These cards are made by the mortal blood about the fighters in the world that have been witnessed in combat. The cards are used for a game to be played by children but also collected by ȧduŀts. The cards also mean that person is famous around the world and the techniques witnessed are used as skill cards or trap cards. I believe the kids are excited because new cards should have released this week."

Sakura understood what the game represented and it increased her interest to collect them, as it would have information on combatants even if it's from the limited insight of mortal blood but they had open imagination about what could be done. On the other hand Lee was excited to show her the cards about himself that he expected to be released which would be part of the Neo Young dragon pack.

Sakura played along with her friend's happiness and smiled at his childishness that he seemed to be showing, as it was very rare for people in the major clans to show any of these feelings in public. When they came to the owner and asked him about, he said that they were lucky as only 5 booster packs were left. Lee bought all 5 and opened them with delicate care, but was disappointed that he only got a skill card for Might Lee and got cards or his friends along with some other dragons.

Sakura also analyzed the card which showed different skills deployed by the current top ten but it was missing all cards of the top 4. Sakura turned to the owner, "Excuse me, can I get look at the cards about the top five or do we have to wait for the booster packs to be delivered and our luck."

The owner spoke very carefully with his words, "Young miss, for the cards you have to buy the booster packs or buy from others and the other method is to buy decks that are about teams or clans that have those cards but for those you have to wait till next month. But you are in luck, as you can get all the cards for the champion by winning in the local tournament which will take place tomorrow."

Sakura thanked him for his reply and Lee volunteered to win the cards for her, which she accepted after he made her understand that he had no problem whatsoever at taking part in the competition, as he was the one of the best in the capital other than Shikamaru Nara. As they were done with the shop, they went on their way towards lunch.

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The restaurant named by Rising Dawn was place of high class and not some place commoners would visit and Sakura raised her opposition when she saw the place but Lee begged her to let him treat her once in this place to celebrate their new born friendship. For the sake of his feelings she relented and they both took seats in the area designated for Might clan as they were part owners of the business.

Sakura let Lee handle everything as he was ignorant about the dishes and everything in this restaurant, she felt so out of place and felt people were judging her but focused on Lee's expression which calmed her nervousness. As they waited for the food, Lee talked about the on goings in the capital and even mentioned the possibility of war to start which he felt would be sad even though it would be an opportunity to see awesome combat scenes but many innocents would die.

They also talked about the rankings which led to the champion of the young dragons whom she had seen on T.V. and felt he was step ahead of everyone in the competition. She enquired more about it as you can't understand everything from jus seeing it through T.V. which can't transmit many things.

Lee explained to her how the champion fought, which mostly consisted of suppressing everyone with bloodlust or killer intent and most people couldn't handle it as even if every fighter has already killed at least one person but HE is called the Little Monster for a reason. HIS bloodlust is too big for anyone on our levels to handle especially when it's supported by his chakra that is dense and enormous. "But even though I have described him as someone scary, you should not really worry about it as he can be a nice guy when you get to know him. Although you have to be very careful about how you interact with him and he hates weaklings, so do not try to talk to him about mortals."

Sakura listened carefully to the details and was intrigued by the champion as he was well known even outside the capital after the tournament but she didn't know what made him special as no one had witnessed his combat skills. The only exception was the use of wind blade in the tournament along with some show of Taijutsu and the only defeat he had gotten at the hands of Tenten Higurashi the master of weapons.

The battle had taken place at the Interclan training ground; the participants had been suppressed to similar level so that it was all about skill. The Champion had used a spear along with the standard tools and had been beaten in a close match by Tenten which was a surprise to everyone even to HIM, as he had stared in shock but then laughed in amusement at the outcome. The ending was already shocking but people had expected HIM to go berserk and try to kill the poor girl but HE only laughed and said he found her interesting, that she worthy of his attention.

The battle had made Tenten famous in the capital for being the only to beat Him but no one knew if she could replicate the same feat now after a year. Sakura also looked up to her, so she intended to get close to her through Lee.

She decided to not to from negative opinions about the Champ just because he had killed many people, as Lee seemed to think he was okay than why not try interacting with him if chance presented itself. The duo ate and talked more, after which they went there ways, with Lee going back home after accompanying Sakura to the Academy. Sakura decided to go to the library to read about things that she had questioned about but had no answer with limited resources.

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A.N I hope you enjoyed.

This story has Naruto and Coiling Dragon mixed plus some other animes. there will be supporting cast and Menma is the second main character (Antagonist, RIVAL)

Menma from the movie. Outrunning Karma should suit him