Well, this is the second chapter, I do hope you enjoy this one.

Chapter 2: Flashbacks and Rumours

Imperial Palace

February 1952

Naruto was in his office in the Imperial Palace doing work, it wasn't easy to convince Major General McMillan, who wasn't pleased into agreeing to take Jiraiya as a recruit. He can see why as Ero-Sennin is in his 60s, with his perverted tendencies having the potential of ruining the SAS' public reputation.

"I swear if I find out of him acting out of line…" Naruto decided to let that threat hang as he looked at his desk, with a small pile of paperwork. He's so thankful that he has a few assistants helping with the work pressure, that he sometimes wonders how the Third Hokage, with his tall stacks of paperwork, gets any time to himself.

That is when he decided to put his pen down and look around his office. It is an office he is already familiar with as he spends most of his working hours here when not tours or inspections. His eyes roamed the room before falling to the pictures on his desk, specifically at the picture of him, Hinata, Selvaria and Tomoya after a battle with the soldiers of varying nationalities. They were an international band of brothers and sisters.

"I remember that one, that was the Battle of Poznan." Naruto chuckled, as he recalled that battle.

November 1943

Poznan, Northern Jermanya Reich

"Advance!" Tomoya ordered his motley crew of soldiers of various nationalities, running as he fires his Bren light machine gun in the direction of some hostile Waffen-SS infantrymen, with the Bren's .303 Elboynia rounds ensuring that the Nazi scumbags were dead and stay dead.

"You heard the boss! Move your asses!" An Amyrikan Sergeant barked as he and his comrades got out from behind their cover and began advancing towards the Waffen-SS forces.

"Take this you bastards!" An Elbyonia Infantryman threw a bundle grenade at a Waffen-SS machine gun position that was about to open fire, with the remains of the gun crew being thrown to the heavens.

"Alright Gorkhalis, that's our cue." Naruto could be heard shouting, "Jai Maa kali, Ayo Gorkhali!"

The Gorkhali troops to Tomoya's flank charged the enemy, their Kukris gleaming in the sunlight.

"Stand your ground!" A Waffen-SS Officer shouted to the Jerman soldiers, whose hearts became like water, as the Gorkhali mercilessly charged towards ever closer to their positions.

Gobbel's propoganda portrayed the Gorkhalis as nothing more than an Asianistic race of backwards, bloodthirsty savages. It was meant to boost morale in the defense of the Jerman Fatherland, but it backfired, creating fear for the Gorkhali among the Jerman civilians and militia soldiers.

Zabuza and Haku enter the fray. Behind the Jermans' defensive positions, Zabuza absolutely slaughters the frightened Jerman soldiers with his sword, while Haku seemingly surrounded by some perverse Jerman soldiers (who they wanted their way with him,) only to know how it feels like to be stabbed by giant shards of ice, with Haku telling their pierced corpses that he's a male.

"We have to fall back! Retreat! Retreat!" A Jerman Volksgrenadier screamed in total panic and fear.

"No mercy for cowards or traitors!" The officer shouted, gunning down several of his fleeting soldiers with his pistol, before he was cut down by a Gorkhali's kukri.

On Tomoya's flank, he and his soldiers were in the thick of the action, with Waffen-SS soldiers being suicidally fanatical in their defense. It made Tomoya wonder how many people will use extreme methods to support their extreme thinking.

"Shit, Tiger tank!" A soldier shouted as a Tiger tank rumbled out from behind a building and blasted at a Tortoise tank which brewed up while having its hull and turret machine guns to mow down the escaping tankers and some of the nearby infantrymen.

Several other infantrymen fired their small arms at the metal monstrosity, but the bullets were ineffective against heavy armour.

"Ah shit." Tomoya swore, but before the Tiger could do anything else, the heavy tank was hit hard and brewed up. The Imperial soldiers paused to see what took out the Tiger and saw it was a black Bull tank destroyer, its 76 mm gun smoking. Its commander, Major Selvaria Bles, was out with binoculars in hands.

"Have to save your fugly ass again, eh Tomoya?" Selvaria shouted, proudly wearing a smug smirk.

"Well fuck you Bles, we were handling the situation!" Tomoya shouted back.

"Yeah right. This is Eagle Leader to all Eagle Troop, get your buckets of bolts moving!" Selvaria ordered and soon her unit of Bull tank destroyers began advancing on the Jerman forces which were now trying to fall back as their armour support had gone up in flames.

"Big Boss! Hinata just relayed that the Jerman forces in her sector are falling back, it appears that the Jerman Forces are falling back across our front." A radioman shouted.

"Then it's necessary that we must continue to attack and continue to push the enemy, before he sets his ass up in new defensive positions! And tell Naruto to create Shadow clones for this!" Tomoya ordered.

"Yes sir!" The radioman saluted before radioing the other neighbouring units.

When the radioman's gone, Tomoya quickly created a series of hand seals before shouting, "Shadow clone jutsu!" with four exact copies of Tomoya appearing.

"I want you to scout ahead and attack any and all Jerman opposition before they can bury their asses into defensive positions." The original Tomoya ordered his shadow doppelgangers

"Hai!" The shadow clones shouted, before running.

That saw the end of the Northern Jerman Reich. As after Poznan was taken, the League of Soviet Ruthiynan Oblasts joined the war but not as an ally but as another enemy, as they sensed that because of all the fighting, both the Jermani and the Imperial Forces would be too tired to hold their fresher forces back. However, they were mistaken, as not only the Imperial Forces were able not only hold them back, but push back and invade them in return. Naruto remembered a familiar scene.

"Come on you treacherous Commie bastards!" Tomoya shouted as he and his men shot at the wave upon wave of the enemy forces.

Naruto remembered how everyone felt about their foes. They were disgusted by the atrocities that the Nazis and the Soviets committed against others and against their own. Who simply hangs a 8 year old boy as a 'deserter?' Who simply imprisons people on trumped up evidence? Who simply commits genocide on those they considered different?

Naruto paused as he looked at the photograph again, focusing on his best and one of his strongest supporters, Tomoyo Konoha, whose name is rather ironic as his name translation means Friend of Konoha, not much of a friend of them now. Tomoya Konoha was a former Konoha shinobi, and now the Chief Executive of the Imperial Security Service (the United Western Empire's foreign intelligence service,) and Duke of Cambria.

Born in Konoha as an orphan, his special ability is a kekkei genkai mutation; producing blood clones that can mimic a person's appearance, clothing, even their chakra system and DNA. The drawbacks is that blood clones consume a lot of Chakra in order to create and maintain them (and Tomoya has a less-than-average Chakra capacity, but has moderate-to-good Chakra control.) But, with his kekkei genkai, along with his intelligence (especially in gathering and organizing information,) and an Eagle summoning contract, made him an A-rank ninja in the Bingo Book, nicknamed 'The Konoha Shinobi Who Cheats Death.'

Tomoya has a strong and individualistic moral code, with Tomoya becoming disillusioned of Konoha's corruption by Danzo and the Civilian Council, which was accelerated by Naruto's banishment and his discoveries of secret S and SS-rank files about Danzo's and the Civilian Council's dirty actions that were conducted behind the Third Hokage and Fire Daimyo's back. Using his kekkei genkai, Tomoya faked his and his family's death in order to escape Konoha, eventually meeting Naruto and his party.

Mayu and Kaito, Tomoya and Akemi's children, were the few children (apart from Konohamaru and his friends,) that saw Naruto as Naruto, and not Naruto as the Kyuubi, just as Naruto became friends with Konohamaru and his friends, Naruto became friends with Mayu and Kaito.

Naruto then sighed as he leaned back into his chair as he thought about his entourage when he arrived in the Western Continent. It first started with him and Hinata who joined him at Hiashi's behest, he wanted to protect Hinata from the clutches of the Hyūga Elders who wanted to marry her off to a wealthy member of the civilian council (who was older. By several decades.)

They soon encounter Yugito Nii, who like Naruto, was banished by Kumo's civilian council with the added bonus of putting a bounty on her head which led to her, when found by Naruto and Hinata, chased by a squad of hunter-nin. Naruto put an end to that group with a few shadow clones with explosive tags. Yugito was grateful for the help and agreed to join their group, this delay allowed Tomoya and his family to join.

When Naruto and the party reached Iron Country they encountered an unexpected pair, Zabuza Momochi and Haku. They, apparently, were still alive for it. Turns out that before the fight at the bridge, Zabuza had substituted himself and Haku with mist clones to escape the heat. They were surprised to see the group, more so when they noted none were wearing hitai-ates of their former villages.

Zabuza was surprised to see Tomoya and Akemi, a respective A-rank and B-rank ninja in the Bingo Book, were a part of the group. Once finding out what happened to them, it didn't take long for the two to join Naruto's little entourage, before they boarded a rather strange ship that had docked at Iron Country. It headed out to sea before it headed out the ocean. That is when everyone found out that Tomoya was absolutely terrified of the ocean, as he locked himself in his cabin.

Akemi just laughed at her husband's fears for quite a while, whereas Zabuza chuckled at the fact that an A-rank ninja has such fear of the sea. But soon, they arrived at the port city of Portsmouth in the county of Dover as they would later find out, in the Elbyonian region. Naruto and his group were soon surprised when a Jerman bombing raid came over the city as they had never seen such flying machines before and never had they seen such destruction as a district of the city was flattened.

Only a tailed beast and a Kinjutsu can equal such levels of destruction, and they were further shocked that this was a common occurrence, as it was not just the entire region, but the entire continent was locked in an ongoing war that has been fought and was still being fought since ancient times. It was a miracle that any form of civilization managed to survive the turmoil.

Naruto and the party, learnt that Elbyonia was, after the deaths of the Elbyonian Royal Family by a bombing raid, in a three-way civil war, with Loyalists (led by Sir Winston Churchil,) the Fascists (led by Sir Oswald Mosley,) and the Communists (led by Willie Gallacher,) all fighting and claiming to fight for freedom of the Elbyonian nation.

This doesn't include the breakoff counties, which wanted independence and wanted nothing to do with the war. This was the same for the other regions on the continent, as due to the constant wars, had fallen into civil war, whilst still fighting their foreign neighbours.

Gaining the trust of the Elbyonian Loyalists (while learning the Elbyonian language at the same time, which was a struggle upon itself.) But soon, they began working and helped in the war, and Naruto and his party quickly gained a reputation as more than capable fighters and leaders and that is before the use of their abilities which made them popular with the Loyalist soldiers.

Tomoya is an expert intelligence gatherer, able to gather intelligence on anything and everything on the enemy, from their mid-ranking officers to their often-ridiculous and hare-brained Wunderwaffe.

Akemi is a fuinjutsu master, capable of creating hundreds storage seals for ammunition and explosives, enabling the average Elbyonian soldier to have more ammunition and explosives on hand, than any other soldier on the Western continent.

Naruto and Yugito are simply monsters in frontline combat, being able to execute mid-to-high ranking jutsus and create dozens of shadow clones in battle without a pause.

Naruto and the party, their missions, which were often seen as suicidal (such rescuing Elbyonian POWs behind enemy lines, kidnapping high-ranking enemy personnel, blowing up important enemy infrastructure,) but they were often extremely successful, with enemy high command, tearing their hair out in frustration, both for the damage Naruto and his party had caused, and for the fact they have failed to capture them, even in the most favorable situations.

This is of the many reasons that led politicians and military leaders of Elbyonia, agreeing that Naruto should be the new king, to give something for the people to rally to. They then discussed this with Tomoya who had been working as a middle man between Naruto's group and Churchill's faction.

At first, the other leaders ignored them. with most dismissing them as a short live spark of hope and patriotism. Naruto recalls what Mosley called him in his propaganda, "A jumped up school boy who has forgotten his rightful place."

However, there was the issue of legitimacy as it would be difficult for the people, especially for those of the newly taken counties, to accept Naruto as their new king. That is why with Lord Beaverbrook and Lord Mountbatten, Tomoya found the solution, they fashioned Naruto as the reincarnation of the King Arthur of ancient legend, who has returned from Avalon to bring Elbyonia out of her darkest hour and lead it into a new age of everlasting peace and glory.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at how it worked, though he remembered how Tomoya and Beaverbrook had to explain to the Elbyonian loyalists, why Naruto had formed a harem because of how King Arthur only had one wife, while Naruto by the end of the Jerman Campaign had six wives, with Tomoya joking how a younger man like Naruto can afford six wives, while he can barely afford a wife and family, much to the head hitting annoyance of Akemi.

This trip down memory lane came to an end when someone knocked on his door.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked.

"It is just me, dear." came the reply of someone Naruto knows quite well.

"Come in Albion." Naruto said. The door opened and in came one of Naruto's wives, Albion, as she had elected to name herself after the project name that led to her 'creation.'

She was 'created' (though Tomoya and many others in Loyalist Elbyonian military intelligence community, believed that she was kidnapped, with her memory wiped,) by Fascist Elbyonian scientests, under the supervision of Nazi Jerman scientests, with goal of creating a super soldier, partly in response to Naruto and his party's commando shenanigans.

The scientists of the Albion Project, worked to enhance her abilities as a fighter and a soldier. She had all her senses heightened, so it was hoped that she could fight Naruto on a near equal level. She also had physical, chakra and magic enhancements done to the body, so that her body could take higher amounts of pain.

Since they will not produce a new super soldier for some time, Albion was trained by Elbyonians and Jermans in all aspects of warfare and intelligence, from surviving in a hostile environment to seducing high-ranking enemy government and military personnel to gather intelligence, and everything in between.

But why her, and not say, a fanatical Fascist Elbyonian or Nazi Jerman soldier? The Elbyonian fascists and the Nazi Jermans did try this, often on unwilling prisoners. Out of the 50 that participate in the experiment, 49 of the participants were killed by the enhancement process, with Albion known to have survived the enhancement process.

This made her the 'prototype,' the building plan from which all Fascist Elbyonian and Nazi Jerman super soldier who will derived from. She will be the 'Mother of the Next-Generation Soldiers,' for Nazi Jermanya and Fascist Elbyonia.

Besides, if she was sent on an infiltration mission to gather intelligence, would anyone suspect a beautiful and intelligent young woman, with a warm personality, to be a deadly super soldier of Mosely's regime?

There's one problem; she cannot be easily controlled by her masters as they originally hoped. But the Nazi scientests attached to the project, believed that frequent memory wipes will solve this insubordination. Until then, keeping her doped with drugs was the solution. However, before Albion could be sent out on her first mission as an agent of Mosely's regime, the Project was abruptly ended by the people they sought to stop.

Tomoya, having heard of the Albion Project from a captured Fascist Elbyonian scientist (in return for protection for the scientist's family, as he was forced to work on the project against his moral convictions,) led to a plan to take Albion Project down, before Fascist Elbyonia and Nazi Jerman can fully utilize the results of the Albion Project, and force the Western continent under the iron boot of tyranny.

The operation was soon named Operation Union which entailed the main Fascist Elbyonian Research Facility being raided by Naruto, Yugito, Tomoya, Akemi and the SOE Commandos. Hinata and Rias were in reserve with Zabuza and Haku in case shit went real south.

The team storm into the facility like the Furies of ancient myth, killing many of the Facsist Elbyonian and Nazi Jermanya guards before they can enact a proper defense of the facility.

In desperation, the head of the Albion Project was forced to unleash Albion, in the hopes of killing Naruto and the SOE raiding team. If she succeeds, excellent. If she fails… well, they can always improve the procedure for the next super-soldier.

Unleashed, she was extremely capable in terms of combat prowess, but was indiscriminate in killing, killing most of the Albion project scientists, and several teams of SOE commandos.

In her fight against Naruto and Yugito, Albion was near equal in endurance and power when compared to Naruto and Yugito. but what she lacked the most was real fighting experience which Naruto and Yugito had more than plenty of at this stage of the war, outwitting Albion before knocking her out cold.

When Tomoya and Akemi saw the cut up cadavers of the dead participants of the Albion Project, it gave them the shudders, reminding them of Orochimaru's human experiments back on the Elemental Continent.

After capturing the few scientists that survived Albion's murderous rampage, on the orders of Naruto and Tomoya, many of research materials concerning the Albion Project, were seized by Elbyonian Loyalists, with the remainder being destroyed to prevent the Facist Elbyonians and Nazi Jermans replicating the same project again, with the labatory being blown up for good measure.

The Loyalist Elbyonian goverment and military were shocked that Facsist Elbyonia and Nazi Jermanya were *this* close to producing unstoppable super soldiers, not to mention horrified that they were willing to do such atrocities on their fellow man to achieve their goal of tyrannical supremacy.

The question is: what to do with this woman, Albion? In terms of paperwork, she was effectively a ghost. She has no known living family relatives, no known home address, nothing. What's really known is that she's born around 1927.

One Loyalist Elbyonian military officer suggested that she join the Royal Elbyonian Army, noting her combat prowess during the raid, only describing her in the terms of being a valuable military asset to the war effort against the Loyalist Elbyonian's enemies, much to the disgust of Naruto, Hinata, Tomoya and Akemi, because it sounded eerily similar to a certain warhawk from a certain hidden village.

There were some concerns from Elbyonian political and military leaders about her reliability, especially when she was 'created' to be the Fascists and Nazis' ultimate weapon (a weapon to surpass Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki,) and had already killed SOE commandos, Naruto and his team successfully argued that there were already Jerman and Ruthiynan soldiers serving in the Royal Elbyonian Army, and their reliability is not directly questioned as with the case of Albion.

While recovering at a secret Elbyonian military hospital (to prevent the Fascists and the Nazis from attempting to kidnap her,) Albion realized that she has nothing, not even the name that her parents lovingly gave to her, she suffered a mental breakdown, believing that she was 'created' as a weapon and only a weapon, used for other people's purpose, being told to kill someone, just because someone told them to, without thought or question.

However, Naruto got that idea out of her head, by telling her that while the events that shaped who she is now cannot be changed, she however can forge a new path, one of her own choice as there is no such thing as fate, only choice, he used his own life as an example how despite all he has gone through, he for the most part had forged his own path.

Albion was quite inspired by Naruto's words and joined the Royal Elbyonian Army, but she had one rather strange request; to be put in the same unit as Naruto was.

The rest as they say is history. Now she was part of Naruto's family and currently walking into Naruto's office in her standard dress which was a coat that resembled an Elbyonian Red Coat uniform from days of old with the two rows of buttons and the white flaps in the centre with a golden belt where her swords hangs from. She also wore a short black skirt with white thigh high stockings with her white knee high boots.

"How is work, dear?" Albion asked as she walked up to Naruto's desk.

"Just finishing up." Naruto replied, "Why do you ask Abby?"

"It is lunch time dear, everyone is heading to the dining hall." Albion answered.

"Oh?" Naruto uttered as he looked down at his watch, "Ah, I see you are right. Alright let's go then."

Naruto headed with his wife to join the rest of his family for lunch.

Hereford Army Base

Two weeks later

"Alright Corporal Toad, you're up next for the House." The drill instructor said.

It has been a tough fortnight for the 64-year old Icha Icha author. He can see why the motto of the SAS fits with them so well.

"Who Dares Wins," because they took from the best of the best of the United Western Empire Armed Forces; the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, trained them to such a level, that they can easily defeat often larger groups of enemies, even with their light weaponry compared to the rest of the military.

And Jiraiya was the oldest SAS trainee. But, just because Jiraiya was the (read: deadbeat) godfather of the Emperor, doesn't mean he gets into the SAS easily and painlessly. In fact, McMillan ordered and authorized the drill instructors to use every dirty trick in the drill sergeant handbook, to make Jiraiya's two weeks an absolute hell.

The other trainees, even with his prior combat experience, looked down on him, as he was the oldest trainee, telling him to "Go to a retirement home and go senile while he's there." Now he can understand the loneliness that Naruto had gone through while he was in Konoha. And when they found out that he can summon toads, he was given the name of 'Toad.'

Jiraiya walked in to see a few soldiers waiting for him. One, assumed to be the leader, is older than those around him (apart from Jiraiya himself,) sporting a large moustache, with teeth clenching a cigar. Another was the tallest one out of all those present, having a mohawk, stubble and light scaring over his left eye. Another has his face obscured by a skull mask and sunglasses. And finally, the last one, was obviously a woman, was a near striking image of her mother, if not for the eyes that she inherited from her father.

"Major Price. It's the FNG (Fucking New Guy.) Go easy on him; it's his first day on the regiment." the man with the mohawk said to the man with the large moustache, assumed to be the Major Price, who was listening as he quietly chomped on a cigar.

"Firstly, what the hell kind of name is Toad, eh? How'd an old muppet like you, pass the selection?" Price incredulously said.

"You said the same thing about my name, Price." the captain replied.

"Quite true Soap, but at least you proved yourself already." Price acknowledged. They met during the war in the early days of the SAS, and Price saw that Soap was a natural leader. By the end of the war, they became good friends.

"But this old muppet here, has to prove himself today, in the Killing House, a plywood simulation." Price continued, whilst pointing at the wooden mockup of a house. Designed to test new FNGs being inducted into the SAS. For FNGs gunning for the famed winged Excalibur, the Killing House will make them or break them.

The placement of 'enemies,' (wooden cutouts) is random, so FNGs gunning for the SAS, doesn't know where or how many enemies are in the Killing House.

"Are you talking about yourself sir?" the woman questioned Price, much to the laughter of Soap and the other SAS operators.

"Anyways, the Killing House is designed to test your skills of speed, accuracy and reaction, all under the timer. You don't know where or how many hostiles in the Killing House, so use of flash-bangs before armed entry into a room is necessary. Lieutenant Mayo, the one with the big mouth over here, holds the regiment's record at 15 seconds. The average is 20 seconds." Price replied. "Let's see if you can get anywhere close to that. Timer will start once you enter the structure. Also you will have chakra suppressors, you will be using only your skills you've learnt so far. Toad, head to the start line. "

"Ready when you are." McGregor said as he readied the stopwatch. Jiraiya looked at the structure with some trepidation as he prepared his submachine gun.

"Go, go, go!" Price barked which got Jiraiya moving into the house.

"Hit the targets!" Soap barked as Jiraiya made his way through the house, engaging the wooden cutouts of enemy targets inside the house.

"Use your flash-bang!" the woman advised, with Jiraiya fumbling a bit before he got to throwing a flash-bang into an enemy filled room, causing the 'enemy' to pop out from cover, with Jiraiya shooting the targets.

"Hit the targets!" Price shouted, as Jiraiya shot the 'enemy' with his submachine gun.

"Flash-bang, through the door!" Soap shouted, as Jiraiya quickly unpack and pull the pin of a flash-bang, throwing it into a room, and shooting down the 'enemies' that pop up.

"Sprint to the finish!" The masked soldier barked, as Jiraiya reached the finish line.

"18 seconds on the clock." McGregor said as he pressed the stopwatch. 18 seconds; just three seconds slower than that lieutenant. Jiraiya felt quite good about himself as he was able to run the course at his current age. Only for Price to pop Jiraiya's sense of accomplishment.

"18 seconds. Not bad, but not good. However, it'll have to do." Price deadpanned.

"Corporal Toad, welcome to the SAS." Soap grinned, "Let's see if you can keep up, old man."

"You're assigned to Charlie company under Lieutenant Mayu Konoha. And for God's sake, I better not hear from Soap that you're trying to gather 'research' material on the Lieutenant. If she spots you doing so, well, best hope that she lets you get away with intact genitals." Price ordered.

"Hey Soap, remember that FNG who tried to peep on her, despite the warnings?" A skull-masked SAS operator asked the tall Scotsman.

"I remember him Ghost. It didn't end well for Roach, that's for sure." Soap replied, silently smiling at the memory of the FNG Roach absolutely pissing and shitting his pants in terror, with a M1911 being aimed squarely at his balls by a pissed Mayu. God forbid if her father found out about it. Roach had been quiet ever since then.

Well, Jiraiya cannot complain that he was assigned command to an officer who's younger than him by four decades and a woman. If he knows Tsunade, she would have laughed at his current situation.

But he was no fool, after all, he survived two Shinobi Wars while many of his comrades didn't, so he could tell that behind their joking and joyful behaviour, he could see that they had seen battle, they had fought hard even their young lieutenant was a fighter judging from the one of a few visible battle scars on her.

However, dealing with all his current woes meant regaining his godson's trust in him, then he will damn sure do it.

"Alright Charlie Company! We are going to do the HIKE!" Mayo barked, "Get your kit and meet up at the base of the mountain. Toad, you are in 3rd Platoon!"

"Y-Yes ma'am." Jiraiya nervously replied.

"Sergeant Valley, he is all yours." Mayo said to a rather annoyed soldier who had to deal with some old geezer.

"Arlight Corporal Toad, follow me. We need to get you ready for the Hike." Valley grumbled. Jiraiya could have sworn he heard the sergeant curse "Because you will fucking need it" under his breath as he walked past Jiraiya.

"Sergeant, what is the Hike?" Jiraiya asked.

"It is a 150 km march through a mountain valley, with all your combat kit."

Jiraiya was quite impressed that these people, many of whom have the chakra level of Maito Gai, were able to endure such a journey with full combat gear. He wondered then what the more capable soldiers could do.

Newport News Shipyards

March 1952

The dockyard workers and shipbuilders crowded around a slipway which in it was the giant steel hull, which was the newest vessel of the Imperial Western Navy and the first of her class, IWS John Jellicoe, the first ship of the new Admiral-class Fleet Carriers. This was part of the Navy's standardization and modernization programme to ensure maximum efficiency and to ease logistics for the fleet.

Because before the programme, the IWN had different ships, of different types, of different doctrines, of different capabilities, and of different armament from different nations, making it the living nightmare of every Navy quartermaster.

To resolve this, the Imperial Western Naval Admiralty in 1943 began a large scale standardization programme of the fleet with the results being seen in late 1945.

The non-standardized ships were either decommissioned and converted into museum ships to tell their unique stories by dedicated veterans, or broken up and sold for scrap metal, with the latter being more common for more common ship classes. The ships that were scrapped were quickly replaced by new ships coming off the slipways.

Tomoya was offered a ride on one of the newly constructed submarines, though he politely declined. He was not getting a steel tube, deep underwater any time soon.

Fleet Admiral Tovey, head of the Bureau of Development for the Imperial Western Navy was quite adamant to get the Imperial Western Navy to be the most advanced and most capable fleet in the world, this is something he had succeeded as by 1945, enemy fleets will think, twice, thrice, quadrice before they attempt to take on the Imperial Western Navy.

Returning to the current affairs, at the bow of the ship, Naruto, Hinata and Rias were standing on the platform at the bow of the ship. Rias Gremory Namikaze is one of Naruto's wives, she is also the queen of the demons who live in the Western Continent, so it made sense on the surface for Naruto to marry her as a way to ensure the demons in the Western Continent would be loyal in reality, Naruto and Hinata were quite smitten with Rias who in turn was grateful for getting out a hated marriage to a now dead power maniac. She is present at the launching of the carrier because she had always an interest in warships, mainly thanks to her family's history of serving in the Navy of the Amyrikan Union. It wasn't hard to miss her given her long dark red hair. She usually wears the officer uniform of the Imperial Wester Navy.

Also present is Grand Admiral Sir Ernest King, Chief of Imperial Western Naval Operations, or in simple terms boss of the entire navy. He is a man Naruto would describe as someone who is just constantly in a state of anger, how angry depends on how much someone or something annoys him. He is however, very proud of his navy and would ensure that no one messes with his beloved fleet.

Naruto and Rias both remembered how furious he was in 1944 at the officers in the Bureau of Ordnance for the disaster that was the Mark 14 Torpedo. Naruto thought Sakura was bad (and he remembers her as the banshee bitch from hell) but compared to King, he made her look like a baby.

The Mark 14 torpedoes don't work; either it prematurely explodes or it doesn't explode at all, if it manages to hit the target. What's worse, is that the people responsible for the Mark 14 disaster, the Bureau of Ordnance, tried to cover the fuckup that their fumbling asses had a hand in, by blaming the fighting men that were unfortunate enough to be armed with the torpedoes.

Doenitz was also and as equally unimpressed as King was, as the submarine branch almost entirely relied on the torpedo as their main armament, and if they were unreliable, the submarines were next to useless, with Doenitz saying that "never before in military history, has a force been sent into battle with such a useless weapon."

This led to an outright furious King who after this debacle (and punishing the morons responsible for the disaster,) with the political support of Naruto and high-ranking politicians and admirals, had the Bureau of Ordnance merged with the Bureau of Development, and Tovey ensured that the debacle will not happen again.

Besides the Emperors, his wives and the Chief of the Navy, there was another naval officer, Ensign Kaito Konoha was present as well.

Funnily enough for Tomoya's son, Kaito, didn't inherit his father's fear of the ocean, as he was training to become a naval aviator in the IWN, having almost completed his advanced training for the Falcon II fighter that will line the deck of the new Admiral-class. His pilot callsign is 'Crunch,' after an unfortunate landing in a Falcon II fighter during training. Initially called 'Krunch,' before someone realized what it could mean if accounting for his full name.

"It is a great looking ship." Naruto commented as he looked at the ship.

"Yes it does, Your Majesty." King replied with a rare smile.

"I never thought ships could get any bigger." Hinata remarked.

"Oh trust me, with how things are progressing, they are only getting bigger." King replied, "Would you like the honour, my empress?"

"Would you like the honour, Hinata?" Rias asked.

"Rias, you have invested more time and energy into the construction of this carrier." Hinata answered, "You should have the honour."

"Alright, thank you dear." Rias smiled as she picked up the champagne bottle.

"Give it a good swing, dear." Naruto smiled, to which Rias giggled and nodded.

"Alright then," Rias smiled as she stepped up to the ship, "With the power invested in me, I christened this aircraft carrier, IWS John Jellicoe, may she and her crew be able to say with just pride: I have done the State some service. For the Emperor and Empire."

Rias swung the champagne bottle, hitting the mark true, smashing against the cold steel of the carrier, covering part of its bow with champagne. As the crowd cheers, the ship slowly slips out of the slipway, and as the present navy band plays Anchors Aweigh. The mighty vessel slipped into the water with a mighty splash and after some rocking, the carrier stood upright, a testament to skill and capability of the dockyard workers of Newport News Shipyard.

"Well that went well." Kaito commented.

"Yes it is." Naruto said before he noted that Kaito had a letter in his hand, "Is that from your father?"

"Yes, he said to pass it to you because he knew I was going to be here with you." Kaito replied as he passed the folder to Naruto.

"Do you know what is inside?" Naruto asked.

"No." Kaito replied as Naruto opened the folder and began reading.

"So... new kages in Iwa and Kumo… known to be militarily aggressive… increase chances of all out war in the Elemental Continent... in layman's terms, it's SNAFU in Iwa and Kumo… good grief... Mengle and Ishii are sighted in Otogakure? That's not good… not good at all…" Naruto uttered, "Anything else that your father sent me?"

"No nii-san." Kaito replied.

"Tell your father to wake up the Twenty Committee, we have work to do." Naruto said as he put the folder into a storage scroll.

"Yes nii-san." Kaito answered. The rest of the day was spent with Naruto, Hinata and Rias along as Kaito joined in a tour of the shipyard with King and the Shipyard Master to inspect the ships either being constructed or retrofitted. Kaito however excused himself after the tour to head back to Grand Union. Naruto, Hinata, Rias and King went to meet with the Western Fleet Command located nearby.

ISS Headquarters, Grand Union

Later that same day

Located outside the walls of the Imperial Complex which protected the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Parliament, the ISS building was of neoclassical design and was recently built in the post-war economic boom. And the ISS building is always organized and busy. After all, a foreign intelligence organization can't just sit with its thumb up its arse all day, everyday.

It was just another day at the office. Well, another day at the well furnished office with a well-stocked cabinet that is. But it's not all cigars and old whisky for Tomoya.

When Tomoya became Chief Executive of the Imperial Security Service, the ISS absorbed a myriad of foreign intelligence agencies; Abwehr, BCRA, MI6, OSS, SOE, with all of the agencies suffering from betrayals and defections.

Over time, through the 'blood, sweat and tears' efforts of himself, and his subordinates, William Donovan, John Masterman and Wilhelm Canaris, the ISS became the biggest foreign intelligence organizations in the Western Continent, able to gather on anyone and on anything at any given time.

Though as of two years ago, their operations have expanded to the Eastern Continent. Their biggest operation as of late, was to pick up all but two of the Jinchūriki because Yagura was dead while Gaara was Kazekage of Sand Village.

And the covert black operation by the ISS' special forces unit, the Special Activities Regiment, led by Zabuza Momochi, with Haku Momochi as his second-in-command, enabled to strike at the most vital industries and infrastructures, especially when Naruto was forced to take a back seat by several political, military leaders and his wives. Makes sense, as they don't want the enemy to claim the king as another kill to their name, especially after the Battle of Salisburg Plains.

But Tomoya wasn't happy today, as he had gotten the report from William Donovan, his executive of the ISS branch in the Elemental Continent, talking about the new militaristic kages in Iwa and Kumo, and the confirmed sightings of Dr. Joseph Mengle and Dr. Shiro Ishii being sighted in Otogakure, having disappeared from the Oriental Region at the end of the war.

Tomoya wasn't pleased at the fact that Mengle and Ishii are still alive, and in Otogakure on top of that! Tomoya shudders to imagine what evil monstrosities that Orochimaru, his former sensei, Mengle and Ishii can concoct, with the ghost that was the Albion Project now haunting the Elemental Continent.

He interrupted the train of thought by grabbing and lighting a cigar from the cigar box. Akemi dislikes him smoking at Cumbria Palace or anywhere she's present. Admittedly, he picked up the habit from his frequent meetings with the then Loyalist Elbyonian PM Winston Churchill, as a way of building relationships. One of the reasons why Naruto became King and later, Emperor.

Taking his mind off the report, he looked at the picture of a smiling boy with his family, focusing on the boy, taking mostly from his father, apart from his eyes and nose.

Tomoya cannot feel nothing but pride for the young man, the boy he raised with Akemi as their son. Kaito was born with a small chakra capacity, less so than himself in fact. Even with some chakra capacity training, he has the same chakra capacity as Maito Gai. If he was on the Elemental Continent. At best, he would be a taijutsu shinobi. And at worst, he would be sidelined as a civilian, probably even used for breeding purposes, which Tomoya finds extremely distasteful.

And after their 'deaths' in a fiery house explosion and their arrival on the Western continent, when Tomoya and/or Akemi are too busy fighting in the war, Kaito and Mayu are cared for by their new friends. One of these friends was the Mercer-Henderson family, with Kaito being close friends with the daughter of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, Adeline Mercer-Henderson, a fact that Mayu teased Kaito endlessly.

Kaito initially still wanted to become a ninja, even if they were on the other side of the world, despite having a small chakra capacity, but after he saw an aerial performance by the IWN's newly formed Blue Angels aerobatics team, he wanted to become a naval aviator. It was not hard to say that the West has given more opportunities for not only his family but to those they came to this land with, they have gotten new opportunities they would not have even thought of in the East.

"It seems that Orochimaru is preparing to plunge the East into war again." Yugito Nii commented. Yugito Nii, former Jinchūriki of Kumo, now commander of the 2nd Battalion in the SAR. She had taken part in many covert operations in both the West and the East. Naruto commented that Yugito is a lot happier as in the West she isn't seen as a freak of nature or a demon with the people treating her with friendliness and respect.

In fact, there were dozens of offers from men to be their girlfriend, something she (and later, the rescued Jinchūriki,) admits needs some time to get used to.

"Yes, but with Mengle and Ishii, Orochimaru can create an army of supersoldiers, only that they will be stronger and faster than Albion, with more chakra and magic capacity. And we got lucky with Albion."

Yugito can agree with that. The fight against Albion with Naruto, was the closest. Tomoya was right in that they were lucky; her lack of combat experience was the key factor in winning the fight. They won't be as lucky next time round.

"Next thing we'll know, the hidden villages are being burnt to the ground by Orochimaru's hordes, with millions dying in the process."

Even though Naruto and the party don't care for the fate of Konoha, Kumo and Kiri. Many people believed that the problems of the Elemental continent should be of little or no concern for the United Western Empire. But they don't like the idea of millions of innocent men, women, and children being slaughtered for the Snake Bastard's dissecting table and his quest for immortality.

"What do you want the SAR to do Tomoya?" Yugito asked.

Tomoya sighed. He has nothing, nothing but contempt for his former sensei, for he had tortured Anko with the Curse Seal, making her an outcast in Konoha as the 'Snake Whore." He had experimented on men, women and children, wiping out entire clans in the process. But he wasn't stupid to realize that sending in the SAR, and maybe the SAS just to kill Orochimaru and his fucked up band of immoral scientists, was militarily and politically stupid.

Something must be done before Orochimaru and the Otogakure get stronger. But before he can give his answer to Yugito, they can hear the door handle turning, revealing Kaito's face.

"Hey Dad." Kaito said as he fully opened the door and walked in still wearing his white dress uniform from the ship launching. Upon his completion of basic navy training, Kaito was permitted to wear his Navy White Uniform.

And when Kaito meets Adeline for the first time in uniform in the gardens of Buckinghamshire mansion, the first time in a while since he was sent for basic, Akemi and Mayu can't help but notice Adeline deep blushing as he comes close to talking to her, with Kaito asking Adeline if she was unwell. This didn't help Adeline's composition, who excused herself and basically bolted out of the gardens, leaving Kaito in total confusion at what had happened.

Akemi and Mayu can tell that Adeline was falling for Kaito, much to the protective dismay of Adeline's father, the 8th Earl of Buckinghamshire.

When he heard of this, Tomoya can't help but laugh at the situation. When Naruto asked why he laughed, Tomoya told him, Naruto was the same as Hinata when he was still wearing orange, much to Hinata's giggling and Naruto's embarrassment, with him asking Tomoya was he really that emotionally blind to Hinata's affections, to which Tomoya laconically deadpanned with "Yes. Yes you were."

Speaking of Akemi and Mayu, Akemi is researching and developing new storage seals that can hold more than just small arms ammunition, but munitions for large caliber guns on battleships and aircraft for service on aircraft carriers, all within a small amount of space, enabling warships, as well as soldiers and vehicles, to carry more ammunition, while keeping the same weight.

Mayu meanwhile, has joined the SAS. While they looked down on her, calling her Mayo because of the word similarities, she gained the respect of many of the SAS' top operators, especially being the current record holder of the fastest completion of the Killing House. She also was a woman not to mess with, having once pointed a pistol at an unfortunate idiot who decided that peeping was a good idea, but she wouldn't tell Tomoya who was the idiot.

"Kaito, have you given Naruto the folder?" Tomoya asked his son as he ended the thought of those memories, to which Kaito nodded.

"Hey Aunt Nii." Kaito said to Yugito. During their travels, and the battles they have faced during the war, and despite hailing from different villages with different personalities, they become as close to a family as they can possibly get. Kaito and Mayu regard Yugito and Zabuza as 'aunt' and 'uncle' respectively.

"What did he tell you?" Tomoya asked.

"Nii-san told me that you should begin the activation of the XX committee dad." Kaito said.

"Okay son, you can leave now." Tomoya said, with Kaito leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

"Well, looks like Mastermann is finally got something to do." Tomoya thought to himself, lightly tapping the cigar to shake off the charred ashes into the ashtray as he reached for the phone.

It was a few years ago when the Empire signed a treaty with the Spring Country, enabling the Empire to get telephone lines laid down speeding up communications between the Empire and the Spring country.

Tomoya quickly rotates the dial to Mastermann's contact number. It took a few moments to reach Mastermann.

"Mastermann?" Tomoya talked through the receiver.

"Yes Tom?" The voice said through the receiver.

His subordinates just call him Big Boss, because he kicked ass in the war (never mess with a man armed with a Bren machine gun at close quarters range,) and because he's the head of the biggest intelligence agency in Western continent, even in the world. That and because everyone in the West seems to have a nasty habit of mispronouncing his name, with many calling him Tomato (which he absolutely hates. Even then, he preferred that they call him Tomo or Tom if they can't pronounce his original name.)

"You have authorization to reactivate the XX committee on the Elemental Continent. Focus especially on acquiring agents from Konoha, Iwa and Kumo. Understood?" Tomoya ordered Mastermann.

"Understood... Big Boss." the man curtly replied over the telephone, with Tomoya ending the call. Stubbing his cigar into the ashtray, he quickly got up to get his coat.

"Now Yugito, I need to attend an important meeting regarding a permanent solution for that Snake bastard and his laboratory. The Emperor, the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Zabuza are attending the meeting." Tomoya said with some haste. "Yugito, you're coming along."

"Yes Tomo." Yugito affirmed, coming with Tomoya, with the both leaving the room.

Konoha, Fire Country, Eastern Continent

Two days later

The air of the village had long changed, while people went on with their lives, there was an underlying sense of dread and despair. Konoha had not done well and was in serious decline. All their alliances, trade agreements and diplomatic relations with other villages were all gone.

First to go was Suna, they found out about the banishment, sent an envoy to find out what happened but when they arrived, Konoha was in the midst of celebrating at the removal of the "threat" to the Will of Fire. That made Gaara, Kazekage of Suna so angry that he literally tore up all agreements his village had with Konoha, it was made worse after a civilian council member insulted the Kazekage of his Jinchuuriki status in a derogatory letter to Suna. It was a miracle that the messenger who sent the letter wasn't murdered right then and there. Though this led to Suna having its doors closed to any Konoha citizen.

When news of the banishment to the other villages and other countries, the reaction was the same for all of Konoha's allies which was to tear up their alliances, trade agreements as well as cut off all diplomatic ties with the village. Their reasoning was, "If Konoha is willing to throw a shinobi out for doing their job in favour of a traitor is more than willing to kill their comrade, what does that say of the village and her allies? Would they willingly stab their ally if it benefited them?"

Teuchi and Ayame left the village altogether, heading to Wave Country, where their arrival was welcomed and their business was booming, as they made the hero of the Wave Country's favorite food. Besides, if it wasn't for Naruto and others like him, they would have been forced out of business in Konoha.

Iruka resigned in protest and left, heading north, to see the world. Last anyone saw of him was in Spring Country. The Danzo was pleased, while the Civilian Council rejoiced at this, because Iruka was the one obstacle to their plan to "reform" the Shinobi Academy, to make in lines of what they believe what shinobi should be, tools for the villages. This outraged many of the Ninjas, as they knew that less combat training will only lead to more 'ninjas' that need to be placed into body storage seals on lower ranked missions.

This had led to Konoha barely able to get new Chunins in the Chunin Exams, making them the laughing stock of the other villages, with many jokes circulating across the Elemental Continent and in the capital of the Fire Country. In the past 10 years, only Konohamaru and his friends, and Hanabi Hyuga had become properly certified Chunins with that because they were trained hard with the support of the Sarutobi and the Hyuga clan respectively (Hiashi forbade any of the Elders to see Hanabi when she is being trained, the excuse given was "to ensure Hyuga pride is maintained" in reality he wanted to stop them from influencing her.)

Tsunade had since, 4 years after Naruto's banishment, retired from her position as Hokage of Konoha, the stress of the work and the guilt she felt, she had tried to get Kakashi appoint to the role of Rokudaime Hokage, but he'd refused, too ashamed for what he had realized what he had done wrong all those years ago.

Even though he told Naruto that he was worse than scum on his way out of Konoha, in actuality it was Kakashi who was the one who was worse than scum, becoming more withdrawn, talking more and more to Obito and Rin's graves, and reading more Icha Icha more openly. By this time, he and the village believed that Naruto Uzumaki was dead, uncared and unloved by anyone or anything.

Kakashi had failed them. All of them. his father, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san, all of them, would be utterly disappointed in him.

With the help of the Hyūga Elders, some of the clan heads, and the Civilian Council, Danzō Shimura, the warhawk that operates the 'legally defunct' ROOT, became the Rokudaime Hokage who plans to 'militarize' Konoha, and make Konoha and Fire Country the prominent power of the Elemental Continent.

One of his first actions was that Mizuki was pardoned, because according to the Rokudaime Hokage, the testimonies of a banished genin and a resigned chunin, were no longer considered valid. The ninja council were secretly furious with the Hokage's decision, as Mizuki committed high treason against Konoha.

Another of Dazno's actions was to rebuild the Uchiha clan, and if necessary, by force. Since Sasuke refused to sign the Clan Restoration Act for reasons unknown to the Civilian Council, and refused any advances from civilian and shinobi women, his sperm will have to be artificially inseminate into healthy young women, with Danzo had threatened Sasuke of turning him into a ROOT agent, if he refuses to give his sperm. Sasuke was obviously furious with the threats, but reluctantly gave it.

As a result, Sarada Uchiha was born to Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, and Masahiko Uchiha was born to Ami Wakabayashi and Sasuke Uchiha, even though he was never (physical) involved with either of them. Tsunade and Shizune were furious, not because of the artificial insemination procedure, but how Danzo casually threatened Sasuke.

Tsunade and Shizune were so outraged by Danzo's actions, that they left Konoha for the capital of Fire Country, under the sympathetic Fire Daimyo, with Tsunade and Shizune both vowing to never step foot in Konoha ever again.

And the ninjas of Kakashi's generation like Asuma, Kurenai and Ebisu, can only bemoan the state of the village and of its ninjas, with Kurenai and Anko having nothing but contempt for the civilian girls who were "more concerned about looking pretty and chasing boys, than being competent kunoichi." They blamed Danzo and the Civilian Council for the situation they brought Konoha to (although the Ninja Clan Head Council was not without blame either.)

And Naruto's generation, the Konoha 11, so called because all of them had graduated and became Chunins, and later Jonins, had a variety in their reactions and their reflection on the matter of Naruto's banishment from regret to joy to undeterminable.

Shikamaru was the most painfully aware, as his father told him everything. How Naruto had to live in constant fear of getting killed, especially when the Kyuubi festival is on. How Naruto was denied basic necessities. And at the age of four no less. At that time, Shikamaru doesn't have to worry about anything at all, not the very least getting killed or wondering when his next meal would be.

His father said that Konoha and its people were extraordinarily lucky, that Naruto didn't turn on destroying the village as a violent sociopath. Thinking about that day, Shikamaru realized what kind of friends he and Chōji were when they turned their backs on Naruto.

Ino comes in a close second being Shikamaru's wife and the mother of his children. Ino and Sakura were no longer frenemies, they are now straight up enemies as their beliefs have changed. Ino was no longer interested in chasing Sasuke, but Sakura was still looking to see if she could get Sasuke to tie the knot with her. While she was never friends with Naruto, she knows that he didn't deserve even most of the crap he got from the village.

Neji was aware of Konoha's dire situation, but he did believe that Naruto's banishment was due to Naruto's inevitable fate as the Kyuubi container. Although Naruto partially changed his perspectives on fate, he still believes that most of the time, people are controlled by fate.

While he has good relationships with his uncle and his cousin, his relationship with the Hyūga elders were not as positive, with his two children that he had with Tenten, being branded with the same cursed Bird Cage Seal that he has by them. He wondered what his father would do, as he realized that he and his family while they were not treated as slaves to his uncle and cousin, they were treated as slaves to the less sympathetic members of the main branch and the Hyūga elders.

Tenten was another one who realized fairly early on that she too got swept in the hostile sentiment against Naruto, but after being told by both her parents and Neji about how Naruto and the Kyuubi were two different beings, she had come to regret her actions now. She wishes that if she ever sees Naruto, she is going to ask for the boy's forgiveness.

Kiba and Chōji were aware of Konoha's situation, they just didn't fully understand. When Naruto was revealed to be the Kyuubi when he was banished, Chōji and Kiba turn their backs on their former friend, with Kiba promising to Naruto's face that if he saw him ever again, he would kill him personally on the spot.

Rock Lee constantly and consistently calls Naruto 'un-youthfulness,' parroting the same reasons as Sakura, as a way to gain her affection. Rather rich from the same guy whose ninja career was saved by the same "demon." Gai was, to Lee's surprise, not amused by his apprentice's 'un-youthful attitude' towards Naruto, because he had cut down on Lee's training (but Lee continues to train hard in order to win back Gai's approval.) His teammates also had been distant from him.

And Sakura was completely joyful for Naruto's banishment, believing that he was stopping her from getting Sasuke. Unfortunately, she quickly becomes, what can be best described as a box of problems, which is within a box of problems.

She was egotistical, not helped by her Civilian Council parents, who constantly feeds her this poison. She continues to stalk Sasuke to a point of insanity, yet the Hokage and the Civilian Council take no notice of this. And when things go wrong, she always blames everything on Naruto, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with him.

She also has a strong Napoleonic complex (thanks to her 'inner Sakura,' probably her truest self,) compensating her shortcomings with her short-tempered violence, making her the most disliked Konoha shinobi who was in Konoha, surpassing the 'popularity' of Anko, resulting in Tsunade dropping Sakura as her apprentice.

Shino, who was an enigma, never visibly showed any emotions about Naruto's banishment, neither regret nor joy. However, like his clan, Shino realized the practical and political consequences of the banishment, believing that banishing Naruto was a mistake that Konoha will never recover from.

And lastly, there's Sasuke. At that time when Naruto was banished, he only craved one thing and one thing only: attain the power to avenge the Uchiha clan by killing his older brother, Itachi Uchiha. Everything up to his desertion attempt was building up to that goal, with Itachi coming back to remind him that he wasn't powerful enough to kill him.

Looking back on that, he attempted to leave Konoha for a traitor who spoke of how much he wanted to have Sasuke's body and Sasuke's Sharingan, just so he can attain the power that traitor has. And he attempted to kill the one person whom he relates to the most who wanted to save him.

And for what? So that he can have a flat-chested bitch of a banshee actively stalk him wherever he goes, dreaming of ways to rape him? So that he has 'children,' with her and another unpleasant fangirl, being threatened into being turned into an emotionless machine of ROOT if he did not comply? What's the point of obtaining power, when you sacrifice everything?

And he can't leave the village to find and kill his brother, as the Civilian Council kept him on a short leash. He has no friends, no family. Nothing. Just a seat at the Ninja Clan Head council, a big lonely mansion in the middle of a ghost town, the lone member and representative of one of the most powerful ninja clans in Konoha, and the rank of Jounin by the civilian council cocksukers. He didn't have to earn it. It was a cheap political promotion, and it disgusted him. He was given everything by Konoha, where it should be achieved through blood, sweat and tears.

His parents didn't raise him to be a spoiled piece of shit, with everything given to him a silver platter. For now, he wonders how he can redeem himself, and if possible, find and kill his brother.

The village has changed, mostly for worse and things have possibly gotten worse. Word is going around about changes in Iwa and Kumo, but something shared with the rest of the East is there are news coming from West and to the north. The Spring and Iron Country had begun to change.

Horseless metal carriages driving in the streets of the Spring and Iron Countries' capitals. The Spring and Iron countries' low-rise buildings are replaced with tall structures of an unknown design. Wires that strung across the capitals to give instant communication between two people or parties. Konoha ninjas noted men and women on the border, wearing camouflage uniforms and metal helmets of an unknown design, and carrying strange weapons of wood and metal.

But other nations also began to change as well. Otogakure seemingly out of nowhere, was getting stronger by the day, with more and more missing ninjas and bandits filling its ranks. Iwa and Kumo's militaristic kages, began to militarize their villages. Rumours of Iwa and Kumo assisting Otogakure began to flow back to Konoha, Kiri and Suna.

Some people are saying that the Elemental Continent is on the path of war, but many people dismiss it as the word of rumour mongers who foolishly spread panic.

Author's Note

For reference, Albion looks like Prince of Wales from Azur Lane.