"[Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu]!" At the Third Training Ground, the Third Hokage stood surrounded by five hundred of Kushina's shadow clones, completely unfazed. Kushina had gone to the Hokage Office first thing that morning and asked him to help test her new jutsu. The Third Hokage had agreed, intrigued.
The Third Hokage knew Kushina well. If she had developed a new jutsu, he wanted to see what it was like.
"So, Kushina, is your jutsu just [Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu]?"
"Of course not, you old geezer! Are you ready?"
Without using Nine-Tails Chakra, Kushina was, at best, an Elite Jonin. The Third Hokage didn't think an Elite Jonin's jutsu could hurt him.
"[Shuriken Shadow Clone]!" Kushina's shadow clones threw shuriken at the Third Hokage, using [Shuriken Shadow Clone].
Facing a storm of shuriken, the Third Hokage formed Hand Seals. "[Earth Release: Earth Wall]!" Four earthen walls rose up around him.
"Hehe, you fell for it, old geezer!" Kushina's real body launched shuriken infused with Nine-Tails Chakra. The Earth Wall couldn't withstand them and was instantly shattered.
The Third Hokage was exposed to the shuriken storm again. "[Water Release: Water Formation Wall]!" He unleashed a large-scale Water Release jutsu in succession, fending off most of the shuriken, but plenty still struck him.
Kushina hadn't thrown the shuriken very hard, so even if they hit the Third Hokage, they wouldn't hurt him. That was why the Water Formation Wall could scatter her shuriken.
"Old man, what do you think of my jutsu?" Kushina asked smugly, looking at the Third Hokage's tattered clothes.
"Kushina, this jutsu would be hard to use effectively against a truly powerful opponent, especially a Water Release or Earth Release user. If you were up against the Tsuchikage, your shuriken wouldn't even break through his Earth Wall."
"Old man, what if the shuriken were infused with Nine-Tails Chakra?" The Third Hokage's expression stiffened. He knew the Nine-Tails' power well. If all those shuriken had contained Nine-Tails Chakra, he would have had to step down as Third Hokage.
"But can you have that many shadow clones use Nine-Tails Chakra at once, Kushina?" The Third Hokage's question hit the heart of the matter. Yamanaka Tohru's idea for this jutsu depended on the Nine-Tails' cooperation.
At present, Kushina could only have at most two hundred shadow clones carry Nine-Tails Chakra. Based on Yamanaka Tohru's estimates, Four-Tails would be enough for all five hundred clones to carry Nine-Tails Chakra. In the original story, Naruto, with only half of the Nine-Tails, could distribute its chakra to nearly ten thousand members of the Ninja Alliance when going all out. With the whole Nine-Tails, Four-Tails would be enough to arm Kushina's five hundred shadow clones.
In her Four-Tails state, Kushina's strength should be about on par with Hatake Sakumo's, though defeating him would be difficult.
With this jutsu, though, things were different. She could distribute Four-Tails' worth of chakra among her shadow clones for the first wave of attacks. Given the Nine-Tails' vast chakra reserves, she could use Four-Tails again afterward. While Hatake Sakumo would have to keep spending chakra to defend against the shuriken storm, Kushina could replenish her chakra at any time. The balance would steadily tip in her favor, and she would naturally emerge victorious.
For some reason, Yamanaka Tohru had also noticed that when Kushina used Nine-Tails Chakra, the Nine-Tails' consciousness and hatred never intruded on her.
Yamanaka Tohru had even asked Kushina about it. She said she only felt the Nine-Tails' hatred when she used more chakra than she could handle.
Yamanaka Tohru thought it was the result of Kushina's pure Uzumaki Clan physique. That was a good thing: without the Nine-Tails' consciousness eating away at her, there was one less concern.
For the next few days, Yamanaka Tohru stayed at Konoha Hospital. A group of ninjas returning from the Land of Earth needed treatment, and he was drafted to help.
With Yamanaka Tohru away, Kushina was bored on her own, so she went to the Hokage Office and complained to the Third Hokage. "Old man, it's been ages since I last left the village on a mission. Do you have a suitable one for me?"
The Third Hokage was long immune to this routine. Without even looking up, he said, "No."
"Then give me back my student."
"Kushina, so many injured ninjas have just returned from the Land of Earth. They're all heroes. Konoha has so few Medical Ninjas right now, and Konoha Hospital can't do without Tohru!"
"I don't care. Either give me a mission outside the village or send Tohru back."
The Third Hokage had seen this sort of thing countless times before, so he let Kushina carry on.
Kushina made a fuss for a while, but when the Third Hokage wouldn't budge, she had no choice but to leave.
At Konoha Hospital, Yamanaka Tohru was so busy he couldn't stop for a moment. There were too many injured ninjas and too few Medical Ninjas in Konoha.
A few days later, most of the injured at the hospital had been treated. Yamanaka Tohru, like the other Medical Ninjas, was exhausted in both body and mind.
At the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage was incredibly glad he had kept Yamanaka Tohru in the village. With him there, nearly all of the several hundred injured had been saved, except for a few whose injuries were too severe.
Among those hundreds of ninjas, more than twenty were Jonin. Jonin! They were precious assets to any village.
"Tell Yamanaka Tohru that Konoha Hospital is all right now. Have him go see Kushina tomorrow. Go notify him now."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!" The Anbu ninja received the Hokage's order and immediately went to notify Yamanaka Tohru.
The next day, Yamanaka Tohru, finally "seeing daylight again," went to the Third Training Ground early. To his surprise, there was someone there besides Kushina.
A black mask, silver hair, and those unmistakable dead-fish eyes.
"Well, if it isn't the famous genius ninja Kakashi!"
"Big shot Yamanaka Tohru!" After such a long time apart, Yamanaka Tohru's first words had been a tease, and Kakashi shot back without hesitation.
"Hey, hey! Have you been possessed by Obito? Looking for a fight?"
"Bring it on!"
They hadn't seen each other in two years, and Yamanaka Tohru wanted to see how strong Kakashi had become. Having learned [Chidori] ahead of time and received guidance from Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi was bound to be stronger than he had been at six in the original story.
Yamanaka Tohru activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, drew his short blade, and charged it with [Chidori Blade]. Lightning-infused chakra swirled around him. With the short blade in his grip, its [Chidori Blade] activated, he cut an imposing figure.
"So this is Lightning Release Chakra Mode? Is it really as strong as my father said?"
"You'll find out if you try it." With that, Yamanaka Tohru attacked.
Kakashi hadn't expected Yamanaka Tohru's Lightning Body Flicker to be so fast. In the blink of an eye, Yamanaka Tohru was right in front of him.
"[Earth Release: Earth Wall]!" Kakashi's Earth Wall blocked Yamanaka Tohru's downward slash. Kakashi retreated to create some distance. Yamanaka Tohru was too fast; he had to restrict his movement.
"[Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld], [Water Release: Raging Waves]!" Kakashi used ninjutsu to form a swamp around himself.
"Trying to restrict my movement?" Kakashi couldn't keep up with Yamanaka Tohru's speed. By restricting his movement this way, he could keep Yamanaka Tohru from making use of his speed advantage.
P.S. I'll post the third chapter a little later tonight. I have something to do this afternoon, so I won't be able to sit in the office and write.
Before you continue