Hammer and Halberd

Naruto Uzumaki was nearly seven years old, but he had already reached a height of 1.3 meters. Jiraiya decided to forge him a 1.5-meter halberd; anything longer would be difficult for him to wield, and anything shorter would soon need replacing. This length would serve Naruto Uzumaki well for quite some time.

Before long, a halberd took shape before Jiraiya. Once it had cooled, he lifted it onto the forging table, picked up the smaller hammer he had just crafted, and began striking the weapon after infusing it with spiritual energy.

He had forged the shaft and the head of the halberd as a single piece, with two crescent-shaped blades extending outward from the center.

He was currently hammering these two crescent blades. Under his rhythmic strikes, the edges of the blades grew thinner and thinner. Once they reached the desired sharpness, he stopped and began polishing the body of the halberd.

Finally, a bright silver halberd appeared before Naruto Uzumaki. Unlike Jiraiya's hammer, Naruto Uzumaki's halberd was adorned with intricate patterns that coiled around the shaft.

Naruto Uzumaki picked up the halberd with delight, swung it a few times, and said happily, "Haha, thanks, Pervy Sage!"

His Supreme Demon Sutra came with a set of halberd techniques. Lacking a weapon, Naruto Uzumaki had only ever practiced the spiritual energy circulation paths, never actually performing the moves.

Now that he had this halberd, he could finally begin true training in those techniques.

Seeing Naruto Uzumaki practicing with his new weapon, Jiraiya returned to his forge. By the end, all the Chakra Conductive Metal he had brought in had been transformed into various weapons.

Jiraiya stopped once the final weapon was complete. Although there was still plenty of Chakra Conductive Metal left, he had reached his limit; the continuous forging had nearly exhausted the spiritual energy within him.

He sat cross-legged on the spot and began to meditate. Naruto Uzumaki, seeing this, chose not to disturb him and walked out. Upon reaching the Altar, he found Hinata still in a state of meditation, while Kidomaru and Ichirobo had yet to emerge from the tunnel they were digging.

When Naruto Uzumaki reached the entrance, he realized dawn was breaking. He murmured, "Ugh, I was so focused on watching Pervy Sage forge that I didn't notice the time. He's been at it all night; no wonder he's so exhausted."

Seeing this, Naruto Uzumaki decided against training himself. He wanted to explore, as he hadn't yet toured the island.

Stepping outside, he saw the ground covered in various materials that Orochimaru had moved. These were the usable scraps salvaged by Shisui Uchiha and the others, which had been kept instead of being dumped into the sea.

Orochimaru was currently there, lighting a lamp and sketching something. Naruto Uzumaki didn't disturb him and simply walked on.

He didn't go far before sitting down on the ground. Watching the sun slowly rise in the distance, he fell into deep thought.

"Once Kimimaro and the others return, we can prepare to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. That will be the time to head to Amegakure. I hope Pervy Sage can persuade Nagato; otherwise, I don't know if Kotoamatsukami will be effective on him."

"Also, once everything stabilizes, it'll be time to head to Mount Myoboku for some serious training..."

Naruto Uzumaki's mind wandered through many thoughts until he eventually drifted off to sleep, only waking when he heard Hinata calling his name.

Opening his eyes, he saw it was already noon. Hinata was crouching beside him. Once he opened his eyes, she said, "Naruto Uzumaki-kun, why did you fall asleep here? What if you had encountered danger?"

Naruto Uzumaki sat up, scratched his head, and said, "Haha, I was thinking about some things and I don't know how it happened, but I just dozed off."

"Be more careful next time. Come on, let's go back and eat." With that, Hinata pulled Naruto Uzumaki toward the entrance.

Upon returning, Naruto Uzumaki noticed that Orochimaru had already laid a foundation near the entrance. Judging by the progress, construction would be finished in less than two days.

Entering the Altar, he found everyone already gathered. Naruto Uzumaki stepped forward and said, "Sorry, I fell asleep outside and kept you all waiting."

Everyone shook their heads to show it didn't matter. After the meal, Naruto Uzumaki asked Kidomaru, "How is the tunnel you two are digging coming along?"

"Following your instructions, we've dug five meters underground and extended it over ten meters forward, carving out three chambers for the prison cells," Kidomaru replied.

Naruto Uzumaki nodded and said with a smile, "Then don't worry about the tunnel for today; there's another task."

"Oh? Really?" It was Ichirobo who spoke. Since arriving, he had done nothing but clear rubble or dig dirt, and he was desperate for a different kind of mission.

Naruto Uzumaki nodded seriously. "That's right. I have a new task for you today."

Under their expectant gazes, Naruto Uzumaki continued, "Look, the water we're using is being transported from elsewhere, which is too much trouble. I scouted the area when I went out this morning and found a water vein not far underground. Your task today is to dig a well and solve our water problem."

As soon as Naruto Uzumaki finished, the anticipation in their eyes vanished. It was a different task, sure, but it was still just digging dirt. The two replied with a hint of disappointment.

Seeing their low spirits, Naruto Uzumaki laughed. "Don't worry, once the well is finished, you won't have to dig anymore. I'll have other missions for you then."

The two regained their hope and let Naruto Uzumaki lead them to the water vein he had found.

Seeing their impatience, Naruto Uzumaki didn't hold them back and led them to a spot not far from the entrance with their tools.

After marking the spot, Naruto Uzumaki left, and Kidomaru and Ichirobo began the task of digging the well.

Kidomaru was responsible for digging downward, while Ichirobo was tasked with hauling the materials to build the well walls.

And so, the two set to work with great fervor.

After returning to the Altar, Naruto Uzumaki called for Jiraiya, and after grabbing their respective weapons, they used the Flying Thunder God to reach the summit of the nameless mountain where they had once wiped out the bandits.

Since Hinata's current duty was only to handle the food, and she could return before mealtime, Naruto Uzumaki brought her along as well.

Naruto Uzumaki said to Jiraiya and Hinata, "Let's practice our martial arts here. Pervy Sage, you can finally test your hammer techniques. Hinata, you should practice the Heart-Destroying Palm."

Ever since Naruto Uzumaki had given him the martial arts manual, Jiraiya had been training, but because he lacked a suitable weapon for the Great Sumeru Hammer, he had only been familiarizing himself with the required spiritual energy circulation paths, just like Naruto Uzumaki.

Now that he had the hammer, Jiraiya couldn't wait to try it out. He nodded and headed to the other side to begin his training.

Hinata also nodded and walked in a different direction, while Naruto Uzumaki stood in place, holding his halberd.

Both Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya knew the power of these martial arts; training too close together could lead to accidental injury, so finding separate spots at a distance was the correct approach.

Naruto Uzumaki's halberd technique was called the Desolation Halberd. It consisted of only seven forms, corresponding to the seven attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Yin, and Yang. Each form was linked to the cultivation of his internal energy.

Naruto Uzumaki had already memorized the circulation paths for all seven forms. He executed the first form, feeling the spiritual energy surge through his body and flow into the halberd.

The halberd in Naruto Uzumaki's hand began to emit intense fluctuations, pulsing with a faint, flickering aura. With a powerful swing, the heavy-laden halberd slammed into the ground.

A dull thud echoed out as soil sprayed in every direction. The ground began to crack like a spiderweb, the fissures spreading far into the distance.

The cracks covered a twenty-meter radius around Naruto Uzumaki, and under the pressure of the Earth-attribute spiritual energy radiating from the halberd, the ground within those fissures crumbled into gravel.

As spiritual energy continued to radiate from the halberd, the rubble was reduced to fine powder.

Seeing this, Naruto Uzumaki withdrew his spiritual energy and nodded at the pile of dust; although he hadn't used much energy, he was quite satisfied with the damage dealt.

He then leaped to another spot to begin testing the other techniques.

Since his cultivation technique had not yet reached the perfection of the second level, Naruto Uzumaki did not summon a second golem. While the other techniques were also quite powerful, they lacked any additional effects.

On the other side, Hinata stopped in front of a large tree and began to circulate her internal spiritual energy according to the methods recorded in the Heart-Destroying Palm.

The Heart-Destroying Palm had no fixed stances, so any palm strike would suffice. Once the spiritual energy formed a cycle, Hinata assumed a horse stance and struck the tree with her palm.

As her palm made contact, the hidden force reinforced by her spiritual energy surged into the trunk, causing the entire tree to tremble.

With a loud bang, it finally shattered into fragments that scattered in every direction. Seeing this, Hinata raised her hands and examined them closely.

She could hardly believe that this was the result of her own attack.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she approached another tree; although the damage was high, Hinata knew it was not enough.

The Heart-Destroying Palm recorded that once mastered, the target's internal organs would be reduced to powder while the surface of the body remained completely unscathed.

The strike she had just performed only shattered the inside of the tree, and because her control of the hidden force was poor, the entire tree had exploded. She still had much training to do.

Elsewhere, after finishing his tests, Naruto Uzumaki went to find Jiraiya, wanting to see how powerful Jiraiya was when using the Great Sumeru Hammer.

Upon arriving, he saw Jiraiya standing there with his eyes closed. Not wanting to disturb him, he simply found a tree, leaped up, and sat against the trunk.

At this moment, Jiraiya, with his eyes tightly shut, was visualizing the cultivation method of the Great Sumeru Hammer.

Unlike Naruto Uzumaki's Desolation Halberd, the Great Sumeru Hammer could not be imbued with elemental effects. This meant that when Jiraiya used the Great Sumeru Hammer, it would not carry the scorching heat of his fire-attribute spiritual energy.

However, the Great Sumeru Hammer consisted of thirty-six forms. The first thirty forms each increased attack power by ten percent, while the final six forms each doubled it. These effects were stackable, meaning if Jiraiya mastered all thirty-six forms, his attack power would increase ninefold.

Jiraiya's Skyfire Battle Body was already an offensive spiritual body that provided an exaggerated boost to his attack power. Combined with the Great Sumeru Hammer... Naruto Uzumaki was very eager to see the damage he could inflict.

...Naruto: Starting with Asura Chakra by Ti Ta