Hammer and Halberd

Naruto was almost seven years old now, but he had already grown to 1.3 meters tall. Jiraiya planned to forge him a 1.5-meter halberd first. Anything longer would be difficult for him to use, while anything shorter would soon need replacing, so a 1.5-meter halberd should serve Naruto for a while.

Before long, a halberd had taken shape in front of Jiraiya. Once it had cooled, he picked it up and carried it over to the forge, then set it down and took up the smaller hammer he had forged earlier. He infused it with spiritual energy and began hammering the halberd.

The shaft and spearhead of the halberd he was making for Naruto were joined together, with two crescent-shaped blades extending outward from the middle.

He was working on those two crescent blades now. After a few strikes, their outer edges gradually became razor-thin. Once they reached the desired thickness, he stopped and began polishing the body of the halberd.

At last, another gleaming silver halberd appeared before Naruto. Unlike Jiraiya's hammer, Naruto's halberd was decorated with patterns winding around its shaft.

Naruto eagerly picked it up and swung it a few times. "Haha! Thanks, Pervy Sage!"

The Supreme Demon Sutra included a halberd technique. Since he hadn't had a halberd, Naruto had only practiced circulating spiritual energy for it and had never actually used the technique.

Now that he had a halberd, he could finally begin properly training in it.

Seeing Naruto practice with his halberd nearby, Jiraiya got back to forging. In the end, all the Chakra Conductive Metal they had brought inside was turned into an assortment of weapons.

Jiraiya stopped after finishing the last weapon. There was still plenty of Chakra Conductive Metal, but he couldn't keep going. The constant forging had nearly depleted all the spiritual energy in his

So he sat down cross-legged and began cultivating. Naruto didn't disturb him. He went outside and, when he reached the Altar, saw that Hinata was still cultivating, while Kidomaru and Ichirobo were still in the tunnel they had dug and hadn't come out.

When Naruto reached the entrance, he realized it was almost dawn. "Uh, I was so focused on watching Pervy Sage forge that I didn't notice the time. So Pervy Sage has been working hard all night. No wonder he's so tired."

Seeing this, Naruto decided not to cultivate. He wanted to explore the island, since he hadn't looked around it yet.

Once outside, he saw that the ground was already covered with various materials. Orochimaru had brought them over. They were all materials Shisui Uchiha and the others had cleared out earlier and deemed usable. Rather than throw them into the sea, they had kept this pile.

Orochimaru was there drawing something by lamplight. Naruto didn't go over to bother him and simply walked on.

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

Once Kimimaro and the others return, we can prepare to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Then we can get ready to go to Amegakure. I hope Pervy Sage can persuade Nagato. Otherwise, I don't know whether Kotoamatsukami will work on him.

And once everything has settled down, it'll be time to go to Mount Myoboku and train properly...

Naruto thought about all sorts of things. As he kept thinking, he eventually fell asleep, until Hinata's voice rang in his ears.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was already noon. Hinata was crouched beside him. Once he had opened his eyes, she asked, "Naruto-kun, why did you fall asleep here? What if you'd run into danger?"

Naruto sat up and scratched his head. "Ahaha, I was thinking about something. I don't know how, but I ended up falling asleep."

"Be more careful next time. Come on, we can go back and eat now." With that, Hinata took Naruto by the hand and led him toward the entrance.

When they got back, Naruto saw that Orochimaru had already laid a foundation near the entrance. At this rate, the construction would be finished in less than two days.

Once they entered the Altar, everyone was already seated there. Naruto stepped forward and said, "Sorry for the wait. I fell asleep outside."

Everyone shook their heads to show that it was all right. After they finished eating, Naruto asked Kidomaru, "How's the tunnel you two have been digging?"

"We've dug down five meters underground as you instructed, then continued forward for more than ten meters. We also dug out three holes needed for building cells," Kidomaru replied.

Naruto nodded, then smiled. "Then you two can take a break from digging the tunnel today. I have another task for you."

"Really?" It was Ichirobo who spoke. Since arriving, he had spent every day either clearing rubble or digging. He had been eager for a chance to take on some other kind of task.

Naruto nodded seriously. "That's right. I'll give you a new task today."

As the two watched expectantly, Naruto continued, "Look, we're currently bringing in water from somewhere else. It's a real hassle. I checked the area when I went outside this morning and found an underground water vein not far from here. Your task today is to dig a well and solve our water problem."

The hope in their eyes vanished. It was true that they'd been given a different task, but it still involved digging. Both of them answered with slight disappointment.

Seeing their low spirits, Naruto smiled. "Don't worry. Once the well's finished, you won't have to dig anymore. I'll send you out on missions then."

The two regained their hope. They asked Naruto to take them to the water vein he had found.

Seeing how eager they were, Naruto didn't stop them. He took a pickaxe and led them to a spot not far from the entrance.

After marking the location, Naruto left. Kidomaru and Ichirobo got started on digging the well.

Kidomaru was in charge of digging down, while Ichirobo went to carry the materials for building the well lining.

The two got right to work, bustling with energy.

After returning to the Altar, Naruto called Jiraiya. Once they had picked up their weapons, they used the Flying Thunder God to travel to the summit of the nameless mountain where they had wiped out the bandits.

Hinata's only task now was preparing food, and she only needed to return by mealtime, so Naruto brought her along as well.

Naruto said to Jiraiya and Hinata, "Let's practice our techniques here. Pervy Sage, you can try out your hammer technique too. Hinata, you can practice the Heart-Destroying Palm."

Ever since Naruto had given Jiraiya the technique, he had been training in it. But without a suitable weapon for the Great Sumeru Hammer, he had only practiced the required spiritual energy circulation, just like Naruto.

Now that he had a hammer, Jiraiya had been eager to give it a try. He nodded and went to one side to begin training.

Hinata nodded too and walked in another direction, while Naruto stayed where he was, holding his halberd.

Naruto and Jiraiya both knew how powerful martial techniques were. Practicing together could lead to someone getting hurt, so the right thing to do was find separate spots and keep a safe distance from each other.

Naruto's halberd technique was called the Desolation Halberd. It had only seven forms, corresponding to the seven attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, yin, and yang. Each form was linked to the cultivation of his technique.

Naruto had already memorized the energy pathways for all seven forms. He used the first form, and spiritual energy quickly circulated through his body before flowing into the halberd.

The halberd in Naruto's hands began to emit a powerful energy. Spiritual energy seemed to flicker and billow around it. Naruto swung with all his might, and the heavy shaft slammed into the ground.

A muffled thud rang out. Soil flew in every direction, and spiderweb-like cracks began spreading across the ground into the distance.

The cracks covered an area twenty meters around Naruto. Then, under the pressure of the earth-attribute spiritual energy pouring from the halberd, the cracked ground crumbled into fragments of stone.

As spiritual energy continued to pour from the halberd, the fragments were ground into powder.

Naruto stopped channeling his spiritual energy and nodded as he looked at the powder covering the ground. He hadn't used much energy, but he was pleased with the damage it had caused.

Then he leaped to another spot and began trying out the other forms.

Since his technique hadn't yet reached the second layer's peak, Naruto couldn't summon a second Demon Statue. The other forms were powerful too, but none of them came with any additional effects.

Meanwhile, Hinata stopped in front of a large tree and circulated her spiritual energy according to the method described in the Heart-Destroying Palm.

The Heart-Destroying Palm had no set moves, so she could strike however she wanted. Once the energy formed a cycle, Hinata assumed a horse stance and struck the tree with her palm.

As her palm touched the tree, the force of her blow, reinforced by spiritual energy, entered the trunk. The entire tree began to tremble.

At last, it burst apart with a bang, scattering into pieces. Hinata raised her hands and studied them closely.

She could hardly believe she had caused such destruction with her own attack.

She shook her head to clear away her other thoughts, then went to another tree. Although she had inflicted heavy damage, Hinata knew it still wasn't enough.

The Heart-Destroying Palm stated that, at its peak, it could turn a target's insides to powder while leaving no visible mark on the surface.

Her Heart-Destroying Palm had only shattered the inside of the tree. And because she hadn't controlled the hidden force well, the entire tree had burst apart. She still had a lot of training to do.

After trying the other forms, Naruto went over to Jiraiya. He wanted to see how powerful Jiraiya was with the Great Sumeru Hammer now.

When he arrived, he saw Jiraiya standing there with his eyes closed. Naruto didn't go over to disturb him. He simply jumped up into a tree, sat with his back against the trunk, and watched.

With his eyes closed, Jiraiya was reviewing the Great Sumeru Hammer's cultivation method in his mind.

Unlike Naruto's Desolation Halberd, the Great Sumeru Hammer couldn't add an elemental effect. In other words, when Jiraiya used it, his fire-attribute spiritual energy couldn't add any scorching heat to his attacks.

But the Great Sumeru Hammer had thirty-six forms in total. Each of the first thirty forms increased attack power by ten percent, while each of the last six doubled it. The increases could stack, meaning that if Jiraiya mastered all thirty-six forms, his attack power would increase ninefold.

Jiraiya's Skyfire Battle Body was already an offensive spiritual physique that greatly amplified his attack power. With the Great Sumeru Hammer on top of that... Naruto really wanted to see how much damage he could do...

. Provided by the Great God Ti Ta, author of Naruto: Starting with Asura Chakra