Pushing Through the Limit Chapter 75: The Distant Present

Waiting for my hand to finish regenerating, I flexed it, before nodding. That was one problem taken care of, only ninety nine left... Well, a lot less than that, but there were still a few issues that needed solving. Unfortunately, they were all overshadowed by one major point.

That person I saw in the void... There was no doubt about it, that was Hagoromo.

Whether I saw him because of that chaotic Chakra pool or due to me a massive amount of Yin and Yang Style Chakra, I didn’t know. Hell, it could even be due to Jiraiya triggering Konan’s Space-Time Ninjutsu.

What I did know was that he was waiting there... He’d been expecting me. I guess that meant my hunch was right. He had a hand in my being here.

Whether that meant he was directly involved or if he had merely witnessed it remained to be seen. The important thing was that I would finally get some answers on why I was here. I just needed to be a little patient.

Groaning, Jiraiya slowly sat up. “So, any idea on where that took us?” He asked. Nursing his head, he glanced around the chamber. “It seems like the same place... Another chamber maybe?”

“Maybe,” I hummed softly.

It did seem that way, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. It wasn’t anything major, just... an odd sense. It was almost like I’d forgotten the oven on. Something was wrong.

The annoying part was that I just couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe I should send a few clones to check in with Tsunade and... Wait.

My Hiraishin Markers... Outside of the ones I had on my person and the one Jiraiya carried with him, I couldn’t feel a single one. It was like they’d all been destroyed, but that was impossible... Well, more improbable actually.

My markers could be destroyed, but the probability of someone finding each and every single one was close to zero. At this point, I’d hidden hundreds of my Kunai around the world, some of which were even protected by the Kage.

Either Konan’s Space Time technique was screwing with my senses or something else was going on here...  And seeing as I’d briefly met Hagoromo, I’d bet it was the latter.

“Well, since we haven’t been blown up, I’ll take it as a success,” Jiraiya said, dusting himself off. “You think you can get a sense of where we... The hell are those?” He asked, pointing behind me. “Didn’t you only have one?”

Ah, right. With everything that was going on, I’d almost forgotten about them. “It’s a side effect of absorbing all of that Chakra,” I explained, leaving out the part where I converted it into pure Yin and Yang Style Chakra. “By the way, you sort of left my other one back in that old chamber.”

Along with my hand, but since it had regenerated, I didn’t feel the need to bring it up.

“I’d say sorry, but you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself, all things considered,” Jiraiya replied. Examining the Truth Seeking Balls floating behind me, he shook his head. “So, about figuring out where we are?”

“Yeah, yeah, just give me a minute,” I said, waving him off.

Closing my eyes, I focused my senses and found that we were still in the same general area. There were, however, a few hundred additional Chakra signatures in the abandoned city above, some of which were heading this way, but none of them felt that powerful, so there wasn’t any cause to worry.

There were also a few stray pieces of paper scattered around here that belonged to Konan. The Chakra in them was a little dispersed, but there was more than enough left to help track Konan down.

“That all seems fairly simple, but there is one big problem,”  Kurama commented. “Why don’t you extend your senses to Konoha.”

‘...Okay.’

Following Kurama’s suggestion, I found myself wading through the thousands of Chakra signatures that made their home in Konoha, not really searching for anything in particular until I suddenly came across it.

“Feels familiar, doesn’t it?”

‘Kurama, is that...’

The world blurred around me and I suddenly found myself unwillingly pulled into my mindscape with Kurama looking more than a little surprised at my sudden entrance.

“That name... Who are you and how do you know that name?”

Kurama’s deep booming voice came from behind me?

“What’re you talking about now, you old stuffy fox?” An incredibly familiar sounding voice asked. “Scratch that. How did you drag me in here to begin with?”

Turning around, I was greeted by a sight that I never expected to see. There was a second Kurama that was just as large as my one, except he was nailed and chained to a meteor while being berated by a younger, but no less familiar Kushina.

Just like that, everything snapped into place. In hindsight, it was extremely obvious... Hell, Hagoromo had even hinted at it when he said he’d see me ‘In time.’ I thought he just meant that we would meet again later, but it seemed that he meant it literally.

This... Finding myself in the past... Screwed with more things than I cared to admit. The only good news was that it didn’t seem to actually affect the future or Jiraiya and I wouldn’t have been able to make our way back here.

Knowing the Uzumaki clan, I was a little surprised that this was one thing that they didn’t seem to have their hand in... Although, if they did, I wouldn’t be surprised. It took a special kind of crazy to mess with something like the Shinigami.

Time travel didn’t seem like to much of a leap when you, on average, fucked around with Death itself.

“Will you stop your incessant bickering, brat,” The chained Kurama growled. “It seems we have guests.”

“Guests?” Kushina muttered. Turning around, she caught sight of us and her eyes widened dramatically.“Who the... ANOTHER KYUUBI?!”

Yeah, that was pretty much expected. I’d probably have a similar reaction if some random person that I didn’t know suddenly showed up in my mindscape along with another Kurama... Then again, it wouldn’t be so alarming because I would have had the help of at least one Kurama while Kushina, on the other hand, was alone in all of this.

Exploding into action, dozens of chains shot out of Kushina’s body, rushing towards Kurama and myself in an attempt to restrain us.

Since we were at a range, dodging would be fairly easy for me. However, the same couldn’t be said for Kurama, whose massive size worked against him, making him that much more of a target.

Jumping backwards, I landed on Kurama’s head and was ready to drag us out of the joined mindscape, forcefully if necessary, only for one of Kushina’s chains to wrap around his wrist.

Clapping my hands together, a wooden wall sprouted in between us, blocking the rest of her chains while also cutting off her line of sight.

Working quickly, I slid a regular Kunai into my hand and exhaled a stream of serrated wind on it, before taking aim at the singular chain that was connected to Kurama, specifically, the portion that was being weakened by the wooden wall.

With a flick of my wrist, the Kunai blurred through the air and met the weakening Chakra chain and cut through it, before continuing onward through the wall.

Hearing Kushina let out a surprised yelp on the other side, I paused, hoping that I didn’t accidentally hurt her, only for the wooden wall that separated us to shatter as her chains tore through, treating it as if it were made of cardboard.

Seeing the vicious look she was sending my way, I chuckled awkwardly.

Yep, she was fine.

“Oi, Naruto. Stop screwing around. It’s time to leave,” Kurama... My Kurama commented.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I sighed. This was no time to be screwing around. Looking at Kushina’s enraged state, I smiled. “Sorry about almost stabbing you, but you were trying to capture us.” I apologized, giving a short wave as we faded from the joined mindscape, narrowly avoiding one of her chains that harmlessly passed through my chest.

“What? No, come back and fight me you bastard!” Kushina yelled.

The world blurred and I was once more greeted to the chamber where this whole mess started. Jiraiya stood a few meters to the side, examining the statues that sat around the closed eye in the center.

Coughing loudly, I smirked as Jiraiya jumped. “You thinking about turning to sculpting once you’re finished with your next book? I never would have thought that you’d be interested in the robed monk look."

“Haha, very funny,” Jiraiya droned as he turned towards me. “I thought I’d take a look at these and figure out how they worked while you were busy. By the way, did you figure out where we are yet?”

“That’s going to be a little difficult to explain,” I muttered, drawing Jiraiya’s attention. “The question you’re asking shouldn’t be where, but rather when.”

“Huh,” Jiraiya grunted. Mulling over what I’d just said, his eyes narrowed. “Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

I nodded. “It was a Time-Space technique that Konan used. We’re still technically in the same spot, only much earlier.”

“How much earlier?”

“...Kushina’s still the Kyuubi’s Jinchuriki,” I sighed. “I don’t suppose you remember the formula Konan used, do you?”

“Formula?” Jiraiya muttered distractedly. “No, I just barely figured out how to trigger the thing. Something like this is way above my level.”

That was a problem, luckily, it had an easy fix. All we had to do was find Konan and get her to replicate the formula.

“Still... The past. Do you realize how much we could change,” Jiraiya mused. “We could stop Obito from unleashing the Kyuubi... Prevent Kumo from kidnapping the Hyuga heiress... Stop the Uchiha massacre dead in its tracks.”

Yeah, I should have expected that.

“Unfortunately, I doubt us changing things here would have any effect on our original timeline,” I replied. “Konan had already left by the time we got here, meaning that any changes she made should have taken effect already and we wouldn’t have had a reason to chase after her.”

Each alteration to the past caused a new branch in the timeline... At least, that’s what it seemed was happening.

If that wasn’t the case then I would be significantly more worried. Konan clearly came here for a specific reason, meaning that, if time worked differently, she would have been in danger of creating a grandfather's paradox, wiping out all of time... Forward and Backwards.

I was starting to see why the Uzumaki clan might have been a little wary when it came to time travel. Screw around with the Shinigami all you want, the worst that can happen is that you accidentally kill everyone. Make one mistake with time on the other hand and existence could be erased.

Rubbing his forehead, Jiraiya sighed. “Considering how all of this is possible is giving me a headache.”

Figuring out how timelines work would do that to a person.

“We should probably start looking for Ko–“

Before I could finish, the stone doors that sealed the room slid open and several armored guards poured in, accompanied by a regal looking woman with black hair.

“More intruders,” The woman stated. “Come to steal the secrets of Rōran for your village, not that it will do you any good. Tell me how it was that you were able to enter this place and I might consider allowing you to leave.”

Sharing a look with Jiraiya, I nodded for him to do the talking.

Puffing up, Jiraiya took a confident step forward. “I suppose you could call us thieves, but it’s your heart I’m after.” Jiraiya wiggled his eyebrows.

“Guards, seize them!”

I was beginning to regret having him do the talking.

...PTL...

Despite being built in a desert with few, if any, natural resources, it was easy to see why places like Rōran and Suna were built out here. With the hot desert sun, the sandstorms and the shifting landscape, it was a nightmare to navigate.

Launching an invasion out here without one of the locals to help guide you would be a fool's errand. It just wasn’t worth the trouble.

The only reason why I hadn’t gotten lost was because I was actively tracking Konan… Well, it was more like I was using her as a compass to lead me out of the desert to a more familiar landscape filled with trees and rain.

Traveling through the desert again was one thing I wasn’t planning on doing anytime soon.

It only took Jiraiya and myself a couple of hours while traveling at top speed, but that was more than enough for me. When we returned to Rōran, it would be instantaneous… No scorching desert, no sand storms and no scorpions.

Hearing a crack of thunder, I began to slow my pace, before finally coming to a complete stop under the shelter of a nearby tree. Landing next to me, Jiraiya looked off in the distance as the ground began to rumble.

Slowly making my way through the soaked greenery, I came to a stop at a ledge that overlooked a large clearing. Down in the center were dozens, if not hundreds of Shinobi that were in the process of brutally killing one another.

Kunai flew through the air, cutting down some of the luckier Shinobi, while the less lucky ones were met with blades of sharpened air, flames that, due to the intense rain, failed to kill the Shinobi it struck and the earth opening up to swallow anyone unlucky enough to be standing in the way.

I’d seen worse things in Orochimaru’s labs, but this… This was just wasteful.

“Iwa’s fighting Suna,” Jiraiya noted, observing the battle down below. “This is the Third Great Shinobi War. If this truly was Konan’s destination, then I think I know what it is she’s planning on changing.”

“Yahiko’s death,” I said.

It fit. It was the turning point that eventually led to Nagato’s abduction and potential death. If Yahiko doesn’t die, Nagato doesn’t go off the deep end and start abducting Jinchuriki… More than that, Yahiko was the man that Konan loved, giving her another reason to want to save him.

If I was in her position and I didn’t know about Edo Tensei and how well it paired with the Rinnegan’s ability to revive the dead, I’d probably end up doing the same thing.

“We should leave,” Jiraiya muttered softly. “Find Konan and get out of here.”

I nodded slowly. “She’s nearby… About ten minutes away.” I paused and looked off into the distance. “And also over there,” I said, pointing towards several approaching Chakra signatures.

“A clone?”

“Nope,” I shook my head.

Approaching from the eastern side of the battlefield, a group consisting of several dozen Shinobi came to a stop just out of the danger zone of the battle raging between Iwa and Suna. Several elemental techniques were thrown their way, only to be completely repelled by an invisible, unrelenting force.

Feeling a pulse of Chakra from the newly arrived group, I watched on with interest as the rain slowed to a trickle, before stopping entirely, adding to the group's presence. I had to admit, the first iteration of the Akatsuki certainly had style.

Spotting one of the Akatsuki’s members pointing in our general direction, I raised an eyebrow. It seemed that we’d been discovered… Not that we were trying to hide to begin with. Still, meeting up with the original Akatsuki would be a bad idea.

Changing the past shouldn’t be too much of an issue, especially since it wouldn’t have an effect on our present… However, time travel wasn’t exactly something I wanted to advertise. There was just too great a chance of others abusing it and screwing over everyone else.

“Let’s go,” I said, stepping away from the ledge.

“Yeah,” Jiraiya muttered, following my lead.

Taking off into the forests, it didn’t take long before we entered the rain once more. Heading directly to Konan’s location, I made a group of clones to spread out, creating several different sets of tracks to prevent anyone from following us.

By the time the Akatsuki was done with the Iwa and Suna Shinobi, our trail will have gone cold.

…PTL…

Stopping by a large, opened cave system, I looked around, taking in my surroundings. It was a bit of an odd location that appeared almost entirely abandoned, save for a few stray animals that made it their home… Avoiding the war the numerous battles that raged across the Land of Rain.

“She’s somewhere here,” I announced. Turning, I found Jiraiya staring off into space. “Are you alright?”

“Huh,” Jiraiya hummed, snapping out of it. “Yeah, I’m fine. There’s just… A lot of old memories here. Not all of them are pleasant. You say that she’s here?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Are you sure that you’re alright?”

Taking a breath, he nodded slowly. “This is one of the places we used to stay during the Second Shinobi War. I’ll take the lead from here… I have a feeling I know where Konan’s staying.”

Shrugging, I silently followed Jiraiya as he led me into the tunnel system. It didn’t take us long to navigate through them, mainly because Jiraiya already knew the path. If it’d been up to me, I would have simply used a few of my Truth Seeking Orbs to create a pathway directly through the walls.

Exiting the last tunnel, I was greeted to a sheer cliff that overlooked a massive lake which stretched alongside the whole cave system. There was a ledge above our heads, stretching a little over the path, giving us plenty of shelter from the rain.

“This is it,” Jiraiya announced. “This is the place where Orochimaru, Tsunade and I used to stay during the Second Shinobi War… It also happens to be the place where I met three kids that were in need of help.”

“Would you have still helped them if you knew how they would have turned out?” Konan’s voice echoed through the tunnels.

“I would have,” Jiraiya replied. “I’ve made many mistakes in my life, but helping you three was not one of them. If I could change things then I probably would have chosen to stay longer… To look after you three and give you a life outside of all of this strife.”

“In another life, perhaps,” Konan hummed. “As for this one… I have a few plans of my own.”

“I know, that’s why we came,” Jiraiya answered. “Konan, as impressive as this all is, it’s not going to work.  I know you want to fix things, I do too, but we can’t change the past.”

“So you came to stop me?”

“I came to speak with you, that’s all,” He replied.

“It’s a bit too late for words, but I’ll humor you,” Konan said. “What is it that you…”

Seeing that this was going to get personal, I took a step back and moved to lean against the wall to give them their space, only for the conversation to come to a halt. Feeling the stone wall with my hand, I immediately pulled my hand back and stepped away.

“Um, sorry,” I apologized as the paper coating the wall peeled away and began forming Konan’s body. “I didn’t realize that you were there. I didn’t touch anything… Private… Did I?” It was difficult to tell when Konan’s entire body was made of paper.

Stepping away from the wall, Konan’s body finished forming. “No, but I would prefer to not come into contact with those things,” She said, gesturing towards the Truth Seeking Orbs that floated around me. “I’ve seen what they did to Nagato’s Paths.”

“Makes sense,” I nodded.

Looking at my Truth Seeking Orbs, they were fairly conspicuous and would draw a lot of attention. For the time being, it would probably be for the best if I concealed them.

Holding my hand out towards them, they floated towards me and slipped down my sleeve, before contorting to fit my body. I wasn’t able to use them as a ranged offense like this, but it did act like a nearly indestructible armor that could erase pretty much anything that it came into contact with.

Watching all of this, Konan merely raised an eyebrow before turning away. “You two should leave.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I replied. “We… Sort of don’t know how to get back. I didn’t have enough time to study the formula you used, so until you decide to return, we’re stuck with you.”

“Then I’ll write it down for you to use,” She said, giving a tone of finality.

Sharing a glance with Jiraiya, he smirked and nodded. “I don’t know. All it would take is one mistake to kill Naruto and myself. Wouldn’t you feel better being the one to apply the formula yourself? That way you would know that we got back safely.”

Sighing, Konan pinched the bridge of her nose. “You would just drag me along with you the moment it was activated. I’ll give you the formula and that will be the end of it. Everything else will be on you.”

Well, she certainly got her stubbornness from Jiraiya.

“Or, we could stick around for a little while and help you kill Hanzō,” I suggested. “That is what you were planning on doing, right? You want to Kill Hanzō before he kills Yahiko.” Well… Before he forces Yahiko to kill himself.

It wouldn’t change anything for our timeline, but at least Konan would know that somewhere out there things turned out better. Unfortunately, her plan was flawed from the beginning.

Konan narrowed her eyes. “First you want to bring me back and now you’re offering to help me. Why should I trust you?”

“I could probably come up with a few reasons, but I can’t think of anything that would get you to trust me,” I hummed. “So, instead, how about we skip over all of that and just cut straight to the point?” I suggested, offering her my fist.

Eyeing my fist, she nodded her acceptance. Bumping it with her own, the…

“Sensei?”

Konan let out a short gasp. Breaking the connection before it even formed, I slipped out of the cloak Ma made for me and threw it over her head, hiding her identity.

“Change your form,” I whispered to her as a head of orange hair peaked around the corner.

“It is you!” Yahiko cheered as he stepped into the tunnel. “Nagato said that he thought he saw you earlier, but I wasn’t sure. Man it’s good to see you. When I saw the direction you were heading in, I figured that this is where you were heading and… What’s going on here?” He asked, finally noticing how I was holding my cloak over Konan’s head.

“Um,” I hummed. Trying to think of an excuse, I came up with nothing.

“Screw it. Knock him out.”

Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

“Just a sibling squabble,” Jiraiya said. Laughing boisterously, he walked forward and pulled Yahiko into a hug. “Man, it’s good to see you kid.”

“You too, Sensei,” Yahiko grinned. “Don’t take this the wrong way though, but you aged like crap. It’s only been a few years and you look fifty already.”

“Oi!” Jiraiya snapped.

Laughing, Yahiko pulled back. “So who are these two? Another set of kids that needed your help?”

“Something like that. I have taught both of them,” Jiraiya noted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “This is Naruto and his… Sister, Na… Naruko.”

“Naruto and Naruko, eh,” Yahiko grinned. “Since we had the same master, I guess that makes us sibling disciples. It’s nice to meet the two of you. I’m Yahiko by the way,” He said, offering his hand.

Well… At least I knew where Nagato got that from now.

“Naruto,” I replied, shaking his hand. “And this is Naruko.” Letting the cloak fall away, I was relieved to see that Konan had disguised herself by altering the shape of her face and giving herself blonde hair.

“Naruko, right,” Yahiko asked, taking Konan’s hand. “Pleased to meet you. Konan and Nagato are going to be so excited when I bring you three back. How long do you think you guys will be staying?”

“Well, I’m not so sure about–“ Jiraiya began.

“Three days,” Konan interrupted him. “After that, we… We need to leave.”

“Great,” Yahiko smiled. “Three days it is. I’d offer for you to stay longer, but I know how it can be. The life of a Shinobi is rife with adventure after all. You know… You kind of remind me of my girlfriend… Ah, crap, don’t take that the wrong way, I’m not coming onto you.”

Staring at Yahiko for several moments, Konan covered her mouth as she began to giggle. “Thank you. I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Thanks, just… Please don’t tell my girlfriend about it, okay. She might not be as understanding,” Yahiko sighed in relief. “Well, we should probably head back to the base. We’ve got warm food and some proper raincoats for you three. It’ll also help to get out of the cold.”

Glancing at Konan and Jiraiya, I stepped forward. “Lead the way.”

This was probably a bad idea and could go wrong in more than a few ways, but it was also the most direct one as well. Just a few days here and we could return to our own time. What’s the worst that could happ–

“Don’t you dare finish that thought!”