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Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_288

Maruboshi had Takuma take a one-day break from sparring and go through a tough day of physical conditioning. He could tell that Takuma had perceived something during his fight with Nenro, and he wanted to give him time to gather his thoughts before he tested them out.

His goal wasn't to see Takuma change his combat style—on...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_287

Uchiha Fugaku returned home from a tough day at work to find his wife humming a merry tune in the living room with a smile. Mikoto was sitting on a tarp she had laid out in the room and cleaning her shinobi gear that had been in storage for years.

"I'm home," said Fugaku as he entered the room and walked behind her. "This is ...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_286

The next day, Takuma's muscles ached from sparring against Masaaki while wearing the weighted gear. It had been a while since his body hurt as much as it did after going spar after spar for more than a dozen rounds. The pain was good because it represented growth, but that didn't mean he had to like waking up in his bed feeling pain on th...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_285

Masaaki took a quick gulp of water and left the sidelines for another round of sparring. Choza had nothing to say as they hadn't fought properly. The first round was to get them fired up for the real thing. He was well aware that Takuma was stronger than him and held back in sparring. No one went all out in spars; that wasn't the purpose....

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_284

When Maruboshi asked him to bring in sparring partners, Masaaki was the first person Takuma called, who immediately agreed; even the early time of six in the morning wasn't a problem. But Takuma should've expected some kind of surprise from him because Masaaki brought someone along.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Akimichi...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_283

Maruboshi and Takuma fought a few more times before Maruboshi was ready to share his thoughts.

"You're too aggressive," Maruobshi started with a negative. "I understand you want to be in control, but your tendencies are plain reckless. I had several opportunities during our spars to grievously injure you... You need to decrea...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_282

At a dirt field a half house after the sunrise, Maruboshi stretched his body. He was as far removed from his prime as one could be and required ample warmup to get his body to react to his commands with combat sharpness.

He looked across from him at Takuma, stretching absentmindedly. The last time they sparred was before Taku...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: [SEE TITLE BELOW]

TITLE: ANBU TEST IDEAS

(Couldn't put it in the post title because the genin and chunin tier would've been spoiled)

———

Greetings, my dear people!

There's an in-story week until Takuma will face the ANBU tests. There's at least  ...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_281

On the empty floor, Takuma sat opposite two ANBU-nin. There was a dip of silence where the two sides gazed at each other upon his request for benefits from ANBU's side. He was cognisant that ANBU was in charge of national security, and they probably required a sense of belonging and patriotism towards their homeland—and he was all for that; he...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_280

The location of the ANBU headquarters wasn't a secret. It was common knowledge within the village that the headquarters was inside Hokage Mountain. A single path carved into the mountain led to the entrance, which was restricted through several security checkpoints manned by regular shinobi.

Takuma walked that path and passed...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_279

Around one o'clock in the afternoon, Maruboshi was washing dishes when his front doorbell rang. He wondered if Takuma had returned from visiting the Police Force headquarters and hoped everything had gone well. The timing made him think that perhaps his plans to have lunch with his friend had fallen through, and he had returned early.

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_278

"Fuck off!"

The members of the Narcotics Taskforce were surprised to see the second-in-command hurl profanities from across the room. Arisu was not one to raise her voice in anger and handled matters with a level head and transparent conversation, so seeing her act out of character was a surprise.

Takuma didn't mind the...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_277

In his room at Maruboshi's house, Takuma gazed at his washed and ironed Police Force uniform he hadn't worn in a year—the last time being before the assassination attempt. Beside it sat his standard Leaf uniform. His first outing in the town the day before had been with his friends for lunch, and afterwards, they stopped by sever...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_276

Later that evening, Taro was free from his job, skipped his house, and went straight to another place where he might get some answers regarding the shocking news that Takuma was back home for a week.

He rang the doorbell in a lovely apartment building, too good for him to rent. It took three genin splitting the rent to afford...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_275

Maruboshi was stunned silent by the time Takuma was done with the retelling of events of his mission. He looked at his student, who was staring at the persimmon tree in the garden. Takuma had been targeted by ROOT, and by some bizarre coincidence, he found the agent behind his assassination in the same city behind enemy lines as him. It made Mar...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_274

​​The first day was quiet.

Takuma had arrived at Maruboshi's house around six and was tucked into a futon by seven after a shower and re-application of his bandages. The next day, Maruboshi opted to take a break from his usual day-to-day to look after Takuma and waited for him to wake up, but noon passed, and he stayed asleep. M...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_273

It didn't take much time for Takuma and Kameko to pass through the security check, which was expedited because they were shinobi. It helped that the guards in the guard station didn't ask Takuma any questions after Kameko, who went first, told them that they were returning from the Steam-Frost war.

The two of them stood with ...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_272

The time for Team-9 to leave arrived, and in the crisp morning, as the sun rose up the horizon, the team's five members left the city. They had seen their goodbyes to everyone the day before and left without fanfare. They had a long journey ahead of them and decided to get out of the Land of Hot Waters and enter the Land of Fire as soon a...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_271

Another day passed and Takuma once again found himself sitting before the masked ANBU duo in the same tent where he had met them first.

"How's the interrogation going? Got anything good out of him yet?" he asked, knowing it was unlikely. 

He would've been beyond impressed if they managed to get the ROOT agen...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_270

Takuma and Anko left the camp and headed towards the city walls. Their conversation opened with a discussion about the ANBU despite recognising the true topic of discussion, but both internally thought it better to gradually lean into the tense subject.

"What are you trying to do now?" she asked.

"I want answers ...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_269: Noice... and long

The meetings with the ANBU-nin were held in a tent inside the temporary base built by the main forces. The rest of the team had already completed their interviews with the ANBU duo in the time Takuma was out. According to Kameko, they questioned them about their time and mission in the city, their contact with and discovery of the ROOT te...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_268 [Updated]

AN: I have read the comments on the chapter and in the discord and concur that I made Takuma too passive and remorseful and guilty—if that's the right emotion. I have edited it so that while the vibe of the chapter hasn't changed much, but I have put in some additions a bit of annoyance against Hoshiguro from Takuma. 2024-07-05 19:38:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_267

Team-9 waited until all the pyres were extinguished before deciding to leave the funeral site.

Takuma stared at the smoke in the sky and wondered about this world's afterlife. He vaguely remembered that there was a definite afterlife, but its specifics evaded him. He prayed it was peaceful so that Rikku would be comfortable a...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_266: ARC-08

Three of five jonin stationed in the city lost their lives during the Battle for Yu. After the death of the second jonin, the Frost-Cloud forces retreated and fled the city. The Steam-Leaf didn't give them chase outside the city, and those who chose to flee were allowed to leave with their lives. The battle officially ended when the horns...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_265

Yu was in tatters from the two shinobi armies battling it out for control of the city. Black smoke rose from the southern section of the city, the epicentre of battles, blotting the sky. The sounds of explosions, metal against metal, and voices of victory, defeat, desperation, and aggression made up the backdrop of the invasion.

2024-06-30 15:21:59 +0000 UTC View Post

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_264 [Updated]

She was too light...

They had spared nearly every day when they were at Camp Banana. They had wrestled in mud and dirt; he had tossed her around plenty of times but now, as she collapsed into him, he felt that she had no weight to her. His hands holding her by the shoulder trembled—perhaps for the first time, he felt that a...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_263

Takuma felt as though his head was literally splitting. There was so much sweat and building plaster on his face from running through the wall along with the fire ninjutsu which had blown up right in front of him, that it hid the fact that he was literally tearing up from the pain. His teeth hurt from over-clenching to bear the pain comin...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_262

Kon looked at "Ni", who was writhing on the floor from the lightning ninjutsu channelled through the water tentacles, which boosted the damage as lightning and water were complimentary when it came to ninjutsu. He immediately pumped fire nature chakra into his sword and swung at Takuma, thinking that his lightning ninjutsu would zap him—but he...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_261

As the Wind Release: Breakthrough jutsu hit Anko, Takuma's instincts kicked in, and he moved in her path. Standing beside him, Daiki became an unexpected obstacle, blocking him from reaching her. Despite the hindrance, Takuma's hand shot up in an attempt to grab her, but it was too late. Anko crashed through the window, leaving a trail of...

Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_260

The combined force of Camp Banana and the Hidden Steam knocked on Yu's door. They could hear the emergency warning bells ringing from inside the city in response to their arrival. Shinobi were already on the wall, ready to defend the city, and were now converging toward the area that was going to be hit by the invading forces.