Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other references mentioned in this fanfic.

A/N: Sorry about the late update everyone. My job was lucky enough not to be shut down by the virus but that means I've had to do more work to fill in. As much as I like writing, being able to make enough money to survive is more important.

Anyways, enough talking, here's the new update. This takes place a few days before canon.

Chapter 28

Looking out on the veranda of his room, Kenji couldn't help but feel a sense of joy at the busy market square below.

His eyes focused in on a beautiful noble girl wearing expensive clothes that helped to augment her curvy figure. He bit his lip as she bent over the counter to give the salesperson a metal card and watched as she walked out with her purchase. His eyes however were still glued to the cash register that read an astonishing 5 figure sale.

"You know, if I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd almost think you were interested in the girl," an aged voice said behind him in amusement.

Kenji rolled his eyes as he turned to face the aged Hokage, "Hokage-sama seeing as you've decided to make yourself at home, is there something I can offer you? Tea? Coffee? Poison?"

"Some tea would be appreciated," Hiruzen said with a smile as he leaned in Kenji's favorite recliner. Immediately he felt his stress leave him as the mystical properties of the recliner enveloped his body in green glow that rejuvenated his body and eased his spirit.

Kenji, used to the old man's antics, only sighed as he took out a tea pot and some spirit tea leaves from his spatial ring.

"So how was your trip, did you get me anything?" Kenji asked as he prepared the tea.

"As a matter of fact, I did," the Hokage responded without opening his eyes. He took out a pink envelope decorated with hearts and flicked it in his direction, "I was told to pass this on to you?"

Kenji snatched it out of the air and narrowed his eyes. Opening it, he took out the letter and scanned its contented. With each word that he read he gained a tick mark.

Letting out a calming breath he sent fire chakra into the paper and watched it turn to ash.

He hastily took out a blank piece of paper and a brush and wrote a short but meaningful letter.

"…and I hope you die in a fire with your limbs crushed while you watch everything you hold dear crumble to dust," he muttered before finally spitting on it and folding it inside an envelope. Snapping his fingers, a hidden door opened up in the room and a woman wearing a maid uniform stepped out. Kenji tossed her the envelope, "Please have this mailed for me, normal deliver. No need to waste the extra Ryo on them."

The maid bowed before exiting the room.

"Now Kenji that's no way to talk to a lady," Hiruzen admonished him gently.

"She was the one who started it," the twelve-year-old grumbled, "Besides, I wouldn't call her a lady, more of a spiteful little monster wearing the skin of a young girl."

"Hmm, I seem to recall that this all started because you rejected her marriage proposal so cruelly," the Third said with a wistful voice.

Kenji took out two cups of tea, "Of course I would, who in their right mind tries to get engaged at ten. Besides it's not like she actually wanted to marry me, it's all politics."

"Speaking of politics, the Daimyo wishes that you pay him a visit soon," the Hokage said.

Kenji hummed to himself as he placed a cup of tea in front the old man, "That reminds me, I haven't left the village since my trip to Suna. I still need to visit my province in person, I've only ever seen the reports from my spies."

The Hokage opened his eyes as he sat straight to take his cup of tea. Holding it under his nose he gave a pleased smile, "Oh, a new tea? It smells delightful."

"Thank you, it's made from fire ginseng and blue dragon lily; I'm think of adding it to the menu in the Golden Phoenix Palace," the boy said taking a sip from his own cup.

Fully relaxing in his seat, the Hokage gave a sigh of happiness, "This really is a marvelous seat."

Kenji smirked behind his teacup, "I'm not selling it."

"A shame."

They caught up for a bit before the Hokage had to excuse himself, saying that he really needed to get back to work.

Kenji bid him fair well before turning to look out of his balcony again.

Twisting a strand of white luscious hair, Kenji couldn't help but think how much had changed in just two years.

After Kenji had returned from the Sand Village, he had used his newly acquired fortune to start an ambitious business venture. Of the six acers he owned he owned, only a small part was being used, something which he sought to remedy. While the shop was doing very well, he wanted to expand his business to include things other than just weapons. For this reason, he set out to create a business district not unlike the one that the Uchihas had.

He spent millions of Ryo in just building materials alone, which were then upgraded by him. He hired the best architects that money could buy straight from the Capital as well as skilled craftsmen. It had pained him to lose so much money, but he comforted himself by thinking of it as an investment.

It had taken close to twenty months, but he was able to complete his dream, and the White Lotus District was born.

It had everything a normal business district had but there were a few key points that made it stand out. The first of which was the design of the buildings themselves which looked like they had come straight from a Wuxia novel.

The layout of the district itself was made to look like that of an eight trigram if someone looked at it from above, with the very center being a large man-made lake, on which sat a wide stone platform commonly called the Challenge Arena. Fighters that wished to settle dispute or test themselves against others could rent it for a time. A protective barrier was placed around the edge allowing them to go all out without fear of causing damage to the surrounding land. As a bonus, civilians with nothing better to do could watch the matches and even place bets on who would win. Also, unlike the rest of the village which still had a dirt road, the ground here was paved with stone bricks giving it a more sophisticated appearance.

Of the eight section that made up the district, the one furthest from the entrance and closest to the wall contained an 8-story tall white pagoda that towered over everything and could be seen even from the other side of the village. This building was the newly reconstructed Moon Artifacts Shop. While there was nothing wrong with his original shop, it's two story building appearance was somewhat lacking when compared to the things sold inside. This new building would not only help attract more customers but also increase the protection around his artifacts. The original shop would be used as a temporary base for when he needed to make a sale outside of the village.

Another difference was the White Jade Bank, which allowing people to trade resources, money, or items in exchange for card currency. It was red building located at the very entrance, with two floors and plenty of counters for easy transaction. Points to advance their card level could still only be gained by purchasing items at Moon Artifacts.

Next was the Apothecary which bought and sold a wide range of plants and animal part that were used to make pills and elixirs. Customers could also buy medicine as well as buy antidotes for the more common chakra beast venoms. Novice pill maker from the village's Alchemy Guild could also sell their products here.

The last important structure was actually a temple dedicated to Kaguya. Out of all the buildings made it was this single one that cost him the most. The reason was because no expenses were spared in its making with it taking up an entire section by itself. Famous artist from all over the continent had been called to work on it. Murals depicting epic fighting scenes had been painted on every surface including the wall and ceilings. An 18-foot-tall statue of Princess Kaguya made of white Jade stood at the very end of the temple with rows of red cushions for praying placed around her.

Despite how majestic it had turned out, Kenji felt like puking up blood when he thought of how much it had cost him. The only reason why he had it built in the first place was because Kaguya had asked, or more like ordered, him to. Apparently, she had grown unsatisfied with the small wooden shrine he had built for her. What was with women and wanting to spend a man's money?

Oh well, at least she paid him back by giving him another special ability and some new talisman.

Still money had been tight for a while, and he needed to cut back on any expenses that weren't absolutely necessary. For example, he ate nothing but ration bars for half a year and had to give up the make-up and wigs he used to cover up his face markings and white hair.

The change in appearance had taken the village by surprise at first but it didn't take very long for them to accept it. Actually, a fan club or two might have even formed as a direct result of his unveiling. No surprise since he looked like a young Sesshomaru.

"Oh? Looks like Gai is at it again," Kenji muttered with an amused smile as he saw a familiar figure enter the Challenge Arena.

His office was located on the 8th floor of Moon Artifacts, so he had a good view of everything in his district.

Kenji snapped his fingers and a woman walked out of a hidden doorway. She had red vibrant hair combed in a complicated number of knots and wearing expensive looking silk clothes. She was very beautiful with an hourglass figure and porcelain like skin. The only thing marring her flawless appearance was a rat tattoo located on her upper thigh, even if no one could see it.

After acquiring some puppet techniques from Suna as well as the new talismans from Kaguya, Kenji was finally able to achieve his goal of creating a work force that required no food, no rest, and most importantly no pay.

His Mechanical All-purpose Intelligent Doll, or M.A.I.D for short, was the major reason why he felt he could create White Lotus District in the first place. About 90% of the workforce was composed of these dolls, 3% were tamed chakra beasts, and the last 7% were actual human beings.

"Delta, prepare the palanquin, I want a closer look at the arena," Kenji ordered.

The woman bowed her head, "As you command."

(Anko)

Shaking her head dismissively she threw away the medicinal pill that was offered to her. She then picked up the nervous alchemy student by the collar of his robes, "Tch, what do you think your doing showing me something so mediocre? You wanna die!? Huh! Is that it!?"

The boy that couldn't be older than 15 was quaking in his shoes, "N-no, I-I just-"

"Listen here kid, alchemy is not something to be taken lightly. A single mistake could spell the death for you and anyone you feed your medicine to. Go ahead, ask me how you'll die?" she said with overly sweet smile.

The poor boy looked to be on the verge of tears as he asked, "H-How am I-"

"Because I kill you if I see you goofing off again!" she shouted at him before throwing him to the ground.

She looked at the rest of the student that looked equally as frightened, "Let this be a warning to every one of you now? If you don't take this class seriously, I'll personally feed you the vilest potion I can make and watch as you writhe on the ground like the useless worms you are!"

They all gulped in fear.

Seeing she got her point across she dismissed them, "Class is done for today, now get out of my sight before I decided to feed you to my snakes."

They didn't need to be told twice as they practically fought each other to be the first one out the door.

Anko couldn't help but give a smug smile at their reaction.

"Glad to know the power hasn't gotten to your head," a voice said from behind her.

The purple snake mistress didn't need to turn around to know it was her friend Kurenai.

"Not bad for my first day of teaching huh," Anko told her with a proud look.

"Just who's bright idea was it to make you a teacher?" Kurenai asked out loud.

Anko turned around and put on a face of mock hurt, "I'll have you know I'm a certified Alchemy Master." She then pointed to the gold and silver pin attached to her white alchemist robe that was partially open, giving everyone a good look at her mesh shirt underneath.

"I'm pretty sure that's because they need an Alchemist Expert on the Small Council and Kenji Yamamoto refused," the genjutsu mistress added.

"So? It still counts!" Anko shot back defensively, before a smile wormed itself on her face, "Now come on, let's go get drunk."

The red eyed kunoichi sighed but smiled too, "Fine, but you're buying."

"That's okay, my new salary is nothing to sneeze at," Anko bragged as she placed an arm around her friend's shoulder and walked with her to the door.

(Kenji)

Kenji gained a lot of looks as he traveled on the streets on his palanquin.

It might have something to do with the fact that it was being carried by chakra beasts.

Specifically, the White Fire Baboon, a Level 1 chakra beast found in the Forbidden Forest. With fur as white as snow it measured to a height of 8 ft and packed with so much muscle it made body builders jealous. Additionally, each of the four baboons was armed with a basic chest plate, a cone helmet, and a ten-foot-long spear in their free hand.

While Kenji could have gotten to the arena in just a few seconds, he didn't feel like being hounded by his fans like he usually was when he decided to take a stroll in the village.

The baboon soldiers served as perfect deterrent to anyone looking to bother him.

Besides this way he could drink some tea as well.

He made sure to wave to the crowd and flash them a smile.

As expected, no one came up to him, though a few couldn't help but let their eyes linger on the two beautiful women that trailed behind the palanquin.

Even before reaching the edge of the lake, he could hear the sounds of fighting from the arena.

People who had gathered behind the railing were cheering in excitement.

"Knock his block off!"

"Tree-kun I love you!"

"Gai you better not lose, I bet my whole rent money on you!"

The palanquin stopped right at the edge before being lowered.

Delta quickly got to work brewing a fresh pot of tea, as Kenji watched the match.

In the arena, blows were being exchanged at such speed that they almost seemed to blur. Each time an attack would connect, a heavy sound would echo as if someone was beating a slab of meat with a sledgehammer.

Gai ducked under the round house kick and landed a double fist attack on his opponents' chest, momentarily causing them to be launched backwards.

The taijutsu master not one to be idle, quickly dashed at his airborne opponent and reached out, grabbing them by the ankle. Without a moment to waste he yanked them back and planted hundreds of blows into their stomach, causing the ground to crack underneath them.

Yet despite the harsh beating, his opponent refused to give up as suddenly two legs wrapped themselves around Gai's arm. In the next moment two hands grabbed the jonin's wrist and twisted it, using the moment to unbalance him and slam him into the ground.

The crowd cheered in excitement.

Taking a sip of tea, Kenji felt himself relax as his inner energy settled.

"Hmm, why is he purposefully holding back his power. He should be a lot faster and stronger," Kenji muttered to himself.

It went without saying that a fight between jonin was usually too fast for normal civilians to see. Gai who was even stronger and faster than the average jonin should have been a blur on the battlefield.

"Wait. Delta, who's in charge of the arena today?" the white-haired boy asked his assistant.

The doll responded immediately, "I believe it is Mai Ling."

Kenji's eyes quickly scanned the crowd and quickly found the person in question.

She was a young woman in her mid-twenties, with black ebony hair styled in bob cut and brown eyes. She wore a tightfitting red Chinese dress with a long slit on the side to show off her long shapely legs. Her most eye-catching feature, besides her two heaving breasts that seemed to bounce with every step, was the bewitching smile that just spelled danger. She was a beauty that almost every guy in the village would give up a leg to be with, which is precisely why he hired her.

Kenji facepalmed, "Urg, don't tell me he's trying to impress her again?"

"That would appear to be the case," Delta voiced her opinion.

Normally Kenji would be happy for his friend and support him in his romantic endeavors, but things were different.

Mai Ling was a well-known gold digger, that had a talent for destroying guys' lives. Most fell into ruin trying to impress her with expensive gift until they were little more than beggars.

Again, he didn't care about his friend's taste in women, but the problem laid in the fact that ever since Gai started to pursue her he hardly came to the shop. Now it wasn't the companionship that Kenji missed but the Ryo. With him spending all his hard-earned money on her, there was nothing left over for poor Kenji. All of his overpriced training equipment were left to gather dust.

Anyone reading his true intentions would have deadpanned at his selfish reasoning.

"Delta lets go. I can't stand this farce anymore," Kenji ordered as the baboon picked up the palanquin again.

(Akame)

In an abandoned forest north east of the Land of Fire, a white rabbit with fuinjustsu type marking on its fur looked at the deep canyon in front of her.

A large green flying lizard, looking very similar to that of a western dragon flew out of the gorge and high into the air. A thin membrane connected its arms to its hip, not unlike bats. It was armed with razor sharp talons, needle like teeth, and a scorpion tail that whipped around from side to side.

It seemed to sniff the air before turning to face Akame.

With an ear-splitting screech, it dove at the seemingly defenseless animal.

Akame remained calm as she waited for it to get closer.

The Forest Wyvern aimed its stinger, ready to capture its prey.

However just as it was about to reach her, the shadow in front of the bunny grew larger and darker until it was pitch black. From the inky pool of darkness emerge a giant fanged mouth that swallowed the unfortunate chakra beast whole. There was no sound of painfilled screeches as the darkness even swallowed that before slowly sinking away.

Akame gave a satisfied burp before hopping away into the forest.

It didn't take her very long to locate the base which was cleverly hidden underneath a wooden stump.

"Oh good, your back. So, is it as we feared?" a fat boy wearing red monk robes and a fake beard asked. He was around a table with fifteen other people, a map of the immediate area placed in the middle.

"…"

"That bad," the boy said with a frown.

"…"

"Looks like we were right, we're going to have to send a message to the C.B.A and the Hokage for more backup," Shu muttered before turning to someone, "Han, send a message using our fastest Ash Hopper."

"What should I write?" Han asked.

Shu gained a serious expression, "Tell them, we found the entrance to the Third Dungeon."

(Kenji)

Taking a breath, Kenji felt himself take in the energy of the world.

He was currently meditating in the safety of his room, which was protected with the best defensive talismans he could make.

The original cultivation formula he used to gather Qi/Soul Points had gone through a few modifications to better help his current self. Just last month he had been able to gather enough qi to advance to the Third Stage harmlessly.

Chakra: Mid-Chunin

Chakra Points: 25,375/25,375

Cultivation: Third Stage

Soul Points: 10,209

Thanks to the new formula it only took him a few minutes to collect Soul Point.

Kaguya had of course helped him in her own way by sharing the progress of other cultivators, but unfortunately even the most talented ones had just barely reached Stage 2.

Still her research into the subject had been most enlightening, in the way that it showed just how much of a freak of nature Kenji was.

The first step cultivation, admittedly the hardest too, was to establish a cultivation base. Although Kenji could do it without much problem, the same could not be said for everyone. The fact of the matter was that you were trying to overwrite your body's ability to take in a foreign energy and store it inside of you.

Nature energy also wasn't the nicest thing to have in your body. As a rule, nature energy flowed freely through everything and very rarely did it like being contained, even if temporarily. Even sages knew that it was a bad idea to keep nature chakra in your body for an extended amount of time as not only would it cause physical damage but also mental damage. Those looking to keep it for themselves would invite nature's wrath.

Kaguya said that a number of cultivator hopefuls had died because they lacked the strength to hold the energy together and would either become stone or have their minds stolen by the world, leaving them in a vegetable state.

Kenji surprisingly never had this problem as his first taste of nature chakra actually came from Kaguya who had modified his body previously for her to possess during the mock battle during his genin exam. In the eyes of nature, he was the same as a talking walking pile of rocks.

Though strangely enough, no other cultivator had grown spirit roots like Kenji, only had their chakra network modified to accept Qi.

Either way, after safely establishing your cultivation base, you would be considered a First Stage Cultivator.

To advance to the next stage you need to gather a large amount of Qi in your body. As a result of this the body would become more durable and the muscles would become stronger. After enough Qi had been gathered it was time to condense it. Careful attention had to be paid during this step as it would build pressure. The cultivator then needed to direct this delicate ball of concentrated Qi all the way up into the brain, specially to the tenketsu, which was responsible for the First Chakra Gate. The Qi would then need to be shoved inside of the fate and detonated, allowing the built-up pressure to completely wash away the chakra and instead replace it with Qi.

Doing this would transform you into a Second Stage Cultivator.

It was however easier said than done, as out of all the cultivators under Kaguya's all seeing eye only four, not including Kenji, had managed to pass so far. A few unlucky ones died when they lost control of their Qi and it exploded violently in their body.

That being said the benefits of opening the First Gate permanently were well worth it. First of all, you would no longer be limited to only 20% of your strength and could exhort the full amount at any time without injuring yourself. Your body would become more durable and even gain a very small resistance to foreign substances like poisons and disease.

The Second Stage was similar to the First, only you needed to open the Second Gate, the Gate of Healing, which was also located in the brain.

Kenji was the only cultivator who had accomplish this so far and he was already working to open the third.

Suddenly his eyes shot open as he sensed a chakra signature at the entrance of his property.

It was already well passed midnight and as a rule everyone needed to vacate the premises by then. It had more to do with everyone's safety than anything else as he employed a number of chakra beasts, and this was the only time where he could allow them to roam freely.

There were occasionally some people that thought they could ignore this rule and tried to hide only to be scared half to death as dozens of chakra beasts wandered the streets. Kenji let them have a little fun by tormenting the troublemaker in a game of cat and mouse before ultimately rescuing them and kicking them over the wall. No need for a lawsuit afterall.

Everyone knew the consequences yet there was still someone knocking at the gate, that could only mean.

Kenji looked hopeful at the ceiling, "Please don't let this be another-"

-Skip-

"-meeting," he finished with depressed air as he looked at the rest of the council that looked equally as grumpy at being called in the middle of the night.

Everyone was in different states of dress with some only having enough time to grab a robe on the way out while other still had a few hair curlers.

Looking around the room he saw that many were still trying to rub the sleep out of their eyes, all except the Head of the Nara Clan who was sleeping on the table.

The Hokage and his councilors had yet to arrive but already most of the seats around the table were filled.

Kenji grew suspicious when he saw the Head of the Accounting Department as well as the Head of Public Relations show up. The final nail to the coffin was when Anko Mitarashi the Head of the Alchemy Guild entered the room dressed in only a purple nightgown that just barely reached the middle of her thigh.

To think they had tried to saddle him with that job as well.

The C.B.A. has grown exponentially since its creation but that meant the paperwork did as well. So logically he passed it on to his 'best' student.

"Yawn~ Hey there, brat," Tsume, the Head of the Inuzuka Clan, greeted from across the table, "So what did you do this time?"

He raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think I have anything to do with this?"

She gave him a skeptical look, "Your Rabbit Sect-"

"Alright, point taken," Kenji said cutting her off before she could go any further. "Unfortunately, I'm just as much in the dark as you."

Again, Tsume had a skeptical expression, "We'll see, somehow it can always be traced back to you."

Kenji didn't comment as it was true in a way.

Finally, after everyone had taken their seat, the doors opened and the Hokage waltzed in followed by his two advisors carrying a bundle of paperwork.

Hiruzen took his seat at the head of the table as the other two passed out thick packets of paper.

Looking at the report, Kenji cursed internally.

He momentarily looked up to see the eyes of the Inuzuka Matriarch screaming 'I told you so'.

[Investigation Report: Deadman's Gorge by Master Shu]

The Hokage had yet to say anything so everyone quickly began to read their packet, the shinobi in the group capable of reading two pages at a time.

"Hmm," the Hyuga Clan Head said as he finished the last of the pages.

"Well shit," the Nara Clan Head summarized as well, having woken up at some point.

Everyone's expression was different with some looking pensive, others worried, and a few looking excited.

After a few minutes the Hokage finally addressed everyone, "No doubt you have all guessed the purpose of this emergency meeting from the reports in front of you."

All those gathered nodded but didn't speak.

"The appearance of a Dungeon is no small matter," the Hokage said seriously as he knitted his fingers together, "so far, only three have been discovered thus far. The first of which was discovered by Suna and the second by Iwa." He took out a small piece of green jade and placed it on the table. It lit up and a sort of holographic projection appeared above it to show a recording from someone's point of view.

Kenji immediately recognized it as the jade slip he gave the Hokage after he returned from the first dungeon.

Hirzuen went on, "There is still a lot we don't know about these mysterious structures. Who made the? For what purpose? And most importantly why are they only appearing now? The only information we have to go by is this initial recording, what Suna's research team have decided to share, and what little we were able to find from Iwa."

None looked happy about knowing so little.

"We are unsure what we will find inside, but one fact remains, and that's that we cannot sit idly by."

It went without saying the event he was referring to.

The Red Scourge.

Shortly after Iwa had opened the second dungeon, every chakra beast from a hundred miles had come flocking to the newly discovered ruins, trailing destruction in their wake. Unlike the dungeon that was discovered only a few dozen miles from the Sand Village, this one was found in a remote mountain range far away from the Stone Village as such they couldn't respond in time. By the time they arrived, a number of surrounding towns and villages had been destroyed by the army of chakra beasts.

It was only until recently that they had been able to cull the chakra beast population and gain access to the dungeon. From their spies, they had yet to reach the end but were able to gather a mountain of precious resources.

"It seems imperative, that we send a few squads of shinobi into the dungeon as soon as possible," Danzo stated with a calm gaze.

Shikaku gave a yawn as he responded, "I have to disagree, what we should be preparing is the increase of chakra beast. Luckily it seems that the dungeon isn't near any major towns but its better to stay alert."

"I have to agree with Lord Nara," Kenji spoke up, as the Head of Chakra Beast Association, "Chakra beasts are unpredictable especially in large numbers, we should do our best to minimize as much damage as possible with the time we have."

This surprised most people as they expected him to agree with Danzo, and have people venture inside the dungeon to collect the riches inside.

Kenji didn't miss their questioning looks, "If this was any other time then I would whole heartedly agree with Lord Shimura, but the C.B.A. is still recovering from taking back the Forest of Death. Our forces are spread thin as it is with the responsibility to patrol the entire nation. If we were to call them back now it would leave certain areas defenseless, long enough for chakra beasts to build nests or evolve into higher levels."

The Hokage hid a smile behind his hands.

The discussion continued until the sun came up and even then, it didn't stop.

It wasn't until noon that they were finally let free, with a promise to resume their meeting later in the week once they had complied all of their gatherings.

Kenji subconsciously used his Qi and entered Sage Mode to relieve the stress from his lack of sleep. As he walked out of the Hokage Tower he felt a gaze on his back, but he ignored as he already knew who it was.

"Only a few more days until graduation," the white-haired boy said as he passed the academy.

A/N: Thank you for reading.

So how did you all like it.

This chapter serves more as a introduction to what has been going on. More will be explained later on.

For those of you who are curious, Mai Ling looks like Anna Williams from Tekken. If you don't know who that is, google it.

I'll get more into some of the items latter, again this is more of a taste test.