Naruto: Crimson Vault

chapter 21

Arashi and Minato walked out of the village carrying heavy packs. Minato called back to Arashi, "We're gonna meet Jiraiya in Okohana town, okay son? While we walk I want you working on chakra control. Continuously expend chakra from your palms to generate a field, then balance a kunai between them. Maintain that."

Arashi flexed his chakra, following the principles of the tree and water walking techniques to hold his kunsi. It wobbled and spun a bit randomly but it stayed.

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"I've entered the three of you for the chunin exams. You three are each strong enough to be chunin, Naruto you might even be able to pass a jonin exam. I want to work with the three of you to hone in on your weaknesses. Hinata, you have no defense against ninjutsu yet. I want you to practice the rotation with your father. Kiba, all of your abilities are close range abilities, I want you to take on a weapon to make your fang over fang more powerful and I want you to learn an elemental jutsu. Naruto, your weakness was a bit harder to figure out, since the Vault will force you to overcome your weaknesses. As of right now, your problem is over reliance. You only really fight while drawing on the Vault."

Naruto grimaced a bit, "Well... that's because I don't have chakra anymore. Neither does Hinata."

Asuma blanched at that, "Explain."

Naruto did, not skipping over anything.

Afterwards Asuma flicked his cigarette away in frustration, "Well that means I can't really train you too, I don't know how the Vault works, or what kinds of differences the Vault's power has against chakra. We need an expert in the Vault to teach you."

"I could ask Emiya, Hinata what gifts have you gotten?" Naruto asked.

Her cheeks tinged pink, but she answered, "Steel, Essence, Diamond, and the Wings of Icarus."

He blinked, "Diamond and Wings of Icarus? I don't have those."

Hinata nodded, "I'm different from you, not a true Vault Crawler, not an Uzumaki, and my Key is my staff instead of a katana. I'm... um... unorthodox."

He grinned, "Awesome! What do they do?"

"The Diamond gives me perfect pathways, it's passive, but it makes my pathways too strong to strain no matter how much power I use." She replied, "The Wings let me summon a pair of wings that let me fly. Unfortunately, my chains still advance no matter how much power I have."

Naruto was beaming, "That's awesome! Maybe you'll get stronger powers than even Emiya!"

At that Asuma smiled, his confidence in her was actually sweet. Kurenai would swoon when he told her.

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Emiya pushed open the door of a large door. Much larger than the others he'd seen.

In fact it was the only door he'd seen that was a double door, and it was so heavy he had to call Steel.

The metal creaked against itself as he pushed and warm air blew his hair back.

Pressure from the raw power slammed into him but he withstood it.

With the doors finally opened and the pressure and heat pushing him back like a river current he nearly got swept back. He grunted and put one foot in front of the other in a heavy shambles forward.

He gripped his Steel and surged it through him, but no matter how much he pulled it still felt like he were dragging a mountain behind him.

At the far end of the room was sword buried halfway into a stone. The air around it vibrated as the pressure warped reality itself.

He needed the sword though. He needed a weapon he could fight Jai with, hopefully his father didn't have access to the the godkiller's weapon.