Phantom Lord was no more. The loss against Fairy Tail during the Guild war had been the last nail on the coffin as the Magic Council declared the Guild War Phantom Lord's fault and were forcefully disbanded. Past events involving the war had shaken the Guild up, but they got out of the shock quickly and things returned to normal relativity quickly as the winning Guild went to work in construction of their new Guildhall. Hard work was needed to fix the destroyed building, but not one complained; with their family together and whole, it was a small price to pay. Not every one felt the same as the rest of the Guild, guilt built in her heart. Lucy knew the entire fiasco was her father's fault and indirectly hers as the Guild would not have been involved in the war if she was not a part of it. No one blamed her and that was what made it worse, the fact that not one of the Guild members blamed her for the series of events had hurt worse. Those actions influenced her, she decided it was time to confront her father.
Recovery from the previous events had been well for the Guild and everyone was well again after a few days of recovery. Construction work still continued as everyone participated, Haruto himself did not directly help in the construction of the new Guild building as he used clones to replace himself as he was busy with something that he deemed more important at the moment. The war had left him uncomfortable about his combat abilities, he was confident in his abilities yes but the fight with Jose proved him to be slightly arrogant. He believed the people in this world were weaker than the shinobi of his world, he allowed himself to become arrogant and believed himself to be untouchable. That was what had annoyed him to no end, he had gotten arrogant in his abilities and almost allowed Jose land a strike on him. There was something else he seemed to enjoy more since coming to this world, toying with his opponents. It was truly fun, seeing their desperate attempts to cling onto the slim chance of victory against him though Haruto knew he could finish the battle from the start.
Now here he stood in the middle of the forest with his eyes shut and clones surrounding him from all sides. Multiple ones packed around the dense forest ready for the upcoming fight with their original. Dropping a hand, Haruto's clones rushed forward and charged towards him. Allowing them to proceed, Haruto sent a kick at the closest clone before blocking a punch and throwing the attacker into the group of approaching enemies. Though he was able to fight off a good portion of the clones, the sheer number of clones got through his defenses and they were soon on top of him and holding him down. More and more clones were coming to join the other clones in holding down the original copy. That was as far as they got to, the pile of clones soon were sent in every direction as the original Haruto overpowered the others. Multiple plumes of smoke replaced the clones as they were sent into the air and collided with others, playing on the defensive was fun and all but now it was time to go on the offensive. Running towards a group of charging clones, Haruto plowed right through them as he struck with deadly strikes. Soon the only thing left of the clones was a massive layer of smoke that shielded him from the view of the remaining clones. More and more clones poured into the layer of smoke hoping to find their target, and none left. Once the smoke cleared, Haruto stood in the center of the smoke with no clones left.
"Time?" Haruto asked as he looked towards the far right of the forest where a clone was situated with a timer in hand.
Looking down on the timer, the clone then looked at the original and spoke, "Two minutes and twenty nine seconds, boss. You beat your best time by ten seconds, no big improvement. If Madara-jiji was here he would have told you to do it again."
"I see, that is exactly what I am planning on doing. Prepare for another round." Haruto ordered as he prepared to form the army of clones once more that was until he heard a rustle and he shifted towards the direction of the sound and narrowed his eyes, "Who's there."
The trees parted to reveal Wendy walking towards him with Carla cradled in her arms, "Onii-san, it's me."
"Wendy, what are you doing here?" Haruto asked as he waved his hand and the clone dispelled himself leaving the two alone.
"Onii-san, everyone is taking a break for lunch, I was wondering if you wanted to join me?" Wendy asked as she looked at the blonde shinobi curiously.
Haruto thought about the offer for a second before nodding. He would have time to train, he was in no rush to do anything at the moment and spending time with Wendy always brightened up his mood. Training without someone to guide him was something he was not used to as of yet. There was not much time for him to train since the death of Madara, he had been working with the Akatsuki and training as well. And after that the war would commence. Nodding to Wendy, Haruto walked to the side where his shirt was and put it on as he spoke, "Of course Wendy, let's get some lunch. I wanted to spend more time with you."
"Great Haruto-niisan." Wendy replied happily as she jogged over to the now dressed blonde. Haruto smiled down at her as she returned the gesture and the two proceeded to make their way out of the forest and towards the town for some lunch.
***
"Again!" the voice of Madara Uchiha commanded as he watched over his grandson's training. They were in a clearing deep inside the Kiri, it was the one place Madara could ensure his grandson's training would not be disturbed by anyone or anything.
Forming the Horse sign once more, Haruto took a deep breath as he kneaded chakra in his lungs. "Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame." Haruto expelled a massive wave of fire from his mouth, the fire reached the water that surrounded the area he was training in and the two elements clashed and a cloud of smoke rose where the two made contact.
"Again!" Madara was not pleased with the intensity of the flames nor size, it may have been big for the fools of this generation but to him it was merely a little fireball. Seeing his grandson go through the process once more Madara eyed the results once more and shook his head in disappointment, "Haruto! The flames you expel must be like a dragon's, nothing shall stand in its way. Whatever does will be extinguished and ashes of whatever forces trying to oppose your flames shall decorate the earth beneath our feet."
"Hai, Madara-jiji." Haruto responded as he panted slightly, though he was an Uzumaki and his chakra reserves were massive for someone his age, they had been doing this since dawn and it was getting tiring.
His grandson was no fool, the power, talent and potential he showed for the shinobi arts was one of the deciding factors for his decision to take him under his wing. Though he had potential and talent, the new era of shinobi was weak. The peace had rusted their skills and even if war was being waged between villages, they were nothing compared to the shinobi of his era. It was disappointing in Madara's eyes, but it did not matter as the skills the shinobi of this era possessed allowed him to commence his plan without much obstacles. Obito was one of his former students, but he held nothing but a minor piece of his blood. Haruto held more than that, his grandson held a good portion of his blood running through his veins and not only that but an Uzumaki as well. With both Senju and Uchiha in him he would become his heir, the one that would inherit his will and abilities. Madara knew that his plan that had been in motion since his defection from the village he had helped build from the ground. The same village was the one to scorn and reject his two grandsons for something that they had no control over, it was an abomination from what he and Hashirama had dreamed of since their childhood.
The thoughts in his mind were stopped when the area before him were lit up by the fire his grandson spouted from his mouth. A slight smirk formed on his face as he watched the flames dance across the surface of the water leaving behind a trail of smoke as the fire continued forward. Madara's eyes drifted to the panting Haruto and the slight smirk formed into a true one. You were able to master one of my prized techniques in one day and it took me an entire week to finish it and its sister technique. You are proving worthy of the blood in your veins. Madara thought as he approached Haruto and produced a scroll from his robes he wore.
"You have done well Haruto." Madara complimented as he handed the redhead the scroll. Haruto took it and looked at it curiously as he waited for instructions from his mentor. Madara pointed towards the water once more and then motioned towards the scroll in Haruto's hand, "The next technique in your hand is like the Majestic Destroyer Flame. But instead of wide ranged destruction, it focuses the flames in a single area maximizing the damage and power in the attack. Master the technique and we shall continue onto the next element then."
"Got it jiji." Haruto responded as he unrolled the scroll and began reading the contents inside.