Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
offense, good chap
These Eyes Are All I Need (Naruto SI)
- Thread starter Austrichh
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Sasuke’s abilities/stats
This is a list detailing what abilities Sasuke has as of the current chapter. It'll be added to and update as the story goes along. (Note: this list isn't perfect and may be edited should I get a few details wrong, if I missed anything, or haven't explained it well enough. Feel free to correct/question me should you find anything wrong here.)
For the short of it, Sasuke has;
All the skills, jutsu, and experience of OG Sasuke Uchiha at the time of his battle against Orochimaru. (Chapter 1)
His canon Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinne-Sharingan abilities. (Chapter 1)
The ability to Planeswalk, can travel outside of the Naruto universe. (Chapter 1)
The Six Paths Chakra that Hagoromo would've given canon Sasuke and Naruto during the War. (Chapter 1)
A Sage Mode that is a combination of Kabuto's Sage Mode and Jugo's Sage Transformation. (Chapter 5)
Six Paths Sage Mode, the previously mentioned Sage Mode but greatly enhanced with Six Paths Chakra. Can use all abilities that come with it. (Chapter 5)
In more detail
Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan with a Rinne-Sharingan. EMS abilities are Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi. R-S ability is Amenotejikara. Can use all abilities that come with the Sharingan and Rinnegan. Can cast/break Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Blaze Release: Via use of Kagutsuchi to control and shape Amaterasu. This can be used for both offense and defense. Offensively: can be used over another ninjutsu or a weapon to increase its effectiveness, can form weapons made out of Amaterasu. Defensively; can form barriers that shield the caster and burn those who try to touch it (it's fire what do you expect?)
Sage Mode:
Modified Snake Sage Mode: Attained by surviving a bite from the White Snake Sage, which would normally grant one access to Snake Sage Mode. However, through knowledge of Senjutsu and Fuinjutsu, Hakuja Seninn granted Sasuke a combination of Snake Sage Mode and the Sage Transformation of the Tenbin Clan.
Snake Sage Mode: This grants Sasuke the use of Senjutsu and due to being a Snake Sage, he was able to learn Sage Art: Inorganic Reanimation (which lets him use natural energy to breathe life into inorganic substances and control them),
Sage Transformation: Able to gather Natural Chakra without needing to stay still, to use the body shifting abilities to form weapons or limbs (Hand wings and snake tail), can consume other humans to heal himself and replenish his chakra or do the reverse for the opposite effect to heal others.
Six Paths:
Six Paths Chakra: The chakra of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of the Six Paths that has been given to Sasuke. Drastically improves the power of those who are bestowed it.
Six Paths Sage Mode: Formed from combining the use of Six Paths Chakra and Sage Mode. Six Paths Chakra further enhances Sasuke's Sage Mode. Massive enhancement of all abilities, senses, and durability, grants use of Truth-Seeking Orbs, grants use of Creation of All Things (yet to be used), Six Paths Senjutsu, can use all five basic nature transformations and make perfect use of Yin–Yang Release (yet to be used), immunity to all ninjutsu except for those enhanced with Senjutsu, can fly.
For the short of it, Sasuke has;
All the skills, jutsu, and experience of OG Sasuke Uchiha at the time of his battle against Orochimaru. (Chapter 1)
His canon Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinne-Sharingan abilities. (Chapter 1)
The ability to Planeswalk, can travel outside of the Naruto universe. (Chapter 1)
The Six Paths Chakra that Hagoromo would've given canon Sasuke and Naruto during the War. (Chapter 1)
A Sage Mode that is a combination of Kabuto's Sage Mode and Jugo's Sage Transformation. (Chapter 5)
Six Paths Sage Mode, the previously mentioned Sage Mode but greatly enhanced with Six Paths Chakra. Can use all abilities that come with it. (Chapter 5)
In more detail
Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan with a Rinne-Sharingan. EMS abilities are Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi. R-S ability is Amenotejikara. Can use all abilities that come with the Sharingan and Rinnegan. Can cast/break Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Blaze Release: Via use of Kagutsuchi to control and shape Amaterasu. This can be used for both offense and defense. Offensively: can be used over another ninjutsu or a weapon to increase its effectiveness, can form weapons made out of Amaterasu. Defensively; can form barriers that shield the caster and burn those who try to touch it (it's fire what do you expect?)
Sage Mode:
Modified Snake Sage Mode: Attained by surviving a bite from the White Snake Sage, which would normally grant one access to Snake Sage Mode. However, through knowledge of Senjutsu and Fuinjutsu, Hakuja Seninn granted Sasuke a combination of Snake Sage Mode and the Sage Transformation of the Tenbin Clan.
Snake Sage Mode: This grants Sasuke the use of Senjutsu and due to being a Snake Sage, he was able to learn Sage Art: Inorganic Reanimation (which lets him use natural energy to breathe life into inorganic substances and control them),
Sage Transformation: Able to gather Natural Chakra without needing to stay still, to use the body shifting abilities to form weapons or limbs (Hand wings and snake tail), can consume other humans to heal himself and replenish his chakra or do the reverse for the opposite effect to heal others.
Six Paths:
Six Paths Chakra: The chakra of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of the Six Paths that has been given to Sasuke. Drastically improves the power of those who are bestowed it.
Six Paths Sage Mode: Formed from combining the use of Six Paths Chakra and Sage Mode. Six Paths Chakra further enhances Sasuke's Sage Mode. Massive enhancement of all abilities, senses, and durability, grants use of Truth-Seeking Orbs, grants use of Creation of All Things (yet to be used), Six Paths Senjutsu, can use all five basic nature transformations and make perfect use of Yin–Yang Release (yet to be used), immunity to all ninjutsu except for those enhanced with Senjutsu, can fly.
Chapter 6 (Part 1)
"So," I start with a clap. "Since I killed the Otokage, does that make me the new one or am I just a double missing nin now? This kind of situation wasn't listed in the Oto shinobi handbook, so I'm not too sure on what the procedure is." I ask as I come face-to-face with Dosu and Guren.
Dosu narrowed his uncovered eye at me while Guren just raised a brow, though her eyes were filled with suspicion at me. After a few moments of silence, it was Dosu that answered me. "Officially, an attempt would either get you executed or experimented on. Or, unofficially, if you were impressive enough, promoted. Though most of the latter two don't last long. But as usual, you prove to be an exemption." Dosu answered plainly.
"And a successful attempt?" I asked with a bit of mirth.
"A complicated situation, as we both know Orochimaru well enough to know that he'd never account for such a possibility." Dosu said, a bit confused but willing to go along with my questioning.
"Then it seems like it'll be up to us to account for it now, won't it?" I said. "After all, there's no standard procedure to follow. Of course, the most obvious route would be to follow the Otokage's successor, except that two individuals could fill that role. Me being Orochimaru's apprentice and Guren being his second in command. Or it'd be more accurate to say you yourself Dosu, no offense Guren."
"None taken. Though I'm surprised that you're even here, hell, let alone considering filling in for the role. Pretty much everyone expected you to be going after Itachi the second that you could." Guren said, just as confused but going along.
"I know, right? I wouldn't have expected him to be patient enough to grab myself, Karin, and Jugo, then ditch him, before heading on over here, and then going after Itachi." Suigetsu added in, just as surprised as she was.
"Jugo? And seeing as he's not here, ditched even, he's either running wild elsewhere or he's-" Dosu guessed.
"He's not in his prison or dead," I interrupt to clarify. "Let's just say he's actually getting treatment for his anger issues with people far more qualified than Orochimaru could be."
"I find it doubtful that they'd succeed but regardless, I wish them luck."
"Honestly it's Jugo that needs it more than they do. The snakes of Ryuchi Cave are not the most gentle of caretakers."
"The snakes accepted you as their new summoner?" Dosu asked, surprised. "Well, that certainly helps in proving you to be a good replacement, in any case, picking up the mantle of the Snake Summoner that he left behind."
"To be a replacement would imply that I'm merely filling in for Orochimaru, which would be completely wrong. I am beyond him."
"You may have killed him Sasuke but the Sannin was crippled by his sickness. His full strength is yet to be something that you could overcome."
"I say this because I became the one thing he could never be. After all," I say dramatically before taking a pose similar to what Sasuke did when showing off his Curse Mark Form while dropping my Henge. Once dropped I let out a little of my Senjutsu chakra, revealing my Sage Mode for them to see. I left out the hand wings and tail so I didn't just ruin the only outfit I had with me. I could always revert to my base form but I wanted to get used to being a Sage and all that would apply to it. Besides, if there's no downside to keeping it on then why not. "The Snake Sennin would be far superior to the Snake Sannin."
"The Curse Mark!? No, this is similar but so much more! This could only be Senjutsu!?"
"Well, we were relative in power before, but with this on top of that then it's clear who the hat goes to," Guren admits, accepting it though not entirely happy with it.
"Aren't you going to put up more of a fight over it? Because honestly, I'd rather not wear it."
"What? No damn it, I don't want it either. The only reason I'm still here is that I don't know where else I could go without worrying about Konoha going after me." Guren groaned with some disappointment. Her reasoning was a bit strange to me since as soon as she could she took Yukimaru, the boy she took up raising, with her and went into hiding, but I guess without encountering Naruto she wouldn't have him to vouch for her and avoid being hunted down by the Leaf.
"If you don't want to be Otokage, then why are you here? And what for?" Dosu asked.
"As mentioned earlier, there are some issues regarding the line of succession. Some would argue for Guren due to her being in charge when he's away. Some would argue for me since I killed Orochimaru and proved myself his superior, thus stronger, and fit to rule. However, since Orochimaru never made a statement on this it could be easy for those who'd prefer neither to assert another nor themselves as Otokage. Obviously, this is going to be a problem if a resolution isn't found quickly. And I don't trust the nutjobs in this place not to do something stupid in a civil war."
Hell, I'm pretty sure that without Dosu and Guren taking the reins as the village's strongest shinobi in addition to Guren's status, that Oto would've already been in the starting stages of falling apart. Though enough did remain that Orochimaru could rebuild after the Fourth Shinobi War, I very much doubt that such a possibility would be relevant here.
"You're not wrong. Without the excuse of Orochimaru focusing their efforts towards medically life-saving ones, some of our scientists could certainly unleash something problematic. But I doubt that's all you're here for."
"You're right, I am here for my selfish reasons. There are some experiments that could be of some use to me. That, and I want all of Orochimaru's personal notes, especially any of the ones that relate to his ninjutsu, techniques, fuinjutsu/jutsushiki, Hashirama's cells, and the Sharingan. Also any references to an individual by the name of Danzo Shimura, even the most minor and vague. And of course, I want whatever spy network that Oto has to locate any leads on Itachi." I said, listing off what I wanted.
"Really? Whatever happened to that spy network of yours? Not effective enough for this?" Suigetsu asked with a smug grin, bringing up our talk from that restaurant back in Wave.
"Sadly it can't be used for this. Their loyalty was guaranteed by my stunning good looks, but Itachi is not only handsome, but he's also edgy, and feminine in certain angles." I explained with a mocked sadness about the weakness of my spy network.
"Doesn't that fit you already?" Suigetsu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There's a difference between effeminate and pretty boy. Besides, he's an older emo bad boy too. So there'd be a conflict of division and I wouldn't be surprised if the network devolved into a mess of counterespionage."
"What the hell kind of spy network are you running?" Dosu asked incredulously. "The second that Orochimaru died, ours went haywire and while a good majority remained loyal, even then some started charging higher prices for their services."
"All you need to know is that it's one easily bought and self-maintained," I answered cryptically.
"Gossiping fangirls." Suigetsu spoiled bluntly and with glee as well.
"Oh, allow me to rephrase Dosu's question," Guren said before turning to Karin. "Karin, what the hell kind of spy network are you running?"
"...I'll admit that my affection was a bit much but I was not bad enough to be his top fangirl." Karin sheepishly defended. "Though I am his top girl, however, hehe."
"Oh Sasuke, fill me with your seed! Fill me with you!" A shrill voice called out from Suigetsu's mouth.
"We never did anything like that!?" Karin roared in anger and embarrassment, before deflating at what she just said.
"As fascinating as it is to hear of Sasuke's sex life," Dosu interrupted, his flat tone betraying his fascination.
"I'm pretty sure that retaining your virginity counts as a lack of one," Guren added with a mock, getting a glare from Karin and a laugh from Suigetsu.
"Weren't you going on about how you were saving your body for Orochimaru?" I shot back with a raised brow. the comeback was seemingly unexpected as Dosu blinked and Guren froze. Suigetsu laughing even harder seemed to break her free from that.
"Not like that and not anymore!" Guren quickly yelled out with a blush and a glare.
"We do need to get back to business." Dosu finished, though I could detect a bit of amusement from him. Not totally a stiff then.
To defeat the Huns!
But yeah he's right.
"Yes, we should. So, where do we go from here?" I asked.
"Well, your wants are reasonably doable. We'll grant you free access to all of Orochimaru's belongings for you to look for what you want. The same access will be granted to the experiments that we have and know of as well. And though I can't promise the effectiveness of our spy network in regards to finding Itachi Uchiha, we'll certainly keep a more focused eye out for him." Dosu said, giving in to my requests. But it seemed that he was about to give a request of his own. "And speaking of an Akatsuki member, we have a problem."
"Unless you happened to kidnap a Biju, I don't see why they'd have any problems with Oto. Unless Pain is feeling petty enough to order it, which is unlike him though it may be up Deidara's alley."
"It's neither of those two and thankfully it's not Deidara. Though I must ask about who this Pain figure is."
"He's the leader of the Akatsuki and wielder of the legendary Rinnegan. The man is powerful enough to have 10 S-Ranks follow him, some of them forcefully, and to destroy Oto with a single jutsu, so word of advice, if you ever spot one of them," I take a moment to use a Henge and spawn five extra clones to help illustrate my message. I then continue using the Deva Path's voice. "Get as far away from them as possible. Though if you happen to have auditory genjutsu, use it, he's very much susceptible to it. Though that's just a theory."
Though his bandage wrappings covered most of his face, I could tell that he blanched at the mention of Pain's power. "...Noted. Even more so, I must say that it thankfully isn't Pain either. No, it's Kakuzu and Hidan. More specifically, Kakuzu, who wants Orochimaru's head, either from us or from you."
Huh, that's a surprise. Especially since I figured that these two would be after Yugito or Asuma around this time. Strange, was this before or after they killed Asuma? If after, how did they escape? I'd figure that a stronger Naruto would mean even worse chances for Kakuzu unless he had some sense to flee after losing most of his hearts. I wouldn't know until I saw them so not much use in wondering.
Still, this could certainly be useful…
"Well, since I'll be fighting for this village rather than just helping you deal with some internal issues, I'm going to have to add something that I was going to bring up later."
"I'm already giving you what you want, what more could you want out of this?"
"I want a say in how things are run. That isn't to say that I'll be running the place, I just want it to be run differently than how Orochimaru had it run."
"You and I are both in agreement on not wanting to rule as he did. I intend on Sound to prosper as opposed to it merely being a tool for Orochimaru to use, help with that and I'll take your words into account."
"And how would you go about it? Many leaders, good or bad, kind or cruel, claim the same. Many wars have been started and lives lost to fulfill such a claim. Simply stating that you'll rule properly doesn't tell me how or why I should believe you." I wasn't Nagato who could be convinced by just the guts and drive of some idealist, I gotta know how those ideals plan to come to fruition after all.
"I gave a simple answer as I didn't think that you cared enough for one. It seems I'll have to give a personal one then." Dosu said.
"The Land of Rice was left ruined and impoverished after Sasori destroyed our military might. Such events were common for minor Hidden Villages in the wake of the Five Great Nations and their wars, yet that didn't take away from the misfortune. Life was hopeless and bleak for most until a light came, Orochimaru. We were deluded in desperation and then gratitude towards the man for giving us what we wanted, what we needed. Strength. To be strong enough that we would never be in that position again. And stronger than we may have been since then, it soon became clear to me that Orochimaru was never going to fulfill that hope. Not when he had no other intentions for our strength to be but tools, not when he had started to wane in strength."
"You wish to gain strength. The strength to defend from threats, to stand your ground against intruders and imperialists, to protect the people." I summed up. It wasn't much of a surprise to hear that strength was what he wanted. In this world, strength was absolutely needed, be it to carry out your ideals or to simply live unimpeded by others. As the strongest being on the planet through extraordinary luck, I could understand. "And how would you plan on gaining that strength?"
"We have gathered here some of the brightest and twisted minds across the Elemental Nations. We have the potential to branch out in ways that the stagnant Great Five could not, too obsessed with each other's past to bother. I will not leave those minds to Orochimaru's limited and vile experimentations which only conform to those ideals, but to have them expand Otogakure's potential as a village. That, Sasuke Uchiha, is how I'll properly rule the Land of Sound."
Well, that was quite the speech. And despite not seeing the man emote much from Sasuke's memory, I can tell that his words and emotions were genuine. He truly did want to help his country grow, and not just for the sake of himself. Good to know that I won't be setting up a problem to remove later on. God, why is it that only in alternative universes do we get decent politicians? And of course he isn't in my country, though I guess that Tsunade wasn't half bad. Kakashi best Hokage tho, sorry Naruto.
"Honestly, I would've thought you were from Konoha with how sappy that speech was, only thing missing is that you didn't go on about the 'Will of Sound' or 'Will of Rice.'" Suigetsu said.
"It irks me to admit it, but for the few things that Orochimaru was right in, it was in not engaging in such a foolish notion. So that Oto was not bound to a nation or ideal and would instead celebrate individuality as opposed to the foundation that erases the self."
"Stick with that and you're already better than most villages out there," I said. "Though it could be said that there was no need for one since Orochimaru himself was already such a thing."
"It unfortunately is so, but it will be something I will take great effort in expunging from the core of this village."
"...I'd still like to give a few suggestions, but I can tell that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to your leadership."
"Thank you for your words, Sasuke. After all, it is only because you killed Orochimaru that such a thing will be possible, provided that we prevail."
Speaking of the Snake, I pulled out a Storage Seal and pulled the Sannin's head from it. Surprisingly enough it didn't decompose at all. I then tossed it at Dosu, to which he looked a bit off guard but caught it anyway.
"There's no denying it, this is most certainly his head. Of course, there's the chance that a sufficiently skilled Medic nin could produce a convincing fake, but for all the skills that you possess, a Medic you are not." Dosu said after giving the head a look. Once he was satisfied he tossed it back to me. "Ah, and I take it that from the lack of a body that you had thoroughly disposed of it as well. Even the brain is thoroughly damaged from what I felt."
"Though he may be dead, it wouldn't hurt to make sure that nobody alive could cause any trouble with his remains." For all I knew, some asshole, more than likely Danzo, might try to clone or rebuild his brain to get access to his genius mind. Sure the soul is gone but his memory can still do some damage. "Speaking of trouble, funny enough, I was going to cause some trouble of my own with it here," I admit.
"Trouble of your own?" Dosu asked with a narrowed brow.
"Yeah, just walking in while swinging it around for everyone to see. Then beat up anybody who had an issue until I became Otokage." I elaborated.
"Yes, we know. A certain ANBU made sure to tell us this." Dosu said grumpily, still not happy about that heart attack I gave him.
"I'll admit, it'd be something I'd have suggested before Orochimaru dumped his hat on me," Guren said.
"It was definitely an appealing option, cutting through most of this bullshit with brute force and being done with it."
"Uchiha, you would have no idea how fucking appealing it is until you had to deal with some of this shit for as long as I had. The amount of human experimentation these assholes get off on…" She agreed, backed up by having to experience what I'd rather avoid.
"I hope to never find out. That said, I don't plan on giving up the head."
"You mean to tell me that you're willing to risk a confrontation with them over money? I mean it is a rather large sum, but still." Dosu asked.
"It was my kill, so I see no reason to give it up just because some asshole demanded it. But besides that, and more importantly, I plan on making an enemy of the Akatsuki anyway. Not just because Itachi is a part of them but I oppose their plan as well. Did Orochimaru not mention it?"
"Yes, he informed us about them, but only generally. They seek to capture all nine Tailed Beasts and use their power for the sake of 'peace'. Yes, I can see why you'd want to deal with that. And a superweapon like that would certainly pose a threat to Otogakure…" Dosu said, concern deep in his words. "And it wouldn't do us favors with the people if we just gave in to Kakuzu's demands. Oto was humiliated by Konoha but it could be excused, however bitterly they may feel since it was one of the strongest villages. Humiliation and submission to two S-Ranks would kill any faith in our leadership."
"So it's clear that we'll have to fight them, how long will it be until they arrive here?" Karin asked.
"From our latest report, which just came in today, a few hours to a few days. Which I'm sure you can imagine, is a rather terrible time frame as we'd only have a few hours, and I'm treating it as such until proven otherwise, to prepare on how we're going to deal with two S-Ranked shinobi." Dosu said with some stress, before stopping to pause as if something new just came up. "Though, I suppose in your case this may be quite the boon. You said you wanted to cut through the bullshit of Oto politics and prove your strength to the village, then I do believe that this would be quite suitable for you."
"And no, I don't plan on having you fight and end up getting killed for it," Dosu added on hastily. "I know well enough not to antagonize you since all those years ago, and with your current ability now such would essentially be suicide on my end. I just plan on letting Hidan and Kakuzu take out some of our more problematic shinobi grunts in the village, most notably Orochimaru's most fervent fanatics. Then your team along with Guren and I would face them. We should have good odds of taking them out with all of us working together."
"It's a sound plan." Everyone was unamused. "And I'm about to make your day with even better odds. I know their weaknesses."
"Really?" Dosu said, his mood brightened at that news. "Then by all means please do explain them."
"Me, essentially," I stated simply. Dosu was even less amused but remained silent since he could tell I had more to say.
"Kakuzu's power lies in his kinjutsu, the Jiongu, also known as the Earth Grudge Fear. He's essentially a rag doll made up of thick black threads. Said threads allow him to separate and reattach his limbs, and harden as a form of armor. His armor's weakness is Lightning Ninjutsu as it is Earth-based, so I have plenty of counters to it. His greatest weakness is also his greatest strength, the four masks on his back. They grant him the elemental affinity and chakra reserves of whoever's heart he steals, and as long as he has a single heart in him he is for all intents and purposes immortal. Since he was attacking Oto shinobi for them, it'd be safe to assume that he has a heart for each Nature Release by the time we confront him."
"In that case, you really are his counter. Rather than it being your usual arrogance." Dosu appraised. "And for Hidan?"
"He's one of their weakest members. That said, do not take him lightly. If he even gets a drop of your blood, do not let him draw a circle or you are fucked. He can perform a Voodoo ritual where any damage that is dealt to him affects the one whose blood he has used, be it inflicted by others or on himself. Still, as long as you keep that in mind, dealing with him should be doable,he is purely a taijutsu and melee combatant. And while Kakuzu's immortality is dependent on his hearts, Hidan's is dependent only on that god of his. But unlike Kakuzu he can't reattach himself, though Kakuzu can do that for him with his threads."
"So basically, don't let him touch you and just cut this guy to bits. Got it." Suigetsu aptly summed up.
"Yes, he should be someone you are more than capable of handling with your Hydrification Technique. Especially after the brief training I put you through."
"I can appreciate some harsh training as much as the next guy but you slashing me about a hundred times until I managed to block you was just torture! And not the fun kind!"
"Oh calm down, I put Karin through the wringer just as much as I did you."
"I'd hardly compare teaching her the Shadow Clone to what you've been doing to me, though those headaches did look killer."
"Those headaches were killer enough for me to want to kill myself. By the way, Sasuke, I'm looking forward to training you in some fuinjutsu. Trial and error can be a fun way to learn, I've found. You showed me."
"My body is ready." I winked, which overridden her annoyance with a blush.
A gravelly cough came from Dosu and we left our banter behind.
"Of course, there are some things I could have missed. This was all the information Orochimaru gave me and he hadn't encountered them in some time. So be sure not to be complacent with what you know and be sure to watch out for any surprises." I warned, in case the Zombie Duo had a surprise up their sleeves and to explain away how I know this. I mean, there were already differences in this world compared to canon, and while they wouldn't be a threat to me for the most part, I didn't want to risk losing Karin or Suigetsu just because I got cocky, and losing Dosu and Guren would be a pain since I'd have to spend more time here than I'd like if I wanted to get things under control. Oh wait, Edo Tensei, but I still wouldn't want to resort to that unless I had to.
"Even if this information is out of date, it is still much more than what we had to work with. Now we just need to discuss how we can use said information and discuss it fast. We still don't know when they'll be here."
XXXXX
*5 hours later*
Much to Dosu's dismay, he was right as it hadn't been long until Kakuzu and Hidan arrived. It was just barely enough time for him to set things up.
Standing on the outskirts of Otogakure stood Guren clad in the robes of the Otokage, in a style matching the one that Orochimaru had once worn to the Chunin Exam in Konoha years ago. Besides her were her aid Dosu along with a few Oto ANBU. And in some space towards the village were the mooks who were standing to guard the village in case of any altercation that could occur, though it was more so that what would occur would have witnesses and be spread by them.
"I'm glad to see that you've received my message and brought him to me, Otokage. Though there's no need to have so many shinobi here for such a simple affair." Kakuzu greeted as he walked into the area surrounded by Oto shinobi without a care beyond his objective.
"I can agree that there's no true need for them, but did you really need to attack our bases if all you wanted was to send a simple message?" Guren asked, annoyed with narrowed eyes.
"Well, I was in demand of a supply that only the freaks of your village could provide without drawing too much attention to myself."
"And I needed those freaks to show my thanks to Jashin-sama," Hidan added in as he waltzed right next to Kakuzu. Though for some reason he was wearing a patch over his left eye. Did something not regenerate?
"That supply being hearts with nature affinities. And that attention is fear of Konoha finding you after they nearly killed you." I said as I revealed myself, dispelling the hedge of an ANBU member while looking the former Taki nin straight in his eyes.
"How did you?-" Kakuzu said surprisedly before he collected himself and narrowed his eyes on me, still looking at me straight on my own. "Hmm, it seems that Orochimaru had told you about us. Yet that doesn't explain how a missing-nin like yourself knows the event of my battle so soon..."
"He's not wrong you know, making us run the hell out of Fire Country the second that we could. So what they know how to kill you now-" Hidan mocked before he found himself interrupted with a smack from his partner.
"Shut up, Hidan," Kakuzu said to his partner before turning to me. "How annoying, in other circumstances I'd be inclined to dispose of you for knowing so much. But, I'd be willing to make an exception, provided that you hand over Orochimaru's head. Or failing that, the location of the head."
"And if I fail to provide you with either, you fail to provide me with that exception." I surmised.
"Yes, I'm glad to see that you could understand. Now all you need to do is give either to me."
"I can't."
"You can't. Well, why not?" He asked plainly, though it was easy to note his displeasure.
"I burned it." I simply stated.
"...You what?"
"You know how that bastard is, I mean sure, his head means a nice check or something to mount on my wall. But for all I know that bastard could come back to life and molest me or whatever else he does."
"I mean he does have a point, I did plenty of that after all. It's a thing we do when you're hard to kill or immortal, it's fun seeing the looks on their faces wh-" Hidan agreed, before he found himself interrupted again, "KAKUZU YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE YOU DO THAT SHIT TO ME ONE MORE TIME!"
"I can tell that you have a smart mouth, so I'm going to disregard everything you just said and give you a second chance. Now, where is his head?" Kakuzu demanded.
"Takigakure, they said I did a better job of collecting bounties than their oldest fuck up who couldn't unroot a man-child."
"Ooooh Kakuzu, he got you bad. I mean you're always bragging about how 'I fought the First Hokage' like you're hot shit or something-" Kakuzu rather than smacking his partner just threw him at a nearby tree.
"You know, one would expect an old man such as yourself to know when to learn from their mistakes."
"And what exactly would those mistakes be? Clearly, they can't be any worse than the one that you're making right now by testing my patience."
"Your first and greatest mistake, Hashirama, enough said. Your second, Asuma, you may have killed him but Team Asuma along with Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki came pretty damn close to avenging him. And now your third and final, me."
"Do you think of yourself as my equal just because you killed Orochimaru, boy? I faced the strongest shinobi of all time and lived, I have lived for longer than the villages have existed, I faced some of the best Konoha had to offer, even the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, and I lived. You along with the rest of this backwater village are nothing to them. You are nothing to me."
"Boast about surviving Hashirama as much as you want, but even then I'm not impressed. The man was soft enough to hand out 8 Biju to the other villages, letting some no-name from Takigakure live seems up his alley. Now had it been Madara Uchiha you survived a battle with, then I'd be more inclined to take you seriously. Of course, had it been Madara, at best, you'd be buried in some unmarked grave and remembered as a failure, if remembered at all."
"That. is. it." Kakuzu declared with each word laced with his Killing Intent. "I'm going to gouge your eyes out, dismember you and sell your limbless body to the highest bidder, Itachi's words be damned." Huh, Itachi's words eh? I'd be offended at the lack of faith he had in me if it weren't already for the clusterfuck of emotions I had for the guy. Regardless, it seemed that my ribbing worked as intended.
"Well then, feel free to do your best," I said as my Sharingan went blazing and my hand began gathering chakra. "You're going to need it."
############
Not much happened here I'll admit. Sasuke speaks with Dosu and gets some stuff in exchange for helping out, and then there's the start of a fight before that ended at a cliffhanger. Next part will pick up right after and the first (serious) fight scene will arrive.
Anyway, feel free to leave some feedback/critique and tell me how well I did or didn't do for this chapter.
Dosu narrowed his uncovered eye at me while Guren just raised a brow, though her eyes were filled with suspicion at me. After a few moments of silence, it was Dosu that answered me. "Officially, an attempt would either get you executed or experimented on. Or, unofficially, if you were impressive enough, promoted. Though most of the latter two don't last long. But as usual, you prove to be an exemption." Dosu answered plainly.
"And a successful attempt?" I asked with a bit of mirth.
"A complicated situation, as we both know Orochimaru well enough to know that he'd never account for such a possibility." Dosu said, a bit confused but willing to go along with my questioning.
"Then it seems like it'll be up to us to account for it now, won't it?" I said. "After all, there's no standard procedure to follow. Of course, the most obvious route would be to follow the Otokage's successor, except that two individuals could fill that role. Me being Orochimaru's apprentice and Guren being his second in command. Or it'd be more accurate to say you yourself Dosu, no offense Guren."
"None taken. Though I'm surprised that you're even here, hell, let alone considering filling in for the role. Pretty much everyone expected you to be going after Itachi the second that you could." Guren said, just as confused but going along.
"I know, right? I wouldn't have expected him to be patient enough to grab myself, Karin, and Jugo, then ditch him, before heading on over here, and then going after Itachi." Suigetsu added in, just as surprised as she was.
"Jugo? And seeing as he's not here, ditched even, he's either running wild elsewhere or he's-" Dosu guessed.
"He's not in his prison or dead," I interrupt to clarify. "Let's just say he's actually getting treatment for his anger issues with people far more qualified than Orochimaru could be."
"I find it doubtful that they'd succeed but regardless, I wish them luck."
"Honestly it's Jugo that needs it more than they do. The snakes of Ryuchi Cave are not the most gentle of caretakers."
"The snakes accepted you as their new summoner?" Dosu asked, surprised. "Well, that certainly helps in proving you to be a good replacement, in any case, picking up the mantle of the Snake Summoner that he left behind."
"To be a replacement would imply that I'm merely filling in for Orochimaru, which would be completely wrong. I am beyond him."
"You may have killed him Sasuke but the Sannin was crippled by his sickness. His full strength is yet to be something that you could overcome."
"I say this because I became the one thing he could never be. After all," I say dramatically before taking a pose similar to what Sasuke did when showing off his Curse Mark Form while dropping my Henge. Once dropped I let out a little of my Senjutsu chakra, revealing my Sage Mode for them to see. I left out the hand wings and tail so I didn't just ruin the only outfit I had with me. I could always revert to my base form but I wanted to get used to being a Sage and all that would apply to it. Besides, if there's no downside to keeping it on then why not. "The Snake Sennin would be far superior to the Snake Sannin."
"The Curse Mark!? No, this is similar but so much more! This could only be Senjutsu!?"
"Well, we were relative in power before, but with this on top of that then it's clear who the hat goes to," Guren admits, accepting it though not entirely happy with it.
"Aren't you going to put up more of a fight over it? Because honestly, I'd rather not wear it."
"What? No damn it, I don't want it either. The only reason I'm still here is that I don't know where else I could go without worrying about Konoha going after me." Guren groaned with some disappointment. Her reasoning was a bit strange to me since as soon as she could she took Yukimaru, the boy she took up raising, with her and went into hiding, but I guess without encountering Naruto she wouldn't have him to vouch for her and avoid being hunted down by the Leaf.
"If you don't want to be Otokage, then why are you here? And what for?" Dosu asked.
"As mentioned earlier, there are some issues regarding the line of succession. Some would argue for Guren due to her being in charge when he's away. Some would argue for me since I killed Orochimaru and proved myself his superior, thus stronger, and fit to rule. However, since Orochimaru never made a statement on this it could be easy for those who'd prefer neither to assert another nor themselves as Otokage. Obviously, this is going to be a problem if a resolution isn't found quickly. And I don't trust the nutjobs in this place not to do something stupid in a civil war."
Hell, I'm pretty sure that without Dosu and Guren taking the reins as the village's strongest shinobi in addition to Guren's status, that Oto would've already been in the starting stages of falling apart. Though enough did remain that Orochimaru could rebuild after the Fourth Shinobi War, I very much doubt that such a possibility would be relevant here.
"You're not wrong. Without the excuse of Orochimaru focusing their efforts towards medically life-saving ones, some of our scientists could certainly unleash something problematic. But I doubt that's all you're here for."
"You're right, I am here for my selfish reasons. There are some experiments that could be of some use to me. That, and I want all of Orochimaru's personal notes, especially any of the ones that relate to his ninjutsu, techniques, fuinjutsu/jutsushiki, Hashirama's cells, and the Sharingan. Also any references to an individual by the name of Danzo Shimura, even the most minor and vague. And of course, I want whatever spy network that Oto has to locate any leads on Itachi." I said, listing off what I wanted.
"Really? Whatever happened to that spy network of yours? Not effective enough for this?" Suigetsu asked with a smug grin, bringing up our talk from that restaurant back in Wave.
"Sadly it can't be used for this. Their loyalty was guaranteed by my stunning good looks, but Itachi is not only handsome, but he's also edgy, and feminine in certain angles." I explained with a mocked sadness about the weakness of my spy network.
"Doesn't that fit you already?" Suigetsu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There's a difference between effeminate and pretty boy. Besides, he's an older emo bad boy too. So there'd be a conflict of division and I wouldn't be surprised if the network devolved into a mess of counterespionage."
"What the hell kind of spy network are you running?" Dosu asked incredulously. "The second that Orochimaru died, ours went haywire and while a good majority remained loyal, even then some started charging higher prices for their services."
"All you need to know is that it's one easily bought and self-maintained," I answered cryptically.
"Gossiping fangirls." Suigetsu spoiled bluntly and with glee as well.
"Oh, allow me to rephrase Dosu's question," Guren said before turning to Karin. "Karin, what the hell kind of spy network are you running?"
"...I'll admit that my affection was a bit much but I was not bad enough to be his top fangirl." Karin sheepishly defended. "Though I am his top girl, however, hehe."
"Oh Sasuke, fill me with your seed! Fill me with you!" A shrill voice called out from Suigetsu's mouth.
"We never did anything like that!?" Karin roared in anger and embarrassment, before deflating at what she just said.
"As fascinating as it is to hear of Sasuke's sex life," Dosu interrupted, his flat tone betraying his fascination.
"I'm pretty sure that retaining your virginity counts as a lack of one," Guren added with a mock, getting a glare from Karin and a laugh from Suigetsu.
"Weren't you going on about how you were saving your body for Orochimaru?" I shot back with a raised brow. the comeback was seemingly unexpected as Dosu blinked and Guren froze. Suigetsu laughing even harder seemed to break her free from that.
"Not like that and not anymore!" Guren quickly yelled out with a blush and a glare.
"We do need to get back to business." Dosu finished, though I could detect a bit of amusement from him. Not totally a stiff then.
To defeat the Huns!
But yeah he's right.
"Yes, we should. So, where do we go from here?" I asked.
"Well, your wants are reasonably doable. We'll grant you free access to all of Orochimaru's belongings for you to look for what you want. The same access will be granted to the experiments that we have and know of as well. And though I can't promise the effectiveness of our spy network in regards to finding Itachi Uchiha, we'll certainly keep a more focused eye out for him." Dosu said, giving in to my requests. But it seemed that he was about to give a request of his own. "And speaking of an Akatsuki member, we have a problem."
"Unless you happened to kidnap a Biju, I don't see why they'd have any problems with Oto. Unless Pain is feeling petty enough to order it, which is unlike him though it may be up Deidara's alley."
"It's neither of those two and thankfully it's not Deidara. Though I must ask about who this Pain figure is."
"He's the leader of the Akatsuki and wielder of the legendary Rinnegan. The man is powerful enough to have 10 S-Ranks follow him, some of them forcefully, and to destroy Oto with a single jutsu, so word of advice, if you ever spot one of them," I take a moment to use a Henge and spawn five extra clones to help illustrate my message. I then continue using the Deva Path's voice. "Get as far away from them as possible. Though if you happen to have auditory genjutsu, use it, he's very much susceptible to it. Though that's just a theory."
Though his bandage wrappings covered most of his face, I could tell that he blanched at the mention of Pain's power. "...Noted. Even more so, I must say that it thankfully isn't Pain either. No, it's Kakuzu and Hidan. More specifically, Kakuzu, who wants Orochimaru's head, either from us or from you."
Huh, that's a surprise. Especially since I figured that these two would be after Yugito or Asuma around this time. Strange, was this before or after they killed Asuma? If after, how did they escape? I'd figure that a stronger Naruto would mean even worse chances for Kakuzu unless he had some sense to flee after losing most of his hearts. I wouldn't know until I saw them so not much use in wondering.
Still, this could certainly be useful…
"Well, since I'll be fighting for this village rather than just helping you deal with some internal issues, I'm going to have to add something that I was going to bring up later."
"I'm already giving you what you want, what more could you want out of this?"
"I want a say in how things are run. That isn't to say that I'll be running the place, I just want it to be run differently than how Orochimaru had it run."
"You and I are both in agreement on not wanting to rule as he did. I intend on Sound to prosper as opposed to it merely being a tool for Orochimaru to use, help with that and I'll take your words into account."
"And how would you go about it? Many leaders, good or bad, kind or cruel, claim the same. Many wars have been started and lives lost to fulfill such a claim. Simply stating that you'll rule properly doesn't tell me how or why I should believe you." I wasn't Nagato who could be convinced by just the guts and drive of some idealist, I gotta know how those ideals plan to come to fruition after all.
"I gave a simple answer as I didn't think that you cared enough for one. It seems I'll have to give a personal one then." Dosu said.
"The Land of Rice was left ruined and impoverished after Sasori destroyed our military might. Such events were common for minor Hidden Villages in the wake of the Five Great Nations and their wars, yet that didn't take away from the misfortune. Life was hopeless and bleak for most until a light came, Orochimaru. We were deluded in desperation and then gratitude towards the man for giving us what we wanted, what we needed. Strength. To be strong enough that we would never be in that position again. And stronger than we may have been since then, it soon became clear to me that Orochimaru was never going to fulfill that hope. Not when he had no other intentions for our strength to be but tools, not when he had started to wane in strength."
"You wish to gain strength. The strength to defend from threats, to stand your ground against intruders and imperialists, to protect the people." I summed up. It wasn't much of a surprise to hear that strength was what he wanted. In this world, strength was absolutely needed, be it to carry out your ideals or to simply live unimpeded by others. As the strongest being on the planet through extraordinary luck, I could understand. "And how would you plan on gaining that strength?"
"We have gathered here some of the brightest and twisted minds across the Elemental Nations. We have the potential to branch out in ways that the stagnant Great Five could not, too obsessed with each other's past to bother. I will not leave those minds to Orochimaru's limited and vile experimentations which only conform to those ideals, but to have them expand Otogakure's potential as a village. That, Sasuke Uchiha, is how I'll properly rule the Land of Sound."
Well, that was quite the speech. And despite not seeing the man emote much from Sasuke's memory, I can tell that his words and emotions were genuine. He truly did want to help his country grow, and not just for the sake of himself. Good to know that I won't be setting up a problem to remove later on. God, why is it that only in alternative universes do we get decent politicians? And of course he isn't in my country, though I guess that Tsunade wasn't half bad. Kakashi best Hokage tho, sorry Naruto.
"Honestly, I would've thought you were from Konoha with how sappy that speech was, only thing missing is that you didn't go on about the 'Will of Sound' or 'Will of Rice.'" Suigetsu said.
"It irks me to admit it, but for the few things that Orochimaru was right in, it was in not engaging in such a foolish notion. So that Oto was not bound to a nation or ideal and would instead celebrate individuality as opposed to the foundation that erases the self."
"Stick with that and you're already better than most villages out there," I said. "Though it could be said that there was no need for one since Orochimaru himself was already such a thing."
"It unfortunately is so, but it will be something I will take great effort in expunging from the core of this village."
"...I'd still like to give a few suggestions, but I can tell that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to your leadership."
"Thank you for your words, Sasuke. After all, it is only because you killed Orochimaru that such a thing will be possible, provided that we prevail."
Speaking of the Snake, I pulled out a Storage Seal and pulled the Sannin's head from it. Surprisingly enough it didn't decompose at all. I then tossed it at Dosu, to which he looked a bit off guard but caught it anyway.
"There's no denying it, this is most certainly his head. Of course, there's the chance that a sufficiently skilled Medic nin could produce a convincing fake, but for all the skills that you possess, a Medic you are not." Dosu said after giving the head a look. Once he was satisfied he tossed it back to me. "Ah, and I take it that from the lack of a body that you had thoroughly disposed of it as well. Even the brain is thoroughly damaged from what I felt."
"Though he may be dead, it wouldn't hurt to make sure that nobody alive could cause any trouble with his remains." For all I knew, some asshole, more than likely Danzo, might try to clone or rebuild his brain to get access to his genius mind. Sure the soul is gone but his memory can still do some damage. "Speaking of trouble, funny enough, I was going to cause some trouble of my own with it here," I admit.
"Trouble of your own?" Dosu asked with a narrowed brow.
"Yeah, just walking in while swinging it around for everyone to see. Then beat up anybody who had an issue until I became Otokage." I elaborated.
"Yes, we know. A certain ANBU made sure to tell us this." Dosu said grumpily, still not happy about that heart attack I gave him.
"I'll admit, it'd be something I'd have suggested before Orochimaru dumped his hat on me," Guren said.
"It was definitely an appealing option, cutting through most of this bullshit with brute force and being done with it."
"Uchiha, you would have no idea how fucking appealing it is until you had to deal with some of this shit for as long as I had. The amount of human experimentation these assholes get off on…" She agreed, backed up by having to experience what I'd rather avoid.
"I hope to never find out. That said, I don't plan on giving up the head."
"You mean to tell me that you're willing to risk a confrontation with them over money? I mean it is a rather large sum, but still." Dosu asked.
"It was my kill, so I see no reason to give it up just because some asshole demanded it. But besides that, and more importantly, I plan on making an enemy of the Akatsuki anyway. Not just because Itachi is a part of them but I oppose their plan as well. Did Orochimaru not mention it?"
"Yes, he informed us about them, but only generally. They seek to capture all nine Tailed Beasts and use their power for the sake of 'peace'. Yes, I can see why you'd want to deal with that. And a superweapon like that would certainly pose a threat to Otogakure…" Dosu said, concern deep in his words. "And it wouldn't do us favors with the people if we just gave in to Kakuzu's demands. Oto was humiliated by Konoha but it could be excused, however bitterly they may feel since it was one of the strongest villages. Humiliation and submission to two S-Ranks would kill any faith in our leadership."
"So it's clear that we'll have to fight them, how long will it be until they arrive here?" Karin asked.
"From our latest report, which just came in today, a few hours to a few days. Which I'm sure you can imagine, is a rather terrible time frame as we'd only have a few hours, and I'm treating it as such until proven otherwise, to prepare on how we're going to deal with two S-Ranked shinobi." Dosu said with some stress, before stopping to pause as if something new just came up. "Though, I suppose in your case this may be quite the boon. You said you wanted to cut through the bullshit of Oto politics and prove your strength to the village, then I do believe that this would be quite suitable for you."
"And no, I don't plan on having you fight and end up getting killed for it," Dosu added on hastily. "I know well enough not to antagonize you since all those years ago, and with your current ability now such would essentially be suicide on my end. I just plan on letting Hidan and Kakuzu take out some of our more problematic shinobi grunts in the village, most notably Orochimaru's most fervent fanatics. Then your team along with Guren and I would face them. We should have good odds of taking them out with all of us working together."
"It's a sound plan." Everyone was unamused. "And I'm about to make your day with even better odds. I know their weaknesses."
"Really?" Dosu said, his mood brightened at that news. "Then by all means please do explain them."
"Me, essentially," I stated simply. Dosu was even less amused but remained silent since he could tell I had more to say.
"Kakuzu's power lies in his kinjutsu, the Jiongu, also known as the Earth Grudge Fear. He's essentially a rag doll made up of thick black threads. Said threads allow him to separate and reattach his limbs, and harden as a form of armor. His armor's weakness is Lightning Ninjutsu as it is Earth-based, so I have plenty of counters to it. His greatest weakness is also his greatest strength, the four masks on his back. They grant him the elemental affinity and chakra reserves of whoever's heart he steals, and as long as he has a single heart in him he is for all intents and purposes immortal. Since he was attacking Oto shinobi for them, it'd be safe to assume that he has a heart for each Nature Release by the time we confront him."
"In that case, you really are his counter. Rather than it being your usual arrogance." Dosu appraised. "And for Hidan?"
"He's one of their weakest members. That said, do not take him lightly. If he even gets a drop of your blood, do not let him draw a circle or you are fucked. He can perform a Voodoo ritual where any damage that is dealt to him affects the one whose blood he has used, be it inflicted by others or on himself. Still, as long as you keep that in mind, dealing with him should be doable,he is purely a taijutsu and melee combatant. And while Kakuzu's immortality is dependent on his hearts, Hidan's is dependent only on that god of his. But unlike Kakuzu he can't reattach himself, though Kakuzu can do that for him with his threads."
"So basically, don't let him touch you and just cut this guy to bits. Got it." Suigetsu aptly summed up.
"Yes, he should be someone you are more than capable of handling with your Hydrification Technique. Especially after the brief training I put you through."
"I can appreciate some harsh training as much as the next guy but you slashing me about a hundred times until I managed to block you was just torture! And not the fun kind!"
"Oh calm down, I put Karin through the wringer just as much as I did you."
"I'd hardly compare teaching her the Shadow Clone to what you've been doing to me, though those headaches did look killer."
"Those headaches were killer enough for me to want to kill myself. By the way, Sasuke, I'm looking forward to training you in some fuinjutsu. Trial and error can be a fun way to learn, I've found. You showed me."
"My body is ready." I winked, which overridden her annoyance with a blush.
A gravelly cough came from Dosu and we left our banter behind.
"Of course, there are some things I could have missed. This was all the information Orochimaru gave me and he hadn't encountered them in some time. So be sure not to be complacent with what you know and be sure to watch out for any surprises." I warned, in case the Zombie Duo had a surprise up their sleeves and to explain away how I know this. I mean, there were already differences in this world compared to canon, and while they wouldn't be a threat to me for the most part, I didn't want to risk losing Karin or Suigetsu just because I got cocky, and losing Dosu and Guren would be a pain since I'd have to spend more time here than I'd like if I wanted to get things under control. Oh wait, Edo Tensei, but I still wouldn't want to resort to that unless I had to.
"Even if this information is out of date, it is still much more than what we had to work with. Now we just need to discuss how we can use said information and discuss it fast. We still don't know when they'll be here."
XXXXX
*5 hours later*
Much to Dosu's dismay, he was right as it hadn't been long until Kakuzu and Hidan arrived. It was just barely enough time for him to set things up.
Standing on the outskirts of Otogakure stood Guren clad in the robes of the Otokage, in a style matching the one that Orochimaru had once worn to the Chunin Exam in Konoha years ago. Besides her were her aid Dosu along with a few Oto ANBU. And in some space towards the village were the mooks who were standing to guard the village in case of any altercation that could occur, though it was more so that what would occur would have witnesses and be spread by them.
"I'm glad to see that you've received my message and brought him to me, Otokage. Though there's no need to have so many shinobi here for such a simple affair." Kakuzu greeted as he walked into the area surrounded by Oto shinobi without a care beyond his objective.
"I can agree that there's no true need for them, but did you really need to attack our bases if all you wanted was to send a simple message?" Guren asked, annoyed with narrowed eyes.
"Well, I was in demand of a supply that only the freaks of your village could provide without drawing too much attention to myself."
"And I needed those freaks to show my thanks to Jashin-sama," Hidan added in as he waltzed right next to Kakuzu. Though for some reason he was wearing a patch over his left eye. Did something not regenerate?
"That supply being hearts with nature affinities. And that attention is fear of Konoha finding you after they nearly killed you." I said as I revealed myself, dispelling the hedge of an ANBU member while looking the former Taki nin straight in his eyes.
"How did you?-" Kakuzu said surprisedly before he collected himself and narrowed his eyes on me, still looking at me straight on my own. "Hmm, it seems that Orochimaru had told you about us. Yet that doesn't explain how a missing-nin like yourself knows the event of my battle so soon..."
"He's not wrong you know, making us run the hell out of Fire Country the second that we could. So what they know how to kill you now-" Hidan mocked before he found himself interrupted with a smack from his partner.
"Shut up, Hidan," Kakuzu said to his partner before turning to me. "How annoying, in other circumstances I'd be inclined to dispose of you for knowing so much. But, I'd be willing to make an exception, provided that you hand over Orochimaru's head. Or failing that, the location of the head."
"And if I fail to provide you with either, you fail to provide me with that exception." I surmised.
"Yes, I'm glad to see that you could understand. Now all you need to do is give either to me."
"I can't."
"You can't. Well, why not?" He asked plainly, though it was easy to note his displeasure.
"I burned it." I simply stated.
"...You what?"
"You know how that bastard is, I mean sure, his head means a nice check or something to mount on my wall. But for all I know that bastard could come back to life and molest me or whatever else he does."
"I mean he does have a point, I did plenty of that after all. It's a thing we do when you're hard to kill or immortal, it's fun seeing the looks on their faces wh-" Hidan agreed, before he found himself interrupted again, "KAKUZU YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE YOU DO THAT SHIT TO ME ONE MORE TIME!"
"I can tell that you have a smart mouth, so I'm going to disregard everything you just said and give you a second chance. Now, where is his head?" Kakuzu demanded.
"Takigakure, they said I did a better job of collecting bounties than their oldest fuck up who couldn't unroot a man-child."
"Ooooh Kakuzu, he got you bad. I mean you're always bragging about how 'I fought the First Hokage' like you're hot shit or something-" Kakuzu rather than smacking his partner just threw him at a nearby tree.
"You know, one would expect an old man such as yourself to know when to learn from their mistakes."
"And what exactly would those mistakes be? Clearly, they can't be any worse than the one that you're making right now by testing my patience."
"Your first and greatest mistake, Hashirama, enough said. Your second, Asuma, you may have killed him but Team Asuma along with Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki came pretty damn close to avenging him. And now your third and final, me."
"Do you think of yourself as my equal just because you killed Orochimaru, boy? I faced the strongest shinobi of all time and lived, I have lived for longer than the villages have existed, I faced some of the best Konoha had to offer, even the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, and I lived. You along with the rest of this backwater village are nothing to them. You are nothing to me."
"Boast about surviving Hashirama as much as you want, but even then I'm not impressed. The man was soft enough to hand out 8 Biju to the other villages, letting some no-name from Takigakure live seems up his alley. Now had it been Madara Uchiha you survived a battle with, then I'd be more inclined to take you seriously. Of course, had it been Madara, at best, you'd be buried in some unmarked grave and remembered as a failure, if remembered at all."
"That. is. it." Kakuzu declared with each word laced with his Killing Intent. "I'm going to gouge your eyes out, dismember you and sell your limbless body to the highest bidder, Itachi's words be damned." Huh, Itachi's words eh? I'd be offended at the lack of faith he had in me if it weren't already for the clusterfuck of emotions I had for the guy. Regardless, it seemed that my ribbing worked as intended.
"Well then, feel free to do your best," I said as my Sharingan went blazing and my hand began gathering chakra. "You're going to need it."
############
Not much happened here I'll admit. Sasuke speaks with Dosu and gets some stuff in exchange for helping out, and then there's the start of a fight before that ended at a cliffhanger. Next part will pick up right after and the first (serious) fight scene will arrive.
Anyway, feel free to leave some feedback/critique and tell me how well I did or didn't do for this chapter.
Chapter 6 (Part 2)
"That. is. it." Kakuzu declared with each word laced with his Killing Intent. "I'm going to gouge your eyes out, dismember you and sell your limbless body to the highest bidder, Itachi's words be damned." Huh, Itachi's words eh? I'd be offended at the lack of faith he had in me if it weren't already for the clusterfuck of emotions I had for the guy. Regardless, it seemed that my ribbing worked as intended.
"Well then, feel free to do your best,." I said as my Sharingan went blazing and my hand began gathering chakra. "You're going to need it."
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"I doubt that." Kakuzu said before he jumped back as his fingers went into motion. My eyes quickly recognized that they were making the signs for the Fire Ball jutsu. Though the man was doing it slowly enough that if I wanted to I could just read his hand signs in their entirety and have time to do a jutsu of my own.
Already, my mind provided various ways to dodge, block, and avoid the attack with just as many ways to counterattack. Out of those options I chose to go for one that was rather simple in execution.
In the time it took for him to weave the head seals for his jutsu, I already had my hand on the ground gathering lightning.
By the time that he was back on the ground, I was close enough that the fireball he just shot off would've hit me point blank.
My mind was now screaming at me to abandon my charge and dodge.
Yet I simply continued on, despite all my instincts screaming at me to do anything else but that.
I went straight through the fireball, and despite the expected result that was ingrained from an understanding of fire, I was unfazed. Hell, even my clothes weren't as much as singed with any soot.
Ah, the benefits of the union of Senjutsu and Six Paths Chakra. One of the many being a complete immunity to all ninjutsu and genjutsu. Of course with Senjutsu being an art known but rarely practiced and Six Paths relegated to myth, there possibly existed only a few that could be counted on both hands to know of this.
Kakuzu was not one of them.
"H-how the hell did you- GAH!" Kakuzu cried in pain and wide-eyed shock but was drowned out by the sound of thousands of birds piercing through his chest, and through one of his hearts. It would've ejected the mass of threads attached to it had it not been erased by the Chidori. He let out a second scream as he was then sent into the air as the lightning extended into a beam, that Chidori now extended into the Chidori True Spear.
#I could also see that the look of surprise was etched on our audience's faces as well. From the corner of my eye, I could see after Karin's brief panic and then relief, she was disappointed. Heh, that horny minx wanted me shirtless.
"This here is a variation of the very jutsu that I used to kill Orochimaru. Well, it would've if he were a mili-second slower in registering a defense. But the damage was enough that he had to abandon his human shell and reveal himself as the grotesque snake that he truly was. But he was slain just as well." I said. Reaching into my pocket and raising the head of Orochimaru from the scroll that it was in.
This seemed to piss him off enough to force himself to ignore his pain. Shown as three of his masks carried by black threads came from his back and fired off a massive stream of elemental ninjutsu. Lightning, water, and wind. Fire excluded as that was the heart that I destroyed.
Seems that he expected me to drop my jutsu to dodge or activate whatever I had 'done' to protect myself from his initial attack.
I make no move to defend myself though I am quick to seal away the Sannin's head to avoid any damage to it. Once the attack has hit and dispersed, I once again emerge unscathed.
"That was better, but still not good enough."
Judging by his shock and noticeable fatigue, it seemed that he put a decent amount of chakra behind that attack. I'd estimate at about 25%, judging by the view of his chakra that the Sharingan granted me, which was quite the amount to divert when he already lost a main source from via his fire affinity heart.
Speaking of hearts, the man thought he was slick by sending his earth heart underground. It seemed that he learned his lesson from last time, too bad that he couldn't apply it here. A stomp on the ground, as well as some Senjutsu, caught it in its trail. Which had the effect of causing Kakuzu to stiffen, and had his skin not been threads it was likely to have grown pale.
"Your defense is a failure before me… All your jutsu is useless before me. Now you'll lose your life at my whim."
That said, I placed my hand on my arm to send just a bit of chakra through the stream of lightning chakra, a second later and it burst into an explosion of electricity.
Along with the dissipated sparks was the falling body of Kakuzu. I say body rather than a corpse, despite being very close to becoming one, was because he still had a heart remaining and surprisingly enough a head as well. A heart of earth it may be, it couldn't ever hope to overcome earth manipulation by way of Senjutsu.
As I said, his life was now at the mercy of my whim.
"Karin! You know what to do." I called out to her. Once he fell to the ground, Karin dispelled her ANBU Henge and rushed over to where the Akatsuki member had fallen.
Kakuzu was already in the middle of regrowing himself, though it was significantly being slowed down by the lingering bit of lightning that remained from my Chidori True Spear.
"...what are you doi-" Kakuzu rasped out but suddenly panicked once he seemed to recognize Karin. Even becoming terrified once he saw the golden chains she manifested. "NO! Don't you dare use those damned chains on me!"
She ignored him and used them anyway, wrapping enough around him to make a cocoon. As soon as she did, any regenerating that he was in the process of had ceased.
"Listen, I don't care about the damn head anymore, it's yours." Kakuzu said, quick to abandon the bounty he killed quite a few unfortunate saps on his way to get. "And there's no need to kill me, not when I can get you what you want. I can tell you everything that I know about Itachi and Kisame, and I can even lure them into a trap of your own making!" He then offered, also quick to throw his colleagues under the bus.
"Look at you, you were talking all that good shit just a second ago, and here you are now. Begging for your life. I wonder if this was any similar to how it went with Hashirama." I taunted with a genuine sneer. The guy was a decent character when this world was just an anime, but seeing him here in front of me only made me feel detest for the man.
"Though you can rest assured that I won't be killing you. You're more useful to me alive than you are dead."
"I'm glad that you could see reason." He said, the relief clear to see though it failed to hide the anger underneath.
"But I'm also a fan of karma. Let's see how much you like being sold off for cash Kakuzu, I'm sure either Taki or Konoha would pay a pretty penny for you." I continued with a malicious grin. That only grew when I saw the rage in his eyes overshadow the fear of an imminent death at the mention of his former home and the ironic way he'd return.
"If you sell me to Konoha you would make yourself an enemy to the Akatsuki. Going after Itachi and Kisame is one thing, but you'd be a fool to go against us all like this. The entire organization is weary of you already, doing this would cement you as an enemy." He threatened. Oh sure, he tried to made it sound like a warning, but had he not been in this position it certainly would've been.
Still, that just made me laugh, much to his bafflement. "Good, the more of you that come after me, the less time I'll have to spend tracking you down. Of course, I could always just head over to Ame, but it's such a dreary place with all that rain and not all of you would be there."
"You're making a mistake!"
"So have you. Don't worry too much about being alone, Hidan will be joining you soon enough."
"These damn chains are torture enough already, must I be stuck with Hidan as well?" He complained with resignation.
"Considering that you tried to steal my kill and was an asshole overall, yes," I said and without any further fanfare threw him into a storage scroll.
"Noooo! Not into the scroll, it burns! This isn't the last you've seen of me!" He said right before he was closed off to the world at large.
"Karin, seeing as you're still with me I take it that things are going well on the other end." I said, checking in with how things are going.
"Yes, but there was an unknown element…" Karin mentioned.
"That being?" I asked. There shouldn't be a reason why Suigetsu could handle Hidan, hell the plan even included having Guren and Dosu as backup should he need it.
"Apparently, Hidan has a dojutsu that allows him to control his blood."
"The fuck?"
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*A few minutes ago*
"Hey, wait a second. Oi! Guy with the white hair!" Suigetsu shouted at Hidan.
"Me, what the hell do you want?" Hidan asked, confused about what he could be called out for. Though he soon turned happy as he came to his own conclusion. "Interested in converting to-"
"Nah man, I'm more interested in that weapon of yours. The hilt in particular, where'd you get it?" Suigetsu asked, eyes locked on a hilt that looked rather familiar.
"Oh, this thing," Hidan said, looking at his scythe and giving it a twirl, before then tossing it in the air and whirling it around by a thread of ninja wire. "I found it somewhere in the Land of Water. It was sharp, strong, came with a wire, and was covered in blood. Exactly what I was looking for and more after my old scythe broke, it was such a perfect fit that it could only mean that Jashin-sama wanted me to have it! The pointy end along with its light weight and wire made getting sacrifices with my scythe even easier!"
"Yeah, sure. But that hilt you're talking about here is actually the Nuibari, one of the Seven Swords of the Mist. And I plan on getting all seven, so you're gonna have to hand it over."
"Hey fuck off, it was Jashin's will that I come across this thing. Besides, who the hell uses a needle as a sword? That sounds retarded."
"Fuck you, it's a sword that just so happens to take the shape of a needle while working like both. And that 'Lord Jashin-sama' of yours sounds retarded. I never even heard of the guy in the first place, you're probably just making that shit up. Besides, what the hell kind of name is literally 'evil god'?"
"OH HELL NO! You did not just fucking insult Jashin-sama like that in front of me! I liked the cut of your jib but now you fucked up. But don't worry, I'll be sure to educate you on Jashin-sama's power before I gut you, you filthy heathen." The cultist promised as he held out his scythe at the offender.
"Dude, I couldn't care less about your imaginary friend, just give me the damn Nuibari before I take it from you and send you into the cold embrace of wherever Sasuke sent Orochimaru." Suigetsu said rather annoyed but just as eager to resort to violence as he readied his own weapon, arms bulged out though not under much strain.
Hidan had enough and charged at Suigetsu, aiming to stab him with his scythe. Suigetsu chose a similar strategy as he opted to run with a swinging motion of the Executioner's Blade. When the two met neither bothered with blocking or dodging. To the surprise of only Hidan, his scythe only went through the water that Suigetsu became. Unfortunately for Hidan, that could not be the same as he was cut diagonally from the shoulder and out of his hip, causing the hand no longer connected to most of the body to go limp and drop the held weapon.
"Decimate!" Suigetsu shouted in glee as he hacked and slashed Hidan's body freely, leaving it a bloody mess of chopped-up body parts on the ground.
"Well, wasn't that anticlimactic? I expected more from a member of the Akatsuki." Suigetsu mocked right before picking up the dropped scythe and breaking the Nubari out of it.
"I never expected to pick up another of the Seven Swords so quickly. The Nuibari wouldn't have benn my first choice but I'm happy to have it anyway. Now I can slash with Kubikiribocho and skewer with Nuibari." He looked down to see that while the Akatsuki member was dismembered, his head remained in one piece. At that, he gave a shark-like grin. "Now I'm about to show you how to properly wield the Nuibari."
"I'm going to do more to you than just slashing and skewering for breaking my fucking scythe!"
Suddenly the severed parts of Hidan were reconnected, not by any action on Kakuzu's end, but by a gush of blood from Hidan's body pulling them back together. Which was certainly a shock for the Hozuki as it was never mentioned that he could do that. Luckily for him, however, despite the surprise, Suigetsu quickly got back on guard and got some distance by jumping back.
After putting himself back together, Hidan ripped off the covering over his eye, revealing an eye as red as blood along with a purple dash across the pupil. He then held out his hand over the still mending wound on his gut and from it, a stream of blood flowed out. It formed a brand new scythe along with armor made of hardened blood. While he seemed fine, this was not regeneration but more of him forcing his body together through the blood within. As shown when the cuts had neither been mended nor sealed, just held tight enough to keep the body together.
"As badass as this is, why the fuck did you need the damn sword if you could just make one out of your blood?!" Suigetsu demanded.
"I can't inflict suffering through my ritual if my blood is contaminating the blood of my sacrifice. But I'm more than willing to inflict it the normal way for you, may Jashin forgive me for failing to provide a sacrifice!" Hidan explained, really pissed off.
Upon noticing that Sasuke was finished with his own battle, and rather quickly at that, the Hozuki called out to him though he didn't move his eyes off of his opponent. "Hey, Sasuke, what the hell do those eyes do!?"
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The Ketsuryugan.
How and why the fuck does Hidan of all people have it? Then again it'd be fair to assume that Kakuzu would know of it since he lived during times when it was still around. Though how and when those two managed to pull an eye out of a Chinoike eludes me, either Kakuzu had encountered them before the Uchiha exiled them or Zetsu wanted them gone enough to give up their weakness.
Still, the eye alone boosted my assessment of him by several notches. Though it was a transplanted eye, and seeing as Hidan had to cover it up ala Kakashi and Ao, it certainly ate at his chakra. Even if a transplanted eye isn't as effective as it was on its owner, they were still dangerous. And this eye was featured for an opponent for adult Sasuke to face so I'd have a good reason to be wary.
"It can control blood or any liquid with high iron and can cast powerful genjutsu," I warned Suigetsu.
"What the fuck is with dojutsus and giving bullshit powers that have nothing to do with eyes!?"
"I don't know man, looking at someone and casting genjutsu seems to be pretty eye related if you ask me."
"This thing can cast genjutsu? Since when? That's some pussy shit right there." Of course, Hidan being the type who'd prefer to throw hands wouldn't use arguably the best feature of the eye, though I'm glad to have held back on the mind-reading tidbit. But shouldn't Kakuzu have mentioned that to him? But I can also see him only giving it to Hidan so he didn't have to stitch him u anymore.
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"Weird, it seems that we can agree on one thing. Still gonna have to kick your ass pal, misusing the Nuibari as some prop like that grinds my gears too much." Suigetsu said.
"Same to you, no one breaks my shit and insults Lord Jashin without punishment," Hidan said before he rushed at Suigetsu once more, only much faster than before.
"Seeing as your mom hasn't beaten the idea of imaginary friends out of you yet, it seems that I'll have to pick up the slack in her stead."
"She and the rest of Yugakure tried, right before me and my fellow Jashinists sacrificed them all! You'll be joining them!"
What would be a deeply unsettling sight was just met with excitement from the Second Coming of the Demon, who was quite eager to start living up to the name once more through the use of these swords.
Suigetsu lifted the Nuibari in a sword stance before shifting his form to that of throwing a spear, which the longsword flew much like.
Hidan, despite being able to dodge, instead chose to swing his scythe to swat away the needle, though that proved to be a mistake as it pierced through both his weapon and armor. As it went through his back, it was drawn back around with a motion of the wrist from Suigetsu before he gave a great pull, albeit with a bulked-out arm.
As Hidan went flying toward the Hozuki, he swiftly and seamlessly pulled out his needle before exchanging it for the greatsword. He then gave it a great swing which sought to cleave straight through the cultist once again. Rather than going all the way through, however, it seemed that it was lodged in the armor.
But rather than abort, he then used the momentum to then slam the cultist to the ground. The Executioner's Blade still hadn't cut through completely but it had managed to stuck itself deeper into the Hidan.
"You dumbass, that ain't gonna work on me again!" Hidan mocked.
"It doesn't need to cut through you to work, it just needs to cut enough to draw blood. Just take a look at yourself and it'll be obvious."
Hidan did just as Suigetsu suggested and saw that the sword buried in him was drawing out his blood, from the armor and his body.
"Get that thing out of me!"
"You're gonna have to make me pal."
"Fine!" Hidan said before he flashed a sign, suddenly his body separated to free itself from the Kubikiribocho.
He quickly does a handstand before pushing himself high enough to go over the large sword. His legs move upright though it's through the manipulation of the blood in them rather than a conscious effort on Hidan's part.
A stream of blood extended from both ends that were about to connect the two once again, right before a click followed by sound waves disrupted that and sent both halves crashing to the ground hard.
"Liquid, well I suppose I have just the tool for this then." Dosu said as he made himself known.
Despite that setback, the Jashinist still managed to put himself together again and reform his armor, though much bulkier this time.
"I'll admit that you got me, but that cheap shot with your wind ain't gonna save you from me!"
With a click his sound gauntlets activated once more, directing powerful sound waves towards the blood-armored Jashinist again.
Hidan seemed dismissive of them at first when he went to battle Suigetsu, who was alternating between both the Kubikiribocho along with Nuibari. Though he quickly changed his plans as cracks were forming in Hidan's armor and weapon along with disrupting Hidan's ability to control the blood that was keeping his body together. This ticked the cultist off as he abandoned trying to skewer the dual-wielding Hozuki and rushed to cut Dosu down.
To which the Sound nin only moved out of the way before a rush of crystals came where he stood. This took Hidan aback as he then tried to avoid them. But found that they were too fast for him, and with Dosu still disrupting his blood he couldn't move as effectively as he could to avoid them.
He tried to cut them down, and while it worked initially, it had only done so until it got trapped in a crystal before becoming encased in one. Which also had the effect of trapping his hand as well.
Desperate to escape, Hidan detached the hand from his body. But even the drops of blood that flowed between him and his limb started to crystallize before the effect reached the rest of him.
He seemed to realize where this was heading with what was to be his last breath.
"Jashin fucking dammit Kakuzu this is just like that bullshit with the Leaf all over again!"
Eventually, he was captured in a crystal prison, the only part that remained free was his head. Though that was due to it being freed from his body. As was the body itself soon enough, though it could hardly be called such when it was now encased in black flames.
By a Sasuke Uchiha who was in a tug-of-war between Hidan and his stolen eye.
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"You set my fucking body on fire!? Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is to get a new one!? And let go of me you fucker!"
"Not happening, just like you succeeding in biting me, you rabid little cultist you."
"Don't talk down to me you emo bitch! And it isn't a fucking cult, it's a religion!"
"Funny that you mention that, you seem to be following the orders of Pain, a pagan deity, just as well as you claim to be following Jashin." I pointed out.
"THAT'S FUCKING DIFFERENT!" He roared even more vitriol than when he thought he was about to be trapped in crystal. Hell, he'd probably be frothing at the mouth if he still had lungs.
Never mind, some of that got on my hand, gross.
Having enough of playing around, I just used a focused Almighty Pull to, well, pull the eye out.
"Hey! Give that back! Me and Kakuzu stole that fair and square!"
"I thought that Jashin fella of yours gave it to you?" Suigetsu asked in a mocking tone.
To that Hidan glared at the Hozuki. "No you fucking idiot, Jashin-sama doesn't give handouts but opportunities. I sacrificed a heathen for him and got an eye out of it, it was a win-win for both of us. It was even a win for Kakuzu who made a buck selling the bastard to Kumo. Except for Zetsu, that asshole kept muttering shit about abominations at me like he ain't one himself." Hidan explained, sounding pleased except when it came to Zetsu.
It was a bit concerning that Kumo has the eye since they'd be more willing and able to use it to its potential, but it should take a good while until they can make proper use of either. Looks like Zetsu wasn't too happy that there was a divergence from his mommy's eyes.
"Well, seeing as the Chinoike Clan were bitches of the Uchiha, this Ketsuryugan eye is now my property. Just like you are."
"I belong to Jashin-sama and him alone!"
"You belonged to him alone. Now he, she, or they will be sharing you with Konoha after I sell you to them. Though I doubt you'll be able to think that way or at all once they get their hands on you. Asuma Sarutobi was rather close to Inoichi Yamanaka so I'd bet that he'd be quite interested in testing that faith of yours."
Hidan's eyes widened in alarm at the possibility as while his body would be safe from any torture methods, his mind was a different matter. "If you sell me all that's going to do is get the rest of the Akatsuki on you, you moron!"
"Kakuzu said the same thing right before I sealed his ass, where you'll join him soon enough. Perhaps while you two are together, you can enjoy the time you'll have left together before you get poked and prodded."
"Fuck you!" With that ever-eloquent statement said, I sealed the servant of Jashin away. Right before I closed the tag I could then hear both Akatsuki members screaming at each other.
"Well, good to know that our plan still worked even with that massive deviation." Dosu said, looking at the source of the deviation in my hand.
"What the hell is it with eyes and giving such bullshit out!? The Byakugan and its x-ray vision makes sense, the Sharingan was unfair but still reasonable, but that whole Mangekyou nonsense and now this Ketsuryugan thing are just bullshit!" Suigetsu complained, even more fed up with the nonsense that is the dojutsu.
"There's a reason why the 'Three Great Dojutsu' are the most famous and known of Kekkei Genkai throughout history. And why out of everything that could rival Hashirama, it was an Uchiha with the Mangekyou. We're just built different." I explained smugly. The best part was despite how much Suigetsu wanted to respite that, he saw for himself why I'd be right.
After taking a look around, it was interesting to note that besides the crater that Kakuzu fell into, a few crystals, and blood stains on the floor, there weren't many signs that a battle between S-Ranks had happened here.
Still, the battles themselves seemed to have the shinobi watching us gaze in astonishment at how swiftly we managed to handle what had been slaughtering their fellows a little while ago. Even the looks that held disdain for me held a grudging respect or blatant fear.
Yet despite the many eyes that were on me at the moment, there was only one that held any true importance. And it wasn't even that of a human or mutated one.
It was a crow perched on the top of a distant tree.
Despite the distance, I could see the intelligence in its eyes the moment my gaze fell upon it. And in the next few I was on the same branch it was perched on, my speed enough to mimic that of the Yellow Flash to those unaware of his true capablities.
The crow was clearly startled by my sudden appearance, but it made no move to fly away. Seems that it was smart enough to know that I was more than fast enough to catch it if I so desired.
But I made no move to capture it beyond holding its attention, I needed it to fly free after all.
"Be it a summon or clone, I know that you're watching, Itachi. As you have witnessed, I am more than ready to face you, so get your affairs in order soon. Our destiny and the future of the Uchiha Clan await. And know this, I am aware of Shisui's eye. So you'd better keep that eye to yourself, and hear me when I say that I will gut Naruto Uzumaki to find that damn crow and burn Konoha and every fucking tree, branch, leaf, and root to the ground if you don't have it with you," I threaten to the crow, letting out some of my Killing Intent laced with Senjutsu to add weight to my threat. Though I would very much prefer to never do such a thing Naruto, a guy I admired, I won't allow myself to become a slave to Itachi or Konoha just because my freedom went against the interests of either. Besides, Naruto could always just regenerate that damage and a Final Valley rematch along with a bowl of ramen should patch that up.
That crow only stared at me as I glared into its eyes through my Mangekyou, sending a pulse of chakra to highlight Hagoromo's contribution to my Eternal Mangekyou. Of course, I had a pseudo clone via Inorganic Animation to shield my eyes from the crow should it be the Crowtoamatsukami.
After a few more moments it started to flap its wings, though I could notice that it did so stiffly while also shaking as well in a hurry yet continued to look me in the eyes as it did until it flew away.
And un-clichely enough it wasn't into the sun which has long since set over the Village Hidden in the Sound. The sky in which the crow flew was of a faded remnant of the red sun, the dark blue of the night, and the lavender of dusk.
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Behold, the fastest update in my history as an author! A day!
Though that could only happen thanks to the fact that I split this chapter into two parts.
Only two fights and a dramatic ending with a promise to the future happened but I hope it was interesting enough for you guys. Of course if it wasn't, I apologize as writing fight scenes are still new to me. So feel free to let me know where I messed up and let me know how I can fix it.
Of course there were plenty of ways for Sasuke to utterly destroy and bully Kakuzu. I mean, his main weapons are elemental ninjutsu which Sasuke is completely immune to and his defense is earth which is useless before Sasuke's lightning.
As for Hidan, I was originally going to have Sasuke solo him as well but decided to let him and Suigetsu fight since they're both white haired, violent, psychopaths so why not. As for giving him the Ketsuryugan, his main gimmick is his immortality and blood ritual. So when it came to giving him a buff, that was where my first thought was. Of course he couldn't use it to the same effect as Chino did for a bunch of reasons I hope I made clear, though I'll say them in case I hadn't.
And then Dosu and Guren interfered and finished off Hidan. A bit disrespectful to him and Suigetsu, and cheap as hell, but the main point of having those fights in the open was to demonstrate the strength and cooperation of Sasuke with Guren's leadership. Could I have done that better, probably, but Oto was meant to be a stop along the way after all. Though Sasuke will deal with the aftermath for a bit, set some things up, and then leave.
Also to give some frame of time, since this took place during what would've been OG!Sasuke's battle against Deidara, it'll be around the time of the Itachi Pursuit Mission. So Sasuke's 'fight'/brutal beatdown with Itachi and reunion with Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and Konoha are getting closer. Plus Zetsu and Obito will be in one place, ripe for the taking.
"Well then, feel free to do your best,." I said as my Sharingan went blazing and my hand began gathering chakra. "You're going to need it."
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"I doubt that." Kakuzu said before he jumped back as his fingers went into motion. My eyes quickly recognized that they were making the signs for the Fire Ball jutsu. Though the man was doing it slowly enough that if I wanted to I could just read his hand signs in their entirety and have time to do a jutsu of my own.
Already, my mind provided various ways to dodge, block, and avoid the attack with just as many ways to counterattack. Out of those options I chose to go for one that was rather simple in execution.
In the time it took for him to weave the head seals for his jutsu, I already had my hand on the ground gathering lightning.
By the time that he was back on the ground, I was close enough that the fireball he just shot off would've hit me point blank.
My mind was now screaming at me to abandon my charge and dodge.
Yet I simply continued on, despite all my instincts screaming at me to do anything else but that.
I went straight through the fireball, and despite the expected result that was ingrained from an understanding of fire, I was unfazed. Hell, even my clothes weren't as much as singed with any soot.
Ah, the benefits of the union of Senjutsu and Six Paths Chakra. One of the many being a complete immunity to all ninjutsu and genjutsu. Of course with Senjutsu being an art known but rarely practiced and Six Paths relegated to myth, there possibly existed only a few that could be counted on both hands to know of this.
Kakuzu was not one of them.
"H-how the hell did you- GAH!" Kakuzu cried in pain and wide-eyed shock but was drowned out by the sound of thousands of birds piercing through his chest, and through one of his hearts. It would've ejected the mass of threads attached to it had it not been erased by the Chidori. He let out a second scream as he was then sent into the air as the lightning extended into a beam, that Chidori now extended into the Chidori True Spear.
#I could also see that the look of surprise was etched on our audience's faces as well. From the corner of my eye, I could see after Karin's brief panic and then relief, she was disappointed. Heh, that horny minx wanted me shirtless.
"This here is a variation of the very jutsu that I used to kill Orochimaru. Well, it would've if he were a mili-second slower in registering a defense. But the damage was enough that he had to abandon his human shell and reveal himself as the grotesque snake that he truly was. But he was slain just as well." I said. Reaching into my pocket and raising the head of Orochimaru from the scroll that it was in.
This seemed to piss him off enough to force himself to ignore his pain. Shown as three of his masks carried by black threads came from his back and fired off a massive stream of elemental ninjutsu. Lightning, water, and wind. Fire excluded as that was the heart that I destroyed.
Seems that he expected me to drop my jutsu to dodge or activate whatever I had 'done' to protect myself from his initial attack.
I make no move to defend myself though I am quick to seal away the Sannin's head to avoid any damage to it. Once the attack has hit and dispersed, I once again emerge unscathed.
"That was better, but still not good enough."
Judging by his shock and noticeable fatigue, it seemed that he put a decent amount of chakra behind that attack. I'd estimate at about 25%, judging by the view of his chakra that the Sharingan granted me, which was quite the amount to divert when he already lost a main source from via his fire affinity heart.
Speaking of hearts, the man thought he was slick by sending his earth heart underground. It seemed that he learned his lesson from last time, too bad that he couldn't apply it here. A stomp on the ground, as well as some Senjutsu, caught it in its trail. Which had the effect of causing Kakuzu to stiffen, and had his skin not been threads it was likely to have grown pale.
"Your defense is a failure before me… All your jutsu is useless before me. Now you'll lose your life at my whim."
That said, I placed my hand on my arm to send just a bit of chakra through the stream of lightning chakra, a second later and it burst into an explosion of electricity.
Along with the dissipated sparks was the falling body of Kakuzu. I say body rather than a corpse, despite being very close to becoming one, was because he still had a heart remaining and surprisingly enough a head as well. A heart of earth it may be, it couldn't ever hope to overcome earth manipulation by way of Senjutsu.
As I said, his life was now at the mercy of my whim.
"Karin! You know what to do." I called out to her. Once he fell to the ground, Karin dispelled her ANBU Henge and rushed over to where the Akatsuki member had fallen.
Kakuzu was already in the middle of regrowing himself, though it was significantly being slowed down by the lingering bit of lightning that remained from my Chidori True Spear.
"...what are you doi-" Kakuzu rasped out but suddenly panicked once he seemed to recognize Karin. Even becoming terrified once he saw the golden chains she manifested. "NO! Don't you dare use those damned chains on me!"
She ignored him and used them anyway, wrapping enough around him to make a cocoon. As soon as she did, any regenerating that he was in the process of had ceased.
"Listen, I don't care about the damn head anymore, it's yours." Kakuzu said, quick to abandon the bounty he killed quite a few unfortunate saps on his way to get. "And there's no need to kill me, not when I can get you what you want. I can tell you everything that I know about Itachi and Kisame, and I can even lure them into a trap of your own making!" He then offered, also quick to throw his colleagues under the bus.
"Look at you, you were talking all that good shit just a second ago, and here you are now. Begging for your life. I wonder if this was any similar to how it went with Hashirama." I taunted with a genuine sneer. The guy was a decent character when this world was just an anime, but seeing him here in front of me only made me feel detest for the man.
"Though you can rest assured that I won't be killing you. You're more useful to me alive than you are dead."
"I'm glad that you could see reason." He said, the relief clear to see though it failed to hide the anger underneath.
"But I'm also a fan of karma. Let's see how much you like being sold off for cash Kakuzu, I'm sure either Taki or Konoha would pay a pretty penny for you." I continued with a malicious grin. That only grew when I saw the rage in his eyes overshadow the fear of an imminent death at the mention of his former home and the ironic way he'd return.
"If you sell me to Konoha you would make yourself an enemy to the Akatsuki. Going after Itachi and Kisame is one thing, but you'd be a fool to go against us all like this. The entire organization is weary of you already, doing this would cement you as an enemy." He threatened. Oh sure, he tried to made it sound like a warning, but had he not been in this position it certainly would've been.
Still, that just made me laugh, much to his bafflement. "Good, the more of you that come after me, the less time I'll have to spend tracking you down. Of course, I could always just head over to Ame, but it's such a dreary place with all that rain and not all of you would be there."
"You're making a mistake!"
"So have you. Don't worry too much about being alone, Hidan will be joining you soon enough."
"These damn chains are torture enough already, must I be stuck with Hidan as well?" He complained with resignation.
"Considering that you tried to steal my kill and was an asshole overall, yes," I said and without any further fanfare threw him into a storage scroll.
"Noooo! Not into the scroll, it burns! This isn't the last you've seen of me!" He said right before he was closed off to the world at large.
"Karin, seeing as you're still with me I take it that things are going well on the other end." I said, checking in with how things are going.
"Yes, but there was an unknown element…" Karin mentioned.
"That being?" I asked. There shouldn't be a reason why Suigetsu could handle Hidan, hell the plan even included having Guren and Dosu as backup should he need it.
"Apparently, Hidan has a dojutsu that allows him to control his blood."
"The fuck?"
--------
*A few minutes ago*
"Hey, wait a second. Oi! Guy with the white hair!" Suigetsu shouted at Hidan.
"Me, what the hell do you want?" Hidan asked, confused about what he could be called out for. Though he soon turned happy as he came to his own conclusion. "Interested in converting to-"
"Nah man, I'm more interested in that weapon of yours. The hilt in particular, where'd you get it?" Suigetsu asked, eyes locked on a hilt that looked rather familiar.
"Oh, this thing," Hidan said, looking at his scythe and giving it a twirl, before then tossing it in the air and whirling it around by a thread of ninja wire. "I found it somewhere in the Land of Water. It was sharp, strong, came with a wire, and was covered in blood. Exactly what I was looking for and more after my old scythe broke, it was such a perfect fit that it could only mean that Jashin-sama wanted me to have it! The pointy end along with its light weight and wire made getting sacrifices with my scythe even easier!"
"Yeah, sure. But that hilt you're talking about here is actually the Nuibari, one of the Seven Swords of the Mist. And I plan on getting all seven, so you're gonna have to hand it over."
"Hey fuck off, it was Jashin's will that I come across this thing. Besides, who the hell uses a needle as a sword? That sounds retarded."
"Fuck you, it's a sword that just so happens to take the shape of a needle while working like both. And that 'Lord Jashin-sama' of yours sounds retarded. I never even heard of the guy in the first place, you're probably just making that shit up. Besides, what the hell kind of name is literally 'evil god'?"
"OH HELL NO! You did not just fucking insult Jashin-sama like that in front of me! I liked the cut of your jib but now you fucked up. But don't worry, I'll be sure to educate you on Jashin-sama's power before I gut you, you filthy heathen." The cultist promised as he held out his scythe at the offender.
"Dude, I couldn't care less about your imaginary friend, just give me the damn Nuibari before I take it from you and send you into the cold embrace of wherever Sasuke sent Orochimaru." Suigetsu said rather annoyed but just as eager to resort to violence as he readied his own weapon, arms bulged out though not under much strain.
Hidan had enough and charged at Suigetsu, aiming to stab him with his scythe. Suigetsu chose a similar strategy as he opted to run with a swinging motion of the Executioner's Blade. When the two met neither bothered with blocking or dodging. To the surprise of only Hidan, his scythe only went through the water that Suigetsu became. Unfortunately for Hidan, that could not be the same as he was cut diagonally from the shoulder and out of his hip, causing the hand no longer connected to most of the body to go limp and drop the held weapon.
"Decimate!" Suigetsu shouted in glee as he hacked and slashed Hidan's body freely, leaving it a bloody mess of chopped-up body parts on the ground.
"Well, wasn't that anticlimactic? I expected more from a member of the Akatsuki." Suigetsu mocked right before picking up the dropped scythe and breaking the Nubari out of it.
"I never expected to pick up another of the Seven Swords so quickly. The Nuibari wouldn't have benn my first choice but I'm happy to have it anyway. Now I can slash with Kubikiribocho and skewer with Nuibari." He looked down to see that while the Akatsuki member was dismembered, his head remained in one piece. At that, he gave a shark-like grin. "Now I'm about to show you how to properly wield the Nuibari."
"I'm going to do more to you than just slashing and skewering for breaking my fucking scythe!"
Suddenly the severed parts of Hidan were reconnected, not by any action on Kakuzu's end, but by a gush of blood from Hidan's body pulling them back together. Which was certainly a shock for the Hozuki as it was never mentioned that he could do that. Luckily for him, however, despite the surprise, Suigetsu quickly got back on guard and got some distance by jumping back.
After putting himself back together, Hidan ripped off the covering over his eye, revealing an eye as red as blood along with a purple dash across the pupil. He then held out his hand over the still mending wound on his gut and from it, a stream of blood flowed out. It formed a brand new scythe along with armor made of hardened blood. While he seemed fine, this was not regeneration but more of him forcing his body together through the blood within. As shown when the cuts had neither been mended nor sealed, just held tight enough to keep the body together.
"As badass as this is, why the fuck did you need the damn sword if you could just make one out of your blood?!" Suigetsu demanded.
"I can't inflict suffering through my ritual if my blood is contaminating the blood of my sacrifice. But I'm more than willing to inflict it the normal way for you, may Jashin forgive me for failing to provide a sacrifice!" Hidan explained, really pissed off.
Upon noticing that Sasuke was finished with his own battle, and rather quickly at that, the Hozuki called out to him though he didn't move his eyes off of his opponent. "Hey, Sasuke, what the hell do those eyes do!?"
---------------------
The Ketsuryugan.
How and why the fuck does Hidan of all people have it? Then again it'd be fair to assume that Kakuzu would know of it since he lived during times when it was still around. Though how and when those two managed to pull an eye out of a Chinoike eludes me, either Kakuzu had encountered them before the Uchiha exiled them or Zetsu wanted them gone enough to give up their weakness.
Still, the eye alone boosted my assessment of him by several notches. Though it was a transplanted eye, and seeing as Hidan had to cover it up ala Kakashi and Ao, it certainly ate at his chakra. Even if a transplanted eye isn't as effective as it was on its owner, they were still dangerous. And this eye was featured for an opponent for adult Sasuke to face so I'd have a good reason to be wary.
"It can control blood or any liquid with high iron and can cast powerful genjutsu," I warned Suigetsu.
"What the fuck is with dojutsus and giving bullshit powers that have nothing to do with eyes!?"
"I don't know man, looking at someone and casting genjutsu seems to be pretty eye related if you ask me."
"This thing can cast genjutsu? Since when? That's some pussy shit right there." Of course, Hidan being the type who'd prefer to throw hands wouldn't use arguably the best feature of the eye, though I'm glad to have held back on the mind-reading tidbit. But shouldn't Kakuzu have mentioned that to him? But I can also see him only giving it to Hidan so he didn't have to stitch him u anymore.
--------------------
"Weird, it seems that we can agree on one thing. Still gonna have to kick your ass pal, misusing the Nuibari as some prop like that grinds my gears too much." Suigetsu said.
"Same to you, no one breaks my shit and insults Lord Jashin without punishment," Hidan said before he rushed at Suigetsu once more, only much faster than before.
"Seeing as your mom hasn't beaten the idea of imaginary friends out of you yet, it seems that I'll have to pick up the slack in her stead."
"She and the rest of Yugakure tried, right before me and my fellow Jashinists sacrificed them all! You'll be joining them!"
What would be a deeply unsettling sight was just met with excitement from the Second Coming of the Demon, who was quite eager to start living up to the name once more through the use of these swords.
Suigetsu lifted the Nuibari in a sword stance before shifting his form to that of throwing a spear, which the longsword flew much like.
Hidan, despite being able to dodge, instead chose to swing his scythe to swat away the needle, though that proved to be a mistake as it pierced through both his weapon and armor. As it went through his back, it was drawn back around with a motion of the wrist from Suigetsu before he gave a great pull, albeit with a bulked-out arm.
As Hidan went flying toward the Hozuki, he swiftly and seamlessly pulled out his needle before exchanging it for the greatsword. He then gave it a great swing which sought to cleave straight through the cultist once again. Rather than going all the way through, however, it seemed that it was lodged in the armor.
But rather than abort, he then used the momentum to then slam the cultist to the ground. The Executioner's Blade still hadn't cut through completely but it had managed to stuck itself deeper into the Hidan.
"You dumbass, that ain't gonna work on me again!" Hidan mocked.
"It doesn't need to cut through you to work, it just needs to cut enough to draw blood. Just take a look at yourself and it'll be obvious."
Hidan did just as Suigetsu suggested and saw that the sword buried in him was drawing out his blood, from the armor and his body.
"Get that thing out of me!"
"You're gonna have to make me pal."
"Fine!" Hidan said before he flashed a sign, suddenly his body separated to free itself from the Kubikiribocho.
He quickly does a handstand before pushing himself high enough to go over the large sword. His legs move upright though it's through the manipulation of the blood in them rather than a conscious effort on Hidan's part.
A stream of blood extended from both ends that were about to connect the two once again, right before a click followed by sound waves disrupted that and sent both halves crashing to the ground hard.
"Liquid, well I suppose I have just the tool for this then." Dosu said as he made himself known.
Despite that setback, the Jashinist still managed to put himself together again and reform his armor, though much bulkier this time.
"I'll admit that you got me, but that cheap shot with your wind ain't gonna save you from me!"
With a click his sound gauntlets activated once more, directing powerful sound waves towards the blood-armored Jashinist again.
Hidan seemed dismissive of them at first when he went to battle Suigetsu, who was alternating between both the Kubikiribocho along with Nuibari. Though he quickly changed his plans as cracks were forming in Hidan's armor and weapon along with disrupting Hidan's ability to control the blood that was keeping his body together. This ticked the cultist off as he abandoned trying to skewer the dual-wielding Hozuki and rushed to cut Dosu down.
To which the Sound nin only moved out of the way before a rush of crystals came where he stood. This took Hidan aback as he then tried to avoid them. But found that they were too fast for him, and with Dosu still disrupting his blood he couldn't move as effectively as he could to avoid them.
He tried to cut them down, and while it worked initially, it had only done so until it got trapped in a crystal before becoming encased in one. Which also had the effect of trapping his hand as well.
Desperate to escape, Hidan detached the hand from his body. But even the drops of blood that flowed between him and his limb started to crystallize before the effect reached the rest of him.
He seemed to realize where this was heading with what was to be his last breath.
"Jashin fucking dammit Kakuzu this is just like that bullshit with the Leaf all over again!"
Eventually, he was captured in a crystal prison, the only part that remained free was his head. Though that was due to it being freed from his body. As was the body itself soon enough, though it could hardly be called such when it was now encased in black flames.
By a Sasuke Uchiha who was in a tug-of-war between Hidan and his stolen eye.
-----------------
"You set my fucking body on fire!? Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is to get a new one!? And let go of me you fucker!"
"Not happening, just like you succeeding in biting me, you rabid little cultist you."
"Don't talk down to me you emo bitch! And it isn't a fucking cult, it's a religion!"
"Funny that you mention that, you seem to be following the orders of Pain, a pagan deity, just as well as you claim to be following Jashin." I pointed out.
"THAT'S FUCKING DIFFERENT!" He roared even more vitriol than when he thought he was about to be trapped in crystal. Hell, he'd probably be frothing at the mouth if he still had lungs.
Never mind, some of that got on my hand, gross.
Having enough of playing around, I just used a focused Almighty Pull to, well, pull the eye out.
"Hey! Give that back! Me and Kakuzu stole that fair and square!"
"I thought that Jashin fella of yours gave it to you?" Suigetsu asked in a mocking tone.
To that Hidan glared at the Hozuki. "No you fucking idiot, Jashin-sama doesn't give handouts but opportunities. I sacrificed a heathen for him and got an eye out of it, it was a win-win for both of us. It was even a win for Kakuzu who made a buck selling the bastard to Kumo. Except for Zetsu, that asshole kept muttering shit about abominations at me like he ain't one himself." Hidan explained, sounding pleased except when it came to Zetsu.
It was a bit concerning that Kumo has the eye since they'd be more willing and able to use it to its potential, but it should take a good while until they can make proper use of either. Looks like Zetsu wasn't too happy that there was a divergence from his mommy's eyes.
"Well, seeing as the Chinoike Clan were bitches of the Uchiha, this Ketsuryugan eye is now my property. Just like you are."
"I belong to Jashin-sama and him alone!"
"You belonged to him alone. Now he, she, or they will be sharing you with Konoha after I sell you to them. Though I doubt you'll be able to think that way or at all once they get their hands on you. Asuma Sarutobi was rather close to Inoichi Yamanaka so I'd bet that he'd be quite interested in testing that faith of yours."
Hidan's eyes widened in alarm at the possibility as while his body would be safe from any torture methods, his mind was a different matter. "If you sell me all that's going to do is get the rest of the Akatsuki on you, you moron!"
"Kakuzu said the same thing right before I sealed his ass, where you'll join him soon enough. Perhaps while you two are together, you can enjoy the time you'll have left together before you get poked and prodded."
"Fuck you!" With that ever-eloquent statement said, I sealed the servant of Jashin away. Right before I closed the tag I could then hear both Akatsuki members screaming at each other.
"Well, good to know that our plan still worked even with that massive deviation." Dosu said, looking at the source of the deviation in my hand.
"What the hell is it with eyes and giving such bullshit out!? The Byakugan and its x-ray vision makes sense, the Sharingan was unfair but still reasonable, but that whole Mangekyou nonsense and now this Ketsuryugan thing are just bullshit!" Suigetsu complained, even more fed up with the nonsense that is the dojutsu.
"There's a reason why the 'Three Great Dojutsu' are the most famous and known of Kekkei Genkai throughout history. And why out of everything that could rival Hashirama, it was an Uchiha with the Mangekyou. We're just built different." I explained smugly. The best part was despite how much Suigetsu wanted to respite that, he saw for himself why I'd be right.
After taking a look around, it was interesting to note that besides the crater that Kakuzu fell into, a few crystals, and blood stains on the floor, there weren't many signs that a battle between S-Ranks had happened here.
Still, the battles themselves seemed to have the shinobi watching us gaze in astonishment at how swiftly we managed to handle what had been slaughtering their fellows a little while ago. Even the looks that held disdain for me held a grudging respect or blatant fear.
Yet despite the many eyes that were on me at the moment, there was only one that held any true importance. And it wasn't even that of a human or mutated one.
It was a crow perched on the top of a distant tree.
Despite the distance, I could see the intelligence in its eyes the moment my gaze fell upon it. And in the next few I was on the same branch it was perched on, my speed enough to mimic that of the Yellow Flash to those unaware of his true capablities.
The crow was clearly startled by my sudden appearance, but it made no move to fly away. Seems that it was smart enough to know that I was more than fast enough to catch it if I so desired.
But I made no move to capture it beyond holding its attention, I needed it to fly free after all.
"Be it a summon or clone, I know that you're watching, Itachi. As you have witnessed, I am more than ready to face you, so get your affairs in order soon. Our destiny and the future of the Uchiha Clan await. And know this, I am aware of Shisui's eye. So you'd better keep that eye to yourself, and hear me when I say that I will gut Naruto Uzumaki to find that damn crow and burn Konoha and every fucking tree, branch, leaf, and root to the ground if you don't have it with you," I threaten to the crow, letting out some of my Killing Intent laced with Senjutsu to add weight to my threat. Though I would very much prefer to never do such a thing Naruto, a guy I admired, I won't allow myself to become a slave to Itachi or Konoha just because my freedom went against the interests of either. Besides, Naruto could always just regenerate that damage and a Final Valley rematch along with a bowl of ramen should patch that up.
That crow only stared at me as I glared into its eyes through my Mangekyou, sending a pulse of chakra to highlight Hagoromo's contribution to my Eternal Mangekyou. Of course, I had a pseudo clone via Inorganic Animation to shield my eyes from the crow should it be the Crowtoamatsukami.
After a few more moments it started to flap its wings, though I could notice that it did so stiffly while also shaking as well in a hurry yet continued to look me in the eyes as it did until it flew away.
And un-clichely enough it wasn't into the sun which has long since set over the Village Hidden in the Sound. The sky in which the crow flew was of a faded remnant of the red sun, the dark blue of the night, and the lavender of dusk.
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Behold, the fastest update in my history as an author! A day!
Though that could only happen thanks to the fact that I split this chapter into two parts.
Only two fights and a dramatic ending with a promise to the future happened but I hope it was interesting enough for you guys. Of course if it wasn't, I apologize as writing fight scenes are still new to me. So feel free to let me know where I messed up and let me know how I can fix it.
Of course there were plenty of ways for Sasuke to utterly destroy and bully Kakuzu. I mean, his main weapons are elemental ninjutsu which Sasuke is completely immune to and his defense is earth which is useless before Sasuke's lightning.
As for Hidan, I was originally going to have Sasuke solo him as well but decided to let him and Suigetsu fight since they're both white haired, violent, psychopaths so why not. As for giving him the Ketsuryugan, his main gimmick is his immortality and blood ritual. So when it came to giving him a buff, that was where my first thought was. Of course he couldn't use it to the same effect as Chino did for a bunch of reasons I hope I made clear, though I'll say them in case I hadn't.
- Transplanted eyes aren't as effective as natural eyes,
- Despite Hidan likely having a Water Nature type due to coming from the Land of Hot Water, he couldn't use the Blood Dragons as that was used where there was a lot of iron rich water and was likely a clan technique,
- The main reason Hidan has that eye and Kakuzu didn't sell it was so he didn't have to stitch up Hidan everytime he got dismembered.
And then Dosu and Guren interfered and finished off Hidan. A bit disrespectful to him and Suigetsu, and cheap as hell, but the main point of having those fights in the open was to demonstrate the strength and cooperation of Sasuke with Guren's leadership. Could I have done that better, probably, but Oto was meant to be a stop along the way after all. Though Sasuke will deal with the aftermath for a bit, set some things up, and then leave.
Also to give some frame of time, since this took place during what would've been OG!Sasuke's battle against Deidara, it'll be around the time of the Itachi Pursuit Mission. So Sasuke's 'fight'/brutal beatdown with Itachi and reunion with Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and Konoha are getting closer. Plus Zetsu and Obito will be in one place, ripe for the taking.
Omake #3
Liked it enough to decide that it should be it's own thing.
I wrote this little omake that takes place right after the events of chapter 6, I think you might have a good guess of who it might be about already.
Omake 3
Akatsuki Barracks
"Kisame!" Itachi cried out in urgency while also spotting some pecking marks on his face.
"What the- Itachi? What the hell?" Kisame said grousely, before turning to look at his alarm clock. "It's 3 in the morning!"
"We need to get to the Leaf now." Itachi continued.
"What, why?" Kisame asked.
"I gravely miscalculated," Itachi said. It was said in his usual monotone but Kisame knew him enough to know that in Itachi speak it meant 'I fucked up'.
"Huh, what did you fuck up? And clearly, you fucked up bad."
Itachi was silent for a half second before answering. "...I need to remove the crow I shoved down Naruto Uzumaki's throat."
"...why the fuck would you shove a crow down his throat? You are aware that you could kill someone that way, yes? Is that why you're in such a hurry?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Itachi admitted, with the slightest hint of a blush.
"How could that possibly be a good idea at any time!?"
"Stop asking questions and get yourself ready or I will leave without you."
"Fine, I'll go with you just so you don't do anything even more ridiculous."
---------
Village Hidden in the Leaf
"Who the hell is knocking at my door at-," Naruto groused on his toilet seat before looking at his alarm clock. "4 in the morning?! Who'd come here at this time? And why is this damn crow so hard to get rid of!?"
The knocking continued as the Uzumaki just formed a Shadow Clone and sent it to answer the door.
"What the hell do you want at this hour… Itachi?! Ow!" Clone!Naruto opened the door, only to find a surprise in the form of missing ninja Itachi Uchiha. And a knock on the forehead.
"Hello, Naruto-kun. I need that crow back." Itachi greeted.
"... wait, that wasn't a genjutsu?" C!Naruto asked.
"No."
"That explains why I've been crapping out feathers."
"You've been what?" Kisame laughed in the background while Itachi's expression soured.
"I mean, I heard that when it gets really bad you can hallucinate while doing it, so when I saw a Sharingan out of my ass I knew I needed to get it out asap. Then get some ramen to help since that has not been fun." C!Naruto explained as well as defended, though he wasn't happy that he had to.
"I'm pretty sure ramen wouldn't help with that." Kisame advised.
"Pssh, ramen is the food of the gods! There's nothing that it can't fix, like depressingly alone childhoods."
"That's fucked."
"I don't care about your trauma. How long ago was that?" Itachi, one of the biggest dealers of trauma in the continent, interrupted with a demand.
"...right now," Naruto answered. "Geez, this is the strangest genjutsu I've been in by far."
"Kisame." Itachi said, but didn't get that far in his request.
"Itachi, you woke me up at 3 am for this, I'm not pulling out your shat out crow." Kisame refused firmly. There was a lot he'd help his partner out with but there were limits.
With that avenue blocked, Itachi then turned to the Uzumaki mumbling 'kai' like it'd get him out of this situation. "Naruto, you need to get that crow back."
"I've been trying to get that damn thing out. And why the hell should I help you? You tried to kidnap me, are the main reason Sasuke left the village and the reason for the worst four hours of my life."
"Do it and Sasuke will come back to the village." Itachi explained simply. Though in his mind he was well aware of why his brother would come without the crow.
"How the hell would getting your crow bring Sasuke back?"
"I'm here."
"Oh, right. Itachi." Naruto said before what he said dawned on him. "Wait?! Itachi?!"
"Sasuke." Itachi reminded him.
Naruto glared at the Uchiha for a little while before an angry grimace came over him. "You're the one who put that damn crow there, you get it out since it doesn't want to leave."
Itachi's sour expression only became more pronounced with that realization that yes, he would have to clean up the shit that he caused. For the greater good TM.
I wrote this little omake that takes place right after the events of chapter 6, I think you might have a good guess of who it might be about already.
Omake 3
Akatsuki Barracks
"Kisame!" Itachi cried out in urgency while also spotting some pecking marks on his face.
"What the- Itachi? What the hell?" Kisame said grousely, before turning to look at his alarm clock. "It's 3 in the morning!"
"We need to get to the Leaf now." Itachi continued.
"What, why?" Kisame asked.
"I gravely miscalculated," Itachi said. It was said in his usual monotone but Kisame knew him enough to know that in Itachi speak it meant 'I fucked up'.
"Huh, what did you fuck up? And clearly, you fucked up bad."
Itachi was silent for a half second before answering. "...I need to remove the crow I shoved down Naruto Uzumaki's throat."
"...why the fuck would you shove a crow down his throat? You are aware that you could kill someone that way, yes? Is that why you're in such a hurry?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Itachi admitted, with the slightest hint of a blush.
"How could that possibly be a good idea at any time!?"
"Stop asking questions and get yourself ready or I will leave without you."
"Fine, I'll go with you just so you don't do anything even more ridiculous."
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Village Hidden in the Leaf
"Who the hell is knocking at my door at-," Naruto groused on his toilet seat before looking at his alarm clock. "4 in the morning?! Who'd come here at this time? And why is this damn crow so hard to get rid of!?"
The knocking continued as the Uzumaki just formed a Shadow Clone and sent it to answer the door.
"What the hell do you want at this hour… Itachi?! Ow!" Clone!Naruto opened the door, only to find a surprise in the form of missing ninja Itachi Uchiha. And a knock on the forehead.
"Hello, Naruto-kun. I need that crow back." Itachi greeted.
"... wait, that wasn't a genjutsu?" C!Naruto asked.
"No."
"That explains why I've been crapping out feathers."
"You've been what?" Kisame laughed in the background while Itachi's expression soured.
"I mean, I heard that when it gets really bad you can hallucinate while doing it, so when I saw a Sharingan out of my ass I knew I needed to get it out asap. Then get some ramen to help since that has not been fun." C!Naruto explained as well as defended, though he wasn't happy that he had to.
"I'm pretty sure ramen wouldn't help with that." Kisame advised.
"Pssh, ramen is the food of the gods! There's nothing that it can't fix, like depressingly alone childhoods."
"That's fucked."
"I don't care about your trauma. How long ago was that?" Itachi, one of the biggest dealers of trauma in the continent, interrupted with a demand.
"...right now," Naruto answered. "Geez, this is the strangest genjutsu I've been in by far."
"Kisame." Itachi said, but didn't get that far in his request.
"Itachi, you woke me up at 3 am for this, I'm not pulling out your shat out crow." Kisame refused firmly. There was a lot he'd help his partner out with but there were limits.
With that avenue blocked, Itachi then turned to the Uzumaki mumbling 'kai' like it'd get him out of this situation. "Naruto, you need to get that crow back."
"I've been trying to get that damn thing out. And why the hell should I help you? You tried to kidnap me, are the main reason Sasuke left the village and the reason for the worst four hours of my life."
"Do it and Sasuke will come back to the village." Itachi explained simply. Though in his mind he was well aware of why his brother would come without the crow.
"How the hell would getting your crow bring Sasuke back?"
"I'm here."
"Oh, right. Itachi." Naruto said before what he said dawned on him. "Wait?! Itachi?!"
"Sasuke." Itachi reminded him.
Naruto glared at the Uchiha for a little while before an angry grimace came over him. "You're the one who put that damn crow there, you get it out since it doesn't want to leave."
Itachi's sour expression only became more pronounced with that realization that yes, he would have to clean up the shit that he caused. For the greater good TM.
Chapter 7
Quite the surprise, it's still alive
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As the crow flew off, I remained perched on the branch for a moment longer, my gaze following its path until it vanished into the horizon. Even with the crow gone, I took a bit to linger on the tree and appreciate the view of the sky, a canvas of fading light where but a few remnants of red gave way to the soft embrace of oranges, pinks, and purples.
A sappy sentiment, I know, but it was a pleasant sight to see in a world filled with endless conflict. It also was a reminder that, amidst all of the chaos, there is still beauty to be found and appreciated. That moments of peace can come about untouched by the turmoil below. And unlike back home, the chaos of the world didn't pollute the very skies, though it could end all life underneath just the same.
I took in a deep breath, taking in the serenity and tranquility of the moment, literally as I allowed the natural energy to flow into me and mingle with my own.
It's also a nice background to have while thinking too. Though I supposed that others would call it brooding given Sasuke's history. And perhaps they wouldn't be entirely wrong considering that the thinking was on the same subject.
Itachi Uchiha. Hoo boy, that mess.
And that was putting aside the whirlwind of emotions towards the man due to having the memories of his greatest victim.
Now, was it the best idea to threaten Itachi by threatening extreme violence on his beloved village? The one that he aided in killing his entire family for. Probably not, in the same vein that subjecting his brother to a genjutsu repeating the entire traumatic experience twice wasn't the best of ideas either, but I did need the psycho to not pull that failsafe bullshit with the crow on Naruto and keep it with him.
Granted, the potential fallout from such a threat may push Itachi into something extreme, yet it offered something far too tantalizing for me to ignore - claiming the Totsuka Blade, Yata Mirror, and Shisui's eye all at once.
And won't that be quite the event, rife with an ample amount of opportunities? Looting Itachi as mentioned, meeting up with Team 7 again, and, most importantly, the chance to end Zetsu and Obito as threats.
Zetsu should be easy enough, he'll be distracted by my… fight, demolition? By whatever I decide to do with Itachi which leaves him ripe for being sealed away. And if he somehow noticed me in my attempt, he'd still be easy to subdue, seeing as he was genuinely afraid of Kakashi during the War Arc who I've surpassed.
Obito presented a trickier problem, not so much in the long term like Zetsu would but in the immediacy of dealing with him. Killing him wasn't the issue, it was that I just need to do it in a way that he can't just escape with Kamui or activate Izanagi to survive and then escape, and all in a way that leaves his body intact since I didn't want to let those Hashirama cells and especially Kamui go to waste.
But enough of those thoughts, I'll need to deal with this business in Oto before I can finally leave and act on them.
So I took one more look at the sky, the crow now long gone, and I jumped off the tree and made way to the direction of the Oto base, ready to see this side quest through and done, one way or another.
After our undeniable show of strength, and my sudden run to the tree, Guren gave a rehearsed speech to the shinobi around us. It can be summed up as: Orochimaru is dead, cementing my status as an ally of theirs, how it would be time for the village to embrace a new direction and a thinly veiled threat to any who would oppose this new direction.
Shadow Clones were useful for keeping track like that when you had the chakra to throw them around.
Of course, there were a few who were more than willing to challenge Guren and myself right then and there, and even a few suicide bombers from the most die-hard of Orochimaru's followers looking to get revenge
Now I'm sure that people oughta to be smarter than that, or have some form of functioning survival sense, but fanatics weren't always the most rational and me reappearing with Orochimaru's severed head wasn't helping with that.
Guren dealt with them swiftly, a crystal projectile ending each challenge with deadly precision. I stood back, observing, my mind coldly analytical amidst the violence. I had no desire to engage with these remnants of Orochimaru's regime, they were utterly beneath me, and so I signaled Suigetsu to handle them. He relished in the abrupt chaos as leaped into the fray with the Nuibari, his needle-like 'sword' skewering the dissenters like dolls in a grotesque display of power. It was a brutal display, but one that was necessary in order to establish our authority.
"If there are any more who object, do get it out of the way so we can get this over with already. If not, then we have things to do, so get back to your stations!" Guren commanded.
The shinobi around us seemed to hesitate for a moment, unsure of what to do. But as they looked at the bodies of those who had just challenged us, and were looked back at by Guren's sharp and unyielding dark eyes as well as my lazily spinning Sharingan eyes and the look on Suigetsu's face that just promised a brutal end, they seemed to realize that it was in their best interest to follow Guren's lead.
Slowly but surely, they began to disperse, returning to their stations and their duties. Guren and I watched them go, the tension in the air slowly dissipating.
"That went better than I expected," Guren said, her voice low and thoughtful. "I had anticipated more resistance, but it seems that Orochimaru's grip on the village wasn't as strong as we thought."
I nodded in agreement, still feeling a rush of adrenaline from the fight despite how easily it had been won.
Suigetsu, wiping the blood from his blade, chimed in with a casual air. "Looks like we scared them straight." he said, twirling his Nuibari around his fingers.
Guren sighed as she shook her head, a hint of weariness in her voice, "If only it were that simple. The easy part is over, but the real challenges lie ahead. There are still those who will oppose us. The grunts are annoying but know better. It'll be the more entrenched and higher up that'll be problematic," she explained, before turning to me, "As you well know."
"Hardly, they were beneath my time and I made sure that they knew it." It was true, Sasuke hardly paid much attention to the politics of this place, then again there wouldn't be much reason to since he was right beneath Orochimaru in the pecking order as his next vessel and had no intentions of sticking around after killing him.
"And they'll be sure to remember it, you aren't popular for that attitude along with the favoritism." Suigetsu added.
Guren snorted dismissively, "Let them remember what they want. The only thing that matters is that they obey and follow the new direction that we'll be taking. They can either fall in line or be crushed like those fools earlier."
"Besides, favoritism or not, we have the power to back up our decisions. As long as we show that we can deliver results, they will have no choice but to accept our leadership." I added.
"Yes, such is the way of the ninja world we live in," Dosu interjected, approaching us with a determined stride, "Now, we must consolidate our power, forge new alliances, and eliminate any lingering loyalty to Orochimaru. We have to prove to the world that Otogakure is a force to be reckoned with."
"Can we move this along?" Suigetsu asked, his voice impatient. "I'm getting bored just standing around here and talking politics."
Dosu gave him a sharp look, but then he nodded. "Yes, let's get to it. We have a lot of work to do if we want to establish our new direction for the village."
With that, we set off towards the center of the village, where we would begin to put our plans into action.
After calming the village down from preparing to make a last stand, there was a meeting to be held so that the Otokage along with the Clan Heads and other high-ranking individuals could discuss the future of the village. It mirrored how Konoha would had such a meeting, the infrastructure no doubt modeled after what seemed to already work to Orochimaru
As we entered the meeting room, I could feel the weight of the eyes of the other shinobi upon us. Many of them reflected the same things that I saw earlier after dealing with Hidan and Kakuzu. Fear, scorn, and grudging respect, though there were a few unexpected people here whose respect seemed to be genuine, even thankful, or at least didn't hate me. But I paid them no mind as we took our seats at the head of the table.
Guren in Orochimaru's former seat, Dosu sitting right besides her in Kabuto's former seat, and myself in the usually empty seat reversed for Sasuke during the few times that he attended these meetings.
"Welcome everyone," Guren began. "It's clear that our village has been through a difficult time, but we have overcome a great threat. Orochimaru's death has left a power vacuum in Otogakure, and it's time for us to take charge and steer our village in a new direction."
"What is he doing here?" one of them asked with a sneer.
"Sasuke Uchiha is here because he aided us in dealing with Hidan and Kakuzu," Guren pointed out in my defense. "We owe him our gratitude."
"You do know that he is right in front of you," I remarked, glancing at the man.
The man only gave me a cursory glance before turning his attention back to Dosu. It was clear that some of the shinobi in the room still harbored resentment towards me, despite the fact that I had just helped them defend their village and saved their sorry asses.
"Did everybody assume that I'd be so gung ho on killing Itachi that I'd be a nonfactor?" I bluntly asked, looking straight in the eyes at the man who had spoken earlier. We only locked gazes for a second before he quickly diverted his eyes away from mine.
"You've shown no inclination or care for Oto beyond the training and resources that Orochimaru offered you. Why would we have expected you to care that the village is going through such turbulent times?" Another spoke up, his tone more measured and seeming to share a less hostile opinion with the other.
"Fair," I said, nodding my head, "So I'll be upfront. Had this been any other minor village, I'd be content to go about my day without looking back. Unfortunately, this is a minor hidden village run by Orochimaru with a lot of mad scientists who are now without oversight. Some of whom may want revenge against me for killing the snake. Others who were only held back because of the Sannin. That's a recipe for disaster that I'd rather nip in the bud now than deal with later."
"That's understandable and more fitting for you. And unfortunately, your concerns are valid. We've already lost contact with a concerning number of scientists, either lost to other villages or defected."
Of course, the Sannin would prefer to host scientists loyal to him to conduct these experiments. The thought of those madmen running rampant was worrisome, something that I might look into after stopping the Akatsuki if Dosu doesn't have it handled.
"While some sycophants may be displeased with you, please know that I, along with the rest of the Fuma Clan, are grateful to you, Sasuke Uchiha." Sasame , leader of the Fuma Clan, spoke up.
The Fuma Clan was a notable clan, not for the same reasons as those descended from Hagoromo or Hamura but for their position. They were one of the oldest clans still remaining in Oto, as they had a history in the Land of Rice, and were a clan I vaguely recognized from filler in part 1 of Naruto yet hadn't encountered in this world. Though I did recall her having supposed to have worked with Naruto as an ally in some capacity against her clan. Seems that she stuck around instead. Another aspect of this different reality.
Anyway, they were recruited by Orochimaru with a promise of returning their status to how it had been long ago. The previous clan head having been a gloryhound bought into that rather eagerly. There was almost a split that divided the clan since not everyone was too keen on trusting the Snake, but it was ultimately decided that the Fuma would be joining the Oto as a whole to avoid any sort of 'lone wolfing' in foriegn lands without their most powerful with them. They weren't all happy about it, and it was clear that there were some internal conflicts within the clan. Those conflicts soon faded away; they soon were disillusioned when they were only used for kinjutsu experimentation. Of course, they couldn't exactly leave Oto since not only would they be hunted as traitors, but they'd also be hunted by Konoha and Suna out for blood as well.
"I would like to express a similar sentiment on the behalf of my clan as well. Having to face the Akatsuki or being roped into a civil war would've been a trying time we could do without." Another clan head said, Shiin of the Shiin clan, a man I only vaguely remembered from a filler. But from what Sasuke's memories were telling me, this guy was just a part of your average ninja clan. A bunch of mercenaries and criminals.
The meeting continued with various clan heads expressing their gratitude towards me for assisting in the defense of the village. It seemed that despite the animosity from some individuals, there were those who recognized the value of my presence and acknowledged that without me, they would have faced a difficult battle against Hidan and Kakuzu.
Guren continued the meeting, bringing attention back to the important matter at hand. "Now, I know that many of you have concerns about our direction moving forward. So, I want to hear your thoughts and opinions. After all, most of us share the same goal, a better Otokagure than the one that Orochimaru had left us in. All of you here are welcome to help us reach that goal, so, what are your ideas for the future of our village?"
Silence fell over the room as the shinobi exchanged glances, contemplating Guren's question. I leaned back in my chair, observing the scene. It was clear that the village was still searching for its identity, grappling with the aftermath of Orochimaru's demise and the newfound freedom they had gained.
Despite the initial resistance, more and more shinobi began to share their ideas, each contributing to the conversation with a unique perspective. Some suggested focusing on reviving the old traditions of the original Hidden Village of the Land Rice from before Sasori destroyed it, while others proposed investing in new technologies and alliances to forge a new path into the future.
"We should focus on developing our jutsu. Our strengths lie in the use of sound-based jutsu. With the proper and truly focused training, we can become a formidable force."
"We need to strengthen our defenses. The village is vulnerable, and we need to make sure that we can protect ourselves from outside threats."
"We should explore the possibilities of diplomacy. We have the potential to build strong alliances, and it would be a mistake not to explore this option."
"We should continue to conduct research on biochemical weaponry. This could give us a competitive advantage over other nations."
As the discussion continued, the voices of the shinobi grew louder, their passionate enthusiasm and frustration apparent.
After some time, Guren spoke up again. "Thank you for your input. It's clear that there are a lot of ideas on the table, and we'll have to take all of them into consideration."
She looked around the room, her gaze landing on the faces of each clan head and high-ranking individual. Then, her gaze fixed upon me, and an unsettling chill ran down my spine.
Shit, that was a hell of a spotlight. I didn't exactly come here to be the leader of the village, I didn't even care enough to learn the names of the clan heads here. But then again, the opportunity to influence the direction of a hidden village was too good to pass up.
And with Oto being the most likely of all the villages to pursue a path that would try to separate themselves from Orochimaru as much as they could, it wouldn't hurt to have some influence on that growth for some future reference.
As I gathered my thoughts, another voice spoke in, diverting attention. "Before we delve into that," a figure queried, "Seeing as Guren still has the hat and robes, he isn't taking the title of Otokage?"
"I have no need for it when my goals still remain the same." I said.
"I wouldn't have expected otherwise, but what of after? Where do you plan to take the future of the Uchiha after?"
"If you're worried about me rejoining Konoha, then you can put those worries to rest. Konoha no longer deserves the Uchiha for failing to provide them safety from madmen. So the Uchiha will have no future in Konoha, but neither will they have one in Oto either."
A murmur of relief swept through some, while others, including Dosu, appeared contemplative, possibly disappointed. The strategic implications of aligning with me were significant considering the power I possessed that they knew of, and my declaration had just stilled any thoughts on deeper alliances.
"However," I continued, "my support for Otogakure, under Guren's leadership, remains steadfast. I am committed to aiding this village's growth for as long as she leads."
A clan head, skeptical, interjected, "A clan as well known as the Uchiha, along with the fame and infamy it carries, are never going to rest outside of a village. You and your children will either be forced into one or destroyed utterly by one. The only clans that can go without a village are the ones that lack the history that yours has."
"I never said that they will rebuild in the Elemental Nations either, I will rebuild when and where I know that any family that I start will live in peace."
His response was tinged with cynicism as he shook his head disapprovingly, "A dream that many fathers and mothers have, but it is a hopeless one. Hashirama Senju had created Konoha for the sake of having a safe haven for the children of all clans, yet genin are still routinely used."
Even more of a reason for me to never start a family in this world. And sure, in happy cases, Jonin get close enough to their Genin squads to consider them family, but they're still setting them up to die for the village that they're serving. And if necessary, would leave them to die or even kill the surrogate child themself.
"I'm fully aware of how difficult achieving such a goal would be," I asserted firmly while maintaining eye contact with him. "But my goal remains unchanged. The Uchiha will rise again, on my terms, no matter of how long it takes." I shifted the focus back to our purpose, "And besides, we're not here to discuss the future of the Uchiha. We're here to discuss the future of Otogakure, which I was just about to speak on."
During my explanation, I had also managed to gather my thoughts on the future and restructuring of Otogakure.
And though I was welcome to share those thoguhts, I found myself contributing cautiously. My inclination was to advocate for more ethical policies, but the reality of Otogakure's situation, as well as the rest of the world overall, imposed limitations on such aspirations.
One particular issue was the age requirement for becoming a genin. Ideally, I would have proposed increasing it to an adult age, but as a minor hidden village, Oto's survival depended heavily on its shinobi force. Such an increase in the genin age was impractical, considering the village's need to bolster its ranks with natural citizens as opposed to only recruiting missing nin.
So I compromised on that and just suggested extending the duration of training in the academy by a year or two. This would not only provide the young shinobi with more comprehensive training but also involve them in D-rank and low C-rank missions (supervised by a Jonin or multiple Chunin). After all, Team Dosu came from street rats yet were able to be trained into Chunin level shinobi in a lesser time than it took for the average Konoha student to go through the Academy and gain experience as Gennin, but that still took some time at least. So quality could still be gained along with quantity.
This approach was met with approval; it was seen as a 'soft' yet practical approach to the rigorous shinobi upbringing.
And there were more issues as well I could've touched on, but that was coming from a man from the 21st century in a 'democratic' society, not everything there can be applied here. Anything that'd be humane would be seen as weakness and would be pounded upon.
Practicality was the only way more humane ways would be accepted, but never anything that could be perceived as weakness. As a minor hidden village, Oto couldn't afford such a thing lest it risk being screwed with by the minor villages let alone the Great Five that were already fucking with it.
But honestly, it wasn't my job to fix the system. I'll leave that to Naruto. I'm sure that he'll do well enough, and if he manages to make some of my moral suggestions work then all the better for them to spread.
And amusingly enough, and better for my mood, we soon went off track again on a me related subject. As a few of the clan heads tried throwing an offer of marriage my way, citing it as a way to reward me for my assistance in this village's dire hour of need, to reward loyalty in dire times, or to provide incentives for remaining in the village after Orochimaru failed to provide what he promised. It was a rather blatant ploy but one I could hardly fault them for, they had quite a lot to gain from it. And while the women were attractive as is the case for an anime world, such as Sasame or her aide Kotohime, they were people I knew and cared little about. Even Guren's name was brought up, and though I wouldn't mind hitting that, she had a kid which wasn't something I wanted to be saddled with at the moment, even if Yukimaru was a sweet kid.
After listening to a few, I decided that I've heard enough and moved to reject all of them through a simple action.
I grabbed Karin and pulled her close to me before kissing her passionately. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise before she eagerly followed along, moaning softly into the kiss as her hands gripped my hair.
"But they're cousins of the Senju!" one protested, a seemingly valid argument when you took history into account.
I pulled away from Karin with a smirk, leaving her with a furious flush on her face at the public act, "And what better way to rebuild the Uchiha than by combining the power of their bodies with our eyes?" I rebuked. And that silenced any further protest, as the idea of a child sired by the Uchiha and Uzumaki was simply too optimal for them to be able to counter. The Uzumaki reserves and chakra made a far better boon to the next generation of Uchiha than anything that they had to offer. And so they dropped the topic of my hand in marriage.
Nobody wanted to offer a mistress to a man who wasn't even part of the village, as they'd be losing a kunoichi skilled enough to be worthwhile and may not even get the child back.
We quickly moved on to other issues, discussing the future of Otogakure and restructuring things. Though I couldn't but notice that a sizable number of women present were now looking over at me with a more intense interest, as well as a bit of jealous towards Karin, something that very much noticed based on the smug look she gave everyone while draping herself over me.
With that meeting concluded, though they'd be having more, my role was for the most part done. All that remained was to claim the reward promised by Dosu – unrestricted access to the secrets of Orochimaru.
Dosu led me to a secluded part of the village, where the hidden quarters and laboratory of Orochimaru lay. "Just as I promised, here is full access to Orochimaru's sanctum." Dosu announced, gesturing to the door. "Feel free to help yourself to whatever you'd like, though we'd appreciate copies of key findings to be left behind." Dosu turned to me once we reached our destination.
Acknowledging with a simple nod, I prepared a Multi-Earth Clone jutsu. With precise hand signs, ten Chunin-level clones materialized, each instinctively beginning their search through the extensive notes and files.
It ended up taking a few hours since I knew that there would be things that Orochimaru would've certainly kept well hidden. The man hadn't planned for his death, but he did plan on being incapacitated for a long time and for others to try and steal his notes during that absence. The search turned out to be a journey through Orochimaru's twisted genius; his notes, scattered with cryptic annotations and complex diagrams, revealed the depth of his obsession with immortality and power.
The clones, methodical and focused, navigated through the maze of information, occasionally triggering traps that Orochimaru had cunningly set. A few of them almost got dispelled a few times after triggering a trap or two, and one of them actually did. That clone was lost to a particularly vicious trap, one that would've killed anybody who couldn't survive it barring the Sannin himself or those with unique regeneration. And this was for finding some of the really important notes.
His total research on Hashirama Senju's cells.
The notes spanned across various periods: from his time as a loyal shinobi of Konoha, through his descent into darker and darker paths, to his recent considerations of replacing his arms with them or integrating them into himself to mitigate or even counter the Reaper Death Seal.
And a name of interest repeatedly surfaced in these documents – Danzo Shimura, implicated in providing Orochimaru with the cells and even suggesting their use for bodily enhancements. One which the man himself had Orochimaru do for him
All I needed to do was just slap these papers on to Tsunade's desk and it'd be irrefutable proof that he was a traitor. Because if there was one thing that guaranteed a death penalty, it was bloodline theft. Especially when it was of the Hokage's dearly beloved grandfather and village founder.
Honestly, this was my reason for wanting the notes in the first place. Sure, I could just waltz in and kill him without any difficulty, with or without him using Izanagi depending on how much I'd want to beat him down, but having the warhawk, who justified every atrocity he committed 'for the good of the Leaf', executed for treason would be so much more satisfying.
Still, Orochimaru's approach to integrating the cells would be very useful when I got enough to implant into myself.
Well, that'd require a medic-nin that I'd absolutely trust to do so. And while Karin had skill as such, I'd prefer Tsunade, Shizune, or Sakura since they're best of the best at their craft and my best option for preventing me from meeting the fate of other failed applications.
But such operations wouldn't be occurring for quite some time. In the more immediate of things, I have his jutsus and fuinjutsus to look over while I travel, the ones that he either didn't teach or hadn't shown Sasuke.
I'm sure that the Sannin had plenty more hidden, throughout the village and the continent, but my main concerns were for any research regarding Hashirama Cells and anything that could implicate Danzo as a traitor. With those two now in my hands and Dosu seeming to be a good fit to take over, my business in the Sound Village drew to a close.
"Dosu, I have something for you, a gift" I announced, a hint of mystery in my voice. With a deliberate and calculated motion, I extended my hand over his, shaped something out of Yin-Yang Chakra, then withdrew.
He kept his hand closed enough that no one could see but just slightly open enough for him to peek at what I put in there. His eyes widened, and a tremor ran through his fingers before the rest of him started shaking.
"H-how…" Dosu uttered in rasped breaths, his voice a mix of awe and disbelief, barely audible above a whisper.
A faint smile curled at the corner of my lips, "Senjutsu is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be …unnatural." I responded cryptically, watching as he grappled with the reality of what lay in his palm.
His gaze flickered up to mine, a storm of emotions swirling in his eyes, "...I don't know whether I should thank you profusely for the boon or throttle you for making Oto the potential starting ground of the Fifth Shinobi War."
Guren, intrigued by our exchange, leaned in closer. "What the hell did he give you if it got you so startled?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
Dosu hesitantly revealed the gift, ever so slightly opened his hand just enough for Guren to catch a glimpse of the gift. Guren's eyes widened in utter shock, her words catching in her throat.
"Holy shit! Thats-." She stammered, struggling to process the sight. Her head turned sharply to mine, "How the hell are you pulling miracles out of your ass so often!? This is something that Orochimaru would gladly delimb himself for."
"As I told Hidan, these eyes are now my property. And so I see fit to gift you with more of them. I trust that Otogakure will use them wisely and use them well."
The sheer weight of my words and the potential of my gift as well as the power it came from seemed to sink in. Guren stepped back slightly, her expression a mix of respect and disbelief.
Dosu looked at the gift again, then back at me. "This changes everything," he muttered, almost to himself. "The balance of power, our strategies, our very future..."
With the gifts exchanged, I gave Dosu and Guren a final goodbye. "Good luck," I said, turning towards the gate. "You'll need it."
Guren, with a dry but earnest smile, responded, "We'll need more than luck, but thank you." Her words were light, but her gaze held a serious depth.
"Goodbye, Sasuke Uchiha," Dosu added, his tone solemn. "And good luck on your own path. The road ahead is paved with trials and tribulations, but I have faith in your ability to overcome them."
I paused, looking back at them one last time. "Thank you. Take care of yourselves," my voice carrying a genuine warmth. There was a part of me that truly hoped for their success in reshaping Otogakure, especially with Naruto's eventual rise to Hokage. Dosu's vision for a reformed village might come to fruition sooner than he expected.
And with that, we were off, our figures disappearing in a swift, fluid motion, continuing on the path that lay ahead, a journey filled with unknowns and possibilities.
As we departed from Otogakure, Suigetsu turned to me, his curiosity evident as he probed. "So Sasuke, what exactly did you give Dosu that had him so spooked? That guy was almost always in control of himself, so whatever it was must've been big."
"Simple," I paused, allowing a moment of suspense before slowly uncurling my fingers. Nestled in my palm lay—
"What! The! Fuck!?" they exclaimed in unison, their voices echoing a blend of alarm and disbelief.
"Karin, that can't be real! This has to be a genjutsu! There's no fucking way that it can't be!" Suigetsu shouted, his voice trembling with disbelief.
Karin, after a moment of intense concentration, shook her head, her voice steady but filled with awe, "No, this is utilizing that Chakra of Sasuke's rather than just an ordinary genjutsu. That eye is just as real as any other, just as real as the one that Hidan had."
"Before you go into a rant, no, this isn't Sharingan bullshit at play again," Though Izanagi could technically make it work via the whole rewriting reality aspect it had, "With Senjutsu granting such a mastery over nature, wouldn't biology be included as well? At the end of the day, powerful dojutsu the eyes of the Ketsuryugan may be, they're still human eyes."
Suigetsu stared at me in utter disbelief, his brows furrowing in confusion. He closed his eyes and let out a breath, attempting to process the situation before just sighing. "What now?" he asked, his voice laced with a mix of resignation and irritation.
"Like we discussed long ago Suigetsu," I began, my voice firm and resolute. "With Oto dealt with, we're done with our side adventure. Now is the time for me to realize my revenge and for you to gain Samehada."
A fated battle between brothers. Or to be accurate, a brutal reversal of that fateful night on the Massacre.
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Quite the surprise, it's still alive!
But straight up, I'm just going to apologize for how long its been. A year and two months without an update, and here I thought 8 months was the worst I could do.
Now, I just want to get this out there. THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD. If it were, I'd have announced it quite a while ago, though in hindsight I probably should've said something sooner. But do rest assured that since this is my 'first' fic, I'm not just going to abandon it like I've seen so many others have done. I'd like to avoid such a sad fate for this since it's brought me be happiness back in my late high school years. (4 years ago, I'm not too old ya know)
And honestly, its not that this fic is dead, or that I don't want to write for it anymore or anything, its just that this chapter was sitting at 'arguably finished' since early 2023 but I just did not like the state of it and struggled to really fix that before getting catch up on other things that proved easier for me to work with and then life just happened. (I'm not one to self diagnose so I'll just chalk it up to monkey brain being difficult). Tbh, I wanted to finally get this out back in December when I was pushing out a ton of fics/chapters, and while I had done some work on this then, it sorta just stalled out on me until recently, where the close to 4 year aniversery of this story finally kicked my ass into gear in getting this out. Now, while I am still not 100% happy with this, I can finally get move on in the story and get to some more engaging parts. Hopefully, I've done well enough with things for now. Though I wouldn't be surprised if things have fallen off since it has been a long while since I've worked on this story.
/
Back to the usual author notes/rambles: We are finally move on from Sound and we're heading right into something I've been looking forward to for quite a long time. Sasuke and Itachi meeting up, along with Sasuke meeting with Naruto and Konoha. Hoo boy that is going to be so much fun hehe.
As for the events of this chapter, I'll just say it straight up, politics aren't my strongest of suits. And considering that this is a power wank, these weren't the most necessary to really look into since Sasuke won't be sticking around in the village or this world, but he'd leave some seeds for growth where he can before he goes off. And we'll be seeing more of Oto again later, as I'm sure Dosu will be quite surprised to find that Sasuke gets an alliance with Konoha dropped at his feet as well (either during Tsunade's reign as Hokage or during Naruto's).
And while it may seem strange that Sasuke was able to just make two pairs of Ketsuryugan like that, Naruto who never did an once of medical ninjutsu was able to create a fully functional eye for Kakashi, so Sasuke with the actual eyes on hand and 'felt' it't didn't seem too far fetched. Besides, Hagoromo does something to a greater effect when he made the Biju, so its not too far from Sasuke's alley to try something significantly lesser.
And I've already got the next chapter/interlude mostly cooked up. You'll be getting a brief POV of Itachi and Konoha to set them up and give you guys an idea of where they'll be heading.
Anyway, I do hope that you guys enjoyed, or at the least still remember this fic fondly, and leave me your thoughts.
And again, I am sorry that this took me so long.
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As the crow flew off, I remained perched on the branch for a moment longer, my gaze following its path until it vanished into the horizon. Even with the crow gone, I took a bit to linger on the tree and appreciate the view of the sky, a canvas of fading light where but a few remnants of red gave way to the soft embrace of oranges, pinks, and purples.
A sappy sentiment, I know, but it was a pleasant sight to see in a world filled with endless conflict. It also was a reminder that, amidst all of the chaos, there is still beauty to be found and appreciated. That moments of peace can come about untouched by the turmoil below. And unlike back home, the chaos of the world didn't pollute the very skies, though it could end all life underneath just the same.
I took in a deep breath, taking in the serenity and tranquility of the moment, literally as I allowed the natural energy to flow into me and mingle with my own.
It's also a nice background to have while thinking too. Though I supposed that others would call it brooding given Sasuke's history. And perhaps they wouldn't be entirely wrong considering that the thinking was on the same subject.
Itachi Uchiha. Hoo boy, that mess.
And that was putting aside the whirlwind of emotions towards the man due to having the memories of his greatest victim.
Now, was it the best idea to threaten Itachi by threatening extreme violence on his beloved village? The one that he aided in killing his entire family for. Probably not, in the same vein that subjecting his brother to a genjutsu repeating the entire traumatic experience twice wasn't the best of ideas either, but I did need the psycho to not pull that failsafe bullshit with the crow on Naruto and keep it with him.
Granted, the potential fallout from such a threat may push Itachi into something extreme, yet it offered something far too tantalizing for me to ignore - claiming the Totsuka Blade, Yata Mirror, and Shisui's eye all at once.
And won't that be quite the event, rife with an ample amount of opportunities? Looting Itachi as mentioned, meeting up with Team 7 again, and, most importantly, the chance to end Zetsu and Obito as threats.
Zetsu should be easy enough, he'll be distracted by my… fight, demolition? By whatever I decide to do with Itachi which leaves him ripe for being sealed away. And if he somehow noticed me in my attempt, he'd still be easy to subdue, seeing as he was genuinely afraid of Kakashi during the War Arc who I've surpassed.
Obito presented a trickier problem, not so much in the long term like Zetsu would but in the immediacy of dealing with him. Killing him wasn't the issue, it was that I just need to do it in a way that he can't just escape with Kamui or activate Izanagi to survive and then escape, and all in a way that leaves his body intact since I didn't want to let those Hashirama cells and especially Kamui go to waste.
But enough of those thoughts, I'll need to deal with this business in Oto before I can finally leave and act on them.
So I took one more look at the sky, the crow now long gone, and I jumped off the tree and made way to the direction of the Oto base, ready to see this side quest through and done, one way or another.
After our undeniable show of strength, and my sudden run to the tree, Guren gave a rehearsed speech to the shinobi around us. It can be summed up as: Orochimaru is dead, cementing my status as an ally of theirs, how it would be time for the village to embrace a new direction and a thinly veiled threat to any who would oppose this new direction.
Shadow Clones were useful for keeping track like that when you had the chakra to throw them around.
Of course, there were a few who were more than willing to challenge Guren and myself right then and there, and even a few suicide bombers from the most die-hard of Orochimaru's followers looking to get revenge
Now I'm sure that people oughta to be smarter than that, or have some form of functioning survival sense, but fanatics weren't always the most rational and me reappearing with Orochimaru's severed head wasn't helping with that.
Guren dealt with them swiftly, a crystal projectile ending each challenge with deadly precision. I stood back, observing, my mind coldly analytical amidst the violence. I had no desire to engage with these remnants of Orochimaru's regime, they were utterly beneath me, and so I signaled Suigetsu to handle them. He relished in the abrupt chaos as leaped into the fray with the Nuibari, his needle-like 'sword' skewering the dissenters like dolls in a grotesque display of power. It was a brutal display, but one that was necessary in order to establish our authority.
"If there are any more who object, do get it out of the way so we can get this over with already. If not, then we have things to do, so get back to your stations!" Guren commanded.
The shinobi around us seemed to hesitate for a moment, unsure of what to do. But as they looked at the bodies of those who had just challenged us, and were looked back at by Guren's sharp and unyielding dark eyes as well as my lazily spinning Sharingan eyes and the look on Suigetsu's face that just promised a brutal end, they seemed to realize that it was in their best interest to follow Guren's lead.
Slowly but surely, they began to disperse, returning to their stations and their duties. Guren and I watched them go, the tension in the air slowly dissipating.
"That went better than I expected," Guren said, her voice low and thoughtful. "I had anticipated more resistance, but it seems that Orochimaru's grip on the village wasn't as strong as we thought."
I nodded in agreement, still feeling a rush of adrenaline from the fight despite how easily it had been won.
Suigetsu, wiping the blood from his blade, chimed in with a casual air. "Looks like we scared them straight." he said, twirling his Nuibari around his fingers.
Guren sighed as she shook her head, a hint of weariness in her voice, "If only it were that simple. The easy part is over, but the real challenges lie ahead. There are still those who will oppose us. The grunts are annoying but know better. It'll be the more entrenched and higher up that'll be problematic," she explained, before turning to me, "As you well know."
"Hardly, they were beneath my time and I made sure that they knew it." It was true, Sasuke hardly paid much attention to the politics of this place, then again there wouldn't be much reason to since he was right beneath Orochimaru in the pecking order as his next vessel and had no intentions of sticking around after killing him.
"And they'll be sure to remember it, you aren't popular for that attitude along with the favoritism." Suigetsu added.
Guren snorted dismissively, "Let them remember what they want. The only thing that matters is that they obey and follow the new direction that we'll be taking. They can either fall in line or be crushed like those fools earlier."
"Besides, favoritism or not, we have the power to back up our decisions. As long as we show that we can deliver results, they will have no choice but to accept our leadership." I added.
"Yes, such is the way of the ninja world we live in," Dosu interjected, approaching us with a determined stride, "Now, we must consolidate our power, forge new alliances, and eliminate any lingering loyalty to Orochimaru. We have to prove to the world that Otogakure is a force to be reckoned with."
"Can we move this along?" Suigetsu asked, his voice impatient. "I'm getting bored just standing around here and talking politics."
Dosu gave him a sharp look, but then he nodded. "Yes, let's get to it. We have a lot of work to do if we want to establish our new direction for the village."
With that, we set off towards the center of the village, where we would begin to put our plans into action.
After calming the village down from preparing to make a last stand, there was a meeting to be held so that the Otokage along with the Clan Heads and other high-ranking individuals could discuss the future of the village. It mirrored how Konoha would had such a meeting, the infrastructure no doubt modeled after what seemed to already work to Orochimaru
As we entered the meeting room, I could feel the weight of the eyes of the other shinobi upon us. Many of them reflected the same things that I saw earlier after dealing with Hidan and Kakuzu. Fear, scorn, and grudging respect, though there were a few unexpected people here whose respect seemed to be genuine, even thankful, or at least didn't hate me. But I paid them no mind as we took our seats at the head of the table.
Guren in Orochimaru's former seat, Dosu sitting right besides her in Kabuto's former seat, and myself in the usually empty seat reversed for Sasuke during the few times that he attended these meetings.
"Welcome everyone," Guren began. "It's clear that our village has been through a difficult time, but we have overcome a great threat. Orochimaru's death has left a power vacuum in Otogakure, and it's time for us to take charge and steer our village in a new direction."
"What is he doing here?" one of them asked with a sneer.
"Sasuke Uchiha is here because he aided us in dealing with Hidan and Kakuzu," Guren pointed out in my defense. "We owe him our gratitude."
"You do know that he is right in front of you," I remarked, glancing at the man.
The man only gave me a cursory glance before turning his attention back to Dosu. It was clear that some of the shinobi in the room still harbored resentment towards me, despite the fact that I had just helped them defend their village and saved their sorry asses.
"Did everybody assume that I'd be so gung ho on killing Itachi that I'd be a nonfactor?" I bluntly asked, looking straight in the eyes at the man who had spoken earlier. We only locked gazes for a second before he quickly diverted his eyes away from mine.
"You've shown no inclination or care for Oto beyond the training and resources that Orochimaru offered you. Why would we have expected you to care that the village is going through such turbulent times?" Another spoke up, his tone more measured and seeming to share a less hostile opinion with the other.
"Fair," I said, nodding my head, "So I'll be upfront. Had this been any other minor village, I'd be content to go about my day without looking back. Unfortunately, this is a minor hidden village run by Orochimaru with a lot of mad scientists who are now without oversight. Some of whom may want revenge against me for killing the snake. Others who were only held back because of the Sannin. That's a recipe for disaster that I'd rather nip in the bud now than deal with later."
"That's understandable and more fitting for you. And unfortunately, your concerns are valid. We've already lost contact with a concerning number of scientists, either lost to other villages or defected."
Of course, the Sannin would prefer to host scientists loyal to him to conduct these experiments. The thought of those madmen running rampant was worrisome, something that I might look into after stopping the Akatsuki if Dosu doesn't have it handled.
"While some sycophants may be displeased with you, please know that I, along with the rest of the Fuma Clan, are grateful to you, Sasuke Uchiha." Sasame , leader of the Fuma Clan, spoke up.
The Fuma Clan was a notable clan, not for the same reasons as those descended from Hagoromo or Hamura but for their position. They were one of the oldest clans still remaining in Oto, as they had a history in the Land of Rice, and were a clan I vaguely recognized from filler in part 1 of Naruto yet hadn't encountered in this world. Though I did recall her having supposed to have worked with Naruto as an ally in some capacity against her clan. Seems that she stuck around instead. Another aspect of this different reality.
Anyway, they were recruited by Orochimaru with a promise of returning their status to how it had been long ago. The previous clan head having been a gloryhound bought into that rather eagerly. There was almost a split that divided the clan since not everyone was too keen on trusting the Snake, but it was ultimately decided that the Fuma would be joining the Oto as a whole to avoid any sort of 'lone wolfing' in foriegn lands without their most powerful with them. They weren't all happy about it, and it was clear that there were some internal conflicts within the clan. Those conflicts soon faded away; they soon were disillusioned when they were only used for kinjutsu experimentation. Of course, they couldn't exactly leave Oto since not only would they be hunted as traitors, but they'd also be hunted by Konoha and Suna out for blood as well.
"I would like to express a similar sentiment on the behalf of my clan as well. Having to face the Akatsuki or being roped into a civil war would've been a trying time we could do without." Another clan head said, Shiin of the Shiin clan, a man I only vaguely remembered from a filler. But from what Sasuke's memories were telling me, this guy was just a part of your average ninja clan. A bunch of mercenaries and criminals.
The meeting continued with various clan heads expressing their gratitude towards me for assisting in the defense of the village. It seemed that despite the animosity from some individuals, there were those who recognized the value of my presence and acknowledged that without me, they would have faced a difficult battle against Hidan and Kakuzu.
Guren continued the meeting, bringing attention back to the important matter at hand. "Now, I know that many of you have concerns about our direction moving forward. So, I want to hear your thoughts and opinions. After all, most of us share the same goal, a better Otokagure than the one that Orochimaru had left us in. All of you here are welcome to help us reach that goal, so, what are your ideas for the future of our village?"
Silence fell over the room as the shinobi exchanged glances, contemplating Guren's question. I leaned back in my chair, observing the scene. It was clear that the village was still searching for its identity, grappling with the aftermath of Orochimaru's demise and the newfound freedom they had gained.
Despite the initial resistance, more and more shinobi began to share their ideas, each contributing to the conversation with a unique perspective. Some suggested focusing on reviving the old traditions of the original Hidden Village of the Land Rice from before Sasori destroyed it, while others proposed investing in new technologies and alliances to forge a new path into the future.
"We should focus on developing our jutsu. Our strengths lie in the use of sound-based jutsu. With the proper and truly focused training, we can become a formidable force."
"We need to strengthen our defenses. The village is vulnerable, and we need to make sure that we can protect ourselves from outside threats."
"We should explore the possibilities of diplomacy. We have the potential to build strong alliances, and it would be a mistake not to explore this option."
"We should continue to conduct research on biochemical weaponry. This could give us a competitive advantage over other nations."
As the discussion continued, the voices of the shinobi grew louder, their passionate enthusiasm and frustration apparent.
After some time, Guren spoke up again. "Thank you for your input. It's clear that there are a lot of ideas on the table, and we'll have to take all of them into consideration."
She looked around the room, her gaze landing on the faces of each clan head and high-ranking individual. Then, her gaze fixed upon me, and an unsettling chill ran down my spine.
Shit, that was a hell of a spotlight. I didn't exactly come here to be the leader of the village, I didn't even care enough to learn the names of the clan heads here. But then again, the opportunity to influence the direction of a hidden village was too good to pass up.
And with Oto being the most likely of all the villages to pursue a path that would try to separate themselves from Orochimaru as much as they could, it wouldn't hurt to have some influence on that growth for some future reference.
As I gathered my thoughts, another voice spoke in, diverting attention. "Before we delve into that," a figure queried, "Seeing as Guren still has the hat and robes, he isn't taking the title of Otokage?"
"I have no need for it when my goals still remain the same." I said.
"I wouldn't have expected otherwise, but what of after? Where do you plan to take the future of the Uchiha after?"
"If you're worried about me rejoining Konoha, then you can put those worries to rest. Konoha no longer deserves the Uchiha for failing to provide them safety from madmen. So the Uchiha will have no future in Konoha, but neither will they have one in Oto either."
A murmur of relief swept through some, while others, including Dosu, appeared contemplative, possibly disappointed. The strategic implications of aligning with me were significant considering the power I possessed that they knew of, and my declaration had just stilled any thoughts on deeper alliances.
"However," I continued, "my support for Otogakure, under Guren's leadership, remains steadfast. I am committed to aiding this village's growth for as long as she leads."
A clan head, skeptical, interjected, "A clan as well known as the Uchiha, along with the fame and infamy it carries, are never going to rest outside of a village. You and your children will either be forced into one or destroyed utterly by one. The only clans that can go without a village are the ones that lack the history that yours has."
"I never said that they will rebuild in the Elemental Nations either, I will rebuild when and where I know that any family that I start will live in peace."
His response was tinged with cynicism as he shook his head disapprovingly, "A dream that many fathers and mothers have, but it is a hopeless one. Hashirama Senju had created Konoha for the sake of having a safe haven for the children of all clans, yet genin are still routinely used."
Even more of a reason for me to never start a family in this world. And sure, in happy cases, Jonin get close enough to their Genin squads to consider them family, but they're still setting them up to die for the village that they're serving. And if necessary, would leave them to die or even kill the surrogate child themself.
"I'm fully aware of how difficult achieving such a goal would be," I asserted firmly while maintaining eye contact with him. "But my goal remains unchanged. The Uchiha will rise again, on my terms, no matter of how long it takes." I shifted the focus back to our purpose, "And besides, we're not here to discuss the future of the Uchiha. We're here to discuss the future of Otogakure, which I was just about to speak on."
During my explanation, I had also managed to gather my thoughts on the future and restructuring of Otogakure.
And though I was welcome to share those thoguhts, I found myself contributing cautiously. My inclination was to advocate for more ethical policies, but the reality of Otogakure's situation, as well as the rest of the world overall, imposed limitations on such aspirations.
One particular issue was the age requirement for becoming a genin. Ideally, I would have proposed increasing it to an adult age, but as a minor hidden village, Oto's survival depended heavily on its shinobi force. Such an increase in the genin age was impractical, considering the village's need to bolster its ranks with natural citizens as opposed to only recruiting missing nin.
So I compromised on that and just suggested extending the duration of training in the academy by a year or two. This would not only provide the young shinobi with more comprehensive training but also involve them in D-rank and low C-rank missions (supervised by a Jonin or multiple Chunin). After all, Team Dosu came from street rats yet were able to be trained into Chunin level shinobi in a lesser time than it took for the average Konoha student to go through the Academy and gain experience as Gennin, but that still took some time at least. So quality could still be gained along with quantity.
This approach was met with approval; it was seen as a 'soft' yet practical approach to the rigorous shinobi upbringing.
And there were more issues as well I could've touched on, but that was coming from a man from the 21st century in a 'democratic' society, not everything there can be applied here. Anything that'd be humane would be seen as weakness and would be pounded upon.
Practicality was the only way more humane ways would be accepted, but never anything that could be perceived as weakness. As a minor hidden village, Oto couldn't afford such a thing lest it risk being screwed with by the minor villages let alone the Great Five that were already fucking with it.
But honestly, it wasn't my job to fix the system. I'll leave that to Naruto. I'm sure that he'll do well enough, and if he manages to make some of my moral suggestions work then all the better for them to spread.
And amusingly enough, and better for my mood, we soon went off track again on a me related subject. As a few of the clan heads tried throwing an offer of marriage my way, citing it as a way to reward me for my assistance in this village's dire hour of need, to reward loyalty in dire times, or to provide incentives for remaining in the village after Orochimaru failed to provide what he promised. It was a rather blatant ploy but one I could hardly fault them for, they had quite a lot to gain from it. And while the women were attractive as is the case for an anime world, such as Sasame or her aide Kotohime, they were people I knew and cared little about. Even Guren's name was brought up, and though I wouldn't mind hitting that, she had a kid which wasn't something I wanted to be saddled with at the moment, even if Yukimaru was a sweet kid.
After listening to a few, I decided that I've heard enough and moved to reject all of them through a simple action.
I grabbed Karin and pulled her close to me before kissing her passionately. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise before she eagerly followed along, moaning softly into the kiss as her hands gripped my hair.
"But they're cousins of the Senju!" one protested, a seemingly valid argument when you took history into account.
I pulled away from Karin with a smirk, leaving her with a furious flush on her face at the public act, "And what better way to rebuild the Uchiha than by combining the power of their bodies with our eyes?" I rebuked. And that silenced any further protest, as the idea of a child sired by the Uchiha and Uzumaki was simply too optimal for them to be able to counter. The Uzumaki reserves and chakra made a far better boon to the next generation of Uchiha than anything that they had to offer. And so they dropped the topic of my hand in marriage.
Nobody wanted to offer a mistress to a man who wasn't even part of the village, as they'd be losing a kunoichi skilled enough to be worthwhile and may not even get the child back.
We quickly moved on to other issues, discussing the future of Otogakure and restructuring things. Though I couldn't but notice that a sizable number of women present were now looking over at me with a more intense interest, as well as a bit of jealous towards Karin, something that very much noticed based on the smug look she gave everyone while draping herself over me.
With that meeting concluded, though they'd be having more, my role was for the most part done. All that remained was to claim the reward promised by Dosu – unrestricted access to the secrets of Orochimaru.
Dosu led me to a secluded part of the village, where the hidden quarters and laboratory of Orochimaru lay. "Just as I promised, here is full access to Orochimaru's sanctum." Dosu announced, gesturing to the door. "Feel free to help yourself to whatever you'd like, though we'd appreciate copies of key findings to be left behind." Dosu turned to me once we reached our destination.
Acknowledging with a simple nod, I prepared a Multi-Earth Clone jutsu. With precise hand signs, ten Chunin-level clones materialized, each instinctively beginning their search through the extensive notes and files.
It ended up taking a few hours since I knew that there would be things that Orochimaru would've certainly kept well hidden. The man hadn't planned for his death, but he did plan on being incapacitated for a long time and for others to try and steal his notes during that absence. The search turned out to be a journey through Orochimaru's twisted genius; his notes, scattered with cryptic annotations and complex diagrams, revealed the depth of his obsession with immortality and power.
The clones, methodical and focused, navigated through the maze of information, occasionally triggering traps that Orochimaru had cunningly set. A few of them almost got dispelled a few times after triggering a trap or two, and one of them actually did. That clone was lost to a particularly vicious trap, one that would've killed anybody who couldn't survive it barring the Sannin himself or those with unique regeneration. And this was for finding some of the really important notes.
His total research on Hashirama Senju's cells.
The notes spanned across various periods: from his time as a loyal shinobi of Konoha, through his descent into darker and darker paths, to his recent considerations of replacing his arms with them or integrating them into himself to mitigate or even counter the Reaper Death Seal.
And a name of interest repeatedly surfaced in these documents – Danzo Shimura, implicated in providing Orochimaru with the cells and even suggesting their use for bodily enhancements. One which the man himself had Orochimaru do for him
All I needed to do was just slap these papers on to Tsunade's desk and it'd be irrefutable proof that he was a traitor. Because if there was one thing that guaranteed a death penalty, it was bloodline theft. Especially when it was of the Hokage's dearly beloved grandfather and village founder.
Honestly, this was my reason for wanting the notes in the first place. Sure, I could just waltz in and kill him without any difficulty, with or without him using Izanagi depending on how much I'd want to beat him down, but having the warhawk, who justified every atrocity he committed 'for the good of the Leaf', executed for treason would be so much more satisfying.
Still, Orochimaru's approach to integrating the cells would be very useful when I got enough to implant into myself.
Well, that'd require a medic-nin that I'd absolutely trust to do so. And while Karin had skill as such, I'd prefer Tsunade, Shizune, or Sakura since they're best of the best at their craft and my best option for preventing me from meeting the fate of other failed applications.
But such operations wouldn't be occurring for quite some time. In the more immediate of things, I have his jutsus and fuinjutsus to look over while I travel, the ones that he either didn't teach or hadn't shown Sasuke.
I'm sure that the Sannin had plenty more hidden, throughout the village and the continent, but my main concerns were for any research regarding Hashirama Cells and anything that could implicate Danzo as a traitor. With those two now in my hands and Dosu seeming to be a good fit to take over, my business in the Sound Village drew to a close.
"Dosu, I have something for you, a gift" I announced, a hint of mystery in my voice. With a deliberate and calculated motion, I extended my hand over his, shaped something out of Yin-Yang Chakra, then withdrew.
He kept his hand closed enough that no one could see but just slightly open enough for him to peek at what I put in there. His eyes widened, and a tremor ran through his fingers before the rest of him started shaking.
"H-how…" Dosu uttered in rasped breaths, his voice a mix of awe and disbelief, barely audible above a whisper.
A faint smile curled at the corner of my lips, "Senjutsu is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be …unnatural." I responded cryptically, watching as he grappled with the reality of what lay in his palm.
His gaze flickered up to mine, a storm of emotions swirling in his eyes, "...I don't know whether I should thank you profusely for the boon or throttle you for making Oto the potential starting ground of the Fifth Shinobi War."
Guren, intrigued by our exchange, leaned in closer. "What the hell did he give you if it got you so startled?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
Dosu hesitantly revealed the gift, ever so slightly opened his hand just enough for Guren to catch a glimpse of the gift. Guren's eyes widened in utter shock, her words catching in her throat.
"Holy shit! Thats-." She stammered, struggling to process the sight. Her head turned sharply to mine, "How the hell are you pulling miracles out of your ass so often!? This is something that Orochimaru would gladly delimb himself for."
"As I told Hidan, these eyes are now my property. And so I see fit to gift you with more of them. I trust that Otogakure will use them wisely and use them well."
The sheer weight of my words and the potential of my gift as well as the power it came from seemed to sink in. Guren stepped back slightly, her expression a mix of respect and disbelief.
Dosu looked at the gift again, then back at me. "This changes everything," he muttered, almost to himself. "The balance of power, our strategies, our very future..."
With the gifts exchanged, I gave Dosu and Guren a final goodbye. "Good luck," I said, turning towards the gate. "You'll need it."
Guren, with a dry but earnest smile, responded, "We'll need more than luck, but thank you." Her words were light, but her gaze held a serious depth.
"Goodbye, Sasuke Uchiha," Dosu added, his tone solemn. "And good luck on your own path. The road ahead is paved with trials and tribulations, but I have faith in your ability to overcome them."
I paused, looking back at them one last time. "Thank you. Take care of yourselves," my voice carrying a genuine warmth. There was a part of me that truly hoped for their success in reshaping Otogakure, especially with Naruto's eventual rise to Hokage. Dosu's vision for a reformed village might come to fruition sooner than he expected.
And with that, we were off, our figures disappearing in a swift, fluid motion, continuing on the path that lay ahead, a journey filled with unknowns and possibilities.
As we departed from Otogakure, Suigetsu turned to me, his curiosity evident as he probed. "So Sasuke, what exactly did you give Dosu that had him so spooked? That guy was almost always in control of himself, so whatever it was must've been big."
"Simple," I paused, allowing a moment of suspense before slowly uncurling my fingers. Nestled in my palm lay—
"What! The! Fuck!?" they exclaimed in unison, their voices echoing a blend of alarm and disbelief.
"Karin, that can't be real! This has to be a genjutsu! There's no fucking way that it can't be!" Suigetsu shouted, his voice trembling with disbelief.
Karin, after a moment of intense concentration, shook her head, her voice steady but filled with awe, "No, this is utilizing that Chakra of Sasuke's rather than just an ordinary genjutsu. That eye is just as real as any other, just as real as the one that Hidan had."
"Before you go into a rant, no, this isn't Sharingan bullshit at play again," Though Izanagi could technically make it work via the whole rewriting reality aspect it had, "With Senjutsu granting such a mastery over nature, wouldn't biology be included as well? At the end of the day, powerful dojutsu the eyes of the Ketsuryugan may be, they're still human eyes."
Suigetsu stared at me in utter disbelief, his brows furrowing in confusion. He closed his eyes and let out a breath, attempting to process the situation before just sighing. "What now?" he asked, his voice laced with a mix of resignation and irritation.
"Like we discussed long ago Suigetsu," I began, my voice firm and resolute. "With Oto dealt with, we're done with our side adventure. Now is the time for me to realize my revenge and for you to gain Samehada."
A fated battle between brothers. Or to be accurate, a brutal reversal of that fateful night on the Massacre.
#########
Quite the surprise, it's still alive!
But straight up, I'm just going to apologize for how long its been. A year and two months without an update, and here I thought 8 months was the worst I could do.
Now, I just want to get this out there. THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD. If it were, I'd have announced it quite a while ago, though in hindsight I probably should've said something sooner. But do rest assured that since this is my 'first' fic, I'm not just going to abandon it like I've seen so many others have done. I'd like to avoid such a sad fate for this since it's brought me be happiness back in my late high school years. (4 years ago, I'm not too old ya know)
And honestly, its not that this fic is dead, or that I don't want to write for it anymore or anything, its just that this chapter was sitting at 'arguably finished' since early 2023 but I just did not like the state of it and struggled to really fix that before getting catch up on other things that proved easier for me to work with and then life just happened. (I'm not one to self diagnose so I'll just chalk it up to monkey brain being difficult). Tbh, I wanted to finally get this out back in December when I was pushing out a ton of fics/chapters, and while I had done some work on this then, it sorta just stalled out on me until recently, where the close to 4 year aniversery of this story finally kicked my ass into gear in getting this out. Now, while I am still not 100% happy with this, I can finally get move on in the story and get to some more engaging parts. Hopefully, I've done well enough with things for now. Though I wouldn't be surprised if things have fallen off since it has been a long while since I've worked on this story.
/
Back to the usual author notes/rambles: We are finally move on from Sound and we're heading right into something I've been looking forward to for quite a long time. Sasuke and Itachi meeting up, along with Sasuke meeting with Naruto and Konoha. Hoo boy that is going to be so much fun hehe.
As for the events of this chapter, I'll just say it straight up, politics aren't my strongest of suits. And considering that this is a power wank, these weren't the most necessary to really look into since Sasuke won't be sticking around in the village or this world, but he'd leave some seeds for growth where he can before he goes off. And we'll be seeing more of Oto again later, as I'm sure Dosu will be quite surprised to find that Sasuke gets an alliance with Konoha dropped at his feet as well (either during Tsunade's reign as Hokage or during Naruto's).
And while it may seem strange that Sasuke was able to just make two pairs of Ketsuryugan like that, Naruto who never did an once of medical ninjutsu was able to create a fully functional eye for Kakashi, so Sasuke with the actual eyes on hand and 'felt' it't didn't seem too far fetched. Besides, Hagoromo does something to a greater effect when he made the Biju, so its not too far from Sasuke's alley to try something significantly lesser.
And I've already got the next chapter/interlude mostly cooked up. You'll be getting a brief POV of Itachi and Konoha to set them up and give you guys an idea of where they'll be heading.
Anyway, I do hope that you guys enjoyed, or at the least still remember this fic fondly, and leave me your thoughts.
And again, I am sorry that this took me so long.
Interlude 2
(Hours following the defeat of Kakuzu and Hidan, an unremarkable forrest)
"Hey, Itachi! Look!" Kisame pointed skyward as a lone crow circled above them before descending. "Seems like the crow you sent after Hidan and Kakuzu is back."
"Hmm," Itachi, his expression as inscrutable as ever, extended a finger for the crow to land on. The bird perched delicately, its feathers ruffled with an unusual agitation. "Well now, what news do you bring, little messenger?" he asked calmly, though his eyes narrowed slightly in response to the crow's frantic vibrations.
"Caw!" The crow released a loud caw, its voice echoing through the air with a frantic sense of urgency.
Reading the crow's message, Itachi's stoic demeanor gave way to a hint of surprise. "...well Kisame, it seems that you got what you wanted. Hidan and Kakuzu have been killed." he informed, his voice devoid of any concern for the deaths of his colleagues. Or rather, any concern for Sasuke placing their heads within a storage scroll. But he felt no need to deprive his partner of a white lie that he was content with, nor did he feel the need to give an excuse for the rest of the Akatsuki to go after Sasuke. Deidara, he was more than sure Sasuke could handle even before hearing of how soundly he had defeated Kakuzu, but he didn't want to test that confidence against Pain or Kami forbid, Madara.
At least not before he could give his brother one final yet eternal gift for that confrontation, a short one once his failsafe was in place and activated.
Kisame let out a chuckle. "Hah! I'm surprised those two lasted so long. And of course I'm not surprised that it was Sasuke who took them out, wasn't it?"
"Yes, and quite easily at that." Itachi confirmed, his voice empty of emotion. But Kisame caught a glimpse of a faint smile tugging at the corners of his partner's lips, a silent pride in Sasuke's accomplishment, "Kakuzu was slain by a single and incredibly powerful Chidori Spear. Hidan was defeated by the efforts of Suigetsu, the Otokage, and Dosu Kinuta."
Kisame let out a low whistle. "He's come a long way from that brat in the hotel. A Chidori once easily batted aside to slaying one of the Akatsuki's most durable. Well, third most durable, my raw durability still outscales him massively."
"Fifth," Itachi nodded slightly, his gaze turning towards the horizon where the sun was setting, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple. "And indeed. Sasuke has grown strong, beyond my expectations even." Itachi noted, more to himself than his partner, lost in his thoughts. "Strong enough for our final battle."
"Caw! Caw! Caw!" Be it a summon or clone, I know that you're watching, Itachi. As you have witnessed, I am more than ready to face you, so get your affairs in order soon. Our destiny and the future of the Uchiha Clan await. And know this, I am aware of Shisui's eye. So you'd better keep that eye to yourself, and hear me when I say that I will gut Naruto Uzumaki to find that damn crow and burn Konoha and every fucking tree, branch, leaf, and root to the ground if you don't have it with you,
But the crow's urgent cries interrupted their momentary reflection. Itachi's usually impassive face contorted into a frown as he listened intently, "What's this?" he muttered, then his eyes widened in shock, "….HE'LL DO WHAT!?"
Kisame, taken aback by his partner's uncharacteristic outburst, couldn't help but ask, "Itachi? Did you just...yell?"
Ignoring Kisame's surprise, Itachi was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts. 'How the fuck could he have possibly found out about Shisui's eye!? And the things he'd do to the village if I don't have it!?'
Suddenly, Itachi turned to Kisame, his usual calm shattered as his Sharingan blazed wildly, "Kisame! Change in plans, I need to find Sasuke!"
Kisame blinked, taken aback again by the urgency in Itachi's voice, "Right now?"
Itachi's response was sharp, a rare edge as he voiced to his partner, "Did I stutter!? Yes, now!"
Kisame couldn't help but comment, a mix of amusement and surprise in his tone. "Well, well, it's been years since I've ever seen you rattled. Whatever that message was, it certainly got under your skin."
As they hurriedly prepared to depart, sending another crow off, Itachi remained silent as Kisame looked with some concern in the background, his mind racing with the implications of the crow's message and the newfound urgency that mirrored his crow in finding Sasuke.
'The only person other than myself who could possibly tell Sasuke about Kotoamatsukami would be…!'
Itachi was now overcome with a desire that burned as black as the flames of Amaterasu to return to his village and torture an explanation from Danzo Shimura, the only other person who could possibly have revealed to Sasuke anything about the eye of Kotoamatsukami.
But said desire was swiftly overruled by the all-consuming duty to find his foolish otouto as soon as possible, one that he often held back for his sake. But it was for his sake that Itachi had to intervene now before Sasuke, like the Clan had, could dare act on that utterly foolish and treasonous threat to the vill-, the ANBU Captain, kinslayer, and Akatsuki infiltrator all tried to say, but the elder brother in him, the voice in him warring and drowning against the monster he had become, hurriedly overcame and shut them down.
He needed to intervene before his little brother could attempt to make such a horribly misguided mistake.
-XXX-
(Konohagakure, Hokage's Office)
Naruto and Kakashi walked down the corridors of the Hokage Tower, exchanging a bit of small talk on fashion advice as they headed to Tsunade's office. By the time that they reached the entrance, Kakashi had just finished explaining why a red cloak would look great on him. Especially with how well it goes with orange.
As they entered the room, they saw Tsunade seated at her desk with Shizune and Sakura by her side, pouring over piles of paperwork. Jiraiya stood idly by the wall, his arms folded over his chest, waiting for the conversation to begin.
"Naruto, Kakashi, I'm glad you could join us," Tsunade said, her eyes narrowing in concern."We need to address the matter of Sasuke."
"Damn right we do! What the hell is Sasuke thinking? If he finally killed Orochimaru, then why won't he come back to the village?" Naruto asked, frustrated with his teammate's latest actions.
Jiraiya weighed in with a grim expression. "Sasuke is simply obsessed with vengeance, anything he perceives as getting in the way of it is irrelevant to him, which would include the consequences for defecting. Currently, we believe that he intends to approach the Akatsuki to kill his older brother."
"Which presents a problem," Tsunade said, "I've held off most of his detractors with the excuse of Orochimaru's Curse Mark clouding his mind and impairing his judgment. As seen with Mitarashi's neck catching on the black flames of Amaterasu, it's no longer a concern. Meaning that his actions are entirely of his own free will, and they have been so lately."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "What exactly do we know about his recent activities?"
Eager for any leads, Naruto leaned forward, his voice filled with anticipation. "Do we have any idea where he's been?"
Tsunade nodded, "Yes, but our knowledge is rather limited," she started off, "In the Land of Waves, they were whispers of an individual matching Sasuke's appearance. The biggest confirmation we've found is a shirt with the Uchiha crest that he sold to some tailor. We've bought it from him and had Akamaru sniff it since he was the last ninja dog with his scent, and it's a match with the benefit of now having an updated scent."
"...he went to Wave to sell his shirt?" Naruto asked incredulously.
"No, at least that wasn't his main objective," she continued, "He was traveling with a companion, whose description matched a Mist shinobi named Suigetsu Hozuki, known as the Second Coming of the Demon. Whispers surrounding those two were of a 'big chunk of metal that resembles a sword that was near the Naruto Bridge'. Following that was news of the death of the Water Daimyo's aide, who was rumored to possess the sword."
The pieces began to fall into place for Naruto as he exclaimed, his voice tinged with indignation, "Kubikiribocho. So some asshole took Zabuza's sword, then Sasuke gave it to some other asshole!"
"It's unfortunate to hear of the disrespect to Zabuza's grave," Kakashi mused, "But that resting place couldn't have been left alone forever. Zabuza had plenty of enemies and admirers who'd want his sword for their own reasons, and Kiri getting the sword and body was also an eventuality."
"Well, Zabuza's resting place wasn't the only landmark to be disrespected." Jiraiya chimed in, a hint of amusement in his voice. "That Naruto Bridge was also desecrated. Although, how it wasn't earlier with that ridiculous name I don't know."
The Super Kami 5th Hokage Naruto Uzumaki, Way Better Than That Bastard Sasuke Bridge
"Not to mention inaccurate, I've been the Fifth Hokage for 4 years now, that oughta be long enough to update the damn thing to Seventh," Tsunade complained.
"Wait, they vandalized my bridge!?" Naruto asked, outraged. "And what's Seventh supposed to mean!?"
"Well, Naruto, you aren't one to talk considering how often you've done your own vandalism on the Hokage Monument," Kakashi couldn't help but point out the irony, his voice laced with amusement, "If only the Sandaime could see you now, but I guess that Iruka would have to do."
"Please don't tell Iruka-sensei about this! He'll never let me live this down!" Naruto begged, half exaggerating and half genuinely serious. He could already hear the lecture out of his former sensei's smug mouth.
"But why would the bridge be vandalized anyway?" Sakura interjected, her curiosity piqued, but also wanting to get back on track on Sasuke. "It's a national landmark that allowed the country to be as prosperous as it is in the first place. I can't see anyone who went through Gato's tyranny letting an attempt slide let alone allow it."
"And why do you think I'm bringing this up along with Sasuke's activities in Wave?" Tsunade asked with a raised brow.
It took a moment but the reason soon dawned upon them. Naruto's incredulity was evident as he protested, "...there's no way that Sasuke of all people would vandalize something. He's got too much of a stick up his ass to mess around like that!"
"Hm, he was prone to childish acts whenever you were involved, Naruto. Perhaps a remnant of that resurfaced." Kakashi pointed out.
"Part of the name included "Way Better Than That Bastard Sasuke". It wouldn't take a Nara to know why he'd want to change that." Tsunade pointed out.
"So what? He defaced it? Did he just cross it out or something?"
"Oh calm down Naruto, I think you're going to have a strong opinion on the sign." Kakashi said.
Sakura's eyes widened as she remembered something, "…Sensei, those were the exact words you said to Sasuke all those years ago. You know what it says, don't you?"
Kakashi chuckled softly at the memory, "Actually, I don't. I just have a gut feeling is all. But this will be a surprise for me as much as it'll be for you."
"Ooh, can I say it, Tsunade? I really wanna." Jiraiya asked with a giggle, one like the rather infamous ones he makes while performing his 'research'.
Tsunade shook her head firmly. "No, Jiraiya, I'm going to. That'll teach the brat to name his monuments and public structures properly."
With a mix of curiosity and trepidation, Naruto and Sakura awaited the revelation. And then, the words tumbled out, leaving them speechless and incredulous.
"The Dead Last Naruto, Useless Sakura, Heartbreaker Kakashi, and Uchiha El33t Sasuke Bridge."
All three members of Team 7 stood in stunned silence, their minds trying to process the message.
Naruto felt a surge of conflicting emotions - anger, confusion, and a tinge of amusement despite the situation. It was a bizarre mix that left him at a loss for words.
Sakura's eyes widened in anger at being labeled "Useless," a title she had relentlessly strived to overcome. Even after her triumph against Sasori, with Lady Chiyo's assistance, she still had a long path ahead of her as Orochimaru had shown her. Holding her hostage to coerce Naruto into letting his group leave, just when they could've finally brought Sasuke home. That memory that evoked immense frustration as her fists tightened.
Kakashi, however, remained composed, but a twinkle of amusement glinted in his visible eye.
Naruto finally found his voice, his tone laced with irritation. "WHAT?! DEAD LAST?!" Naruto exclaimed with irritation he hadn't felt since his Genin days, "Just who does that bastard think he is!? The Academy was fucking years ago, that shit is irrelevant at this point! And what the hell is el-three-three-t supposed to mean!? Even in the academy I knew that you aren't supposed to put numbers in words! I'll show him 'dead last'."
Sakura''s frustration boiled over as she clenched her fists, her emerald eyes blazing with indignation. "Did he call me useless? Useless?!" The memories of her struggles, growth, and the battles she fought to prove herself surged through her. And yes, she had very much been useless before Lady Tsunade had made her into a formidable kunoichi. Hearing that from Sasuke only intensified her determination to bring him back and set the record straight. "The next time I see him," she vowed, her voice ringing with conviction, "I'll show him just how useless I can be!"
"Well, it seems that I was right, you guys really are feeling strongly about it. Though I'm flattered that he'd think so well of my ability to charm the ladies," Kakashi joked, thoroughly amused with his students' reactions. Though there was a sense of sadness in him that Sasuke hadn't shown this side of himself more while he was still in the village, "Though I can't help but feel the strangest sense of déjà vu with that heartbreaker comment."
"Apparently there's some meaning to what we couldn't understand at first." Jiraiya explained, "It stumped our guys for a bit before a Nara figured it out, El-three-three-t is supposed to be 'elite', and right after the heartbreaker is a write 'IN' in small print."
"Heartbreaker and 'IN'? Is that supposed to mean 'heartbreakering'? Heartbreaker in? Wait, heartbreakerin… heartbreaker... Rin…" Kakashi trailed off, his mind racing as the pieces fell into place.
'…I don't know whether to be impressed that he somehow found out about that or choke the life out of him for making a pun out of it.'
Sakura's concerned voice broke through Kakashi's thoughts. "Sensei, are you alright? You went still all of a sudden."
Kakashi shook off his reverie, a determined glint in his eye. "No need to worry, Sakura. I was just contemplating the appropriate… punishment for Sasuke once you two get your hands on him."
"Now, now. There'll be plenty of time to go over what we'll do to him once he's in our custody. Right now we need to discuss how we'll get him into said custody." Tsunade nodded, her expression turning serious.
"Lucky for us, I have a good idea of where to start." Jiraiya started, getting everyone's attention, "An informant of mine has just informed me about where Sasuke will be. An old hideout of the Uchiha Clan from the days of the Warring Clans era. Annoyingly enough, he couldn't find the exact location but did manage to narrow the location down to approximately a mile or so, something we should be able to cut down further with an able tracker.
But there's one more complication that we'll have to take into account. This may be no Valley of the End, but a location like this seems rather fitting for a duel to the death between the last Uchiha."
Naruto's determination flared as he pounded his fist into his hand, his eyes blazing with resolve. "I won't let Sasuke get away this time. Not after everything. I'll bring him back, no matter what it takes!"
Sakura nodded in agreement, her eyes steely with resolve. "We can't let him continue down this dark path. He's our friend, and we have to save him from himself."
Kakashi gazed at his students with pride as he placed a hand on both of their shoulders, "We'll do everything we can to bring him back to the village where he belongs." That pride soon turned into a sense of urgency in his lone eye. "But before we can do that, we'll need a solid plan to track down Sasuke and confront him. Time is of the essence, and we can't afford any missteps for the mission ahead."
"Good, then let's get the starting stages of Operation Rising Eclipse on the way," Tsunade declared, her tone firm and resolute.
Tsunade's eyes roved over the assembled teams, her voice filled with genuine admiration. "I'm impressed. You planned this well."
Her gaze settled on Team 8, comprised of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. They were the tracking squad, their expertise honed to locate the elusive Sasuke Uchiha. With Shino's intimate connection to his insects and Hinata's mastery of the Gentle Fist technique, they possessed the unique ability to disable and immobilize their targets once captured, ensuring there would be no chance of escape.
Turning her attention to Team 7, Tsunade surveyed the determined faces of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake. And from the newest members, the blank stare of Sai and the stoic Yamato. They were the assault squad, entrusted with the daunting task of neutralizing and apprehending either of the Uchiha brothers. If Itachi could be captured, then Sasuke would have no choice but to return to Konoha. On the other hand, if Sasuke could be apprehended, the mission would be a resounding success, allowing the shinobi to resume their roles in Operation Fading Dawn.
Kakashi gazed up at the churning sky, a tapestry of foreboding grey clouds that masked the setting sun. The rain pouring from the sky did little to offer respite to that tone, as if the weather were forecasting how the mission would go.
"Thank you, Lady Hokage, I believe that we're ready to set out now." Kakashi stated, still determined in spite of nature's seeming omen, "Though I'll have to say, what miserable weather for a mission launch."
Tsunade nodded before turning to face the rest of her shinobi, "Let's make this official then," she declared, her voice resonating with authority. "I hereby authorize this mission to locate and detain either or both of our targets: Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha. And all of you, be careful. And make certain that you complete the mission."
With a final nod, Tsunade watched as the teams dispersed, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
#######
In a bit of a repeat to parts 1 and 2 of chapter 6 with the next update coming a lot sooner than expected.
This is rather short, I know, but I did want to keep this brief. This was meant to come out a few days after chapter 7, but some potential ideas popped up before being ultimately shelved for later (a scene with Aoda, the snake ladies, and Anko) or being redundant here and when they show up (Deidara and Tobi). This like chapter 7 has been sitting in my google docs semi completed for months now, only recently being finished up. The same can't really be said for chapter 8 outside of an idea outline and 500 words, so ngl that might not be out until a couple of months later with how slow my motivation to write in general has been tbh. Hell, it's been rather slow with this one as well, so I'm not the most happy with it but after being absent for so long I do want to just give what I got already before making you guys wait for chapter 8 to be done. After some sleep, I'll fix some stuff/add some stuff that an all-nighter me had missed.
So, to get to back recent events, an appearance from Itachi without it being overly cracky for once lol, though it did share some similaity to omake 3. But we do get an actual look into that messed up noggin of his and see what he feels other than a massive 'oh shit!' moment. And no, he hasn't shoved the crow down Naruto's throat so he won't have to clean up his shit literally, just figuratively lol.
And from what you've seen of Konoha, for the most part they're what you likely expected of them. Except for the fact that Sakura, like Karin, is dialed back a bit. So she's actually able to throw some hands at him if she intends to. Side note, if you could guess by the bit about a red cloak, then basically its a hint that Naruto now has access to Sage Mode. Not perfect to the level that he has in canon, but is getting there since Jiraiya had him start training for it during the time skip.
And for a bit of behind the scenes info to any who may be interested, I was planning on adding Yakumo Kurama to the pursuit team since her bloodline would be an interesting opponent to Tobito and Itachi (and she doesn't get used too often in Shippuden from what I've read) But an 8 man squad is large enough already and adding another might be a bit bloated. Idk, I'll sleep on that and edit her in or not when I decide.
anyway, I do hope that you guys liked the chapter and leave me your thoughts.
"Hey, Itachi! Look!" Kisame pointed skyward as a lone crow circled above them before descending. "Seems like the crow you sent after Hidan and Kakuzu is back."
"Hmm," Itachi, his expression as inscrutable as ever, extended a finger for the crow to land on. The bird perched delicately, its feathers ruffled with an unusual agitation. "Well now, what news do you bring, little messenger?" he asked calmly, though his eyes narrowed slightly in response to the crow's frantic vibrations.
"Caw!" The crow released a loud caw, its voice echoing through the air with a frantic sense of urgency.
Reading the crow's message, Itachi's stoic demeanor gave way to a hint of surprise. "...well Kisame, it seems that you got what you wanted. Hidan and Kakuzu have been killed." he informed, his voice devoid of any concern for the deaths of his colleagues. Or rather, any concern for Sasuke placing their heads within a storage scroll. But he felt no need to deprive his partner of a white lie that he was content with, nor did he feel the need to give an excuse for the rest of the Akatsuki to go after Sasuke. Deidara, he was more than sure Sasuke could handle even before hearing of how soundly he had defeated Kakuzu, but he didn't want to test that confidence against Pain or Kami forbid, Madara.
At least not before he could give his brother one final yet eternal gift for that confrontation, a short one once his failsafe was in place and activated.
Kisame let out a chuckle. "Hah! I'm surprised those two lasted so long. And of course I'm not surprised that it was Sasuke who took them out, wasn't it?"
"Yes, and quite easily at that." Itachi confirmed, his voice empty of emotion. But Kisame caught a glimpse of a faint smile tugging at the corners of his partner's lips, a silent pride in Sasuke's accomplishment, "Kakuzu was slain by a single and incredibly powerful Chidori Spear. Hidan was defeated by the efforts of Suigetsu, the Otokage, and Dosu Kinuta."
Kisame let out a low whistle. "He's come a long way from that brat in the hotel. A Chidori once easily batted aside to slaying one of the Akatsuki's most durable. Well, third most durable, my raw durability still outscales him massively."
"Fifth," Itachi nodded slightly, his gaze turning towards the horizon where the sun was setting, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple. "And indeed. Sasuke has grown strong, beyond my expectations even." Itachi noted, more to himself than his partner, lost in his thoughts. "Strong enough for our final battle."
"Caw! Caw! Caw!" Be it a summon or clone, I know that you're watching, Itachi. As you have witnessed, I am more than ready to face you, so get your affairs in order soon. Our destiny and the future of the Uchiha Clan await. And know this, I am aware of Shisui's eye. So you'd better keep that eye to yourself, and hear me when I say that I will gut Naruto Uzumaki to find that damn crow and burn Konoha and every fucking tree, branch, leaf, and root to the ground if you don't have it with you,
But the crow's urgent cries interrupted their momentary reflection. Itachi's usually impassive face contorted into a frown as he listened intently, "What's this?" he muttered, then his eyes widened in shock, "….HE'LL DO WHAT!?"
Kisame, taken aback by his partner's uncharacteristic outburst, couldn't help but ask, "Itachi? Did you just...yell?"
Ignoring Kisame's surprise, Itachi was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts. 'How the fuck could he have possibly found out about Shisui's eye!? And the things he'd do to the village if I don't have it!?'
Suddenly, Itachi turned to Kisame, his usual calm shattered as his Sharingan blazed wildly, "Kisame! Change in plans, I need to find Sasuke!"
Kisame blinked, taken aback again by the urgency in Itachi's voice, "Right now?"
Itachi's response was sharp, a rare edge as he voiced to his partner, "Did I stutter!? Yes, now!"
Kisame couldn't help but comment, a mix of amusement and surprise in his tone. "Well, well, it's been years since I've ever seen you rattled. Whatever that message was, it certainly got under your skin."
As they hurriedly prepared to depart, sending another crow off, Itachi remained silent as Kisame looked with some concern in the background, his mind racing with the implications of the crow's message and the newfound urgency that mirrored his crow in finding Sasuke.
'The only person other than myself who could possibly tell Sasuke about Kotoamatsukami would be…!'
Itachi was now overcome with a desire that burned as black as the flames of Amaterasu to return to his village and torture an explanation from Danzo Shimura, the only other person who could possibly have revealed to Sasuke anything about the eye of Kotoamatsukami.
But said desire was swiftly overruled by the all-consuming duty to find his foolish otouto as soon as possible, one that he often held back for his sake. But it was for his sake that Itachi had to intervene now before Sasuke, like the Clan had, could dare act on that utterly foolish and treasonous threat to the vill-, the ANBU Captain, kinslayer, and Akatsuki infiltrator all tried to say, but the elder brother in him, the voice in him warring and drowning against the monster he had become, hurriedly overcame and shut them down.
He needed to intervene before his little brother could attempt to make such a horribly misguided mistake.
-XXX-
(Konohagakure, Hokage's Office)
Naruto and Kakashi walked down the corridors of the Hokage Tower, exchanging a bit of small talk on fashion advice as they headed to Tsunade's office. By the time that they reached the entrance, Kakashi had just finished explaining why a red cloak would look great on him. Especially with how well it goes with orange.
As they entered the room, they saw Tsunade seated at her desk with Shizune and Sakura by her side, pouring over piles of paperwork. Jiraiya stood idly by the wall, his arms folded over his chest, waiting for the conversation to begin.
"Naruto, Kakashi, I'm glad you could join us," Tsunade said, her eyes narrowing in concern."We need to address the matter of Sasuke."
"Damn right we do! What the hell is Sasuke thinking? If he finally killed Orochimaru, then why won't he come back to the village?" Naruto asked, frustrated with his teammate's latest actions.
Jiraiya weighed in with a grim expression. "Sasuke is simply obsessed with vengeance, anything he perceives as getting in the way of it is irrelevant to him, which would include the consequences for defecting. Currently, we believe that he intends to approach the Akatsuki to kill his older brother."
"Which presents a problem," Tsunade said, "I've held off most of his detractors with the excuse of Orochimaru's Curse Mark clouding his mind and impairing his judgment. As seen with Mitarashi's neck catching on the black flames of Amaterasu, it's no longer a concern. Meaning that his actions are entirely of his own free will, and they have been so lately."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "What exactly do we know about his recent activities?"
Eager for any leads, Naruto leaned forward, his voice filled with anticipation. "Do we have any idea where he's been?"
Tsunade nodded, "Yes, but our knowledge is rather limited," she started off, "In the Land of Waves, they were whispers of an individual matching Sasuke's appearance. The biggest confirmation we've found is a shirt with the Uchiha crest that he sold to some tailor. We've bought it from him and had Akamaru sniff it since he was the last ninja dog with his scent, and it's a match with the benefit of now having an updated scent."
"...he went to Wave to sell his shirt?" Naruto asked incredulously.
"No, at least that wasn't his main objective," she continued, "He was traveling with a companion, whose description matched a Mist shinobi named Suigetsu Hozuki, known as the Second Coming of the Demon. Whispers surrounding those two were of a 'big chunk of metal that resembles a sword that was near the Naruto Bridge'. Following that was news of the death of the Water Daimyo's aide, who was rumored to possess the sword."
The pieces began to fall into place for Naruto as he exclaimed, his voice tinged with indignation, "Kubikiribocho. So some asshole took Zabuza's sword, then Sasuke gave it to some other asshole!"
"It's unfortunate to hear of the disrespect to Zabuza's grave," Kakashi mused, "But that resting place couldn't have been left alone forever. Zabuza had plenty of enemies and admirers who'd want his sword for their own reasons, and Kiri getting the sword and body was also an eventuality."
"Well, Zabuza's resting place wasn't the only landmark to be disrespected." Jiraiya chimed in, a hint of amusement in his voice. "That Naruto Bridge was also desecrated. Although, how it wasn't earlier with that ridiculous name I don't know."
The Super Kami 5th Hokage Naruto Uzumaki, Way Better Than That Bastard Sasuke Bridge
"Not to mention inaccurate, I've been the Fifth Hokage for 4 years now, that oughta be long enough to update the damn thing to Seventh," Tsunade complained.
"Wait, they vandalized my bridge!?" Naruto asked, outraged. "And what's Seventh supposed to mean!?"
"Well, Naruto, you aren't one to talk considering how often you've done your own vandalism on the Hokage Monument," Kakashi couldn't help but point out the irony, his voice laced with amusement, "If only the Sandaime could see you now, but I guess that Iruka would have to do."
"Please don't tell Iruka-sensei about this! He'll never let me live this down!" Naruto begged, half exaggerating and half genuinely serious. He could already hear the lecture out of his former sensei's smug mouth.
"But why would the bridge be vandalized anyway?" Sakura interjected, her curiosity piqued, but also wanting to get back on track on Sasuke. "It's a national landmark that allowed the country to be as prosperous as it is in the first place. I can't see anyone who went through Gato's tyranny letting an attempt slide let alone allow it."
"And why do you think I'm bringing this up along with Sasuke's activities in Wave?" Tsunade asked with a raised brow.
It took a moment but the reason soon dawned upon them. Naruto's incredulity was evident as he protested, "...there's no way that Sasuke of all people would vandalize something. He's got too much of a stick up his ass to mess around like that!"
"Hm, he was prone to childish acts whenever you were involved, Naruto. Perhaps a remnant of that resurfaced." Kakashi pointed out.
"Part of the name included "Way Better Than That Bastard Sasuke". It wouldn't take a Nara to know why he'd want to change that." Tsunade pointed out.
"So what? He defaced it? Did he just cross it out or something?"
"Oh calm down Naruto, I think you're going to have a strong opinion on the sign." Kakashi said.
Sakura's eyes widened as she remembered something, "…Sensei, those were the exact words you said to Sasuke all those years ago. You know what it says, don't you?"
Kakashi chuckled softly at the memory, "Actually, I don't. I just have a gut feeling is all. But this will be a surprise for me as much as it'll be for you."
"Ooh, can I say it, Tsunade? I really wanna." Jiraiya asked with a giggle, one like the rather infamous ones he makes while performing his 'research'.
Tsunade shook her head firmly. "No, Jiraiya, I'm going to. That'll teach the brat to name his monuments and public structures properly."
With a mix of curiosity and trepidation, Naruto and Sakura awaited the revelation. And then, the words tumbled out, leaving them speechless and incredulous.
"The Dead Last Naruto, Useless Sakura, Heartbreaker Kakashi, and Uchiha El33t Sasuke Bridge."
All three members of Team 7 stood in stunned silence, their minds trying to process the message.
Naruto felt a surge of conflicting emotions - anger, confusion, and a tinge of amusement despite the situation. It was a bizarre mix that left him at a loss for words.
Sakura's eyes widened in anger at being labeled "Useless," a title she had relentlessly strived to overcome. Even after her triumph against Sasori, with Lady Chiyo's assistance, she still had a long path ahead of her as Orochimaru had shown her. Holding her hostage to coerce Naruto into letting his group leave, just when they could've finally brought Sasuke home. That memory that evoked immense frustration as her fists tightened.
Kakashi, however, remained composed, but a twinkle of amusement glinted in his visible eye.
Naruto finally found his voice, his tone laced with irritation. "WHAT?! DEAD LAST?!" Naruto exclaimed with irritation he hadn't felt since his Genin days, "Just who does that bastard think he is!? The Academy was fucking years ago, that shit is irrelevant at this point! And what the hell is el-three-three-t supposed to mean!? Even in the academy I knew that you aren't supposed to put numbers in words! I'll show him 'dead last'."
Sakura''s frustration boiled over as she clenched her fists, her emerald eyes blazing with indignation. "Did he call me useless? Useless?!" The memories of her struggles, growth, and the battles she fought to prove herself surged through her. And yes, she had very much been useless before Lady Tsunade had made her into a formidable kunoichi. Hearing that from Sasuke only intensified her determination to bring him back and set the record straight. "The next time I see him," she vowed, her voice ringing with conviction, "I'll show him just how useless I can be!"
"Well, it seems that I was right, you guys really are feeling strongly about it. Though I'm flattered that he'd think so well of my ability to charm the ladies," Kakashi joked, thoroughly amused with his students' reactions. Though there was a sense of sadness in him that Sasuke hadn't shown this side of himself more while he was still in the village, "Though I can't help but feel the strangest sense of déjà vu with that heartbreaker comment."
"Apparently there's some meaning to what we couldn't understand at first." Jiraiya explained, "It stumped our guys for a bit before a Nara figured it out, El-three-three-t is supposed to be 'elite', and right after the heartbreaker is a write 'IN' in small print."
"Heartbreaker and 'IN'? Is that supposed to mean 'heartbreakering'? Heartbreaker in? Wait, heartbreakerin… heartbreaker... Rin…" Kakashi trailed off, his mind racing as the pieces fell into place.
'…I don't know whether to be impressed that he somehow found out about that or choke the life out of him for making a pun out of it.'
Sakura's concerned voice broke through Kakashi's thoughts. "Sensei, are you alright? You went still all of a sudden."
Kakashi shook off his reverie, a determined glint in his eye. "No need to worry, Sakura. I was just contemplating the appropriate… punishment for Sasuke once you two get your hands on him."
"Now, now. There'll be plenty of time to go over what we'll do to him once he's in our custody. Right now we need to discuss how we'll get him into said custody." Tsunade nodded, her expression turning serious.
"Lucky for us, I have a good idea of where to start." Jiraiya started, getting everyone's attention, "An informant of mine has just informed me about where Sasuke will be. An old hideout of the Uchiha Clan from the days of the Warring Clans era. Annoyingly enough, he couldn't find the exact location but did manage to narrow the location down to approximately a mile or so, something we should be able to cut down further with an able tracker.
But there's one more complication that we'll have to take into account. This may be no Valley of the End, but a location like this seems rather fitting for a duel to the death between the last Uchiha."
Naruto's determination flared as he pounded his fist into his hand, his eyes blazing with resolve. "I won't let Sasuke get away this time. Not after everything. I'll bring him back, no matter what it takes!"
Sakura nodded in agreement, her eyes steely with resolve. "We can't let him continue down this dark path. He's our friend, and we have to save him from himself."
Kakashi gazed at his students with pride as he placed a hand on both of their shoulders, "We'll do everything we can to bring him back to the village where he belongs." That pride soon turned into a sense of urgency in his lone eye. "But before we can do that, we'll need a solid plan to track down Sasuke and confront him. Time is of the essence, and we can't afford any missteps for the mission ahead."
"Good, then let's get the starting stages of Operation Rising Eclipse on the way," Tsunade declared, her tone firm and resolute.
Tsunade's eyes roved over the assembled teams, her voice filled with genuine admiration. "I'm impressed. You planned this well."
Her gaze settled on Team 8, comprised of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. They were the tracking squad, their expertise honed to locate the elusive Sasuke Uchiha. With Shino's intimate connection to his insects and Hinata's mastery of the Gentle Fist technique, they possessed the unique ability to disable and immobilize their targets once captured, ensuring there would be no chance of escape.
Turning her attention to Team 7, Tsunade surveyed the determined faces of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake. And from the newest members, the blank stare of Sai and the stoic Yamato. They were the assault squad, entrusted with the daunting task of neutralizing and apprehending either of the Uchiha brothers. If Itachi could be captured, then Sasuke would have no choice but to return to Konoha. On the other hand, if Sasuke could be apprehended, the mission would be a resounding success, allowing the shinobi to resume their roles in Operation Fading Dawn.
Kakashi gazed up at the churning sky, a tapestry of foreboding grey clouds that masked the setting sun. The rain pouring from the sky did little to offer respite to that tone, as if the weather were forecasting how the mission would go.
"Thank you, Lady Hokage, I believe that we're ready to set out now." Kakashi stated, still determined in spite of nature's seeming omen, "Though I'll have to say, what miserable weather for a mission launch."
Tsunade nodded before turning to face the rest of her shinobi, "Let's make this official then," she declared, her voice resonating with authority. "I hereby authorize this mission to locate and detain either or both of our targets: Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha. And all of you, be careful. And make certain that you complete the mission."
With a final nod, Tsunade watched as the teams dispersed, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
#######
In a bit of a repeat to parts 1 and 2 of chapter 6 with the next update coming a lot sooner than expected.
This is rather short, I know, but I did want to keep this brief. This was meant to come out a few days after chapter 7, but some potential ideas popped up before being ultimately shelved for later (a scene with Aoda, the snake ladies, and Anko) or being redundant here and when they show up (Deidara and Tobi). This like chapter 7 has been sitting in my google docs semi completed for months now, only recently being finished up. The same can't really be said for chapter 8 outside of an idea outline and 500 words, so ngl that might not be out until a couple of months later with how slow my motivation to write in general has been tbh. Hell, it's been rather slow with this one as well, so I'm not the most happy with it but after being absent for so long I do want to just give what I got already before making you guys wait for chapter 8 to be done. After some sleep, I'll fix some stuff/add some stuff that an all-nighter me had missed.
So, to get to back recent events, an appearance from Itachi without it being overly cracky for once lol, though it did share some similaity to omake 3. But we do get an actual look into that messed up noggin of his and see what he feels other than a massive 'oh shit!' moment. And no, he hasn't shoved the crow down Naruto's throat so he won't have to clean up his shit literally, just figuratively lol.
And from what you've seen of Konoha, for the most part they're what you likely expected of them. Except for the fact that Sakura, like Karin, is dialed back a bit. So she's actually able to throw some hands at him if she intends to. Side note, if you could guess by the bit about a red cloak, then basically its a hint that Naruto now has access to Sage Mode. Not perfect to the level that he has in canon, but is getting there since Jiraiya had him start training for it during the time skip.
And for a bit of behind the scenes info to any who may be interested, I was planning on adding Yakumo Kurama to the pursuit team since her bloodline would be an interesting opponent to Tobito and Itachi (and she doesn't get used too often in Shippuden from what I've read) But an 8 man squad is large enough already and adding another might be a bit bloated. Idk, I'll sleep on that and edit her in or not when I decide.
anyway, I do hope that you guys liked the chapter and leave me your thoughts.
As for Yakumo still being an active shinobi despite her weak body and lacking skill in Nin and Taijustu (also being filler and never seen again), here she got some proper encouragement after her mini arc from the village (cause they really needed people after the Konoha Crush) and from another fellow in a similar boat as her. It'd make a fair bit of sense for Rock Lee to be eager in helping someone facing what he had to go through, plus I thought that the two would be cute together and our boi deserves someone. She's pretty much mid-Chunin level in physical ability and Ninjutsu but has very potent Genjutsu ability with high levels of chakra. It's powerful enough that it'd be reasonable for Konoha to believe that it could overcome or provide a means to fight against potentially two Mangekyou users.
as for what she'd look like in Shippuden
she borrowed Kurenai's look lol. it was either this or her joining up with ANBU, these two were fanarts of an older Yakumo that I actually liked
as for what she'd look like in Shippuden
she borrowed Kurenai's look lol. it was either this or her joining up with ANBU, these two were fanarts of an older Yakumo that I actually liked
