During the Second Shinobi World War, there was a group of ninja known as the Sky Ninja—or, according to Konoha's definition, they should probably be termed an "illegal armed group." In essence, the conflict began because these Sky Ninja opposed Konoha. Ignoring the intermediate steps, the result was that they reaped what they sowed: their nation was utterly destroyed.
One could say this group was quite fortunate during the Second Shinobi World War, as they likely ran afoul of Tobirama Senju during his time as the Second Hokage... Anyone familiar with Tobirama knows his type: ruthless, willing to resort to any means necessary to achieve his goals.
But truth be told, even someone like Tobirama would likely consider wiping out their nation sufficient punishment; there was no need to hunt down every single enemy survivor. If the survivors were "reasonable," they could simply live out their days in anonymity. Konoha couldn't realistically track down and eliminate every last one of them.
However, one should never underestimate the vengeful spirit of those who have lost their homeland. Are grudges born of national destruction and personal loss so easily forgotten? As long as the will persists, there's always a chance. Nations have been wiped off the map countless times, yet often find a way to rise again.
If things remained purely at the aspiration stage, certain stories might sound admirable. But when it comes to actual action, the practical implementation of ideals, the situation becomes entirely different...
The descendants of the Sky Ninja, once annihilated by Konoha, didn't merely seek to rebuild their nation. They craved revenge. Furthermore, their target wasn't just the destruction of Konoha, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but the domination of the entire shinobi world... Frankly, this was an ambition completely detached from reality and the actual balance of power, deserving only the evaluation of "grossly overestimating oneself." It's surprisingly common to encounter those with ugly intentions but beautiful dreams.
To achieve their "ideal," the most crucial step in the surviving Sky Ninja's plan was, bizarrely, to create an artificial Tailed Beast. This revealed both the apparent scale of their ambition and the pathetic smallness of their perspective. Why create an artificial one? Tailed Beasts are powerful, and there are nine roaming the shinobi world. If they wanted one, they could just go steal one. Why bother with a cheap imitation?
Ah, perhaps they simply weren't capable of capturing a wild Tailed Beast? In that case, why were they even talking about dominating the shinobi world?
Relying on a Tailed Beast, or a group of them, to rule the shinobi world through deterrence is a conventional enough idea. However... not everyone possesses the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Not every terrorist organization can call itself the "Akatsuki."
Therefore, for the current Konoha, the so-called Sky Ninja were hardly a threat. Although they employed unique aerial combat methods, appearing capable of swift blitzkrieg tactics, their actual combat strength was very mediocre. Their only real advantage was mobility. Sending just one ninja like Tenzo, Shibi Aburame, or Kakashi would be sufficient to deal with them.
Despite somewhat underestimating the strength of this illegal armed group, Habara did respect their research spirit. After all, the artificial Tailed Beast was a real thing. Though it might not look much like an actual Bijuu, it could certainly serve as inspiration—"stones from another mountain," so to speak. This knowledge was the truly valuable part, the part Habara sought to acquire.
Having set the bait, cast the line, and performed his role, Habara followed Doctor Shinno to the next town... "Shinno" was, in fact, the leader of these surviving Sky Ninja and the creator of the artificial Tailed Beast. The "doctor" persona was merely his disguise.
Habara didn't know how far Shinno's artificial Tailed Beast project had progressed, but his goal wasn't the imitation beast itself. He only wanted the corresponding knowledge. He wasn't even demanding perfection; any small gain would make this trip worthwhile.
After spending two or three days together, Shinno also began to feel that this supposed patient, Habara, was acting rather strangely. There was a constant sense of dissonance about him. For instance, sometimes his words seemed nonsensical yet sent chills down one's spine. Despite the severe "corrosion" on his arm, he rarely showed signs of pain, as if the condition only existed when explicitly mentioned...
Alright, this was likely because Habara tended to observe Shinno from a detached perspective. Plus, he wasn't a professional actor; his skills were only slightly better than an idol trainee with two and a half years of practice. And as the act wore on, he grew bored and less inclined to stay in character.
The longer they spent together, the more cracks appeared in his performance. He simply lacked the genuine anxiety of a patient. The enemy posed no real threat to him, making him fundamentally calm and composed—a trait difficult to hide completely.
Fortunately, he didn't need to maintain the charade for long. Minor inconsistencies during this brief period weren't a significant issue.
Upon arriving at the next town, Shinno followed his usual routine, diagnosing and treating the locals. However, having traveled continuously for several days, he decided not to leave immediately this time, planning instead to rest here for two nights.
After finishing his consultations for the day, Shinno changed the dressing on Habara's arm. Naturally, the medicine had no effect, but Shinno acted as if there was some slight improvement. That evening, the two rested in an abandoned shrine on the outskirts of town.
In the dead of night, Habara, seemingly fast asleep, suddenly opened his eyes and rose to his feet without making a sound or revealing any presence.
He and Shinno slept on opposite sides of a campfire. There was little trust between them, and Shinno, harboring secrets, couldn't possibly have been sleeping soundly. Logically, he should have remained highly vigilant towards Habara. Yet, the reality was he remained utterly oblivious to Habara's movements.
Shinno's decision to stop in this specific town was surely no coincidence. In fact, during the day, Habara had already detected Shinno making clandestine contact with someone. That contact person had then left town... Habara had placed a chakra marker on them and dispatched a clone to follow.
Following the trail, he located the Sky Ninja's secret base. Their lair was hidden on a small island off the southeastern coast, explaining why Shinno constantly operated in the southern border region of the Land of Fire.
Habara slipped away soundlessly, heading off to pay their hideout a visit. Of course, a thief never leaves empty-handed. Before departing, he relieved Shinno of all his belongings, including several scrolls Shinno had kept hidden close to his body.
Though he'd never done this specific type of thing before, Habara proved remarkably adept at theft. This was because... people often call thieves "three-handed," but when shapeshifting with high-density Nine-Tails chakra, guess how many hands Habara currently possessed? As many as he needed, naturally.
Half an hour later, Habara could already see the small island in the distance.
"I see. Dense vegetation, low mountains... looks like a good hiding spot... assuming the hiders are particularly good at digging holes."
Habara crossed the calm sea surface and infiltrated the unnamed island without a trace. He then located a hidden entrance leading underground and slipped into the cavernous subterranean complex unnoticed.
"Perhaps that was redundant," Habara mused. "Rats are always good at digging holes, because rats that aren't good at digging don't survive long. Cats, after all, aren't blind."
Inside the underground complex, numerous strangely dressed guards patrolled. These were undoubtedly the legendary Sky Ninja. They marched back and forth, appearing vigilant, but Habara could tell at a glance it was mere formality. Their patrols were routine, lacking genuine alertness... It was understandable. They had remained hidden successfully for decades; why would they worry about being discovered now? Complacency might be human nature, but that didn't make it correct or wise. A single minute of laxity could lead to devastating consequences. That their extended complacency hadn't yet resulted in disaster only spoke to their good luck.
But luck always runs out eventually.
Habara extended his right hand, gently pressing it against a nearby wall. The next moment, his chakra began to snake throughout the underground complex... He couldn't possibly conduct a thorough search alone in a short time, so he decided to start by probing the nooks and crannies, the places that looked deliberately concealed.
After identifying several suspicious locations deep underground, Habara headed straight for them.
He checked them one by one. The first few turned out to be empty secret laboratories, containing equipment but no data. It wasn't until he broke into the fifth location that he finally found their repository of secret information.
He violently shattered the barrier seal securing the room and began rummaging through the piles of documents.
Simultaneously, the moment Habara destroyed the barrier, a sharp, intense pain jolted the sleeping Shinno awake. The instant he woke, he knew something was wrong; normally, he would never sleep so deeply.
He shot up, glancing down at his left arm. A searing hot symbol had fully materialized beneath his skin. Ignoring the pain, he clamped his hand over the symbol and muttered through gritted teeth, "My barrier seal..."
He didn't need to guess who had broken into his sealed archive. The person who had been sharing the room with him moments ago was now gone. Realizing he'd been deceived, Shinno felt a surge of fury, immediately followed by panic. He bolted towards his hidden base, praying his precious research data hadn't been destroyed.
One could only say the most cunning hunters often appear in the guise of prey. However, Shinno needn't have worried about Habara destroying the materials. The reason was simple: why would someone destroy their own property without cause?
When Shinno rushed back to the secret base, he found his subordinates blocked by a sealed door obstructing the passage... They weren't unaware of the intrusion; Habara's entry had been too "blatant," making no effort to conceal his presence. They even knew the intruder's current location, but what good did that do? A single sealed door rendered them helpless.
"Out of the way!"
Shinno pushed past his men and approached the door, finding it sealed by powerful chakra. The iron door was fused tightly to the surrounding walls, appearing as a single, solid structure. Ordinary physical attacks or ninjutsu would be completely ineffective against it.
Shinno frowned, placed his palm flat against the door, and the sealing chakra immediately flowed towards him, drawn into his body like water into a whale's mouth. In just a minute or two, the sealing chakra was completely absorbed.
He shoved the heavy door open and led his men through several turns, finally reaching the crucial secret chamber.
There, they saw a figure sitting casually on the floor, surrounded by numerous unfurled scrolls. Shinno didn't recognize the man's current appearance, but he knew it was the "patient" who had been with him for the past few days... He realized with a jolt that he hadn't even bothered to ask the man's name.
Such was the price of arrogance and overconfidence, assuming Habara was merely a pawn to be manipulated. Why bother learning the name of a tool?
"Using levitation and propulsion formulas... essentially Earth and Wind Release, right? Combined with necessary equipment for specialized aerial combat... This aligns with the principles the Library is currently exploring for technique encapsulation. Using chakra as an energy source to allow ninja to fly—chakra truly is convenient."
Having grasped the general principles, Habara neatly rolled up the scroll and tucked it into his ninja pouch.
Then he found something even more important, the primary reason he had left the village: data concerning the artificial Tailed Beast.
Most of it detailed the beast's construction methods, which held little value for Habara, until...
"Chakra is composed of physical and spiritual energy in a one-to-one ratio. No matter the type, all chakra adheres to this fundamental principle. Regarding Tailed Beasts, to prevent the formed chakra entity from dissipating, chakra regeneration is paramount. Physical energy is cellular energy. This requires retaining the cellular configuration signature within the physical energy component during chakra extraction via a special technique formula. Thus, one half of the chakra serves as both its constituent component and its regenerative source..."
Habara then saw the specific technique formula drawn on the scroll. Its complexity ranked among the highest he had ever encountered.
Well, they were trying to create an artificial Tailed Beast; they had to have some skill, otherwise it would just be empty fantasy.
"This trip was worthwhile..."
Habara carefully stored the scroll. Just as he was about to continue searching for valuable information, Shinno and his men burst in.
Habara glanced back at them, then slowly stood up and turned around fully.
"According to Land of Fire regulations, unregistered ninja groups operating outside the jurisdiction of Konohagakure, such as yours, are classified as illegal armed groups and potential terrorist organizations..."
He paused, then continued, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "I have a maxim you might consider: 'The human heart seems like iron, but it bends and breaks; the fist of the law is like a furnace, truly consuming.' All will, ambition, and wild hopes turn to dust when they crash against a true wall. Do you know why?"
He let the question hang for a moment before answering it himself.
"Because you don't follow the law."
"I am Land of Fire Police! I advise you to surrender peacefully. Do not engage in futile resistance, or you will only end up getting hurt!"