[Sky Ninja Base]
From the outside, this place looked like a massive ruin.
But in reality, this entire complex was only the upper half of the Sky Ninja's flying fortress, Ancor Vantian.
This flying fortress was the Sky Ninja's last hope.
Unfortunately, although all the facilities on the fortress were intact, the most crucial power system was missing.
That left this enormous fortress buried in the forest.
Shinno had never given up on reviving the Sky Ninja.
All these years, he had been working toward it.
Back then, the Sky Ninja had mobilized the entire nation and spent decades to create the ultimate weapon of destruction, Ancor Vantian.
Ancor Vantian meant the Royal Capital Fortress.
As long as they could develop its energy system, the artificial tailed beast, Zero-Tails, they would be able to conquer the entire ninja world.
The reason the Sky Ninja had such ambition was because the Zero-Tails could absorb the darkness in people's hearts and convert it into energy.
This energy could be used to power the aerial fortress Ancor Vantian, and it could also strengthen the human body.
In a world where flight was rare, Ancor Vantian was practically invincible.
Once war began, dark energy would become nearly endless, and the Sky Ninja's ambitions could be fully realized.
But while the Sky Ninja were still developing the artificial tailed beast Zero-Tails, their ability to fly drew Konoha's attention.
To eliminate future threats, Konoha launched a direct assault and wiped out the village.
At that time, the Zero-Tails had not yet been completed, and the Sky Ninja's top fighters were no match for Konoha, so they could only flee.
Fortunately, Shinno managed to take the core of the Zero-Tails with him. After more than ten years, he finally found the scroll needed to revive the Zero-Tails within Konoha and brought it back.
Right now, he was in the lowest level of Ancor Vantian.
The walls of this space were covered in runes and formations.
At the very center, something like a cocoon floated in the air.
That was the Zero-Tails in the process of being born.
Its growth required dark chakra formed from the darkness in human hearts.
Shinno had been preparing all this time to let the Zero-Tails absorb more dark energy so it could break out of its cocoon.
At this moment, Obito had come to his door.
From the first moment Shinno saw Obito, he had set his sights on him.
After all, Obito carried immense dark energy within him. He was clearly a massive source of power.
"Lord Shinno, Obito has arrived."
A subordinate's voice came from the speaker above Shinno's head.
"Got it. I'll go meet him now."
Shinno formed several hand seals. A wave of energy resonated with the Zero-Tails inside the cocoon.
The Zero-Tails seemed to gain awareness as it slowly opened its eyes.
It was a creature like a long worm, with the character "Zero" written on its head.
Shinno changed his hand seals, and the body of the Zero-Tails gradually became transparent.
In the end, the Zero-Tails inside the cocoon turned completely invisible.
A smile curled at the corner of Shinno's mouth as he walked outside.
———
Obito and Moryo stood outside the Sky Ninja base, waiting.
They weren't standing outside out of politeness. There was another reason.
Moryo stared at the ground, dark energy flickering in his eyes.
"That Zero-Tails should be about to break out of its cocoon."
A faint, ambiguous smile appeared on Moryo's lips.
Obito caught the underlying meaning in his words and turned his head, "What do you mean?"
Moryo let out a mocking laugh, "You'll find out soon enough."
Obito frowned slightly. Before he could ask more, a tall figure walked toward them.
It was Shinno.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Please, follow me."
Shinno was in a good mood, his demeanor relaxed as he casually led the way.
Obito possessed the Kamui Mangekyo Sharingan. Aside from Uchiha clan members, he had never really feared anyone.
With that confidence, he walked forward without concern. Moryo watched his back with a faint smile at the corner of his eyes and followed along.
As they descended, Shinno introduced the place.
"This is our Sky Ninja's secret weapon. Once it has enough energy, it can fly near Konoha."
Moryo looked Shinno up and down and asked, "Something this big must need a lot of energy to fly, right?"
Shinno sighed faintly, as if recalling the hardships he had endured over the years to revive the Zero-Tails.
"Of course. Its driving force is the Zero-Tails."
As they spoke, Shinno had already brought Obito and Moryo to the lowest level where the Zero-Tails was kept.
Since the Zero-Tails had turned invisible, the cocoon now appeared empty.
After arriving, Shinno could no longer suppress the smile on his face.
He muttered, "Finally… finally, it's about to succeed…"
Obito frowned, "Where is the Zero-Tails?"
Shinno suddenly turned around, laughing wildly.
"Hahaha! Naturally, it's in your heart!"
Obito's expression tightened. His body suddenly couldn't move.
Shock flashed through him. He was in his Kamui intangibility state.
It should have been impossible to restrain him.
Was it genjutsu?
His Sharingan spun as he poured in more ocular power, but he still couldn't move.
At that moment, he realized a brown creature had wrapped tightly around him.
Black energy kept leaking out from his body.
It was the first time Obito had suffered at the hands of someone outside the Uchiha clan. His expression turned extremely grim.
"What is this?"
"Hahahahaha… how wonderful, truly wonderful. I didn't expect there to be so much darkness in your heart."
Shinno looked completely satisfied. The moment Obito and that white figure stepped into this room, their lives were already in his hands.
Now, seeing such an immense amount of dark energy being extracted from Obito, Shinno felt even more delighted.
For the Zero-Tails, breaking out of the cocoon required the energy of dark hearts as nourishment.
The more energy it absorbed, the stronger it would become.
"So what if you're from the Uchiha clan?"
"Your information has long been exposed by the Akatsuki. No matter how your intangibility works, as long as you have emotional fluctuations, you'll never escape the Zero-Tails."
"Hahaha…"
Endless black energy poured out from Obito. His entire body felt like it was being pierced by countless needles.
"Gahhh!", Obito screamed in agony.
But Shinno frowned as he looked at the white figure beside him.
Moryo was also entangled by the Zero-Tails, and thick black smoke was rising from his body as well.
Yet he felt no pain at all. Instead, he wore a faint, amused smile, seemingly intrigued by the Zero-Tails wrapped around him.
"Oh, so it uses the darkness in the heart as a reflection to materialize dark chakra. Interesting."
Moryo's completely different reaction from Obito made Shinno instantly wary.
"Why don't you feel despair, sadness, anger, or hatred?"
"The energy in your body… it's not chakra?"
As the darkness within Moryo was drained away, a purple glow began to radiate from his body.
If Rengoku and Miroku were here, they would recognize it immediately.
This was all spiritual power.
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