October. As autumn took hold, the temperature in Konoha began to drop.
These days, Natsuki's life was thoroughly full—working and training through the day, then spending his nights with Yakushi Nonou first and Uzumaki Kushina after. He was run off his feet. Not that he minded in the slightest.
Meanwhile, October in the Land of Rain meant the same thing it always did: ceaseless, hammering rain. But over the Hidden Rain Village itself, the rain from the sky had vanished entirely, giving way to clear skies. The strange weather had started the month before—a small miracle, as far as the village's residents and ninja were concerned. Though they all knew the reason for it: Konan. With the Sorcery Clima-Tact, she'd finally built out a system capable of governing the weather over the Hidden Rain.
It sounds miraculous, but the principle was simple—summed up in a single phrase, the all-purpose wonder of chakra. In the source material, ninja bending the weather was hardly unheard of. Uchiha Sasuke, for one: before he could use Lightning Release: Kirin, he had to conjure a thunderstorm with Fire Release first.
The Hidden Rain's progress ran well past the weather system, of course—there was the infrastructure too. Funded by the Akatsuki, the village had taken on an entirely new face. A stranger walking in might have thought they'd stepped into a modern city, though one built in a hard sci-fi idiom: buildings all straight lines and sharp angles. Most important of all was the drainage—black piping running everywhere the eye landed.
"You've all done very well," Natsuki said, once he'd reviewed how things stood.
At that, Yahiko, Konan, Nagato, and the others let out a quiet breath and smiled. Their greatest fear was falling short of Natsuki's expectations.
Natsuki turned next to the situation across the wider Land of Rain. When he saw that the equipment for hydroelectric power had been developed successfully, he was a little surprised—and, more than that, pleasantly so.
There were complications, though. Building a hydroelectric station wasn't especially hard; the hard part was defending one—all the more so with the Third Great Ninja War bearing down. If the Land of Rain became a battlefield, a power station would be an easy thing to destroy.
Natsuki thought it over. The best sites for hydroelectric stations were really the Five Great Nations, since the Great Ninja Wars seldom touched them directly. But building there would put them too far from the Land of Rain.
His mind went to Pakura again. If she became the Fourth Kazekage, the Hidden Sand could partner with the Hidden Rain on power stations. And not only the Sand—Konoha could join in too. For one, all Five Great Villages knew the Hidden Rain sat effectively under Konoha's thumb. For another, Konoha needed the electricity itself. With two Great Villages backing the Hidden Rain, the stations would be as secure as they could possibly be.
The cleanest approach would be to channel water out of the Land of Rain into the Land of Fire or the Land of Wind and build the stations around reservoirs there. There was no guaranteeing the other three villages wouldn't try to sabotage them, of course—but it was worth a shot. Even if they were leveled, they could be rebuilt once the war ended.
"As for the power stations—wait for word from me," Natsuki said, coming out of his thoughts. He meant to head back to Konoha and take the matter up with Orochimaru.
"Yahiko, Konan, Nagato—get ready. You're coming with me on a mission," he went on.
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei!" Yahiko said, plainly delighted. It had been a long while since he'd worked a mission alongside Natsuki. Nagato and Konan felt the same.
Half an hour later, Natsuki opened an Air Door, and the four of them arrived in the Land of Birds. He drew Minazuki and performed Shikai; the giant manta ray took shape, and the four settled onto it, bound for what had once been the Hidden Sky Village.
"Our target this time is the Hidden Sky Village," Natsuki said.
"Wasn't the Hidden Sky Village destroyed?" Yahiko asked, thinking it over.
"It was—but some of its ninja survived." Natsuki then told them about Shinno and the Ancor Vantian.
"There's really a fortress like that?" Yahiko asked, unable to wait. "Are we bringing the Ancor Vantian back for the Hidden Rain to use?" A flying Ancor Vantian brought home—just picturing it was something.
"We're bringing it back, yes—but not for the Hidden Rain." Natsuki shook his head. "I mean to give it to the Kuja Pirates."
Yahiko froze a moment, then let it drop. The Kuja Pirates were part of the Akatsuki too, after all; there was no real difference between the Hidden Rain using it and the Kuja Pirates using it.
"Your job is to take control of the Ancor Vantian and the Hidden Sky ninja," Natsuki instructed. "I'll go handle their current leader—Shinno."
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei," the three answered together. Natsuki gave a small nod.
Time slipped past. The giant manta ray glided high over the ruins of the Hidden Sky Village.
"Let's head down." Natsuki leaped, casually stowing Minazuki. The three followed close behind, dropping after him. As they neared the ground, all four used Moonwalk to right themselves and landed cleanly.
Natsuki activated Observation Haki, and the lay of the place came clear at once. Shinno and the Hidden Sky ninja were underground—inside the buried Ancor Vantian, to be exact.
"With me." Natsuki found an entrance and started toward it. Before they'd even reached it, four Hidden Sky ninja appeared.
Natsuki didn't stir. Nagato raised a hand.
Shinra Tensei!
The four were blown clean away. Natsuki opened the entrance, and the group passed through into the Ancor Vantian.
"That way's the control room. There's a Yin Release creature inside called the Zero-Tails," Natsuki said, pointing. "It's not strong, though, and it's sealed at the moment—you can ignore it."
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei." Yahiko and the other two set off in the direction he'd indicated.
Natsuki went the other way, toward Shinno's quarters. A few minutes in, he felt Shinno pick up on him—unsurprising, since he'd made no effort to hide his approach.
The air split with a sound, and Shinno appeared before him. Unlike his counterpart in the source material, this one looked younger, with none of the shock of white hair.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Shinno asked, wary.
Hado #88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!
Natsuki didn't bother with words—he simply raised his right hand. Surging chakra poured out and became a straight lance of light.
Shinno hadn't remotely expected Natsuki to be so brazen, striking the instant they met—and he was even less ready for the sheer force of Hado #88. Alarm hit him at once: the beam bore down on him with a pressure that set his heart hammering. But recognizing the danger and answering it were two different things—he had no time for seals, and combat had never been his strength anyway. All he could do was throw his arms up on instinct.
Boom!
Shinno was hurled screaming into the wall, blood spattering everywhere. An ordinary ninja would have been crippled by that, done fighting. But Shinno was another matter. Gritting through the pain, he lay there and flashed through hand seals.
Medical Forbidden Jutsu: Body Revival!
A surge of chakra tore out of him. His ordinary frame swelled in an instant into a wall of muscle, his clothes bursting apart to bare bulging abs and arms—like a bodybuilder pumped full of steroids. And he wasn't finished. Shinno rose and kept forming seals.
Medical Forbidden Jutsu: Body Regeneration!
The two forbidden jutsu stacked into a third.
Medical Ninjutsu: Body Metamorphosis!
Shinno looked a full decade younger in an instant, wounds closed, his whole body pouring off a savage, surging aura.
"Those three medical forbidden jutsu of yours aren't bad," Natsuki said, giving him a once-over.
Fresh off taking heavy damage, Shinno was in no mood for conversation. He stamped down hard, cracking the floor, and closed on Natsuki like a lightning bolt. The three forbidden jutsu had massively boosted his physique—his speed alone now matched a Taijutsu Jonin's.
Taijutsu: Activation Punch!
Shinno clenched his fist. It shuddered, wreathed in terrifying chakra, then tore through the air toward Natsuki.
Cherry Blossom Impact!
Natsuki met it with a punch of his own, expression unchanged.
A muffled crack. The two forces churned against each other, chakra currents catching even the air and whipping it into visible shockwaves. Shinno slid backward several meters despite himself, two black scuff marks scored into the floor behind him.
Staring at Natsuki now, he felt as though he'd seen a ghost. Three medical forbidden jutsu, and he still couldn't match the man?
"That all you've got?" Natsuki asked with a faint smile.
Shinno's face darkened, and he threw open the Eight Inner Gates without hesitation. Red steam burst outward from him like a fountain. Natsuki narrowed his eyes at the oppressive weight of it rolling over him, breath coming a shade harder.
But that was the extent of it. He thought back to Might Guy opening all eight gates in the source material—Shinno's aura felt thin by comparison. A shortcut version, in the end, no match for the true Eight Inner Gates.
"Your hour of death is here!" Shinno felt more powerful than he ever had, the earlier setback flung to the back of his mind.
Taijutsu: Activation Punch!
He blurred, appearing in front of Natsuki. His movements were lightning-fast, the punch cracking the air with explosive reports—the product of raw speed and overwhelming power.
Natsuki raised a brow. A fine punch, that one—the vast majority of Jonin wouldn't have reacted to it. The three forbidden jutsu stacked with the Eight Inner Gates had let Shinno just barely graze the edge of Kage-level. But the weakness was glaring: the duration was pitifully short.
Iron Mass: Smash!
Armament Haki!
Natsuki raised a hand, entering the Iron Mass state, Armament Haki sheathing his right fist in armor. He threw the punch.
Boom!
The two fists met once more. Unfathomable force warped the air, and the shockwaves slammed into the walls on either side like tidal waves, shattering them to nothing.
"How is this possible?" Disbelief flooded Shinno's eyes—Natsuki had stopped his punch without giving a single step. "Who exactly are you?" He grasped now that Natsuki was no ordinary figure. Someone like this couldn't be a nobody in the ninja world.
"You've been in Konoha this long and never laid eyes on me?" Natsuki countered.
"You're a Konoha ninja?" Shinno went still—then the realization struck. "You're Natsuki?"
That much strength, that young, and a Konoha ninja besides—the first name that came to mind was Natsuki. During his time in Konoha, Shinno had mostly kept to Might Duy and his son, so he'd never actually seen the man. But not seeing him didn't mean not hearing of him.
For an instant, the thought of running crossed Shinno's mind. But with the Hidden Sky Village and the Ancor Vantian at stake, he fixed Natsuki with murderous intent instead.
Ninja Art: Super Activation Fist!
Shinno raised both hands and leveled his fists at Natsuki. Black chakra flew from them, twisting into two shockwaves that shot out like sharpened arrows. This was dark chakra—chakra of the same origin as the Zero-Tails, drawn from the darkness buried deep in the human heart.
Iron Sand Sword!
Natsuki swept both hands. The whole Ancor Vantian shuddered hard. In this era iron was the mainstream material, and the Ancor Vantian was no exception. In an instant the surrounding iron gathered before Natsuki into a giant sword—which lashed out the moment it formed, shearing the two black shockwaves apart and thrusting toward Shinno at blistering speed.
"Impossible!" Shinno knew Natsuki's fearsome reputation, and still the man's performance terrified him, blowing past every expectation. But his physique was tremendous right now, and he wrenched himself clear of the giant sword in an instant.
At that, Natsuki flicked a finger. The sword reshaped into a chain-scythe on the spot, tearing through the air, spinning as it charged Shinno to cut him down.
Shinno's heart lurched violently. What kind of ninjutsu is this? He had no time to think—he spun and clenched his fists.
Ninja Art: Super Activation Fist!
Two shockwaves met the scythe, locking it in a stalemate—until, a moment later, they were sliced apart yet again. Seeing it, Shinno surged forward instead, wheeling back to charge Natsuki directly. Grappling with the ninjutsu was pointless. Kill Natsuki, and the technique would simply die with him.
Shinno roared and threw both fists. Even more dark chakra erupted than before, gathering around him like a vast black cloud that flew out and crashed toward Natsuki.
Railgun!
A kunai appeared in Natsuki's hand. Lightning saturated the air as it flew, punching through the dark cloud—though the cloud dragged at it, bleeding off its speed. Shinno dove left on instinct.
At that exact moment, Natsuki activated his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Kamui!
Space warped. Shinno couldn't react at all—he only felt his right arm go numb before it was severed. He froze, and then the pain crashed in; he clutched the stump and screamed. But soon Medical Forbidden Jutsu: Body Regeneration kicked in, and the arm began knitting itself back at speed. Fast as it was, though, it still needed time.
Sealing Arrow!
Natsuki seized the opening and drew his bow. An arrow flew out and struck Shinno squarely in the left shoulder. The Fuinjutsu on it erupted, freezing him in place. His screams cut off. Even the regenerating arm stopped growing.
"So Fuinjutsu can shut down his medical forbidden jutsu," Natsuki mused. He stepped in, drew Minazuki, and ran it straight through Shinno's heart.
As he died, his body withered fast, collapsing into a white-haired old man. Forbidden jutsu earn the name for a reason—the aftereffects are brutal. Shinno's three medical forbidden jutsu came at the price of his own lifespan. Which was par for the course; open all eight gates, and others would pay with their lives outright. Trading longevity for near-immortality, and swallowing the crippling toll of all eight gates besides—in a sense, it was still a fair bargain. Especially for Shinno. Letting an ordinary Jonin briefly wield something close to Kage-level power was, by any measure, an enormous return.
Natsuki activated Kamui again and dropped Shinno's corpse into the other dimension. The body was still useful—the Impure World Reincarnation needed a piece of it.
"Natsuki-sensei." Konan walked up. "Yahiko and Nagato have already secured the other Hidden Sky ninja and the researchers."
"Mm." Natsuki patted her head. "Let's get to the control room."
The two of them started toward it. By now the remaining Hidden Sky ninja and researchers had all been herded there by Yahiko and Nagato. Natsuki swept his gaze across them—a fair number, over a hundred. The only shame was that they weren't much in the way of strength.
"Where's the Zero-Tails?" Natsuki asked, drawing his attention back.
"In the power room below." Yahiko paused. "We also found villagers they'd been holding prisoner."
"Release them," Natsuki said with a nod. Keeping the villagers served no purpose.
In the source material, Shinno had taken on a student in that village named Amaru—the film's female lead, who'd even confessed her feelings to Uzumaki Naruto. But she surely hadn't been born yet, so Natsuki could only let the matter go with some regret. Had she already been born, he wouldn't have minded raising her; the Akatsuki was raising plenty of children as it was.
Natsuki made his way to the power room, and the Zero-Tails came into view. It looked like a snake, but wore a mask etched with the character for "Zero." At the sight of him, it flung itself at the wall on instinct. The transparent barrier lit up, dense jutsu formulas scrolling across it.
Natsuki judged it about a third smaller than its counterpart in the source material, with little dark chakra in its body to speak of—hardly a surprise, given how recently it had been born.
He decided he could take the Zero-Tails to Hozuki Castle and let the ninja imprisoned there feed it. They were all criminals, most of them vicious and cruel, their hearts brimming with darkness.
"Yahiko—keep the researchers, and take the rest of the Hidden Sky ninja back to the Hidden Rain Village." Natsuki returned to the control room. Then he opened an Air Door.
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei." Yahiko stepped up at once and had the Hidden Sky ninja follow him through.
"The rest of you, carry on with your research," Natsuki told the trembling researchers—the ones who maintained and built the Ancor Vantian, which still wasn't finished. "Nagato, Konan—keep an eye on them."
He opened another Air Door and arrived at the Konoha Maximum Security Prison, where he found a ninja guilty of a capital crime to serve as a living sacrifice, and used the Impure World Reincarnation to bring Shinno back.
Ninja resurrected by the Impure World Reincarnation could either keep their consciousness or have it wiped. So that Shinno could carry on his research more effectively, Natsuki left his intact, then took him back to the Ancor Vantian.
Since the Ancor Vantian wasn't finished, he didn't plan to move it yet. He took only the Zero-Tails.
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