Naruto: The Last Harbinger of Storm
NTLHOS Book 2: Chapter 41: Perspectives.
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🖋️ Author's Note:
I'm back with a 12k word chapter!
This one was a real challenge to write, the original draft didn't quite land, and while I'm still not fully satisfied, I believe this version does more justice to the story.
As the title suggests, this chapter is all about perspective. Many of the views expressed here are not facts, but personal interpretations and these perspectives will shape the choices and events in the chapters to come.
Thank you for your patience enjoy, and let me know what you think! 😊
Like ❤️ and Comment 💬 your feedback means everything!
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"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." — Marcus Aurelius
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Previously on NTLHOS-2:
Konohamaru knelt battered between his grandfather and their defeated enemy. "Please… Jiji, don't kill him," he pleaded, shielding Nagato with outstretched arms. The Third Hokage's face wavered with conflict. At last, Nagato smiled sadly through his pain. "Perhaps… perhaps I was wrong," the Akatsuki leader rasped, as a ghostly green light began to emanate from his emaciated frame. In a final act of atonement, Nagato poured out his life to restore all those who had perished in Konoha .
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Now:
Three weeks had passed since the cataclysmic Battle of the Gods that ravaged Konohagakure. In its aftermath, the shinobi shook under the shock. The Village Hidden in the Leaves toiled day and night to rebuild from its smoldering rubble. Under Sukino Nara, appointed interim Hokage in Hiruzen's absence, Konoha's infrastructure was slowly rising again. Sukino's sharp mind proved invaluable, she rooted out inefficiencies and corruption with a terrifying efficiency.
Not everyone welcomed these changes. Danzō had slunk back into the village days after the attack, only to find himself nearly clapped in chains by Hiruzen. The Third Hokage confronted Danzō with uncharacteristic wrath, suspecting that the old warhawk had callously waited for Konoha to fall so he could seize power. Danzō, nursing fresh wounds, managed to produce a convincing explanation: he claimed that on his way to aid the village, he'd been ambushed and nearly killed by two Akatsuki operatives, Konan of the Rain and Kisame Hoshigaki, forcing him into a drawn-out battle and delaying his arrival. Indeed, the bandages and bleeding gashes on Danzō's arm lent credence to his tale. Begrudgingly, Hiruzen spared his former comrade a summary imprisonment, but any trust between them had disintegrated to ash.
In the weeks that followed, Danzō could only watch from the sidelines as Hiruzen and Sukino steered Konoha's recovery. Every day brought new change from Sukino's desk, reallocating ANBU patrols, tightening supply lines, dismantling what remained of Danzō's secret Root operations. Her eyes missed nothing, every attempt Danzō made to reassert influence was swiftly, ruthlessly blocked. The old schemer found himself outmaneuvered at every turn. More than once, Danzō sat alone in his underground chambers, fingers clenched white around his cane, and wondered wryly if the Second Hokage had chosen the wrong student decades ago. Had Lord Tobirama made Sukino Hokage instead of Hiruzen, he mused, she would have become one of the most formidable and terrifying Kage the world had ever seen.
All the while, beyond Konoha's walls, tremors of change rippled across the continent. The leader of Akatsuki was dead, Pain's invasion had failed. But other threats and opportunities, loomed large. The fabled Kage Summit had been convened at last, drawing together the leaders of the great shinobi nations and the rising new power alike. The last time so many Kage met face-to-face was years ago under very different circumstances.
And so, Hiruzen Sarutobi departed Konoha's reconstruction efforts to his trusted interim successor and journeyed to the Land of Iron, accompanied by a small cadre of loyal shinobi. By his side went Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy, two of Konoha's finest, acting as his guards. The group trudged through snow-blanketed mountain passes and arrived in the neutral territory of the Land of Iron's samurai. Hiruzen's breath misted in the frosty air as he passed beneath iron archways where Lord Mifune welcomed them. Despite the weight of his years and injuries still aching from the battle with Nagato, the Third Hokage's back was straight.
In a large antechamber adjacent to the main conference hall, two figures already present were engaged in quiet conversation. One was a short old man— Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage—his small frame draped in a thick beige cloak to ward off the chill. Opposite him sat a tall, powerfully built dark-skinned man with his arms crossed impatiently— Āey, the Fourth Raikage.
Onoki's gravelly voice carried a hint of morbid glee. "All the Kage converging on the Land of Iron for a summit… Hmph. I only wish this had happened six or seven years ago." He gave a wheezing chuckle, his breath visible in the cold air. "To see high-and-mighty Konoha brought down a few notches back then would have been so satisfying."
The Raikage shot him a sidelong look. "Tsuchikage…" A's tone was both warning and perplexed. "You're not happythat Konoha was devastated by the leader of Akatsuki?"
Onoki shrugged his hunched shoulders. "I'm simply acknowledging reality, Raikage. Besides," he smirked, "let's face it, the Leaf had it coming. All those years of preaching about their noble Will of Fire… It's healthy for them to taste a little pain." He snickered at his own dark pun. "Though I admit, if this had occurred six years ago I'd have enjoyed it more. Konoha was at its zenith then. Now?" The Tsuchikage waved a dismissive hand, hovering a bit higher as if to make a point. "Now Konoha isn't the greatest it used to be."
A narrowed his eyes, bristling at Onoki's cavalier attitude. "Even after being razed, Konoha's military might is still nothing to scoff at. In fact, I'd wager they remain the most powerful single village, militarily speaking," he rumbled. "But how can you, of all people, admit that out loud? Have you no shame in admitting that another village is better than yours?"
Onoki merely chuckled again, an infuriating dry rasp. "Oh, I don't doubt their military strength. In pure numbers and jutsu, Konoha is formidable, yes. But what use is all that might if Hiruzen Sarutobi can't wield it freely?" He jabbed a gnarled finger downward for emphasis. "Konoha is shackled by the decree of daimyo summit. They're not calling the shots anymore."
The Raikage's frown deepened, but he listened as Onoki continued. "You've heard the rumors, I presume. This 'Pain' charector reduced Konoha to a crater and yet, not a single loyal Leaf citizen died in that catastrophe." Onoki's eyes gleamed shrewdly under his thick eyebrows. "Imagine that. An entire village flattened, and not one casualty… aside from the invader himself. It sounds absurd, but dozens of sources claim it's true."
A grunted. He had indeed heard those incredible reports. "If it is true, it's because that Akatsuki leader revived them at the cost of his own life. A remarkable feat, but why will the fool do that in first place" the Raikage admitted solemnly. "The Rinnegan… an eye that can bring back the dead. It's good that its is gone."
"Remarkable feat, sure," Onoki muttered, unconcerned with morality. "But the result is what matters. Konoha lost its infrastructure, not its people, a setback, yes, but not a killing blow. However…" He raised a finger, a sly smile tugging at his thin lips. "Their pride certainly took a hit. More importantly, the balance of power has shifted drastically in Uzushio's favor. The founder of Uzushio, Uzumaki naruto structured their economy so that, wherever profits are made, no matter where in the world, Uzushio takes its cut.
"With the massive reconstruction of one of the largest cities on the whole of elemental nation, Uzushio stands to gain enormously. Take any essential resource, timber, for example: most of it is produced by Uzushio businesses. Buy weapons of good quality, and you'll find that out of a hundred suppliers, at least fifty are Uzushio-affiliated. Even when Konoha handpicks vendors without direct Uzushio ties, money still trickles back through shell companies. It's truly ingenious, the way that economy was designed."
Onoki glanced around to ensure no other Kage had entered to overhear. Only a pair of Land of Iron samurai stood at a respectful distance, and A's own bodyguard, his trusted assistant Shī (C) lingered by the door. Confident in their privacy, Onoki leaned closer to A.
"You mentioned Konoha's military might," the old Tsuchikage murmured. "But what about their coffers, hmm? The Fire Country's coffers?" He didn't wait for A's reply. "The economic power of the Elemental Nations now lies firmly in the hands of Uzushio. That so-called empire is the new superpower in finance and trade. The Land of Fire's daimyōs have lost their stranglehold on commerce. Money rules as much as jutsu, Raikage. And on that front, Konoha is no longer king."
A gritted his teeth. He couldn't refute it. The past five years had seen the meteoric rise of the Uzushio Economic Bloc, banks, trading companies, manufacturing, all flowing from or through the rebuilt Uzushiogakure. Even Kumogakure had been forced to buy chakra armor and advanced tech from Uzushio's industries. It was galling.
Onoki's grin widened seeing A's silence. "We're all dancing on Uzushio's strings now. Hah! The Sixth Major Village… what a joke." He snorted, a puff of crystalline breath. "They're more than that, they're a superpower unto themselves."
The Raikage let out a slow breath, unclenching his fists. "True enough," he conceded grudgingly. "But don't discount Konoha yet. From what intelligence we've gathered, Hiruzen's forces are recovering quickly. His next generation shows great promise, especially if they have such a bastion as that grandson of his."
Onoki raised a brow. "Sarutobi Konohamaru?"
He nodded curtly. "The boy is the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. My scouts report he channeled the beast's chakra to augment his own and used the sage arts, much like Jiraiya of the Sannin, to hold his ground against Pain. If a rookie from Konoha can master the Kyūbi's power, that's no small asset. Konoha still has Jiraiya in reserve, Shimura Danzō, not to mention Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-Nin rising to true Kage-tier strength, and Might Guy as well. I hear even some of their clan shinobi, like that young Hyūga heiress and the Nara heir, are displaying remarkable skill."
. Onoki let out a heavy sigh. "How good is any of that," he countered slowly, "when Konoha cannot act on it?" He fixed the Raikage with a knowing look. "We all know Hiruzen's hands are tied when it comes to Uzushio. He won't—can't move against them. Not yet. Not until a certain exiled returns, if he ever returns at all."
At the mention of the "exiled," A's brow twitched. Of course, Onoki meant Naruto Uzumaki, the previous Emperor of the Uzushio Empire. The Raikage's top lip curled. "Hiruzen would be a fool to start a war with Uzushio even if Uzumaki Naruto were still in the picture," he said. "The old man may be arrogant, but he's not suicidal."
Onoki chuckled, bobbing in agreement. "Exactly. And once that boy, Naruto does come back, if he does… Well, Hiruzen won't gamble a second time. One thrashing was enough. Face it: Uzushio holds all the cards to stop Konoha at will. Their defensive strength alone gives even me pause."
A rolled his eyes at the Tsuchikage's theatrics. "You're awfully deferential to Uzushio's might for someone who once helped wipe them off the map," he remarked, crossing his arms tighter.
Onoki didn't rise to the bait of that old accusation. Instead, he smirked proudly.
"Know thy enemy, Raikage. Allow me to educate you on what the new Uzushio has at its disposal." He counted off on his fingers.
"First: they have Tsunade of the Sannin at their helm now, a healer with no equal. If Jiraiya is Konoha's trump card, then Tsunade is Uzushio's counter to it. I'd wager she's even more formidable on the battlefield today, having had to level up in order to lead her village. You haven't faced her in combat since she lay low during the Third Shinobi War, but trust me, facing her monstrous strength coupled with her inhuman healing is like battling the same army you decimated time and again."
"Second," Onoki continued, "they have Shisui Uchiha, the Teleporter. Imagine an Uchiha with Body Flicker mastery at Tsunade's beck and call. Worse still, that man commands their army of Uchiha. Konoha was always reluctant to employ the Uchiha on the battlefield due to their internal politics; Uzushio has no such qualms. Facing an army of Senju, Uchiha, or Uzumaki is a dangerous endavour, take any history book and you'll see why. And never forget the old saying: 'When you face an Uchiha alone… run.'"
The Raikage's eyes narrowed. He had heard that Shisui Uchiha survived whatever massacre befell his clan and later resurfaced in Uzushio's service. A dangerous man indeed.
"Third," Onoki went on, raising another finger, "Uzushio counts Mei Terumī among its leaders. That's right, the former head of the resistace againt the Mizukage, wielder of two elemental bloodlines. She's no slouch; that woman can melt through the strongest defenses or boil an army alive. And she's not alone. Many of Kirigakure's finest defected to Uzushio after the civil war. Essentially, the Mist's strength along with its people."
The Raikage scowled. He hated to admit it, but Kirigakure's decline had indeed been Uzushio's gain.
"Next, the Uzumaki Clan itself," Onoki's voice dropped to a reverent whisper. "They were thought extinct, or so we tried to ensure decades ago. Yet enough survived. Now those red-haired seal masters are rebuilding their ranks on Uzushio's soil. The Uzumaki Clan's fūinjutsu has always been unparalleled; if they've regained even a fraction of their former prowess, they can seal anything… including tailed beasts or arrogant Kage."
Onoki shot a glance at A, whose face hardened. Both remembered the tales of Uzumaki sealing chains subduing even the Eight-Tails during its rampage. "And don't forget the legend himself, Lord Suifu, leading that army. Your generation may not know, but mine was raised on stories of his valor, I witnessed firsthand what he could do during the last invasion."
"Finally… the heir," Onoki said. "The child." His eyes glittered. "They say that man's child."
"Which man?" A interjected, brow furrowing.
Onoki's lips curled. "Who else? Uzumaki Naruto's."
The Raikage's eyes widened. " the new Emperor… he is toddler of barely 5 or 6."
Onoki chuckled darkly. "Oh yes. A son, barely five or six years old, if my sources are correct. The present Emperor of the so-called Uzushio Empire."
"But he was just a toddler," Aey said.
Onoki paused, savoring the Raikage's puzzled expression. "The boy may be a toddler, but that bloodline—the royal Uzumaki line descended from Ashina Uzumaki—has never failed to produce greatness. I have little intelligence on Arashi Uzumaki, as he's seldom seen outside the castle, but I'd stake my right arm that he will be a prodigy—and in the era of clan wars, prodigies matured by five or six. After all, he's training under Princess Tsunade and Lord Suifu, one of the last living relics of the true Warring Clans era."
The Raikage stroked his beard thoughtfully. He had never heard Onoki speak so respectfully of anyone except perhaps the First and seond Tsuchikage.
"That man Suifu," Onoki went on, "is personally training boy emperor. Can you imagine? The knowledge and ruthlessness of the clan wars era, distilled in one teacher, being passed directly to a child who will one day rule an empire. That boy won't grow up with any of the softness or naïveté of this generation. Suifu will ensure he knows the old ways: trust no one, strike preemptively, value strength above all. There will be no 'Will of Fire' sentimentality or samurai-style chivalry in his education. He'll be taught that a shinobi is an assassin, through and through, one who endures and survives by any means. This era's talk of forgiveness, tolerance, 'everyone is unique in their own way' nonsense… " Onoki spat to the side, as if the words left a bad taste. "Hogwash. Shinobi are weapons, tools of their villages' will. Hiruzen and his ilk pay lip service to that, but then they go and treat shinobi like some kind of honorable knights." He harrumphed. "Bah. Hiruzen knows better than anyone what real shinobi are, yet he lets his village play at being nobles."
A raised an eyebrow. "You speak as if you admire Hiruzen on one hand and scorn him on the other. Make up your mind, Tsuchikage."
Onoki allowed himself a thin grin. "I respect power, Raikage. And Hiruzen is powerful, don't mistake me. I didn't call him 'God of Shinobi' for I have seen what real god or a demon can do. However…" Onoki's expression hardened, remembering the decades of rivalry, "compared to the true monsters I've seen in my lifetime, Hiruzen is just a man. A skilled, dangerous man, but still a man. I don't respect his ideals or his softness, but I respect that at least he hasn't forgotten what being a shinobi truly means, even if he coddles his village for my taste."
The Raikage's mouth twitched into the faintest semblance of a smile. "He proved his strength once again in that battle, defeating the Rinnegan's chosen. Many are calling him a god anew for slaying a man with the eyes of the Sage."
Onoki snorted. "God? Hiruzen? Don't make me laugh. The Third Hokage is a legend, yes—but I've had the dubious honor of witnessing true shinobi gods in my time. You know whom I mean: Lord Hashirama Senju—the man who bent nature itself to his will and subdued all nine Tailed Beasts as if they were pets. If anyone earned the title of god, it was him. And then there was Madara Uchiha…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "I despise that man with every fiber of my being, yet I won't pretend his power didn't make me quake. Those two—Hashirama and Madara, were gods walking among us.
"And let's not forget Lord Ashina. He inspired terror in us all, your own father included. We fled for our lives when he went berserk, slaughtering our soldiers even as his village collapsed. You wouldn't believe it, but that man once seemed a saint. I was envoy to Uzushio manier times, and the day he emerged from the palace to prepare the Great Barrier's… he looked unhinged. He toyed with all us Kages and our tailed beasts like they were nothing.
"Compared to them, Hiruzen, even in his prime was like an academy student playing at being a jōnin."
Raikage A listened quietly. He had never met these legends, but he had heard his father speak of them in reverence. The raw power they wielded was mythic.
Onoki sighed, as if dispelling ghosts of the past. "Now, the world waits on tenterhooks for the possible return of another such person, Uzumaki Naruto. That boy has upended the shinobi world order like a chessboard. And he's not even present to do it in person!" Onoki cackled softly, shaking his head in wonder. "Yet, I can't help but be excited… and wary. We live in interesting times, Raikage."
A grunted. "You're certainly in a chatty mood today, Onoki. One would think you're nervous."
The Tsuchikage gave a noncommittal shrug. "Aren't you? A summit of six Kage." He emphasized the number with faint contempt. "Just for the sake of appeasing daimyōs' formalities they call Uzushio the sixth nation. But in truth, it's still the Five that matter… Uzushio merely took the Mist's spot at the table of power, if we're being honest." Onoki looked to the chamber's door, where more footsteps could be heard approaching. "We're just waiting on Her Highness now."
Raikage A followed his gaze. Indeed, one of the Land of Iron attendants slid the door open and bowed respectfully. Through it stepped Tsunade Senju, the Slug Princess, clad in a formal high-collared robe bearing the spiral crest of Uzushio. She was accompanied by a stern-looking dark-haired Uchiha, none other than Shisui and a statuesque woman with auburn hair and piercing green eyes who A recognized from bingo books as Mei Terumī. The Empress of Uzushio had arrived.
Onoki's lips pursed as Tsunade swept into the room with regal confidence. "Well then," he murmured to A, "the gang's all here. Shall we see what chaos today brings?"
A cracked his knuckles, the motion unconsciously betraying his anticipation. "Hmph. Let's get this over with."
Ōnoki allowed himself one last private grin as they moved to join Tsunade and the others filing toward the conference hall. Alas… he thought, recalling their conversation, let's see how the world changes once Uzumaki Naruto returns, if he ever does.
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Far from the cold mountains of the Land of Iron, in a dank and shadowy cavern, another meeting was taking place, one far less civil. Uchiha Obito slammed his gloved fist into the rough stone wall for the third time in as many minutes. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of impact, and a few loose chunks of rock tumbled to the ground. Behind that single eye-hole burned fury.
"How dare he!" Obito snarled, voice echoing off the cavern walls. He kicked aside a toppled table, sending it clattering. Obito had vented his rage on every inanimate object in reach since receiving the news out of Konoha. "That traitorous fool Nagato, I plucked him from the sewers of Amegakure, gave him purpose, made him what he was, and he dares defy me in the end?!"
From the darkness near the cave's entrance, a figure watched calmly, half emerged from the stone itself. Black Zetsu's yellow eyes blinked impassively as he listened to Obito's tirade. The humanoid plant-like creature remained merged with the cavern wall up to his waist, only his black upper body and Venus-flytrap-like frill visible. "He did more than defy you," Zetsu said in his oily, dark voice. "He actively thwarted your plans. Things are spiraling out of control."
Obito whirled to face him. The single eye visible behind his mask's spiral pattern was bloodshot and filled with unbridled hatred. "You think I don't know that?!" he spat. "Everything was proceeding smoothly until Nagato lost his nerve. All those years, he preached about pain leading to peace and at the crucial moment he wavers, chooses that brat's naïve ideals over our plan!"
With a snarl, Obito stomped over to a fallen chair and ground it under his heel, wood splintering. "He used the Rinnegan's ultimate jutsu to resurrect that worthless Konoha. That chakra, my chakra, which I entrusted to him, wasted on charity!."
Black Zetsu observed quietly, arms folded over his tar-colored chest. "Nagato's change of heart has put us in a precarious position," he agreed softly. " Our attempt to capture the Eight-Tails was botched as well… and your little venture with Uchiha Itachi in the Land of Lightning has lit a fire under the Kage." Zetsu's lips curved into a slight smile. "They're calling a summit as we speak. For the first time, the Six Kage will sit down together."
Obito straightened up, visibly reigning in his temper. "Hn. Let them," he said, voice suddenly cold and dismissive. "If you're referring to that stunt Itachi and Kisame pulled, so the Raikage wants to howl about it with his fellows. Meaningless. We have more pressing concerns."
Zetsu tilted his head. "True, but don't underestimate what a united front of the five nations and Uzushio could mean. The last Kage Summit, years ago… even though it had only the five and Kirigakure couldn't to attend, it was a significant gathering."
Obito let out a harsh, mirthless laugh. "Hah! As big as the last one? I doubt it. In fact, the previous summit was arguably more momentous, if only because of one unique attendee at the table." Under his mask, Obito's lip curled. "Last time, all the major players gathered plus Uzumaki Naruto himself sat among them, part of their council."
Zetsu nodded slowly, remembering. "Indeed. Though officially there were only five Kage, that was before Uzushio was recognized as a shinobi nation. Emparor's presence made it… unusual."
"Exactly. Mist couldn't even show up then. Now Kirigakure's remnants crawl back to the table, and Tsunade Senju sits as the Sixth Kage. They'll pat themselves on the back for being inclusive." Obito's tone dripped with sarcasm. "But I say the previous meeting was larger in scope. They didn't have a unified agenda then, perhaps, but they had Naruto Uzumaki in the flesh. A wildcard of that magnitude outweighs a formal agenda."
Black Zetsu's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Be that as it may, Tobi… this summit will not be trivial. All five great shinobi powers and the ascendant Uzushio will be in one room. Tsunade Senju will be there, as will Hiruzen Sarutobi. A meeting of powerhouses indeed." He paused, then added, "And unlike Naruto sitting in on talks years ago, Tsunade is not the same level of threat as he was."
Obito gave a dismissive wave, turning away. "I don't particularly care what they babble about in the Land of Iron. Let them gripe about Akatsuki, discuss alliances… It will avail them nothing in the end." He began pacing amid the debris, one hand flexing at his side. "We are still proceeding with the Eye of the Moon Plan. With or without Nagato."
Zetsu remained half-submerged in the wall, a frown creasing his strange face. His voice came out in a low murmur. "Nagato's defection and the Kage gathering are symptoms of a bigger issue: Naruto Uzumaki. You know as well as I do, he is the greatest threat to our cause now. If he returns, everything changes. And he will return, eventually."
At those words, Obito stopped pacing. His masked visage turned toward Zetsu. "He's still in exile," Obito said slowly, deliberately. "Trapped outside our reach by the very deities, if you believe." He let out a scoffing noise. "None know when he'll come back, or even if he can."
Black Zetsu's voice took on a conspiratorial tone. "Oh, he can. And I suspect the Arch-Sage himself knows exactlywhat will trigger his return, more than you or I do. Naruto Uzumaki understands the true nature of the Tailed Beasts. He may know more about the outcome of their unification than even you, who call yourself Madara."
Obito bristled at the subtle jab in Zetsu's words. His visible eye hardened. "Is that so? You think there is something about the Ten-Tails, about the culmination of our plan, that I don't know?" he asked quietly. There was danger in his voice.
Zetsu inclined his head deferentially. "I mean no offense. But consider, Naruto is an Arch-Sage, a wanderer of both the physical and spiritual realms. He may know other stories of the Ten-Tails that we aren't aware of. Remember, to his order, those sages and monks, the statue and the beasts are more than mere weapons. They are tied to the fabric of the world and beyond."
Obito snorted and resumed walking, stepping over a shattered clay pot. "Spare me the mysticism. I know everything I need to know. Gather the nine beasts, resurrect the Jūbi, become its Jinchūriki, and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi on the world. An endless dream of peace. That is the Eye of the Moon Plan, the true plan of Madara Uchiha, which I carry on."
Zetsu's half-golden, half-black face remained neutral. "Yes. But Obito…
"I don't concern myself with ghost stories." Obito's tone was flat. "Whatever happens in some nebulous 'spirit realm' cannot stop us once the Ten-Tails is under my control. The denizens of that realm are bound from interfering in ours. They haven't shown their faces for eons."
Black Zetsu made a thoughtful sound. "You have to admit, though, that statement is not entirely true. We have evidence to the contrary…."
Obito paused, fists clenching at his sides. He knew exactly what incident Zetsu was alluding to, and it still rankled him deeply. "…Go on," he growled.
Zetsu's yellow eyes gleamed. "You must agree there are beings and powers beyond our comprehension. And some of those beings reside outside our mortal plane. whatever the name, they exist in a realm beyond to ours. They normally observe the law of non-interference. But they have broken that law at least once to our knowledge."
Obito's fingers twitched involuntarily toward his mask at the memory. His voice came out low. "You speak of thatday."
"Yes." Zetsu's voice was almost a purr. "All those years back… You, acting as Madara, went to nip the threat in the bud, as you put it. To eliminate young Naruto Uzumaki before he could become an obstacle. You confronted the boy at the Valley of the End."
Obito's eye flared with anger at the reminder. He remembered it vividly cornering a banished Naruto, ready to plunge a kunai into the boy's heart while the boy lay defeated. It should have been trivial. But then, that happened.
Zetsu continued, savoring the tale. "And what occurred? An entity appeared. Out of thin air. A old being clad in black robes, wielding a shining staff. He descended between you and the child. With a mere gesture, he flung you back, me, Madara's will, overpowering you like you were an insect. In all my life, I have never seen anything like it. They violated the age-old laws that day, Obito."
Obito's single Sharingan eye burned crimson behind the mask's peephole as he relived his humiliation. That "old man" could hardly be described in mortal terms. He had been helpless before him. It still made his blood boil.
"That," Obito hissed, "was an aberration. A one-time fluke."
"Perhaps." Zetsu chuckled softly. "But it showed their power. If even one of those beings decides to intervene, none of us, neither you nor I nor any Kage, could stand against them."
Obito strode toward Zetsu, boots crunching on broken debris. "They cannot and will not interfere directly again," he snarled. "Even you said it, they have laws. That one time they cheated, and only because I…" he caught himself, not wanting to voice the weakness, "because circumstances allowed it. They took Uzumaki as a pupil, perhaps, but he's been effectively removed from our world ever since. You heard what that ghostly thing said: Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't be allowed back until a certain 'criterion' was met." Obito threw his hands up. "So fine. Let Uzumaki Naruto wander as their pet. He's out of our hair. Once we succeed in gathering the Tailed Beasts and summoning the Ten-Tails, it'll be fartoo late for him to interfere. Even if they spit him back out into our world at that moment, I'll have become the Ten-Tails' host. Not even the so-called arch sage could stop me then."
Black Zetsu was silent for a moment, only the drip of water from a stalactite breaking the hush. Finally, he said, "It may well be that Uzumaki Naruto's exile will last until it's moot, as you suggest. If summoning the Ten-Tails is the trigger that frees him, then truly, by the time he returns it will be done." Zetsu didn't sound entirely convinced, but he didn't press the point. Instead, he tried a different angle. "But I sense… the phrase the being used, 'when a god descends into the mortal realm, his tenure shall be done.' We still don't fully understand what that means. Who is meant by 'god'? Was Nagato's use of the Rinnegan considered a 'god' descending? Many shinobi call those eyes the Eyes of God…"
Obito let out an exasperated growl. "Nagato's Rinnegan was Madara's originally. If using it triggered something, so be it. What do you propose? That if I use the Ten-Tails' power I'll be inviting these gods to tea?"
Zetsu held up a black hand soothingly. "I merely think caution is wise. Even I do not know the full repercussions, and I have some… unique insights."
Obito stepped closer until he loomed over the half-submerged Zetsu. "You keep hinting at things," he said dangerously. "Out with it. You've been watching from the shadows long before I was even born. What exactly are you, Zetsu? How can you 'glimpse' that realm, as you claim?"
Black Zetsu's eyes glinted, and he smiled in that unnerving way. "I suppose it's time I explained a bit. As you know, I am the will incarnate of Madara Uchiha, given form by his jutsu. My origins… lie in something Madara discovered." Zetsu's voice dropped to a hush. "In attempting to replicate the Rinnegan's power of sight, Madara unwittingly infused me with a fragment of the other realm. I am, in part, a creature of that spiritual domain. That is why I can sense things others cannot. I straddle the boundary, one foot in each world, so to speak."
Obito's eye widened at this revelation. Even for someone as paranoid and well informed as he, this was new. "You never told me that."
"It wasn't relevant until now," Zetsu said smoothly. "Because of this, I can occasionally see into their domain, albeit only in glimpses and reflections. When that old man appeared years ago, it was partly because I, no, we, created a loophole. My presence, and your attempt on Naruto, inadvertently signaled the others beyond. They acted. They were not breaking their laws, since it was I, part creature of that realm, who interfered in the life of one of their marked pupils, thus creating the loophole."
Obito's hands slowly unfisted. He stared at Zetsu, weighing his words. This was… a lot to take in. But it explained much, the uncanny way Zetsu sensed events, his unexplained knowledge at times.
Zetsu pressed on. "Now consider Nagato's final action. He summoned the King of Hell, the Outer Path statue, a direct link to the pure world and sustained its presence for an unnatural duration to revive thousands of souls. For a short while, a true deity walked the streets of Konoha, in the form of the King of Hell." Zetsu's face twisted. "Nagato tore open the veil between life and death of moment. I fully expected that to count as a 'god descending' under those laws. And indeed, I sensed one of Uzumaki's Naruto's bindings, one of the seals restraining him, snap open at that moment. Out of the three locks holding him away, one released."
Obito sucked in a breath. "One out of three…" he repeated. "So even that enormous act was insufficient to break them all."
"Precisely," nodded Zetsu. "Despite the duration and scale of Nagato's technique, only one seal opened. It seems it wasn't enough. Perhaps because the King of Hell was summoned by a mortal, not acting of its own accord. Or because it left once its task was done. Whatever the case, two seals still bind Naruto Uzumaki from returning. Which means two more such 'godly' events must occur. Though these are just hypotheses, the only thing certain is that one of the three is gone."
Obito's mind raced behind his mask. Two more events. The summoning of the Ten-Tails could well be one. What of the other?
––––––––{XX}———————–{XXX}—————————–{XX}—————–
One month earlier – The Border of Life and Death
Nagato Uzumaki felt weightless. The agony that had wracked his frail body moments ago was gone, replaced by a curious lightness and warmth. He found himself standing, though he could not recall willing his body to stand, amidst a boundless expanse of white. It was as if he were inside a cloud of pure light; there was no sky, no earth, just a soft luminescence stretching infinitely.
He looked down at himself. His emaciated arms were whole, the black chakra rods that once pierced them now gone. The tattered Akatsuki cloak was replaced by simple white robes. Am I… dead? The thought came calmly. He remembered using the last of his life force to cast the Rinne Tensei. He remembered Konohamaru crying out, Sarutobi Hiruzen's hardened face, Konan's distant presence… and then darkness. Yes, he must have died. Then this place… was this the afterlife?
"A-Ame…gakure…" Nagato murmured, uncertain. If death meant rejoining his loved ones… Yahiko, I'm sorry…
Empty, save for a lone figure approaching through the haze. Nagato squinted. The figure grew clearer, striding across the glowing abyss with unhurried grace. It was a man in flowing white regalia, the silhouette edged in a white aura. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with long hair glowing like crimson.
Nagato's breath caught. "You…" he whispered.
The man smiled kindly. He seemed to emanate warmth. When he spoke, his voice was gentle yet carried weight beyond mortal measure. "Nagato Uzumaki," he greeted, inclining his head."
Nagato simply stared, awestruck and suddenly wary. The man's presence was overwhelming. Nagato had stood before Hanzo the Salamander, had faced Hiruzen Sarutobi's full killing intent, neither compared to the sheer aura emanating from this being. It wasn't oppressive or violent; rather, it was serene and boundless, like standing in the presence of the ocean or the sun.
"I… I know you," Nagato managed, his voice echoing strangely in this realm. "From the other realm… you are…"
The man in white held up a hand, smiling softly. "Here, we have no need for names or titles. In this realm, we are simply ourselves, no egos, no Pain. Just souls." He stepped closer until he stood within arm's reach. His eyes, impossibly blue, gazed into Nagato's ringed grey ones with infinite compassion. "But if it eases your mind… in the material world, I am Naruto Uzumaki."
Nagato's eyes went wide. Naruto Uzumaki… here? But not exactly, the Naruto he knew of was a king in the physical realm. The man before him felt ageless, eternal. Nagato's knees weakened, and he sank slightly. "Naruto… Uzumaki," he repeated. Hearing it confirmed, he suddenly found tears welling up, unbidden. Why… why do I feel like this? A flood of emotion, bittersweet and piercing, filled him. Perhaps it was the release of decades of pain, or the relief that his victims lived again, or simply the serene presence of this man.
Naruto extended a hand, lightly touching Nagato's shoulder. A pulse of soothing energy coursed through Nagato, and he realized he was trembling. "It's alright," Naruto said softly. "You don't need to carry it anymore, the pain, the burden. You've done enough."
Nagato choked back a sob. Ecstasy, that was the feeling suffusing him now. Pure, unbounded ecstasy, more potent than any joy he had ever known in life. It was as if all the horrors, all the sorrows, had been taken cleanly off his soul, leaving only light. Tears flowed freely from his Rinnegan eyes, tracing glowing paths down his cheeks.
"Who… who are you truly?" Nagato asked, voice quavering with awe. "Why do I feel… like this in your presence?"
I am who I have always been," he answered. "A traveler between realms. A bridge. You feel this way because, in this domain, no negative emotion can cling to you unless you allow it. Since you don't know how to remove it, I have taken all your suffering and agony into myself so you can walk your next journey. After all, you are an Uzumaki, in the mortal realm, it was my duty as your leader to protect you, a duty I could not fulfill. Here, where I am responsible for everything without discrimination, I will alleviate your pain."
Nagato swallowed hard. His whole life had been sorrow. To suddenly not feel it was disorienting. Part of him wanted to cling to his old anger, his purpose, the cycle of hatred, the dream of peace through pain but it was like trying to grasp smoke. Here, it all seemed so… small.
He blinked, focusing on Naruto again. "If… if you are so great a being," Nagato said, "why did you let the world become what it is? You stand here in this epitome of joy and goodness, while out there, our people crawl like rats in the sewer, suffering and killing each other! While I…" his voice hitched…"while I lived a life of misery and blood, you basked in a daimyo's palace?!"
Naruto listened quietly, unoffended by the accusation. When Nagato finished, breathing hard, Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, as if centering himself. Then he spoke, and his words resonated in the white infinity around them.
"In the material realm, Nagato, I suffered as you did—more than you know." His blue eyes opened, and Nagato saw flickers of unimaginable loss and pain in them, gone in an instant as Naruto continued gently.
"I do not 'bask' in bliss while mortals suffer. I have chosen to share in that suffering, to carry it, and ultimately to alleviate it. Here, in this realm, I can briefly exist without the chains of a physical body or the tethers of human ego. I can remember what pure joy feels like, untainted by others' hatred. But I cannot remain here forever, nor would I want to, while people still cry out in pain. I have felt all the world's misery, but when my master came for me, he showed me a different possibility. Even in that realm, it is you who choose to suffer; if you choose to be happy, no one can deny you, even in the pits of hell."
Nagato's brow furrowed. "Then… why stay at all? Why not go back and fix it? With power like yours, you could force peace on the world!"
Naruto smiled sadly. "You chose that path, didn't you? Forcing peace on the world. It doesn't last, Nagato. Real change… true peace… can't be forced, only guided. I remain here, bound by laws and conditions, not by desire but by necessity. The moment I break those laws and intervene directly without the proper catalyst, I risk causing far greater harm. And when I return to my body, I'll be as powerful as I've trained to be, but I won't be able to use these powers. I used them once, against Itachi, and it caused more harm than good."
Nagato looked unconvinced. "But people are dying! Children, families, cruelty everywhere. All my life, I heard nothing but screams and weeping. Why won't you help them?!"
Naruto stepped forward and, to Nagato's surprise, drew him into a gentle embrace. Nagato stiffened at first, but Naruto's arms were warm and steady. It felt like a father comforting a distraught child. Nagato realized he was sobbing openly now, face buried against Naruto's shoulder as decades of loneliness and grief poured out.
"I am helping," Naruto whispered. "In every way I can, within the bounds I'm given. I move among the people, quietly easing what suffering I find. I spread knowledge and hope. But I will not control others' hearts by force, that breeds only resentment and a return to the old cycle. People must choose peace themselves. I can only show the way." He placed a hand on Nagato's head, almost in benediction. "Why do you think, when someone cursed you, you felt anger? Why, when someone hurt you, you answered with hurt? Our feelings, our actions, are our own, even if provoked by others. Part of being, is to not let others dictate the core of your being. Here in this realm, that truth is plain: no one's hatred can touch me unless I let it. In the living world, it is harder,but not impossible, to live by that principle."
Nagato sniffled, trying to compose himself. Naruto released him and held him by the shoulders at arm's length. Nagato looked down, feeling ashamed now for his outburst. "I… I see," he murmured. "At least, I think I do. Jiraiya-sensei tried to tell me something similar once… I was too far gone to listen."
Naruto gave a small shake of his head. "Don't burden yourself with that now. What's done is done. And you, Nagato, have done enough." He turned slightly, gesturing into the endless expanse. As if in response, a distant point of light brighter than the rest flared up ahead of them, a doorway, of sorts, opening in the void. Beyond it, Nagato glimpsed shifting colors and figures.
"Come," Naruto said softly. "It's time. I will lead you through, to whatever lies beyond."
Nagato bit his lip, suddenly hesitant. "I… I don't deserve to go there," he whispered. "Not after all I've done." He thought of the thousands he had killed, the villages reduced to ruin by his hand.
Naruto squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "You have paid for your mistakes. More than paid. You sought peace in your own tragic way, and in the end, you gave your life to undo what you had done. That counts, Nagato. It counts for a lot. This is not heven or hell where some will judge beyond that expanse you will new journey of either reincarnation if you have something unfulfilled or completion."
Nagato closed his eyes, nodding shakily. \
Just before they reached the threshold, Nagato remembered something urgently. He stopped, turning to Naruto. "Konan! What will happen to her, to Ame, now that I'm gone? They'll be vulnerable. Promise me, Naruto… promise me you'll…"
"She's not alone. I have already gone to Amegakure. Your Angel has welcomed me. I will do everything I can to protect your people and guide them. Konan will be safe with me, I promise."
Nagato's shoulders sagged in relief. In his final moments, he had whispered to Konan to trust Naruto. When Naruto appeared in this realm, Nagato's soul had not yet fully departed his body; his Rinnegan pierced the veil, revealing the grandeur of Uzumaki Naruto. It seemed Konan had heeded his words. Knowing that allowed Nagato to release his last earthly concern.
Naruto gently took Nagato's hand. "Thank you, Nagato, for having the courage to change your heart at the very end. You have, knowingly or unknowingly, helped set in motion events that has helped me more ways than you know."
Nagato looked at him in confusion. Naruto smiled almost playfully and said, "You've loosened one of my chains, in fact."
At that moment, Naruto held out his hands. Only then did Nagato notice three ethereal chains coiled around Naruto's form like translucent serpents. One wrapped around his neck, the other two bound each wrist, their glowing links digging into his flesh. The neck chain had already shattered, yet its remnants still clung to him. All three chains seemed to emanate from Naruto's back, anchoring him to the void. As Nagato watched, one wrist chain suddenly snapped, its links of light fracturing and dissolving. The remaining two rattled ominously but held firm.
Naruto exhaled, a look of genuine relief crossing his features. "One down," he murmured. "Two to go." He turned to Nagato, eyes bright. "I am thankful, Nagato. Know that your final act carried great meaning. You have inadvertently released one of my three bindings. Two remain, and when they too fall… well, then I can come back properly." Naruto's expression turned distant for a moment, gazing beyond Nagato at something unseen. "Let's see how the world chooses to move. Whether it revolves toward hope… or despair."
Nagato didn't fully grasp the significance of Naruto's words, but he felt warm pride spark in his chest. Perhaps, in the end, he had done something truly worthwhile. "I'm… glad," he said quietly. "Truly."
Naruto Uzumaki smiled one more time, raising a hand in a gentle wave. Then Nagato's vision was filled with light and familiar arms around him, and he knew no more.
When the radiance cleared, Naruto stood alone in the white void once again. He closed his eyes. In the material world, he could feel his body, sitting in quiet meditation atop the highest tower in Amegakure shudder as one of the metaphysical chains binding his soul unraveled. Freed from one constraint at last, his chakra flared in both realms, momentarily illuminating the rainy night sky above the City of Rain with a pulse of golden light.
Konan, who waited silently a few paces behind the meditating Naruto in the drizzling rain, gasped softly as she saw a phantom chain of light fade from around the sage's shoulders. She didn't understand what it meant, but deep in her heart she felt a sense of something. Nagato's last words to her, whispered with dying breath, "His path… is the one." now rang with truth.
Naruto opened his eyes back in the mortal realm, twin pools of cerulean reflecting the distant lightning in Amegakure's stormy skies. He stood, and Konan instinctively bowing her head. This man had come exactly as Nagato foretold, as Yahiko might have if things had been different, a savior for the Rain's downtrodden. She would honor Nagato's final wish by trusting him.
––––––––{XX}———————–{XXX}—————————–{XX}—————–
The Land of Iron's chill air bit at Gaara's cheeks as he stood outside the samurai fortress, watching a gentle flurry of snow drift down. The Fifth Kazekage pulled his sand-colored cloak tighter around his slim frame. He had arrived at the Summit early that morning, eager and perhaps a bit anxious. Now dusk was gathering, and most of the other Kage had settled into their quarters to rest before formal talks commenced the next day. But Gaara found he couldn't sleep yet, too many thoughts swirled in his mind.
He was not alone in that. Beside him, leaning on the wooden railing of the porch, was Tenzin Karatachi, the newly appointed Sixth Mizukage. The young Water Shadow let out a white puff of breath, eyes fixed on the dark outline of distant pines against the twilight sky. Gaara studied him sidelong. Tenzin was close to Gaara's age, early twenties with a mop of deep blue-black hair and a strong, handsome face that yet bore the hardness of a difficult life. He wore the navy robes of the Mizukage's office, and at his hip hung a sword with a sharkskin-wrapped hilt, a relic of his father Yagura's armory.
They had sought each other out almost by happenstance. Both were newcomers to the Summit, representing villages that had been on the brink of ruin not long ago. Gaara's Sunagakure and Tenzin's Kirigakure had each suffered greatly in recent years, some of it at the hands of the same adversary. Perhaps Gaara sensed a kindred spirit in the Mizukage, and Tenzin likewise in Gaara.
"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me privately, Lord Mizukage," Gaara said softly, watching the snow collect on the porch railing.
Tenzin huffed a small laugh, the honorific sounding strange to him. "Please, just call me Tenzin. We're likely the same age, you needn't 'Lord' me around."
Gaara allowed a faint smile. "Only if you call me Gaara. I've never been one for titles either."
"Gaara, then," Tenzin nodded. They fell silent again for a moment, listening to the wind stir the trees. Despite the cold, the atmosphere between them was warm with understanding. They had been talking for over an hour, an unusually candid, wide-ranging talk that neither had expected to flow so easily.
Gaara had not been sure what to expect of Yagura's son. The Fourth Mizukage Yagura was infamously brutal, and his regime's downfall came at Uzushio's hands. Kirigakure had been left shattered by the conflict and ensuing civil strife. Would Tenzin be bitter? Would he see Gaara as an enemy, given Suna's lose alliance with Uzushio? But Gaara found to his relief that Tenzin was approachable, even sympathetic. They connected quickly, like dry kindling catching flame.
They spoke of their fathers, both of whom had been Kage before them and both of whom had left shame for them. Gaara recounted how the Fourth Kazekage, his own father, nearly ruined Sunagakure by aligning with Orochimaru and attacking Konoha, only to be betrayed and killed. How his father had treated him, Gaara, as a monster in childhood, turning him into a weapon. Tenzin, in turn, shared quieter but no less painful anecdotes of his childhood as Yagura's overlooked son during the Blood Mist era. He had seen his father become a tyrant, had watched their people suffer under fear and purges. Young Kage understood what it was to inherit a broken village, to shoulder the burden of atonement for their predecessors' sins.
Gaara leaned forward on the railing, pale green eyes distant. "When I took over as Kazekage, Sunagakure was weak. The economy was in shambles; our failed invasion of Konoha only worsened things. The daimyō cut our budget. We were… on the verge of collapse." He tightened his grip on the wooden beam. "I had to swallow my pride and seek helpfrom outsiders, even the one who humiliated us."
Tenzin's lips quirked knowingly. "Uzumaki Naruto."
Gaara nodded. "I despised him then. He had great hand Sand's ruin indirectly, using trade and finance as his weapons to retaliate against my father and his council. But in the end… I realized I could either cling to hate or rebuild my village. So, I extended a hand, strictly in business. Sunagakure formed trade agreements with the Uzushio Empire, rented out our elite shinobi as security for their caravans, integrated our markets with theirs." He sighed. "It was a bitter pill. Some in my council accused me of selling our village's soul. But it worked. Over the past five years, Suna's prosperity has grown. We've regained military strength too, slowly, but surely. We're now where we once were in the Third War's glory days."
Tenzin listened intently. He found himself respecting Gaara's level-headedness. "You chose your people's welfare over personal pride. That's something a true Kage must do, I suppose," he said quietly. Then a wry smile crossed his face. "I confess, I haven't had to make those choices yet. Mist's fate wasn't really in my hands after the war; we became… how shall I put it… beholden to others. We survived by the grace of political compromises."
Gaara looked at him curiously, and Tenzin elaborated. "After Uzushio defeated us and killed my father, the Five Great Nations convened. Perhaps out of necessity or more cynically, to use us as a buffer, they insisted Kirigakure remain recognized as an independent village. They put me in power nominally, but truth is, Kirigakure now dances to the tune of Fire, Earth, Lightning, and Wind. They all have a stake in keeping Mist on a leash. We're still a 'major village' in name, invited to things like this…" he gestured at the fortress, " but in practice, we're under oversight. It's humiliating." Bitterness edged his tone despite himself.
Gaara absorbed that, remembering rumors to that effect. "I'm sorry," he said, and meant it. "I can only imagine how difficult that is… trying to rebuild with so many foreign hands meddling."
Tenzin shrugged. "At least they keep the peace, for now. Between the defeat by Uzushio and the internal purges, we've lost most of our veteran shinobi. We're as strong as… perhaps a large minor village. My current forces would struggle against even this Land's samurai, let alone another Kage's army."
The Mizukage's candid admission shocked Gaara. It was rare for any leader to show such vulnerability, but in this private moment they had built trust. Gaara responded in kind. "Sunagakure wasn't in much better shape after Konoha's attempted invasion. Our shinobi roster has greatly improved since then, yet compared to Konoha or Iwa… we're few. If not for our alliance network with minor villages and our unique terrain, I'd have to be extremely careful just to maintain the balance."
Tenzin cast a sideways glance. "It seems we're in the same boat. You navigated safely to shore and grew stronger for it, while I'm still barely keeping afloat."
Gaara smiled thinly. His light green eyes narrowed slightly. "Tell me honestly, Tenzin… do you hate him? Uzumaki Naruto?"
Tenzin was silent for a few breaths. A gust of wind tousled his dark hair as he considered. "Hate… is a strong word. Do I resent him? Yes. Very much. He set events in motion that destroyed the life I knew, that killed my father, even if my father perhaps deserved his fate. Naruto didn't personally slaughter our people; his generals did, but it was under his banner. That's a hard thing to forgive." Tenzin's jaw tightened. "So yes, part of me holds a deep grudge. I swore on the graves of comrades that one day I would make Uzushio pay for what they did to the Mist… to my Mist."
Gaara listened quietly, empathizing. He remembered his own blinding fury when Suna's economy collapsed under Naruto's machinations years ago. He had fantasized about strangling the blond boy with his sand, about avenging the humiliation.
"But," Tenzin continued, lifting a hand palm-up as if weighing something, "I'm not so foolish as to let that grudge dictate my actions right now. Whether I like it or not, Uzushio is far beyond Mist's ability to challenge. If I threw my meager forces at them in some vain attempt at vengeance, I'd be dooming my people. I won't do that." He lowered his hand. "So I hold the grudge silently, waiting for a day that may never come. And I focus on what I can do: rebuild, forge alliances, strengthen our position so we're not so helpless." He managed a lopsided smile. "Who knows? Perhaps in some distant future we'll be strong enough that I can afford to indulge in avenging the past."
Gaara inclined his head, respect evident in his eyes. "A wise stance. I've often thought similarly. The Raikage boasts he'll kill Uzumaki Naruto if they ever meet, but I suspect even he would think twice before provoking a sleeping dragon. The Fire Daimyō tried to remove Uzumaki Naruto years ago over personal vendetta… and look at how the world changed because of that single act."
Tenzin nodded grimly. "The fool banished the one person holding his country's corruption in check and ended up creating an Emperor who supplanted his power."
A faint laugh escaped Gaara. "Poetic justice, perhaps." His expression then turned thoughtful. "If… if tomorrow, at this summit, a motion were raised by Lady Tsunade of Uzushio say, a call to alliance or an appeal for aid, would you support it?"
Tenzin turned fully to face Gaara, one eyebrow raised. "That's a direct question," he said. "What are you getting at?"
Gaara met his gaze evenly. "Our villages, yours and mine, have both shed blood thanks to Uzushio. We might have cause to resist anything they propose, or to mistrust their intentions. I want to know where you stand before we go in there."
Tenzin's eyes searched Gaara's for a moment. Sensing the honesty there, he answered plainly. "If it's for the greater good of the shinobi world, I would swallow my personal grievances and support Uzushio's motion. I can't afford not to. Mist's position is too precarious to play lone wolf." His lip curled slightly. "And let's be real: I probably won't even have a choice. My daimyo or rather, the coalition of foreign lords propping him up would insist I cooperate, lest I give them a reason to dissolve Kirigakure entirely."
Gaara frowned. "Surely it's not that dire…"
Tenzin's silent stare told Gaara that it was.
Gaara looked away, out at the swirling snow beyond the porch. "I see."
At length, Gaara broke the silence, a small smirk on his face. "You know, I think this might be the sincerest conversation two Kage have had in the history of these summits."
Tenzin smirked back. "No elders whispering in our ears, no advisors coughing whenever we say too much… yes, it's rather liberating."
They chuckled. The last light of day had faded now, and lanterns inside the fortress cast a warm glow through the paper windows behind them.
Gaara decided to broach another subject that had been on his mind. "Earlier, you mentioned swearing to make Uzushio pay one day. Do you truly think you'll ever act on that? Even if you had the means?"
Tenzin's face grew somber. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'd like to say yes, for the sake of my people's pride. But… Naruto Uzumaki isn't someone you challenge lightly. I never met him personally during the war, he never even set foot on our battlefields. His generals were enough to decimate us. Though I heard from veterans that he was undercover in our village when he was just starting out." Tenzin's hands tightened on the wooden rail. "I can still smell the ash and blood from the day Terumī Uzushio sank half our fleet with her acid in the initial attack on the Mist. Uzushio's might is very real, and that's without Uzumaki Naruto lifting a finger. If he had come personally…"
Gaara nodded, recalling his own nightmares of facing the golden-cloaked boy in the desert. "If he had come personally, the war would have ended even sooner and perhaps most wouldn't be alive to speak of it."
A cold hush fell as they pondered that. Snowflakes alighted on Gaara's red hair, melting slowly. At last, Tenzin spoke, voice low: "Isn't it dangerous, though, for us to hold grudges like this? We're Kage. We're supposed to rise above personal hate."
Gaara gave a rueful half-smile. "I asked you the same, more or less. And honestly… yes, it's dangerous. But we're also human. We can't pretend our hearts are completely clean of resentment." He gazed up at the swirling sky. "I've learned to let go of a lot of hate I once held. Emperor himself taught me that, ironically, by example. But a tiny ember remains. Perhaps it will always remain."
Tenzin considered Gaara carefully. "You respect him, though."
It wasn't a question, but Gaara answered: "I do. Begrudgingly or not, I respect the Emperor. He accomplished in a few short years what most shinobi systems couldn't in a lifetimes. He built an empire from ruin, he humbled entire nations without a single direct attack. And when war did come….". "He's… remarkable yet…. The kind of leader I aspire to be, in some ways."
Tenzin absorbed those words, his lips pressed thin. Admitting admiration for one's enemy tasted bitter, but he understood. "My grudging respect echoes yours. For all that he upended my life, Emperor is a man of conviction and vision. The world could use more leaders like that, if only with more temperance."
Gaara huffed a light laugh. "If he heard us, he'd probably laugh."
A question had been forming in Tenzin's mind, and at last he voiced it. "Gaara… do you know where Naruto Uzumaki is now? Lately I've been hearing strange rumors…"
Gaara gave a short nod. "I was about to ask you the same. Last year, some of my people reported sightings in the Land of Wind. They said a traveling monk with red hair visited a few remote monasteries and even passed briefly through Hidden Sand under a disguise. We only learned he'd been there days after he'd gone. He's like a ghost, appearing and disappearing before anyone can react."
Tenzin leaned forward, lowering his voice despite no one being around. "My sources say the same. Two months ago, a man matching Emperor's description visited the Land of Water. He arrived at our Grand Shrine of the Sea, one of the holiest sites and the priests welcomed him with open arms." Tenzin's face hardened a bit. "Mind you, this was againstthe orders of our new daimyō. Officially, Lord Naruto is considered an enemy of the Land of Water's nobility for killing the previous daimyo and siphoning away our bloodline clans. The daimyō gave strict instructions to treat any Uzushio agents with hostility. But the shrine's High Priest ignored that, citing some ancient tradition about never refusing an Arch-Sage at the gate."
Gaara listened intently. "Ha, even if the priest didn't cite the tradition, what would he have done? Attack him? Try to subdue him? What a joke."
Tenzin's eyes narrowed as he thought back to the reports. "He's done far more than train. He's building something out there, Gaara. A movement among the common people, maybe even a religion of sorts. You said he is laying low, right? So what did he do? He went around politics entirely. While we Kage squabble and the daimyōs bicker, Naruto's been traveling among the civilians and shinobi, the outcasts, the forgotten corners of the world… winning their hearts."
Gaara absorbed that, brow furrowing. It made sense. Lord Naruto was always a man of the people in a way; he connected easily with ordinary folk. But a religion?
Seeing Gaara's perplexed look, Tenzin elaborated, finding a passionate cadence to his words. "Think about it. For thousands of years, through the era of clan wars, people held certain traditions, worshipping at shrines, respecting sages and monks, believing in something greater than ninja and lords. By the end of the Warring Clans era, that spiritual culture was fading. The rise of the shinobi villages and the new borders made pilgrimages hard. Clans settled, shrines decayed, and the world became more secular under the rule of daimyo and Kage." He exhaled, a plume of breath wafting before him. "After Uzushiogakure's destruction decades ago, any lingering spiritual networks basically died out. The Uzumaki were known for their seal-master monks and shrine maidens, weren't they? Without them, the five elemental shrines lost influence."
Gaara nodded slowly.
"Well," Tenzin continued, "fast forward to now: Uzushiogakure is reborn, but for the first several years its efforts were inward, rebuilding and arming. The old shrine network was only revived locally. Until Lord Naruto began these journeys. He's been moving from country to country, reviving the ancient cultures. Everywhere he goes, he finds the scattered holy men and teaches them, empowers them. He trained priests and sages in new techniques, healing arts, minor jutsu to help the peasants, you name it. He organized them into a network spanning nations."
Gaara's eyes widened as the scope became clear. "So he's basically creating a parallel power structure… one based on faith and community, cutting across borders."
"Exactly," Tenzin said, tapping the railing for emphasis, causing some snow to fall off. "And the common folk love him for it. Why wouldn't they? For once, here's a figure who doesn't treat them as pawns or collateral damage. He comes with wisdom, solutions for their problems, perhaps even miracles by their reckoning. Remember, most civilians can't tell apart high-level ninjutsu and magic."
Gaara thought of the people of the Land of Wind. He hadn't observed any religious revival in the desert tribes, but those tribes were isolated and more concerned with survival than theology. "In the Wind Country, I haven't noticed such changes," he admitted. "Our populace is scattered and not very politically active to begin with."
Tenzin gave a conceding nod. "The Land of Wind is mostly desert, with nomadic tribes that rarely mingle with the cities except for trade. They might be slower to join such a movement. But in the Land of Water? We're a patchwork of islands with tight-knit fishing villages and local shrines. News travels strangely out there, by boat and rumor, but it travels. I've seen it: villagers who previously only cared about their catch now talking about the 'teachings of the Arch-Sage' or the 'will of the deities.' Even in the Land of Fire, I hear whispers that outlying towns have begun restoring shrines that lay neglected since the Warring era."
Gaara frowned. "The will of the deities?"
A wry smile touched Tenzin's lips. "One of the monikers they've given Lord Naruto's movement. I believe some poetic monk started calling him the 'Last Harbinger'… implying he's a messianic figure come to wash away the world's sins in a storm and renew it. It's quite grandiose, but it caught on in some places. Now you have simple farmers chanting prayers that mention a coming storm of justice. It's madness."
How does this not alarm the daimyōs and feudal lords? A cultural revolution from below…"
"Oh, it does alarm them," Tenzin confirmed. "The new Water daimyo… placed by the coalition, issued edicts forbidding harboring Uzushio monks, and banning dissemination of Arch-Sage teachings. But it's hard to enforce. How do you ban ideas spoken in private homes? If anything, that heavy-handed ban made the common folk even more enamored listening to secret sermons like it's something illicit and exciting." He shook his head, half in admiration, half in worry. "Naruto has given people hope outside the shinobi and noble system. That's dangerous in more ways than one."
Gaara understood what he meant. If the masses rallied behind Naruto's ideals rather than their country's leaders, it could destabilize the entire political order.
Tenzin leaned on the railing again, lowering his voice. "From what my spies gather, Lord Naruto arrived in the Land of Rain about ten days ago, shortly before Pain's defeat and death. The 'Angel of Ame', and she has apparently welcomed Lord Naruto wholeheartedly. Ame's civil war and suffering left them primed for someone like him. I suspect he's consolidating his support in Amegakure now. Perhaps he intends to make Ame one of his base."
"It would make sense," Gaara said. "Amegakure was Pain's domain, built on a sort of cult of personality. They might transfer that devotion to Lord Naruto if Angel endorses him."
"Yes," Tenzin said. "Uzumaki's revolution, as I call it, is both heartening and frightening. Heartening because it revives something pure in this rotten world. Frightening because it threatens the status quo from an angle none of us are used to." He gave Gaara a shrewd look. "Mark my words, Kazekage: should Lord Naruto return fully to the political stage, he won't do it with an army of shinobi, he'll do it with an army of followers, everyday people united by his teaching in what he represents. And that… that might be unstoppable."
Snow continued to fall softly around them, the only sound for a long moment. Gaara felt a chill not from the cold, but from the weight of Tenzin's prediction
Gaara took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "Do you think he intends to topple the daimyōs? Abolish the shinobi village system?"
Tenzin pursed his lips. "Hard to say. He hasn't called for open rebellion anywhere, if he had, we'd know. It seems more like he's preparing… laying groundwork. Perhaps so that if war or disaster strike, the people will rally to him rather than their feudal lords."
"Or splinter us," Tenzin said warily. "Depending on how the leaders react. The Raikage doesn't strike me as someone who'd take it lying down, no matter what. Neither would Onoki."
Gaara couldn't argue that. "True. Perhaps it will come to a head sooner or later."
A creak of a floorboard behind them interrupted their thoughts. "Lord Kazekage, forgive the intrusion," she said quietly, bowing. "Lady Temari sent me to remind you that the summit convenes early, and you should get some rest." Her eyes darted to Tenzin and she bowed to him as well. "Mizukage-sama."
Gaara straightened from the railing. He hadn't realized how late it had become. "Thank you. Please inform Temari I'll retire shortly." The guard nodded and departed.
Tenzin pushed off the railing, stretching his arms slightly. "Looks like duty calls."
Gaara extended a hand to Tenzin, a gesture of camaraderie. Tenzin clasped it firmly. The two young Kage exchanged a look of mutual respect and something akin to friendship.
"Whatever happens in there tomorrow," Gaara said, "I'm glad we spoke tonight. It gives me… perspective."
Tenzin smiled. "Likewise, Gaara. We new Kage have to stick together, eh? The old guard may see us as green, but perhaps we can surprise them."
Gaara found himself smiling more easily than he had in a long time. "Until tomorrow, then. Sleep well."
"You too." Tenzin turned and walked off down the hall toward the Mizukage's quarters, flanked by two of his silent Mist swordsmen guards who had been waiting a respectful distance away. Gaara watched him go, then looked back out at the night one last time.
The snow had stopped. The clouds were parting, revealing a cold, clear sky and the pale crescent of the waning moon. Gaara wondered if Lord Naruto was somewhere under this same moonlight, gazing at the sky and contemplating the future.
From the age of six, he has not done a single thing that didn't impact the world, Tenzin had said. Gaara believed it. Lord Naruto's every action was like a stone cast into a pond, rippling outward in waves that shaped nations. Gaara felt both awe and a slight shiver of trepidation at being alive in the era where Naruto Uzumaki moved the pieces on the board.
"Once more, you affect us all…," Gaara murmured to the night. With that, the Kazekage turned and went inside to gather his strength for the coming day.
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Somewhere at the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Frost – Midnight
A figure darted through the dense forest, moving with such speed and silence that not even the moonlit snow crunching underfoot made a sound. Uchiha Sasuke felt his heart pounding in anticipation, each thud echoing the name that consumed his every thought: Itachi… Itachi… Itachi.
They were close now, so close he could taste the impending confrontation like copper on his tongue. Sasuke's breath was steady despite the frigid air, each exhalation a thin mist trailing behind the raven-haired avenger as he dashed from trunk to trunk. He wore a black cloak over his usual attire; the cloak's hem was singed and frayed from earlier skirmishes, and a few spots of blood (not his own) speckled it. His onyx eyes, tinged red at the edges from prolonged Sharingan use, scanned the darkness ahead for the clearing that Zetsu's intel had promised.
Up ahead, the forest thinned. Sasuke felt it first: a sudden spike of familiar chakra, like a flash of heat lightning in his mind. His Sharingan spun to life, three tomoe whirling on a field of crimson as he skidded to a halt at the edge of a wide, moonlit clearing.
There, bathed in ethereal white light, stood Uchiha Itachi.
Sasuke's breath caught. The man he had chased for so long, the man who haunted his nightmares, was finally within striking distance.
Itachi was facing away at that moment, his back to Sasuke, gazing up at the half-moon that hung low in the sky. Snowflakes drifted around him, speckling the midnight-black cloak he wore, the cloak emblazoned with red clouds. The uniform of Akatsuki. His long raven hair stirred gently in the night breeze.
Sasuke took one step into the clearing, boots crunching on crusted snow. "Itachi!" he called out, his voice echoing off the silent trees.
Itachi turned slowly at the sound, as if he had been expecting it.
"Sasuke," Itachi said quietly. His voice carried clearly through the chill night air.
For a moment, the two brothers simply looked at one another across the moonlit expanse. In that gaze, so much was exchanged without words: years of pain, hatred, longing, and fate. The forest around them might as well have not existed; in this moment, there was only Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke.
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To be continued in Chapter 42…
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Author's Note: Brace yourselves: the next chapter will unleash the full fury of the Uchiha brothers' battle and carry us into the storm of the Kage Summit. A backstory for Sasuke will be revealed, alliances will shift, truths will emerge, and the stage will be set for the long-awaited return of the Arch-Sage himself. The world stands on the brink. Stay tuned! 🔥