Same Day, during Night-time.
At 10:00 PM, two figures were unseen, flickering with the blur of speed through the forest on the outskirts of Konoha. It was Kakashi and Naruto, as Kakashi had promised to recover the Yin half of Kurama from the Shikigami's stomach.
Within moments, they paused, standing before an old, rusty temple. This was the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple, and at its entrance stood a giant, broken replica of the clan's swirling symbol.
Spiderwebs clung to the ruined structure, and dust motes danced in the moonlight. Naruto shocked when he seen this, his mouth open, eyes slightly twitched, as he asked.
"Kakashi-sensei, are you sure this is the right place?"
"Yes, it is," Kakashi replied simply. "Now, let's move."
They stepped inside and quickly found the underground area of the temple, which lay beneath the main shrine.
"Wow! There are really so many creepy masks here!" Naruto exclaimed, his voice echoing in the chamber, as they stepped in.
Inside the underground shrine, at the center of a podium, hung several masks with oni features beneath three connected clan symbols. Ornate, black flames were carved under the symbols.
"Even this place is ruined and broken, yet these masks are all completely intact," Kakashi commented, stepping closer to observe each one.
"Naruto, just make sure of one thing," he said, turning to look at his student. "Don't take and wear any of these masks, okay?"
As Kakashi turned back, Naruto already had two masks in his hands, a mischievous grin on his face. ''I'll take them and scare Sakura tomorrow, hehe,'' he muttered to himself.
"Hey, Naruto! Didn't you hear me? Put them back. Those masks are dangerous," Kakashi reprimanded him.
"Ugh, why?" Naruto pouted, but a serious stare from Kakashi was enough to make him put the masks back on the podium. Kakashi recalled that the Shikigami mask was the one they needed, but who knew what other masks could do, it's better to left them untouched.
"But these masks are all similar," Naruto said, scanning the two dozen or so creepy-looking masks. "How do we know which one is the Death God Mask?"
"This one." As Naruto spoke, Kakashi had already found the Shikigami Mask. It had two horns and dark, empty eyes, and a creepy grin that sent a chill down Naruto's spine even from Kakashi's hand.
Kakashi then extended his left palm, and a shinobi in a black uniform materialized from his inventory seal. Naruto looked at the ninja and then at Kakashi. "Sensei, is he really a bad guy?"
"That's just a matter of perspective, but I can assure you that he's definitely not a good guy," Kakashi stated simply. The ninja was a Root Anbu that Kakashi had ambushed and placed under a Mind Control Genjutsu.
Picking a random civilian was not something Kakashi would do, and taking a criminal from Konoha's prison could cause problems if they were listed. However, a Root ninja was the best option, as Danzō wouldn't care if one went missing, especially since he had placed a seal on them so they couldn't speak anything bad about him.
"Once the Shikigami appears, you have to cut your stomach completely, understood?"
Kakashi ordered the Root ninja, who nodded with a dull, vacant look in his eyes. He took out a sword, and Kakashi placed the Death God Mask on his face.
Shaaa!
The moment the mask was put on the Root ninja, the air around them rippled, and a dark aura began to fill the space.
Kakashi turned to Naruto. "Naruto, tell Kurama that once his other half appears, he needs to merge with it directly. We can't waste any time talking, okay?"
Naruto nodded firmly and did as Kakashi instructed, telling Kurama in his mindscape. "Is this how my father summoned the Shikigami?" Naruto then asked.
Kakashi shook his head. "No, that was a different way. This is how you release it; it's called the 'Dead Demon Consuming Seal: Release!'"
This was all they could speak before a chilling wind suddenly rose, and a phantom laugh sounded in the air. A figure with a wide white robe, a long red horn, and a dagger in its bloody mouth appeared in a semi-transparent form. They could clearly see the huge Shinigami phantom behind the Root ninja.
"Th-This... looks scary!" Naruto commented, slightly gasping at the sight of the Shikigami.
Kakashi nodded in agreement. "We don't have much time, so release Kurama's chakra. That way, he can merge with it quickly."
"Just like that?!"
"Yeah, all they need is to be in close proximity! Now, quick!"
"Alright!" Naruto shouted as a dark red chakra with black layers enveloped him. The aura of the Nine-Tails became palpable, and three dark red tails of chakra flared behind him. This was Naruto's current limit without his skin burn strain from Version 2 Bijuu Mode.
Swish!
Meanwhile, the Root ninja, under Kakashi's control, gripped his sword tightly and sliced open his stomach. The Shikigami, which was now connected to the ninja, mimicked his action, taking out it's dagger from mouth and slicing open its stomach with its own dagger.
The wound on the Root ninja also appeared on the immortal Death God, releasing a terrifying amount of chakra from the Shikigami's stomach.
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