The Necromancer Revisited, Chapter 7:

"Kiba!" Shikamaru exclaimed as a big grin spread across his face, "You're safe!"

Kiba chuckled, "Yeah, fortunately, I made it. It's kind of hard to kick zombie ass when most of your fighting style relies on getting close, but we managed to adjust. Isn't that right, boy?" Kiba asked his pet as he patted the large dog on the head. Akamaru's tail wagged as he rubbed his head on Kiba's hand affectionately.

"Are you sure you took care of all of the monsters, Kiba?" Kurenai asked suspiciously as she raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips.

"All the ones on this floor," Kiba said defensively.

"Please don't tell me you made a ruckus on the way up here..." Shikamaru sighed. Kiba shot a comical glare at him.

"Of course not! I know well enough how these things... work," he said, his voice dropping as his words brought back memories of fleeing his clan. Shikamaru realized the look on Kiba's face and suddenly felt bad.

"It's okay... we've all suffered losses today..." Shikamaru said solemnly.

"Please... let's get out of here," Kurenai said sternly, "I want to make sure the rest of my team is safe... I want to see if there are others alive."

Kiba and Shikamaru nodded, and Akamaru barked in confirmation. The four exited the room and cautiously walked towards the staircases. Upon seeing no zombies nearby, they began walking down each flight of stairs quietly, making sure not to attract any more zombies to their position.

"Get ready... there were three of these creatures near the fourteenth floor..." Shikamaru warned. They soon encountered the small group Shikamaru had passed earlier, and they were quickly dispatched by kunai and shuriken. The group of survivors continued down the flights of stairs.

At the eighth floor, they heard a man scream in pain. This caused them all to stop in their tracks briefly. Akamaru growled at something as he sniffed the air.

"He's in the lobby! We need to hurry!" Kiba said with determination. Shikamaru and Kurenai nodded as they picked up their pace down the stairs. As they reached the beginning of the long stairway, Kurenai signaled for the other three to stay back.

"I think we're too late..." Kurenai whispered. They could hear quiet wet and smacking noises. The man had probably been attacked and was now being eaten. Kurenai cautiously approached the source of the noise. It was behind the receptionist's desk. She pulled a kunai out of her ninja tool pouch and peered over the desk.

The woman that was once the receptionist stopped chewing on the man's throat and looked up at Kurenai, a long strip of flesh dangling from her bloody maw. The woman's lips had been ripped off, exposing her gums and most of her other teeth. Kurenai gagged at the sight, and she closed her eyes and turned her head away as she tossed the kunai at the zombie woman's head. She then heard the man begin to make choked breaths. She opened one eye to see that the man's eyes had changed color to that soulless white, and she ended his life again with another kunai. Kurenai turned away from the desk in disgust.

"So... where are we going next?" Kiba asked.

"The Hyuga clan's section of the village. It's close enough to this apartment," answered Kurenai, "is that agreeable?"

"Fine with me..." Shikamaru said calmly.

"Yeah..." Kiba said somewhat absentmindedly.

"Okay then... we should remain quiet for now. We don't want to attract any of the dead," Kurenai advised. The other two nodded, and Kiba signaled for Akamaru to follow them. The four walked out of the apartment, only to stop in horror at what awaited them.

An enormous horde of about two hundred zombies were approaching their position, moaning loudly. They were closing in from every side, except for behind them, of course. The sight of the crowd made Shikamaru drop the kunai he was holding in shock. He shook his head and leaned down to pick it back up.

"Where the fuck did they come from?" Kiba swore as he stared at the mob of corpses shuffling towards their location. Akamaru growled at the large horde, and Kiba continued, "I mean, I noticed the noises were a bit louder outside, but I never imagined there were this many!"

"They must have followed me here..." Shikamaru said with grim realization.

"Should we go back in the apartment and look for another exit?" Kiba asked.

Kurenai shook her head, "No. There's probably just as much of them inside as there are here... but... what do we do?"

"Isn't it obvious? We have to fight them off in some way..." Shikamaru said grimly. He knew that his shadow jutsus wouldn't be of much help, and Kurenai's genjutsu would be ineffective. This would be a tough battle...


Kenokami was casually lounging on a sofa, idly gazing out of a large window before him. He was in their revised hideout: one of the many lookout towers in the village. The undead had eradicated everyone else in this tower, so it was free for the two rogue Akatsuki to inhabit. The view was quite nice, too: Kenokami could see the tiny walking corpses below spreading throughout the village.

I hope Reiko's okay... she hasn't returned yet... Kenokami thought with a small sense of worry. He didn't doubt Reiko's power, but it seemed odd that she had not returned even when he had traveled all the way back to the site of his most recent battle to retrieve his swords.

And, just as he thought that, her scent of roses and lemons filled the room as she appeared in front of him using that weird teleportation technique.

"You know, you should give me some warning before doing that..." Kenokami said with a light grin, "What if I'm in a skittish mood? I wouldn't want to accidentally injure you."

"You wouldn't be quick enough to strike me," Reiko said curtly, "and I assume you failed your mission since you are here instead of out in the village."

"I... uh... yeah..." Kenokami said, caught off-guard by Reiko's temper. He lowered his head and continued, "The kid tapped into the Kyuubi's power, and there were three other strong ninja. I got outnumbered."

"Describe to me the three other ninja that was with the Uzumaki boy," Reiko said sternly.

"There was a lady in black... didn't do much during the fight, but she was quick and got me good in the neck by putting chakra around a scalpel. There was a pasty kid that didn't do much, but I think I saw him drawing things on scrolls, and he could make them come to life. Then there was a tough guy who could use wood and seal my bijuu's power away..." Kenokami explained.

Reiko moved a gloved hand up to her face shrouded by the hood of her cloak. She paced a bit as she thought of who the ninja Kenokami described might be.

"The first one is definitely Shizune, Tsunade's assistant," she said, "and the last one is absolutely the man known as Yamato, who fought Kakuzu. The second one doesn't sound familiar from the information my spies gathered..."

She continued to pace about the room, musing quietly to herself. Kenokami sat up and watched her walk about, and decided to speak up, "Um... so did you succeed?"

Reiko stopped moving and turned to face her partner. Even though her face was shadowed by the thick hood, Kenokami could see the impression of a smile form on her face.

"Another of our major problems has been disposed of. The great Copy Ninja has fallen, and soon the Hokage will, as well!" she exclaimed.

"Wait... so she's not dead?" Kenokami asked, confused by the wording she used.

"Not yet, but I poisoned her with the zombie jutsu. It may take longer to spread throughout the body as a liquid, but it's more subtle. She will be dead by tomorrow, and there is absolutely nothing she, nor anyone else, can do about it. Brother- Madara made sure that this jutsu could not be cured."

"Well, that's certainly good news then," Kenokami said with a grin, "because from what I can remember of old tales of the Sannin I heard back in Getsugakure, she sounded quite powerful."

"Indeed... the world's strongest woman..." Reiko said quietly to herself. She then began giggling quietly, which soon erupted into loud and maniacal laughter. She spread her arms out wide and arched her body back, her hood falling down to reveal a face full of manic glee. The laughter quickly died, and she straightened herself and looked at Kenokami, her eyes showing signs of lunacy.

"The world's strongest woman, the greatest medic alive, one of the Sannin... and I killed her! She will die, and I will have caused it! And Kakashi... the man that knew a thousand jutsus, the man known throughout the ninja world due to his Sharingan... I caused his end! It's so invigorating to know that I am responsible from wiping them from the earth!"

Kenokami was a bit unnerved by how Reiko was acting, but then he realized that her current rush was not unlike the feeling he often got in battle.

"Any other threats?" he asked, wondering what other powerful ninja where in this village.

"Yes... it seems another small band of survivors has formed. It consists of Might Guy and his team, the strongest taijutsu-based team in the village. Guy is perhaps the second strongest person in the village, behind Tsunade, and undoubtedly the most skilled in taijutsu. His team consists of a Hyuga, another taijutsu specialist, and a ninja tool specialist. The plague infected the entire Hyuga clan except for him and two others that were rescued. They were fighting off the entire clan, and the ninja tool specialist single-handedly wiped out the horde. While we have caused significant damage to the village, there are still dangers to us out there..."

"Like Otoshi..." Kenokami growled. This statement caught Reiko by surprise.

"Wait, what are you..." she began, but she then felt the blind man's strange chakra. He was in the village, and he was nearby. Her partner must have smelled Otoshi using the five-tailed beast's innate powers.

"I wasn't expecting Akatsuki to pick up on our betrayal so quickly..." Reiko said.

"Are we going to fight him?" Kenokami asked, feeling eager to do battle with the mysterious new member of Akatsuki to see his abilities.

"We have no choice. Normally I would leave him be because he is blind, but Akatsuki's members are full of surprises... and he could possibly sabotage this mission of ours. He needs to be disposed of."

Kenokami stood up and placed a hand on the hilt of one of his swords, "All right! I can't wait to get this fight started!"


A gust of wind passed by, echoing through the village that was seemingly void of life. Naruto, Shizune, Sai, and Yamato uneasily walked through an empty street, the sounds of the damned ever present about them. Several papers and other general possessions lay about the street as if they were cast away by their owners. The winds gently made these objects drift about, adding to the forlorn atmosphere of the empty street.

"I don't get it..." Shizune muttered with a hint of unease in her voice, "...where are the dead?"

It was a good question. They had only encountered a few small groups of the undead while searching for survivors when the general condition of the village suggested that there should be much, much more.

"Maybe there are other groups like us that aren't so fortunate right now..." Naruto replied lowly. He was picturing it in his head: a group of three-or-so plucky ninja who thought they could easily survive the outbreak suddenly losing all hope as a massive horde of the dead closed in...

Naruto shook away the unpleasant image from his mind as his ears picked up a denser collection of moans amongst the general ambient noises of the damned village.

"Hey, guys... do you hear that?" he asked the others, who stopped in place and carefully listened.

"Yeah... it sounds like a group of the dead nearby," Yamato mused to himself.

"I'll go check," Sai said as he body flickered away. He soon returned with the usual emotionless look on his face and announced, "There's a large group approaching some survivors near a tall apartment building nearby... I didn't get a close enough look at the survivors, but they're definitely in trouble."

"Let's go!" Naruto exclaimed as he took off towards the direction of the moans. The other three quickly followed him.

"Don't just take off without warning like that!" Shizune chastised Naruto, but the blonde boy ignored her and kept running. Soon, the group arrived at a large clearing in the village with a row of buildings that included the apartment to the right. Sure enough, there was a large mob of zombies closing in on a currently unseen group of survivors.

Yamato quickly formed some hand seals and placed his hands on the ground. Two walls of wood rose up so that they sandwiched a small section of the horde. The walls then slammed together, crushing the dead caught between them. A single zombie was only crushed halfway by the walls, and it still tried advancing towards the survivors despite half of its body being rendered completely useless.

Sai quickly unfurled a scroll and make a quick sketch of a large gorilla. The beast of ink sprang off of the paper and charged into the crowd, batting away several of the undead with its thick arms. This made an opening, and Shizune quickly darted into the opening.

"Quick, this way!" she commanded as she retreated out of the opening. She smiled as she caught glimpses of who the survivors were. It was a relief knowing that they were safe.

Naruto formed a shadow clone that assisted him in creating a Rasengan. He growled as he charged towards the horde of zombies. He poured more chakra into the spinning orb to increase its size, and he continued his charge. The orb tore into the undead and ripped apart their heads or torsos, depending on where the blue ball of energy connected. After Naruto made his first charge, Sai's ink gorilla turned around and ran into the now smaller horde and clapped its hands around the heads of any nearby zombies. Yamato made one hand seal, which modified the wooden walls to burst into thousands of sharp splinters that he directed into the heads of the remaining zombies. The horde had been eliminated, and Sai's ink gorilla dissipated.

Naruto walked back towards the now larger group, panting from the charge he had just made. It took way more chakra than he thought it would to make the Rasengan that large.

Kiba made an impressed whistle as he gazed back at the carnage that was minutes ago a threat. "We sure are lucky you guys showed up."

"It's so good to know you're all okay!" Shizune exclaimed.

"The same can be said on our end," Kurenai said with a smile.

"Nice work, all three of you," Shikamaru said with a grin, "you guys busted us out of a real jam there."

"It's our pleasure," Yamato said, "besides; we were looking for survivors anyway. What happened to you three?"

"They both came looking for me," Kurenai said, "and we were just about to head to the Hyuga grounds to see if Hinata and the other Hyugas were safe."

Hinata... Naruto thought with worry as he heard her name. He then realized that he had no idea of the fate of several of his friends...

"My parents are both dead... I don't know about the rest of my clan," Shikamaru said quietly, "and Kiba's the only Inuzuka left..."

Akamaru barked in protest.

"And Akamaru," Shikamaru said as a small smile crept up on his lips. It was amazing how human that dog could act at times.

"We're sorry for your losses..." Naruto said lowly.

"Being sorry won't bring anybody back," Kurenai said sadly. She then spoke with more determination towards Shizune and Yamato, "What do you know about this? Where is Tsunade?"

"We know a lot..." Shizune said, "and Lady Tsunade is okay. She is with Sakura. We split up to cover more ground while searching for survivors, and we're to meet back up at the Administration Building by sundown. As for the whole situation... it's caused by two rogue Akatsuki members. We've fought one of them as a group. He's a jinchuuriki. The other is a woman, and likely the one that created this jutsu. Yamato, Sai, and I haven't fought her, but Naruto did earlier today with Sakura and Ka... Kakashi..." Shizune bowed her head and bit her lip as his name was brought up again.

The general shock from the information lasted for a bit before the last part registered in Kurenai's mind, "Wait... you mean..."

"Yeah... he's dead," Yamato said glumly, "but we sent out a letter to get reinforcements from the Sand Village."

Kurenai ran a hand through her hair, "We... we should just focus on rescuing other survivors right now. We can let this information sink in when we're safe and sound. The Hyuga grounds are nearby... let's go and see if they're safe."

Shizune and Yamato nodded, and Naruto, Sai, Shikamaru, and Kiba all made warm nods toward each other. Kiba mounted himself on Akamaru's back, and the eight survivors set off.


Sakura stealthily walked through the living room of the house, her eyes scanning the room for any signs of the dead. The house was a mess: furniture had been knocked down or moved about to make the whole house look like a child's careless doll house. A few patches of blood could be seen on the floor, along with some bloody smears on the wall. This didn't look good...

Yet, despite the condition of the house, there was nothing of note on the first floor. Sakura bit her lip in anticipation as she climbed the staircase to the second floor. To her immediate right was a closed door with blood on the doorknob. She cautiously approached it in anticipation... she raised a gloved hand and lightly tapped on the door...

A loud banging noise from past the door startled her. She realized that her involuntary yelp had attracted the residents of this home as a few moans from around the corner of this floor began. The banging against the door continued, and she heard frustrated growls from a girl. She closed her eyes as she rose a foot and kicked the door down. The force she applied to the door was significant enough to end the girl's unlife. She then turned her head and saw what she presumed to be the girl's parents shambling towards her.

"May you rest in peace," she solemnly said as she walked up to them, grabbed their heads, and smashed them together. She retched at the bloody mess in her hands, which she wiped against the wall. Sullen, she walked back down the stairs and out the door of the house.

"None alive in here," she called out in a defeated tone.

She walked up to Tsunade and stood next to her. The three of them had been searching nearby houses to see if there were any survivors hiding within. So far they had checked thirty-seven homes, and not a single living soul had been seen. Shino emerged from the thirty-eighth home and shook his head, signifying that there was nothing alive in that house.

Tsunade sighed in frustration, "Fuck it. The people who are hiding in their homes can die... we're wasting our time here."

"But... Lady Tsunade!" Sakura exclaimed in protest, "How can you be so callous?"

"It's noon. We've barely searched through the whole village, and already we have less than eight hours until sundown. What I'm saying is... this area is a lost cause. I heavily doubt anybody is alive here," she replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" a familiar voice full of machismo announced. The three looked towards the direction of the voice to see Guy, his team, Hinata, and Hanabi standing on a rooftop. Guy and Lee were striking dramatic poses.

"Stop goofing off and get down here," Tsunade sighed as if she didn't care at all that the six of them were safe, but Sakura could see the smile on her face.

The six of them jumped down from the rooftop and landed next to Tsunade's group.

"It's such a relief to know that you're all safe!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Indeed!" Guy exclaimed enthusiastically as he gave a thumbs up. He then glanced back towards his group, "See? I told you my skills of finderosity would lead us to the Hokage!"

"Way to go Guy-sensei!" Lee cheered. He appeared to be the only one in that group that believed Guy.

"Um..." Hinata spoke up with worry in her voice, "...where is Naruto?"

"We split up to cover more ground. We're to meet back at the Administration Building at sundown," Tsunade said.

"Do any of you know how this happened? I know it's caused by an evil jutsu," Neji said.

"We'll fill you in as we head to our next destination..." Tsunade said as she began walking. The others followed her.


"About damn time I arrived here..." Otoshi grumbled to himself as he emerged from the shadows cast by the gates of Konoha. As he stepped into the village, the prospect of just how hard it would be to locate Kenokami and The Necromancer dawned upon him.

"I hope they come and confront me..." he sighed. He did not look forward to stumbling about in a large village trying to find the two when he couldn't see anything. He could manage moving about normally, but it became quite difficult in cities... especially since this one was filled with the walking dead.

Otoshi turned his head as he heard several irregular footsteps approach him. The raspy breaths from the zombies escalated into hungry moans as they drew nearer to the blind man.

"What's this? This isn't how normal people act..." Otoshi said to himself. He took a whiff of the air and made a disgusted look, "...nor is it how they smell."

While Otoshi's idea of just walking into Konoha in broad daylight wearing Akatsuki garb wasn't a bright one, it would not pertain to him since the guards of the city were all likely dead.

"Well, I guess that's why the silent one was known as 'The Necromancer,'" Otoshi said as he unsheathed the katana at his right side. He couldn't sense any life coming from the approaching zombies. And judging from the ambience of the village, these creatures were widespread.

"At least I can have some fun while waiting for them to show up," Otoshi said with a grin as he ran towards the nearest zombie and delivered a deadly slash across its chest. He assumed it would die, but the zombie turned around and reached towards him. Otoshi leaped back.

Odd... then again, they are dead... he thought to himself. He charged towards the same zombie and this time cut its head off. The lifeless body fell to the ground as the head of the man he decapitated landed near his feet. Otoshi grinned upon discovering how to kill the creatures until he heard the head by his feet chomping its jaws as it futilely tried to bite his foot.

Really? The heads still move? Otoshi thought with disbelief as he slammed his sword into the head by his feet. That finally killed it. By this time, the zombies that were approaching him had drawn rather close.

"All right! Bring it!" he exclaimed. He charged forward and cleaved off the top half of the nearest zombie's head. He then turned around and slammed his elbow into another zombie's face, making it stumble back. His sword was quickly stabbed into the skull through the eye socket and withdrawn. The other three zombies approaching were in a rather circular pattern, so Otoshi spun around, his sword cleanly bisecting their heads. He reached into his robes and pulled out a cloth, which he used to clean the blood off of his blade. He then spun the sword about in his hands and sheathed it. He placed the cloth back into his robe and moved some of his bangs out of his face. It was then he heard two sets of regular footsteps nearing his position. A smile spread across his face.

"Well, aren't you flashy," Kenokami said as he glared at the newest member of Akatsuki.

"Oh, hey! Kenokami, Necromancer! Thanks for walking out here. I really didn't want to find you guys by myself," Otoshi said lightheartedly.

"Shut up, dog!" Reiko spat at Otoshi, "We both know you're here on Akatsuki's behalf!"

A puzzled expression crossed Otoshi's face when he heard Reiko speak, "The Necromancer's a woman?"

"It's Reiko. I never wanted that title," she said coldly.

"Well, you're in luck: I left Akatsuki, too! Maybe we can be good friends!" Otoshi exclaimed in a mocking matter.

"What? Stop lying!" Kenokami barked at the blind man.

"No joke. I just up and left them. Too bad I've decided to kill you both anyways."

"Why? Why would you just leave them? What are your motives?" Reiko asked as she cautiously eyed Otoshi.

"I volunteered to track down and eliminate both of you, but they wouldn't let me since I was new. So I bound them in a genjutsu and left. During my brief stay in that organization, I've always wanted to fight them upon hearing their powers... and I have the opportunity to fight two of them right now! And best of all, once Akatsuki breaks out of my genjutsu, they'll track me down, too!"

"Seriously? That is your motive?" Reiko asked in disbelief.

"Hey, I can't blame him," Kenokami said, "There's nothing like the thrill of fighting a powerful opponent."

"Well... I also have plans of my own," Otoshi said as if he was unsure of himself, "and I appreciate what you've done to this place. It's just that... I don't like the results. They sort of clash with what I was planning to do. At least there are other villages untouched by these dead things, but I'm going to have to kill you both to prevent this from spreading."

"Never! Our pain must be shared with the world!" Reiko indignantly exclaimed.

"And I'm not going to go down to a blind punk like you!" Kenokami growled as he unsheathed one of his katanas and charged towards Otoshi.

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm weak!" Otoshi yelled furiously as he unsheathed the katana on his right side faster than Kenokami could see. The two swords clashed together, sending a shower of sparks falling to the ground.

"You'll have to try harder than that," Otoshi hissed as he slammed his foot square in Kenokami's chest, winding the jinchuuriki as he was knocked back. Otoshi took a few steps forward and swung his sword downward, stopping a few inches from Kenokami's neck.

"Right there I could have killed you. You really must try harder," Otoshi said calmly as he ducked to avoid Kenokami's angry retaliation. He stuck out his leg and swept the jinchuuriki's legs out from under him, causing him to fall down. He then leaped back and turned slightly to block Reiko's sudden strike with her wristblades. He pushed Reiko's blades off of his and fell back to await their next moves.

He's blind, but his reaction times are on par with my own, and I have the Sharingan! Reiko thought with disbelief as she stared at Otoshi, And he's just toying with us!

"Well, your spirit on stopping me seemed to fade quickly," Otoshi said with a smirk.

"SHUT UP!" Kenokami roared as he sprang to his feet and unsheathed another katana. He charged recklessly towards the blind man, who easily maneuvered around the jinchuuriki. Otoshi thrust his blade at the neck of his opponent, once more stopping inches from it.

"Kill number two," he said as he suddenly pulled his blade away and blocked an incoming stealthy strike from Reiko.

"How?" she asked. Otoshi ducked as Kenokami angrily turned around and swung his blade. Reiko had to leap back to avoid being cut down by the sword.

"Control your anger, Kenokami!" she exclaimed in a chastising tone. She gasped as Otoshi's blade was against her throat.

"There's one for you," he said in a mocking tone. Reiko gritted her teeth and slammed her boot on Otoshi's toes, causing him to howl in pain. She then sharply elbowed him in the chest. She wasn't afraid of Otoshi's blade causing any damage as he stumbled back. Just as she predicted, the blade simply hit the metal part of her Sun Village headband around her neck and slid off of it. She then rolled out of the way as she saw Kenokami heading towards him. Kenokami was holding two swords at once, and he swung both of them down with tremendous strength. Otoshi made a quick set of hand seals, and the shadows beneath him rose up as a defensive wall that blocked the attack.

Shadows? Kenokami thought in shock as they suddenly receded back into the ground, causing him to lose his balance as the momentum of his swing suddenly returned. Otoshi swung his katana down at Kenokami's back, but he was batted away by a large lance made of fire. He quickly stood up after the jutsu had pushed him back. Other than a hole in his robe and a bit of singed skin, Reiko's attack did little to the blind man.

"Are you really blind? Your reaction times lead me to believe that you're hiding something..." Reiko said with suspicion. Otoshi was wearing a headband with a metal plate over his forehead, and only one set of eyes could see through that... the Hyuga clan's Byakugan. It seemed far-fetched, but what else could it be? Surely a blind man couldn't move like that...

"I assure you, I am blind," Otoshi said sternly, "and I assume your questions are to buy time for you to formulate a new strategy?"

"Maybe for her, but I know what I need to do," Kenokami said as he reached into his gi and pulled out his scroll. He unfurled it, causing his massive sword to be summoned into his hand. Otoshi frowned as the sword appeared.

"Oh my... that sword is big," he stated as Kenokami swung the blade in a large arc with a single hand. Otoshi flashed a grin as he jumped into the air at just the right time. He landed on the flat of the blade and quickly ran up it, delivering a sharp kick to Kenokami's head. As soon as he landed, he leaned down to avoid a large sphere of electricity launched towards him by Reiko.

"I don't think your little parlor trick will work," Otoshi said to Reiko. He then heard a mechanism fire, and he felt steel gripping him. He was suddenly dragged towards Reiko by what he assumed was a grappling device. He tried to break free of the steel claw's grip, but it was too tight. He felt a sharp pain enter his gut, and then he was released by the steel claw and kicked back. Reiko had stabbed him with her wristblade.

"You're dead, Otoshi," she announced with triumph, "my blade was coated with a powerful poison. You'll be dead within the minute."

"Or even before that!" Kenokami yelled as he swung down his massive blade in a vertical arc towards Otoshi. Otoshi quickly formed some hand seals, only to discover that his chakra system wasn't working correctly.

Oh, shit! he thought as he quickly leaped away before he was crushed by the large hunk of steel Kenokami was wielding. He stumbled as he landed... he felt his body begin to lose control of itself as a sharp pain pierced through his head. He dropped his katana and he clutched his head, and then the sharp pain wracked through his entire body. He yelled in pain as he collapsed and spasmed for a brief moment before becoming still.

Reiko and Kenokami walked over to the fallen ex-Akatsuki man and inspected him.

"He's not breathing... he's dead," Reiko said with a triumphant grin.

Kenokami reached down to check Otoshi's pulse, and he gasped in surprise as Otoshi's arm tightly clutched his. The other arm grabbed the katana on the ground nearby, and Otoshi pulled himself up and thrust his katana deep into Kenokami's chest. He dragged the sword upwards before removing it, and he kicked the jinchuuriki away from him. He then quickly darted backward to avoid receiving another cut from Reiko's wristblades.

"How!" Reiko asked in shock. Her only response was a toothy grin from Otoshi. She then looked at the wound she inflicted on him only to notice that it had closed... what secrets did this man hold? And the eyes... she had to know what was under his headband!

Kenokami struggled to stand as the large wound slowly closed. He unsummoned his huge blade, seeing its size as a disadvantage in this battle of speed. He reached down and picked up his two katanas that he placed on the ground earlier and ran towards the blind man with a surprising burst of speed. Otoshi, with surprising speed, dodged Kenokami's two slashes. With his free hand, he sharply hit Kenokami's elbows, causing his arms to dislocate. He then kneed the jinchuuriki sharply in the gut and pressed the tip of his blade against Kenokami's forehead.

"Three," he said as he kicked the jinchuuriki away once again. He smiled with self-confidence and said, "My, you two are such invigorating opponents! I haven't had a fight like this since... I haven't had a fight like this!"

Reiko said nothing to the egotistical man as she grabbed a fistful of the man's long hair and yanked him back. He struggled to break free, but Reiko simply made a cut on the side of his headband and released the blind man. His Sound Village headband fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Otoshi quickly covered his eyes with his free hand and cursed under his breath.

"Go on! Reveal your secret to us!" Reiko exclaimed.

"Fuck you!" Otoshi shouted indignantly at Reiko as he turned around in preparation of attacking Reiko. Kenokami was behind him, though, and he swung his two swords down at Otoshi, who was still covering his eyes with his free hand. Otoshi simply rose his sword up and connected with Kenokami's first blade. He pushed it, causing his arms to go off trajectory and his swords only to slightly scrape Otoshi's arm. He then dashed towards Reiko with fierce killing intent. He had been toying with them the entire fight, and Reiko had managed to push his button by removing his headband.

But she was ready. A blue orb crackling with arcs of electricity sat in her hand. She had observed Kakashi using this jutsu in their brief fight, and she knew of its power. Even though it had no hand seals, her Sharingan picked up the process used to create it. The Raikiri would surely incapacitate Otoshi. She thrust the Raikiri forward, and it sliced through Otoshi, her arm bursting through the other end of his body. His arms became limp, and she withdrew her arm from his body. He fell to the ground, face first. She turned over Otoshi's body to see that he was still alive- but barely. She glanced at the man's face with shock. Kenokami had walked over to investigate, and he was surprised at the man's face as well.

His eyes... they were unnatural. They were not the Byakugan that Reiko had suspected, but they were a sort of doujutsu that she had never even seen before, let alone heard about. The eyes had blood red sclerae, black irides, and bright red pupils. The eyes looked around in different directions from each other, but they didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. Reiko felt very strange looking at the eyes, but she could tell that he was, indeed, blind. The extent of his blindness was not known, but the eyes were definitely unable to see them at this distance.

"Are... you happy?" he asked weakly with a smile as blood seeped from his mouth, "There you have it... my accursed eyes that I cannot see from, but..."

He weakly mouthed a few other words, but no sound fell from his lips. His body fell limp as he died with a smile on his face. She leaned down and checked his pulse with caution, but he did not spring back to life. There was no pulse. She stood back up and looked at his face. He was dead... but his eyes still moved.

"Let's get out of here... those eyes are creeping me out," she said. Kenokami nodded and sheathed his two katanas as the two walked back into the observation tower that they had made their hideout. Once they were at the top floor, Reiko glanced out of the window at Otoshi's body. Her eyes widened with bewilderment as she saw him shakily stand up. He made a few hand seals, and his shadow moved up his body and enveloped his wound, quickly healing it, and then it returned to its normal shape.

"Reiko, what do you see?" Kenokami asked.

"Otoshi! He's alive somehow and he healed his wounds!" she exclaimed.

"What!" Kenokami interjected with disbelief as he ran over to the windows to see. Sure enough, the blind man was standing up. He picked up his katana and sheathed it, and he picked up his cut headband. He untied the knot already present and ripped off a bit of cloth from his robes and tied it to make the headband's length whole again, and he tied it back so that the metal plate covered his eyes again.

He then looked up at Reiko and Kenokami and made a little wave as he wore a large, mocking grin on his face. How could he see them if he was blind? Was he able to sense them? Let alone, how did he survive that attack? Many questions raced through their heads as they watched Otoshi casually stroll off to some other part of the village.

"Should we-" Kenokami began.

"No," Reiko said, "he's not heading here, and we need to recover our chakra and strength."

"But he might be weakened!" Kenokami complained.

"We don't know that... he's survived deadly poison and a powerful cutting jutsu. I think he might have regeneration powers similar to your own. The point is... we need to cautiously approach this threat before eliminating it."

Even though she sounded supportive of her own plan, one of her hands was clenched in a tight fist. This man was a threat to her plans!


Jiraiya was leaping through the trees as fast as he could towards Konoha. It had been an hour since he left, and if he kept traveling at this rate, he would arrive at Konoha at sundown. He didn't like that it would take so long to arrive at the village, but there was no way he could go faster. Any of the toads he could summon would cover more ground, but would move slower, resulting in about the same traveling speed.

Damn it! I just wish I knew what this emergency was... he thought. No, that wasn't exactly correct... he knew what the emergency was, but he didn't know how bad it was. Judging from the toad's tone of voice, it was disastrous. And the implications surrounding this crisis were all very bad...

He was snapped out of his thought as he saw sunlight reflect off of metal. He quickly planted his feet on the branch he was above and threw two kunai that collided with the two shuriken that were speeding his way. As soon as the metal tools crashed together, a large fireball suddenly appeared and rushed towards him. Jiraiya jumped out of the way and landed on the ground below. Of all of the times to be attacked...

He quickly shifted his body about as he scanned the entire area for signs of his assailant. He couldn't see the attacker, but he could definitely feel the dreadful killing intent resonating throughout the area. Whoever this person was, they either were very powerful or loathed his existence. Jiraiya suspected that the attacker held both qualities.

"Quit hiding. I can feel your bloodlust, so you obviously want to kill me. I'm in a hurry, so get out here so I can defeat you and continue on," Jiraiya said.

"Such arrogance coming from someone weaker than myself," spoke a deep voice as a cloaked man walked out into the clearing Jiraiya was in.

"With a comment like that, I'm starting to doubt your right to judge someone as being arrogant," Jiraiya responded as he cautiously eyed the cloaked man. While he may have sounded nonchalant, Jiraiya was quite anxious towards this mysterious man. As far as he could remember, only Hanzo and Orochimaru had ever called him weak... and Hanzo's comment came before Jiraiya had developed or learned most of the skills that enabled him to become famous worldwide.

"I know where you are heading," the mysterious figure said, ignoring Jiraiya's comment, "and it would not be wise to go there."

"Sorry, but I'm not going to turn back on my old village, especially after finding out what's happening there. You seem to know what's going on, but I don't think you're going to tell me anything," Jiraiya said sternly as he glared at the cloaked man.

There was a moment of silence as the two men continued staring at each other. It seemed that both of them were anticipating the other to strike first. And then the cloaked man suddenly vanished.

He's fast! Jiraiya thought with alarm as he turned around and jumped out of the way of the cloaked man's attack. The man pulled back the sickle he was holding from the spot Jiraiya occupied moments ago. There was a chain on the sickle's handle that wrapped around his hand and receded into the sleeve of his cloak. The man let go of what Jiraiya presumed was a kusarigama and grabbed the chain as he began to spin the chain around. He hurled the sickle at Jiraiya, who leaned out of the way to dodge it. Jiraiya made a few hand seals and spat out some oil created by his chakra. The oil then ignited into a large fireball that rushed towards the cloaked man. He then gasped as he heard the chain by his feet begin to move. He rolled out of the way as the sickle flew by where his head was seconds ago, and he saw the sickle return to the hand of the cloaked man, who had dodged the jutsu.

"Aren't you going to show me how strong you are? Or are you all talk?" Jiraiya mocked the man in an attempt to coax him to use something other than the kusarigama.

"You have shown me nothing that would require me to use anything else," the man replied as the hand holding the kusarigama began to glow blue with chakra. The chakra extended and enveloped the sickle and the chain, which launched forward as if it were sentient. Jiraiya weaved out of the way and prepared a jutsu, but the sickle made a return strike at him, causing him to dodge it once more. The sickle then suddenly halted and made a beeline back towards him. Jiraiya managed to avoid most of it, but it managed to knick his arm a little.

"Really? Is this all one of the Sannin can accomplish? If so, I doubt you'll be able to save Konoha with such a pathetic output..." the mysterious figure taunted.

Jiraiya growled at the cloaked man's comment and decided to make him eat his words. As the sickle rushed towards him, Jiraiya simply caught the blade and yanked on it, causing the cloaked man to be dragged towards him. Jiraiya then thrust his palm into the cloaked man's chest and triggered the jutsu he prepared earlier, which caused a large amount of fire to burst from his hands. Jiraiya held on to the sickle so the man could not escape, but he felt it vanish and heard a puff of smoke that signified that it was unsummoned. Jiraiya assumed that the man had dodged, so he took this opportunity to form some more hand seals to prepare more jutsus to be activated.

Jiraiya heard another puff of smoke and was then thrown back by a powerful gust of wind that caused him to slam into a tree. Jiraiya gritted his teeth and shrugged off the pain. He was about to activate his latent jutsus in retaliation, but his eyes widened with shock as he saw what the cloaked man was wielding.

The man had summoned another weapon- in this case, a large gunbai fan. What was so striking about this fan was the symbol appearing on it: three tomoe in a triangular pattern.

"You... you are Madara Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked in astonishment. The man said nothing and charged forward, aiming to bludgeon Jiraiya with the large wooden fan.

This is bad... if he is Madara, I have to get out of here, and fast! Jiraiya thought as he triggered his latent jutsus. The ground behind Madara twisted and transformed into three spikes that shot towards him. The cloaked man planted his feet on the ground and jumped high up to avoid them and landed a few feet in front of Jiraiya.

Gotcha! Jiraiya thought as he triggered his second jutsu, which caused the ground underneath the cloaked man's feet to turn into incredibly sticky mud. The cloaked man struggled for a bit before ceasing the useless battle to escape the mud.

"Well... it seems I underestimated you. You are the victor in this little fight, Jiraiya. Go... go to your damned village. See if you can salvage what is left," the man said.

"Damn you, Madara! What did you do to the village?" Jiraiya asked with anger.

"It was not I that caused this to the village. My knowledge of the situation is just the same as yours," the cloaked man replied, still not confirming if he was Madara or not.

Jiraiya simply glared at the mysterious man before continuing his advance towards Konoha. He knew better than to strike at the cloaked man while he was trapped- he was not aiming to kill his opponent, and striking him would most likely trigger a substitution to escape his trap. And if that man was actually Madara... then it was wise to trap and leave him like that. He would most likely escape eventually, but he was free of having to worry about him for now. Instead, his worries turned back towards the village...

Jiraiya picked up his pace. He prayed that the village would not be doomed when he arrived.


"We have returned, Lord Danzou," spoke one of the two masked men as they bowed down in front of the leader of Root, who was reading some documents. He raised his head and turned around to face his two servants.

"And what did you find? What is the current situation in the village?" Danzou asked.

"It... it is not good at all, sir," the other masked man said wearily, "not a single sector of the village is free of the dead. We didn't see a single living soul in our scan of the village, but we did see signs of conflict."

"Is that so..." Danzou mumbled as he stroked his chin in thought. He then looked towards the Root member that spoke first, "Tezaki, you are a sensor. Did you sense anything?"

"Yes, sir. There were a few groups of survivors scattered throughout the city, and quite a bit of small groups of lone survivors. But our orders were to scout out the city, so that is what we did, sir," the first masked man answered.

"Are Yamato and Sai alive? The Hokage? The Kyuubi brat?"

"All alive, sir."

"I see... well, your next mission is to safely acquire a few of these walking corpses and bring them back to me," Danzou said, much to the surprise of the two servants.

"Sir? Are you sure, sir?" the second masked man asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I gave you an order, Ota. Follow it," Danzou said harshly.

"Sir... if I may ask... why?" the first man, Tezaki, asked.

"I want to see what these creatures are capable of. The old reports don't have enough detail. I think these creatures could be useful tools, and I want to study how exactly they work..." Danzou said.

"How many, sir?" the second man, Ota, asked, sounding like he had more confidence in Danzou's orders.

"Hmm..." Danzou muttered. A pause followed as he thought of the ideal amount he desired, "Ten should be sufficient. Do be careful in restraining them. I would prefer that number stay ten and not accidentally increase to eleven or twelve."

"S-sir?" Tezaki asked.

"Yes, Tezaki?" Danzou replied with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"Should we rescue any survivors that I might sense?"

"No. Yamato and Sai are doing that with the Hokage. Your orders stand. You may depart now."

"Yes, my lord!" the two servants shouted as they vanished. Danzou sighed and turned back to the documents he was reading earlier.

"Madara... what could have possibly given you the idea to create these monsters?" he muttered to himself as he continued studying the documents.