Itachi POV
Disastrous, was a word he didn't use for most missions. Even the massacre of his family went better than he planned. There was only one survivor after all. He was certain she didn't know about the rebellion. This mission on the other hand.
He had lightning wounds all over his body and his nerves may never be the same again. His partner Orochimaru had to change skin three times. They climbed the steps to a massive castle. The mercenaries they hired were mostly dead. Many of the defenders fell with them.
"Drat, the chakra is gone from their bodies. It seems this god found a way to ensure his works couldn't be copied easily." Orchimaru said. Itachi could hear the irritation in the sanin's voice. Ninja weren't the most religious in the elemental nations. Most simply worshiped the father of ninjutsu.
"He also found a way to amass enough gold for his followers to mass produce statues of his likeness." Itachi pointed out. He remembered times when the Uchiha were tight on money. They were a massive clan with many mouths to feed. Their few enterprises couldn't have been enough to come up with this much gold.
"Maybe, this god found a jutsu that created it from chakra. If so, maybe we could convince get him to join the organization." Orochimaru said. The snake man smiled sinisterly. Itachi doubted his cousin was interested in the organization. What did a god of war need with an organization bent to cause peace?
There was fighting up ahead. Itachi moved to use a replacement in case there were any more ambushes. Soldiers wearing full plate armor fought against the mercenary group. Long spears tore through the shoddy armor the mercenaries used. Itachi turned the tide with some well-placed kunai. How long before a counter to long range attacks were initiated.
"What do your sharingan eyes see Itachi?" Orochimaru asked. Itachi saw a throne and a man praying to it. The cords of energy that surrounded the lands around konoha were present erupting from the throne. These same cords often sprouted around the followers. The cords belonged the cultists according to his eyes. They connected to the ones sprouting forth from the throne. He went through hand seals and unleashed a great fire ball jutsu. The ball of fire was blocked by three men holding tower shields.
The face of the shields turned bright orange from the flames. Itachi could sense chunin level chakra from these men. Normally no threat, except every cultist had one of his cousin's abilities. They held their shields up and funneled all their energy and chakra into them. Orochimaru summoned his demon gates as a blast of heat shattered the first and second one before dissipating.
"They died on their feet from chakra exhaustion. Only cultists would give their lives so casually. Its good fortune that the mercenaries died from the jutsu. Otherwise, we would have to pay them." Orochimaru said. Itachi prepared himself for the priest. They were always the hardest fights in these places. This was the sixth temple they have destroyed in the past month. They keep popping up. While his cousin still lived they would always pop up.
They approached the steps leading to the throne. A massive of tentacles writhed before his eyes, any closer and they would be open to an attack from his cousin. He calmed his beating heart and tried to bind the priest in an illusion.
"I suppose we were next on your list. You my poor hopeless brothers have destroyed five of our holy temples. For what end. Is the currency of a few daimyos really worth the lives of you kin?" Orochimaru opened his mouth and his sword stabbed through the man's throat.
"The last four priests, used his speech to buy time and transform into demon. We aren't in the mood to let you copy your fellows." Itachi said. I looked the man in the eye and used Tsukyomi.
The world morphed, and the man stood. He was much taller than in the real world. Itachi wasted no time binding him on a cross and stabbed him with swords for 72hours. After a while the man stopped shrieking in pain and began laughing.
Hours later the laughter stopped, and the man began to beg. Itachi continued to stab the man, until he began openly praying to his god for help.
"Hello cousin." Itachi stopped stabbing when the cross disintegrated.
"Natsu," Itachi said.
"Sasuke has become quite the emo thanks to you. I think he can only think about killing you. It's a little sad. If not for me, I don't think the clan would survive. My balls dropped finally, so it's time to start my little breeding program." Itachi wanted to puke at the thought of his family in the hands of the monster before him.
"I will stop you. With every temple, I destroy your hold over this world weakens." There was a hint of mischief in his cousin's eyes. The tentacles that surrounded the body Natsu was in, slowly turned black, then crimson, and then gold. The chakra in the body was taken and devoured. He blinked, and his cousin stood before him in a ten-year-old body.
"Try as hard as you can. I've grown bored of policing konoha. I brought a few of my warrior priests in and given them the rank of honorary Uchiha. The Hokage took some convincing but he agrees that civilians should police civilians. The ambu can handle the more dangerous cases. Its delegating Itachi, that's how you run an organization. Ash the guy you and Orochimaru just killed was on his way to becoming a warrior priest. I sent him out to create a temple and he did what he was told. I was rather proud of the old bandit for it. Such a shame he died before his time. I'm going to need you to stop attacking my temples. If you don't, I will kill Sasuke. No, I will do one better, I will offer him my power." Itachi watched his cousin walk and talk to him. The copies of himself vanished as his cousin stepped through them.
The shadows twisted, and moon light became glaring like the sun. Itachi saw a monster wearing Sasuke's face twisted and covered in black flames. Heavy armor surrounded his body and a sword writhing in lightning was held in his right hand. Sharingan burned with Mangekyou.
"Remember that image. I don't mind the rest of the Akatsuki going after my temples. They can't really see how things really work. You on the other hand have the potential to be a threat. Besides with all my gold statues, I doubt the Akatsuki are hurting for money." Natsu said. The boy smiled at him, like they were playing chess and Itachi had just caught him cheating.
"I will leave your temples alone. Don't threaten to use my brother as a pawn again." Itachi said. Natsu smiled, to his cousin this was exactly that a game of chess. The world shattered and Itachi returned to starring in the eyes of a dead priest.
"Did you find out anything good?" Orochimaru said. Itachi nodded.
"Let's go." Itachi said.
John POV
I blinked awake in Iruka's class. "Natsu what was the name of the first Hokage's wife?" I yawned and yelled out Mito. Iruka nodded. Shikamaru was snoring behind me and Naruto was busy drawing pictures of himself with the hokage's hat.
My poor Jews were all alone out there. I listened to their prayers and helped where I could. They needed to learn that I'm not going to help them with every little hick up in the road. They have a task and they will either succeed or fail. That didn't mean, I didn't care about them.
I doodled through a few basic seals. In all the time I've been here this has been the most promising technique. Time and space were difficult barriers to surpass even with my power. These seals promised to bridge the gaps in my power. With a few basic connecting seals, I could transfer my power to thrones around the world.
The energy cost was hefty. As I learned more, the price of energy lowered. This single technique has given me the ability to spread my influence from the land of fire to the land of snow. Already, my power has begun to change the area. Snow and ice melted as more followers bowed to my throne. The island was wonderful for sending ships out with loyal missionaries aboard. My religion spread no matter what the daimyos did.
I supplied the lands with a surplus of food, weapons, and I promised jobs. The land of waves was my next target. It was isolated thanks to Gato. His shipping company would make a fine addition for spreading my religion further. My stealth college has already produced a crop of sneaks, assassins, and thieves. They have begun planting books of my religious doctrine in libraries and under the pillows of academy students.
The temples were attempting to stop me with revivals of their Buddhism. My ability to produce far exceeded theirs. People were more often swayed to ideas by bread and the promise of prosperity. All I had to do was keep my promises.
I walked down the street of the Uchiha district. It was far too quiet. Ambu watched my every move. The professor wouldn't allow me to move too freely. I was ok with that. His life wouldn't last much longer. I stopped my protection to allow Orochimaru to get a foot hold.
After closing the door to the main compound, I walked down a secret set of stairs. In a hidden room within pods crafted by my own mold wood skills. Lay the comatose bodies of the Uchiha females. Their bodies were worked by slight electrical impulses, tubes were down their throats to facilitate breathing and nutrients, and their waste was removed by the plants. 82 living Uchiha were down here.
If all goes well, I could produce 82 Uchiha a year. In two years that's 164 Uchiha. Four years after that is 492. Theoretically, I could restore the clan larger than it ever was before. Once they are born, I will send them to spring for education and indoctrination. Every day this place existed unsealed, was another day I could be discovered. This was starting to get dangerous.
Kira POV
Kira waited for her brother to leave the pod room. That's the name she had dubbed the room were her brother kept the Uchiha women on life support. She wanted to think the best of her brother. Once he was gone, she tiptoed in and found pod 21.
Her mothers face was tinted green by the light from within the pod. Her mother's black hair needed cutting. It went down past her hips now. She placed a hand on the pod. There were monitors installed showing a slow but steady heartbeat. Brain activity was zero.
Nearly every Uchiha from the clan, even some just a few years older than herself were stored here. There wasn't an old Uchiha woman in a single pod. Nor were their any Uchiha that were not of blood. She knew the conclusion this line of thought brought her too, but she refused to make it real.
Once it became real, her brother would be a real monster. If her brother was a real monster, then what else was he capable of. Her kind brother always went easy on her in spares. She could tell he didn't go for certain blows. When he fought he didn't use his full strength. She once saw him go through the entire class without taking a hit. Her brother was strong but that was normal for Uchiha.
She needed to find out what her brother was capable of. If she knew how much he held back. Then maybe she would be able to judge his actions.
That's a wrap
If you want more of John go to Royalroad Ulimatedaywriter thanks for reading.
