Trials of Faith Chapter 10: Scenes VI, a naruto fanfic

Trials of Faith

Karrafear

Summary: SEQUAL to Faith in Humanity and Restoration of Faith; PG-13. 2 and half years have passed and now is the beginning of the trials of Faith. Chapter 10: Scenes VI

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Disclaimer: Naruto is an anime and manga series created by Masashi Kishimoto. It does not belong to me; I'm simply using the characters and plot for my own creative devices.

"Demon's talk", /Thoughts/, "Speech", 'Speech emphasis', (FLASHBACK), Titles, (Author's interruptions)

I'm not going to provide any excuses for the long... LONG delay. Just read and let me know what you think. The fight scenes took a long time to develop, so I hope you appreciate it.

Chapter 10

(Hidden Rain Village)

A hand rose slowly out of a shadowed corner deep in an alleyway full of trash and boxes. A head followed the hand, and slowly, the rest of the body emerged. Kaga quietly gazed around his surroundings, making sure no one noticed his presence, even while light rain dripped onto his bandage covered head. With a flick of his wrist, he called out his companions to emerge as well. Silent as the night, Dokudes Ryoko (matron of the Dokudes clan) and Kataichi Touya (older brother of a member of the Kuunoki Gate Guardians, and servant to Uzumaki Ruri) materialised out of the shadow gate that Kaga had formed.

Without looking at his fellow Shinobis, Kaga muttered quietly. "This place sure has changed over the years. The last time I was here was when I was in my teens. They didn't have all those sky scrapers and buildings. I never thought that Hanzo the Salamander would go for such structures."

"I don't think Hanzo is still in power. Don't forget Pein is here in these vicinities. We must gather information as fast as possible, including the location of Ruri-sama." Ryoko reminded Kaga, completely focused on the mission in front of her.

Kaga nodded in silence before he turned back and slowly merged back into the shadows behind him. "I'll find and collect some willing informants. Wait here." He completely disappeared.

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"What's wrong Pein?" Konan asked in a quiet voice, having noticed the slight twitch in her companion's eyes.

"Someone has disturbed my rain's fall. And judging from their chakra it is someone dangerous." Pausing for a few seconds, Pein remedied his statement. "My mistake, there are three."

"Konan, when I stop the rain, use your Jutsu to find these intruders." Pein ordered in a firm voice, neither too demanding nor loud.

"Understood. Leave it to me." Konan nodded and closed her eyes. As she stood still, her body slowly de-materialised into thousands of slips of white paper floating in to the air. Each individual piece folded into itself until the formed a shape like a butterfly. Fluttering in the wind now deceased of any rain, these thousands upon thousands of paper butterflies spread in all direction, sensing for the foreign chakra of their enemies.

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"What a heavy rainfall…" muttered a man (1) in his heavy rain-soaked coat and straw hat, as he stood moodily under an alcove to avoid the heavy rainfall.

"Yeah, how about we go find a place to have a drink and escape this rain for a bit?" His partner commiserated.

The first man grimaced. "This is the bottom level, there's nothing here. All the shops and bars are above us." He retorted unhappily.

Unbeknownst to the two men, a pair of hands emerged from the shadows behind them, the hands quickly and efficiently wrapped around their months, stopping them from screaming in sudden fright and pulled them into the shadows. In no more than a split second later, both men were gone.

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When the men awoke, they found themselves stripped half-naked (only with pants on) and with both arms tied up with chains high above their heads. Their feet did not touch the black marble ground, which made them notice the pain in their arms and shoulders as they hang from a non-existent roof that was so far above their heads and shrouded in darkness that they couldn't see where the ends were. Looking around, they found themselves in a hallway of sorts, black tinted windows on each side with the corridors stretching into eternity on both ends. In front of them was a strange green leather couch of which sat three figures. On the right was a man clothed completely in black and had bandages wrapped around his face, ensuring that no one could recognise him. In the middle was a woman wearing tight fitting brown leather clothes, but shaped in a way to allow her free movement, her purple hair was tied high in a ponytail resting in a long braid. On the left was a tall but lanky looking teenager with scars and scratch marks all over his arms and legs. The teen core strange chains around his wrists and his ankles.

"Ryoko. Could you please start the interrogation?" The black clan man spoke. In response, the women rose from the leather couch elegantly and stepped towards the prisoners rather threateningly.

As if finally realising what situation they found themselves in, the two prisoners started pulling on their arm restraints and attempting to kick their legs out in an attempt to free themselves, only to find their arms completely trapped above them and that their legs were completely paralysed. At this point, they panicked.

"Let us go! What do you want from us?" "Whatever it is, we won't tell you what you want, so you might as well kill us now!"

"We want to know about Pein. We want to know where he is keeping Ruri-sama." The youngest of the three spoke.

Upon hearing the mention of the name 'Pein', both men immediately turned stubborn in their silence. "Kill us. We won't betray Pein-sama. No matter what you do."

The teenage male sighed. "Looks like we'll have to do things the hard way." Turning to his other two compatriots, Touya asked: "Ryoko-sama, I'll leave this to you. Kaga-san, could you let me outside. I'll do some reconnaissance around the village while you interrogate the prisoners. I've never much liked torture myself."

Kaga, the black clad man nodded. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a decorated door frame and door rose from the ground right in front of Touya. The door opened and beyond it, the two captives could see the familiar site of their home village. Without any further words, Touya walked through the door and it closed behind him. Before the door completely shut, Kaga called out to the boy. "Remember to call me if you meet up with trouble." Once the door had shut, the door and door frame phased out of existence, disappearing into the black marble floor.

This scene troubled the two prisoners deeply, finally understanding that they were trapped in some sort of alternate dimension, unable to escape. They're only hope is to have someone notice their disappearance and launch a rescue operation – highly unlikely considering they were two very low ranking ninjas. And the only other hope is that they die soon without spilling any information.

"Let's do this." Without giving the men any further warning, Ryoko swiftly struck one man with a tiny sewing needle into the base of the back of his skull. The reaction was instant. The man screamed at the top of his lungs, all available muscles in his body ranging from his facial muscles all the way down to his toes twitched sporadically as if an electrical surge was passing through his blood channels in constant bursts. The sound was horrific, the sight of his body contracting and shaking in seizure-like manner even more horrendous, but Ryoko kept twisting the tiny needle in place, unheeded by the sight and sound of the tortured man before her.

For 30 long seconds, she kept it up. Finally, she pulled the tiny needle out, and the man collapsed on himself, his body completely soaked in sweat and his breath coming in gasps. He looked beyond tired, pale and sickly. "That was a pain nerve. Now, let's try something else." Ryoko lowered the needle and pushed it into the lower-left hand side of the man's back, just below the man's ribs. Again, the reaction was instant. But instead of a pained scream, the man laughed wildly and uncontrolled. He laughed so hard and so fast, he could barely breathe. His fingers, arms and legs twitched in reaction to the constant ticklish sensation that ran through his body. He wanted to escape desperately but was unable to. Again, the torture lasted for 30 seconds, 30 seconds too long.

By the end, the man looked even more exhausted than when he lived through the first 30 seconds of pain. This time, his face was completely red from the effort of laughing so loud. Breath was also difficult to come by, and his muscles ached all over from surviving through both sensations.

"Pain... and pleasure... I could alternate between the two sensations for hours on end. Or I could press them both at the same time. Can you imagine what that would be like?" Ryoko stated in cold, soft voice. "But if you tell me what I want to know, then you're free to go."

Watching in terror as his friend was tortured before him, the other man tried to put on a brave face. "Don't give in! Even if we're just common soldiers, we're still shinobis of this village! We'll never betray a comrade! Don't take us lightly! Go ahead and do your worst, but we won't talk!"

The tortured man only shuddered and moaned in fear of the prospect of continuing torture, desperately trying to shield himself away from Ryoko's cool gaze without any success. Ryoko's attention then turned to the one who spoke. "Perhaps it's your turn then. I can always leave the needle in your body, pressing directly on the pain nerve and the laughter nerve while I concentrate on something else."

The moment Ryoko took a single step towards the out-spoken man, his expression immediately changed to panic. "Uh… maybe we can discuss this…" He squeaked. "In a rational manner… please?"

"Where is Pein? Where is Ruri?" This time, it was Kaga that spoke, his voice strong and unwavering.

Sweating in nervousness, the man stuttered as he spoke. "I've heard that… that Pein-sama stays in the tallest tower… on the west part of town…"

"Heard?" Ryoko queried in a threatening tone.

"The truth is no one really knows anything about Pein-sama." The man uttered truthfully. "They say he's a member of the Fuuma clan… But no one can say for sure what he looks like. And there are rumours that he doesn't even exist. In this town, Pein-sama is like a God. It doesn't matter if he's actually here or not. He gives us his protection either way. If there's ever a festival or any kind of event, the specifics always come from a messenger." The more the man spoke, the less Ryoko understood. Sure, they now knew that Pein was a heartless man, willing and able to destroy many lives, no matter how distant their blood ties to the old Hanzo, nor how young the victims were. But other than that, the information provided was useless.

Sighing in annoyance, Ryoko cut the interrogation off abruptly by knocking both prisoners out cold. "They're useless." She determined. "It's probably best to bring their bodies back to Konoha so that one of the mind walkers can travel through their memories and find some significant information. We won't be getting anywhere the way we were going." Kaga nodded in acceptance.

He tensed suddenly. "Touya's in trouble." He stated.

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Touya had been walking aimlessly around town, doing his best to avoid being seen by people. The rain had stopped and it seemed to be a fine day. But he couldn't help be feel as if he's being watched. /Better keep my wits about me. Something bad is about to happen, I can feel it./

Entering an enclosed space, Touya was stunned to see thousands of pieces of plain white paper floating in the air. The mass numbers of paper suddenly turned towards him and flew at him at high speed. Before he even knew what was happening, both his arms and legs had been completely wrapped up by paper. Soon, even his head was entrapped by the white pieces of sheets.

However, before a newly formed spear (made completely out of paper) could pierce through his paper wrapped body, Touya somehow managed to tear his way out by brute force alone. He yelled loudly as he ripped past the paper cocoon and jumped out and away from his enemy – a floating, paper version of a woman wearing an Akatsuki cloak. "You were able to break through my trap, surprising." She commented in a monotone voice.

Touya looked on towards Konan with eyes full of determination. "Where is Ruri-sama? Where are you keeping her?" He asked in a forceful manner.

Konan glanced back impassively. "Why are you still loyal to her?" She asked curiously. "She betrayed you. She sold the Kuunoki for an alliance with us. You should hate her… Abandon her just as she had abandoned you." She taunted in a bland voice but Touya wasn't moved.

"You're wrong. She betrayed us because she loved us. And we will get her back, no matter what the cost." Touya glared. "Now tell us where she is." He demanded.

Instead of answering, Konan rose higher in the air and summoned forth more paper pieces, forming large paper crafted wings behind her back. The large wings spanned at least several metres in length and when it flexes, hundreds of paper Shuriken, shaped as paper planes flew at Touya. The boy was just about to dodge but a large beam of fire burst into existence between him and the paper projectiles, burning the paper Shuriken to ashes.

Konan turned her attention away from the young man only to notice two new intruders – Dokudes Ryoko who was the one breathing fire from her mouth and Kaga standing behind her. Keeping her Jutsu in place and aimed at the flying Akatsuki member, Ryoko used her other hand to pull out a small vile of bluish transparent liquid. Without dropping her fire technique, she threw the vile at Konan, who was doing her best to avoid being burnt by the continuous flames. Once the vile had flown into range, Ryoko activated its hidden seal and the glass burst open in mid air, spilling the small amount of liquid. The moment the liquid hit the air in the atmosphere, it turned into a brownish-green gas that completely covered Konan's paper based body.

Flexing her paper crafted wings, Konan was surprised to find that her body was slowly becoming stiff, as if something in the gas was affecting the paper used to form her body, hardening it and ensuring she's no longer a threat, as well as immobilising her instantly. Without the wings keeping her in the air, Konan fell and hit the ground with quite a hard impact. She glared at the three ex-Kuunoki intruders but kept quiet.

"Once more, tell us where Ruri-sama is." Ryoko threatened, her hands already in preparation for another Jutsu, when a different voice interrupted them.

"She came to us willingly, and we will not let her go." A man with the infamous Rinnegan eyes and long orange hair tied in a high ponytail, squatted on the side walls of the enclosure. He pressed his hands down on the wall and called forth his technique. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Summoning Technique)." In a burst of smoke, a large crab like crustacean summon spit forth a large pool of foam. Ryoko, Kaga and Touya all leapt away to avoid the pool of foam. The foam covered Konan and washed away the hardening effect of the poison gas that had affected her. Eventually Konan re-emerged free of any ill effects, and floated up in the air alongside Pein.

The crab rushed towards the three intruders in an attack formation. Touya stepped in front of his two comrades and smashed his fist right into the crustacean. The impact of the powerful punch of a Taijutsu expert resulted in sudden rush of air caused by the sudden disappearance of the giant summon. Obviously it could not withstand the power of a single punch from Touya.

Undeterred by the disappearance of his summoned animal, Pein simply summoned forth a second creature. This time, it was a large lizard like creature that was the ability to camouflage itself.

"You two, capture the girl. I'll deal with Pein myself." Kaga spoke in a deadly tone. Both Ryoko and Touya glanced at him briefly before nodding in acceptance, not willing to go against the legendary shadow-walker when he's in the mood to fight.

Slapping his hands together in a clap, Kaga began his attack. "Kage Heki no Jutsu! (Shadow Barrier). (2)" Instantly, a large shadowy box like barrier surrounded Pein and his Summon. "Kage no Kekai! (Shadow Prison)" The shadow box darkened until nothing could be seen from the inside. Kaga used Shunshin to reappear in front of his shadow prison and placed both his palms against its walls. Slowly, his body merged inside the black box structure. Quietly, he muttered his next Jutsu. "Kage Sekai no Suru. (Shadow Realm Manipulation)."

Trapped within the shadow world dimension, Pein looked around himself and his summon. All around them was a dark landscape, filled with mist, weak sunlight filtered in through dead branches of large skeletal trees (3). It reminded Pein of some of the landscape that Itachi was able to dream up using his favourite Jutsu – the Tsukiyomi.

"Welcome to my Kage Sekai (Shadow world). In this world, I control everything." A disembodied voice rang out all throughout the landscape. There was no doubt in Pein's mind that Kaga was not going to go easy on him. "Tell me where Ruri is, and I may let you have a quick death. If not... I can prolong your death for months, perhaps years. After all, in this place, I am god and I can even control time (4)." Kaga's slightly demonic voice continued.

"Do your best, Shadow-user." Pein stated without emotion.

Suddenly, all the shadows around Pein and his summoned creature erupted into life, forming thousands of giant shadow hands and or claws reaching for Pein trying to rip them him from all sides and all angles (5). Pein jumped high into the air to avoid their clutches and watched impassively as his summon was devoured by the shadows surrounding it. Even though his summon had been invisible, the shadows beneath welled up and swallowed the giant creature whole. The lizard's scream of surprise reverberated throughout the pocket dimension as it was eaten alive.

While still in the air, Pein summoned forth several more creatures. A large three headed dog demon and an bird creature of which became his steed as he remained in the air, allowing him to avoid most of the shadows that stayed on the ground below him. He watched in silence as his new canine summon struggled against the moving hands and claws of the shadow enemies. Although each time the summoned creature was hurt, it would divide itself and multiply but the large mass of animated shadows suddenly changed form in retaliation. Instead of just black hands and claws that tried to grapple with its prey and pull them into itself, the shadow mass morphed into large open jaws full of sharp teeth. The canine summons was no match to these mutated shadows; the blackness easily swallowed every last breath from the summons as they bit and chomped on whole body parts all in an effort to satisfy its hunger for flesh (6).

However, Pein, still safe in the air cared not for the life of his summons; he merely looked around, trying to find a way to escape. Unfortunately for Pein, Kaga was not in the mood to give him time to plan an escape. Soon, dark clouds formed in the 'sky' of the pocket dimension, the mist cleared to show a large forest of dead trees, all covered in eternal living shadow. Thunders roared into existence and Pein knew that his death was coming soon. First a single drop, then a second and a third; in an instant rain poured down from the heavens. But it wasn't normal rain. No, it was acid rain.

Pein watched impassively as his proud Akatsuki cloak rotted and dissolved into nothing under the torrent of acid. The summoned bird he was standing on tried desperately to fly away, to find some place it could land with cover to protect itself from the rain of the sky, whilst still trying to avoid the deadly jaws of the shadows below. The bird creature dropped bombs into the earth below in order to dissipate the shadows that hungered for its flesh. It managed to prolong its life for a time, but could not escape the acid rain pouring onto its burning its flesh until the bones were exposed. Simply put, there was no escape, Pein stayed silent as his summon wavered in the air and eventually plummeted straight down into the waiting jaws of darkness. By then, he had already lost his right arm, which had rotted away into bone, and all his skin was exposed to third degree burns, even his hair and scalp had dissolved away. Kaga had lied. He did not try to kill Pein slowly, but it was certainly a painful way to go.

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"Nagato!" Konan yelled out in concern as she watched her comrade be swallowed up the black prison Jutsu. As she turned to assist, her sight was blocked by Touya's youthful figure, with a fist already in preparation to hit her face. Konan didn't even blink. As Touya's powerful punch smashed into her delicate looking face, the head exploded into hundreds of pieces of paper, scattering into the high winds by the force of Touya's punch. Her body followed and spread apart into a thousand more paper slips. The mass of paper gathered in one spot high in the air, reforming Konan's upper body with giant paper wings behind her. She flapped her winds and short forth multiple paper Shuriken flying at Touya at high speed.

To defend himself against the oncoming barrage of paper missiles, Touya pulled on the chains surrounding his metallic wrist band and in a surprising move, the chains extended out of the metal revealing the storage seal that was carved into the metal (7). Upon calling forth think metallic chains of around 3 meters in length, Touya started spinning them rapidly in front of himself, blocking and cutting away the paper Shuriken that had been launched his way.

Whilst Touya was busy dealing with Konan's paper barrage, Ryoko had been performing fire Jutsu after fire Jutsu in the hope of catching Konan in a blast. The winged Akatsuki member was swift in her flight but even she received burns to part of her wings. In retaliation, Konan shot forth more paper Shuriken at her enemies, this time, the paper were made of Kibaku (paper bombs). Upon impacting against Touya's defensive chains, the paper exploded, blasting away Touya and destroying his defence.

"Touya-kun!" Ryoko shouted in concern for the youth, but had to quickly refocus on her enemy in order to dodge a new paper weapon launched by Konan. The spinning paper wheel or ring barely missed slicing Ryoko's legs off. Turning around, Ryoko threw two more veils of poison at Konan before spinning around and cart wheeling away in order to avoid being cut by the returning paper blade. Having learnt from experience, Konan expertly flew away from the veils of poison as it exploded in mid air, creating more of the brownish-green gas of before.

Flapping her wings, Konan was able to disperse the gas away using the movement of air. But as the battle field cleared, she realised that Ryoko had used the gas as a cover in order to grab her youthful team mate and run. Biting her lips in tension, Konan turned around just in time to see Kaga's shadow prison dissolve. Kaga was nowhere to be seen but all that remained was half the torso of the long haired Pein. The head was missing.

"Damn it! Without the Animal Path, he can't summon the others." Konan cursed as she decided to fly away back to their main headquarters for now. She would need to awaken the others in order to fight the intruders.

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"Are you both okay?" Kaga whispered to his two compatriots who leaned heavily against the metallic wall of an underground tunnel.

"We underestimated her. How did you go?" Ryoko answered even as she performed a healing Jutsu to clear away some of Touya's third degree burns.

"I killed that version of Pein and took what's left of his head. It's in storage right now." Kaga answered.

"What should we do now?" Touya asked in a quiet voice.

Kaga's eyes narrowed. "We continue. We still haven't found out where their keeping Ruri." With those words reminding them of their reason why they came, both Ryoko and Touya gave the shadow walker a determined look and nod.

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In a vast chamber where six human size tubes rest, three on each side of the room, Konan stood alone in the middle of the chamber. /We've lost Chikushodo. Shuurado would cause far too much damage within Ame's borders, so I don't think it would be good to call on him... And Tendo... Should I also awaken Tendo?/ Konan thought to herself for a few moments before finally making up her mind.

"Gakido (Hungry Ghost Path), Ningendo (Human Path), Jigokudo (Hell Path) and... Tendo (Heaven Path or Deva) (8). Awaken." As she spoke these words, four of the tube's hatches opened. From each tube, a man wearing the same Akatsuki cloak awoke and stepped forth. Each had orange hair and a pair of Rinnegan eyes.

Gakido - a large man with two round spikes sprouting from his cheeks, and a line of smaller spikes down his nose.

Ningendo - a thin but tall man with long orange hair that drift down to the middle of his back.

Jigokudo - another large man with a pair of three spikes scrolling across his face following his age lines. He also had long thin spikes pocking out of his ears and a few more beneath his lips.

Tendo - a young man with short spiky hair. He had both his ears pierced by multiple rings of spikes and three thin spikes across his nose.

Tendo, the young man spoke first. "Chikushodo is dead. We will need to hunt down the intruders." After that no one spoke, but all four men disappeared, each heading to a different direction, each seeking their prey. Konan stood silent for a moment, before slowly turning and heading towards the same direction that Tendo had turned to.

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As if sensing someone watching them, all three ex-Kuunoki ninja turned their faces up towards the top of one of the many towers within the city of Ame. There, standing tall and arrogant, another Pein stood proud in his stance, this one had long hair – Ningendo.

He jumped, and an instant later, was well within reach of Kaga and his compatriots. Pein's open palm outstretched, reaching to make contact with the intruders. Kaga, Ryoko and Touya all jumped to safety. But as they landed, they all felt the Chakra signatures of more enemies surrounding them. The other Pein's had arrived.

"Katon! Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Ryoko called forth a large ball of flames directed at one of the Peins – the Jigokudo. Unfortunately, just before the Jutsu impacted against him, another Pein stood in the way – Gakido and somehow managed to absorb the entirety of Ryoko's technique.

"Che! This one absorbs Jutsus!" Ryoko called out a warning.

"Then leave him to me!" Touya pronounced as he ran past Ryoko to take on Gakido. With his chains already released, all he needed to do was flick his wrist one way or the other, and the chains would automatically target his enemies, trying to either pierce or capture.

Having not anticipated the change in strategy, Gakido and Jigokudo suddenly found himself trapped within the chains of Touya, who gripped onto the other end of the chain with a determined look in his eyes. Taking this opportunity in stride, Ryoko jumped high into the air and performed another Katon Gokakyu no Jutsu at the trapped pair, only to be blasted away by Tendo's Shinra Tensei. Touya too would have been pushed off his feet had he not used a large amount of chakra to stick to the ground beneath him and used his other chain to wrap around some of the surrounding buildings to keep him in place.

While Tendo and Ningendo seemed to be occupied and Gakido and Jigokudo were still trapped, Kaga had snuck his way behind the two and was preparing to capture them in his Kage Kekai, as he had done with the previous Pein. However, even though Jigokudo's body was trapped in chains and he was looking away from Kaga, he still managed to summon Gedo – the giant hell monster that could suck souls. Upon seeing the emergence of this creature, Kaga had no choice but to make his retreat.

/How did he know I was behind him? He was facing away the entire time!/ Looking away from his target, Kaga finally released that throughout all this time, Ningendo had been watching him constantly. /So all their Rinnegans are linked?/

Pulling herself out of the rubble of a building that she was smashed into, Ryoko glared at her ripped clothes before performing a quick hand seal and summoning forth white chakra to surround her open palms. "Touya! Kaga! Cover for me!" She exclaimed as she rushed towards the two trapped Pein with the aim of taking them out first.

"Ryoko no! We must separate them! Their eyes are linked! They see all that each other sees! We must isolate them first!" Kaga's warning came too late. Tendo had already prepared his Jutsu – Bansho Tenin, suddenly jerking Ryoko away from her original prey and pulling her (through mid air) directly towards Tendo himself. In his hands, he had a black rod already in preparation to pierce through Ryoko's chest and she flung through the air towards.

"Ryoko-sama!" Touya shouted in alarm but he too had his own problem. One hand was concentrating on keeping the other two Pein's trapped, and the second arm still had his chains wrapped around a nearby building and wouldn't be removed fast enough for him to avoid the open palms of Ningendo who was only 2 meters away from his location.

Fully prepared to rescue his comrades, Kaga summoned forth his powers and immediately enclosed both Ryoko (still in mid air) and Touya (who was stuck where he stood) in a Kage Kekai. Ningendo's hands bounced across and way from the solid shadow barrier. Tendo's Shinra Tensei technique also had no affect once Ryoko's body was fully enclosed in Kaga's pocket dimension. Quickly, Kaga dematerialise his Kage Kekai, taking his comrades away from the battlefield. He himself quickly jumped into a nearby shadow as the two trapped Pein – Gakido and Jigokudo were freed once no one was in control of the chains trapping them.

The four Peins gazed around their surroundings. The three intruders had once again escaped. All four Peins picked a director and spread out, searching once more for their prey, and this time, not allowing them to get away so easily.

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Within the shadow realm, in the darkened corridor of before, both Ryoko and Touya looked angry at their failed attempt in combat against Pein.

"Let's review what we know of each of their ability." Kaga tried to lift their spirit by refocusing their thoughts on information gathering.

"One of them can absorb Chakra based Jutsus." Ryoko stated firmly, thinking about the how Gakido had absorbed her Katon technique.

"One of them has to make physical contact in order to affect his opponent. Although I don't know exactly what his power does." Touya remarked about how Ningendo was always trying to make contact with his enemies bodies.

"One of them summons some sort of creature from hell." Kaga stated, remembering the monstrous thing that had the words 'Hell' upon its forehead. "I really don't want to know what that thing can do, but I know it won't be good news."

"And lastly, the forth can use some sort of magnetic repulsion and attraction." Ryoko finalised, winching at the memory of being the victim of said technique. The scratches around her body were a good reminder.

"We also know that their eyes are linked. Even if we attack one from their blind spot, as long as one of the others can see us, they all know where we are and what we're doing. The best way forward is to attack them one at a time. They also work incredibly well together, covering for each other's weaknesses and blank spots." Kaga concluded his observations.

After a few moments in silence, Touya finally voiced what was on everyone's minds. "I don't think we will succeed any further in our information gathering. If we try to infiltrate any more, we run the risk of being captured and then we lose everything. As we've just seen, we can't win against Pein... At least, not with just the three of us."

In the gloomy silence that followed, it was with quiet understanding that all three agreed to withdraw for now. They had already gathered quite a lot of information about their enemies powers, and they had a captured enemy in their minds with which Konoha could gain more valuable information. Even though they did not achieve their primary goal of finding out where Ruri was being held, their mission couldn't be considered a complete failure either. However, it was still a bitter pill to taste knowing that a member of their precious family was still being held in the bowels of Akatsuki.

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Many hours later, when Pein and Konan were sure that all three of the intruders had not made their presences felt, the two Akatsuki members finally released a sigh of relief. Although neither had mentioned it out loud, fighting against Kaga and the other two ex-Kuunoki nins had been tougher than expected, especially Kaga.

Glaring across the horizon from his high open balcony, Tendo Pein spoke in a grim voice. "We must find strategies to go against Kaga's shadow manipulation skills. His Kage Kekai will be a problem for us in the future."

Konan nodded with his assessment. "Perhaps we should leave him to Madara. After all, they both specialise in Space-time Ninjutsu."

Tendo Pein continued to glare at nothing in particular, before he finally spoke after some long minutes of silence. "I'm beginning to think we will not be able to trust Madara to keep his end of the bargain."

Konan looked at her partner in surprise. Never had she heard him waver in his determination before. Thinking over it herself, she slowly realised what he meant. "This is about Ruri isn't it? Her disappearance is quite suspicious. Especially since Zetsu was technically the last to see her alive considering he has eyes everywhere. Deidara had nothing to report upon his return." Frowning a little, she asked curiously. "You don't believe that she has betrayed us and left to join our enemies?"

Shaking his head slightly, Tendo declared in a firm voice. "No, when she agreed to join Akatsuki, it was with her full will and agreement to fulfil her part in our plan. The fact that she disappeared after collecting the Rokubi could only mean that she was ambushed by someone. And you and I both know that there are very few people who could capture and hold the Lady Oracle."

"No... I'm sure this is Madara's doing." Tendo Pein stated grimly. Behind him, Konan gazed with concerned eyes, unsure of what the future will bring.

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In an underground facility, three Waterfall Shinobis ran for their lives. "Hurry. He's catching up to us!" One of the men called out in alarm, but his warning was too late. Three giant pythons raced towards them, wrapping their elongated body around their prey, they crushed the ribs of the Shinobis even as they bit into their necks, breaking their victim's throats.

Slowly trotting behind them, Kabuto revealed himself behind his dark cloak. "Looks like I'm finally getting use to these powers. Not bad. Not bad at all. Perhaps it's time I got things moving from my end as well."

/Let's see. I could join forces with Danzo or with Uchiha Madara. It all depends on which side would allow me my revenge on Konoha and especially on Uzumaki Ruri./ Kabuto thought to himself, his mind now obsessed with only hate and payback.

Having lost the battle with his sister and the team of Konoha Ninjas just a few weeks ago, Kabuto had spent most of his time learning about his new abilities. He swore that he would not make the same mistake again of underestimating his sister. Truly, their last battle had impressed him. He did not know that she had mastered the Sonic Sound Blast technique. Something that even Orochimaru had not mastered. Although that was mostly because the late Sannin did not spend all his time creating new techniques, only stealing them from existing people. The Sonic Sound Blast had been an original technique developed by Orochimaru, but he had never finished it, only the theory of it. Now knowing that his sister had somehow managed to not only complete the technique but master it, it must have been Kageru's doing. The more he thought about it, the more Kabuto hated Kageru.

She had been a thorn in his side for quite a few years now, ever since she returned from the Kuunoki Chuunin Exams. The impassive mask that she always wore and indifference that she felt for the world, fell away. Suddenly she had a direction, a goal in mind; and she became an unstoppable force. She was sent on many, many more missions and succeeded without flaw. She led inadequate teams to victory, even with his interference, she still managed to beat the odds every chance she got. She built a reputation for herself as not only one of Orochimaru's strongest and most reliable generals, but as an honourable fighter and one who treats people fairly with an uncompromising sense of honour.

With her fame and notoriety rising, people started respecting her. Not just the Shinobis (rag tag group that they all started out as), but also the civilians all over Rice Country began praising her as a fellow countryman they were proud of. Any more and she would have become a national hero of sorts.

He had warned Orochimaru that his power base built on fear and terror was slowly diminishing. But the old Sannin didn't care. As long as Kageru worked under him, all was well for the Snake summoner. Kabuto on the other hand, had been insanely jealous.

It wasn't a surprise to Kabuto that Kageru had strung their disorganised army back together within just a few short weeks. Loyalty was hard to come by in Otogakure, and with Orochimaru gone, there was no true leader in place. Sure, some of Orochimaru's followers may have followed him, but Kabuto was no fool. He knew how much they feared him, and given a chance, they would have abandoned him in combat if the stakes were against them. No, it was better to leave Kageru the mess that was once Otogakure to fix, while he went on his own merry way to build his own unstoppable, unendingly loyal army of un-dead troops.

/Hmmm... Danzo is obsessively loyal to Konoha. I think joining up with Madara would be the best course of action.../ Smiling grimly to himself, Kabuto set off on a course to where he knew one of Uchiha Madara's bases to be.

xxx XXX xxx

"Team 8, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Returning from duty!" Said team announced proudly in front of Jiraiya, as he sat in the hated Hokage chair.

"Report." Jiraiya stated gloomily, even as he eyes the piles of paperwork sitting on his desk. /This is why I don't' WANT to be Hokage...!/ He complained silently in his mind. Tsunade would be back in a day or two, but when she does return she had already stated in her previous message that she expect all the paperwork to be completed and filed away prior to her return. Of course, had he spent the entire time that she was away working on the paperwork, it wouldn't have been such a problem now. But, Jiraiya being Jiraiya, just had to spend some time at the local hot springs. After all, his infamous Icha Icha books won't just write themselves.

However, he had been spending some time sending toads to try to infiltrate Root forces with little success. They were always discovered and killed, or somehow transported to somewhere else without their knowledge, or had been placed under a Genjutsu that Jiraiya couldn't crack. Even sending in his own Clones had not done much good. Sighing, Jiraiya knew that Danzo was a true paranoid with the insane amount of security he placed around his hidden army. It was scary how much power base Danzo already has.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Jiraiya returned to listen back onto Kiba's report. "So let me get this straight. Kageru got a copy of the sealing technique for the San Hoshi Fuuin Jutsu from Naruto a few years ago. It's original purpose is to save one life and ensure that the recovery restores them to be best of health they had ever been, whilst draining the life-force of the one performing the Jutsu. However, Yuse Samure, a former Shinobi of the Hidden Snow and now wondering mercenary managed to alter the seal, so that it uses charka from multiple people in order to heal the patient. Am I correct?"

The members of Team 8 nodded in agreement. "Samure-san and his team will be making their way to Konoha in a few weeks time, once they've ensure that all those experimented by Orochimaru are back to full health. Shizune-san will be escorting them with help from the ex-Kuunoki Ninjas that stayed behind to help them complete the process. Kageru-san, Suzumi-san, Suigetsu-san and Kimimaro-san are working hard to regather the scattered troops of Otogakure and turning them into a proper army to assist us. But for now, Kageru-san has given us this scroll. She says it contains all the information that you require." Giving the Sannin the scroll, Team 8 waited patiently for any further orders.

"Good work. It'll be good to have that seal established here in Konoha. Something like that would be extremely helpful in wartime. Thanks you three, you've done an exceptional job, go rest up. You've got the next 3 days off." Welcoming the break, all three members of Team 8 bowed and left the Hokage chamber.

Once the three teens were gone, Jiraiya immediately opened the scroll Kageru had given him. But before he could summon the contents out of the obviously sealing scroll, the door to the Hokage office was opened by Jubei. Behind him stood Kaga, Dokudes Ryoko and Kataichi Touya, obviously having returned from their spying mission in Ame.

The five members settled around the Hokage's table and spent the next hour or two reviewing all the information they had gathered. In the end, Jiraiya gave a healthy sigh. "Rinnegan huh... I think I might know who the Pein really is. I once had three pupils in Ame. Konan would be the lady using Paper related Jutsu, it has always been her forte. Nagato would be the one with the Rinnegan, but he had bright red hair, and none of the descriptions you've given me match his looks. However, one of them that you described sound like Yahiko, but the Yahiko I knew did not have the Rinnegan."

"All five members called themselves Pein, they did not move like individuals, but more like a unit. I personally think they are not five separate people, but more like one person controlling five bodies." Ryoko gave her input, being the expert in medical sense; she had nodded the very strange interactions between the different Peins. Namely, there was no interaction between the different Peins. They did not have to speak to one another or even look at one another to pass messages or form plans. It was very disconcerting to fight them.

"I believe Ryoko's assessment is accurate. They all share the same vision, they must share one mind. Perhaps it's something like Kuunoki's soul mind." Kaga added as he revisited the entire fight scene in his head. "From what I remember of Ruri telling me some time ago. The Rinnegan was the Doujutsu of the Rikudo Sennin. But the Rikudo Sennin had been, at one point, the Uzumaki leader from thousands of years ago. The circles around his pupils are similar to the Yochigan but obviously, they have different affects."

"Really?" Jiraiya asked in surprise. "I did not know that Rikudo Sennin was once the Uzumaki Leader? Does that mean that the Uzumakis should have been able to develop the Rinnegan if they so wish?" Pausing in serious thought, Jiraiya suddenly remembered something about the typical Uzumaki. "Actually... Nagato may have been born an Uzumaki in the first place. He had really red hair. And from memory, most of the Uzumakis born into the Breed house had red hair. I wonder why the Prophet house often have looks that differ from their Breed house counterparts."

The four ex-Kuunoki Shinobis shifted in tension before Touya finally decided to answer. "When an unborn child is selected to become the next member of the Prophet house, even before they were born, a seal had already been placed on them to link them to the soul mind. Much of those babies genetics were altered by the genome within the soul mind, to make them more susceptible to acquire powers to see into the future or the past. Unfortunately, because the seal is placed on the womb of the mother, it also affects the next child that is born from the same women. That's why the direct line which produces the Prophet house and the members of the Breed house that would lead to the next generation of Prophet house members often have different coloured hair, eyes and even skin tones. Ruri-sama and Yuuki-sama were born blonde following their father. Rika-sama and Tenka-sama were born with black hair that quickly turned white in times of stress. I heard that Kentaku-sama and Mokutaku-sama actually had brown hair similar to that of Hashirama Senju. But most of the other Breed house members, like Kushina-san had the dominant red hair. I admit, Naruto-sama is a bit of a conundrum because he was not born with the seal that linked him to the soul mind. It was only added much later in his life."

Pondering the complexities of the Uzumaki clan once more, Jiraiya truly wondered how such a clan could hold on to their ancient history and resist the changes that time itself forced on the rest of the world. He pitied Ruri. To be born into a role that was written in stone even before your birth, to be told what to become and what responsibilities it entails and place all that on the shoulders of a child barely old enough to understand puberty. It was cruel, and he understood why she was desperate to break out, to become what she wanted to be, to make choices that she wants to make, to be wrong and be punished for her own free will. In a way, he was glad the Kuunoki no longer exist. Such a life would make Naruto miserable. His godson was a free spirit, always wanting to change the world for the better with an unending will power and unstoppable determination. He had faith in his godson, he had faith in Naruto. Because he is Naruto.

xxx XXX xxx

Naruto glared apprehensively at the dish that sits before him, mind dreaming up excuses on how he could get out of eating the old sage toad - Shiima's so called special dish. Giving her a strained smile, Naruto tried to reason with his host. "It's really okay, Shiima-sama. I've brought with me many ration bars that gives me all the energy I need in order to undertake Senjutsu Training. I really don't want to be a bother to you. Its bad enough I live under your house, I will feel very uncomfortable if I eat your food as well. Please accept my sincere thanks for the thought though." It took a while longer but Naruto somehow managed to sweet talk his way out of eating the 'dish', whatever it was. Suffice to say, he felt as if he'd just avoided a near death experience.

"Ahh man! That's such a waste, I love Shiima-san's cooking!" Gamakichi complained, hobbling beside Naruto as the two made their way towards where the training grounds Fukusaku-sama had chosen.

"If you liked it so much, you should have eaten it on my behalf." Naruto snapped at his companion, in no mood to relive the memory of almost being forced to digest bugs and worms as part of his meal.

The two bantered between one another for a while before silence fell as they met up with Fukusaku - the older toad sage charged with training Naruto in the Sage arts. "Come on, Naruto-chan. Get your butt up to position and let's see if you can finally reach sage mode on your own this time."

It took a little while for Naruto climb his way up to the top of the mountain peak, where he gingerly sat atop a small slab of tile. Keeping his balance immaculately as he had learnt back in the Kuunoki, Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on assimilating the Natural charka around him. A few minutes later, he could feel the change in him. He opened his eyes and saw a new world, brighter, clearer and father than he ever imagined. What he could not see on his own face was that his eyes had changed, he had finally reached the epitome of sage mode. Fukusaku smiled indulgently at his latest pupil. Naruto had talent, patience (which really surprised the toad) and an unstoppable will to reach his goals. When he sets his mind to something, he strives his best and puts in a hundred and ten percent of personal effort to reach it.

"Good. Good! Naruto-chan. You've finally accomplished Sage mode. Now comes the next step. It's time I teach you a new fighting style that uses Senjutsu Chakra effectively in combat. It's called the Kawazu Kumite! (Frog-Fu)"

xxx XXX xxx

"I felt that I should come greet you, Tobi. Sorry, I think you go by Uchiha Madara as well? I can never tell which to call you by." Kabuto stated calmly as he stood on what seems to be skeleton of a giant dinosaur that once traversed the land.

"I'm impressed you even found me." Tobi, or Uchiha Madara commented back.

"Remember, I've served as a spy in numerous countries and spent some time working for Akatsuki myself. Don't underestimate what I might know." Kabuto answered as he jumped down to the ground level, facing Tobi on the same level.

"Yes, you were one of Sasori's spies... and a traitor to Akatsuki." When Tobi prepared to launch an attack at Kabuto, Kabuto slammed his hands on the ground and summoned forth a few coffin like boxes. The doors for these coffins fell and in each, they revealed the bodies of the three ex-Akatsuki members – Hidan, Sasori and Kakuzu.

Shocked, Tobi could only mutter under his breath. "Edo Tensei (Impure World Resurrection)."

"A technique only the second Hokage and Orochimaru-sama knew how to use. Now with me, that makes three people. Not only that, I have also surpassed its previous users." Kabuto boasted confidently. Gazing at Tobi's silent mask, Kabuto announced calmly. "Don't worry, I'm not here to fight. In fact, I came here to join forces with you."

"You want to join forces?" Tobi narrowed his single eye in suspicion. "What's in it for me?"

"You're planning to start your war very soon. I can bolster your fighting power." Kabuto answered nonchalantly. Nodding his head at the three dead Akatsuki members, he continued. "Not only can I resurrect the former Akatsuki members, but I'm working my way through the Kiri's Seven Swordsman, the Kages of various countries and few notable fighters of the past as well. Quite a line up of powerful men. Don't you think?" Kabuto smirked nastily at Tobi.

"And what do you want in return?" Tobi finally remarked.

"Uzumaki Ruri, and the destruction of Konoha." Kabuto smiled as if he was a cat that had just caught the canary in its trap. "The same things you do."

"What're you trying to accomplish?" Tobi asked in a deadly tone.

"Nothing in particular. My interest lie solely with learning the pure, unaltered truth about Ninjutsu. To do this, I will need the eyes of an Uchiha. But more than that, I want the knowledge that is hidden behind Uzumaki Ruri." Kabuto answered with a shrug.

Thinking about the usefulness of Ruri for his own plans, Tobi decided to test Kabuto. "And what if I say no?"

Kabuto slammed his hands on the ground and called forth a different coffin with his Edo Tensei. Inside rest the body of one of the most infamous Ninjas in the world – the body of Uchiha Madara.

Tobi was shocked to speechlessness for the first time in a long time. "Impossible." Was all he could say.

"Did you really think I'd extend my hand to you without a backup plan? You cannot refuse me." Kabuto stated firmly in a threatening voice.

"You madman. How did you do this?" Tobi couldn't help but utter.

"Oh you know. Anyway, you can relax. I haven't told a soul." Kabuto smirked. "But then again, I think Uzumaki Ruri already knows. Don't you?"

A long silence ensued. Finally Tobi made a decision. "Yakushi Kabuto. I honestly never imagined you had such potential. Any conflict with you would only serve to weaken my war-fighting capabilities. And to set this up just to prepare for meeting me. You are a shred man." He praised, impressed with how far the snake sannin's apprentice had come along. "I accept your offer on one condition. We wait until after the war is over before I hand over Ruri. Until then, I won't let you near her. If need be, I will be watching her day and night. You will have to get your own Uchiha."

"I understand, her knowledge is useful after all. Both to you and to me. I knew you were reasonable." Kabuto smirked in triumph. "Uchiha Madara, you truly are in your own league." He taunted the fake.

"Wise guy. I'll reformulate my plan to account for your battle power. Come" Tobi ordered as Kabuto de-summon his corpse warriors once more and prepared to follow Tobi.

"I'm surprised you didn't summon Itachi." Tobi asked curiously.

"I tried, but he didn't come. You do know what that means right? Uchiha Itachi is still alive."

xxx XXX xxx

Slamming the doors open violently, Tobi stormed his way inside the hidden chamber. Having left Kabuto to go and collect a few more samples of tissue from deceased warriors in order to summon forth a larger number of undead soldiers, Tobi wasted no time in order to approach the one being that may hold the answers to all his question. There was absolutely no way he would trust Kabuto. As such, there was only one other avenue of information for him to pursue, luckily, he had this one in the bag.

"Tell you all you know about the Edo Tensei! How it activates and how can it be stopped!" He demanded, glaring at the prone form of Ruri, still tightly bound in her wooden chains.

Ruri, having spent quite a few days locked in this hidden chamber had received no water and no food. She felt weak, even blinking her crust infested eyes took too much energy. But she persevered. After a long moment of silence, she managed to utter one word: "water..."

Tobi's single eye twitched in irritation. "Zetsu, allow her some drink of water, make sure she doesn't die in captivity." He ordered and Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground underneath his feet. Shuffling towards the lady Oracle, Zetsu allowed her to drink from a small water bottle he had on hand. It took a while for her to swallow the precious water down, leaving most of it to drip down her lips, throat and stain her dirty clothes. Eventually, she had her fill and Zetsu walked away and remerged back into the ground.

"Now talk." There was no sign of patience in Tobi's demeanour today.

Ruri gave him a wary smile. "Looks like you just met Yakushi Kabuto, am I right?" She whispered.

"You let him live!" Tobi accused. "You should have killed him when you took out Orochimaru."

"But that wasn't the order I was given. I was only told to take out Orochimaru and retrieve his ring." Ruri argued in a quiet voice. "No one mentioned to take out all his underlings."

Her comments only infuriate Tobi more. "Tell me what I want to know about the Edo Tenshi!" He demanded once more, ignoring her previous comments.

Closing her eyes in concentration, Ruri began her explanation. "The Edo Tensei (Impure World Resurrection) is a variant of the Summoning Technique. It calls the soul of a departed human back from the afterlife. The 'Pure World', back to this plane, the 'Impure World'. And to do that, the summoner needs a specific amount of the physical body of the person he wishes to revive." Pausing, Ruri licked her lips to wet them a bit more. "In other words, one needs enough of the 'blue prints', also known as DNA. If the soul has been sealed elsewhere, or if there isn't enough DNA, they cannot be resurrected. In addition, the targets soul must reside in the 'Pure World.' Souls like the Yondaime Hokage, in fact, all the previous Hokages, who has had their souls devoured and placed inside the belly of the Shinigami with the Dead Demon seal, cannot be resurrected. Similarly, if there was no DNA to be collected, that person also cannot be resurrected. For example, every member of the Uzumaki clan who had their souls and body dissolve into liquid and form part of the soul mind. Their DNA can never be collected."

"For the Edo Tensei, the user would spend most of their time trying to gather enough DNA, as this can be quite an ordeal. Simply put, it is grave robbing. Once you've gathered enough DNA, then you start drawing the seal. In the centre of the seal, you place a living sacrifice. Upon activation, the sacrifices body is covered in a new form of 'skin' from the underworld. Finally, the living human becomes a vessel for the soul of the dead one, completing the Edo Tensei. Lastly, to lock away the vessel's personality and make them obedient pawns for the user, a talisman is implanted into their heads. The revived person will then follow the orders of the user. They are unable to be 'killed' and they also have access to all their original techniques, regardless of whether it is a bloodline or not." Ruri finished, closing her eyes in rest.

"What are its weaknesses?" Tobi questioned, intrigued and a little fearful of this technique.

"It's one of the most powerful techniques in this world, created by the Second Hokage, perfected by Orochimaru, but I believe Kabuto can take it even further. There are no known weaknesses in the technique that would pose a risk to the user." She concluded.

"That's a LIE! There must be a weakness. All techniques have flaws. Don't you dare hold out the truth from me!" Tobi yelled at his prisoner in frustration, violently slapping her awake and leaving a deep red mark on her face. "Tell me the truth. How do I stop this technique."

"I said there was no known risk to the user, that doesn't mean the technique is unstoppable." Ruri snapped back irritated, her face bruised and she could feel a trickle of blood dripping down from her cut lip. "You could take control of the user and force them to release the Jutsu. You could seal away the body of the undead, or you could work on destroying the talisman, ruining Kabuto's control over his puppet. Or if you're good enough in Fuiinjutsu, you could place a seal on top of his seal to negate the summoning in the first place, sending the soul back to the 'pure world'. There are always options; they're just not easy options."

After a few long minutes of silence, where by Tobi used the time to reassemble his thoughts. Coming to a conclusion in his own mind, the man known as Uchiha Madara stormed back out of the room, not even bothering to glance back at Ruri.

Once the doors were closed leaving her alone in the chamber, Ruri gave a sardonic smile. "There's a reason why the Nidaime Hokage abandoned the use of the Edo Tensei. But I'll let you all find out about the curse yourself."

Yah, another chapter done.

(1) The same people that Jiraiya interrogated. I never knew their name. So I keep on call them man number 1 and man number 2.

(2) To learn more about Kaga's techniques, please go to my website, links are on my profile's page.

(3) Imagine something like a horror game landscape – especially silent hill.

(4) This is a lie. Kaga can't maintain the Kage Sekai for more than 5 days in reality, but he can make it feel as if you've been in there for an eternity. A bit like Itachi's Tsukiyomi, 24 hours experience in a split second.

(5) Inspired by Full Metal Alchemist, when the door of truth opens, all those black hands of shadow grabbing on to Al and Ed, trying to rip them apart.

(6) Think of Pride's shadowy form in Full Metal Alchemist. I didn't include any eyes in Kage's shadow monster, but the mouths are freaky.

(7) Similar to how in the Cannon, Sasuke had paper seals wrapped around his wrist in which he can call forth hundreds of Shurikens to be launched at Itachi. This time, instead of throwing weapons, I have chains sealed inside the storage seal that is 'carved' into the metallic band strapped around Touya's wrist and legs. Mind you, these are Chakra sensitive chains, so you can conduct Chakra through them.

(8) I'm just going to stick with the Japanese translations (Gakido, Tendo, Ningendo and Jigokudo). If I do deviate, it would just to call one of them 'Deva'. I find it very difficult myself to remember who is who and if I have to say "Animal Path" or "Hungry Ghost Path" too often, I'd probably start climbing up a wall in frustration.

I am alive...

Don't know when the next chapter is gonna be out though. Please review and give me your comments.