Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Playing the Role of the Byakugan Princess

The God of Evil Arc

Chapter thirty-seven

"I can't believe they're making me stay overnight," I complain as I shift around to sit up in my hospital bed.

Sakura sits by my bedside and crosses her arms. "Your ribs are cracked, you were stabbed in the stomach by a kunai, and half of your body is bandaged up because of your burns. I'm surprised you even argued with the nurses in the first place."

I arch an eyebrow. "When you've been in the hospital as many times as I have, you'll understand. Besides I want to know what is going on. Why isn't Norio and Sasuke here yet?"

Sakura shrugs. "Just be patient. I'm sure they are locking that guy up and probably checking out the hideout or something before they come here to tell us anything."

Well, I guess she's right. There's really no need to get worked up about all of this until they come back. It has been one hectic day, anyways. I just need to calm down and relax.

"So, how do you like your new haircut?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

Sakura runs a hand through her now shoulder-length pink hair. "It's… a change. I'll have to get used to it. I really wasn't planning on cutting it, but I guess things happen."

"I think it suits you," I tell her. "It will be easier to manage and it won't be in your way as much on missions or during training." Then, I smirk. "I bet Ino is going to think you're copying her now since you cut your hair off."

Sakura snarls. "Please. I look better with short hair than her. If Ino-pig even thinks I am mimicking her than she has another thing coming!"

I chuckle. "Since the two of you have short hair now, I guess I better start growing mine out then to look different."

Sakura smiles. "I've always thought you would look so pretty with long hair! To me, girls with dark hair look great when it is long."

I touch a strand of my hair. "Ah, I don't know about that. I like the way it looks now."

Sakura waves her hand. "It is your hair so you can do whatever with it. I'm just telling you what I think would look good for you!"

Looking good isn't going to matter in a life or death battle, Sakura.

We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Sakura speaks again. "You're a really great friend, Hinata."

I raise my eyebrows. "Thank you. But, why are you suddenly saying that?"

She closes her eyes. "I'm just remembering what you said to that woman when you thought she had almost killed me."

"Please… please don't kill her. Kill me. Kill me instead!"

She opens her eyes. "You were willing to give up your own life for me."

I blink in surprise.

During that moment, I wasn't really thinking about myself. I was deeply convinced that Sakura was about to die and I was trying anything that I could to prevent that from happening.

I tilt my head towards her. "Sakura, you are one of my closest friends. Of course I was willing to do that for you. I know I don't hang out with you as often as I do Sasuke or Naruto. I know I don't pick and cut around with you like I do with Shikamaru. However you and I have our own special connection going on and I consider you one of the ones that is precious to me."

Sakura gives me a kind smile and I notice her eyes are welling up with tears. "Thank you, Hinata. I liked hearing that."

I smile back at her. "I'm just speaking the truth."

I have been talking to Sakura and giving her advice off and on since we were children. When we became teammates, of course I grew closer to her. Despite her annoying tendencies with Ino and Sasuke, she really is someone I enjoy having in my life.

Maybe I should start hanging out with her more outside of our Shinobi lives.

Norio comes by my hospital room a few hours later right around dinner time. He brings little bentos of chicken and rice for Sakura and I to eat.

"Thank you," I say as I take by first bite. "I'm starving."

Norio gives me a small smile. "I bet you are. You've had a long and busy day."

Sakura swallows her food. "Where's Sasuke?"

"He is still investigating the hideout with the other officials," Norio explains. "I had to finish writing up a report on what happened to our captives from my perspective and then start another one from what happened down at the hideout as told by Sasuke. I was getting tired of writing so I took a break to see how you two were doing."

If Sasuke is helping out with the investigation, that means my Shadow Clones that were guarding it should be as well. So, I should be getting memories from them soon.

"Well, I wanted to come straight back after I was treated to figure out what is going on, but the staff insisted I stay overnight so they can watch over my burns," I tell Norio. "But, since you are here now, I am dying for some answers."

Norio sits at the foot of my bed and sighs. "To be honest, I really don't have any yet. We still don't know exactly why our captives died, but I think it has something to do with that dark chakra that came out of them. Sasuke mentioned that you three saw the same color of chakra when you removed the mask from the young male. Maybe the mask, the dark chakra, and their deaths are all connected in someway? We would like to interrogate the prisoner about everything, but he is still unconscious, unfortunately."

I furrow my eyebrows together. "I just hope he wakes up before our soldier pills wear off because we will be knocked out for a few days after that. Actually, I would like to speak to him personally, if I am allowed, once he wakes up. I don't get the same bad feeling from him as I did when he was wearing that mask. Like you said, I do believe that the mask has some connection to everything that is going on. The question is, but how?"

Sakura points her chopsticks towards me. "The guy did thank you and the half looking Jashin symbol on it did become whole again once you ripped the mask off of him. What if Jashin was possessing that man's body through that mask somehow and the only way to stop him was by removing the mask, which in return sealed him up? All that dark chakra we saw did go back into that mask. Maybe that was his chakra."

I blink. "That… that actually makes sense. When in the world did you think of that?"

Sakura shrugs. "Just now. I may not be as intelligent or quick thinking as you and Shikamaru, but I have my moments."

I shake my head. "I wasn't insinuating that you are dumb. I'm just surprised that I didn't think of that. It sounds so very obvious."

"If your theory is correct, Sakura, I would have to question how did all of that dark chakra get into our captives?" Norio wonders. "I know they probably hung around that hideout a lot, but that was a lot of chakra that was sucked out of them. We did find Jashin's symbols being used as a seal mixed with their chakra and a foreign chakra. Maybe that dark chakra was the foreign chakra?"

"That's just a lot of chakra," I say. "But, it makes sense if he's actually a god."

Sakura snorts. "If Jashin is actually a god, you would think he wouldn't need to possess someone to walk the earth. I don't think he's a god, but just a very powerful Shinobi."

I raise my eyebrows. "What human being possesses that much chakra and it is the color of black?"

He has more chakra than Naruto does!

Sakura tilts her head. "Jashin."

Smartass.

Around nightfall, Sasuke finally pays us a visit at the hospital.

"We didn't find anything related to Jashin," Sasuke answers after we asked him how the investigation went. "However, we did find a navy blue journal stored away in a desk in the sanctuary that may have belonged to somebody; perhaps that guy or one of the captives. It wouldn't open so we assumed it has probably been sealed shut using fūinjutsu, even though there is no seal visible." Sasuke turns to Norio. "Hiroki wanted me to tell you that he would like the reports submitted by tomorrow morning. He would also like for you to swing by his office whenever you leave so you can take a look at the journal."

Norio nods and reaches down to grab his backpack. "Thank you for letting me know, Sasuke. I have taken too long of a break anyways and should be heading out now. Hinata, take it easy and try not to stress yourself out. If we get any information, I promise we will notify you three as soon as possible."

I scratch the back of my neck with my uninjured arm. "Heh, thank you. I'll try to relax."

We say our goodbyes to Norio and he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

I glance over at Sasuke. "Have you eaten anything? Norio came by with some dinner for us while you were out."

Sasuke nods and leans against the wall beside of my bed. "Yeah, I went by the hotel to grab something to eat and to see if you two were there before I came here. I remember you saying that you weren't going to stay overnight, but it appears your injuries were worse than you thought."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, don't chastise me. At least I know to rest my body when I am wounded unlike you."

Sakura shifts her eyes over to me. "After you argued with the hospital staff to try and convince them not to keep you here for the night."

I shoot Sakura a dirty look as Sasuke arches an eyebrow with mild interest. "Will you get over that? You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Hn. Sounds like somebody's being a little hypocrite," Sasuke taunts.

I rub my face. "Ugh. Be quiet. I'm not looking for another argument like yesterday."

Sakura looks at the two of us and then sighs. "Can you two just apologize and make up already?"

I really hate apologizing and Sasuke is too stubborn to ever do such a thing. As much as I complain about Sasuke's ego and pride, I will admit mine can be just as bad as his in situations like this.

I ignore Sakura's pleas. "I never recieved my memories from my Shadow Clones, Sasuke. Were they still at the hideout when you left?"

Sakura hangs her head. "I guess that's a no."

"Yes," Sasuke replies, ignoring Sakura as well. "I instructed them to watch over the hideout longer unless you want to release them."

"No, they can remain there," I tell him. "I was just wondering."

"Hn. Okay."

Sakura randomly gets up from her chair and starts to walk over towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask her.

Sakura spins around and dramatically huffs. "Oh, so now you remember that I'm here? If you actually care, I'm going to get a drink from the vending machine."

I groan. "Sakura, please don't act like this."

Sakura just flips her hair in response and heads out.

I flicker my eyes over towards Sasuke and find him staring at a picture of a meadow of colorful flowers that is hanging on the wall.

"She's probably just leaving in hope of us making up while she's not here," I inform Sasuke, even though he isn't paying attention to me. Sasuke doesn't say anything so I try again. "Look, we were both in the wrong yesterday, whether we want to admit it or not. You were in a bad mood and I kept egging you on instead of ignoring it."

"You're right. Let's just forget that incident even happened," Sasuke says without looking at me.

I give him a hard look. "Is there something more going on, Sasuke?"

Sasuke turns his head towards me and he slightly softens his facial expression. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Like I just said, let's just forget what happened. I don't like arguing with you and there is more important things to focus on right now."

I take a deep breath and nod. "You're right."

But, is he actually fine? Is he telling me the truth? I didn't miss the part where he glazed over my question and indirectly answered me.

Well, this has been a very stressful mission and emotions have been running high. Everybody handles things differently and it isn't abnormal for Sasuke to lash out in frustration at times.

Maybe I'm just overthinking things.

One side effect of taking solider pills is that our bodies do not want to sleep with all of that extra chakra and energy running through our systems. So, the three of us became pretty bored throughout the night. Sasuke left sometime to go train and Sakura eventually headed back to the hotel so she can take a shower and relax in her bed with her book. Even though I was enjoying their company, I didn't mind them leaving since I didn't want them to feel obligated to stay and entertain me while I am on bedrest. The nurses checked on me periodically and I was finally released from the hospital around mid-morning the next day, even though they preferred I stayed a little longer.

But, I do not go and do anything reckless as soon as I leave. The first thing I do after leaving is head over to the hot springs to soothe my wounds since they are known to help speed up the healing process. The springs burns my already charred skin as soon as it makes contact, but relaxation soons overwhelms and puts me in a peaceful state of mind. After soaking my body, I dry off, carefully bandaged myself, and head over to the hotel to see what Sasuke and Sakura are doing. As I approach the hotel, I notice Sasuke and Sakura walking out the doors and start to run in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Wait up!" I call out to them as I hurry over as fast as I could without hurting myself.

They stop dead in their tracks, spin around, and Sakura pinches her nose. "Don't tell me you snuck out of the hospital! We were just about to do that ourselves."

I give her a quizzical look. "What? No, I didn't… What are you even talking about?"

"Norio sent a messenger hawk just now to tell us that the prisoner has woken up and has been requesting our presence," Sasuke explains. "He has been interrogated, but won't answer any questions unless we come."

Hmmm, I wonder why he wants to see us so bad? I mean, I have been wanting to talk to him, but I expected for us to be the ones to want to approach him first. Not the other way around.

Not knowing where we are going, I follow Sakura and Sasuke across the village. We end up in the outskirts at a windowless grey building with a high barbed wire fence surrounding the whole place. We approach the gate where we see Norio standing up front, waiting on us.

"Before you ask, I don't know why he wants to see the three of you," Norio says to us in a mildly annoyed voice as we walk through the gate. "I do know that he won't answer anything that is asked unless he sees you three and it is getting on my last nerves. What he can say to you three, he can say to the interrogator."

Woah, I've never seen Norio so pissed off. He's usuallypretty chill and laid-back.

We enter the building, walk past the front desk without a word, and Norio waves a card over a small black panel so we can go through the thick doubled doors. We go down a few hallways and pass through four more sets of doors before we make our way into a large room filled with nothing but prison cells. I notice that most of the cells are empty as we stride past them, but several are still occupied.

To me, this indicates that Yugakure is a pretty safe place to live if you don't have murderous immortals running around the place.

We go up a short staircase and heads to the last cell on the right. This cell appears to be more secure than the others. The other cells had bars while this one has a white windowless door with many different locks on it. Norio pulls three small rectangular boxes from his backpack, presses a red button on the side, and hands the devices to each of us.

"These things are going to record everything that is said while you three are in there," Norio tells us as we slide the recorders into our weapons pouch. "It will just make it easier on everybody so I can hear everything word for word without having you three explain what happened for my reports."

Sakura narrows her eyes. "So, it is safe to just walk in there, right? He isn't hostile or angry?"

Norio shakes his head. "He acted perfectly calm around the interrogator, who isn't a Shinobi with the skills and knowledge to defend himself unlike the three of you. The only fault of the prisoner is that he isn't cooperating with us unless we meet his request." He pulls out a set of keys. "Are you three ready to go in?"

We all nod in unison and Norio quickly unlocks all thirteen various bolts before opening the door. We enter the jail cell and the door closes and locks many times behind us. The man is bound to a chair with bindings around his body to restrain his chakra. He hears us walk in, lifts up his head, and gives us a tired yet mildly relieved look. I blink in surprise as I notice that his bandages are gone and he is wearing a loose white tee shirt and black bottoms. With his bandages gone, we can actually see what he looks like now, and I can say that he looks very familiar. He has tousled red hair with bangs that cover his large baby blue eyes, a small yet pointed nose, and thin lips. He appears to be in his mid to late twenties. Even though he is sitting, I can tell by his torso and legs that he is pretty tall.

After a couple minutes of silences, I clear my throat to break it. "Why did you want to see us?"

The man scrunches up his face, as if he has to remember why he asked for us. "I… This… Could… Could you tell me something…?"

"It depends," Sasuke replies coldly.

The man swallows. "Is there a war going on?"

A war? What?

The three of us exchange looks and I shake my head no. "The Third Shinobi war ended over ten years ago."

The man widens his eyes. "T-The Third?"

This man looks genuinely shocked and confused right now. What's going on?

I arch an eyebrow. "Yes, the Third. You seem surprised to hear that."

Our captive doesn't react as he bows his head. He remains quiet for a few minutes until he sighs. "I requested to see the three of you because you saved me from that damn bastard and I feel that you deserve to hear the truth first."

Sakura knits her eyebrows together. "What truth? Are you saying that you aren't Jashin?"

The man nods. "I am not Jashin. The mask that I was wearing has him sealed inside, but I will explain more about that later. I need to start from the very beginning and tell you my backstory for everything to make sense."

"Well, let's hear it," Sasuke says as he leans against the wall to get comfortable.

"First things first, I should introduce myself," the man tells us and takes a deep breathe."My name is Uzumaki Kazyou, I suppose I should be somewhere in my thirties or forties, and I last remember this nation being the middle of the Second Shinobi World War before my mind and body was taken over by Jashin."

My jaw drops.

Sakura gasps.

Sasuke widens his eyes.

This… This guy is an Uzumaki?! That explains the red hair! But, I was confused about everything else he just said. He doesn't even look like he's in his forties yet he remembers the Second War? That was like over twenty years ago! None of this makes any sense!

Kazyou chuckles dryly. "I cannot tell if you guys believe me or not. Either way, this is why I need to tell you my story so you three can believe me."

We don't say anything back since we are still in shock, so the Uzumaki takes another deep breath and begins his story without our consent.

"I was twenty-five years old when my hometown of Uzushiogakure was invaded and destroyed by Kirigakure. All of the other major countries were in the middle of fighting since the Second Shinobi World War was taking place, so this was Kirigakure's best chance to swoop in while everyone else was distracted and attacked us. They never gave a reason as to why they were invading us, but it was already obvious: The Uzumaki clan has always been feared by the rest of the world because of our skills in fūinjutsu. Fūinjutsu was not the most popular technique to hone, but some Shinobi still had it in their arsenal. However, no one was as good at is as an Uzumaki and I believe that is why Kirigakure took the opportunity to get rid of us. Uzu no Kuni is not that far away from Mizu no Kuni so they were probably afraid we would attack them since the war was going on, and they had no clue on how powerful we actually were.

"So, they ambushed us out of the blue. No warning. No nothing. I can honestly say that no one expected their arrival. It happened in the middle of the night and I woke up to a strong burning smell and screams of terror from just outside of my door. I jumped out of my bed and peeked out of window to see what was going on. Outside was pure hell. Everything from as far as I can see was on fire, people were getting killed left and right, and there were dead bodies lying around everywhere. I woke up my very pregnant wife and had her gear up, but remain hidden while I quickly geared up myself. I ran out to join the fighting to get rid of the enemies that were nearby. I had not even taken ten steps out of my house before a hail of senbons were thrown towards me by an enemy. I got out of the way just in time, rushed over to him, and snapped his neck. I briefly glanced down at him before taking off and noticed that he was wearing a Kiri hitai-ate."

I can't believe that Kirigakure...!

"I took down two more men before retrieving my wife and we snuck off. We planned on getting my wife to the gate so she can flee while I went through the village to take down as many enemies as I could while the remaining elderly, women, and children escaped. She was going to head towards an underground shelter just a few miles away from the village and wait for me. If I did not show up in two hours, she was to run to Konoha and stay there. As we hurried, we came across my parent's house and found it intact. I had my wife hide out back while I burst in to see if they were still there. I found them lying on the ground dead and with their arms dismembered. It seemed like someone had broken through a window and ambushed the two of them while they were asleep.

"I remember my breathe getting knocked out of me as I saw their condition and I wanted to fall to my knees and breakdown. They were expecting their first grandchild in about a month and were very excited to become grandparents. They even had a nursery set up from where my old bedroom used to be for when my child was born and they get to watch it. Now, they would never get to meet it and I would never see them or hear their voices again. But, I knew I couldn't because we were in the middle of an invasion so I snapped out of it and ran back outside to my wife. She could tell what happened by the look on my face."

Kazyou pauses to take a deep breathe.

"By this point, we were halfway to the gate and had been successful in not getting caught. However, our luck ran out once we came across a little girl crying over her murdered mother. She was probably only six or seven years old. I was going to be selfish and carry on without stopping to check on her for our own safety, but my wife took pity on her and wanted to bring her with us. My wife had a huge heart when it came to children so I already knew she wouldn't take no for an answer. So, we diverted off our path really quick and headed out into the open, over towards the child. The little girl noticed us, jumped around, and held up a bloody kunai as her whole body shook in fear. I was sure that was the same kunai that was probably used to stab her mother, but I walked over to her anyways and held out my arms. The little girl sensed that I wasn't an enemy, but hesitated for a second as she looked back down at her mother. My wife told her that everything was going to be okay if she just came with us. The girl didn't say anything, but she trusted us enough to leap into my arms and I gathered her up.

"We go to take off again, but three Kiri Shinobi suddenly appear. Without hesitating, all three of them slung an array of projectile weapons towards us. Since my hands were full, my wife weaves handsigns and slams her palms down to have a wall made of the earth rise up to protect us. We take this chance to escape and the Shinobi follow after us. Carrying a little girl in my arms and traveling with a pregnant wife would've been fine if we were still sneaking around, but not when we were being chased. We were slow and they were rapidly catching up to us. I hastily made the decision to setthe girl and down and instructed my wife to escape with her while I handle these three. My wife was a very capable Shinobi, but she can only do so much while pregnant. I was confident she could get to the gate since we were so close. She doesn't protest and we kiss each other before she takes the girl by the hand.

"Just as she does so, the Kiri Shinobi show up. I pull out my inkset, a scroll, and quickly unleash a large vortex to momentarily blast them back while my wife and the little girl escape. This doesn't hold them off for long and they retaliate with several jutsus. Compared to the other three men that I killed off, these three were more difficult to fight and clearly more advanced. But, never underestimate an Uzumaki when it comes to their fūinjutsu so I eventually defeat them after a long and grueling match. At this point, I had used up a lot of my chakra since it was three against one and I knew I couldn't fight another battle like that. I had to escape and meet up with my wife so we could flee to Konoha.

"I finally make it to the gate and I leave Uzushiogakure without looking back. The countryside that surrounded Uzushiogakure had many steep hills so I was able to hide around without being caught by any lurking Kiri Shinobi. I was about two miles out when I passed a thick patch of bushes and instantly stopped when an overwhelming smell of blood overtakes my senses. Suddenly, a very bad feeling hits my gut and I feel compelled to search through the bushes to see what was the cause of this smell. I cover my nose and walked over into the bushes to take a peek. As soon as I saw what was causing the smell, my heart shattered and I fell to my knees in devastation. My wife was lying there in a pool of blood, dead. She was on her back so I saw that her throat had been slashed, a kunai pierced into her chest, and there was a deep gash running through her stomach and down to her pelvis. The gash had been torn open and my unborn baby had been taken out and was lying beside of my wife, also dead."

Kazyou swallows.

"I crawled over to my wife and I reached my hand underneath her head to lift her up. Her brown eyes were still opened and I looked into them for one last time before I bent down to kiss her forehead then I closed them. By this point, I was starting to breathe heavily and I felt my mind starting to slip. I made my way over to my baby, picked it up, and realized that I would have been the father to a beautiful little boy. Now, I couldn't contain myself and I just collapsed to the ground with my son still in my arms, and wept. After awhile, I couldn't produce anymore tears and I felt my body go numb. I went into a blank state of mind as I started to give my wife and son a proper burial. Once I was finished, I aimlessly glanced around and it hit me that the little girl we brought with us was missing. But, she wasn't of my concern anymore as she was probably dead anyways. Everybody by this point was dead. My mother, my father, my wife, and my son. My village was in flames and pretty much destroyed. Those who were able to survive and escape were long gone and would have to completely started their lives over. And, we didn't deserve any of this. I didn't deserve any of this.

"I started to see red now and my body started to move on its own as I felt my legs run back towards the direction of the village. The only thing on my mind now was revenge and I knew the perfect way. By this point, Uzushiogakure had been fully invaded and destroyed and most of the enemies were gone. A few remained here and there to finish up, but I ignored them as I headed towards my destination. If any of them had decided to cross me, I would've killed them without any mercy. I made it to my destination at the other side of the village and found, with relief, that it hadn't been touched. The enemy may have tried to destroyed it, but a large protective barrier surrounded the building and those who knew how to get through were able to enter. Being the son of the person who created the barrier, I was easily able to enter the building. However, due to clan secrecies, I will not disclose what building I am talking about.

"Anyways, I retrieved the object from the building that I came there to get, resealed the barrier, and left. In order to go through with my newfound mission, I would have to have this item to help me out. The item happened to be Jashin Mask. Now, this mask was sealed away and never used for a reason. Once a person places the mask on, the seal automatically comes undone three-fourths of the way. It is enough for Jashin's chakra to leak through and manifest his presence to have it take control of your body. However, it had been recorded that past users of this mask were able to regain control of their bodies again because Jashin was satisfied enough with all the killing he was able to partake in and would willingly be sealed away again. But, by the time I came across the mask, it hadn't been used in ages and I wasn't aware that he was pretty restless at this time.

"I didn't put the mask on as soon as I took it. I wanted to inform Konoha of what had happened since we are allies and I wanted them to back me up. I knew that Jashin was a very dangerous and powerful god, but I wasn't sure if he could take out a whole nation. So, I left Uzu no Kuni and I fled west to Hi no Kuni. Well, at least that was my plan. As I reached the port, I found some of the refugees that left the village dead. There were a small army of Kiri Shinobi patrolling the ports and I was severely outnumbered. Not having any other choice, I placed the mask on my face and channeled some of my chakra into it to undo three-fourths of the seal. As soon as I did, I instantly felt a foreign chakra run through my system and I felt my conscious start to fade away as a different presence started to enter. Before I knew it, Jashin had taken over my body and I was merely hanging out in the background in some void, watching everything through his eyes.

"Jashin moved my limbs around and then spoke out loud to me, wondering why I had summoned him. Somehow, he was able to hear me as I explained everything to him from wherever I was; a void, another dimensions, my/his conscious. He agreed to kill these Kiri Shinobi and help me sail across the ocean without any sort of protest or deals from his end. I watch as he runs closer to the port so he can be seens and immediately was surrounded by ten or so men. Jashin doesn't get into fighting stance or prepares any jutsu to defend. He just glanced around at his new victims and flicks my hand. A shockwave shootsout of my body and knocked back the men. I expected for them to get back up after being hit by the force, but none of them do. I asked Jashin what just happened and he tells me that he did what I asked of him and killed those men. Apparently, he had managed to break every bone in their bodies and ruptured their organs with that shockwave.

"The rest of the Kiri Shinobi that were patrolling the ports, about thirty of them, showed up after hearing the commotion and charged after us with their weapons and jutsus. This time around. Jashin decided to have a little more fun and personally began to kill the men one by one. Even though he was in my body, he made it move faster than I ever could. He killed off each man one by one in a different manner; quick snap to the neck, a small shockwave to the body, a hand straight through the heart. On one of the men, he sent a small amount of his chakra into his body and the man instantly collapsed to the ground, violently convulsed, and then imploded. Jashin wasn't a being to underestimate.

"When everybody was dead and gone, I thanked Jashin and waited for him to go back into the mask. But, he never did. He told me that he thinks I should keep the mask on just incase we have to face anymore enemies. Being emotionally unstable and half out of chakra, I agreed and kept the mask on and tried to relaxed he controlled my body. We sailed for about a day until we reached the shores of Hi no Kuni. We abandoned the boat and I gave Jashin directions to Konoha. On the boat he had promised me that I would be able to remove the mask once we reach Konoha. That way, he was able to kill more people if needed and I can remain safe. We headed northwest for a few hours until we came across a small town that appeared run down and damaged from the after effects of the war. I told Jashin that we could just go around the town, but he insisted on going through it. He claimed he wanted to explore before returning to his slumber in the mask. Since I really couldn't do anything about it, Jashin slowly walked through the town.

"The town was mostly deserted, but Jashin could sense that there were still some people here and there. Their chakra levels were really low and Jashin was able to determine that they were on the verge of dying, probably those who weren't able to flee. Jashin entered one of the buildings that used to be a hospital and went into a room full of injured people, mostly the elderly. They glanced over at Jashin as he strolled through the room like he owned the place, but nobody said anything or tried to stop him. It was like all of their energy and focus were going towards living.

"Jashin went up to an older lady that had a makeshift sling on her arm and her stomach was bandaged with blood stained bed sheets. Jashin didn't bat an eye as he raised an arm, wrapped my fingers are the old woman's throat, and crushed it. I watch in shock as he continued to snap her neck and then slits her throat with one of my kunai. Blood started to gush out and Jashin took handfuls of it. It ran down my hands and he poured it onto the ground. Around us, the wound people were just staring at us and in fear and disbelief. One of them even tried to escape, but Jashin sent a shockwave his way without even moving and he instantly was dead. Jashin smeared the blood that he poured onto the ground with his foot and created a circle with an upside down triangle drawn inside. Then, he started to create some handsigns.

"Suddenly, I felt a mixture of mine and his chakra channel itself out of my body and into the bloody seal. Not knowing what was going on, I began to fight back and tried to regain control of my chakra. At first, my attempt started to work and I felt myself starting to regain control of my body. In the void I was in, I started to run closer towards the portal that I've been able to view through to see what Jashin had been seeing. I got to it and tried to go through it. As I pushed my arms through the portal, I felt my body freeze and an unknown force struggled to pull me back. I knew I wasn't going to be able to break free, so I started to weave hand signs while my arms were outside of the portal to start sealing the mask up. If I couldn't escape then the both of us were going to have to be sealed up within the mask. I wouldn't be able to get my revenge on Kirigakure, but I couldn't have a monster like Jashin unleashed in this world. Especially when we are in the middle of a war.

"A good portion of Jashin's chakra started to get sealed up and I got to sel up only half the seal before his power overwhelmed me and I was pushed back into my void. Mine and his chakra stopped channeling itself out of my body and I hear Jashin curse at me in anger. It appeared that I had prevented Jashin's from using any of his original powers anymore by sealing up some of the seal, but a lot of his chakra still remained in my system, allowing him to remain in control of my body. But, Jashin informed me that just because I did that doesn't mean I fully stopped him. By channeling our chakras into the symbol he drew, he told me that he can now make anybody immortal like him whenever he created this symbol now. With my chakra, and knowing how to perform some fūinjutsu since he's been in several bodies of the Uzumaki clan before me, he turned his symbol into an actual seal and then used his chakra to channel his infinite amount of lifeforce into it. At the time, I didn't understand why he would want to create something like that in the first place if he is already immortal himself."

Ugh, I can't believe Jashin tricked and used Kazyou like that! Well, I mean, I can but still...

"He proceeded to kill everyone else in the room and then left the town. As he left, he suddenly changed courses and headed north. I start to panic and asked him where we were going. He doesn't answer me and ignored me for two days. During those two days, I retreated to the back of my void and became lost in my thoughts. Everything was going downhill for me. I just lost my hometown. I lost everyone that I ever loved. I lost my chance to seek revenge. I lost my freewill. I was going to be stuck here forever. I paid more attention to my surroundings once I heard voices that weren't coming from me or Jashin. I looked out of the portal and noticed that about twenty or so men and women were conversing with Jashin. They were all dressed in raggedy clothes and appeared half starved. As I listened into their conversation, I learned that Jashin had placed these seals within all of these people sometime during these past two days. He had promised them the power of immortality to fight against the Shinobi in this war that destroyed their homes. In exchange, they had to kill as many people as they could and explained the process in doing so, which I believe all three of you are already familiar with. Apparently, the sacrifices that Jashin receives when his seal is drawn automatically channels back to him, no matter where he is at, and makes him grow stronger. This better my chances of remaining in this void and allows for my personal body to gain strength. Since I kind of ruined Jashin's plans when I sealed up his powers, he is going to use my powers in return. But, they are going to be more powerful because his chakra is mixed in with it, plus whatever energy/chakra he gets from his sacrifices. To this day, I still don't understand how that whole process works.

"Anyways, Jashin's army of immortals ended up being a failure because he had turned everyday poor citizens into these immortals. None of them lived up to Jashin's expectations when it came to killing and his sacrifices. So, he undid their seals, killed them off, and moved on. He had a lot of trial and error for a while. I didn't know how long I had been in this void at this point so I had lost all track of time. I usually just looked out the portal to see what was going on or focused on happier times in my life. I tried to break out every once in awhile, but Jashin remained too powerful for me to do so and pushed me back every single time.

"Sometime later, Jashin finally found the perfect followers and reassigned them to the current hideout.. Jashin was able to hide since his followers have been successful in giving him sacrifices and he had no need to leave. The only thing he enjoyed was the feeling of power that he was getting. He never admitted it to me, but I think he was hoping he would learn how to undo the seal one day so he can be completely free. But, one day he found another perfect follower named Hidan. To test Hidan, he ordered Jashin to pair up with one of his other followers and then go out and kill him. The other follower hadn't been killing much lately or coming around and Jashin didn't want the man to get the urge to blab about Jashin or anything like that. So, he secretly took away his immortality and paired the two together. Hidan came back later and informed Jashin that he had killed his partner and Jashin grew very fond of him. However, Jashin didn't know that recruiting Hidan was going to send everything he worked for downhill because you three would come into the picture.

"Well, apparently another boy and an older man helped defeat Hidan, but you get where I am coming from. After Hidan was defeated, he sent a prayer to Jashin and asked him to punish the girl who took off his head. That is when he described you, girl. This is when I found out I had apparently not taken away all of Jashin's powers. Apparently, Jashin can be summoned with a verbal prayer and manifest his energy into the target's mind. Jashin cannot harm anybody while he is in their mind, but he can cast illusions and make them appear very believable. He waited to make his presence known when you visited the hot springs because he can make you go unconscious and hoped you would drown while everyone else was in their trance from the springs. However, your pink-haired friend noticed you and was able to prevent you from drowning. She tried to break Jashin from your mind, but a man with red eyes eventually broke you out instead." He pointed at Sasuke. "He had ther Sharingan and he resembled you, but it wasn't you. You didn't break the genjutsu until the second time, but by then Jashin was fed up with you-"

"You never told me that Itachi broke you out of the genjutsu the first time around!" Sasuke interrupts, snapping his head towards me.

I widen my eyes in shock. "I swear I didn't know! He must've done it when I was passed out, but why would he be around me in the first place?"

There were many times in Kazyou's very depressing tale where I wanted to interrupt in surprise or pity, but Sasuke finally did for me. Besides, this seems to be the perfect time to interrupt anyways and take in all of this information. We pretty much know how everything else goes from here.

Sasuke clenched his fist. "I don't know, but I would love to find that out! He should not have been around you in the first place!"

I raised my hands. "Just calm down, Sasuke. Let's not get off topic here."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "I'm not getting off topic! This is very important news! If he was around you back then undetected, who knows how many other times he's been around you or around anybody else that I care for! He must've been trying to do something to you, but it backfired on him because he didn't know that you were already under a strong genjutsu!"

Kazyou stares at Sasuke. "It sounds like this man is very dangerous, but his actions that day said otherwise."

Sasuke turns to glare at Kazyou. "You don't know what you are talking about!"

Kazyou shakes his head. "I never said that I did. I am simply trying to tell you what he did to her that day was not done out of evil or spite. As soon as the boy watching over her left the room for a few minutes, the man entered the room in the form of a crow and transformed back into a human by her side. He just gazed at you for a second before bending down and breaking Jashin's illusions. What happened after that, I do not know."

I turn to Sasuke. "Obviously, nothing bad happened to me after that if I am still alive and walking around. Please just calm down and we can discuss this together in private or with Tsunade-sama when we get back to Konoha."

Sasuke gets really angry and fired up when it comes to Itachi and I really don't want him doing anything irrational right now. We need to finish listening to this man and then leave so we allow Norio to complete his reports.

Sasuke doesn't say anything, but he listens to me as leans back against the wall again and gets lost in his thoughts. I sigh in relief as I turn back to Kazyou and Sakura gives Sasuke a fretful glance.

"Would you like to finish your story?" I ask.

"The rest of it is not as important as the other parts of my story since you three already experienced the rest of it," Kazyou replies. "If it is important, all of those seals on the walls of the sanctuary were stored with my fūinjutsu techniques that Jashin had figured out over the years. He placed them there for a rainy day and it looked liked he needed it when it came to fighting you three. However, using those techniques required my chakra and Jashin had not used my chakra in a long time for combat. In fact, he was actually growing weaker since all of his captives were being killed or captured and he wasn't receiving as much sacrifices as he was used to. Combine that with using a lot of my chakra, I took the chance to to breakout once more as a distraction when he was able to kill the three of you. I wasn't able to breakout once again, but I had enough power to overwhelm him for a brief second to give you time to get closer to him. Then, I was finally set free."

As he ends his tale, I sit on the ground and tried to think over everything I was told.

I can't believe it was Kirigakure that was behind the destruction of Uzushiogakure and most of the Uzumaki clan. Why would they even want to in the first place? Did they think the Uzumaki's skill for fūinjutsu was actually a kekkei genkai? Gah, I feel terrible to hear that Kazyou came across his dead parents and had to bury his wife and son… it was brutal the way those two were murdered. Especially his wife.

And, Kazyou wanted to seek revenge on Kirigakure. His situation is similar to Sasuke. Both of their clans were massacred and they both want to get rid of the murderers that caused it. But, Kazyou appeared very level-headed and calm as he spoke his tale. He didn't grow emotional or angry. I'm not saying he's moved on, but I wonder if he wants to seek revenge now that he is free? This happened a long time ago and this would just cause a lot conflict between the two villages.

But, Jashin ended up being a god after all. And, a pretty damn strong one for that matter.

I just can't believe Kazyou has went through all of this and has been imprisoned this whole entire time while his body was being controlled. And, here he is binded to a chair and sitting in a jail cell like he is the real villain behind all of this.

Man, my head hurts now.

After about ten minutes of good, long silence, Kazyou breaks it. "I don't know what you three are thinking right now. But, I was just wondering could you answer some questions of mine since I am in a totally different time period now?"

I nod. "Sure."

It was only fair that we give him information now since he told us everything we wanted to know.

He clears his throat. "Okay. Let's start with this question first. When did the Second Shinobi World War end?"

I resist the urge to groan.

This is going to be a very long Q&A session.

Author's note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I know a lot of information was thrown in your way, but that's what happens when you tie up loose ends. I was going to make this chapter longer, but then I realized it would be like having two chapters in one so I am splitting it up into another chapter. The next chapter will be the last chapter for this arc. A short Blank Period will occur and then another arc will start.

P.S: Boruto has been out of a few episodes now. So far, who has been your favorite character? I personally love Inojin. He's so cute and snarky.