Burdened Slave
Chapter 14
Fugaku walked down the dimly lit tunnels. His destination being the facility Konoha's Research division had gotten permission to build over two years ago. As he walked, he couldn't help but think about earlier that day and he frowned.
I told him not to reveal his Mangekyo Sharingan. I told him.
Fugaku would have sighed in annoyance, but didn't. He continued down the tunnel until he reached the end. He stepped through a hidden barrier and out onto a platform. Any further would lead very far downwards.
He stood in a cavernous structure the Research division had hollowed out deep underground. The silence echoed around him loudly. Far away, at what he was told was the exact centre, was a small speck of light. If he didn't have the sharingan, he wouldn't have been able to even notice it. He mused that a Hyuuga would have no problem covering the entire distance with their sight. The team of scientists that work in this facility had to reassure him, on multiple occasions, that this whole thing wasn't a waste of space.
After many attempts at explaining the nature of the giant hole under the ground, and failing, the scientists had to settle on just talking about spheres and evolving shapes. Or rather, they had told him something along the lines of the cavern being an imperfect sphere that continuously changed its own shape as it approached perfection. And then something about it changing shape every unimaginable, or rather, unable to be explained to him, fraction of a second.
Various other explanations similarly flew over his head. Though, for his amusement and much to the detriment of Konoah's scientists' very delicate sensibilities, he makes a habit of calling the monstrous structure a very good light show.
He let his eyes admire the walls closest to him. Soft ethereal light flowed through the walls creating crisscrossing lines that formed a complex circuit-like design. He was told it was a newly generated Equation of Creation.
If he were to look closer at the dark areas outside of the lines, sealing scripts that constantly changed it's characters seemed to flow all over and in what he was told to be countless layers. He refuses to look closer, however, lest he gets another head-splitting headache by using his Sharingan on the wall.
He was told that, at this point, not even the greatest seal-masters could decipher it as the layers have become uncountable and the characters have begun to take a life of their own.
After admiring just how far this project has gone in just two years, he focused back on matters that he had no trouble comprehending. The current matter being, his head-scientist was a traitor and he was fairly certain about the identity of whom the man had aligned himself with.
He turned and reached out to an advanced looking metal-embedded obelisk that was connected to the platform he stood on. He pushed chakra into it and he suddenly found himself at the center of the cavernous structure. He had been teleported to a similar obelisk. He looked to be inside a single level structure that could fit a couple of large jonin training grounds in it, plus the entire academy, plus the Hokage Residence.
The structure in the centre had no walls and he was told the floor was very, very flat. At least, that was the quick summary he was given after being told it was vaguely similar to the rest of the structure around them in the sense that it constantly changed its shape in an attempt to approach perfect flatness.
He moved his hand to a specific area of the obelisk and with some chakra he was teleported to a busy area where many teams of scientists were working. They all stopped and bowed, before quickly returning to their work.
The head-scientist rushed up to him.
"Hokage-sama," the head-scientist, an aged-man whose eyes seemed perpetually closed, bowed. "How do you like the new changes to your workflow?"
"It's acceptable," Fugaku said monotonously.
The head-scientist smiled. "Of course, Hokage-sama. But Hikoboshi can do more than storing paperwork."
"I know," he stated in reply.
"I must say that today is truly a historical moment. Not even Kumo could imagine something like this. Not even in a thousand years. And it all started with the seals you provided us. You truly are a boon to the progress of science, Hokage-sama."
"Hn. You may thank the Nidaime for those seals," Fugaku said, folding one arm over the other.
The head-scientist looked surprised, but the man quickly composed himself.
"I see. Truly we boil and drink the dirt under his fingernails," the man said with awe in his voice. "I never knew this was the true extent of Nidaime-sama's genius."
Fugaku let loose in full his killing intent. The head-scientist froze in place.
"Please do send him my regards," Fugake stated. A kunai appeared in his hands and he threw it at the soon-to-be retired head-scientist.
However, the kunai bounced off a barrier that suddenly shielded the traitor. Fugaku blinked before frowning.
Is this the extent?
He allowed his killing intent to disappear and calmly folded his arms to observe. The other man choked for a moment before his shaky hands wiped the sweat from his forehead. The other man then started chuckling.
"To think I would be found out so soon," he said. "I see you're not as surprised as I thought you would be."
"Hn," was the only sound that came from Fugaku.
"I suppose you want to know why," the man said with a pause. "You Shinobi are so powerful, but all you do is fight. Three wars. Three wars! My team died for a system that was supposed to bring peace. All we got was even more destruction once the old era was to have ended."
"Sacrifices are necessary to accomplish anything," Fugaku said in a toneless voice, before a small smirk came to his face. "I hear that's the purpose of this life."
"Sacrifices," the traitor repeated and shook his head. "I agree. Today will mark the day that the era of shinobi comes to an end."
The man opened his arms wide. "With Hikoboshi, I will do what shinobi lack the will to do. To seek out truth. To arrive at heaven's intent with an ungodly body."
Without lowering his arms, the man looked upwards and shouted. "Hikoboshi! Activate the Rage of Tentei! Cast this filth away from our realm and beyond the heavenly seas!"
In response, the whit ethereal lines on the walls of the monstrous structure pulsed. Fugaku merely raised an eyebrow as a complex seal seemed to appear in the air in front of the other man.
"Behold! Heavenly Bridge no Jutsu!" the man spat mockingly a clearly exaggerated jutsu name.
The seal came to life and a large beam of energy, with almost all colours of the rainbow, shot towards Fugaku.
So this is the extent. Just what exactly has been built down here?
Everything suddenly froze just as the large beam was about to hit Fugaku.
"What?!" the traitor yelled in surprise and looked around him.
Suddenly, the colourful beam exploded into thousands of tiny specks light before the specks disappeared. As the traitor looked around, he noticed his fellow scientists. They were frozen in place. Suddenly, each of his previous colleagues started to disappear as if sand blown away by wind. Everything around them did the same and soon the traitor was left only in darkness.
"What is this?" the man whispered resignedly.
"In this domain, I control everything," Fugaku's voice echoed. "Every second outside is five-hundred years in here,"
"H-how?" the traitor asked in horror.
"Such is the power I possess," Fugaku's voice said sadly and lacked any arrogance.
"Sit here till the end of your days," he said with finality.
Fugaku moved his hand to a specific area of the obelisk and with some chakra he was teleported to a busy area where many teams of scientists were working. They all stopped and bowed, but before they could return to their work the head-scientist suddenly collapsed onto the ground.
"We need a medic!" one scientist shouted and rushed for his former boss.
"Leave him," Fugaku ordered and everyone froze in obedience. "He is a traitor."
The pain of betrayal suddenly flashed through some of their eyes while others were in a state of shock. One by one, though, they each glared at the collapsed body.
Fugaku scanned through the scientists and his gaze landed on a young, up and coming, Nara scientist. He couldn't remember the name.
"Nara," he said and pointed at the young man.
The Nara stood at attention. "Hai, Hokage-sama?"
"You are now in charge," he stated.
"Hai!" the Nara scientist replied and bowed deeply.
Fugaku gained a thoughtful look. "Has that Neural Clone technique been finished yet?"
Staying in his bow, the Nara replied. "The Yamanaka clan haven't been able to get it to work just right."
"Does it function?" Fugaku asked. "You may stand,"
The Nara shot up and straightened his back. The young man's forehead glistened with sweat and he gulped slightly.
"Y-yes, Hokage-sama. It functions," the Nara replied. "But it kills the subjects right after."
"And," Fugaku said slowly. "Has loading a Neural Clone into Hikoboshi produced the desired results?"
An excited glint entered the Nara's eyes and the young man's shoulders relaxed a bit.
"More than the desired results, Hokage-sama!" the young man said with an excited tone. "Hikoboshi has shown not only the ability to learn from a neural clone, but also the capability to use it to learn new things and look at the world from the perspective of the clone. It has even been able to evolve the clone to simulate various inputs as if it were the original subject themselves. We were even able to—"
The young man stopped speaking when Fugaku put up a hand.
"I see," Fugaku said. "Then I want made a Neural clone of the traitor, and I want it loaded into Hikoboshi. You are to personally analyse what the traitor did to the system and how to fix it. Report directly to me."
"Hai!" the Nara scientist quickly bowed once more.
"After this is done, I want the rest of the Archive Library stored into Hikoboshi. And by next year, I don't want to see a piece of paper at our hospital. Make sure to outfit Intelligence with interfaces to Hikoboshi a priority before the other divisions."
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" all of the scientists chorused.
Fugaku reached a hand to the obelisk once more, teleported back to the exit platform, and he passed through the barrier.
As he walked alone down the dimly lit tunnel, a thought kept going through his mind.
To arrive at heaven's intent, huh.
"And then he was like—" Yū leapt into the air and kicked. "Then he was like—" she dodged the side again and again making swishing sounds with her mouth.
All the while, Dan stood to the side listening as she told the day's events. Haru had yet to return as he was fishing them their food.
"He was so powerful," she said dreamily as she looked off to the dusky horizon over the village.
Dan wrote something onto his scroll and made a sign.
"You do remember he's, like, half our age or something? His, uh, you know, is probably too small to do anything." the scroll spoke.
That snapped her out of her daze and she sent a punch his way, but it phased through his intangible form.
"Don't be a fucking pervert, Dan! You're a boy, he's a boy. It won't work between you two, so give up!" she yelled and puffed her red cheeks.
She smirked as she noticed her words had surprised Dan. She quickly capitalised with a foot to his gut. He flew a few meters backwards and landed harshly on the ground.
"Ghh—" was the only sound that came from him. He rolled onto his knees with groan and shakily walked towards where he dropped his scroll and brush.
"Hmph," she turned her head away. "Besides, I still hate him. His clan killed my family."
Dan got to his scroll brush and quickly wrote something.
"You can't know that for sure. Why'd one of them be made Hokage then?" Dan asked through his scroll.
"Shut up," she snapped. "My intel sources are solid."
Dan sighed and shook his head after fixing his slightly crooked mask.
She looked out at the village. Her eyes hardened and she clenched her fists.
"At least you still have family left that actually cares about you," Dan's scroll suddenly spoke, distracting her.
She gave a bitter smile. "I'm pretty sure they're scared of me."
"Y-yū," she heard her name spoken with great effort and was almost unintelligible.
She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at its source. Dan's pupil-less purple eyes stared back at her with an intensity she's never seen before. His white mask held in one hand. His beautiful unblemished face radiating with some kind of determination.
He brings his free hand up and points his thumb directly at his chest, not breaking the stare.
"Hmph," she closed her eyes and gave a small smile. "I guess you're right. I've got you. And Inoichi-sama too."
Dan put his white mask back on. After a few moments of silence, she broke it.
"Your sis is gonna wake up. If she doesn't, then I'll get so powerful that I'll just make her wake up. That's a promise!"
Her stomach then growled. She put her hand on her stomach and winced as if in pain. "Damn it, where's that fish!"
After another fifteen minutes, Haru still didn't make an appearance. She looked back at the camp they set up.
"Tch, I'm starting the fire," she said.
With the fire started, she sat in front of it and stared at the flames. Dan came and sat next to her.
"Oh, yeah!" she said realising something she forgot. "Our next target is Yuhi Kurenai. Did you find her today?"
Dan shook his head and wrote something. "I looked for both, but couldn't find either."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's kinda suspicious."
His brush continued writing his next words. "Yū, I think this is a test. There's no way there's so many traitors from Konoha."
"Eh?! You're saying Sensei lied?" she asked incredulously. "No way. This is a mission. Why else would he give us files straight from the Archive Library? There's clearly a larger conspiracy if they need us to handle things. Our mission is probably contributing to something much, much bigger."
Dan shrugged. He didn't know anything, so he couldn't reply.
A while later, night fully came and Haru finally made his appearance.
"You're late!" Yū yelled. "Where the hell were you? How hard is it for a genius to catch a fish?"
Haru pulled out a storage scroll. "I decided to hunt for serow."
Yū's mood brighted and rubbed her hands together. "You're amazing! Let's see the meat."
Haru unrolled the storage scroll and pushed chakra into it. A single, cleaned, leg and thigh popped into existence.
"What? Where's the rest of it?" Yū asked, confused.
"I gave away the rest on my way back here," he said.
"What the fuck, shithead?!"
To be continued.
