Sorry for the delay, but...well, life happens. I hope you enjoy!

Review response:

1. Noahendless: Naruto/Yuurei is 16; it's been more than a year since he graduated, 10 months since the destruction of Nami no Kuni, 7 months since the invasion of Konoha, 5 months since the massacre outside of Suna, and 3.5 months since the end of Kiri's rebellion. A return to Konoha is coming up, and Orochimaru is training Ayame.

2. TigrezzTail: What next? Why, some grave-robbing, of course! Sasuke gets to play the part of a thief in the night, even if I glossed over his hardships.

3. Blitzstrahl: Zabuza got a raw deal because he was the first arc's antagonist, and Yugito's strength isn't extrapolated on until after she's dead. Also, if you think this is being cavalier about killing characters...wait until about three arcs from now, and watch how much death happens.

Let's get this trainwreck moving.


"So, fearless leader, where to next?" Tayuya asked. The redhead and her two blonde companions stood on the shore of Hi no Kuni, having finished running across the sea. Not far away, the verdant country's famously massive trees began to grow.

"Take a moment to rest and recover," Yuurei replied, his Sharingan seeming to pierce Tayuya's soul as he made eye contact with her.

"Not sure where to go?" Yugito asked from the demon's left side.

"Something like that. It's the same thing I was trying to decide, before we ran into that nukenin and took our detour to Kiri," Yuurei admitted. "I...hm."

Though both of the women traveling with Yuurei gave him strange, questioning looks—it wasn't in his nature to be indecisive like this—the tall demon simply shook his head dismissively.

"I've been putting off my demonhood for quite a while. It's probably time to go back to Konoha," Yuurei said. If all truths were told, the deal he'd made with the Speargod had continued to hang over his head. The sooner he took care of it, the better; on top of that, Sai's management of Ne gave him an information network that rivaled any legitimate national institution. In the two months they'd been in Makai and the Blessed Lands, the rest of the world hadn't stood still.

Strictly speaking, a return to his birthplace was risky for Yuurei—not to mention Tayuya and Yugito, who would be well-known foreign shinobi. However, even if he hadn't given his word to the Speargod, coming back to Konoha had only been a matter of time. Before the final battle that determined the result of Kirigakure's rebellion, Sai had informed him of the seal that kept Kurama contained beneath Konoha. For Yuurei, the successor to Kurama's title of Kyuubi, it was completely reasonable to absorb the demon fox's strength before killing it.

"Well, then let's do it!" Tayuya's tone was commanding, not showing any of the chakra exhaustion that she'd displayed after arriving in Mizu no Kuni. After activating the bite-mark seal on her shoulder, and bathing in Makai's ambient energy for so long, the redhead's chakra had been quenched and purified. Though Tayuya didn't possess the same supernatural strength as Yuurei, Yugito, or Mei, she'd grown beyond a reliance on Genjutsu.

"If you really want to travel overnight, I don't have any objections," Yuurei said. "Yugito?"

"I'm fine," the former Jinchuriki said. Though the bloody seal on her neck kept Yuurei on her mind, Yugito's thoughts were still somewhat muddled—an affliction that would fade in time, and that her companions made allowances for. It wasn't every day that someone came back from the dead after multiple weeks.

Even after the rigors of running across the sea, Yugito still felt like rigor mortis hadn't completely left her shoulders or lower back.

"If my geography is right, Konoha should be straight west...so we'll just follow the setting sun," Tayuya said. Even so, she waited for Yuurei to move before continuing.

As he took his first steps toward the still-light horizon, Yuurei couldn't help the smile that crept across his face. Before leaving Konoha for the second time in his life, he'd told Yugito that the major village wasn't the seat of his power—words that still rang true. However the Banchou chose to build his next empire, his orders wouldn't echo from Konoha's depths. Neither Kiri nor Suna were suitable, either; the lands controlled by humans were neither wild nor desolate enough for Yuurei's tastes. Unless he wanted to settle in the City of the Dead, which was a tempting idea, he would have to carve out his own place in the world.

At a near-civilian pace, the demon and his companions walked along the forest's floor. Though the landscape wasn't silent, with several insects being heard from a distance, it was quiet in their immediate area; this was the effect Yuurei had on wild animals, whose instincts told them that they needed to flee from his surroundings. Unaware humans suffered similar effects, unintentionally re-routing their journey to give Yuurei a wide berth. Those behaviors lent themselves to a lack of interruptions while Yuurei and his companions traveled.

It would be a few days until the trio reached Konoha. Now that they were finally on dry land, they could take their time. Relaxation didn't come easy to ninja—especially the unaffiliated ones—but Yuurei was in no hurry. Unlike the last time he'd crossed the sea for a return to Konoha, he hadn't been given the warning that something was about to happen. So, why bother rushing? That would only alert other people to his presence. While the sun sank beneath the western sky, and the moon continued to rise behind their backs, the three shinobi continued to travel.


In Kirigakure, a week had passed since Yuurei, Yugito, and Tayuya had left. In her office, Mei's eyes continued to glance in the direction of the Hall of Heroes; when they returned to the scroll in her hands, she couldn't help trying to process the same question repeatedly. So fresh after the end of their civil war, they'd been invited to participate in a joint Chunin Exams with Konoha, in Suna? She couldn't believe it. To begin with, the very idea was nonsense—Suna had invaded Konoha during the climax of the Chunin Exams seven months ago, ending with the deaths of the Hokage and Kazekage. And now, they were suddenly on good terms again?

"What kind of farce..." Mei trailed off, directing her eyes to the ceiling before simply closing them.

If Yuurei were here, he'd likely write "NO THANK YOU" at the bottom of the scroll before having it sent back to Konoha. That kind of gesture wouldn't just be classless and brutish, but flagrant as well—simply not showing up would be more polite. Unfortunately, though, Yuurei wasn't here to make that kind of decision; he was somewhere on the mainland, probably finding some way to delay himself as he moved towards his next goal.

She couldn't leverage her position as Mizukage for a chance to see Yuurei again, so soon after he'd left...could she? Yugito and Tayuya had made sure there was no confusion on where their demonic master stood with the young Kazekage—and the eventual fate that would befall Kumogakure. With both of that village's Jinchuriki dead or missing, they were essentially a second-class force; obliterating them wasn't going to be an easy task, but there was a reason Yuurei still waited to consign them to death.

"Chojuro, what do you think?" Mei asked, looking at the young swordsman who now acted as her personal guard.

"Why are you asking me?" Chojuro responded, running a hand through his close-cut blue hair before looking away. His response was born of insecurity, rather than indignation; despite his status as a member of the Seven Swordsmen's newest generation, he seemed to lack confidence in his abilities.

"You stood by my side against Yagura, and fought with me for years. I value your opinion, Chojuro," Mei said, pairing her words with a soft smile.

In the face of that display, the blue-haired swordsman was defenseless. After having the Mark of the Beast placed on her, the Mizukage's allure had reached new heights—Mei didn't even need to activate any of her beguiling techniques, and Yuurei continued to be the only person capable of resisting her charms. How could an ordinary man protect himself against her? With a meek nod, Chojuro began to speak.

"I think..." he began, "...I think it's a good idea to participate. It would give our village a point of unification, and prevent outsiders from thinking that we're divided under your leadership. It will also give the selected Genin a chance to see the wider world."

Mei's lips quirked into an expression that seemed torn between disagreement and pensiveness, and Chojuro felt a cold sweat begin to form on the base of his neck as he watched her. Gently placing the scroll on her desk, the Mizukage bridged her hands as she stared Chojuro in the face without blinking. Whether it was the glittering green of her eye, the light-and-dark of her two-toned red hair, or her gentle lips that slowly curled into a smile, the swordsman felt as if he was being drawn into her aura.

"My lady...did I say something wrong?" Chojuro asked, thankful that his glasses didn't shake with the panic he felt. At his question, Mei raised an eyebrow.

"No, of course not," Mei replied. "To be honest, I want to accept the proposal, but I could only think of reasons to refuse. You've helped me tremendously."

Chojuro felt heat in his face as he blushed under the weight of Mei's compliment, barely managing to nod as he felt his heart trying to jump into his mouth. He wasn't normally like this, he swore to himself—Mei's enrapturing presence was just too strong for him to remain unaffected.

"If you say so, my lady. All I did was say a few words." The blue-haired swordsman looked away, afraid that he'd be driven to insanity if his leader looked at him for another moment.

With light, bell-like laughter, the Mizukage gave her guard the signal that he could leave her office. The dismissal wasn't born of anger, but served as a way for Chojuro to separate himself from a situation that clearly embarrassed him. Quietly, Mei thought to herself that the young Kenjutsu prodigy would make an excellent leader if he could find some faith in himself.

It would take half a week for the letter of acceptance to reach Konoha, two weeks for the Genin to reach Suna, and a week for the first two exams to be completed. There was traditionally a month's grace period before the third exam began, and that would be the time for Mei to show herself if she chose to breach the mainland. In the end, though, why wouldn't she? Even if reuniting with Yuurei, Tayuya and Yugito was a pipe dream at best, she could still hope—and, regardless of that, it had been quite a while since Mei had been to the mainland of the Elemental Nations.

What had become of the wider world, over the years that she'd been fighting for Kirigakure's future?


In Takigakure's ruins, Sasuke had continued to excavate his way across the city. Though Jiraiya and Shizune weren't opposed to the delay in their travel, taking the chance to rest, they weren't directly helpful to the young Uchiha.

"Hey, Sasuke...why are you doing this?" Jiraiya called out to his latest student, hoping that an echo might reach him. "You never did explain that to us."

"Trying to find their Ninjutsu scroll storehouse!" Sasuke's shout carried from a dry section of the wasted city. The hardest and most tiresome part of this process was unquestionably draining the water that had been filled with uncountable corpses.

Though Sasuke doubted that his group were the first travelers to happen upon the destroyed village—an impossible circumstance, based on how long these ruins had been sitting here—Takigakure showed no signs of having been interfered with. Just because Takigakure wasn't a major hidden village didn't mean that its foundation was irrelevant. In fact, among the second-class forces of the Elemental Nations, there was an argument to be made that Taki had the strongest foundation; after all, it was the only one that had a Jinchuriki.

If Sasuke could find even a handful of techniques to bring back to Konoha, whether or not he incorporated them into his own repertoire, his rewards would be significant. But then, why not search for something he could use himself? This was the kind of opportunity that only occurred once in a lifetime, if not hundreds of years! Doing all of this work without keeping anything for himself would just be wasting his efforts.

On the surface of the world, outside of the chasm that had formerly been Takigakure's roof, Jiraiya and Shizune looked at one another. Was plundering this oversized tomb the only thing on Sasuke's mind? It wouldn't surprise either one of them if he wanted a little time to himself; he hadn't been back to Konoha in several months. And yet, given the Uchiha clan's storied history of pursuing power to the exclusion of all else, how could they doubt his words? If he found the storeroom where Takigakure kept a record of their techniques, or even their Kinjutsu scroll, there was bound to be at least one technique he could use.

"Are you okay? How are your supplies?" Shizune asked, looking into the chasm.

"I have enough to spare for a few more days" Sasuke replied. "If I still haven't found anything by then, I'll come back."

That was a flat lie, but only Sasuke knew that. Carving his way through the rubble, with a glowing seal giving off a dim light—a gift from Jiraiya when Sasuke had declared his intention to delve through Taki's ruins—the Hokage's younger brother had consumed the last of his emergency supplies a few hours ago. He was close! He had to be! Based on the size of the chasm, and how much he'd already excavated, there wasn't much left that Sasuke hadn't explored.

Most of what he'd come across had been individual homes and apartments, which could only be expected. Even so, Sasuke wasn't afraid to vent his frustrations while alone. Redoubling his efforts, he let his irritation drive him forward. Like that, two more days passed; hunger threatened to overwhelm the young man's tired mind and muscles, but physical burdens had no bearing on Sasuke's iron will.

At long last, he stood in front of the entrance to Takigakure's last ruined building. If this wasn't the village's hall of records—where missions were given, techniques were recorded, and day-to-day operations were dealt with—then all of Sasuke's effort for the last two weeks would have been for nothing. As he stepped into the reception hall of this building, taking care to avoid the larger patches of damp mold and dissolved corpses, he felt a spark of hope ignite inside of his heart. This room looked incredibly similar to the first floor of the Hokage Tower in Konoha, where low- and mid-rank missions were processed.

Taking care not to stumble as he clambered up the stairs at the room's far end—perhaps the only truly stable structure left in this dead city—Sasuke could feel his heartbeat reverberating from his temples to his toes. On the floor, a skeletal hand seemed to be reaching for the far wall that was covered by debris; its owner, long dead, had been crushed beneath the ceiling. Lifting one weary foot after another, Sasuke walked up to the mass of fallen metal and stone. Gathering his chakra, he began to tear the obstructions away.

After breaking through the barricade of debris, Sasuke came face to face with a number of cabinets that were lined with scrolls and weapons. While he had little interest in the weapons themselves, beyond their utility as convenient tools in certain situations, Sasuke still took out a scroll with a storage seal and piled them inside of it. The scrolls were another story; after opening a handful, just to make sure, the young Chunin took out a second storage scroll and began hoarding Takigakure's techniques away.

Throughout this process, Sasuke continued to open every scroll. Occasionally, a particularly powreful Ninjutsu caught his eye, but some of these scrolls were either badly damaged or at risk of falling apart. Clearly, it had been a long time since those techniques had been learned and used. As Sasuke opened the last scroll, however, he was in for a surprise: part of it had been ripped away. This scroll's immense size denoted that it was Takigakure's list of Kinjutsu, but after the damage it had sustained, only one technique remained: Gogyou Yakimodoshi Ken, the Five Elements Tempered Sword.

Captivated by the allure of this forbidden technique, Sasuke continued to ignore the tightness of his empty stomach and the warped pain in his shoulder muscles. While the Gogyou Yakimodoshi Ken wasn't a difficult technique to practice, Sasuke quickly understood why it had gone unused for so many generations—the effort involved would strain the human body to its breaking point, and caused a fundamental shift in their biology. Someone who cultivated this technique wouldn't gain a particularly strong offensive skill, but would instead strengthen their body to the "threshold of divinity."

Sasuke wasn't entirely certain what that meant, but forced himself to look away from the scroll. At the moment, it had no use to him; this wasn't a safe time or place to begin learning this technique, and it would be a while until his body had the strength to withstand the rigors of its tempering. Storing the damaged Kinjutsu scroll away, a renewed vigor made its way into Sasuke's body as he walked out of the ruined building. In short order, he'd clambered his way up to the opening of the chasm, facing the evening twilight with weary eyes and hands.

"Mission success," he said, his dry throat adding a wheeze to his words. In the next moment, as his eyes closed, Sasuke buckled at the knees and dropped toward the grass in front of him. Before he could fall too far forward, though, Shizune caught him; her speedy shunshin allowed Sasuke's now-unconscious head to rest on the inside of her shoulder.

"Well, I'll be damned..." Jiraiya closed his eyes, a soft smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Whether he was referring to Sasuke's ruin-raiding, or something else, only he knew. Relaxing now that he knew Sasuke had returned safely, the Gama Sennin leaned against the tree behind him and began to rest.