Hey again! Sorry about the lengthy absence, again, but at least this time it didn't take me a year—the pandemic has had me working like crazy, and I struggled to find the time to finish this chapter. I'm holding on to the hope that I'll put another one out before the end of the year, but don't hold your breath...
Review response:
1. Noahendless: Yeah, and if the writing progresses like I'm currently picturing, we'll get some REAL fireworks in the part after this one. It'll be fun.
2. TigrezzTail: In canon, Kiri declined their invitation to the joint Konoha-Suna Chunin Exams because they were mourning Yagura, but I thought it was more interesting to have Mei accept. It totally isn't a plot device to eventually get four of Naruto's ladies in the same place. Couldn't be. As for Sasuke? Someone has to be able to keep up with Naruto. The Gogyou Yakimodoshi Ken is a major step forward in that regard.
Let's get this trainwreck moving.
"Push!" Jiraiya commanded, directing his words at Sasuke. "You want a stronger body? It's not the kind of thing you just grow into, kid. Those eyes of yours won't steal a physique like mine!"
Groaning under the exertion of doing push-ups while affected by several seals, Sasuke struggled to lift himself again. Forcing his shoulders to move toward the sky, the Uchiha felt his elbows lock into place before he collapsed entirely. Filled with anger, Sasuke tried to get up, but his arms merely flailed for a moment before he accepted his fate.
"Good. It's only been a few days, but you're showing some improvement," Jiraiya said.
"That...doesn't make me feel better," Sasuke complained, with one side of his face pressed flush against the ground. Moments later, he felt the invisible pressure lift off of his body, and he rolled onto his back.
"It's not supposed to." Jiraiya turned his attention away from Sasuke as he spoke, visibly losing interest as progress stalled. "Now that the seal has been released, do another set of exercises. If that technique really requires strong bones and muscles, then it's my job to make sure you're prepared."
As Jiraiya expended a large amount of chakra at once, Shizune looked up from the collection of herbs that she was sorting through; the Gama Sennin had physically manifested a long rectangle of his chakra across the ground, only to place himself on top of it in a position to do push-ups. Was he going to do the same training that he put Sasuke through?
"Why the chakra mat?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she spoke.
"Because otherwise, my hands will start sinking into the ground," Jiraiya responded. Taking his right hand away, he began to do one-armed push-ups. Behind his back, his right hand began running through a chakra control exercise that Shizune had never seen: out from each fingertip, a small sphere of chakra had appeared, and each sphere was rotating in an entirely different direction.
On the surface, this looked like an effective way to kill two birds with one stone. While exercising his physical body, Jiraiya was simultaneously increasing his ability to control incredibly small amounts of chakra. Shizune, however, was old enough to know about the Yondaime Hokage's close-combat Ninjutsu. Overshadowed by the Hiraishin, the Rasengan was no less terrifying than its much more well-known sibling technique. Was this how Jiraiya had learned it?
Somewhat mortified by his teacher's fearsome display of strength, Sasuke didn't complain before beginning a run-through of his own basic exercises. It wasn't the Sannin's brute strength or chakra control that unnerved him; those were proof of his strength, and a level to aspire to. Sasuke just couldn't wrap his head around the idea that Jiraiya exerted enough pressure to crush the hard earth beneath him.
Two days passed this way, with Sasuke taking breaks to rest while Jiraiya continued doing push-ups with one arm.
"Should we...do something?" Sasuke wondered aloud, looking at his teacher. "I'm starting to get concerned. He hasn't eaten or slept yet."
The only reason Sasuke was sure Jiraiya hadn't lost consciousness was that he'd continued to switch arms after every hour.
"Children born between the first and second wars had incredibly difficult training," Shizune said. "He's using a technique that's been forbidden since before I was born."
"A forbidden technique?" Sasuke asked.
"He's cannibalizing his chakra to avoid hunger and exhaustion. It was supposed to be a training technique to strengthen the body into increasing its chakra production, but it's really just a fast way to kill yourself." The look Shizune directed towards her younger companion was laced with intent, warning him not to ask Jiraiya about learning it.
"So it doesn't work?" Sasuke couldn't think of another conclusion, but questioned why Jiraiya would continue to utilize it if that was the case.
"No, it works, but only if you're already the kind of ninja who's above your peers by leaps and bounds. Jiraiya's raw power is the kind of talent that you can only be born with," Shizune said. "But if you talk to him, he'll only consider himself second-class."
In front of them, Jiraiya turned his head aside, looking at the pair.
"That's because I am," he said, continuing to push like nothing was wrong. "Shinobi like to use a grading scale for the threat level that an opponent represents, but there's a large degree of separation between S-rank ninja. Sometimes, an A-rank ninja is closer to an S-rank one, than that S-rank is to a different S-rank."
Standing up, the towering man dissolved the mat of chakra he'd been pressing down on. Reaching up, he rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his right shoulder.
"Now, let's go. We still have places to go, and I still have things to teach you." Jiraiya smiled lightly as he spoke, standing tall and beginning to head west.
For a brief moment, an intense feeling of deja-vu washed over Yuurei's senses, crippling him for a split second as his past reconnected with his present. Standing on Hi no Kuni's main road to Konoha, which ran east-to-west across most of the nation, a vision from a year ago played out in front of the demon's eyes.
He hadn't taken up the mantle of the ghost yet, still in possession of his natural left eye when the Demon Brothers had ambushed Team Seven. This was the battle that had given him his most prominent scars: the lines across his throat where a bladed gauntlet had torn into him. That gauntlet was still sealed away in a scroll, Yuurei's trophy for killing its wielder.
"Is everything alright?" Tayuya asked, looking to her left as she saw Yuurei's dazed expression.
"Just a memory," the demon replied. "This was where I had my first fight as a ninja."
Unconsciously, his hand rose to his throat, and both of his companions watched the way his fingers moved over his scars. It went without saying that he'd earned them here—that this was the place where he'd had his first true brush with death. It made Yugito's heart ache, and she wasn't sure that the reaction was her seal's fault. Tayuya, though, felt a small kind of joy well up in her heart; after that battle, his team could have very well turned back to Konoha. The choice to continue had meted out disastrous consequences for Konoha, but had set Yuurei on the path to freeing her from Orochimaru's control.
"It's okay," Yugito said, taking her right hand and touching it to the back of Yuurei's left hand. "You know, I can look back on it now and smile, but my first memories of Konoha didn't go over very well with me. It wasn't until we were getting ready to leave Suna that I thought about all of the positives."
Of course, this meant that her attitude only started to change after Yuurei had modified the seal on her neck...but both parties were sure that she would have made that switch without his influence. Why wouldn't she fondly remember the day he'd stolen her away from Kumo's clutches? It wasn't as if he'd doomed her to an ignominous nukenin's life; not only did she have more freedom than she'd ever been given in her village, but her meaningful connections had skyrocketed. How many lone ninja could claim to be friends with two of the five Kage? Even the Kage themselves couldn't achieve that!
Yuurei only shook his head, slowly clearing away the mental cobwebs as he looked around him. The road itself remained pristine—clearly, someone took pride in how they maintained it—but the scars from the battle remained, if he looked closely. Keeping himself from getting too lost in thought, the demon's mismatched eyes looked ahead of him.
"We should get off the main road," he said. Without another word, the trio vanished into the forest surrounding them; even if Yuurei hadn't mentioned it, neither Tayuya nor Yugito wanted to be found by Konoha's general forces. In short order, Yuurei led the two women on a route that cut to the northwest; he had no intention of entering through the heavily-trafficked eastern gate. The northern section of the city was typically ignored by ninja attempting to enter or leave the village—it housed the majority of the civilian population, and poverty naturally ran rampant in places an affluent ninja avoided. It had always been that way.
After learning about his heritage and inheritance, Yuurei hadn't typically returned to the slums in person; the other orphans had quietly mastered their methods for survival. In a way, that made it even more ironic that he'd come to the northern gate during the invasion of Konoha.
The prodigal son had returned, for the second time—but likely not the last.
"I'm going to open a hole in the sealing array. We'll pass undetected," Yuurei said, confident. Even if he hadn't had the time to pore over Kakashi's memories throughout the last year, he had enough faith in his Fuinjutsu skills that he didn't think it would matter.
Yugito and Tayuya looked at one another apprehensively, remembering the last time they'd broken into a hidden village. This was Yuurei's homeland, though—surely he didn't intend to go on another killing spree?
The demon couldn't read his companions' thoughts like he could with Mei, though the new Mizukage had mostly trained herself into a defended state of mind. If he could have heard their fears, though, he would have cast them aside. Weaving the hand seals that allowed him to open a gap in Konoha's invisible defense system, he sprang over the city wall with savage grace.
These were the streets that had raised him. These were the tenacious people who continued to struggle onward, even as their lives failed to meaningfully improve. He had a profound respect for them.
"My parents' home is a short distance away," the demon continued, not used to monologuing like this. "Once you've disguised yourselves, we can make our way there."
Looking to either side of him, Yuurei realized that Tayuya and Yugito had both already performed a henge to transform their appearance. Yugito's long hair had turned brown, and her facial features had sharpened considerably; in contrast, Tayuya seemed to have grown almost as tall as the ex-Jinchuriki, with white hair and green eyes. Seeing that their foreign hitai-ate had also disappeared, Yuurei nodded in satisfaction.
"And you're...not going to change your appearance?" Tayuya asked, confused.
"Of course not. I was able to move undetected in these streets before I was five years old." The demon's confidence was resolute, and not without basis—during his childhood career as the Banchou, the most prolific thief that Konoha had ever dealt with, he'd never been seen or apprehended.
"Whatever you say," Yugito replied, rolling her eyes. She knew Yuurei was telling the truth, but how much of that was perspective? With the knowledge he'd gained in the last year, let alone his experiences before then, did he really think he'd avoided all notice? There was no way that a child could...
The blonde's train of thought was interrupted, quite rudely, by the realization that she couldn't feel Yuurei's presence—and her eyes, all of a sudden, didn't want to acknowledge that he was beside her. She knew he was right next to her, just like she knew Tayuya was on his other side, but her seventh sense could perceive the redhead just fine. How had Yuurei erased himself like that?
"Walk like the shadow of a ghost," the demon said. "I'll have to teach this to both of you."
On the journey that followed, short as it was, Tayuya felt that her saving grace was the connection she'd formed with Yugito; the two women had become so accustomed to following behind and beside Yuurei that, though she couldn't feel her master's presence, a few brief glimpses of him allowed Tayuya to keep herself aligned with Yugito while they moved. After a few minutes of travel, throughout which the last of the Otoyon never saw hide or hair of a roaming Anbu, their trio arrived at the entrance to a spacious family home. Truthfully, it was more like a small mansion than a typical house, but that was to be expected. Yuurei's parents, after all, had been prominent figures in Konoha's recent past.
All at once, Yuurei's existence returned to the forefront of his companions' attention, spooking the pair into releasing their henge. Turning to look at them, the demon sent a sly expression in their direction; he didn't say anything, and knew he didn't need to. Schooling his face to prevent his smugness from overtaking him, he opened the door to his home with ease.
"Shouldn't it be locked?" Yugito asked, immediately on guard.
"Sai probably forgot to lock it, whenever he left. Whatever it was that he got taught...he lost a little more than his emotions," Yuurei said.
"Or maybe," the white-skinned teen said as he walked into view, "I hadn't left yet."
"Or maybe he hasn't left yet," Yuurei copied his subordinate, correcting himself as Yugito rolled her eyes. "Where is Ayame?"
"I took her back to Oto no Kuni. My father is...rehabilitating her. You probably don't want to know the details," Sai replied.
"You absolutely do not." Tayuya's voice carried a shudder with it, a slight twitch shaking her skull as she processed the meaning behind Sai's words. Yuurei walked past the pale soldier, his imposing frame beginning to loom over objects that he'd looked up at during his childhood. And yet, as he stared at the mantel, his fierce features seemed to lighten up.
"I've returned," the demon said, looking the picture in front of him with a quiet mind. It captured his parents' smiling faces, and he'd been sure to appreciate all that they'd left for him. To an orphan, forced to live alone or in a group, nothing could have been more important than discovering their heritage. Regardless of the home he'd made his own, this photograph represented just how much more he'd been provided than his fellow urchins.
He'd left this place smaller, younger, unscarred. Returning now, the demon's flesh had been carved with stories—and his unnatural left eye rotated its tomoe at a lazy speed.
"The Hokage will be leaving for Suna in two days, making an appearance at a new round of Chunin exams. Your best window of operation will start four days from now, when he's too far out for any word of the incident to reach him until he returns. I'll be taking my leave now, Banchou."
Yuurei glanced in Sai's direction, nodding before the black-armored teen quickly walked out the front door. Now that he was alone with Yugito and Tayuya again, the demon began to relax.
"We'll be safe here," he said, his gaze once again locked on the picture of his parents. Closing his eyes and forcefully tearing his line of sight away, Yuurei turned around to look at his companions once again.
"You think we shouldn't have come?" Tayuya's question was soft-spoken, her master's actions easily readable.
"We needed to. Still need to." Yuurei was adamant. "I can suffer through it for a few days...but this house has never been so empty."
Neither woman felt the need to question that statement, closing the distance between Yuurei and themselves. Before they made it all the way to him, the demon gestured at the chairs and couches around the room—an indication to rest. Their trio hadn't been given much room for respite in the months since they'd left Sunagakure; traveling to, from, and within Kirigakure, not counting their misadventures in Makai or the Blessed Lands, had left them only one night of true rest before their departure. While Yuurei was capable of using his dormant youki to sustain himself, neither of his companions was as capable of ignoring their fatigue. Yugito was in particularly rough shape, with her body still attempting to readjust to being alive again.
Coming to this realization, as the three of them sat down, Yuurei looked at his fellow blonde with a curious expression.
"Is something wrong?" Yugito matched her master's expression, uncertain. Reclining on a plush sofa, both Tayuya and Yuurei were in her field of view as they sat in nearby chairs.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but now that we have the time...I'm starting to wonder. What was it like in the Blessed Lands?"
"Overcrowded." The former Jinchuriki's answer came without hesitation. "And filled with a ridiculous number of everybody, from all the universes where they've died. Some of them were trying to find their lovers, some wanted to be left alone, and some of them were enjoying the company of other dead souls. I saw ghosts of the ancient past, people I might have known, people who might have known me...at the time, it seemed perfectly fine. Now, I can't imagine how anybody could have done anything."
Tayuya raised an eyebrow at that explanation, catching herself before her mouth could get her into a mess. Yuurei only nodded. While he hadn't been expecting that answer, he hadn't been sure what to expect.
"And...how did it feel?" Tayuya asked, seeming to struggle with her words.
"What do you mean?" Yugito answered the redhead's question with one of her own.
"You didn't, uh...fuck. You didn't die peacefully. I just...I wondered if it made it difficult for you to be there," Tayuya said. The hesitation she was displaying was unlike her, but Yuurei couldn't say that he didn't understand—no matter their curiosity, neither of them wanted to upset Yugito by asking questions centered around her experience with dying and being dead. Fortunately, the taller woman didn't seem particularly bothered.
"It was peaceful. I'm sure that many of those people used to be enemies when they were alive, but something about the Blessed Lands seems to mellow them. Coming back to life was a much greater shock," the blonde declared. Yuurei's hair shook as he nodded in understanding, silently grateful that he wasn't the only one asking questions.
"That's just my experience though," Yugito continued. "What did you go through to bring me back? It couldn't have been easy. Nothing with you, either of you, ever is."
Tayuya and Yuurei looked at one another, not sure where to begin. The room was uncomfortably quiet for a few moments, until the diminutive redhead broke their shared silence.
"I don't think there's a way I can explain it that makes it sound believable," she said, completely serious.
"He," Yugito lazily pointed at Yuurei, "put an enslavement seal on me. Then we met an ancient demon in the desert. Then he killed my cousins. Then he blew up Takigakure. Then we all went to Kiri and killed a bunch of people. I died, and the two of you found a way to bring me back to life. What about him, and now us, makes any sense? Try me."
Yuurei flipped his palms upward in a minimal shrug as Yugito's hand fell, not willing to debate his strange nature.
"I activated a sealing array between our world and Makai," the demon said, entirely serious. "I killed hundreds of people just by activating it."
"I thought Makai was broken? The Biju never returned to it because the entire realm was irreparably shattered," Yugito replied.
"It was, but not when we got there. We found, uh...another Yuurei in Makai. A much, much older one? And stronger. Said he'd been there for...five thousand years?" Tayuya added, detailing the story. "I'm pretty sure he was tweaking his face off. There's no logical explanation for how, or why, he did anything that he did. He opened up a path for us to go to the Blessed Lands."
"We wandered around for about a month, and then a Shinigami attacked us. I killed it, we entered the Speargod's hall, and I tricked him into putting your soul back into your body. He thought he was trading my life for yours, but I knew something he didn't." Yuurei concluded the story with a mocking grin.
"You...killed a Shinigami?" Yugito asked.
"Please, for all I fucking love, don't take its head out. Watching you tear it off was enough." Tayuya's open plea was coupled with a rankled expression, the redhead's face scrunching up with distaste. Though the frown on Yuurei's face was clear, he didn't speak to reprimand or correct the much smaller woman.
"How else will people believe that story?" Yugito asked. "Don't get me wrong. I saw it before he sealed it away, and once was enough for a lifetime. But really..."
"I don't know, damn it, maybe the fact that he can't seem to lie?" Tayuya shot back. "Not to get on your case, but that thing creeps me the fuck out."
From the single look she'd gotten of the aforementioned severed head, Yugito couldn't blame the redhead for her aversion. What she didn't know, though, was the range of emotions that Tayuya had gone through as Yuurei had fought the reaper. Though her demonic master had come out unscathed, the image of a Shinigami attempting to bite his head in half was perfect nightmare fuel—and so was the fact that she would never have noticed its arrival on that mountaintop.
Those were thoughts of the past, though. For now, the trio began to make themselves comfortable—they would be here for at least half a week, waiting for Yuurei to scrounge up some kind of plan to achieve his goals.
