Chapter 16: Hologram
The early beams of light shone down on the Hidden Rain Village as well. The usual bustle began to spawn, with a single man watched everything from the top of the tallest tower in the village. In his eyes, Roku was able to see five other scenes. In one scene, he was walking the streets, passing by the markets. In another, he was in a tavern, lifting a mug to his lips. He could also see the original base of operations. In the last two scenes, he saw a mountainous cliff lined with trees, and a deep, dark cave. This is well… I will watch over the village with two bodies, watch the temporary headquarters with another, and focus the other two on finding a suitable location to construct the King of Hell…
In the headquarters, the man standing guard, with large auburn Mohawk and numerous piercing, picked up a piece of paper detailing two special jutsus. He picked it up to read, and as he did, so did Roku, atop the tower.
Roku mused out loud, "Astral Projection jutsu… and this Shape Shift jutsu… It seems there are a few important details that I failed to mention to the others… but with the first jutsu…"
Roku performed the hand signs that he saw with the eyes of the man at the headquarters.
-
Yami had not yet left the Hidden Rain Village. In a tavern he sat, a straw poking out of the corner of his mask, into the mug he held in his gloved hand. The tavern had only a few people in it, as morning had just come. Most of the people who were in the tavern were passed out from the previous night of activity. One, however, caught Yami's attention. He had an auburn ponytail, and many piercings on his face. Yami immediately realized it was Roku, as he spotted the Rin'negan eyes watching him. So this is the ability… The Eyes of Reincarnation… Just how many bodies can you control at once, Roku?
An odd buzzing noise emitted from the air. Yami turned to look at the chair across from him, and sure enough, Roku was sitting there… or so it seemed. A shadowy figure, also with the Rin'negan, filled the seat, but the body was obviously not real, as it flickered and buzzed.
In a deep, distorted voice, he spoke, "Yami, I'm calling all Akatsuki to meet a top the tower from last night. There is important information that I need to share. I expect you to be here in half an hour's time."
-
Half an hour passed. Roku had contacted Yami first, and each pairing, and they gradually arrived to the top, with a sleep-deprived Kuro and a relaxed Tsunami rejoining last. Roku nodded in acknowledgement and performed the hand signs yet again, closing his eyes as he did. This time, the shadowy figured appeared right behind the group, buzzing loudly.
The distorted shadow spoke up, "Remember this jutsu. While you all travel the world, we will not be able to meet in person very often. I have a… clone of sorts at the original headquarters, nearby here. Most of you have already been inside, so you know where it is. In the case that you capture a Bijuu, you will contact me by using this jutsu and focusing on that location. At that point, I will contact all of you, and you will then use this jutsu again, focusing on the site of the sealing statue, which we will begin construction on tomorrow. The exception to this is for the pair that captures the Bijuu. That pair will have to physically be present at the sealing site because they need to bring the body."
The shadowy figure disappeared, and the real Roku's eyes opened. He continued, "Furthermore, there is a second jutsu that has caught my interest. The sealing process requires ten of us to be at it's best. Therefore, we will be unable to defend ourselves in the event of an attack. In that event, I can take a percentage of your chakra and transform an extra shinobi, perhaps one we abduct, giving it that percentage of your chakra. That clone will be able to perform most of your own techniques, and thus, be able to guard over us. The exceptions to the techniques that can be copied by the Shape Shifted clones include all Doujutsus and special bloodlines."
Roku cleared his throat, looking around, "Be well rested for tomorrow, Momoro, Stonewall, Izune, and Kosshi. You will begin construction of the King of Hell statue tomorrow. Yami, you may feel free to return to the Hidden Sound Village to research now. The rest of you may begin your searches for the Bijuus you have been assigned. Do not attack, however, until I contact you again." Roku took a quick glance around, noticing only Kosshi wearing the Neo-Akatsuki cloak. He added, "As for all of your, I request that you dawn your uniforms now. You're no longer mere shinobi."
-
Naruto ran like he had never run before. Through the village he ran, dodging between pedestrians and carts in the streets. It can't be… I won't believe it…But I have to check…
Quickly, the Hokage arrived to the house of Uchiha. He broke right through the door to find Sasuke in his throne, which bore a Sharingan pattern on it's high back. Sasuke looked up and frowned, "I've heard of the murder attempts, but I didn't detect anything unusual here last night…"
"Sasuke, the culprits are believed to be reptiles," Naruto called out, his thoughts racing. "You and Anko are the only ones in the village capable of summoning reptiles, snakes to be exact. Snakes are the most likely reptile to inflict deadly wounds like that, and this attack was too organized and too coincidental to be random incidents."
"Are you saying you suspect me?" Sasuke called out angrily, rising from his throne.
"Twenty-five years ago, when I found you again, you told me the story Madara told you about the Uchiha clan. I just want to make sure you aren't thinking the way Madara did…"
"Naruto… I am nothing like Madara," Sasuke answered calmly. "And furthermore…"
It suddenly hit Naruto. If someone infiltrated the house of Uchiha without Sasuke, Sakura, or me so much as noticing…and he spoke his thoughts, "If someone infiltrated your home… Have you checked to make sure everything is safe?"
Sasuke shook his head, biting his thumb and smearing it on his palm. After the appropriate hand signs, he slammed his palm into the ground to perform summoning jutsu…
Nothing appeared.
Sasuke fell back into his throne, his mouth gaping. The Hokage ran forward and grabbed him, "Sasuke, what's wrong!?"
"I just tried to summon the snakes that guard the vault…" the Uchiha head began. Naruto's blinked in disbelief as his friend continued, "The summoning failed… so the snakes… must be dead…"
"Then the vault…!"
Both men got up and ran down the hall. It wasn't long before they came before a pure white wall, marble, different from the pale brown wood that the rest of the house was made of. Sasuke smeared the blood on his thumb in the shape of the Uchiha fan on the marble. In an instant, the marble dematerialized, and the two began to descend the stairs behind the marble.
Down the winding path they went, in silence. Sasuke began to shake a bit, "It's not supposed to be this silent… Snakes are supposed to hiss as soon as you get on the stairs…"
They made it to the bottom of the stairs, where they gaped in horror at the scene. A pile of almost a dozen snakes lay before them, some with bloody mouths. Behind them sat a small vault, wide open. But inside the vault…
Nothing.
"They've been stolen…" Sasuke fell to his knees as Naruto moved forward, examining the snakes.
"The look in their eyes is very distant. They seem to have died under some genjutsu…" Naruto started to chew on the inside of his lip. This is our greatest fear… the darkest secrets of the Uchiha clan now lie in the hands of someone… Most likely, someone within the Akatsuki… and if we die, we no longer have someone to readily succeed us… This was too well organized… We were fooled too easily…
Next Chapter: One Week Later