I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Bad News
Ryuu walked away from the others, hand gripping his tanto's grip so hard his knuckles turned white. He and Sasuke had made it back to the Island Turtle but only to find out Madara had payed it a visit. With the combined strength of everyone present, he had been forced to retreat, and with several wounds to boot, but not before he had managed to take Nagato's left eye. His right was intact but he was at only half the strength now.
"I'm sorry," Nagato said.
"For what?" Ryuu asked. "It's your eye. I'm just tired of Madara managing to win no matter what we do."
"Did you deal with Helios?" Suigetsu asked.
"Only thanks to Kabuto," Ryuu sighed. "Until Kabuto poisoned him, we couldn't even fight him. He was playing with us. But yes. Helios is dead now."
"Good," Guy nodded. "We should be at the Land of Lightning soon. Once there, we will most likely be shifted to positions in the war."
Ryuu nodded and looked out into the open air. He was seated on one of the spikes around the outside of the Isalnd Turtle's shell so that he could feel the breeze as they flew and so that he could stay relatively alone. So far, Guy was the only one present.
"Do you regret it?" Guy asked.
"Never," Ryuu said shaking his head. "Helios had to die. Everything I've done has been necessary. I regret Itachi's death. I regret not being able to save Fu. But I will never regret killing Helios. Still..."
"It doesn't make it easier living with having taken a life," Guy stated. "It's a funny thing. All this time fighting, all the times you take a life, and in the end, the person who truly deserves to die still weighs heavily on your conscience. I hate to admit it, but I've claimed so many lives that it no longer effects me. I've become jaded."
"I'm not as soft as I was before either," Ryuu stated.
"I know," Guy nodded. "You've changed a lot since we met. Back then, even killing one person was enough to make you question yourself. Now...I don't know if it's good or bad that you are able to kill so much easier now. It is good that you still feel guilt for taking a life. It means that the line between right and wrong has not blurred in your eyes yet. Hang onto that. Hold onto your humanity. Your morals. In a war, you'll need them to keep heart."
"You're right," Ryuu nodded. "I do still need my morals...but...until I save Fu, nothing will make me lose heart. And no amount of guilt will stop me doing what has to be done. If anyone tries to stop me, they die. Simple as that."
"You know, I could see Sasuke saying something like that," Guy stated. "But...I always thought you were the more...collected of the two."
"I used to be," Ryuu said. "I used to keep him in check. Now, he keeps me from doing something stupid."
"You sure have changed," Guy sighed. "Just be careful, okay?"
Ryuu didn't respond so Guy turned and returned to the turtle. Ryuu stared out at the clouds. Then, he leaned sideways, falling off the spike and flying down to Onoki.
"What reports about the enemy's forces do you know?" Ryuu asked.
"I know that Madara commands an army of one hundred thousand white creatures called Zetsu not entirely unlike that arm of yours. In addition to them, there are also reincarnated shinobi. I don't know exactly how many or exactly who but I know that Kabuto wouldn't revive just anyone."
"No," Ryuu sighed. "He'd revive strong shinobi capable of wiping out dozens of ours without needing to rely on their ability to regenerate. He would then deploy them against groups of enemies that would be most effected by their presence...he'll reincarnate thw Akatsuki, and send Itachi after me and Sasuke."
"That does soud like Kabuto," Onoki nodded. "He will likely have thought to gather quite a few of the most famous shinobi."
Ryuu nodded in agreement and looked down. They were nearing land so it wouldn't be more than an hour before Onoki put the turtle down. Ryuu looked toward land again and sighed.
"What's the matter?" Onoki asked.
"I want to stop Kabuto before it's too late," Ryuu stated. "But...aside from not knowing where he is, I also want to defend my friends."
"Perhaps you could defend them by stopping Kabuto," Onoki suggested. "The reincarnated shinobi will be the biggest threat anyway."
"That's true," Ryuu agreed. "But still..."
He fell silent, thinking, and slowly rose back up to the spikes above. Onoki set the turtle down after another few minutes then flew up onto the turtle, Ryuu following him to the others.
"We've arived," Onoki stated as they landed. "I'm going to meet up with the other Kage. I'll be taking the Uchiha and the former Akatuki leaders with me."
"Alright," Guy nodded. "Good luck."
Sasuke nodded and looked to Suigetsu and Jugo who stood, Suigetsu picking up his sword.
"I'm going to head over and make sure Karin hasn't gotten herself in trouble yet," Suigetsu stated.
"I'm going as well," Jugo stated. "They may need my strength."
Sasuke nodded and turned to Onoki and Ryuu.
"We're ready," Ryuu stated.
Onoki nodded and flew off of the turtle, Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi following. Sasuke copied the jutsu and flew after them. Before leaving, Ryuu placed a hand on Konan and Nagato's shoulders, activating his Sharingan and lightening them so they could fly, as Onoki did for Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi. The jutsu he had copied from Onoki was the same, however Ryuu planned to create a Wind Style version.
The three of them flew after Onoki, soon reaching a large building near Kumogakure They landed in front of the building and walked inside, Onoki leading them to a room with a circular table with the middle open and a large sphere of water floating over it. The other four Kage stood around the table watching the images playing inside. Inoichi was seated off to one side with an oddly shaped grey helmet covering the top half of his head and several tubes leading out of the back into the wall. Shikaku stood with the Kage, along with a couple of others, but as Ryuu and the others stepped into the room, they all turned to him.
"Welcome back Onoki," A greeted. "Ryuu."
Ryuu nodded a greeting before looking to the Mizukage, Mei. He nodded and she smiled.
"I take it your mission was a success?" Tsunade asked.
"Yes," Ryuu nodded. "Helios is dead. Though, it was a much closer fight than I'd like to admit. We only won because Kabuto also wanted him dead."
"I see," Tsunade nodded. "It doesn't matter. As long as he's gone, that's a major threat in this war that we don't have to plan for. Now, do you know anything about the war?"
"We're up against an army of Zetsu clones and an unknown number of reincarnated shinobi," Ryuu stated.
"Yes," Shikaku nodded. "They're currently fighting on several fronts. Kakashi's division is in the Land of Hot Water, along with Kankuro's. They're fighting revived members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist Village and a few revived member of the Akatsuki, along with a handful of other revived shinobi. There's also an attack on the Land of Lightning's western coast from several reincarnated shinobi. Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino are there. And I suspect it's where you'll head. The reincarnated shinobi are Asuma Sarutobi, an Akatsuki member named Kakuzu who was one of the two that killed Asuma, and a shinobi named Dan Kato, who has the ability to separate his soul from his body in order to possess others and force them to attack each other."
"I'm going there," Ryuu said turning to Sasuke. "Go help Kakashi."
Sasuke nodded and left with the Body Flicker Technique.
"What about us?" Nagato asked.
"For now stay here," Ryuu said. "We'll probably summon you when we meet the main body of Kabuto and Madara's army."
"Alright," Nagato nodded. "We'll help out here. But Ryuu. You should know that Madara now has access to the same techniques that I used to control Pein. You can expect to meet his own version of the technique. And given Madara Uchiha's power, they will be more powerful than mine."
"I have a theory of who he will use," Ryuu said. "I just pray we can find him before that happens."
"Who?" Shikaku asked.
"Akatsuki or Jinchuriki," Ryuu said. "The Jinchuriki may not have tailed beasts anymore, but they will all be incredibly strong from containing that much power while they were alive. Either option is very unappealing."
"True," Shikaku nodded.
"I'm leaving," Ryuu stated. "I leave the protection of Nagato's remaining Rinnegan to you all."
And with that, he disappeared in a flash of light.
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