1. LEGATEE OF AN EVIL RACE

There are numerous accounts relating about how the 4th shinobi world war ended but the consensus gravitates towards the most simple one - a wicked descendant of the mythical sage of six paths sought to bring about a violent revolution to the shinobi world. He subjugated the 9 tailed beasts with his evil eyes and fought with the legendary hero of the fourth world war in the interim his ancestor had put the world in the eternal dream. But that hero prevailed and released the world from its slumber. Or so the saying goes. However there is another prevailing belief inspite of being quite fantastical even by shinobi standards. It goes that the hero and the villain fought each other to a standstill until their forearms were destroyed. However, the sage of six paths enraged by his older descendants' foulness, returned to the material plane and permanently banished him to another world. And thereafter used his remaining chakra to undo the neverending illusion before dissapearing back into the ethereal.

Regardless of whichever version of these two the truth might be, one thing is for certain. The modern world was shaped by that legendary hero Uzumaki Naruto and his descendants while his wicked enemy and former ally, the notorious criminal Sasuke was never heard of again.

- Ieyasu Aburame

Author of Modern Shinobi history

Fire Temple Library

The cool breeze caused the leaves to swirl about the chateau giving the whole scene an idyllic feel. And yet a man paced in the balcony as if possessed by devil.

"Are you completely sure about this Karen?" he asked in a desperate tone. Hoping against his own common sense that her next words would negate his worries. And yet her response was anything but such.

"Absolutely, Elliot." She affirmed. "Our guys inside DEM and CIA spies in MI6 both are in agreement. Westcott is in possession of Beelzebub. He seems to have gotten to Nia Honjo before we could get her and killed her former assistant in front of her. That was enough to cause her to invert. My sister then did what she usually does. Ratatoskr did manage to infiltrate the base but those two had already left by then. We did manage to retrieve Honjo's corpse however."

"The men are awaiting your further instructions Mr Woodman." She finished softly.

"Ask them to prepare a funeral for Miss Honjo. As regretfully late as we were to save her, this is the least we can do for her now." he replied authoritatively. "But before that I need you to follow me, there is something only we two can do."

"You don't mean-" She asked, gobstruck.

"Yes." He cut her off. "This is a sin only we were privy to, it is our responsibility to bear these burdens. Please prepare the altered spirit formula."

"But, you saw the disaster that struck 30 years ago, we are still reaping its consequences. What makes you think this time will go any better? Besides didn't you say all the mana from this world had been concentrated in that circle? How will this one even work?"

"I did mention all the mana from this world, yes. This is an altered formula afterall." he replied mirthfully. "Please Karen, I need you to trust me. Westcott now has power to bend the world to his will. Ratatoskr as it is now is just weeks away from being slaughtered. We aren't going to be in a position to even fight back. We need to do this."

This time his tone was pleading and Karen Mira Mathers was too weak to ever deny him when he was like that.

10th April, 20XX

Origami pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course the day would end up like this. It had started too good for the rest to have passed idly away by. She had woken up early enough to have time to cook both her favourite breakfast and obento. So it was only natural that she would find her lunch interrupted by a space quake alarm. Not just was there a spirit in Tengu city, but her base was at less than full strength as well. Additional manpower had been requested by national command for previous unsuccessful expedition against WITCH, and her comrades were still recovering from the trauma of being transmuted into toys.

As her squadron launched from JGSDF base, there had been an ill feeling in her stomach. As if she were flying to her impending doom. But fear was nothing special, she had overcome it several times by now. And this time would be no different. Or so she had thought any ways.

It had started when they had spotted PRINCESS. Before they could get into the agreed upon formation, Satsuki suddenly crashed into the ground. That had blown their cover. Their target was now looking in their direction. Setsuna had followed the line of impact to rescue her only to pause and stand paralysed midway before she turned back and fired her missiles towards Akane and then fainted. In the meantime PRINCESS cut down Chiyo's CR-unit and kicked Akari with enough force to plow her through half a dozen houses and the shock waves of which sent both her and Aya tumbling several feet away. That had left just the two of them.

That was when she saw it. A figure rushed out of the smoke ripped apart the realizer force field with its right hand covered in lightning and grabbed Aya's head.

"Chidori nagashi" he yelled and electrocuted her teammate before she had could use her CRU to counteract.

He then moved towards her and she could now clearly see him. Sleeveless black robe with collar high enough to be covering half his face underneath which there was an orange mask with black flame patterns and one hole through which his right eye was visible. One very red iris with black patterns swirling about. Spiky black hair behind it, with two bangs framing both sides of his face. A katana holster placed on the left side of his waist and navy blue pants with bandages covering his lower waist. Both forearms and wrists covered by armguards and gloves consecutively.

Tobiichi Origami drilled his face into the depths of her memory.

"Who are you? What is your purpose here? Why attack us?" She asked while gritting her teeth.

"Hmmm. Lots of questions. Well, to answer in that order. You may call me Tobi. I am here to tame that spirit over there and your squad were in the way. It's nothing personal."

"Is that so?" She growled. "You really are the lowest of the low. Now die." The time for chatter was over. She had used the brief time to load her CRU cannon to full charge and now unleashed the full might of it in his direction. The recoil of the resulting explosion threw her back several feet but she maintained her aerial balance. Atleast now with him gone she could focus on-

Her thoughts came to a standstill as she looked at clearing smoke and debris to find him standing unfazed, purple aura dissipating around him.

"Not half bad." He mused loudly.

Origami readied her CRU cannon again. This time she would hit him right in his stupid swirling red eye-

Her consiousness faded as she made the mistake of looking an Uchiha in the eye. With a thud, Origami fell to the ground. Leaving both of her antagonists facing each other.

She stood in statuesque poise. Her breathing was uniform, her form composed. The armor gleamed all around her, amplifying her beauty and grace. She held the broadsword in a cool stance. The throne behind her giving off the image of her being a noblewoman, temporarily perched off her throne to vanquish her enemies.

"Why did you strike down your own fellow humans?" she asked perplexed.

"They were weak rif-raff and would have just gotten in the way. It's better this way. Now no one would be in my way while I am subduing you."

She held no lost love for the fallen soldiers who had incessantly pursued and pestered her inspite of their relative weakness, but to see one of their own treat them so contemptuously disgusted her at some fundamental level.

"Hmph. Not just are you cruel but also delusional. Working together with them was the only shot a weakling like you would have had of surviving against me. Now perish owing to your own hubris."

She swung her sword in his direction. The resulting shockwave demolished everything in an expanding circular arc. Everything until it met his sword. He trivially deflected the wave with his sword now chirping and glowing with electricity.

She then lunged at him. He parried her, but that had been the expected response. Her broadsword smoldered, pulsating with energy. She unleashed it point blank. The resulting explosion of heat, dust and debris clouded her vision. In hindsight, that had been a mistake. She put up an energy barrier around her in the nick of time, but she wasn't fast enough and not enough energy had been condensed. A sword made of lightning cut through it from behind. But stopped short of her head. She spun around and fired another energy blast.

The smoke cleared to reveal a macabre spectral skeleton around him.

'It could have gotten difficult without the Susanoo. Undoubtedly, you are an impressive being. More comparable to an impetuous tailed beast than a docile human.'

But his complements were falling on deaf ears. For the first time in her existence, the entity called PRINCESS had faced an enemy she couldn't easily overcome. Her mind was overflowing with a plethora of emotions - rage, despair, frustration but most importantly, fear. She had never felt scared before. She decided she did not like it.

PRINCESS roared. "SANDALPHON – HALVANHELEV!"

The sky shattered. The winds howled. The debris and smoke all radiated outward with her as epicenter. Even the minute molecules fleeing her ungodly wrath. Her throne shattered into pieces, its fragments merging with her flaming sword. The augmented sword now overflowing with obscene power, she strode forth. It was then that she noticed that her antagonist had removed his mask, his pretty face was adorned with an ornate left eye, purple in contrast to right red one. Somehow seeming even more complete and perfect. He then dropped his sword on the ground.

Was this surrender? It didn't seem that way. His posture was now even more guarded. And there wasn't an ounce of fear in his eyes.

Whatever it was it didn't matter. PRINCESS reasoned. There wasn't an existence in this world that could stop Halvanhelev. With a little power in her hand, she "killed" the space that separated him from her. For a brief fraction of a moment, she could see surprise in his right eye.

Too late for regrets. You dug your own grave. Thinking so, she swung her sword. But this time it was her turn to be surprised. He disappeared in that fraction of a moment and appeared behind her. This time his hand didn't cut through her barrier, it instead drank through it. He grabbed her throat and lifted her by her neck.

"Gakido" he muttered when she looked him in the eye.

Strength left her limbs instantly. She didn't even realize she had dropped her sword. A tiny part of her brain wondered if she had been the foolish one all along. That if their entire battle had been a setup for this moment when he absorbed her powers. But it was, as it is often said, too late for regrets.

PRINCESS lost her consciousness.

Two men walked across the corridor. One a middle aged one and the other a youthful teenager.

"You look so gloomy. Its surprising that someone so young has such cold look in your eye. One could even mistake you for a hardened criminal." The older man joked.

"I didn't have the warmest upbringing. Besides while I am thankful for you renting me an apartment on such short notice, I am not very fond of giving interviews". The youth bluntly replied.

His older counterpart laughed it off. "Oh don't be so grumpy. Akihito was wary of selling house to a shady young man with money so he requested me for advice. Just consider this a test of character." He winked. "I personally think you are a decent young man with a good head on your shoulders."

"You see I started this business decades back, Eurasian sky disaster had caused a lot of east asian migrants to move to japan. The idea was to create cheap and sustainable housing for all of them. It wasn't an easy job, but I'd like to believe that I have done some social good at least. Rest assured, I won't turn away a young man in need of help."

"Thank you"

"No need to be formal. Besides, where are you from?"

"Somewhere quite far away."

"Far away from Tengu city or Japan?"

"Something like the latter."

"Mm hmm. I didn't catch your name, son."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"That's a good name. I am Takamiya Shinji. The owner of Takamiya housing enterprises. It's been a pleasure doing business with you."