CHAPTER 36

HIDDEN LEAF PRISON

Shikamaru stared at the smiling old man, studying him. He didn't appear to have any tricks up his sleeve. Plus, he's been locked up for a few years now with little food, barely any water, and he's chained up. What could he possibly do?

"So…" Shikamaru started.

Zayoshi looked up and smiled.

"You'll tell me everything you know about Psycho? Right here right now?" Shikamaru asked.

Zayoshi continued to smile.

"Of course, I'm a man of my word. Plus… doesn't look like I have much of a choice does it?" Zayoshi said.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Then get talking." Shikamaru demanded, "We're on short time."

Zayoshi sat up straight to get his arms, that were chained to the wall, in a more comfortable position.

"Alright! Where should I begin? Perhaps with how we met?" Zayoshi asked.

Shikamaru grew irritated.

"Yes. That would be an ideal area." Shikamaru said.

Zayoshi smiled again.

"Sounds good. Alright." Zayoshi said, clearing his throat.

"Psycho and I met 25yrs ago. Just a mere year before the second great shinobi world war, a war that as you know we would take part in. I was 40yrs old at the time at my home island of Zou." Zayoshi started.

Shikamaru winced.

"Zou? Where is that? I've never heard of that place." Shikamaru asked.

Zayoshi laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha! This is going to be fun Shikamaru-kun! Zou is an island on the back of a millennium year old elephant in the New World." Zayoshi explained.

Shikamaru clenched his fist.

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE UP THINGS THEN THERE'S NO POINT IN TALKING TO YOU!" Shikamaru yelled.

Zayoshi's face was hidden by shadow.

"Oh that's right… you ninja aren't aware are you?" Zayoshi said softly.

Shikamaru retracted.

"Huh? Aware of what?" Shikamaru asked.

"Looks like I'll have to give you a small history lesson before I explain my business with Psycho… if you please." Zayoshi said.

Shikamaru, his interest peaked, nodded softly. Zayoshi cleared his throat.

"A long time ago… there was a war. A war that involved a lot of different people from a lot of different places. The sides specifically were four: Marines, Sayians, Benders, and… Ninja." Zayoshi said.

Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"This war lasted for a total of 100yrs and as you could expect a lot of people died… heh heh and I mean a lot! Anyway, this war was fought to essentially protect the world from the other sides as everyone thought the other wanted to destroy this beautiful world we call home. Unfortunately,… this war accomplished nothing! 100yrs of death and destruction all for nothing. The benders went to the other half of the world, sayians left this world entirely and went to space, and as for the last two…" Zayoshi paused.

Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"The marines bared an insane grudge against the ninja for their part in the war and refused to share land with them. The first king of Alabasta was chosen around this time and spoke with the head of the world government on how they should handle the ninja… they ultimately chose to sanction them off onto a giant remote area on the outskirts of the Alabasta kingdom… land you all still inhabit to this day. If you think about it the five great ninja nations are nothing more than childish forts apart of an entirely different kingdom. You're still on Alabastian soil, well at least the hidden sand village still has it's sandy residue, I see generations have adapted well with what they have to make different hidden villages." Zayoshi explained.

Shikamaru was in a cold sweat at this point.

"But we… we were taught…" Shikamaru was interrupted.

"Ha ha ha! You were taught wrong Shikamaru-kun! I guess the current king of Alabasta felt guilty for his past lives' actions and decided to make a treaty with you all! Can't say that I blame him." Zayoshi said.

Shikamaru was shocked.

"How… how do you know all of this? You couldn't have possibly been alive when all of this went down…" Shikamaru noted.

"Ha ha ha! You're damn right I wasn't! But there were two men who were…" Zayoshi said softly.

Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Psycho and Cyclone are the only ones in the world old enough to know how this world was really formed!" Zayoshi yelled.

Shikamaru couldn't believe it. This young man on the newspaper was centuries years old. This opened the door for many questions.

"Wait wait… how is he still young!? What was his business in the second shinobi world war!?" Shikamaru asked.

Zayoshi smiled.

"Calm yourself, I will tell you what you need to know. Now… where was I? Oh yes, since ninja were essentially banned from entering the Alabasta kingdom there was no way any of you could have so much have even touched the waters of the Grand Line. The New World rests on the second half of these waters. Go deep enough and you'll encounter Zunisha, the elephant I mentioned earlier. I lived on his back with my people as a farmer. One day a couple ambitious young men found me and asked me to join them on their journey."

FLASHBACK

It was a hot summer day on the island of Zou. Zayoshi, 40yrs old at the time, tilled the ground until he heard something.

"Oi! Oi!" A voice called out.

Zayoshi looked up to see the sun shining down on him and two shadowy figures standing over him on his house. One had its arms crossed and the other had a hand on his hip.

"Are you the one they call Zayoshi Botoya?" The shadow asked.

Zayoshi smiled.

"Depends on who's asking young man! I'm quite a popular man with the government! Are you bounty hunters?" Zayoshi asked.

The two figures jumped down and stood up straight. One had on a black jumpsuit with a grey flak jacket, a pattern on the left side of his face, with a black eye ball and red pupil. The other wore a black tank top and black cargo shorts, he also had a white headband wrapped around his forehead, his short black hair showing. One of his eyes were light blue as if it didn't have vision and the other was light purple with rings. Zayoshi smiled at the two.

"Neither of you look like you're from around this part of the world. May I ask who you are?" Zayoshi said casually.

The man in the flak jacket walked forward.

"I'm called "Psycho" Uchiha. This is my brother, Cyclone." Psycho said.

"Uchiha?" Zayoshi asked.

"We've done our research on you. We want you to help us rule this world." Psycho said.

Zayoshi stared with a straight face.

"Rule the world? With a couple of amateurs like yourself? Ha ha ha ha! Get out of here, you young cats are so foolish now adays." Zayoshi joked then went back to tilling.

Psycho and Cyclone continued to stare at the middle aged man. Psycho lifted one of his hands, his palm faced the air, then he slammed his hand shut. Suddenly the entire island shifted and almost seemed to come to a halt. Zayoshi fell over and looked up to see the sky stopped moving. His calm face went to worry and shock.

"What the hell… what the hell did you do?!" Zayoshi asked.

The elephant the people lived on suddenly started to roar and groan. Zayoshi stared towards the direction of the roaring with concern.

"How about you go have a look for yourself." Psycho said.

Zayoshi looked back towards Cyclone who closed his eye and when he opened it again he and Zayoshi were at the end of Zou. Zayoshi couldn't believe it.

"How did we?" Zayoshi was interrupted.

"Don't ask questions. Just look." Cyclone said softly.

Zayoshi slowly crawled to the end of the elephant and looked down and almost passed out with shock. The elephant's leg had been frozen in place. The island continued to shake and rattle as the elephant tried to get out. When Zayoshi turned around to ask Cyclone what was going on he was back in front of Psycho. Zayoshi was in complete shock and couldn't speak. He looked back up to Psycho.

"Zayoshi." Psycho said, offering his hand, "I want you to rule the world with us."

Zayoshi gulped and held out his hand slowly. Eventually, their hands clasped in unison and Psycho stood the man on his feet. Psycho lifted his hand once more and the ice around the elephant's foot melted. Everything was back to normal. Psycho and Cyclone turned around to walk away.

"Cyclone and I are staying here tonight, continue farming or whatever you'd like to do. We leave tomorrow morning." Psycho said.

When the two vanished Zayoshi smiled to himself and began tilling.

"Hm… rule the world he says?... That may not be such a bad idea… no no not at all." Zayoshi thought to himself.

END OF FLASHBACK

LAND OF IRON (NORTH)

Onoki, the Tsuchikage of the village hidden in stone, walked with his two escorts.

"Come on! We can't be late. This is a matter that must be attended to!" Onoki rushed.

Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi rushed to catch up.

"Hey old man! What's the rush? You weren't this eager the last time we had a meeting at the five kage summit!" Kurotsuchi said.

"Hold on give me a minute to catch my breath!" Akatsuchi said.

"No breaks! This meeting must happen on schedule! The man who's currently running wild has disturbed everything!" Onoki yelled.

Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi looked at each other.

"Who exactly is he?" Akatsuchi asked.

"Yeah I've never even heard of him." Kurotsuchi added.

Onoki sighed.

"This man… I've run into him before when I was just a young ninja. During the second great ninja war, however… I understand that this man fought in both the first AND second ninja wars." Onoki explained.

Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi looked at each other with shock.

"What was his business in those wars?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"That man… the reason both of those wars has his name written all over them… was because…"

LAND OF IRON (SOUTH)

"So… Mizukage-sama… could you tell us about this Psycho guy who is attacking um… Marineford or whatever it's called?" Chojuro asked.

Ao looked over at the young man.

"I agree. I am also curious to know about this fellow... who holds the last name "Uchiha." Ao said with disgust.

Mei lowered her head.

"I've personally never seen him… but…" Mei stopped.

Chojuro and Ao looked at her.

"I was told that he… was the one who killed the second Mizukage in the second shinobi world war…" Mei confessed.

Chojuro and Ao couldn't believe it.

"Huh?! Gengetsu-sama!? Is he that strong!?" Chojuro asked.

Mei nodded soflty.

"It appears to be that way… but he didn't only fight in the second shinobi world war… he fought in the first one as well… both wars have one major thing in common…"

LAND OF IRON (EAST)

Ay stormed through the snow covered grounds in the land of iron. Shi and Darui struggled to keep up. B continued to walk at a normal pace writing raps.

"B MOVE IT! WE NEED TO GET TO THIS MEETING!" Ay yelled.

B put away his notepad.

"Come on bro why you in a rush? Surely this meeting ain't that serious to be making a fuss!" Bee said.

Raikage snapped back.

"IT IS A SERIOUS MEETING! THIS BASTARD THAT FINALLY WANTS TO SHOW HIS HEAD AFTER ALL THESE YEARS IS WHO THIS MEETING IS ABOUT AND I WANT EVERY BIT OF INFORMATION THEY HAVE ON HIM!" Ay continued to yell.

Shi and Darui became worried.

"What the hell did he do to piss you off!?" Bee asked.

Ay had enough and turned around to grab Bee by the collar.

"THAT DAMN BASTARD IS THE ONE WHO GOT THE SECOND RAIKAGE KILLED! HE SHAMED OUR VILLAGE AND OUR HISTORY! I WILL BE THE ONE TO FIND AND KILL HIM ONCE AND FOR ALL! WHEN I HEAR WHAT I NEED TO FROM THIS MEETING I'M GOING TO GO FIND HIM WHEREVER HE IS!" Ay yelled.

Bee clenched his teeth and Ay set him down.

"It's destiny that I kill him. And apparently he was at blows with the first raikage as well, the bastard! And to make matters even worse for his case… he was the one who…!"

THE LAND OF IRON (WEST)

Tsunade walked softly through the snow covered ground. Her mind still in a haze from her freak out earlier.

"Lady Tsunade!" A shinobi yelled.

Tsunade shot up.

"Huh? Yes?" Tsunade asked.

"We're nearing the summit! Are you okay?" The shinobi asked.

Tsunade shook her head.

"Yes I'm fine… thank you." Tsunade said.

"Psycho… what the hell could he be doing causing trouble again?... I thought that part of my life was behind me… Dan… he killed him in cold blood as well as every shinobi that was with me in that forest. The second hokage… he… he killed him too I remember… when he went to go fight Psycho alone so we could retreat safely. That man was far more powerful than anything we had ever seen before and to make things worse he's probably only gotten stronger… thank you Garra… for calling this meeting… this needs to be addressed… what other man could be strong enough to…"

HIDDEN LEAF PRISON

Zayoshi smiled after finishing his story of how he and Psycho met.

"So after we left Zou… we traveled through the Grand Line picking up powerful fighters along the way… because you see this was, as I mentioned earlier, only one year before the second ninja war. Once we gathered up our troops we made our way back to the ninja world and… settled in the village hidden in rain." Zayoshi explained.

Shikamaru looked confused.

"Wait… gathering forces for what? Did you know war was coming?" Shikamaru asked.

Zayoshi smiled.

"Oh yes… we knew war was coming… because… just like the first shinobi world war…" Zayoshi stopped.

Shikamaru stared with anticipation.

All at once. Ay, Mei, Onoki, Tsunade, and Zayoshi said:

"HE WAS THE ONE WHO STARTED BOTH THE FIRST AND SECOND NINJA WARS!"

Everyone except Tsunade's men, as she was talking to herself, reacted with pure shock. Shikamaru couldn't believe it. This couldn't be true. The ninja wars were started through conflict between the villages… right?

"You're probably thinking the wars really started from the villages not liking each other… ha ha ha! Well that would be right, but Psycho personally attacked all the villages with the intent to kill their kage off all at once. This would create a huge power struggle that only he could fill. Once he had his seat on top of every village he'd rule as the ninja world's one supreme leader." Zayoshi smiled.

Shikamaru was in absolute shock. He had been lied too about so much.

"Don't feel bad. Shikamaru-kun." Zayoshi broke the silence, "The leaf isn't the only village who lied to its people! Who'd really want to own up to the fact that one man and a rag tag army was almost able to conquer the ninja world!? Ha ha ha ha ha!" Zayoshi laughed, then he became serious.

"There's one other thing…" Zayoshi said.

Shikamaru looked up at him.

"If you didn't believe I was Psycho's left hand man before, you will after you hear this." Zayoshi said.

Shikamaru sat up more, intrigued.

"After he failed to win in the second shinobi world war… he told me…"

FLASHBACK

"At this moment phase 1 of my next plan has already begun. It's evident we need to get even MORE powerful. Zayoshi…" Psycho stopped.

Zayoshi looked up, both his eyes scratched severely.

"I won't need you until phase 2… please give me 25yrs to get the power and army I need to try again. I need you to wait faithfully for me." Psycho said.

Zayoshi smiled and nodded.

END OF FLASHBACK

Shikamaru couldn't believe what he had heard.

"Wait so when was the last time you actually spoke to Psycho?" Shikamaru asked.

Zayoshi smiled.

"25yrs ago of course!" Zayoshi laughed.

Shikamaru was shocked.

"So…so… you've been waiting all this time off the assumption that he'd come for you!?" Shikamaru asked.

Zayoshi smiled.

"Pretty much." Zayoshi said casually.

"And what if… what if he never came?" Shikamaru asked softly.

"Hm? Oh. I'd go see what was keeping him of course! Ha ha ha!" Zayoshi laughed.

Shikamaru breathed a breath of fresh air.

"Well unfortunately for him, you're locked up here." Shikamaru said.

Zayoshi smiled.

"Do you really truly believe I'd hold a smile on my face in this hell hole if I couldn't get out?" Zayoshi asked.

Shikamaru's eyes shot open. Zayoshi looked at him smiling.

"There's still some parts of my story I didn't tell you… like my real name." Zayoshi said.

Shikamaru stared with small fright.

"Back on Zou… they called me… Zayoshi "The Acid.""

Shikamaru was confused, nervous, and scared all at once.

"Zayoshi? The Acid?" Shikamaru asked.

Zayoshi smiled.

Crackling could be heard inside Zayoshi's cell. Shikamaru looked at Zayoshi's cuffs to see them slowly melting away and steam rising. The cell started to reek of chemical and slowly both of Zayoshi's arms became covered in a toxic green liquid. Shikamaru was too shocked too move or speak. Zayoshi slowly stood up when his cuffs were off and ripped off his shirt. His arms slowly transformed back to normal. Shikamaru stared up at the man, mouth agape.

"I ate the acid acid fruit and became an acid human! I can control the level of toxicity and corrosiveness. From an irritant to full on bone melting acidity!" Zayoshi explained.

Shikamaru was too shocked to move.

"Acid…. A… a… acid fruit?" Shikamaru stuttered.

"Damn it! I keep forgetting you ninja don't know anything about the grand line or lands outside the ninja world! There are fruits said to be from the devil himself called devil fruits that give the eater unique abilities! Handy huh?" Zayoshi joked.

Shikamaru smiled a little.

"That's… that's impressive… but if that's your main battle strategy then I feel bad for you." Shikamaru commented. Zayoshi tilted his head.

"Relying too much on your ability can be your down fall!" Shikamaru said.

Zayoshi stared at Shikamaru.

"AH HA HA HA HA HA! YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT SON!" Zayoshi yelled.

Shikamaru was confused again.

"That's why…" Zayoshi whispered with evil in his voice, "We outside of the ninja world have abilities to use outside of devil fruits or even to help us fight devil fruit users!" Zayoshi explained.

Shikamaru stood up slowly.

"I don't understand." Shikamaru said softly.

Zayoshi looked down at his right arm and clenched his fist.

"Arament hardening…" Zayoshi said softly.

Before Shikamaru could react Zayoshi cocked back and punched the cage wall from his cell and it fell over. Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was seeing. He jumped back and threw shuriken at Zayoshi who let them get caught in his acid body and melt.

"Grgh! What!?" Shikamaru yelled.

Zayoshi smiled.

"Oh man! Did I forget to tell you I'm a logia? I'm so sorry young man!" Zayoshi yelled cockily.

"L….logia?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sorry young man, but I'm done explaining things to you! I've got somewhere to be!" Zayoshi said, becoming acid.

"Acidic birds!" Zayoshi yelled.

A ball of blue acid formed in front of Zayoshi and shot hundreds of small blue acidic birds at Shikamaru who took them all. When they hit his body they started to steam and burn his skin. Zayoshi just calmly walked past the suffering man.

"Because you were so nice to me for the most part, you'll just sit here and burn for 48hrs. Afterwards you will be fine. But these two days will be nothing short of hell for you young man!" Zayoshi said, looking down at the newspaper.

Psycho was looking directly at the camera, his shoulder had a tattoo on it. It had a Z pointing down to a samurai symbol. Zayoshi smiled.

"So you haven't forgotten about me old boy! Ha ha ha! Well time to go. I've got a meeting with some samurai." Zayoshi said confidently.

LAND OF IRON

Mifune, the leader of samurai, sat Indian style in front of the doors to the summit. His eyes were closed. He slowly opened them to see the four kage walking towards him.