AN: Definitely taking the PMs and reviews into account!
Soon...
The Drawbacks Of Being Very Good At Reading Minds
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World #01 - Konoha.
Something fell out of the sky.
Night had already fallen, by then.
The Seventh Hokage, Uchiha Itachi, went to investigate, along with some of his most trusted men.
...
"I assume that it was not a shooting star, then." Maito Gai simply said somberly, packing what little he would need for an urgent mission.
"You assume well." Itachi nodded.
Sasuke thought he knew what sort of trouble they could expect. It didn't really provide any sort of solution, though.
Shisui stared at the sky and wondered, once more, why he was even bothering to try to sleep. If it weren't the actual twins, it was Uchiha Naruto stirring the shit pot. Or the young Sasuke. Perhaps both. Tonight, it was likely to be aliens.
Musashi — not his real name, but any career ANBU knew how fluid identities and names truly were — was supposed to be on an undercover assignment, but some things took precedence.
Itachi didn't bother listening to his own worries. Konoha wouldn't defend itself. He was the Seventh Hokage, the flame that burned silently.
There were five of them.
Three male Ōtsutsuki, and two female ones. All of them, pale-skinned. All of them, horned and bearing the Byakugan — in at least one eye.
All of them, looming with oppressive power, suspended in midair.
Their leering eyes scanned the grounds below, without bothering to use their Dōjutsu's power. What they saw didn't seem to satisfy them.
Neither of the three Uchiha needed their Sharingan to understand how dangerous they were. Next to them, Musashi was still as a statue and Gai was unnervingly silent.
The Ōtsutsuki's apparent leader spoke.
"Where is the Ten-Tails?" He asked, with surprising familiarity with their language.
Itachi blinked.
"…Do you mean the Nine Tailed Beasts?"
The Ōtsutsuki paused. Then he sneered.
"No."
Itachi didn't answer. Mostly because he had no real answer.
"…And where is the Betrayer? Where is Kaguya? Is she not alive again and ruling this world after all…?"
Shisui and Itachi shared a look. They glanced at Sasuke next. He shrugged helplessly — he didn't know much about that either, the Sage had been very silent about the matter, according to what little Sasuke remembered of his time as Asura.
(He didn't even think about the white-haired woman he had briefly seen in Umi, because he had just been pissed enough, then.)
(Shisui remembered her slowly, though. He hoped he was wrong, because if Orochimaru had actually done that…)
Shisui stayed silent anyway.
"We do not know anything about this matter." Itachi declared.
The leader laughed, low and ugly.
"Fools. You truly do not know, then."
Itachi stared back at him, evenly.
Musashi stared at Gai. Gai raised both shoulders, held up his hands, palms out. He didn't know either.
The leader continued.
"Be that as it may. Her fate did not matter much, anyway." His eyes slowly tightened. "Now…" He spoke, at a measured space. "Where is the Voidwalker…?"
"Who?" Shisui frowned.
Another Ōtsutsuki sneered — he was a thin, smaller one. "Our… seemingly long lost relative. The one who abuses Amatsu-Mikaboshi."
"Keep your tongue still, Momoshiki." The leader warned him. "I have no need for it."
"…" The male Ōtsutsuki's expression tightened.
"Now…" The leader continued. "I do not believe a Rinnegan user will live unnoticed."
'Ah.' Itachi closed his eyes. Of course.
More trouble… Same guy.
Sasuke felt the small, unnoticeable black ring he was wearing heating up.
'Good timing.' He sent a thought. 'For once.'
'Right?' She laughed. '…Are you still mad about your wedding?'
'...Never was.'
Sasuke let his chakra flow through the ring, giving her permission.
There was a flash of white light, the sound of air being displaced. And then Uzumaki Hanabi was there, next to him.
"Hello, everyone!" She greeted.
She slammed her hands together, and the air warmed up from the strength of her chakra. The Ōtsutsuki's eyes locked on her, sharpening in realization.
Before they could act on it… most of the Umi group was here. And there was Naruto…
But not the one Sasuke knew.
That one was missing.
…They could actually use his help for once… and he was away. And so were Yugito, Karin and Anko, Sasuke noticed. Sakura waved him hello.
"I recognize that one!" Kage exclaimed, pointing fingers at the smaller alien who had spoken out of turn. "That's Momo!"
The alien's jaws tightened.
"It's Lord Momoshiki to you, monkey." He cursed.
"Rude." Toru frowned.
Kage just chuckled derisively. "Kurama is a fox, not a monkey. This doesn't get to me."
Itachi sighed. This was going to get ugly soon, he thought. Was this what he could expect, if he let his clan's Naruto become Hokage on his own...? Perhaps he needed to take a more active approach to this.
"I... had a feeling you people would be involved." He muttered.
Kage was staring at Itachi's Hokage robes, looking as though he had trouble believing it. Then he shrugged - the village was still standing, and he was a much better choice than Sasuke, likely. "What's important is that we're here to help, right?"
Shisui stared at Toru, nostrils flared.
"Ah." Toru greeted him with a grin. "Shisui."
"Don't speak to me right now, you little dick." He grunted. "You probably did this."
"Me…?" Toru frowned. "Of course not. Blame Naruto. Or Orochimaru."
Shisui addressed the rest of them. "You Umi fuckers never take anything seriously ever since you jumped world, don't even try to deny it."
Toru threw his hands up. "Sorry bro, you… might have a point — It's just that — It's hard sometimes, but I swear—"
Sakura noticed Shisui too. "Hey Shisui! Are you going to do something useful, for once? Aside from glaring at us, I mean — Yeah, that's the look." She greeted him with a grin. "Ah no, there's still what…? Five, ten years to wait?"
Shisui gritted his teeth but ignored her.
The Ōtsutsuki leader spoke, voice laced with poison.
"Kaguya."
This single word conveyed more emotion than the five invaders had displayed since their arrival. And more meaning, too.
Sasuke knew who she was, then. And he idly wondered why they had brought her here, then. Did they not know about the aliens, or…?
There was a nervous tremor in Kaguya. She still met the man's eyes.
"Isshiki." She muttered. "Momoshiki. Kinshiki. Uriko. Hachikazuki."
The five Ōtsutsuki cursed her name, all of them talking over each other.
They were off to a good start, certainly.
"What do you want, then…?" Orochimaru asked the Ōtsutsuki with a slight, almost imperceptible smile.
He had stepped forward, and was speaking for the Umi group.
Shisui shivered. Orochimaru calling the shots…? This was shaping up to be a rough day. One very likely to end in death. Possibly his own.
"Are you the Void— No. No, you are not." Isshiki, their leader, said. He was glaring at them, now. "And yet..."
"He does bear a remnant of Amatsu-Mikaboshi's ability." The female Ōtsutsuki, the one identified as Uriko, intervened. Her eyes, which held the Byakugan, were roaming over all of them.
Orochimaru heard Hanabi elbow Sakura, and knew she was pointing at the alien's eyes. He pretended he didn't hear what they were muttering about purity.
"It is but a remnant." Hachikazuki, the other female Ōtsutsuki, stressed the word with a frown. "A fake. One that is unusable to us, should the Voidwalker have taken precautions."
"Where are they?" Isshiki asked once more. "Where is the Voidwalker?"
Orochimaru inclined his head, and made a vague gesture with his hand. "Out and about."
Isshiki frowned. He turned toward Kaguya.
"You. You have betrayed us." He began thunderously and Kaguya shrunk. "But should you reveal that one's location, we will spare you."
Kaguya said nothing.
Not out of a misplaced sense of loyalty, far from it. Rather, it was the fact that she knew very well that Isshiki sparing her did not imply mercy in any way.
In a way, death might even be preferable.
...If he could grant her that.
And then there was the fact that she knew that Uzumaki Naruto could escape them easily. Where they could not reach him. It was a lose-lose situation.
So she said nothing. Kaguya swallowed nervously.
Toru rolled his eyes.
"You won't find him." He answered easily. "And… he's kinda busy right now, besides."
"Come back later?" Hanabi offered. "We'll make some tea."
"Hanabi, please." Ino said tightly.
"Now that we've established some… rapport." Sakura began. "As well as the fact that Naruto can't really make it, I believe you have no more reason to stay."
Isshiki dropped down to the earth.
Itachi pursed his lips again.
Orochimaru took a glance at Kaguya. "Now is as good a time as any." He said.
She kept her silence.
Orochimaru sighed.
"This world's Ten-Tails is gone entirely, is it not… Betrayer?" Momoshiki asked, dropping down to face them as well. This time, Isshiki didn't interrupt him. The frail Ōtsutsuki's geta clicked as he walked and Kinshiki followed him closely.
"…It is." Kaguya admitted, as quiet as a whisper. "The Tree has been split, its power tainted by true life, courtesy of my… son."
Isshiki's eyes tightened. "…Corruption is something we can get rid of. Where are the Ten-Tails' fragments, then…? Of this world's Ten-Tail." He said pointedly. "Not the one… or the ones whose chakra I see a sliver of in them."
"We're not going to tell you much about the Bijū either." Ino said. "You may leave."
"Before this turns unpleasant - For you, I mean." Sakura added.
"Which part of this was pleasant?" Ino muttered.
Sakura shrugged. "I kinda liked the way they were all floating, being very threatening and mysterious. Might take it for myself, actually."
"Stealing? That would be a first." Shisui muttered. He looked particularly tense.
The other Konoha ninja looked equally grim. Sakura considered telling them to chill out, and that they were only aliens, but quickly realized it wouldn't help much.
"Kaguya." Isshiki barked.
Kaguya looked between the two factions, barely managing to hide her shiver. Orochimaru's eyes were upon her, asking a silent question.
"I cannot." She muttered.
"You can. The Beasts." Momoshiki said. "Tell us where you hid them."
"..."
A tense silence followed.
"Answer me." Momoshiki ordered.
"I cannot." She repeated.
"Are you scared?!" Momoshiki spat. "Of these monkeys?! How pathetic have you become?"
More silence.
"…You are right." Kaguya lifted her head. Momoshiki began to smile.
Isshiki's face lost nothing of its silent judgment, but it relaxed some.
Then Kaguya was glaring at the Ōtsutsuki. Trembling, but furious all the same.
"I believe I have used the wrong word." Kaguya said, face narrowed. "I meant to say that I will not."
Hanabi smiled slightly. 'See, Toru…? She's not all that bad.'
'…I guess.' He thought dubiously.
"—Because the Bijū are mine!" Kaguya finished angrily. Momoshiki's snarl was akin to the expression of a spoiled, furious child.
'Oh.' Hanabi frowned. 'That's what she meant.'
'Told you.' Ino shrugged.
'She doesn't even know where they are.' Sakura pointed out.
"And for as long as I live—" Kaguya began, imperiously.
Everybody groaned.
"…What of it?" She quieted down.
"Come on." Toru muttered. "You just gave them a reason to kill all of us and extract your memories. Really…? Are you this new to negotiating when you're not the one in power? This is worse than Sakura."
"…" Kaguya looked at Orochimaru in question. Orochimaru looked away, feeling what might well have been second-hand embarrassment on her behalf, were he anyone else.
Isshiki laughed, low and angry. "This changes nothing, but… You certainly are adding oil to the fire… Kaguya."
Kaguya said nothing.
"She doesn't really know where the Bijū are." Ino offered.
"Nor do we, actually." Sakura lied.
"A lie…? Well. Whether that's the truth or not doesn't matter anymore." Momoshiki retorted with a mocking smile. "We will find out soon enough anyway."
"You and the Voidwalker must be close." Isshiki said. "Perhaps your deaths will force him out of hiding."
Sakura hid a shrug. Naruto would just drag them out of Hell again, likely.
The remaining Ōtsutsuki slowly glided down around them.
Orochimaru looked at Kaguya once more, lifting an eyebrow.
She looked at the enemy, then at them.
Kaguya seemed to reach a decision. With a slow nod, she met Ino's eyes.
Orochimaru… laughed.
...
Hanabi looked at Itachi, with a silent question of her own. She tilted her chin toward Gai and Musashi. Itachi nodded almost imperceptibly. Hanabi flicked two little black pebbles toward both men, and a hand seal later, they were gone.
"Thank you." Itachi nodded.
"They were in the way." She shrugged.
"That's rude." Kage noted. "…But admittedly, it's probably better if Gai doesn't do that move where he almost kills himself."
"Oh? Does he know Chido—" Toru began to ask.
The Ōtsutsuki attacked.
'I'm going to kill the big bad one.' Sakura decided.
'Me too.' Hanabi contested. She meant fighting him, but it was the same thing.
'The fuck are you waiting for, then?' Ino grumbled. 'He's all yours.'
Hanabi and Sakura jumped straight at him, with eerily similar grins. They made sure to make him focus on them, which was the only good thing about all this. Ino still wasn't sure what sort of sick enjoyment they got out of battle, but they certainly got something out of it. And the adrenaline of it made them unbearable, right after. Usually, Naruto... dealt with them.
Ino pulled her Naginata out of thin air and moved to stand next to Orochimaru, who was currently holding the woman — if such a thing even applied to an Ōtsutsuki — named Uriko back. Ino's weapon extended, wreathed in pale blue chakra.
Something about it made the Ōtsutsuki pause from her onslaught. She jumped back, further away from them.
"I thank you, Ino." Orochimaru nodded. "This childish body of mine can be quite… problematic at times."
"I do remember something you said about not relying on brute force." She mused.
"Indeed." He admitted. "Some might be needed, at times, though. I can only push this body so far."
With a rueful chuckle, Ino created a link between the both of them.
She was more of a support type, always had been, really. She reached into Orochimaru's essence, banishing the fatigue he had accumulated over the day so that he could carry on.
Orochimaru reached for the Asura Path's ability, transmuting his flesh into something closer to living metal, and she made sure that he didn't damage himself.
Then she reached into their foe's mind and obscured their position some. She had no doubt that the Ōtsutsuki's Byakugan would see through it, but in battle, a moment's confusion could prove enough.
As a last touch, she slowly reached for Uriko's will to fight, just as she heightened her paranoia and confusion. Slowly.
'Preparations — made?' Orochimaru asked, still somewhat unused to this sort of thing — or rather, the mind-sharing part, because he was somewhat familiar with breaking people's minds, honestly.
'Preparations are made, yes.' Ino chuckled.
'I fight — then.'
Orochimaru stopped blinking, his golden eyes fixed on the alien. The sword of Kusanagi extended from his left palm, flesh parting around it. Ino's chakra wrapped around it as well.
"Might I interest you in a mutually beneficial trade deal?" Orochimaru asked the alien.
She scoffed.
"No, then? …Oh, well. You are no leader anyway. But we shall see about this again. Later." Orochimaru nodded.
Wind howled.
"Time for you to die, then." He hummed. Ino felt the succession of jutsu he used on himself, under the guise of conversation. Quickening, Shadow Wind, Gale Shield.
Orochimaru bounced into battle with surprising speed and Ino breathed in deeply, her focus on enhancing his reflexes. It wasn't not entirely unlike fighting with Naruto, she knew.
The Ōtsutsuki projected a strange curved sword, cursing at them in her alien tongue. She intercepted Orochimaru's sudden strike with only the slightest difficulty. Then he whirled around, twisting through the air with the lightness that only a child — one enhanced by Wind — could have.
The woman stepped back, raising her left hand.
Fire rose… and fell, when Ino conjured chakra in inverse patterns to the ones she had picked up from the alien's surface thoughts. Orochimaru spun again, a whirlwind of motion. His foot found the woman's high cheekbones, which seemed to cause more irritation than actual damage.
His giggling didn't help, of course.
Ino softened the Earth under Urako's feet. Orochimaru extended his off-hand. Spectral serpents rose from the tender ground, wrapping like grapevines around the woman's legs. Ino and Orochimaru's chakra melded together, and the former chipped away at the enemy's mental fortitude again. Which was made easier because she now had some contact with the target.
The Ōtsutsuki growled and pushed chakra through her legs, freeing herself. Then she had to duck under Orochimaru's wide, two-handed sword sweep. She crouched and prepared to push off from a platform of thin air.
Ino made her stumble, and Orochimaru slipped around her defenses, sword falling with a hiss upon her neck.
His limited strength, as well as the alien's shimmery chakra shield, prevented the weapon from biting deep. She recovered quickly, with a furious expression. She conjured a bow out of nothing and simply… disappeared.
Orochimaru sighed. "How I hate when the little rabbit hides."
'She's not very far from here, let's not give her the time to prepare something nasty.'
'Of course.'
Shisui shot forward, summoning nothing but a green shroud of chakra around his weapon.
He struck Kinshiki with a sharp cry. The Ōtsutsuki Guardian — not that they knew this — conjured a red axe out of pure chakra to parry it. Shisui blinked. This felt a bit too similar to—
"Hinokagutsuchi." Itachi called from behind the alien and black spikes of ever-burning fire erupted around him. Kinshiki leaped up in the sky to avoid them.
He fell again, and his massive form cracked the earth.
Shisui absentmindedly thought of a very pale Akimichi. "He can't absorb chakra." He said instead.
Shisui's Sharingan turned, and he weaved in a light - as light as his Mangekyō allowed - compulsion into the alien's mind. The same he had weaved in the others, making them focus slightly more on their immediate opponents than they would have otherwise. Time would tell whether it worked or not.
"Or perhaps... He's pretending not to be able to." Itachi murmured.
It was also possible. But then again, Itachi saw traps under traps… and traps under them.
Shisui had the feeling that the Ōtsutsuki simply didn't want to get impaled and roasted upon spires of darkness, and that there was no pretending here.
Well he was not the Hokage for a good reason, anyway. Leaving the conspiracy theories to Itachi had been one of his best moves as of yet. One which left him with the added bonus of not dealing with Uzumaki Naruto on a regular basis—
Getting lost in his thoughts almost cost him his head.
Thank Tsukiyomi for the Sharingan, really.
Apparently, trying to parry the monstrous ogre's blows was a terrible idea, Susanoo or not. The Ōtsutsuki was about twice as strong as his hulking stature implied.
Itachi's own sword bit the man's neck. It barely broke the skin.
Kinshiki retaliated with an elbow strike that shattered his face. And Itachi melted into nothing but black, pooling liquid.
The illusion didn't hold, because of the Byakugan. Kinshiki struck at both of them, shrouded as they were. The Susanoo's rib cage broke under his attacks, both Shisui and Itachi's.
Itachi summoned the sword of Totsuka to his left hand, and spun around the ogre's attacks. So did Shisui.
The only problem was… they were not fast enough to actually land an attack, now that the Ōtsutsuki was keeping a careful eye on the Susanoo's weapon.
"They're definitely stuck in Tier 5 hell." Toru muttered, giving a quick glance at his brother and cousin. They were doing decent, though.
He parried the Ōtsutsuki's — Momo, apparently — geta strike. Then he winced, shaking his hand — that one hurt.
"You sure?" Kage frowned, as his fist found its way into the alien's face. "They're more… like Tier 4, I'd say. Perhaps 3, even."
He didn't seem particularly worried about Momo. Then again, he had apparently fought and beaten him before.
Momo, who stood back up with a glare.
Momo, who didn't seem to appreciate Kage's nonchalant attitude.
He said something they didn't understand.
"Tier 3...? Well… They could be." Toru admitted. "But you've always been too generous with your assessments."
Kage shrugged. "Not always. And Momo is a decent fighter and all, but without eating that other guy—"
Momo grew angry. He spat something at them in a language they didn't speak. It was easy enough to understand that he was insulting them, though.
"Oh yeah." Kage remembered. "He absorbs jutsu. Don't waste your chakra."
"…He says, wrapping himself into a bright golden cloak of pure chakra." Toru muttered, as Kage did just that.
"If it works…" He grinned, becoming nothing but a blur. "Catch this!"
Momo caught his fist. With his face.
This time, he flew toward Toru. Toru's hand passed right next to his eyepatch, which faded away to nothing. He caught the flying Ōtsutsuki with a rising kick.
"How dare you—" The alien spat, before Kage's knuckle jab found his throat and left him sputtering.
Toru spun vertically and kicked him down again.
Kage frowned. "Isn't this other-me's attack…? This diving kick thing."
"…No." Toru lied.
He used his Mangekyō's ability pretty liberally to keep up with Kage, who was already upon the Ōtsutsuki again. Kage's chakra divided in two, and he kicked Momo up again.
Then he was ten, rising up like a golden storm to follow.
Then a hundred. A barrage of fists fell upon Momo.
Then a thousand; pummeling the alien.
"Uzumaki Naruto Barrage!"
The Ōtsutsuki was sent flying again, and Toru sent a flurry of weapons after him. He was admittedly pretty average — Uchiha average — at shurikenjutsu, but that didn't matter much.
Everybody knew that shuriken did not do actual damage in a battle.
It was more about annoying the enemy, really.
Toru still frowned. "…Your Sasuke told me you stole this barrage move from him."
"Of course not." Kage laughed. "I wouldn't do that — also, he stole it from Lee in the first place. I just made something better from the same base."
"Man, you're as much of a hypocrite as Naruto is." Toru shook his head.
Kage shrugged.
"Try to keep up with this old man." He grinned. "If you can, that is."
Toru didn't voice his opinion on the matter. "I don't think the alien's dead yet. He's… falling out of the sky again — looks a bit out of it. He's very resilient, though."
"Of course he's not dead." Kage said patiently. "It took me and Sasuke using our combined ultimate technique, last time."
Toru blurred away, spinning. He punched Momo in the teeth, sending him soaring toward Kage again, like a particularly fucked game of ball.
"Ah, that's Karin's, isn't it?" Kage asked. "She favors her fists, like most good Uzumaki do."
He delivered a flurry of blindingly fast strikes to Momo's face, pummeling him down. Then he threw him away.
"Naruto prefers his kicks, actually." Toru answered, weaving around the Ōtsutsuki's retaliating strikes.
Kage snorted. "I said good Uzumaki. He's only okay at that. Too much scheming."
"Wait. You guys have an ultimate technique…?" Toru frowned, as he tripped the alien — Sakura's move — and Kage stomped him into the ground. "Me and Naruto don't."
"Ask your Sasuke — I'm sure he and other-me have something."
"…They wouldn't do this to me." Toru muttered. "Right?"
"...You tell me." Kage laughed.
They would.
"...What was yours like, anyway?" Toru asked, deflecting Momo's strike - aimed at his eye —with a move he had copied—… learned from Hanabi.
"Our ultimate jutsu?" Kage blinked. His knuckles left a nice imprint upon the back of Momo's head. "Well it's the Rasengan."
"I thought this was your move, over there." Toru frowned, using Itachi's usual finisher — a sword strike to the brain, a bit lacking in creativity, but very effective. Was it still murder if they were aliens...?
Momo parried it with a growl.
"Yes, but Sasuke helped." Kage nodded, kicking the back of Momo's knee so that Toru could jab his eyes, the exact same way the alien had tried to do to him, a second ago. "I even let him deliver it, because I'm nice like that."
"Not because he can teleport?" Toru chuckled, using Shisui's advanced Body Flicker to avoid Momo's incoming chakra blast.
Kage mostly tanked it, but then again, he and Kurama were all about being closer to a wall of chakra than a human.
"…Also that." Kage admitted. He then grinned. "Hey, we could do that here too, right?"
"I can't really teleport that fast — there's a bit of a delay before, I mean." Toru admitted, dashing away from the onslaught of projectiles the Ōtsutsuki was bombarding them with.
Momo was summoning a sort of golem now, apparently.
"It's okay, it's okay. We'll find another finisher move." Kage sent him a thumbs up, as he turned into a monstrous golden fox. "You know how to use that Susanoo thing, right?"
"Sure."
"Great! Let's go with the Double-Armored Fox Special!"
"What are you even talking about…?" Toru muttered.
"Behind you." The pink-haired one — Sakura, apparently — warned as she rushed out of the portal.
Isshiki's expression didn't shift. Looking supremely bored with the entire thing, he simply leaned backwards and avoided her admittedly fast strike. He idly wondered what was her angle in telling where she was coming from. But that didn't matter either.
There were only so many ways of drawing the Amatsu-Mikaboshi user. Just knowing his location would not be enough, as he could simply escape to other dimensions, where none of them could find him.
Because every Rinnegan ability was truly unique.
At the very least, in this world - he could not speak for other realities yet. That was how his clan - well, only Momoshiki and his guards knew, really - had divined the existence of the ability in the first place, through the use of Ame-no-Futodama-no-Mikoto.
And that had been a very recent thing. The moment Momoshiki heard of it, his lust for power took over and he made sure of two things:
One was making sure no one else on their homeworld knew about the divination itself.
The other... was coming to Earth with four of his trusted guards. Kinshiki, Urako, Hachikazuki and Hanasaka.
That was his mistake.
Earth... Where Isshiki had been laying low for a long, patient while.
And unfortunately for Momoshiki, Isshiki had been more than ready to take over the body of one of them. Then, it had only been child's play to remind Momoshiki that a member of the main family he might be… The strongest he was not.
Hanasaka was gone and Isshiki was recovering his full power.
They had similar enough goals, in the end.
And if Momoshiki and his entourage happened to die during the fight, well…
What a shame it would be. Truly.
And that no one but him would know about Amatsu-Mikaboshi before — should he decide to do so — he made it known publicly… That was another tragedy.
So Isshiki kept an eye on the different battles, entirely unworried. The humans were much stronger than they had been back when he had come with Kaguya, a thousand years ago. And some of them possessed a sliver — at the very least — of a Ten-tails.
And yet.
They still were no danger to him.
And neither was Kaguya. With or without the Earth's Ten-Tails.
Kinshiki would likely kill the two men he was facing. The other fights' probable conclusions were a bit more unclear, as of yet.
With a flick of his finger, he called upon Sukunahikona's ability. A pair of black rods flew in their shrunken form, and they regained their original size. Slamming through the back of the pink-haired woman's head.
…Actually going through.
Isshiki blinked. A Sharingan ability, then…?
A palm strike whipped dangerously close to his face.
Isshiki crouched under it, restoring a staff to his original size. He pointed at the woman with the Byakugan and—
She disappeared into a vortex before the rods could hit her.
'That was the exact same ability as the other's.'
Because it likely was the other's power. Isshiki didn't need to turn around. And now that he paid more attention to the pink-haired woman…
He noticed that her eye was not a Sharingan, as he had thought before.
It was not even a Rinnegan.
Rather, it was an amalgamation of both.
Isshiki pursed his lips.
...
The Byakugan woman — the one apparently called Hanabi — reappeared when she was recalled by the other woman.
"He's fast." Hanabi noted.
"Yup." Sakura nodded. "Say, how do you like my new Rinne-Sharingan?" She asked, nudging her wife. "It has the properties of Sharingan and Rinnegan. Pretty quick Kamui too, huh? — ...If that even is Kamui. Huh."
"…Why are you telling him, though?"
Isshiki didn't rise to the obvious taunt. "I do know what a Rinne-Sharingan is, yes."
Sakura frowned.
"Oh." She then laughed. "That's fair. I guess you guys would know. Well, it's more or less the same thing but more convenient anyway, right?"
"…It's not." Isshiki muttered.
"Ah, yes!" Sakura realized. "There's a change of scenery power, right?"
Isshiki moved before she was done talking. He saw her channel gigantic amounts of chakra to her eye. The other woman stepped in front of her, protectively.
"Uh…?" Sakura hesitated. "Rinne-Sharing-on?" She called.
The scenery did change. Isshiki tripped when the floor disappeared but caught himself. And then the humans were suddenly falling towards the pools of lava below.
"SAKURA!" Someone roared in rage.
Isshiki thought it was the blonde woman, who also caught herself in midair right away, as though she had seen it coming.
"Sorry!"
And then everyone was flying, Susanoo or not.
"Gods, what a waste of chakra that was." Sakura breathed out, laughing.
Hanabi, next to her, looked particularly unimpressed.
"…Perhaps my father was right about one thing." Hanabi nodded. "You."
"Oh, you little bitch." Sakura laughed, low and throaty. "Once this fight's over, you're so getting it."
"I love when you talk dirty to me." Hanabi grinned. "Why don't you—"
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Sasuke roared. "SHUT UP!"
"Oh, Sasuke?" Hanabi blinked. "You were fighting with us? All along?"
Sasuke pushed down on his desire to choke his sister-in-law. He flew closer to them.
"After the sort of dumb shit I keep seeing you pull?!" He gritted out. "I'm fighting with you. Before you get us all killed!"
"Typical Tier 3 behavior." Sakura rolled her eyes fondly. "Go help your cousins."
"No."
"Please?"
"No!"
Sakura thought he hadn't changed that much from the angry kid that didn't get his Sharingan yet.
"You're not taking this seriously!" He accused.
"What? Of course I am." Sakura frowned. "I just spent hours in the Den to turn this damn eye on."
"The Den?" Sasuke blinked. "You were there? Right now?"
"Sure." Hanabi nodded. "Both of us. We came straight from there. It's pretty handy for emergencies. That's how we just—" She batted away one of Isshiki's expanding rods. "None of that. They're pretty small, sure… But I can still see your rods."
"Phrasing."
Hanabi shrugged.
Isshiki disappeared.
Hanabi tried to bat him away, next.
"Same thing here." She shrugged. "You're shrinking yourself."
Isshiki rushed at them again. Sasuke summoned an armor of white flame around him. With a single look, Isshiki made it shrink. The Uchiha barely managed to avoid himself getting struck with the rods. Well… he didn't, technically. But Sakura warped him away, which counted as… something.
Then Sasuke didn't reappear.
"Huh. That Isshiki guy doesn't need to point fingers to use his abilities." Sakura realized.
"…You're not going to let Sasuke out of here?" Hanabi frowned.
Sakura chuckled. "Why? He's just going to get himself killed — or get ourselves killed trying to protect him. Perhaps he'd spoil our fight, even. I'll get him out after the battle."
"…Still." Hanabi muttered.
"...What? He's got a Rinnegan in his pocket, right?" Sakura shrugged. "He just has to plug it in, and he should be able to travel back here, at least."
Isshiki stared at them.
"You two are as insolent as you are foolish."
"Thank you." Hanabi smiled.
"I might as well get rid of you two here, if you must so insist." He said. "And then perhaps the Voidwalker will show himself. Or his location and secrets might be extracted from your corpses."
"Yes, sure." Sakura nodded. "That's exactly what you should do."
Hanabi began. "Bet you I can beat him up with my new—"
Her eyes faded to light, shiny blue.
Lilac chakra flickered around her, rising.
"Mangekyō Byakugan." Hanabi finished, as her chakra soared higher and higher. She chose to believe that Sakura's disgruntled look was pure envy. Well, Hanabi had offered her the eyes, anyway. She had refused, and that was her problem, now.
The power was intoxicating, and she repressed a sudden desire to laugh out loud. That was a bit too villainish for her standards.
She willed it to shape a cloak around herself-
And then, just as they were about to get into the thick of it, the entire battlefield paused.
There was a sound like a tear and thunder blended together. All eyes snapped to the black void that opened out of nowhere.
Then to the man that stepped out of it, to stand on air.
His chakra was a slight thing, compared to some of the monsters around. Still, they watched as he moved; waited when he didn't speak. And he was a man that was used to it, this much was obvious.
Only one man spoke, but Uzumaki Naruto's voice carried over easily.
"…I believe that's enough."
"Ah, come on." Hanabi muttered, as she powered down. "Now?… Really? I was just about to—"
"Same here." Sakura nodded. "I guess we can do that some other day, right?"
"I'm still leading, anyway." Hanabi chuckled. "That's why you're only wench number five." She added for good measure.
They began to fly away from Isshiki, slowly. Unbothered. And bickering. He stared at their backs.
"…And where… Do you think you're going?" He asked, voice laced with dark amusement.
"Well, the man you were looking for is here, now." Hanabi shrugged. "I guess there's no point in fighting now - plus he's going to give us shit for it, so..."
Despite his amused words…
True interest glimmered within Isshiki's eyes. Not for the women.
"So… He is the Voidwalker." Isshiki mused aloud, flying toward him at a leisurely pace. No one tried to stop him.
Isshiki was not particularly impressed by the figure clad in dirty robes.
Tall and strong for a human, he knew. But compared to Ōtsutsuki, who could grow to become as large as Kinshiki, that wasn't saying much. His gleaming, sharp eyes were more interesting to him, and not only because of the divine power they held.
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, I presume?" Uzumaki Naruto asked.
"You presume well, human." Isshiki smiled slightly.
"Let me cut to the chase, then." Naruto nodded. "You want my eyes."
"Indeed." Isshiki chuckled. "Should you be willing to part with Amatsu-Mikaboshi's power—"
"No." Naruto shrugged, filing the name away. "Although I think you knew that from the very start."
Isshiki didn't move. "What will it be, then?—"
"Go home."
Isshiki laughed, loud and clear. Naruto smiled too.
Momoshiki barked an order at Kinshiki. The ogre of a man fell upon Naruto.
Sakura warped him away, to the Kamui realm. After a moment of thought, — likely realizing that Sasuke was alone there — she sent Itachi and Shisui there as well.
"Don't bother with that sort of thing. They might not look like it, but they're making sure nothing happens." Naruto said evenly. "I am not giving you anything. If you're willing to establish a more mutually beneficial relationship instead, we can trade technological advances—"
Isshiki roared his mocking laughter.
The other Ōtsutsuki laughed as well.
"…Well, I tried." Naruto muttered.
"No need for honeyed words, then. You monkeys have nothing to teach us." Isshiki said, wiping a tear of laughter away. "And as you are sheltering the Betrayer, too… I think we will simply get rid of all of you, instead."
"Ah, of course." Naruto nodded. "I don't think you can take my eyes, considering how I got them in the first place, but well... Let me rephrase my offer, then."
"Please, human. Do so." Momoshiki jeered. The now amused Isshiki didn't bother stopping him.
"How about you all go home and calm down a bit on the galactic conquest… and I don't warp your homeworld away to a realm where there's nothing for you to conquer?" Naruto asked.
Silence stretched.
"Ah." Orochimaru nodded, gliding closer. "It seems as though that you were wholly unprepared for this particular event."
Isshiki wasn't saying anything, and his expression was carefully blank.
"You lie." He stated.
"Nah." Naruto said softly.
"This is beyond even Amatsu—"
"Oh, I am sure you know more about the ability's limits than we do." Orochimaru mocked.
Isshiki stayed silent. Could they...? Divination was still unreliable, when it came to these things.
"…Even then." He began. "It would take untold amounts of power to do so."
"Something like a Ten-Tails, perhaps?" Naruto smiled. "And a few eyes I Impressed my ability upon…?"
Isshiki pursed his lips. His eyes caught Urako and Hachikazuki's Byakugan. Their eyes glinted, and something spread from them through the air.
"...Really?" Naruto chuckled. "You would trap yourselves here…? With us?"
Isshiki's eyes were hard.
"You won't be able to escape from here using conventional space-time techniques."
Orochimaru shrugged. "Never intended to."
"And I do believe it takes a bit of time to use Amatsu-Mikaboshi, or you would have done so already." Isshiki said flatly. "I won't give you that time — Any of you."
"That's okay." Naruto nodded.
Isshiki scoffed. "There is a moment to admit defeat — and that moment has passed already."
"You do not know how to reach our homeworld anyway." Momoshiki crowed. "Your empty threats—"
"Kaguya told Ino an estimation of Tsuki's coordinates." Naruto cut him off.
More silence.
Kaguya didn't cower under Isshiki's furious glare. But she looked as though she wanted to.
"So. You Ōtsutsuki evolve by chakra consumption." Naruto said evenly. It wasn't a question. "You can travel through dimensions, up to a certain degree. The reason you're after my eyes is that your ability is limited to something much lower. I would assume you're restrained to this world."
"…"
"I don't want to kill you — not yet, at least. My solution is simple enough. I will send your planet somewhere you won't have the chance to do any of that."
There was a tense silence.
"And you'll stay trapped there… forever." Orochimaru concluded.
"Sort your own issues then." Naruto added. "You'll have the time."
Isshiki, who had been still as a stone, took a moment to speak.
"All of this hinges on something you're... unsure of." He said, now entirely serious.
"Indeed." Naruto admitted. "So tell us…" His eyes were gleaming. "Do you care about the fate of your homeworld…?"
Isshiki smiled. "I don't."
"Isshiki — You bastard!" Momoshiki began, his frayed control over his emotions overtaking his logical side.
Naruto smiled. "Ah, it seems as though this one does."
"And he is not the one who decides." Isshiki stated.
Momoshiki looked as though he had plenty more things to say.
"Ah, it's a shame." Naruto nodded. "We'll have to kill you five and send your homeworld away, then."
Isshiki's laughter was unamused, this time.
"How presumptuous. Even if all of this were true." He began. "You are still trapped here with us."
"Sure, I guess so." Naruto shrugged.
"On top of this… You won't manage to kill us." Isshiki didn't gloat. He considered himself far too dignified for that. "The mere thought of it…" He said, his tone making it obvious how unlikely he thought that was.
"You have ways of coming back, right?" Naruto nodded.
"…We do, indeed." Isshiki's tone was frosty. "All of us."
"Up on Tsuki?"
"…"
Orochimaru nodded too. "As expected. We'll also have to scour the Earth, in case. What will you do now… Stay and fight…? Risk your anchors…? Or will you leave?"
No one answered for a moment.
Then Isshiki spoke quietly, the full weight of his chakra searing the already scalding air.
"Prepare yourself, Voidwalker." Isshiki said. "For your last fight. Amatsu-Mikaboshi's power will be mine for the taking."
"Did you mean ours, maybe?" Naruto asked. "Not much of a team player, are you?"
Isshiki only smiled.
Momoshiki gritted his teeth. Even then, he flew next to the stronger Ōtsutsuki, ready to help him capture who they also deemed to be the biggest threat.
"I will recall Kinshiki." The smaller Ōtsutsuki said in clipped tones. "Urako will let him through."
"It won't be needed." Isshiki stated. He then switched back to the humans' language. "…But do as you wish, there are plenty of them to kill, after all. And this one still hides his strength." He said, motioning toward Naruto.
Naruto, who lifted an eyebrow.
"Of course not." He said. "Why would I bother with hiding? If you guys want to fight, I'll fight."
"You cannot lie to me." Isshiki said flatly. "Your chakra levels do not match the others."
Naruto laughed.
"Of course they don't." He said. "Which might be somewhat strange, if you were under the impression that Uzumaki Naruto would need to come here himself."
Isshiki suddenly felt a pang of… something cold in his stomach.
Naruto continued, still smiling.
"…But then again, who said I was the original?" He asked. "No. I'm just a clone. My friends here will take care of you… unless you leave. Then again... My mercy is starting to run out, I was never fond of repeating myself."
Isshiki gritted his teeth.
"Yes." Naruto nodded, taking in his reaction. "They will. And... There's a reason you fear this power, isn't there…? Amatsu-Mikaboshi, you called it?"
Naruto paused. "We put the ability to good use already. This is your last chance." He said pointedly.
Momoshiki… had enough.
"Where is he?! Where is the monkey Voidwalker?!" He roared.
Naruto's clone chuckled.
"Don't you know already? If you're looking for Uzumaki Naruto… He's somewhere up there… already gone."
He pointed at the stars.
Isshiki's face tightened in anger.
"He should be on Tsuki by now, in fact."
A child's laugh resounded across the field. This time, its high pitch did nothing to dampen the threat it carried.
"So?" Orochimaru grinned in delight. "What will it be… monkeys?"
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