In the darkness of the cave, Gaara lay helplessly on the ground.
Temari and Kankurou slightly grimaced at the condition of their youngest brother. Even though Gaara had repeatedly said that everything was fine, they couldn't help but worry.
The Akatsuki leader then jumps onto the remaining finger then performs a hand seal, the Gedo Mazo statue moves and opens its mouth which is sealed by a scroll, the scroll is released after Gedo Mazo opens its mouth.
"From now onwards, it will take 3 days and 3 nights to complete. Everyone, also pay attention to your real body," the Akatsuki leader warned.
"Okay, now Zetsu. Use your real body to snoop, use the most coverage," he ordered one of the Akatsuki members.
"Zetsu?"
Everyone's thoughts came together and wondered what the Akatsuki leader's words meant. They looked to the only person who could answer the question.
Itachi, who noticed everyone's attention on him, replied calmly, "He is one of the members of Akatsuki, he is the one who is the most skilled at snooping and infiltrating."
Shizune and Jiraiya recorded the information Itachi gave them in their respective notes.
The Akatsuki member known as Zetsu nodded, "I know."
"3 days huh.." said one of the Akatsuki members, "With Orochimaru missing, shouldn't we expect it to take a little longer?"
Everyone is reminded again that Orochimaru was also a member of Akatsuki, proving how dangerous this Akatsuki is.
"I wonder what made him leave Akatsuki," Tsunade muttered.
"I don't know, his mind is hard to predict. Even though I've known him for a long time, I still don't understand him," Jiraiya said.
Itachi heard the conversation between the two sennin, but decided not to say anything about himself which might be the reason why Orochimaru left Akatsuki.
"If you really think so, then let's get started," said the Akatsuki leader coldly.
After that, all members of Akatsuki simultaneously perform hand seals. Shortly after that Gedo Mazo's open mouth started to glow.
"Fuuin Justu, Genryuu Kyuu Fuujin!" said the leader of Akatsuki.
"Fuuin Jutsu?" Jiraiya thought. He wondered where this Akatsuki leader learned Fuuin Jutsu from.
Indeed Fuuin Jutsu is not a rare jutsu, but the ability to seal the Bijuu itself? It's not something you can get easily.
Gedo Mazo's glowing mouth just now let out a lump, the lump then changed shape and became 9 dragon tails. The Dragon Clump then simultaneously hit Gaara who was lying on the ground, the impact shattered the ground beneath him and the Dragon Clump carried Gaara's body into the air.
The Suna trio stiffened at the sight.
Temari looked away from the screen, unable to see what was happening to her brother. Kankurou grimaced and gritted his teeth, Gaara stared at the screen quietly but it could be seen that his hands were clenched quite tightly.
Meanwhile in the middle of the forest, Team Gai is heading towards Suna at high speed.
"Ah, it's us," said Tenten, quite surprised by the change in viewpoint.
"Hey, I said you guys are too fast," Tenten shouted, "We've been running non-stop all day long, let's take a break."
"Tenten, you lack discipline," Lee told her.
"!" Neji who was silent sensed something was coming in front of them, he increased his vigilance.
And sure enough, a dog jumped and stopped in front of them. Team Gai stopped and looked at their new guest.
"Pakkun!?" said Kakashi, he already knew that he would summon them, but he didn't know that they would meet Gai.
"Wait, Gai!" said the dog, it was Pakkun. One of Kakashi's Kuchiyose dogs.
"Pakkun," said Gai.
"Kakashi ordered all of our eight ninja dogs to divide and look for Akatsuki's scent separately," Pakkun said to everyone, "We found that they were heading to the river country between Konoha and Suna."
"Your team is closest to Akatsuki from Konoha to the Sand, so we came here," continued Pakkun.
"I see," said Lee.
"Follow me, I will explain everything as long as we run," said Pakkun.
Tenten suddenly felt goosebumps and she straightened her back.
"W-We're really going to fight Akatsuki, huh.." she said nervously, feeling a little worried about going up against such a dangerous enemy.
"Yeah, if they are left for too long, it will be very dangerous for our village," said Neji.
"There's no need to be afraid, Tenten. As long as we work together, there's nothing we can't beat," Lee said excitedly.
"I-I'm not afraid!" To be honest she was a little scared, but seeing the optimism of her two comrades calmed her down a bit.
"Hahahaha, calm down Tenten. Nothing will happen. After we get out of here, we'll have a training session to boost your youth spirit," Gai said as he gave a thumbs up, his white teeth glistening.
Tenten felt something troublesome was about to happen and could only pout.
After that with Pakkun's direction, Team Gai set out for their destination.
But…
Unbeknownst to them, from a distance someone was watching and listening to their conversation, his body was directly attached to a tree and his body was surrounded by a protective covering that looked like an aloe vera plant.
It was Zetsu, one of the members of Akatsuki who was ordered to scout while the other members performed the ritual.
Everyone stiffened hearing the information.
"So he's Zetsu, huh," Kakashi muttered.
"H-He came out of the tree, and why is he like that," Sakura stammered.
"That is one of Zetsu's abilities, he can blend with nature," said Itachi, making everyone look at him with wide eyes, "He can infiltrate wherever he wants, even the safest places like the Hokage's office, he is Akatsuki's strongest card in gathering information. "
After being sent here, Itachi didn't need to store any more information. If they use this information they use against Akatsuki, then so be it. Because from the start he was not an ally of Akatsuki.
Everyone processed the information Itachi had just said.
"Blend with nature huh, what a troublesome ability," Jiraiya sighed after noting Zetsu's ability, for him being an expert in gathering information, that ability made him very envious.
"Hokage-sama," Shizune whispered.
"Yeah, I know," replied Tsunade, "We need to tighten the guard of the village at this point."
After hearing the conversation between Pakkun and Team Gai, Zetsu quickly sent the information to his body which was at the ritual site.
"Great, now they know that we are attacking," Kiba grumbled.
In the cave where the ritual is being performed, Gaara is being surrounded by the lumps that Gedo Mazo releases, the tailed beast chakra is flowing out of it and towards Gedo Mazo, while Gaara himself is screaming in pain.
Kankurou growled at the sight.
"The enemy from Konoha is approaching our hideout, he seems very skilled. His name is Maito Gai," Zetsu said.
"Who is that?" Ask the leader.
"He's a Jounin from Konoha, a taijutsu user. He's really talented so be careful, don't underestimate him," said Itachi, although his form was invisible but his voice was clear, and as the person who knew the most about Konoha, he was the one who answered.
"Ah, that bizarre monster, huh," said Kisame, who was Itachi's partner.
"Hmm?" Gai raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"..." The leader remained silent hearing Itachi's explanation, then he spoke, "I will use that jutsu."
"Let me go instead," said one member, "I'm having a hard time finding my Jinchuuriki, and I'm already feeling bothered."
"No, I will go. I have a personal grudge against that person," Kisame cut in.
"Grudge?" Lee said, "Gai-sensei, do you know that person?"
"Hmm…" Gai racked his brain to think, "No, I don't know."
"Gai, judging by his voice, he's the one with Itachi you kicked first," Kakashi said.
"Is that true? Hmm…. I still don't remember."
"Haaah, well, never mind," said Kakashi surrendering.
Asuma and Kurenai decided to remain silent, with Kakashi failing, there was no way they could help Gai.
"Of course. After all, that jutsu suits you, because you have a lot of chakra even for us 'Akatsuki', Kisame," said the Leader, "However, I still need to have 30% of your chakra."
"Well, finally," said the real Kisame, he was sitting on the rocks, behind him was Itachi who was silent while doing jutsu. "Looks like I'll be able to pay him back for the kick he gave me."
"So I really kicked him huh," said Gai. Although he still couldn't remember who it was.
On an arid rocky hill, Team Gai is running towards Akatsuki's hideout with Pakkun's guidance.
Pakkun who was running at the front, suddenly felt something as he sniffed.
"What is it?" Asked Gai who saw the change in Pakkun.
"Someone is coming!" Pakkun shouted.
Everyone tensed their bodies, knowing that something was coming.
Neji quickly activate his Byakugan. He quickly scanned the entire area around them. After a while of scanning, he suddenly felt something rapidly approaching from behind them.
"Behind us!" he shouted, warning the others.
Far behind Gai and the others, the ground cracked and something appeared from below. It was a sword wrapped in bandages, it swiftly moved towards Team Gai like a Shark chasing prey.
CRASH!
Tenten felt goosebumps down her spine when she saw herself on the screen. Even though she was sitting here watching quietly, she could feel the tension on the screen.
For Tenten, this was the first time she had fought such a powerful foe. She hoped everything was fine.
A loud explosion occurred, causing rocks to shatter and fog. Gai's team managed to dodge and landed on a rocky hill. They quickly became alert and paid close attention to their new guest.
A silhouette could be seen from the dust of the ground scattered from the explosion earlier, the dust slowly dissipated and clearly showed the enemy attacking them.
It was Hoshigaki Kisame who was carrying the greatsword Samehada on his shoulder.
Everyone can now clearly see Kisame's form. Just looking at the screen, they knew that Kisame was a very dangerous enemy.
"Hoshigaki Kisame, nicknamed the monster from Kirigakure, is an S-class runaway ninja after betraying his village. The sword on his back is Samehada which makes him a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," said Shizune, sharing information with everyone.
"Seven Ninja Swordsmen, huh.." thought Kakashi while remembering one of his enemies in the past.
Gai who saw the enemy felt a familiar feeling, and he then spoke, "You are…"
"Do you know who he is, Gai-sensei?" Lee asked.
The others also looked at Gai when they saw that Gai seemed to know the enemy. But…
"Who are you?" Gai asked.
"…."
"…."
"…."
"…."
The same as on the screen, silence also fell in the room.
They already knew that Gai wouldn't remember Kisame, but seeing him act like he knew but in the end didn't make him feel like an idiot.
The others just stayed silent and frowned, feeling regretful wishing on Gai.
Kisame who heard their conversation smirked, "Ah, looks like 'Bizzare Beast' is stupid too. Well, anyway, I'd better refresh your memory."
"Lee, Neji, Tenten, pay close attention. This can give us an advantage in the future," Gai ordered.
They all nodded, although Gai often acted silly it didn't stop them from listening to him. They know when their teacher is serious or not.
Neji observes the opponent very carefully, his Byakugan trying to analyze the opponent.
"What incredible chakra," he said, "I haven't seen anyone with this kind of power since Naruto."
Many widened their eyes when they heard Neji's words.
"Same with Naruto, d-doesn't that mean..." Sakura muttered with a slight shiver.
Knowing what Sakura meant, some people got goosebumps. Kakashi turned to Itachi to ask.
"Itachi, is he..?"
"He's not a Jinchuuriki," Itachi replied calmly.
"Hah, then how does he have chakra that can rival such a Jinchuuriki," asked Kankurou in surprise, he did know that there were individuals who had large chakra but he had never heard of anyone whose chakra could rival a Jinchuuriki.
"Kisame is special, he has a very large chakra reserve far above all Akatsuki members, you can see for yourself that the Akatsuki leader asked for Kisame's chakra. And when combined with Samehada, the chakra goes even further. That's why he got the nickname 'Bijuu without a tail'."
"Bijuu without tail…."
Everyone was horrified to see someone of such a high level, and not to mention Kisame was an Akatsuki member and an S class criminal.
Those who didn't know much about Akatsuki before could now understand how terrifying Akatsuki was.
Some people were staring at the screen anxiously, even more so for Gai's team since they were the ones fighting Kisame right now.
"This is Akatsuki," Kisame said, he then threw Samehada high into the air and immediately performed a hand seal, "Suiton Bakushouha."
After that Kisame let out an extraordinary amount of water from his mouth, the water immediately flooded the whole place until the place became like a lake. Gai and the others immediately jumped to dodge Kisame's water attack.
"That's a lot..." Tenten muttered when she saw Kisame's attack.
"With that terrifying amount of chakra he can definitely do that," said Neji, not taking his eyes off the screen.
Kisame who had been holding Samehada back immediately attacked Gai who was dodging his water attack, he then swung Samehada as hard as he could at Gai.
"Konoha Shoufuu," Lee went straight in and kicked Kisame's hand which made his attack fail.
"Yosh," Lee said, clenching his fists.
"What?" thought Kisame in surprise.
Neji who landed on the water immediately attacked Kisame, "Hakke Kuushou!"
The impact of the attack sent Kisame flying back several meters. After stopping, a ball surrounded by sharp blades immediately attacked Kisame, he managed to block it with Samehada but Kisame was surprised by the explosive paper attached to the ball.
"An explosion!" he thought, right after that an explosion occurred.
Tenten who sent the attack clicked her tongue, "Damn, missed."
"Heh, as usual, their cooperation is always good," said Shikamaru.
"Yeah, that's why they're one of the best teams in our generation," said Chouji nodding in agreement.
"That annoying brat is really annoying," said Kisame who emerged from the surface of the water, just before Tenten's attack worked, he managed to dive to avoid the attack.
"That aquatic ninjutsu and that greatsword. You must be…" Gai said in disbelief.
"Looks like you finally remembered me," Kisame said to Gai.
"Someone I've met before."
"…."
"…."
The dreadful silence as before was back again.
Until…
"Really, Gai!"
The Jounins who were close to Gai immediately shouted angrily at him.
"Hah!? What is it?"
While the person in question was just confused seeing everyone upset at him.
Kisame couldn't say anything about Gai's stupidity. But he managed to calm himself down.
"You really have a knack for making people mad," Kisame said, "I thought I'd play with you until you remembered."
"Uh…oh… he's really angry right now," Kiba said.
"Of course he will be angry," said Shino, as someone who was always abandoned and neglected, he could understand Kisame's feelings.
"I-I hope Neji-niisan and the others are okay," Hinata muttered quietly.
Elsewhere, Team Kakashi with Chiyo is heading to Akatsuki's hideout.
"So, we're on our way," Sakura muttered quietly.
Sakura approached Naruto "Naruto can I ask you something?"
"?"
"Since when did Akatsuki start hunting you?"
That is now an interesting question.
They already knew that Naruto had been in contact with members of Akatsuki in the past, but they didn't know when it started.
Naruto pondered a little about Sakura's question, he remembered the Akatsuki duo who had hunted him in the past and after a while he replied "I don't know."
"In the past, two members of Akatsuki once barged into Konoha for the purpose of contacting Naruto," said Kakashi. "It's been three years since then, and they've started to move. Although I can't see the reason behind this."
"Why did they wait three years?" mumbled Sakura.
Several people peered at Itachi, hoping he would give an answer. But Itachi kept staring at the screen and didn't answer, making them give up.
"Maybe because they can't take action, rather than choosing not to. He is always by Jiraiya-sama's side."
"From what I've gathered, I heard there's another reason," Chiyo said entering the conversation, "It requires serious preparation to separate the 'Bijuu' that are sealed within the human body, I assume that's what hindered their efforts."
"Bijuu?" Sakura asked confusedly.
"What! You call yourself Tsunade's student, and you don't know what it is?"
"Ugh!" Sakura flinched at Granny's words, although she couldn't deny that she knew about the Bijuu after she came to this room.
"Information regarding the 'Nine Tails' is Konoha's top secret," Kakashi replied.
"Well, I guess so," Chiyo said with a sigh, "The 'Bijuu' is actually a magic beast that has a tail, the sand always has a 'One Tail'. It's a guard raccoon sealed inside Gaara-sama."
"'One-Tail'? So there are other different types apart from the 'Nine-Tails'…" said Sakura.
"Of course. There are a total of nine 'Bijuu' in this world."
"Nine…" Ino muttered in surprise, "So apart from Naruto and Gaara, there are others out there as well."
"Yes. I heard that each village of the 5 major countries held a Bijuu after a meeting in the past," Shikamaru replied.
Naruto widened his eyes hearing Chiyo's words, he was surprised that there were 7 other monsters besides his and Gaara's.
"Each monster has different characteristics, depending on the number of tails they have. The 'One Tail' has a single tail, the 'Two Tails' has two tails, and so on until the 'Nine Tails'. Each has a number of tails according to their name."
Chiyo continued to speak.
"Bijuu are powerful chakra formations. During the great ninja war, every hidden village tried to gain power for military purposes. They are racing to get this beast. However, no one could control such a power beyond human capabilities. I don't know yet why Akatsuki is trying to gain such power, it's too dangerous. Well, even through times of peace, times keep changing. I've heard that all the 'Bijuu' are scattered all over the world."
After hearing Chiyo's long explanation, no one spoke, they tried to process the information in their heads.
The people in the room also thought about Chiyo's information, even though they already knew what Akatsuki's intentions were from Itachi, they couldn't just believe in the 'Peace' they were aiming for.
As for Naruto, he wore a sad expression.
He thought that, apart from himself and Gaara, there were 7 other monsters out there and maybe some were sealed within humans, and suffered like them.
Gaara was also thinking the same thing as Naruto, to think anyone had the same suffering that he and Naruto had. He only hoped that the Jinchuuriki out there could survive and get out of their misery.
Inside the cave, the ritual continues.
The red tailed beast chakra continued to leak out of Gaara's body and into the Gedo Mazo statue. Before long, changes occurred to the statue. Gedo's eyes, which numbered 9 and were originally tightly closed, began to open. The Gedo Mazo slowly opened its eyes until they were fully opened, revealing 9 eyeballs, 2 of which had pupils and the other didn't.
"W-What happened," said Ino with surprise seeing Gedo Mazo.
Everyone looked at Itachi for an answer.
"That's what happens when the Bijuu chakra transfer process, Gedo Mazo's eyes will slowly open. And after the transfer is complete, a pupil will appear in one of the statue's eyes," said Itachi.
They were all processing information from Itachi before a reality hit them.
"W-Wait, there are already 2 pupils. D-Does that mean…" Sakura dared to ask even though she was stuttering.
"Yes, Akatsuki has captured 2 Bijuu."
The answer from Itachi made them feel anxious, without them knowing during their peaceful life, Akatsuki had been moving in the shadows.
Jiraiya who specializes in gathering information was also surprised to hear this news, because during his travels with Naruto, he had not heard any commotion about this Bijuu capture.
Kakashi was about to ask who the Jinchuuriki were, but he stopped midway. Somehow he felt something bad would happen if he asked that.
"Is she one of them." Gaara secretly thought anxiously about one of the Jinchuuriki girls he met a while ago. The girl is Fū, a cheerful kunoichi who wants to make friends. Gaara met Fū in an incident that took place during the Chuunin exams that took place in the desert. At that time Gaara was in a rut and Fū stepped in to help him without thinking about herself. From then on, he considered Fū a friend.
Gaara wanted to ask Itachi about the identity of the Jinchuuriki but he was too scared to hear the answer. So he decided to stare back at the screen, for an answer. And when the time comes, he hopes to take it in stride whatever the outcome.
Returning to Naruto and company, they continued to head towards Akatsuki's hideout. No one spoke after the Bijuu's talk earlier.
Unbeknownst to them, Zetsu saw them from afar and immediately reported to the other members.
Everyone stared in horror at the Akatsuki member.
"Okay, this bastard is too dangerous," Kiba said, "He can sneak wherever he wants and we don't even notice."
Many agree with Kiba's words.
"Let's make him one of the priorities we have to watch out for," said Tsunade.
"There's another, Shinobi from Konoha," he said.
"Well, who's next?" Ask the leader to the others.
"We'll see the others," Chouji said.
"W-Who do you think they will send?" Ino asked nervously.
"Who knows. What is certain is another dangerous shinobi," Shikamaru replied.
Jiraiya got ready to take notes in his notebook, during his trip he only got a little information about Akatsuki. What he just got was a list of members such as Itachi and Kisame, Orochimaru even though he had left the organization, and most recently Zetsu.
Apart from the members, he also got some small information like their connections with other wild shinobi.
After running through the forest for quite a while, Kakashi and the others could see an open area in front of them.
When they came out of the forest, Kakashi's instincts signaled the impending danger, he immediately told everyone to stop, "Everyone, hold on."
Everyone focused their attention. For someone of Kakashi's caliber to warn that there was danger, they knew that something big was coming.
They stopped when they heard Kakashi's order, then they realized that someone was waiting in front of them.
Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the person.
"Who?" Sakura asked while watching the person warily.
The person was wearing a robe with a red cloud pattern.
It took a while, some people began to realize that there was someone familiar with that description near them.
"It's started..." Kakashi said, narrowing his eyes.
That person didn't move to attack, just stared at Kakashi and the others.
"This guy…. And those eyes…" Granny Chiyo muttered, raising her guard.
Some people are starting to look somewhere..
That person had tried to catch Naruto in the past.
"Uchiha…. Itachi..." Naruto growled.
Now everyone was looking in the same direction, to be more precise at the person sitting between Gai and Kakashi.
Yes.
With a calm and expressionless face, Uchiha Itachi stood before them.
That's all, some people began to make enmity to Itachi.
"So you're still an enemy in the end!"
Kankurou was the one who exploded first. Because with Itachi on the screen hindering Naruto and the others it would definitely make it difficult for them to save Gaara. Of course Kankurou must be angry.
Everyone looked at Itachi to explain what his actions meant, but surprisingly it wasn't Itachi who answered.
"I don't think it's Itachi," Kakashi said.
Several people looked at Kakashi in confusion.
"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei? It's clear the evidence is on the screen," Sakura asked.
"Yeah, it's Itachi. But, is it really the real Itachi?"
"What do you mean?"
Some people were confused by Kakashi's words, but people with intelligent personalities like Shikamaru and Neji began to understand what Kakashi meant.
"Try to remember what the Akatsuki members said earlier. He said that with Orochimaru gone, it would take them a long time to perform the ritual. So we can assume that the fewer people the longer it will take them to perform the ritual."
Kakashi continued his explanation based on what he saw on the screen.
"They certainly don't want that, because the longer the ritual is going on the easier it will be for us to prepare troops to attack them."
Everyone is starting to understand now and what Kakashi said makes sense.
Akatsuki is not an arbitrary organization. They weren't a bunch of wild shinobi or bandits looting people.
Akatsuki is an organization that contains very strong S-class criminals. Coupled with members who are geniuses like Itachi. So they definitely wouldn't make such a small mistake.
"Well, that's just my conclusion. The real answer can wait or ask the person in question directly."
Attention returned to Itachi who had been quietly listening. Itachi who felt everyone's gaze began to answer.
"Yeah, everything is exactly as you said, Kakashi-san."
"But, that doesn't explain what we're on sail for," said Kankurou, "Is that Henge no Jutsu?"
"No. I think you still remember what the leader of the akatsuki said, that was the answer."
What did the leader of the akatsuki say…
Everyone started to think back to what they saw on the screen, and remember what happened. Moments later they came to a single answer.
"I will use that jutsu."
Yes. That was what the leader of Akatsuki said when he found out that an enemy was chasing them.
Itachi actually believed that this had something to do with Zetsu, but for now he wanted to answer with a vague answer because there was no evidence.
"So, that's the enemy leader jutsu huh. What kind of jutsu is that?" Tsunade asked.
But before Itachi could answer, the speaker in the corner of the room rang.
"Ah, about that. You'd better look for yourself for the answer," said Oz.
Everyone nodded and started to turn their attention to the screen.
Thanks for reading!
Next Update: Tales of A True Dragon