Chapter 22: The Founding Lady
"Gah, my perfect body. No! It's ruined. How'd he let this happen? Where's everyone else and why is the jinchuriki here?" Orochimaru fumed while he took in Sasuke's condition. "His eye, where's his eye? Karen what happened to his eye? And where are the kids?"
Orochimaru was on the border of frantic and furious. He was still missing an arm and dangerously low on chakra. He didn't have the time to find the kids if they'd lost them. He'd personally punish everyone from the retrieval team.
Karen was still in shock at sasuke's state and was frantically trying to get the uchiha to bite her when she felt Orochimaru's killing intent demanding he answer her questions. In all her time away from otto, she'd been away from her sister and surrounded by murderous shinobi or helpless test subjects.
Her time with Orochimaru had been bleak and depressing even before the painful experiments the sannin had occasionally ran her body through. Sasuke appearing out of nowhere was like a ray of light in a dark life for her.
He was so cool and confident in the face of the terror of a sannin. He was hot and really strong. Maybe even strong enough to carry her away from Orochimaru one day. Yet somehow, the snake had even gotten to her ray of light. His influence and the cursed seal drastically changed Sasuke before her eyes.
She'd thought him joining Orochimaru to save his clanmates was admirable and refused to believe he'd kill those kids of his own free will. Then, the Uzumaki she'd heard of had come and nearly killed him. Even worse, Orochimaru would probably find him useless and who knows what would happen to him then.
Cold as Sasuke was, he'd at least treated her better than everyone else, which wasn't saying much but it meant a lot. What was she to do, she already had nothing left. Orochimaru saw she wasn't paying the required attention and took a step closer while leveling a glare at Karen that promised pain.
Her voice was shaky and she stuttered too much to get the words out. "Karen I won't ask you again," Orochimaru said with deadly intentions as snakes erupted from around his arm stump and hissed.
Naruto had been sent careening across the lake unable to stop or recover until he reached ground on the side of the lake.. He was dazed but it only took a moment to clear his mind. He clearly sensed and saw Orochimaru standing where he'd just been looking down at Sasuke in the girl's arms.
There he was, the man responsible for it all. Haku's death, Sasuke's tainted mindset and subsequently the little uchihas. Sasuke had always been an arrogant, pompous, and vengeful fuck of an uchiha but killing his own clan members. There had to be more to it.
Itachi had said it was for power too but that was a lie. Naruto didn't let himself think about the issue anymore. It didn't matter at this point, Naruto thought numbly. The biggest enemies to Naruto's clan were right there, weakened and ready to improve his chances of survival.
A rare feeling of pure rage began to bubble up, rapidly overwhelming Naruto. He couldn't let them live. They deserved to die. The sannin's chakra was much weaker than before and he was missing an arm, he was vulnerable.
"Kit, that's still not someone you want to fight." Kurama spoke calmly from within his seal. Letting his chakra influence the kid who needed little influence at the moment. The giant fox was grinning in his mindscape.
While Naruto let loose often, he never truly let loose. Not with all the pain and anger he felt. Kurama pushed chakra through the seal the moment he felt the boy unconsciously pull for it. Kurama didn't hold back too much knowing he could handle more than most humans could.
An eerie grin graced Naruto's face when he felt the rush of the kyuubi's chakra. His body felt so light and every movement felt as if it could crush boulders while an orange cloak of chakra covered his body. He felt his mind slipping but he held firm with the strength of his resolve. He'd kill them in revenge but with his own mind of hatred, not the kyuubi's.
Furaijin sucked the cloak from Naruto's right arm before the cloak regenerated, then the sword released a pulse of chakra. It told Naruto to let it go and he did. The sword disappeared in a circle of light before reappearing as a white lightning dragon that swirled around Naruto almost playfully while the former blonde ignored it.
Naruto's seigan turned a blazing purple that rolled in a fusion of chakra in his eyes. His cheek marks grew and kurama's chakra molded into long claws. Naruto took a breath while he watched Orochimaru seemingly threaten the girl holding Sasuke.
Hatred and anger burned in his chest like the fuel for an inferno. The power coursing through his coils left him intoxicated. Kurama was excitedly seeing how much chakra his container could control. The giant fox wondered if the ningin was just as talented as the original tree hugger that'd captured him. The boy might even kill one of the puny sannin with his chakra, the fox mused.
Naruto used a jolt step to return the favor to Orochimaru in the same fashion with a flying kick that dispelled orochimaru into a cloud of snakes that burned to crisps on contact with Naruto's bijuu cloak.
Orochimaru popped from the water behind Naruto ready to thrust forward his only hand with a purple flame burning on each finger, intending to seal away the bijuu before it became a problem. The Snake sannin jumped away when a small white dragon the length of a katana composed of a dense chakra flew towards his arm.
It followed and Orochimaru dodged the first pass before it spun back around dashing towards the sannin again. The Snake sannin released a couple dozen snakes from his arm stub sleeve but furaijin burned through them like dry leaves. Orochimaru dodged a claw slash on his back before side-stepping Naruto's Next swipe and kicking him in the stomach.
Naruto flew backwards but he'd been able to attach chains to Orochimaru's foot. He lifted the sannin off his feet to pull him closer but his chain was cut with a slice of wind chakra before Orochimaru substituted with a large snake just as furaijin attacked, killing the snake.
Karen started to take Sasuke away, trying to be as quiet as possible. Naruto ran to intercept but was stopped by orochimaru. Naruto released his chains and attacked in conjunction with his claws.
Karen used the distraction to run with Sasuke as fast as she could. This time she would disappear with the boy in tow.
His speed was terrifying and Orochimaru was put on the defensive in his weakened state. Orochimaru was clawed across the chest before inhumanely contorting his body, avoiding multiple chains. He repositioned himself before landing a swift kick to Naruto's gut followed by a back hand.
The sannin immediately followed by jumping and kneeing Naruto in the face before having to disengage to avoid the white dragon, so persistent on killing him. Naruto bounced back and lunged at Orochimaru but the sannin deftly avoided the raging jinchuuriki before creating distance and running towards the waterfall. Naruto and furaijin followed, and the red head let loose an audible growl.
Orochimaru wanted to be sure he was in between the retreating Karen and Sasuke. He also had an idea to slow the jinchuriki down enough for them to disappear. Orochimaru went through one handed hand seals, something he'd learned knowing some jutsu specifically took one hand or just for it's usefulness.
He thought, "suiton, ookina taki no funsui no nami, great waterfall fountain wave jutsu." The waterfall, now directly in front of the snake Sannin, changed trajectory from its downward fall and funneled the falling water directly towards Naruto. The flood of water condensed and increased its momentum.
Orochimaru smirked, showing the rookie their difference with his use of a high a-rank jutsu with little chakra by taking advantage of the natural landscape. "Ku kuku, Let's see you handle this Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said in a low tone that carried itself all the way to Naruto's ears.
Naruto saw the waterfall being converted into a weapon against him and didn't care for the cleverness with tons of crushing water headed his direction. He created a large rasengan but struggled to control the staggering amount of chakra he'd accidentally released into the spiraling ball.
The chakra took on a purple hue as it approached half the size of Naruto himself and the former blonde managed to solidify its outer shell. He jolted forward meeting the waterfall head on and slammed the giant spiraling mass of chakra against the force of water coming his way.
The rasengan impacted, spraying water hundreds of feet in every direction while Naruto struggled forward. Orochimaru watched the boy's admirable struggle before increasing the flow of the waterfall. If the jinchuriki died then he died. He'd already ruined his perfect body, orochimaru thought.
Naruto's approach was slowed but two tails fully formed behind him. He pushed forward, increasing his pace before he completely overpowered the jutsu. Naruto pushed through until he slammed into the rock wall behind the waterfall with his massive rasengan with enough force to make Hashirama and Madara's statues shake as if there was an earthquake.
Orochimaru was once again dodging the ever persistent white dragon that burned through everything he put in its way but still couldn't help licking his lips at the prospect in front of him. Orochimaru heard a snap like the sound of a spark of electricity and his honed sense told him to move.
Naruto impacted the place where Orochimaru stood on Hashirama's shoulder and demolished it with a more reasonable but still large rasengan. Orochimaru retreated further on the high ground, flipping and slithering unnaturally and Naruto followed.
Once at the top of the waterfall, The snake sannin caught a glance at the dead kids from the corner of his eye and knew it had to be sasuke. He'd encouraged the boy to embrace the urges of his mark. He'd even implanted the idea that the only thing that mattered was power.
Still, he didn't think he'd gotten Sasuke along to this point. At least not yet. If the boy awakened the mangekyou then it was worth it. He could repair his body but the other eye was a problem. He'd punish Sasuke severely for losing it.
Naruto chased Orochimaru and caught up with a large jolt-step. He launched a vicious attack with his claws and chains while furaijin was darting through the air to catch the slippery snake.
Orochimaru would've been dead if he was a lesser shinobi but he wasn't so he calmly averted the onslaught while scanning the area and the red head before him for evidence of where Sasuke's other eye went.
Furaijin attacked relentlessly with Naruto behind him giving Naruto the chance to burrow chains underground. While pushing the Sannin back, Naruto finally caught him by grabbing him from behind with a buried chain.
Naruto pulled him down, slamming the sannin into the rocky ground before letting loose and wailing on the man truly responsible for Haku's death. When Naruto stopped, he looked down to see he had been pummeling a mud clone. Snakes sprung up all around Naruto, jumping high, around, and lunging towards the former blonde jinchuriki.
Naruto swiped at the air with a claw and roared, releasing a pulse of red chakra that blew them all away while his third tail grew. Kurama was becoming worried because he never took into account Naruto wanting to lose his mind and the chakra was beginning to take more and more effect.
Kurama knew he couldn't stop it anymore either, not at this point. Orochimaru decided he'd seen enough and bit his thumb to make it bleed before running through more one handed seals. He slammed his hand on the ground, just as Naruto had found his location and begun charging him.
"Hidden snake jutsu, formation of ten thousand snakes kukuku," Orochimaru said with a sneer. From a sealing array under Orochimaru's hand came an endless flow of every snake imaginable until there were tens of thousands that towered over each other in a deadly wave rapidly approaching to engulf the young Namiuzu.
Naruto skid to a stop and flew through his own hand seals for a Katon blazing fountain jutsu. He took in a deep breath that made his chest bulge and mixed in kurama's chakra. He released a billowing flame that shook the ground with the force of its propulsion.
The flames took on an unnaturally deep red as they intensified and grew before colliding with Orochimaru's jutsu. The horde of snakes met the giant body of flame in a titanic clash of destruction. Burning snakes were flung in every direction while the fire raged on.
After the initial impact, Furaijin flew to the center of the flames and to fly in a at increasing speeds until a lightning charged tornado grew while sucking in the flames and snakes. Naruto wondered what it was doing but it seemed destructive.
Naruto continued to spit out an intense blanket of flames that was large enough to engulf gamabunta himself. A moment later, most of Orochimaru's jutsu was being sucked into a giant column of spiraling flames and the snakes were being turned into ashes.
Orochimaru marveled at the sight of a column of flames created by a mere boy. Reports had said the boy's dojutsu gave him an ability to manipulate chakra in unexplained ways and pulling off a jutsu like that was a testament of its validity. Orochimaru started to think he hadn't lost the perfect body afterall.
Behind the tree line, just far enough away from the fight to be able to see, A red haired woman, a red haired kunoichi, a shinobi with rippled eyes and dark skin, and a shinobi with shoulder length dark gray hair had been standing in a complex sealing circle just large enough to contain them all.
They were watching the procession of events aided by seals that hid their presence and appearance completely due to lumia's seal work. They'd been watching since Naruto and Sasuke's fight had begun.
Flashback*
At the top of the valley of the end, beyond the treeline, a large and complex array of seals appeared on the ground in a circle. Out of the sealing circle arose Lumia, Rollo, Tayuya, and Sora from Uzushio.
Lumia had gotten wind of the latest occurrence that would renew the cycle of hatred in the shinobi world, primarily between the descendants of Hagoromo, the sage of six paths. A cycle that started with the sage's children and continues with their descendants and the rest of the shinobi world.
They stood relatively close together so that they'd completely be covered by Lumia's seals. She was the greatest seal master to ever live, not that it was fair. Tayuya, Sora, and Rollo had immediately begun looking for an Uzumaki girl their age. Their mission was to retrieve a Karen Uzumaki and return her to their village.
Tayuya searched with her senses while her team looked around. They heard someone shout "Why" and their attention turned to the river that fed the waterfall where shinobi on opposite ends were apparently having a standoff.
From their distance it was hard to make out who it was but they could see the uchiha clan crest on the back of a dark haired shinobi. Tayuya even recognized the chakra signature of the red haired shinobi on the other side of the river but didn't remember him being a redhead.
"Look, over there, the uzumaki." Sora whispered. "No, that's a guy,. We're looking for a girl. He seems familiar though and looks like he's fighting an Uchiha." Rollo said. His special eyes, the rinnegan, afforded him a much better view than his pseudo-jinchuuriki best friend.
"It's that shithead Naruto, he just has red hair for some reason. But who's that on the ground?" Tayuya said. Rollo took a look, his rinnegan wasn't the byakugan but he did have much better vision than the average shinobi. By Sasuke's feet were two small bodies laying in blood.
"It's not just one body, it's two. I think they were kids." Rollo said quietly. He didn't know exactly what was going on but it was already seeming tragic. "Wait what, what's going on? I thought we were here for this Karen girl." Sora asked. "What kind of monster kills a kid?" Rollo said
"She's here, hiding a hundred meters to the north. But still, I agree, what the fuck is going on?" Tayuya's question was directed towards lumia. The woman wore a solemn expression with tired eyes that had seen countless tragedies.
She'd hoped this wouldn't be another but all the signs were there. Hidden powers were once again manipulating the shinobi world for their own ends. A chain of events that had begun many years ago and had been intentionally continued from manipulations behind the scenes.
It saddened her that she was usually unable to do anything about it. The moment she'd arrived she could feel its familiar influence. So subtle, history's best sensors had missed it yet she had honed her senses to find it everytime.
The young uchiha before them was a prime example of why the cycle of hate would never end as is. Lumia's thoughts left her students wondering if they'd get an answer. "Our mission is to retrieve Karen Uzumaki but I brought you here for another reason too.
Something I need to show you for you to truly understand. This is important, I urge you to pay attention while you watch the fight. The dark haired Shinobi is Sasuke uchiha and the kids on the ground are his young clan mates. He'd just killed them with his own blade."
Her listeners scowled and sent Sasuke a scathing look but she continued. "Most would call him a monster, evil, a terrible person. At this point, that could be true but it's just not that simple. While he's in no way innocent, few could understand how he's a victim of a much larger plot."
"Lumia-sama, you can't really be defending this" Sora interrupted "Silence," She responded sharply." The tone seemed to shock the team. "You once rampaged and killed over a dozen monks who'd been trying to help you. Were you completely responsible? Are you evil? Are you a monster? No, because things aren't that simple in this world.
Your father sealed cultivated bijuu chakra into you with no real way to control or maintain its chakra yet you were left with the burden. At times, your young mind wasn't able to control such malevolent chakra. Were those actions a reflection of who you are? No, they weren't.
This boy is no better. So much manipulation and influences leading up to this moment. Once again, an Uchiha being manipulated into doing the unthinkable. Once again, pitting the Sage's descendants against each other. The cycle must come to an end."
Lumia-sama, what aren't you telling us? What are you trying to say?" Rollo asked, unable to understand exactly what she was saying. "Then listen. I'm going to tell you a story, the true story, of Hagaromo and his three sons.
Only then will you understand all that is going on here." Tayuya, Rollo, and Sora shared confused looks at the mention of three sons when they only remembered two but didn't vocalize it.
"As the story goes, Hagaromo's mother, Kaguya was the first to have chakra. She gave birth to two sons and shared her power with them. When they were older, they discovered Kaguya was feeding people to a great tree, to produce a chakra fruit.
The two sons, Hagaromo, and Homura fought their mother for months before finally being able to seal her in the moon. Hagoromo became the first jinchuriki when the great tree transformed into the ten-tails, a monster of a biju.
Hagoromo took the bijuu into himself to keep its power at bay while his brother left to live on the moon and keep watch over their mother and the tentail's husk sealed with the woman who was immortal and couldn't actually die, only be sealed.
Hagoromo himself went on to spread chakra throughout the world, hoping it would bring people closer and foster higher understanding. Like anything else, humans found its use in various ways, including violence.
When the sage stopped his travels and spreading chakra, he started a family and had two sons. Indra, and Ashura. Indra was extremely talented and only relied on his own strength. He believed power and fear was the best way to govern their people.
Ashura wasn't as talented, despite his gifts and being the son of the sage. He was strong but nothing compared to his brother. Where Ashura shined was in his ability to connect with others, empower them, and bring them together with love." Lumia stopped to motion the team to follow her as she led them to the bottom of the valley to keep watch over Naruto and Sasuke's fight.
Naruto had just released a massive blade of chakra that cut deep into the lake. The attack was menacing. While her team watched the desperate struggle, she continued. "The third son, as I mentioned before, never received recognition as the third son. This was because the child, named Sesshomaru, was an illegitimate child conceived on one of Hagoromo's drunken nights where he'd entertain random women among his followers.
Sesshomaru's mother attempted to get Hagoromo to claim his child, if even only secretly but to no avail. The lands had been entering troubling times and Hagaromo was keen on being seen as perfect. A man who made no mistakes so that his followers' loyalty would embolden them to spread his ideals throughout future generations.
The kid and his mother were turned away. The woman attempted to return to family but was shamed due to rumors of being a whore and attempting to push responsibility on the honorable sage of six paths. Having a fatherless child had already been heavily frowned upon at the time let alone with the rumors circulating about her.
From then on, Sesshomaru and his mother led a tough life, constantly traveling while living in poverty. The young Sesshomaru had seen many horrors in his life during this time. When the child was ten, he and his mother were captured by very bad men.
His mother didn't make it, and although he'd awakened a doujutsu and the power to break free, the young Sesshomaru was scarred for life. He was on his own from then on. The only things he had from his mother were his silver hair and a bunch of writings she'd always kept close.
He was able to find the Identity of his father from his mother's writings. They turned out to be letters she'd been writing for him just in case something happened to her. They had no protection or shelter in dangerous times afterall.
He'd hoped to find out if she knew anything about his strange eyes. A glowing blue ring it was said to be at the time but there was nothing about them in her writings except for how she thought they were special.
Sesshomaru had to fight and even steal for survival from then on. His life was tough, but he grew strong and learned more than a few tricks with his special eyes. He'd begun making a name for himself but always hid his identity so no one would know who he truly was, or looked like.
When he was 14 Sesshomaru encountered a dark figure spying on him and confronted it. It seemed like a man yet had the physical properties of a plant. It called itself Zetsu. It said it was interested in Sesshomaru because of his lineage.
As you can imagine, this piqued the boy's interest and roused heavy emotions. Zetsu conveniently mentioned the prosperity of lands ruled by his brothers and father. How his father was being revered as a living god. A man who could do no wrong.
The conversation whipped up a repressed rage Sesshomaru had done well quelling until that point. After being questioned, Zetsu gave the boy exact directions to where Hagaromo and his two sons lived."
"Sounds like he wanted him to go there," Rollo said. "He did, but it didn't when it was what Sesshomaru wanted as well. A useful tool for a master of manipulation. So the sage's third son traveled far to where his bastard family was supposed to be.
When he got there, he could see that Zetsu wasn't lying. The little village and surrounding towns were prosperous, peaceful, and cooperative. Everyone smiled, and they all seemed so kind. A stark contrast to what he'd seen from the rest of the world.
The thought of his mother having lived in a place like this, just to be exiled in shame further darkened his mindset. So much so, the malevolence of his chakra could be felt miles wide as he approached his father's compound.
When he drew near, he was met by Indra, his older brother. Sesshomaru stated his intentions to speak to their father and hold him accountable for his mother's fate. Indra denied his words and labeled them false accusations.
An argument ensued which became a fight. While Sesshomaru's abilities pushed Indra, his brother was in his early 20's at the time. With much more experience and time to grow his powers, Indra won the battle. Indra was going to kill the boy but was stopped by his brother Ashura who wished to cast him away instead.
Once again, Sesshomaru was cast away from his family in shame. It would be over a decade before he'd meet any of his family again which was probably for the best. Indra and Ashura were at the age where a successor for Hagoromo would be chosen. As a result, they were both sent on missions to solve issues in the world to decide who would succeed Hagoromo.
Sesshomaru himself would travel far away, all the way to the coast of what would be fire country now. There, he met a red haired young woman and her parents when the young woman caught him stealing from their fishing boat. The family saw that he was hungry and gave him food and a place to stay instead of attacking and gathering the townspeople against him."
Lumia started to smile in reminiscence despite the current atmosphere and continued. "They taught him how to fish and gave him a place in the family business. He was distrustful but honest. In return, he protected the family and the little town they were in whenever unsavory groups or individuals caused trouble.
Being a coastal settlement left them in the sights of many pirates and bandits alike. Sesshomaru had taken it upon himself to protect the place that had quickly become home to him. It wasn't long until he became the protector of this little town.
He'd begun spreading chakra too, in his own way and helping others become stronger too. Naturally, they followed him. Sesshomaru was beginning to see a much better side of life in the home he built up with the townspeople. He'd even fallen in love with the young red haired woman who'd caught him stealing." Lumia blushed as if she was having fond memories.
Rollo and Sora shared confused looks trying to keep up with the fight and the story but Tayuya looked as if she was in deep thought. Sasuke was sending a nasty looking fire jutsu at Naruto.
"Sesshomaru and this young woman went on to marry and have three kids in no time. He protected the town and the town's fishing trade and the peoples teamwork built a quickly growing and thriving settlement.
It was a peaceful place, somewhat isolated and removed from most of the conflict that was spreading across the land. By that time, the Sage of six paths had chosen his successor, Ashura and given him a powerful inheritance, his chakra.
Of course the proud Indra couldn't accept the decision and war waged between the two brothers and their followers. The conflict spread to surrounding groups, towns and emerging clans like a virus.
For the most part, Sesshomaru and his people remained untouched. They were strong, had access to all the essentials and were growing in number and strength. They were content with focusing on themselves. Unfortunately, even they couldn't ignore the world outside of their borders.
When a group of traders from the town were slaughtered, it was deemed unsafe to travel outside of town borders, not without armed guard. This prompted Sesshomaru and a group of his strongest followers to journey across the land and discover what had made it so hostile.
The downfall of being self-sufficient and isolated was lacking information on the outside world, something to be remembered. They traveled wherever they found conflict in an attempt to help and find the cause. Their path always led them to the two earliest clans to form, the Senju led by Ashura and the Uchiha led by Indra.
Whether the two groups were clashing or they were clashing with the followers of the other, newer factions. Factions born to offset the influence of the uchiha and senju started conflict recklessly in an effort to gain strength and make names for themselves. It was a chain reaction that even reached other continents.
Years later, Sesshomaru and his group caught wind that the sage was nearing death and had released 9 bijuu. Factions were already gathering to take advantage while Indra and Ashura's war seemed to engulf the entire land. .
Sesshomaru was resolved to allow his brothers and their followers to kill each other off. He opted instead to empower others to protect themselves and their people. He reasoned that with more security in their own strength, they'd be less likely to use ruthlessness as a deterrent since it wasn't needed. Their abilities would speak for itself.
This is how bloodlines originally began appearing across the lands, or the elemental nations as you call them now." Sora and Rollo snickered and mocked her saying, "lands." Tayuya hit them over the head but admittedly thought it was funny too.
Lumia ignored them, she knew they were listening. They just couldn't help themselves so she continued with her story. "Sesshomaru would use the abilities afforded to him by his doujutsu to grant others special abilities that would usually be unattainable. With no charge either, though he only did it for those he deemed worthy.
After encountering the destruction caused by a bijuu that was pestered until it retaliated, Sesshomaru returned to the town where his people and family resided. He gave them a way to tame a bijuu if needed so that if they encountered one they would be safe. He also introduced the first seals. A creation of his own.
With his eyes, he'd see a way to alter reality. A code, one would say. It could be expressed in millions of ways but at its core it was a code to alter reality. So we learned the first seals. One of which could create a whirl pool. An effective defense against pirates.
It was such an exciting time for the town.
Sesshomaru stayed for only a year, maybe more before he and his group returned to their travels. He even took along his eldest son who was finally old enough to make the journey with his father.
Through his travels, he found that nothing had changed throughout the lands. Even those who were granted special abilities couldn't escape conflict due to the fear and jealousy their abilities caused. The senju and Uchiha groups had grown and and their growing strength stoked conflict just as much as it ever had.
When Sesshomaru was approaching 28 years of age he and his group were approached by a large and old toad wearing a necklace. It even spoke and asked Sesshomaru to follow him where he'd meet the Sage of six paths.
Sesshomaru wondered why his father wanted to meet him so late in his life but entertained the meeting. The meeting was short. Hagaromo was dying and didn't have much time to talk. Though it was a short talk, Hagoromo apologized for how he handled Sesshomaru and his mother.
He explained how he was arrogant and self-serving, unable to see beyond his own greatness at the time. He told Sesshomaru that he wanted him to get to know his brothers and their followers should they ever stop killing each other.
Lastly, he asked Sesshomaru to try and bring peace to his brothers so that they could bring peace to the lands together. Sesshomaru didn't like that, at all. He rejected everything his father had told him and cursed his name, refusing to acknowledge him as his father.
When he left, they were on terrible terms. He'd even taken some of his father's chakra without permission on his way out which didn't sit well with his father's followers. Hagoromo died a few months later.
Sesshomaru was at the end of his travels, having done as much as he could. He was set to return home to his family and loyal followers who'd deemed themselves the Uzumaki. A name he was proud to call his own.
While he was away, the Uzumaki led by his wife had made quite a name for themselves. Quiet as we were, we stood unyielding in the face of threats. Even going so far as restraining the three tails from a rightful outrage as it had attempted to make its way to a larger body of water.
The Uzumaki worked well with those around them and didn't create enemies but their success brought enemies who felt like they could be a threat. Most enemies never posed a major threat but this in of itself brought on even stronger enemies.
The Uchiha had eventually set their eyes on the Uzumaki as potential threats. After multiple unprovoked skirmishes with sub-par results, Indra himself attacked the Uzumaki's little town.
We fought valiantly and the Uchiha took heavy losses but by this time Indra had awakened his rinnegan and was too strong. When Sesshomaru arrived, their army had already left us for dead. They'd burned our boats, our farms, and our homes.
I was bleeding out, holding on through seals meant to stall the failure of my organs when he found me. His eyes were as enchanting as the last time I'd seen them. It looked like a sphere of unimaginable energy just rolling in his sockets.
Most found it weird or scary but I thought it was the perfect final view before I died. My seals expired while he tried to speak to me. I was too far gone to understand anything. The last thing I remembered before I died was his long silver hair draped over me as he held me close.
I thought it was such a shame to dirty such pretty hair with my blood." "Holy fuck, I knew it! You are her. The founding lady." Tayuya interrupted. "So it's true? I thought it was just a rumor." Rollo added.
There was a rumor in Uzushio that Lumia was the founding lady. The first leader of their clan aside from another founder who went missing right after the clan officially formed. Sora was silent in disbelief. How could she be so old and look so, nvm he had to focus he thought.
"Wait you said you died, but. You're right here." Sora asked. "Yes, well I'll get there but with who's on your team, you should understand pretty much anything is possible until proven otherwise." Lumia responded as eyes shifted to Rollo, the rinnegan bearer, and then she continued. Naruto and Sasuke's fight was intensifying and this time Naruto was sending massive fireballs at Sasuke.
"After my death, I'm told Sesshomaru sealed me away and rescued everyone he could from the burning settlement. Luckily we'd been able to hide away the children. Next, by unanimous decision, all of the able warriors of our clan followed Sesshomaru to hunt down the uchiha who'd destroyed our home.
The uchiha had been expecting it and were waiting for them with reinforcements and Indra himself. The battle lasted for weeks until Indra and Sesshomaru resolved to settle the battle themselves.
It was close but Indra was stronger than Sesshomaru at the time. Indra was older by almost a decade and had been trained since a child. Still, there was a fatal difference between the two.
Indra had flaunted his powerful susanoo and rinnegan all across the lands. Indra ruled his army with fear. His own men feared him and obeyed every order because of it.
Sesshomaru had kept his identity hidden whenever he used his full powers and very few knew exactly what abilities he and his followers possessed. Sesshomaru led his followers with love, mutual respect, and companionship. He treated them all like family, not pawns or soldiers.
As a result, when Indra inevitably began to overpower Sesshomaru, Uzumaki followers intervened despite orders to retreat from the battlefield. Sesshomaru revealed his full ability to manipulate chakra using jutsu large and strong enough to combat a full susanoo while his followers held it down with their chains.
Indra wasn't prepared for such an onslaught, he'd thought someone who didn't need to rely on others like his brother Ashura did wouldn't. He'd made the same mistake He did in his initial loss to Ashura and his followers.
Indra's followers watched as the uzumaki killed Indra as a clan, too fearful to disobey their leader's orders and too arrogant to believe Indra could be killed. The battle was a heavy blow to the uchiha. They Uchiha retreated right after, unwilling to fight the man who killed their leader.
Sesshomaru took Indra's rinnegan before an Uchiha could and before he left the battlefield, he sensed a familiar presence. One he'd first met when he was 14. It was Zetsu." Lumia said its name coldly.
"Zetsu was watching, not once thinking anyone could sense him but Sesshomaru could.
He'd approached it out of nowhere and it tried to flee but Sesshomaru wouldn't let it. After capturing Zetsu, he forced his way into its mind, unwilling to be tricked twice.
What he found was infuriating and terrifying all at the same time. Everything was because of Zetsu. A being created the moment before Kaguya was sealed with the only goal of reviving her.
To do that he needed to do many nearly impossible tasks including having someone with a Rinnegan gather all tailed beasts and summon the husk of the great bijuu before combining them all so his mother, Kaguya could reform herself.
The being went about its task by manipulating Hagaromo's descendents and surrounding lands to prepare a plan that could take hundreds if not thousands of years.
Playing upon human emotions like fear, pain, and love to move them around like pieces on a shogi board.
The being had incited wars, manipulated both Indra's and Ashura's sides to continue the conflict. It had manipulated leaders, victims, and even children to do the unthinkable in their weakest moments. It had assassinated, poisoned, and imitated anyone who was in its way or necessary for some micro goal for the good of his overall plan.
All this in an effort to spawn an uchiha or senju willing to end it all in the future under the guise of saving everyone just so his mother could return to the world and drain the chakra from every person living." The anger in Lumia's voice was evident.
Tayuya, Rollo, and Sora were doing their best to follow but it was hard to truly understand exactly what Zetsu's plan was but they got the jist. Lumia could tell that much.
"Zetsu was manipulating the world for his own ends regardless of how many people were harmed. He was a major cause in most of the world's conflict, and still is today. Sesshomaru tried to kill Zetsu, instantly after reading it's mind.
After multiple attempts, he found that it couldn't exactly die, at least without destroying every last piece of it but he figured it could be sealed. Before he could, an army of Zetsu sprung up from under his feet.
In the confusion, the real Zetsu slipped away, right through his fingers, literally. Sesshomaru would never catch him again. Zetsu never gave him a chance, it was too cautious. After the battle, the Uzumaki warriors returned to their loved ones and they set out to find a new home.
After a few weeks at sea, they settled on an Island that they would build a village on many, many years later. By the time the Uzumaki had reached the Island, Sesshomaru had experimented with the rinnegan enough to know that it could do the impossible things, much like his own eyes but maybe more.
He removed one of his own and implanted one of Indra's rinnegan on a desperate night. He unsealed my body and tried to revive me. I woke up as if I'd only been sleeping to find him half dead but still alive.
I noticed that his long hair was red, not silver. When he recovered it was the first thing I asked, how. He told me that the pain of losing me was so great that he felt like he needed a scar, something to remind him of the worst wound he'd ever had.
He said that he was even further mentally scarred by having his hair turn red with my blood. His doujutsu turned his hair red permanently in response. It left him with a permanent reminder of what he'd lost that day, like a scar."
"Sounds a little dramatic to me," Sora said insensitively. "Shutup dumbass," Tayuya chided. "Wait, so is that what happened to Naruto? They have the same doujutsu right? It turns your hair red when you're traumatized?" Rollo asked inquisitively.
If his deduction was right, Naruto had the same doujutsu as this Sesshomaru guy and that Sesshomaru guy had killed a guy with a rinnegan. He couldn't help but wonder if he really had the strongest doujutsu. The fight they were watching was surprising to say the least.
He didn't think anyone his age group would be able to contend with him and his team but apparently he was wrong and they were out there. "I guess you've noticed, Rollo. Yes, Naruto has the same doujutsu as my dear Sesshomaru. And unfortunately, yes, the doujutsu does turn one's hair red as a physical scar for mental trauma.
I'm not sure it would happen for everyone but for those two I guess it was fated to be." Lumia responded. "So, Naruto's lost someone, recently?" Tayuya asked. Lumia just nodded solemnly, she was sure it had just happened by the emotions she was sensing from Naruto.
Lumia continued, "The shock of my return had been praised as a miracle, though there were some who became bitter their loved ones didn't return. Once we were established on the Island, we came together to perform a ritual that was common at the time.
As factions and groups came together during that era, they used a ritual pilfered from the uchiha. The ritual was meant to tie a group of people together by more than just commitment. It was the blood clan ritual. A ritual that connects a group of people by blood and even allows them to share a few common traits.
The uchiha's ability to awaken the Sharingan for example. Indra created the ritual to strengthen his followers by sharing his own blood and bonding them together through it in the early days of the uchiha's formation. The ritual was used to birth countless clans in the era. The Uzumaki included.
After the ritual, the Uzumaki all grew deep red hair. The clan accepted it and like their leader, used it as a reminder for the ones they'd lost. The Uzumaki red hair had become a symbol for our love for each other and remembrance for those who were no longer around.
The Uzumaki lived in relative peace for a long time after that and people learned to respect or fear the Uzumaki red. Still, Sesshomaru couldn't just let things be as they were, not with Zetsu orchestrating behind the scenes.
He set off on his travels again, this time alone having spent some years with his kids. He was searching for Zetsu and trying to fix all the problems the being was kicking up. Eventually he ran into issues when an Uchiha let slip the truth about their leader's fate.
The clan had been quiet in the years after Indra's defeat but the truth was bound to come out eventually. Ashura had sent senju on multiple occasions to the uzumaki in an attempt to set a meeting between Ashura and Sesshomaru but the latter was never available.
Sesshomaru visited the senju after hearing about it through a summon. One of his little inventions. Summoning contracts, a way for people to fight alongside the growing number of cognisant, chakra wielding animals. He'd given any of them he could find a contract, told them how to use it and left them to use it as they wished.
Even now, there's no one except for Naruto that can create a sealing contract, a true one. Ashura and Sesshomaru set up a private meeting, just the two of them and discussed the battle. The meeting was going fine until Ashura demanded Indra's eyes.
Even after being warned of a being called Zetsu who'd love nothing more than to get his hands on them, Ashura demanded they both be in his hands. The argument evolved into a fight. The two wouldn't receive any help since Sesshomaru had sealed the area so they wouldn't be disturbed.
Ashura fought until his last breath, something very unlike the man Sesshomaru had heard of a man who would've done all he could to find a better way. Ashura must've known he couldn't win during the fight but fought until the end which was peculiar to Sesshomaru.
Sesshomaru sensed a familiar presence again and searched the area on a hunch. He found Zetsu but it somehow escaped, again, even through the barrier Sesshomaru had created. After a thorough look at Ashura's body, he found spores from Zetsu in Ashura's ear, entering the Senju's brain where Sesshomaru found more of Zetsu's chakra.
Ashura had been manipulated, just like Indra and Sesshomaru had killed them both. Something Zetsu may have wanted all along which meant even Sesshomaru was manipulated, again. Luckily, the senju or uzumaki didn't know of the meeting so it never stood in the way of the two clans becoming friends and later allies.
After that, Sesshomaru seemingly searched the world for Zetsu but never found him. His final resort was to remove Zetsu's goal from ever being achieved. He resolved to kill Kaguya, for good." "And did he?" Sora asked.
"He tried. It took him years to find his way into her seal on the moon and after he'd tried everything he decided that the best way to kill her was to use up all of her life force, essentially burning out her soul.
So one day, he took me to the moon where she and the ten-tails husk were sealed away. He took in all of her chakra and placed her soul in me.
The plan was for the two of us to live and watch over the clan while combating Zetsu's interference for as long as it took for Kaguya's soul to burn out. Her soul would keep me alive until it couldn't and we both died. Her chakra would keep Sesshomaru alive until it was time for him to let it go and they'd die together.
While it was a flawed plan, it was a plan. Unfortunately before we returned home, we were met with Hagaromo, and Hamura. Hamura, who was on his deathbed, his life-force spent from creating a dimension on the moon for his people. Hagaromo who was dead, preserved in the space between life and death.
They appeared in front of us and accused us of trying to hoard power after killing Hagaromo's sons. They said that they hadn't interfered because we hadn't crossed a line but we were crossing it. They threatened to seal us away if we didn't undo what we did.
We tried explaining our plan. We even tried explaining the threat Zetsu posed. Sesshomaru apologized for allowing himself and his brothers to be manipulated twice and expressed the importance of what they were doing. Nothing could convince the brothers before us.
I think they couldn't see past Sesshomaru killing Indra and Ashura and maybe even rejecting the sage and his wishes. They called Zetsu's existence trivial and called us fools. Sesshomaru tried fighting them but they weren't Kaguya's children for no reason.
All it took was a touch from them both to seal Sesshomaru away in a place much like where Hagoromo resided. I would've been next but Sesshomaru used his last moment to send me away.
Hagoromo didn't have the power to appear in another place so soon so I had time to go into hiding until I was good enough at seals to hide from even Hagoromo. I've watched over the shinobi world, the Uzumaki, and descendants of Hagoromo ever since. Doing my best to quell the conflict Zetsu continues to spawn in the world."
Tayuya, Rollo, and Sora had a million questions but Lumia continued before their minds could catch up with all she'd said.
"Naruto and Sasuke are a direct result of all Zetsu's meddling. It was madara uchiha who was being manipulated by Zetsu that rescued and taught a child for zetsu's plan that Madara thought was his own.
Zetsu further manipulated konoha and the uchiha to raise tensions and keep them divided. It then manipulated the child taught by madara to attack the hidden leaf which took away Naruto's parents and left him in a terrible position.
Because of Zetsu's and Madara's student's meddling, the Uchiha clan were massacred by a member of their own, leaving only a handful of uchiha children. Sasuke was not only traumatized, he was sattled with the burden of a whole clan.
After that, he was tainted with a cursed mark used to control and empower a certain shinobi's subordinates. The mark itself was even tainted by Zetsu as well to further manipulate the boy. Decades of manipulation leading up to this point.
Is Sasuke innocent, guilty, somewhere in between? I can't say but what I can say is that many uchiha have done worse, much worse as a result of Zetsu's interference. Before you judge his actions, you need to at least try and understand why they say the uchiha is a cursed clan. In a way it is but not due to their own nature.
The uchiha have just been easier to manipulate because of the love they feel. They love strongly and family is just as important to them as the uzumaki. They're love is so strong that it can quickly turn to hate when the right buttons are pushed or under the right circumstances.
Over the years, Zestu's become an expert in manipulation especially when it comes to the Uchiha. That's the reason I brought you here. It's to see just how much of an effect he can have on the shinobi world.
If something were to happen to me, I leave it up to you to stop him and put an end to the cycle of hate that plagues this land. If anyone can do it, it'd be the three of you." Lumia finished, throat parched after all the talking.
"But what could happen to you, I thought you just said you were Immortal." Sora asked.
"I am but I can be killed. If I am, I'm not sure what'll happen to Kaguya's soul but it'll be released and she still won't die unless all of her life force is gone. If that happens, you'll have to find a way to rid the world of zetsu. I doubt he'll be as cautious with you. He'd probably just try to manipulate you instead." Lumia responded.
Tayuya and Rollo were still mulling over what she'd said. They'd gotten so many answers all at once and wondered what the reason could be. It seemed as if something big was coming but Lumia hadn't mentioned it.
"Lumia-sama, why are you telling us all this now?" Rollo asked. Lumia just smiled grimly and didn't answer his question. "Why don't we just watch the rest of the fight. I've said all I'm willing to say today." And just like that, her team could see that storytime was over.
The fight was nearing it's climax and Sasuke was diving head first into Naruto's jutsu with a purple ribcage covering his body. It didn't take long to see that it was a mistake. When Naruto released his second rengoku zan geki, Tayuya said, "well, damn."
They watched as Karen made her appearance and then Orochimaru while Rollo and Sora bickered back and forth arguing that they were both stronger than Naruto. They all watched carefully after hearing Lumia words on the cycle of hatred that was playing out before their eyes. *Back to present time, flashback end*
Naruto sensed Orochimaru retreating underground but didn't sense the sannins head and elongated neck erupting from behind him, aiming to bite his own neck. Orochimaru's bite landed on an orange cloak of chakra that the sannin couldn't pierce.
He disengaged after feeling the foul chakra erode his mouth. Naruto sent chains or tails or a mixture of both, he couldn't tell at the moment but they burrowed underground in an effort to impale or bludgeon Orochimaru who snakily slithered his way to the surface.
Naruto tracked and lashed out at Orochimaru while furaijin continued to feed the raging pillar of spiraling flames far that had engulfed Orochimaru's snakes. Naruto took a barrage of punches and kicks from Orochimaru before swatting the sannin towards the towering column of flames with a chakra chain-tail. Orochimaru settled himself and slithered underground before he came too close to the flames that had begun moving his direction.
Naruto fumed since it'd been near impossible to hit the sannin. He growled wishing he could just let go and let his emotions take over but he wanted revenge and couldn't do that as a berserker against a sannin so he was left there, testing the edge of his control.
Naruto caught sight of orochimaru emerging from the ground between him and where Karen and sasuke had retreated. The look the snake sannin was giving was a mix of amusement and mockery. Naruto was a flaming ball of fury and his seigan reflected it burning bright with a dangerous intensity.
Naruto jolted towards the column of flames that furaijin had been growing, seemingly waiting for something. When Naruto's skin began to burn he thrust out his hand and his eyes started to burn too.
The towering column of spiraling flames began to shrink. It shrunk more and more yet the intensity never wavered. Naruto's eyes burned more and he started crying purple tears. The column of flame shrunk again as Naruto condensed the massive jutsu even smaller into the form of a spear that he could barely heft above his head.
Orochimaru was a man who endeavored to learn every jutsu ever created in the world and through all his research, he'd never seen someone grab onto a high ranking ninjutsu and condense it into any form in the palm of their hands.
Orochimaru decided he had a new target body right then and there and he needed to know the full workings of that ability. He wondered if it was an ability of the doujutsu the jinchuriki had. Naruto held the towering column of spiraling flames over his head with furaijin at the epicenter.
The jutsu was a highly condensed swirling mass of glowing red flames. The spear sparked with white lightning and the ground around Naruto began to be ripped apart by winds, lightning and powerful wisps of flame that escaped his jutsu. The air around Naruto felt 100 times heavier as he prepared to throw it without killing himself.
"Kukuku ku, Show me what you can do young jinchuriki! Impress me!" Orochimaru cackled out before he splattered blood on the ground from a freshly bit finger. Next he placed his hand on the ground and muttered, "summoning, triple rashomon."
Naruto heaved his jutsu towards the sannin with an unrestrained growl. As Naruto threw the jutsu, three massive double doors, sealed and chained shut, grew from the ground in the distance between Orochimaru and Naruto. "
"Fires of retribution!," echoed in the area as Naruto loudly claimed the jutsu that flew to meet the first Rashomon barrier. With a massive and fiery explosion the first gate was blown open. The second gate held firm for little more than a second until it gave way, and the last gate caused the jutsu to detonate in a massive explosion.
The third rashomon gate was blown open and a torrent of wind and flames rushed through continuing on to orochimaru. Orochimaru smirked and stomped his foot, already prepared to raise a thick mud wall that blocked the last of Naruto's jutsu, at least Orochimaru thought. The mud wall held firm as it fought against the backlash of the fiery jutsu.
The sannin thought he was safe but quicker than orochimaru could react, a white dragon burned through the mud wall and lunged at the sannin. Orochimaru attempted to block at the last second with his arm stub but it burned right through the rest of his half-missing arm before the sannin was able to jump away and then create distance from furaijin.
Orochimaru reaffirmed his ambitions to kill this kid and take over his body but decided to leave for now. The kid was beginning to remind him of Itachi with the surprises and it made Orochimaru seethe in anger as he summoned three giant snakes to cover his retreat. Things would be different if he hadn't just fought the hokage and two of the strongest in the village at the same time, he thought.
"Still think he isn't a threat, shithead?" Tayuyua asked Rollo chidingly after seeing Naruto perform a powerful combination jutsu with his sword before condensing that jutsu down into a spear and throwing it as if jutsu and chakra were just toys. "
Tch, ninjutsu doesn't affect me. It won't be a problem," Rollo replied with less confidence than he wanted. "His will, if he wants it to. That's only the beginning, heed my warning. When you come across him in the future, tread carefully and attempt to be allies. He's an Uzumaki after all, now more than ever." Lumia said.
Rollo looked as though he wanted to argue but Lumia continued. "For now, we have to go. We aren't the only spectators and I fear I might've noticed too late." Lumia didn't make any motions to the other spectator's location because he'd just left.
A half black- half white humanoid plant creature that had been half melded into the ground, watching the whole fight before it just left. "I don't sense shit where are they?" Tayuya asked. "Gone, let's follow." Lumia said as the sealing circle they were in began to glow, only seen to them, before they disappeared. Lumia knew Naruto would survive. He was fated to.
Naruto saw Orochimaru be engulfed in a large plume of smoke signaling a summon and knew the snake was trying to get away. He started to follow but his path was blocked by three very large snakes that were much taller than even the walls that surrounded konoha. In a fit of rage, Naruto released massive chains that ensnared the giant snakes.
It only took a short, earth shaking exchange before they were dispelled. Once caught, Naruto squeezed them while they writhed trying to free themselves. Once the pressure was too much they dispelled and returned to their summoning world.
Naruto sensed orochimaru who'd made up quite the distance and was increasing speed so fast, he was actually going to get away. Naruto screamed and it came out as a roar. He could sense exactly where orochimaru was but catching him was a completely different story. Naruto stared so hard towards his retreating form that he felt as is he could burn a path to him.
He continued to stare at the sannin's retreat until he began to see a path. The path seemed only like his imagination at first but became clearer. It was like a direct doorway to the retreating Sannin. All he had to do was open it. So he willed it to open. Now, he was once again bleeding purple tears while his eyes burned.
Orochimaru was speeding across the landscape after having covered a significant distance in his initial retreat jutsu which catapulted him far away underground. He was just spreading his senses to find Karen and his ruined body when a thick cloud of some strange black mist appeared in front of him.
He sensed it early but his momentum carried him right through. Orochimaru disappeared into the cloud of mist and reappeared out of another cloud of dark mist, right in front of Naruto. Naruto didn't know how but he'd understood what had happened and furaijin appeared in his hands just in time to shove the sword hilt deep into Orochimaru's stomach.
The sannin's eye widened in surprise knowing he'd somehow been caught off guard. Naruto looked into Orochimaru's eyes as he added raiton chakra to his blade making the man grimace. The sannin had blood coming from the side of his lip and when he went to cough it up, dozens of snakes rushed out at Naruto.
They couldn't get through his bijuu cloak but it was enough of a surprise for Orochimaru to slide off of furaijin and summon a white snake. He screamed, "reverse," at it and it promptly dispelled to return to its realm.
Naruto knew what was about to happen and slashed his blade to end the snake sannin. Right before the blade made contact. A painfully smirking orochimaru was gone in a poof of smoke, just like that.
Naruto had failed. He was deflated at the fact. Kurama's chakra stopped flowing and he felt impossibly drained. Every muscle in his body was exhausted. "It's ok kid, you did all you can. You'll have another chance." Kurama said from the mindscape. Naruto fell to his knees and screamed. He screamed over and over again until he gave in the the pain, exhaustion and sorrow, passing out.
Lumia and her group reappeared in another sealing circle a stone's throw's distance from Karen who was on the ground holding Sasuke while talking to a man in a black cloak with red clouds on it. They would've been there earlier but stopped to, "right a wrong that never should've been," as Lumia had told her team.
The man talking to Karen had on a big straw hat and an orange swirling mask with one eye. "It doesn't matter who I am. I'll be taking sasuke now, girl." The man in the orange mask reached out to grab Sasuke but Karen covered Sasuke with her body. The man hesitated then said, 'fine, come with us then," before reaching again, this time for Karen.
Lumia said, "stay here," politely but forcibly and then stepped out of the sealing array making everyone aware of her presence. She quickly threw a sealing tag that hit Karen before the masked man could touch her and a barrier erupted around Karen and Sasuke, forcing the masked man back.
The man attempted to walk through the barrier but was surprised when he couldn't, as if he usually could walk through things. "Who are you," the masked man asked. "It doesn't matter who I am, you aren't getting these kids today.
Zetsu come on out, it's about time you made your move." Lumia said. The masked man tilted his head as if confused. "What do these kids mean to you, and how do you know zetsu?" The masked man asked while approaching with caution.
"Wait, we should retreat for now, She isn't worth the hassle." The black and white half plant half man, half protruding from the ground said to the masked man. The masked man looked at zetsu before looking back at Lumia, unsure of what to make of it.
His senses didn't have any alarms coming from the woman so she couldn't be that strong. "Ah and what's the rush zetsu? That's what they're calling you nowadays, right. Going back to your roots now are we?" Lumia asked in an overly sweet tone.
"What are you doing here you vile woman, why aren't you dead this time? We need to leave,now." Zetsu asked before motioning to the masked man. "Fine, but you have some explaining to do. Until next time miss-" the masked man left it hanging there to get a response.
"You can call me Lumia, Lumia Uzumaki and you?" "You can call me Madara, Madara uchiha." "Sure you are, Ma-da-ra," Lumia said, emphasizing his name. The masked man said nothing else as he observed her for another moment. Now wondered where she'd even come from.
Without another word, he used a jutsu to swirl himself and zetsu into another dimension. The barrier around Sasuke and Karen dispelled and Karen looked at Lumia. "Y-you said you were uzumaki?" She asked. "Yupp, Lumia Uzumaki at your service. It looks like you could use a little help."
