Somewhere in a hidden underground hideout in Mountain's graveyard,
Swirl…
Obito walks out of a swirling portal.
"Zetsu! Most of our plans underwent unexpected turns. We can't follow the original plan anymore. The betrayal of Nagato and the loss of most Akatsuki members have affected our plans negatively."
"Looks like you failed to capture the Nine-tails, again!" Black Zetsu walks out of the darkness.
"Until now, your performance was better than my expectations. But now… how disappointing!"
"Things never go according to our comfort but run according to their schedule. Nagato's betrayal might have impeded our plans, but there is always a replacement."
Ayaka's face appears in his eyes.
"Initially, I planned to test the limit of the jutsu and perhaps capture the Nine-tails in the process. However, I managed to find a replacement for Nagato. Though it will be a bit tricky to capture her."
"Who?!" Black Zetsu narrows his eyes.
"It's this girl." Obito takes out a picture of Ayaka.
"Ayaka Uchiha, the younger sister of Izuna Uchiha! Her chakra reserves are bountiful and she is an Uchiha to boot. Also, her body seems strong enough to bear the burden of Rinnegan."
"Hmm…" Black Zetsu ponders for a while.
"There are several other options in the Uchiha clan, but most of them are strong enough to repel any attempt at their life. And also, it's very difficult to control their mind." Obito continues.
"However, if we can capture this girl and plant an obedience seal in her mind, then we might control her."
"I don't think that's a good idea. Izuna Uchiha is a variable we don't want to mess with at such a time. He had foiled our plans multiple times and I don't want to risk the success of our operation on such a variable. Though he might not be here, he must have left something behind to ruin our plans. So, there is no need to risk it." Black Zetsu disapproves of Obito's plan.
"Also, it's not like we won't have an opportunity later. If there aren't any, then we have to make one ourselves."
"Hmm… you are right! So, we are back to square one. Eight-tails and Nine-tails are still out of our grasp. It's about time we declare our intentions to the shinobi world. Activate the final phase of the 'Eye of the Moon Plan'."
Swirl…
Black Zetsu enters the ground, and Obito disappears from the room in a swirling portal.
In an underground cavern,
"Kuku… black what are you planning?" White Zetsu asks the Black Zetsu.
A massive Shinju tree lies in front of them. Numerous pods numbering in hundreds of thousands hang from the branches of the Shinju tree.
Zetsu slowly walks towards the trunk of the Shinju tree. The branches of the tree part sideways to reveal a path for him. Black Zetsu arrives at the base of the Shinju tree.
A massive wooden figure of Hashirama sprouts from the trunk of the Shinju tree.
"Hashirama Senju… the reincarnation of Asura Otsutsuki… the only descendant of the Sage of Six Paths who possesses the power of the Shinju tree."
One of the branches of the Shinju tree lowers and releases some spores into Black Zetsu's hands. Black Zetsu collects the spore and turns around.
"Too bad… this Shinju tree is just a dead remains of the previous Shinju tree. Even though it possesses enough vitality to cultivate Hashirama cells and the Zetsu Army, it lacks the Origin energy since its connection to the world has been cut off. I had to sacrifice a lot of shinobi blood to grow it to such an extent.
The sacrifice of the Senju clan, Uzumaki clan, Kaguya clan, and Uchiha clan wasn't in vain. They served their purpose as fodder. Now it's about time to reclaim what has been lost. I spent a millennium scheming and planning all of this. I can't let the foolish decision of a little kid ruin my plan. Since, in my eyes, everyone is a disposable pawn."
Black Zetsu disappears into the shadows.
-----------------------
Back in the polar sea,
Crackle… crackle… Bzzt… Boom…
Lightning flickers across the clouds as thunder and rain strike the ship.
"Everyone steady! Reinforce the mast to prevent demasting. Everyone else, start the pumps to eject the rainwater back into the sea. Slowly sail the ship forward at a steady pace. Damnit! We checked the weather forecast beforehand. There were no signs of a thunderstorm!" The captain grits his teeth.
Minato, Kakashi, and Ao, who are standing beside the captain, frowns.
"How bad is it?" Minato enquires.
Sweat trickles down the captain's forehead as he finishes instructing the crew.
"Unexpected thunderstorms aren't a rare occurrence in the sea. Most sailors encounter them during their journey. However, it is very rare for a thunderstorm to directly build overhead. The worst part of all of this is that due to the sudden nature of this thunderstorm, we deviated from our regular route.
It's too difficult to navigate back to our route, since the compass is malfunctioning in such weather." The captain glances at the nautical chart laid on the table.
"We might even have strayed away in the uncharted territory of the sea." The captain clicks his tongue.
"That shouldn't be a bad thing, right? We have enough food and water to sustain ourselves." Naruto remarks.
"Food and water are not the major problems. The real problem lies with the unknown monsters lurking in the depths of the sea. During my life in the sea, I have seen several monsters huge enough to topple an entire ship with just a swing of their arm.
These sea monsters are territorial, and they might attack us if we trespass on their territory." The captain remarks.
"Then how did you people cross the sea? If monsters have marked their territory, then it's unsafe to travel through the sea." Hanabi raises a question.
"There are multiple territorial monsters in the sea. However, a few of them doesn't mind the trespassing of humans and will allow ships to pass through their territory. All these years, many sailors have mapped such territories and drawn a nautical chart to allow other sailors to navigate through the sea.
We sailors have an association of our own and a sailor has to at least draw the map of a new uncharted territory or update the current existing nautical chart to qualify as a true experienced sailor."
The captain points towards the nautical chart on the table.
"This map is the result of the blood and sweat of my predecessors."
'Hey, Kurama! Have you seen those giant sea monsters?' Naruto questions the Yang Kurama.
"Of course, I have seen most of them. I even fought against a few and won. Back during the era of the Sage of Six Paths, a few sea monsters trespassed on the land. At that time, I valiantly fought against them and pushed them back into the sea."
Kurama narrates his heroic tale to Naruto.
"Alright… alright! I will listen to your tales some other times. For now, just tell me the name and descriptions of a few of the sea monsters.
Those sea monsters sound interesting. I already fought a few monsters at Mount Myoboku. Now I want to see how strong are these sea monsters." Naruto telepathically communicates with Kurama.
"Hmm… there are many of them from gigantic crabs, tuna fishes, giant killer sharks, giant octopuses… no wait… the latter is my younger brother." One by one, Kurama describes the appearance of sea monsters he fought against.
"Aside from them, there are a few stronger sea monsters, too. I never got a chance to fight against them. But they are serious bad news. These monsters are very powerful and I might lose against them if I fight in the water. They are Kraken, Leviathan, the terrible dogfish, Umibozu, Scylla, Charybdis and there are a few others.
The territorial monsters this human is talking about must be them. These creatures rarely make an appearance on the sea surface. However, when they do, they wreak catastrophe in their surroundings. Back then, the Sage of Six Paths killed one such sea monster called Cthulhu.
It was a giant ball of flesh with tentacles and dragon wings. Then there was also a giant sea serpent which was slain by the Sage of Six Paths. The Sage of Six Paths had to spend considerable effort to kill it. You can still find some of its remains in the Mountain's graveyard." Kurama ends his story.
"Woah, Kurama! You sure know a lot."
"Of course, brat, I have spent more years shitting than the amount of time you have spent living." Yang Kurama remarks.
"…"
Naruto's expression freezes.
'Damn! I am being influenced by the thoughts of my other half. Just what kind of things did he learn in these past few years?'
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A/N:- My new Naruto fan-fic, 'The Rogue Demon of the Shinobi World' is out.
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