Title:
...
[Shadow Strangling Jutsu]. Shikaku Nara made a hand sign, and below him, tendrils of shadows manifested below his feet and made for the intruder in the person of Yahiko.
Yahiko however, already expecting this was one step ahead of him as a Explosive tag slowly descended on his position. Before the shadow tendril could entangle him, he made a one handed sign and...
Flash**
Instead of the usual loud explosion that follows an exploding tag, this one was silent. The reason being that it was a Flash bang.
"Shikaku Nara...an honor to meet you. Your Shadow Manipulation speaks volume of your strength." Yahiko said casually with a hint of admiration.
Shikaku however, squinted his eyes seeing that the intruder already had a counter on him.
"What was that Jutsu?" Shikaku asked, and out of courtesy, Yahiko replied.
"A Flash Bang." Pointing upwards, he continued. "We were already expecting a clash with the famous Ino-shika-cho trio of the Leaf Village, hence the preparation."
Following his hands, the group surrounding him looked up and saw so many Explosion tags floating in the skies above the village.
"As you may have guessed from the Pawn you captured, we take immense preparation before we begin an assignment." Yahiko said, hinting to the two captured Jounins the Akatsuki used for their Shape-shifting Jutsu.
"So even the Yamanaka clan won't be able to affect me." Yahiko said with a confident smile.
"You're all Genjutsu proof." Inoichi said with a look of realization.
Looking back to his work on the captured Jounins, he could only acknowledge that there was no way of prying into the heads of the Akatsuki members.
"So it comes down to a physical showdown." One member of the Nara clan said what was on everyone's mind to which Yahiko nodded.
"Unfortunately you won't be able to win." He said.
"Don't be too sure." One member of the Akimichi clan said while twirling his staff.
Yahiko however shook his head. "Me aside, there is no way of defeating anyone of the three others we came with."
"Three others?" Shikaku and Inoichi asked with a frown. "Aren't there at least a dozen enemies attacking?"
Yahiko shook his head and said. "Considering Jiraiya-sensei's methods, you all would be aware of this soon, but everyone attacking the village now...are all clones of one person."
"What!?"
"Jiraiya-sensei?"
"Clones?"
The group all exclaimed in shock at Yahiko's words.
Yahiko nodded and said. "Of the four of us, only I came here with my main body."
"Isn't that a bit arrogant?"
"Oh please. Arrogance is for kids with no measure of their strengths. This..." Yahiko spread his hands dramatically. "...is confidence."
"Confidence? So you're sure you can defeat all of Konoha Shinobi?"
Yahiko smiled but didn't answer, instead he looked around the gradually collapsing village and said. "This is Jiraiya-sensei's village. I would be sad to see it destroyed."
"Then why did you attack in the first place?"
"It's simple. We, the Akatsuki, are burdened with a glorious purpose." Yahiko said with a saddened expression while looking into space.
"Glorious... purpose...?"
"Hm. To end all wars." Yahiko began. "We need the Nine Tailed Beasts gathered in one place, not separated and shared by the Elemental villages."
"That's absurd."
"It is, but it is necessary. With that as a deterrent, there would no longer be conflicts. The world would usher in an era of uninterrupted peace. Children won't have to go to wars. Parents won't have to wait at home only to hear that their children died somewhere outside. Children won't have to be orphaned and forced to be scavengers."
Yahiko's tone went from casual to earnest. From his tone, the gathered Shinobi could feel that he thought he was right in what he was saying. And in all sincerity, the Shinobi surrounding him had all borne witness to this during the various Shinobi wars.
From a standpoint, they could understand him, but from another.
"You're right. No one would want to go to war if they knew what it'll do to them. But still, invading our village in itself is a crime and should be punished...you either surrender willingly or we will be forced to use force." Shikaku said with a tone of finality.
Yahiko heard this and sighed. "As expected, it is impossible to get through to others... Jiraiya-sensei was right... Without a measure of trust, peace is impossible."
"Well then...Come at me."
...
"This is absurd." A black haired woman said to herself as she observed the destruction being brought upon the village from a high building. "Not even Orochimaru could bring about this level of destruction."
"And from what we know, they're not even real living bodies...but clones." Another voice said, this time male. He had an eye patch on his left eye while his right eye shone red with three Tomoes rotating within.
"Itachi did say he couldn't measure the level of power the leader possessed, but to think that just his Clones have this much power..." The woman said with a shudder.
"The main body must be..." The man said but didn't complete it. Even he didn't dare to imagine.
"How's the evacuation coming along?" The woman said and from her back, a figure appeared wearing Konoha's police uniform.
He saluted her and said, "The civilians are still being evacuated to the mountain head."
The woman signed and closed her eyes. "This attack was way too sudden. I just hope we can reduce the casualties by a margin."
The man beside her nodded. While the figure behind disappeared. "I wonder what it is they're after." He said before squinting his eyes. "Kakashi is in trouble. I'll be back."
...
Minutes earlier.
Kakashi had just arrived on time to prevent Tendo, Deva Path from skewering Iruka who was protecting a civilian.
"Hatake Kakashi...It's an honor to meet you." Deva said as he locked eyes with Kakashi who was fearlessly holding his Chakra rod.
"I can't say I feel the same." Kakashi said, glaring at the Path. "Iruka, leave this place immediately."
"Understood." Iruka said and picked up the little boy and disappeared as fast as he could.
"You didn't attack him." Kakashi said
"Of course not. I'm not some mindless killer." Deva replied, "Plus, you should be more important in the village and should know the whereabouts of who I am looking for."
"Who are you looking for?" Kakashi asked.
"The Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails. Uzumaki Naruto." Deva said, his voice unbothered by the look Kakashi was giving him.
"That's impossible." Kakashi said as lightning immediately gathered in his hand holding the chakra rod in a bid to electrocute the Path. Unfortunately, before the lightning could build up, his chakra was immediately siphoned away causing him to reel back in shock.
Without missing a breath, he slammed his hands on the ground, causing a thick wall to appear behind Deva who merely observed him with interest.
Kakashi, who assumed that his movements were faster than the Deva Path could perceive, quickly went on the offensive once more with the Chidori.
However, in the split second before his lightning blade could make contact with the Path's head, he twisted it in an unnatural manner, shocking Kakashi who's fist was embedded into the wall.
To Kakashi's shock and the Deva Path's unbothered expression, the Path raised his hands up to Kakashi's body and said. "[Shinra Tensei]" and...
BOOM.
Kakashi was thrown back so many feets away but was lucky to have a chubby Choji appear to break his fall.
"Kakashi-sensei! Are you alright?" Choji asked as he observed the now pale Kakashi.
"Hm. I was caught off guard is all." He said while standing back up and looked around. "You guys came on time. This guy's tricky." He said.
Gathering around the Deva Path, other Shinobis began appearing. All Jounins with their different Weapons.
"Yeah, we saw. Let's attack together." Choza said as he appeared beside his son and pushed him behind him protectively. "You take care of Kakashi.
Choji nodded and stood In Front of the perplexed Kakashi who thought. 'Since when did I need protection?'
Nonetheless, he stood behind the Chunin and observed as the group all attacked together. Weapons such as Sickles, Daggers, Kunai and shuriken were employed while others used Earth style, Wind Style and Water Style Jutsus to attack the lone Deva.
However, without a single change in expression, Deva opened his mouth and said. -[Shinra Tensei.]
And what followed was an explosion that claimed the lives of 12 out of the 15 that had attacked.
When certain elements are combined, various reactions are expected to occur, then when such reactions are met with an extremely strong Repulsive Force, certain major reactions are to be expected.
Kakashi who had for seen this due to seeing Deva gathering chakra with his Sharingan had managed to evade the resultant explosion by going underground.
...
"Damn...That's brutal, but I can't say I didn't see that coming..." Shun said as he threw in a popcorn into his mouth.
Glancing beside him, he saw a serious looking Jiraiya with his eyes glued to the scene.
From his Perception, Jiraiya's emotions were all over the place, but due to the effects of the Ethereal Bloom, he wasn't acting out. Even without the effects, he was a seasoned Shinobi, allowing emotions to affect him this much would be a shame to his name and status.
"Do you plan on just spectating?" The old man asked and Shun, without skipping a breath, nodded. "Yup."
Throwing a popcorn into his mouth once again, he said. "This is one of the little pleasures of life. Observing as children go astray and then come back to their Senses..."
"That's a skewered thought process." Jiraiya said.
"Not if you knew what I know." Shun said with a smirk. "Sometimes, as humans, we see the little while we could be seeing more."
"I don't think I follow."
"That's understandable." Shun said and took a sip. "Humans are short lived creatures, yet even amongst the longest living creatures, our lives shine the brightest...Do you know why?"
"Because we know the importance of the short life we have. We know we have an end so we strive to make our lives as memorable as possible." Jiraiya answered to which Shun nodded.
"That's exactly it. I'm so doing, we become selfish. We chose a particular set of people to call loved ones. We focus on them and them alone, forgetting the other greater percentile of the human species." Shun said and paused
"What do you think makes God a God?"
"God?"
"Hm. God. Nagato claims to be a God. In a way, he is correct, but in your words, what do you think a God is?" Shun asked.
"A symbol of faith?"
"Hm, that's a good way to describe it." Shun said with a small smile. "In my opinion though, a God is someone with the three absolutes. All powerful, all knowing and ever present."
"Three Absolutes?"
"Hm. All powerful. He can do anything. All knowing, he knows all, good and bad, right and wrong. Ever present, he is everywhere at all times." Shun said. "Nagato...to an extent, he embodies one of those three."
"...All powerful." Jiraiya said after a small thought.
"Exactly. Although not properly trained, that level of power, without the wisdom to use it, becomes... corrupting." Shun said,
"That's not properly trained?" Jiraiya asked, pointing at the levels of destruction Deva was causing.
"Hm." Shun nodded and brought up a screen where Ria used Almighty Push and managed to destroy an artificial planet she had created with almighty pull.
"Wha-!?"
"You don't need to bother yourself with that, just know that when trained to its limits, Shinra Tensei could split an entire universe." Shun said offhandedly as the screen disappeared.
"Well then, it seems like Kakashi is about to meet his father." Shun said with a bit of annoyance. Although unlike the original timeline, Kakashi had managed to destroy the Asura path the Deva Path still managed to remain invincible.
As to how he managed to one-up the Asura path...'I guess turning objects intangible is also an ability of the Kamui...' Shun thought with an intrigued expression.
Seems like there were still mysteries around Mangekyou Sharingan.
***
A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. A lot has been going on. I try my best to write but when I do, I lose the motivation to write a detailed battle. Just like this Chapter.
I hope y'all understand. If it isn't a battle between Shun and someone important, I just don't find it interesting to write.
In a way, I have so much respect to the Anime to even change their battles. Although there will be some changes and improvements due to Shun's influence
Enjoy...