Title: Nexus Event
...
"So you're telling me I'm dead?"
Two white haired men sat facing each other with the younger of the two holding a white tea kettle. Looking up to the older White haired man, he smiled as his movements stilled.
"Very much so..." He said and continued pouring out the tea as he allowed the reality of the situation to sink in. "Weren't you prepared to die?"
"Huh? Uh..." The older man stuttered before sinking into his thoughts for a while. Seconds later, he let out a sad smile. "Yeah. I had prepared for it. Death, I mean...it seemed like the end of the road for me. I could even see the light..."
"Heh...I'm pretty sure that was the sun." Shun snickered as he brought his tea cup up to his mouth for a sip. "Please, help yourself."
"I'm not really a tea person..." The older man said while looking at the green coloured water with two leaves floating in it in disgust.
"Hahaha, I'm pretty sure you aren't, but please...do help yourself." The younger man's words weren't inviting anymore but demanding which the older man noticed and could only smile wryly.
Picking up the cup with his one good hand, he hesitated for a good while before downing the entire thing down.
"Oh. My. God." The younger man said with shock evident in both his voice and expression.
"Huh? What? What's with that look?" The older man asked after savoring the taste of the tea. What he thought would leave a bitter taste in his mouth actually left a slight milky taste.
"That tea leaf was personally cultivated by me. I call it the Ethereal Bloom." The younger man said with pride in his tone.
"Ethereal Bloom?"
"Yup. Pretty good name isn't it?"
"I still don't see why you exclaimed." The older man said while licking his lips and glancing at the kettle.
"Ah. That. Damn, you've really done it eh? You're one guy fate wants to kill by all means." The younger man said as his face turned serious. "The Ethereal Bloom is a flower normally used to enhance perception."
"Enhancing perception? Like increasing intelligence or something?" The older man asked while looking at the kettle with regret this time around. If only he had this tea when he was younger...
"No. Perception and Intelligence are two different things. Anyways, it is supposed to be taken little by little while you ponder on what is troubling you mentally." The younger one explained.
"So? I took in everything, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"
"..." The younger one only looked at the older man without saying anything.
"What's the characteristic exhibited by all the intelligent people you know?"
"They have a thing or two going on up there." He said, pointing to his head.
"Exactly. An increased intelligence or accelerated thinking process dampens emotions." The younger man said and took in a sip from the cup. "In short...in a few minutes, you'll lose all your emotions and turn into a rational and logical person."
"...Is that supposed to be bad?"
"You'll stop reasoning from the point where things are good or bad and only reason if it's beneficial to the main goal or not..."
"...So I'll turn into those egomaniacal idiots who think they're always right?" The older man asked as horror slowly began surfacing on his face.
"..."
"Like Orochimaru? Hiruko? Nagato?" Reality finally set in for the man as he looked at the kettle in absolute horror, however his mind immediately spurned causing his face to turn calm.
"You're not lying to me right?"
"..."
"There's no antidote?"
"It isn't a poison in the first place." The younger one took a sip before replying.
"Ahhh. What just happened to me!? I felt like...like...like I just took a back seat in my mind for an instant!" The older man cried as he made to stand up only for his expression to turn neutral.
"What an interesting tea leaf you've cultivated, Shun." He said calmly with praise but his expression was showing anything but that.
"I aim to please, Jiraiya-san."
"Ah. The genius." Jiraiya replied as he sat cross-legged before Shun closed his eyes in meditation.
Moments later, he opened his eyes and gazed at Shun's. "There's no natural energy here....where am I?"
"...A secret." Shun succinctly replied. He wasn't aversed to telling him, it was just that he didn't want to say.
"My connection to the Toads...It's severed."
"Hm. In here, without my permission, no outer influence is allowed." Shun replied with a smile.
"I see." Jiraiya replied and closed his eyes once again. "My throat. It was crushed. So were so many of my internal organs...I didn't know you were a doctor."
"The very best. Comes with the Genius package." Shun replied with a smile.
"So? Why am I here?" Jiraiya asked.. "Surely you do not need the company."
"Unfortunately, I do." Shun said and took a sip from his cup. To Jiraiya's surprise, no matter how much he sipped, the tea didn't seem to finish.
Squinting his eye at that, he spread out his senses to get a read on his surroundings.
"This place is weird."
"I know. In a way, we're in the opposite of the world you're aware of."
"Opposite..."
"Hmm, the underworld for lack of a better word." Shun said after giving it some thought.
"You still haven't told me why I am here." Jiraiya asked.
"You see...Your death, although preventable, was something I like to term...a Nexus Event."
"Nexus Event?"
"Hm. A necessity to the progress of the world." Shun said. "You remember the prophecy?"
"Hm." Jiraiya nodded.
"Well, while the Toad Sage gave his prophecy to the Sage of Six Paths, The Six Star Sage gave a different one to our clan." Shun said casually. "Although almost similar, ours is focused on empowering ourselves rather than relying on the son of prophecy."
"The son of prophecy...Naruto is the best bet right?"
"Why do you ask when you've already come to that conclusion?" Shun asked with a smile. "But you see, Naruto isn't the only son of prophecy."
Jiraiya frowned but kept silent. Although he couldn't get a read on Shun, his experience coupled with his newly found mental acuity told him that Shun wasn't just spouting bullshit.
"Nagato, the kid with the Rinnegan, Yahiko, Konan and the other masked girl. They'll become the force that'll serve to bring about the end of it all."
"End of it all?"
"Indeed." Shun nodded with a smile, however, a second later, his smile fell as he slowly dropped the cup.
"We.. we've reached the threshold." He said mysteriously causing silence to descend on the duo... "I always wanted to say that, hahaha."
"Anyways, where were we? Ah, the end of it all." Shun said and gazed into the void. His red eyes shone for a while before it returned to its normal state. "The Shinobi era will come to a culmination. It'll be put on trial."
"A trial? What trial?"
"A trial to see if they are worthy of the name Shinobi." Shun said and took another sip. "It's all about the long game."
"What are you even talking about?"
"Right around now. Nagato along with Yahiko and Konan had just passed through the barriers of the Village. Soon, they'll lay waste to it in search of Naruto."
"What?" Instead of flaring out in anger like he would've done, Jiraiya merely squinted his eyes at Shun but chose to do nothing.
"Konoha will welcome destruction unlike before. Lives and Property would be lost." Shun continued, "however, the decision of either one of your four students will determine the trajectory this world would follow."
Taking a pause to refill his cup, Shun, using his free hand, picked up a rectangular shaped tablet lying on the table and tapped on it allowing a bird's eye view of Konoha to be reflected on the screen.
"Interested?" He asked.
Jiraiya however, despite the dust and smoke rising from the village asked. "How do you manage this? Do you have the whole world under... surveillance?"
"It's a good thing you're thinking logically instead of emotionally." Shun merely said before turning to the screen.
"Nothing beats watching it from the scene, but considering you're a guest, I'll just make do with this." Shun added.
On the screen, Yahiko just walked through the streets of Konoha doing nothing in particular. His face looked melancholic as he observed the destruction they brought upon their master's village.
However, due to his attire and headband, wherever he went, he was being attacked as an intruder, and Yahiko, despite his normal talents, wasn't a pushover.
As the saying goes: By their friends you shall know them.
Having grown up with someone with power on par with a literal God, a woman who was nearly invincible and another woman who was gifted with God level Medical Ninjutsu, Yahiko had to train harder in order to have the confidence to stand shoulder to shoulder.
In the Akatsuki, he was the only normal person, but despite being normal, he had an impressive amount of chakra and control over it.
Konan on the other hand attacked with her clones... Explosive ones to be exact.
The lass was one rich ass kid who burnt out explosive tags as frequently as one breathes.
Whenever a clone encounters a formidable opponent, it just explodes.
Her main body however remained outside the village with Risa who watched over Nagato's main body in a tree a couple kilometers away from the village.
"Why Yahiko went in with his main body was still baffling though." Jiraiya muttered after getting the gist of the matter.
"Perhaps...Guilt? He hasn't killed anyone he's come across." Shun replied while pointing at the unconscious, yet breathing Shinobi Yahiko left in his wake.
"As Shinobi, and one who had it in them to kill their Sensei, their sense of purpose must be strong. I must say...even I admire their resolve." Jiraiya said.
He understood how it feels to be dedicated to something. As a Shinobi and a Konoha Shinobi at that, he knew how the village's safety meant to him.
He was ready to put an end to the friendship between his two teammates if either of them ever threatened the village...Yet, here he was watching the same village being attacked without being able to do anything.
In fact, he wasn't even able to feel anything at the moment.
"That's why they're the ones to bring an end to this era. Every era has its peak. The longest was the era of the two Sages. Nearly seven centuries did it last."
"And following it were the two centuries that bore witness to the Warring States Era. Although short, the Seven to Eight decades of the Shinobi era, despite being splendid, would also face its trying moment."
"Whether it'll persevere or crumble is yet to be known." Shun finished as he focused back on the screen in front of him.
At that moment, Kakashi had just come in contact with one of the bodies of Pain. Yahiko was currently facing off against the Ino-Shika...no Cho, but their clan members were there.
"This would be interesting." Shun muttered to himself as he watched in anticipation as to how Yahiko would defeat his opponents without taking a life.
As an experienced fighter would come to understand... Fighting with the intent to kill is easier than fighting with the intent to subdue.