Naruto: Tales of Ashihara
Kakumei – Arc 4: Might Makes Right
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Chapter 88 – Oshio Heihachiro
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Village of Hikari, exactly a day after the sudden visit of Urashiki Otsutsuki. On a training dojo installed in the great castle, Kawaki and Minako are proceeding to a special training. The other 22 members of Kawaki's squad are sitting and spectating on the side, having been joined by Sorito Kijima, Minoka's failed test subject who is still unable to feel any touch.
As demanded by the sovereign, Kawaki is trying to make his youngest subordinate able to use her clan's forbidden jutsu. Simply called Hyoishi (Possessed Will), this Jujutsu allowed the Onikuma clan to possess the will of a target by infusing their chakra in its body. This way, they could force someone to accomplish an action without his own consent, or turn an enemy into an ally. The most talented could even transmit a made up will that isn't even close to their own to a target, making them also capable of turning an ally into an enemy.
Minako is experiencing this skill for the first time, and obviously finds it quite troublesome due to the jutsu's weaknesses. Apart from being completely inefficient on the few people whose will is too strong to be overtaken, the needed infused chakra for the jutsu to work is proportional to the target's amount. The more chakra it has, the more will be needed. And to test this on Kawaki makes it pretty hard for this reason.
"AAAH! I'm sick of this!" Minako yells, frustrated, before getting serious and sad. "I can't do it, Kawa-bro. Can't we just give up and find another plan?"
Doubtful, the general doesn't reply. He just wonders what Oshio wants to achieve with her ability, since he didn't tell anyone about the sudden new plan he established. Behind him, a member of the squad speaks up in answer.
"You better get it done and stop messing around!" he yells. "No alternative! Our purpose depends on you, so get useful for once."
"Minako!" Kawaki exclaims, willing to give her a more hopeful response than this. "Don't listen to him! You're stronger than him! You were right the other day. You don't need no drug boost to be the best of the squad! Try again! You're gonna make it! Believe it!"
The young girl, happy that her captain takes her defense, leans aside to see who just yelled at her and shows her tongue. Being much younger and moreover from a renegade clan, she doesn't get much respect from her colleagues except for Imi, the mute kid. After this little provocation she stares at Kawaki and sighs.
"But it's too hard. You got way too much chakra." she complains. "Can't we take a break and do this again tomorrow?"
"Doesn't matter how much chakra it takes." Kawaki replies. "Oshio will fix this as soon as you're done."
She puffs her cheeks, frowns and angrily tries again. She stitches her hand against the general's chest and continuously infuses her chakra in there.
"I wanna stop!" she yells, complaining again.
Hyoishi
Kawaki now suddenly stands up and gets at ease.
"It's fine we'll take a break for now…" he starts to say before his Shojo seal activates itself on its own, chasing Minako's chakra and breaking the curse.
Everybody else stays still for a moment, not sure of what just happened. Only Minako abruptly stood up, waiting to understand.
"I guess that was it." Kawaki simply says.
Imi and just two others from the crowd stand up and run to Minako, cheering for her success. She also exclaims her joy as her teammates lift her up.
"That was metal!" she shouts with her hand up making the sign of horns, right before she and Kawaki notice the ruler of Kakumei who's been standing in the corner for a while.
All the others see him too and stop what they're doing as well. Oshio steps forward and gives his opinion.
"It's still not the task you have to do." He calms everyone down, to Minako's disappointment. "You need to possess someone with a will that isn't yours."
"Come on, Oshio, chill." Kawaki answers. "Her managing to take over someone like me is already a huge step forward. Anyone else will feel easy for her now."
"But I wonder how your body broke out of it alone…" says the young Onikuma as her friends lie her down. "Normally, the only way to escape the possession once it begins is either if I deactivate it myself, or if the victim's body is already under someone else's possession… At least it's what my mommy told me."
Kawaki thinks about what this means about him. He stares at the seal in his hand, and squints his eyes. Oshio, still not satisfied, makes it clear again.
"Mess this mission up, little girl, and you won't be close to seeing her again, your mother." he says, to Kawaki and Minako's surprise.
This young girl and her mother are the last individuals of their clan. Since the reign of Gozen Tomoe, they are hated and disregarded for their clan's bloodlust. To make their way through life and protect her daughter, Minako's mother had to use Hyoishi an uncomfortable amount of time, until experiencing the negative effect of such an overuse.
When an Onikuma uses his Kekkei Genkai ability, he transmits a fragment of his actual will to the target. For an average member of this clan, using it too much will quickly result in the degradation of his own will. Minako's mother used it on more than 300 people in less than a year, on hostel owners, wandering hunters, Tomoe clan members and others. This eventually led to her almost fully using her will and ability to express it.
Knowing that her state wouldn't allow her to travel any longer, she left her daughter to continue her wandering alone when she was only 7. Minako tainted her hair black to hide the signature blonde of her clan, and went to the capital where she hoped to find help for her mother.
A year later, she attempted to assassinate Oshio, who she saw as responsible for her troubles since he's the ruler of the land who persecutes her family. This attempt obviously failed and she was put under interrogation by Meinu Imai, the Kakumei member most familiar with such scenarios.
Killin' Kiss found out about the girl's situation and, wanting Oshio to maintain a presence worth being feared, talked him into making a blackmailing deal with the kid. In exchange for her service to Kakumei, he will keep her mother safe. When Kakumei reaches its goal and her service is over, he'll heal her with his Rinnegan and set them free.
Minako accepted this deal, since it was the closest to help she could get, and was integrated to Kawaki's squad at the age of 8. Since this, she never saw her mother again. All she knows is that Oshio led her to somewhere in this land. And is assuring her survival with a white rod. Until now, the ruler never mentioned the possibility for her to see her mom again, but he just did in a threatening way.
Kawaki stares rudely at his friend, upset by his mean behavior towards his young subordinate. He wonders what the Otsutsuki told Oshio for him to become so cold and determined. Before he can speak up for Minako again, Killin' Kiss walks in followed by her 3 friends from the Tomoe clan.
"Let's Gooo! Off to conquer the world!" she sings as she throws herself on Oshio's shoulders.
Oshio just makes a discrete awkward face, letting the 23 year old woman have her fun. Behind her, Kiseru Tomoe looks through the room and notices a girl in Kawaki's squad. A blonde girl with black eye rings and thick eyelashes. These two look at each other mistrustfully as if they've met before. But it stops there. They don't engage further with each other.
"You asked for my girls, so here they are!" Meinu says, stepping back. "How can they be of use?"
"I need one of you 3 as a volunteer for a mission." Oshio explains. "The task is to meet the bounty hunter sent by Meinu to Ryuka and give him a scroll. As simple as that, go and return. As what you could consider a reward for volunteering, I'll mark you with the same tattoo as Kakumei's fellows." he completes, pointing at the tattoo on Meinu's right thigh.
The three girls stare at it and try to make their choice. Seiki doesn't look down at the tattoo and instead stays focused on the land's ruler. She remembers her first contact with him, in Minoka's lab, when he acted oddly superior and almost ignored her. She slowly raises her hand and speaks first.
"I'll gladly do it."
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A day later again, in the village of Ryuka, Konohamaru knocks at the door of a small family home aboard the beach. Behind him, Inoue and Izuna look around to the beach and village, not much populated due to the cold weather and rising costs of vacation since Saori's resignation.
An imposing elder man, with a long mustache and a balding hairline, opens the door and looks at the uniform of the one who stands in front.
"Jin Heihachiro?" Konohamaru asks. "We've been sent by Konoha to receive the information you can provide."
"Of course, I've been waiting for you." the old man says. "Come in."
"Sure, just one thing first." the Jonin says, letting Inoue step forward and lay her hand on the man's arm.
Shindenshin no Jutsu
She quickly checks if he is under influence of any Genjutsu or is a disguised enemy. She turns around and nods at Konohamaru, to tell him everything is clear. Konohamaru makes a sign to Izuna and they all get inside. Jin goes to sit in the living room where he prepared cups of tea for those he was waiting for.
Before taking a seat, Konohamaru goes around the room and makes sure every door is closed. He also turns on the light and seals the windows with Doton. At the last window, Inoue looks out before it gets sealed and is intrigued by a flock of crows she sees flying above the sea, which seems rather odd for the region. Konohamaru hides this window too and gets her away from this distraction.
"So, sir Heihachiro, you claim to know Oshio Uchiha?" the Sarutobi asks when he comes to stand in the living room.
"If I know him? Of course. He's my grandson." Jin frankly says.
"What the hell?" Izuna quietly says to himself, confused by this reply that challenges every theory they had on Oshio.
"I had a daughter. Dariha. And she had a son. Oshio Heihachiro." Jin says as he gets a seat. "To hear you call him Uchiha is kind of disturbing, but I guess you already have some clues about who he is and what he can do."
"So you knew him before Kakumei?" Inoue asks.
"Long before. Let me explain." Jin says, clearing his throat. "He was a smart, calm, somehow creepy kid. He didn't have any friends. But when alone with his mother, he allowed himself to be more joyful. She raised him on her own of course. Until one day, 6 years ago, they both disappeared. I came to visit one morning, and they were both gone, leaving all their stuff behind, in this very house. It took me a while to accept it, but I got used to the idea that I'll never see them again. So, suddenly seeing Oshio return like this is disturbing to me. And it made me realize that my daughter was certainly dead all along."
"Why didn't you ask for help?" Inoue says, a bit saddened by this tale. "Did you not tell Lady Saori about it?"
"The Minamoto princess wasn't someone you could rely on for any demand." he answers. "She was mainly here for commercial discussions, not anything else."
Konohamaru makes a bothered face but stays quiet, not really enjoying this complaint about his wife.
"But most importantly,…" Jin completes. "Dariha and I had a complex relationship due to this kid's existence. I don't think he liked me much. And I also had trouble getting used to him, even after 10 years. When they disappeared, I first thought they simply ran away from me."
"So… I need you to say it again." the jonin asks. "Are you Oshio's biological grandfather?"
"Yes. Oshio Heihachiro is my daughter's son, whom she gave birth to right under my eyes."
"This makes no sense." Izuna exclaims. "Sorry sir, but I can't portray this being true. How is Oshio related to my dad then?"
"Your dad? Is it Sasuke Uchiha?"
They all make surprised faces, guessing that there seems to be a connection in all this after all.
"This is complicated, But I'll explain." the old man says as he stands up and goes to get something in a drawer. He keeps talking. "Whenever someone asked about Oshio's father, Dariha would say it was an immaculate conception. And I'll always shut her up, because I didn't want her to sound crazy to others. I personally couldn't be satisfied with this explanation. But as Oshio grew up, something occurred to me…"
He comes back to sit with them, having taken just two pictures in his hands. He shows the first, which simply displays a young Oshio, 7 years old at that time.
"Around the time I took this picture, he one day suddenly came home with weird red eyes."
"Sharingan?" Izuna asks.
"I thought of this, yes. Then, I remembered the day I took this picture." Jin now lies the second picture on the table. It shows Dariha Heihachiro, wearing a yukata, with a young Sasuke in a messed up outfit. "This was shortly after Lord Riku's death, the same day Lady Saori took on the leadership. It is the only time I ever saw him. And this was, obviously, almost 8 months before Oshio's birth. When I suggested this idea to Dariha, she denied it, but seriously. Look at these pictures.", he lies the two photographs next to each other on the table and points at both Sasuke and Oshio's faces. "The resemblance is obvious."
Izuna abruptly stands up and takes the two pictures that lie on the table. He widely opens his eyes and stares at his father's face, with his Sharingan uncontrollably activating. This looks like it was even before the pictures of his parent's wedding that he saw at home. Then it must have been during the blank period where Sasuke was away from the village, constantly on missions.
He now looks at the woman with his father. Except for the hair color that is kind of closer to Oshio's dark pink as Sasuke's dark purple, there are honestly not many similarities. But unlike for his father, the blood relation between her and Oshio is confirmed. This would mean that he is simply a biological child of Sasuke and another woman.
Holding the pictures between his thumbs and index fingers, he clenches his fists and teeth. He now looks at the picture of his older brother for a long time, and begins to feel sick from this news. Konohamaru stares worriedly at Izuna. He knows that he is the one among them 3 who should know better of what to say and waits for him to speak.
Inoue shyly holds on to her dress while sadly looking at her teammate. She, hesitatingly, gets up and goes to stand next to him and see the pictures. She simply feels like he needs a helping hand to contain his ardor, and just goes to stand by his side in comfort. Izuna looks up from the pictures, and stares at Inoue.
Suddenly, with his Sharingan, he notices a sword swiftly and cleanly piercing through the concrete of the wall and flying toward Konohamaru. With one hand, while the other keeps holding the pictures, he catches on the blade's bottom. Inoue makes a confused face, seeing the weapon Izuna is suddenly holding. Konohamaru stands up hurriedly.
He looks at the sword, and just a second before it detonates, notices explosive notes strapped around the handle. Konohamaru, quicker to react, pulls out his Adamantine staff and lengthens it to hit Izuna. This way, he pushes the Uchiha and Inoue away as he lets go of the blade. He then leaps forward to get in the way between Jin Heihachiro, who didn't move at all since it is all happening too fast for him, and the blade as it explodes.
Izuna and Inoue crash against the wall before the blast begins, and break through as soon as it does. They flutter away from the house and land just a few meters before landing on the bare ground, on their back. In front of them who are both on the verge of passing out from this sudden shock, the house explodes and collapses. The roof falls onto where they were all gathered 3 seconds ago.
Still firmly holding the pictures, Izuna gazes at them one last time before closing his eyes, thinking of his brother's past once more.
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6 years ago, in this same village, at this same place, Oshio Uchiha was only a 10 year old boy, living as a simple but quite special citizen of Ryuka. That evening, he came running back home and was greeted by his mother, a bit upset of this late time to get home.
"I just saw men flying in the sky." Oshio told her.
"Really, that's cool!" Dariha answered, naively being positive with no much care as any mother would. "Now quick, it's time for dinner, and then bed. Grandpa will be back early tomorrow."
"Grandpa?" he asked. "What's he coming for this time?"
"Well just to check on us, dear. Why not?" she replies, noticing her son's doubtful face. "You know… I know it feels like he hates you, but he doesn't. Trust me, he just always stares meanly at people like that. He's just a grumpy dude."
"It's impossible to always be grumpy." Oshio said. "When are the times he stops being angry?"
"Hmmm… When you get ready for dinner I guess!" she joked.
Oshio laughed lightly, satisfied by this empty answer. Dariha smiled back and raised her hand over to him, telling him to come.
This moment is when everything went off. Out of nowhere, Oshio saw his mom rising from the ground and violently crashing into the wall on her left, almost leaving a hole in it, with a large and inert stain of blood. Terrified, Oshio hardly breathed in, panicking, and didn't even have time to scream before something else kept him shut out of freight.
A presence, a man, walked past him calmly. This figure, Oshio recognized as one of the two silhouettes he had seen in the sky a minute ago. This person turned around in front of him, analyzing his face. Paralyzed by fear, Oshio stood still.
"Interesting…" the man spoke. "An adult pair of red eyes, unlocked from a primitive and pointless life experience such as yours." he praised the 3-tomoe Sharingan of the boy. "However, they have not yet awakened their unique abilities. For a cursed human, I believe there is a simple trigger to make it happen."
This ghostly figure, halfway between a devil and a god, raised its arm to grab Oshio's face, but stopped its hand when he felt a pull on the bottom of his robe. Still facing straight, he lightly looked down and aside with his wide white pupils, and saw Dariha, struggling to stay conscious, hold on to him with her blood covered hand.
"Don't… Don't touch him." she quietly said, out of breath, barely alive.
The intruder's face morphed to show visible disgust for the red stain left on his clothes. With a little movement from his foot he kicked the woman's hand away, and then laid his foot down back on her forearm, crushing it and separating her hand from her body. He then made a slightly annoyed face, deranged by the woman's scream of pain.
"MOM!" Oshio shouted, raising his hand to hit the stranger before being suddenly immobilized.
The celestial stepped forward to get in the boy's back, and then laid one hand on his shoulder. From the palm of his other hand that he slowly passed over Oshio's other shoulder, a black mystic stick emerged. With trembling eyes, the kid stared at this rod being broken off from its end that then turned to ashes. He stared at the pointy tip of this tool as it was being held in his own hand, clenched and paralyzed.
"And this trigger should be, to scar your weak mind." the intruder finished his earlier speech as he closed his hand around the boy's, now holding the black rod pointing down toward his mother.
Oshio saw the bar in his hand and the almost unconscious body of his mom, and tried to shake to avoid what was to happen. But it was pointless, he was completely immobilized, left only to be manipulated by this demon and witness its doing. He just kept tensing his muscles, desperately trying to move while his body was pouring in cold sweat of dread. Dariha looked up and saw her baby's face like she never had before. She could catch just a glimpse of it and the held out hand.
Abruptly, the ghostly figure pushed the boy's hand down to impale his mother's heart. They both gasped out in shock as it happened, before Dariha's head slowly dropped down. Oshio kept his eyes wide open, refusing to believe this unreal event was happening. He waited for her to raise up again, until he noticed her visibly getting thinner as the rod he pierced her with began to absorb her remaining energy.
Unable to hear her breathing anymore, his eyes started pouring tears just as his tomoes began to spin until turning red and growing bigger. The stranger let go of the kid's shoulders and came to stand in front of him again.
"Very well. I prefer your eyes this way." he said before the black rod turned to dust, done with consuming the victim's life.
Now empty handed, Oshio looked down at his mom's mummified remains, and then looked up to see the one who made him do this. He just had a blank emotionless face, staring back and waiting for a reaction. At this moment, Oshio felt an uncontrollable rage and power flow through him. In his anger, he screamed out, to the intruder's embarrassment, and let his chakra out.
Susanoo
A black chakra rib cage took form around him while a giant skeleton arm appeared, risen toward the sky. Oshio sent this ethereal fist crash down on the demon, but his materialized rage just vanished into chakra that was being vacuumed in his target's palms.
"Stop bawling!" the intruder annoyingly said as Oshio was lifted off from the ground and suddenly nailed to the wall, in his own mother's blood. "Stop being so human! So inferior! You are to become more than that."
Oshio kept externalizing his rage as he was trying to move for almost a whole minute while being stared at by the Otsutsuki's bored face. He then calmed down, realizing the truth of what he was living, and the pointlessness of these complaints. Finally free to speak with the kid, the intruder stepped forward and raised his hand with his orange eye opening a few centimeters away from Oshio's face.
Everything suddenly turned black to the kid's eyes, and just a second later, he saw the evil eye again, in a hand holding a fruit between its fingers. In appearance, it was just a simple peach, but the feeling Oshio got from simply looking at it left him agape.
"Now, take my present, Uchiha child, and sell your soul to me." the godly presence said before pushing this peach into the child's open mouth.
After a single instinctive bite, Oshio felt his mind and body being crushed by an immeasurable force, and then found himself in a complete empty darkness, without even a soil to lay his feet on. Suddenly, light came and he could see nothing but a cloudless red tainted sky. In this infinite spiritual realm, he heard the voice of the stranger again.
"My name is Momoshiki Otsutsuki." it said. "I am a cousin of the one who made your world what it is today. And you, Uchiha, are one of her descendants, born directly from one of those who brought her to an end once again. Even before your birth, I had chosen you to accompany me in a sacred quest. The quest to defy the fate chosen for you. In the first place, you have to accept my gift and be remade in your image."
Oshio then felt a brand new sensation go through him. An energy that was filling every particle of his soul and shape, that made him feel like his emotions were master of everything in this empty space. And for a single instant, as to remind him of his true insignificance, he could have sworn he saw a shadow in this divine place. The shadow of what looked like a tree with endless branches growing in all directions. He couldn't describe it nowadays, but at this time, it oddly felt like the tree was looking back at him.
Almost drowning in the intensity of this experience, he closed his eyes and tightly held on his feelings to remain conscious. He reminded himself of what he had witnessed just a second ago that caused his eyes to evolve. What is this place? Who is this Momoshiki? Why did he have to take his mother away? Why couldn't he take him instead?
He painfully replayed the scene in his mind… If only he could reverse it. Just like he stabbed her life away, he dreams of being able to stab it back into existence. From this desire, this bargaining, Oshio finds out the will to put his efforts in the way of others, no matter what it costs him.
After this experience that he won't even be able to tell to anyone, he opens his eyes, in his house again. Unfortunately, nothing changed. He is still back to the bloody wall, face to face with Momoshiki Otsutsuki. His body is now inhabited by new forces. The forces of those who occupied the realm he just visited. In his left eye, brought by his own will and the power of the fruit he consumed, a Rinnegan came to be.
"Only one?" Momoshiki said, disappointed. "Your human body must be up to reasonable limits. The body of the other Rinnegan users of this world also could only handle one… But it's way more than any Rinnegan in his case."
Oshio wasn't listening, he was just amazed by the power he now had, but also in deep regrets he couldn't have them a bit earlier.
Following this encounter, he was brought by the invader and his partner to Hikarigakure, where he's been painfully taught all he knows by the one who made him slaughter his mother. Momoshiki taught him how to use his powers, what purpose they had, what existed beyond the sky, and who he really was.
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As he sits on his throne, Oshio reminds himself of this moment of the past. He thinks of Dariha's father, who's now willing to tell his version of the story to his enemies. But he only arrived at his daughter's home the next day, when every trace of what happened was already gone. There is nothing he can tell from his knowledge that will be valuable to the villages. The only purpose of his intel would be to bring confusion to Konoha, and to Sasuke's family.
Oshio is still holding the note he wrote for his father in his hand. This note will find a use after, even though to a different end from what he originally wanted.
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End of Chapter 88 – Next Chapter: Crow