After Rumi left, Yoichi took a deep breath.
"Rin, that was way too dangerous!"
Before Yoichi could finish speaking, Rin swallowed something down, then licked her lips and said, "It's fine, Yoichi-sensei's taste is delicious~."
"Rin, you…"
Yoichi couldn't help but lightly slap Rin's soft backside a few times. Rin let out a few soft hums; this female disciple of his was quite something. He wasn't sure who had taught her to be so provocative around him.
Just moments ago, he had barely restrained himself from taking things further right there in the office.
But it was too risky—Rumi had just returned a moment ago, and Kurenai might be coming back soon.
As soon as he thought that, there was a knock on the office door, followed by Kurenai entering and saying, "Yoichi-sensei, I've already seen Mei off. Rin, are you two still talking?"
"We're done discussing the elixirs. But there's one more thing I need to talk to Sensei about," Rin said with a smile, picking up the elixirs.
She turned to Yoichi and continued, "Yoichi-sensei, the security team informed me earlier that Obito has been asking to see me recently. It seems like he's found some kind of new resolve, but I'm not sure what's going on. It's strange."
"Maybe the security team is just fed up with him, or perhaps they feel some sympathy. But honestly, Obito is such an idiot for doing what he did!" Kurenai interjected, shaking her head in disbelief. After all, they were once classmates at the academy, but Kurenai could never have imagined that Obito would commit such a betrayal.
He had even killed his own sensei. Kurenai couldn't fathom it. If it had been her in Obito's position, facing Yoichi-sensei, she wouldn't have been able to bear the thought of harming him.
"Has he really turned over a new leaf? He should know how many Konoha shinobi he's killed, including some of the village's greatest heroes. Even Nagato was sentenced to life imprisonment. What is Obito hoping to accomplish?" Yoichi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Obito's surname had been stripped from him, and the Uchiha clan considered his existence a disgrace.
"Rin, do you want to see him?" Yoichi asked.
"I'm not sure… but I guess I should. Maybe I can learn something from him," Rin replied hesitantly. To her, Obito seemed like nothing more than a pitiful man now. The security team had only notified her out of courtesy, not because Obito deserved any special treatment.
"It's up to you," Yoichi said with a shrug. Obito had no further use to him. The only thing left for Obito might be to become another subject in Orochimaru's experiments. That, too, would be a way for him to contribute to Konoha.
...
In the Land of Wind, space distorted, and a figure suddenly appeared from the air, flipping over before landing steadily in the desert.
"Those two really messed up my plans… but at least I've made it to this timeline, even if I'm a bit late."
Looking around, Ōtsutsuki Urashiki pulled out a temporal artifact, the Rinne Fisher Rod, and asked, "Hey, what time is this?"
"Urashiki-sama, the time displacement exceeded the preset parameters by approximately five years. The energy is depleted and I am about to enter sleep mode."
"Useless tool. Five years off, huh? I can work with that."
Putting the artifact away, Urashiki thought to himself that those two troublemakers might have also arrived in this time period. He had kicked them out of the portal ahead of himself, so they should arrive later.
In the meantime, he would gather the chakra of the Nine-Tails. By the time those two nuisances appeared, it would already be too late for them.
Urashiki smiled and glanced around before heading in another direction.
He had luck on his side—he had landed near Sunagakure after traveling through time.
However, Sunagakure was now known by a different name: the Sand Ninja Special Administrative Region, or Sand Special Zone for short.
After the internal strife in Sunagakure, Pakura had taken control of the village. Many of the original higher-ups had perished in the conflict, leaving the village in a near state of paralysis.
Pakura had stabilized the situation with the help of Konoha shinobi sent by Tobirama, who had also promoted several former captains from within Sunagakure to help her.
Then came a series of reorganization efforts to resettle the villagers. It was a tedious but necessary process that would take a significant amount of time.
The busiest person during this period was likely the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama. Konoha's slogan was to transform the Land of Wind and Sunagakure, and the fastest way to do that was by creating an oasis.
Changing the environment would allow the shinobi and villagers of Sunagakure to see results immediately, after which other conditions could slowly be implemented.
With the five chakra natures and yin-yang release at his command, Hashirama only lacked expertise in yin release. For the rest, he was a master of all kinds of jutsu.
Using Earth Release, he created soil to bury the sand, followed by Wood Release to grow forests, and Water Release to irrigate the land. Along with seeds for plant life, in just two days, the area around Sunagakure was transformed into a forest spanning a thousand meters.
Hashirama even created three Wood Clones and sent them to other resettlement points to build more oases. These efforts were yielding significant results.
Once the oases were complete, improving the weather of the Land of Wind would be the next step toward permanently changing the arid climate.
Konoha already had plans in place, and once the Land of Rain was also brought under its control, large-scale transformations could begin.
Even if the weather wasn't immediately improved, the three oases would attract a large number of civilians from the Land of Wind. After all, Hashirama's oases were suitable for growing crops, and the Sand Special Zone had announced policies to the people of the Land of Wind.
Farmland was limited—first come, first served.
"Is this… Sunagakure?" Mei exclaimed in surprise as she approached what used to be Sunagakure. Her crimson lips parted in astonishment at the sight of the lush forest and towering trees.
Though she had never been to Sunagakure before, Kirigakure had intel and photos of the village, which depicted it as a desert.
"This should be Sunagakure. We're heading in the right direction, and there are plenty of Konoha shinobi around. Let's keep going and ask when we get there," said Hyūga Teru, a security team member escorting Mei.
He wasn't entirely sure either, as the Sunagakure he knew looked different. But the Konoha shinobi who had guided them said this was the place, so he trusted the information.
As they passed through the forest and approached the entrance to the Sand Special Zone, they saw Konoha shinobi coming and going.
Teru recognized few of them, but all wore Konoha forehead protectors despite being dressed in Sunagakure's ninja attire. It reminded him of the recent announcement that Sunagakure had been incorporated into Konoha.
Soon, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Sunagakure, would be no more!
"Let's head inside. Once you meet the people there, you'll understand the situation," Teru said proudly as he led Mei toward the entrance of the Sand Special Zone.
Just then, a voice suddenly called out from behind them. "Finally, living people. But it's quite surprising… among so many, there's one with the blood of the Ōtsutsuki. It's quite unsettling!"
Startled, both Teru and Mei instinctively leapt forward, turning to face the source of the voice. Teru's face twisted in shock when he saw the figure behind them.
"Byakugan? Who are you? Are you a member of my clan?"
"Your clan? Heh, don't make me laugh. With such a diluted bloodline, you're nothing but a disgrace to the Ōtsutsuki!" Urashiki sneered as he flicked his hand, sending out a red fishing rod that instantly extended into a thin red line aimed at Teru.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!"
Reacting quickly, Mei formed hand seals and spat out a stream of water, which rapidly formed a wall in front of them.
However, the red line pierced through the water wall with ease, striking Teru before he could dodge.
"Come here!" Urashiki yanked the line, pulling it back along with Teru's chakra.
"Ah!"
Teru let out a cry of pain before collapsing into unconsciousness.
"An enemy?!"
"That guy attacked a Konoha shinobi!"
The former Sunagakure shinobi, now wearing Konoha forehead protectors, belatedly realized what had happened. Though they were still adjusting to their new roles, they quickly moved to help, ready to support their comrade in battle.
They threw kunai and formed hand seals, launching a variety of attacks toward Urashiki.
"Wait! You don't know how strong the enemy is!" Mei shouted, but it was too late.
"Tsk, so many troublesome pests. But they're too weak!" Urashiki tossed Teru's chakra into his fish basket and effortlessly dodged the attacks. With a few flicks of his red fishing rod, he drained the chakra of the approaching shinobi one by one.
"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu!"
Mei spat out a large mass of corrosive acid, but Urashiki's reflexes and speed were extraordinary. He flew into the air, evading the attack with ease.
"Oh my, not bad. Your technique is quite interesting, but your strength is lacking. How about giving it to me?"
Urashiki grinned and swung his red rod again.
Mei quickly used a substitution jutsu to avoid it, but the rod tore through the wooden log she had left behind and continued chasing her, splitting into five threads.
"How can this be…?" Mei was alarmed as she tried to dodge with body flicker, but the red threads hit the ground, leaving a large crater.
"It's useless. You can't escape. Just surrender your power already!" Urashiki taunted, grinning as he sent another barrage of red lines toward her.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
At the last moment, three wooden walls sprang up from the ground in front of Mei. Though the red lines punched holes through them, they didn't penetrate completely.
"A strong opponent at last. Your chakra… it feels familiar. It's no weaker than that fox's!"
Urashiki looked at the figure standing atop the trees, surprised. The man seemed familiar. Urashiki recalled the stone faces in that village—this man was one of the most prominent figures.
"Did he arrive so early?"
"Brother, is there an enemy?"
Sensing his brother's chakra, Tobirama used Flying Thunder God to instantly teleport to the scene. After assessing the situation, his gaze locked onto Urashiki.
"Is that the enemy with the Byakugan? Brother, let me attack first. You find an opening," Tobirama suggested. He wasn't being arrogant; the enemy was clearly powerful, and they needed information. Such matters were best handled by him, since he was an Edo Tensei body and couldn't die.
"Be careful, Tobirama. His red weapon is dangerous," Hashirama warned.
"Hmph, yet another troublesome pest. It seems taking your chakra won't be an easy task," Urashiki muttered, glancing at the distant horizon with his Byakugan. He could see more shinobi heading in their direction.
At that moment, a kunai flew toward Urashiki's head. However, with his Byakugan activated, such attacks were trivial.
He tilted his head slightly, dodging the kunai with ease.
"Such attacks are useless."
Just as Urashiki finished speaking, his expression changed. The person who had thrown the kunai was now suddenly behind him.
"Space-time ability? But it's still too slow. Against you, I'll use this!"
Urashiki grinned and swung his red rod toward the figure behind him, cutting off half of Tobirama's body.
As Urashiki prepared to decapitate Tobirama, the latter vanished using Flying Thunder God, leaving Urashiki swiping at empty air.
The next moment, massive trees erupted from the ground, aiming to ensnare Urashiki. But their slow movements were no match for the flying Urashiki.
"This is troublesome, Brother. He's fast and can fly. We'll need to find a way to restrict him."
Tobirama reappeared beside Hashirama, analyzing the situation. The enemy also possessed the Byakugan, without the Caged Bird seal, rendering stealth tactics useless.
"Shodai-sama! Nidaime-sama!"
Jiraiya, and others arrived, quickly assessing the situation. Upon seeing Urashiki, they became highly alert.
"Be careful. That weapon of his is strange. Don't let it touch you," Hashirama warned them.
Seeing more and more shinobi arriving, Urashiki clicked his tongue in annoyance. A black portal of space-time appeared behind him as he addressed Hashirama and the others.
"I'll let you off for now. Once I've gathered the Nine-Tails' chakra, I'll return to take yours as well. Heh heh…"
With that, Urashiki stepped into the portal, vanishing.
"What a strange space-time technique. It seems similar to portals, but not at all like ninjutsu. It feels more like a unique ability," Tobirama analyzed after observing the portal. As the inventor of Flying Thunder God, he had extensive knowledge of space-time ninjutsu.
Hashirama shook his head. "Let's focus on treating the wounded. We need to find out where this enemy came from. And by the way, what's a Kirigakure shinobi doing here?"
He turned to Mei, but before she could answer, he noticed something about his shoulder.
Despite the time that had passed, his Edo Tensei body hadn't fully regenerated.
Back in the Sand Special Zone, the injured shinobi had been rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, many medical-nin had come with them from Konoha. After intensive care, all the fallen shinobi had been revived. They had merely been drained of too much chakra, leaving them near death. With a few days of rest, they would recover.
Tobirama, Hashirama, Pakura, and the others listened to Mei's account of the events. They were all on high alert regarding Ōtsutsuki Urashiki.
Judging from the state of the wounded, it was clear that Urashiki had the ability to extract chakra. He hadn't hidden his intentions, repeatedly expressing interest in Hashirama's chakra.
"And the Nine-Tails' chakra… it seems like that's his main goal. After seeing my brother's chakra, he simply added it to his list. As for the fox, there's only one in the ninja world with chakra comparable to my brother's: the Nine-Tails," Tobirama concluded.
"With the Byakugan and space-time ninjutsu, and with the Nine-Tails as his target, he's definitely an enemy of the village," Hashirama added.
"This is troublesome. We need to raise the village's alert level and protect the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki," Hashirama said while scratching his head. However, with the Godaime Hokage in the village, dealing with this enemy shouldn't be a problem.
"I'll head back now, Brother," Tobirama said. "I'll personally deliver the information and have the Godaime summon me for Edo Tensei again. That guy's attacks neutralized my ninjutsu, and my Edo Tensei body isn't regenerating."
Tobirama addressed Pakura. "I'll leave things here to you while I'm gone."
He didn't bother mentioning Hashirama, knowing that his brother wasn't suited for administrative tasks. During the time of the Shodai and Nidaime, most of the paperwork had been handled by Tobirama, with Hashirama often being scolded by their wife, Mito.
"Thank you, Nidaime-sama," Pakura said respectfully.
Tobirama continued, "It's no trouble. By the way, you know the situation with her. The Godaime's intentions should be clear by now. I'll leave her to you."
Pakura nodded, glancing at Mei. From the moment the topic of cooperation came up, she had understood Yoichi's plans.
Unite the ninja world!
Before, Pakura would have laughed at such a goal, considering it impossible. The balance between the Five Great Shinobi Villages had lasted for fifty years, with no one able to destroy it.
But now, Sunagakure was part of history. Konoha's strength had grown tremendously, and with its policies and support for the Sand Special Zone, in two years, no one would even remember Sunagakure.
After dismissing Mei to rest, Pakura turned back to deal with other matters. Meanwhile, Tobirama returned to Konoha. He didn't bring too many shinobi with him; it was more important to leave forces behind to help with the current situation. As an Edo Tensei body, Tobirama wasn't concerned about death.
In Konoha, at the security team's prison.
Rin, Kurenai, and Kakashi stood together.
Kakashi had just returned from a mission and had run into Rin, so he had decided to come along. Even though Obito hadn't asked to see him, Kakashi still wanted to visit him. After all, Obito's gift of his Sharingan had been invaluable to Kakashi. He hoped to help Obito fulfill some of his final wishes before he left.
"Why did Yoichi-sensei build such a large prison? The lower four floors are almost empty," Kurenai wondered aloud. She hadn't realized the prison's size until she arrived, and yet most of it was unused. Only the first basement level had a few prisoners, with just two in the lower levels.
"It's for the future, Kurenai. Think about what's been happening in the village recently," Kakashi said, hands in his pockets. Although he hadn't been to Sunagakure, he knew there would be plenty of prisoners. Soon, they'd all be brought back and locked up here.
And there was still Kirigakure, Amegakure, and possibly even Kumogakure and Iwagakure in the future. This prison might not be enough; they might need to build more.
"Oh, by the way, Kurenai, I ran into Asuma the other day. He wanted to invite you for dinner but said he hasn't been able to find you," Kakashi added.
"Forget it, Kakashi. I'm not interested in him. Don't bring it up again," Kurenai said, shaking her head. She had seen Asuma recently, and he had picked up smoking somewhere and grown a beard—he looked awful.
He didn't compare to Yoichi-sensei at all!
Kakashi sighed inwardly. Sorry, Asuma. I tried.
When they reached the deepest part of the fifth level, they saw Obito lying inside his cell.
Before they could speak, Obito, sensing their presence, said, "Rin, is that you?"
Rin took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, Obito. Do you have something to say to me?"
(End of Chapter)
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