I had no time to waste, I could sense that thing nearby.
Thankfully, it wasn't one of these squirrels, but it was definitely somewhere in the direction of the Uchiha clan district.
"Sorry, I have to go, something has come up." I said.
"Aww, come on, you just got here!"
"Yea, Appliance-chan! Stay!"
"Appliance-chan! Appliance-chan!"
"Has anyone seen my chestnuts?"
"Don't leave us just yet!"
The squirrels pleaded in unison for me to stay, but their leader interjected.
"You feel it too, huh? That eerie energy… reeks of evil!" he said.
"Yes!" I shouted, elated that at least someone could relate to me, "I need to go stop it now!"
"Hear ye! Hear ye! I have just the fix to this blight!" the squirrel leader shouted.
This universe's ecosystem did seem to have immense power and mystical abilities, I guess it wouldn't hurt to hear him out.
"Really?"
"Of course! For centuries, a dark presence has swept this area. Squirrel-kind and all of the allied wildlife have dealt with this."
"So it's an ancient power?"
"Yea, you could call it that. It's outlived us all, that's for sure!"
"Interesting… and there's a fix, you say?"
"Yep. Just a temporary one though."
Maybe if I combine my abilities with theirs, I could devise a permanent fix.
"Well, alright then. Show me what to do."
"Oh, it'll be a bit difficult for you, but I guess we can try."
"Bring it on!"
The squirrel leader led me to the nearest tree. This one, in particular, was massive. It felt like you could carve out an entire apartment from it. The squirrel climbed up to the halfway point and shouted.
"Alright! Lieutenant A!"
"On it, boss!"
One of the squirrels pounced into the air and began to rotate itself, creating a drill-like figure. It dove into the ground and disappeared. After a brief moment, a bunch of acorns catapulted outward towards the tree and their leader, who promptly caught them and swiftly passed them up to the other squirrels.
"What the hell are you guys doing?!" I shouted.
"We're storing our food in the trees."
"I can see that… but how is this helping anything?"
"Well, we can't risk leaving our resources underground."
"I'm not sensing anything nefarious beneath us."
"Me neither. Should we dig deeper and check?"
"Why are you asking me?! You're the one with the supposed fix!"
"We just did that, Appliance-chan!"
"How does ANY of this stop that ancient power we were talking about?!"
"It doesn't, the fix is just a preventative measure."
"FOR WHAT?!?!?!!"
"The oncoming rainstorm? You know, potential flooding, soil erosion. I guess they don't have schools for appliances."
"Okay! Just-..." I had so much pent up anger at this point, I could finish my sentence until I took a deep breath, "What does this have to do with the dark chakra I've been sensing?"
"Oh, like a legitimate chakra signature? I… I got nothing for you, kid. Sorry."
I couldn't formulate my thoughts, I was appalled. These guys just wasted my time. I just sighed and told them I'd deal with it myself. I darted off toward the old Uchiha district.
It was a ghost town, which should normally be a sad thing considering the clan's fate, but in my case, it was actually an advantage. Nobody was around to hear a refrigerator clunking by. I still hadn't perfected my levitation, so I'd hit the ground every now and then. Additionally, it helped me focus on a singular chakra… the one coming from that building.
The Naka Shrine.
I entered to see a stone tablet sitting alone in an empty room. I could have sworn I felt something coming from this direction.
I moved closer to the tablet, in an attempt to read it, but I couldn't make out anything. It just looked like a bunch of words. I couldn't even force myself to understand it, it was like an optical illusion.
Enthralled in the attempts to read the message, I hadn't noticed the shinobi that had snuck in behind me.
"Hey, whoa!" I said, "What's-... oh wait, that's right. You can't hear me. Hmph."
Three shinobi stood around me with their arms spread out; their hands connecting with one another in a triangular sign. They looked completely confused, sweat dripping down their brows. Were they being controlled?
"You're probably asking yourself if these men are being controlled." a voice said.
Oh, so, they have comedic timing in this universe too.
I looked back at the entrance to see a man with a ponytail; his body turned with only his left eye visible and staring me down.
"What you're witnessing is a technique of the Yamanaka clan called Mind Destruction. It attacks the nervous system and allows full control of a victim's body. On top of that, it can be cast on multiple subjects. How beautiful, don't you think? I've gathered these shinobi here to perform another special technique."
This guy was creeping me out. Sure, he's got the sinister voice, typical bad guy monologue—whatever. But what was even weirder was that his mouth wasn't moving at all. That was when he aptly turned to reveal the other half of his face. A pitch black leachy substance, latched onto his body.
This was it, this was that dark chakra, this was… that creature in the valley. Now that I think about it, that voice did sound familiar. It must be able to emit sound intrinsically through its body. It can speak without moving a muscle.
"I don't know who or what you are, but I've had my eye on you much longer than you may think. Whatever you're planning impedes the goals of the Akatsuki. Now, as for these shinobi… if you make any sudden movements, I will kill them on the spot." It continued.
If I had teeth, I'd be gritting them right now. I'm not going to let these men die, but what does he have planned, and how do I know they'll be safe afterward.
"These men here have no idea what they're doing, but I have given them ample motivation in the form of their loved ones. They will focus their chakra as I have them perform one last jutsu, the Flying Thunder Formation Technique, a derivative of the Second Hokage's famous Flying Raijin that I observed the Fourth Hokage teach his guard detail. It will transport you to a distant location, which will give us the time we need to enact our plans accordingly with your vexatious interference."
Okay, I get that I'm in an anime universe, but does everyone have to explain their abilities in such great detail? And this guy can't be serious, I could just get my squirrel buddies to-
"And I've taken care of your potential escape routes as well." it said, holding up a torn piece of my summoning scroll.
You've gotta be kidding me!
BLIP!
"Argh. Where are we now?"
"Wait, could this be the legendary Mount Myoboku?!"
"It must've been one of Lord Fourth's marked destinations!"
"Enough! We gotta get back, you heard that guy. He has our families."
"Right! But, do you think we'd be able to replicate that jutsu we just performed?"
"Only one way to find out, it's a cooperative version of the Lord Second's technique."
"Let's all focus our chakra together and try it again."
"Flying Raijin!"
"Uhh, again!"
"Flying Raijin!"
"Wait, take me with you!" I yelled, completely forgetting that they couldn't hear me.
BLIP!
Ugh… it can't be that easy for nameless shinobi to perform. This is a joke! How am I going to get home now?
???: "Nya! You'll have to go the long way."
I'm not even going to bother looking. I refuse to believe I heard a cat talking to me.
??? "Nya! You'll never make it home then!"
Just keep moving forward. Ignore them. Ignore them. Igno-...
???: "Even if you make it back, it'll take you furrrrever. Nya!"
I took a deep breath…
"What… What do you want?" I said, looking back at my unfortunately soon-to-be feline friend.
"Nya! The Great Nekojiro is my name! I can take you back to the Leaf Village! But it'll cost you!" he said.
"Yeah, okay. Whatever. What's the price?"
"Fish!"
"Fish? I… don't have any."
"Not a problem! But we will have to visit some ponds on the way for food."
This guy better not be using me for food. Although I suppose that would be the best use of a refrigerator. I haven't done much of that since I was in Naruto's kitchen… Wait… that's it! I can try to track my original body and follow the path home.
"Alright, follow me! We're heading down this creek here. Nya!"
"Uhhh, shouldn't we go this way? I can faintly sense a familiar chakra signature in this direction. It should lead back to my home."
"Maybe. But there aren't any ponds that way."
"All this tells me is that I don't actually need your help."
I dashed off in the direction of the chakra, but the cat followed behind.
"What do you want now?"
"The toads around here say the trip to the Hidden Leaf takes months, even with shortcuts. You wouldn't want to get lost, would you? I might as well tag along, just in case. Nya!"
Months?! I can't afford to take months to return. I'm going to get back within a week at most. I'll put all my power into my movement and make it home in record time.
The Akatsuki might have the upper hand for now, but I haven't forgotten my purpose. Just like Naruto, I'm not going to go back on my word! I will help save this world in whatever way I can.