Naruto: Tales of Ashihara
Prologue – Arc 1: The Soul Robber
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Chapter 6: Daikoku
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It has been a whole night since the attack of Katashiki's dragon on Ryuka. Sasuke spent this night waiting at Konoha's hospital. He arrived in the village only a few minutes after leaving Ryuka, and this time, his hurry and concern prevented him from wasting any time before entering the village. He just brought Sakura to safety as fast as possible and took no time to think about his right to walk in Konoha's streets.
He directly went to find the 5th Hokage as she was the most qualified medic-nin he knew would be there, but found her first apprentice Shizune instead. Realizing the emergency of the situation, she called Tsunade herself to take care of Sakura.
After leaving her to the medics, The Uchiha went to sit alone on the ground in the medical center's hallway, and waited for someone to give him an update on Sakura's status. Now, after hours of patience, looking around himself, he notices that the place still looks very similar to 7 years ago, even though it's been destroyed and rebuilt. He tries to remember the last time he came to this hospital… That's right. It was after his encounter with Itachi, when he challenged Naruto for the first time.
These flashbacks make him realize how long it's been since he left the village, which brings him to think of the last moments he spent in Konoha before leaving, when Sakura first confessed to him as she tried to make him stay. Sitting there, thinking of how far he got since all this happened, these memories make him feel awkward about his past-self and lifestyle, and everything that happened afterwards in consequence. This leads him once more to wonder about his right to be here.
Then, Tsunade finally opens the door in front of which Sasuke is waiting and comes to speak with him.
"She'll be okay." she says about Sakura. "She just needs some more time here to recover completely, but her life isn't at stake anymore."
"Ah, Thank God!" thought Sasuke before answering "Thank you. Without your help,…".
"No problem! She's my student after all! And you should be thanked too. It was a good move to immediately bring her to us. If you didn't, she wouldn't have made it."
"…" He just stands in silence for a moment. "Can I see her?"
"Of course. But she's sleeping right now, so be careful not to disturb her." Tsunade answers before leaving.
Sasuke lightly nods and reaches for the door behind Tsunade. Once in the room, he quietly walks up to Sakura, lying in the bed, and calmly puts his hand on hers. He just stands there a few minutes, looking at her face and reminding himself of what brought her here. Suddenly full of determination, he raises his head straight and turns around to leave with only one objective in mind: to find Katashiki and get rid of him. He knows he probably can't do it on his own, so he rather considers a different approach. In front of the building as he is leaving, he crosses paths with Naruto and Himari who arrived in Konoha a few minutes ago and came to check on Sakura and him.
"How's she doing?" asks Naruto.
"She'll be okay" simply answers Sasuke. "Where's Tsubai?"
"Mister Naruto left him with a friend before coming here. We came to check on you and your girlfriend." says Himari.
"Yeah, I brought him to Ino… Yamanaka… The Yamanaka clan's head." explains Naruto, in case Sasuke forgot about her. "Since what Tsubai needs to do is to connect with his own mind, I thought she could help him. Also the Yamanaka clan is apparently the ancestor of Tsubai's clan, so he may have their jutsu too."
"I see." Sasuke answers. "I've got to go. Could you tell me right now about the place where you located Katashiki's chakra."
"You intend to go now? Are you sure about that?"
"I'm not expecting to meet him there, and if I do, I'll obviously flee. I'm only going to collect intel if possible." answers Sasuke while pulling out a scroll and unrolling it to reveal a world map. "Could you point out the location here?"
"Well, don't mess up." says Naruto while looking at the map and trying to figure out where the place is. "Kurama, can you help me? Where is it supposed to be?" he says to Kurama.
Kurama moves Naruto's finger to the left side of the map, behind the Land of Earth, in the middle of the ocean.
"Oh Yeah! There must be a very small island around here, he's hiding in some cave over there".
"Okay then. Good luck with Tsubai." says Sasuke before using the Shunshin jutsu to disappear.
"Wow!" says Himari. "He really just vanished in a smoke cloud. Ninjas are so cool!"
"Right!" answers Naruto. "But why did you seem so much against Tsubai becoming one earlier while we were on the road?"
"What? No! It would really be cool if Tsubai becomes a shinobi." answers Himari now with a worried face. "It's just that I don't feel like it fits him well. He's not really suited for the job, you know. And the things that are happening lately… Whatever he has in his body, and this powerful guy going after it… I just don't want him to die."
"… Putting your life on the line is part of a shinobi's job." answers Naruto.
"I get it, but a shinobi is willing to do it. Currently, Tsubai's life is just at stake for things he doesn't even control. I don't want him to be exposed to this kind of risk. As a shinobi, his will to give his life for a purpose won't have anything to do with people personally wanting him dead."
"Did you meet anybody aside from Katashiki that wants Tsubai dead?" asks Naruto.
"Well yes, his dad."
"What?" the ninja exclaims with a shocked face, as he didn't understand Tsubai's relation with his dad this way at all until now.
"I'm not sure of it. But Tsubai said something like this to me. Like he needs to leave because he isn't safe around his dad and doesn't know what else to do."
"That's fucked up! But I see exactly what you mean. Being chased for something inside your body that you didn't ask for… I can totally relate to that. Half the people I fought in my life until now were after Kurama, and even he himself wanted me dead at some point. But finally, we both understood that we are on the same side and now face our enemies together. Somehow, the same goes for Sasuke and me."
"... I really love listening to you when you go on with these tales about your past!" says Himari with an excited voice. "And I see what you mean. You'll work to make the same thing happen between Tsubai and his tengu."
"Exactly! You're pretty smart." says Naruto while scratching the back of his head, flattered by Himari's words again. "Sasuke said Sakura is well and sleeping. Let's leave her alone for now and join Tsubai ya know!"
"Yeah Let's go, ya know!" answers Himari who found her enthusiasm back.
So they head to the Yamanaka clan's headquarters where they left Tsubai earlier.
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At the said place, Ino is already at work with her guest. As they both sit face to face on the ground, she's using the Shintenshin(Mind Transfer Jutsu) to project her consciousness into Tsubai's body. To anybody else, it looks like they're just sitting and holding each other's forehead, but they're actually talking within Tsubai's mind.
This couldn't have been achieved if she didn't discover earlier that Tsubai also knew this jutsu but simply wasn't aware of its name and various possible uses. In his mind, she's trying to help him connect with the thing whose voice can still be heard. And surprisingly to Tsubai, it works! The creature he heard earlier is now appearing without it having to manifest itself first.
"It seems like this spirit and the Shintenshin share a specific connection we were unaware of, Tsubai." says Ino, also surprised by the tengu's appearance but keeping it professional. "There must be a good reason why this tengu appeared inside you, a descendant of the Yamanaka."
"Damn, This is nuts!" Tsubai simply answers. "I don't know anything about how but it looks like we can finally get answers now."
Both standing inside Tsubai's inner-world, they slowly approach the creature to see it more precisely and maybe get to communicate with it. As they are getting closer, they can now clearly see the ghost-like creature in front of them. It appears like a simple dark and damaged man-sized cloak floating above the ground. Apparently, nobody or nothing is inside the cloak, except a light grey skull-like head under the hood. The skull has large pointy eye holes, and white human teeth. Now that they are facing it, it looks upon them and says:
"You're 20 years too late, boy. Your father really is an asshole. To communicate with the tengu and to control his power is usually part of the basic knowledge among your lineage, yet he didn't teach you any of it."
"Yeah I get it, and know it. He's weird." says Tsubai, already annoyed by this conversation.
"Wait a minute,… Sir? Or… What should I call you?" Ino asks, finding the tengu's last line quite interesting, and doesn't wait for an answer. "What you just said means that beings like you are a common thing in the Minamoto clan?"
"Sorry miss, but I don't want to talk with anyone other than my yamabushi." answers the floating cape before forcibly undoing Ino's Shintenshin.
"Uh!" goes Ino as she opens her eyes in the physical world, sitting on the ground. "Don't let yourself go, Tsubai! Keep talking with it!"
Fortunately, the tengu's connection with Tsubai didn't fall apart. They're still face to face, able to see each other with no problem anymore.
"What you just said: yamabushi. You called me that earlier. What does it mean?" asks Tsubai, determined to finally get answers.
"It's just the name we give to you guys, who wield us, tengu, in your minds." it answers.
"So Ino is right. There are other tengu and other yamabushi. And from what I heard, I suppose they are my ancestors."
"They are ALL your ancestors since the Minamoto clan's founding. Well, actually only the men. Every first-born in your lineage is born with a tengu. Your clan was founded with the sole purpose of birthing us."
"That's damn messed up…" says Tsubai who's just even more confused now. "Okay so my old-man also has one like you? How is he?"
"I'm surprised that you'd expect me to know, even though I've only seen what you have seen. Not that I don't know, but you may be asking questions mindlessly."
"Well you seem to know a lot of things that I couldn't have known anyway."
"They are memories I was born with. Just enough for me to know what I am and what came before."
"Okay so do you know who Katashiki is and what you did to him?"
"Him? Not at all. I find him just as weird as you do. He has nothing to do with your clan. I don't even know how he learned about me. All I know is that he wants my, our power for his personal use. I don't know where he comes from or what he needs us for."
"Damn! What about our powers then? You at least must know this very well."
"Of course I do. These powers are me. I also know a lot about the curse of your clan that caused me to appear."
"I honestly couldn't care less about my ancestors." Tsubai says, just eager to get to control his powers. "Just teach me how to use your skills."
Meanwhile, Naruto and Himari arrive at the place and both sit on the ground next to Ino.
"Welcome." says Ino to Naruto. "I think we made it. Tsubai is currently communicating with it."
"So they're already speaking, huh? It went faster than between me and Kurama then." says Naruto.
"Not really. It actually took him his whole life to realize how he was supposed to do it." Ino precises. "It's pretty simple and completely different from your link with the Kyubi. We simply had to use the Yamanaka clan's signature jutsu and that did the trick. It seems these tengu are designed to be wielded by people from my clan or his."
"That simple? Well not bad. At least he'll be ready to fight by himself soon."
"Really?" asks Himari. "Thank you a lot, miss Yamanaka! Being able to fight back is really what he needs the most right now."
"You can just call me Ino! And he's not done. We don't know if this tengu is friendly or not."
"Neither I nor Kurama feel any hostility emanating from his body. It goes for everything that's in it." says Naruto using Kurama's ability to sense negative emotions.
"Shinobis can sense emotions?" asks Himari.
"He's the only one who can." answers Ino pointing her thumb at Naruto. "Even I, the leader of a clan that specializes in mind-related jutsu and sensing, have no clue of how he does it."
"That's a Kurama thing." explains Naruto. "He can only sense bad emotions, but it's convenient when it comes to finding enemies or stopping intruders. It was really helpful against the Zetsu's shape-shifting abilities 2 years ago."
"Could Tsubai also gain this kind of power with his tengu?" asks Himari, hyped by the turn of the conversation.
"Haha! Kurama didn't like what you just said!" says Naruto while laughing. "He's saying 'She dares compare the proud and great Nine-Tails to a mere hiding spirit'."
"He can hear us?" she asks.
"Always. He sees all I see, hears all I hear. But he's a cool guy. I can't even imagine myself without him now."
"So he's constantly spying on you?… Isn't it awkward sometimes?"
"Well maybe sometimes… But he has a better memory than I do. And that's pretty useful, ya know."
"Damn I wish I had a second mind!"
"I don't. I'm really fine as I am: alone in my head." says Ino with a clear voice. "Plus having someone constantly in your mind sounds super creepy. I really don't know how you cope with this, Naruto."
"Says the girl who can get in anybody's mind at any time. And it never bothered me. I feel like Kurama is way more annoyed by my life than I am by his. Honestly, I think that if I had been aware of Kurama's presence in my body from the beginning, I would have felt way less lonely than I did as a kid. I used to see him as a curse, but now, he's really a part of me I'm glad to have. We accomplished so many things already and we've been working together for only 2 years now."
"I know I already said it, but you're really really good at telling things." says Himari. "Your personality and voice tones just fit what you tell so much. It's oddly heart-warming."
"Well, Hinata's one lucky girl isn't she?" says Ino to follow Himari's point.
"Hehe…" Naruto laughs nervously while scratching the back of his head again with a flattered but uncomfortable look on his face. "Could you girls go easy on the compliments… I'm not very comfortable with being popular around girls."
"Can you shut up, noodle-boy!" yells Tsubai still sitting with his eyes closed. "I'm trying to stay damn focused, dude!"
"Oh Excuse us, Tsubai!" answers Ino to keep it cool. "How's it going? I can't hear your discussion anymore."
"It's cool but be quiet, please. Or go outside."
"His clan and his situation are very intriguing and seem to be important." whispers Ino to Naruto, refusing to move but making sure not to bother the Minamoto. "I hope you warned Lord 6th about it."
"I did." answers Naruto, whispering too. "First thing I did was report the situation to Kakashi-sensei."
Tsubai is still speaking with the tengu and learned a lot about his interlocutor's nature and abilities already. He now knows everything he should about his power to absorb and manipulate memories, but is still learning about his other jutsu.
"What were you saying again?" says Tsubai to the tengu in his inner-world. "Ah yes! What about Meiton (Darkness Release) and the Time Controlling power you mentioned the other day?"
"Meiton is the main nature of my chakra." answers the spirit. "It is a kekkei genkai resulting from the merging of two chakra elements. You know about these things already, right?"
"You mean like the first Hokage's Mokuton?"
"Yes, but not exactly. Meiton isn't normally something that can be used by a human being. And believe me, Mokuton is really pussy juice compared to Meiton."
"Seriously?" says Tsubai who finds it hard to believe. "You mean I'll become as powerful as the man who's nicknamed the Damn God of Shinobi?"
"Hoho!… No! Meiton is far more powerful than Mokuton, but the first Hokage was a Sage from the Senju clan. He had tremendous chakra and talent. You're more average, and my chakra isn't as big as a tailed beast's at all. Our use of this Kekkei Genkai will certainly be limited. You just need to know that it has the power to oppose the concepts of Space, Time and Energy and has various uses."
"I get it." answers Tsubai who finds this explanation way more reasonable. "So Meiton is also the source of my ability to control time."
"Control Time?" yells the Tengu with an ironic tone. "As I said, we're not powerful enough to 'control time'. We can just slow or interrupt its flow for as long as we can hold it. But again, we can only barely disrupt space when it stands still for now. So trying to touch any living thing may break the time freeze."
"Uh… I really hyped you up too much in my head." says Tsubai who tries to stay positive after all. "Still, it's great… Oh and I didn't even ask, but you're gonna lend that power to me of course? You're not a damn commercial advertising your powers only to reveal a ridiculous price now, are you?"
"I'm part of you as long as I am in you,… Us tengu aren't like the Biju. We are born in and need a yamabushi to exist. Losing me won't kill you, but losing you would kill me. So even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop you from using my chakra."
"That's damn cool, cape ghost!… About that, I know I don't use names much, but I still like to know them at least. So do you have anything I shall call you other than 'floating cape' or 'tengu up my ass'?"
"I have a name, Tsubai. You shall call me… Daikoku."
"Great. Well It's damn nice to finally know you, Daikoku." says Tsubai, finally greeting what will remain in his body for the rest of his life.
Outside of Tsubai's inner-world, Ino, Naruto and Himari are still sitting in a round and talking when Ino is suddenly anguished by a terrible feeling.
"What's wrong?" asks Himari, who noticed Ino's discomfort.
"Something terrifying just entered the village!" the kunoichi answers quietly.
"SHIT! I feel it too!" screams Naruto, disturbing Tsubai's inner-communication. "I'm sure it's him! Katashiki! Ino, inform Kakashi-sensei!"
The Yamanaka immediately performs the ram hand seal and uses Shindenshin to initiate communication with the Hokage.
"Lord Hokage, the man chasing Tsubai Minamoto just entered the village!"
"I know." answers Kakashi through the connection. "He's at the gate, trying to get in like a simple villager. I wasn't expecting such civility from the person Naruto described. The sensory division called me as soon as he came close. I'm going to meet him. Where is Naruto?"
"He's next to me with Tsubai." Ino answers, looking at Naruto.
"They must run away." orders Kakashi. "They are both targets. I can't let the enemy get in contact with them."
"Naruto, Tsubai, The Hokage orders you to flee." says Ino.
"What? Definitely not." directly answers Naruto. "I won't leave the village while this guy's around."
"Naruto refused." says Ino to Kakashi.
"Sigh… Can you put me in contact with him?"
Ino raises her other hand and holds Naruto's forehead to telepathically link him with Kakashi.
"Naruto, can you hear me?" asks Kakashi.
"Are you all speaking with your minds?" asks Himari, who won't get any answer.
"Yes, I refuse." Naruto answers the Hokage.
"Listen, the enemy can feel your chakra. I'm currently with Rock Lee and his Suicide Corps. We'll only hold him back until he senses you going away. He's only after you and Tsubai. He'll have no reason to stay here if you leave. This way we can get him away from the village."
"... And I'll kick his ass when he goes after me, I get it." answers Naruto who agrees with this plan and stares at Tsubai. "Come with me, we gotta leave."
Tsubai stands up and they both run to the front door without wasting a second. They get away from the village by taking a different path than the main gate.
"They're leaving." says Ino to Kakashi. "What will you do?"
"As I said, engage the enemy".
Himari, still sitting near Ino, looks at the opened door and decides to stand up and run outside too.
"Where are you going?" shouts Ino to Himari before she leaves. But the girl doesn't give an answer and just hurries outside.
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At the entrance of the village, Katashiki is standing before Konoha's gatekeepers, Kotetsu and Izumo. Feeling various chakra getting closer, he tells them:
"So you've called reinforcements. I suppose this means I'm not welcome here, and therefore won't get an answer to my question."
Both of them stayed quiet, not daring to say anything, stunned and frightened by the feeling that this man's presence gives off. It feels like Sasuke Uchiha, but more powerful and evil. Even them, who aren't good sensitive ninjas, can feel the strength of just his gaze.
"I'm not an uncivilized twit, so I won't kill you for this, but I sure hope to find someone with whom I can negotiate properly." says Katashiki, slowly stepping forward.
As he intends to go deeper in the village, he is stopped by Kakashi who jumps down from a roof to block his way. The two men only stare at each other for a few seconds until Katashiki decides to open dialogue.
"It's good to meet you, Hokage of Konoha." he says. "I'm just a passenger willing to get rid of some problems for you. Could you give me some indications?"
"You're here for Tsubai Minamoto and Naruto Uzumaki, and they're both currently under my protection. Sorry to disappoint you, but you can't have any of their souls." coldly answers the Hokage.
"… As I just said, I'm just here to get rid of this problem for you. You see, Naruto, Sasuke and Tsubai are the only reason I'm here. Once I get them, I'll leave and will never ever come back. As long as they are here, you'll have to face me or anyone else that'll be interested in them in the future. So I hope you understand that giving them away now will save us both a lot of time, sweat and chakra."
"The answer stays the same." says Kakashi naturally. "You can at least save your words by not trying to discuss any longer."
Kakashi gets in a fight stance. He just has to keep the enemy busy until he notices that Naruto and Tsubai are running away. Looking straight into the red eyes of Katashiki, he has flashbacks of all his previous encounters with Rinnegan users. He's something of a veteran when it comes to this, at this point. His opponent can absorb all Ninjutsu so he'll go with Taijutsu. He just needs to be fast enough to avoid him using any gravitational manipulation. Fully aware of what he has to do, Kakashi runs toward Katashiki to engage the fight.
Katashiki doesn't move and only waits for the ninja to get closer, expecting him to try and punch him right in the face? But instead, Kakashi slips to his left and quickly turns around to go for a kick in the back. The Rinnegan wielder could obviously foresee it, and turned around at the same time to counter this hit with his forearms. However, Kakashi has no intention of letting him rest. He leans his feet on Katashiki's arms and jumps back and up while pushing him. Katashiki didn't move an inch but it doesn't matter. Now up in the air, Kakashi joins his hands and rapidly performs one of his 1,000 jutsu.
Suiton – Suiryudan no Jutsu(Water Style – Water Dragon Bullet)
He expels a water dragon that Katashiki gets ready to absorb. To the invader's surprise, it heads to splash on the ground in front of him instead, and Kakashi lands back on the resulting puddle to prepare another jutsu.
Suiton – Kirigakure (Water Style – Hiding in Mist)
He turns the water splash into mist that surrounds him and Katashiki, who quickly understands his intentions of limiting his sight. The mist disappears, absorbed, leaving him to see Kakashi leap toward him and push a kunai to stab his throat. Strangely, the kunai doesn't even bruise his skin.
"You thought a basic blade could pierce the skin of a god? Pathetic!" says Katashiki with disregard.
Pulling a black rod out from his sleeve, he stabs Kakashi right in the heart, only to realize it was a Lightning clone that detonates. Unluckily, the chakra rod acts as a lightning rod and absorbs the clone's remaining before it can hurt Katashiki, who just figured out the strategy he involuntarily foiled.
He jumps from the ground to dodge the real Kakashi, emerging from below his feet as he tries to grab him by the legs. Katashiki violently kicks the Hokage in the chin and throws him into the closest wall.
Fast, strong, surprisingly durable and lucky. This is what Kakashi thinks of the enemy after this brief exchange as he struggles to get up from the wall's remains that got shattered by the collision.
Fortunately, Rock Lee and the Suicide Corps (an elite of Taijutsu specialists all using the Eight Inner Gates) arrive just in time to take on the fight. Lee helps the Hokage up while the rest of the team prepares to confront the invader. Katashiki, unimpressed, looks toward the east of the village as if he finally realized something.
"Oh, So you're blocking my path to buy them time to escape." he says to Kakashi. "I guess you expect me to go after them, is it?"
Kakashi stays quiet and tries to foresee how Katashiki will react now that he guessed their plan.
"I think you misunderstood me. I said that I'm a civilized person, not an idiot. If I stay here and threaten to destroy this beautiful place or kill everybody, the fox will have to come by himself."
The Hokage didn't see that coming. He really thought Katashiki would take the bait, as he seemed to have no other reason to be here.
"Suicide Corps, Kick this man out!" orders the Hokage.
"ROGER THAT!" says every member of the team together as they get in rank and all open the 6th Gate of Joy at the same time.
"Hado, Purogu!" Rock Lee calls two of his teammates. "Take the lead!"
"LET'S BEAT HIS ASS!" yells Hado, the first-called Taijutsu specialist, leaping toward his target.
"At your service!" says Purogu, the second-called, before going to follow her partner.
They get in position symmetrically around Katashiki and bounce into action with 6th Gate-powered kicks in his chest together while they chant "Dynamic Entry" in chorus. The horned intruder, before they land their kicks, throws his body in the air and bends it to evade the blow. As soon as he lands back on the ground, the rest of the Suicide Corps led by Lee comes to confront him. They all throw their fists toward his face together, so he bows to dodge again and catches one of them by the leg. Using the shinobi that he just grabbed like a baseball bat, he strikes every one surrounding him away.
"There's way too much of you. Let me correct this."
On his left and right, Haddo and Purogu come back to get at him with drop kicks. Katashiki stops them both with just his hands, and lets go off only to force them closer.
Bansho Ten'in
He generates an attraction force with both his hands to pull the two ninjas toward his palms as black rods grow out and stab straight through their throats.
"PUROGU! HADO!" screams Lee as he witnesses Katashiki taking his friend's lives with disturbing ease.
Out of anger and grief, Rock Lee screams his soul out and activates the 7th Gate of Wonder. All his teammates step back to give him the space he needs. He swiftly gets to the source of his anger and violently knee kicks him in the stomach to push him through the air. Katashiki is blown away by the strike but manages to stabilize himself levitating.
"Lee!" says Kakashi, surprised by the strength and speed of this last attack.
"Now that's interesting!" shouts Katashiki floating in the sky and looking down at Rock Lee already charging at him again.
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Not far from the village, Katashiki's targets are still running to bait their pursuer. Tsubai stops running and looks back to the village. Naruto also stands still and follows Tsubai's gaze, waiting for an explanation.
"What's doing?." the Minamoto says. "It's getting dangerous for those who are fighting."
"He's not coming after us?" says Naruto. "What is he planning?"
"What an asshole!" simply complains Tsubai who turns back to Naruto and sees his worried face. "What's up?"
"I can't do this!" the jinchuriki exclaims, sensing the rampage of Lee.
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At the same time, in the ocean behind the land of Earth, on a very small island that looks like nothing more than 2 huge boulders visible from the surface, Sasuke falls from the sky and lands perfectly on it. He immediately starts looking for a possible cave opening and quickly finds one, in between the two boulders. Using Chidori, he breaks the hole's surroundings and enlarges it to get in more easily.
Jumping down in the cave, he realizes how deep it actually is and keeps falling for nearly a minute. Feeling the pressure get heavier and the end of the fall coming, he attaches his hand and feet to the wall and lands safely. He is now standing in the middle of complete darkness, so he uses Raiton again to light the cave and holds his astonishment when he discovers what fills this place.
There are monster-like bodies all around, and even some that look like they were artificially assembled. Those must be the containers Katashiki uses for his stolen souls. So Sasuke's theory was right. These creatures weren't actual Biju like the Rikudo-Sennin created. Katashiki just built artificial beasts and gave them souls he'd stolen from other places.
Sasuke is now hoping to find information about the origin of the shadow woman and the dragon. While lurking the cave between the dead bodies, he finds something that may interest him. A large desk filled with papers written in a complex language that resembles the one used for the Uchiha tablet. By using his left eye, he can plainly decipher these writings.
All these papers were giving precise and complete descriptions of jutsu or animal species. What got Sasuke's attention the most is a piece of writing titled "Umashi Ashikabi Hikoji". This is what Katashiki said before escaping his Soul Absorption. He takes the paper from the table to get a closer look. It doesn't feel like regular paper when touched and starts glowing the moment it makes contact with Sasuke's hand.
The text is a really well-written and integral paragraph about how this jutsu works and how it can be used. Sasuke just quickly reads through the paper to verify his theories, and can confirm he was mostly right. This jutsu is a unique ability of Katashiki's Rinnegan and is what allows him to keep the absorbed souls as servants. These souls are like Pain's bodies, meaning they have Katashiki's eyes and he can see through them, but the souls can also use any Rinnegan ability, except this one. The souls know every jutsu that they knew as living beings but can't use them without a physical form. That's why he usually puts them in bodies. He calls these things Tsukumogami.
Sasuke decides to take this sheet with him along with other papers he would find interesting. While searching among these, he comes across one titled "To find and absorb the Daitengu". It contains familiar words and names like tengu, Minamoto, and yamabushi. It must be about what he plans to do with Tsubai. Sasuke decides to take it too. Another paper is talking about space-time ninjutsu. It's titled Chimatakami. It must be the name of the jutsu, the one Sasuke and Katashiki both use to open rifts across dimensions. He also takes this one and prepares to leave but stops when he sees one last sheet.
Just titled "To Remember", it's probably things Katashiki wrote down in case his memory was stolen by Tsubai. It mentions what seems to be his full name, which gives a really bad feeling to Sasuke. What he reads here is Katashiki Otsutsuki. Sasuke finally found a connection between him and Kaguya but it's far from expected. Is Otsutsuki a clan and not just a last name?
The Rikudo-Sennin said Kaguya came from a far away country to eat the chakra fruit. Katashiki must be from this same country, but does this mean they all have horns and Dojutsu there? This is a really disturbing discovery for Sasuke, especially considering the fact that this same paper mentions other people with the same name. Satisfied by his findings, he takes this last sheet and hurries to leave this obscure place before anyone finds him.
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In Konoha, Katashiki is still near the village's entrance while Rock Lee goes all out on him with the Gate Of Wonder. Even with the current speed and violence of Lee, the Otsutsuki escapes every single of his hits with ease.
"I thought you'd do better than that." says Katashiki, feeling no thrill at all from this fight.
"How can he read my movements so easily?" thinks Lee, giving his best to try to touch him at least once.
"You're not a big deal, but for a human, you're strong." says Katashiki, still dodging everything. "With the Gate of Death you'd be incredibly powerful, maybe even more than me. You may waste your body after each time you use it, but I'll just have to seal your soul into a new one." he says looking at Rock Lee with a provocative smile.
"HERE!" screams Lee to interrupt him as he's about to unleash a new attack. "LEAF… EARTHQUAKE!" he screams while he briefly makes eye contact, going to hit him with a monstrous double knee kick that breaks the ground even before hitting anything.
"Hm, Fool." says Katashiki as Lee notices what eyes he is seeing. A pair of Sharingan.
"Sharingan?" he thinks as he gets caught in a Genjutsu.
Katashiki had switched from Rinnegan to Sharingan to read Rock Lee's movements efficiently and just jumped on the opportunity to stop him, as he knew this last technique, the Leaf Earthquake, may have damaged him seriously. Trapped in an illusion, Lee's body deactivates the Gate of Wonder, severely injured by its use, and keeps flying forward to the enemy. The invader touches Lee's shoulder. Using Umashi Ashikabi Hikoji, he grabs his soul to rip it out and get what he believes will be his new strongest Tsukumogami. But suddenly, Katashiki is interrupted by a chakra orb right beside him.
Rasengan
Naruto enters the scene and sends Katashiki far away with this surprise attack to save Lee from inevitable death. Katashiki, sent flitting outside the village, comes back to his senses and switches back to the Rinnegan to absorb a fire spiral coming in his direction from above. He gets back on his feet and sees Tsubai standing before him. Naruto leaves a passed out Lee near Kakashi and goes to join Tsubai in front of Katashiki.
"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei!" says the yellow haired ninja in a clear voice as he walks toward the red-eyed man. "How could a man who will become Hokage let his sensei and friends die for his safety?"
Naruto activates his Sennin Mode and his Kurama Chakra Mode and stands besides Tsubai to face Katashiki, giving a pissed off look.
"When I become Hokage, the only one allowed to sacrifice will be me."
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End of Chapter 6 - Next chapter: Confrontation