---
The Crimson Valley
The newly awarded territory of the Chinoike Clan Territories was unlike the rest of the Land of Fire. The air was heavier, tinged with an iron scent that lingered beneath the soil—a haunting echo of the clan's Kekkei Genkai.
Kanzō Tokudaiji's breath puffed out in small, controlled clouds as he stood at the entrance of the valley. The crimson lanterns swayed in the wind, burning like watchful eyes. The Chinoike Clan weren't subtle in how they announced their presence.
Behind him, the Fire Daimyō's banners fluttered. Ahead, the Chinoike Clan warriors watched in silence, their crimson pupils glowing faintly under torchlight, like drops of blood reflecting flame.
Kanzō straightened his travel cloak and stepped forward.
He was the Daimyō's voice today—
but he also carried a quieter message.
A secret message.
One entrusted to him by a masked shadow.
Tobi.
The very thought sent a chill down Kanzō's spine. Their last meeting had shaken him—Tobi operated in a realm beyond politics or power. One moment you thought you understood him, and the next he unraveled your assumptions with a few quiet words.
Today, Kanzō walked into a lion's den carrying not one, but two missions:
1) The official one — Diplomacy.
2) The hidden one — For Tobi.
And the latter was infinitely more dangerous.
---
The Clan of Blood and Storms
Inside the settlement, the Chinoike Clan compound was built like a fortress. Towering stone pillars jutted out of the ground at sharp angles, hand-shaped by generations of shinobi who fought to survive banishment, persecution, and betrayal.
At the center of it stood the clan hall.
And waiting there—hands clasped behind him, posture rigid—was Raigo Chinoike, Clan Head.
Raigo was tall, broad-shouldered, and carried the air of a man who had suffered too long and trusted too little. His Ketsuryūgan glowed with a quiet threat, their red depths reflecting every flicker of torchlight.
"Kanzō Tokudaiji," Raigo said without bowing. "The Fire Daimyō's right hand. You honor us."
His tone made it clear he meant the opposite.
Kanzō bowed anyway. "The Daimyō extends his sincere goodwill. May this land mark a peaceful new chapter for your clan."
Raigo waved his warriors away, but his eyes never left Kanzō.
"Let us speak directly," Raigo said. "Why here? Why now? Why place my clan—fresh from exile—between two giants: the Uchiha Clan Territoriey and the Hagoromo Clan Territoriey?"
Kanzō inhaled slowly.
The question was sharp, and dangerous.
"It was the Daimyō's judgment," Kanzō replied calmly. "Your clan is a rising power—"
"And a threat," Raigo cut in. "Say the quiet part aloud."
Kanzō hesitated.
Then—
A whisper of movement.
A shift in the shadows.
Like a ripple in the air.
Raigo's eyes snapped to the side.
Kanzō's heartbeat faltered.
He knew that presence.
That chakra—suppressed almost to zero, but unmistakable.
Tobi.
---
The Phantom Appears
A swirl of wind blew across the hall. Torches flickered violently. Shadows bent unnaturally before settling again.
And then—
A figure stood behind Kanzō.
Cloaked.
Masked.
Silent.
The orange spiral mask with a single eyehole glowed faintly in the dim light.
Raigo tensed immediately. Five Chinoike guards appeared from the walls, chakra flaring.
"Tobi," Kanzō breathed, relief and dread mixing in his tone. He bowed slightly despite himself.
Raigo's expression darkened. "This is the one? The ghost who manipulates Daimyō advisors and stirs shadows?"
Tobi said nothing at first.
But silence itself became a weapon.
Even Kanzō felt it—the way the hall seemed to lean closer, as if the shadows themselves waited to hear what the masked phantom would say.
Then…
Tobi inclined his head slightly.
Not in humility.
But acknowledgment.
"I am here because your clan stands at a crossroads, Raigo Chinoike," he said, his voice low and calm—eerily controlled. "One wrong step, and you will repeat history. Another exile. Another purge."
Raigo stiffened. "Threats?"
"No."
Tobi stepped forward, eyes glinting.
"Warnings."
---
The Weight of Revelation
Kanzō swallowed. He had worked years in diplomacy, but even he felt the shift in the air—Tobi's presence commanded undivided attention.
Raigo snarled, "You stand boldly in my hall, masked stranger. Why should the Chinoike Clan listen to anything you say?"
Tobi's gloved hand lifted slowly.
And a scroll unfurled from his sleeve—falling open mid-air.
A swirl of chakra revealed sealed documents…
Letters…
Financial transactions…
Secret correspondences…
All bearing the crest of the Lightning Daimyō's first wife's faction.
Kanzō's stomach dropped.
These were the exact materials he had received weeks ago from Tobi.
The same materials he had used to dismantle the nobles' conspiracy and expose the atrocities they committed against several clans in Land of lightning —including the Chinoike Clan long ago.
Raigo's eyes widened.
"What… is this?"
"The crimes of the Lightning Daimyō's first wife," Tobi said quietly.
"The conspiracy you suspected but could never prove. The same faction that once called your clan 'cursed monsters' and sentenced you to death."
Raigo's fists clenched, fury trembling in them.
"How… how did you get this?!"
Tobi turned slightly toward Kanzō.
"Kanzō exposed her through official channels," he said. "But the one who gathered the evidence… was me."
Kanzō stiffened.
Tobi had revealed the truth—yet not his identity.
Not who he was beneath the mask.
Raigo stared between them—conflicted, shaken, but attentive.
---
Talk no Jutsu — System-Enhanced
The phantom took a slow step forward.
A faint whisper echoed in his mind:
[System Skill Activated: Persuasion — "Talk no Jutsu (Advanced)".
Success Rate Boosted: +145%]
Keiji—hidden behind the mask—allowed the system's enhancement to flow through him, making every word resonate sharper, deeper, clearer.
"Raigo Chinoike," Tobi said softly,
"Your clan has been betrayed by Daimyōs, by shinobi, by rival clans, by nations. Again and again. But now… now you stand in a land offered by the Fire Daimyō himself."
Raigo's gaze hardened.
"And you believe that makes us safe?"
"No."
Tobi's tone turned razor-thin.
"But it gives you leverage."
Raigo blinked.
"There are only nine clans capable of threatening your rise in the Land of Fire."
Tobi's voice cut through the air like a cold blade.
"The Uchiha.
The Hagoromo.
The Senju.
The Uzumaki.
The Hyūga.
The Kaguya.
And the Ino–Shika–Chō—the first great three-clan axis alliance of the Land of Fire."
Raigo's eyes narrowed, crimson flickering.
"You speak of them so casually."
"Because," Tobi answered, tone almost bored,
"I know them."
He stepped forward, cloak whispering like smoke.
"I know their strengths… their tempers… their grudges… and their inevitable ambitions."
Kanzō felt a faint chill.
He had once suspected Tobi's unusual insight to be experience.
Now he wondered if it was something far more dangerous.
Raigo folded his arms. "Get to the point."
Tobi's voice lowered to a conspiratorial hush.
As of now…"
"…the Fire Daimyō is watching you—carefully."
A warning.
"…the Uchiha Clan distrust you—deeply."
A truth.
"…the Hagoromo Clan remain cautious—painfully."
A fact.
Then Tobi continued, each word weighted:
"The Senju Clan appraise you as a potential threat."
"The Uzumaki Clan monitor your every political ripple."
"The Hyūga Clan question your motives."
"The Kaguya Clan would erase your clan if given excuse."
"And the Ino–Shika–Chō judge whether you are a destabilizing element."
His gaze lifted.
"In short… your clan is surrounded."
Silence thickened—heavy, suffocating.
Raigo's jaw tightened.
Kanzō felt his pulse accelerate.
"But," Tobi said softly,
"you have one advantage."
Raigo's fingers twitched. "Which is?"
Tobi's single eyehole swiveled toward him like a hawk's.
"Me."
Kanzō nearly stumbled.
Raigo's breath hitched.
Even the guards froze mid-motion.
Tobi continued calmly:
"I told Kanzō to come here."
"I told him to request this audience."
"I orchestrated the fall of the nobles who once hunted you."
"I positioned the Chinoike Clan precisely where they must be."
Each confession dropped like a boulder.
Raigo inhaled sharply, heart pounding in his ears.
"And why," Raigo asked slowly, "would a phantom do all this for us?"
Tobi leaned closer, voice dropping into a whisper that felt like prophecy.
"Because the future of the Land of Fire needs the Chinoike Clan."
"And the Chinoike Clan need allies—or you will vanish beneath the weight of these nine giants."
Raigo blinked.
Kanzō stared.
No one dared to breathe.
Tobi straightened.
"Form a future alliance with the Uchiha Clan and the Hagoromo Clan,"
he said, each syllable sharp as a blade's edge.
"A second three-clan axis alliancein the Land of Fire."
"Bloodline. Power. Stability."
"A counterbalance to the Senju Clan, Uzumaki Clan, Hyūga Clan, Kaguya Clan, and the Ino–Shika–Chō Clan the first great three-clan axis alliance of the Land of Fire."
His cloak fluttered faintly in the breeze.
"Two great axis alliance.
Two pillars of the Land of Fire.
Only then…"
His voice dipped into something that sounded almost like inevitability.
"…will your clan be unshakeable."
Raigo frowned deeply.
"…Alliance with those who stand on both sides of us? Why?"
Tobi's answer was immediate.
"Because the next era will not be won by strength alone. It will be won by unity. By influence. By positioning."
Raigo swallowed.
"And what role would you play?"
Tobi's voice echoed like a prophecy.
"I will be the ghost who ensures none of you fall."
Raigo stared into the single eyehole of the spiral mask.
For the first time, his expression cracked.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Uncertainty.
"…Why should I believe you?" Raigo whispered.
A faint swirl of chakra rippled the air.
And from the shadows behind Tobi, something pulsed—
Something Raigo could not see, but could feel.
Keiji's Shiny Gengar remained hidden deep in the mask's shadow.
But its presence lent a cold, spectral pressure that made Raigo's instincts tingle.
Tobi stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"You do not have to believe me today.
But watch."
Raigo blinked.
"Watch how the Uchiha Clan behave.
Watch how the Hagoromo Clan respond.
Watch how the Fire Daimyō treats you.
Watch how your clan grows in this land."
He turned slightly, cloak shifting like smoke.
"And when the moment comes, you will know who stands with you."
Raigo Chinoike—the man who distrusted the world, who had fought and bled for his clan's survival—felt something he hadn't felt in years.
Possibility.
"…Tobi," Raigo finally murmured. "Who are you really?"
Tobi paused.
And then—
very softly, almost gently—
"A friend of the future."
---
End of the Chapter
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