Yūshin stood atop the Hokage Monument, gazing down at Konoha below. With his visual acuity, he could clearly see a shock-haired teenager happily slurping noodles at Ichiraku's stand.
So it seemed the "Konoha Inter-Species Love Story" was still running, and running strong.
The "protagonist" looked like he was living the good life, aside from his best friend still being on his predetermined path.
"Lord Yūshin…" Yūmiya Genki materialized behind him.
"Konoha seems to have developed quite well these past years…" Yūshin remarked idly.
Genki felt something about Yūshin had shifted again. Something subtle. The odd sensation was gone before she could even pinpoint it.
Not that she had time to dwell. Business first.
"Yet it could all vanish like a bubble… Lord Yūshin, is it true? Are there really people gathering the Tailed Beasts? Trying to resurrect the Ten-Tails?"
"Sure are. Wanna know how I'm so certain?"
"How?"
"Because I'm in that organization."
Genki wasn't overly shocked. Konoha had received intelligence about the so-called "Akatsuki" resuming activity.
The intel seemed bizarre. Most ninja would dismiss it as impersonators. But as Hokage, Genki couldn't help but connect the dots. Hatake Sakumo hadn't given her specifics, but his hints were clear enough.
"You plan to stop them from the inside?" she asked, her words coming faster, edged with a hidden urgency.
"The opposite. I'm helping them finish the job."
"..."
Genki's brain short-circuited. What? Had Lord Yūshin switched sides after all these years? Gone from lawful good to chaotic evil?
"Lord Yūshin, if the Ten-Tails is reborn… can we even stop it? I'll die a failure. Konoha will be destroyed."
She didn't understand. Shouldn't you eliminate a threat in its cradle? Or was Yūshin arrogant enough to think he could suppress the Ten-Tails? Replicate the Sage of Six Paths' feat?
If he couldn't convince her, she was already weighing her own course. Even if it meant opposing him. That was a Hokage's duty. She answered to the village.
"From your dealings with the Ōtsutsuki, you know the Ten-Tails' true form is the Sage's mother. The 'Rabbit Goddess,' Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
"Yes. Still sealed in the moon. If the nine beasts reunite… it's obvious she could break free."
"Good. Then understand this. Theoretically, she's immortal. The worst she gets is sealed again. Which means she's a blade forever hanging over the shinobi world. As long as she can wake, she holds the power to end it."
Genki nodded slowly. This wasn't paranoia. The moon had no guards now. Ever since learning the truth, looking at the night sky filled her with a vague dread.
She sensed Yūshin's goal now. At least he hadn't truly turned evil. She relaxed a fraction.
"So we can't settle for the status quo. We need a permanent solution. To do that…"
Genki finished the thought. "We have to 'revive' her first."
"Correct."
"But Lord Yūshin… completely destroying the Ten-Tails? The Sage himself couldn't do it. Can we, his descendants, surpass him? If we revive it and fail… the consequences are unthinkable."
She took a breath. "Kaguya is a threat, yes. But the seal has held for a thousand years. Maybe… maybe this is the best we can do."
Yūshin gave her a genuinely surprised look. He hadn't expected her to choose the band-aid over the cure.
"I thought someone of your temperament would jump at my plan."
Everyone knew Yūmiya Genki. Ambitious. Aggressive. Confident. Yet here she was, getting conservative.
But from Genki's perspective, she wasn't choosing between a cure and a band-aid. She was choosing between dying fast or dying slow. The answer seemed obvious.
"Lord Yūshin… if I were the twenty-year-old version of me, I'd agree without hesitation…"
The Third Hokage's influence, it seemed, was contagious. Caution wasn't bad. But it lacked the blunt, charge-ahead certainty of youth.
"Don't agree? You can't stop it anyway. No single Great Village can stop Akatsuki now. Unless you can unite all five?"
The Hokage's face darkened. She was a hardliner. Her foreign policy was… less successful than the Third's. Getting other villages to trust her? Listen to her? Not funny.
"Akatsuki is just a mercenary group from Amegakure. How could they possibly defeat the Five Great Villages one by one?"
"Sunagakure fell, didn't it? And I'm here for the Three-Tails. How will Konoha stop me?"
"The Three-Tails Jinchūriki is under heavy guard—"
"Too late. Otherwise, why is the Nine-Tails still running around? Fine. I'm not planning to take it. I already did."
With that, Yūshin vanished.
"Lord Yūshin!"
Furious, Genki flashed back to her office. She barked at an Anbu. "Bring Rin Nohara. Now."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
The Anbu complied. Rin arrived shortly. A quick check confirmed it—the Three-Tails was gone. Extracted. Yet the Jinchūriki lived, completely unaware.
Genki dismissed her. Then she began to pace. After several laps, she issued orders.
"Notify the other villages. Protect their Jinchūriki. An organization is hunting the Tailed Beasts."
It was all she could do. Even with Suna's example, the others wouldn't listen. Words were useless before disaster struck. Only after would they possibly unite.
...
Akatsuki worked fast. The Two-Tails and Three-Tails were swiftly sealed.
A Jinchūriki didn't necessarily die when their beast was removed. Aside from ninja medical techniques, it also depended on the Tailed Beast's goodwill.
Their relationship mattered. The Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki wouldn't die, for example. The Hachibi would leave a tentacle behind. That's a perfect Jinchūriki for you.
If the relationship was bad? No beast was doing any "self-amputation."
Most Jinchūriki never built rapport. Few wanted the job. Hostility was the norm, not friendship.
As Akatsuki's operations boomed, their "valuation" soaring, the inevitable happened: attrition. Fighting Great Villages had a cost.
Yūshin had exaggerated to Genki. Akatsuki couldn't single-handedly crush a Great Village. Their strategy was mostly ambush and strike.
Of course, if Akatsuki could ambush others, others could ambush Akatsuki. Deidara found this out the hard way.
He became a martyr for his art.
Honestly, the guy was too emotional. A hair-trigger temper. Playing with explosives did that. In the end, he went out with a literal bang—a "Patrick Star" special. He didn't even die for Akatsuki.
Not really for art, either. More like his own pride wrote his epitaph.
Next, Uchiha Sasuke finally found his beloved brother, Uchiha Itachi. The "Pacific" battle commenced.
Itachi was one of the few people Yūshin couldn't fully read. The man was too fractured. His personality and actions were a separate discussion entirely.
Feeling a sense of after-sales service obligation, Yūshin observed the entire fight.
Since it was the "Pacific" battle, the outcome was predetermined, however it played out: Itachi died. Sasuke collapsed, chakra spent.
After holding back so much, some people get exactly what they ask for.
After the battle, as Yūshin approached the two figures, the masked man materialized from thin air.
"Fancy meeting you here. Spectating?" Yūshin greeted.
A pointless question. Neither had bothered hiding their presence.
"You find this fight interesting?" the masked man replied.
"Just coincidence. Here for the Uchiha? Let's split them. One each."
Before the masked man could react, Yūshin had already rolled up Itachi's corpse and sealed it into a scroll.
The masked man wanted to object, but he had no good excuse. He could only watch.
Once Yūshin had shouldered Sasuke, he spoke again. "Leaving together?"
"No need. When you need those eyes… let me know."
"..."
No subtlety left. He was openly claiming control over Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
But what could the masked man do? Looting was first-come, first-served. He'd never be faster than Yūshin.
"Don't worry. The eyes are Akatsuki assets. I've no interest in a mere Mangekyō."
With that utterly un-reassuring statement, Yūshin vanished again.
The masked man sighed. He'd worry about the Sharingan later. For now, he had to focus. Prepare the brainwashing for when Sasuke woke up.
...
Three days later.
Uchiha Sasuke was moving north with a three-man squad, already clad in Akatsuki's black cloak with red clouds.
Suddenly, their leader—Sasuke himself, sprinting ahead—disappeared without a trace.
His teammates froze. Enemy attack? Genjutsu?
Half a minute later, Sasuke reappeared.
But he was different. Taller. Broader. His frame more solid.
His clothes were different too. And most notably, a bandage was wrapped around his eyes.
He gasped for breath the moment he materialized, ragged, like he'd just cheated death.
"Sasuke… you… is that you?"
His three teammates stared, uncertain. His appearance, his aura… both were wildly different.
These weren't Suigetsu, Karin, or Jūgo. They were unfamiliar faces. Scavenged from Orochimaru's leftovers, but functionally similar: sensor, healer, tank.
As Sasuke reappeared, Yūshin—who had been silently observing—looked up. Sure enough, high above, he saw it: the spectral chakra form of the Sage of Six Paths. The Asura reincarnate was special. The old man had physically yanked him back through time.
"I… am Uchiha Sasuke. Who are you?"
Sasuke finally got his breathing under control, but his mind was scrambled.
No wonder. He was blind. And moments ago, he'd been in a life-or-death struggle with Uchiha Madara. He'd been about to lose.
With whiplash like that, confusion was natural.
Yūshin shook his head and stepped into view. He even adjusted his chakra, letting it radiate a familiar, nostalgic warmth.
"Who's there?!"
Sasuke's teammates snapped to alert. They were thoroughly confused too.
But Sasuke recognized Yūshin instantly. In his perception, not much time had passed at all… he was still stuck in the chaotic Warring States period.
"Yūshin… you saved me? A summoning?"
Hearing the familiarity, the relief in Sasuke's voice, his teammates backed off.
"I'm not that bored. You dreaming? Know what year it is?"
"What year?" Sasuke asked, blank.
"You're back in your original time…" Yūshin paused, then chose a blunter phrasing. "Right after you dealt with your brother."
"..."
Yūshin's explanation was dark, but it worked. Sasuke jolted awake like he'd chugged half a bottle of menthol oil. Reality crashed in.
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