Land of Rain – Amegakure
"Whoosh—"
Rain poured down relentlessly. High in the air, a blue-purple-haired woman silently surveyed the vast sinkhole that had abruptly appeared in the village below.
Even though she could hear nothing but the downpour, it felt to her as if the village—this entire nation—were weeping.
"Boom!"
Rainwater streamed into the crater, forming an artificial lake, which soon exploded with a roar. Blood and mangled flesh sprayed upward with the waves, only to settle again.
What had once been a reasonably thriving village now lay lifeless and silent.
"Pain…" The blue-purple-haired woman landed on the water's surface. Looking at the cloaked man before her—wearing the black robe with red clouds—she spoke in a low voice:
"Zetsu has successfully disguised himself as Hanzō and completed the Three-Nation Summit."
"Next, we'll follow the original plan: work with Iwagakure to stop Konoha from growing any stronger." The man called Pain stared at the rippling water. His own reflection in the water's surface was distorted and wobbly. His eyes still burned with an uncontrollable fury, tinged with a trace of satisfaction.
"Reviving the Three-Tails will take time. Before we begin capturing all the Tailed Beasts, we can't let Konoha become too powerful."
"Continue gathering intel on the Jinchūriki."
"You seem to be enjoying yourself." A swirling distortion in the air revealed a masked man stepping onto the water's surface. "Pain, you're the leader. If you can't let go of even this level of hatred—if your capacity is so limited—someday you'll be easily beaten by someone else."
The blue-purple-haired woman eyed the masked man warily, lips pressed together, saying nothing.
Pain raised his head. The concentric rings of the Rinnegan betrayed no emotion. He said flatly, "That Konoha ninja, Link, has already convinced Sasori to defect from our organization. He's a threat."
"That won't do." The Sharingan beneath the swirling mask twitched slightly, its three tomoe spinning.
"Itachi's already decided to hunt him. If you interfere now, we might lose yet another 'comrade.'"
"Sasuke is growing quickly; it won't be long before he can awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan…"
Pain listened without reacting, face impassive.
"The time isn't right yet," the masked man said, pressing a hand against his mask as his figure began to twist. "We're not ready to step onto the stage."
The mysterious figure vanished, leaving the blue-purple-haired woman at a loss for words. She could only remain by her companion's side.
"Drip…drip…"
Pain lowered his head again, the rainfall intensifying, pounding the water's surface. He could no longer recognize his own reflection.
In the wake of his successful vengeance, the emptiness left behind stirred old memories—until some of them stung, pulling him back to reality.
[I am not Nagato—I am a god bringing order.]
He no longer dwelled on fruitless recollections. His eyes shone with fierce obsession, nearly to the point of fanaticism.
"Let's go, Konan."
…
Konohagakure
"It's so quiet…"
Link had half-expected they'd be ambushed on the way back, or that the fake Hanzō would attack with his men, but they had returned safely with no incidents.
"You think there are that many idiots bold enough to go after a Kage?" Kakashi quipped beside him.
Hmm, it's not impossible, Link thought, but he didn't argue. Either way, returning safely was a relief—no fights meant more time to grow in peace.
Upon returning to the village, the Third Hokage immediately rushed off to the Hokage's office, busier than ever after the Three-Nation Summit. Kakashi casually waved goodbye and vanished via Body Flicker.
It took over a day of cross-country travel from the Land of Rivers back to Konoha. Link went home first to shower and change. Then he stopped by the training grounds—where he found Sasuke sweating through his drills. He joined in for a bit, used Delicate Illness Extraction on Sasuke twice, then lay on a rock chatting with him for a while, arranging to have dinner together at Link's place.
After that, he made his usual visit to his mentor, Nara Shikaku, and discovered his other teacher, Nara Ensui, was there, too.
They were seated on tatami, playing a game of shōgi.
"Shishō, Ensui-sensei," Link greeted them politely, then sat down next to them.
He wasn't interested in shōgi, but from constantly observing them, he'd at least learned the basics.
"Ah, you're back," Shikaku said with a smile, glancing up from the board. "In a couple of days, some folks from Sunagakure are coming by. So your three subordinates will be returning home—take it easy and don't pick up any missions for the next few days."
"Yes, sir," Link agreed, sitting properly.
"Checkmate." Talking to his disciple while playing, Shikaku casually delivered a swift victory in shōgi. "You've been slacking a bit lately," he noted.
Ensui stretched out his arms. "Can't help it; spending so long at home stiffens both mind and body." He was a jonin who had retired early in life, effectively living the lazy dream Nara Shikamaru always wanted.
"That test subject who nearly exploded—Kimimaro, right?" Shikaku reset the board and glanced sideways at Link. "I hear some kind of foreign tissue was grafted into his body. Supposedly it stops him from molding chakra, and it constantly absorbs outside energy, granting him strong regenerative powers."
"The Medical Corps wanted you to come by for tests now that you're back."
"I understand." Link was also quite curious about Kimimaro's condition.
Shikaku nodded, continuing, "The Cipher Division has partially decrypted some of Orochimaru's computer data, possibly related to that experiment. I'm not sure about the details; if you're interested, you could head to the Cipher Division first."
"Will do." Link sat obediently, showing no extra reaction.
Taking a piece and studying the board, Shikaku made another move. "You worked hard during that conference."
"It was nothing—and it's not like I could actually protect Lord Third," Link said humbly.
Slipping into a focused state, Shikaku forced Ensui into a tight corner, yet still managed to speak, too:
"From now on, the village likely won't send you on any special long-term missions. Is there anything else you want for your training?"
Link considered it. He didn't really need anything in particular. The Third Hokage had already granted him access to nearly all the village's jutsu; for taijutsu, if he felt off about his progress, he could always see Might Guy. He couldn't exactly say he needed money—but in truth, he still had a fair amount of "wool" to fleece from the Pure Land.
"Shikaku-nii, can't you go a bit easier on me!" Ensui lamented. In just a few minutes, he'd lost two consecutive shōgi matches.
Shikaku grinned. "Want to stay for dinner? Yoshino's been thinking of you."
"I already arranged dinner with a friend," Link replied. Shikaku's wife—Nara Yoshino—was quite strict with her husband and son, but was very indulgent toward Link, who was so unfailingly polite.
"No, no, switch! Link, let's play a round!" Ensui demanded.
Laughing, Shikaku gave up his seat. After Link, a novice, provided Ensui a bit of "emotional satisfaction," he left the Nara residence for the Cipher Division.
He found Yurika, a codebreaker whom he'd met once before, deep in discussion with her colleagues. Seeing him enter, she got up. "You're here for Orochimaru's data, I assume?"
Without waiting for a reply, she walked toward a row of shelves. Moments later, she pulled out two file folders.
"Here. This is all we managed to decode. The rest was impossible."
"Read and return them when you're done."
The Cipher Division only handled decryption, not the use of the decoded intel.
Link carried the two thick folders to an empty desk and started reading. Much of it was repeated experimental data: Test Subject #1 did X, used X…some status, some cell slices—lots of comparative experiments, basically. He read them twice, slowly digesting them.
He gathered that tissue from an "Original Body" had been grafted onto test subjects, giving them extreme regeneration, suppressing chakra, permanently improving physical stats, and warping internal organs. But these were just computer logs—no guarantee they matched reality.
Eventually, Link's head swam. His medical knowledge was enough for basic treatment, but not for chewing through reams of advanced research data. Yet since it clearly tied back to the Five-Element Seal, he couldn't just ignore it. Ideally, he needed a real expert.
Orochimaru and Kabuto were top-tier in this field. The data contained odd terminology—some had been annotated by the Medical Corps, some left untranslated. Indeed, even Konoha's finest didn't have the same "mental wavelength" as Orochimaru. Possibly only "that big fish" could measure up.
[Alright. Next step, let's go find Tsunade.
I need to think about how to… get Tsunade on board…]
[From now on, I'll bring out Nawaki more often so we can get acquainted and build rapport. Then I can use Hermit Purple to locate "Big Sis Slug."]
[Maybe I can get her necklace and try changing her fate, boosting my odds of getting in touch with the First and Second Hokage…>
[That's a win-win-win.]
Link closed the folders. He could slowly grind through these from scratch, but that could take years. Better to do as usual and find a shortcut. He refused to believe Tsunade wouldn't comprehend Orochimaru's findings. With his help and her genius, catching up wouldn't be too hard.
And then maybe he could raid Orochimaru's base again for more data—or even snag that "Original Body."
~~~
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