Naruto: The Senju After the Age of Gods

"Akatsuki?"

The moment Hikaru saw those black cloaks patterned with red clouds, he recognized who they were, even without seeing their faces clearly.

Still, he was puzzled.

He had, admittedly, shared several warm and friendly exchanges with members of Akatsuki before.

For example, he had stolen a kill right out from under Kakuzu's nose, then snatched another from Sasori, and finally chopped off one of Obito's arms.

But through all of that, he had never revealed his true identity.

Even now, after quietly slipping away to Rōran, he had never told anyone who he really was.

So he genuinely could not understand why these Akatsuki members had blocked their path.

"Who are they?" Sara had already noticed Hikaru's reaction and turned her gaze toward the Akatsuki trio. "Are they from Sunagakure?"

"No."

Hikaru shook his head, then quickly amended his answer.

"At best, I can only say I'm not sure. I don't even know whether they count as enemies yet."

"What should we do, then? Go around them?" Sara asked in a low voice. No matter how she looked at them, the people in front clearly were not easy to deal with.

"You all go around them and keep moving," Hikaru said after a brief pause. "I'll go take a look."

Then his expression turned more serious.

"Prepare for the worst. If I end up fighting them, do your best to keep moving and stay out of the battle's range. Understood?"

Sara nodded immediately and ran back toward the main group.

Hikaru, meanwhile, walked straight toward the three Akatsuki members.

He was honestly curious himself who exactly these people were.

Since he had already clashed with Akatsuki before, he naturally did not care about having another conflict with them.

Besides, their future clashes were only going to escalate anyway.

But the closer he got, the deeper his frown became.

They were not strangers at all.

There were three Akatsuki members here, and two of them were none other than Sasori and Kakuzu.

Hikaru had thought about it for a while and still could not understand how those two had ended up together.

In his memory, those two had never been partners.

But when he noticed the woman standing beside them, he suddenly understood.

"Konan is here to recruit Sasori?"

He muttered inwardly.

The original story had never shown that part, but Hikaru had played the games before.

He remembered a scene where Konan recruited Sasori in the Land of Wind.

"Could it really be that I just happened to run into it?"

At that point, Hikaru was basically certain his guess was correct.

As for Kakuzu being here, that did not seem strange at all.

That man would go anywhere in the ninja world if there was money in it.

It was entirely possible he had simply found a worthwhile target in the Land of Wind and come here for that reason.

And Hikaru also did not believe Nagato would feel comfortable letting Konan come alone to recruit someone as dangerous as Sasori.

Having Kakuzu accompany her under the pretense of a mission, while secretly serving as protection, was perfectly reasonable.

With that thought in mind, Hikaru had already reached the three of them.

He smiled as he swept his gaze over Konan, Kakuzu, and Sasori, then gave them a polite nod.

"Hello," Hikaru said with an easy smile. "May I ask what business the three of you have here?"

"Nothing particularly major," Sasori replied at last, his eyes fixed on Hikaru. For some reason, this boy felt strangely familiar.

It was not just Sasori.

Kakuzu was also frowning slightly, because he, too, had the same unsettling feeling.

Especially that tone of voice and that manner of speaking—

it stirred up some thoroughly unpleasant memories.

The three of them had indeed come here for roughly the reasons Hikaru had guessed.

Konan's purpose in coming to the Land of Wind was to recruit Sasori, while Kakuzu had been brought along to secretly ensure her safety.

Sasori's danger level was extremely high.

Even though Konan herself was far from weak, Nagato would never let her face a man like that alone.

Once that matter had been settled, they had originally planned to return directly to the Land of Rain.

But then a torrent of chakra had suddenly erupted, forcing them to stop.

The sheer scale of it had shocked all three of them.

That was why they had come to investigate what exactly had happened.

Sasori, in particular, had been especially interested.

He had already identified the direction that massive chakra eruption came from—

Rōran, the city that had remained in the Land of Wind all this time.

And Rōran was tied to the Dragon Vein.

Sasori remembered that very clearly.

That naturally made him even more eager to uncover the truth.

But when they reached Rōran, they found the place completely deserted.

The site that had once sealed the Dragon Vein had been utterly destroyed.

At the same time, quite a few Sunagakure shinobi had also arrived to investigate, and even small squads had begun gathering.

That made Sasori deeply suspicious.

He had even begun to wonder whether Sunagakure itself had stolen the Dragon Vein.

Otherwise, their response would not have been so lukewarm.

If they really cared that much, would they only have sent this many people?

"The people here are gone too. Judging from the tracks outside, they left this place. Maybe if we catch up, we can find out what happened."

Sasori had shared that thought with Konan and Kakuzu, and the three of them had decided to follow the trail and see what was going on.

By sheer coincidence, they happened to arrive just in time to see Hikaru kill an entire Suna squad.

That eerie speed, coupled with his clean and efficient methods, had made all three of them frown.

They were all seasoned shinobi.

Naturally, they could tell Hikaru had not used much strength at all.

They could also tell from how practiced his movements were that this boy had undoubtedly sent plenty of people to the grave before.

A boy like this could not possibly be some unknown nobody.

"Nothing major, huh."

Hikaru, of course, had no idea what Sasori and the others were thinking. He maintained his smile and continued, "In that case, I won't disturb you any further. I still have an escort mission to complete."

"Just an escort mission?"

Sasori's voice turned colder.

"These people are all residents of Rōran. And not long ago, a strange force erupted from that direction. You should know something about that, shouldn't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hikaru deliberately put on a puzzled expression.

"I don't know what you mean, and I don't understand what you're trying to imply. Sorry, but I'm in a hurry."

"I'm sorry too."

Kakuzu took a step forward.

"If you don't explain certain things clearly, we can't let you leave."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Because what you took," Kakuzu said in a low, dangerous tone, "interests us as well."

Then his eyes narrowed.

"And for some reason, just looking at you makes me feel very uncomfortable…"

The wind blew endlessly across the desert, stirring up waves of sand.

Under that curtain of drifting grit, Hikaru stood facing the three Akatsuki members, and the atmosphere grew unusually heavy.

Then, suddenly, he let out a soft chuckle.

That single laugh seemed to shatter the tension.

At the same time, chakra began surging through his body.

Kakuzu really was absurdly sharp.

Even though Hikaru was not wearing a mask now, the man had still sensed something was off.

That was only natural.

Kakuzu had lived too long.

He was so numb to life that he no longer had any real goal of his own.

Money had become the only thing left driving him forward.

And Hikaru had stolen one of his kills.

Cutting off someone's source of money was basically the same as murdering their parents.

That principle fit Kakuzu especially well.

Even if he had not recognized Hikaru, he could still feel his own instinctive irritation toward him.

And unlike most people, Kakuzu had no intention of suppressing that feeling.

"So we're fighting after all."

Hikaru sighed helplessly.

"Honestly, I still don't know who you people are, and I'd rather not waste time, but…"

"It won't take long."

Sasori stepped forward.

With a casual wave of his hand, a cloud of smoke appeared, and the Third Kazekage puppet emerged in front of him.

"Whatever this is, we'll make it quick. Because unlike him, I don't just feel uncomfortable when I look at you. I dislike you too."

"I see."

Hikaru nodded as if he had suddenly understood something.

"So there's no avoiding this after all."

The instant the words left his mouth, Kakuzu attacked.

His fist shot forward like a cannonball, smashing straight toward Hikaru.

Hikaru leapt into the air and evaded the blow cleanly.

He did not use Flying Thunder God.

Not because he lacked the means to set it up.

Now that he had eaten the Intermediate Sealing Fruit, his Flying Thunder God was far more refined than before.

If he wanted to, he could create seal markers around the battlefield at any time.

He no longer needed to rely on Wood Release seeds to do it.

The problem was that Flying Thunder God had all but become Konoha Nightingale's signature technique.

He had no intention of letting these people know too much just yet.

At least, not for the moment.

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"

While retreating, Hikaru brought his index and middle fingers together.

With a single seal, he completed the technique.

A razor-thin, ultra-high-pressure jet of water burst from his mouth, transforming into a cutting blade that shot straight toward the three Akatsuki members.

Their eyes flickered in surprise.

Using a Water Release technique of that level in a place as dry as this was no small feat.

But their reactions were still absurdly fast.

Before Hikaru could capitalize on it, all three had already dodged aside.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Water Severing Wave missed its targets, but the chakra-forged water blade carved through the desert floor behind them.

Even buried rocks beneath the sand exploded apart with a series of thunderous blasts.

The three members of Akatsuki landed smoothly, glancing back at where they had just stood.

Their expressions immediately turned serious.

Konan's chakra began to stir, and a pair of wings made from paper unfolded behind her.

Sasori, meanwhile, had already sent the Third Kazekage puppet into combat stance, while black iron sand swirled into the sky.

As for Kakuzu, he grabbed his cloak, yanked it wide open, and revealed the stitched-up body underneath.

"Graaah!"

With a low growl, four creatures made of black threads, each wearing a white mask, burst from Kakuzu's body and scattered around the area.

"They're taking this seriously."

Hikaru shook his head slightly.

Their reaction really had exceeded his expectations.

If he only fought them with the level of power he had shown so far, then yes—

this would actually be troublesome.

Even though his chakra reserves now were enormous.

"In that case, let's try Sage Mode first. And if…"

He trailed off inwardly as senjutsu chakra began gathering inside him.

"Do you want to try resonating with me?"

At that exact moment, the little Nine-Tails' voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Hm?"

Hikaru froze for a split second.

"I thought you said it wasn't possible yet?"

"I said I can't fully control my current power yet."

The little Nine-Tails replied quickly.

Fortunately, in the mindscape, this exchange happened so fast that not even a single second passed outside.

"That means I can't synchronize completely with you yet. But you can use my chakra perfectly."

"You mean I can use your chakra directly now, even if we can't fully synchronize yet?"

Hikaru understood instantly.

And at the same time, several possibilities flashed through his mind.

He suddenly realized that Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode had gone through several stages.

The first stage was merely a chakra mode, when Naruto had not yet earned Kurama's recognition and was simply using the Nine-Tails' chakra by force.

The second stage came only after Naruto won Kurama's approval and their power resonated completely, turning him into a perfect jinchūriki.

And once he reached that state, Naruto could even stack Sage Mode on top of it, pushing his strength even higher.

What Hikaru had originally hoped for was to leap straight into that second state.

After all, the little Nine-Tails trusted him almost absolutely.

And more importantly, the little fox itself had been born from Hikaru's own chakra through the system, which should have made chakra resonance much easier.

But now it was clear what the problem was.

The little Nine-Tails' recent growth had been too violent.

As a result, the fox still could not properly control its own power.

Under those circumstances, naturally it could not achieve full synchronization.

But the first stage—

the simpler mode—

seemed to pose no real problem at all.

The little Nine-Tails had no intention of withholding its power from Hikaru.

"So Naruto had to earn the Nine-Tails' trust, while I have to wait for the Nine-Tails to learn to control itself. We really did end up with the opposite problem."

Hikaru laughed bitterly to himself.

And in that same instant, he leapt again, avoiding another coordinated strike from the Akatsuki trio.

No matter how fast conversations in the inner world were, the enemies in reality were not going to stand around waiting politely.

And these three were all veterans.

Naturally, they would never give him time to adjust.

But Hikaru did not need much time.

The moment he landed, he formed a seal with one hand, and chakra surged through his body.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

A massive earth wall erupted from the ground, separating Hikaru from the three Akatsuki members.

That barrier would not hold for long.

But for Hikaru, it was enough.

"Begin!"

The moment the wall rose, Hikaru spoke to the little Nine-Tails.

"Alright. Just bear with it a little. My chakra isn't exactly gentle."

The little fox's voice rang out in his mind.

Before Hikaru could react further, that massive chakra burst out from inside him and flooded straight into his body.

In an instant, a red chakra cloak formed around him.

And as that chakra darkened, Hikaru even felt tails beginning to emerge behind him.

"Why is it this form?"

Hikaru stared for a moment, utterly speechless.

Looking at the earth wall that was already about to collapse, he found the result hard to accept.

For most jinchūriki, partial tailed-beast transformation was practically the only way they could use their tailed beasts at all.

Naruto's later ability to convert that power into a proper chakra mode—something that seamlessly boosted his own combat ability—was something other jinchūriki could not even dream of.

To reach that point, one first had to earn the tailed beast's complete trust.

That requirement alone was enough to leave almost all jinchūriki in despair.

And beyond that, one also needed the ability to control and shape the tailed beast's chakra itself.

Most never even reached the point of trying.

But Hikaru was different.

The little Nine-Tails trusted him almost completely.

That was why he had never even considered using this partial beast-transformation form to face opponents like these.

Besides, the moment he used a semi-tailed-beast state, anyone could tell what it was.

By contrast, a true chakra mode would only be recognizable to people especially familiar with tailed beasts.

"You need to control my chakra and fuse it with your own," the little Nine-Tails said rapidly in his mind, sounding almost anxious itself.

"Only then can you create the chakra mode. Merge my power with yours, control my power, and then use it."

"Like that?"

Hikaru took a deep breath.

"So basically… just like Sage Mode."

The moment the thought settled, Hikaru began controlling the Nine-Tails' chakra and merging it with his own.

What he was doing really was similar to Sage Mode.

After all, Sage Mode also worked by blending natural energy with one's own chakra in order to produce senjutsu chakra.

Now, Hikaru was treating the Nine-Tails' chakra as if it were natural energy.

His task was simply to seize control of that power, merge it, and make it his own.

Needless to say, that was not an easy process.

Fortunately, however, Hikaru had abundant experience using Sage Mode.

And on top of that, his status screen already marked him as a jinchūriki.

That allowed him to complete the fusion in an incredibly short amount of time.

Boom!

A loud crash rang out as the earth wall shattered completely.

Thick dust and smoke spread across the battlefield, swallowing Hikaru from sight.

Even so, Hikaru showed no sign of panic.

He was already beginning to control the fused chakra.

And as the process completed, he could clearly feel his power rise yet again.

That enhancement felt similar to Sage Mode—

but Hikaru suspected it might actually be even stronger in certain respects.

That was not to say Sage Mode was weak.

Naruto had already proven just how absurdly effective senjutsu could be.

Against Six Paths Obito, ordinary Nine-Tails Chakra Mode had not been enough to truly threaten him.

But senjutsu had been able to harm him.

That alone proved that, in terms of quality and tier, senjutsu stood above ordinary Nine-Tails chakra.

Unless tailed beast chakra reached the level of the Ten-Tails, it simply could not compare to senjutsu on a fundamental level.

"But in sheer quantity, tailed beast chakra is overwhelmingly dominant. And when it comes to straightforward amplification, it's ridiculously strong."

Hikaru finished his internal comparison of Sage Mode and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

At that same moment, his body underwent a massive change.

The red chakra covering him gradually turned into pale gold.

At the same time, strange markings like magatama appeared across his body.

And in that instant, Hikaru felt as if he could perceive things he had never sensed before.

Emotion.

Or perhaps, more accurately—

the most deeply hidden sense of good and evil buried within a person's heart.

"Malice… and goodwill?"

He murmured softly.

Just then, a massive black spear-like projection came stabbing straight toward him.

Boom!

Another explosion thundered across the desert as countless grains of sand were blasted upward.

At the same time, the Third Kazekage puppet silently appeared high in the air.

Clearly, Sasori had moved first.

Unfortunately for him, Hikaru's perception had already far surpassed what it had been before.

And in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, his speed had reached a frightening level.

It still could not compare to Flying Thunder God, which crossed space itself—

but it had unquestionably reached the same class as the Fourth Raikage's speed.

The instant Hikaru landed, however, a Lightning Release strike came crashing down on him.

Hikaru knew immediately that Kakuzu had launched it.

So his figure flashed again, vanishing from the spot.

But in the next instant, he noticed countless sheets of paper rushing toward him.

And those papers carried dangerous chakra signatures.

The kind of chakra that would ignite them—

or cause them to explode.

"Paper techniques, huh. Interesting."

Hikaru sprang into the air once more, leaving Konan's paper barrage to hit nothing.

Then he landed again and, after a brief moment of thought, pulled out a kunai.

In an instant, a layer of chakra coated the blade.

Hikaru's eyes then locked onto the three Akatsuki members.

Earlier, all he had done was dodge because he had not had a better option.

But now?

Now he had no intention of dodging anymore.

Because he wanted to properly test the power of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

"He's fast. Insanely fast. Who is this guy?"

Konan hovered in the air, looking at Hikaru, who was now wrapped in a golden chakra cloak. Her expression had grown extremely grave.

"He used an absurd Water Release technique in the middle of the desert. Now he's displaying this kind of speed, and he's wrapped in golden chakra on top of that."

She glanced toward Kakuzu.

"You've lived a long time, haven't you? And both of you clearly seem to hate this guy. Can either of you give me an answer?"

"To be honest, even I'm surprised."

Kakuzu's face darkened further.

"The level of Water Release he displayed was far beyond anything I expected."

"In a place this dry, with no water source nearby, to use Water Release on that scale…"

He narrowed his eyes.

"In more than seventy years, I've barely seen anyone capable of that."

"As for his current state, I don't know either. This brat is far too strange."

He paused, then added in an ugly tone,

"As for why I hate him—I can't explain it. I feel like I've seen him before. Worse, I feel like I've even suffered because of him."

"I feel the same way."

Sasori spoke at once, frowning.

"I also feel as though I've seen him before. And I seem to have suffered a little because of him too."

He stared at Hikaru intently.

"Honestly, someone like this should be impossible to forget."

And that was true.

With this kind of speed, this kind of ninjutsu, and now this bizarre chakra cloak, how could anyone just forget him?

"Hm?"

Suddenly, all three Akatsuki members' expressions changed at once.

Almost simultaneously, they all scattered in different directions.

But a golden figure flashed straight into the middle of them.

The kunai in Hikaru's hand, wrapped in pale golden chakra, stabbed directly toward Kakuzu.

Kakuzu's face twitched.

This brat's speed was outrageously fast.

Still, Kakuzu was a veteran shinobi to the core.

Faced with sudden danger, he instantly shifted the chakra flowing through his body.

In the blink of an eye, Earth Release chakra spread across his form.

"Haah!"

With a roar, Kakuzu swung his fist directly into Hikaru's kunai.

Previously, even when Hikaru had cut him with a sword, he had not managed to inflict real damage.

But now?

Hikaru's kunai pierced straight through Kakuzu's fist.

"Argh!"

Kakuzu roared in pain.

The sensation of having his hand punched through was excruciating.

Fortunately, Sasori and Konan both moved at once.

"Paper Release: Paper Shuriken!"

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"

Those two techniques blasted toward Hikaru from different angles.

And Kakuzu, gritting his teeth, made his own move.

His other elemental masks retreated rapidly, but his main body stretched out and grabbed Hikaru, clearly trying to pin him in place and deny him any chance to escape.

It had to be said—

Kakuzu truly was a veteran shinobi.

At a critical moment, he could make the most ruthless decision possible.

Boom!

When the paper techniques and iron sand completely engulfed both Hikaru and Kakuzu, another thunderous explosion erupted.

Smoke and dust billowed wildly into the air.

Only after quite some time did the swirling sand finally settle, revealing two battered figures nailed to the ground by enormous black iron spikes.

Kakuzu was no longer breathing.

His luck had been bad.

One of the iron spikes had pierced straight through his heart from behind.

Still, the Earth Grudge Fear threads were still connected to him.

He had other hearts in reserve.

So dying permanently was not that easy for him.

Hikaru, on the other hand, looked in even worse shape.

Several iron spikes had pierced through him, pinning him solidly to the ground.

Still, it seemed that he had shifted slightly at the last moment, causing the spikes to miss his vital points and fail to kill him outright.

"Is it over?"

Sasori watched from a distance, making no move whatsoever to approach.

"I don't know."

Konan descended slowly from the sky but still kept a healthy distance from that area.

"Maybe it's over. Maybe it isn't."

A ninja was the last kind of person one should ever underestimate.

And given how strange Hikaru had been from the very beginning, none of them dared lower their guard.

Even Kakuzu, who appeared dead, made no move to revive himself.

It was obvious he was waiting for Konan and Sasori to confirm the kill first.

These people truly were all monsters.

Their caution and vigilance were honestly a little ridiculous.

"Looks like my plan failed."

At that moment, the Hikaru who had looked half-dead suddenly raised his head and spoke in a tone of helpless resignation.

There was no trace of mortal weakness in him now.

Bang!

With a dull pop, that pierced-through Hikaru vanished completely.

A moment later, the real Hikaru walked out from the side.

He looked somewhat annoyed.

Originally, he had planned to give these Akatsuki members a nasty surprise.

For example, lure them in with a shadow clone, wait for them to close the distance, then detonate the clone while the real body launched a sneak attack from the rear.

Unfortunately, these people had all been far too cautious.

His little surprise had ended up with no chance to shine.

"Of course someone like you wouldn't die that easily."

Sasori turned his head to face him again.

His expression had not changed, but the caution in his eyes had deepened.

"I won't lie—I would have been happy if you'd died just now. It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

Then his tone turned colder.

"But since you're still alive, that means we can gather more information. In that sense, it's not a bad outcome either."

"Hmph! I'm disappointed you didn't die too," Kakuzu said as he came back to life, his gaze savage and filled with murderous intent. "But now I'm even more interested in you."

He fixed his green eyes on Hikaru like a predator.

"You're good with Water Release and Earth Release. Perfect."

He flexed his hand.

"I just lost an Earth Release heart. I'll use your heart to replace it!"

"You won't get the chance."

Konan rose into the air again, sheets of paper beginning to spiral around her once more.

"I didn't want to create trouble, and I didn't approve of them attacking you in the first place."

Her eyes, however, remained cold and steady.

"But now that things have come to this, there's nothing more to say. We won't give you any openings."

Looking at the expressions of the three of them and sensing the chakra surging inside their bodies, Hikaru felt no fear at all.

Konan was interesting, though.

From the very beginning, he had genuinely not sensed any hostility from her.

Still, whether she had hostility or not, Hikaru was now ready to fight seriously.

After all, such excellent sparring partners were not easy to come by.

Letting an opportunity like this slip away would be a waste.

With that thought, a smile slowly formed on Hikaru's face.

He lightly spun the kunai in his hand, then asked in a soft voice,

"Take a guess."

His smile widened slightly.

"When this is all over… how many of you do you think will walk away alive?"

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