Chapter 111: 111
The earth caved inward. A massive crater formed beneath the impact, throwing mud, shattered stone and uprooted trees high into the sky.
Kisame coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"...I-Itachi..."
Even before the words had completely left his mouth, golden chains erupted from beneath the broken ground.
Adamantine Sealing Chains!
One chain wrapped around his left arm. Another around his right. Two more bound both legs. The final chain coiled tightly around his neck before violently pinning him against the shattered earth. Samehada was tens of meters away from him pinned on the shattered tree trunks, too sacred to go and help its master.
It had been traumatized and very badly. In fact, for a moment, it even thought of changing its allegiance, and this person chakra reserve seemed greater than its master, but hesitated seeing the brutality of this unknown person who it could hardly feel.
Kisame tried to wriggle out of the chains and in the next moment Rei appeared behind him and locked his neck down with his arms, letting go of the Adamantine Chains and using his brute strength alone to choke this man.
Kisame, seeing that his body had access to chakra again, tried to wriggle his way out, only to be hurt on the outer skin and muscles by the senjutsu chakra, and also his chakra was being sucked away.
Kisame wanted to free himself and was looking for help but Itachi was too far at the moment, and he slowly noticed that his brain felt dizzy. He knew what this was.
Unconsciousness incoming due to lack of oxygen. Kisame tried to fight away like a mad man, using whatever strength he had on his legs and using his vast chakra, but every bit of chakra he used, he felt it being taken away from him from the points where this unknown person who was choking him.
Soon he saw darkness and within seconds he lost his consciousness. He didn't know what this person, who had attacked, wanted. He was expecting this person to go for the kill but losing his consciousness was another kind of humiliation.
For the first time since he had left Kirigakure, he felt genuine horror of the person who had just battled them. These were his last thoughts before hid body gave away and went limp.
Itachi had just arrived saw Kisame lying on the destroyed ground. He stopped before acting and looked deeply at the person who had just handed them their first defeat. Itachi even thought about using Susano.
In fact Itachi would have used Susano to attack but seeing this person didn't go for the kill and the earlier whisper made him hold back.
"What do you want?" Itachi finally asked as he saw the man slowly getting up, and even until then he didn't look at Itachi. He just turned his head back and started walking towards the forest.
Itachi was confused now. This person only wanted to fight them and make Kisame look like a nobody? What the hell was going on? Itachi had questions but the person didn't say a single word and before he realized he had vanished.
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The journey back to Konoha was obviously quiet. Rei had already changed out of the adaptive armor before teleporting into the village, storing everything away as though nothing had happened. Even after defeating Kisame and exchanging words with Itachi, his expression remained calm. There was no satisfaction on his face because the outcome had already been within his calculations.
He just wanted to see how far and powerful he was. And suffice to say he was satisfied. Only the true powerful like Nagato, Madara and others of his range could now give him a run for his money.
Soon Rei made his way directly toward Konoha Hospital. Several shinobi guarded the entrances while medical personnel hurried through the corridors carrying medicines and reports. Rei quietly walked past them until he reached a room whose chakra signatures he immediately recognized.
After all, Itachi had infiltrated with his friend and he did so without even raising an eyebrow from the security of Konoha. Well it did raise eyebrows, but it was much later as many shinobis were found unconscious on the borders of Konoha.
Sliding the door open, he found Hana standing beside two hospital beds. One belonged to Kakashi while the other held Sasuke. Both remained completely unconscious, their breathing steady but unnaturally shallow. The room itself was silent except for the occasional sound of medical equipment and the faint rustling of Hana changing damp cloths resting upon their foreheads.
"Where were you?" Hana said softly after noticing Rei enter. She looked visibly exhausted, as she had barely rested since the two patients had arrived.
"I was doing some work." Rei replied. He knew that he had been absent the entire time Akatsuki were here, but it wasn't the right moment to provide explanation. Especially not here.
Rei slowly approached the beds. Kakashi looked unusually peaceful without his ever-present laziness, while Sasuke's face remained tense even in unconsciousness, as though his mind was still trapped somewhere inside the nightmare created by Tsukuyomi. Rei knew Thor's physique had protected Sasuke's body perfectly, but this had never been an injury of flesh. It was one inflicted directly upon the mind.
It seemed even that physique couldn't help Sasuke. As expected from someone who had been duped by his brother so many times.
"...How are they?" Rei finally asked, though he already suspected the answer.
"Physically, they're almost perfectly healthy. Their organs are functioning normally, there isn't any internal damage, and even their chakra pathways are stable." She paused briefly before shaking her head. "But that isn't where the injury is. Their minds have suffered tremendous trauma. I've tried everything I know, yet there is nothing I can do. This is beyond my abilities."
"You are doing everything you can mom." Rei assured her.
"Yes I know. Jiraya-sama had already decided to bring in Tsunade-sama to treat these two, and also be the next Hokage. They both will be fine soon with her help." Hana said and Rei nodded at that, not a bit surprised.
Even with all the knowledge he possessed, there were still things he couldn't simply solve through brute force or contracts. Tsukuyomi remained one of the most terrifying techniques ever created precisely because it bypassed almost every conventional defense. Unless someone possessed overwhelming ocular power or extraordinary medical expertise, there was little that could be done afterward.
This was also why Rei had refused to look into the eyes of Itachi.
The quiet atmosphere lasted several more moments before another familiar chakra signature approached the room. The door slid open once again and the tall figure of Jiraiya stepped inside. Unlike his usual carefree appearance, his expression had become considerably more serious after witnessing the events that had unfolded throughout the village.
"So you're here too." Jiraiya said while glancing between Rei, Hana and the two unconscious patients. He folded his arms before letting out a tired sigh. "Tsunade really is the only one who can deal with something like this."
"Hello Jiraya-sama." Rei said and Jiraya nodded with a half smile.
"Naruto, you and I are leaving tomorrow morning to find her. We can't waste any more time. If she refuses to come back..." He shrugged lightly. "...I'll simply keep bothering her until she gives in."
Rei gave him a strange look before blinking twice.
"...Wait."
"Hm?"
"I'm coming too?"
Jiraiya looked genuinely confused by Rei's surprise before answering as though it had been obvious from the beginning.
"Of course you are."
For perhaps the first time that day, Rei genuinely did a double take. He had expected the search for Tsunade to follow the original path with only Naruto and Jiraiya traveling together. Somehow, without him intending it, the story had shifted once again.
"Originally I would've taken Sasuke along as well. Traveling with different people and seeing more of the world would've done him some good after everything that's happened. Unfortunately..." His gaze shifted toward the unconscious Uchiha. "...that's not exactly possible anymore."
He looked back toward Rei with a small grin.
"You're strong, sensible enough when it matters, and Naruto listens to you more often than he listens to me. So pack whatever you need. We leave at sunrise."
What the hell was going on? He looked at his mother only for her to show no response as if she knew. Wait, she definitely knew. But why was he being dragged along. He had to continue spying on Danzo and give him such a blow after Tusnade returns that he would have to run and hide.
Rei could only stare for another moment before quietly nodding. Once again, the future had drifted even farther away from the one he remembered, and he had a feeling that this journey would change far more than just bringing Tsunade back to Konoha.
Rei sighed and Jiraya soon left and Rei was ready to leave for home too and maybe meet Naruto while on the way as he was sure he would be a bit overwhelmed with the things around too.
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