Chapter 118: 118
Naruto puffed out his cheeks before glaring at the remains of his balloon.
"I'll master it before Rei does!"
"...You do realize he already has, right?" Sasuke replied dryly. And the deadlock didn't stay for much time as Sasuke was able to pop the balloon by the evening while Naruto struggled. Rei had decided to give him a nudge about this later. This guy learnt this jutsu using shadow clone so it was better to steer him on the same path.
The following few days passed almost exactly as Rei knew. Every morning began with Jiraiya dragging them, except Rei, toward an isolated clearing before resuming their Rasengan training. The Sannin rarely interfered unless absolutely necessary, allowing each of them to discover the principles behind the technique through repeated trial and error rather than simply handing over the answers.
Late on the second day, Sasuke finally completed the first two stages flawlessly before compressing the rotating chakra into a perfect sphere resting above his palm.
"...Rasengan."
The dense sphere spun with a sharp humming sound before Sasuke dismissed it with a calm expression. Jiraiya stared at the completed technique before slowly rubbing his chin.
"...One day." He muttered. "The Sharingan really is unfair sometimes."
Sasuke merely nodded once before returning to his training, intent on refining the technique further rather than celebrating. Naruto looked at the completed Rasengan before looking down at the broken rubber ball in his own hands.
"...Why is everyone a genius except me?"
That night, after Naruto had failed yet another attempt, Rei quietly sat beside him outside the inn while the blond stared gloomily at another ruined water balloon.
"You've been trying to do everything alone." Rei said calmly. "But who said you only have one pair of hands?"
"...Huh?"
"You already have the perfect training partner."
For several long seconds Naruto simply stared at Rei before suddenly shooting upright.
"...Shadow Clones!"
Without another word he created several Shadow Clones, each focusing on one aspect of chakra rotation while Naruto himself concentrated on maintaining stability. The progress became obvious almost immediately.
Three days later...
"Rasengaaaaaan!"
The completed sphere slammed directly into a massive tree, tearing the thick trunk apart before sending countless splinters flying across the clearing. Naruto jumped high into the air with both fists raised triumphantly.
"I DID IT!"
Jiraiya couldn't help laughing loudly while even Sasuke gave Naruto an approving nod.
"Took you long enough."
"Shut up! I still did it!"
Rei smiled quietly. The story had returned almost perfectly to its original course.
That same evening, while everyone believed Tsunade had retired for another night of drinking, another visitor quietly entered her room. Orochimaru appeared together with Kabuto.
He offered the impossible itself. If Tsunade restored the use of his crippled arms, he would use the Impure World Reincarnation to bring back both Dan and Nawaki. Rei had sensed him but didn't bother to alert Jiraya. Sometimes some stories needed to follow the canon.
The offer shook Tsunade more than she wished to admit. Long-buried memories resurfaced, forcing her to confront wounds that had never truly healed. She asked for time to think, just as she had in the original timeline, while Orochimaru accepted with complete confidence before disappearing into the darkness once more.
The following day, events continued unfolding almost exactly as they had before. Jiraiya eventually discovered where Orochimaru intended to meet Tsunade, prompting him to gather everyone immediately. Naruto tightened his grip around his newly mastered Rasengan, Sasuke rested a hand upon the hilt of his sword, oh yeah, he had been learning kenjutsu by himself and also some help from Kakashi.
Rei silently followed beside them, already knowing what kind of confrontation awaited.
Soon they reached the place where Jiraya had figured out to be the meeting place of Oochimaru and Tsunade, thanks to Shizune. Only this time the difference was instead of just Naruto, it was Naruto, Sasuke and Rei.
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While this was happening far away from Konoha, on the other side of Land of Fire, something else was happening. Kisame was finally able to walk again, but he was still in a bit of bed rest. The organization had given him some time off due to the injuries and trauma Kisame had sustained.
Rei had broken many of his bones and even sucked out chakra while he did so, making the injuries more severe, and he even had a bit of head trauma. Thankfully, Kisame's body was powerful and survived at the end. If it was any other human being, the person would have surely died.
Now Itachi was called upon a "wifi meeting" with Pain, almost as same as the time when Shukaku was sucked out of Gaara, the difference this time was that there was no Gedo Mazo statue.
The dimly lit cavern remained completely silent as a translucent figure slowly materialized through the Akatsuki's projection technique. Itachi stood with the same unreadable expression he always carried. At the other end stood Pain, his ripple-patterned eyes calmly resting upon Itachi.
"...Did he accept?" Pain asked without wasting a single moment. "The invitation to join the Akatsuki."
Itachi slowly shook his head.
"He refused without hesitation." His voice remained as calm as ever. "He called our pursuit of world peace an impossible dream and said he preferred walking his own path. From what I observed, there was no hesitation in his decision. He had already made up his mind before I even delivered your offer."
Silence lingered throughout the chamber for several long seconds. Pain showed no visible disappointment, though the slight narrowing of his Rinnegan revealed that he had expected a different outcome. A shinobi capable of defeating both Itachi and Kisame together would have greatly strengthened the organization. Yet someone possessing that much strength would naturally be far more difficult to recruit than ordinary missing-nin.
"Any more information?"
"There is." Itachi answered immediately. "He possesses information that should not exist outside this organization. He knew you possess the Rinnegan. More importantly..." Even Itachi paused briefly before continuing. "...he knew that you belong to the Uzumaki Clan."
For the first time since the meeting had begun, Pain's expression changed ever so slightly. The slightest twitch crossed his face before disappearing just as quickly. Only a handful of people alive even knew Nagato carried Uzumaki blood. Konan knew. Jiraiya might have suspected it after seeing the red hair years ago. Beyond them... almost nobody.
"...Explain." Pain said quietly.
"He spoke of your lineage without uncertainty." Itachi replied. "Not as speculation. As fact. He even compared his own dual bloodlines with yours while implying that both should have been impossible. There was no attempt to bluff. He simply... knew."
The cavern fell into complete silence once again before another figure slowly stepped appeared. White Zetsu scratched the back of his head awkwardly before looking toward Pain with an uncomfortable smile.
"...Leader... I did mention something similar before."
Pain slowly shifted his gaze toward Zetsu.
"I remember."
Several days ago when Zetsu was tailing Orochimaru, he was ambushed by this unknown man and then decided to hand his ass over to him. Pain wasn't that impressed that Zetsu lost to a random jonin, but the fact that this person was able to find him was what truly surprised him was that this person was able to find him and even strangle Zetsu, when he was known to be the fastest escape artist.
Now it was confirmed that this was the same person, which meant, he knew three of them, and from the looks of it knew about him too, which meant there was a spy among them. A spy hidden so deep that even he didn't know anything about.
Of course the first finger to point for Nagato was the man who called himself Madara. Only he knew a lot about them, but wasn't this the person who hated Konoha, so why was he helping someone from Konoha.
It didn't make sense. But it didn't matter for the moment. It seemed he would have to keep a more close eye on this man who called himself Madara. And also on others. Others knowing about him being Uzumaki wasn't the problem, the problem was how did someone get their hands on this information.
The man who had defeated Zetsu had also defeated Kisame, forced Itachi to reconsider attacking him, knew secrets about the Akatsuki's leader that should have remained buried forever, and had approached the organization of his own accord rather than hiding from it.
"...Continue." Pain ordered.
Itachi nodded once.
"He requested the Akatsuki's assistance." Those words immediately drew everyone's attention. "He wishes for us to search for someone named Jigen."
"Oh, he needs our assistance? On finding someone?" Pain was confused now. This man knew about Akatsuki and now wanted them to find someone else. If he was that good in spying, why not do it himself? Why ask them?
"He described Jigen as a monk who has remained hidden for an exceptionally long time. According to him, Jigen has existed since before the Hidden Villages themselves and the clans."
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