"You are here now," Zetsu hissed.
"So... let us begin."
Deep in the damp shadows of the underbelly, a pair of yellow eyes gleamed from the stone.
Black Zetsu merged with the masonry, a flickering ink blot against the cold walls.
For two years, he had moved like a silent plague through the Land of Grass, his patience as vast as the eons since his mother's slumber.
He had spent months weaving subtle threads of influence into the Daimyo's assistant, turning the man into a hollow vessel.
It was a simple task to steer the royal party toward the secluded Hozuki Castle.
With Madara's shadow looming and the Gedo Statue's nearly inexhaustible chakra at his disposal, he had finally bridged the gap between legend and reality.
He funneled the Gedo's energy into the seals, acting as a key to grind the rusted gears of the box.
With a final, invisible shove, he forced the terrified successor into the gaping maw.
The box groaned, its four carved faces twisting into a gluttonous, wooden grin as it began the harvest.
Beyond sparking a continental war, Zetsu had a specific target in mind. He needed to eliminate a certain unknown variable named Uchiha Yoichi.
Yoichi was a smudge on his perfect canvas, an anomaly that did not belong in his scripts.
The sooner that child vanished, the smoother the path toward his mother's return would become.
The box groaned, the wood shrieking as the seals finally gave way.
The Daimyo's son stood no chance within that dark interior.
While his bloodline was eligible for leadership, his brittle, fear-filled mind could not withstand the corruption.
The Box of Ultimate Bliss poured into his heart, erasing his identity to make room for a monster.
A surge of blackened chakra erupted from the lid, staining the air purple.
Sickening cracks of bone followed as a feathered silhouette unfurled from the maw.
What emerged was no longer human, but a nightmare given flesh, its wings casting jagged shadows against the prison walls.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE—!"
The heartshattering screech ripped through the sky and shook the earth's foundations.
Satori had arrived.
It was a tall, spindly creature with a single, unblinking eye and a beak dripping with the remnants of the successor's soul.
Its presence felt like a void in reality, feeding hungrily on the thoughts and fears of the living.
The vessel's mental collapse allowed the demon to anchor itself fully into the world.
It perched atop the relic, its head twitching with unnatural speed as it sampled the scent of terror.
Black Zetsu watched from the floor, his yellow eyes gleaming at the monster's dark birth.
The stage was set, and the demon was hungry.
...
"There it is," Yoichi whizzed, his boots skidding on the stone.
High above the prison spires, the massive, black-winged shape of Satori cut through the sky.
The air felt heavy and foul, a jagged tear of blackened chakra against the horizon.
Below the soaring demon, the iron gates of Hozuki Castle buckled under a tide of humanity.
Prisoners poured out, their faces twisted into masks of primal terror.
They were no longer criminals, but desperate prey fleeing an invisible hunger.
"Help me! Please, someone open the gate!" a man screamed, stumbling over the threshold.
Another voice rose in a shrill, cracking plea. "It's eating my thoughts! Get it out of my head!"
The crowd crushed against itself, the scent of sweat and fear thick in the air.
"I have a family! Don't let that thing near me!" a younger prisoner wailed, collapsing as the demon's shadow passed over him.
Yoichi watched the chaos, his eyes tracking the monster's flight.
"What in the world is that thing?" Tsunade asked, her voice trembling as she reached his side.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru skidded to a halt behind her, their faces pale under the flickering sunlight.
They stared up at the black-winged nightmare, the pressure of its foul chakra weighing on their chests.
"There is no time," Yoichi snapped, his gaze locked on the sky. He didn't look back as the terror of the prisoners grew louder. "I will handle this temporarily. You all begin evacuating these prisoners before they get slaughtered."
His eyes shifted, the crimson of his Sharingan spinning into life to track the demon's erratic flight.
With a sudden burst of speed, he utilized Phantom Steps, vanishing in an instant.
A faint whistle of wind was the only sign he had been there.
The three stood frozen, exchanging stunned glances at the empty space where their teammate had just been.
Before they could speak, Torifu and Sakumo arrived with the rest of the Konoha and Grass teams.
They looked at the chaos, the gravity of the disaster finally sinking in as the demon circled above.
Torifu looked at the soaring nightmare and the crumbling gate, his face hardening.
He did not waste time questioning Yoichi's move.
"Listen up!" he roared, his voice booming over the shrieks of the prisoners.
"Sakumo and you three! With me!" Torifu commanded, his frame tensing for a leap.
He turned to the remaining shinobi with a sharp glare. "Grass Team, Konoha Team! Get these prisoners out of the perimeter now! Do not let the panic spread to the nearby towns!"
The Grass shinobi hesitated, but the authority in Torifu's voice snapped them to attention.
They began herding the weeping masses away from the castle's shadow.
"Go now!"
Torifu yelled, launching himself toward the spires.
Sakumo and the three students blurred into motion right behind him. The rest followed the trail of Yoichi's energy, their eyes locked on the black silhouette in the sky.
High in the air, Satori dived.
Its spindly claws lashed out, snatching a screaming prisoner right off the castle ramparts.
The man's pleas were cut short as the demon's grip tightened, the creature's beak opening to feast on his terror.
Suddenly, a blur of motion appeared above the monster. Yoichi flickered into existence, his Sharingan glowing like twin embers in the dark.
He didn't hesitate, his body twisting to put the full weight of his momentum into his right hand.
"Let him go!" Yoichi barked, his voice cutting through the wind.
Lunging forward, his knuckles glowing with concentrated force. He unleashed the Mountain Crushing Fist directly into Satori's feathered flank.
The impact sounded like a thunderclap, sending a massive shockwave through the creature's body and the surrounding air.
The demon let out a strangled squawk as the sheer force of the blow shattered its ribs and sent it spiraling toward the earth.
The prisoner slipped from its weakened grasp, falling toward the rooftops while Satori crashed into the stone courtyard below.
Yoichi landed lightly on a nearby spire, his gaze cold and fixed on the rising dust cloud.
That hit felt like striking solid iron, yet he looks untouched... As expected.
He watched the demon rise, noting the lack of a single ruffled feather on its dark hide.
"I can hear it," Satori hissed, its voice a discordant layering of a thousand terrified whispers.
"You think you are fast, little spark, but your mind is a loud, open book."
Satori climbed from the crater, its single eye twitching as it refocused on the boy atop the spire.
Now, the air rippled with a thick, suffocating malice as it adjusted to the threat.
"Every movement you plan, I have already tasted," the demon mocked, its beak snapping with a metallic ring. "Your speed is useless against a hunger that knows your next breath."
Below, the sound of rushing footsteps signaled the arrival of the others. Torifu and Sakumo led the charge into the courtyard, their weapons drawn.
They saw the unscathed demon and the young Uchiha standing his ground, the realization hitting them that this was no ordinary beast.
"Can we even beat this monstrosity?" Sakumo asked, his voice low as he gripped his saber.
"It does not matter what it is," Torifu answered, his gravelly rumble settling the air. "We find its limit and we break it. We overwhelm it until it has nowhere left to hide."
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru exchanged sharp glances before biting their thumbs in unison.
They slammed their palms against the stone, the seals spreading across the courtyard floor.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu!
Massive clouds of smoke erupted, revealing Gamabunta, Katsuyu, and Manda. The giant toad took a long drag from his pipe, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at the spindly demon.
"Jiraiya, you really dragged me out for this ugly thing?"
Gamabunta grunted, resting his hand on his massive blade. "The chakra coming off it is disgusting."
"So many small, noisy things," Satori hissed, its single eye twitching at the towering arrivals. "You think these puppets can shield your hearts from the void I bring?"
"Let's see if you can handle all of us at once."
...
Beyond the perimeter, three silhouettes watched the battle shake the earth. The massive forms of the summons clashed with the demon, sending shockwaves through the trees where the shadows stood hidden.
"Shall we help them? I feel bad for him..." Natsumi murmured, her eyes fixed on Yoichi.
"No," Sumiko responded coldly. "We should not help at all. This is their fight, not ours to begin with."
Ryoma remained silent, his gaze locked on Yoichi's face. He studied the boy's resolve for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh.
"Let us call someone specialized in sealing them," Ryoma spoke. "As for the help, we will talk about it once he has awakened."
The two women nodded and retreated into the shadows. Behind them, the sky turned black as the real struggle began.
___________
Thanks to muzan_Kibutsuj, doomslayer24, and Daemonic_Dragon for the Power Stones!
This should be the prelude to war since I wanted to showcase Uzumaki's sealing techniques to bolster the greeds into the great villages' hearts. Perhaps this is how Uzushiogakure fell, because of the Four Villages' rudimentary sealing techniques to the Tailed Beasts.