Land of Fire, a forest, the bloody sunrise.
The dust had been soaked through with sticky blood, and stepping on it made a chilling sound. The air carried a heavy metallic smell that clung to the throat.
Itachi Uchiha stood there with trembling pupils, frozen in place. Several silent bodies lay behind him, their lives already gone.
They were the Third Squad jonin he belonged to, his companions, and the caravan they were supposed to protect on this mission. None of them had been spared.
There had been no noisy clash or shouted curses. A silent figure had simply walked toward them, and lives were taken as easily as dry leaves lifted by a light breeze.
The companions he had only just formed bonds with had their lives stolen so easily. The reality was too sudden for him to accept.
"You…"
Itachi Uchiha stared at the masked figure ahead, his hand gripping the Kunai shaking with fear or anger, even he could not tell. He had only become a Genin not long ago, and he was still far too inexperienced.
Fear drilled into his bones like cold venom and locked his limbs in place. His breathing turned shallow as his vision blurred.
Until the last remaining Genin teammate in front of him clenched a Kunai and rushed at the masked man like a moth to a flame. The reckless charge broke the stillness.
Thud.
The headless body swayed and collapsed, blood spilling out with a sharp stench. Itachi Uchiha's eyes were dyed red by the sight.
"Hm?"
Seeing the twin tomoe appear in those eyes, along with a strangely familiar grief and anger, Obito Uchiha felt a flicker of interest. His gaze lingered for a moment longer than before.
So the death of a companion had awakened the Sharingan, and the first awakening was already the two tomoe Sharingan. This brat was a little different from the rest.
With that thought, his intent to kill faded somewhat. After putting the valuables into a Scroll, the figure vanished from Itachi Uchiha's sight.
When he appeared again, Obito Uchiha stood on a tree branch and frowned down at the Venus Flytrap poking its head out below. His posture stiffened slightly.
"What is going on, Zetsu?" he said in a low, hoarse voice. "You were supposed to be watching Nagato in Land of Rain. Why did you come here?"
"Madara Uchiha, this is bad!"
Zetsu looked up at Obito and shouted noisily, "All the White Zetsu watching Hanzo have lost contact. Nagato suspects something happened in Amegakure and has already gone to kill Hanzo!"
"We in Root couldn't stop him at all. By now, he should be almost at Amegakure!"
Hearing this, Obito's expression darkened beneath the mask. A strong sense of unease rose in his chest.
At the same time, inside the High Tower of Amegakure.
In the room that once allowed no one to enter, Ryuji Hyuga and Hanzo sat facing each other. Shenda and another Amegakure Ninja named Heiji waited to the side.
"Shadow, what are these damn things?" Hanzo asked in a low voice. "And who put them inside my body?"
He stared at the white humanoid creatures bound and wrapped by black shadows, the shock and anger in his eyes not yet gone. Although he had calmed down, such a strange ability and situation still pressed on his nerves.
He had never noticed these things from beginning to end. Root did not dare imagine how long they had been inside him, and just thinking about it sent a chill up his spine.
He had thought the intelligence leaks came from a traitor at his side, but the problem had been with himself all along. If these things appeared again, would he still fail to notice them?
"These things are called 'White Zetsu'," Ryuji Hyuga said calmly. "They are troublesome, but since we have reached a cooperation, I will naturally help you remove hidden dangers."
He put away the captured White Zetsu and looked back at Hanzo with a faint smile. "However, what comes next may hurt. You will have to endure it."
Hanzo suppressed the unease in his heart and frowned. "Are you looking down on me that much?"
Ryuji Hyuga nodded and offered no further explanation. He placed a hand on Hanzo's shoulder as the patterns on his hand spread once more.
This time, the black patterns carved their way into Hanzo's body. Like plum blossoms blooming in winter, they were gradually absorbed by flesh and blood.
The next instant.
"Ah!!"
When the black patterns fused into his body, even though he had prepared himself, the pain that felt like it was tearing him apart still forced a scream from Hanzo. It was pain that reached down to his cells and even his soul, beyond anything he had endured before.
The agony made the blood vessels on his temples bulge, and it felt as if countless writhing dark worms crawled beneath his skin. Several bloody cracks split open on his exposed flesh.
"What's happening, Lord Hanzo!"
Shenda and Heiji were startled, panic on their faces as they instinctively moved to support him. Their steps were hurried and unsteady.
Ryuji Hyuga raised a hand to stop them both and shook his head calmly. "This is a gift from that person, and also the price Hanzo must pay."
"Cough!"
As if responding to Ryuji Hyuga's words, Hanzo curled up and clenched his teeth, forcing himself not to scream again. His pale, aged face twisted into something fierce.
Pain tore at his body and reached deep into his soul. Without his knowledge, the "wedge" was being forged into a shackle on his soul.
The chain's other end rested in Ryuji Hyuga's hand, yet it also allowed Hanzo's aged body to be reborn. This exchange was already set in place.
Soon, Hanzo's heart began to beat violently, the pounding loud enough to be heard outside his body. Each throb echoed through the room.
Blood surged through his veins like molten rock, bursting forth with each powerful contraction of his heart. His body trembled as it struggled to adapt.
Large amounts of skeletal muscle dissolved under the influence of the blood, then were torn apart and reshaped by a force opposed to Zetsu. Muscle fibers twisted and tightened like ropes beneath the skin, undergoing similar changes throughout his body.
"Lord Hanzo! You, you…"
Shenda and Heiji stared in disbelief at the changes. They watched as Hanzo's withered, pale hair regained a bright golden color, like dead wood meeting spring.
Every cell in his body seemed to breathe as vitality surged from his once frail frame. His shrunken body gradually filled out with renewed life.
"This feeling…"
Hanzo felt his body, silent for over a decade, thaw like ice and snow. Living Chakra flowed through him, awakening strength in every part of his body.
This was what he had always desired. Power and vitality returned together.
Power flowed through his veins and bones like lava, his body temperature rising until it was almost scalding. He felt the urge to release this strength and the joy swelling in his chest.
Release it how?
At that moment, Ryuji Hyuga seemed to hear something and turned his head toward the outside of the tower. His expression remained relaxed.
"Aren't you curious who planted those White Zetsu?" Ryuji Hyuga said with a smile. "He's here."
Shenda and Heiji instinctively looked out the window. In the distance, three figures in black cloaks with red clouds walked through the wind and rain, their clothes whipping violently as dark purple ripples filled their eyes.
There was no need for stealth. He was Pain, a "god", a being above humans, using opposing power to pull a decayed hero from a broken throne.
"Go."
Looking at Hanzo, whose body was now covered in black patterns, Ryuji Hyuga spoke softly. "Let our arrogant 'god' see the power beyond the peak of a 'hero'."
"Go tell him that the future may belong to him, but right now, at this moment, it is still yours."
Hanzo's body trembled slightly, but this time it was not fear of death. It was the heat of blood surging within him.
The hero of Land of Rain who once dared to resist the Five Great Nations alone had reclaimed the strength and presence lost to age. His back straightened as if the years had fallen away.
"Ha! You brat!"
He laughed at the peak of his vitality, and in the next instant he stood up and vanished from Ryuji Hyuga's sight. The room was left in sudden silence.
"Whoever that 'lord' you speak of is, thank him for me."
Buzz.
As his words faded, Hanzo appeared atop the High Tower. He looked at the three figures in the distance, a smile on his full face as he bit his finger and flung his blood outward.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
His shout echoed through the morning mist as the ground in the distance shook and split with cracking marks. The earth could not hold still.
"Roar!!"
A massive purple black monster burst forth, raising its head and releasing a terrifying roar that shook the sky.