Hey guys, I've seen that you're enjoying the fanfic! Don't hesitate to give your power stones to help me keep growing and encourage me to upload more chapters. Thanks for your time, and enjoy today's chapter!
200 Powerstones extra chapter.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Daigo woke up long before the sun's rays emerged. He needed a few hours of calm before the mission—the most important one he had undertaken since arriving in this world—and one that would decide the future.
He knew that with the mission members, everything would be fine: Pakura with her powerful jutsu, Sasori for distraction and area control with his puppets, and Baki with his wind ninjutsu skills and intelligence. Nothing bad should happen to the blacksmiths.
So he was meditating until he felt the sun's rays hitting his skin. Opening his eyes slowly, he got up from his position, splashed water on his face, grabbed his scrolls, and used shunshin to head to the meeting point.
At dawn, just as Daigo had said, the village gates were wrapped in a bright morning for the hour. Daigo was the first to arrive. He wore his new uniform: his ninja headband on his forehead holding back his ash-gray hair, a sleeveless hoodie with his arms wrapped in bandages, his chūnin vest on his chest, black pants, and ninja sandals.
The first to appear from the shadows of the stone buildings was Sasori. He walked with an unsettling calm, carrying a large scroll for his main puppet on his back. His eyes scanned the area, expecting more people.
"You're early, Daigo," Sasori said, his voice already familiar to Daigo's ears.
"Of course I have to be early. It's my first mission as leader, and it's important. I'm surprised you accepted and left your cave," Daigo said, looking at Sasori.
"I wasn't going to accept your invitation, but your mission is necessary for my new puppet."
"So you know about the mission. I imagine Grandma Chiyo told you. Well, I'll need your help—so both of us will help each other complete our ideas," Daigo said.
Sasori raised an eyebrow, curious about what idea he was talking about.
Minutes later, a graceful but imposing figure materialized on the path. It was Pakura. Her presence seemed to bring a heat that made the cold morning winds disappear.
"Seems like I arrived late. I'm surprised you invited me to such an important mission, Daigo," was the first thing she said as she approached.
"Good morning, Pakura-chan. How could I not invite you? I need your help in eliminating a threat, and there's no one better than you," Daigo said with a smile.
At Daigo's words, Pakura nodded—though a vein appeared on her forehead at the nickname Daigo called her.
"Don't call me that on missions, Daigo," she said seriously.
"Huh? Why not, Pakura-chan?" Daigo said, making Pakura look at him with murderous intent, but
Finally, Baki arrived, stopping beside the other three and just nodding to greet. Daigo dropped his playful profile and took charge as leader, handing a scroll to each one as they began to leave the village.
The scroll was clear and simple: the mission details, along with the importance of completing it quickly without problems—and no leaks of information.
Everyone, reading the detailed but simple mission, knew why Daigo was so serious about it.
The four figures moved west, where—in a camp a few hours from Suna—they met the blacksmiths, now traveling with the carts that would be needed to bring the material back to Suna for use.
As they moved away from Suna's secure perimeters, the landscape changed. The golden dunes gave way to grayish, rocky sand. The wind here blew differently—where it was normally calm and silent, here it was heavy and noisy.
"This place is dead," Baki observed, looking at the skeletal remains of some desert creature protruding from the sand—even vultures didn't come near.
"It's the magnetism of the area," Daigo explained as he walked at the head of the group.
"Birds and many animals are guided by the world's magnetic fields. Here, in these iron sands, it's so dense it drives them crazy. We're entering a natural interference zone."
During the journey, Daigo looked around and an idea occurred to him. Noticing the iron sands—perhaps this was where the Kazekage had come to learn to use his bloodline—something that could be possible.
Because like the Yuki clan of the Land of water, who lived in an area surrounded by heavy mist—where he imagined it was very cold, making the place perfect for creating their bloodline and using it.
Perhaps that was one of the requirements for the first creator of a bloodline: to find a place related to what they wanted to create. Another example could be Hashirama with his Wood Release; in the Land of Fire, there are trees everywhere, more than enough to go and give it to other land. if it were even possible, perhaps that's why he's the only one who possessed it naturally without experimentation.
Taking out a scroll where he had notes written, he started writing—until he noticed someone beside him looking at what he was writing.
"Huh? Pakura, do you need something?" Daigo asked, not calling her by her nickname since they were on a mission.
"That's an interesting idea you have there. Maybe it's true. I've heard from the old clan members that before joining the village, they lived in the hottest part of the desert," Pakura said, making Daigo nod in confirmation.
"This has to be a necessary step to achieve it. Pakura, you've helped me a lot. Do you want to try learning this new bloodline when I get it?" Daigo asked, looking at Pakura.
"Thanks for the offer, but my bloodline is the most powerful of the one you're creating—so I'll decline your offer," Pakura said, sticking her tongue out at Daigo.
"Then don't regret it when mine is much better," Daigo said, pretending to be angry.
The Cave of Iron Shadows
After three days of exhausting march, they arrived at the base of a giant dune that looked like a mountain. The only difference from normal dunes was the darker color of the sand due to the amount of iron.
"There it is," Daigo pointed to the entrance.
The Cave of Iron Shadows was a fairly large opening for the carts and a large group of people to pass through. A cold, metallic-smelling air emanated from its interior.
"Blacksmiths, prepare the oil lamps," Daigo ordered.
"Baki, watch the entrance. No one enters or leaves until I come out. Sasori, you know what to do."
Sasori didn't waste time. With a fluid movement of his fingers, two puppets emerged from his scrolls. Their joints emitted a rhythmic click that felt comforting in the midst of the sepulchral silence of the place.
Upon entering, the lamp light reflected on the walls, which were embedded with veins of dark, shiny metal. But it wasn't stone that moved on the ceilings.
"Above," Pakura said, forming hand seals.
Everyone stayed still, waiting for something to move—when hundreds of red eyes opened simultaneously.
Pakura didn't hesitate and launched a fireball that illuminated the entire ceiling.
They were the iron scorpions. Creatures that had evolved by consuming the magnetite, turning their exoskeletons into practically impenetrable metal armor.
Seeing the danger, the group of blacksmiths ran backward, leaving Daigo, Sasori, and Pakura at the front facing the threat.
A scorpion the size of a wolf lunged from the ceiling, aiming straight for Daigo's head. Its stinger was a razor-sharp iron spike.
!Crack!
Daigo intercepted the attack with his stone fist, which collided directly with the stinger.
The sharp stinger didn't take long to shatter before the great force of Daigo's fist, who smiled at the sight.
Without needing to say anything to the others, Sasori moved his threads with lethal grace. His puppet drew weapons from its arms and launched toward the scorpions. However, the swords simply bounced off the scorpion's shell.
"Tch, their armor is too dense," Sasori grunted. "I need to attack the joints."
"Leave it to me," Pakura said. With an elegant movement, she created three spheres of intense heat that floated around her. "Shakuton: Kajōshō! (Scorch Release: Overheated Massacre)"
One of the spheres impacted a group of scorpions advancing on the ground. The effect was immediate: no explosion, but the extreme heat instantly evaporated the creatures' internal fluids, causing their metal shells to implode under the steam pressure and melt.
Despite the display of power, more scorpions emerged from the cracks. They seemed endless.
Daigo didn't stop striking, activating the First Breath and charging at the scorpions. This felt quite entertaining.
Amid all the deaths and the countless stone fists he had formed, his fists started bleeding from the force of his strikes.
A giant scorpion—triple the size of the others—emerged from the back of the cave. Its presence made the already distant blacksmiths move even farther back. Daigo knew it was the colony's leader—a specimen whose body was almost pure black grain magnetite.
"If we kill that one, they should stop coming," Daigo said, with a look of determination that made Sasori and Pakura stop their attack and retreat to Daigo's side.
"I need you to clear a path for me to deliver the final blow," Daigo said, looking at both.
"Are you sure you can finish it with one blow, Daigo?" Pakura asked, preparing a massive heat sphere.
"That thing looks pretty strong, but I think Daigo can," Sasori said, drawing three more puppets.
"Trust me, Pakura-chan. For nothing have I been training—clear the path so no more scorpions appear after my fist strikes."
Both nodded, now preparing. Pakura, with her Scorch Release, prepared a single ball larger than normal, while Sasori, with his 5 puppets, prepared for the attack.
Daigo, on his part, activated his Second Breath to start creating the largest stone fist he could.
"If I don't finish it with one blow, what would all my training have been for?"
End of chapter