Through the eyes of The Exile

New chapter is here and it has some crazy stuff in it. We are now in the interlude period between the OG series and Shippuden.

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"I warned you to not do anything, Ashina." Uzumaki Rikki said sternly, glaring at his teenage son. "I let you explore your curiosity in other Shinobi arts because of your skill in Fuinjutsu outpaced everyone your age. I even paid to have you trained by members of other clans instead of payment in gold for our seals, and this is how you repay me?!"

"I did us a favour!" Ashina responded icily, glaring at his father, "The Uchiha would have been a threat in the future. We can't rely on Fuinjutsu."

"We never take sides!" Rikki shouted, chakra leaking from his control "We have always remained neutral to all conflicts, selling to anyone willing to deal."

"It isn't enough and you know it." Ashina gritted out, the violet eyes he inherited from his mother burning with fury. "We have grown lax from years of nothing but Fuinjutsu. I'm already one of the strongest in our clan. I'm sixteen, Tousan! I'm still a virgin for Kami's sake and I could take you in single combat."

"You killed Uchiha Fuji," Rikki said simply, ignoring the comment about his son's love life, or lack thereof, and took a shaky breath, "You stole a mask to conceal your signature and murdered a wounded man after disobeying me constantly, but fortune has had it that they did not discover your identity."

"As if that would make me repentant." Ashina snorted. "I will not stand by and let the clan I will lead be swallowed by the ever-changing world we live in."

"You? Lead?" Rikki raised a brow, "I brought you here to tell you to pack your things. You are leaving."

"What?" Ashina's eyes widened.

"I will be exiling you until I feel you have understood the ramifications of what you have done." Rikki explained, a shudder wracking his frame in spite of the coldness in his voice. "Give it a year or two?"

"You can't do this." Ashina said desperately, "I need to get stronger to protect our clan. We have to be strong, Tousan. Why can't you see it?!" Tears threatened to fall from Ashina's eyes at what was unfolding.

"Then you will do so on your own." Rikki said mercilessly, gesturing for his son to leave his tent. "Go. Get out."

"You will do nothing?!" Ashina roared, his chakra frothing under the surface as he sent a hate filled glare at his father, "You will kill my brothers and sisters, my family, to satisfy your fucking traditions?! You will be the death of us!"

"Out!" Rikki pointed at the exit, glaring at his eldest sternly. "Come back in a year and I will consider whether you have learned or not."

"I will not come back." Ashina vowed, his voice low and quiet. "I will come back, but on my terms. I will return when I have learned all I can of Ninjutsu and the other Shinobi arts and am capable of defeating our entire clan on my own to prove to you what we are capable of. We are descended from the Sage. We can be as great as the Senju or Uchiha if we put our minds to it."

"I will not let myself go to waste and become another copy of my forefathers." Ashina promised, his fists clenched.

"Impetuous child." Rikki shook his head.

"So, you will do nothing?" Ashina demanded, "Apathy is death!" The teen then stormed away, not looking back.

Had he reached out to sense his father's chakra or turn back to look at him, he would have sensed how tumultuous his father's felt and the tears that he shed at him destroying the bond between father and son.

An infamous title was given to the wayward son of Uzu, a title he carried for the years he was gone.

The Exile.

Uzumaki Ashina would not return to his clan for nearly ten years as he learned of knowledge and skills he desired, only doing so when his father was on his deathbed.

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Kakashi narrowly avoided a thin blade of chakra slicing through his face as Naruto lunged forward with his left hand, a feral expression on his face as the older of the two deftly pushed aside the blow with his palm.

Jiraiya was currently doing a few things and Kakashi was the next best to assist Naruto in taijutsu training. The only other one who could give Naruto a serious fight in taijutsu was Gai at this point.

The two re-engaged and Kakashi tracked Naruto's new blade's trajectory to counter it. A kunai was flicked into his hand and he let Naruto's blade slide along the edge of his own with a screech, stepping forward and driving his other arm forward to strike the younger of the two's face.

Predictably, Naruto ducked his head and twisted to the side, pulling his sword back towards his chest in a defensive stance.

"Faster." Kakashi said sharply, blurring towards his former/current student with lightning chakra screeching through his kunai.

Naruto's chakra screeched around him and he vanished in a flash of blue, appearing behind Kakashi.

The speed took him off guard, instinct guiding him more than anything else.

His Sharingan barely tracked the movement and he tucked forward and rolled, flinging his kunai behind him to avoid getting knocked to the ground. A loud sheering sound from his kunai hitting something made his hair stand on end as he twisted to face Naruto, the red haired teen holding the kunai in front of his own chest.

"This hurts." Naruto grimaced, the chakra halo around him that Kakashi could see with his Sharingan no longer crackling like lightning. "I can't handle more than two seconds without it hurting."

The lightning armour Naruto was attempting was still rudimentary, but at least he could actually use it somewhat.

"You'll get there." Kakashi assured him, still unnerved by how fast Naruto was when he managed to not trip and faceplant from the technique.

It had been almost two weeks since Rin and Sasuke had left the village, and Kakashi could truthfully say he was bored. He had no students to train and Naruto had been mostly handled by Jiraiya up until now.

And Anko had been going on field missions, with the last one being serious.

"Taijutsu training is over for today," Kakashi exhaled, taking off his headband for a moment to wipe the sweat off his forehead, "It's been two hours."

"Age getting to your vitality, Jiji?" Naruto asked cheekily, bouncing on his feet, "You're a supposed S-rank but can't keep up with a thirteen year old?"

Kakashi decided not to make a sarcastic comment, choosing to be blunt.

"You are an anomaly by even Uzumaki standards. You're reserves are probably six times mine, and I've actually improved mine over the last few years."

Naruto snorted and hit his chest with his fist mockingly. "Because you had to keep up with me."

Kakashi smiled under his mask, shrugging his shoulders.

"If you're insistent on further training, open both Gates that you can and do Ninjutsu training for as long as possible."

Naruto scowled at that, looking annoyed.

"Whatever control I have gets shot when I open them," He crossed his arms, leaning forward on his feet, "It kills any advantage I get from the extra chakra I can access."

"Sounds like an excuse to be inept at something Gai accomplished." Kakashi mused, smirking when his sensei's son glared at him.

Naruto was arguably the most arrogant kid he ever knew. The only reason he wasn't insufferable about it was that he had the skill to back it up and a sarcastic streak that helped smother any actual arrogance.

"I'd think your beloved would have taught it to you," Naruto muttered, "Especially with your unfortunate stamina issues."

Kakashi rolled his eyes at the old comment, knowing it was a potent weapon in their back and forths.

"Just do it. I'll train right alongside you if you want. Happy?"

Ever since Rin and Sasuke departed the village, Naruto had thrown himself into an endless training frenzy, including things he had little interest or focus in.

It was rather telling that the teen hadn't even realized the information about the Uchiha massacre had been released a few days after Itachi, Sasuke, and Rin left. Naruto only found out yesterday from an offhand comment.

But what else Naruto had started doing, aside from training himself into the ground, was pressuring Kakashi into constantly training, seeming to be unaware that the older of the two couldn't work himself into the ground and shrug it off after eating about 10,000 calories of food and a night's sleep.

"Sounds fine," Naruto said, his chakra shifting and his hair spiking out a little more, "Think fast!"

'Damnit.' Kakashi thought irritably, jerking his headband back up to see with his Sharingan.

Naruto, the red haired, training junky and overall pain in the ass blurred through hand seals and fired a Jutsu at Kakashi.

Suiton: Water Severing Wave.

Kakashi Shunshined out of the way of the whistling jet of compressed water, turning on the dime after about fifty meters of movement and launching a fireball at Naruto in response.

Without any issue, Naruto made a half seal and sent a ball of water at the fire, the two exploding in a loud hiss of steam.

The next hour was the two of them racing across the training ground, using long range Ninjutsu only, the exercise being entertaining on top of tiring after.

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Kakashi barely avoided my water whip that I aimed at his leg, the sound of his panting audible from my enhanced hearing.

He staggered unsteadily and finally fell to his knees, his left eye closed shut and his sweat soaked clothes clinging to him.

"No...more." He gasped, both his hands splayed out to keep him steady, "No more."

I sighed and closed my eyes, focusing my chakra to close both Gates I had opened.

Instantly, I felt like I was dunked in ice water and my legs almost collapsed from under me, my vision spinning for a moment.

"Ugh," I pressed my palm against my head, squinting my eyes as I walked towards Kakashi, "I didn't realize how long you could last. I'm hurting and can barely walk." I finished with a groan, sitting down heavily next to him.

Kakashi let out a pained grunt and smacked me blindly, hitting my face.

"Jackass," I growled, rubbing at my face, "What was that for?"

"Don't," He gritted out, probably from pain, "Word it... like that."

Running through what I had said, a wave of queasiness hit me.

"I d-didn't mean it like that!" I sputtered, backing away from him a solid two feet, "Icha Icha and Gai's Youth has rotted your brain!"

"Could've fooled me," Kakashi forced himself into a sitting position, his hair sagging from sweat, "You never pass up a joke like that."

"I never make a joke about me." I scoffed, still disgusted by the visuals. "I say it about Sasuke, but not me."

"Too conceited to relinquish control?" Kakashi asked mildly, a faux expression of confusion on the visible portions of his face, "If that's the case, why did you let the Inuzuka girl have control?"

I bared my teeth at him at bringing that up.

"Har har har." I laughed mockingly, trying not to sulk at Kakashi bringing up something I had no comeback to. "You feeling alright? I'm fine to go another bout of training."

My reserves were at about the halfway mark. A combination of atrocious control while having the Gates open and me just having a grand old time flinging water and lightning at Kakashi had me caring less than usual about conserving.

Kakashi sighed and leaned back until his back touched the ground, the wind blowing towards me.

Once it actually reached me, I coughed and shifted away, Kakashi's scent hitting me in the face.

"Take a shower." I coughed again, wiping my eyes from them almost watering. "You smell."

Sweaty and unwashed bodies smelled awful, especially when it came from Kakashi. He almost stank like a dog.

Kakashi gave me side eye look and refused to move.

"You don't smell like a rose either."

"My sense of smell is a lot more sensitive than yours," I countered, pulling my shirt forward while lowering my chest plate so I could stick my face there and take a sniff of myself, "I don't smell as bad as you." I looked up at him as I said that.

"I'll have you know that the summoning contract I have imbues my chakra with traces of the dogs," Kakashi said lazily, still not moving from his spot on the ground, "The effects include somewhat better hearing and smell, just not to your level. I can say, beyond all doubt, that a sweaty, teenage boy going through puberty is the most disgusting thing in the world to smell."

The last part annoyed me, but I couldn't really say anything. Teenage boys did stink, and this world wasn't any different. But Kakashi could have been less of a dick, but then he wouldn't be Kakashi, would he.

"Any reason why you wanted us to train together?" Kakashi asked, folding his arms behind his head as a pillow, his breathing steady now after taking some time to rest.

I tilted my head and looked at him closely. It was a bit out of the blue, but he sometimes asked or said stuff without preamble, sort of like me when I was tired or impatient.

"Sasuke and Rin are the only two my age that can keep up with my progress." I said, looking at the trees surrounding the training ground, "Shikamaru is damned good at planning, but he'll always be hampered by his physical ability, even after he has been motivated."

In fairness, Shikamaru was more than just motivated. A fire had been lit in him during the exams that became an inferno after the invasion and his promotion to Chunin.

The Nara was training with Gai on occasion even.

"Thinking of your lackadaisical friend?" Kakashi asked, but it didn't sound like a question; more like a statement if anything.

I raised up my hand in an iffy gesture. "Sort of, but more to do with what's all happening. The..." I paused and took a few breaths, trying to find the right words for what I was wanting to say, "There's only one person that I can trust who will be beside me right now in the field."

Kakashi's breath paused for a moment, before he sat up and stared at me.

"Did Jiraiya say anything about me and you?" He asked, sounding curious.

"Uh, no." I said, confused by the question, "This is a conclusion I've made after months of consideration since I realized firsthand how dangerous A-ranks are and how terrifying S-ranks are from fighting and defeating four of them."

"You didn't defeat Orochimaru." Kakashi reminded me. "And who are the other three?"

"Who's still alive?" I asked rhetorically, "He's experiencing the wonders of Hell while I'm here talking with you. And the three are Zabuza, Gaara, and that Kaguya." I avoided mentioning Kimimaro by name.

Kakashi decided to drop it after I said that, gesturing for me to keep talking.

"I can't trust myself to not get distracted if Rin is on a dangerous mission with me," I admitted, not being deceptive or evasive, "Sasuke is the only other person I can trust that isn't you who can keep up with me."

"Itach-" Kakashi began to say, but he paused. "Nevermind, you said you don't trust him after what he did to Sasuke."

"I'd trust him to be in charge of ANBU or wetwork stuff like what you told me ROOT did, but I can't forget what he did to Sasuke," I said coldly, "It goes against everything I am."

I wasn't going to repeat myself to Kakashi. He already knew why I hated Itachi in several ways, mainly because his fate and my own could have been identical if events had transpired for the worst.

"You happen to have the skill and experience both to have my back when the Akatsuki start going after us," I said, visualizing how chaotic things could get with a potential war on the horizon, "You up for it?"

Kakashi gave me a look that I couldn't decipher at all.

"As if I need to even think about it," He replied dryly, "I would have demanded it if you had told me to stay away, and plus, Tsunade-sama already has orders for us both in a few days."

'What?'

"Eh?" I raised a brow, not understanding exactly what he was getting at.

"An A-rank mission is coming up," Kakashi clarified, straightening his legs while still sitting, "And the Hokage will be asking whether you want to be a part of it or not."

That was actually... nice to be trusted with that amount of responsibility.

"Mission details?" I queried, blinking slowly.

"Investigation and clean up around Oto," Kakashi said vaguely, "There will be two or three others with us; ANBU I served with."

Safely assuming that no more detail could be securely given, I didn't ask for more.

"Well, you probably need to rest," I said, standing up and hopping a bit to get psyched up for more training, "And I still have about half my chakra left. Later." I waved at him absentmindedly as I opened both Gates and started zipping across the landscape, getting more acclimated to using more than one force multiplier at a time.

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Kakashi decided to opt out of walking to the other side of the village to get to his house, deciding to crash at Anko's for now.

Using the spare key he had been given during the exams when he trained his Sharingan, the silver haired Jonin unlocked the door and walked in, calling for Anko.

When no response was heard, Kakashi unzipped his jacket and pulled it off, followed by his sweaty clothing that were bothering him from the texture.

Once he was bereft of all clothing, even his two masks, he made a clone and tossed the wad of clothes to it, the clone walking towards the washer to clean them.

Walking towards Anko's shower, Kakashi got in and started washing the collected filth of today off his body, savouring the hot water as it struck him gently.

After a relaxing shower, Kakashi finished and dried himself off, wrapping a towel around his waist and exiting the bathroom.

Right as he went to see how long was left on his clothes being washed, a faint shift in the air had his arms rising up in a defensive stance, the realization that he was not alone hitting him.

"Well aren't you making yourself at home?" Anko asked cheekily, her head poking out from the corner of the living room.

Kakashi relaxed his stance and smiled at Anko, his eye fixed on her.

"It was easier to get here than my house." He shrugged, still standing in the hallway, "I didn't realize you would be back so soon."

"Pff, whatever," Anko waved it off, walking towards her couch and collapsing on it, "Besides, it's good that you're here. I need to talk with you; Hokage's orders."

Kakashi slowly closed his eye and sighed, having looked forward to some relaxing time with Anko, especially from her less than discreet glances at his shirtless chest.

Kakashi walked over to her couch and sat next to her, noticing how solemn she looked out of nowhere.

"Jiraiya-sama just got back in the village," Anko started, sitting up and staring at him intently, "He just confirmed what we discovered on this latest mission."

Kakashi knew that Anko went on a field mission with a few others, but he didn't know the details.

"We caught an Iwa ANBU squad spying about fifty miles in the border," Anko seemed to read his mind and revealed the details, "Jiraiya-sama's network gave some good Intel, so we hit em hard and caught them off guard so bad that they couldn't even off themselves. The Yamanaka in the squad did her little mind dive on them..." Her voice tightened and her eyes adopted an unsettled expression, "We know why Iwa went dark."

Whatever the reason was, Kakashi knew it was bad. For Anko to be disturbed, it didn't bode well.

Kakashi gave her a reassuring smile and put his hand on her shoulder, "What caused it?"

The answer he received from Anko was something he never thought he'd ever hear and it got progressively worse, his heart hammering in his chest at the end of her detailed response.

"This..." He tried to control his breathing, barely succeeding from the news he just received, "This will mean war. There is no other possibility. Iwa won't take that lying down, especially who did it. Does Naruto know this?" He asked quickly.

Anko shook her head. "The Hokage said she will tell Naruto tomorrow, with you and Jiraiya there."

Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair and let out a slight growl of frustration.

Vengeance and rage were powerful motivators and could help focus your priorities. But right now, those motivations could very easily have doomed thousands to a violent death.

'What the fuck were you thinking?' He practically snarled in his mind, visualizing the object of his hatred in his mind.

"You're certain it was him?" Kakashi asked tightly, his fingers clenching into a fist.

"Yes," Anko looked almost affronted at his near demand, her eyes narrowed, "I saw the memory. Same inflections in his voice that I heard, and Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, and the Sandaime all said that only one person was ever called The Exile."

Kakashi felt an icy chill crawl up his spine, his imagination doing more than enough to put him on edge.

One of his worst nightmares was coming to life right in front of him, a single thought branding its way through his mind.

His students would experience war.

"I can't do this again," Kakashi stood up, practically rushing to get his now cleaned clothing, "Not again."

One war was bad enough for him. A second was not something he could stomach.

"Kakashi," Anko stood up and followed him, her voice sounding worried, "Calm down and talk to me."

Kakashi ignored her and dropped the towel, not caring that he was naked as he grabbed his clothes and started getting dressed.

"Will you stop and just talk to me?" Anko demanded, grabbing his arm and jerking him around to face her.

Kakashi glared at her with both eyes open, the tomoe of his Sharingan spinning in response to his emotional state.

"You don't understand what's going to happen," He said harshly, gently pushing her hand off of him, "You missed the last war by a couple years. Whether it be tomorrow, months, or even a couple years from now, war is going to break out because of this."

This was one of the few things that could put Kakashi into a frantic mental state. He was unshakeable in most things, but what he just learned was too much.

"Then we fight and win," Anko stated, looking completely serious, "Worse odds were faced when the Yondaime helped win the last war."

'Does she even hear herself?' Kakashi thought incredulously, astounded that she didn't make the connection on who would be the current generation's Namikaze Minato in that case.

"You didn't see him after what he did to Iwa," Kakashi replied, a chill going up his spine at the memory, "I smelled alcohol on him and I ended up walking in on him crying after what he did. It almost broke him."

Kakashi's fists clenched and he visualized his sensei's children.

"Iwa will hunt them both, Naruto even more so." Kakashi nearly choked as he blinked quickly, "I can't lose them, Anko. I can't lose them." A tear started to trail down his face as he tried to keep himself together.

He wasn't able to protect Naruto from Orochimaru, and now two of his students, his sensei's little girl and the boy that was like a mirror copy of him, were out of reach. He felt just as powerless as Naruto probably felt at his twin being gone.

"Kakashi." Anko said gently, trying to help him. But he couldn't right now.

"I need some time to process this." Kakashi shook his head, turning to leave. "I just... I need to sort this out." With that, Kakashi left the apartment, leaving behind a shaken Mitarashi Anko.

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"Damnit. Damnit. Damnit." Kakashi growled to himself, finding his way to the memorial stone, the usual names on the wall garnering his attention.

Of all times for this to happen, it was now.

"Sensei," He muttered, looking at said man's name, "I don't know what do right now. Kushina-chan," His eyes flicked towards the name of the only woman who had been a mother figure to him, "You would be disappointed in him." His face curled into a near snarl at thinking of what Anko told him.

To think Uzumaki Ashina would do something like that.

What he did undoubtedly threw a chaotic note into the Akatsuki's plans, but it was an action that couldn't have possibly been more brutal and violent.

"Naruto will be his usual self and charge right in," Kakashi shook his head, his mind already supplying him with the likely scenario, "He will do something similar to you, Sensei, and I don't think I could stop him."

The updated Bingo book in the bounty offices had declared him as an S-rank nin now, which did feed his ego some, Kakashi admitted that to himself. But his increased ability, even with his Mangekyo, wouldn't be enough in a couple years if Naruto's progress didn't slow.

"I wonder if you ever thought what I'm thinking when I was outpacing everyone my age." Kakashi mumbled, hoping Minato-sensei wasn't tortured like he was currently.

Kakashi was supposed to be the Sensei, the stronger of the two of them. But why was Naruto the one exceeding expectations and making a straight path to being one of the most dangerous Shinobi Konoha produced?

With the violently protective nature he practically lived by, Naruto would charge in and kill thousands of people if he had to if war broke out, regardless of what it would do to him.

And with his interest in the Hiraishin and the lightning armour of the Raikages, he could easily become that kind of monster like his father.

'I can't let him do this alone.' Kakashi's focus centered on that thought now. It was his task that he had set himself with. A promise he made.

If he had to become one of the strongest Shinobi in history to protect the brother he chose, his students, then he would shatter his body and soul to do it.

Kakashi gave one final look at the memorial and stormed away, his mind set on planning his next move, including how to guide Naruto to not be his impulsive self and to make sure he kept up with Naruto for as long as he could.

If Uzumaki Ashina ever somehow showed up again, Kakashi was going to ram a Raikiri through the Edo's heart for what he did to spark another Shinobi war.

///////////////////

Unknown plane of existence: Weeks prior.

Ashina was pacing around the area, completely invisible as his chakra, mixed with the incredibly dense Nature chakra he held, still hung around the dimension in a lazy haze, concealing his chakra's outline from dojutsu.

Even Madara had been hard-pressed to see him consistently when they fought with this technique.

'It's been far too long.' He thought icily, his hand fidgeting against his thigh as dozens of clones still hovered around in case he couldn't kill Zetsu and Obito at the same time.

It had either been hours or days since he had spoken with Obito about the treachery of Zetsu. The plant's bitch mother hadn't been mentioned at all, no reason for it to be brought up. Madara being a manipulative bastard was believable enough without other things that sound far-fetched.

'I wonder what happened with the clones.' He wondered, whistling a specific tune that was quite catchy in the other life of his.

One was to drop off the blood in the vault, while the other had a much more important task to manage.

For the first time, now that he was alone with only himself, he started to doubt the decision he made.

'No. Do not question yourself. You did this for them. You do not need to justify it in any other way.'

Dropping to his knees, Ashina closed his eyes and clasped his hands, drawing upon the relief he would feel when he mimicked the actions held within him for nearly a hundred years now.

41 words repeated in a near chant, filling his very being with relief just like other things he did.

Certain songs and other specific things had emotions tied to them, some joyful and others bringing relief from his despair. A byproduct of the memories being distinct from himself in some cases, or at least he believed that.

He then rose up to a standing position and started pacing once more.

To his everlasting relief, Ashina finally sensed a breach in the otherwise stagnant environment and he felt a familiar presence... and a unique one at that.

Obito appeared with a surprised looking Zetsu next to him, the plant jerking away from the Uchiha promptly.

"What is the meaning of this, Obito?" The raspy voice of Black Zetsu hissed, its odd nature throwing Ashina off.

He couldn't actually sense its chakra, but he could feel faint echoes of malice coming from it, courtesy of his sensing ability being the same kind that Uzumaki Karin had, only less potent than hers in detecting emotions.

"I will let my guest illustrate." Obito stepped away, looking around sharply.

Taking that as the signal, Ashina's concealed clones rushed Zetsu and stabbed at it simultaneously, the act catching the creature off guard.

With an inhuman shriek, the self proclaimed third son of Kaguya was impaled by several golden blades of chakra, held in place by the clones.

Ashina himself materialized in front of his greatest prize, laughing victoriously at the sight before him.

"I never thought I would finally have you at my mercy, Zetsu," He snarled, a predatory grin on his face, "You can not imagine how much this pleases me."

He could feel his chakra shaking in excitement, everything falling into place for once.

"Uzumaki Ashina," Black Zetsu growled, trying to wriggle away from the trap it was in, but failing miserably, "I thought you were killed."

"Heh," Ashina barked a laugh, getting within arm's reach of the creature and grabbing ahold of it, sinking his fingers into its shoulder as he pulled it close, "I thought the same of your buttslut of a mother."

The spike in rage Ashina felt, a faint flash of red to him, confirmed that it was the damage to his brain from the centuries' worth of images flashing into his head from the Senjutsu experiment that threw off the small detail of not seeing Zetsu's creation.

It meant Kaguya could still be brought back, until Zetsu was killed.

Zetsu tried to move again, but the steely fingers of an Edo enhanced with Senjutsu would have been nearly impossible to break out of, especially from one such as Uzumaki Ashina.

"But I came back, albeit a little less. While your master will never return."

"You know nothing, Uzumaki." The creature spat out what Ashina assumed was some sort of blood, the liquid thick and pale like plaster. "My goals are beyond your understanding."

Ashina grinned and flared out his chakra, basking in the faint echoes of malicious thought echoing a little louder from his prey.

"Your hatred is... intoxicating." Ashina laughed, sinking his hand deeper into the thrashing beast. "Go on and read my thoughts, Zetsu. Read what I have always known!" His voice adopted a manic and feral tone, his chakra buzzing audibly.

"Feel it! Bask in the consequences of your wrath and folly! FEEL IT, nu nam nin!", Ashina roared, hammering his fist down on the duo with so much force that it ripped the two halves of Zetsu nearly in half from his brute strength.

Both halves screeched and melded into him partially, his instinct to repel the invasion violently suppressed.

"Therefore with my eyes you shall see, and with my ears you shall hear, and nothing shall be hidden from you."

A flood of his memories played through his head as he fed them into Zetsu, the look on its near-human face letting him know how truly shocked it was.

The moment he had gone to sleep and been assaulted with over twenty years of memories not his own, the splitting headaches and the loss of impulse control that caused him to trek out for nearly ten years to learn more Iryo-ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu necessary to save everything he held dear.

"Impossible." It gasped, not being able comprehend the possibility of reincarnation in someone from a complete folly.

All the treacherous little secrets that he knew and planned were fed to Zetsu, including something that ensured it was rigged from the start.

The memory of him giving the seals to sever the connection of an Edo Tensei and the summoner to Hiruzen flashed in his mind, another taking its place a moment later.

Him standing over his sleeping grandchildren, the soft snores of a little blonde girl with a chakra signature that shone like Hashirama's...

And a red haired boy that never deserved the life he had been thrust into, or the trauma he experienced. A boy that had so many features like his own, and chakra that was just like his.

If he had been strong enough, he could have stopped it from happening.

"That's what you failed to plan for," Ashina spat a water senbon point blank into Zetsu's face, destroying its right eye and drawing another scream from it, "Pardon my enjoyment of this, Obito," Ashina glanced up at the Uchiha, "This thing deserves death for Madara's actions."

Obito shrugged and waved him off, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. Madara had manipulated him into going a certain route, but there were other ways to bring about the Infinite Tsukuyomi other than bringing back Madara.

"Enjoy yourself, Uzumaki," Obito said simply, "This will only happen once."

Ashina nodded and turned back to Zetsu, tearing an arm off with ease for his continued pleasure, a wet ripping noise echoing along with animalistic howls of pain.

"Please, we can be friends," White Zetsu pleaded, whimpering at the loss of his arm, "Can't you show compassion?"

A request for mercy from something incapable of it.

"Compassion?" Ashina asked slowly, letting go of Zetsu and letting it fall to the ground, a pathetic attempt at crawling away following.

"You, who have deprived me of everything!" Ashina spat, a water whip forming in his hand, "The actions I have taken!" The whip shot forward with a blistering pace and wrapped around the waist of Zetsu, the damage done to its body not healing fast enough from the chakra of his bloodline impeding the healing process from the initial stabs.

"Madara killed Tobirama, my son in all but blood! My wife; my children. MY FAMILY!" Ashina felt himself burning in rage, everything going back to Madara's survival forcing him away from Uzu. "They are dead because of him, and my granddaughter died because of you!" He howled, shooting forward and ripping another chunk of flesh from Zetsu's chest, lashing put with a Senjutsu enhanced kick to its leg, shattering it into pulp.

Zetsu collapsed to the ground, the Patriarch of Uzu driving a fist into its face as he knelt down to reach its fallen form.

"Unnatural" He raged, pulling it up to him and wrapping his fingers around its neck, a soft crack reaching his ears, "The depths I have gone to free this world from your poison."

Zetsu let put a wet laugh, blood covering its face.

"You are the unnatural one, murderer." It continued to laugh, having seen what he had done from the memories seen during the temporary meld.

'Murderer. Murderer. Murderer.'

Ashina roared in rage as he drove his fist into Zetsu's chest cavity, ripping away a rib and stabbing it through its other eye with the bone.

Another scream, but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

"Salvation will come for none of us!" A wet crunch echoed from the regenerated arm of White Zetsu getting ripped away once more. "My sins have endured beyond me!"

His senses were filled with nothing but screams, the wet crunch of flesh under his fist, and the splattering of fluid all over him as he constantly rained punches down on his hated target.

Zetsu was regenerating the damage, only to be torn apart again and again.

It ceased to be Zetsu at some point in his mind's eye, shifting to that of a familiar red and violet.

The person he hated most; the man that he is.

Monster. Aberration. Oath breaker. Kinslayer. Child killer.

Failure.

After he got an obscene amount of Zetsu on his mask to the point of blinding him, Ashina pulled away, standing up and letting the guts and ichor drip off of him.

Zetsu was still alive, shivering in pain from all the injuries, but it was still regenerating.

"It seems conventional ways to kill you won't work." Ashina sighed and flicked his hand, crafting a chakra blade for the next task.

Potentially escaping the Kamui dimension and causing chaos as a High Kage level Edo looked like a pipe dream in that case.

Without warning, he cut a still recovering Zetsu's limbs off, then followed it up by branding a seal into its gut with his chakra, eyes narrowing in concentration to make sure he did it correctly.

"A truly wondrous thing, Fuinjutsu is." Ashina jerked Zetsu up, staring directly into its eyes. "So many different dimensions that Fuinjutsu is the key to, including where all souls pass."

Fuinjutsu, specifically the act of summoning and reverse summoning blindly, was like designing a key that fit into a door that led to an unknown destination.

The places he accidentally discovered existed while trying to create the Edo Tensei himself was the stuff of nightmares, only pursuing it further when Tobirama was with him.

Summoning and reverse summoning techniques all had unique markings that appeared when used. Toads were different from snakes and so on.

The Edo Tensei was no different. The summon plane accessed just happened to be the afterlife.

But reverse summoning into the afterlife wasn't something that Tobirama thought of doing, but Ashina did.

A one shot kill technique for an Edo to do, cancelling the Edo Tensei as a result.

"You will have your dimension back shortly, Obito." Ashina turned to face him, still holding Zetsu in a vice grip. "Apologies for the mess. I enjoyed this far too much."

Ashina then made several hand seals with his right hand, slightly different from the seals for the Edo Tensei.

A jerking sensation struck Ashina as he gripped Zetsu with his chakra as tightly as he could manage.

"Tredaeol chith e-Fuin." Ashina growled, feeling the anchors that held his soul to this plane begin to crack as he forced open the entrance to the afterlife like he did with the Shinigami's stomach.

This was a Jutsu he devised when he used the idea of the Shiki Fujin, but applied it to the afterlife instead of the Shinigami's stomach.

If Zetsu couldn't be physically killed, Ashina would just drag him to Hell with him.

"An achared di 'weriennin anann." This would be his penance for his failure. They would be avenged, whether by himself in the act carried out by his clone, or Naruto would accomplish what he couldn't.

"No," Zetsu tried to get away, clawing at his arm desperately, "You will not stop me!"

Ashina pulled Zetsu closer, his vision starting to flicker in and out of focus.

"For you, Zetsu," Ashina saw the cracks in his arms widen as the Jutsu started to collapse, "Ochedin Valannor."

That last statement was word for word what he said to Madara as he beheaded him, truly meaning it in every way.

An anchor cracked, another about to shatter.

Time was running out. Obito needed dirt put in his eye. The plan involving Iwa was going to be shared by him to the killer of Kushina, a final act of defiance on his part.

"Good luck reviving the Juubi when Roshi is dead!" Ashina laughed as he staggered from the anchors collapsing, his sensing now absent from his destabilized connection.

Right as the anchors shattered, Ashina barked an order at his clones.

"Now!"

With no warning whatsoever, a golden flash appeared next to a shocked Obito, his body slackening as a clone Shunshined away, a chakra blade coming from its fingers. Moments later, Obito's head slid of his shoulders, the corpse falling to the ground with a thud.

'Izanagi will save you, but go fuck yourself.'

Ashina grinned in vindictive pleasure, his vision and other senses almost completely gone now.

He didn't see Zetsu as his artificial body crumbled to dust, nor did he see the inside of the Kamui dimension.

Brightness. Beauty. Tranquility.

He could hear them calling across the great sea, beckoning him to join them once again.

It was time to remove his armour and drop his weapons; his time had passed and his purpose fulfilled.

His grandson would finish it.

With the soul and chakra of Uzumaki Ashina acting as the key and lure, the essence of Zetsu was violently pulled into the afterlife with Ashina, the plantlike flesh that constituted its body disintegrating into a puddle.

Once Obito reappeared a distance away after the preprogrammed Sharingan in his left eye socket triggered a minute later, he let out a howl of rage at being deceived and beheaded.

"You will pay for your insolence, Uzumaki!" Obito snarled, ready to kill every single clone.

Several barks of laughter echoed across the pocket dimension, almost like it were an inside joke.

"Stand up, and look at what's come for you," A clone of Ashina shouted back at him, blade drawn as the dozens of remaining foes moved in unison to engage Obito, "This is the waking world in which we live. There is no need to cry, no need to dream."

Growling, Obito disappeared from his dimension, deciding to wait however long was needed until the clones would pop from lack of chakra.

A red haired pestilence required quarantining his one reprieve from the world, and it was going to take awhile.

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Part two will be out right after this.