4

"Your task is to reach the east of fire and kill the bandits. Remember! Ghosts don't leave a trace of their existence", Dog, the leader of the squad, said to Raizel, like a piece of ice, exuding rejection. His voice was very cold to the core.

"Yes!"

He has no future, no past, he does not even exist in this world. He is an assassin with no emotions. The only thing he can do is to say yes.

Raizel decisively took over the task, but the bull couldn't help but glance at him in surprise, a look of interest flashed in his eyes.

Raizel simply walked away at a civilian speed.

"He has been given a task to kill so soon?", Bull asked as soon as Raizel was out of reach.

"He already has his first kill", Dog said

"Really? who?"

"His parents"

Bull grin, "Interesting"

...

Stepping onto the tree branch; Raizel's figure quickly tore the air and rushed towards the destination. His head turned sideways as he saw a kid with white hair rushing somewhere along with his newly formed team.

Raizel immediately recognized Hatake Kakashi as the son of Sakumo sensei. Sakumo sensei was probably the only person in this world he looked up to.

That old man was the father figure for him. And probably the only person he wanted to surpass in his entire life. Shaking his head, Raizel continued his journey.

...

Three days later! A carnival feast is being held in a cottage in the east of the country of fire.

The bandit boss, second, and third-in-command gathered together, and a large group of vicious bandits gathered in the square, cheering and howling.

Everyone's face was filled with terrifying grinning smiles, In the center of the bonfire, there are two tall and thick iron bars erected in the shape of a gate, with seven or eight children hanging on them like apples, with tears of despair. Struggling with all their might..!!

Not far from these children, there is a group of adults who are similarly restrained. They have completely become a channel for these bandits to vent their violent emotions.

With the screams of women! With the cries of the children, their skin was peeled off in pieces.

"Hahaha!"

The bandits laughed..!! The distortion of human nature is vividly reflected here. This is the world of darkness where no light could enter. In this world where human lives are worthless, being weak is the greatest sin of all.

Without strength, they could only be slaughtered, and having a beautiful face will only make things harder.

The bandit boss looked at all this very happily. This feeling of life and death, controlling the destiny of tens of thousands of people, is so... amazing.

"Little ones, it's a banquet! we need blood after all..!!", The bandit boss gave an order, and all the captured individuals underneath suddenly screamed.

In an instant, the ground was full of bloody red color.

The blood immediately aroused the fierceness in the hearts of all the bandits, each of them howled up to the sky like a hungry wolf, with a fierce look in their eyes.

Then one after another all the bandits rushed to the target that they fancied.

Accompanied by the horrified cry of countless women, and the sound of tearing clothes, this place was no worse than hell.

At that instant, a silver line came out of thin air, as the blood and flesh flew, the bandit leader was killed on spot..!! With a Kunai embedded on his forehead.

The bandits quiet down staring at their leader in shock.

"ASSASSINS", The bandits yelled and tried to get up and do something. But it was already too late.

Hidden in the darkness, Raizel, placing his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword, bends his knees slightly before revitalizing his body with incredibly dense chakra.

At that instant, he takes one step forward, while drawing his sword at that exact moment out of the hilt before returning it into the hilt the very instant he appears in front of everyone.

When he comes to hold, the bandits fell on their own. Their throat was cut open and spilling a huge amount of blood.

Every single bandit was killed without even seeing who attacked them. He glanced at the woman, who was brutally ra.p.ed, and the civilians whose limbs are peeled off.

To say it simply, it would be torture for the rest of their lives. In this world, being weak is the greatest sin one could commit.

He didn't care about these people and took the knife out of the bandit leader's forehead. Before killing the civilians as well, burning the bodies and boiling the blood of these bandits and civilians, turning them into ashes before using the wind Jutsu to blow it as well.

After all that, he even destroyed the cottage. The cottage, the bandits, the civilians. Nothing existed, this entire incident never happened in the first place.

He came and disappeared and no one knew.

...

The third world shinobi war came, and he alongside everyone fought in this war for 7 years.

During these 7 years, the name of a 12-year boy Kakashi Hatake resounded in every part of the world. He was the super genius who was bound to be an S-rank shinobi.

Minato Namikaze became the one-man army and the first person ever to be named an SS-rank threat. Other than these two, There was another name that was roaming at the lips of everyone. The sword-wielding terror itself. Ghost.

Not much is known about his physical appearance due to the fact that clothing covers his whole body. The only thing that is known is his red color eyes. Of course, even that was false.

Ghost wears a skeleton mask, he also wears a black cloak that reaches his ankles. The hood of the cloak is usually up so that people can't see his hair. For pants, he wears plain long black pants, and for a shirt, he wears a long-sleeve black shirt.

In these 7 years, the 15-year-old Ghost took over and eradicated every ninja he could find.

It was around 5 years ago when he was 10, Ghost first met Uzumaki Kushina. He was ordered to get close to the Jinchuriki.

He did as he was ordered. He charmed his way into her life and become her student. It was quite easy for some reason!! She was a Jinchuriki, capable of sensing the bad in people, and yet, it was so easy.

He mastered the element of sword arts under her harsh training, he banished his foes into oblivion. Combined with his innate ability to eat chakra. Only the most powerful of their adversaries were spared.

Due to his achievements, Ghost was promoted to Jonin and was put in charge of an assassination squad under Hokage sama direct orders.

He became the youngest to ever become a Jonin at the age of a mere 15.

He and his squad were sent on missions to eradicate all that come after Konoha.

In terms of pure speed, Ghost's overall velocity is comparable to — if not entirely surpassing — the likes of Raikages or any other being.

In addition, supplementary techniques such as Lightning Release Chakra Mode and Flying Thunder God Technique can also be tracked by Ghost's physical and sensory prowess, making winning against him extremely difficult.

His speed is such that he has no need to use smoke to cover up his tracks, for even a step allows him to disappear from the sight of conventional opponents.

When he was 16 years old, under Kushina sensei's guidance, Ghost's Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin no Jutsu) has become by far his signature attribute within combat.

This year he finally defeated his sensei with great trouble; Kushina smiled and told him he does not need to cover up his face using transformation Jutsu anymore, his training is officially completed under her.

He was shocked, she knew about him the whole time. He asked why did she train him then?! But he never got an answer..!!

He was removed from his duty of watching over her. Since Minato and Kakashi never saw his real face, Kushina was able to cover up and deceive them!! For some reason, it never stood well with him.

It was also the year that he heard of Flash's recent achievement, Killing thousands within a span of minutes. It was also this very year that Kakashi Hatake became Jonin, and gets Obito's Sharingan, he was taken into Uchiha's custody. The third Hokage personally intervened.

Kakashi Hatake was hailed as the youngest Jonin this village ever had. And now he even stole a Sharingan right under the nose of those bastard Uchihas. While the village cheered, Ghost watched the 12-year-old from afar as Kakashi weeps in front of the grave. Minato and Rin were right beside him.

The Ghost continues to go on assassination missions.

Using his impeccable chakra control, He was able to use several rotations within a single use of Body Flicker, advancing through an opponent's possible defenses with such ease that by the time they can potentially react, it is far too late for them to do so.

When he becomes 17 years old, he was already an almost impossible opponent to react against. And the very name of Ghost became the reincarnation of death itself.

He didn't show mercy, he didn't hesitate, with one sheathed sword in hand, a full hood robe, and a skeleton mask on his face. Konoha's Ghost is an opponent that could do anything. Be it infiltration, assassination, or even extracting information. Ghost and his assassination squad had a hand in everything. No matter the job.

It was at this time that Kakashi killed his comrade, Rin Nohara. Danzo ordered Ghost to kill Kakashi for his failure. For the first time ever...

Ghost refused to follow orders and even made sure that Kakashi is protected. Why? Because Sakumo sensei protected him once. Now it's his turn to protect his son.

It was also because of this incident that Danzo figured out that the seal does not work on Ghost. Making him a threat..!!

Today, Kyuubi was unleashed on the village, he could have stopped it, but Danzo instead tasked him with the mission of protecting the civilians.

Why? Because Kyuubi's eyes gave Danzo hope for the path of power and becoming a Hokage. The eyes of Uchiha, the mighty Sharingan; something he believes only belongs to him.

The result of this battle was disastrous. Minato Namikaze died, Kushina sensei died as well.

He was ordered by Danzo to search for Minato and Kushina's house to search for anything that could be helpful, especially the Uzumaki level seals.

When he reached her house, he easily bypassed the seal on the door, apparently, she registered him as a member of this house. It was there he found her diary, something she was writing for Naruto when he grew up and for him.

He finally found the reason she took him in under her, apparently, Sakumo sensei told her about him. And Sakumo sensei was the one who asked her to take him in before he did suicide.

Ghost took a deep breath, he always thought that he was the one who approached her. But turns out it was her who approached him.

Reading the full diary he found the note with his name on it.

-Raizel, if you're reading this then I'm not alive anymore. You have seen the storage seal hidden in the painting, right? If not, what kind of apprentice are you not to notice it?! Anyway, back to the topic. The hidden storage seal in the painting contains all of mine and Minato's sealing techniques that I am sure Hokage sama or Elder Danzo would send you to take. Do me a favor and give it to Naruto as our legacy, will you? I trust you with it.

You will also find an old flute in the storage seal, allegedly, a group of Uzumakis made it using the blood of countless Uzumakis corpses as a last-ditch effort to save themselves in that massacre. But the seal etched on it took their chakra and life in return for eradicating everyone killing the Uzumaki clan.

I tried and studied the treasure flute countless times in the past and I can say with certainty that it's the true representative of spiritual hunger, the flute will attempt to absorb the world around it in an incredulous yet awe-inspiring way. If you use it with sage energy the trees will become withered and desolate. The very earth will become faded and lackluster. And the source of water will be depleted.

I am giving this treasure to you, remember, the vitality of all living things remains subject to the will of this flute, do not use it indiscriminately. It must not be played recklessly, and if you do not have an endless amount of chakra to feed it. It shall consume you. Even I was not capable of feeding so much chakra to it.

And lastly, burn the house and everything in it. Also, take care of Naruto alright?! He is like your younger brother. On a side note, Don't show up on the other side too early or I'll kick your ass back to the living.

—Uzumaki Kushina

Ghost stared at the note for some time before he did what he was asked to do by her, securing the storage seal he burned and destroyed everything in the house, neither Hokage nor Danzo would get anything from their death.

A few months later, The funeral was held, but they could not do so before because of the critical situation the village was in.

17 years old Ghost attended the funeral along with everyone. Hokage gave a speech in the heavy rain, as he stood at the funeral without his mask, no one recognized him, and he did not even talk to anyone. No one bothered with him. Just like everyone else he wore mourning clothes. They were shabby and patched here and there but no one cared. He closed his eyes in sadness, and walk out of the crowd. Leaving the funeral.

...

Raizel arrived at the orphanage; looking down at the blonde crying his head out, but no one listened, no one cared. He is the monster Kyuubi after all. It's better if he dies of hunger, no one would punish them because of it.

For the first time in years, Raizel ever showed mercy to someone as he picked the newborn kid and try to calm him down, this is what he owes to Kushina sensei. This is what she asked him.

When he held the little bundle in his arm, he never felt emotions as intense as it is now.

When the matron was out of her room, she saw Naruto sleeping soundly with a milk drop at the corner of his mouth, giving a milk scent.

The next morning, Hokage, and his men found two sleeping Anbu bodies, they were put into powerful Genjutsu without any chance to resist, these Anbus were guarding and watching the Kyuubi. Naruto.

No evidence or fact came to light, No one heard anything, No one saw anything, Nothing was wrong with Naruto either. They even screened the village for any spy or unknown activity, nothing came up, whoever managed to put them into Genjutsu just vanished out of existence without doing anything.

What was his purpose? None found out.

Ghost on the other hand sits in front of the grave for a long time.

The same thing happens around the newborn Naruto for the next three months. Hokage and others tried various measures to increase the infant's guard, but the mysterious man comes and goes as he pleases.

None sensed his presence, no one even saw his shadow.

...

~~~3 Months Later~~~

He stands in the shadows watching the Hokage tower before he put on the skeleton mask as he vanishes. And this is where our story starts.