15

Feeling an aching sensation Nahen opened his eyes to be assaulted by a splitting headache and closed his eyes again.

After a few more tries he suppressed the edge and opened his eyes. He wasn't met with the light he expected but darkness around.

'Is it night?'

Looking around he was met with a familiar darkness that he recognised and feeling around with his hands he realized that his body was submerged in a blue liquid like substance though he wasn't wet.

Remembering where he was he realised that this was the place he had been in previously. His mindscape.

Calming his nerves down and feeling his body one with the liquid he moved his hand and was able to move it with ease and got up to his feet.

Looking around he noticed the same empty plane he was in with dark red clouds and the chakra lake beneath his feet as he got up and wondered around.

Walking around for a while he thought to himself what had happened for him to be back here.

The last time he was here was when he was meditating and had to extremely focus and discovered this place yet now he was back. He tried to remember what had happened last bit failed.

After what felt like hours he finally remembered something.

'I was on my way home and my sensed picked up some lurkers there and I turned to the Third's office to confront him and found him with...that man' He gritted his teeth for a moment remembering that those lurkers were most likely Root operatives and were sent out to capture him.

'Thats right I went in and they were talking about something. And then the Sandaime said something important, I just can't remember what exactly' He tried one more time to remember but got a splitting headache again causing hime to close his eyes once again.

As he opened his eyes he remembered the last bit of information he could. 'Mai was part of that patrol team' Thinking about this he felt a stream of helplessness was over himand hung his his head down as he felt like his world was crumbling over.

The clouds above him became dense and flickers went on inside them and the chakra sea beneath his feet was raging as tidal waves rose and splashed around him, a spiral vortex directly beneath him and a gush of wind all around his body. His clothes flattering in the wind blowing his hair up in the air.

Outside of his mindscape, Nahen was resting on a white room with a large space around him and laying on a bed with white sheets similar to the one he saw when came to this world but larger.

Besides him was a seven feet tall black figure in a Shinigami mask clad in battle armour silently watching over him.

As the waves were crashing in his mindscape, outside his body, chakra was sipping out of his body and visibly flooding into the room. The same feeling of dread along with it. Enough to stun any sensor ninja and knock them out cold.

As the chakra was sipping out of him, multiple medical nins on site were stunned by this and rushed into the room and were even further stunned to see the Oni figure react and take of its mask and fix it on Nahen's face.

The amount of chakra spilling from Nahen was reduced as it was being sucked back into his body by the mask and the feeling of dread and suffocating pressure lifted from within the room.

Everyone present within the room was stunned when they saw the face of the Oni once it took its mask off. Be it black and disfigured and blurry. Upon taking a closer look one would notice a stern look of indifference on it, a handsome well framed face with black eyes that seemed to entice anyone who looked into them and freeze them in place.

What they didn't notice at the time was that it's face looked more like a grown version of the boy laying on the bed if you place a comparison between the two.

Back in his mindscape, Nahen's attention was drown to a new presence infront of him and he lifted up his head to look at the newcomer.

As he looked up from his despair he was met with a Shinigami mask a few feet away from his face floating in the air. As he looked at it, his attention was drawn towards the section of its hollowed out space for its eye sockets.

Looking in the mask's eyes or where eyes would see through, a series of images rushed in his head. The storm around him seized immediately and it all became calm once again.

The mask showed him what happened after he lost consciousness in Hiruzen's office and how his desire to save Mai summoned the Oni and it saved her and her teammates on the border while it remained behind and collected the remains of the enemy and stored them in a special storage scroll it created and returned after.

Nahen was glad that Mai was safe, not that he was inhumane and heartless to not care if the only person who took care and raised him was dead or alive. Of course he cared.

Despite not originally being from this world, he had developed bonds with some people here. Mai being the prominent one and his parents from this world which he vowed to bring back in due time.

He was relieved to know this but still wondered what this mask was and the Oni behind it since it looked different from the one from before, the first one. When he eventually woke up then in the Tower, after Mai told him what had happened and comparing the description of the first mask to this one they were totally different.

Just when he was about to ask something, the mask suddenly moved back and five more mask appeared besides it and joined them forming a pentagon shape with a plain white mask in the center different from the rest with intricate designs while it was plain looking as if normal.

A strange feeling washed over him as he felt his body jolt and being nudged and pulled. Familiarising this feeling he felt his vision go blurry and he closed them and opened them again.

Opening them once again he was met with a blinding light contrary to what he felt before. His vision clearing he was met with a multitude of people around him in what seemed to be hospital room.

On his side of the bed the Oni that was still on guard dissipated a trail of black smoke joined and seemed to enter into Nahen's side entering his body.

"Where am I?" "What happened?"

"He's awake" A medical nin came forth towards him and checked him while using the mystical palm technique to check him thoroughly.

"You're in the hospital, you lost consciousness. You're gonna be alright." Everyone cleared the room and they left the attending to continue his case.

A few minutes later Nahen came back in the room with a few bandages around her arms and legs in a few places but nothing serious, she had been notified and she came over immediately.

"How long was I out?" He asked as he finally calmed down and realised that he was fine.

"Just a day" She said while holding his hand tightly. "Thank you....somehow you summoned that thing and its saved us somehow and its been here the whole time".

"No need, even I myself don't know what happened" He said as he was slightly embarrassed to be thanked like that.

In the time that he had been hospitalised, the survivors he had rescued had been taken to the hospital and treated in time. The events that took place were regarded a secret issued by the Hokage and the exact details were kept away but rumors still spread about the "black giant" roaming around the village.

This news falling into the ears of Akira got him skeptical and he sent an urgent message to the Raikage and his worries weren't relieved as the reply ordered him to complete the mission.

Naruto came by the restaurant looking for Nahen but he wasn't there and also couldn't get his whereabouts and was offered a meal which happily took and passed on his thanks and went back to the park by himself.

Hiruzen and Danzo had another "lover's quarrel" about Nahen's placement but this time Danzo was more passive about it and didn't force it any further and let it go. He wouldn't bother Nahen anytime soon thanks to his encounter.

Mai took him back home in the evening when he was discharged and prepared a huge meal for Nahen which he managed to finish somehow surprising himself.

A lengthy rectangular box was laying not far away from him as he hurriedly ate to test out what's inside.

While he was still in the hospital the Hokage got word of his awakening and proceeded to send the jutsu scrolls and sword from Akira.

Opening the box Nahen was met with a dull black and red coloured hilt and scabarb. Grabbing and pulling on the hilt, a shiny silver blade appeared.

"Becareful now, you don't wanna hurt yourself there" Mai interjected before he could do anything with it.

With his eyes still shining, he resisted the urge to swing it and held its hilt with both hands while putting away its sheath. Feeling its weight in his grasp he poured his chakra in the blade and recognised that chakra he had left before with another signature besides his and Akira's.

'Guess they tested the blade before sending it' He thought.

Putting the sword back into its sheath and putting it away Nahen went back into the box to see what jutsus he got and was surprisingly met with a third scroll within the box and remembered that Akira only promised two lightning release jutsu.

Taking the only different scroll in the trio and opening it, his mouth was left wide open and his mind void of any thoughts.

"Konoha Style Kenjutsu"

"What?" Mai who heard him say that came over and looked over the scroll and was shocked to see the words written on it.

'It's probably from the Third. I guess it makes sense to give me a kenjutsu style since having a sword without form would be useless. But why this one?'

"But its blank..."

He said as looked up at Mai incredulously without forgetting to act like a child, while really baffled on how to open it.

'It is an important kenjutsu style that would be protected from getting into the wrong hands, just how do I open it'.

"Oh, you either need to drop your blood on it or pass some of your chakra onto it" Mai said. "It's more likely your chakra since I don't think they have your blood to seal its contents with and I'm guessing only you would see it then".