(3rd Person POV, on a small village not too far away.)
As Amaru stood before the bloody figures who had massacred the entire village her mind trembled.
Children, men, and women were massacred by the shinobi in black, lacking in any remorse as they razed the entire village to the ground afterward.
It was clear they came for her… or maybe for her master as she was the only one alive. That was all she could deduce before the hilt of a sword left her unconscious.
The captain of the team looked at her. A mission commissioned by the Hokage… by the Godaime Hokage was not something to be taken lightly… not something to be failed. No matter their previous flawless record, if they were to fail this mission, they would become mere names on a stone.
As the anbu team quickly immobilized her, they immediately took off, knowing well that time was an important element in their evaluation, meaning even the slightest tardiness could get them well on their way towards the pit. It was drilled into them in the training. You slip once, you won't ever stop.
For the anbu of Konoha, it didn't matter how talented you were. It mattered only if you could succeed. Either kill enemies outside of Konoha, or hunt and be hunted by your teammates in the pit.
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(Sound Village – Hidden Base)
Kei was sitting in Orochimaru's office, face staring into the air as his Mangekyou spun together with his thoughts, mulling over the latest discoveries of his alter egos. Though that was a debatable point on its own considering he could also be considered an alter ego on his own.
The lost tower, the movie in which Naruto travels to the past and meets his father… and that was all Kei could get from Kuro's memories. It wasn't as if Kuro had seen the movie and just couldn't remember it, with Kei at the helm anything could be recalled to the sensations as Kuro was being formed in the womb.
The problem was that Kuro had never seen the movie. All he knew was that it transported Naruto to the past somehow.
This posed multiple questions as well as problems if it wasn't handled carefully. There were two possibilities of which Kei could think were possible.
The first and most complicated was that Naruto actually traveled to the past. It was the perfect opportunity to target Minato… though depending on how far back they went they might even meet a too young of a Minato to even have developed the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Well, as long as the talent and way of thinking were there Kei could develop it from the beginning anyway.
But the main problem resided in how time would respond to this change. Would Kei disappear? Or would other rules apply in this universe, rules that he couldn't prepare for beforehand? Would he need a method to keep himself isolated from the change in the timeline?
There was no method or technique that Kei could even think of to use to protect himself from something like that. It would mean he would have to settle for some DNA at best… or nothing at all at worst.
Then there was the second possibility, the easier and therefore most likely to have happened. Naruto simply traveled to a parallel world that was years behind this one. It would make it much easier for Kei to take action without having to worry about repercussions and his own existence.
Then there is the Zero-tails, already on its way to him. This one doesn't need to be sealed, naturally residing within a person as it uses their negative emotions as fuel. Anger, resentment, despair, he has it in spades. People aren't usually happy, content, or relieved to be killed… usually.
Dark chakra would increase Kei's overall prowess, cutting down his hand-signs and increasing the raw power of techniques exponentially. As for the corruption… what corrupted what was a point that remained to be seen anyway.
Turning around Kei thought about the other reports, mainly the fact that no sign of the other movies had been noticed… and thankfully no sign of the filler episodes…. yet.
As his thoughts started to stary the door was opened as Kabuto walked in.
"Master. I have some… disturbing discoveries. One of the labs isn't reporting in… meaning that it has most likely been attacked."
Kei turned his head to Kabuto at that.
"Would this lab be working on anything important? Say… with my cells?" – Kei asked as the pressure in the room increased.
Kabuto shook his head as he explained.
"Not exactly. It was used to handle the testing of infected. We moved the experiment to a more secure site and got rid of the samples, but the mere fact that someone is on the trail is troublesome. They will eventually hit the right lab." – Kabuto explained.
'Haaa…. One after another they keep popping up like weeds. Though it makes sense… I might have interfered too much, though gaining this much power while remaining hidden would be inefficient.' – Kei thought as he looked at Kabuto still standing there.
"Anything else?"
Kabuto nodded as he presented a document to Kei.
"Sasuke's training has progressed beyond what was to be expected at this point. While not an immediate concern…"
"It still sets a precedent for what is to happen down the road… - 'Though it doesn't change anything, he is already dead, he just doesn't know it yet.' – Keep an eye on him, and make preparations for him to move to the more 'visible' outpost."
"Of course." – Kabuto said as he bowed.
"By the way… Did you enjoy my gift?" – Kei asked with a smile that could make the devil run, his Sharingan rotating ominously.
Kabuto merely rearranged his glasses as a smile appeared on his face.
"Indeed… I enjoyed it so that I can not find a way to repay you! I'll make sure to put it to good use." – Kabuto replied, his smile threatening to split his face in two.