Am I? Or Are you?

"I see…so, he's finally coming here...that's good…..we can finally kill him then...he'll act as the perfect little fire starter." A small green toad sitting on Hagoromo's shoulders listened to him speaking and responded appropriately.

Standing up from his depressing bamboo chair that looked to be hurriedly tied by dry strips of bamboo, barely holding on, with its legs spread out simply due to his weight, Hagoromo began to walk out of the room as he slowly walked up the spiral steps that moved to the top of the tower they were living inside.

The toad nestled into Hagoromo's loose headscarf, hiding its presence, a strategy it had been told to adopt by the Toad sage after learning what had happened to the previous toad in the same position, which had not returned yet.

*Knock**Knock*

Standing in front of a thick, tall, weighty metallic door, Hagoromo knocked twice using his knuckles, waiting patiently for the person inside to open them.

*Clannkkk**Clannkkkk**Creaaakkk*

The double doors swung open, slowly, from the middle, opening a creak as they allowed enough space for Hagoromo to enter the room, which he did.

The room was narrow, tall. Composed of Metallic panels, forced together, using an unnatural amount of force, built not for aesthetic reasons but clearly as a form of reinforcement. The metallic hallway that reeked of death stood unchanging even when a man appeared hanging on the black rods that were stabbed into his spine, connected to various seals that trailed along the metallic surfaces, growing rough flowing long hair, covering one of his eyes, leaving the other exposed for the Rinnegan to freely look around.

The Rinnegan locked onto Hagoromo, but the man hanging in the air said nothing.

It was the blue haired woman standing beside him that spoke the first words as Hagoromo came to a polite stop before them. His humble body shriveled, posture showing signs of old age, wear and tear of his skin apparent from the wrinkles, yet neither of the only other two people treated the old man with any sense of respect or kindness.

The old man appeared kind, happy and wise, with his guard down, a rounded smile glued to his face, his eyes closed softly while the man hanging from the metallic walls and high ceiling along with the woman keeping their eyes glued to him, treating him with caution, as someone they knew they couldn't act out against, someone they'd have to take seriously if he ever put pressure over them.

"I need to be somewhere." Hagoromo stated.

"Is it the person who's going to be a big threat to us in the future?" Konan asked, her tone quick, and her words accompanied by a shorter breathing pattern.

"Yes. It is someone that will only become harder to kill each time we fail to get into a trap. This time will be the easiest. When he is the least aware about any of it."

"I see. Then you may leave." Nagato stated with a slight nod.

Giving a deep bow, Hagoromo began rising and then retreated toward the metallic doors once again, but right Nagato could close them he stopped to speak a few words of caution, worded like the advice of the older generation.

"Also, Nagato, your Rinnegan eye powers have improved quite well. But they're still lacking a little bit. But I'm sure you can work on it to get stronger, right? Are you doing the exercises I gave you?"

Nagato gave a curt nod before shutting the door shut with a heavy *Thunk*.

....

'Hmm….another two hours and I'll be near Amegakure.' Megumi made an observation as he looked down at the large swaths of forests he was traversing over under the darkening night sky as he spotted the flame that was emanating from the lantern the puppet man had tied to his thigh stop running through the trees for a couple of seconds.

Instantly teleporting away and only looking at the man from afar using his telescope jutsu to magnify his vision, Megumi began trying to analyze why the man had stopped.

'Did he notice me?'

'No…I was quite far and always in his blind spot to be able to notice….especially with so much foliage covering me….I'd just look like a part of the forest….and Infinity wouldn't allow any sound to be produced….perhaps Nagato informed him using the black chakra rod in his lower lip?'

'Did Nagato figure it out by himself? Does the Rinnegan really have those powers?'

'Perhaps it was Hagoromo?'

'Then is going ahead a trap? Hmm…then I should make the best out of it.'

'Rura you awake?' Meguim asked.

'....yes.'

'Get ready.'

'Are you going to do something stupid?'

'....'

Megumi ignored her question as he began following the point of fire that had begun moving once again.

Running through the forest trees, Megumi tried to maintain a proper distance from the puppet man he was chasing behind. Trying to keep silent. Making sure to use his time stuck in the forests earlier to his advantage by stepping precisely on branches that would make the least amount of creaking sounds.

Soon a vast cloud appeared in the distance. Vast enough to cover an entire city composed of only metallic structures and houses.

Amegakure looked unlike anything he had ever seen in his two lives.

It was a strange combination of junk that was piled up on top of each other using a little bit of modern architecture, leading to the rise of several box-like metallic skyscrapers.

Everything looked exactly the same apart from the positively frighteningly tall building in the center that stood taller than every other building in the entire city.

'That thing is at least twice as tall…well at least I wouldn't have to search for the 'secret' base.'

Extending his Universal Sage mode senses to spot for any early ambushes, Megumi began scanning the pathway leading toward the city that the puppet man had begun following.

'Huh….there's a domain around the city….?' Megumi noticed as he watched the heavy rain pouring out from the largest and darkest clouds that hung over the city like a blanket against the sky.

'Hmm…then I guess there's no need for the puppet man anymore.' Megumi thought as he rested his hands on the hilt of the Katana tied to his waist as he stopped in his tracks, coming to a slow stop only due to him applying chakra to his feet to glide over the branch he was currently running on.

Pulling out and covering his face with an Oni–mask to hide his face. Lightning began to streak around Megumi's body, first in small arcs seemingly jumping across his bones, but then widening as they jumped all around his body, generating a small buzz in the process as he closed his eyes and dropped his head, loosening his muscles as he locked onto his target using his senses.

His entire focus on using Universal Sage Mode to sense through the dense foliage surrounding around himself to try and sense the puppet man trying to seemingly run away from him.

A chilling, deathly shiver sparked through the spine of the puppet man as he dodged just in time for a glazing lightning slash pass through the exact spot he was standing a moment ago.

The slash was soundless. The cut branches were soundless.

The puppet watched in awed silence as the slash traveled further and further, slicing branch after branch, with the only sounds that could be heard being the loud *THUD* the branches made when they fell.

He had seen sword slashes composed of different elements before. He was originally a samurai from the village of Iron after all.

He'd just never seen something as clean as this.

'I doubt even Mifune could pull something like that off….'

The sword slash looked rock steady until it looked like it collided with something over the city, like a barrier that encapsulated it in its entirety, creating ripples over it, distorting the image of the city being projected through it, accompanied by a loud, *BAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG* when it happened.

The puppet man watched in awe as the barrier bent inward, appearing to be unable to hold out against the attack that had just collided with it, but before he knew it the attack vanished as years of instinct honed from the countless Shinobi and Samurai fights during his entire life took over, causing him to duck when a glowing blade swung through the place his neck used to be, catching a little bit of the top his bamboo hat in the process.

His bamboo hat burnt with a *sizzle* like something being fried in oil in a pan.

The puppet man pushed back to create distance as he made his baby begin crying loudly to attract the attention of the patrol guards around the village that if not already alerted from the large slash earlier would find their location easier.

'I can't beat him. At least not without sufficient preparations. He seems to want to capture me for some reason? The Haruno store? Was the God right? I was being followed? Poision….?'

"Who are you? Why are you attacking Amegakure?" The man asked, his only strategy to get out alive was to delay a fight, so he asked the most generic questions he could think of.

"Oh? It was wrong of me to not introduce myself now. Wasn't it?" 

The young boy wearing the Oni mask claimed through a distorted voice that sounded like someone was speaking through terrible speakers that had a loose connection.

The puppet man gulped as the boy appeared to be thinking of a name.

"I'm….Eita? Eita written with the characters, sharp and numerous. What about yours?"

"I'm…Gakushi."

"Your name is 'Bachelor'? That's uniq-"

*Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap*

A sudden clapping surprised Gakushi as he looked at the branches above, only to spot an old man wearing the robes that the angle wore. Robes that only ones that were part of god's inner circle could wear. Ones that truly run the village.

'I did not expect one of them to arrive….perhaps this kid is a big shot?'

"Ayooo! It's rude to interrupt someone while talking like that!" The boy with the oni mask, Eita, explained as he then turned back toward Gakushi once again.

"Young….boy…would you care to explain what you're doing here?"

"What do you mean? 'What am I doing here!'? I'm obviously here to kill him!" Eita pointed the tip of his sword at Gakushi.

"I cannot let you do such a thing….he's part of my village after all…."

"And why do I care about that? If you didn't want him dead, you should've made sure he didn't kill someone from mine then!"

".....you could place a bounty for his head on the bingo book…." The old man politely offered.

"Oh! That's a nice idea!!! Sure. I'll do that once I have his head so that I can gain some money once I kill him too! Will you pay for the bounty once I turn it in?!"

A vein throbbed on Gakushi's forehead at being treated like the leftover cabbages in a vegetable sale.

"....no. He's still a part of my village. And without any real proof I can't listen to your claims….if you did have proof though, I could get you to talk to 'God'...."

"God? You can speak to gods? Oh! God! Not only are you old, but you've gone senile too!!! Is your entire village filled with crackheads!? Perhaps even your God is just a crackhea-" Eita wanted to continue insulting Amegakure to try and poke through the facades both the people were displaying, but a sudden dome appeared covering nearly thirty meters all around the three men.

"*sigh* That was tiring…." The old man mumbled, only loud enough for himself to have heard under normal circumstances, but the silence led the remaining two people to hear it as well, both holding their own thoughts towards the situation.

'Huh? What's this? A single person barrier? Wouldn't it be really weak then? Perhaps he used the help of a few patrolling shinobi to generate a strong barrier to trap this kid?' Gakushi thought as he looked between Eita and Hagoromo.

'A domain…? Hmm….I can still feel the outside….so I should find the perfect time to summon Rura….'

'Yo…Rura…get into the mindscape…..'

'Huh? Why?'

'I want you to watch the fight…..I'll teleport you at the perfect second.'

'...that's risky….I'll be disoriented…'

'Hmm….but that Toad in his scarf will probably reveal your presence if don't arrive at the right time….'

'Why are you even bothered about him for now? Do you have a way to kill Hagoromo?'

'No…..'

'Then forget about him. Just get anyone else you can. And if you can capture them, then capture them so that we can gain more information about the Akatsuki.'

'You won't fight?'

'.....as long as you need help…..'

'I probably will….since I can feel Orochimaru slithering around….I can just feel Danzo around too….it's like all off them are trying to undress me visually or something….it feels disgusting….'

'.....teleport me then, I'll take at least one of them down.'

'You will definitely need to. But don't get your hopes up. They probably aren't the real ones anyway. I doubt they'd risk dying…'

'What if it's a trap?'

'Most likely is.'

'Then they're going to use their full force, right?'

'....just to kill me? I don't even have a plan about what I want to do in the future yet? How do they know what I'll do even before I attempt doing it…? No way they'll go to such lengths to kill someone they don't even know the future off.'

'What if he can just see the future normally?'

'No. His last fight with me confirmed that much….no matter how easy it be for me to recover from my wounds, I'd prefer not taking any…..but….if it was his plan to use it as a misdirection and confuse me…..then maybe he succeeded…but no it doesn't seem that way….he clearly has to rely on his little toa-'

Before Megumi could finish, a huge Snake rose up from the ground. Tearing all the trees, uprooting the earth along with them as it unhinged its large jaws to capture a huge area, that included Megumi right in its center.

With a light slash, Megumi sent a lightning slash downward that sliced through the head of the snake in silence, two *thuds* produced only when the split head hit the ground, leaking blood.

"That was rude….I was thinking something….but I guess your impatience is valid…given how you must already be worried about knowing less about jutsus than some random old man…" Megumi said as he looked at a tree from which the head of a snake-like man extended outward.

"Kkekekekeke. Who'd have guessed the fiancée of the head of a business store would be so strong….a little boy too....." Orochimaru spoke.

"Oh?" Megumi tilted his head at the identity reveal, but kept his composure.

"You should give up little boy. If you tell us all about the little seals your stores like to use then perhaps we can come to an agreement." A deep voice spoke up as Danzo walked out of the shadows, seemingly to negotiate.

"Haha! And why should I tell you about any of it~!?"

"You're Trappp~ppsss~ed."

"Oh!? Am I? Or are you....I wonder." Megumi asked.

-------------------------

Thank you for reading!

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