To Play Both Sides

Continuing to ignore the downpour of rain there was a very good reason why Shen suddenly disabled Kamui. And there was also a good reason why he was excited. It was because this would be the world that would give him the greatest chance to get stronger. As Shen thought to himself a sequence of explosions went off in the distance.

Fighting in rain on rocky terrain where four different people. To be more exact it was a one versus three yet they were still losing. The three of them attacked a man dressed purely in black wearing a mask covering most of his face. Standing on top of a giant salamander-like creature he avoided each attack of theirs countering with his own.

This moment wasn't talked about much in manga or anime but Shen could still remember it.'The moment when the three legendary Sannin are granted their title.' The System had screwed him over with its placement of him quite a few times. In Bleach he appeared in a city naked in a crater needless to say he didn't sleep well that night. And of course in MHA he was teleported into the sky.

"But for once that damn system decided to give me a break."

It had put him into the world of Naruto and The Second Great Ninja War no less. Normally at the end of this fight, Hanzo would grant them the title of Sannin. And after Jiraiya meets Nagato and the others they split apart after Orochimaru and Tsunade return to the leaf. Orochimaru for obvious reasons.'

Shen was in a strange possession. Currently, in this universe, the people who could give him a challenge weren't born or were still children. 'Basically, this world is in its infancy. All of the powerhouses that could mess with him don't exist yet or are still plotting. So what should I do…' Thinking while keeping his eyes on the battle in the distance he knew he had to make a decision fast.

He needed people like Obito, Madara, and Nagato to go down the same route so they became strong enough to farm. But he also couldn't miss out on the chance to fight the Tailed Beast or possibly even become the ten tail's Jinchuriki. Placing his hand on his chin Shen had begun to rev his brain.

'I can't do both…' And it was at that moment as the battle in the distance was reaching its climax that it had hit him. 'I can't have both unless I play both sides…' Before Shen could even delve deeper into his idea he had to act on it. The battle between Hanzo and the others was about to come to a close and so would his window of opportunity.

"Alright guess I'm just going to have to wing it!" Opening the system's shop as quickly as he could he began searching for something less conspicuous. "I swear if I have to wear one more black cloak I'm going to start listening to goth music." Running out of time Shen finally stopped and selected one at random.

One of the best parts about having a System was there was no hassle when it came to changing clothes. In an instant, the dark clothing Shen normally wore disappeared revealing the Hogyoku fused berserk armor underneath. Then in a slight display, the clothes he selected at random appeared on his body covering the dark armor underneath.

Meanwhile during the battle between Hanzo and the soon-to-be Sannin Hanzo pulled out a cluster of explosive tagged kunai. With their target's being the three of them or to be more precise the ground at their feet Jiraiya was ready to warn the other two to dodge. However, as he opened his mouth he spotted a sudden glint of light come from the right of them.

'An enemy?' Not expecting some other ninja to show up in the middle of their fight, Jiraiya wasn't able to react in time as they all suddenly heard the strangest sound. The space above them began to twist not like Kamui but instead as if it was a sheet of cloth. "What's happening?" Looking up, Tsunade saw the strangest thing at both the kunai and the rain that entered that area froze and morphed.

It was only after a split second of this happening did Kunai finally explode. The explosion caused the air to quiver slightly however each explosion was contained as if it could not break free of that warped space. Watching this happen to his own attack Hanzo was just as confused as the rest of them until finally someone appeared.

Before they could even realize what had happened Shen had appeared in front of Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya with his back facing them. Everyone there was both shocked and confused. Shen wasn't wearing clothes that could discern him with a certain village nor was he wearing a headband.

In fact, clothes, like he was wearing, didn't seem suited for combat at all. "So you have reinforcements? I didn't expect the Hidden Leaf to have people this capable as such a young age." Seeing how Shen turned his back to the other three Hanzo immediately assumed they were on the same side.

The smoke in the air from the explosion began to disappear as Hanzo spoke to Jiraiya and the others. "The three of you are strong and I have a feeling it will be the Hidden Leaf that will win this battle." Looking back at Shen with narrowed eyes Hanzo continued to speak. "That being the case I will let the four of you live. Know that I, Hanzo, grant you the name the "Hidden Leaf's Sannin."

With that announcement, Hanzo weaved a single hand sign before disappearing into a puff of white smoke along with his summoned salamander. There was a deafening silence after Hanzo's disappearance which was broken by Shen turning around and looking the three official Sannin in the eyes.

"Well now that he's gone let me introduce myself. My name is Shen. It's a pleasure to meet you." Stretching out his hand to them Shen shrugged to himself inwardly when he saw they did not move. "Battle-hardened huh?" Out of everyone there, Orochimaru was the one person observing Shen the hardest.

He was naturally manipulative in nature and he could tell if someone was the same. Shen couldn't say he was the best actor or the best at hiding his intentions. 'But then again they have never met someone who has lived through their teeth on the internet.' With that in mind, Shen retracted his hand.

"Well even if you don't trust me you can at least stare at me out of this rain right?" Shen's question caused the three of them to look at one another before Jiraiya held his hand up to Shen. Gesturing to the other two the three of them walked a fair distance away from Shen to talk to one another.

"This should be far enough." Glancing back at Shen to make sure he was still there. Jiraiya stopped walking and so did the others. Looking at Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Tsunade spoke. "So what do you two think?" Hearing her question Orochimaru replied to her. "We can't trust him. Just the way he's dressed shows he's not from any village or clan I'm aware of. It's possible he's a spy or a rogue."

"That is true… But he looks awfully young if I had to guess he's before or in his early 20's." Staying silent after Jiraiya said that Orochimaru slowly reached into his back pouch pulling out a kunai slowly. "And he also seemed to know who we are or at least had basic information on us. We could just kill him, it would solve this issue." Flinching after hearing Orochimaru's suggestion Tsunade stared at him.

"If it wasn't for his help Hanzo might have killed us right there and then. And besides, without knowing anything about him I would rather not fight when we are weakened." Jiraiya nodded and agreed with Tsunade before speaking. "Alright, then it's settled."

Orochimaru's face seemed to have changed slightly before they all broke from their circular formation; they were prepared to walk back in Shen's direction.

However, when they turned around they were greeted with Shen already standing only a couple of meters away. Jumping back slightly Shen spoke to them nonchalantly. "So are you done talking?" Jiraiya paused for a moment before replying. "Yes, we appreciate your help. Where exactly are we going."

Shen paused for a moment before looking north and pointing in the distance. "There is a cave over there that should give you time to rest. We can talk there." Since Shen was doing things on the fly he had to search the entire area using his Haki just to find Nagato and the others. It would have been extremely hard to explain why they were wandering around looking for a cave otherwise.

As they walked through the barren rocky land's Shen was always keeping his senses directed on the three people behind him. And although they couldn't sense his Haki he was sure they could tell he was keeping his eye on them at all times. Due to this it was most likely going to be an uneventful walk but that was fine with Shen since it gave him time to think.

'Well, that went better than I expected.' The idea behind Shen's actions was simple. There are stronger people in this world that aren't born yet so he would wait in the exact place they will all sprout. But of course, this would also limit him from doing anything harmful so he decided he would play both sides instead.

Act like a friend and comrade to people of importance while also making sure that he could take every opportunity to get stronger thanks to knowing every future plot point. And in the end, once he had everything he needed he would crush them from the inside out.

'Of course, that's in theory. If this world really does have as much plot armor as in the anime then I'm doomed to fail right?'