chapter 70

[Ibiki Morino]

He looked on, from the side, as Hachi placed Orochimaru under Eiji's Genjutsu. God, the whole situation was a very confusing mess. However, Ibiki had long since gotten used to being a little crazy here and there. This was more than a little over that, but he could push through that and continue operating as normal.

Or as normal as could be, given the circumstances.

It was that mindset that allowed him to process what he was seeing when Hachi let go of the Jutsu, looking worse than before, which was saying something. After all, Eiji Satou hadn't been in good health before, suffering from Tailed Beast chakra poisoning. Ibiki didn't want to know how it felt for someone like that to cast a Jutsu of any kind, let alone one such as the one Satou had created.

Back to the point, Ibiki was taken aback by the reaction of Orochimaru to the Genjutsu. He'd gotten progressively more agitated as time passed, twisting and turning on his seat. Janking his arms and legs around in an effort to break out of whatever he was experimenting at the moment, either that or trying to damage himself with the cuffs to break the technique.

It didn't work.

The Sannin shouted and screamed, as he continued his vain attempts at escaping.

It was a sight that nobody had ever thought possible, Ibiki was sure. Many had dreamed of hunting Orochimaru, making him pay for his crimes, be them against the village or against themselves if they had been victims of the man. However, none ever actually thought it would happen, that much he knew.

And then the Sannin was snapped out of the technique.

The man breathed erratically, deeply, as if that sole action held some unknown, precious value to him suddenly. His eyes were wide and his face so pale that it almost looked like Ibiki would be able to see through him. For a moment, the shinobi that people in all Nations feared for years sputtered incoherently before finally starting to string words together.

"What… What did you do?"

"Showed you what waits for you on the other side, Orochimaru," Hachi replied, with a smile not unlike the one the Sannin always wore. "Death. The Afterlife. Or, as we call it, the Void."

Ibiki didn't know what was more unsettling, the message itself, the fact that Hachi delivered it as if he really believed what he was saying or the fact that Orochimaru seemed to believe him. The T&I commanding officer had been there when Eiji Satou had interrogated Kabuto Yakushi and it had been a surprise when the spy broke. Everyone had been shocked that a mere kid could just make someone like that talk.

Ibiki would have tried to get the kid to join his division if not for the fact that the boy was clearly made for more than just interrogation and spionage. Satou would go places and everyone knew it. Especially Ibiki though, since he was privy to the boy's… side-education, as it were. Here was hoping it wouldn't turn him into the monster he could certainly become.

"How did you even… make such a thing?" Orochimaru asked, his expression disturbed and horrified. Which said a lot about the situation, considering the inhuman things the Sannin had done through his life. Or perhaps it was just the fact that it had been used against him? Maybe even both.

"I didn't make anything," Hachi answered, looking positively amused. "Eiji did. It's truly a terrifying technique, is it not? Shade and I got to experience it too, which is why we aren't going to betray Eiji. I'm not that crazy even if I'm based on you, indirectly."

That brought the question to Ibiki's mind. How did Satou come up with it, when even Orochimaru seemed to think it was insane? It made Ibiki wonder, yet again, how bad the technique really was.

He'd been told, of course. Satou had explained the technique to everyone before using it on Kabuto Yakushi. Inoichi had detailed it for them too, based on his experiences inside the boy's mindscape, although the Yamanaka had admitted the one he'd seen was a watered down version since he wasn't the actual target of it. Ibiki had even picked up some information from Yakushi's babbling after the fact.

Evidently, he hadn't come even close to knowing what the technique could really be like.

'What kind of technique did that kid make?'

"Now," Hachi spoke again after a long silence. "You'll tell me about the Cursed Seal."

"Never," Orochimaru refused yet again, which was, sadly, the unsurprising part. "I made it to escape precisely what you showed me. I won't… I won't let you ruin it."

"I see..." Hachi mused, looking unaffected by that reply. It was as if he didn't care at all about getting that information, even if it was key for Eiji Satou's recovery, apparently. If Ibiki didn't already have huge doubts about the loyalty of the… thing, he would have started having some with just that. "You see, that won't save you, at all."

"That was your only trick, wasn't it?" Orochimaru asked, looking both victorious and hopeful. That last part almost made Ibiki doubletake. That was a day full of surprises, apparently. "You have nothing to threaten me with now."

"Not quite," Hachi shot back instantly with a grin that made Ibiki feel uneasy. "You see, we can see about getting a Seal drawn based on the Genjutsu. Put you permanently in it. So, even if we can't kill you, even if you can't die, you'll still be dead."

The grin widened.

Orochimaru, reeled back.

Of all the impossible things that had come to happen through the day, Ibiki was sure there was none like the absolutely terrified expression that the Sannin shot Hachi.

[}-o-{]

[Hiruzen Sarutobi]

"We need both Jiraiya and Tsunade for this," He heard Danzo admit, which must have hurt. His old friend hated acknowledging the fact that Konoha couldn't do something on its own and he also disliked how Hiruzen had let his students basically abandon the village. Thus, it must have pained him to say such a thing.

"Indeed," Hiruzen agreed easily as he looked over the information Orochimaru had given them about the Cursed Seal. His mind was only half focusing on that though, the other half remembered what he'd seen from the other side of the one-way glass of the interrogation room.

He wondered if he'd ever get used to Eiji, or Hachi in this case, using that technique on someone. Each use he witnessed made it more and more clear why the boy refused to share it with anyone or even use it himself. It seemed to be an aberration on par with the Impure World Reincarnation.

If the boy ever decided to share it, that technique would go straight into Kinjutsu list. Anything that could do that to Orochimaru of all people deserved nothing less. Or anything that could make Danzo look that pleased for that matter.

Friends, they might be, but he'd never understand the Shimura's liking for brutal techniques and methods.

This particular case highlighted why Danzo liked Eiji as much as he did. After all, from the whole batch of genin he'd come from, and probably in the last few years too, the Satou was the only one that could come up with such a thing. He was usually a rather amiable boy, but when he felt like he needed to, he could come up with terrifying things.

Danzo was no doubt eager to bring that side of Eiji out much more often and Hiruzen wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. It would no doubt instill the fear of God on anyone that opposed Konoha, but it was equally as likely to destroy the boy's life too. That was something that the Hokage didn't like, at all.

"Hiruzen," Danzo spoke, breaking the silence and bringing the Hokage out from his musings. "We can't keep Iwa and Kiri ninja in our village for much longer," He told him and Hiruzen sighed.

It wasn't that he'd actively decided to have them stay in Konoha, really, but he'd also done nothing to make them go. With all that was happening, between the Invasion and the attacks on the other villages Jinchuriki, they'd just… stayed together, almost waiting for something else to go wrong. Hiruzen also had the strong suspicion that the other two Kage's had prolonged their "visit" for the same reason he'd delayed having to send them off.

Hopes for an alliance.

An official one, in the Mist's case, and if they could add the Stone to it, all the better for them. Kiri was so weak after their civil war that they needed to be in as many of the other villages' good graces as they could. Otherwise, a war of any kind could very well mean the destruction of their village.

The Stone, on the other hand, wasn't eager for an alliance, Hiruzen knew that much. Onoki, however, was, because the old Kage had experienced just as much as the Sarutobi had, if not more. If anyone wanted to avoid another war, it was him.

The problem was that the Tsuchikage didn't have the backing of his village in this particular matter. Granted, he could probably garner some support for an alliance with other villages, even Konoha, but it wouldn't be nearly enough. Sadly, there was too much hatred and bitterness in Iwa after the last war and how it had ended.

It would take something drastic for the Stone to change its standing.

Hiruzen could only grimace as he tried to foresee how things would go from then on.

Konoha had been attacked attacked, Kiri was weakened and with one less Jinchuriki, same for Iwa that was still filled with negativity from old loses, Suna was still half dead after years losing business and now having to deal with the aftermath of their actions and, finally, Kumo had also participated in the aforementioned attack and now would be under the scrutiny of three of the five major villages.

On top of all that, now there seemed to be another side, an unknown one, seemingly working against them, all of them.

Hiruzen sighed.

"Yes, we'll have to send them off soon," The Hokage nodded.

"A common enemy might bring what you so desperately want, old friend," Danzo told him. It was a silver lining, at least, Hiruzen supposed. He wasn't sure if it was good enough to make up for all that could end up happening in the future, but if it brought peace…

He hoped it would at least bring peace.

Otherwise, he wasn't sure how he would take it if it only led to more losses on all sides.

"Everything will either get much better or much worse in the future," Danzo mused, looking out the window at the village. Hiruzen, much as he didn't want to, found himself agreeing.

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised really. Even in the years of peace, they hadn't been able to rest. Peace seemed more and more like an illusion as time passed. Hiruzen hated thinking that, but after three World Shinobi Wars and years of "peace" with one problem after another and one battle after another… The world they lived in seemed to be cursed to eternal conflict.

It made it hard for Hiruzen to think that this situation that seemed to be coming their way could lead to anything remotely good.

'We can't give up though,' Hiruzen thought, closing his eyes and focusing on what mattered. The young ones, Konohamaru, Naruto, Eiji and all the other children. He worked to make a better world for them. That was his way and he would die before he left them with a world so full of death and battles.

"Let's increase the chances of it getting better."

[}-o-{]

[Eiji Satou]

"It's getting calmer," Sha- Kage said and Eiji could only nod. The boy wasn't sure if he was relieved or worried about this change in the Beast's behavior. Was it tiring out, or was it preparing for an even more dangerous tantrum?

Regardless, bringing Kage into the fold had helped, much as he didn't want to admit it. Eiji was sure he wouldn't have lasted, let alone managed to successfully contain the thing without the shade's help. 'Guess he's a little more trustworthy than I thought he would be…' He mused.

Which didn't mean he would lower his guard. Eiji was still checking his mindscape, something that he could do thanks to Kage, ironically enough. He had to make sure that nothing was being done by the shard of Orochimaru. He didn't think he would do anything, but he also didn't think it would be wise to just trust him.

Back to the matter at hand though, the Beast was slowing down on its rampage. Now, it mostly just twisted and turned in place, letting out more whimpers than anything else. Eiji had also noted that even its shapeshifting was… well, not stopping, but it was happening less and less quickly.

'Seems like it's deciding in a permanent form,' The boy noted, at least it seemed to be doing so, slowly. It now sported eight limbs more often than not, be it hands, or legs, or paws, or anything else. The number had become almost a constant at that point. 'Hachibi's influence through its chakra?'

'Shame I don't remember much about how the Bijuu came to be. It could be useful knowledge here...' Eiji thought, biting his lip. Still, he had other things to focus on, like repairing his badly damaged Mindscape.

The recreation Konoha he'd made was slowly being reconstructed as time passed. He was putting even more effort than before, trying to make it more resistant, just in case. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but he'd take no chances.

As he went about that, his thoughts were pulled towards the Beast again and again. He didn't know why, but his mind focused on it more often than not. Eiji was almost sure that the thing was influencing him, but that didn't make much sense. The thing was no longer affecting his Mindscape, and this "compulsion" seemed unaffected by his reparations.

'Still, a Chakra Beast… if I'm right, then that would be really useful in the future…' He thought to himself. Eiji had often worried, after all, that he'd find himself lacking in the power department when he reached the late game. Powerful as his System made him, he didn't know how well he would stand, even with a timeskip and all, against the likes of Madara, Kaguya, or even just Pain. Naruto had the Kyuubi, Sasuke had the Sharingan, both were basically demigods, apparently. Everyone else? Everyone else was just next to useless, really.

And that could very well include Eiji himself.

He didn't want that, obviously. Thus, why he thought the Chakra Beast forming could be a good thing. Granted, he didn't even know if that was what was going on in his mindscape. It could very well be something, anything, else, for all he knew. He had a good feeling that he was right though.

"I see things are going better than expected on this side," He heard Orochimaru's voice say. Eiji knew who that was though.

"Hachi, how did things go in the world of the living?" The boy asked, trying to sound casual about it. He couldn't hide how worried he was though, least of all in his own mind.

"Everything seems to be alright. Sarutobi says that all of your friends are alright. You seem to be the one most affected by the Invasion, which apparently ended soon after you passed out. I wasn't told much more, I'm afraid," His creation replied and Eiji sighed in relief.

That was good, very good.

"I interrogated Orochimaru with Wit's End too," He added, and Eiji tensed up. Giving Hachi the knowledge of the jutsu hadn't been something he was keen on doing but the Satou had given orders - and suggestions - to not use it on anyone that wasn't approved by Eiji himself. Orochimaru happened to be in that short, very short list.

"So, I hope you got something useful," The boy commented, not even having to ask if it had worked. He'd be very surprised if there was even one being that could withstand the Void in the world of Naruto… Except maybe the Shinigami, but he'd long since stopped thinking about that for the headache it was sure to induce.

"I got information on the Cursed Seal. I'm very sure he managed to hide some stuff, but nothing that I cared about at the moment," Hachi informed. Eiji wondered what could have been hidden. Probably the location of some Cursed Seals? They were Orochimaru's Horcruxes, after all. It wouldn't do for him to reveal his soul pieces or whatever. That wasn't something Eiji cared about at the moment. "Hiruzen seems to think that help will come soon."

"Help, huh?" Eiji mused. What help could it be? Jiraiya was supposed to be in the village, so the seal part should be taken care of. What else was there to…?

'Tsunade?' The Satou realized. Around this time was when the Toad Sannin had gone after the woman with Naruto to get her to be Hokage. Hiruzen was alive though, so… 'They sent for her just to heal me?'

It was… a possibility, he supposed. He'd earned at least some favor from Danzo, he was sure, even if he wasn't sure the extent of it. Hiruzen liked him well enough too, he guessed. He wasn't on Naruto's level on that front, but he was high enough… maybe. 'Then again, maybe there are other reasons for that call. It would be kind of presumptuous to think it's just for me,' Eiji thought to himself.

"On this side, well..." The boy looked at the Beast and at Kage. "I enlisted Kage's assistance. Things were getting out of hand really fast over here," He explained, putting emphasis on the shard's new name, which Hachi seemed to pick up on instantly but didn't question.

"I see," His creation nodded slowly. "I'm sure he won't try anything. He's too afraid of the Void."

Eiji nodded along with that, picking up on what wasn't being said. 'Meaning that you won't for the same reason, huh?' He mused. After all, Hachi was a copy of Kage. Slightly modified, but a copy nonetheless and thus, he shared the shade of Orochimaru's experience in the Void. 'Guess I can trust them a little more then.'

"Can you help Kage contain the Beast? I want to finish repairing the Mindscape as quickly as possible," Eiji asked, forcing out the words. Knowing that he could trust them was one thing, actually trusting them was another altogether. Let alone that he wasn't hundred percent sure that he could trust them. There would always be that one little part of him that wouldn't, because of who they were. Eiji didn't see that as a bad thing though.

Once he gave Hachi the power to work on his Mindscape, same as he had with Kage, the boy started more thoroughly working on his Mindscape. He felt entirely too vulnerable with it in shambles as it was. It was horrifying, feeling like his own mind wasn't what it should be, didn't work as it should. He barely felt like himself anymore and he hated it.

Walls were strengthened, glasses were reformed, craters were filled, rubble was cleaned, everything went back where it should be. He worked to make everything even better than before. He added more details, he made things stronger, added more support to everything. He wanted his Mindscape to survive a Beast on the loose and he'd god damn make it so.

The Beast, everything came back to the Beast once more. Eiji really needed to decide what was up with that and what he wanted to do about it. He couldn't very well continue to contain it as he was. He'd never be able to leave the Mindscape for long like this. He couldn't leave Kage and Hachi alone with power over his mind, not for extended periods of time, at least.

That meant he had two choices, wait until someone on the outside found a way to solve his problem or try to solve it himself. Once he was done, he went back to Hachi and Kage, Eiji looked over the field where the Beast continued to fight, albeit weaker than before. Was there anything he could do in the first place? What could he do about such a thing, when he could barely contain it by himself?

Still, he had to do something.

He walked up to the barrier.

"Eiji?" A voice called from the side, and the boy was surprised to note that it was Kage. Maybe he really had changed, at least a bit. Stranger things had happened, he supposed. He would know.

Eiji ignored them though, taking step after step. Soon enough, he reached the invisible wall that contained the beast, which continued to twitch and twist on the ground. At least it wasn't thrashing around causing mini-earthquakes.

He continued walking until he was past the shield.

"Eiji!" This time it was Hachi who called, but he was ignored too.

The boy's mind focused on shielding himself in case this backfired. He was doing something crazy, but he wasn't absolutely insane. He didn't think so, at least. He was pretty sure he could tank one of the Beast's hits if he focused his mind solely on protecting himself from that. The thing might be strong, but this was still his Mindscape.

The Beast stopped moving, apparently sensing his approach. How, Eiji didn't know. After all, it didn't have any eyes at the moment, nor ears or nose or whatever else it could use to be aware of its surroundings. Regardless, the thing stood still, and the boy almost felt like it was staring at him.

'Nothing more dangerous than a trapped animal,' He reminded himself even as he steeled his resolve.

He kept on walking until he was almost touching the gigantic creature. It had pulled itself up on its eight… limbs, and drawn back against the barrier like a spider. He would know, Eiji liked to think he knew one thing or two about arachnids. The fact that the Beast that had basically destroyed his whole Mindscape was acting like a scared insect was both amusing and bemusing.

Eiji could hear the two people behind him calling and warning him, but he ignored them. He needed to do something. God knew what could be happening outside now that canon was officially out the window. Events could be hastened, worsened, or both. He couldn't just be doing nothing in his Mindscape while the world went to shit.

When he took another step, the Beast pressed itself against the invisible wall. It let out a threatening growl-hiss-gurgle, but its body gave the truth away. It was scared of him, Eiji realized.

For a long moment, he stood there, contemplating that new information. 'Of course…' He thought, eyes widening. 'It was just born, it doesn't know anything at all. A very confused and very powerful creature… no wonder it wreaked havoc here. Our attempts to contain it probably didn't help with that either, not that we could have done something different...'

The question for now was, could he use this information?

Probably.

Changing his approach a little, tried to project calm and assurance. Not only with his body language and expression but also literally. He didn't know how well that would work since he'd never attempted such a thing, but he'd made some crazy stuff happen in his mindscape. Surely this wasn't too crazy, right?

Evidently, something worked, because he could see the Beast relaxing. Not much, but it was noticeable, at least. 'Now, how to go from here.'