Hidan & Oji

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 3: Naruto Next Generation

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Chapter 69- Hidan and Oji

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In the border village of the land of Waves, on the roof where Team 1, Mirai Sarutobi and Takeshi Minamoto just joined the rest of Team Konohamaru, Ao and Denki are holding their sensei who's slowly recovering from his injuries.

"What happened here?" asks Inoue, seeing the captain's burning wounds and stabbed shoulder.

"… While you kids were busy fighting each other, we ran into the boss of the enemy operation." says Denki.

Boruto quietly growls and looks away, still mad and ashamed of his quick defeat against Takeshi.

"It was Voodoo, a worldwide S-rank mercenary." adds Ao. "It seems like he's from the Tatari clan, and specialized in Jujutsu. He turned himself into a living voodoo doll and transferred any pain or wound we gave him to sensei."

"Hmm… Gladly, we have one of Lady 5th's students by our sides." says Mirai before turning around to see Izuna.

The young Uchiha nods at her, and steps forward. He kneels and gets by Konohamaru's side, to analyze his injuries. Ao and Denki mistrustfully look at him before stepping back and leaving their sensei to the medic genin.

Shosen Jutsu

He uses the mystical palm to enhance and accelerate the healing of the captain's injuries. He first closes the bleeding stab wound.

Sharingan

Using his Dojutsu, he observes the regeneration at macro cellular level, and upgrades the accuracy of his treatment, fastening it. He then localizes the burned regions and goes on to heal them too. Denki, acting stubborn, sighs and expresses her doubts.

"It's pointless. The enemy ran away without undoing his curse. Knowing the abilities of my own clan and those of the Jashinkyo, he could hurt him again, or even kill him, anytime from now."

"Jashinkyo?" asks Mirai. "What do they have to do with this man?"

"It doesn't matter." answers Ao. "All she's saying is that this brat shouldn't bother healing Konohamaru-sensei if he doesn't know how to undo the curse."

"There's gotta be an activation ritual or seal to this curse." says Izuna calmly, while finishing to heal the burns. "Did you notice anything?"

Ao and Denki don't answer, and just stare agape at the medic, surprised by his calm and cleverness. Mirai, eager to save her sensei, tries to figure it out.

"If it's got anything in common with the Jashinkyo's jutsu, then we have to find him. He must have swallowed sensei's blood."

"He didn't." says Denki. "But the opposite did happen. Sensei forcibly inhaled that man's blood. And now that you say it, it's true that this is when his curse was activated."

"So he swallowed blood. That's all I needed to know." says Izuna, who raises his hand, and shoves it down Konohamaru's mouth.

With his other hand, he applies his chakra on his captain's stomach.

"Boruto, could you give me a hand." he asks his teammate. "Use your Byakugan and tell me when my chakra in sensei's body turns dark."

Boruto does just as told, and signals his friend when the time comes. With the tip of his fingers, he reaches for Konohamaru's uvula and forces him to puke. The Sarutobi suddenly rises to sit and vomits the fluid that Izuna had carefully selected. Everyone comes closer to see the result of the young medic's intervention, and finds the puddle of stranger blood on the ground.

"Wow! Well done, friend!" compliments Takeshi.

Ao and Denki look at each other relieved but bitter. Konohamaru looks around and wonders how it played out.

"He ran away?" he first asks, not waiting for an answer as he already knows it. "What about those two we saw earlier? Did you beat them?"

"We stopped the woman, but she was suddenly struck by nothing and died." answers Inoue.

"I see… Voodoo really doesn't leave anything to chance."

"And I've killed that dude." adds Takeshi who carries the corpse of Yubo Kumi on his shoulders.

"Takeshi?" asks Konohamaru, just now noticing his nephew's presence. "What are you doing here?"

"Mizukage sent me to find some crooks and criminals around here." he answers. "So you fought an S-rank, huh?… I gotta find him. This could get me to win my bet with Suigetsu-sensei."

After a short silence, Inoue asks.

"So what now?"

"Humf… We're retreating for now." says Konohamaru as he stands up. "But I guess Takeshi's going after Voodoo."

"Come on, uncle! I know I'm strong, but I don't think I can beat an S-rank on my own yet." jokingly answers Takeshi, before looking at Ao and Denki.

"Could you two help me with this? You've fought him already."

"We figured out a few of his skills, but so did he." warns Denki.

"Ok, but he didn't see my moves." confidently answers Takeshi. "Just watch my back while I try him."

Ao and Denki look at Konohamaru, waiting for his approval. The captain simply nods his head to let them go.

"Don't jump in blindly. Try to figure him out." he specifies. "Keep your mouth covered and stay away from his blood. If needed, come back to me, and I'll help you. This goes for you too, Takeshi."

The Kiri-nin steps forward and drops Seal Fire's body at Boruto's feet.

"Could you drag him around for a while?" he demands, before looking at Izuna. "And thanks for saving uncle, Izuna."

"Right, I forgot to thank you, kid." adds Konohamaru. "You did great, as expected from Naruto's student."

Izuna just smiles in gratitude. Ao and Denki come closer to Takeshi waiting for his directives. When she passes next to the young Uchiha, the orphan from the Tatari clan whispers to him.

"This doesn't change anything."

To which Izuna doesn't answer. He just silently questions himself about what this was supposed to mean, or what it even was about. Takeshi looks around and guesses by which way the enemy could have left. He then stares at Ao and Denki before putting his mask up on his face.

"I'm going forward. Try to keep up!" he says before suddenly disappearing from their sight.

"Pff! Try to keep up, he says." complains Ao, who then uses Shunshin to leave the roof and go the same direction as the Kiri-nin.

Denki follows him, and they leave Konohamaru, Mirai and Team 1 alone on the roof, who are ready to head back to their settlement.

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Later, at Inari's place, the captain and his cousin are discussing today's events. When Inari's mother comes in to serve tea and sit down with them, they change the subject and speak of politics and weather instead. Meanwhile, Boruto and Izuna are sitting in the backyard with Inoue. The Yamanaka girl looks at them and tries to guess their feelings.

Boruto is reminding himself of his fight with Takeshi. He recalls everything that happened, from the moment Takeshi jumped in to kill his opponent, to the moment his back hit the ground.

"What am I even training for?" he desperately wonders. "I'm the son and student of the most powerful ninja ever, the heir prince of the Hyuga clan, yet I can't get any close to this bastard?"

"Don't get all hopeless, Boruto." answers Inoue. "Takeshi is just more experienced. Still, this fight wasn't all one-sided. The day you graduate to jonin rank, you'll beat his ass!"

After this simple attempt to cheer her first teammate up, she gets closer to Izuna and just passionately looks at him. She knows what's on his mind, but she has no idea what to say about it. She's surprised however, she had no idea Izuna was such a pure hearted boy. Out of ideas, she just sits down by his side, and keeps him warm.

Izuna doesn't even notice her. He stays lost in his thoughts, seeing the blasting throat of Rock Breeze, and the lightning of Takeshi piercing through Seal Fire's chest. He knew what a ninja's life and obligations mean, but in a time of peace? Why are people like him still brought to witness such violent and bloody experiences? What is the point of protecting peace, if we spread violence around ourselves anyway?

While everyone is busy in their own way, Takeshi, Ao and Denki come back and go to Konohamaru, who frantically stands up, eager to know what happened.

"We didn't find him." says Takeshi, annoyed.

"We had a lead, a cottage, but it was empty and cleaned up." adds Denki. "He was there, but is probably far away from this village by now."

"Mission failed then…" says Mirai, sadly.

"Yes…" answers Takeshi. "I'll really have to lose all my savings because of this stupid bet…"

Izuna, Boruto and Inoue walk in the living room to join everyone else. Konohamaru stands up.

"More seriously, if the enemy got away, our mission is seriously in trouble." he says. "Voodoo told it himself. He's a careful man. No trace of him is ever found on his crime scenes. And now I understand why."

"You think he gets his targets to drink his blood and terminates them with his Jujutsu a while later?" suggests Mirai. "And so it would mean he already did so for our VIP…"

"… And could kill him anytime from now." the captain completes.

Everybody look at each other, shocked by this discovery. It seems so obvious and inevitable, that they can only admit defeat.

"Izuna, can't you do the same thing you did to save Konohamaru-sensei?" asks Mirai, refusing to give up. "Can't you pull the blood out of the VIP?"

"Sorry, I can't." answers the Uchiha. "If he did curse him, it was many hours, or even a day ago. The consumed blood can't be found and extracted so easily anymore."

"There's gotta be a way!" yells Boruto. "I can't just fail my first high-rank mission! What if we seal that landlord guy, or transport him to another dimension?"

"How do you intend to do that?" asks Konohamaru. "No. Sorry, but we failed. It's not on you Boruto. Nobody could predict that an S-rank mercenary was onto him. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

Suddenly, someone knocks at the door. Tsunami, Inari's mother, who was sitting in the room and trying not to pay attention to the ninja's worries, stands up and goes for the door.

"Someone at the door, so late?" they hear Inari shout from his office. "Who could it be?"

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Away from this village, on a boat sailing away from the continent to the lands of Heart, Voodoo puts himself to ease in a cabin. He is sitting on a mattress lying on the ground, and banding his wounded hand up. With his shirt lifted up, he already took care of the injury left by the Sarutobi's Rasengan. Sitting alone in silence, he thinks of what is ahead for him.

His theory of a conspiracy still isn't proved wrong. The person who spread the contract must have been the same for the mercenaries and the ninjas. Someone who knew about his deal with the Chimera… These encounters with ninjas from Konoha are forcing him to step back for a while. Just like Guroi, alias the Ripper, did, he'll have to leave the continent and wait to be forgotten. It angers him. The responsible for this plan must have wanted to get him out from the market, or away from the continent…

Does this person know about his personal life? Do they know about his daughter, and are trying to secretly reach her? No, this can't be. Not even the Chimera knows about his motivations. Anyway, all these worries and thoughts are only distractions from what is left to do. He may be stuck in a corner, but he still has the possibility to finish his task.

While pretending to be a hired bodyguard for his target, he got him to drink his blood by mixing it with his beverage at the cafe. He stands up and goes to grab a pill lying on a table.

Jujutsu – Tenso Hyoketsu

His body turns red, covered with white skeleton markings. He activates the curse lying on his target, who's currently at its home, a country distance away, clueless. Voodoo closes his eyes, and opens his mouth. As he brings the pill to his mouth, he suddenly feels a fast breeze blow through the room.

The mercenary opens his eyes and sees his hand, empty. The pill disappeared. Behind him, he hears a friendly but stranger voice.

"A cyanide pill? This is how you end your victims?"

Voodoo turns around and sees him, standing cozily in the corner. The 7th Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, is examining the pill he holds in his hand. First overtaken by fear at the sight of such a glorious and dangerous person, he relaxes when he sees the friendly look on the man's face.

"It is the fastest way I could think of." he says as he leaves the table. "It ensures death within 3 minutes, but isn't painless."

"And you consuming the pill wouldn't leave you any effect?" answer Naruto who goes to sit next to the mattress. "This truly is a dangerous curse jutsu you use."

The Hokage invites the bounty hunter to sit with him. He does. Voodoo lays down and sits on his mattress, face to face with Naruto.

"My first C-rank mission was on this land. And it turned out to be A-rank." tells Naruto. "Now, thanks to you, my son's first mission on this land was also wrongly tagged."

"I'm sorry for what I've brought your ninjas through." says Voodoo. "But you certainly understand that business is business. I had a job to do, and they were on my way."

"It's fine. They're all safe now. You spared Konhamaru when you clearly could have killed him. I'm actually thankful for that."

"And you came here to make sure your students don't fail their mission?" asks the mercenary, getting no answer. "I suppose I should consider meeting you as an ultimate defeat. You won't let me leave like nothing, do you?"

Naruto simply nods to answer. Voodoo stays silent for a moment, trying to accept his fate, and goes on with more apologies.

"I'm sorry for what I've exposed your son to."

"My son is tough. It's more Izuna that I'm worried about."

"Every kid deserves a peaceful youth, away from the dirty world we live in…" Voodoo explains. "But they were here as ninjas. Understand I can't go easy on children. I myself have a daughter that I'd like to keep away from this side of me. If I have to choose between someone else's innocence and hers, the choice is quickly made."

Naruto doesn't answer. He thinks of his own daughter and of her future. He wonders if she'll want to pursue a ninja life just like her brother… Voodoo gets him off his train of thought with an out-loud thought.

"Wherever I end up now is certainly not by her side… I don't think she'll ever forgive me for leaving her."

"What's your name? Your real name I mean." asks Naruto, who has a lot to question him about.

"… Oji. Oji Tatari." he answers, mistrustful at first.

"So, Oji, you're from Yu, huh? And you knew Hidan from Akatsuki? I've actually never met him. I think he's the only Akatsuki member I've never seen in person."

"Hidan was my student, before our village dropped the military way. When our work as ninjas was brought to an end, one evening, Hidan came to me in a hurry. He had just sacrificed all his neighbors and wanted me to help him desert the village."

"He sacrificed them? To this Jashin thing?"

"The Jashinkyo is something we've come across during a mission. It is a sect based on beliefs as old as ninjas. We found legends, promises, and methods of worshiping. We both found much interest in them. But to think he would get into practice was unexpected. Having nothing else to live for at that time, I left with him, and my younger brother. Once gone, we followed the traces of the Jashinkyo and found them."

"A group of worshipers?"

"Exactly. Their leader told us about the promise of immortality. An individual chosen by Jashin-sama himself would be made immortal by our sacrifice."

"Is it how Hidan became immortal? Why did the cult leader choose him?"

"Still have no idea. He said it was revealed to him in a dream that Hidan was Jashin's chosen one. And so, my brother and I ended up participating in the ritual that made my student immortal."

"Didn't this ritual require you to die?"

"It did. But my faith in this god was weak. I was too lucid to believe that immortality could come from such an absurd process… That day there were 21 people, excluding Hidan. We were split in groups of 7 and put at each summit of a triangle, with the chosen one in the middle. All using Shiji Hyoketsu, we cursed Hidan and had to kill ourselves. I was in one circle. My brother in another, and the cult leader in the last one. Seeing this scenery, I woke up to reality, and refused to participate. As we were all bathing in my student's blood, at the exact moment where everyone stabbed through their heart, I refused to do so, and hopefully, my brother too."

"So how did Hidan gain his abilities then?"

"The cult leader had foreseen our betrayal, and lied to us. The required number of worshipers at each end of the triangle was 6, not 7. As my brother and I refused to sacrifice our lives, the leader did the same. And the 18 others were enough for the ritual to work. At first, only the 3 of us were left living, until Hidan woke up and. He rose from this stone table he was lying on and walked, unharmed, toward the leader. That old bastard got exactly what he wanted and, just to test it out, used the curse jutsu on my student to see if he'll survive. He did. Hidan had become immortal."

"How is that possible?"

"To this day, I still don't have a clue. But my denial of Jashin-sama turned into angst and fear. To know this ritual really got the chosen one rid of any vital need, made clear to me that this entity had to be real in some form."

"… What happened then?"

"We left the cave, like nothing happened. From these events, Hidan became extremely self confident and greedy. My brother, refusing to believe what he's seen, left us and disappeared… Few months passed and to survive, I had us sign up for bounty hunting jobs. This must have gotten Akatsuki's attention. Shortly after, we were approached by a young woman with purple hair and paper wings. She invited us to join her organization."

"Why didn't you accept?"

"I knew Hidan was getting out of hand. For my own safety, I had to let him go. This was the right moment to leave him to someone else. I think he was 17 at the time… So I rejected this invitation, but he accepted. Oddly, this woman was very civil about it and calmly accepted my answer… Hidan went on to capture Nanabi and Nibi with the great Kakuzu. As you should know, he was later defeated and left for dead by ninjas of Konoha. But to this day, I'm still certain that wherever he is, he lives. Or that he would at least, be easy to bring back to his senses if ever found."

"That's not gonna happen." says Naruto as he stands up. "You know, I knew the founders of Akatsuki very well. To hear about their other members, and their more humane side is nice… You seem like a good person actually, as I expected. You're just making your way in this world just like ninjas do, but without laws and control of a village. Pretty much like the members of Akatsuki I knew."

A brief silence then occupies the room. Oji stands up and asks for his future.

"May I suggest a way you could dispose of me?"

"I'm listening."

"You could leave me to the Hunter-nin who's with your students in the land of Waves. He'll deliver me to Kiri where I'll gladly trade my knowledge for my survival."

"Your knowledge?"

"It may not look like it, but I am the 3rd most influential and demanded mercenary in the world. Before Crow's arrival and Killin' Kiss unexpected rise, I was 1st, followed by Ripper that I believe you've heard of already… So I have a lot of intel to provide about those people who visibly decided to betray me."

"Betray you?"

"You wouldn't get it. And I won't bother explaining."

"Anyway, your plan sounds good, Oji. Let's make it an agreement." answers Naruto, who holds his hand out for Oji to shake it.

The bounty hunter shakes the Hokage's hand and therefore, accepts to surrender. Not like he had much of a choice when in front of the most influential man in ninja history.

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In the border village of the land of Waves, in Inari's family residence, the person who knocked at the door walks in the living room at the same time as Inari who comes to check who it is.

"Holy crap! It's you!" exclaims the carpenter. "Naruto!"

"Hi Inari! It's been a long time." answers the Hokage's clone, before looking at all the ninjas gathered in the room. "Mission accomplished. Nobody else is after the VIP, and Voodoo is surrendering."

Takeshi, Team 1 and Team Konohamaru who all jumped off the ground out of surprise and stood as seriously and honorably as possible when they saw him walk in, all make flabbergasted faces.

"Takeshi, Your orders are to bring him safely to the Mizukage." adds Naruto.

"For real?" asks Takeshi, doubtful at first, but reassured then. "Well, looks like somehow, I'll keep my savings. Thank you very much, Lord Hokage."

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A few hours later, across the ocean, on the continent that lies south of the 5 great nations, the Land of Heart, in the village hidden in light (Hikarigakure), the young mysterious sovereign, Oshio Uchiha, now aged 15, stands on the balcony, looking over his people.

Behind him, Akiko Yamanaka and Killin' Kiss join him, while chatting about recent events from the continent.

"Didn't go down exactly as intended, but it's the same result." says Meinu, the oldest of the group. "With Voodoo out, there's only me and Crow remaining as the top class of the job. Which gives me more influence over the rulers of this underworld."

"And so what?" asks Akiko. "Does it give us any more power over the 5 nations?"

Before she can answer, Oshio turns around, looks at them, and speaks up to get in the conversation.

"Is your plan to recruit new work forces among the lower ranked hunters?" he asks Meinu. "To what end?"

"The Shinobi Union is growing in confidence." she answers. "It won't take long before they try to approach this land and become aware of our plans."

"Don't worry about this. The day they discover us is when we'll let them do it. Was that two way anonymous mission contract just a pretext to get rid of Voodoo, or is there anything else?"

"This has nothing to do with you, but I have some plans with this landlord and village. Personal, I mean. But this whole secret operation will pay, you'll see. I already have a bunch of bounty hunters from both continents ready to join our forces."

"Our forces?"

"Yes. I took care of that these last years. We have a secret alliance with some mercenary allies across the sea. And I'll try to get in touch with people from the Tomoe clan. We just need to mobilize our people, and we'll be ready for action."

Oshio turns around and looks down at his village again.

"I will not send my people to fight my conflicts. It would go against my values… Girls, can you get everyone assembled in the throne room? We have much to discuss. We're soon to get in action."

"Finally!" yells Akiko. "Wouldn't have waited any longer!"

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End of Chapter 69 – Next Chapter: Izuna's Nindo