Chapter 153: Before the storm.

In that dark place, only 6 days had passed since the extraction of the Bijū, Rokubi, began. Because there were few members left in the organization, it was more difficult to perform the ritual, which now took twice as long to finish.

Toru, sitting on the statue of Pain next to Konan, opened his eyes after so long and saw that, on the other side of the communication jutsu, Sasuke appeared carrying a person in his arms.

He threw the captured man to the ground forcefully and then turned around. "There's your Jinchūriki, I hope you keep your promise" Sasuke looked pretty badly hurt when he said that.

This surprised Toru a bit. He had a feeling that Madara would convince Sasuke to join Akatsuki, but it seems he pulled it off easier than he thought.

Still... 'What is that crap' He felt like laughing at the sight of the Jinchūriki, how could Sasuke, having the Sharingan, have missed this? It was so funny that Toru almost laughed in front of everyone.

On the other hand, Madara narrowed his eyes and then looked at Toru. "You did a good job capturing the Rokubi, Toru. You grew to become strong, I'm proud."

"Konan helped me..."

"I think it was the opposite."

Sasuke, who was present there, was somehow annoyed to see Toru. So he simply turned around and left the place. However, Madara watched him try to leave and curiously asked him. "Where are you going, Sasuke?"

"To heal my wounds and then... to Konoha."

Sasuke looked at Toru knowing that he has important people there. At the same time, Toru looked at him expressionless. Nagato, Konan and Kisame had already disconnected from the communication jutsu, so now it was just the three of them.

Madara, hearing this sighed.

Toru had no business here anymore. So he decided to leave. "I'll go back to Amegakure. Pain says we shouldn't waste time, so you should take care of that" Without saying anything else, Toru looked at the Hachibi lying on the ground and shook his head just before disappearing.

Madara had noticed as well, but he wanted to wait to see if Sasuke noticed as well.

-Konohagakure-

Both kunoichi were watching the butterflies fluttering free in the garden. Both were silent, remembering again and again that event, that reunion that has not been able to get out of the head of these girls and that, at the same time, does not let them sleep at night.

He had changed, the Toru of three years ago had completely disappeared.

"We don't know what Toru went through to make him end up that way. We need to understand, to comprehend... We are short of information. We should-"

"Hinata..."

"Yes?"

"Can you stop acting like an ANBU kunoichi for a second? Go back to being your usual Hinata. I feel uncomfortable when you're so serious."

Hinata clenched her fists. She was trying to hide everything she felt deep in her heart, that was how she trained, that was how she should have acted being ANBU kunoichi. The Hinata of the past was gone, no, that scared and shy girl was still hidden deep in her heart, deep in her memories. Ino understood this and tried to encourage her best friend. They both understood what the other felt, as they both love Toru and want to bring him back to Konoha, but Toru doesn't seem to want to go back.

"He hates us. Not just us, but the whole village..." Ino smiled sadly. "But what can we do to make him forgive us? Surely he felt that his entire home village turned its back on him when he was accused of being a criminal. Surely he was alone for a long time, running away without stopping while everyone here lives peaceful lives..."

"It's unfair, isn't it?"

"It is... too much..."

"Onee-san, Ino-senpai, I brought cookies, do you want some?" A girl much like Hinata appeared. She smiled leaving a plate with cookies on the ground, place where Hinata and Ino were sitting looking at the garden.

"Thank you, Hanabi-chan. You're adorable," Ino said.

"Aren't you? Hahaha." Sitting down next to her sister, she took one of the cookies from the plate and popped it into her mouth. "So, did Nii-san get cuter?"

Hinata and Ino looked at Hanabi with confused expressions. Hanabi almost dropped her food when she saw the expressions of these girls. Well, Hinata and Ino were holding a cookie in their hand while looking at Hanabi with a slight frown.

"Well, it's been a long time. Just like Onee-san, Nii-san must have also grown up in many places, right?" She finished eating her cookie and scratched her head. "I'm graduating from Shinobi Academy soon. So before long I'll be able to accompany them on the search for Toru-nii-san."

"Hanabi, I don't think this has anything to do with you, we-"

"Onee-san... Nii-san promised many years ago that he would come back to visit our house. remember? I have to make him keep his promise. Otherwise, Nii-san shouldn't consider himself a man if he doesn't keep the promises he makes."

Hinata didn't know what to argue at that.

On the other hand, Ino sighed and ate a cookie with a smile. "It's true... Toru has grown a lot. He's gotten taller, more handsome, but his look..." Toru's look was duller than before.

It looked like that boy had indeed suffered a lot or that's how Hinata and Ino saw him.

"Well, don't be depressed. You have me here with you, so I'll give you some cheering up. And I'm going to get some milk for the cookies. I'll be back in a few seconds."

Hanabi ran off inside the house. They looked at each other and smiled. That energetic girl somehow managed to lift their spirits.

"We should get stronger. As it is, we won't be able to convince him to come back." Ino lay down on the wooden floor and Hinata watched her.

"I agree with that, but if Toru refuses..."

"Like Naruto said that time: if he won't go back to the village the easy way, then I'll break his legs and arms and bring him back the hard way."

"Fufufu... that would be too much..."

"I know. I don't want to force him to return, but I can't let him stay on the enemy's side either."

Toru will die at any moment if he continues to be on the enemy's side. That's how these girls think, and they are certainly right. He has only gotten involved with very dangerous people, but it was all part of the decisions he made over the years. If at some point Toru dies, it will only be because of the decisions he made, after all, Fate can easily be shaped.

-Myōbokuzan-

Natural energy filled his body, strange pigmentation surrounded his eyelids and, when he opened his eyes, his pupils resembled those of a toad. The old toad in front of him smiled. For, in the middle of that great rocky slope, where the rocks looked like needles pointing to the sky, Naruto, sitting on a board on one of the rocks, became one with nature.

'He did it much faster than Jiraiya-chan. If what Ōgama Sennin said is true, it could very well be Naruto the child of the prophecy, otherwise, Pain...' Fukasaku shook his head and decided not to think about it so much. A teacher should focus on giving knowledge to his student and, as with Jiraiya, Naruto should become strong and thus defeat Pain, so that the world would not be affected. 'It's also surprising that that Asahi clan boy managed to attain the Sennin Mōdo ... Naruto will have trouble with him, but since I was in that fight, I remember his way of fighting. I just need to teach Naruto a taijutsu that surpasses Pain and Asahi Toru...'

With this in mind, Fukasaku clenched his fist tightly. He remembered how Toru slit poor Jiraiya's throat and felt a lot of pain in his chest. His friend, student... yet he didn't want to blame Toru, since the main culprit of this was Nagato (Pain).

-Lightning Land, Kumogakure...

"First Yugito and now B..." The tall, dark-skinned man scowled and gritted his teeth as he gave the desk a good smack with the palm of his hand. "And yet, I can't believe B was defeated."

Across from him, there also stood a woman with light purple hair and tan skin. She, even though that big, muscular man in front of her was angry, kept her cool and nodded her head.

"We have received many communicator lizards from Jay. As soon as we discover the enemy's location, we will send 4 squads to destroy them and retrieve Killer B-sama."

The man frowned even more and under the Kage hat, which showed the kanji of (lightning) on the cloth, his gaze was boiling with anger. This man is obviously the Raikage, who so far learns that his adopted brother was kidnapped by the Akatsuki bastards.

"I heard that one of the idiots from the Uchiha clan was the one who kidnapped my brother, what the fuck is an Uchiha doing in Akatsuki!"

The woman answered the question calmly. "Uchiha Sasuke. He left his home village three years ago."

"Then why is it taking the damn Hokage so long to kill him! They solved the Hyūga case instantly!"

"That information is unknown to me, Raikage-sama..."

They both remained silent after that. The Raikage sighed wearily, as he hadn't been this angry in a long time. And to interrupt this moment of silence, one of the Kumogakure ninja entered the office in a rush, prostrating himself before the Raikage to then speak into the woman's ear.

The Raikage's ear could hear this, so he got up from his seat and banged on the table.

"What did you say!"

The woman calmly replied again. "It seems Jay was either eliminated or captured. We're still not sure of his location."

"Determine the location immediately based on the information we have and start the search! And I don't care if you need a whole battalion for that!"

"Yes, sir!" The ninja replied nervously and left the office.

The Raikage then looked at the woman and, a little calmer, sat back down in the chair near his desk. "Find Team Samui and send a quick message to Konoha. Tell them we're dealing with Uchiha Sasuke. While you're at it, get as much information from him as you can."

"Understood sir..."

"And one more thing! Arrange for a summit of the 5 Kages! We can't allow Akatsuki to go through with this stupidity!"

-Amegakure-

He felt pain, a lot of pain in his eyes. Everything was getting darker and darker. The light... he was losing his light... In his room, sitting on his bed, he touched his head in pain.

"I have little time left..." He got out of bed, but accidentally tripped over the chair nearby. This caused him to fall to the floor on his knees, leaving him staring at the floor. "No... there is no more time left..."

Even if he had reduced the use of the Kodō Shigan, the blindness kept increasing, more and more, no matter what. Toru even tried to develop a medicine that would reduce this condition, but it was useless. The light was fading, everything was going dark.

Suddenly, a small butterfly landed on his shoulder. He looked at it, as he was close he could see it quite well. There was a note there.

[Pain is calling you]

He sighed wearily and left the room. After a whole week, things in the world were starting to get even more hectic.

He walked through the corridors, frowning so he could see, but it was difficult. So he was forced to activate the Kodō Shigan. Now, with the lines of death showing into existence, it was easier to guide himself.

***

Soon he arrived at Pain's place and saw that all the paths were gathered together next to Konan. Animal Path, Preta Path, Human Path, Asura Path, Naraka Path and lastly... the Deva Path. They all looked at Toru, for he would be involved in what is coming next.

'There's something different... something is going to happen...' Toru could already expect what Nagato was going to tell him.

And Konan was only thinking about what decision this boy would make regarding that.

***

Moving through the forest, strange human figures spoke to each other. Suddenly, they encountered Konoha shinobi guarding the area, but one of the people quickly neutralized them.

It had only been a few hours since they left Amegakure, but they were already putting their plan into action.

Now...

They...

Are...

Out of Konoha...

"This is nothing compared to the pain the world will feel" An emotionless gaze, filled with the power of god, watches as blood spilled near his feet.

To be continued...

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Well, today is my birthday and, instead of receiving gifts, I decided to give them. So, after this chapter you'll get 2 more :D