Chapter 57: How to create a Monster: for Dummies

*Cough cough cough* the Daimyo coughed up droplets of blood as he coughed nonstop before falling back down onto his bed and panting.

A woman sat next to him with a worried expression and red, swollen eyes as she looked at the state of her husband. The man had grown older in weeks, his complexion was as pale as a sheet of paper. The hair on his head had completely fallen off and the man had become as thin as a starving beggar.

"Please, my love! Call back Lord Shin! He can find Lady Tsunade once more! If not then isn't he also a doctor! At Least let him heal you!" the woman pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"*cough cough* No!" the man yelled, "Yukina! He needs to protect my daughter *cough cough*and my grandson!" The man remained adamant.

"I *cough* I will not sacrifice another one of my children!" spoke the man with conviction.

"But my love, you are the ruler of these lands, who will care for this country if you die!" cried the woman.

The man pondered in silence, even though he had a son that was kind and well liked by the other nobles. The man still couldn't shake the feeling that it was a snake's smile.

Daimyo had been seeing that same smile on the faces of the surrounding nobles since his youth and was very aware of it. Seeing it on his own son didn't fill him with confidence. Especially since the time Shin had asked the daimyo about the ninjas in the prince's employ. Daimyo had never known about this so he tasked him and some of his own trusted men to keep an eye on who the prince met up with.

It came as no small surprise that most of the nobles the prince spent time with were of the faction that supported war. In fact, investigations revealed that most of the nobles that had suffered misfortune were from the faction that opposed war.

There was no evidence that the prince was involved, but the man's gut told him otherwise. Regardless, as a father, he could not punish his only living son and heir.

In the midst of this inner turmoil, the guard posted outside his quarters called out, "Your highness! Lord Hirano just arrived!"

"What!?" the daimyo cried out, for the first time ever, he felt angry at Shin, for ignoring his command and for putting his daughter and grandson in danger.

He tried to get up but his body failed him and he fell back to his bed. The woman beside him held him, trying to help him sit up when the door to the room opened and Shin appeared, "Your highness." he bowed slightly before entering.

The daimyo looked at Shin in anger and relief. No matter how much he denied it, he was glad that Shin was here. Afterall no man truly wanted to die if it was unavoidable and Shin being here presented him with a hope.

But No matter how relieved he was, the daimyo still had to reprimand him for disobeying him. Before the man could speak however, Shin spoke up first, "I'm sorry to come here without notice but I had no choice, the news of your health getting worse was quite concerning." Shin bowed slightly in apology before continuing, "As for the princess, I had Konoha send a special squad for her protection, not to mention I left Pineapple there." SHin spoke confidently.

"The…cat?" the daimyo asked in confusion. 

"Yes, Pineapple can easily contend with a Jonin." Shin explained, leaving the man and woman in surprise, they never knew that the cute cat that they had considered to be a pet was actually so strong.

After the pleasantries and explanations got out of the way, Shin moved next to the daimyo and inspected his body before opening his eyes in shock, "This…" he stopped himself from speaking.

"What is it, tell me." the daimyo pleaded.

Shin nodded and started to speak in a solemn tone, "There are worm like parasites inside you, why didn't you call me, I could have treated you early but now…" he shook his head.

"Parasites!?" cried the woman beside them, "None of the doctors said anything about parasites! Are you sureLord Shin?" She doubted his diagnosis.

"Yes I am." nodded Shin, "I have seen these before, they are very rare, only found in one location near the land of rivers. They feed on chakra but are indetectable through the means of chakra. I could only detect them due to natural energy." he explained.

"Is there a cure?" asked the daimyo.

Shin shook his head, "None that I know of, but I will go there nonetheless. There is a settlement near the area, if there is a cure, it will be there!" Shin promised.

"Is it infectious?" the man asked in a worried tone.

"I don't know…" Shin answered. He hesitated before speaking again, "I think it's best that you limit contact with others in the meantime." he suggested.

...............

"It's been a while, are you sure you weren't followed? That last thing my employer needs is your trouble." the shadow spoke in an aggressive tone. He had been trying to get in contact with this orange masked freak for months now but there was no news. Now that they had finally made contact, the shadow wanted to make sure that his employer wouldn't be caught due to the heat the Akatsuki brought.

"Yes, now get to business." threatened the masked man. He didn't have time to waste on this but this was good money and could also be used to blackmail the person behind the shadow so he had decided to accept this job.

"Whatever, we have made the opportunity for you. The target will be traveling back to his fief for a month, that's the cover story at least… he would actually be traveling to the land of rivers to look for a cure for the daimyo. I just hope you are up for this." The shadow questioned his competence as they had already failed a mission once, "If your people had killed Princess Youhi as planned, my employer would have much less trouble!'

"50 million Ryo." demanded the masked man, ignoring the taunt.

"Ugh." Groaned the shadow, it was a very steep price but he knew it was the only option he had so he accepted, "Fine, but you do know that having more people won't help right? The only way to take him down is in one swift blow." the man commented.

"Don't worry, Shin Hirano will soon be dead and the prince's secret will be safe." spoke the masked man with a slight amusement right before disappearing and leaving behind a flustered shadow.

"Damn prick!" The shadow cussed, he was surprised at the identity of the prince being revealed but he also knew why the masked man had revealed it; clearly the Akatsuki wanted more than just money in return for this favor.

The shadow sighed, "Whatever, it doesn't change the employer's plans. As soon as that man dies, we move on to the second part of phase 4. After that… heheheh The employer would be king and no one would be able to defy us! Heheheheheh!" the shadow let out an evil laugh that turned girly half-way through.

The shadow looked around to see if anyone heard him before shaking his head, "Get it together shadow! Time to go round up the others!" and he vanished from the alleyway.

............…

In the land of rivers, there were many secrets. Many lost civilizations once called this place home.

Among the various secrets hidden at every bend of every river that flowed through this place, was a field of pure white lilies. The long stalks of the flowers waved freely in the wind, the vapor from the nearby river showering the entire field.

At night, this field glowed with a ghostly glow and all who entered this place unprepared found themselves victims of an unbreakable curse. To stop the spread of the curse, the cursed would be brought to this field to die.

The lilies that bloomed here through every season, moved at their own will and passerby often heard eerie rustling sounds, hence earning the name; "Ghost Lily Orchard".

But to those more scientifically inclined, these flowers in this place had a slightly different name, Ghost grass parasites.

Apparently, the lilies were not lilies at all but worm-like parasitic creatures clumped together that communicated with each other by moving the stalks underneath and creating a rustling sound.

Under the moonlight, these parasites seemed to glow brighter, lightning up the surrounding area and luring victims to their demise.

Near these ghostly fields, A man with an orange mask sat on a tree trunk, observing the area around him carefully. Obito had been given this location by shadow so he waited here for Shin. There were not many that could swiftly take care of someone like Shin and he didn't wish to leave anything to chance.

"Are you sure you can handle him alone? According to the rumors, he is as fast as the Raikage." spoke a giant plant-like creature, protruding from the side of the tree Obito was sitting on.

"I will be fine." Obito said shortly, "Go and observe Itachi and Kisame, we cannot allow the mission to fail." he commanded and the plant-like creature sank back into the tree and disappeared.

It was the dead of night and no sounds could be heard except for the singing of crickets and the rushing of the river.

'Finally.' Obito thought as he saw a hooded figure walk through the forest and walk towards the Ghost Lilies. The figure bent down and unfurled a scroll, plucking one of the flowers and sealing it inside the scroll before turning around. The figure started to walk towards the village just outside the forest when Obito decided to make his move.

Obito flickered, launching himself towards the figure and before it could react, he plunged a kunai in its head. Obito's eyes widened as he felt the kunai stab into the figure's skull but his mind refused the kill, 'No, it's far too easy.' his gut cautioned him yet the physical sensation of his body told him otherwise, he had definitely killed him.

Obito pulled out his kunai and removed the hood, the face that was revealed was not the one he had seen in the picture. 'A civilian? No! His movements were the same as that of a trained ninja!' He observed the body with his sharingan and caught the sight of thin strands of chakra attached from the body, 'A puppet? That means the puppeteer must be close!' He followed the strings and came upon a clearing where he saw a young man sitting in meditation.

Obito used his sharingan to observe the person and found no indications of it being a decoy. "You definitely live up to your reputation, but I don't believe I have ever heard of you being a puppeteer." Obito praised and then questioned him.

"You can never truly believe the rumors now can you? Afterall, seeing is believing." Shin spoke in a casual tone, his eyes still closed. "Still, I was wondering when you'd show up." Shin opened his eyes and looked at the man in the mask.

Obito felt a chill in his spine, looking into those black eyes, Obito felt as if the young man before him was the one with the sharingan and not him. Still he decided to trust in his own abilities, afterall, there was no attack that could harm him and even if Shin was fast, he still couldn't be faster than the fourth hokage.

"You have been expecting me? It seems I was not the one being followed that day. Have you already figured out the identity of the one causing chaos in the land of fire?" Obito asked in curiocity.

"He is rather willful, that young prince." Shin revealed that he knew of the prince's antics, "Still, nothing will come from exposing him, he is next in line to be the king after all and the daimyo would never truly punish him." Shin sighed as he stood up. "Well then, shall we get on with this?" He drew his sword.

Obito looked down at Shin from the tree top, "We don't have to fight. I know of your history. You lost your father when the nine tails attacked, then your mother. You even had to kill your own friend due to the weakness of the hokage! Join me and together we can create a world where no one would have to suffer like you did." The masked man invited him.

Seeing that his words had not even caused a ripple on Shin's face, Obito sighed, "So be it."

Obito flickered from the tree top with a kunai in hand, flying towards Shin. Shin on the other hand remained still, his sword pointing towards the ground as Lightning started to crackle and arc around him. As Obito drew closer, Shin raised his sword and pointed it at the incoming man.

Just as the sword was about to impale him, Obito traveled across the length of the sword unharmed. Shin swung the sword, moving it in front of him to defend against the incoming kunai but Obito passed through Shin completely before turning around to stab his head but Shin turned his sword and stabbed behind him. The kunai passed right through Shin as he rushed away but as he did, Obito wrapped his chains around the sword and yanked it away.

Shin stopped several meters away. Obito ran up to him, once more brandishing the Kunai and trying to stab him.

Shin remained still as he brought his hand up and strands of chakra started to swirl inside his half closed hand, quickly taking the form of a ball.

Obito's eye widened when he saw the Rasengan, memories of its power flashed through his mind, but he was far too close to Shin to dodge as his own momentum was carrying him forwards. Shin thrust his hand forwards as Obito passed through his Rasengan and then him before materializing behind him.

As soon as Obito was behind Shin, he used his chains to restrict Shin but he disappeared in an instant, appearing next to a tree several meters away, his back defenselessly facing Obito.

Obito was confused, he was very familiar with this technique, "Rasengan and flying thunder god. Just who are you!?" he asked with anger as an uncomfortable feeling grew deep inside him. He knew the power these two techniques, when combined, could unleash, he had suffered against them many years ago. But the unsettling feeling inside him resulted from facing them again, together and from a man that had never demonstrated them before.

As Obito was facing inner turmoil, Shin started to chuckle, the chuckle soon turning into a laughter as his voice echoed through the forest like the cackling of a madman.

Shin abruptly turned towards the confused Obito and the masked man froze, "How!? It's impossible!"

Before Obito stood Shin, his red eyes with 4 spiral black patterns looking at the man with unhinged madness, "Oh you have no idea how long I have been waiting for this! Khekhekhekhe." Shin laughed, "All these years! All those dreams and fantasies of this moment! About What I would do when we met! Oh! The things I have planned! So many~"

Shin rambled on as Obito racked his mind in confusion, he had never thought this was a possibility, "You are a Uchiha?" Obito demanded in shock.

Shin made a confused face, "Uchiha? Of Course not! Though I do suppose… I am part Uchiha… If anything," Shin brandished a frightening smile, "I am the vengeance of the Uchiha, of all the clansmen you slaughtered! And all those you killed with the nine-tails!" Shin screamed at the man, his throat straining under the force. "I am the vengeance that has come to collect its dues!" a sinister smile blossomed on his face as he stared at Obito unblinkingly.

"What!?" Obito was dumbfounded, "How could you know about that!?" he shouted, trying to dispel the growing fear in his heart but failed. Shin saw the pattern inside the madman's eyes and knew it to be mangekyuo. Obito didn't know the power that resided in those eyes while he had just demonstrated his own.

Obitio had put himself at a disadvantage while Shin's abilities were unknown to him, instead of fighting a losing battle, Obito decided to retreat inside the kamui dimension.

Space twisted as Obito succeeded himself inside his personal dimension. The last thing he saw were the burning red eyes and a victorious smile of a demon.

Once inside, Obito heaved a sigh of relief. He still felt shivers as he remembered the crazed look on Shin. 'but how did he even get those eyes!' He racked his brain but was unable to comprehend it.

"Itachi!" his brain fed him the idea, "They were friends and Itachi failed to kill him when he was unarmed and defenseless? It was surely a plot of those two!" He had never truly trusted Itachi and always knew that the man's true loyalty was with Konoha but he never imagined that the two had plotted this.

"Quite right, but he was merely a messenger." Obito felt shivers as a strange voice sounded from behind him. Obito felt fear as his entire body seemed to be made out of rock but he still gathered enough strength to turn his head around but then despair struck him as he saw his own eye staring back at him.

"H-how?" he muttered before everything faded to black.

The last thing he saw was darkness gathering towards the red-eyed demon before him as it muttered with an emotionless expression, "The monster you released all those years ago in Konoha was not the 9-tailed fox… The monster you unleashed was me. You unleashed me onto this world."