Chapter 17

"You thought i was dead and gone, but you should've known me better." A black cloaked man spoke, overlooking the village of Konoha with his bandage wrapped right hand outstretched so in his view the entire village sat on his palm.

Sitting on the branch of one of the tallest trees surrounding the village, the man's cloak was covered in crimson clouds, and on the back had the Sora Kanji for Sky.

His hooded cloak covered his head down and opened around the waist to not get in his way while fighting or moving about, as he wore dark black pants with open toed sandles on his bandaged feet.

"Come Karito, it's almost time we start."

By his side was another man with a similar cloak, spiky orange hair, a rain village headband with a slash through it, pale purple Rinnegan eyes, and many black rod like piercings in his nose and ears.

"Of course, Nagato, it's been so long since I've seen their faces."

The man said as the orange haired man soon walked into the tree.

Making a crushing gesture with his hand before looking towards you, his cold crimson eyes resembled the Rinnegan with thin white circles filled with murderous intent.

"It's not nice to eavesdrop, you know." As he spoke, the surroundings suddenly shifted into darkness as he soon held an entire planet resembling earth in his hand before crushing it.

"I may not be a god yet, but it's still enough to cross the fourth wall. Now's not the time to view my story, run along, or I'll have to gut you."

. . .

. .

.

Four days passed in the blink of an eye as Shinku waited in what looked like a dim torch lit warroom with a map of the world in the center on a large table.

After arriving at the Tavern earlier, Summer had guided him to the back and down another flight of winding stairs. It was only then that the man noticed the almost imperceptible traces of space Fūinjutsu allowing the seemingly dead tower to hide such a massive underground facility.

This also made Shinku wonder who the artisan and Fūinjutsu master were that crafted such an intricate design if he hadn't realized it until now.

The two had eventually reached the end of the stairs, revealing the massive limestone room lined with ancient barbaric weapons to the current Era.

On the ceiling were almost indecipherable diagrams that told a story or history.

"Now then, hot stuff, why don't we have ourselves a little... intimate discussion before Odin arrives." Summer soon took Shinku's hand and led him over toward a sofa on the other side of the room.

Letting himself be dragged over to it, Shinku sighed, seeing how Summer, whom he had gotten guite close to over the months, had made another attempt at bedding him.

Unfortunately for her, this attempt still didn't bear any fruit as the moment the two reached the sofa, Shinku had knocked her out with a gentle acupuncture press before laying her down and sat beside her as he waited for Odin to arrive.

Shinku's gaze swept over the ceiling, committing the tale to his memory on the very slim chance of it coming in hand one day.

Images of the moon, sun, a tree, and a fruit. A horned woman who was being worshiped, two men opposing one another. A horned man who was being stabbed by the woman. A flood and a war.

Step... Step... Step...

"I suppose I kept you waiting..."

Shinku soon shifted his gaze to Odin, who had just entered the hall with a white-haired red eyed boy at his side.

"Indeed you did old man, so I certainly hope the information you had got through Summer's intelligence network is worth the time."

Shinku glared through his mask at the older man who limped over at a snails pace till he eventually reached the sofa opposite to Shinku. The child that was with him sitting beside him.

"What's with the brat?"

"What's with Summer? She's even more aware of the intel I'm going to give you than anyone."

"Don't fuck with me. You made the request of just the two of us, Summer only tagged along."

Sighing, worry fell over Odin. Seeing the young man he had previously taken in was already at the limits of his patience.

"The child will..."

"Odin."

Shinku's gaze was filled with annoyance since the old man was stalling.

"I see..."

With a small injection of chakra, Odin forced the boy into an unconscious state.

"I apologize. I wasn't considerate of who you would want knowing of your personal information, Shinku." Odin said, avoiding the sharp crimson eyes that stared him down. In the few months he has spent with the man, the more he came to realize just how much he didn't know about him.

At times, Shinku would display rather positive emotions and was a great guy to be around. But it also felt like a nob was turned flipping it all on its head as he became easily aggravated, a ticking time bomb. At times, he would even act like a man who's lost any reason to feel emotions.

It had taken the old man time to figure out how to adjust to the split personalities, especially when the person himself couldn't tell when his own personality switched.

"Get on with it."

"..."

"As part of our deal, Summer's underlings were tasked with uncovering all possible information, traces, remnants of a man named Shinku Shihouin, and if needed, they could resort to torture..."

Odin lowered his head.

"They went through the five great nations, infiltrated the kage towers, the daimyō castles, minor villages, but no traces of the man Shinku Shihouin had been found.

Nothing about your looks, characteristics, and abilities matched any of the records from the nation's. They especially focused on Kumo, though there were no records of anyone with similar skills and abilities as you."

Hearing Odins words, Shinku couldn't help but clench his fists in disappointment.

"The squads searched the minor, foreign, and abandoned nations. But it didn't matter how many people they interrogated or how many villages they infiltrated they continued to come up empty-handed.

It was as if the man Shinku Shihouin, the man sitting before me, never existed before Uzushiogakure. Though I'm sure you know, getting into Uzu is nigh impossible if you aren't knowledgeable about the swirling sea surrounding it."

Odin soon raised his head and gave Shinku a meaningful look.

'The answers you seek were at your doorstep the entire time.'

And

'Just where did a beast like you truly come from?'

"That's it? You found this so damn important that you requested I hear it directly from you and not through Summer!"

And this is what Odin wished didn't happen. And why, he made such a request.

"I did so because I need you to remain calm and think rationally. Summer would only poke the bear. I don't know exactly what you went through while in Uzu, but the people you think you know there have most likely been lying to you."

"..."

'I'll tell you everything, but not now. The truth can be burdensome if you know now, but when you are better, I'll tell you.' Shinku recalled the words Akame had told him every time he asked about his memories.

'That's him, isn't it? Why would lady Akame bring that thing into our village?'

'Monster!'

'Fiance? Don't make me laugh.'

'Yeah. I don't remember when, but I was obsessed with you way before we got together. So obsessed with making you mine. Now... I can't even stop you from leaving my side.'

'Why the hell are you allowed to just forget, but I'm forced to remember everything my Clone went through?'

Old memories arose, making Shinku frown. A seed of hate had been planted.

'Dammit, Akame.'

"Sigh. Thank you, Odin. I'll deal with Uzu at a later date and continue to repay my end of the deal. Now, I'm sure you were going to give an explosion on why you brought a child into a den of criminals."

Shinku rubbed his brow before leaning back in his seat. Irritated, Shinku suppressed the small voice, telling him to beat the answers out of the likes of Akame, Ruri, and Shiratama.

"Right. He's an oddity. I found the kid stowawayed on our ship coming back. I don't know at what point he hitched a ride since we docked dozens of times.

When I found him, he introduced himself to me as Ye Xiao."

When Odin revealed the kids name, Shinku raised a brow.

"Yeah, Foreign. I was taken aback as well when he said so. But what intrigued me more was that he spoke another language than our own."

"OK. But why did you bring him here? Wouldn't it have been better to have him return home himself? Even if it took you a few extra days."

"..."

"No..."

"..."

"Sigh. The world's a cruel place for children and the weak."

"All he could remember was the sight of his village burning and the cries for mercy."

As Shinku's gaze landed on the boy, he couldn't help but fill pity for him while taking out a Kunai.

"Shinku..."

"I'm only going to let him see his family again. It's the least we could do than let him love on this forsaken world."

"No."

Shinku stared at Odin, confused as the older man held his wrist, stopping him.

"Killing can't solve his problem."

"You brought him into a den of murderers. What? are you expecting that we take the kid in as another mouth to feed and babysit?" Shinku pulled his wrist free.

"Yes. That's very much so what I'm saying."

"The kid would die if you're not with him 24/7, and we both know you don't have that luxury."

"That's why you will."

"..."

____________________________________

CHAPTER END