Chapter: 82

Eiji sat down on the ground, reading through the report he had with the information that he'd been given regarding Akatsuki. It was more than he expected, really. Then again, Jiraiya had more time than in canon, what with all the delays that happened. They were already quite a bit past canon times even if the events didn't reflect that.

The other Nations had sent more information too, even Kumo had, which had been a surprise. Evidently, they were all for someone else taking out a threat for them, Eiji supposed. Still, everyone had only bits and pieces, barely anything at all. Between all of it there was a relieving amount.

At least people had information about their missing nin, which was nice. The foreknowledge Eiji had written down in notebooks was good for fights, but Akatsuki hadn't used absolutely everything in their arsenal when fighting in canon. Fights usually don't allow for some tricks to be used after all. Thus, he'd had to add a bit to that.

Moreover, he'd gotten more than a bit about ways to possibly find some of them, which was much more useful. After all, if he couldn't find them, then he'd be going away to act as a bodyguard, and that would be a bit of a waste. He'd much prefer to stay home if he didn't have anything to do. That wasn't an option, but still.

Eiji continued reading, occasionally noting something down in a separate place. Hachi and Kage were currently reading along with him, making notes of their own and often bringing up points of their own for the place. Poor Tsuchigumo felt a little left out, but she was still helping with his training and was just glad that he hadn't sent her to Training Ground 33, or the Hunting Ground, as they'd started calling it.

He'd felt a little bad but it was what it was.

"I hate you so damn much, Creepy Eyes," Tayuya all but growled from the side, which was honestly music to Eiji's ears. It was always entertaining to have her struggle uselessly against Eternal Purge. She was getting better though. Problem was that there was just no way for her to win the battle she was part of.

"You should have realized by now that you just can't do it," He voiced, lamenting the fact that he was probably putting an end to the little game he'd set up. It was a shame but soon enough it would be more frustrating for the Sound nin than motivating.

"I know that," She snarled, making him blink. "I don't know how you did it, but I know I can't put a Genjutsu on you and make it stick. I don't know how you did that, but I'll find a way to make something that you won't be able to dispel instantly," She vowed much to his surprise.

"Huh… Well, best of luck," Eiji replied. That had been certainly unexpected for him.

'So, she's trying to find a way to achieve the same effect as Wit's End, huh?... Guess I should have seen that coming after putting her in it, for however little time it was. That and sending her against Eternal Purge…' He would have been worried if not for the latter technique and Tsuchigumo. There was no way she'd be able to find or create a Jutsu that would overpower both of them.

He was momentarily distracted from those thoughts when a spark went a little out of control in his hand. Eiji cursed internally as he grimaced. He wiggled his fingers a bit as the pain went away, World Ender curing it instantly. With a deep breath in, he went back to training Nature Transformation.

[World Ender has gone up a level.]

He nodded internally before dismissing the screen.

"Well, if you need help, I know a thing or two about Genjutsu," He offered with a shrug. Tayuya, for her part, twitched, probably remembering her experience under his technique. Other than that though, she remained the same.

"I'll keep that in mind, Creepy eyes."

With that conversation seemingly done, Eiji turned back to the books in front of him. He had lots of information to go through. Not only because of what he'd been given, but also because of what he'd gotten for himself.

[}-o-{]

"Hello," Eiji greeted jovially as he sat down. "Been a while, hasn't it? We haven't seen each other since the Invasion, right?" He asked then, looking at Orochimaru shakily leaning back against his chair, as if trying to get away from him.

"Why are you here?" The Sannin asked, almost keeping his voice normal but ultimately failing. Eiji tilted his head curiously at that.

"How long did you keep him under Wit's End again, Hachi?" He asked in his mind.

"Until he started speaking," His creation replied.

"Well, I just wanted to get some information about this group you used to be part of," Eiji started, ignoring the traumatized sight of a man that had terrified the Elemental Nations. "You might remember them. They call themselves Akatsuki."

"I might," Orochimaru agreed, his eye twitching. For a moment, he remained silent and Eiji guessed he'd been just about to ask why he should answer. Which he already knew, obviously.

"If you tell me all you know and I survive my mission against them," He started explaining regardless. "I'll make sure that you are never put under that Jutsu again. That's all I can promise you though," He offered with a shrug.

There was another moment of silence, eventually broken by Orochimaru.

"Do you have something to write with?" He asked and Eiji grinned.

[}-o-{]

[Tayuya]

She hated Creepy Eyes, that was a fact. Not only had the bastard tortured her in their first meeting with… that technique, but the son of a bitch also was immune to her speciality. The thing she excelled at, the art she'd spent her whole life training, he'd just made it completely worthless.

So, she hated him.

However, she envied him more.

Tayuya knew who Eiji Satou was long before they had their horrible first meeting. Well, horrible for her, but still. Orochimaru had made sure that they all knew who Sasuke Uchiha and Eiji Satou were, prodigies, geniuses. God, how she hated them.

She'd had to claw her way out of Orochimaru's prisons, fighting everyone that stood in his way. Losing and rising to fight again, just to keep her life. She'd almost died several times. And here were these two, with everything handed to them and being hailed like legends.

Why couldn't that have been her? She'd be just as good if she'd had half the chances they had. Or that's what she liked to think, at least.

Same for Orochimaru, she would think in the privacy of her mind. All of them were raised in goddamn Konoha, a prosperous village with which not even the rest of the big ones could compete. Meanwhile there she was, a street rat from a backwater place that had been unlucky or stupid enough to get targeted by Orochimaru when he decided that he needed minions.

Orochimaru was too fucking powerful for her to fight, however, so she'd done what she could. She'd learned from him, soaked up every last bit of knowledge the Sannin offered her and tried her best to get better… And Tayuya found herself wanting and she hated that.

Was she too damn different from them? Was she just not talented enough?

In the end, she'd resigned herself to her place as a bodyguard for Orochimaru. It'd made her more powerful, at least, even if not to the levels she wanted, the levels she dreamed of being. 'Besides, the bastard would have killed me if I came even close to succeeding,' She thought bitterly. It was no excuse though, because she'd tried anyway, just to see if she could do it.

She just couldn't.

Now, here she stood, in the same situation but with a different handler.

Tayuya looked at Eiji Satou, the absolute demon that had brought hell to the mortal world. How he'd made such a technique, she had no idea, but if that didn't make anyone too scared to approach the guy, let alone betray him, then she didn't know what would. She pitied the poor fucker that stood in his way, that much she was sure.

Still, she had to wonder, how the hell had he found a way to completely negate Genjutsu? Her techniques barely had a second to get a hold of him before they were mercilessly crushed. It was like he was dispelling all the time, but that was impossible. No matter how good he was or how much chakra he had, that would drain him fucking dry quickly enough.

Instead, after hours of standing in the clearing training, he barely looked affected by it, certainly not more than sparring against Jirobo left him, which wasn't much. Hell, the bastard took the two of them at the same time and he'd still looked just fine. If only she could use her Doki… Tayuya knew it wouldn't make much of a difference, but at least it would make her feel like she was doing something.

"Well, if you need help, I know a thing or two about Genjutsu," His earlier words rang inside her head and she twitched. The fucking nerve. As if she were a goddamn Academy student or something. The worst part is that, in comparison, she might as well be.

No, the actual worst part was that she was consideringit!

Her hand clenched into a fist as she started wondering, what would she be able to achieve if she knew what he knew about Genjutsu? Would she finally reach new highs, maybe be even… Was it possible?

The questions burned in Tayuya's mind, urging her to tryagain, telling her that she could still reach the heights she dreamed of.

But could she?

[}-o-{]

A clone of Eiji's sat cross legged in the Spider's domain. On each of his shoulders stood a small arachnid. Mother and Father, the elders of the Spider Clan, dutifully watched over him, making sure he wasn't making a mistake in his attempts to harness natural energy. Senjutsu was a slow process, at least for now.

He had to gather the energy slowly, very slowly, painfullyslowly. After all, if he went over his limit in the slightest, he'd turn into a stone statue. Not that it was much of a problem, because he was a clone, but the objective was to do as best he could and level up the skill when he dispelled. If he failed, all the time he was doing that would be lost because Original Eiji would get absolutely nothing out of that and it would just be time wasted.

They couldn't have that, so it was better to make little progress than none.

The problem with Senjutsu was how difficult it was to know how much natural energy he needed to balance with his chakra. After all, the two energies felt nothing like the other, so it was hard to know if they were being gathered in the right amount. He was slowly getting the hang of it. Maybe he wouldn't be able to use Senjutsu constantly for a while, but he'd get there. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late.

Sighing, he paused, his shoulders relaxing as he stopped meditating.

"You are doing remarkably well, Contractor," Mother praised and he nodded with a weary smile.

As he always did, the clone conjured the image of the last Senjutsu screen he'd seen. Or, well, that Original Eiji had seen, at least. It was a great motivator, if nothing else.

[Senjutsu of the Spiders- Lvl 3

The user gathers and balances natural energy with their own chakra to increase Physical Stats and gain a sensing ability.

Physical Stat Increase - 30%

Sensing Range - 120 meters]

Two levels wasn't much, but this was Senjutsu. It would have been weirder if it had leveled up quickly, even if that would have been the preferred outcome. He just had to keep at it. If all else failed, he'd just have to try the Naruto approach. 'Maybe Tsuchigumo can do this like Kurama did?... No, I don't think that's a good idea.'

After all, the Tailed Beast probably knew what it was doing. Tsuchigumo would have to learn and as the child she was, Eiji couldn't risk that.

It would have been nice though…

"Back to work?" Father asked when the clone squared his shoulders.

"Back to work," He confirmed.

[}-o-{]

[Kabuto Yakushi]

He was terrified.

The ex-spy looked around at the clearing. Jirobo was sitting against a tree, much like himself, recovering from the last spar they'd engaged in. The dog - Yuki, he was fairly sure her name was - was again roaming the forest. Kabuto was unsure if Eiji had given her a training of her own or if the boy didn't care for what she did.

Tayuya though, had him concerned. After all, she was constantly cursing up a storm, like she was at that very moment. Did the girl not know who she was insulting? How was she unafraid of this demon they had been dragged into following?

The ex-spy didn't know what went through her head, but if she earned the demon's wrath, he would be the first to throw her under the bus. Same for if she, or Jirobo for that matter, decided to do something stupid like try to run away or revolt. No, he was too afraid of the consequences.

Kabuto didn't know what the other's plans were, but his was to stay on the demon's good side, as simple as that. Maybe if he did that long enough, he'd stop feeling the grip of fear around his heart. Maybe then the absolute nothingness would stop coming back whenever he closed his eyes.

He flinched when the demon stood up from his place in the middle of the clearing.

"Ok, everyone, another round," The demon said, his true nature shining through his dark blue, almost black eyes, no longer even attempting to look human. Jirobo groaned, and while Kabuto agreed with the sentiment, he would never complain so openly, or at all. The demon recovered much faster than they did, unfortunately, with his insane regeneration levels.

While Jirobo was still recovering from the wounds he received during the last spar, Kabuto was still recovering all the chakra he'd lost making sure he remained physically well. His reserves weren't small, contrary to what he had used as an excuse during the exams, but healing so much took its toll. Furthermore, the demon had absolutely no mercy for them when training.

The demon smirked, clearly knowing that they were going to start the spar with a disadvantage.

"Maybe try to help your teammate be in top condition next time, Kabuto," The demon told him and he stood straight. Had he already messed up? Blood drained from his face as he instantly started sweating. He could still salvage this, right?

Of course the demon wanted them to work together. Kabuto was an idiot. If he'd formed a team it was because he needed a team. He made a mental note to keep that in mind. Tayuya wasn't a close fighter, so he would probably be helping Jirobo. The demon could heal himself and the dog would probably be treated by him too. Kabuto doubted the demon would trust him to treat the animal.

'Are there gonna be more teammates though?' He wondered. That would be good and bad. Good, because it would split the attention of the demon more, which meant less of it would be on Kabuto. Bad because that would also make it more difficult for him to get on the demon's good books.

Something to keep in mind. Kabuto also had to make sure he was more aware of that type of thing too. He couldn't fail. If he did… He shivered, momentarily being thrown back to that day. The day he experienced what hell was like.

'Never again.'

[}-o-{]

[Jirobo]

He was… mostly indifferent.

He didn't much care for the change in boss, really. Orochimaru had that feeling to him that told Jirobo the man could decide that he wasn't useful anymore at any moment. Thus, there was always the fact that he could be thrown back to the prisons or put through experiments at the drop of a hat.

Scratch that, Jirobo was perfectly fine with the change.

Not happy per se, but it was ok. Eiji Satou, as far as he could tell, was a simple person to work under. Do what you have to do and don't be an idiot, that was all that the boy expected and wanted from them. Even Tayuya, antagonistic as her personality was, had received nothing more than a few warnings when her temper got the better of her.

So, as long as they did a good job, everything else was fine. There was no need to be afraid, really, like Kabuto seemed to be. Jirobo could certainly work with that, even if he could do without Tayuya's foul language.

Rolling his shoulders, he prepared for another spar. Eiji might be smaller than he was, but the boy certainly packed a punch. Jirobo was fighting him without physically holding back anything. Granted, he didn't use techniques or the Cursed Mark, but those had been the rules Eiji had put for the spars.

Jirobo was, again, fine with that too. After all, he knew very well that the other boy would completely destroy him if they were to ever fight all out. He had his doubts if they were to keep the fight physical though. Eiji seemed to have some techniques to help with that, but his strengths seemed to lay on Genjutsu and Ninjutsu… if one took away his sword…

On second thought, Jirobo was happy to keep the spars on pure Taijutsu, even if he knew the other boy was using some sort of technique to heal himself during the fight and increase his strength. At least that way Eiji could hold back appropriately. Last thing Jirobo wanted was to die during a spar.

[}-o-{]

[Eiji Satou]

The day's training had been interrupted by bad news.

Thus, Kabuto, Tayuya and Jirobo had been sent back to their cells for the time being. Eiji, meanwhile, stayed at the training grounds, sitting against a tree as his fingers slowly moved through Yuki's fur. He hadn't wanted to go back home just yet, not when he would have to feign that everything was alright with his friends.

The ninken was his only company. Yuki had actually been next to him ever since she'd become his partner. She moved through the forest when he trained the ex-Sound nin, but she was always nearby. She was close enough that she'd hear him if he called, he would bet his life on that.

It was strange, the bond that a ninja had with a ninken, he'd found. Eiji wasn't sure how to even describe it. It was nothing like the relationships he'd built so far. It felt closer than a sibling thing, even the one he had with Naruto. But at the same time, it was distant, like his friendship with Hana, where they weren't particularly close friends but they were friends nonetheless.

Yuki would be there when he needed her, that was the summary he'd settled on, and he would be there for her. If that worked as a description for the relationship, he didn't know, but that was what he had. It was what he needed too.

"We'll be leaving soon," Eiji mumbled, resting his head against the bark of the tree.

The news he'd been given was simple, but transmitted the message well enough. Akatsuki had attempted an attack on Kiri. For the Three Tails, the Nations assumed but Eiji was sure it was for that. It was a tentative thing, more like them testing the waters, maybe even mocking the Nations a little bit while they were at it. Regardless, it told everyone something.

Akatsuki was moving again.

It hadn't happened yet, but Iwa would be demanding him soon enough. His Chakra Poisoning was practically gone. Whatever delay that his training might have caused was more than made up by his near constant use of World Ender. He was ready… physically at least.

He didn't think he was actually ready to face off against Akatsuki, but he'd need to be.

[Beast Chakra Resistance – Lvl 35

Reduces the effects of tailed beast chakra by 35%.]

'I expected it to go higher,' He thought idly, eyeing the first of the screens he'd wanted to check, to see if he could get some peace of mind. Beast Chakra resistance probably wouldn't be high on the list of priorities of some people, but it was for him. Not only would it help whenever he wanted to use more of Tsuchigumo's chakra, it would also help if he wanted to fight alongside a Iwa's Jinchuriki, since his job was basically to protect him while fighting Akatsuki.

The next skill to check was directly related to that too.

[Chakra Beast Mode - Lvl 10

The user accesses the energy of the Chakra Beast sealed inside them. The user can be influenced by the Chakra Beast. Effects increase or decrease with the number of legs utilized. The user may suffer Beast Chakra damage.]

It was no surprise that the skill had grown so fast, since he was always using it while training, much to Tsuchigumo's delight. In this case though, skill number didn't say much, but it was enough to remind him of the progress they'd made. After all, the newborn Chakra Beast could now keep the Four Legs mode without too much trouble. She couldn't keep it up for extended periods of time, but at least it didn't strain her instantly like when they'd first tried.

Then came the reason for needing to access that much chakra.

[World Ender - Lvl 10

S-rank technique with which the user can regenerate themselves while also increasing their Physical Stats.

Physical Stat Increase - 100%

Hand Seals – 10

Consumption - 80 Chakra Points per second.

+Creator Bonus:

Increases efficacy by 50%.]

Kage kept insisting that the name was entirely too much for what it was, but Eiji disagreed. The technique was going to keep him in the fight no matter what. He was fairly sure that he'd recovered even if he lost a limb. At least, from all the work he'd put behind the technique, that's what it would do, theoretically. It wasn't like he was going to test that.

It was a shame that it didn't cure already existing wounds, he mused with a hand moving up to touch the scar around his eye. The regeneration was also near instantaneous, which was amazing in itself. And that wasn't even taking into account the boost the skill gave him. It would triple his stats if he could get it to max level.

'I can only hope it's enough,' Eiji thought to himself, before calling for the clone Jutsu.

[Shadow Clone Technique - Lvl 7

B-rank technique with which the user can create solid clones of themselves that dispel when damaged.

Maximum number of clones - 7

Hand Seal - 1

Consumption - Chakra divides equally between the user and all Clones.]

It wasn't as high level as the others, but that was fine. Seven clones of himself was enough to cause some serious trouble for Akatsuki members. After all, they could pelt them with ranged Jutsu while the original kept them entertained in close combat. He could also use substitution with them, which was great to avoid damage in the aforementioned situation.

Nevermind the possibilities for training. Eiji had decided, long ago, that he'd keep at least one clone with the spiders training Senjutsu at all times. At least until he maxed that skill, which wouldn't happen any time soon, he knew

After all…

[Senjutsu of the Spiders- Lvl 5

The user gathers and balances natural energy with their own chakra to increase Physical Stats and gain a sensing ability.

Physical Stat Increase - 50%

Sensing Range - 200 meters]

The skill developed so slowly it was painful. It was to be expected, really, with it being what it was.

He sighed, there was one more technique, but he didn't even have a skill for it, since he'd never gotten to try it. It was too destructive to use inside Konoha, after all. Maybe he'd get to practice with it in Iwa…

As it was, impressive as his training results here… he didn't feel like they were enough. Was he overestimating Akatsuki? Was he still underestimating them? Was he missing any kind of key information because of his spotty foreknowledge? Was he missing something because of the Alternative Universe factor?

Questions that plagued his mind ever since he woke up.

Closing his eyes, Eiji reminded himself what he fought for. The Group and Konoha, they were why he was doing this. He remembered the future his foreknowledge told him about, with everyone happy and with families. If he had any say in the matter, their future would be even better.

Maybe, just maybe, he would be there to see it, to enjoy that life with them.

'Live life to the fullest,' He told himself