Chapter: 57

It was time, finally.

If I was being honest, I didn't know if I was more happy or nervous that the day of the Finals had come. It felt awful, the first half but I was just so… tired, of worrying about that, of having the knowledge of the future gnawing away at my brain. I just wanted to be done with it so that I could be free of the Damocles sword that hung over my head. One of them, at least.

Once more, maybe it was wrong of me to feel that way, but for better or worse, everyone and everything would have changed after the Finals were over, be it that Orochimaru was stopped or he won. The future would never be the same as I knew it from then on and I was elated by that. I had changed too much for it to remain as it was, there was no way things would play out the same now.

On the other hand, I was nervous. So very nervous that all that I had done, all my training, all my planning, all my preparations would just… not be enough. I dreaded an outcome that would just say that all that I had done was make things worse. A confirmation that told me that I was a mistake, that I should have just stayed dead and this world would have been better off without me.

[Eiji Satou

Main Title: Anko Mitarashi's Apprentice

Secondary Title: Prodigy

Energy Points: 920/920

Chakra Points: 920/920

Cursed Chakra Points: 0/9200

Strength: 46

Dexterity: 50

Constitution: 46

Chakra: 46

Chakra control: A]

My stats hadn't gone up that much, merely by one each. Although, to be honest, that made sense since I had focused much more on Jutsu Creation, be it the Void Genjutsu or my new Lightning Release pair. That wasn't to say that I had neglected that side, but I hadn't done nearly enough to make good progress. After all, they were, in my opinion, fairly developed already, any progress now needed a monstrous amount of training that I just hadn't been able to do now.

I had entered the late game, as it were. I had long since passed the time where I would level up stats in days instead of months. That was, however, what I planned to focus on after the shitshow that was coming my way. I had about as many tools and Jutsu as I could manage to get my hands on. Now I needed to be fast enough, strong enough and have enough stamina and chakra to use them appropriately.

Dismissing the Status Screen, I read over some of my skills that I had improved during my training time.

[Lightning Manipulation – Lvl 11

Increases control of lightning according to level.

Lightning jutsu use 11% less chakra.

Lightning jutsu are 11% more effective.

The user is 11% more resistant to lightning.]

Funnily enough, Lightning Manipulation had been leveled unintentionally, since it had gained five levels when I finally managed to create the Lightning Release techniques I had been working on. The rewards I had received were those levels and one stage in Chakra Control which had been what pushed me firmly into A.

Next on the list would have been the new Jutsu themselves, but I had seen so much of them through the last few weeks that I was sick of them. I had pushed myself so hard to get them maxed out before the finals that I was fairly sure I could have cast them in my sleep, nevermind without seals.

The next one was a result of Cat's training, along with some of her friends, one of which I was fairly sure was Gekko, even if he had gone to train with a mask. They mustn't have been trying too hard to hide that fact, because if the guy could control his coughing or hide in any way then he didn't bother. I was sure they weren't stupid enough to think I wouldn't make the connection. If they were, I would make them pay though.

[Intermediate Kenjutsu (Active) – Max

Increases the skill of the user when fighting with a sword according to skill level.

Active Effect – Increases the user's physical stats by 10.

Active Effect Consumption – 30 Energy Points per second.]

I was particularly proud of this skill because, in conjunction with Intermediate Taijutsu, I could increase my Constitution, Strength and Dexterity by 20, which was a hell of a lot. I didn't know how that stood next to other people, but I was fairly sure that it was insane anyway. A 40% or so increase on my base stats had to be pretty crazy. Sadly, I hadn't managed to get any levels in Advanced Kenjutsu, so it was giving me a meager 1% passive increase in stats when I was fighting with a sword, but it was still there, and I would get to that at a later date.

[Nuibari Mastery – Lvl 16

Increases the skill of the user when fighting with Nuibari according to level.

Increases damage done with Nuibari by 80%.

Increases accuracy when throwing Nuibari by 80%.

Increases Chakra Flow effectiveness and efficiency by 80% when used on Nuibari.

Increases Physical Stats when using Nuibari by 16%.]

Nuibari Mastery was getting harder and harder to gain levels with, even more so than it was for, say, Advanced Taijutsu, which I had thought would be a good bar to use on the skill. Evidently, I was wrong, but that made some sense, actually. The skill seemed to be a combination of Basic, Intermediate and Advanced masteries blended together into one skill, so it wasn't a surprise that it took longer than any of those stages by itself. At least, those were my thoughts on the matter.

[Cursed Seal: Second Stage – Lvl 5

Sacrificing their own chakra, the user can access a physical transformation at the cost of their own mind.

Increases physical stats by 5.

Consumption – 25 Chakra Points every second.]

I had been right thinking that the Second Stage of the Cursed Seal would be an absolute pain to level. Not even Iron Will helped with that, with it's pain blocking capabilities. That was because, while it let me ignore the effects of the Mark while I trained, I couldn't hold its effect all the time because it made things feel… very weird and somewhat unsettling, since it seemed to mess with my sense of touch and I hated something messing with my senses. That meant that I had to deal with the aftereffects of the Seal, which were bad enough as it was.

I was very grateful that I had managed to avoid at least the worst part of it.

In regards to the buff of the skill, it was nothing compared to what the transformation itself gave me. I hadn't expected much from that, since many of the transformations I remembered were merely aesthetical. Yes, Sasuke's gave him those weird hand-wing things, but his was the only one so I hadn't gotten my hopes up about it.

Maybe our Marks were different somehow, because mine also gave me something extra to work with. And there was a distinct possibility that my seal had been affected by my contract with the Spiders because the addition was pretty obviously derived from there somehow. Not that I was complaining, no sir.

From there, there were some levels scattered here and there, but most of them weren't worth mentioning. Like the few levels I had managed to get for Summoning, that only seemed to reduce the amount of seals I had to make for the Jutsu and left the Consumption of each summon remaining the same. That was a pity, honestly. It would have been nice to decrease how much I needed to use to summon the Boss level spiders. Another example of this was Advanced Taijutsu, which had gained some levels but not many, since I was more focused on using Nuibari than I was fighting hand to hand.

And then, there was the last one. A Skill (Jutsu, more like), that I had come up with in a moment such as this, some time ago. Sitting at the table, late at night, during one night just like many others, where my 'unknown' benefactor sent a package to me. I had thought, back then, that maybe the reason why I could never catch whoever it was that came in to leave their stuff was because they used a Genjutsu on me. I had also considered the fact that I simply couldn't spam Genjutsu Dissipation as much as I would have liked.

Thus, I had come up with a solution for that, which might have been helped by how much I was cramming Genjutsu Creation knowledge inside my brain during that time. That project had been pushed aside for a while, since I had more important things to work on than that. However, it was too good an idea and too useful a technique not to make it happen once the Void Genjutsu were made.

Therefore, Eternal Purge was made.

[Yin Release: Eternal Purge – Lvl 5

S-rank technique with which the user can continuously disrupt their own chakra flow to free themselves or others from Genjutsu.

Hand Seals – 10

Consumption – 40 Chakra Points per minute.

+Creator Bonus:

Decreases Consumption by 50%.]

All pointed towards the technique capping at 10 Chakra Points per minute, but that was good enough for me, especially since that was without applying the Creator Bonus. With it, I would be able keep the thing going for three hours. Granted, that was without using chakra for anything else, but still, that was insane.

As it was, I had been using the technique every night since I created it, in the hopes of proving my theory about the Root agents. It was a great way to train the technique, if nothing else. I wasn't sure, however, how good it would be against the likes of Tsukuyomi. I hoped it would work, but I wouldn't bet on it, honestly. There were things in the Naruto world that one just couldn't work against.

My musings were broken when I saw a shadow dash around me, swiftly leaving a box on top of the table, right in front of me. Instantly a grin formed on my face as I very clearly saw the ninja move. They were very fast, I would give them that, but I could follow their movement with my eyes, even if I would have needed a skill or two to do so with my body. 'Looks like I was right.'

When they left, my smile turned smug.

"I saw you, just to let you know," I said, only to blink as a Root member, probably the same one that had left the package, dashed back in. This time though, they stood opposite to me, staring at me through their impassive mask. "Well, this, I didn't expect," I voiced unsure. I had expected them to do something else, maybe show that this was just the first level and leave me a message without me knowing how. Maybe to just ignore me.

I gulped as I stared at the person wearing Anbu gear inside my own house. I almost jumped on my seat when they decided to move, only to relax ever so slightly as I realized that they were just pushing the wooden box they had come to leave for me. Standing up, I had to make a conscious effort to stop my hands from shaking as I took the box and brought it closer to myself, my eyes never leaving the person's mask.

Steeling my nerves, brought my attention to the package itself and opened, constantly reassuring myself that nothing would happen. They had been helping me for years now, there was no way they would do something rash now… Right?

All my fears evaporated at the sight that greeted me from inside the wooden box. The first thing that appeared there was just so… so very blunt that I chuckled out loud. Through the time I had been working with Danzo he had done many things, some had been discreet, some had been more overt. This, however?

I pulled up the vest armor, not unlike the one Anbu and Root used. It wasn't identical though, since it was a dark mahogany color and had two plates overlapping over the shoulders. That wasn't even the more obvious hint there was in that piece of apparel though. No, that was reserved to the white fur collar the vest had.

'Root and… Tobirama, huh?' I thought to myself, as I inspected the gift. It came to my mind then and there that Danzo had given me one of the Nidaime's Jutsu to work on the Void Genjutsu. 'Was that part of this? Are you trying to turn me into him or something?' I had to wonder. My eyes darted towards the Root member for a moment, as if they would give me answers to my unasked questions.

After a moment, I set the vest down on the table and proceeded to look through the rest of the outfit that Danzo had sent me. There was an undershirt that was pitch black, with a single long-sleeve. I was slightly amused by the fact that the sleeve was on the arm that I didn't have scars on. Probably on purpose, if I had to guess, so that everyone would be able to see the scars Nuibari's previous wielder had left me with. I didn't know though, if he wanted me to be proud of my scars or if he wanted me to use them as an intimidation tool. My bet was on the second one though. This piece also had dark red details here and there

That was all the color the outfit had though, because what remained was completely black cargo pants and black boots. 'Well, at least he took my one request into mind. Wonder if it annoyed him,' I thought as I looked over everything. I didn't have a single clue as to what everything was made of, but all of it looked very resistant.

"Do well tomorrow," My eyes widened when the other person in the room decided to talk. The voice however didn't fit the body it came from though. That old voice didn't belong to someone as young as this person appeared to be. 'Is… is that Danzo?' I hazarded a guess, even more shocked than before. "Be prepared for anything and… good luck."

With their message delivered, the Root member disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Body Flicker, if I had to bet on anything. I stood alone in the room for a long while though, unsure of what to do, my eyes darting between where the person had stood and the clothes I had just received. My mind, however, was on the words that had been spoken.

Not the reassuring message I would have wanted to recieve, that was for sure. It meant that even the higher ups, with all the time to prepare and a good idea of the enemy's plans, didn't feel prepared. I could empathise though. There was no way that what we had gotten from Kabuto was it. We were all aware of a surprise that we had no way of uncovering beforehand. We could only prepare and hope that we would be ready.

With my breathing growing unsteady, I sat back down on the chair, leaning forward, resting my elbows on the table and pushing my head against my hands. It was finally time, and I felt anything but ready. The first real plot point was coming my way, and I didn't feel the slightest bit like I could deal with it.

Everything up to this point had been prepared. Even the stuff that had been in canon until now were set ups. Development of characters and such, just like it was for me. The Crush was practically the first true plot point I'd had to deal with. The first that actually mattered.

If anything went south now, then it would weigh heavily on how things would be in the future. From here on, any failure would make things harder and harder. I couldn't afford a mistake anymore. I needed victories to reduce the chances of Madara and/or Kaguya succeeding.

My eyes moved towards the last piece of apparel that I had left inside the box. There, lying innocently was a forehead protector. It was not Tobirama's happuri style protector, but I could still see that it had been inspired by that. At least, that's where I thought the curve on the underside of it had come from, since the normal protector's were always rectangular.

Picking it up, I looked at it with tired eyes, as if waiting for answers.

"Do well tomorrow," I replayed in my head. 'Is that supposed to be his way of telling me that I shouldn't worry too much about the Invasion? After all, that's about the Finals… right?... Or is he telling me to do well against the Invasion?' I theorized. 'No, the 'be prepared for everything' bit is about the Invasion, the first is about the Exams...'

'Does that mean I can go all out?' I wondered. I had been planning on half-assing it, if I was honest. Naruto might hate me if I did that, especially if I lost, but… It didn't sit well with me, to waste all my Energy and Chakra Points on a battle that, in the grand scheme of things, didn't matter, when I knew something of actual importance was coming our way.

'God, foreknowledge sucks,' I thought as I smacked my head against the table.

[}-o-{]

[Shade]

Many would try to put themselves in his place and think the Shade was full of anger and plans to overrun Eiji Satou's mind.

Many would be wrong.

After all, he had been inside the… Void… for a long time. If that place, or state, or whatever one wanted to call it, didn't change someone, then there was obviously something wrong with them to begin with. Shade knew that first hand, since he had a clear memory of what he was like before and he knew how he had come out of it. If he never went back to that, it would be too soon.

The Shade of Orochimaru's hand trembled slightly, his fingers clutching the brush he had been using to paint. He wanted to think he would get over it, he always said he would. However, he was lying to himself. The Void would haunt him forever and that was the truth.

He looked back at the painting he was working on. An old landscape he didn't know if he actually remembered from the original or if he had just made it up. It was full of light and color, plants, flowers, a waterfall even. All the things his old self would have dismissed and even laughed at the fact that he had taken the time to place it on a canvas. He would have thought it a useless waste of time at best.

Even more, he would have mocked Shade for not using the tools provided to him to try and free himself. To try and take over. To try and complete his purpose. After all, there must have been a way to use the paints and brushes and all to make seals, right? He would never try though, because he was too afraid of how powerful Eiji was within his Mindscape.

Eiji might as well have been a god in there. His will became reality, anything he wanted just was. Thus, Shade was sure that there were traps, triggers or whatever on his things, or on the room, or on himself in case he did any of that.

Back to the original though, Orochimaru didn't know what he had until he lost it. He hadn't lived through a place without absolutely nothing to see. Although, if Eiji's efforts not-so-long ago were anything to go by, he would get a taste of it sooner or later. Moreover, with all that Shade had learned through Eiji, he was betting on sooner.

Honestly, he was actually looking forward to that a little.

Maybe it was weird, that Shade wanted his original to suffer, but Orochimaru had been the one to place him in the situation that led to his stay in the… Void… Shade would be a liar if he said that he didn't recent the original the smallest bit for that.

Movement from the corner of his eyes told Shade that he was no longer alone in his pseudo-prison. He might call it that, but it was less a complaint than even he would have thought. He was very aware that he could be in a much worse place. Furthermore, the white room wasn't so bad, he even had many things to pass time thanks to how cooperative he had been.

Hachi, however, was free to roam most of Eiji's Mindscape and the bastard loved to gloat about that, about the sights the Satou had created to represent and protect his mind. He really was based off of him, Shade thought annoyed. He didn't envy his copy too much though, he knew they were both trapped in the same place anyway, so there was very little difference between them.

He also knew that Eiji had placed almost as many restrictions on Hachi as he had on Shade himself. The Satou was a paranoid child like that, Shade was actually impressed. It wasn't often that a mere child, barely passing the graduating age of the Academy had a mindset so very close to a veteran.

The kid would go places, of that the Shade of Orochimaru was sure.

For that, he would have to make sure to remain at least close to his good side.

[}-o-{]

[Hachi]

He gazed at Shade, somewhat amused at his attempt at hiding how annoyed he was because of Hachi. They were almost the same person, it was impossible to try and hide anything from the other. It was also why Hachi was so unconcerned by the task he had been given.

Watch over the Shade, as if he would dare do anything against Eiji when he held the most powerful threat in existence against him. Shade would do anything to avoid the Void. He would kill the original Orochimaru. He would reveal all his secrets if he remembered any. He would slave himself to Hachi's creator, kneel to him and praise him as if he was a god. Anything to never have to experience that, which Hachi didn't blame him in the least for.

Hachi may not have lived through it himself, but as a copy of Shade, he remembered it just as vividly, which is why even without all the modifications Eiji had made to him to avoid treason, he wouldn't have dared. No, one had to be a very… special kind of person to risk those consequences.

Silently, Hachi moved around the room until he decided to take one of the instruments Eiji had left for Shade to use. He could have asked for some for himself, he was sure Eiji would have made them, but honestly, what was the point? It wasn't like Shade could use everything at the same time, and anything that helped pass time would do for Hachi.

He would, however, ask Eiji to make other things at some point. Boredom was his and Shade's worst enemy those days. Hell, they would have even worked for the Satou if he so wanted, studied for him, developed techniques for him. Anything to have something to do.

Eiji was paranoid though, and neither Shade nor Hachi wanted to risk looking anything even close to suspicious. Asking for scrolls and books and knowledge could be considered as such, or at least that's what they thought. That's what Hachi thought, anyway, and he was fairly sure that both him and Shade were pretty much the same person, except that one had his loyalty forced into him and the other… too, but through a different method.

That sounded incredibly bad, Hachi realized. That was how things were though, and both him and Shade had accepted it. It wasn't like they could escape anyway. Expecting Eiji to give up his advantages was stupid, laughable even. The three of them were just doing what was best for them. It was just that the scales were heavily leaning towards one of them.

Back on topic, they would have to risk asking, because if not, they would grow tired, and if they did, there was an even bigger chance of them messing up and earning Eiji's wrath. In the meantime though, he would take what he could and play the shamisen, one of the few instruments Eiji had created that Hachi could actually play. Both him and Shade had been stumped by some of the things the boy had created, but considering some of the things they had been told…

'For now, at least we can try those if we get really bored,'He thought, eyeing some of the contraptions that were around. 'It'll be a nightmare for both of us though,' He thought wryly.