A Wounded Threat

Making their way down the stairs all the excitement they showed in front of Rei had disappeared. As they walked Fuyumi was the first to speak up... "You know I never thought about it but Big Brother Rei has a lot on his shoulders…" Both Seiki and Ren agreed with her silently as they continued to walk and she continued. "Despite him training us we still haven't managed to help him out at all."

They each saw him as a brotherly figure but he really took care of them like he was their parent. Now that Rei had requested something of them they wanted to give it their best. "I know he said we should give training a break but…" Letting her word's trail off at the end of her sentence Ren said something.

"We're still too weak though. If we can't even get him to draw his Shikai then when a real threat appears we'll be useless." And it was even worse considering the fact every time they fought against Rei he gave them a handicap. They all needed to get at least two times stronger. Being the last one to speak as they reached the bottom of the stairs Seiki turned around and looked at them.

"So it's decided. While Big Brother Rei is building we should continue training to master our Shikai. When it does come time for us to handle things on our own we have to make sure we're reliable enough." Both Fuyumi and Ren nodded which is when Fuyumi suggested something.

"Ok if we're really going to push ourselves then I think it's best if we all train together instead of apart right?" If one of them got stronger than the other then it would be best if they all trained together that way they could push one another. "Ya, that sounds like it would be the best course of action right." Ren agreed with Fuyumi and so did Seiki after thinking about it.

On the other hand Rei, completely unaware of the fact the three of them were planning to do anything, was too busy focusing. Outside of the building, they were in Reishi from the air was already moving by the tons. If you looked out towards the edge of the barrier from the entrance of the building you would see a bright blue light-gathering across its outskirts.

At the same time as massive walls were being constructed at the barrier, things were happening just outside the walls of the building as well. Hundreds of different buildings and roads were being constructed at once by Rei causing another flow of Reishi to appear. Compared to doing things on his own by hand this method was faster but required an insane amount of focus and concentration.

Despite that Rei was still managing to multitask, almost splitting the workload in his own brain. When Seiki, Ren, and Fuyumi all saw that when they walked outside they stood still for a moment. "Still… Big Brother Rei is ridiculously strong. I wonder what his Shikai would let him do if he's like this in his base."

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away from any of the two groups were meeting up under Tsunade's orders. "Hey! Hinata, Shino over here!" Standing next to a walk-in restaurant a girl with platinum blonde hair wearing a purple crop top exposing her midriff along with a short slitted skirt stretching to her thighs.

"You know you don't have to yell, they know this is where we decided to meet." Walking out of the restaurant from behind her a boy with narrowed eyes and spikey hair tied up into a ponytail was wearing a Flak jacket often given to ninja from the Leaf. Looking at Ino and then at the group in the distance with a passive expression he turned around and called out.

"Hey Asuma, Choji you guys better hurry with that bill." Following after two more people walked out of the Restaurant with very different expressions. The older one with slightly tan skin was wearing a Flak jacket like Shikamaru and had a shaggy beard with spiky hair to boot was wearing an expression of loss looking down at his wallet.

On the other hand, Choji had his hand on his stomach bubbly and slightly chubby self having long spiky brown hair and a red combat uniform. "Man, I'm full." Shikamaru shook his head looking at the two of them as the hate group Ino had called out to made was standing in front of the four of them.

"Well, I see the years haven't changed you guys a bit." Kiba having red marks on his face representing his clan and brown hair had a large dog walking beside him. "Looks like you've been feeding Akimaru well." Asuma's comment caused Akimaru to bark as everyone caught up with one another.

"Hey, Kurenai and Asuma sensei could you both explain what exactly is going on with this mission. We got the briefing but even I didn't really understand." After everyone was done talking amongst one another Shikmaru asked this question causing both Asuma and Kurenai to glance at each other.

"Well, I'm sure you're all aware that this is an A-Rank mission which was personally given by the Hokage." Kurenai recapped them of exactly what rank the mission they were going on was in which all of them looked a lot more focused. Continuing after Kurenai, Asuma spoke next.

"However I'm sure you weren't aware that the Daimyo also signed off on this mission due it threatening Land Of Fire territory. That alone places this mission at a high level even as far as A-Rank missions go." All of them, especially Shikamaru, seemed surprised hearing that the Daimyo had also agreed with this mission.

'The Daimyo almost never works alongside the Hokage when it comes to missions; this has to be something big.' Thinking about it in his head, Shikamaru went quiet, giving Hinata a chance to speak. "Um, so what kind of A-Rank mission is this that required both the Hokage and the Daimyo to request it be completed by two teams instead of one."

Responding to Hinata's question Kurenai reached into her back pouch and pulled out a picture. It was the same picture Shizune had shown to Tsunade during her first report that started this whole thing. "We don't know exactly what it is or why the person building it has suddenly doubled their construction speed however its current size is threatening to break through the borders of our nation and another."

Indeed although Rei was currently building in a grey zone if he expanded a little more than that then it would become a national border incident. That's exactly why his intentions needed to be purely set and confirmed. Judging from how their Sensei was speaking about the situation it meant that Assassination might even be required.

"In any case no matter how this mission goes I want you all to be on your highest alert. We won't have any time to break from here to the border's gray zone so I hope you're all prepared." Both Kurenai and Asuma showed the seriousness of the mission through their tone and actions and in response, everyone acted like the ninja they were and steadied themselves.

"Yes!"

And with that three separate events were underway. With ninja from the Hidden Leaf beginning to make their way toward Rei while Seiki, Ren, and Fuyumi all decided to undergo their own form of training. Everything seemed to be traveling in a linear direction however behind the scene's one person, in particular, had their entire being devoted to hunting Rei down.

"Gaah!"

A ghastly scream echoed out of a dark room followed by the echo of that scream bouncing through empty halls. Breathing heavily the person who was the source of that scream was wearing a dark cloak across their entire body. "Aah!" Stumbling around due to the pain they were in, they ended up walking over to a nearby table covered in notes and medical equipment.

Struggling they immediately swept everything not of relevance onto the floor causing glass bottles to shatter and papers to fly everywhere. Finally, the person in the dark cloak found the syringe he was looking for on the table along with a capsule filled with a purplish liquid. Quickly grabbing the two he fumbled around with inserting the capsule into the strange syringe.

Breathing heavily he removed the cloak covering his body before stabbing the syringe into his chest. Pushing down the plunger and injecting all of the capsules contained into his body. Soon after his breaths along with his heartbeat slowed as his groans of pain disappeared and the silence was restored to the room.

"It's been over two years but the pain hasn't subsided… These relapses are getting worse and I can't keep pushing my body like this." Placing the empty syringe back onto the table the man stood up straight and his face was illuminated by the different devices in the room. This person was none other than Kabuto however his appearance was horrifying.

Covering his body was a mix of red and black scorch marks that seemed to have melted his skin. His body looked worn out and deteriorated and his eyes were almost entirely bloodshot. He counted himself as lucky being able to escape Rei when he did use his regenerative ability he was able to escape.

However, he now knew that was nowhere near the end of it. Ryujin Jakka's flames were intense and there were also no physical flames. In reality, they were composed of Reiatsu and even though their heat was real a Zanpakuto is meant to be used on spiritual beings, not physical ones. Despite all his efforts the burn's won't heal no Jutsu or amount of chakra control could stop it.

He was barraged with constant pain equal to being burnt alive almost daily with his only options being to almost diable his ability to feel pain and increase his cell regeneration count. But even that method was only temporary. Making his way towards a nearby chair Kabuto sat down as he glared into the dark.

"If Lord Orochimaru's research wasn't destroyed I could escape this torment…" Thanks to Rei and his battle one of Orochimaru's main bases were destroyed before his research material could be moved. Instead, Kabuto was forced into this place to retreat and heal however everything always ended in failure.

In the end, Kabuto came to a single conclusion that only solidified his hate for Rei.

"I must find him… Only he can undo what's been done to me… And when I'm finally released from this pain. He. Will. Pay."