The only information in the mission was that they were around the closest border between Kiri and Konoha. That just so happened to be around the peninsula that jutted out from the Land of Fire. I focused on my Energy Resonance but couldn't find their familiar chakra signatures.
"Then I'm going to need to cover more ground…"
With that, I created over 300 clones and had them spread out around the area. If any one or more of them found Kakashi and Rin, then they would dispel and inform me of their whereabouts.
I took a breath and sat down on the ground in wait. There was nothing much else I could due but lie in wait for my clones to communicate to me any new developments.
"Try not to die you two or-"
I snapped open my eyes.
"Shit."
I quickly got up and activated my Accelerated Analysis.
"Shit, shit."
With an application of chakra, I enhanced my body's physical parameters.
And ran.
"How the hell did they get themselves into that kind of situation? Weren't they supposed to be on a simple recon mission?!"
I narrowed my eyes and ran as fast as my legs could carry me towards the area that one of my clones had found. My feet bounced off the trees, splintering them as I propelled myself forward as fast as I could.
"That looked like 30- no 32 Kiri Anbu."
I didn't care if they died, but if I could prevent it…
"As long as I can make it in time…"
The trees began to slowly disappear so I dropped to the ground and ran as fast as I could towards the area. Going inside my ID would be ideal, however, if I suddenly appeared inside the enemy encirclement, it would be troublesome.
"Come on, almost there…"
Immediately after that thought went through my head, a pillar of water shot up to the sky from across the hill that was in my view. A drizzle of water fell down on me as a result of it and at the same time, I could finally sense Kakashi and Rin's chakra signatures.
I sharpened my gaze and moved faster just as many more pillars of water shot up from the sky.
"Almost there…Wait."
I mentally paused as my Energy Resonance picked up a bizarre chakra signature that was making its way in the same direction I was. It was bizarre in that there was a part of that chakra signature that was oddly familiar, however, that was overshadowed by another part of the same chakra signature that felt distinctly familiar.
It was the same chakra signature that surrounded most of Konoha's trees.
"But those were formed from the First…"
While the chakra from them had mostly dissipated over the decades since their inception, I could still feel the residual chakra that they contained.
"How can someone have two completely different chakra signatures? What is with this situation?"
Who was that individual?
Why were they headed in the same direction?
Was it an Ally or foe?
I ignored all that as I approached closer and closer towards my goal, the light of the mid-afternoon sky peaking from between the gaps of the trees at the end of the forest.
"Almost there…"
And then…
I stopped.
My eyes widened.
The scene of Kakashi's Lightning Blade rammed through Rin's chest played out in front of me…
"That's not good…"
Rin fell to the ground while Kakashi tumbled to one knee.
"Damn! He took it out!" One of the Kiri Anbu yelled.
"After all it cost us to obtain it!" Another one replied.
I looked at Kakashi and Rin's downed forms before gritting my teeth. "This isn't the time to sit around!"
However, before I could move…
My body froze.
Sadness.
Despair.
Betrayal.
Those feelings were suddenly projected onto me with such intensity that my mind stopped. I felt a hot liquid run down my eyes before I touched my finger to my cheek.
"Tears…?"
I looked around.
Someone was in such despair that it was even affecting me as I picked it up with Empathy.
Before I could regain my senses, a wail of despondence reverberated throughout the battlefield. I whipped my head to the source only to realize that it had come from the individual with the bizarre chakra signature.
"Who is…?"
Suddenly, another change occurred.
My Energy Resonance picked up a mutation that was occurring with the chakra centered around Kakashi's left eye. The sudden change seemed to have drained him as he fell to the ground, no longer able to support himself.
"Who is that?"
"Enemy Reinforcements?"
"Idiot. He came here all alone!"
The Kiri-non talked among themselves at the emergence of the individual with the bizarre chakra with the last guy throwing shuriken at the newcomer.
"Now's my chance."
I dashed from my spot towards where Kakashi and Rin had felled, hoping to use the other individual as a distraction, however…
"There's another one!"
"Damnit! Stop him!"
"Don't let him get near her body!"
They quickly noticed me.
"They aren't ANBU for nothing…"
I thought, my eyes shifting through the battlefield before I caught notice of the bizarre chakra signature only to notice that the individual was mowing down the surrounding ANBU, wood branches piercing through his victims.
"Don't underestimate us!" One of the enemy ANBU stated as he and another blocked my path.
I tightly gripped a kunai in my hand before I hardened my gaze ahead.
My eyes glowed as I activated Deconstructive Analysis.
"Move."
Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure
A formless wave of energy spread out from around me, freezing the two enemies in their tracks for a moment.
A violently rotating blue sphere of chakra formed in the palm of my right hand before I drilled it through the chest of the closest enemy. The attack grinded through the skin, muscles, and bones before shredding the enemy's heart and bursting through his back.
"D-Die!" The other enemy yelled as he moved to spear me with his sword.
I quickly removed my hand from the corpse and simply turned my body towards him, allowing the sword to pierce through my chest before I grabbed onto his arm.
I could sense his fear.
I placed my free hand over his face.
"Y-you damned mon-!"
I didn't give him the luxury of finishing.
"Rasengan."
His head violently exploded in a shower of blood and brain matter.
I dropped to the ground and rapidly continued towards my destination until I finally reached them.
"You won't get away!"
I quickly looked above, only to see the forms of 5 Kiri Anbu above me.
I quickly pulled the sword out of my chest and implanted an explosive seal on its handle with as much chakra as the weapon could take and then I tossed it up.
The shinobi above me had no way to dodge as the sword traveled up towards them and right as the handle of the weapon reached them-
"Explode."
A devastating eruption of energy blasted the Kiri-nin out of the sky and sent shockwaves that reverberated throughout the forest, flattening some trees along the way.
There was no more time to admire my work as a fraction of the enemy ANBU was quickly making its way towards me. Seeing this, I hurriedly placed my hands on both Kakashi and Rin and prepared to relocate.
"ID Create…"
"AGHHH!"
Branches suddenly sprouted up from the ground around me and skewered the numerous shinobi that had been surrounding me, stopping them dead in their tracks.
Literally.
Time seemed to slow as I turned my head towards the anomaly and saw him looking straight at me as well.
Our gazes locked from across the battlefield for a brief moment.
"Empty!"
Reality was altered around me as the sounds of battle disappeared. The destruction caused by the fights still remained visible in this mirror dimension of mine, but there was no one here but me Kakashi and Rin.
I first checked up on the girl, easily noting the hole in her chest and the fact that she wasn't breathing, she had no heart, and…
She was dead.
However!
I placed a hand on the hole in her chest.
"The only ones who die around me are those I want to."
Mystical Healing
I pumped all the chakra I had into reconstructing a heart where there was none. My energy was rapidly siphoned from the activity, but I made sure to focus and concentrate it directly towards her empty chest cavity. In a few moments, a brand new organ formed where there had previously been none.
"About 3.5 seconds has passed since she died." I thought before focusing some of the Healing to her brain. I needed to stimulate her brain activity or else even if I did manage to revive her, she would be a vegetable.
With that, I looked at her brand new heart that wasn't beating.
"Let's fix that shall we."
I had focused the healing only to her brain and the production of her heart, but I had left the hole in her chest open for this specific reason. I reached my hand into her chest and gripped her heart before squeezing it multiple times.
I just needed to jump start it enough that it would pump on its own and any extra damage I caused by doing this would be easily repaired by me later-
"What the…"
I paused and took my arm out of her chest as an orange cloak of chakra began to cover her body.
I narrowed my eyes.
I knew the feeling of this energy.
I could feel it within Kushina whenever I got close to her…
"The hell happened during their mission?"
There was no time for me to dwell on that as the chakra cloak began to rapidly cover her body. I could tell that whatever Bijuu was inside of her had been improperly sealed and would escape if given time…
"This was done on purpose."
I thought as I searched her body for the leak before finding the seal on her sternum. It was a two-pointed line seal, an incredibly weak seal to use for sealing powerful entities such as the bijuu.
However, she was in luck.
"Seals are one of my specialties…" I thought as I lifted my sleeve and slightly curled my fingers before small balls of 'fire' with the kanji of the elements floated above my fingertips.
Earth (土)
Water (水)
Fire (火)
Wind (風)
Lightning (雷).
"Five Elements Seal!"
I jammed the seal onto her chest and immediately, the chakra dissipated.
It was common knowledge that placing an odd-numbered seal on top of an even-numbered seal would cause an imbalance and block the seal.
"This will hold it for a little bit."
If given time I could probably reconstruct a much more durable seal, however, I wanted to both get out of here and preferably have someone with more expertise on this subject look into it.
With that, I fixed up her clothing before looking at her chest, noting that the Bijuu chakra had not only healed up the hole, but that there was a subtle rise and fall of her chest.
Ping!
Quest Complete!
Mission: Save Rin!
Reward: 50 stat points
I took a deep breath and sighed before looking over to the other individual who was in my care.
Aside from some bruising on his frame and the dwindling chakra that I could sense from him, he seemed otherwise alright. I healed him up and fixed his scratches, however, the mutation of his left eye must have taken a large toll on him.
I created a clone and had it hoist Kakashi while I held Rin in a bridal carry. After a quick nod to one another, we quickly ran back to the village.
We hurried to head back home, taking a few minutes or so to reach the outskirts of Konoha. As soon as we stepped on familiar grounds, we exited the ID and approached the gates.
The guards perked up at our approach and looked between us before stepping forward, "Do you require assistance?"
I shook my head, "They're just tired however…" I looked at him gravely, "We have an S-ranked emergency."
Their eyes widened.
"Open the Gates! Hurry, Hurry!"
"Contact the Elders!"
They yelled as they moved to action. I looked to them once more. "Tell the Hokage to meet me at Bunker 3."
The looked at each other before one of them nodded at me and vanished in a swirl of leaves.
My clone and I then rapidly made our way to the Hospital, the guards there quickly letting us through when they saw the forms over my shoulder.
I had my clone check in Kakashi on the normal levels of the Hospital while I went to its lower levels with Rin. A quick flare of my chakra granted me access the bunker room within and I made my way to an empty room ahead.
I opened the room with Rin still on my shoulders and gently placed her on the bed. I closed my eyes in concentration for a moment before creating a clone.
It quickly left in search of either Minato and/or Kushina. They were better at this stuff than I was and would be able to give much better help to Rin.
I leaned on the bed in exhaustion and ran my fingers through my hair. "How could a simply recon mission get so complicated?"
-Yoru: Gamer-
"How did a simple recon mission turn into this?" The Hokage stated with a sigh as he stood around the bed Rin was resting on.
"Yoru." Danzo began as he looked at me with his one lone eye, "What happened? I want to know the sequence of events that led to this."
I looked around me to see the faces of Danzo, the Hokage, both the advisors Koharu and Homura, Minato, and finally Kushina. The later two's faces laced with severity as they looked at Rin, more specifically, her seal.
I began. "I ran towards the mission area as quickly as I could in order to rendezvous with both Kakashi and Rin during their mission, however, I could immediately find them so I spread out my clones to search for their chakra signature." I turned my gaze back towards Rin, "One of my clones found them surrounded my Kiri Anbu so I made my way over, but by the time I arrived, I found Rin impaled by Kakashi's Lightning blade."
Their expressions changed, however, Hiruzen raised a hand and asked seriously, "There's more to this isn't there?"
I nodded my head, "You already know of my ability to detect emotions on a near infectious level. I could tell that Rin had decided to let herself get impaled and that it had not been Kakashi's objective."
The expressions of everyone around relaxed ever so slightly.
"Damn Kirigakure." Homura stated as he looked on the bed, "They implanted one of our own with a tailed beast and tried to destroy our village with it?" His face curled in displeasure.
"How did you escape from there alive?" Koharu asked me seriously. "Are you telling me you were able to fight of a platoon of 32 ANBU level shinobi, safely secure your comrades, and escape?"
I shook my head, "Unfortunately I'm not that skilled yet."
That was partially true. I could have killed them all, but I might not have been able to keep Rin and Kakashi safe at the same time. Admittedly, I could have just entered my ID, appeared next to Kakashi and Rin, and taken them back inside my ID, however, my emotions had been clouded by that other individual to the point where I hadn't made the best decision.
"Then?" She asked with a raised brow.
I turned towards the Hokage with a heavy gaze, "Lord Hokage, do you know if the first Hokage had any illegitimate offspring."
That threw them for a loop.
The Third quirked a brow at the question before shaking his head, "The First was a genuine individual and was a simple and honest man, I highly doubt that he would do something of the sort. Why do you ask?"
I looked down in thought, "While I had been making my way towards Kakashi and Rin, I had felt a bizarre chakra signature that felt very similar to the forests surrounding Konoha."
"That's…" Koharu began.
Homura frowned. "That can't be after all those forests were created by…"
"The First Hokage." Danzo finished as he gazed at me. "Do you think you could be mistaken?"
I shook my head, "If it had only been his chakra that had been similar I could have possibly dismissed him as some sort of close relative, however…" my eyes narrowed slightly, "He no doubt used Wood Release to slaughter the Kirigakure ANBU."
There was pin-drop silence at that statement.
Danzo's eye sharpened.
The Hokage frowned.
Homura and Koharu looked shocked.
Both Minato and Kushina were working on Rin, but I could feel their surprise.
The Hokage sighed with clear exhaustion. "…An S-ranked emergency indeed."
"How could this happen?" Koharu asked. "Was the First really promiscuous?!"
"Maybe we misjudged him." Homura began, "He always acted like such an honest fool too…"
"Don't jump to conclusions." Danzo stated.
I nodded, "I can think of only three reasons for what I experienced." I began, collecting everyone's attention towards me, "The First is that the Hokage was loose and fired his cannon everywhere he w-"
"Yoru!" Kushina stated as she looked at me seriously.
Everyone seemed to share her sentiment.
I shrugged, "The other case is that someone somehow made a clone of the First Hokage…"
Everyone's expression turned even more serious.
"Though I have my doubts about that, it is not an impossibility."
"Because that amount of despair could only have come from someone close…"
Fun fact, in the case of a national emergency, Konoha kept the DNA of its most powerful shinobi for the use of the Impure World Reincarnation. The only reason I even knew that was because I had been asked for my genetic information before for that very fact.
The Hokage sighed (he seemed to be doing that more often) and looked at me, "And your third conjecture?"
I thought back to the conversation I had earlier with Orochimaru, "The only other possibility I can think of is that someone was spliced with the First Hokage's DNA and obtained his Wood Release."
Konoha had tried multiple times in the past to recreate the First Hokage's Wood release within their village. Of course, every single experiment met with failure and I was unaware of any that had somehow survived. The First Hokage's genes were just to dominating and were like a parasite to individuals whose bodies weren't compatible enough.
Of course, if any individuals had secretly survived Hashirama's cells, it would make sense that I wouldn't know…
The Hokage looked up to the ceiling before shaking his head, "Whatever had been said here today will remain and S-ranked secret. Any mention of Rin's condition to anyone will be met with my swift and violent anger. Is that clear?"
No one objected.
"Good." The Hokage said with a nod before looking at Minato and Kushina, "How is she doing?"
"She's holding through." Minato stated as he looked at the seal. "However, while this seal was definitely a botched job, it was also preprogrammed to release under certain conditions."
"The effects could have been disastrous." Kushina stated as she gazed at Rin's sternum seriously, "We've managed to stabilize the seal so that it will actually function as such, however, we're still working on implanting a different seal in place of this shoddy job."
"What Tailed Beast is within her?" Danzo asked
"Three." Was Minato's reply.
The Hokage somehow seemed even more exhausted, "This situation is much too complex…"
I internally agreed. The First has given out the Bijuu as a sign of peace (why he did that still eluded me. Who would give out weapons of mass destruction as a sign of peace?). Now, however, Konoha was in possession of Kirigakure's Bijuu.
Who knew what kind of precedent this would set in the kinds of the other villages?
"Hmph, this is none other than the fault of their own arrogance." Homura sneered. "They were the ones who willingly gave our shinobi a tailed beast, we did not steal it from them and they cannot claim as such."
"However, you know that's not how the other villages will see this." Koharu replied. "They'll see it as Konoha trying to hoard more power in order to reign supreme. This won't sit well with them regardless of the underlying cause."
Homura frowned but nodded in agreement.
"Lord Hokage." Minato began, "I suggest that you send word to the other Kage before Kirigakure has a chance to spread the word. On one end, if Kiri sends out word first, it will seem exactly as Elder Koharu stated and the rest of the world will view us as power hungry. However, if we let everyone know the situation from our mouth first, while they will still be on edge, they will be much less likely to take action as Kirigakure won't get the chance to twist the narrative."
"What will you do?" Danzo asked the Hokage.
Hiruzen closed his eyes for a moment before nodding, "That is most likely the best course of action to prevent any more friction between the Hidden Villages. It would look even worse if the world thinks that Konoha is beginning to gather power just after signing a ceasefire with Iwa."
"That is sound." Homura stated.
Koharu nodded, "Agreed."
The Hokage slightly inclined his head before looking at Rin, "As for her?"
"We'll be able to finish in a couple of hours." Kushina stated as she looked at Minato who nodded in return.
"Very well." Hiruzen said. "I've requested a Yamanaka to come in and observe her mental state to make sure nothing was done to her mind and that she is in a sound state of being. I'll leave the rest to you." Saying that he turned and walked out of the room.
Homura and Koharu nodded and followed.
Danzo looked at me, "Your involvement always seems to make situations more…intriguing." With that statement, he too left the room.
As the door closed behind him, my body was suddenly dragged into a soft embrace.
I blinked, "…What is this for?"
"You saved her." Kushina began as she hugged me tighter. "Thank you."
"…There's no need to thank me. I would have-"
"Hush you." She said with a smile before eventually letting me go.
I then felt a pat on my head and turned to see Minato smiling at me. "Thank you, Yoru." He rubbed my hair for a moment before looking back at Rin, "She and Kakashi have already lost Obito and so far my team has been incomplete. You protected them when I couldn't and for that I am grateful."
I accepted his thanks.
"However…" Minato stated as he glanced at Rin, "I don't understand why she jumped in front of Kakashi's Chidori. Doing that to him after already losing Obito would almost certainly cause him to mentally collapse."
"That's true…" Kushina began as she continued to work on Rin's seal, "She wouldn't have done such a thing unless there was no other way."
"Well, in a normal situation, how could the enemy Village figure that Rin would willingly walk into her own home with a ticking time bomb?" I asked.
The paused for a moment before Minato asked, "You're saying that they somehow controlled her? Or at the very least stopped her from killing herself?"
I nodded. "That's the only thing that comes to mind. Rin's been through a lot, but I believe it would be odd for her to have her best friend kill her and mentally scar him for the rest of his life."
"But how?" Kushina asked. "I could only imagine that they either placed a mental block on her or placed another seal on her of some sort. I suppose the first one could be true since we found no evidence of the second…"
"We'll find out soon." Minato stated.
Time passed as Minato and Kushina worked on the seal before about an hour or so went by.
I perked up and looked to the door before saying, "Come in."
The person paused before opening the door and entering the room.
I blinked in recognition. "Wolf?"
The blond woman tilted her head at the sound of my voice before smirking, "Please, it's Kazemona when I'm not on the field." She then turned towards Minato and Kushina before bowing. "I apologize for the interruption, but I was called here to do a mental scan of a patient."
"Please, come over." Kushina stated as she moved her body a little to allow Kazemona through.
"Thank you." She said as she moved to the bed before gently placing her hands on the sides of Rin's temples and closed gardens her eyes.
A little time passed before Kazemona's eyelids trembled and opened.
"Well?" Minato asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Yeah. She's messed up in the head."
"…Hah?" Kushina asked as she narrowed her eyes, "Explain."
Kazemona looked down at the girl and continued, "Her emotions are a jumbled mess inside her head with her memories flashing by every second. Her consciousness seems to be in some sort of web of sorrow and resignation and is having trouble resurfacing."
"What do you-"
"This girl is in a coma induced by her unstable emotional state." Kazemona stated as she stood up, "The most I could do was create a path for her, but she's going to have to be the one to walk through it. I'm not keen on forcing her consciousness directly."
"What about any foreign mental blocks?" Minato asked, "Did you find any?"
Kazemona shook her head, "None whatsoever. Every mental block I found was self-induced."
There was silence at that, after which Kazemona stood up and dusted herself off. "Well if that is all, I'll have to go write a report now."
"…Thank you." Kushina stated.
The blonde woman looked at her, "I'm merely doing my duty."
With that, she looked towards me, "I'll see you around Yoru."
However, my eyes stared intently at her, more specifically her stomach.
"Is something the matter?" She asked with a tilt of her head.
I looked her in the eyes, "…Can I touch your belly."
Kushina raised a brow.
Kazemona blinked, "I suppose so…"
I touched her stomach and focused as intently as possible within before I removed it. "As I thought…"
"What exactly?" The Yamanaka blinked.
I pointed at her stomach, "You're pregnant. Congrats."
She froze.
Kushina's expression was that of surprise before she grinned, "Congratulations."
Minato looked over and chimed in, "You should strap your lover in place and make sure he doesn't escape his parental duties."
Kushina looked at him oddly, "That's rich coming from you."
"Oi! That was years ago, I didn't know how to manage being a dad at the time."
"Hmph, excuses."
I looked to Kazemona who was still frozen in place and stated, "Look at the bright side, you won't have to go on missions for months. Look what happened to me when I went on one after that long."
Her body trembled "…I'm going to neuter him."
I blinked. "Ohh, poor Shark."
Without saying another word, Kazemona left the room.
I turned back towards Minato and Kushina, noting that they were still having their little squabble before I turned to Rin.
Information about this world was filled with plenty of blank spots to me, but I felt that I'd changed something by saving her life.
"Hopefully…"
I squinted my eyes.
"It's for the better…"
Author's Note: So it recently came to my attention that non-story content such as my "Yoru - Stat Sheets" isn't really allowed on this site and I'm not so sure how I feel about continuing to update it if that is the case. That being said, I got a good suggestion from a reviewer to add a shortened list of stats at the end of my chapters with a numeric mention if it rose in the last chapter and I like that idea, so let me know how you all feel.
Stat Update
Age: 9.2 - 9.6
Level: 87 - 90
STR: 1061 -1218
VIT: 1074 - 1245
DEX: 1061 - 1231
INT: 795 - 945
WIS: 780 - 900
ENGY: 1386 - 1645
Skill Update:
Cooking: lvl 135 - lvl 150
Deconstructive Analysis: lvl 3 - lvl 13
Gamer's Body: lvl 140 - lvl 155
Hyperfocus: lvl 3 - lvl 4
ID Create: lvl 29 - lvl 37
ID Escape: lvl 29 - lvl 37
Kawarimi: lvl 83 - 87
Lying: lvl 87 - lvl 90
Toxin Resistance: lvl 88 - lvl 90
Physical Conditioning: lvl 81 - lvl 85
Rasengan: lvl 25 - lvl 38
Shadow Clone Jutsu: lvl 325 - lvl 375
Shunshin: lvl 128 - lvl 133
Stealth: lvl 96 - lvl 98
Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu: lvl 86 - lvl 89