Chapter 86: The Eyes of Rebellion Part 3
(With Kamui)
On the outskirts of the village, Kamui and Naga landed by a small section of land just within the village gates. Aside from the wall being present, there were no prominent landmarks nearby.
"This should be the spot. We're right on top of the barrier compound." Kamui calmly explained.
"So, it's underground? Not a bad idea, especially since it contradicts the intelligence the snake had on it." Naga replied, impressed at the misinformation.
With a straight face, Kamui replied, "It's a recent change. Normally, the entrance would be somewhere else. There's no way we'd enter directly like this, but with the jamming barrier active, we don't really have much of a choice."
"This certainly fits as an exception…" Naga quietly mused, receiving a nod from Kamui.
Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to them.
"There you are!" Himiko exclaimed, landing next to them.
Kamui's and Naga's eyes widened at the girl's arrival. While they had hoped their teammate would find them, they honestly didn't put too much stock in the possibility. With chakra being scrambled like it was, it shouldn't be possible.
"How'd you find us so quickly?" Naga gave voice to her doubts, receiving a quick nod from Kamui expressing her being of the same mind.
*Chuckle*
After a soft chuckle, Himiko replied, "I don't have to sense chakra to be capable of finding Kamui. With whatever the hell her eye's doing, she's basically a walking distortion in space, a distortion that grows larger every passing day."
Kamui's eye's widened at the implication.
Enlightened, she finished her friend's thought, "And with your previous job dealing heavily with space-time manipulation, I'm like a beacon in Konoha. Compared to the land of sun, which must have been littered with them, my eyes are the only source of constant distortion in the village."
Himiko happily nodded.
"That's exactly the case!"
Dumfounded at the subjects in question, Naga just shook her head in exasperation.
"Can we focus on the mission. While I'd love to listen to a conversation I can't really understand, people are counting on us."
Hearing this, Kamui's face returned to its former stoicism; she nodded in agreement.
Despite the obvious need for expediency, her father had stressed the need to keep a clear mind at critical moments. It was times like this where she was thankful for Yume's efforts in dulling any excessive levels of stress she experienced during critical missions. With the invasion going on, it wouldn't do to make mistakes out of panic. It wasn't the healthiest way of dealing with stress, literally bottling it up and all, but it worked for this instance. She'd have to deal with it later though.
As for the others… well, they simply didn't have enough ties to Konoha yet to be all that concerned; this was just another mission, albeit more important.
With an exasperated sigh, Himiko replied, "*Sigh…* OK. OK. Geeze."
"Alright, give me a second." Kamui asked, silencing them.
She closed her eyes, focusing on the earth below her. While she couldn't use her earthen sensing very well at the moment, she didn't really need to. She already knew how deep the compound was from her time setting up her own layer of the barrier, so all she had to do was stand over it.
She didn't need her eyes to teleport; they were merely a focusing lens and an easy way of getting viable coordinates. In this case, with her standing directly over the compound, she only had to approximate the vertical space she wanted to move to.
Clapping her hands together, she called out, "Heaven Release: Remote Light Clone Jutsu."
(Hideyoshi's Point of View)
Sitting in quietly in the silent sealing bunker, Hideyoshi took the time to seriously reflect on their activities in the last few hours. Tears pooled in his eyes, threatening to fall down his face.
To think, just a few hours ago, he'd been sitting with his wife, drinking coffee under a warm fire. While it wasn't anywhere near winter, a cold front had set in, allowing them to experience its chill earlier in the year. Truthfully, winter, and colder nights had always been their favorite times of the year. While the cold winds made outside camping during missions rather uncomfortable, they also brought teams and families the closest together.
Now, here he was, sitting alone with a corpse inside a cold, stale compound with no fire to warm him and no one to share his burdens.
"*Chuckle* Roasting marshmallows over the fireplace was always your favorite bonding pastime." Slowly, the tears broke free of their confines, trickling down his face. "We'd promised to do it again this year. I'd even gotten a reservation for your favorite lodge in the land of snow. It would've been perfect. We were going to ring in the new year over smores, that western dish you always loved."
*Chuckle*
"I guess neither of us are going to see it." Despite the tears pouring down his face, his frown curved into a knowing smile. "I guess we should've known." He shook his head. "Well, can't plan for everything. This needed to be done; the clan needed this."
What they hadn't considered going into this was that this barrier complex used the same jutsu to allow entry and exit that they were blocking. If the Flying Thunder God Jutsu was jammed, entry and exit was impossible. All that was to say was that he was trapped.
What's worse was that he wasn't sure he could escape even if he wanted to, not that he did; keeping this place inaccessible was needed to reign in Minato's power. Still, even if he wanted to escape, there just wasn't enough room for his Susanoo to swing its weapon. At best, it could punch the walls, but if they were as sturdy as he expected them to be, it wouldn't work.
Even then, that's assuming he could use his Susanoo at all. While the jutsu, once unlocked, didn't need the eyes to use, they still made using it much easier. Having just unlocked the eyes, even if he forcefully matured them, he simply didn't have the experience to perform the feet with any confidence.
Not to mention, there wasn't enough space to use any of his major Uchiha techniques without risking his own safety. His nature was fire, as were many purist Uchiha, and those didn't tend to do well when fighting in close quarters like these.
Luckily, he was already resigned to his fate, glad at being able to join his wife that much faster. Still, if his clan couldn't seize control of the village and failed their coup, then he'd give Konoha one hell of a last stand before his death, one worthy of a true Uchiha; he would show them the power his wife gave her life to bestow upon him.
*Pop*
Suddenly, his resigned eyes hardened, turning to the sound that manifested in one of the other rooms. Getting up to his feet, he sprinted to the sound with his greatest speed. When he got there though, there was nothing.
"What the… I know something happened over here." His crimson eyes searched the room, taking in every detail. His eyes narrowed. "Hmm… just to be sure…
Jumping back, he threw a shuriken and formed the clone sign. "Shadow Shuriken Jutsu."
One burst into many as a hail of shuriken pelted the wall, meeting no resistance on their journeys.
Seeing the lack of blood or movement of any kind, his eyes narrowed, highly suspicious of the phenomenon. With nothing to verify his suspicions and his sharingan's current inability to clearly perceive chakra, he decided to return to look around the compound, hoping to find something to give him some piece of mind.
What he didn't realize was that someone else truly was in the room with him and that this person was currently silently modifying the seal without his notice.
Years in the future, this situation would be promoted as to why light release was so invaluable to Konoha, dramatically elevating the value of the Yuhi Clan in the village.
(Up Above)
"So… what's the situation?" Himiko asked, curious on the progress below.
Hearing her friend's question, Kamui's eyes opened.
"It shouldn't take too long at this point. I created a light release clone in the bunker. It- "Midway through her explanation, Himiko interrupted.
"Wait. Light release clone?" She asked.
Naga perked up as well, interested in the new technique.
Kamui explained, "It was one of the jutsu Kurenai invented; she taught it to me recently actually. Like any other elemental clone, it's made of its respective element. The cool thing though is the ability to shift its form outside of a human's visible color spectrum."
Hearing this, the two's eyes widened at the possibilities.
"And with this barrier up, chakra can't be sensed normally. Otherwise, their sharingan would've found your clone in a heartbeat." Naga added her own thoughts almost unconsciously, her voice tinged in fascination,
Kamui nodded.
"Himiko, Naga, while my clone works on adjusting the barrier, why don't we discuss easy ways to kill the guy down there. From what my clone's telling me, the sheer malevolence radiating off his chakra suggests him having a fully matured mangekyou sharingan, putting him at least at a high-jonin threat level, if not higher."
Naga's eyebrow rose. "How were you even able to feel that with the barrier still up?"
Kamui replied, "When a person acquires the mangekyou through emotional trauma and gives into the inherently malevolent hunger it births in its users, their chakra darkens, gaining a physical presence. In that state, it can be felt physically by anyone nearby. Unlike tailed beasts though, rather than harming others physically, it attacks the mind, instilling an instinctual fear into those nearby. Even with chakra-based sensing being dampened, effects like that will still happen."
Hearing this, a malicious smirk rose on Naga's face.
"What an interesting phenomenon. I'll have to investigate after this debacle's over." She interestedly stated, eliciting the other two to shudder.
'Didn't the snake do something like that to his own chakra…?' Naga pondered.
From there, the three brainstormed their options, wanting to find the quickest way to end Hideyoshi's life without resistance. Confronting him head on during an invasion like this when they didn't have to was unwise
(With Naruto)
*BOOM* *BOOM*
Hearing the explosions outside, the kids huddled together inside the house's basement. It was a secure area the adults installed just in case a situation like this presented itself. With Naruto holding the nine-tails, an enemy capturing him, especially with his comparatively weak power level, was too dangerous of a possibility.
So, Kushina ordered him and Sasuke to take the kids down there to keep them safe and as calm as possible. In the meantime, Kushina would guard from above, making sure any invader didn't reach their position.
Naruto balled his hands frustratedly. Red bled into his eyes, threatening to overtake him. What little focus he could spare from his desire to help the village went to suppressing the chakra he unconsciously drew from the fox. While his aunt's contract with the fox prevented it from overtaking him, drawing on its chakra now would only make the situation worse.
'Damn it. Why're we so weak.' He angrily thought.
He could clearly recall all that time he wasted, all the opportunities he squandered over the years. How strong could he have been if he'd just trained seriously. At the very least, he'd be out there, fighting off whoever was invading.
'Why!?' he mentally screamed.
Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts.
Looking back, he found Sasuke looking at him with a firm expression, though the whirling, fully matured sharingan, glowing with crimson light, easily revealed what he was feeling.
"Naruto. You need to calm down. You're scaring them." Hearing his brother's stern rebuke, Naruto turned, seeing the panicked expressions of the others.
Releasing a tired sigh, Naruto resignedly glanced back at Sasuke.
"I know… it's just…" He tried to explain.
Sasuke shook his head, stopping his brother. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Sasuke explained, "You don't have to explain. If we hadn't gone on that mission; if I hadn't brought us to the edge of death, I'd be even worse, maybe even barging out of this room to 'help'." He paused, taking a breath to keep himself calm.
"The best we can do now is stay out of the way. We'll have plenty of time to make up for it in the future, but right now… we need to stay here and reassure our siblings."
An image of Itachi came to Sasuke's mind.
"That's what older brothers do."
Naruto really wanted to say something, anything to defend his frustration but looking at his brother's eyes, he knew Sasuke didn't feel any less than him. In fact, with those hate-boner eyes of his, the jerk probably felt an even greater urge.
Because of that, all he could do was return a hesitant nod.
With both resolved and knowing their role, the two turned to accomplish perhaps the most difficult task they'd ever been assigned, calming down their scared siblings with a smile in present circumstances.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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