"It has been years."
A spirit of pale blue. Glowing within the dark, he was the embodiment of enigma.
Uzumaki Gentaro. That was the name, he said.
"I witnessed it all. The prosperity of Uzushiogakure. Its fall. The deteriorating state of Kiri. Violence, unspeakable things."
Body is yang. Mind is yin. Theoretically, it wasn't impossible to seal a portion of one's will if there was a sufficient fuinjutsu to do so. Yet, to actually achieve such a feat... there was a reason why the Uzumaki clan was well known to be the masters of seals.
"This orb that you are trapped within, one that Kiri seems to be calling the imprisoning orb, was in truth, the finest device that my clan ever created. We called it the sacred jewel of succession."
"It seems that during the handling process, their lack of delicacy resulted in the loss of a portion of seals that allow the exit of the one who's inside this orb."
"How amusing... if not for those series of events, you wouldn't have met me today. In a way, you could call this... a fate."
The spirit turned. With his hands joined at his back, he began to walk through the darkness.
"Walk with me, young Akashi."
Akashi couldn't think of what this spirit, Gentaro, was aiming for. All he knew was that the spirit didn't harbor any malicious intent, and that it was impossible for the spirit to make physical contact with him.
To ease this rising confusion, Akashi followed.
As they walked, the darkness around them began to alleviate. A scenery, lively and awe-strucking, began to formulate around the two of them.
Birds chirped. Grass rustled. The sun was high up in the sky, brightening the world as the cloud lazily floated around.
They continued to walk through the wilderness. Eventually, someone entered Akashi's sight. Swinging the sword over and over in front of wood, that person, a man, seemed to be enjoying his training.
"The Uzumaki clan excels in the arts of seals and swords. No one had better fuinjutsu and kenjutsu skills than we did. Yes, it could be said that we were feared."
"Because of such a reason, we became the target of many villages that covet ours."
The scene changed.
"We believed in our allied village, Konohagakure. We firmly believed that they would help us during our time of difficulty, especially after having the first Hokage marry our princess, Uzumaki Mito."
Shimura Danzo was seen holding hands with another ninja of Kiri's forehead protector.
"Eight years ago or so, during the outbreak of the third shinobi world war, Konoha used the excuse of fighting Iwa to turn a blind eye to Kiri's assault upon Uzushio. Coupled with Danzo's ROOT, who secretly operated to turn the war between the two nations in Kiri's favor... Uzushio's fall was destined."
Surprisingly, Gentaro was calm as he explained.
"Uzushio fell. The remaining members of the Uzumaki clan scattered worldwide, trying to find ways to live on. Our fuinjutsu techniques were taken by Konoha, while our kenjutsu techniques were taken by Kiri. Then, Konoha turned all the blame on Kiri and claimed their condolences for our fall, engraving the Uzumaki mark on their shoulders."
"Such an action ended up rekindling the ages of grievances between the two nations, and Kiri would've joined the war, had not the abrupt death of the third Mizukage caused the village to fall under the civil war of its own."
The scene died down, and they returned to the darkness.
"Can you see, Akashi? Humans are selfish beings. To protect what is ours, we are ready to destroy everything else, no matter how inhumane it may be. By committing a backstab, Konoha managed to survive to this day. The fuinjutsu that they stole from us gave them the power to fend off the variety of jinchurikis of other villages."
Gentaro stopped walking and turned, looking at Akashi.
"Such is the world of ninja. As miserable as it may be, such is how this world works... there only exist winners and losers, and the Uzumaki clan simply happened to be the losers."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"...Or so I thought."
The color suddenly exploded from Gentaro's back. The darkness was replaced with a red background—vivid and powerful.
"Shimura Danzo. Although it was too late by the time I realized his actions, I nevertheless spent time investigating him."
"His ambition to become a Hokage was incredibly strong. However, that still doesn't explain his worldwide actions—it was as if he was being... controlled, by someone."
Akashi's eyebrows flinched.
Danzo... controlled?
That was directly in relation to Akashi's own grievances. Danzo was the one who murdered his parents.
If someone was tied in this matter... it was Akashi's duty to find and avenge.
"Then, while within this orb, I saw someone of a similar case."
"Karatsuchi Yagura, the fourth Mizukage of Kiri."
"...Again,"
Akashi asked.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
Gentaro paused.
"...I can accept the fall of Uzumaki. I can accept our loss. We simply fought and lost. Such is the end. However..."
He then, for the first time, revealed his rage, shaking his clenched hands.
"If someone, hiding within the dark unknown to anyone, was planning our fall... if someone was pretending to be a fate... such would be equivalent to the tarnishment of the Uzumaki clan's pride. Furthermore...
There is a very high likelihood... that this unknown individual may be the ongoing cause of the current war."
Akashi's eye widened.
Up until now, Akashi believed that war and peace would never cease.
And such a case was indeed true. Based on such a truth, Akashi eventually accepted at some point in time that the current, third shinobi world war, is natural.
However, what if it wasn't? What if it were forcibly caused and maintained?
That meant that even if the perfect peace that his young self used to aspire for may be impossible, the ongoing war could be stopped. Relatively, peace could be achieved—realistically.
"I am just a spirit who remains in this orb, waiting for someone. Yet, there is something that even someone like me can do."
Gentaro took in a deep breath. Then, he offered.
"Young Akashi, let's make a contract."
"...A contract?"
Was it truly the fate?
Of all possibilities, because of Kiri considering this device as the imprisoning orb, Akashi was the one, the only one, brought into the area.
He heard the history of Uzumaki's fall. He heard of the chance—a very likely one—that Danzo may be the puppet of an unknown individual.
Of all things that Akashi could've heard, he heard what he couldn't ignore. A new, more prominent purpose was brought into him.
...Perhaps, Akashi already knew because of this reason, of what Gentaro would be asking, and that he won't be able to refuse.
"I have no idea who you may be. You may be the world's strongest, world's worst criminal, a person malicious than any other. Those are of no importance to me. I simply request you this."
"Destroy the cause of the war, the fall of my village, the calamity of this world."
"In return... I will pass down to you, the hidden technique only passed down to the select few of the Uzumaki clan."
"Now, speak."
...Really, there was only one answer.
"Aren't you sneaky, old man?"
Akashi chuckled.
"You read me. You already knew what I would say when you spoke of Danzo. You saw that my emotion slipped."
He leaned forward, towering over the spirit with his tall height.
"Regardless of whether you teach me the technique or not, I will find that person. I will see the end of this."
"...Good."
Gentaro let out a light smile. His eyes lost their strength, and he looked relieved.
"Then, prepare yourself, for what I'm about to teach you won't be easy to learn."
"It is our hidden and most cherished technique, the one that mongered fear out of everyone. Konoha and Kiri tried to take this technique of ours, but they couldn't, for there was no scroll or any sort of record that marked this technique."
"Its name is... Adamantine Sealing Chains."
__________
Metal bars, chakra-sealing cuffs, and a cold environment.
"Mei."
Mei was locked by herself. Hidan was nowhere to be seen and was eventually taken away.
Beyond the bars, Seiji walked up.
Amused by Mei's glaring eyes, he mockingly spoke.
"Your execution day has been set. A week after from now."
He then lowered his head. His body shook. Clearly, he was laughing, unable to hide the overwhelming joy that enveloped him.
"Mm... pff—hahaha!"
With a sadistic glance, Seiji then revealed the blue, imprisoning orb in his grip.
As Mei's eyes located said orb, he played around with it.
"As you can see, he remains locked. And he will remain trapped forever. He won't be able to save you... all you can do is to weep, thinking of how useless you've been."
"Is that all you got to say?"
Seiji paused. He then frowned, irked by the fact that Mei's will still didn't break.
"...Hah! Fine, let's see how long you are able to hide your true emotion!"
Chuckling, he stood up and left, leaving Mei all to herself.
"...There definitely will be a chance."
Mei whispered in the space void of any person except herself.
"If it were to be a public execution, the information would be reachable for anyone—even civilians."
She identified during the walk across the village, that majority of the civilians were obeying out of fear. Some resilience could be seen. Some ninjas seemed to be downcast by her being captured.
There will certainly be a moment of revolt. It will be the final one before their end.
"Not... not all hope is lost yet."
Mei could only hope.