The fog on the summit dispersed.
Heavy storm clouds reappeared across the heavens, a churning mass darker than ink. A crisp roll of thunder snapped, and a light drizzle began to fall.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Fine rainthreads linked into a curtain, except for a small hollow at its center. Below that gap, amid severed limbs and broken bodies, Konome Taketori stood alone on the mountaintop, gazing up at the sky.
Isobu, the Three Tails, stirred by instinct. Its innate control over water quietly took hold.
The rain avoided her as if afraid, not daring to wet even the edge of her clothes.
The water, lively and eager, washed the blood on the ground into thin mud.
She walked to Yotsuki Tsuyoshi's corpse.
The rain automatically split, forming a narrow passage.
The lightning stone had been taken. The Kumogakure shinobi here had all been slaughtered. Once Aburame Ryūma and the others arrived and set detonating tags throughout the mine tunnels, Root's mission would be complete.
She pried the black crystal from the dead man's clenched hand. Rainwater cleared away the blood the moment it touched it.
Then she reached into the one place on his shredded clothing that remained intact and pulled out a mysterious scroll.
Her Byakugan had already seen through him.
Yotsuki Tsuyoshi kept that scroll pressed against his body. It was obviously important.
To protect her spoils, she had avoided striking it during the fight, so it remained perfectly undamaged.
She slowly unrolled it.
The paper itself was pitch black. White characters were carved across it, hooks and strokes sharp as lightning.
The rods on either side were polished from black crystal, smooth to the touch, clearly the same material as the dark crystal Tsuyoshi carried.
There was only one difference.
The crystal in Tsuyoshi's hand was darker, a blackness that went down to the bone.
The scroll rods, in contrast, were only black on the surface. Just a thin layer. Inside, they were clear, transparent crystal.
Konome skimmed the text, and a flash of delight crossed her eyes.
Dark Thunder Crystal. The Black Lightning secret art. The Third Raikage.
The scroll recorded in detail how the Yotsuki clan discovered the lightning stone, what the Dark Thunder Crystal could do, and how to master Black Lightning.
Just as she suspected.
Black Lightning was a technique formed from Lightning Release and Yin Release. It struck both body and mind at once, and could numb the enemy's soul until they could not even think.
According to the scroll, the Third Raikage was the first to realize the Dark Thunder Crystal could absorb lightning and yin simultaneously, fusing them into Black Lightning.
He wanted to use it to create a unique Kekkei Genkai for the Yotsuki clan.
He succeeded.
And he failed.
After understanding the principle behind the crystal's fusion of yin and lightning, the Third Raikage replicated Black Lightning's terrifying power. But to his surprise, this fusion still did not qualify as a Kekkei Genkai.
It could not be passed down through blood.
From then on, Kumogakure began aggressively plundering Kekkei Genkai, searching for the reason Black Lightning could not become hereditary.
In the end, he did find the answer.
To form a true Kekkei Genkai, the most important requirement was that the secret method must cause a profound change to the shinobi themselves.
Yin Release altered the soul.
Yang Release altered the body.
Techniques like Ice Release or Storm Release, meanwhile, altered chakra itself.
A shinobi's soul, flesh, and chakra were a trinity. Once any one underwent a qualitative transformation, the chakra "seed" would shift with it.
When that new chakra seed matured, bloomed, and bore fruit, the special power could be passed on to the next generation through reproduction, carried by inheritance.
Black Lightning could not be inherited because it lacked a crucial final piece. It could not force fundamental change in soul, body, or chakra, so it could only remain a secret art, never a Kekkei Genkai.
The reason the Third Raikage wrote all of this down was simple.
He had not given up hope.
He wanted the younger generation of Kumogakure to find a way to evolve Black Lightning into a true bloodline limit.
As for Black Lightning's brute power, she did not care much.
She did not lack offensive tools.
The ability to strike mind and soul might broaden her options a little, but that was all.
What she truly valued was the knowledge inside, the fusion of nature transformations, the framework of Kekkei Genkai theory.
Konoha had no shortage of powerful bloodlines.
But when it came to merging two different chakra natures, its foundation was painfully lacking.
The Black Lightning scroll contained decades of Kumogakure's hard earned insight, a part of shinobi knowledge Konoha's library was missing almost entirely.
Even without a successful example, this record of failure was priceless.
Rustle.
After a fierce battle, the air was already wet. Rain struck earth again and again, and faint white vapor began to rise.
Standing alone in the rain, Konome spread the scroll and read greedily, devouring every line.
Behind her…
A massive silver python, more than ten meters long and thick as a water barrel, slid quietly across the mud. Rain tapped its smooth scales with crisp, glassy knocks.
Atop its basin sized head, cold golden slit pupils reflected Konome's back.
Ssshh.
The serpent craned closer and closer.
A deep purple forked tongue tasted the air. In a snake's infrared sense, her small body burned bright red, like a human shaped torch radiating heat.
Hiss!
Muscles exploded.
The python launched upward and snapped its jaws at Konome. Inside its purple mouth, jagged teeth interlocked. If an ordinary person took even one bite, bones would shatter and tendons would tear.
Konome's Byakugan shifted slightly, seeing in full three hundred and sixty degrees.
Slash.
An invisible wind blade flew from behind her head.
The rain falling through the air split cleanly in two. The lower half continued downward, while the upper half hovered unnaturally, as if even the rain curtain had been severed by a strand of wind.
Rip.
The python's jaws hung open, drool spilling. In its golden eyes was the last hunger of its life.
Then its massive body crashed into the mud.
Its nerves, not yet dead, made the corpse thrash and writhe wildly. The top of its skull slid down along the cut that ran through its eyes, exposing a smooth, slender, tube like brain inside.
Thump. Thump.
Blood and mud splashed everywhere as the half headed serpent flailed.
"Such refined Wind Release without hand seals," a hoarse, magnetic voice said from behind. "Since when did Root produce someone like you?"
Konome ignored the hollow show of the dying serpent. She lowered the Dark Thunder Crystal and the Black Lightning scroll, then turned toward the enormous mine entrance.
A long board jutted out above the opening, shielding the mouth from the rain. Water ran off its edge in steady drips.
A tall, slender man stood beneath it, as if he had been there all along. Purple rope was tied at his waist like a shimenawa.
Medium length black hair.
Golden slit eyes identical to the silver python's.
Purple markings stretching up to his nose.
Pale skin.
Blue green magatama shaped earrings.
And that vast, wicked chakra clinging to him like a stench.
Konome could guess his identity with her eyes closed.
Konoha's S rank missing nin.
One of the legendary Three Sannin.
Orochimaru.
Why was he here?
Tsuyoshi's accusations about kidnapped Kumogakure shinobi flashed through her mind. Then Orochimaru's reason for defecting followed.
She could already guess.
This bastard had been hiding in Raikodō Mountain, capturing Kumogakure shinobi for experiments.
Chihaya Tō had once said Kumogakure bodies were strong, perfect for human experimentation. Orochimaru, as his former collaborator, would definitely know that.
"Could you hand over what you're holding?"
Orochimaru licked his lips, greed glinting as he stared at the Dark Thunder Crystal.
Konome clicked her tongue.
So he was not only using Kumogakure shinobi as test subjects.
He also wanted the lightning stone and the Dark Thunder Crystal.
Hiding in Raikodō Mountain, he planned to eat three meals off one table.
She pulled a sealing scroll from her sleeve and formed seals: Tiger, Rat, Rabbit, Boar, Rooster.
Pop.
The Dark Thunder Crystal and the Black Lightning scroll turned into smoke and vanished into the circular seal mark at the scroll's center.
In Orochimaru's chilling gaze, Konome tucked the scroll into the inner pocket of her cloak.
"No."
The girl's young voice echoed in the rain. The raindrops flowed around her, forming a dry circle on the ground at her feet.
Orochimaru's eyes brightened slightly.
He had not expected the short Root operative to be a child.
With his years of experience luring children, he could tell from her voice alone.
She was no older than ten.
Masterful Wind Release.
Water Release control as natural as moving her own fingers.
Chakra reserves comparable to an elite jōnin.
A true prodigy, the kind of talent that appeared once in a generation.
Konome frowned at the "greed" glowing above his head, at the tongue flicking in and out, at the disgusting way his gaze crawled over her.
This was their third meeting.
The first had been in the Taketori ancestral grounds in Kirigakure, when she woke among piles of her clansmen's corpses and, through her Byakugan, saw the battlefield where Orochimaru broke through the encirclement.
Back then, she had been a terrified, helpless genin. She did not even have the right to look at him.
The second encounter was at Peichuan Port during her flight through the Land of Fire.
On that "Hope" ship, a hope that led straight to hell, her twin bloodlines awakened. She devoured Three Tails chakra and finally gained the ability to protect herself.
Even then, she still did not dare appear before him.
She feared becoming an experiment in some black underground base.
But this third time…
She no longer feared the legendary Sannin.
Hum.
The rain curtain across the sky was suddenly cut apart by an unseen ripple.
Orochimaru, who had been tracking her by tongue, scent, and heat, narrowed his eyes and dipped his body low.
Slash.
A deep gouge appeared instantly in the rock wall beside the mine entrance.
The severed rain fell again, hammering stone with sharp pops. Droplets splattered onto Orochimaru's trousers, leaving dense specks of mud.
He slowly raised his head.
The greed in his golden eyes vanished.
In its place was cold, killing intent.
The owl mask tilted slightly.
Black eyes like an abyss met golden slit pupils.
The rain grew heavier, but it could not extinguish the killing intent swelling between them.
Step. Step. Step.
Footsteps sounded from the cliff edge.
The two of them kept staring, neither gaze shifting even a fraction.
In a contest between experts, whoever lost focus died.
Even if mountains crumbled and seas dried up, you could not reveal the slightest opening before an enemy.
"Yozuru. He's not an enemy."
A cold voice broke the suffocating tension.
Removing his mask, Aburame Ryūma stepped in, the signature dark sunglasses on his face. Iwaguma and the other two followed, moving quickly between them and forcing space.
"Long time no see, Ryūma."
Seeing his old partner from Root, Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth and suppressed his impulse. Still, he refused to concede verbally.
"Is she your subordinate? Can I take her?"
"You'd better not," Ryūma said, expression unchanged. "Yozuru is Lord Danzō's disciple. If you take her, Root will hunt you to the ends of the world."
"Danzō's disciple?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Orochimaru's face.
That man, who treated everyone as tools, had actually taken a disciple?
Then he thought of that precise, lethal Wind Release. If it came from Danzō, a specialist in Wind Release, it made sense.
"What a pity."
Orochimaru shook his head and abandoned the idea.
When you had enough fleas, one more itch didn't matter. When you owed enough debts, one more didn't keep you up at night.
Root's pursuit didn't truly scare him.
But his cooperation with Danzō could not be cut off.
After all, Danzō still controlled the shinobi world's only nonrenewable Sharingan resource.
Seeing the "greed" emotion above Orochimaru fade, Konome eased the little chakra she had left back into calm.
That brief confrontation had already consumed almost half of what remained in her.
The original body's chakra had too many uses. She could not waste it here.
She was a shadow clone.
Orochimaru could revive.
Neither of them could truly kill the other, and there was no profit to be gained.
The Black Lightning scroll and Dark Thunder Crystal were unexpected bonuses. Combined with the lightning stone from Raikodō Mountain and Danzō's promised "choose your own Sharingan" reward, her haul was already massive.
There was no reason to delay the real objective over a moment of pride.
Besides, she wasn't really a child.
Iwaguma and the others walked over and took up positions beside her. Seeing the bodies strewn across the summit and the massive corpse lying near her, they were shaken.
They had fought the dark skinned female jōnin at the Second Mining Site. They knew exactly how troublesome Kumogakure shinobi could be.
A single jōnin had dragged the four of them into a long stalemate.
Konome had faced two jōnin, one of them an elite jōnin.
They'd assumed she only needed to hold out until reinforcement arrived.
Instead, she had slaughtered them all before they reached her.
And she looked untouched.
As if she'd simply finished a snack.
"The item Lord Danzō wants," Aburame Ryūma said, turning straight to Orochimaru. "Where is it?"
"Ugh."
Orochimaru retched and spat up a wet sealing scroll.
"It's here. Do you want to inspect it?"
Unknown sticky fluid dripped down his arm. Konome's brows knitted in disgust. This storage method was revolting on a physical level.
Ryūma pulled out a scroll of his own and released the seal.
Pop.
As the smoke dispersed, an entire jar of crimson eyeballs appeared in his hand. In the faint light, Sharingan with exposed purple nerves floated in preservative, drifting slightly.
Orochimaru also unsealed the slimy scroll he'd produced.
Inside a one meter long cylindrical transparent tank, a pale arm floated in green solution.
From palm to upper arm, ten crimson, double tomoe Sharingan stared out curiously at the world.
Konome's expression changed.
That was Danzō's right arm.
Sending Aburame Ryūma and her here was never truly about the lightning stone of Raikodō Mountain.
Transporting this perfect arm, an arm that could bear both Hashirama cells and Sharingan, was Danzō's real mission.
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