The Hidden Waterfall Village had a notoriously tricky geography. It was practically designed to keep spies out, which meant he had no clue who the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki actually was.
If he wanted to target the Seven-Tails, finding the Jinchūriki was step one. Once he had a name or a face, capturing them would be manageable.
But the Hidden Waterfall lived up to its name. The village was concealed inside a massive waterfall, and any outsider trying to sneak in would almost certainly be detected by their sensors. A quiet infiltration was off the table.
After thinking it over carefully, Gisei Shiraishi decided there was really only one way to flush the Jinchūriki out.
He had to attack the village.
If the Hidden Waterfall faced total annihilation, he refused to believe their leader would leave their strongest weapon—the Jinchūriki—sitting on the bench.
Two days later, Gisei arrived at the waterfall that hid the village.
He activated his sensory abilities and quickly located the underwater tunnel leading inside, but the exit was heavily guarded. So much for swimming in.
There was no other choice. Gisei looked up at the sky. Butterflies couldn't swim, but they could certainly fly.
"Secret Technique: Butterfly Wings!" (Hiden: Chō no Tsubasa!)
A pair of colorful chakra wings burst from his back. With a slight vibration, Gisei shot straight up into the air.
Once he was a thousand meters up, he spotted it—the Hidden Waterfall Village, nestled securely behind the cascading water.
He hovered above the village, observing carefully. He had intended to use his sensory abilities to sweep the area, but remembering the Tailed Beast, he hesitated.
Back when he fought the Nine-Tails, its roar had been enough to shake him out of his fusion mode with Castle. The Seven-Tails might have a similar trick up its sleeve, so alerting the enemy now was too risky.
The houses below weren't densely packed, except for the commercial district where most of the population seemed to be gathered.
Watching quietly from above, Gisei considered his options for an attack.
Standard ninjutsu wouldn't be effective enough and would definitely expose him. Secret techniques were also a bad idea; they left too many traces for intelligence squads to track back to him.
Diplomatic relations between the Waterfall and Konoha had always been good. If the Waterfall found out it was him, they would go straight to the Third Hokage.
And then? War would definitely break out. The Third might even righteously sacrifice him for the sake of "peace."
What a retard.
So, attacking the village without exposing himself... Shadow clones?
Shadow clones were useful, sure, but a few clones couldn't create the kind of "village-ending crisis" he needed to force the Jinchūriki out.
His current arsenal of large-scale ninjutsu was limited to the advanced Rasengan and the Five-Ring Spear. The Rasengan had already been seen by Tsunade, so that was out. That left only the Five-Ring Spear as a complete unknown.
But regrettably, the Five-Ring Spear required the main body to cast. Shadow clones couldn't handle it. It was a fusion of five elemental natures; the chakra control had to be precise to the extreme. One slip-up and the jutsu failed.
Blowing up a shadow clone was a minor issue. The real problem was the commotion. A massive, unexplained explosion would trigger a huge search, and the Waterfall ninja weren't idiots.
It felt like a deadlock.
The main body couldn't be exposed, and a shadow clone wasn't strong enough to create real pressure. What on earth should he do?
He thought he knew a lot of techniques, but when it came time to actually use them, he found himself tied down by restrictions.
Maybe he should just wait until he captured a ninja with a Kekkei Genkai before going after the Seven-Tails...
Just as he turned to leave, Castle suddenly spoke up.
"I have a way."
Gisei paused, stunned, and quickly entered his mental space. "What brilliant idea do you have?"
"I saw in your memories that Madara Uchiha had a ninjutsu called Tengai Shinsei (Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Star). I think you can do something similar."
Tengai Shinsei?
Gisei looked at him oddly. "That's a special ability of the Rinnegan, isn't it?"
Castle tilted his head. "Who cares if it's a special ability? Dropping a small pebble from high enough can kill someone. If you fly up to ten thousand meters and drop a giant rock, it works better than any ninjutsu."
Castle's words made Gisei's eyes light up.
That was true. He could fly. Dropping rocks from the stratosphere would be effortless and completely untraceable.
Only one problem...
"How am I supposed to carry a giant rock up to ten thousand meters? Don't tell me I have to haul it on my back..."
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Castle flipped him the bird and gave him a look of utter disdain.
Gisei ignored the attitude. Castle's personality was just a reflection of himself; getting mad at him was like getting mad at a mirror.
"Why do I feel like you're smarter than me?"
"Because you're stupid."
"My foolish son, keep talking like that and you're going to lose your father."
"...I'm too lazy to argue with you. I can't go out for fresh air anyway. Stuck in your body all day, all I can do is pick through your memories."
Pick through my memories...
Gisei scratched his head. "So, what else have you figured out?"
"A lot."
As Castle spoke, a ball of water suddenly formed in his hand. He tossed it into the air, where it began to spin rapidly, forming a vortex.
Gisei blinked. "Water Style and Wind Style?"
Castle nodded. A fireball appeared in his hand next. He threw it into the vortex and added Wind Style, causing the flames to spiral perfectly with the water.
A combined ninjutsu of Wind and Fire?
Gisei looked thoughtful.
"This is just a two-attribute fusion. The power is small, but with enough chakra, it can become a natural disaster. And you..." Castle pointed a finger at him. "...you can achieve five-attribute fusion. Three or four attributes is no challenge at all. You don't lack chakra, anyway."
"With the skyrocketing chakra control you got after merging with me, there's nothing you can't do if you really want to. Even a single-attribute ninjutsu can unleash power far beyond ordinary limits."
As he spoke, a whirlwind surged around Castle, growing stronger until it formed a tornado.
"Look familiar?"
Gisei's expression turned strange. "Typhoon Release?"
"Correct. And I can control it perfectly." Castle shrank the tornado down into his palm, expanding and contracting it at will.
Gisei's mouth twitched. "Is there more?"
Castle dissipated the wind and pointed a finger at Gisei.
A tiny point of light gathered at the tip. An instant later, a laser beam shot directly at Gisei's face.
Startled, Gisei braced to dodge, but the laser suddenly curved in mid-air and shot back toward Castle.
"This is..."
The laser hit Castle and vanished harmlessly. Castle laughed. "Storm Release. Surprised?"
"Storm Release is a Kekkei Genkai. You..."
"I already said you were stupid. Kekkei Genkai are just fusions of different elemental attributes. I can use Storm Release because of your Lightning attribute and my Water attribute. They're the primary affinities of your body."
Gisei blinked. "So... as long as I research the ratios, I can use any Kekkei Genkai?"
"In theory, yes. In practice, it's very difficult. But your shadow clones won't be able to use them. Kekkei Genkai are too complex for a clone to maintain."
As long as the main body could use it, Gisei didn't care about the clones.
He suddenly remembered the Lightning Release forbidden jutsu, Thunder Prison, that he used with the Thunder Butterfly. Concentrating all that lightning into a single point created a laser cannon effect.
Even a Susanoo probably wouldn't be able to block that, right?
The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. He wanted to try it immediately.
Castle poured cold water on him instantly. "I advise you to calm down. The more powerful the ninjutsu, the longer the preparation time. Plus, the massive chakra spike from a forbidden jutsu will definitely alert the Waterfall ninja. If they hit you with a Tailed Beast Bomb while you're charging up, let's see if you can still smile."
Gisei's smile froze. Looking at Castle, he couldn't help but complain, "Why do I feel like you're stronger than me?"
"What exactly gave you the courage to think you were stronger than me?"
"...This conversation is over."
"I just told the truth."
"The truth hurts the most, don't you get that? Sometimes I even tell white lies."
"Oh really? I used to tell white lies too, but you immediately wanted to disown me."
"Good son, you killed the conversation again."
After bickering for a bit longer, Gisei left his mental space.
He glanced down at the Hidden Waterfall Village, a grin creeping onto his face. Seven-Tails, I'm coming for you.
Turning away, Gisei flew off to find a nice, big mountain range.
Following Castle's advice, he planned to use Earth Release to create several massive boulders. He would carve Summoning formulas onto them and bury them underground. When the time came, he'd fly up, summon them high in the sky, and let gravity do the rest.
Ten thousand meters up—hell, even one thousand meters would be enough to deliver a devastating blow.
Thinking of the scene, Gisei felt a little giddy. Let's give it a name first. Tengai Shinsei?
No, that was just copying Madara. Falling Star? Tacky.
After thinking it over, Gisei finally settled on a name.
The Buddha's Palm!
Sure, throwing rocks had nothing to do with Buddha, but the summoning motion required him to slap the air with his palm, so it fit, right?
When the time came, he'd shout "Buddha's Palm," and if anyone argued, he'd smash their heads in too.
Before long, Gisei found a secluded mountain range. After verifying no one was within a hundred miles, he got to work.
However, ideas are beautiful, but reality is harsh.
Gisei worked for half the day just to make one irregular sphere ten meters in diameter. And that was with the help of twenty shadow clones. When he finally dispelled them, he collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
This is way too hard.
Did the stone have to be round? Wouldn't a square one have a larger impact area?
"A large surface area means it's easier to shatter. A spherical structure is more stable."
Castle chimed in again.
Gisei sighed. "Fine, but this is too difficult. I have to crack the stone from the mountain and then use Earth Release to fuse it together bit by bit. How long is this going to take?"
Castle sounded speechless. "Can't you use your brain? Think about how cement is made. Or at the very least, just use Wind Style to shave the entire mountain top into a sphere. Seriously, if I'm so smart, why are you so stupid?"
"Is that how you talk to your father?"
"I'm just telling the truth."
"..."