Chapter 29 - 29. Moonlight
Lightning Country Border,
The war was in its last stages. Konoha was preparing for the confrontation with the Lightning country. Namikaze Minato took on A and Killer B. Killer B had control over the Eight-tails to some extent now, so he was causing too much damage.
But Konoha's side did not have a tailed beast to rely on. Minato had to use his speed to fight them. But there was one good thing, a team from Sunagakure was also there, along with the Jinchuriki.
Sunagakure tried to use their One-tails against Kumo. They knew that the more they defeat the enemy, the more advantages they will get at the end negotiation tables.
In the end, both 8-tails and 1-tails came face to face. But, in the middle of the fight, the 1-tail went out of control and started raging around. Killer B had to focus on containing the 1-tail or else it would cause a lot of injury to all sides.
*BAM*
Gyuki punched the raging Shukaku, but just as their bodies contacted each other, the two giant beasts paused, as if the time had stopped.
In fact, Gyuki was having a conversation in the mind with Shukaku. "Fool, calm down. Don't you want to know what happened to Shiro?"
"SHIRO?" Shukaku stopped all his anger and became attentive. After all, Shukaku had been the one to go away the first and get caught. He didn't even know what happened to his siblings and Shiroken.
"Yes, after you went away and didn't return, Kurama felt guilty and went out to find you. But something happened, he was caught by Konohagakure and sealed just like you. Shiro then decided to head out himself. One thing led to another, he found out that Hashirama Senju wanted to seal all of us in people and sell us to villages.
But at that same time, an Otsutsuki from space attacked. Shiro and he got sealed in a crystal thing, I threw him away to keep him safe until he got out of it. So hold yourself tight, Shiro will be coming soon, until then, just pass your time. Don't senselessly kill people, it will make them hate us more when we are freed again. Do you want to kill all the humans in the world? The Old Man would not have approved of it." Gyuki reasoned with him.
But now Shukaku was angrier at Konoha. He was also shocked that Kurama headed out to find him.
"THESE HUMANS! They disgust me." Shukaku angrily roared.
The next moment they started moving, Shukaku stopped being violent and stopped allowing his Jinchuriki to use his power. Meanwhile, Gyuki did the same and just told Killer B that this is not a fight of Tailed Beasts.
Minato went on to defeat Kumogakure that day and gain an immense reputation around the world. This was the action that made the Fire Country Daimyo feel Minato was a better candidate for the Hokage position.
...
Eventually, the war ended. But, just before it ended, all villages except Konoha came together to commit one last war crime that would put all else to shame.
Shiroken saw it with his own eyes because this happened in a village under his Nature vision range. It was a very peaceful village, with its people not even participating in the wars. They were still very strong, however.
The village was called Uzushiogakure, the home of the Uzumaki clan.
Due to the formidable powers possessed by this clan and their ability to seal anything, ranging from chakras to living and non-living things. All the other villages loathed and feared them, with the exception of Konoha. This was despite them never using their powers for evil.
The other villages planned the genocide of the peaceful Uzumaki clan. The poor people, in the end, were betrayed by Konoha too, who were considered to be the closest ally since the days of 1st Hokage. Senju and Uzumaki were sister clans after all.
They were left to fend for themselves, against the might of not just four of the 5 big Shinobi villages, but also smaller ones. The formidable sealing techniques were too scary for them to tolerate.
Shiroken saw the armies advancing towards the village. He could not stop this genocide, but he could warn them. Using a tree's roots, he etched words on all walls of the village that they will be under attack by other Shinobi villages soon.
Most did not take the warning seriously, but some did, they left their village as quickly as possible to settle in faraway places, going as far as to dye their hair to disguise themselves.
But, 95% of all people in that village were massacred that day. They tried to put up a good fight but in the end, they could not win. The so-called Shinobi were animals, they killed all, from old, young, women to even newborn children. Some other war crimes such as rapes and tortures also occurred. Shiroken used his tree's roots to kill as many such criminal Shinobi as possible.
He saw everything with his senses. Slowly, he felt he was getting numb to human life. They were supposed to regard each other with value, but here he saw it, one human killing another just because they feared each other.
"Why did you not teach me this was the true nature of humans?" Shiroken asked Isobu.
Isobu sighed, "We didn't want you to become like them, Shiro. We wanted you to be better."
"How will that be helpful if I am the only good person in the world? How will my people, Monari, Jin, and our family survive if we only show kindness? In a world like this, our kindness will have no value. I'm glad I was stuck here for this long, I saw the world for what it truly is.
"Now I know what I must do once I'm out," Shiroken replied with emotional pain in his voice.
"What would you do? Kill them? Won't that make you the same?" Isobu asked. He was hesitant about Shiroken's goals now.
Shiroken denied, "As you all taught me, that a bad apple spoils the bunch. So yes, some of them might need to die. But my goal is not death, but life. The true reason for their misery is their disunity. They don't see each other as fellow humans but divide themselves as clans, villages and skills.
"But then, how will they divide themselves when there are no borders? When their Feudal Lords are my puppets? When they don't get permission to wage wars?"
Isobu felt proud that they all were able to make Shiroken grow up into such a reasonable being. They felt all their flaws were missing in Shiroken. He was... the best of all of them.
"Then I am with you, and I am sure everyone in the village is waiting for you." Isobu supported his decision.
...
A few years later,
Shiroken and Isobu talked to each other to their heart's content. Shiroken wasn't aware, but Isobu knew that it's been more than 50 years since they all were separated.
"AH, just a little more. Look at him, his body will probably turn into ash at this rate." Shiroken noted the condition of Minoshiki.
Shiroken's body had changed a lot by now. It was very muscular, his eyes were still red though and his white hair had grown longer. His height had reached more than 6 feet. His body was brimming with so much energy that he felt he could just swat away beings like Hashirama now.
"Hehe, Isobu, I think I can easily beat Kurama in a one on one physical fight now," Shiroken claimed.
"It will make me very happy if you do beat him. We all know he's the strongest among us even though we never acknowledge it because it would make him more arrogant. You beating him would teach him a good lesson." Isobu was all into the plan.
"I guess now I have another reason to find Kurama. Okay, let's see outside, I will probably be out of this thing in a few months."
Shiroken's ability to see around had increased to 300 kilometres. He could now see many small and big human villages. There were so many activities going on. He also occasionally saw some Shinobi fighting.
He felt that he was one with nature now, gaining an understanding he never did before. He could see through the trees, ground, water, sand. He was truly a being made of Natural Chakra, the Natural Energy.
"How will you get me out of this girl?" Isobu asked him.
"By untying the seal holding you in, simple," Shiroken answered.
But Isobu warned him quickly, "That will kill the Jinchuriki immediately. I don't know why though. Maybe Gyuki would."
"Then we will find someone who knows about seals. AH! LOOK! There's something in the river near the cave." Shiroken exclaimed.
Isobu looked along with him since they were both connected through the root in the girl's heart.
"It's a boy. Why are his eye-sockets empty?" Isobu wondered.
Shiroken changed the water flow and brought the body towards the bank of the river, from where the sand and the trees took over. He brought the body inside the cave and checked it with his Nature sense. "He's alive but dying. Hmm, I don't see any other sign of injury on him. It's as if only his eyes were taken."
"Someone took them?" Isobu wondered.
Shiroken shrugged with his voice, "Who knows, people are strange around the world. Maybe we can get some answers from him later when I get out. He looks old enough to know things."
So Shiroken put him in a tree, on life support, that would keep him alive. At the same time, Shiroken noticed the movement under the ground. It moved when he saved this body.
~I must kill this thing as soon as possible. It's too creepy~ He thought. DiiScôver 𝒏𝒆w stori𝒆s on no/𝒗/e()/lbin(.)c/o/m
*CRACK*
"AAAH... ISOBU! It's breaking off." Shiroken excitedly cheered seeing the crystal showing the signs of breaking.
Just then, the body of Minoshiki moved and his eyes opened. He spoke in a dying voice, "Ah, it took me so long to get out of that illusion. YOU!... I may have lost... but they will come to find me, and then you will see your end… We"
Shiroken heard his last words, before Minoshiki's body went limp. It became lifeless, and yet his body still had energy.
...
1 year later,
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
Under the shining moonlight of that night. A being was returning into the world where Gods were a myth. Where human life was a joke, meant to be played with by strong ones.
The cracks were slow and silent, but they were going to shake the world in the coming future. They were like a silent warning to the world, that your chances to correct yourselves are over.
*CRACK*
Shiroken felt the crystal become loose around his body. The body of Minoshiki was nowhere to be seen now, as only the clothes were left. It was finally time for his physical body to wake up.
Like the flames of the sun, the two eyes opened wide, the crimson colour illuminating the crystal as if it was made of blood.
*BOOM*
A punch broke out from the crystal with a loud sound in the ever silent forest.
*BOOM*
Another punch blew half of the crystal away, freeing the left side of the body.
"HAAAAA!"
Shiroken spread his arms wide in a split second, destroying the crystal into smithereens. His upper clothes were gone, his body growth had tattered them away. But his pants were there, as they were loose, to begin with.
His iron-like muscles were visible for nature to see as he looked left and right, seemingly not in control of himself.
*BANG*
The next moment, all of a sudden he plunged his whole right arm into the ground and pulled out a white humanoid thing. His crimson eyes and expressionless cold face looked at it for a brief second.
*SPLASH*
His mighty hands squeezed its skull as if it was a lemon. The red blood splattered around the cave, but not on his body.
He took a tiny breath in and then blew out a small amount of fire, burning the body to ashes. He also burned all the remnants of the crystal and the clothes of Minoshiki.
At last, he looked up. His face seemed bloodthirsty now.
"WAKE UP! SHIRO!" Isobu tried to communicate with Shiro but couldn't. He knew that Shiroken's physical body was still in shock, as it had gone unconscious just after being caught in the crystal. To him, the pain of losing his family was still as strong as that day.
"This is bad, I hope he comes out of it quickly." Isobu prayed. But he was stuck in the girl's body and couldn't do anything.
*BAM*
Shiroken jumped out, piercing through the ceiling of the cavern. He appeared directly above the trees, his eyes looking towards the closest sign of activity that he could sense with his inhuman abilities.
The moonlight fell on him, lighting up his snowy hair and body, with the crimson eyes giving an aura of danger. This was not the sweet little Shiro… This was a natural calamity.
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[A/N: Don't worry, his mind is just coping up with all that happened. This will be resolved by the next chap. This won't become a cliché plot device in the future.]
[A/N 2: Possible Questions some of you may ask, so here are the answers.
Zetsu were created as a result of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki using the Infinite Tsukuyomi technique on the people before transforming them into White Zetsu. So there is blood in them. But I think they didn't have blood in anime, so I will not make it bloody in the future.
There is no date in the timeline or fandom page about the destruction of Uzashio. All it said was that it happened after Kushina left her village.]
[You can see Uzumaki and Senju clan, Uzashiogakure, SHIROKEN on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
STONE! STONE! STONE ME WELL!
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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*
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