Chapter 69: The Hero’s Rebirth (Patreon)

The Land of Fire, within a forest. The morning sun was the color of congealed blood.

Dust had been soaked through with viscous fluid, making a chilling squelch underfoot.

Itachi Uchiha stood there trembling, his pupils shaking, several lifeless bodies lying behind him. They were the Jōnin-sensei and comrades of his squad, as well as the merchant caravan they were supposed to protect on this mission.

There hadn't even been noisy fighting or shouts. Just a silent figure walking toward them, and lives were taken like dry leaves swept away by a gentle breeze. The comrades he had barely formed bonds with... their lives were stolen so easily.

"You..."

Itachi stared fixedly at the masked figure ahead, his hand gripping the kunai trembling—whether from fear or anger, he did not know. He was far too green now, having only recently become a Genin. Fear was like an icy serpent, penetrating his marrow, freezing his limbs.

Until... the only remaining Genin teammate standing before him clenched his kunai and charged at the masked figure like a moth to a flame.

Thud.

The headless body swayed and fell. Blood flowed, releasing a metallic scent, dyeing Itachi's eyes crimson.

"Hmm?"

Seeing the two tomoe emerging in those eyes, along with that inexplicably familiar sorrow and anger, Obito Uchiha felt a flicker of interest.

'Awakened the Sharingan due to a comrade's death? And two tomoe on the first awakening? This brat... seemed a bit different.'

Thinking this, his initial intent to kill faded considerably. Storing the goods in a scroll, his figure vanished from Itachi's sight.

Reappearing, Obito stood on a tree branch, frowning down at the pitcher plant-like extension emerging from the ground below.

"What is it, Zetsu?" His voice was hoarse and low. "Why aren't you in the Land of Rain watching Nagato? Why come find me?"

"Lord Madara, it's bad!"

Zetsu looked up at Obito, exclaiming dramatically. "The White Zetsu monitoring Hanzō have all lost contact! Nagato suspects something's happened in Amegakure and has already gone to kill Hanzō! We couldn't stop him. By now... he should be almost at Amegakure!"

Hearing this, Obito's expression beneath the mask darkened slightly. A powerful unease surged within him.

....

Amegakure, The Tower

Inside a room once forbidden to all, Hyūga Kumokawa and Hanzō sat facing each other. Shinda and another Amegakure ninja named Heiji stood by.

"Kage... what the hell are these things? And who put them on me..."

Looking at the several white humanoid figures wrapped and bound in shadow, the shock and anger in Hanzō's eyes hadn't yet faded. Though he had calmed somewhat, such bizarre abilities and circumstances still pricked his sensitive nerves. He had been completely unaware of these things' existence. He couldn't even imagine how long they had been inside him. Just the thought sent a chill crawling down his spine.

He thought the intelligence leaks were due to a mole among his subordinates. He never expected the problem was himself from the start.

If these things came again... would he still be unable to detect them?

"These things are called White Zetsu. They're a bit troublesome, yes—but since we've already formed an alliance, I'll naturally help you remove this hidden danger."

Hyūga Kumokawa put away the White Zetsu corpses, then looked back at Hanzō with a faint smile. "However, what comes next might hurt a little. You'll need to endure it."

Hearing this, Hanzō suppressed the unease and confusion in his heart and frowned. "Are you underestimating me?"

Hyūga Kumokawa nodded, offering no further explanation. He placed a hand on Hanzō's shoulder, and the patterns in his palm began to spread once more. But this time, the black markings carved themselves into Hanzō's body. Like plum blossoms blooming in the dead of winter, they slowly sank into flesh and blood.

The next instant,

"AAAH!!"

The moment the black markings merged with his body, even though Hanzō had mentally prepared himself, the pain—like his entire being was being torn apart—still forced out a scream of agony. He had endured countless hardships before, but this was pain that reached down to the cellular level… even to the soul itself. No suffering he had known could compare!

The soul-rending torment made bluish veins bulge violently. Beneath his skin, it was as if countless blue insects were writhing, and several bloody cracks split open across his exposed flesh.

"What's happening?! Lord Hanzō!"

Shinda and Heiji were startled, panic flashing across their faces as they instinctively moved to support Hanzō.

Hyūga Kumokawa raised a hand to stop them both. Shaking his head, he said calmly, "This is a gift from that being—and also the price Hanzō must pay."

"Cough—!"

As if spurred by those words, Hanzō curled his body inward and clamped his teeth shut, forcing himself to stop screaming. His pale, aged face twisted into a terrifying grimace.

Pain—pain that tore apart the body. Pain that reached deep into the soul.

Without Hanzō realizing it, a "wedge" was being forged, forming shackles around his soul. The chains' other end rested firmly in Hyūga Kumokawa's grasp—yet at the same time, Hanzō's aged body began to be reborn.

Soon, Hanzō's heart started pounding violently, the sound so strong it echoed outside his body.

Thump! Thump-thump!

The blood surging through his veins felt like molten lava, erupting in rhythm with his rapidly expanding and contracting heart. Large amounts of skeletal muscle dissolved under the influence of that blood, only to be torn apart and reforged by an overwhelming force. Muscle fibers twisted and intertwined like thick ropes beneath the skin, undergoing the same transformation throughout his entire body.

"Lord Hanzō! Y-you…"

Shinda and Heiji stared in shock at the changes before their eyes, watching as Hanzō's withered, pale hair—like dead wood meeting spring—gradually turned into a brilliant gold. Every cell in his body seemed to breathe. A surge of vitality poured out from his once-frail frame, steadily filling his shriveled, gaunt body.

"This feeling…"

Hanzō felt his body, dormant for more than ten years, thaw like ice and snow. Chakra brimming with life spread through him, awakening vitality in every corner of his being.

This was what he had always sought. Power. Life.

Power flowed through his veins and bones like magma, his body temperature rising to a searing, almost scalding heat. He needed to release it—to vent this power and the joy surging within his heart. But how?

Just then, as if he heard something, Hyūga Kumokawa turned his head and looked toward the outside of the tower.

"Weren't you curious about who planted those White Zetsu?" Hyūga Kumokawa spoke with a faint smile. "He's here."

Shinda and Heiji instinctively turned toward the window.

In the distance, three figures clad in black cloaks patterned with red clouds strode through the wind and rain. Their robes whipped violently in the storm, and within their eyes rippled a deep, dark purple.

There was no need for stealth.

He was Pain. He was "God"—a god above humanity, who needed only absolute power to drag a decayed hero down from a crumbling throne.

"Go."

Looking at Hanzō, whose body was now covered in black markings, Hyūga Kumokawa spoke softly. "Let our arrogant 'god' witness the power that lies beyond the peak of a 'hero.'"

"Tell him this—the future may belong to him… but right now, at this very moment, it is still yours."

Hanzō's body trembled slightly—but this time, it wasn't fear of death. It was the heat of his burning blood. The hero of the Land of Rain, who once dared to stand alone against the Five Great Nations, reclaimed the strength and presence he had lost to age.

"Hah! You bastard!"

He laughed with the full force of his life itself—and in the next instant, he rose to his feet and vanished from Hyūga Kumokawa's sight.

"Whoever that 'great being' you keep talking about is—thank him for me."

Buzz.

As his words faded, Hanzō appeared atop the tower. Facing the three distant figures, a smile spread across his now full, revitalized face. He raised his hand, bit into his finger, and flung the blood outward.

"Summoning Technique!"

His exhilarated roar echoed through the morning mist as the ground in the distance shuddered, cracking open with deep fissures.

"ROOOAR!!"

A massive purple-black monstrosity burst forth, threw back its head, and unleashed a terrifying, earth-shaking roar that pierced the sky.