Naruto: Being a Shinobi with no System But...

"Big Brother's roar, the Sensory Unit's boring report, and this irritating smell of waiting… they're all material for inspiration! This lord's next hit song's gonna ride this high-pressure beat—!"

"Shut up, B!" the Fourth Raikage roared at Killer B. "Listen. The Sensory Unit's mission is to monitor the high-altitude situation twenty-four hours a day without interruption. Right now, that's the weakest link in our defense system—"

A piercing alarm suddenly shrieked through the Hidden Cloud Village.

A burst through the walls in a single motion and leapt up, landing on the dome of the Raikage Building.

Several kilometers up in the sky, an airspace usually wrapped year-round in thick cloud and mist began to twist. A small point of yellow light appeared, growing brighter and brighter as the haze burned away.

The ultimate weapon of the Sky Ninja, the flying fortress Ancor Vantian, revealed itself.

"What… is that thing?!"

Some of the shinobi could only stare, dazed, at the distant glow.

"Get to the shelters immediately! Shinobi, assist with the civilian evacuation! Move!" A bellowed.

The instant his order left his mouth, a golden beam of light erupted from the fortress. It bored straight through the mountaintop ahead and then lanced toward the Hidden Cloud Village.

At that moment, a figure shot out.

"Fool! Ya fool! The village's crisis—"

"B!"

Killer B instantly entered full Tailed Beast Mode, throwing his massive form into the path of the golden beam. Gyūki's eight octopus-like tails thrashed wildly. Its huge maw gaped open as black and red chakra gathered, condensing at a terrifying speed.

A Tailed Beast Ball launched forth, slamming head-on into the golden light cannon.

BOOOMMM!

For a heartbeat, it felt like that deafening roar was the only sound left in the world.

Black-red and golden-yellow light smashed together in mid-air, grinding and exploding against each other. An enormous energy sphere blossomed in the sky, then burst outward into a monstrous shockwave that spread in all directions.

The clouds above were blown clear. Patches of forest below were scorched black, and the violent tremors reached all the way to the Hidden Cloud Village, making buildings shudder on their foundations.

"ROOAARRR!!"

In full Tailed Beast form, Killer B roared as his massive body was driven backward by the blast. Gyūki's eight tails stabbed into the earth, plowing eight deep furrows as it braced itself. Using its own body as a shield, it absorbed and diverted most of the aftershock.

When the gale finally died down, the smoke and dust slowly began to clear.

A stood at the edge of the dome, his Kage robe snapping in the lingering wind. His sharp gaze cut through the thinning haze toward the southeastern sky.

There, the gigantic aerial fortress was climbing higher.

Its thrusters spat even fiercer blue flames, and in moments it vanished back into the clouds.

The alarm still howled, but the attack had stopped—for now.

A stared toward the place where the fortress had disappeared, his wide eyes twitching.

"Tutai," he said, turning to Tutai, who had appeared on the rooftop at some point, his expression grim, "bring out the village's experimental Chakra Cannon."

His gaze lifted to the now-empty sky, as if the fortress's shadow still lingered there.

"Next time that thing dares to cast its shadow over the Land of Lightning…"

"Blast it out of the sky!"

News of the attack on Kumogakure swept through the ninja world, carrying with it Doto Kazahana's declaration.

Immediately afterward, Doto issued a public statement: the assault was only a "warning" to Kumogakure for its recent encroachments on the Land of Snow's borders, and a "punishment" for Kumo-nin who had unilaterally abandoned a mission after accepting a commission from the Land of Snow. At the same time, he demanded that the Five Great Nations retract the accusations and slander they had leveled against him in recent months. He also put forward a list of demands—most notably the surrender of Koyuki Kazahana—along with a few similar conditions.

Roshi received this intelligence while meeting with Kabuto, who claimed he had finished sorting and studying all the data Orochimaru left behind.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses, assuming today's meeting was over, but Roshi showed almost no reaction to the report.

"Follow me, Kabuto."

He led Kabuto all the way to the Senju House and into the experimental woodland behind it. Kabuto's gaze swept over the vegetation, quickly catching on a particularly unusual plant sealed off by a barrier.

"These past few years, I've taken leave quite often."

Although Kabuto was only fifteen this year, he was already an outstanding figure. He smoothly picked up the conversation, his tone practiced and polite. "Even while I was studying, I heard that you and Lady Tsunade take turns handling the duties of Hokage. You're using this method to make Konoha even stronger."

"Most of that leave was spent here." Roshi's eyes fell on the mother plant bound within the barrier. This year, after its growth advanced a little, he had tried once again to implant Tailed Beast chakra.

This time he'd used the Ichibi's chakra—while helping Gaara sleep soundly, he had conveniently siphoned off a bit. Shukaku, which frequently strained against its seal, had its chakra so deeply entangled with Gaara's that even without a full Tailed Beast transformation, Roshi had managed to obtain some.

The good news: the implantation had succeeded. The Tailed Beast chakra's nature was preserved, and the tree hadn't been destroyed.

The bad news: after absorbing the Ichibi's chakra, the thing no longer recognized its creator. Its energy absorption and growth rate had surged, and it would even lash out at him.

"The results of the Land Transformation Plan you implemented in Sunagakure must have come from here too. Even during your time off, you're working for the future of the ninja world…"

Roshi cut off Kabuto's flattery. "I brought you here today because I want your help."

He paused, then added, "But before that, there's a legend about the ninja world—the Sage of Six Paths…"

Kabuto straightened slightly, listening intently.

Roshi spoke of the God Tree, the Chakra Fruit, the Ōtsutsuki, Kekkei Mōra, and all the conjectures he had drawn from them.

As his explanation went on, the shock on Kabuto's face only grew more obvious.

"…If this were just a hopeless experiment, I wouldn't be asking you to invest your time," Roshi concluded. "But if there's even a slight chance of success, having someone with your talent push it forward might bring better results."

Kabuto fell silent. After a moment of hesitation, he probed carefully, "If things are as you say, and the God Tree will absorb all the life energy of the planet, then…"

He had things he cherished—his adoptive mother, the orphanage. He didn't want to destroy them.

"What I want isn't to harvest the ninja world," Roshi said. "I only want to see if gathering chakra from the One-Tails through the Nine-Tails and completing all attributes can achieve the effect of Kekkei Mōra."

After all, looking at the Fourth Ninja World War, reviving the Gedo Statue hadn't required absorbing the entire Tailed Beast. Even drawing out just a portion of a Tailed Beast's chakra was enough; it would then slowly transform into the Ten-Tails.

The key lay in recovering the chakra information from the One through Nine-Tails that had been separated and scattered. Reclaiming the complete Tailed Beasts only accelerated the Ten-Tails' revival.

"I brought you here precisely because my own abilities are limited." Roshi looked straight at Kabuto. "You'll be in charge of the follow-up experiments. If you judge that things are going out of control and must be destroyed—you can make that decision yourself."

"There's no need to report to me."

Kabuto removed his glasses and lowered his head to carefully wipe the lenses, his movements slow and deliberate.

A long moment passed.

He put his glasses back on and said, "Then I'll need Village resources invested in this, the authority to access any data I require, and… partial authority to mobilize personnel."

——

In the Hokage Office, Jiraiya stood at the window while Shikaku laid out the clues they had gathered in recent days. The Advisor elders, including the Third Hokage, sat to one side, and the Fifth Hokage sat upright in the Hokage's chair, her expression solemn.

Jiraiya's eyes lingered on the Hokage Rock before drifting to the village below.

Last month, Roshi had gone to Sunagakure, then Kumogakure, and finally the Hidden Mist, establishing an unconventional containment net—a method Jiraiya had never seen before. He had no intention of holding back his praise, but the intelligence Roshi had brought back afterward was even more startling.

The whereabouts of the Hidden Mist's executioner's blade. Confirmation that Hiruko had completed the Chimera Technique. The existence of the Rinnegan within Akatsuki—and information on the Rinnegan's abilities.

Jiraiya had no idea how Roshi had dug up so many secrets in such a short trip. But with Roshi's current standing and achievements in Konoha, he no longer needed to explain his sources.

After all, he had strong connections in both Sunagakure and Kumogakure—and perhaps the Hidden Mist had opened up to him as well.

It was just that… the Rinnegan, Amegakure, Nagato…

"You're too slow." As Roshi stepped in, Tsunade spoke first. "Didn't the Anbu go to call you a long time ago?"

"I was arranging some matters." Roshi nodded to the others. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"According to the intelligence submitted by Kumogakure, that aerial fortress has an ultra-long-range strike capability with power comparable to the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball. If the enemy attacks our national territory at will, the consequences will be extremely dire," Shikaku said. "The Daimyo is very concerned about this and wants the village to produce results as soon as possible."

"Our current plan is to rely on the national defense system and extend our early warning range outward by dozens of kilometers."

"However, we still have no idea what the fortress's maximum flight altitude is, or whether the enemy has any cloaking methods. How effective our existing system will be is completely unknown."

The Konoha strategist continued, "Since Doto Kazahana is just a pawn, the enemy's true goal is likely to use the panic caused by the air raids—either to force us to accept their later terms, or…"

"To lure us into an expedition to the Land of Snow and make us fight on their home ground."

Homura spoke in a grave tone. "But I'm afraid this is something we have no choice but to do. If we don't counterattack, the prestige of the Five Great Ninja Villages will vanish. Once the public's sense of security collapses, in the long run… if the enemy offers to cease attacks as a condition, there's no guarantee that some villages won't compromise."

"All the efforts we've made toward unification over the past few years will be wasted."

Roshi nodded. "But before that, we need to proactively screen and eliminate the threats around the Village."

Jiraiya finally turned away from the window.

Light from outside illuminated half of his face, leaving the other half in shadow. "What you're talking about… is Amegakure, isn't it?"

"Exactly," Roshi replied. "First, we confirm Amegakure's current situation. Then we completely clear the regions between the Five Great Nations—Wind, Fire, Earth, Lightning, and Water—to build a connected defensive space."

"That way, once we launch an expedition, the village will have enough reaction time."

"With the Land of Snow deploying a weapon of that magnitude, even Ōnoki should understand this is something that concerns all the Ninja Villages."

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