Chapter 19
On the outskirts of the border of the Land of Fire, within the Tonika Village, a massive tower-like structure has erupted from the ground, the Ama no Hoko. A red beam of energy is shooting out from the top into the sky, causing a continent-wide thunderstorm. The cloaked man is seen sitting patiently on the edge of the tower, gazing at the horizon when Mecha-Naruto walks out of the beam. Both the beam and the tower itself begin to shut down.
“Did you absorb all the power from this structure?” The cloaked man asks as the sky begins to clear.
“YES, THIS TOWER IS NOTHING, BUT A LARGE PIECE OF ROCK AND METAL NOW.” The robotic duplicate replies. “MASTER, WHY DID YOU WARN THE VILLAGERS NEARBY?”
“Because causing them harm brings me nothing.” The cloaked man remarks as he stands up and crushes the device that controls the Ama no Hoko, the Saezuri with his bare hands. “We’ve amassed enough power, it’s time to go.”
“WHERE EXACTLY ARE WE GOING?” Mecha-Naruto queries.
“To the Land of Iron…” The cloaked man calmly answers. “It’s finally time to finish what we started so long ago...”
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“...Urrrgh…” A groggy Jin groans as he awakens from his slumber, massaging his temples. “...Ugh… what happened…?”
“GUYS?! JIN’S AWAKE!” A bandaged Rito shouts with great elation.
“Rito…? What happened…?” Jin asks as he sits up, still dazed. He clutches his growling stomach.
“What happened was you went crazy and attacked the Eight-Tails on your own and Sasuke had to save you!” Karin lectures. “You’ve been out for three days now.”
Everyone turns to face Sasuke due to him spilling a glass of water.
“Is something wrong, Sasuke?” Karin questions with concern.
The Mangekyo Sharingan causes the user to go blind... Jin thinks to himself as he watches Sasuke cover his hand on his right eye. After the Five Kage Summit, Sasuke will have his eyes replaced with Itachi’s…
“Huh?” Karin gasps as she immediately faces her left in shock. “I sense a chakra outside, it seems we were followed…”
Sasuke and Jugo capture the cloud ninja spy, interrogate him for what he knows and what he’s informed to his village, and then they kill him… Jin recalls as Sasuke and Jugo head out. “Rito, where are my clothes and where is the freeze-dried cup ramen? I’m starving!”
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Sometime later, the Taka are all tree hopping through a forest, their destination is the Village Hidden in the Leaves. As the Taka continues to hop through trees, they pass by a castle.
“Is something wrong, Sasuke?” Jin asks, considering that Sasuke took a glance at the castle they just passed. Oh yeah, we’re technically in the last episode of that flashback arc that takes place right after the Pain arc...
“It’s nothing, let’s go.” Sasuke commands.
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Sometime later, as the Taka continue to tree hop, they all stop in their tracks due to spotting Tobi up ahead.
“Hey, Sasuke.” Tobi says.
“Ugh, talk about bad timing.” Suigetsu sighs.
“How the hell did you know where I was anyway?” An irritated Sasuke asks.
“Don’t take me lightly, I have powers far beyond your comprehension.” Tobi explains.
“So what do you want from me?” Sasuke continues to question. “Team Taka left the Akatsuki a long time ago, we have no further business with you.”
“I warned you… that you would die if you betrayed the Akatsuki.” Tobi remarks.
“What are you talking about?” Jin asks as he leans on a tree with arms folded. Yeah, we’re slowly reaching the climax so I’ll be sitting through a ton of scenes… that seriously sucks ass!
“The hunt for the tailed beasts.” Tobi answers.
“But we already captured the Eight-Tails and handed him over like you asked!” Karin reasons.
“That was a substitution… In short, you blundered.” Tobi informs team Taka. “It seems the Eight-Tails pulled a fast one on you.”
“Honestly, all of you have disappointed me.” Tobi continues to chastise.
“So what do you want us to do about it?” An annoyed Suigetsu asks. “I mean, it’s not our business anymore.”
“Wrong, you will complete the job you’re assigned when you were with the Akatsuki.” Tobi corrects. “Having said that, you can forget about the Eight-Tails. I have decided on a different mission.”
“And what if we decline?” Sasuke boldly threatens.
“Then we’ll fight it out right here and you won’t be able to go to the Hidden Leaf Village.” Tobi answers.
Okay! Let’s move this along. Jin thinks as he jumps at Tobi with a rasengan in his right hand. Jin thrusts the rasengan into Tobi, but it has no effect as Jin simply passes right through the Akatsuki leader. And now Zetsu will appear and tell us all about how Naruto beat Pain...
“Your objective seems so futile now, the Leaf Village is no more…” Tobi informs Sasuke, ignoring Jin’s attack.
“I can explain everything that happened in the Leaf.” Zetsu announces as he emerges from the branch that Tobi is standing on.
“So, who’s the new Hokage?” Tobi asks.
“It’s that fellow, Danzo…” Zetsu answers.
“Danzo…! He’s Hokage now?” Sasuke demands to know.
“Yes, one of the high-ranking elders that backed your brother into a corner.” Tobi informs the group. “That’s the man who’s become the new Hokage.”
“Just what the hell happened back in the Leaf?” Jin queries. If I have to sit through all these scenes, I might as well participate in them. Sorry for stealing your line, Sasuke…
“My subordinate, Pain, destroyed it... and thanks to both Pain and Taka showing off, it seems the five kage are going to take action.” Tobi goes on to explain. “They’re convening a summit conference.”
“Allow me, I’ll explain it all…” Zetsu volunteers to explain.
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“So, these Naruto and Ayanami people defeated Pain…?” Suigetsu questions.
“That’s right, these two have become extremely strong.” Zetsu confirms the intel. “In fact, I think they’re stronger than Sasuke and rival JIn right now.”
“Wait--Jin’s stronger than Sasuke?!” A shocked Karin asks.
“What? I dunno--maybe. I’ve never really thought about who's stronger between the two of us…” Jin says as he digests this new information. So Ayanami got strong enough to fight Pain? She must know sage mode now, good for her...
“Hmph, I don’t care about that, what is a problem is this Five Kage Summit.” Sasuke says, making his thoughts known.
“So, what do we do? The Leaf Village is gone now…” A puzzled Suigetsu asks Sasuke. ”And Danzo is going to this meeting of the five kage then shouldn’t we head over there too?”
“We the Taka will take the Hokage’s head at the summit--new destination.” Sasuke orders with a dark glare in his eyes.
“Sounds like a plan.” Tobi says.
Okay, so there’ll be five kage--one who can one-shot us all, Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, 10 aides who are all either high level jonin or kage level, and an army of samurai... Jin thinks as he assesses the opposition. Yeah, Sasuke unleashing his susano'o will be the perfect time to get the fuck outta Dodge!
“Uh, exactly where is the Five Kage Summit being held anyway?” JIn asks the Akatsuki members. I know it’s in the Land of Iron, but I don’t know the exact location.
“My clone will guide you there…” Zetsu replies as his two Venus flytrap-like extensions open up a man with all of his right side being white as snow and the left half as black as obsidian.
The man splits himself in two and each half now lives and functions independently of each other. White Zetsu begins to tree hop, leading the Taka to their new destination.
That was and will be the grossest thing I’ve ever seen since reincarnating to this world…! Jin thinks, shuddering in digust as he and the rest of Taka follow White Zetsu.