The Land of Earth – Northern Mountain Corridor
The skies above the rocky plateaus of the Hidden Stone Village churned violently, painted in eerie shades of black. Lightning bolts crackled through the thick clouds and illuminated the shadowed landscape in brief, stark flashes. Under the clouds several figures moved through the rugged terrain.
A group of sensor ninjas suddenly stopped in their tracks. Their leader, a seasoned Jonin named Takeshi, knelt and placed his palms against the vibrating earth. He closed his eyes, chakra flowing through the soil, reading the vibrations.
"What do you sense?" a Chunin named Asahi, asked urgently.
Takeshi's eyes snapped open with concern etched deeply into his face. "A massive chakra spike. More powerful than I've felt in years. Possibly… on the level of the tailed beasts."
Asahi exchanged wary glances with his teammates. "What? Are you sure?"
Before Takeshi could reply, a blinding flash filled the horizon. A pillar of pure lightning surged toward the heavens, piercing the heavy clouds and scattering sparks of electricity across the dark sky. The ground beneath their feet trembled violently and forced the ninjas to brace themselves against nearby rock formations.
"What in the hell was that?" shouted Asahi over the roaring thunderclaps.
"Send a flare—call for immediate backup," Takeshi ordered sharply, his voice thick with urgency. "Tell Lord Tsuchikage we need reinforcements right away."
The Chunin swiftly fired a flare that soared into the sky. It ignited brightly against the dark canvas above them, sending immediate danger signals to the rest of the village's scouting units.
—-
As the Hidden Stone ninjas reached the epicenter of the lightning blast, they stopped abruptly, momentarily rendered speechless by the horrifying sight before them.
"My god…" Takeshi murmured, eyes wide in disbelief.
Ahead, dawn's first rays washed over a sight that left even hardened Stone shinobi silent.
Where once had stood a minor spur of hills now were nothing more than a circular scar nearly half a kilometer wide. The solid terrain had been utterly obliterated, reduced to nothing but a massive smoking crater. The entire area looked as though a giant had punched a hole through the very earth itself, leaving a gaping abyss filled with scorched and charred rock.
A thin veil of smoke and vapor lingered above the blackened ground, still sparking with residual electrical energy. Deep fissures radiated outward from the crater and send stone and rubble in every direction.
"Fan out. Five-meter spread." Came the order from captain Takeshi.
'This whole land is completely destroyed.' thought another Chunin from the Hidden Stone as she pressed her fingertips against the ground. Even through her gloves she sensed heat pockets beneath the crust, like embers smoldering under ash.
She began running a chakra wave through the soil. "Sir… this whole valley is magnetized. Igneous content at several locations vitrified into obsidian. The temperature must have topped twelve-hundred Celsius here."
Takeshi carefully approached the edge, peering down into the void. "Impossible…" he breathed out, heart racing. "This kind of damage… It's even greater than the Four-Tails' Lava jutsu or Five-Tails' Steam techniques. What on earth could cause such destruction?"
One chūnin swallowed hard. "Maybe… Doesn't this look exactly like the after-math of a Tailed Beast Bomb."
Takeshi's eyes narrowed. "No. There's no lingering trace of Tailed Beast chakra here. But there is residue that bears high lightning polarity. Tailed-beast bombs completely erase everything without giving off any chakra natures. This is different. Something else did this—something we've never catalogued."
He motioned toward a half-collapsed ridge on the western lip. There, enormous swaths of hillside had been cut, as though multiple blades of condensed wind had torn through it and flung the rocks clean away.
In several places were pagan-looking trees—petrified mid-flail, limbs reaching skyward, their grain fossilized.
Chunin Tsukiko swept her chakra through one of the trees and her eyes widened. "Sir, these were once living pines. Humidity in the cells was flash-evaporated; the silica fused in micro-seconds. This is beyond any normal Fire style technique."
Another sensor ninja suddenly approached them and his voice strained with tension. "Captain Takeshi, the chakra residue… it's chaotic, but it feels human. Not from some forbidden jutsu or any summoning beasts. I'm sure. And I think… I think one person did this."
Takeshi's brows knitted together sharply. "Are you saying a single shinobi did this? Impossible. No human could wield chakra and use jutsu with an aftermath of this magnitude on their own…"
"Well, whatever or whoever unleashed this, was done about twenty minutes ago, and then disappeared. I don't think we'd be able to find them here." Tsukiko said to the team.
"Captain," Asahi called from a ridgeline. He scraped blackened earth with a kunai, revealing crystalline residue that sparked violet under the moon light. "Piezo-electric lattice. The lightning discharge must have ionized silica into quartz micro-structures."
Takeshi studied the layer. "Eighty centimeters thick… Whoever cast this technique not only annihilated its targets but geo-engineered the terrain in moments."
Takeshi clenched his fist, feeling a cold dread seeping into his bones. He turned back to his team. "Sweep the area, quickly! Find anything that might identify those responsible for this."
He turned to a messenger ninja. "Tell Lord Tsuchikage we have confirmed no tailed-beast chakra, but electromagnetic and tectonic signatures rival class-SS events."
"Yes sir."
—-
Hidden within a dimensional void, Obito materialized silently. He stood motionless for several moments as his single visible Sharingan stared blankly into the empty darkness of his Kamui realm. His gloved hands clenched and unclenched slowly, betraying his inner turmoil.
'That jutsu…' Obito's thoughts raced. 'Its sheer destructive force… Even for an Uchiha, creating such a powerful Lightning Release jutsu is extraordinary. But this one… it exceeds anything I've encountered. Almost like a… No. Its destructive power is enough to completely rival a Tailed Beast Bomb.'
He grimaced beneath the mask. That realization was unsettling. 'Dragon. He is no ordinary shinobi. He was able to use that even after his battle with Kakuzu and Hidan? He must possess immense chakra reserves, impeccable control, and an intellect capable of crafting techniques that surpass common limits… I need to handle this matter carefully.'
The next moment he vanished in a swirl from his personal dimension.
Somewhere in the Mountains - Obito's hideout
Dim lantern-light flickered over the orange mask as Tobi phased into an underground chamber. His contemplations were interrupted by the subtle emergence of Zetsu from the ground. The creature's eerie yellow eyes met Obito's impassive stare.
"You took longer than expected," White Zetsu yawned.
Black Zetsu's tone was grimmer. "Your chakra feels agitated."
"Report," Obito commanded quietly.
"The Hidden Stone Village has mobilized. They've dispatched reinforcements toward the site of the explosion," Zetsu informed in his usual monotone.
Obito nodded slowly. "That's to be expected. I anticipated some disruption—but this… this goes beyond mere interference."
"What do you suggest?" asked Zetsu cautiously.
Obito turned away slightly, voice firm and decisive. "Send word to all Akatsuki members currently tracking Dragon: cease pursuit immediately. Avoid all contact."
"Cease pursuit?" Black Zetsu repeated, mildly surprised. "You're certain?"
"Our target used a lightning ninjutsu comparable to a Tailed Beast attack. He deployed it knowing full well I'd survive only by intangibility. Had I mistimed Kamui by even half a second, we'd be having a very different conversation." His lone Sharingan spun dangerously.
White Zetsu whistled. "So… no more cat-and-mouse?"
"No," Obito confirmed with a calm voice. "For now, we observe from the shadows. Dragon's capabilities must be reassessed carefully. Direct confrontation carries too much risk. Current cost-to-capture has exceeded strategic value. Inform Pain of the change in plans immediately."
Zetsu inclined his head slightly, "Understood."
As Zetsu vanished silently into the ground, Obito closed his single visible eye, reflecting carefully. 'Right now his greatest strength isn't his power or jutsu. It's his anonymity. I need to find out everything about him. I need to know his true identity and origin.'
Obito exhaled quietly, regaining composure. 'Every shinobi has weaknesses. I simply need to find Dragon's. Until then, patience will be my greatest ally.'
—-
Hidden Leaf Village:- Hokage Tower.
On the deepest floor of the tower Daichi had just finished stabilizing Tsunade Senju's vitals. 'Good—phase-one triage complete.'
As he had a moment to breathe, the Gamer ninja took a look at the new quest hovering in front of him.
[Quest created – Awaken the Slug Sannin] [Time Limit: None]
Tsunade Senju lies in a coma as a result of Orochimaru's scheme. Heal/Wake her as soon as possible.
[Condition]
[Awaken Tsunade Senju from her coma as is.]
[Bonus condition]
[Reverse the serum's alterations entirely and heal her to her previous state.
Or
Shepherd the metamorphosis to a stable Wood-Style phenotype with zero sequelae.]
Daichi read the conditions and stood silently for a moment as he absorbed the implications of what the system had outlined. He shifted his gaze down to Tsunade's unconscious form, feeling the heavy responsibility settle onto his shoulders.
[Rewards]
[Note: Variable – To be revealed on completion.]
.
[Failure]
[Tsunade remains comatose Leaf Village leadership crisis.]
[Slight Reputation decrease with Shizune Kato and Tobirama Senju]
[Loss of public morale and looming political upheaval]
[Potential timeline divergence toward Fourth Shinobi World War]
'Lovely,' Daichi thought dryly. 'No pressure.'
[This quest is automatically accepted]
'Saving Sensei alone won't be enough this time. I need to ensure there are no long-term negative effects. Orochimaru's serum triggered a cellular metamorphosis—reversing it now might cause permanent internal damage. But guiding the transformation safely…there's also significant risk in that.'
His thoughts briefly wandered back to Orochimaru's notes and equipment he'd retrieved from the snake's hidden lab. There had to be something there that would help him unravel this complicated biological puzzle. 'I need more information. Absolute cellular analysis will give me a better idea.'
Closing his eyes, Daichi activated the chakra flow necessary for the specialized diagnostic jutsu. His medical technique reported a war raging within her mind became filled with intricate cellular data—a torrent of detailed biological information. Daichi sorted and processed the data swiftly, aided by his [Hyper Cognition] skill.
'Metabolism severely slowed; cellular division chaotic, unregulated… Immune response heightened but erratic… Chakra pathways compromised, structural integrity barely holding… That's not good. If the immune storm wasn't reined in, her own macrophages would keep shredding tissue faster than it could be replaced. But suppress it too hard, and the adapting cells would stall mid-rewrite, leaving her stuck in a state of metabolic purgatory. I need to keep a balance at a scalpel's edge.'
Daichi frowned deeply. Orochimaru's serum had already begun restructuring her body, dangerously altering her DNA at the core. If left unchecked, the mutations would become permanent, possibly even fatal. He opened his eyes and looking at the Sannin's pale face.
'I have to control the transformation. Trying to reverse the effects at this point would be extremely dangerous. The possibility of death is high. But guiding the mutation properly is also equally risky. One wrong move on my part and… For now, I need time to decide what to do.'
His mind made up, Daichi retrieved a small scroll from his back pouch. He opened the scroll on a nearby table and took out two small vials.
One vial glowed softly red, the Life Blood serum. The other was brownish—the Booster Shot serum. 'The last time I used these were on Leorio. But I've modified and improved the formula for these drugs a great deal since then. These will hold her steady for the day.'
"What is that?" Medic Midori asked the boy.
"Think of it as a chakra-compatible granulocyte colony stimulant and NAD booster. It'll hike innate immunity without fanning the inflammatory fire. In simple terms it'll boost her immune strength and give her cells the needed energy." Daichi answered while injecting the serum into his teacher.
Next, Daichi injected the Life Blood serum. The radiant red liquid began immediately regenerating damaged organs and mending torn internal tissues. He felt a tiny sense of relief as her heartbeat strengthened and chakra circulation stabilized further.
'Her vitals are much better, at least for now.' Daichi allowed himself a quiet breath of relief. 'This should buy me a day or two to find a more permanent solution.'
"Stabilization holding at 100 over 70," Minemoto reported incredulously. "Chakra turbulence is nearly flat." He turned to Hiruzen, who had been standing statue-still in the observation deck. "Lord Hokage, these numbers are the best we've seen since the initial examination."
The old Kage's shoulders sagged with a relief he didn't bother hiding. His gaze settled on Daichi, and a ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. 'The pupil truly honors the master…'
As the immediate crisis seemed resolved, Daichi carefully stepped away from the medical bed. He cast one last look toward Tsunade, her breathing regular but shallow. For the moment, at least, she was out of immediate danger.
"Alright. She's out of the woods for now but keep a close eye on her." Daichi gave several instructions to the 4 medics in the room and soon exited and went straight towards the Hokage and the others. 'There are some things I have to do and they can't be delayed for much longer.'
—-------------
Author's Note:
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