Every human heart has darkness. Most people can suppress it, showing only the brighter side of themselves.
But that darkness breeds monsters. As someone once said:
"What's scarier than demons or gods… is the human heart itself."
The Zero-Tails was born from that darkness. And the girl before them was the one who had nurtured it. If she were eliminated, things might actually improve. That was what Kiyosuke thought—but he hadn't succeeded.
Because Naruto had stopped him.
"Kiyosuke-san, you can't do this! If you do, you're no different from a murderer! Amaru isn't a bad person!"
"True. Back on the battlefield, not everyone I killed was bad. Many of them were good people. But once you step onto the battlefield, there's no such thing as good or bad. If I can't solve the problem itself, then I'll solve the one causing it. Do you have a way to extract the Zero-Tails from her?"
"No…" Naruto lowered his head.
"Exactly. Then she has to be eliminated."
The cold serpent body coiled tighter around Amaru's throat. Its fangs bared, ready to end her life with one bite.
"Stop! Kiyosuke-san!!!"
Naruto tore the snake away and blocked Kiyosuke.
"There has to be another way to save Amaru! There has to be another way to kill the Zero-Tails!"
"If she were a jinchūriki, removing the Zero-Tails would kill her. Even you, with the Uzumaki clan's constitution, could only survive a little longer at best."
Kiyosuke crouched down, pressing his hand to Amaru's forehead, carefully sensing.
"Hm?"
When he opened his eyes, there was no trace of the Zero-Tails.
"What the hell? Don't tell me…the Zero-Tails transferred?"
He stood up.
"What's ahead?"
"The villagers said it was some kind of ruin."
"That's no ruin." Kiyosuke rose, his voice sharp. "Sakura, take care of Amaru. Naruto, Sasuke—looks like your mission just changed."
Sasuke glanced over. Kiyosuke continued:
"Beneath those ruins is the Sky Ninja's base. Hah. Couldn't have worked out better—I thought we'd have to wait for Kakashi and the others to interrogate prisoners. Looks like we just stumbled on them ourselves."
"Then let's go!" Sasuke wasn't interested in the previous mission. But the moment Kiyosuke mentioned a fight, his spirit fired up. Naruto also stood quickly.
"Kiyosuke-san, what about Amaru?"
"Good news—this girl isn't a jinchūriki. She doesn't need to die. The Zero-Tails is somewhere else. And inside that place are a bunch of Sky Ninja's chakra signatures… and ordinary people too. Hm? Awake already?"
Kiyosuke looked at Amaru, who had begun to stir, but said nothing more.
"Amaru?"
Naruto and Sakura rushed over with concern. Sakura checked her quickly and found no serious injuries.
"Alright. Let's move."
Kiyosuke turned to leave. Amaru suddenly asked:
"Where are you going?"
"We're going to take care of things—and save everyone in the village!" Naruto answered.
"I'm coming too!"
Amaru stood up, determination blazing.
"I'll inherit Shinnō-sensei's will myself. I'll save the villagers with my own hands!"
"Hey, girl, this is dangerous. You could die. Leave this kind of work to shinobi."
"I don't need your concern. I'm going."
Kiyosuke gave her a deep look.
"Then Naruto, you take care of her. Let's move."
"Right!"
Naruto hoisted Amaru onto his back and followed.
The group had barely stepped into the ruins when a thunderous boom shook the ground beneath them.
"What's going on? An earthquake?" Naruto asked.
"No. If it were an earthquake, my snakes would have warned me. This clearly isn't one."
Bracing himself against the wall, Kiyosuke looked up at the startled flocks of birds scattering into the sky.
"As I thought—something's wrong beneath us."
Even as he spoke, white structures began erupting from the earth all around them like bamboo shoots after rain. The ruins instantly transformed into a fortress-like city. The ground rumbled, and the entire structure began to rise into the air.
"Damn it. So this is the Sky Ninja's secret weapon."
If it could fly, then there was no doubt—it was the weapon the Sky Ninja had built.
"Let's go inside."
Kiyosuke crouched, slammed his fist into the ground, and revealed an underground passage. Without hesitation, he leapt in. The others followed.
"Who goes there?!"
Sky Ninja spotted them and raised their kunai launchers.
"I'm your father!"
Kiyosuke didn't waste words. One kick sent a man flying. He grabbed another by the head and smashed him into the wall. A casual flick of his arm killed the third. Three enemies gone in an instant.
"Amazing!" Amaru gasped.
"Of course! Kiyosuke-san's even stronger than Granny Tsunade!" Naruto boasted proudly.
"Enough chatter. Let's move." Kiyosuke cut him off.
As they advanced, no Sky Ninja survived contact. Those who weren't killed outright by Kiyosuke were knocked unconscious by Naruto and Sasuke. The unluckiest were the ones who met Sakura—one punch and they were finished.
At last, the five entered a vast hall. Broken stone lay scattered across the floor. At its center stood a throne of unknown material. Upon it sat a strange white-haired old man.
"Shinnō-san?"
"Shinnō-sensei!!"
Tears filled Amaru's eyes. She couldn't hold back and ran toward him.
But Kiyosuke caught her. She twisted, shouting:
"Let me go!"
"This is why I didn't want to bring along a civilian. Troublesome." He tossed her toward Sakura, then faced the old man.
"You're the Sky Ninja's leader, aren't you?"
"What? Kiyosuke-san, Shinnō-san's a doctor!" Naruto said in disbelief.
Sasuke cut in sharply:
"Idiot. You think a doctor would be sitting here? We fought through an army to get in. You think a mere doctor could be here unharmed? And those corpses we saw earlier—those were substitutes, weren't they?"
"Not exactly substitutes."
The man calling himself Shinnō nodded with a smile.
"I am indeed the Sky Ninja's leader. And this power, this chakra… remarkable. As expected of Konoha's strongest. Such splendid strength. And those eyes… just like your teacher's."
"Heh. So you know Orochimaru. That makes things interesting."
"Yes. I died earlier, it's true. But I used a little trick—Body Revival, a jutsu that restores even destroyed bodies. Even serious wounds heal easily, at the cost of some chakra."
Shinnō's face twisted with pride.
"This is the ultimate ninjutsu Orochimaru pursued his entire life. I heard not long ago he was killed by you, his own disciple. How tragic. What a waste, Kiyosuke-san."
His fake sympathy only made Kiyosuke despise him more.