Far from Konoha, atop a high cliff overlooking a silent stretch of forest, Shiki reappeared.
The instant his feet touched the ground, his Observation Haki burst outward once more.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"…Found it."
Without a moment's hesitation, Shiki shot forward.
The cliff behind him exploded from the force of his takeoff.
This kind of underground hideout was buried deep beneath the earth and layered with concealment. Under normal circumstances, even elite shinobi would have needed time to locate it.
Of course, Shiki was not normal.
He descended above it like a falling star.
Then he drove his foot down.
The earth split apart.
A deafening crash roared through the underground chamber as sunlight burst in from above, tearing through stone and darkness alike.
Inside, Yahiko and Konan both snapped their heads up in shock.
Before either of them could react, a figure dropped through the opening and landed in the center of the chamber.
Yahiko's expression hardened instantly as his body moved on instinct.
"Who are you?!"
Konan stepped forward at once, sheets of paper already slipping from her sleeve.
"What are you doing here?"
Shiki ignored them completely.
His gaze had already landed on Nagato.
The red-haired boy was slumped against the wall nearby, breathing weakly. His face was far paler than it should have been, and his chakra was clearly unstable.
Someone had done something to him.
Shiki frowned faintly, his thoughts moving quickly.
Yahiko suddenly moved.
His figure blurred as he rushed forward. Seeing the intruder staring at Nagato like that, he chose to restrain him first and ask questions later.
Normally, Yahiko would have tried talking things through.
But right now, this man's attention on Nagato had already crossed the line.
"I'm in a hurry," Shiki said coldly. "So move."
His hand shot out.
In an instant, he grabbed Yahiko by the throat and slammed him straight into the ground.
The impact cracked the floor beneath him.
"Gah—!"
"Yahiko!!"
Konan's eyes widened. She threw up her hand, about to release her Paper Style—
—but before she could, a figure flashed in front of her.
Golden hair swayed lightly in the air.
Konan froze.
When she looked up and met those eyes, her breath caught in her throat.
A large hand landed on her shoulder.
The next second, her body dropped heavily to the ground.
She fell to her knees and hands, forced down on all fours as if an invisible mountain had crashed onto her back.
"W-What…?! My body…!"
Konan's voice trembled in shock. She tried to move, tried to force herself up, but her body refused to obey.
"Damn it, Konan!" Yahiko coughed, pain twisting across his face as he looked at her in helpless fury. Seeing her forced down like that only made his own weakness feel more unbearable.
Shiki walked past her without a pause and stopped in front of Nagato.
And just as he expected—
Even though he had already guessed it…
Seeing Nagato's eyes hidden behind his hair, and confirming that they were no longer the Rinnegan, made Shiki let out a cold chuckle.
"So I was the target from the very beginning…"
His eyes turned colder.
"You really can't underestimate a crafty old bastard with one foot already in the grave."
Shiki wasn't stupid.
The moment he failed to locate Kakashi earlier, he stopped wasting time with Madara's little game of hide-and-seek and went straight for the one thing Madara valued most.
The Rinnegan.
He had hoped to take it for himself—or at the very least, use it to force that bastard to show himself so he could settle this once and for all.
But things had gone beyond even his expectations.
The Rinnegan was already gone.
That made Shiki fall silent for a moment, his thoughts sinking deeper.
There's no way they knew I would come after the Rinnegan.
As far as they know, I shouldn't even have knowledge of it in the first place.
Which means it was removed for another reason… probably as part of some measure against me. Or to help with Madara's plans without exposing himself too early.
Shiki calmly analyzed the situation, one hand rising to his chin.
If I were him… then the first thing I'd think of would be how to deal with Observation Haki. If my enemy depends that heavily on perception, then I'd build a plan around disrupting it.
Far away, Madara—who was busy taking a dump somewhere—had no idea that Shiki had already seen through his plan, and even the reason behind it.
But that was not really Madara's fault.
It was the difference in information.
Shiki knew far too much about him.
But one thing still doesn't make sense… why Kakashi?
That was the only part that bothered him.
Everything else fit.
But Kakashi?
Not Rin?
That part refused to click into place.
Surely they know Obito doesn't exactly like Kakashi, right?
Then again…
Unless that idiot's got some weird fetish for playing in white sauce.
The thought crossed Shiki's mind so abruptly and so crudely that even he looked mildly disgusted with himself.
A moment later, the power of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi surged out.
Shiki rose into the air, and at the same time, the force pinning Konan to the ground disappeared.
As he ascended higher into the sky, Konan gritted her teeth and immediately tried to move again, ready to attack—
But Shiki's gaze dropped to her from above.
"If I were you," he said flatly, "I'd check on my friend instead of doing something stupid."
Konan's body froze as if pulled on strings.
His eyes stared straight into hers, calm and unreadable, yet carrying enough pressure to make her heart stop beating.
For some reason, that gaze made her feel uneasy.
After a brief hesitation, she lowered her hand and hurried toward Yahiko instead.
Meanwhile, Shiki continued rising higher and higher into the sky—
until his figure vanished from sight.
"Yahiko… are you alright?"
Only after Shiki's presence had completely disappeared did Konan finally let out the breath she had been holding. She quickly crouched beside Yahiko and helped him sit up.
Yahiko coughed once and rubbed at his throat. The pain was obvious, but he still forced a grin.
"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine."
The moment he tried to speak properly, though, the pain hit again, and his face twisted a little in embarrassment.
"…Okay, not exactly fine. But I'm not dead, so I guess that counts as a win."
A small laugh escaped Konan before she could stop it. Seeing him in such a miserable state and still trying to act tough was somehow both irritating and relieving.
"You scared me," she said, her voice softening. "Don't do something that reckless again."
Yahiko gave a weak chuckle, trying to laugh off the fear still clinging to his chest.
"Pretty sure I was the one getting choked, and you weren't doing much better either."
Konan immediately shot him a look, her face flushing slightly as the memory came back all at once—being forced down like that, unable to move, completely helpless.
"…You know what I mean."
Yahiko scratched the back of his head, then glanced up at the massive hole torn through their hideout ceiling.
"…That guy was ridiculous."
"He grabbed me before I even realized he moved."
He flexed his fingers unconsciously, as if his body still remembered that overwhelming gap in power.
"…Now that I think about it, that wasn't even a fight. We really could've died."
Konan lowered her gaze. Her amber eyes trembled faintly.
"Yeah…"
Yahiko noticed the shift in her mood. He was quiet for a second, then suddenly leaned back and let out a short laugh.
"…Man, we seriously got lucky."
That got a small, helpless exhale out of Konan, though the tension in her face did not fully disappear.
Yahiko slowly pushed himself to his feet, wincing a little, then made his way toward Nagato. When he saw that Nagato was still asleep despite everything that had happened, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At least he was still resting.
Standing beside him, Yahiko frowned and glanced back toward the opening above.
"Who was that guy…?" he muttered. "And what do you think he even wanted?"
Konan stood up as well, brushing the dust from her clothes.
"I don't know…" she said after a pause. "But it felt like he was looking for something."
Yahiko's expression turned thoughtful.
"…Yeah."
Konan hesitated for a moment, then spoke again, a little more quietly this time.
"And… maybe I'm wrong, but…"
"Didn't he feel… familiar somehow?"
"Familiar?" Yahiko repeated, blinking. He put on an exaggerated serious expression and folded his arms. "Now that you mention it, I kinda—"
Thunk.
A rock dropped from above and smacked him right on the head.
Yahiko jumped so hard he nearly stumbled backward.
"WHA—?!"
For a split second, both of them froze, hearts leaping into their throats as the same thought flashed through their minds.
Did he come back?
But then another pebble rolled off the edge of the shattered ceiling.
Awkward silence fell over them.
Yahiko slowly looked up.
Konan slowly looked up too.
Then the two of them exchanged an awkward, embarrassed look.
"…Right," Yahiko muttered, rubbing the top of his head.
Konan turned away and covered part of her face, clearly trying not to laugh.
It seemed they had more immediate problems to deal with than the absurd monster who had dropped into their hideout, beat them both effortlessly, and disappeared just as suddenly.
Like the fact that their hideout now had a giant hole in the ceiling.
PS: Unfortunately for all of you…
Bad news.
(Just kidding… mostly.)
I started another Naruto story.
Title: Naruto: Breaking The Limiter
The MC is Yujiro.
He breaks his limiter, gains increasingly illegal abilities, and eventually turns the Naruto world into his personal gym.
Anyway, give it a try and feel it yourself.
Tagged below 👇