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Naruto: Veil of Frozen Bones Chapter 20
🕑 Added 2025-05-10 00:24:49 +0000 UTCRain.
It fell in relentless, grey sheets, turning the rugged landscape near the border of the Land of Fire and Kusagakure into a sodden, miserable tapestry of mud and dripping foliage. For three days, the ANBU squad designated 'Karasu' (Crow), led by Hound (Kakashi Hatake), had moved through this unforgiving terrain with the silent efficiency demanded by their masks and their mission.
Accompanying them, a stark contrast in his more conspicuous travelling cloak but moving with an equally practiced stealth that belied his age, was Jiraiya of the Sannin.
Kakashi, now sixteen, felt the familiar damp chill seep into his bones, a discomfort ignored through years of ANBU conditioning.
Beneath the impassive hound mask, his single dark eye scanned the dripping forest, augmented by the Sharingan hidden beneath his tilted forehead protector – Obito's eye, a constant, aching reminder of the ghost they hunted.
Chasing whispers, analyzing fragmented reports, grappling with the horrifying truth Minato-sensei had revealed to him in the shadow of the Kyuubi attack. Two years of seeing Obito’s name on the Memorial Stone while knowing the masked architect of that tragedy still walked the earth.
The lead from Jiraiya’s informant was their most promising yet. Sightings of a masked individual matching the description – single eyehole showing a Sharingan, mastery of an unidentified phasing/teleportation jutsu – making contact with figures operating out of Amegakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Rain. Ame, perpetually shrouded in rain and sorrow, caught in the crossfire of larger nations, now rumored to be falling under the sway of a mysterious, god-like leader known as 'Pain' who had apparently overthrown the legendary Hanzo the Salamander.
Jiraiya’s connection to Ame, his history with the orphans he had trained there – Nagato, Yahiko, Konan – added layers of grim personal investment to this mission. Yahiko was dead, Jiraiya had confirmed through his network, killed during a confrontation with Hanzo years ago.
What had become of Nagato and Konan remained shrouded in Ame's impenetrable gloom, but the emergence of 'Pain' felt ominous.
Their objective, relayed directly by the Fourth Hokage, was clear but incredibly dangerous: Infiltrate the border region near the suspected contact point. Confirm the presence and identity (as 'Madara' or otherwise) of the masked target.
Assess his connection to Amegakure and this 'Pain'. Gather any intelligence regarding his motives, abilities, and organization. Engage only if tactically advantageous and capture is deemed feasible without escalating into open conflict with Ame forces.
Neutralization was authorized only under extreme circumstances or direct orders from Minato via Jiraiya. The underlying, unspoken objective for Kakashi and Jiraiya was different: understand what had happened to Obito, and if any fragment of the boy they knew remained.
"We're approaching the coordinates, Jiraiya-sama," whispered 'Neko', Kakashi's second-in-command, her cat mask tilted slightly as she scanned the terrain ahead with chakra-enhanced senses.
Her voice was flat, professional, betraying no emotion, like the other two ANBU operatives, 'Saru' (Monkey) and 'Tori' (Bird), who flanked them. They knew the target profile, the S-Rank threat level, the space-time abilities. They did not know the target was Kakashi's presumed-dead teammate.
Jiraiya nodded, his usual boisterous energy suppressed into a focused intensity that Kakashi rarely saw. The Sannin moved through the rain-soaked forest with surprising silence, his senses extending far beyond the ANBU's immediate perimeter.
"The informant mentioned an abandoned watchtower overlooking the valley pass," Jiraiya murmured, his voice low. "A known meeting point for smugglers... and less savory types. If our masked friend is making contact here..."
"High probability of ambush or surveillance," Kakashi finished, his Sharingan already active beneath his protector, scanning the subtle flows of chakra in the mist-laden air. "Neko, Saru, take the high ground, establish overlapping observation points. Tori, with me and Jiraiya-sama. Standard approach pattern. Maintain absolute chakra suppression."
"Hai, Taichō," the ANBU acknowledged silently, melting into the dripping undergrowth like wraiths.
Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tori moved forward, hugging the shadows of ancient, moss-covered trees. The rain plastered Kakashi’s silver hair to his mask, dripped from Jiraiya’s wild white mane. The air grew heavier, colder, carrying a metallic tang.
They reached the edge of a small clearing dominated by the crumbling stone ruins of an old watchtower, its upper levels collapsed, leaving only a jagged stone skeleton against the grey sky. Kakashi’s Sharingan picked them up instantly – multiple chakra signatures concealed within and around the ruins.
One signature, positioned near the base of the tower, felt immense, distorted, almost alien – radiating a cold, detached power. Another, higher up, felt sharp, fluctuating slightly, like paper folding in the wind. And then... him.
Standing partially within the shadowed archway of the tower's base, almost blending into the stone, was the figure from Kakashi's nightmares. Orange spiral mask, single dark eyehole, dark cloak. His chakra signature felt... strange. Warped, powerful, overlaid with something artificial yet undeniably familiar beneath it all – the faint echo of Obito Uchiha, buried deep.
Beside him stood another figure, equally imposing despite a slighter build. He wore a dark cloak emblazoned with red clouds – Akatsuki. His face was obscured by the driving rain and shadows, but the piercing violet eyes, arranged in concentric circles, were unmistakable even from this distance. The Rinnegan.
Pain.
Yahiko, being controlled by Nagato using the six paths of pain.
Jiraiya sucked in a sharp breath beside Kakashi, his knuckles whitening where he gripped his travelling staff. Kakashi felt his own stomach clench. This wasn't just Obito ('Madara') this was Obito in league with the Rinnegan-wielding leader of Akatsuki. The threat level had just skyrocketed.
Before they could formulate a plan, Pain spoke, his voice amplified, resonating strangely despite the rain, directed towards the masked man. "The preparations in Ame are complete, Madara-sama. The vessel is secured."
"Good," Obito replied, his voice distorted by the mask, carrying that cold, detached tone Minato had described. "The pieces move into place. Hanzo's lingering influence must be purged entirely. Konoha suspects, but they grasp at shadows. Their Yellow Flash is contained by his sentimentality."
Pain nodded slightly. "His spies probe our borders constantly. Jiraiya-sensei..." A flicker of something unreadable crossed Pain's face at the name. "...is persistent."
"Jiraiya will be dealt with when the time is right," Obito stated dismissively. "For now, focus on consolidating power within Ame and securing the remaining targets for the Gedo Statue."
This conversation confirmed everything. Obito was operating as Madara, directing Akatsuki, working with Pain. They were discussing plans, targets. This intel was critical.
"Capture is no longer primary," Kakashi whispered urgently to Jiraiya, relaying via hand signals to Tori. "Engage on signal. Priority is intel confirmation and disrupting their meeting. Jiraiya-sama, can you handle Pain?"
Jiraiya’s expression was tormented, but his eyes hardened with resolve. He nodded grimly. "Nagato... I will see what he has become."
Kakashi gave the signal.
Tori exploded from cover, launching a volley of chakra-infused kunai towards Pain, designed to scatter and force movement. Simultaneously, Neko and Saru, from their hidden positions above, unleashed coordinated elemental attacks – a searing Fireball Jutsu from Saru, a slicing Wind Scythe from Neko – aimed to separate Obito and Pain.
Pain reacted instantly, raising a hand. "Shinra Tensei!" (Almighty Push!)
An invisible wave of repulsive force erupted outwards. The kunai were blasted back. The Fireball and Wind Scythe dissipated harmlessly against the invisible wall. Tori was sent tumbling backwards through the air, crashing hard against a tree trunk. The sheer power was immense, effortless.
Obito simply phased through the disrupted air, turning his single Sharingan eye towards Kakashi’s position as Jiraiya burst from the trees, landing heavily between Pain and Obito.
"Nagato!" Jiraiya roared, his voice echoing strangely in the rain-drenched clearing, laced with a grief so profound it felt like a physical blow. He ignored the masked man beside Pain, his entire focus narrowing on the figure with the Rinnegan, the face hidden in shadow – a face he desperately hoped wasn't truly his student's.
"What is this?! Akatsuki? The Rinnegan used for... for this? What happened to Yahiko's dream?!"
The figure known as Pain, using Yahiko's preserved body as its vessel, slowly turned its head towards Jiraiya. The Rinnegan eyes, cosmic and unsettling, held no flicker of recognition, only a cold, detached assessment. Raindrops seemed to momentarily freeze or divert around him, a subtle testament to his control.
"Jiraiya-sensei," Pain's voice resonated, flat and amplified, carrying Yahiko's timbre but devoid of his warmth. "You tread where you are not welcome. Your ideals are relics of a failed age. Yahiko learned that lesson. This world only understands pain. And through pain, I shall grant it peace."
Even as Pain spoke, Kakashi felt a chilling certainty creep up his spine. His Sharingan, analyzing the chakra flow around Pain, detected something else – subtle, almost imperceptible chakra receivers embedded in Yahiko’s body, linked to… somewhere else.
And more unsettlingly, he felt the rain itself differently now. It wasn't just water, it felt… aware. Watching. Linked to the Rinnegan user. Nagato knew they were coming the moment they entered his rain. This was clearly a trap.
"Peace through tyranny, Nagato?!" Jiraiya shot back, summoning Gamaken with a surge of chakra. The large, shield-bearing toad landed heavily, shaking the wet ground. "Is that what Yahiko would have wanted?!"
"Yahiko is irrelevant," Pain stated coldly. "Only the goal matters." He raised a hand, not towards Jiraiya, but towards the ruins behind him.
From the crumbling stones, two more figures emerged silently. One was gaunt, almost skeletal, with chakra receivers piercing its body – the Preta Path. The other was more robust, its body strangely modified with mechanical-looking protrusions and extra limbs folded against its back – the Asura Path, capable of mechanized warfare. Nagato wasn't relying solely on the Deva Path, he had already prepared additional vessels.
Simultaneously, Obito moved, dismissing Jiraiya entirely, his single Sharingan locking onto Kakashi. "Your interference ends here, Kakashi," his distorted voice echoed. "You should have died with Rin."
The mention of Rin was a deliberate, cruel twist of the knife. Kakashi flinched internally but channeled the surge of grief and rage into focus.
"Obito! What did they do to you?!" he yelled, activating his own Mangekyō Sharingan – the three tomoe swirling and merging into the sharp, three-bladed pinwheel gifted by Obito's 'death'.
The world sharpened, chakra flows becoming even clearer, Obito's warped signature burning bright.
"Obito died!" the masked figure snarled, lunging forward, phasing through the space between them with dizzying speed. "There is only the will of Madara!"
Their battle erupted instantly, a whirlwind of speed, phasing, and clashing wills that seemed to operate on a different plane from the burgeoning chaos around them. Kakashi, armed with Minato's analysis and his own Sharingan's predictive power, anticipated Obito's phasing attacks, dodging and weaving, using his White Light Chakra Sabre infused with lightning chakra to strike at the moments of vulnerability.
Clang!
Kakashi parried a chain erupting from Obito's sleeve, the impact jarring his arm. He immediately substituted with a log as Obito tried to warp the ground beneath his feet. Kakashi reappeared behind Obito, lunging with a Raikiri-charged kunai aimed at the back of Obito's head.
Obito phased effortlessly, letting the attack pass through, but Kakashi was ready. He spun, converting the lunge into a sweeping leg kick aimed at Obito's ankles just as he should have been fully solidifying. Obito was forced to hop back awkwardly, breaking his rhythm for a fraction of a second.
"Predictable, Kakashi!" Obito taunted, launching a volley of giant shuriken from his Kamui dimension.
Kakashi deflected them with precise Sabre strikes, the Sharingan tracking each spinning projectile. He knew direct attacks were largely futile. He needed to force Obito into a situation where phasing wasn't an option, or where the brief vulnerability could be decisively exploited. He needed to outsmart Kamui.
He recalled Minato’s strategy – force scatter patterns. Kakashi created several Shadow Clones. The clones dispersed, attacking Obito from multiple angles simultaneously with lightning-infused kunai and Sabre attacks, forcing Obito into rapid, continuous phasing to avoid multiple points of contact.
Kakashi, the real one, watched intently, Sharingan spinning, analyzing the subtle tells, the faint chakra fluctuations marking the transition between tangible and intangible. There. A slight waver just before full intangibility, a barely perceptible strain when phasing multiple body parts simultaneously against converging attacks.
While the clones pressed the assault, Kakashi flashed through hand seals: "Raiton: Raikiba no Jutsu!" (Lightning Release: Lightning Fang Technique)
He slammed his hands onto the wet ground. Jagged bolts of lightning erupted upwards, not aimed directly at Obito, but forming an expanding cage of crackling energy around him, forcing him either upwards or to phase downwards through the earth – predictable escape vectors.
At the same time, Kakashi launched himself forward, Sabre blazing, aiming directly at Obito's center mass as the lightning cage closed in.
Obito scoffed, choosing to phase downwards through the earth to avoid the lightning and Kakashi's lunge. But as his feet became intangible, Kakashi twisted mid-air, redirecting his Sabre strike downwards, anticipating the subterranean escape. The lightning-charged blade plunged into the muddy ground where Obito should have been solidifying.
A muffled grunt of pain. Kakashi felt resistance, then the blade passed through nothingness as Obito completed his phase deeper underground, escaping the strike but clearly having been grazed again, perhaps more significantly this time. The strategy worked – forcing predictable movement to exploit the phasing lag.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya faced a nightmare. He battled not just one opponent, but three, coordinated perfectly by the unseen Nagato. The Deva Path controlled the battlefield with Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in, repelling Ninjutsu, deflecting Taijutsu, pulling Jiraiya or Gamaken into devastating attacks.
Gamaken roared, his massive shield absorbing a powerful Shinra Tensei, but the force sent him sliding back several meters, gouging deep furrows in the mud. Jiraiya, using Sage Mode, enhanced his speed and strength, dodging missiles fired from the Asura Path's hidden compartments.
His Rasengan slammed into the Preta Path, but the technique was instantly absorbed, leaving Jiraiya vulnerable.
"Katon: Endan!" (Fire Release: Flame Bullet!) Jiraiya spewed a stream of fire, trying to create distance. The Preta Path stepped forward to absorb it, but Jiraiya had anticipated this. "Doton: Yomi Numa!" (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!)
The ground beneath the Preta Path instantly turned into a sucking mire. Simultaneously, Jiraiya slammed another Rasengan into the Asura Path while it was focused on firing missiles. The attack connected, sending the mechanized body crashing backwards, limbs twisting unnaturally.
But the Deva Path intervened again. Bansho Ten'in! Jiraiya felt an irresistible pull towards Yahiko's outstretched hand. He resisted with Sage Mode strength, digging his heels in, but the force was immense. As he was pulled closer, the seemingly damaged Asura Path snapped back into alignment, a hidden blade extending from its arm, aiming for Jiraiya's exposed flank.
It was then that the ANBU struck again. Neko, ignoring Tori's earlier injury, appeared in a burst of speed, launching multiple Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets at the Asura Path's extended blade, deflecting it fractionally. Saru, freed earlier by Kakashi, slammed down from the trees using Earth Release: Rock Lodging, attempting to pin the Deva Path's feet.
Their intervention was valiant but ultimately futile against the Rinnegan.
Pain simply increased the Shinra Tensei output slightly, blasting Saru away like a broken doll. The Asura Path, barely hindered by the wind bullets, fired a chakra laser beam that vaporized Neko’s attack and forced her into a desperate dive. The Preta Path began absorbing the Swamp of the Underworld, slowly freeing itself.
"Your efforts are meaningless," Pain stated, turning his full attention back to Jiraiya, who had used the brief respite to put distance between them again. "The disparity in power is absolute."
Jiraiya looked at the faces – Yahiko's, twisted into a cold vessel, the other Paths, likely corpses reanimated. He thought of Nagato, the sensitive boy who dreamed of peace, now wielding this terrifying power, manipulated by the same 'Madara' who had corrupted Obito.
The cycle of hatred... it was right here, embodied in his own student.
He knew capture was impossible. Escape was paramount. They had confirmed the link between 'Madara'/Obito and Pain/Akatsuki/Ame. They had confirmed the Rinnegan. This intelligence had to reach Minato.
Jiraiya made the call, activating the emergency signal – a massive toad summon designed purely for disruption and escape, as described before. The resulting chaos – the collapsing tower, the dust, the mud – momentarily broke the coordination of the Pain Paths and forced Obito to pause.
Jiraiya grabbed the severely injured Tori, reverse-summoning them both away.
Kakashi, seeing Jiraiya vanish and understanding the signal, didn't hesitate. He disengaged from Obito, ignoring the furious glare from the single Sharingan eye, and used his fastest Body Flicker, augmented by lightning chakra, disappearing into the dense forest towards the rendezvous point.
Saru, seeing his Taichō retreat, provided brief covering fire with Earth Release projectiles before following suit, melting back into the shadows.
Obito watched them go, frustration radiating from him. He clutched his side where Kakashi's blade had connected more solidly this time. Minato-sensei had anticipated his vulnerabilities. Kakashi, wielding his own Sharingan, had adapted with unnerving speed. And Jiraiya... Jiraiya had escaped, taking vital intelligence with him.
Pain floated beside him as the dust settled, the remaining Paths reassembling. "They have confirmed our alliance," Pain stated flatly. "Konoha will escalate their vigilance."
"Let them," Obito snarled, the distortion failing to hide his anger. "They chase ghosts while the real plan unfolds. Akatsuki's objectives remain unchanged. Eliminate Hanzo. Secure the Jinchuriki. Prepare the Gedo Statue." He glanced towards Konoha. "Minato Namikaze... Jiraiya... Kakashi... they will all understand true despair soon enough."
He activated Kamui, the vortex swallowing him, leaving Pain standing alone in the desolate, rain-soaked ruins, the red clouds on his cloak seeming to bleed into the grey twilight.
