OberonLA
patreon
As Second Tsuchikage 17
🕑 Added 2025-07-14 13:07:22 +0000 UTCChapter 17: Yata Senjutsu
Upon hearing Tobirama’s uncertainty, Mū immediately launched into well-timed, subtle flattery.
"Tobirama-dono, would the wind cease to be cold simply because men fear the chill? Would the Earth shrink just because people dread its vastness? Would a true leader turn back simply because a few petty voices whisper in the background?"
His words struck Tobirama like a bolt of lightning. A sharp gleam lit up in his eyes. Yes. He was a man of conviction. Why should he allow the complaints of the Uchiha, or any other faction, deter him from fulfilling his duty? If Konoha was to survive and thrive, it needed decisive leadership.
That meant removing every unstable element threatening its foundation, no matter how entrenched or historically significant that element might be. Even if that meant purging one of the founding clans.
Until now, he had occasionally questioned whether his suspicion toward the Uchiha was simply personal bias. But after Mū’s pointed words, that doubt evaporated. The Uchiha were dangerous. Even an outsider like Mū could see it. Why couldn’t Hashirama?
"Tobirama-dono, I haven’t spent long in Konoha, but I believe your village runs as smoothly as it does for two reasons: the overwhelming might of Hashirama-dono and Madara-dono, and the brilliance of your mind. They may wield power, but you bring structure. As the saying goes, conquering is easy but ruling is the real challenge. And you, Tobirama-dono, are the one bridging that gap."
Mū’s voice was calm, his praise measured and precise.
A faint smirk curled on Tobirama’s lips. That... wasn’t untrue. Since the village’s founding, the burden of administration had fallen largely on his shoulders. Every policy, every regulation, every innovation had all come from him. While Hashirama inspired the people, it was Tobirama who made sure the systems actually worked.
From the side, Gengetsu Hōzuki glanced sideways at Mū, an odd look in his eye. Something didn’t sit right. The Mū he knew was usually restrained and taciturn, not one to heap compliments on anyone, much less a foreign leader.
What was he playing at? Still, Gengetsu didn’t care enough to dig further. Whatever Mū was scheming, it wasn’t his concern.
After the banquet came to a close, the delegations from Konohagakure and Kirigakure were seen off with a proper ceremony. The Konoha group departed earlier than the rest.
"Mū, when will we meet again?" At the village gates, Gengetsu turned back and offered Mū a faint smile.
"Heh... just make sure you don’t die before then..." Mū chuckled lightly, voice low and dry.
"Don’t worry. I’ll definitely outlive you." Gengetsu patted him on the shoulder, grinning with his usual relaxed bravado.
Once both groups were gone, Mū stood silently at the gate, watching the dust settle behind them. Then he rubbed his temples, weariness creeping in like a fog. Without another word, he rose into the air and flew toward his hidden cavern, needing solitude at last.
"It’s about time I started training some scientific talent... to help me study Hashirama’s chakra. This Wood Release contains traces of it," Mū muttered, eyes fixed on the chunk of wood suspended in the culture tank.
He was well-versed in researching jutsu, but when it came to science, he was practically blind. Forget cultivating cells, he couldn’t even explain the basic theories behind how it worked. The only reason he had requested a sample of Hashirama’s wood was to make use of Iwagakure’s robust industrial foundation.
His plan was to slowly foster a generation of researchers, much like what Orochimaru had done in Konoha. But training proper scientific talent couldn’t happen overnight. It would take years, possibly decades.
"Sigh... by then, who knows how old I’ll be..." he murmured with a heavy breath, a trace of helplessness in his voice.
Mū had already pushed his physical body to its limits. There was no further height to climb with his current form. It felt like trying to whip a horse into charging off the edge of a cliff, pointless and self-destructive.
He used to believe that inventing Dust Style was a crowning achievement, something that would place him among the elite. He had once thought that even if he wasn’t the single strongest, he was at least near the top of the world’s food chain.
But after receiving that memory orb, Mū understood just how insignificant he really was.
In the grand timeline, he was nothing more than a name that would fade into obscurity.
He turned back to the scrolls, attempting once again to figure out how to allow his clones to use Dust Style. The mechanics remained a frustrating mystery. Just as he began reviewing one of his older drafts, a sudden surge of chakra flickered at the edge of his senses.
His eyes narrowed.
"Who's there?" he whispered, voice low but alert.
His instincts screamed that something was wrong. Without a moment’s hesitation, he dispatched a clone to scout the disturbance while his real body silently melted into the earth using Earth Style.
It wasn’t cowardice. It was survival.
In the world of shinobi, caution wasn’t weakness; it was the only thing keeping you alive. One wrong step, one second of carelessness, and even someone like him could die without warning.
Above ground now, Mū quietly tracked the disturbance through sensory jutsu. He followed the lingering trail of chakra through the forest until it led him to a twisted, skeletal tree that stood out even under the moonlit sky.
"Kwaaak kwaaak kwaaak..."
A raspy, grating caw rang through the air.
Perched high on one of the barren branches was a crow. But not an ordinary one. It was massive, nearly twice the size of a normal bird. Its feathers were a glossy, oily black, so dark they looked like wet ink flowing over its form. Under the silver moonlight, it shimmered faintly, as if not entirely real. Its eyes glowed a deep, ominous red.
Mū narrowed his gaze. Around the bird’s neck hung a tomoe-shaped magatama.
Then he noticed something even stranger, it had three legs.
"A mutation?" he muttered, hesitant for a moment.
He centered his chakra and focused his sensory jutsu again, sharpening every detail. Something about this creature wasn’t natural.
The chakra emanating from the crow was bizarre, dense and ancient, unlike anything Mū had ever encountered. It didn’t feel like regular chakra. It was deeper, darker, and yet more refined, pulsing with strange intensity.
"Kwaaak kwaaak..."
The crow twisted its head around and stared directly at him, its glowing red eyes locking with his.
"Let’s see what you’re capable of," Mū muttered.
Forming rapid hand seals, he launched a test jutsu. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A powerful gust surged forward, tearing through the air toward the mysterious bird. But just before impact, a crimson shield materialized in front of the crow. The wind blast slammed into it and disintegrated instantly, as if absorbed and nullified without effort.
Mū’s brow furrowed. This creature was no ordinary animal. It had defenses that defied conventional chakra flow.
"Kwaaak!!"
The crow screeched and suddenly took flight. Mū paused for only a second, then launched after it without hesitation. This was just a clone body anyway; if something went wrong, he wouldn’t lose much.
Activating his flight technique, he took to the skies, trailing closely behind the bird as it darted through the air like a black arrow. It didn’t fly aimlessly. It led him deeper and deeper into a vast, barren forest filled with dead, twisted trees that creaked under the wind.
The moment Mū passed into the forest, he knew something was wrong.
The atmosphere changed. It wasn’t just colder or darker, it felt like the very space around him had shifted. The trees seemed frozen in time, and the air was saturated with something heavy and ancient.
"What is this place..." he muttered, scanning the surroundings.
The crow glided down and perched atop a large, weathered stone monument carved with archaic symbols. Mū descended cautiously, narrowing his eyes as he tried to read the inscriptions.
“Sacred Land of the Yatagarasu?”
His gaze flicked to the three-legged crow. "You... are you trying to show me this monument?"
Before he could speak again, a surge of unknown energy exploded outward from the stone and rushed into his body. It struck like a tidal wave, violent and overwhelming, crashing into his chakra network without warning.
"This…!"
His expression changed instantly. He bit down and forced his chakra to circulate, trying to resist the foreign energy that poured into him with frightening force.
Whoosh!
Feathers suddenly erupted from the left side of his body, then vanished, only to reappear violently across his back and arms. They were sleek and black, far too similar to the crow’s plumage.
He felt something shift inside him, muscles stretching, bones grinding.
He could feel a third leg beginning to grow.
"This... this has to be senjutsu!"
(AN: Well, all things considered, like limitations for Iwagakure story, OG is to be expected.)
