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“So...This was his last project
before fleeing the village, huh?”
“Yes.” The simple reply was all
Danzo needed to say to catch the Sannin's glare.
“It should have been destroyed. Or
at the very least, I should have been told!” As he snapped at the
village elder, who didn't even bat an eye, he absently moved his hand
over it. The sleekness. The simplicity. Yet the untold power...The
door cracked open, revealing an Anbu, carrying a metal case over to
the two men. Opening it, Jiraiya's eyebrow went up in curiosity. He
hadn't felt something like this in a while. “If it wasn't for those
colors, I'd swear I was looking at-”
The case snapped
shut before he could touch the items within, and the Anbu ran towards
the window and leapt out, hopping rooftop to rooftop around the
village. “I'm going on record that I feel like this is a bad idea,”
Jiraiya announced. “Is it a good idea to be unleashing something of
Orochimaru's, even if you feel like it's under control?” Frowning,
Danzo turned to the Toad Sage.
“No...but at
times like this...with Sarutobi dead, and you leaving to search for
Tsunade...we need to have some sort of advanced fighting force,” he
replied. “When we took over this project, as I've told you,
Sarutobi was the one who had insisted upon it. He believed that
despite Orochimaru, this project could be used for the good of our
village and the betterment of our Shinobi.” Jiraiya was silent, but
only for a moment.
“Explain to me
again...how does this work?”
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
“You were correct.
Those crystals you just saw have near identical composition to the
crystal on the Shodaime's necklace. After the deaths of Tsunade's
Fiance and Brother, Orochimaru became curious as to what went wrong
that caused the deaths. It was indeed the crystal, but it isn't
cursed...at least, not in the mystical sense...”
Due to
the sound of hammering nails, the young woman nearly missed the sound
of the soft 'thunk' as a Kunai embedded itself into the wall she was
repairing. Alarmed, Tenten whipped around, but was surprised to see
an Anbu, who gave her a quick nod before leaping away. Turning to the
kunai, she noticed now a strange, dark blue crystal hanging by a wire
from the ring of the throwing knife. Something about it felt strange,
and yet she was compelled to take hold of it.
Grabbing
it, taking it in her hand, she felt it vibrate and heat up. She
prepared to let go, but a burst of chakra and smoke erupted around
her arm, as though a summoning jutsu had been performed. Looking to
her wrist as the smoke cleared, she saw the jem was now embedded into
an arm-guard, right above the hand. She stared at it confused for a
moment, before looking back up toward the Anbu, who was long gone.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
“The crystals react to
chakra. Harmonizing and amplifying it. However, what Orochimaru got
wrong is that you can't harmonize a crystal to a chakra that doesn't
match. His attempt to force that led to many deaths. The crystals
only harmonize with a specific, matching chakra signature. The
crystal chooses its shinobi, so to speak...”
As the
two combatants neared for their clash, they were forced apart by two
kunai knives stabbing into the earth between them. Neji and Lee
stopped their spar, looking to the already retreating ANBU, before
they each turned their attention to the kunai, a small gem attached
to the ring of each. Kneeling to the green gem, the one that landed
nearer to him, Lee reached out and took it in his hand. The green
crystal was warm to the touch and pulsed a little, before the
Taijutsu user's hand was engulfed in smoke. Shaking it in shock, he
and Neji took note of the arm-guard on his hand, the jem sitting
neatly over Lee's hand.
Following
suit, Neji gripped the black gem given to him tightly, his fist too
burst into smoke, the arm-guard resting over his forearm as well. The
Hyuuga noted with interest that the bracer was covered in seals of
some kind. He hoped that they'd be given some explanation on what
these things were. And why he felt so good right then. He and Lee
shared a look.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
“So, find shinobi
capable of harmonizing with the Crystals...”
“And the gems amplify
the user's chakra by an enormous factor. Though to be fair, we
haven't yet tested it, so there might be some side-effects. All we
know for certain is the massive increase in chakra when the gems
become active is dangerous. That's what the suits are for. They
contain the chakra, keep it localized and focused, regulating the
flow until the shinobi 'power down,' so-to-speak.
Ino
turned, smiling brightly as she placed the arrangement on the
counter. She was helping her family with the shop today. Business was
booming. Shame it had to be because of the losses suffered in the
sand-sound invasion. And there was the chime of the bell, signaling
yet another customer. “Welcome to Yamanaka's...” she ceased
speaking as she looked into the porcelain mask of an ANBU. The ANBU
agent said nothing, merely held out a purple crystal. The platinum
blonde blinked owlishly, but reached out still. The crystal radiated
a soft warmth that felt good in her hand. She yelped when the gem
suddenly erupted in smoke. As she shook it off, Ino looked to the
ANBU for answers, but the shinobi had already vanished.
Ino
turned her attention to her new accessory. An arm guard, the jewel
from the ANBU glistening in the center of the back of her hand. She
gently stroked it with the fingers of her opposite hand, feeling the
warmth, and a slight pulsation too. “Huh...” she mused, confused
by the whole ordeal.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Naruto
let loose a howl as he slammed his fist into the tree at the training
ground. While the others had put on a smile, tried to move past it,
the blonde was hit harder than anyone knew. The old man was dead.
They won the battle. The leaf won. So why did the old man Hokage have
to die? Naruto wasn't fool enough to think war had no casualties. But
the Hokage had always seemed so...invincible. To be Hokage was to be
the strongest...wasn't it? The blonde Ninja didn't know anymore.
The bark
had been completely stripped from the tree, and he was beginning to
tear chunks from the trunk itself. He pulled his fist back yet again,
ready to rip another piece of wood free. “Naruto Uzumaki?” His
flying fist halted inches from the wood, Naruto turned to face the
ANBU black ops agent with a confused look. The masked ninja merely
held out his hand. Still confused, Naruto likewise held out his hand,
and a tiny, bright-red jewel was deposited within it. The orange-clad
genin had no time to contemplate what the tiny crystal was, it
engulfed his entire forearm in smoke, before he felt something clamp
over his arm.
“He-HEY!”
Naruto shouted, his previous seething all-but forgotten. “What
gives!” The ANBU had left, however, leaving Naruto to stare in
confusion at the new arm-brace, the gem almost glowing with an
ethereal flame within. And indeed, it was warm to the touch. The
blonde stood, blinking, staring at the new object stuck to his arm.
“What the hell?” he asked himself. Trying, and failing, to remove
the arm-guard, Naruto just sighed before returning to his training
