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Kaoru flickered through the forest, heading southeast. It was already dark, the moon shining brightly over the dense, dark green canopy.
Originally, Kaoru had planned to rest and visit the alchemists at dawn, but he changed his mind for a few reasons. There was a chance, however slim, that the alchemists might flee if given more time. Kaoru didn't know how long they'd stay without Kiri's support and protection. Additionally, Sango's mention of the ten rings had completely shifted Kaoru's priorities.
I don't remember anything specific about those ten rings, but I do recall they were extremely important.' He tried to recall everything he could. The memories of the anime were growing blurrier with time. Kaoru made a habit of reciting key events and details, hoping to keep them alive in his mind, but he knew the less important ones would eventually fade.
'If I'm not mistaken, after Sasori and Kakuzu died, the Akatsuki went out of their way to retrieve those rings. And when Orochimaru left, taking his ring with him, he wasn't replaced. So there must be a purpose to those rings, and I need to find out exactly what it is,' Kaoru thought, his resolve hardening as he kept flickering through the forest.
'I should also not forget that the timeline has already changed. Even before the butterfly effect, this world was different, though not drastically. Toji Senju's presence is proof enough.' Kaoru never relied too much on his memories, especially not after he fully identified himself with Kaoru. And after seeing that the Senju clan was still active, when it shouldn't have been - he decided this world was either an alternate universe or something had gone differently to alter the present.
So for Kaoru, the memories of the anime were a useful advantage, but not something he could fully count on. They could just as easily prove irrelevant the moment the smallest detail shifted.
Aside from the rings, Kaoru's attention was also caught by another story Sango had mentioned. The fisherman had been trying to catch a creature that first appeared in these waters four years ago. No one had seen it clearly, as it either killed everyone or destroyed the ship and vanished in the chaos. But Kaoru's mind kept replaying the words that intrigued him the most:
"A ship was found torn to pieces, its crew scattered across the waves. Some of the bodies were drained. Others were crushed, as if the sea itself had turned against them."
'It's big enough to snap the biggest boat they have like a twig and eat several men in one go.' While Kaoru was intrigued by the creature, he had already decided not to join Sango in chasing it. He didn't feel strong enough to defeat something like that, and he wasn't confident he could escape if it came to a fight, especially not in open water.
'It might be crappy of me to leave the old man to go after it alone, but he's just a regular fisherman. There's no way he can do anything at all. So ultimately, it would be me facing that thing, whatever it is… something that can sink boats without warning. And worst of all, we'd be out on the sea,' Kaoru thought, giving himself a self-deprecating smile. It was the first time in his life he felt someone else might actually have the upper hand over him when it came to water.
'Anyway, even if I wanted to, I can't just leave for an unknown period of time just to go and hunt this creature. The war against Kumo is still going on and I need to return as soon as possible.'
One of the main reasons Kaoru was in a rush was the war. He wanted to figure out everything about the village and solve the pirate problem before the letter from Takimura arrived.
'Here it is,' Kaoru noted, snapping out of his thoughts as he spotted several wooden buildings clustered in the forest. His eyes glowed cyan, activating his Suijingan.
Kaoru quickly scanned the surroundings, looking for guards, but there were none. Only six people were inside the buildings, and five of them seemed to be asleep.
'This is the perfect opportunity to move,' he thought, flickering closer to the building where one man was still awake and working.
Kaoru crouched closer to the only window in the building. The inside was a complete mess, or at least it seemed that way to Kaoru. The room was filled with vials, pots, and several large glass vessels containing a dark liquid. The person moving around was a woman wearing a white robe and a mask, not to hide her identity but to ensure her safety. She had blond hair, almost gray, and was unusually tall and thin.
'She's probably affected by the same condition,' Kaoru noted, watching her slow, weak steps. She held a vial filled with red liquid, murmuring something under her breath.
'Alright, there's no point in waiting,' Kaoru decided. After confirming with his Suijingan that the other five alchemists were still asleep, he entered the building through the door, appearing beside the woman in an instant.
"Don't make a sound, or I'll kill you," he warned, his cold voice proving he meant every word. Kaoru didn't draw Nagizume, instead, he held a kunai.
At first, the woman thought Kaoru was from the village. She didn't expect someone of his age to have malicious intentions. But the moment she heard his cold voice and felt his emotionless gaze, she realized he was a trained shinobi. The woman froze, her face draining of color. The shock and fear were so intense that she loosened her grip on the vial, letting it slip and crash to the ground. The red liquid shimmered ominously before releasing a toxic red gas.
The woman let out a low scream, her fear of dying by Kaoru's hands battling her fear of the deadly gas.
"Please, we need to get out of here before this completely evaporates!" she pleaded, her whole body trembling. Kaoru could see that both her words and expression were genuine, so he didn't argue. He gestured toward the door, keeping his eyes on her, unmoving.
The woman didn't need to be told twice. She walked quickly, almost running, with a sudden burst of energy a stark contrast to her earlier sluggishness. But the gas was faster and it had already reached both Kaoru and the woman.
'Shit,' Kaoru thought as the crimson gas enveloped him. He expected to feel a burn or at least an itch, but nothing happened.
'Did she lie?' His gaze darted toward the woman walking in front of him. But before he could check her properly, he felt his strength draining away. It was an unpleasant sensation, though not unbearable. However, if he had been exposed to the gas for a longer period, the effects would have been far worse.
'This must be the reason why the villagers are suffering,' Kaoru thought, confident he had found the core of the problem and he was determined to solve it.
"No, not there. Go toward the forest," Kaoru instructed the woman, who had been walking toward one of the buildings. She didn't like the idea of going deep into the forest with an armed intruder, but she didn't argue.
"Please, d-don't kill me. I'll do anything you t-tell me to," she begged as she kept walking, her voice breaking slightly. The forest felt ominously peaceful to her. While the silence would have been calming at any other time, right now she wished it were filled with people.
The buildings behind them were no longer visible when Kaoru finally spoke.
"What was that gas?" he asked, stopping and signaling the woman to do the same.
"It was a residual product. It drains yang energy from living beings," she explained briefly, choosing her words carefully to make it understandable for a shinobi. Her voice was a bit shaky and her eyes kept darting from one place to another, clearly nervous and scared.
"If it's a residual product, then what's the end product?" Kaoru asked, maintaining eye contact with the woman, who now nervously played with her fingers.
"It's Kurogan, commonly known as obsidian stone. It has the effect of consuming and boosting yin energy, but unlike the red toxic gas you saw, it has no negative effects," she answered, giving the impression she wasn't withholding any information.
"What were the effects of the ten rings you guys made?" This was what interested him the most. 'If my theory about the rings being made for the Akatsuki is correct…'
"We didn't make any rings," the woman corrected apologetically, but before Kaoru could rebuke her, she continued, "It was a blacksmith sent by the Mizukage who made them. He even inscribed fuinjutsu seals. All I know is that they're some kind of communication device. I swear I don't know anything else about them."
"Is this the only place where this mineral can be found?" Kaoru did not want to make his interest in the rings too obvious and he also wondered why Kiri would spend so much money on a product with unclear functions. He had never heard of Kurogan before.
"No, it's not. There are several more places rich with Akagan. But the method of creating Kurogan is relatively new, and its other purposes are still unclear. However, since it's completely harmless and can be used as a communication device, it's very important to the great villages," the alchemist answered, a strange excitement lighting up her eyes.
"You said just a minute ago that you didn't know what Kurogan could be used for," Kaoru's voice turned cold and ominous again.
"No, I said I didn't know what those rings were for." She corrected him, raising a finger and showing a condescending smile before remembering her situation and tensing up again. "For Kurogan to work as a communication device, large quantities are required. The ring is too small to send strong signals over long distances. The receiver wouldn't be able to intercept such weak signals. So the ring would only work if the receiver is extremely powerful, but I don't know if that's even possible…" The woman dove into technical explanations, but Kaoru's mind was already elsewhere.
'So the rings could work as communication devices, however, the signal wouldn't be strong enough to be detected by a normal receiver. But what if the receiver isn't a device but an extremely powerful person with a dojutsu nearly limitless power? What if, instead of a man-made tool, it's Nagato who acts as the receiver…' Kaoru was confident he had uncovered the purpose of those rings or at least one of their purposes.
"Excuse me, is that all you wanted to ask? May I leave?" The woman's voice broke the silence as Kaoru remained lost in thought for so long that she began to hope he was done questioning her. For a moment, hope appeared in her eyes, but it was destined to fade quickly.
"What's your rank in this group? Who's the leader of you, alchemists?" Kaoru asked, ignoring her earlier question.
"I'm sorry, but we're not alchemists," she corrected, then quickly softened her tone again. "We're scientists. I'm the leader of this group, and those five are my students. The Mizukage hired us to come here and process Akagan. It's not the most glamorous research, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." As she spoke, her voice grew passionate, her excitement becoming evident. It was clear to Kaoru that this woman was deeply in love with her work.
"Alright, then answer me this - why is your research poisoning the villagers?" Kaoru's piercing gaze bore into her, waiting for an answer like a judge pausing before delivering a verdict.
"It's not our fault, I swear!" She yelled immediately, her expression of genuine anger and helplessness. "I explicitly told them to bring vessels somewhere far from the settlement, remove the lids, and leave them open for a few days. The toxic gas would disperse into the air, and the residual liquid would lose all its negative effects, causing no harm to anyone. But instead, they either poured it on the ground or even into the water, causing it to be absorbed by the soil." Her voice grew angrier with each word.
"They did it for so long that now the whole island is toxic, and it's even affected me and my students. We're now working on an antidote, trying to find a way to cure this problem." She finished her explanation, studying Kaoru's reaction. When she realized he wasn't convinced, she added more.
"Why else would I stay instead of running away? This condition will disappear over time if you leave the source of the problem. This isn't an illness, after all, but continuous exposure might cause long-term issues. We're risking our lives to help the villagers, I swear!" Her eyes grew watery as she pleaded.
'She's either a very good actress or truly innocent in all this,' Kaoru thought, now glad he hadn't harmed her.
"Fine," said Kaoru storing his kunai back in the satchel. "But I've got one more question - is it possible to track down those rings?"
**
A/N -
Happy Easter to everyone celebrating. This part of the arc has been fun to write, shifting away from battlefield chaos into quiet tension, discovery, and a bit of worldbuilding beneath the surface.
As a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I'll admit I had a strong urge to sneak in a "one ring to rule them all" moment, but I managed to resist… Barely xD
I hope you liked the concept behind Kurogan and Akagan. It might not be groundbreaking, but I think adding elements like this helps enrich the Naruto world and opens up some interesting possibilities going forward.
We're officially moving to a one-chapter-every-other-day schedule, so there'll be 1 day break tomorrow. Thanks for reading and sticking with me through all these moments, quiet or chaotic.
Character Notes:
The Rings – Formerly useless – "Surprise, we're walkie-talkies for Akatsuki now."
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