(4 Days and Nights before Present time, Moments after the fight with Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz.)
Within a darkened cavern barely illuminated by the occasional torches perched along the walls, a swirling distortion in the very air itself appeared before a torn body fell out of it. Obito Uchiha, the man who had masqueraded as Madara Uchiha when attacking the Leaf Village, barely managed to land with his feet underneath him. Yells of pain and anger tore from his throat as he wobbled a few steps before falling down.
The room he was so familiar with was spinning much like his own Kamui technique twisted reality upon itself. He had been cautious but overconfident in his Kamui's intangibility to keep him safe from harm. Apparently, to be truly intangible, he'll have to find some way to get rid of the weakness Yggdra oh-so-lovingly discovered in what was perhaps the most painful way Obito had ever felt.
"ZETSU!" he cried out in his delirious state. He couldn't even hear himself yell; only knowing that his brain knew what to make him say. Whether he closed his eyes or not, he still felt the urge to vom—PLLGGGHHHHH!
… —it ...ugghh, and his mask was still on as well.
Realizing that, Obito tore the mask off, releasing the contents of his stomach that was mixed with an unhealthy amount of blood. Thankfully, the will of Madara made his timely appearance and was understandably shocked at the state his temporary boss was in. His quick appearance was a humanoid wearing a black cloak with red clouds spread along it, a face split down the middle between black and white, and two large protrusions popping up from his shoulders that looked like a Venus flytrap. Along with Zetsu, a pair of pure white beings with their only discernible features being a masked face swirled much like Obito's mask with a single opening for the eye, and bodies made of some sort of soliquid… seriously, what the hell are they made of? Anyway, they picked up the thrashing Uchiha carefully to avoid upsetting further the numerous wounds on and in his body.
"You, clean this mess up," Zetsu ordered a third white figure.
The third humanoid looked at the trio and back to the mask that was covered in blood, rice, and fried chicken.
Looks back to his boss who needs help.
Looks down at the puddle of vomit.
Like a dog, the damn thing goes prone and digs in. Ewww.
Zetsu watched with unrestrained aggravation and resignation before shaking his bi-chromatic head, muttering about stupid White Zetsu. He approached the bedside and watched as Obito's tattered clothes were removed by one White Zetsu while the other cleaned up his face. The extent of damage over the body was surprisingly minimal.
It was to be expected since he did go up against the Fourth Hokage but to be this much in pain? No, the worst injuries are obviously internal.
Obito's screams weren't helping but one or two intelligible words managed to get picked up.
Yggdra? Noise? He was damaged by a sound based technique? It somehow must have gotten past his Kamui defense. By the way he's bleeding and vomiting, there are severe internal damages, bleeding, and his eardrums are probably busted.
He sighed. His form of healing would take a while so instead he did a Ram hand seal and mumbled out "Magic Lantern Body Techn ique" in a dual voice. His thought waves went out around a thousand miles all the way to Amegakure, the "Village Hidden in the Rain". It was picked up and strengthened to where his thoughts were now heard by another, the intended recipient.
In front of Zetsu, a shadowy projection of a man with spiky hair and a rare set of eyes popped up. The eyes bore the Rinnegan, possessing a metallic purple sheen with concentric circles spreading out from the pupil.
"What is it, Zetsu? You usually never contact me like this," came the voice, deep and authoritative.
"Pein, we have a problem ," Zetsu answered. " Madara has been injured and is in need of a quick fix . Your Naraka Path would be nice right about now."
Zetsu knew he was taking a risk in asking for help. Pein, or Nagato as he use to be called, and Obito, as Madara, didn't get along. He knew that if Pein wasn't sure of his chances of victory over the Madara impersonator, then he and his partner Konan would kill him. However, Obito knew of Nagato's true weakness and could easily kill the Rinnegan user should they try to get rid of him. Neither of their deaths would be good for Akatsuki's goal.
"Madara failed in his plan for Konoha?" Pein asked, a hint of mocking outlying the tone.
"I know that he'd successfully extracted the Kyuubi and a good portion of Konoha is in rubble, but something happened out there. I would normally say Minato Namikaze was responsible for his injuries but from what little Madara was able to scream, much of his internal organs and eardrums were ruptured by a sound-based jutsu. I'm not familiar with anyone in Konoha possessing such a technique."
"Fine, my Animal Path will summon him here for my Naraka Path to heal him. What of you? Will you recon the aftermath of his plan to figure who or what injured him?"
"Summon me as well. Madara has all the intel we need on what happened there. A few minutes in the King of Hell and he'll be well enough to tell us."
Zetsu puts another mask to cover Obito's face. No need for Pein to discover the fraud just yet. Seconds later, they both disappear in puffs of smoke. Reappearing in the "Tower of God", the massive tower Pein rules Amegakure from, Zetsu is met by four individuals: Pein, who has spiky, orange hair and numerous black piercings across his face and ears and standing at five feet, nine point five inches, was clothed in a black cloak decorated with red clouds, something everyone in the room wore with the exception of Obito.
The second person was Pein's oldest friend and closest partner and co-founder of Akatsuki, Konan. She was quite a beauty with a soft face, pale skin, hazel eyes, and blue hair with bangs that split to frame her face and ornate with a single white, paper flower. She stood only a few inches shorter than Pein. The other two were the Naraka and Animal Paths, the former summoning the King of Hell, a massive head with a large mouth, blonde hair, white eyebrows that arched up and over its own head, and a black crown with the kanji for "King" on it.
Zetsu gathered Obito's writhing body and tossed it in the King's mouth which closed. Chewing sounds could be heard for several moments before finally going quiet. The mouth opened and out walked Obito, his body fresh as a daisy and even had his clothes restored. His mask was in place and his Sharingan eye was glaring brightly.
"Our plans have hit a snag," he announced, getting their focus on him. "There's a new player in this game. One who doesn't belong on this planet."
The shinobi were obviously confused by that meaning, but only Zetsu seemed to have a look of understanding in his gold right eye. "What do you mean, 'doesn't belong to this planet'? Where else would they belong?" Konan asked.
"What I'm about to say is the truth. After I had extracted the Kyuubi to my will and was about to kill its container," cue, a little flinch in Pein's eyes, "we were set upon by an otherworldly visitor who claims to be from a planet far among the stars."
The small group stared at Madara for a few moments before Pein drawled, "If you're that embarrassed about failing, Madara, than come up—"
"I'M NOT LYING YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Madara yelled, both indignation and rage from his quick failure fueling the fire consuming his short fuse. Nagato's jeering wasn't helping. He quickly recovered his temper with a deep breath. "This woman looked a remarkably tall human who stood head and shoulders above me, but there were many differences such as a form of naturally occurring armor plates beneath her skin along her arms. Her skin was also extremely tough. I stabbed her in the neck and only managed to just break the skin layer but she healed as quickly as I pulled the knife out. She was armed with a spear as tall as Kisame yet could wield it with all the disproportionate speed and skill to almost catch me unprepared. She's in possession of advanced technology that fires some sort of energy blast at speeds quicker than a kunai launcher and is capable of instant, rapid teleportation. I couldn't track the movements until after she reappeared. She used those two weapons to test my Kamui defense and with the third method, she found a flaw and nearly killed me had any more of my body not been in a different dimension. Heh, I was arrogant in my ability and she dismantled it in three moves. Luckily, I can learn from that."
Though he was angry and this alien woman made him look like a genin getting owned by their jounin sensei, it was a learning experience; a breath of fresh air. If what that woman had said the truth, she was powerful enough to bring peace to her people, else they wouldn't have journeyed across the stars. He idly wondered how much powerful he would need to be to bring peace to this planet.
"It almost sounds like you aren't upset," Pein accused.
"Hehehe, this alien made me look weak. She saw a weakness and took advantage of it. I was too confident. Not since Hashirama nearly killed me have I experienced the taste of defeat. It simply means that I've got someone who can give me the thrill of a true fight for the first time since his passing."
"And the Kyuubi? Do you still have possession of it?"
Obito quietly fumed. "Having several inner organs rupturing from a massive sonic-based scream attack took precedence over maintaining complete control of the KYUUBI," he said mockingly. Pein merely narrowed his eyes, not rising to the bait. "After retreating, I'm uncertain what happened, though much of Konoha was on fire."
"Why would this alien attack you?" Zetsu asked. Having a wild card, someone who could openly threaten the goals of Akatsuki was a problem they had to address. Ascertaining the motive for the assault would be useful.
"Apparently, she took offense to me offing a new mother. She said the lives of mothers and children are treasured by her people and my actions were damnable to their kind. After that, we engaged in combat. She was studying me more than actually fighting me, like a scientist picking apart a specimen. Her final attack was the sound based one. She took a deep breath and sang and if I hadn't had my Kamui defense activated, there'd be nothing left of my body. My senses were a mess at the moment, but I know that the attack was just as devastating as a Bijuudama. I barely managed to avoid being impaled by her spear by warping away."
"So, she attacks for a reason as simple as that," Konan said disbelievingly. Sure, if she'd walked upon such a scene, she would have stepped in, though many times, if acting will jeopardize the mission, she would be forced to abandon them. "If she is an alien, something must have drawn her to this planet, and it won't take a day of observation to realize that while not in the same context, similar cases of mothers or children being killed, tortured, hunted, or enslaved are more common than she'd be happy about." Her tone was growing concerning now and the rest knew what she was getting to.
"Yes," Pein interrupted. "A woman possessing the destructive capabilities of a Bijuu and the intelligence to outmaneuver Madara would be a walking catastrophe waiting to erupt. I highly doubt she was drawn to our planet because of a single case of murder, so if she gets that upset at it and stays on this planet until she has concluded whatever business she has being here, then there might not even be a ninja world left."
"Pein," Obito began. "I want you to be on the lookout for prospective recruits for Akatsuki. We will need the highest quality in the case we have another encounter with this alien. Rank and file ninja will be useless. We need S-class at the least. I'm going to investigate the battlefield I just left. We need for information before acting. I will also need to check up on the Kyuubi. I wouldn't put it past Minato to try sealing it in his child. With the village as damaged as it is, they'll need an equalizer with the other villages when word gets out. Zetsu, I want you infiltrating Konoha and finding out what we need to know but don't yet. Key points would be hospitals, the ANBU headquarters which is underneath an old public sauna three blocks East of the Hokage tower."
"Understood," Zetsu said before disappearing into the ground. Madara disappeared in a swirling vortex, leaving Konan, Pein, and two of his Paths. Now that both Zetsu and Madara were gone, they used the liberty to freely talk.
"Do you think Madara was telling the truth?" Pein asked as he began walking back to his office's window which had a small perch that he often used to stand over his village. His "leader" really threw him for a loop with his excuse for failure.
Konan, his closest and oldest friend, was as equally perplexed by the behavior of the usually unflappable ancient ninja. "I'm… not sure. Madara could have used any number of excuses but… a being from another world? I think, if it had been anyone other the Madara using that approach, then I would have scoffed at them, but he seemed easily agitated when doubted, very unlike when we first didn't believe him to want to help us."
"Madara's strength is legendary to where even his name is synonymous with power. He's developed a huge amount of pride from that, Uchiha or not, so admitting his failure because of this woman no doubt hamper his mind or sharpen his resolve. This can either be good or bad for Akatsuki. As if we didn't have enough doubts about him already. This might actually be a blessing in disguise."
He held his palm up in front of him, staring at it. "He was so weak and defenseless, Konan. I could have easily killed him right there, but… he still has skills that are useful to us. Now that he is at full health again, I probably will not get another chance like that unless something happens."
The silence between them was filled in by the pattering of the constant rainfall upon the metal city. Through the darkness of the night and the full overcast, lanterns from the streets and houses gave little illumination for the city of rain.
…
"You wish to get rid of Madara by hoping or manipulating circumstances for them to fight again?" she asked in questionable realization. "Either way, she kills him or leaves him weak enough for you to finish off."
"Yes," he answered tonelessly. "We want to use the Bijuu as a war deterrent, but I believe Madara will use it as a weapon of destruction. He's an Uchiha and their damaged pride tends to make them predictable in the long scheme of things. He'll no doubt use it to destroy the hidden villages. Such a person can't exist in our vision of peace, Konan."
"I understand… Nagato."
Pein didn't bother rebuking her since no one was around.