Inside the Spiritual World—
Uchiha Nagi was panting, sweat dripping down his face. He had already killed his dark half for the second time, yet the version of himself in a tracksuit just wouldn't die.
"I told you, you can deceive others, but you can't deceive yourself. Our memories are shared. The most important part of severing your inner demon is to achieve a state of perfect clarity. No matter how many times you kill me, your thoughts will remain conflicted. How can you possibly succeed?"
Their strength was evenly matched, but with his slightly more refined swordsmanship, Nagi had managed to gain the upper hand.
The dark Nagi reappeared, relaxed and smiling. "To be honest, I quite liked that scene where you kissed Kurenai. It's a pity you've got the desire but not the guts. You had her for a whole night and did nothing. If it were me, I'd guarantee she'd be a mother by next year."
"Oh, right, Shinobu Kocho is pretty cute, too. When you go back over there, remember to make her yours. Otherwise, I'll definitely come out and cause trouble for you. And Yukihime and Uzumaki Honoka... hmm, besides Sakura, I don't really like her, but you should get with all the rest~"
"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. By the way, I have a suggestion. Want to hear it?"
Nagi stared coldly at his dark half. "What are you trying to say?"
The dark personality laughed. "Don't be so guarded. I can't possess you. Don't forget, we are essentially the same person; possession is impossible. I was just wondering if you'd be interested in trying to develop a skill like the ones in Bleach?"
"A combat state where the positive and negative personalities coexist. The Hollowfication of the Soul Reapers..."
The dark personality's voice was tempting. "You're curious, aren't you? Spiritual power, a battle between the positive and negative selves—"
Stab.
Nagi once again pierced the dark personality's heart and then cut off his head before withdrawing from the spiritual world.
[You can't kill me! The stronger a person is, the harder it is to eliminate their inner demon! Hahahahaha...]
Tch.
Nagi spat and stood up. He'd have to be an idiot to let his dark half out to fight alongside him. That would just be giving it a chance to control his body. Besides, the world of Naruto wasn't Bleach. Hollowfication? What kind of crazy idea was that...
Outside the Waterfall of Truth, Honoka had been waiting for nearly ten hours. Just as she was hesitating, wondering if she should pull him out, a figure slowly emerged from beneath the waterfall.
"Nagi-nii! Are you okay? Did you succeed?"
Nagi's face was grim as he shook his head. "No. My dark side is trickier than I imagined. It'll probably take more than a few tries to sever him..."
"He's much harder to deal with than I thought."
"Then what should we do?"
Nagi shook his head. "Let's not worry about it for now. Come on, let's go check out the secret room inside."
They went around to the secret chamber behind the waterfall, the place the Land of Lightning used for its jinchuriki to train.
After entering the cave, they found it was filled with headless stone statues. The ground was a mess of rubble and tangled vines. It was clear the Kumo ninja guarding this place were lazy. But then again, with a jinchuriki only coming here once every decade or so, and no one else using it, why would they bother cleaning?
Reaching the end of the cave, Nagi performed the hand seals he had learned from his interrogation and opened the door to the secret chamber.
"Wow, it's so beautiful in here! So colorful!" Honoka exclaimed in surprise. There were no lights in the room, yet it wasn't dark at all. The chamber was filled with a rainbow of colors, the stones themselves emitting a faint glow. Formulas were carved around the stones—seals the Land of Lightning used to contain a rampaging Tailed Beast.
In the future, Naruto would come here to train, opening the seal within his body to forcibly engage the Nine-Tails in a tug-of-war for its chakra. If he had failed, the Nine-Tails would have broken free, leading to a situation similar to the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha. This secret chamber was designed to seal the out-of-control Tailed Beast, something Killer Bee himself had confirmed.
"Good, this is the place. Everything is ready; all I need now is the east wind. My sword will be forged here." Nagi ran his hand over the walls of the secret chamber, satisfied.
In the Land of Iron, at Mifune's residence—
Nearly a month had passed since Nagi had accepted his commission from Mei Terumī.
During this month, Mifune had slowly begun to codify the swordsmanship he had learned from his spars with Nagi. He had created his own Breathing Style. Nagi hadn't taught him a single form; it was all based on Mifune's own years of experience as a sword saint. He had keenly sensed that even if Nagi were willing to teach him, it might not be suitable. So, during their many spars, he had begun to create his own style. Nagi had noticed, but he wasn't petty enough to hide his techniques. He generously allowed Mifune to observe freely, because Mifune had also helped him a great deal.
"Finally, it's a success."
Mifune exhaled, then his eyes narrowed. He vanished with a body flicker. When his sword was sheathed once more, the training post in front of him had been reduced to splinters. And this time, he hadn't used any ninjutsu—only his sword.
One slash, and a training post was obliterated. While it might not seem like a big deal, it had been done purely with swordsmanship, without any ninjutsu. Mifune was thrilled. Once he spread this Breathing Style, which was perfectly suited for samurai, throughout the Land of Iron, their combat power would surely rise to a new level. Although they still wouldn't be a match for ninja, the stronger the Land of Iron's samurai were, the safer this land of peace would be. They had managed to remain neutral through several Great Ninja Wars because the samurai had united to fight off foreign ninja. But in a real fight, the cunning and unscrupulous ninja had a much greater advantage over the samurai... They could use surprise attacks, poison, and all sorts of venomous insects and snakes to make the samurai's lives a living hell.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes..."
"Please don't be rash, Raikage-sama..."
The Raikage?! Hmm?
BOOM!
Before Mifune could even react, the main gate of his residence was smashed to pieces. A burly, dark-skinned man, nearly two hundred and twenty centimeters tall, walked in shirtless, his face a mask of fury.
"You're Mifune?" the giant man demanded, glaring.
"I am Mifune. And you are?" Mifune frowned. The pressure this man exuded was immense. Could he really be the Raikage?
"I am A, the Fourth Raikage of the Land of Lightning!" A's eyes blazed with a fury that could have burned Mifune alive. A squad of guards followed behind him.
"The Fourth Raikage? What brings you to the Land of Iron? The Land of Iron is a neutral country and does not participate in the affairs of the ninja world," Mifune said, perplexed.
"Hmph! As long as you know not to get involved, that's fine. Hand over Uchiha Nagi. He stole a treasure from the Hidden Cloud, and I'm going to kill him. If you hide him, then I'll kill you along with him."
Uchiha Nagi?
Mifune's face instantly darkened. While it wasn't unheard of for rogue ninja to flee to other countries, it was unprecedented for a village Kage to come demanding them in person. The unwritten rule of the ninja world was that once a rogue ninja escaped their home country, their village would generally leave them be, at most increasing their bounty and letting bounty hunters chase them down.
Besides, Uchiha Nagi had done him a great service. It was thanks to him that he had been able to create a Breathing Style for the samurai. He couldn't possibly hand him over, for both personal and professional reasons. What would become of his reputation as the sword saint of the Land of Iron?
"I'm sorry," Mifune said, his voice low. "Uchiha Nagi is not a ninja of the Land of Iron. According to the rules of the ninja world, as long as he does not commit any crimes in the Land of Iron, we are not obligated to involve ourselves. I don't know where he is now. Please leave the Land of Iron immediately. You are not welcome here."
"Hmph! You can't fool me! My Anbu have already investigated. The two of you are close, often sparring and practicing your breathing. If you don't hand him over, I'll kill you first, then send an army to crush the Land of Iron!" The Fourth Raikage had a fiery temper and always meant what he said.
The Kage guards beside him paled. Attacking the Land of Iron would mean war. A single misstep could lead to another Great Ninja War.
"Raikage-sama, please be careful with your words!"
"Raikage-sama..."
Mifune's expression grew even darker. The Raikage was treating the Land of Iron as if it were a soft persimmon, easy to crush.
One of the Kage guards, seeing the situation escalating, quickly stepped between them.
"Mifune-dono, that rogue ninja Uchiha Nagi did indeed steal a treasure from our village. We must get it back. If you know his whereabouts, please tell us, to avoid any misunderstandings that could lead to war between our two countries. That would not be good for anyone."
Well now, one plays the bad cop, the other plays the good cop...
"I'm sorry, I do not know his whereabouts. The Land of Iron will always be a neutral country. If the Land of Lightning wants to start a war, we will not shy away from it. The samurai have never been a people who fear death."
The white-haired Kage guard with the Storm Release kekkei genkai—the future Darui—stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Mifune-dono, according to our information, he has two companions in the capital city of the Land of Iron, correct? Since we can't find him, we'll just have to take his two companions. There shouldn't be a problem with that, right?"
Evidently, the Kumo Anbu had also tracked down Kimimaro and Yukihime. Their goal was to capture them to lure out Nagi. The Kumo ninja who had luckily survived on the Island Turtle had reported everything to the Fourth Raikage, A. A was furious. He stole my precious Island Turtle and killed my men! This is intolerable! He immediately ordered his forces to gather intelligence on Nagi at top speed. After learning that he and his two companions had appeared in the Land of Iron, he had rushed over in a rage.
Now, knowing that Nagi had not yet returned, and with no way to find him in the vast ocean without the ability to fly, they had decided after some discussion to come and pressure Mifune into handing him over. Of course, while A had a explosive temper, he was not a simple-minded brute. On the contrary, he was very intelligent. He had even managed to restrain himself from taking revenge when his father was ganged up on and killed by the Land of Earth... So, what had just happened was just a good-cop-bad-cop routine he and his guard were playing, all to avoid souring relations with a neutral country.
But what no one expected was that Mifune would refuse. Mifune pondered for a moment, then raised his head, his gaze firm, and said slowly, "I'm sorry. I cannot hand them over to you..."