Inside a dimly lit underground cavern, a black silhouette emerged from the shadows.
"Obito. Nagato has gone to recruit Hiruko,"
Black Zetsu reported, turning toward the masked man.
Flickering light distorted Obito's shadow against the stone wall.
A cold voice cut through the darkness.
"Don't call me Obito. Call me Madara."
"…Alright, Madara."
Black Zetsu answered obediently, though the faint curl at the corner of his mouth—hidden in darkness—hinted at subtle disdain.
It was Obito who had instructed Black Zetsu to leak Hiruko's existence to Nagato in the first place, and Black Zetsu had been the one to compile all intelligence about the man.
But as the Umbrella Organization's influence grew across the shinobi world, Obito felt increasingly uneasy.
Naruto was a critical component of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Yet Naruto's strength… made Obito feel a threat he did not wish to acknowledge.
"Black Zetsu," Obito said, his voice echoing faintly in the enclosed cave, "how is the Umbrella Organization's intelligence coming along?"
"Not simple," Black Zetsu replied.
"They have three major bases. Their defensive barriers are too dense—I couldn't obtain detailed information. But I have learned quite a bit about their smaller bases."
He paused.
"They seem to possess a power distinct from chakra. They call it Martial Arts. And they use a strange ninjutsu tool… a firearm."
"That tool can kill Genin-level shinobi, and even ordinary civilians can wield it."
Black Zetsu finished his report.
Obito stared at the moss-covered wall in silence, deep in thought.
After a long stillness, he finally spoke.
"…Why have I never heard of this organization before?"
His doubt was genuine. Black Zetsu felt the same confusion. Through the centuries, he had never once detected Umbrella's existence.
In their minds, Umbrella must have existed for a long time—its ideology was too precise, too calculated, too practiced to be newly invented.
Even Obito grudgingly admitted the ideology was… competent.
But he had already devoted himself to the Eye of the Moon Plan. Nothing else mattered.
Black Zetsu's focus was even narrower. He cared nothing for nations, organizations, or the shinobi world.
His one and only purpose was to free his mother.
Everything he did—every manipulation, every plot—was to unseal her.
"I don't know," Black Zetsu replied.
"The world is vast. Perhaps it's something that only recently emerged. There's no telling."
Perhaps someone, disgusted by war, spent decades developing this system—and only now revealed it.
Umbrella?
Did they intend to become the "umbrella" that sheltered the shinobi world?
Black Zetsu snorted inwardly.
Umbrella even recruited ordinary people on a large scale. Perhaps this so-called Martial Arts was introduced by its founder.
But in this world?
What use were ordinary people?
In a land ruled by chakra and violence, Martial Arts would fade away just like the samurai.
Black Zetsu cared only for Sage techniques.
Martial Arts didn't interest him in the slightest.
Obito, too, dismissed it.
To him, Martial Arts was merely another version of Taijutsu—irrelevant and weak.
Snow Country
Time passed as the two spoke. Elsewhere, the Snow Country had changed drastically from its original form.
On a raised platform, a young man with spiky, pineapple-shaped hair stood evaluating the forces assembled before him.
Despite his youth, a faint air of maturity had begun to settle on his features.
This man was Shikamaru.
When Naruto contacted the Ino–Shika–Chō families, even he was impressed by Nara Shikaku's decisiveness.
Each clan sent eight hundred shinobi, joining Naruto's ranks.
These 2,400 shinobi had significantly bolstered the Umbrella Organization's foundation. But their greatest contribution came from the Nara clan's analytical abilities—their members swiftly established communication lines linking Umbrella's scattered smaller bases.
Management, once chaotic, stabilized almost immediately after their arrival.
The Nara clan was renowned for its intelligence.
Their people possessed a level of strategic insight far beyond that of ordinary shinobi.
Thus, Naruto reciprocated by promoting Shikamaru to an important position ahead of schedule.
Below the platform, the Martial Artist squads stood assembled, awaiting inspection.
Naruto had entrusted thousands of Umbrella's Martial Artists to Shikamaru's command.
Shikamaru looked down at them, watching streams of Qi and Blood surge through their bodies—layers of raw vitality intertwining until they formed a vast, unified force.
This technique was the creation of someone named Orochi.
She had devised a method that combined the Qi and Blood of multiple practitioners, allowing their vitality to merge into a single, overwhelming power.
Naruto had been ecstatic when he learned this.
Upon investigation, it truly was the Orochi he had been thinking of—and she had been sent by Gaara.
After Shisui and the others verified her identity, she was allowed to remain within the Umbrella Organization. Other than Naruto, no one was aware of the full extent of her potential.
Orochi was a resident of Sunagakure—the Hidden Sand—but not a shinobi.
Like Rock Lee, she was incapable of using Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, leaving Taijutsu as her only path.
And through that path, she created the Seven Days Breathing Method.
Its power felt comparable to the Eight Gates, but with no direct comparison, the true upper limit of the technique remained unknown.
Naruto had never expected Gaara to send a talent like her to Umbrella.
Gaara understood Martial Arts well, and once he realized Orochi's potential, he had decisively dispatched her to join them.
When exposed to Martial Arts, Orochi's talent blossomed explosively.
She abandoned chakra entirely, dedicating herself fully to Martial Arts.
Not only did she refine the Seven Days Breathing Method into a technique more suited for this new system, but she also developed her own unique combat style.
More importantly, she discovered the commonality of Qi and Blood among practitioners and created a method to merge them—producing strength comparable to a Five Kage.
Now, she had risen to become one of Umbrella's Martial Arts Commanders.
Umbrella's Martial Arts Squads
Umbrella currently had three Martial Artist squads.
The first was led by Rock Lee, though Naruto assigned a member of the Nara clan as his deputy to help manage logistics and strategy.
The second squad was led by Orochi.
Her rise was incredibly fast—she quickly stood out among the countless Martial Arts users, and she frequently sparred with Lee, sometimes ending in draws, sometimes in narrow victories or losses. Their rivalry pushed both to new heights.
The third squad was led by Takuma Genji, widely known as the Konoha Dragon God—and his story was nothing short of dramatic.
Originally, after Lee handed him the Martial Arts scroll, Takuma intended to find a quiet place and wait for death.
But after learning the Martial Arts cultivation method, he managed to condense Qi and Blood—stimulating his dying life force.
Realizing that Martial Arts could prolong his life, he immediately sought out Lee for more information.
Once he understood Umbrella's true nature, he decisively chose to join.
Naruto welcomed him wholeheartedly.
Takuma Genji could rival Might Guy in his normal state and far surpassed an ordinary Elite Jōnin.
The Konoha Dragon God was an S-rank Taijutsu master—a title that was no exaggeration.
...
TN:
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