Land of Earth, Stone Village.
For the past few years, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, had remained vigilant against the Akatsuki.
Unfortunately, he could only rely on his own village's strength for defense. The great nations couldn't trust one another, and even though Onoki suspected Konoha knew more, the precious nature of information in the ninja world meant Stone Village couldn't get much intel from them.
"Still no news," Onoki sighed. He hadn't been able to gather any useful information, and he'd barely heard a word about Deidara.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Kitsuchi, his son, asked, looking at his father in surprise.
"Of course it's not good!" the short Tsuchikage snapped, hopping up to slap his much taller son on the head.
He explained angrily, "No news is the worst-case scenario! With Lord Emiya Shirou's status and power, do you really think he'd stay hidden forever?"
"Uh…" Kitsuchi scratched his head, at a loss. "We've already sent people to investigate the Akatsuki as much as we can, but they've been like ghosts these past few years. When they do show up, it's just for small jobs in minor countries…"
"Especially this year," he added, "the Akatsuki haven't shown any signs of movement at all."
Kitsuchi felt that Stone Village had already worked hard enough gathering information and had seen no signs of hostility. He almost wanted to tell his father that perhaps he was worrying too much.
However, Kitsuchi was thinking too naively.
If a powerful entity chose not to face you, it might just mean you weren't even strong enough to be considered an enemy—you were merely a sheep, ready to be picked off at any time.
BOOM!
As Kitsuchi and Onoki were talking, a huge explosion shook all of Stone Village, causing them both to stagger.
"!!!"
Onoki rushed to the window of the Tsuchikage's office and saw a massive fireball rising from the village's edge. That direction… was where the Five-Tails Jinchuriki lived.
Had the jinchuriki suddenly lost control?
That hadn't happened in years. Han, the village's Five-Tails Jinchuriki, had always maintained a good relationship with his tailed beast. Nothing like this had ever gone wrong.
-----
Kabuto pushed Emiya Shirou's wheelchair onto the rooftop of a stone house, watching the mushroom cloud bloom in the distance. He couldn't help but feel confused.
"Isn't that a bit too loud?"
"..." Emiya Shirou shook his head.
He watched the badly burned but still defiant Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, and explained gently, "Since we're guests, we have to at least say hello."
"Catching the Five-Tails isn't the main objective," Shirou continued. "Making Stone Village realize the danger of the Akatsuki is the real goal. What I truly need to do is crush Stone Village, so they understand just how powerless they are against us."
Only by doing this could he push the villages of the ninja world to unite. Having them gather enough chakra was also one of the conditions needed for Kaguya Otsutsuki's revival.
"Who… are you people?" Han stood before them, his specialized red armor now charred and broken. A single tail of the Five-Tails poked out from behind him as he warily eyed the two figures on the rooftop.
These two were beyond strange.
They had simply walked out of a dark portal and appeared at his home. Han had attacked immediately, only to be blown back by a single finger from the man in the wheelchair, then nearly killed by a terrifying Fire Style jutsu.
Who were they?
As Stone Village's jinchuriki, Han was a reliable man who never involved himself in village politics.
He simply completed the combat assignments given by the Third Tsuchikage. He was a dedicated weapon for the village, so he had never paid much mind to the Akatsuki's affairs.
But hearing Han's question, Kabuto gave him a strange answer.
Standing behind the wheelchair, he adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Our identities? Don't you already know?"
"?!" A huge question mark appeared over Han's head.
"Didn't you already guess?" Kabuto's smile widened. "The man before you is the greatest in the ninja world. He is a god… and a saint. I'm sure you've heard his name more than once—every ninja grew up listening to his stories."
"I am Emiya Shirou," Shirou interrupted, cutting off Kabuto's praise and simply stating his name.
His name alone shocked Han more than all of Kabuto's flattery. No more words were needed. That name was enough to make any ninja in the world freeze.
"!!!" Han's pupils widened uncontrollably.
That name… it was legendary.
Even the Five-Tails, Kokuo, living inside Han, couldn't ignore the shock upon hearing that name. The signals passing between the jinchuriki and the tailed beast's chakra were the same: pure, unadulterated shock.
"I need the Five-Tails inside you," Emiya Shirou said, extending his palm toward Han.
He spoke gently, as if addressing the beast directly. "Kokuo, you tailed beasts can see everything from within a jinchuriki, can't you? If you've heard my story, you know there's no point in resisting."
"..." The Five-Tails' chakra seemed to cower.
Just as Shirou said, if it knew his story from ancient times, it wouldn't even consider fighting. From its perspective, fighting was the most pointless thing to do. This was the man who had nearly destroyed the original Ninja Clan in the ancient era—the very sect founded by the Sage of Six Paths.
But Han, the jinchuriki, wouldn't give up.
"I won't give up the Five-Tails." Red steam erupted from Han's armor as he charged at Emiya Shirou. He couldn't give it up. No matter what.
Raised as a jinchuriki, Han had always known he was the village's treasure. He and the tailed beast's power existed for the benefit of Stone Village. Five tails unfurled from his back.
As Stone Village's jinchuriki, Han could already control the Five-Tails' chakra. The red tailed beast cloak wrapped around him, putting him in his most powerful fighting state.
He dashed forward, a huge, red, chakra-covered fist crashing toward Emiya Shirou.
Neither Shirou nor Kabuto moved as Han rushed them, as if they knew his attack was useless.
"Yomotsu Hirasaka." Emiya Shirou lightly pressed his palm into the air.
A black space-time gate appeared in front of him, while the other end opened directly behind Han. His rage-fueled punch passed through the gate and smashed squarely into his own back. His red steam armor shattered.
Han tumbled to Shirou's feet, astonished at how easily he'd been defeated.
No… he wasn't done yet! He still had his strongest attack: the Tailed Beast Bomb!
"Rest," Shirou said, already reaching out and touching Han's head. An overwhelming chakra pressed Han flat against the ground. "When you wake up, your painful life will be over."
"The Five-Tails… belongs to Stone Village…" Han struggled to stand.
But he couldn't get up. Black curse mark patterns began to spread across his body, sealing his chakra and leaving him unable to move.
Still, that was enough time for Stone Village's ninjas to arrive.
Onoki, Kitsuchi, and his granddaughter Kurotsuchi appeared on the scene. Onoki stared in shock at the man in the wheelchair, then his gaze fell on Han, collapsed at his feet. His expression grew anxious.
"Hey, you!" Kurotsuchi marched forward, hands on her hips, raising her voice.
"Kurotsuchi!" Onoki quickly stopped his granddaughter. The old man floated down from the sky, regarding the man in the wheelchair with a complex and cautious expression.
"Lord Emiya…" Meeting like this, after so long, made Onoki feel as if a lifetime had passed.
Emiya Shirou still had the appearance of a vigorous young man, while Onoki—once a brash youth of Stone Village—was now an old man who looked ready for the grave.
"Onoki, huh…" Emiya Shirou, his face partially covered by a black cloth, didn't seem to recognize the elder or care about the history in his voice.
The only thing he might recognize was the other's chakra. Shirou slowly raised his head, unsurprised to meet Onoki again, and simply sensed the air as more and more Stone Village ninjas approached.
Kitsuchi silently gestured to his subordinates, arranging for the ninja to slowly and carefully surround Shirou and Kabuto.
"The last time Lord Emiya came to Stone Village, he saved the ancestors of these young people. He should have been the village's benefactor for generations," Onoki sighed, not stopping his son's movements. "But now… it seems we must inevitably become enemies."