The All-Encompassing Changes

Ryoto found himself in a very pressing situation all of a sudden. He looked as the walls of the chain-like furnace started enclosing on him.

The temperature inside the improvised cage was both scorching and boiling. Everything in front of him looked so blazingly orange, that it could almost make him go blind, 'There's no other choice now!'

He soon closed his eyes seriously, attempting to use his current strongest move next and escape quickly. But suddenly, his heart thumped hard in shock, 'Mei!!'

Hearing her painful yells from the distance, his palms started getting sweaty, his heart started beating faster and his facial expression changed fiercely in an instant.

This was the first time in his life, he experienced this kind of feeling. Hearing the usually proud and lively girl producing such excruciating painful shrieks, something broke inside of him.

That was pure heartfelt rage!

"Ending Dragon Sword Thrust!!"

This is forbidden kenjutsu of the highest level and can only be performed after opening all of the Eight Inner Gates for an instant.

And before the gates close once again, the user makes a shattering single-point sword thrust, capable of destroying anything in its wake.

A silhouette of a large and fierce-looking red dragon was clearly visible for a moment before the chains entrapping him firmly, all broke away in an instant.

Blazing orange flames were also extinguished. He could finally see the clear sky again.

"Seventh Step!" But he didn't care about any of that and frantically disappeared towards Mei's position, the previous fiery red dragon dissipating, replaced by a new light blue aura instead.

At the same time, somewhere else in this same misty jungle.

Mei Terumi looked in anxiety and despair as the red-eyed murderous man came closer towards her place once again. One of his eyes was closed completely and the other one was bleeding tears of blood.

Fugaku Uchiha was ready to swing his sword down decisively once again.

The bloodstained sword was moving closer and closer towards her, this time Mei didn't have any strength left to resist. This time it won't be only an arm!

And just as she closed her eyes in tears, finally succumbing to her tragic end.

The man in her most important memory finally came out of blue, picking her up in a millisecond, disappearing again afterward. The blue aura also disappearing from his body promptly.

He felt as his whole body was getting crushed by heavy boulders, but he ignored that, just looking at the girl in his arms warmly and apologetically. His eyes, full of blame for himself, not leaving her for a second.

"Ryoto..." She groaned weakly while flinching painfully, Ryoto clearly noticing her brutally severed right arm now. He promptly felt that sharp and excruciating pain in his heart once again.

He turned his gaze to Fugaku in the distance, realizing it was him who previously hurt the most important girl of his life. Only realizing just how much she actually mattered to him now!

"Die!"

He lightly swung his black sword with his free hand once again, a sword flash suddenly forming and dashing towards Fugaku's direction instantly.

Fugaku looked at this with his one opened Sharingan dangerously, 'Not enough time!!'

Fortunately, a medium-sized yellow chain suddenly appeared from somewhere in the distance, enveloping him quickly, swiftly moving him away from the critical attack in time.

Yoshi managed to anticipate Ryoto's attack and movement once again, after sensing his unstable mental state and hearing Mei's painful yells from the distance.

Soon, from the nearby jungle trees, he appeared on the scene as well.

He was also very short on chakra at the moment, after using all of his previous abilities.

He looked at the wounder Mei and Ryoto in the distance while thinking viciously.

'If only I had larger chakra reserves...'

'I would've killed them both already, alone!'

'But, no matter what, they're still dead today...'

He moved Fugaku closer to himself with his sealing chakra chain, nodding at him a little, then turning towards Ryoto's and Mei's direction in the distance.

He started walking closer, towards them mockingly.

"And just look at this..."

"Just look at who exactly will get killed in the end..."

Ryoto just faintly glancing at him, then turning towards Mei in his arms again.

He suddenly realized many important things in these few stressful moments.

He realized that he was a very hypocritical man, that he was a stupid man, that he was an impatient and reckless man as well.

'This war was a really big mistake from the beginning!'

'And just what If I achieved my dream of peace without Mei in it?'

'Would it truly be worth it in the end?'

'Would I truly be happy?'

'Master, I'm sorry...'

He thought successively while looking at the pale girl in his arms gently.

Yoshi who noticed this suddenly grinned wickedly.

"Before I kill you now..."

"You better tell me all the secrets of your weird movement technique, if you don't want this woman to suffer even further that is..." He said viciously while gesturing at Mei's now missing right arm.

Ryoto suddenly directed his gaze at him, his eyes turning fierce like a tiger's ones.

"Haha..." Yoshi just laughed loudly after seeing this.

"Let's end this war!"

Ryoto suddenly shouted unexpectedly after composing himself a little, however, the hate in his eyes still being evident.

"I'm literally ending it right now!"

Yoshi replied unsure of what he meant. 'Does he have something else?'

In fact, Ryoto realized that he should've listened to Mei right from the beginning.

They should've just waited for their new Kiri's Ninja Academy to birth freshly talented students of the next generation, for their two Jinchurikis to fully mature, for their whole village to grow steadily stronger.

'But, everything is too late now because I was too hasty...'

Ryoto thought remorsefully while looking at the place when Mei's right arm once was. Looking at her traumatized and stressed out face, he felt like he was stabbed with a thousand sharp swords to his heart all of a sudden.

'No, there is no use for wailing now!'

'I'll make up for all of this, I promise!'

"We'll officially send a letter to the Lord Hokage tomorrow!"

"The war between us is now over!"

Fugaku, Yoshi, and Mei, all of them opened their eyes wide, but for different reasons.

"What are you -" Before Yoshi managed to finish his question, he stopped, noticing a red aura presently forming around Ryoto's body again.

"Yoshi Uzumaki,"

"Fugaku Uchiha...."

"We'll see each other again, I promise you that!"

'Eight Step!' Ryoto shouted inwardly, ignoring the second shattering wave of pain he was feeling now once again, the sharpest physical pain of his life.

Opening all of the Eight Gates, even for a second, was truly dangerous, and couldn't be done many times a day reasonably.

But he opened them all for the second time today!

Using it for the Eight Step of his movement technique that he just recently mastered successfully, after training hard, after the previous battle with Yoshi.

Mei looked in shock and wonder as they both suddenly disappeared from the scene in an instant.

- - -

Later on the run, Yoshi was running fast in the jungle, propelling himself with his chains periodically.

He was carrying weakened Fugaku on his back as well.

"What do you think of this, Yoshi?" Fugaku asked something weakly all of a sudden.

"Nothing, as he said before, the war between us is finally over!"

Yoshi replied assuredly while turning around a bit and looking in Kiri's general direction.

"If those seven people are dead, they truly lost, it's in their interest to sign peace now."

"Yes, but that is only if Kosuke and they succeeded!"

Yoshi nodded to Fugaku's constatation and then continued somewhat enthusiastically.

"Fugaku, this time we've officially become Konoha's new war heroes!"

"I can imagine the reactions of people from all around the world once this news spread out..."

Fugaku nodded his head and smiled a little.

"I finally understood your situation today!"

"It's my fault for not realizing it sooner!"

"We can truly become good friends and future allies!"

"If I can truly become a friend with you and your distinguished Uchiha clan today, then it is my pleasure," Yoshi smiled and replied sincerely.

Fugaku nodded happily as well, already understanding everything, no further words needed, they were clearly already on the same boat.

- - -

And just as they predicted, this news hit the world like a thunder once again.

The war between Konoha and Kiri was finally over. Kirigakure officially signed a truce in Konoha's favor.

The Wicked Eye, Fugaku Uchiha, personally severing Mizukage's dominant right hand in a fair battle.

But some of the more knowledgable people realized something more. They realized that this man, in fact, may have awakened the legendary ability of the Uchiha clan, the mighty Mangekyo Sharingan.

If he truly did, that would make him the first one to do so after the legendary, Madara Uchiha!

The Crimson Blast, Yoshi Uzumaki, only sixteen years old now, in an unexpected manner revealing his personally created brand-new fuinjutsu seals.

Allowing Konoha's ordinary shinobi to completely counter the Kiri's on the battlefield, rendering their most prided Hidden Mist Jutsu nearly useless in a day's worth of time.

The White Demon, Kakashi Hatake, also sixteen now, alongside the previously obscure Might Guy and Duy, father and son duo, successfully killed nearly all of the previously notorious Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

People from all over the world once again felt Konoha's miraculous ability to produce geniuses!

In the center of the previously mentioned hidden village, in the Hokage's old recognizable building.

In one of the rooms, with a large window facing the Hokage Monument in the distance. Rays of light were slowly seeping through it freely.

In that room presently, casually seated on two green chairs near a small wooden table, was the Third Hokage himself, and his two equally distinguished advisors, Homura and Koharu.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked visibly better than before. He even managed to get a good night of sleep yesterday, after a long time.

"I'm not going to lie, we have truly achieved a significant victory this time!" Hiruzen said all of a sudden while nodding, clearly satisfied by the results.

"But, there is still more work to be done!" He quickly added firmly.

"Yes, Kumo and Iwa are still causing us real problems..." Homura replied seriously.

"But now it's obviously time to pay them back, who are we going to send, and where?" Koharu replied referring to the now freed up shinobi forces from the previous Kiri battlefront.

"Actually, Orochimaru already personally asked me to send him Yoshi Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake there, in a letter, to the Kumo's battlefront..." Hiruzen suddenly started speaking after remembering something.

Both Homura and Koharu fell into thought promptly.

"That seems reasonable, but what are we going to do with Iwa?" Homura nodded and asked next.

"Iwa..." Hiruzen started thinking deeply again. Iwa was Konoha's main opponent on the battlefront where his disciple Jiraiya was stationed in as a commander.

And Jiraiya's own personal disciple, Minato Namikaze, was also operating mainly on that front.

Minato, who was only in his early twenties now, already earned his famous moniker, Yellow Flash.

But, Minato caught Hiruzen's attention, especially for other reasons. Namely, Minato was a very moldable and somewhat simple guy with a good heart. He was also an avid follower of the Will of Fire he directly inherited from his teacher, Jiraiya.

And not only that, but he also had a somewhat peculiar relationship with the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki.

He was also extremely talented, coming closest to really mastering the difficult Flying Thunder God Jutsu of the famous Konoha's Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, first to do so after him in actuality.

All the factors above make him a perfect candidate for the next Hokage!

Hiruzen was getting old and his disciples, Jiraiya and Tsunade, were clearly not really interested in that position.

And Orochimaru, his third personal disciple, doesn't have the right heart nor mindset for that important position. He was too selfish inside, and outside too unpleasant and chilly for the eyes of ordinary civilians.

"Should we send Might Guy and Duy there to help?" While he was thinking of all of that, Koharu suddenly suggested reasonably. Still feeling a little weird calling their names.

But, they truly deserved all the respect at the moment. Being the only two people successfully learning the Second's conceptual technique of opening the body's Eight Inner Gates in history.

'No! He still didn't pick up enough merits himself, I mustn't allow this!' Hiruzen thought alarmingly, all of sudden, thinking of Minato again.

"They should still remain in the village for now, just in case. After all, we still don't know what will that insidious Kazekage, Rasa, do!" Hiruzen thought of an equally reasonable argument in a second.

"But, we can't gamble like this, Hiruzen! What if Minato doesn't completely master the Flying Thunder God in time!?" Koharu replied agitatedly, weirdly calling Minato by his first name.

"He'll learn it on time!" Hiruzen replied firmly, not willing to comprise on this issue at all. That was his successors that he personally groomed ever since he was a genin, after all.

Only he had both the mind and ability to efficiently continue carrying his own will from the shadows.

"Sigh, alright, we will believe you on this for now..." Homura sighed already understanding the situation a little, changing the topic swiftly.

"But, what will we do about Fugaku Uchiha?"

All of them suddenly turned serious once again. Fugaku's performance was truly unexpected and undesirable for them this time around.

Mangekyo Sharingan? Bad news for them!

"We'll think about that after the war..." Hiruzen suddenly said plainly, but no one knew what he was thinking inside at the moment.

- - -

On the other side of the world, in the losing Kirigakure, the atmosphere wasn't that peaceful nor harmonious right now.

A pretty orange-haired girl was laying on a bed somewhere in a hospital sleeping. The room was dark and gloomy, a hospital's depressing smell permeated the air.

A man was kneeling right beside her bad, holding her left hand which was her only hand still intact.

His face was full of remorse and guilt, his heart torturing him from the inside, "Mei... I promise you!"

"I'll find a way to restore your right arm!"

"And I'll take revenge on everyone who wronged you!"

His name is Ryoto Sanosuke, born in the misty Kirigakure, somehow ended up on the streets of the cold Land of Iron thanks to his fugitive shinobi parents, who opposed the previous regime of the Bloody Mist, deserting it after finally forsaking one of its missions.

The Land of Iron is an icy, snow-covered country located among three mountains called the Three Wolves. Unlike other countries of the world whose militaries use shinobi, the Land of Iron's military is made up of samurai.

Due to the differing ideologies between shinobi and samurai, as well as the fact that the Land of Iron's samurai is quite formidable, there is an agreement among shinobi not to interfere with the Land of Iron.

But that logic clearly didn't apply when Kirigakure's hunter ninja came to murder his parents!

Fortunately, later while wandering around aimlessly as a homeless begging young orphan in the cold snow, thanks to his good heart and really pure thoughts, he somehow managed to catch the eye of one peerless hidden expert, who was also a beggar himself, albeit only posing one.

The old man took him as his disciples, teaching him everything wholeheartedly. Fully showing him all the intricate details of ancient art called kenjutsu!

His master's style of swordsmanship is developed to allow a single samurai to defeat numerous foes single-handedly, rooted in the concept of "Ichi no Tachi", or to strike in a single blow, or better said yet, a single thrust, the practitioners of this style use a combination of immense speed and agility.

The techniques of this kenjutsu have only been held by a select few through the course of its entire history.

In the face of its tremendous power as a style, this is due to its adherence to the strict yet responsible practice of "Isshi Soden", which involves a single master training a single apprentice exclusively.

This means that he won't be able to teach on any disciples of his own, as long as his master is still alive.

The accompanying study of this kenjutsu is the efficient and safe use of the Eight Inner Gates of the human body, combining it with the swordsmanship, using it for movement speed, all in the most efficient and healthy way possible.

In fact, his master even gave him a parting gift, his own sword passed from generation to generation, called just the "Obsidian Odachi", said to have been made out of the strongest material in the existence, once upon a time, capable of withstanding any pressure.

His master's only wish was for him to use it to always help those in need and to strive for world peace through mutual understanding of people, 'I'm really sorry master, but I owe this girl too much!'

After a few more hours of constant kneeling, Ryoto suddenly stood up resolutely and left the room promptly. But, now he wore a large blue hat on his head!

And, outside the room waiting for him was a strange-looking white-haired teen, with a weird huge sword and a bunch of scrolls tied to his back.

Seeing the hat on Ryoto's head, Mangetsu opened his eyes wide in shock and swiftly fell on the ground, kneeling while shouting respectfully. "Lord Mizukage!"

Ryoto just looked at him for a few moments and seriously said, "Get up!"

"From today onwards, all of those seven swords are yours if you can master them successfully!"

Mangetsu opened his eyes even wider in both surprise and joy.

"But, there's a condition!" Ryoto looked at him seriously.

"Anything, Lord Mizukage!" Mangetsu nodded curiously.

"You'll start personally training these three particular kids..."

The first step of his goal was creating elites!

Likewise, Mangetsu Hozuki himself was the strongest elite one could possibly create!

- - -

In a completely different location in the world, again, near the Yugakure.

Somewhere in a mountainous region, in just one of the many similarly-looking tall mountains,

Existed a completely hidden and undetected base from the rest of the world.

Inside it, in one of the many hidden caves in its entirety, stood two men.

Only primitive fire lamps lighting this place up, they were talking about something.

This place could be also be considered a laboratory, judging by all the scientific equipment and human body samples dispersed all around it.

''Fufu, are you ready to meet your friend again?" The dangerous-looking man in Konoha's shinobi uniform suddenly asked the younger man beside him.

"Yes, master, after seeing him, I'll leave!" The younger man who was seemingly fugitive, judging by his clothes and crossed out forehead protector, replied plainly.

He also had a distinctive pair of entirely white eyes.

"You can stay here as much as you want, fufu, I'll need some helping hands in transplanting all of these fresh eyes onto that guy..." Orochimaru suddenly said creepily while looking at the transparent bag, full of peculiarly looking red eyes, in his hand.

"Okay, I'll help you for now, but about that..." Takumi nodded while expressing something else now with his gaze.

"Fufu~, impatient are you?" He smiled playfully, but looking at still serious Takumi, he nodded while sighing helplessly, pulling some kind of scroll from inside of his Konoha flak jacket.

"Here it is, coordinates of the Ryuchi cave!" Orochimaru smiled intriguingly and handed it to Takumi next who looked really excited when finally seeing it.

"Master, is that really it? The secret place where you can learn that amazing technique?" Takumi asked eagerly and a little frantically as well.

Ryuchi Cave is one of the big three unexplored sage regions, a legendary place that is equally famous as the other two, Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest.

It is the residence of the snakes, including the sacred White Snake Sage. Orochimaru also trained there attempting to achieve the stunning Sage Mode, though he wasn't successful in this endeavor.

He needed a way the stronger body and larger chakra reserves to learn it successfully, something which he will surely try again in the future, once he finds a perfect body that is. So, it wasn't that much of a pity, presently sharing its coordinates with Takumi.

Sage Mode is an empowered state that can be entered by blending natural energy with one's chakra, creating senjutsu chakra.

Sage Mode allows users to tap into the natural force of the world, opening up new techniques to them and allowing them to power up existing ones with the new senjutsu chakra.

'Not like he can learn it...' Orochimaru thought slyly and assuredly.

- - -

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