A Little Bit of Time.

(MC POV, Sound – Hidden Base)

Dark Chakra… was an amazing source of power, capable of completely surpassing normal chakra in any way imaginable. And like every source of power, it had its own drawback, most of which I could mitigate and ignore.

Shinno used his technique and dark chakra in tandem to rebuild his body so it could handle the dark chakra coursing through it. Even if Naruto were to use it with his Uzumaki bloodline, his body would fall apart after a few techniques.

It was not made for humans to use it, causing many of my dear little experiments to have their chakra pathways to break and the dark chakra to rampage and destroy their bodies from the inside out. Even reconstructing their bodies using the Body Revival Technique only allowed their body to outlast their mind.

I looked at my hand, my Sharingan disappearing and a pair of pupilless eyes taking its place as I looked at my arm.

'Even now, I can feel the dark chakra rampage through my chakra pathway, breaking it over and over… but it won't matter. Every time it breaks it, I adjust the pathway to accommodate it.' – I thought as I looked at the black chakra rampaging inside my body, completely different from the tranquil and systematic blue chakra that was there previously.

As I closed my eyes and focused, I could feel the resentment, the anger, the hatred, and the pain that lurked everywhere around me. Within me was the biggest source that could be found nearby, a bonfire amidst fireflies, built upon thousands of corpses…

At the moment, weeks had already passed since I sent Naruto to rescue the Kazekage. The team had encountered many obstacles on their way to achieving their objective. Granted, the fact that Yamato was included when the Anbu were reformed, Naruto having outgrown his canon self by quite a bit and the current Neji being included made it a much more formidable team than its canon counterpart.

Given the case, I and Itachi used body doubles with about 30% (Can't remember exactly how much % those clones had, leave a comment if you do :) of our power to slow them down… giving me the perfect opportunity to see how far his eyes had degraded.

Granted I couldn't attack him myself, so I used my most promising student. Having the wonderful option of seeing without opening his eyes, coupled with my training, Neji had long since surpassed Itachi physically.

Not letting me down he was able to carefully observe Itachi's eye movement while keeping his eyes close or out of sight, noting down how far the eye would follow him when he made certain movements at certain distances or angles.

It came down to the conclusion that Itachi was nearly blind, unable of noticing hand movement at 15 meters distance, arm movement at 30 meters, and could probably only make out silhouettes beyond that. It had probably degraded far beyond what it was in the canon, his sharpened senses and experience being the crutch he was leaning on at this point.

Will, cunning, and tenacity like that of Itachi only came around once in a thousand years… and I didn't plan to wait for a thousand more. Very few were capable of calculating for the future like Itachi individually, and I would gladly give up the thousands of individuals to get him, but that didn't mean that I had to sacrifice something to get him.

The man was dangerous, enough so without the Kotoamatsukami. I would have to put on a great show, one that would paint me as a saint in his eyes. It will have to be pointed at his one weakness, his little brother.

I smiled as I thought about it.

Given that Sasuke had already left for his revenge, I would have to carefully calculate the timing. Can't have a show without spectators, their reactions are what make it all worth it after all.

It's a shame that we couldn't have the reunion between Sasuke and Naruto though. It is likely an aftereffect of Jiraya spending his time following after me than him. The base was not found even though I moved Sasuke there.

Likely, he's also after the recent attacks on the labs, wasting both his and my time… Should I send him to Pain ahead of time?

While it will change some things… it is more likely for him to ruin something with his incessant meddling.

That being the case I will have to carefully balance it, increasing the rate at which we bring in tailed beasts to match the progression of the 'good guys'.

Saving the Kazekage gave us plenty of control over Suna, especially given Gaara's disposition to us. A kind leader, a respected and loved leader… but not necessarily a good one.

He can't take advantage of situations as long as they damage another one, especially if that one is an 'ally'. He is still too soft. Gaara trusts Konoha, he trusts me as I have helped him on his road as a Kazekage, at a point that they appointed him only to mirror Konoha, a point where he wasn't ready to lead his people.

I sighed as I thought about everything that I would have to account for.

Itachi, Naruto, Sasuke, Jiraya, etc… so many things to keep track of and take care of. Variables that haven't even appeared yet. Not to mention the fact that I have noticed Obito and Zetsu following the 'Red Demon' on multiple occasions. It is quite possible for them to be getting suspicious or just planning to 'take care' of me. At some point, even Akatsuki would have served its purpose and will have to be removed together with its members.