Huff… Huff…

Ayaka and the group breathe heavily as they lay down on the sand.

"I am exhausted!"

Ayaka massages her sore legs.

"Here!"

Izuna tosses three coconuts with straws to the girls.

"Thank you, Sensei!"

Hanabi and Yakumo silently sip on the coconut and gaze at the horizon.

"It's my first time viewing the sunset at a beach. I had never been this close to the sea before." Hanabi sips on her coconut.

The girls silently record the scene of the setting sun in their memory.

The sky changes from minute to minute. From orange-yellow to flamboyant pink, the clouds are painted with changing colors as the sun goes down. The golden disc is already touching the surface of the ocean. It seems in a hurry to disappear, slipping quickly behind the line of the horizon spreading its last rays.

"So, beautiful!"

They appreciate the view as Izuna relaxes on his deck chair.

'Maybe I can start a sea-side business in Kiri. It's surrounded by sea from all sides and can act as a famous tourist spot for foreigners. The benefit from the business will contribute towards the organization and I can save up some for my family too.'

Hm…

'That's a nice idea. Maybe I should talk to father about it. He is the head of the Terumi clan and under his leadership, the business will only flourish and it will also help them wipe the bad reputation of Kiri.'

He stretches his arm and appreciates the sunset as various seabirds like gulls, pelicans, tern, and sandpipers fly through the sky.

---------------

Far away on a stranded island in the Mist Sea,

Tch…

The elderly commander of the Sky fleet clicks his tongue.

"It looks like Konoha was prepared for our assault. Or else how could they counterattack us? Our casualties are far greater than Konoha."

Bam…

He slams his palm on the grill of the deck. He is in a foul mood as the Sky fleet suffered a major loss.

Whoosh…

A masked ninja flickers in front of him and bows his head.

"Commander! There are some movements in the power source of the flying city."

"Alright! I will look into it."

He waves his hand and dismisses the shinobi.

'Looks like the cocoon of the Zero-tails hasn't matured yet. It needs more negative chakra to evolve to its next form."

Swoosh…

He takes out a dark purple orb from his pocket. The purple orb flickers with a sinister hue as it sends chills down the spines of the nearby Sky ninjas.

"Luckily, I managed to harvest quite a fair amount of dark chakra from the shinobis of Konoha. We still need some more chakra and the Zero-tails will evolve to its next form."

He pockets the orb and turns towards one of his admirals.

"Which is the nearest civilian or shinobi settlement? It should be a small country or village!" He questions him.

"Sir! There are four countries nearby: Land of Water, Land of Lightning, Land of Whirlpool, and Benisu island."

The admiral lays down a map on a table and marks the places on the map.

Hmm…

The elderly commander glances at the map and ponders for a while.

"The villages at the coast of Land of Water, Land of Lightning, and the Land of Whirlpool are under the protection of three of the five hidden villages.

If we attack the land of another hidden village, then the rest of the hidden villages might ally and launch an attack against us.

So, for now, let's launch an attack on Benisu Island. Send one of your elite battalions and lay waste to the Benisu island."

The commander orders them.

He forks out a crystal-clear orb from his pocket and passes it to the admiral.

"Use it to harvest the negative chakra!"

"Yes, sir!"

The admiral salutes him and moves out to prepare a battalion.

"It's time for the Land of Sky to rise and show its might to the rest of the shinobi world."

----------------------

At the coast of the Land of Fire,

Izuna silently sits on his deck chair as Hanabi and Ayaka create sandcastles.

Yakumo walks towards him and stands beside him.

Hmm…

Izuna lowers his sunglasses and asks her.

"Aren't you going to play with them?"

"No! I don't feel like it." She shakes her head.

"All these things feel new to me. I was locked inside a house since I was born. I never had this much freedom before, so I don't know how should I feel about it!"

She sighs in melancholy.

Haha…

Izuna chuckles and pats her head.

"Look at you, acting all grown up! In this era of peace, kids of your age should go and play with their friends. Although you are a shinobi; a killer in the eyes of the world; but that doesn't mean you need to repress your desires and innocence.

Just slowly enjoy yourself and slowly open up to the rest of your team. After this mission, I will teach you a new secret genjutsu technique!"

"Really?!" Yakumo's ears perk up at the mention of a new technique.

"Now go!"

Izuna nudges her as he shakes his head.

"Ok!"

Yakumo happily walks towards Ayaka and Hanabi to play with them.

"Brat! You are one to talk about innocence." Yin Kurama rolls his eyes.

"At their age, you already had a moniker as the 'Silent Shinigami' of the Leaf. You killed countless shinobis during the Third Shinobi War."

"Well! That was a different era. I was born during the war but these girls grew up in peace and I want it to stay like this but another war is imminent."

"Another war?"

Kurama's interest is piqued at his remark.

"You will understand in the future."

He shakes his head.

"By the way, Kurama, I have a question for you. It's about the origin of the zero-tails." Izuna diverts Kurama's attention.

"ZERO-TAILS!"

Kurama's eye turns red as he growls in anger.

"That malevolent spirit! How dare it call itself a tailed beast?!"

Kurama roars in fury.

"Oh?!"

Izuna is surprised to see Kurama's aggressive nature flare-up.

"Tell me more about this malevolent spirit!"

He curiously asks Kurama.

"Hmph… The history of this Zero-tails dates back to the era of Sage of Six Paths."

Kurama enters in his history teacher mode as he explains to Izuna.

"After the death of Sage of Six Paths, various evil forces which were lurking in shadows made their move. One such force was the evil cult of Kishin."

"Hmm… you told me about that." Izuna nods his head.

"Indra and Asura had a fallout with each other. To settle their feud, they fought a fierce battle in the Valley of the End. The battle concluded with the death of the elder brother, Indra.

However, the younger brother Asura was assassinated soon after the end of the battle."

Izuna describes the record he read in Mount Myoboku.

'Well, at least that's what recorded in scrolls of the Mount Myoboku. But it begs the question, who killed him despite his Six Paths Power.'

"Yes! While Asura was on his way back, he was ambushed by a member of the Kishin cult. The attacker was a host of that malevolent spirit. The current zero-tails is nowhere close to its previous power."

Kurama explains to him.

"Hmm… the Jinchuriki of the zero-tails was able to kill the son of Sage of Six Path?! That's news for me."

Izuna curiously turns to Kurama for more answers.

"Before I explain the power and purpose of the Zero-tails, let me explain the origin of Zero-tails!"

Kurama nods his head.

"After the death of the Sage of Six Paths, the seals he placed on the gateway to the other dimension grew weak. Using this opportunity, the various clans which were a member of the cult of Kishin released the seal and opened the gateway to the Abyss."

"Abyss?!" Izuna tilts his head in dimension.

"Yes, Abyss! There are multiple independent dimensions out there. The shinobi world is one of such small dimensions. Abyss is another such big dimension."

Kurama marks a few circles on the map with his nails.

"In the shinobi world, Nature energy is the basis and foundation of all life whereas, in Abyss, dark chakra flows through the entire dimension."

Kurama draws a few holes around the large dimension marked as Abyss.

"Abyss is home to various malevolent spirits, demons, and evil entities. That Lord Kishin is the ruler of that dimension and he commands an army of demons and evil spirits.

However, unlike our dimension, the Abyss doesn't have a self-sustaining environment. It's dependent on the dark chakra from the other dimensions.

To gather this dark chakra, they invade other small worlds through the unstable passages present between the worlds. They sent a representative of their to corrupt the mind of the natives of that dimension and then they establish an altar which acts as a medium to channel the dark chakra into their dimension."

Hmm…

"So, it kind of works like the faith of religions where the followers present offerings to their God."

Izuna raises an eyebrow.