The shrine's interior shakes ever more profusely as the battle continues, the tremors cause pieces of the walls and ceiling to fall to the ground, and the small legion of mugonhei and terracotta soldiers all make their way up the stairs to face this unknown threat, never to return.

“What the hell’s goin’ on up there?!” Says the panicked warden of the cruel and ironic prison.

Gitai, one of Moryo and Yomi’s four loyal followers watches as the last of Moryo’s foot soldiers rush to face the intruders. He uses earth style chakra to encase his entire body with the surrounding rock and earth, creating armor for himself.

Before heading up himself, Gitai makes sure the barrier entrapping the prisoners is secure. He then looks at them and smiles sinisterly.

“Don’t go away now.”

As Gitai runs up the stairs, the explosions and tremors die down. Halfway up, a mungonhei is sent flying over Gitai’s head, it dies and turns to smoke before it could even make contact with the ground. The follower of Moryo looks up to see several figures staring him down with indifferent eyes. Among the group of intruders is a cloaked figure with an anbu mask, the cloaked figure silently steps forward.

“Just who are--HUH?!”

The figures are consumed by an ominous, ethereal darkness. The darkness spreads, consuming everything until Gitai is surrounded by a pitch black void. Hearing clicking and scribbling sounds, Gitai looks down to see that the entire floor is now completely covered by thousands of antennae with shiny black and brown bodies. They begin to swarm, crawling up Gitai’s legs in mass until they reach his head.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!”

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“So what’s he seeing right now…?” Rito asks Echo as he draws a mustache and monocle on the paralyzed warden’s face.

“Right now he thinks he’s being eaten alive by thousands of–”

“DON’T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!!” Ayanami shivers.

Jin turns his attention further into the interior of the shrine. “What she said.”

The team continues to make their way down the long flight of stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, they enter an ancient, cave-like palace chamber. It’s dark with a thick mist and at the center of the chamber lies five pillars covered in sealing tags with violet light-emitting barriers made of chakra between each pillar. Inside the barrier are two people, a boy and a girl around the same age as Jin and Ayanami; they are both unconscious due to a genjutsu.

“Not a bad barrier…” Echo remarks, walking up to it as he holds one hand out. “...but not good enough, Jin?”

“Way ahead of ya!” Jin walks up to one of the pillars, focusing sage chakra into his hand.

Jin punches one of the pillars, shattering it completely. This results in the chakra barrier having several brownouts before finally dissipating. Echo walks up to the unconscious young man, weaving signs.

“Release.” Echo taps the boy on his forehead.

The boy weakly rises to his knees as if he’s waking up from a long sleep. He looks at Echo with confused, weak eyes and says, “Uuuugghhh… w… what took you… so long… pendejo…?”

Spanish? Another reincarnation then. Jin reasons.

“Jin? This is Yoichi Oda, the acting feudal lord of the Land of Ogres…” Echo gestures to the boy who’s struggling to get to his feet. “But you know him as Jesús Rodriguez.”

Jin’s eyes widened with surprise. “Jesús? Speedy?!”

“How do you know that name?”

“DUDE! It’s me, John! John Wilson?!”

“Johnny?! ¡Dios mío, es tan bueno verte nuevo!” Yoichi stands up with newfound energy and gives Jin a bear hug.

Jin begins to find it harder to breathe. “It’s g-good to… see you too…!”

Yoichi releases Jin and takes a step back, still smiling. “When Echo said he’d rescue me with Jin, he didn’t say that you were my old friend.”

“Wait–what?” Rito joins the conversation. “How much of this have you been planning…?”

“Yeah, Echo... What’ve you been doing, what are you plotting?” Jin’s eyes squint with suspicion.

“Aside from working to stop Moryo, I’ve been making our childhood dream a reality…” Echo answers with cold, blunt honesty. “Which reminds me, Yoichi…?”

“OH, casi lo olvido…!” Yoichi stands tall in a calm and dignified manner. “I, Yoichi Oda, feudal lord of the Land of Ogres, hereby declare you, Jin Yamanaka Uzumaki, the first Onikage of the Village Hidden in the Storms.”

For a full minute, Jin stares at them with a deadpan expression then his eyes suddenly widen and he facepalms, feeling a mix of shock, confusion, and embarrassment as he remembers his eighth grader syndrome phase. “Forget me being a kage now… You two had all this time and you couldn’t come up with better names?!”

“Uh, I was kidnapped for god knows who long.” Yoichi argues.

“And as I’ve told you already, I spent that last fifteen years surviving and fighting to change the future.”

“Pffft heh heh heh…” Ayanami is off to the side giggling, hiding her face.

Rito walks up and pats Jin on the back. “ Ha ha ha ha…! Congratulations… Onikage.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you two find my predicament that funny?!”

“Well… t-the name is pretty funny…!” A smiling Yeager manages to hold back his laughter.

“I CAN’T BE A KAGE!! I DON’T KNOW HOW RUN A CITY AND I’M AN INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST!!!” Jin argues.

“You know, mijo? In the last couple years, I’ve gotten tons of new citizens that hail you as a hero.” Yoichi points out.

“And it’s not like you’ll be doing it alone, we’ll be helping you out… every step of the way. Also, you can read books on how to be a political and military leader.” Rito adds.

“Why are you all trying to convince me to take a job I don’t want…?”

Echo steps forward and looks Jin in the eye. “Remind me… before I came along and told you what’s going to happen, what were your plans?”

“I was… going to travel to a different continent and… become either a mercenary or bodyguard knowing my survival was assured…” Jin looks away and cringes. “Wow, that sounded a lot less selfish and cowardly in my head.”

“C’mon amigo, you have more than enough power to not just survive, but thrive as well. You might as well do something important with it. After all, with great power comes great-”

“Don’t use Spider-Man against me…” Taking a deep breath, Jin sighs in defeat and massages his temples. “Alright! I accept your offer.”

“¡Excelente! I’ll start on the paperwork as soon as I get back.” Yoichi eagerly shakes Jin’s hand.

“Hey, everyone? Is it alright if I hang back and escort the priestess and the feudal lord to a safe location?” Yeager asks. “I would like to help in the war, but I’ve only been here for three weeks, I… I don’t have the skill and experience to fight effectively.”

“That’s fine.” Jin shrugs.

“Just make sure to save me a dance at the victory party.” Ayanami stares at Yeager with sparkle-filled eyes.

Rito points at Yeager then to Ayanami. “I have to ask… are you two a thing?”

“Not yet.” Ayanami remarks.

Echo kneels down beside the unconscious priestess and taps her forehead. “Release.”

“Nnnggrgh…? What’s going on…? Who… are you people…?” Shion asks as she drowsily rises.

Simultaneously, Jin and Echo reply, “It’s a long story.”

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YOICHI ODA:

OVERVIEW

• A reincarnation from our world.
• He’s originally Mexican-American.
• Was Jin’s friend back in high school.
• Was given the nickname, Speedy because he was the fastest member of the school's track team.
• He died a year after Jin due to a global pandemic.
• Is the new feudal lord of the Land of Ogres due to his entire family being killed by Moryo and his forces.
• Is currently 16 years old in Naruto.
• His birthday is on September 29.
• His three favorite anime are Code Geass, GATE, and the Gundam franchise.

APPEARANCE

• Hair Color: White
• Eye Color: Emerald Green
• Height: 168 cm
• He wears the standard attire of a daimyō.