---

“Now! Stomp on his balls!” Jin shouts with thunder in his voice.

Standing over Suigetsu, Rito looks back at his friend with an appalled expression. “You want me to do what?”

Sometime ago, during Team Hebi’s pursuit of the Akatsuki, they acquired information on the terrorist group's current whereabouts; suspicious-looking individuals in black cloaks with red cloud patterns were seen around the Village Hidden Among Dreams. The Dream Village is a small ninja village located in a deep forest of a tiny country, near the border of the Land of Fire. On Sasuke’s orders, the Hebi hastily made their way toward this remote area with the ambition of finally settling the young Uchiha’s vendetta.

Along their rigorous journey, Hebi decided to stop near the Forest of Mythic Beasts, a large forest filled with heavy mist outside the village, the forest seems to be a moist area where several large insects live. After relentlessly killing off all of the insects within their immediate vicinity with fire jutsu, Jin has Rito train in taijutsu with Suigetsu as his sparring partner; Jugo and Karin overlook the match from the side while Sasuke himself sits on a tree branch, brooding with his usual stoic indifference. The young genius has just managed to land a lucky shot, knocking the young Hozuki to the ground.

“I really don’t think I should--Hup?!”

While the hesitant Rito voiced his refusal, Suigetsu kicks and sweeps the boy's legs, tripping him. The swordsman capitalizes on the opportunity with a quickness; he pounces on the downed Rito and grabs him by the neck, winding back his free hand for a mighty punch and stops.

Suigetsu looks down on the boy genius with a condescending sneer. “You should’ve listened to Jin.”

What? This is bloody crazy talk… Rito stares back, arguing, “But what Jin ordered was needlessly bru–”

“When there’s an opening, take it. When there’s an advantage, PRESS it--and in this case--stomp on it.” Suigetsu continues, still hunched over the boy.

“Jin?” Rito’s eyes swiftly darted to Jin.

Karin and Jugo’s eyes fall on the red-haired rogue as well, curious as to what he has to say on the matter.

With a blank expression and arms folded, Jin shrugs. “Don’t look at me. Suigetsu pretty much covered everything I wanted to say.”

♦♦♦♦♦

I’ll follow through this time, I’m gonna stomp on it… Rito looks down on the felled beast with fire in his eyes. “Kuchibashi! Time to deliver the coup de grâce!”

“What?” The summoning queries.

Oh, right… Some phrases and idioms just don’t exist in this world… Rito laments while facepalming. “Finish him! We’re gonna finish him off!”

“OH! Why didn’t you say so?”

The hawk spreads his massive wings and with a single flap, ascends, soaring high in the air; Kuchibashi’s silhouette can be seen, circling the sun. The young genius grips Kuchibashi’s neck feathers tightly as he watches the hawk’s wings fold into its sides. The summoning animal performs a dive-bomb with intent to eliminate its prey; Rito finds himself grinning with satisfaction. As Kuchibashi steadily closes in on his prey, the hawk readies his enormous, curved talons, spreading them wide open.

Just as Rito and his summoning are mere moments away from putting the beast out of its misery, something large, fast, and powerful rams Kuchibashi, knocking the giant hawk to the side; holding on for dear life, a jolted Rito hears loud cracking noises.

“KEE-EEEEE-ARR…!!!” Kuchibashi lets out a cry of pain.

The hawk flails as it crashes into the sandy floor, it kicks up a thick cloud of sand while skidding along the ground like a ragdoll; the young boy shuts his eyes tightly and grits his teeth, bracing himself as he continues to hold on. By the time Kuchibashi comes to a halt, it has already traveled nearly a thousand meters.

Any crash you can walk away from… A thankful Rito thinks as he crawls out from underneath the giant hawk. …I hate sand, it’s rough, coarse, and it gets everywhere…

While dusting himself off, Rito asks, “Oi, Kuchibashi. You alright?”

“N-No…” Kuchibashi weakly replies.

The giant hawk lifts up his head in a slow, feeble manner and looks Rito right in the eye with a look of pain. Kuchibashi’s body gives an occasional twitch; while the bird twitches, the young genius notices one of Kuchibashi’s wings is bending in the wrong direction.

“M-My wing… it’s br-broken…” Kuchibashi moans. “I-I’m… I’m sorry…”

“No wucka’s, I’ll take it from here.” Rito responds.

“I d-don’t know… w-what that first part… m-means, but okay…”

In a puff of smoke, Kuchibashi disappears back to wherever Rito plucked him from. The young genius notices something very peculiar; his immediate vicinity has grown noticeably darker, and the temperature has become somewhat cooler.

Perplexed, Rito cautiously scans his surroundings. Huh? Where’d this shade com--!

The clone genius is horrified as his question is immediately answered when he hears the flapping of wings followed by a sudden gust of wind, blowing sand in his face. Wiping the sand from his eyes, Rito looks up only to see a multitude of cold, menacing eyes glaring back at him from a distance. The demon, Moryo ominously hovers in the air, glaring at the boy with keen interest, drool drips from several of his mouths.

One of the demon’s heads whips around and fires a massive Gale Style: Laser Circus beam at the defeated chimera beast; in a matter of mere moments, the beast is completely vaporized. Feeling his heart sink, the disheartened Rito-clone suspects or rather hopes the monster’s death was instantaneous.

I-If… I were the r-real me, I’d be shaking in my thongs right a-about now…

“Hello, boy. You’ve fought long and hard only to meet your doom...” Moryo growls mockingly as he coils back one of his remaining six heads, horizontally. “Your kekkei genkai will make a fine addition to my collection.”

The demon’s coiled head opens his maw and bares his razor-sharp fangs; from the back of Moryo’s throat slowly emerges a mass of deep blue, viscous fluid. The ominous fluid spreads to the rest of Moryo’s mouth, completely coating the demon’s tongue and teeth.

“Chimera Ju--Ahhhhhh…!”

Just as the duplicitous demon is about to strike at Rito, his coiled head is struck by a large, purple glowing arrow which detonates on contact; Moryo’s head suffered some damage, but not enough to permanently put said head down.

Rito’s--as well as Moryo’s--gaze follows the projectile’s flight path and finds Sasuke still situated within his Perfect Susano’o at the point of origin; his Curse Mark also remains active. While hovering menacingly in the air, the young Uchiha pulls back on his ethereal bow string, preparing to fire yet another arrow; this second arrow is coated in black flames.

“This is painful to watch. You claim to be some all-powerful god, yet you go after mere children. I mean, that’s beyond pitiful…” Sasuke voices his disdain with a cold glare. “It’s pathetic!”

An enraged Moryo snarls, “You dare disparage me? ME?! Uncouth whoreson! I’m going to rip open your chest and feast on your still beating heart!”

With Sasuke’s intervention, Rito feels emboldened; the boy feels a surge of energy and renewed vigor coursing through his veins. Clenching his fists, the young genius puts them up, he begins to boxer skip, lightly jumping up and down. Blue crystals materialize along Rito’s forearms, taking the form of blades; the blades are engulfed in a sickly green chakra as he enhances them with his Radiation Fist jutsu. Two crystalline dragons slowly emerge from the ground at either of the clone’s sides; one defensively coils around Rito while the other waits for further instructions.

“C’mon then, ya miserable git…” Rito proceeds to goad, loudly. “Bring it on! Do your worst!”

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“This is so annoying…! I’m getting nowhere!” A frustrated Ayanami grumbles as she weaves the snake hand sign.

A gigantic wooden dragon erupts from the ground and swiftly charges at the Master Puppet; the kunoichi’s jutsu opens its massive maw wide and clamps down on the puppet. The Wood Dragon swiftly arcs upward, ascending higher and higher until it is over a thousand miles in the sky; the Master Puppet tries to break free from its teeth, but the dragon maintains a firm grip. Ayanami’s attack doesn’t remain in the air for very long due to it taking a sudden nosedive with an imperceptible movement, it hurdles back down with the puppet clenched firmly in its teeth; the wooden dragon moves so quickly that it catches fire like it is a meteor entering a planet’s atmosphere.

Upon crashing into the dunes, a thick cloud of sand is created, the puppet’s countless, shattered remains fly in nearly every direction, and Ayanami waits patiently for the sand cloud to dissipate, revealing the end result; the kunoichi groans in irritation as she senses chakra molding from the crash site, the intense desert heat is not helping her much either.

Ayanami purses her lips when she notices a piercing, pinkish-white glow emanating from the sand cloud. The numerous puppet fragments scattered across their vicinity all slowly rise; the various fragments float forbodingly in the air before immediately rocketing back to the Master Puppet’s crash site. The sand cloud is blown away by the desert breeze, revealing that it has fully healed itself; upon closer inspection, Ayanami does not see a scratch in sight.

“This is crazy… I find myself doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Isn’t that the definition of insanity?” Ayanami exclaims, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“You’re doin’ great!” Rito remarks reassuringly.

The young genius sits comfortably behind the kunoichi, he weaves the snake hand signs while infusing chakra, calmly.

A frustrated Ayanami sighs, “...I appreciate the moral support… But right now, I need a squad mate that has my back more than a cheer squad.”

“Oh, but I got ‘cher back. Observe!” Puffing out his chest, Rito pridefully gestures ahead.

Ayanami’s eyes follow where her friend is pointing towards and is astonished by what she sees to the point that she takes a step back. The Master Puppet spasms and twitches uncontrollably, it swings its multiple arms wildly in every direction.

Confused, Ayanami’s jaw drops. “Huh? What the…?”

“A little less questioning, a little more Byakugan-ing.”

Like flipping a light switch, Ayanami deactivates her Tenseigan and activates the Byakugan; the flickering flames of the cyan-colored shroud dissipate while the veins around her temples bulge and pupils become more distinct. Eyes trained on the puppet, the kunoichi’s sight pierces through its metal exterior and into the puppet’s inner workings to find sand. Sand courses throughout the Master Puppet, damaging its wires and clogging its gears and hydraulics.

So… every time I landed a blow, Rito would have some sand sneak into its open wounds? Impressive… Ayanami quickly figures out what is going on.

“Back when I was an ankle-biter, one of my old mates used to own the game this monster comes from on the PS2…” Rito talks out loud, reminiscing about his previous life. “The game sucked, but we still had a lotta fu--Ooh, I found the power source! The spirit orbs feel a lot like… crystals.”

Ayanami watches as the young genius, without hesitation, has the sand yank the orbs out of the Master Puppet’s body; the kunoichi can see the puppet’s chakra levels decrease rapidly and its movements become more sluggish.

The five spirit orbs hover marvelously around Rito, and with a clap of his hands cracks quickly form and spread all across the surface of each orb. They shatter into millions of particles which scatter in the desert wind.

“No…! I… am… immortal… I am… invincible…” The Master Puppet bellows.

The puppet slowly, defiantly inches its way to its opponents, determined and unwilling to accept defeat.

“He’s rocked! Take him!”

Seeing her chance, a resolute Ayanami immediately sprints toward the now weakened puppet. As the kunoichi gets closer, she quickly accelerates in speed, she reactivates her Tenseigan and subsequently her Tenseigan Chakra Mode. The Hyuga channels lightning chakra through her hand as she gets closer to the puppet; the lightning emanating from her hand changes from blue to black as she infuses Six Paths Sage Chakra into the jutsu.

“Lightning Blade!” Ayanami roars.

With one quick thrust, Ayanami jabs the puppet with her attack and ends up drilling straight through its entire body; the kunoichi appears several meters behind the Master Puppet. The jutsu results in a massive explosion with a tall pillar of black lightning that pierces the very heavens itself.

With a sigh of relief, Ayanami wipes the sweat from her brow. …FINALLY!

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

“Next!” Obito says.

Still holding onto the rogue Uchiha, both Echo and Sakura inject more of their chakra into him to power his Kamui. In the form of a spiral, a distortion in space-time, leading to one of Kaguya’s dimensions, forms in front of the three. The time-traveler peers through and sees a desert; an emotion he hasn’t felt in quite a long-time, bubbles up to the surface from the very depths of his heart, hope.

Finally… We’ve found them! Echo thinks to himself.

The group can see several individuals engaged in fierce mortal combat on the other side of the portal.

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“Ya know, Rito? You’re kinda scary.” Ayanami remarks, awkwardly scratching the side of her face.

Just as the two are about to go and aid Sasuke in his own battle with the dastardly Moryo, Ayanami’s words bring the boy to a sudden halt.

Confused, Rito raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“You have a strong and versatile kekkei genkai. You’re super smart…” Ayanami goes on to explain herself. “You even invented a jutsu that makes radiation. I am… RELIEVED you’re not a villain. You’re that dangerous, potentially speaking.”

“Funny… Jin said something similar awhile back, he compared me to Gohan from Dragon Ball.” Rito imparts while using his Crystal Style to form Wolverine claws.

After their brief conversation ends, the two ninja return their attention to the battle ahead of them; Sasuke shoots Susano’o arrows while Moryo returns fire with Gale Style: Laser Circus.

I see now… these movie and game monsters are cannon fodder meant for Kaguya to waste her chakra on… Rito takes a deep breath and readies himself. “You ready?”

“You Bet!” Ayanami replies.

“Ayanami! Rito!” A familiar voice calls out.

They both look back and see a portal over a dozen meters behind them; eyes wide with pleasant surprise, they can see Echo, Sakura, and Obito on the other side of the rift, calling out to them.

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

Moryo quickly closes the distance between himself and Sasuke, several of the demon’s heads coil tightly around the young Uchiha in an attempt to crush him from within his ethereal avatar.

“I’ll squeeze the life out of you!” The demonic entity declares.

However, just as Sasuke is about to act, he notices that Rito’s crystal clone is on the move; the clone takes advantage of the fact that Moryo is focused on Sasuke and jumps onto the demon’s back. With his blades cloaked in green chakra, Rito stabs Moryo in the back.

“AAARGH!!” Moryo screams.

The demon is in so much pain that his grip on Sasuke loosens some. Sasuke observes as Rito plunges his blades into the Moryo once again, as deep as they can go and twists the blades.

“AAAAAAAAARRGHH!! ANNOYING MAGGOT!!”

“Wanker!!” A smug Rito shouts as he jumps off the demon. While falling, the grinning clone turns and aims both of his middle fingers at the demon.

How unusual… What exactly did Rito do? Sasuke ponders. …Just how strong have you two gotten?

To Sasuke, it’s plain to see that his former teammates, Jin and Rito have gotten much stronger since they infiltrated the Five Kage Summit.

Whatever Rito did was extremely effective; the pain is too much, forcing Moryo to spasm, completely releasing his hold on Sasuke who pulls free and lands a solid punch on one of the enemy’s heads. The Uchiha swiftly follows-up by bringing his fists together, raising them into the air and double ax handles Moryo; the attack connects, sending the demon crashing down like a meteor.

“Ancient relics of the past should butt out!” Sasuke looks down on his opponent with an ice-cold glare.

“Sasuke, hurry! Over here!”

Hearing his name called, the rogue ninja looks into the distance and sees Rito, the real Rito waving at him; a portal stands near him with Ayanami entering through it. Without a second thought, Sasuke streaks through the air toward the portal.

“No! Take me with you…! TAKE MEEEE!!!” Moryo roars.

The desperate demon has taken flight and is already catching up; Sasuke and Moryo are now neck-and-neck as they hurry to the Kamui rift. The Uchiha tries to sideswipe Moryo, but the demon dodges and quickly counters by slamming one of his heads into Sasuke; cracks form on his Susano’o as he fumbles.

Dammit! We can’t let this THING escape thi--Hmm? Something annoying interrupts Sasuke from his thoughts.

There’s a light flickering in his eyes and its source is coming from the portal. Recovering from his fall, Sasuke peers through and sees Rito who appears to be waving something, a crystalline staff; the staff glistens in the light, reflecting in multiple directions.

The Uchiha immediately focuses chakra into his left eye and disappears without a trace. And in his place, Rito’s staff instantly appears, embedded in the sand. Sasuke himself reappears in the middle of the group.

“He’s here! Close it, close it now!” Rito shouts.

“NNNOOOOOOOOOO–”

The demon's despair-filled wails are cut short due to Obito slams the portal shut.