---Ryouma's POV---
A secluded lake in the Land of Water lay surrounded by mountains, shrouded in mist, and overgrown with vegetation. The area appeared untouched by humans. Even from afar, I could sense the immense chakra hidden at the bottom of the lake.
Standing by the lakeside, I pondered how to summon the massive Three-Tails from beneath the water.
"Shukaku, can you call Isobu up here?" I asked the tanuki perched on my shoulder, with a hopeful look.
"Hihihaha." Shukaku let out a creepy laugh, then jumped off my shoulder, hopping toward the lake.
He dipped his only tail into the lake, closed his eyes to sense the presence below, then formed a series of hand seals to send a chakra signal down into the depths. Within moments, the lake began to shake violently.
A massive, spiky turtle emerged from below, water cascading down its shell like armor. It was none other than Isobu. As soon as its head broke the surface, one eye instantly locked onto Shukaku, who stood at the lakeside cloaked in a hood.
Seeing the target had appeared, Shukaku quickly withdrew his tail from the water. I could tell he wasn't a fan of being wet.
Then, with a serious expression, he raised his claws to remove his hood and said, "You're here."
Isobu blinked hard, stunned. "Shukaku? Why are you so small?"
Shukaku planted his arms on his hips and shouted, "Of course I'm Lord Shukaku! But I'm not the one looking for you today, he is."
Following Shukaku's gesture, Isobu turned his gaze toward me.
I stepped forward and politely addressed the giant, "Hello, Isobu. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ryouma, Shukaku's partner."
I could see the surprise in his expression.
"Shukaku, why are you hanging out with a human?" Isobu asked curiously.
Hearing the question, I stepped in and gave a simple explanation about my connection with Shukaku.
---
"I see," Isobu said, his single eye fixed on me. "So, why have you come to me?"
I could sense that he had already made up his mind about something. Likely, if I were here to ask him to hand over his chakra like Shukaku had, he absolutely wasn't going to agree.
Even if I had Shukaku's approval, Isobu wasn't going to trust me that easily, but I was fine with that.
"Actually, I'm here to ask for your help in destroying Kiri," I stated flatly, jumping straight to a plan of obliterating a village.
Isobu's eye lit up at my words, but he quickly calmed down and asked, "What's your plan?"
Though he despised Kiri, I knew he still valued his life. It had taken a tremendous effort for him to escape the village, and unless my plan was airtight, he had no intention of going back to get himself killed. I fully understood his concern. In fact, I didn't even need his physical form to go to Kiri, just his Tailed Beast Ball
Since Shukaku had already given most of his chakra to me, the tanuki could only use minor jutsu now. And because I wasn't a true jinchūriki, I couldn't access the Tailed Beast Ball or the Tailed Beast Cloak. That was why we were here to seek Isobu's help.
I pulled out a specially made Flying Thunder God kunai from my ninja tool pouch and began calmly explaining my plan to Isobu.
"Don't worry. You won't even need to move. I'll leave a space-time coordinate right here. When you see my signal, all you need to do is fire a Tailed Beast Ball in that direction. I'll use space-time ninjutsu to teleport it directly into the heart of Kiri."
Isobu was surprised. "That's it? That simple?"
I gave a thumbs-up. "That simple."
Isobu looked at me with a doubtful gaze. "Can your space-time jutsu really transfer my attack?"
Before I could say anything, Shukaku jumped in indignantly.
"Hey, are you doubting someone recognized by Lord Shukaku?" Then he turned to me and muttered, "Maybe we should just grab him and throw him into Kiri ourselves."
I walked over and picked up him in my arms, shaking my head. "Don't be so hasty."
Then, with a flicker of movement, I instantly appeared on top of Isobu's head.
"Since you don't believe me, I'll show you. By the way, have you ever been to the desert?"
"What?"
Whoosh—
With a ripple of space-time, I teleported Isobu and myself from the lakeside.
--- Third POV---
The Ichirakuten was a defensive line set up by Suna to prevent infiltration by enemy ninja. During this time, when Suna was at its weakest, the patrolling ninjas were especially cautious.
Kazuo and Hideo, survivors of the recent war between Suna and Konoha, were now part of the elite ninja patrol unit. Though their abilities hadn't improved much, they had outlived their seniors and were now the "veterans."
The two chatted idly as they patrolled.
"That Bastard," Kazuo complained. "How could he kill someone as sweet as Pakura? What a demon."
Hideo nodded in agreement. "Right? I swear, if I ever see him—"
"You'll what?" a young voice whispered right beside his ear.
"I'll cut him down with this blade—" he stopped mid-sentence. It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him. His whole body froze.
In front of him, a massive monster had appeared out of nowhere. It had three enormous tails that blotted out the sun. Its shell shimmered in the sunlight.
But what truly terrified him was when he slowly turned his head to the right. His brain practically shut down. He stood frozen in place. Kazuo beside him wasn't doing much better.
When he finally snapped out of it, Kazuo immediately pulled Hideo back to put distance between them and the young man, shouting loudly, "Bastard! What are you doing here?! Suna has already signed a peace treaty with Konoha! Are you here to break the accord?!"
Ryouma smiled helplessly at their defensive posture. "Relax. I'm not a demon. I'm not going to attack a village that's already surrendered. Just passing through this time."
Kazuo didn't believe a word of it. He raised his weapon, ready to fight to the death, while motioning for Hideo to escape and report what they'd seen.
Ryouma shrugged. He hadn't expected to run into Suna ninjas here either.
"Oh, and by the way, talking behind someone's back isn't a good habit, you know. And that name for me... Can't you use something else?"
Without paying any more attention to the two terrified ninjas already seeing their lives flash before their eyes, he lightly bent his knees and, with a flicker, reappeared atop Isobu's head. He then activated the Flying Thunder God Technique again.
As the space rippled, Isobu reappeared at a lake. The sudden appearance of the massive creature stirred the surface of the water, sending out waves of ripples.
Several startled birds screeched and flew away into the distance.
He hadn't yet figured out what had just happened. One moment he felt a flash before his eyes, and the next, he had already been brought to a desert by the person above his head.
Before long, the person known as Shukaku's partner had a brief conversation with the other ninjas across from them, and then once again, in the blink of an eye, brought him back to the lake where he had been hiding.
Shukaku's proud voice came from above his head: "Well? Isobu, now do you see how awesome we are?"
Isobu felt a little shortchanged. There had been so much high-quality sand in that desert, and he hadn't even been able to scoop up a handful before being brought back.
Two gusts of hot air puffed out from his nostrils as he said excitedly, "Fine, I agree to help you, but I have one condition."
---
Kazuo and Hideo were sitting on the ground, panting heavily after just seeing off a terrifying figure. They had thought they were going to die. Even though no conflict had occurred, the overwhelming psychological pressure had left their vision darkening.
After a moment's rest, Kazuo stood up and said, "Get up. We have to hurry back and report this to Chiyo-sama."
"Okay…" Hideo replied shakily as he stood.
But to their surprise, the very same Ryouma who had just left reappeared only minutes later.
Did he change his mind? Was he angry now? If they had known, they would've run while they had the chance.
"Bas… Bastard… why are you back again?" Hideo stammered. "I didn't say anything bad about you this time…"
Ryouma gave the two Suna ninjas a kind smile.
Then he pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai and threw it into the distance. Forming a hand seal with one hand, a black space-time technique pattern began to rapidly expand from where the kunai had landed, spreading over dozens of meters in an instant.
Ryouma hadn't expected that the first time he used the Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder outside the village would be… as a moving crew.
As the technique completed, the previously calm space twisted violently, and a huge amount of sand was sucked into the barrier generated by the kunai.
Feeling like he'd moved enough, he waved to the dumbfounded Suna ninjas and vanished once more.
Kazuo collapsed to his knees, tears welling uncontrollably in his eyes.
"That damn Bastard really is something else. Not only did he wipe out nearly half of our Suna ninja forces… now he's even stealing our sand."
---Ryouma's POV---
"Is that enough, Isobu?" I asked as I reappeared by the lake in the Land of Water.
"Enough, more than enough."
Isobu was thoroughly convinced now. I could see that in his expression. Shukaku glanced at Isobu, who was now comfortably lying on the massive pile of sand I'd transported, sunbathing, and couldn't help but comment, "I didn't expect you to actually like eating sand."
Wagging his three tails, Isobu replied with a satisfied look, "It's not so much that I like the taste of the sand… it just feels really comfortable lying on it. Plus, it makes my armor shinier. By the way, how many Tailed Beast Balls should I fire off?"
After thinking for a moment, I replied casually, "Up to you. I think seven or eight should do the trick. But hey, if you want to give Kiri a little extra 'surprise,' I won't stop you."
While talking, I left a Flying Thunder God mark on a large rock by the lake. This would come in handy later.
Isobu, looking a little shy, said, "Is there anything else I can do to help you?"
I had no idea what was going on in the Three-Tails' head, so I just laughed heartily and said, "Once this mission is done, if I need help in the future, just send me a few Tailed Beast Balls."
He agreed immediately and said that anytime I needed help, he'd fire off a few balls, no problem.
Still, I noticed he looked like he was expecting something more, but I decided not to press the issue.
After saying goodbye to Isobu, Shukaku and I moved on to our next objective: to stealthily infiltrate Kiri and leave Flying Thunder God marks at key strategic facilities.
Halfway there, I stopped by a stream to collect some water.
Out of habit, I scanned the surroundings, and spotted something unexpected.
Shukaku immediately noticed my shift in mood and asked, "What is it?"
In my field of vision, at the eleven o'clock direction, was a group of traveling merchants, though that wasn't the main concern. The real problem was the white creature hiding underground beneath them. I had never seen such a being before, but I knew exactly what it was: a White Zetsu.
And judging by the face, it was none other than the swirly-faced White Zetsu named Tobi, the one always seen by Madara's side.
That could only mean one thing: Madara was likely hiding somewhere in the Land of Water.
As my mind raced with theories, Tobi seemed to lose interest in spying on the merchant group and quickly moved off in another direction.
Without alerting him, I followed at a careful distance, keeping just far enough to stay unnoticed.
"We're going to follow him," I whispered to Shukaku. "But we'll need to be extra careful."
I reached into my storage seal and pulled out a silvery, fluid-like fabric.
Shukaku's eyes narrowed. "A cloak? Are you cold or something?"
"This is... my Cloak of Invisibility. It's a special tool I acquired."
"A cloak of what now?" Shukaku sounded skeptical.
I draped the cloak over myself, and immediately my body disappeared completely from view. Even I couldn't see myself beneath it.
"It's based on principles similar to the Hiding with Camouflage Technique."
Shukaku's eyes narrowed skeptically. "If you say so."
I shrugged. "Truth be told, it was something of a consolation prize. I was hoping for something else, but this is what I ended up with instead. Still useful though, wouldn't you say?"
"Hmph," Shukaku grunted, not entirely convinced but interested nonetheless.
"Let's put it to the test." I covered myself with the cloak once more.
Without alerting Tobi, we followed at a careful distance, keeping just far enough to stay unnoticed.
Before coming to the Land of Water, I had already considered who in the ninja world could still pose a threat to me.
First, there was Isshiki, who had come to the world alongside Kaguya. But he was currently struggling to survive somewhere, and without a proper new vessel to plant his Kāma, he couldn't use his full power.
Next on the list was Madara.
If this were his Edo Tensei at full strength, with both Rinnegan and his prime power, I might have chosen to ignore him for now and wait until I was stronger.
But this was the older Madara from an earlier time, with only a three-tomoe Sharingan in one eye.
So, with the mindset of "strike first, ask questions later," I decided to put the mission of destroying Kiri on hold for now and focus instead on taking care of this troublesome old man.