The Four Heavenly Kings

"I'm your older brother." After Naruto left, Yin Xiang murmured softly to himself. Then he shook his head, smiled, and continued eating his ramen.

"One day, you'll definitely recognize each other," Uncle Ichiraku said, leaning over the counter.

"Yeah, I believe that day will come, too. The sooner, the better." Yin Xiang nodded. When he finished his ramen, he wiped his mouth and left some money for Uncle Ichiraku.

"I'm heading out, Uncle," Yin Xiang said, waving.

"Okay." Ichiraku nodded and picked up the money from the table.

Yin Xiang went home to wait for the next day, when he would return to school and be assigned a team leader.

"Guess I'll study some ninjutsu." Yin Xiang unrolled a scroll containing B-rank techniques. Kakashi had written all of them for him himself.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!" Yin Xiang's hands moved as he formed Hand Seals at speed. He spat a ball of high-pressure wind from his mouth, striking the large tree in front of him. A massive hole burst open in its trunk, and moments later, the tree toppled over.

"B-rank ninjutsu really is impressive." Yin Xiang smiled as he looked at the fallen tree.

"Come to think of it, Wind Release counters Lightning Release. If I master every Wind and Lightning technique, won't my own ninjutsu counter itself when I fight?" Yin Xiang lowered his head, deep in thought. "If I can't use Lightning Release when I'm using Wind Release, how can the Insoro Clan bring out the full potential of its Wind and Lightning techniques?"

As he pondered, Yin Xiang sat cross-legged on the ground and propped his chin on his hand. Wind Release... Lightning Release... As he thought, a ball of wind appeared in one hand and a ball of lightning in the other.

Suddenly, Yin Xiang had a flash of insight. He formed a Chidori in his left hand and a Rasengan in his right, then slammed the two techniques together. Both vanished at once.

"After Naruto and Sasuke's battle, they each used a Rasengan and a Chidori. By then, both techniques were incredibly powerful. When they collided, each of them lost an arm."

"By rights, Wind Release counters Lightning Release, so Naruto's Rasengan should have beaten the Chidori without hurting him. But they both lost an arm."

"Once a technique reaches a certain level of power, it can completely overcome elemental disadvantages. If I can train Wind Release and Lightning Release to their limits and fuse the two techniques, I'll be able to unleash tremendous power." Yin Xiang smiled at the thought.

"Chidori is an A-rank technique, and the even stronger Chidori, the Lightning Blade, is already S-rank. The Rasengan is A-rank, too, and its more advanced S-rank form is the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. I can ask Kakashi to teach me the Lightning Blade, but I'll have to figure out the Rasenshuriken on my own." A Rasengan formed in Yin Xiang's hand again, and he tried adding Wind Release chakra to it.

"Ugh!" The Rasengan in Yin Xiang's hand slowly grew a little larger, and four transparent blades of wind appeared around it. But his wrist suddenly hurt badly, so he hurriedly dispelled the Rasengan.

"Right, right! I almost forgot. The Rasenshuriken causes severe internal injuries to its user, and Tsunade even classified it as a forbidden technique. Naruto could only use it freely after he learned Senjutsu." Yin Xiang clutched his wrist. It really hurt.

"Looks like I can't rush into S-rank techniques. Even with a body suited to Wind and Lightning, I can't train like this. Sigh." Yin Xiang sighed.

What Yin Xiang lacked now was practical experience—and he lacked a lot of it. He had no experience fighting other ninja at all. No matter how many powerful techniques he mastered, a real battle could still end with an actual ninja killing him in an instant.

"Sigh, I hope I can take some combat missions soon and build up experience fighting and killing enemies. That way, I might be able to do something for Naruto in the future." Yin Xiang looked up at the sky, then went back to his room. He took a few jugs of wine and sat on the veranda.

"Sorry, Mom. You did tell Naruto and me not to drink until we were twenty." Yin Xiang smiled, poured himself a cup, and downed it in one gulp.

He sat there alone until nightfall. Naruto had lived a lonely life, but Yin Xiang was no different. Because Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, people hated him and kept their distance. Because Yin Xiang was the Fourth Hokage's orphan, people were afraid to approach him. Neither of them had any friends.

The people in their class were just classmates. No one ever came near them.

"I, Yin Xiang, don't want to be a ninja everyone fears in this world. I just want to live a simple, happy life, with the strength to protect myself, a wife, and a child. I want to be happy for the rest of my life." Yin Xiang looked up at the moon.

Whoosh.

Four shadows flashed across the roof and landed on the wall in front of Yin Xiang. They wore masks, and their bodies radiated a powerful killing intent.

"Holy crap!" Yin Xiang jumped in fright, and the cup fell from his hand, shattering on the ground. Weren't these the four masked men who had hunted him down all those years ago?

"Have you come to kill me again?" Yin Xiang rose from the veranda. So many years had passed. If they'd wanted to come after him, they would have done it long ago. Why show up now?

Yin Xiang secretly formed Hand Seals, ready to escape with the Flying Thunder God Technique. He clearly wasn't a match for these four.

"My lord." To his surprise, the four disappeared from the roof and appeared right in front of Yin Xiang, already kneeling on the ground.

"Huh?!" Yin Xiang stumbled back, startled by their actions. What was going on? Weren't they here to kill him?

"My lord, twelve years ago... we were controlled by a genjutsu and... killed our own clansmen," one of the masked men said.

"We nearly killed you as well, my lord. We deserve to die," another added.

"Wait... what's going on? You're... members of the Insoro Clan?" Yin Xiang asked with a frown.

"The four of us are the Four Heavenly Kings of your clan. Our ancestors have guarded the Insoro Clan against threats for generations. But that night... a masked man appeared before us. We weren't strong enough, and he controlled us with a genjutsu in a single move."

"Our clansmen were all slaughtered by our hands. Only recently did we break free of the genjutsu. After learning where you were, we came here at once. We await your judgment!"

The four remained kneeling, heads bowed, not daring to look at Yin Xiang.

"How did you know I was in Konoha?"

"Though we were under a genjutsu, our memories remained. The last time we saw you, you were in Konoha. We searched everywhere, and only just now confirmed that you were our lord."

"Genjutsu..." From the way they'd referred to themselves as the Four Heavenly Kings, Yin Xiang became even more certain that this Insoro Hen was a transmigrator, just like him.

"What genjutsu controlled you?" Yin Xiang asked, looking at them.

"The Sharingan."