Hongshi had been kicked out of the office by the Third and was chattering away with Yuhan about who knew what.
He slowly headed toward Ichiraku Ramen.
"Orochimaru actually let Danzo use him. Sigh, was he still too young?"
In Danzo's memories, he and Orochimaru had been conducting secret transactions. Danzo used his authority over the Anbu to supply Orochimaru with rare experimental materials, while Orochimaru gave Danzo his research results in return.
Although Danzo did it for Konoha, some of his decisions were truly contemptible. Indecision had already seeped deep into his bones.
"But at least I learned a few good Wind Release Ninjutsu. Huh? Found it?"
Suddenly, some information reached Hongshi's mind. The Shadow Clone he had dispatched during the Chunin Ninja Exams had automatically dispelled, sending its intelligence back to the original and the other clones.
"Emmmm, it's time to use one-twentieth of my power!"
Hongshi created a Shadow Clone, while his original body used Flying Thunder God and vanished.
The Shadow Clone said, "Oh! Well then, ramen first!"
Land of Water, a certain lake.
The Three-Tails' hiding place.
Hongshi had obtained the Three-Tails' location from Orochimaru's mind and sent a Shadow Clone, which had taken five days to reach this place.
Dense fog shrouded this place year-round. Even near noon, visibility was extremely low.
"Well then..." Hongshi pressed his palms together, his eyes turning into the Rinnegan. White chakra began radiating from his body, giving off extremely high heat, and the lake water around him began to boil. "Nuclear Release: Thermonuclear Orb, one percent."
He spread his hands, and a white ball of light gradually appeared, growing to the size of a head, wrapped in a thin, transparent barrier.
The Thermonuclear Orb slowly sank to the bottom. "Let's make some boiled turtle."
"Bubble, bubble..."
A few minutes later, the entire lake began to heat up, and the center was already boiling.
Large numbers of fish died from the heat and floated to the surface.
"Smells great!"
Bored out of his mind, Hongshi pulled a small bottle of salt from inside his clothes, grabbed a cooked fish, sprinkled salt on it, and squatted on the water to start eating.
"Delicious, delicious!"
The Lord God said, "Aren't you supposed to gut fish before eating them?!"
This body of water was extremely vast. A Thermonuclear Orb at merely one percent could already bring the entire lake to a boil, making its power easy to imagine.
Twenty minutes later, the entire lake was boiling. Scalding steam blanketed the whole area, and Hongshi seemed to sense the Three-Tails stirring restlessly at the bottom.
Boom!
The water before him suddenly bulged upward, and an enormous surge of energy shot out from the lake bed.
In the heat of the moment, Hongshi absorbed it with the Preta Path.
"Holy crap, opening with a Tailed Beast Bomb? This intense already?! If that one-hundredth-power Shadow Clone of mine had come, wouldn't you have scraped his skin?"
The Lord God said, "Fine, I know you're strong, okay?!"
"Aaaah, you're scalding me to death!"
"(°ー°〃)???"
The Three-Tails' enormous body leaped out from the lake bed and stood on the surface, looking at Hongshi ahead. "Who the hell are you, you bastard?!"
"I never, ever would've thunk you'd be a goofball too!"
The Lord God said, "All goofballs, every last one."
Hongshi straightened up. "I'm your grandpa."
The Three-Tails said, "What? You're my what?"
Hongshi said, "I'm your grandpa."
The Three-Tails said, "You're my what?"
Hongshi said, "Grandpa."
The Three-Tails said, "Say that again, I can't hear you!"
Hongshi said, "Grandpa!"
The Three-Tails said, "Yes, what a good grandson."
Hongshi said, "(°ー°〃)!! Something feels wrong! Nuclear Release: Nuclear Heavy Fist!"
The Three-Tails said, "Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Boom!
A kilometer-high mushroom cloud slowly rose amid raging flames. Half the lake's water evaporated.
Unsurprisingly, the Three-Tails was blasted onto a nearby mountain. Nearly half the shell covering his body had cracked and fallen off, still trailing thick smoke and giving off a pungent smell.
The Three-Tails said, "You! Who the hell are you?! You actually have power greater than the old man's!"
Hongshi withdrew the white chakra surrounding him. "Every cause has its effect, and I'm the grandpa you get. Sending a roast chicken, mwah..."
The Three-Tails said, "????"
Hongshi said, "Ahem, ahem, ahem. I didn't come here to kill you."
The Three-Tails said, "You've damn near roasted me, and you're still saying you don't want to kill me?!"
Hongshi said, "Ahem, I lost control a little just now and used one-tenth of one-twentieth of my power. You know, you really do smell pretty good!"
The Three-Tails said, "Grandpa, just say what you want. Could you stop drooling?"
Hongshi said, "Yes, good grandson."
The Three-Tails said, "Who's the grandson calling good?"
Hongshi said, "The grandson's calling you good."
The Three-Tails said, "Yes, good grandson!"
Hongshi said, "(°ー°〃)?? Nuclear Release: Nuclear Heavy Fist!"
Boom! Another massive explosion erupted.
All the lake's water evaporated, and the boiled fish became grilled fish. The air filled with the mouthwatering aroma of grilled fish.
Hongshi looked at the now-unconscious Three-Tails. "Ah! Smells so good... Ahem, let me tell you! No one has ever humiliated me in a battle of wits! I! Am the embodiment of wisdom!"
The Lord God said, "Exactly, exactly. You're the embodiment of wisdom-an idiot."
"Nuclear Release: Nuclear Heavy Fist!"
The Lord God said, "Hehe! Ya missed, ya missed! Bleh, bleh, bleh, bleh!"
"Nuclear Release: Nuclear-Powered Susanoo."
The chakra around Hongshi gradually spread outward, forming bones, meridians, flesh, skin, and hair, solidifying into a giant as tall as the Three-Tails, clad in great tengu armor. Its chakra took physical form, and unlike Susanoo, a huge white energy sphere pulsed like a heart inside its chest. Two spiked clubs rested across its back, making it look utterly overbearing. Except... its head was still bald.
Nuclear-Powered Susanoo was a technique that had evolved after Susanoo adapted to nuclear release chakra. Drawing on Rinnegan Sasuke's Takemikazuchi and Madara's Tengai Shinsei, it could release ninjutsu directly through Nuclear Susanoo.
"I've decided! I'm going to build a Gundam!"
"Gundams are a man's romance!"
This was Hongshi's first time using Nuclear-Powered Susanoo, and the shock he felt was immense.
Nuclear-Powered Susanoo pressed its hand onto the Three-Tails, who was prepared for death. "Yin Seal: Creation Rebirth!"
Vast amounts of energy began flowing from the white sphere in its chest into the Three-Tails' body, and his injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
About ten minutes later, although the Three-Tails remained unconscious, all his injuries had healed.
Nuclear-Powered Susanoo formed hand seals again. "Sealing Jutsu: Phantom Nine Dragon Sealing."
Countless sealing formula markings spread out, wrapping around the Three-Tails' body. His body shrank smaller and smaller until he was palm-sized.
Hongshi dispelled Nuclear-Powered Susanoo and picked up the Three-Tails. "Hmm... now the training gift is ready!"
Just as Hongshi was about to leave, he sensed over a dozen chakra signatures approaching from afar at incredible speed.
"Oh? Ninja from Kirigakure? Pretty fast."
The arrivals were familiar faces: the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, and her guards, Ao and Chōjirō.
"Let's play a little joke. Transformation Technique!"
Smoke enveloped Hongshi, and he turned into Tobi. Then he picked a grilled fish up off the ground and secretly began munching on it.
Mei Terumi arrived first and stared at Hongshi. "Who are you?!"
Hongshi put his mask back on.
The remaining Mist Ninja took the opportunity to surround Hongshi. Ao even activated his Byakugan, only to discover that he could not see the chakra flowing through Hongshi's body at all.
Chōjūrō was a little frightened. "Lady Mizukage... th-this used to be the lake where the Three-Tails lived... now it's actually evaporated!"
Prompted by those words, Ao surveyed the surroundings with his Byakugan, only then realizing that the place where they stood had become scorched earth.
"Lady Mizukage, this man is very dangerous!"
Hongshi chuckled. "Hello, beautiful. My name is Tobi. The person I loved died because of the Three-Tails. I've come for revenge today."
Ao was somewhat puzzled. "Tobi? I've never heard of him."
Hongshi continued, "I was the one controlling your Fourth Mizukage."
Mei Terumi flew into a rage. "What?! Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!"
She spat out a large quantity of lava, sending it flying toward Hongshi.
"The organization I belong to is called 'Akatsuki.' We specialize in collecting jinchūriki to manufacture nuclear weapons for the Shinobi World, in order to maintain nuclear peace in the Shinobi World... all right, it's about time to go."
Amid the lava, Hongshi dropped hints like mad.
Whoosh! Then he used Flying Thunder God and left.
Hongshi disappeared from Ao's sight. "Lady Mizukage, he's vanished!"
"What a detestable man!" Mei Terumi said. "Dispatch the Mist Ninja Assassination Squad immediately and gather intelligence on this man."
Ao nodded. "He just said the woman he loved died because of the Three-Tails. We'll start there."
Akatsuki: "We're not taking the blame for this!"