"I'm still going to mock and tease my opponents so viciously they'll think I'm insane or drive themselves to insanity instead.
Everyone thinks that I'm back to being the chipper innocent - okay innocent ish - Alvarcus they once knew, the me before I left for Orochimaru. But I can never truly go back to being that person, even if I don't want to admit it Orochimaru has stained me a different color."
...
"What are you saying?" Shirokumo asks. "You're not making the most sense. You're not going to be violent but you are? Give me the simple version."
"Ino sees me as a hero. Orochimaru has been trying to make me a villain. I am neither." I calmly explain. "In the scale of good and evil, light and dark, I've found my spot. I am not the shining beacon of the world, I am no hero. Nor am I the strong pillar of darkness, I am no villain. I am in the middle, gray if you want to stick with the light and dark metaphor. I'm something that's defined as an anti-hero, someone who does good in this world but they do good by using questionable means. I'm going to use every tool at my disposal, every weapon no matter how questionably immoral, to achieve my goal. And that goal is stopping a war or at the very least minimizing the casualties on the population as a whole."
"You're going to need some crazy tools to stop a freaking war." Shirokumo bluntly points out the obvious. "Or did you forget that the group trying to start the war is full of S-rank threats?"
"Believe me, we haven't seen the beginnings to their real strength yet." I grimly assure my summon. "They've got shinobi that can level entire villages with a single jutsu."
"Holy shit." Shirokumo blurts out in shock. "That's… that's not S-rank. That's above S-rank."
"Well the moves necessary to level a village do have very high costs, one of them straight up kills the user to cause an explosion spanning 10 kilometers and the other drastically shortens the user's lifespan if used on that scale. It's not like they can churn those things out whenever they want to."
"Still. You don't have anything near that."
"True, even their normal combat is at a higher level than mine but that gap is closing quickly. But I don't need to close the gap, I don't need to stand evenly with them. I need to stand above them."
"And how the hell do you plan to do that?" Shirokumo blandly asks me.
"Well… Honestly I've got no fucking clue." I admit with a half shrug. "I've got a few ideas but nothing concrete since they all require me to go down different paths."
"What do you have so far? Maybe I can help somehow. Find an ancient tome or something?" He offers.
"Well, I see four main ways. First: I just throw everything I have into bettering myself. I'll drastically lower learning new skills and perfect the ones I already have. It lines up well because I have a Sannin willing to help me improve and spar against."
"Yeah that could work, but will that make you good enough? The Jiongu makes you deadly but not anywhere on the same scale as some of those people. Especially since by now they all know you have it, you can't use it as a surprise against them. That was something that could have won you the fights but now it's off the table."
"That's why I won't go down that route." I concede to his points, I've already thought of them myself. "Second: Fuinjutsu. Some of the deadliest people to ever walk this world were Seal Masters. If I fully dedicate myself to studying that particular art then I could stand a chance, I even have some crazy ideas to implement."
"But that takes time." Shirokumo points out another flaw. "You don't have that much time, you're going to end up cutting it close with your sword the way it is. Fuinjutsu takes years, decades to master."
"Again, probably not going to go down that route. I could become a deadly force with above average general skills and above average fuinjutsu, hell I could probably become S-rank myself that way. But I won't be able to stand up to the Akatsuki if I'm only above average. I need amazing. That takes us to the third option: The Rinnegan."
"Yeah there's just one tiny problem with that." Shirokumo snorts out. "You'd need it to fight the Akatsuki but the only person alive that has it is in the Akatsuki. That one is out."
"True, but those eyes play a key part in the coming war. If I get the chance to make them mine, they're mine. Plus come on! They're fucking cool!"
"Well I can't deny that one. They certainly are… cool. What's the fourth reason?"
"Fourth is the one that I'm most afraid to try." I shamelessly admit. "Going down this route could - and according to statistics would - kill me. I can't help if I'm dead. Plus I have no idea if Sureddo and it would get along or cause major problems. Not to mention I don't even know if I can go down this route even if I want to."
"Quit beating around the bush and tell me what it is." Shirokumo demands.
"I could become a Sage." My easily spoken words cause Shirokumo to freeze on my head, his entire body locked up. "You okay up there?"
"You… know about Sages?" He tentatively asks.
"Oh yeah." I confirm. "They take in Nature Chakra to enhance both themselves and their jutsu. Everything about them becomes better. They're faster, they're stronger, they're more intune with their senses. Hell they even get some special abilities too!"
The Toads granted Naruto a specialized Sage taijutsu combat style where he can manipulate the nature chakra around him to strike at his opponents even if he misses. The Snakes grant the user command over inanimate objects, I vividly remember Kabuto making a cave do crazy things. The real question is, do the Spiders have their own version of Sage Mode?
"Then why haven't you said anything about Sages to me before?" Shirokumo asks me.
"Well… it's not my place to ask. To be offered to learn how to become a Sage is a great honor, it is not something that one can just demand. It's not up to me to decide if I want to become one, it's up to whoever the Great Spider Sage is, or his or her equivalent. I have to be deemed worthy and you've seen all of my actions recently. They're hardly Sage material. Plus I have no idea if there even is a Spider that can teach me it, it's very possible that there isn't one. So I've never brought it up."
"If we do have someone that can teach you to become a Sage, would you do it?" Shirokumo asks.
"I'd be risking turning into a statute forever. It is a huge risk, but if I survive it then I'll become that much more of a threat. It's either I die or I become ridiculously stronger. But in the end I simply may not have the choice. It is not something that I particularly want to do but it may be something I have to do. Right now becoming a Sage is the most likely and best option for me to stand against the Akatsuki. So to answer your question, yes. If offered to become a Sage I would attempt it, not because I want to but because I need to."
"Hm." Shirokumo assesses me. "You don't want to do it but you will. Not technically for yourself, but for others. The reason you would become a Sage is to save the world, not just for power."
"Wow that didn't sound cheesy at all." I snort in amusement. "Yes Shirokumo, I'd do it to save the world. Jeez do you have any idea how lame that sounds?"
"Interesting." Shirokumo distractedly says, he's lost in his own thoughts for a moment. Then he refocuses on me with a jovial aura. "Well I best be off now! Things to do and people to meet! Plus it's freaking cold here even if we're inside."
"Alright alright go back where it's warm." I laugh at his antics. "I get it, you're cold. See ya next time."
"Bye Al." Shirokumo poofs away leaving me alone in the empty room.
"Whew." I wipe nonexistent sweat off my brow. "That went much better than I thought it would."
...
A/N:
If we hit 500 Power Stones by the end of this week, I'll drop an extra chapter as a thank-you!
Thanks for the support! ;)
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/CarriePoppins