Once More by ItsHardToFindAPenName

Chapter 43: Confrontation, Part 4

Naruto glared at the Akatsuki member who was standing on the way of the ship. He was a middle-aged man who was pretty muscular for a normal shinobi. From what Goku had taught him before, that type of muscle is usually seen on people who has practiced martial arts their whole life. Just by looking at his face, Naruto could see that he was a clearly evil guy, with the impressive moustache and the arrogant, smug grin on his face. The sharp, glaring eyes which were shooting a piercing gaze at him and Isobu didn't help.

But the thing that worried Naruto the most wasn't the fact that he was evil. After all, the Akatsuki was full of evil crazy guys anyway. What unnerved him the most was that he didn't know anything about this person. He didn't even exist during Naruto's past life.

'No, he did.'

Gyuuki's voice startled him.

'What do you mean, Gyuuki?'

The ox-topus didn't answer him. Rather, he turned towards Matatabi.

'You realized that attack before, sis?'

'Yeah,' Matatabi nodded. She was showing an alerted expression Naruto had never seen on her face before. 'There is no doubt. It's that guy.'

'Who is that guy?' Frustrated, Naruto nearly screamed in his head.

'Osama Narita, known by the moniker "Lord Conqueror" in Kumogakure,' Gyuuki answered him. 'That guy once tried to overthrow the Raikage and take over the village by force. I remember that happened during the time your village was invaded by Orochimaru, around your first Chuunin Exam.'

Hearing that made Naruto raise an eyebrow.

'Really? Why didn't I hear anything about that? Surely if something as big as that had happened, I would have heard something about that in the past.'

'Oh, please, this is A we are talking about, remember?' the ox-topus snorted. 'Do you remember what happened to your friend Hinata? That was because A was manipulated by half of the shinobi council of Kumogakure to make that decision without him even knowing about it. Until he realized that he had made a big mistake, it was too late. He would rather announced that he planned for that to happen than admitted that he was led by the nose like a cow without even realizing it. So do you really think that blockheaded, arrogant Raikage would let the news about someone trying to overthrow him leak out of the border of the village?"

A flame of rage started bubbling up inside Naruto, but not related to what the Tailed Beast had just said. So that was the reason why Neji and Hinata-chan had to suffer all of her childhood?

'And you didn't even think of telling me that sooner?' he asked the two Tailed Beasts. 'That is a rather convenient excuse for that old man to behave like a jerk, you know. And Hinata-chan should have been allowed to know about this!'

The two Tailed Beasts winced. 'We're... sorry?'

Naruto facepalmed. 'Never mind... Moving on, is that guy strong? How powerful is he comparing to the other Akatsuki members?'

'Yeah, if he is anything like who we fought during our timeline, then he is very powerful,' Gyuuki admitted. 'Of course he cannot be compared to ones like Pain or Itachi, but he has the power to manipulate ki."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'What the hell is ki?'

'Basically, it is life force,' Surprisingly, it was Goku who explained. 'Before the advent of chakra, martial art masters usually exploited life force to perform superhuman feats. Delivering punches and kicks that could shake mountains, running at incredibly high speed, or even flying... it is safe to say that ki is the predecessor of chakra, if you ask me.'