His Approval

Ryuchi Cave

A small snake started to slither from the bushes catching a shinobi's eye. He watched as it came out of the brush slithering towards him with a paper attached to it. He knew it was meant for him, so he extended his arm to the ground letting it rest in his palm. With his other hand, he removed the paper unfolding it to read its content.

-Kakashi,

The true leader of the Akatsuki is a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha.

Kakashi's eyes widened with surprise after reading the first sentence. Many thoughts swirled through his mind on how that could be possible.

He plans to start a war using Kabuto to summon the dead with the Edo Tensei. He plans on reviving the many powerful shinobi including Zabuza and Haku. I don't doubt they also want to revive the former Kage as well. I still don't know how they will find sacrifices for the souls but they must have found a way. I heard Danzo is the new Hokage, do not trust him! He has worked with my Father with his experiments in the past even helping him get into the Village during the Chuunin Exams.

If you are still going after Sasuke, do not hesitate to kill him. He has gone too far into the darkness and I don't think he will return. He is on his way to the Kage Summit to kill Danzo and the rest of the Kage. Either he kills you or you kill him; do not hold back.

Kakashi processed the information he read releasing a sigh. He didn't expect Sasuke to turn out this way when team 7 was first formed. He looked up at his team who were resting but Naruto was too agitated to sit still for long. He noticed Kakashi's stare and looked down at the paper he was holding.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you holding?" Naruto questioned with his energetic voice which alerted most of his comrades.

They all looked at their Leader eyeing the paper in his hand.

"Just some information, nothing to worry about." He lied; he didn't want to worry them. He looked down at the note wondering when Ko had sent this. They just found out about the Kage summit two days ago which means the Akatsuki must've already known.

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A couple days have passed since I left the Akatsuki base and I wasn't having any luck. I roved aimlessly around the world but still couldn't find anything. Kabuto wasn't very helpful with the location of the cave; only saying that it will find me. I let out an annoyed sigh throwing my arms up in the air with defeat.

"Does this place even exist? How can it find me? It makes no sense!" I shouted with anger. "This is hopeless, Madara will find me before I find this place." I sighed as I sat on the ground taking a rest.

I looked down at my curse mark tracing it with my finger wondering who else had a curse mark. Father was alive and I wanted to bring him back but I need to find the other curse mark. "I should've asked Kabuto if he knew." I got back up to my feet deciding to wonder more. I was only walking for a few minutes before something was off. When I placed my foot on the ground, I quickly took the weight off it and stopped; it felt like there was a trap under the patch of grass.

I knelt down putting my hand on it pressing down gently which made the Earth crumble beneath it.

"This was close," I whispered to myself being on high alert.

I activated my eyes trying to find the culprit but there was no one in sight. Suddenly, I heard hissing followed by snakes emerging from the hole. I jumped away but there were too many of them, so they managed to coil around my legs causing me to fall. I let out a scream as they dragged me into the hole falling deep into it. I hit the ground with a thud as more constricted my body. I was about to incinerate them but something told me not to. I relaxed my body letting them drag me into the cave.

I could see tons of snakes throughout the cavern as I looked around. "This must be it, the cave Kabuto was talking about." Finally, we stopped in front of a giant snake, even bigger than Manda.

"Ko Himura," the snake spoke with a deep voice startling me. "I've heard a lot about you from my snakes." The snake unraveled itself and lowered its head to my level. "Come closer dear, these eyes don't see well anymore." I did as he asked stepping closer until I was in front of his face. "Hm, release your jutsu young one. It prevents me from seeing what I need to see." I obeyed his instruction deactivating my eyes. "Look into mine," despite the darkness, I could see his piercing yellow eyes looking into mine.

Suddenly, it felt like everything froze around me but in an instant, everything felt the same.

"What was that?"

"I was looking at your past to see if you're worthy to possess Senjutsu."

"Is that why you denied my Father?"

"Yes, but he didn't have the right chakra for it either. He would've died if I gave him the ability."

"What about Kabuto?"

"We rejected him but it seems he experimented on my children along with your father to get his abilities."

"How do you judge me?" I questioned hoping he forgave what I had done.

"You've done many bad things in your life but, I can see you're trying to be better. I also know you've had a contract with us for over a decade and have treated my children with respect nor putting them in danger. That was the main reason I let you in here. You have great instinct just like a snake. You felt the ground immediately knowing there was danger then didn't attack my children feeling safe. You are worthy of Senjutsu."

I felt relieved at his words knowing that this journey wasn't for nothing. "Will my chakra be able to handle it?"

"I believe your Father made sure of that." He answered making my eyes widen.

"What do you mean?" I questioned just as the cave started to light up from the now lit candles on the walls. I was able to fully see the elder snake seeing he was pure white with orange hair surrounded by smaller snakes with various colors.

"He had a snake form correct?"

"Um, yeah, he used it before he died." I answered wondering why this was relevant.

"I'm guessing he also bit your arm?" He questioned again eyeing my curse mark making me look down at it.

"Yeah, my curse mark." I lifted my arm to show him the coiling snakes.

"He must've experimented on my children taking their chakra. I believe he loved summoning my son Manda. That must've been the reason why he refused to be summoned by him. He took his chakra making it his which is why he could use that form before he died, he gave it to you."

I looked down at my arm imagining the chakra flowing through it.

"So what now?" I questioned looking up at him but I felt a sharp pain coming from my mark. I saw the elder snake's fangs stuck deep into it. I winced when he pulled out the fangs and watched the puncture wounds bleed then looked up at him. "Wha-what was that?" I questioned suddenly feeling out of breath like someone was crushing my chest.

"I injected you with the chakra. It will take a few hours but it'll merge with yours. You will draw the power of the chakra from your curse mark. It seems your father gave that mark to you knowing you would come looking for me."

"When do we get started?" I asked wanting to learn this quickly.

"As soon as the chakra merges with yours, then we'll begin. I am curious, can you control the cursed state?"

"N-no," I answered trying to catch my breath but it seemed impossible. "I tried b-but *pant* only for a f-few seconds."

"Hm it seems you need the Senjutsu chakra to fully control it."

Finally, I'll be strong enough to face you Madara. I thought just before passing out. 

Finally we're entering the war! don't forget to vote and comment. I'd love to hear some feedback about this story guys so please let me know what you think. 

Edited:2/26/2021