Naruto: Being a Shinobi with no System But...

In the energy room at the heart of the Ancor Vantian fortress, Shinno had already fused with the Zero-Tails.

Excitement.

A wild, uncontrollable excitement pounded in his chest.

Ever since he’d been used and discarded by Orochimaru, he had endured in silence. Now, the wish he had clung to for so many years was finally within reach.

For this day, he had followed Akatsuki’s orders without complaint, even handing over more than half of the Sky Ninja’s forces and air fleet to Sunagakure. He could only watch as the lifeblood he’d built up over the years became someone else’s weapon.

And that ”someone else” was now his enemy.

But at last… the promise he’d been given was about to be kept.

Through the Zero-Tails’ perception, Shinno ”saw” it.

Konoha was right in front of him. Those buildings, those streets, those people walking peacefully in the sunlight… all completely unaware of the destruction about to descend on them.

Ha… hahaha… ”Hahahahaha!”

Dark chakra surged through his body. Shinno couldn’t hold it back anymore and burst into crazed laughter. The sound echoed in the sealed energy room, blending with the Zero-Tails’ low growls into a chilling chorus.

”Witness it! Witness the wrath and power of the Sky Ninja, Konoha!”

At that moment, the light of the main cannon swelled to its peak. Shinno’s eyes went wide, hungry for the scene that would come next.

Screams. Wails. Rage. And… despair.

He wanted to see Konoha reduced to ash in that beam of light, wanted to see the terror on the faces of Konoha’s shinobi, wanted to see the entire Ninja World tremble before the power of the Sky Ninja.

However—

Just as the beam was about to strike Konoha, something went wrong.

The forests surrounding the village… moved.

No—rather than moving, they were growing. Trees shot upward and thickened at a speed visible to the naked eye. Their crowns wove together, layer upon layer, until a massive green barrier domed itself over the village.

”Useless!” Shinno roared from within the Zero-Tails. ”Before the power of the Zero-Tails, before the main cannon of Ancor Vantian, those scraps of wood are worthless!”

The beam slammed into the wall of trees.

One layer, then a second, then—

A pair of colossal wooden hands thrust out.

Their owner rose from the sea of trees.

A towering Wood Golem faced the Ancor Vantian’s main cannon head-on.

The golden light broke apart before the Wood Golem and dispersed.

Inside the energy room, Shinno’s expression froze.

”No… impossible…”

Outside the flying fortress, Obito was sitting casually atop the structure, ignoring the frigid wind.

He sat cross-legged, chin propped on one hand, his Sharingan peering through the hole in his mask at the man standing on the Wood Golem’s head below.

”That guy Orochimaru…” Obito murmured, ”got played.”

Obito’s figure then twisted into existence inside the energy room.

As Kamui’s vortex died away, the scene before him came into focus—the fused Shinno and Zero-Tails were howling in frustration and rage.

”This is Konoha’s trap. It’s time to go.”

”Just one more… I just need one more shot,” Shinno muttered.

The dark chakra shaping the Zero-Tails seemed to amplify his obsession.

Decades of festering resentment, fresh humiliation, and the brief, almost tangible taste of revenge all blurred his reason.

Obito walked straight toward him. The powerful air current that always preceded the opening of Kamui space began to swirl through the energy room.

Shinno snapped back to his senses. He stared at the masked man and finally grasped the situation they were in.

”Go,” Obito repeated.

As long as the flying fortress remained, they could launch a fourth, a fifth bombardment whenever they wished.

The Academy had a special escort course. Obito’s grades back then had been nothing special, but he had understood one thing very clearly: the advantage lay with the attacker.

Even his sensei, the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, couldn’t perfectly defend against every single enemy strike. Even Kamui had openings.

The side with the advantage didn’t need to win in one blow.

You waited. You watched for weaknesses.

He had nothing left to protect, so his patience was nearly limitless. But the Five Great Ninja Villages—how long could their so-called ”perfect defense” last? A week? A month? A year?

Even Konoha…

At that moment, just as Shinno, his sanity restored, was about to separate from the Zero-Tails, he suddenly felt a surge of danger.

”No—”

He didn’t finish.

The entire Ancor Vantian fortress lurched violently.

This wasn’t a simple tremor. This was structural collapse.

The fortress began to fall.

It wasn’t a slow descent; it was a dead drop, like a stone losing its last support. Gravity seized the airborne city and yanked it ruthlessly toward the earth.

”An attacker!” Shinno flung his perception outward. ”The tail section… the entire area is gone! All thrusters have been completely annihilated!”

”It’s Dust Release…” Shinno’s voice went hoarse. ”Ōnoki’s Dust Release. He’s in Konoha too!”

——

High in the sky outside the fortress—

Ōnoki floated with his hands clasped before his chest, white beard whipping in the wind.

The target in front of him was practically a mobile city—enormous in size, complex in structure. He couldn’t assume there were no other tricks. His first strike had to cripple its power source, cutting off any chance of escape.

As for the people inside…

His gaze skimmed over the figures scrambling out through every opening. They wore Sky Ninja uniforms, their flying wings spread as they fled.

They didn’t matter.

Ōnoki launched a second Dust Release, this time aimed at the fortress’s main body.

All defensive barriers, reinforcements, and armor were meaningless before the power of a Kekkei Tōta. Wherever the white light swept, matter disintegrated into nothingness. A hollow corridor more than five meters wide was carved straight through the fortress’s central structure, completely piercing it.

Debris rained down in growing torrents. As he flew, Ōnoki methodically erased anything that might allow the flying fortress to be restored.

This was an absolute threat.

A fortress that could fly, strike from extreme range, and belonged to enemies who didn’t need to protect territory or care about collateral damage—such a weapon was more dangerous than all the rivalries among the Five Great Ninja Villages combined.

That was why he had agreed to Konoha’s request for help, and why he had accepted the team led by Shiranui Genma, sent to mark him with Flying Thunder God.

Not out of trust, but out of clear judgment—there were threats that simply had to be erased.

Two-thirds of the Ancor Vantian fortress had already vanished. The remaining fragments continued to crack apart in midair, tumbling down into the forest below.

——

Standing atop the Wood Golem, Rōshi let Sage Mode fade as he watched Ōnoki dismantle the flying fortress piece by piece.

He missed none of it.

Until the last dust release hit home, until the final wreckage of the fortress plunged into the forest and a plume of dust mushroomed into the sky.

Hiashi arrived with a detachment from the Police Force.

The Hyūga clan head looked up, his pure-white eyes reflecting the Wood Golem’s immense outline, then lowered his gaze.

”Rōshi, we haven’t found any suspicious individuals in the vicinity.”

So Obito didn’t bring Nagato along… The rest would depend on whether Ōnoki’s Dust Release had taken out Shinno and the Zero-Tails as well.

If not, all they’d done was temporarily remove the flying fortress from the board.

The good news was that they’d bought more time to set up other countermeasures.

”You’ve done well,” Rōshi said. ”Maintain heightened vigilance. Expand the patrol perimeter—leave nothing unchecked. The fortress wreckage must be thoroughly searched. Recover all technical data and remaining equipment.”

”Yes.”

Hiashi bowed, then led his men out. The branch shinobi, well-trained, split into squads and began combing through the crash site.

By then, Ōnoki had descended from the sky.

Rōshi dispelled the Wood Golem and fully released Sage Mode.

Ōnoki hovered down to their level.

”To be honest,” he said, ”when I saw that Wood Golem, I hesitated over where to aim the Dust Release.”

Rōshi smiled. ”Then I must thank Lord Tsuchikage for your restraint.”

”Compared to those idiots who just blast everything in sight, Konoha is far more agreeable,” Ōnoki replied.

”After seeing Dust Release with my own eyes, you should feel that Iwagakure makes a more reliable ally than Kumogakure, don’t you?”

”Lord Tsuchikage,” Rōshi said, ”you should also understand now that cooperation among all Five Great Ninja Villages is necessary.”

”Those we push away will become the enemy’s strength.”

”Hmph.” The Third Tsuchikage, hands clasped behind his back, floated past him. ”What I said wasn’t about rejecting any particular village. It was about who stands closer to us.”

He watched Konoha’s shinobi clearing the debris below.

”Konoha and Kumogakure have some kind of technical exchange going on, don’t they?” Ōnoki suddenly changed the subject, his tone turning casual. ”I’ve heard the rumors.”

”Our side has already signed an agreement with Sunagakure,” Rōshi answered. ”They’ll provide aerial early-warning support to the other villages. That includes Iwagakure in the technical exchanges.”

”Hmph, that was before this fortress got blown out of the sky,” Ōnoki snorted. ”Now that it’s gone, who knows if Sunagakure’s promises still stand.”

”Its destruction only applies to this fortress,” Rōshi said evenly. ”It doesn’t mean the threat facing each village is gone.”

”So those terms are still valid.”

Ōnoki studied him for a long moment, then said, ”Crafty brat.”

”If it’s all the same, then the so-called exchange students—whether they’re from Iwagakure or Kumogakure—it’s the same to you, is it?”

”Of course.”

”Then that settles it.” Ōnoki rose back into the air, turning toward Konoha. ”I should be heading back.”

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