[This month's Stand has been drawn: Survivor]
The night of March 1st, Ishiki Kujo heard the familiar voice once more—but what caught him off guard was the absence of the usual option to keep or replace his Stand, just like with Mr. President before.
Even more notable: Highway Star was gone. Its presence had completely vanished. In its place, Ishiki could now manifest the new Stand—Survivor.
This sparked a theory.
Could it be that each Stand could only be retained for three months? Or was there another rule he hadn't discovered yet?
So far, the known rules were: on the 1st of each natural month, he would draw a new Stand at random, with the option to keep or replace the current one. If he chose to keep it, it seemed the limit was three months.
More rules might be revealed later. But Ishiki was starting to consider a deeper possibility:
Was he actually drawing Stands at random? Or was drawing Stands itself his Stand ability?
He'd thought of it long ago—was he chosen by some system, or had he simply awakened a Stand of his own?
He knew one thing for sure: a Stand was the manifestation of one's soul and psyche. It could reflect countless facets of its user's being.
So what if his Stand ability was precisely this—gaining a new Stand each month? Or perhaps the Stand system was just replicating abilities he remembered from JoJo?
It wasn't far-fetched.
His first Stand was Whitesnake. It gave him exactly what he needed to establish himself in this world—a practical tool to extract and use other people's abilities: the DISCs.
If someone crossed into the Naruto world and had one desire above all, it would be to possess powerful eyes—Byakugan, Sharingan, Tenseigan, Rinnegan.
That intense yearning for ocular powers must have manifested as Whitesnake. A Stand that could steal eyes, essentially.
Even after Whitesnake was gone, the DISCs remained—a supporting clue.
If Whitesnake had been just a randomly granted, temporary ability, the DISCs would have vanished with it. But if Whitesnake was his true, persistent Stand, then just like Father Pucci's evolution into C-Moon and Made in Heaven, it would make sense that his abilities persisted through transitions.
Then came Moody Blues—the first Stand he thought of once he'd stabilized and began seriously researching ninjutsu. He wanted a way to analyze, replay, understand techniques. And damn it, Abbacchio had left a deeper impression on him than Fugo ever did.
It was uncanny, like the Stand system responded to what he needed most at that time.
Then Highway Star—a glaring example of convenient alignment. It filled the last gap in Ishiki's toolkit: chakra. Through nutrient theft, Ishiki became strong enough to face even a Bijū in direct combat.
Mr. President had been another anomaly. At that point, Ishiki didn't want to lose Highway Star, but he desperately needed a supportive Stand to handle chakra absorption logistics.
And then it appeared—Mr. President. Not like an expression of Ishiki's soul, but like another Stand user had been ripped from another universe and anchored to him.
That detail alone made Ishiki question his theory. If all his Stands were manifestations of his will, Mr. President felt like an outlier.
Then came Dark Blue Moon—a dud. Useless. But Ishiki hadn't really wanted a new Stand that month. He hadn't been actively hoping or planning. And sure enough, he got garbage.
But now… now he was headed back to Konoha, and he needed a utility Stand—something subtle, tactical.
And what came?
Survivor.
Not the strongest Stand, but certainly one that could kill without lifting a finger.
Too many coincidences. It was like the Stand system didn't just give him tools—it anticipated what he would want, what he would need.
Even this time, there was no "keep or replace" option. The choice was made for him—because the real choice had already been made deep in his subconscious.
"If this is really all orchestrated by my Stand, then it must be a sentient Stand," Ishiki murmured as he jotted thoughts in his notebook.
The deeper he thought, the more convinced he became that everything had been arranged from the start.
But how to test it? Subconscious desire was tricky to control.
Still, right now, there were only a few Stands he genuinely wanted.
First: Underground World (Underground Railroad). With that power, he could unearth all the buried secrets of this shinobi world.
Second: Scary Monsters. He loved that Stand. Turning people into dinosaurs? Incredible. He'd wanted a dinosaur throne for so long.
Third: Magician's Red. He'd been experimenting with fire lately—Abdul's Stand would let him master flame-based chakra and techniques at a whole new level.
And if not that, he'd gladly take Weather Report. Either would enhance his Sage Mode and Hamon abilities drastically.
Lastly: The World. Nine seconds of stopped time. Absolutely broken. Even with the drawback that overusing it might kill his thinking ability, Ishiki still wanted to feel the thrill of "ZA WARUDO" once.
He scribbled these desired Stand names into his notebook.
He figured his preferences might shift over the month. After all, there were other favorites too—Gold Experience Requiem, King Crimson, Killer Queen, Wonder of U…
When that time came, he'd list them all and see what eventually manifested.
Though in truth, these weren't urgent. If a sentient Stand really was behind it all, then Ishiki doubted the later-stage favorites would show up anytime soon.
"If my Stand truly exists and is self-aware, then changing my mindset should subtly influence the abilities I receive," he thought.
If everything really was under his Stand's control, then finding it—his true Stand—would let him swap abilities at will.
Of course, all of that depended on its potential for growth.
But for now, it was too early to confirm any of this.
The immediate focus was Survivor.
Stand: Survivor.
Its stats were microscopic. Aside from Duration (C), everything else was E. A true Five-E Stand. Even DIO had mocked it as the weakest Stand ever conceived.
(Ishiki mentally excused Hermit Purple from that comparison. Grandpa Joseph wouldn't be happy otherwise.)
Survivor was weak, sure—but also insidious. It couldn't be destroyed unless its user was killed, because it wasn't humanoid. It was a tiny, almost invisible disk with a snarling beast etched onto it.
It could even exist in multiple copies.
Its strength lay in its subtlety. Activate it, and it could cause mass slaughter—without the user ever lifting a finger.
Its flaw? The moment it activates, everyone around the user wants to kill them. Like full-scale, no-holds-barred deathmatch kind of kill.
The Stand sent low-level electrical currents through people's bodies, igniting primal rage and combat instinct, making them want to tear apart anything in sight.
Worse, as the rage increased, the user's own strengths became more and more visible to their enemies.
Still, even the weakest Stand could turn the tide of battle in the right hands.
There were no weak abilities—only weak users.
"I feel like this Stand might be perfect for someone like Danzō," Ishiki muttered. "God help me if he comes after me."
Feeling the familiar connection to the new Stand swell within him, Ishiki grew more comfortable with Survivor's mechanics.
But he hoped next month brought something more useful. Survivor had too many requirements—like needing a moist environment to function well.
By now, the medics in the camp had almost cleared out the wounded. Most of the current patients were recent battlefield transfers.
When word spread that Ishiki would temporarily return to Konoha, many shinobi were reluctant to see him go. His use of Hamon outperformed even medical ninjutsu when it came to recovery.
Even if his surgical skills weren't elite, his support healing was unmatched.
"Looks like you won't stay in the village long. And you probably won't be returning here," Nara Shikaku said, stepping into Ishiki's tent that morning.
"I got lucky. If Jiraiya-sama hadn't arrived, Kumogakure might've launched another full-scale assault. I wouldn't have been able to leave otherwise," Ishiki smiled. "But what do you mean I'm not coming back?"
He'd predicted Kumo would retaliate after Konoha rejected their terms.
And they did.
But Jiraiya's sudden arrival changed the tempo.
Ishiki didn't know why one of the Legendary Sannin had shown up in the Land of Frost, but his presence alone stifled Kumo's aggression.
With Yugito gone and Bee kept away from the front, the Raikage himself had to come to stop Jiraiya from crushing their forces.
If Orochimaru hadn't stayed behind in the camp, the battlefield would've flipped entirely in Konoha's favor.
Right now, Konoha clearly had the edge in top-tier combat strength.
Eventually, Ishiki met Jiraiya himself—a ghost who rarely lingered in the village, always chasing information across the world.
They didn't interact much, but it seemed Jiraiya came here for a reason—likely something involving Orochimaru.
"Take this letter for me, would you?" Shikaku said, handing Ishiki an envelope.
Though older, he was technically one of Ishiki's superiors. They'd grown fairly close.
"Sure. I've got it." Ishiki accepted the letter. He knew Shikaku's son, Shikamaru, had just been born. A letter home made perfect sense.
In their talks, Ishiki had learned that Team Ino-Shika-Chō had left the village when Shisui Uchiha returned—because leadership expected Shisui's actions to spark greater conflict.
The Hokage's advisors requested that Ino-Shika-Chō join Orochimaru on the front lines.
Hiruzen had agreed. War with Kumo was the village's top priority. Lending them to Orochimaru was a smart move.
But once things stabilized, they'd be reassigned—probably to the Iwa front.
Because while things were cooling with Kumo, Iwagakure had been stirring up trouble along the border again.
Originally, Shisui was meant to lead the Konoha forces against Iwa. But now, even Shikaku wasn't sure what the plan was.
He hadn't returned to the village in a while and was out of touch with the latest power plays.
Still, Ishiki had his suspicions—sending Ino-Shika-Chō here felt like Danzō's way of keeping Yamanaka Inoichi away from the secrets within Shisui's recovered head.
"If I get sent to the Iwa front, I hope we can fight side by side again," Shikaku said before leaving.
Ishiki paused.
The Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans were Sarutobi's oldest allies. Tied together like conjoined triplets. Unbreakable bonds.
So what did Shikaku mean by all this?
Was Sarutobi grooming him now?
Ishiki didn't know. He couldn't read these old bastards. Couldn't follow the village's logic.
One day they're restraining the Uchiha, the next they rely on them. It was like undressing someone in the dark only to pretend you'd never touched them by morning.
Still, one thing was clear. After the Third War, the Nine-Tails, and now the Kumo conflict—Konoha was running out of people.
They had no choice but to deploy Uchiha, no matter how strained relations were.
Konoha's top-tier power list wasn't long.
Below the Sannin, Shisui Uchiha was the strongest.
Then came the clan heads.
And no, he wasn't counting Danzō. That rat hadn't shown his face on a battlefield since the Third War.
And he wouldn't this time either.
Ishiki slung the scrolls onto his back and stepped out to rejoin the squad returning to Konoha.
He now understood what Shikaku had meant.
This wasn't just a leave of absence—it was his reassignment.
He was being moved to the Iwa front.
So many fires at once…
Ishiki glanced back one final time at the camp bordering the Land of Hot Water.
Then he turned without a trace of sentiment.
Ahead of him waited his comrades: Might Guy, Mirina, Aoba…