Chapter Ten: The Rise of Akai Hoshi Movement
Itachi Uchiha aka Storm Shadow dashed through the forests of the Land of Fire as he headed towards Amegakure to give his report to Pain about the threat that Snake-Eyes posed to the Akatsuki. The goal of the organization was to establish world peace by unifying the elemental nations under one banner. However, in order for them to achieve this goal the leader of the Akatsuki decided that they needed to capture all nine of the bijū in order to create a weapon so powerful that nobody would ever dare rise up against them. But recently, Pain had become increasingly concerned about both the terrorist organization known as Cobra and the recent peasant uprisings in Tsuchi no Kuni. It seemed like the self-proclaimed god had failed to take into account the concept of free will and greed, when he originally began his plan.
"I know that Jiraiya-sama will be interested in the fact that Orochimaru has become the leader of his own country and terrorist organization." Storm Shadow thought to himself as he stopped behind a giant Oak tree as he felt a patrol of Leaf Ninja heading his way.
It always surprised the rogue Uchiha just how easy it was for him to sneak in and out of places that were being guarded by the supposed masters of stealth. It just proved that the Hard Master was right, when he said that the modern ninja acted more like conventional soldiers than the masters of the shadows that they were back when he was a child back in Uzu no Kuni. However, the Uzumaki clan had always been able to act like assassins, mercenaries, saboteurs, and spies due their mastery of Fūinjutsu.
"Either the hidden leaf village has grown careless due to its status as the strongest of the five great shinobi villages or have they simply allowed the quality of its shinobi to sharply decline." Storm Shadow mentally commented as he watched in disappointment as the patrol passed right past him without even noticing his chakra signature or bothering to check out why there was residual chakra in the area.
It appalled him as to how badly the quality of Leaf ninja had become since he massacred his former clansmen and became a rogue ninja. As he remained hidden behind the tree trunk, Storm Shadow overheard the conversation that the patrolling group of leaf ninja were having with each other.
"So what's the next village that the civilian council requires to be shaken down for their monthly protection money?" one of the shinobi commented out loud to their comrades as they continued to walk on the established dirt path.
Itachi's eyes widen at hearing that the legislative branch of the hidden leaf village's government would be extorting other villages like they were some sort of gokudō clan. Now he realized why the Hard Master never really attended village council meetings. The centenarian old Uzumaki wanted nothing to do with the village council because of their corruption and their arrogant belief that they were untouchable.
"It's simple Aimi, we're going to a nearby village of artisans that have been refusing to pay for the hidden leaf village's gracious offer of protection and show them why it's in their best interest to start paying." A second shinobi responded with an almost sinister glee in their voice.
Storm Shadow had to resist the urge to pull out his ninjatō swords and kill those bastards that dare give honorable ninja such as the Hard Master a bad name, but reframed as he had more important things to do than killing a group of fake ninja. So he patiently waited for the group to leave his impressive hearing range before resuming to shunshin his way back to Ami no Kuni to speak with Pain and Madara about the current developments going on in the world.
Meanwhile in Kumogakure
Snake-Eyes Arashikage adjusted the collar of his white dress shirt uncomfortably as he tried to get use to having something other than his ninja suit on. He briefly looked at himself in the full body mirror that was built into his hotel room's closet door to check if anything was out of place. He was wearing a somewhat formal outfit that still looked casual enough not to raise very many eyebrows within the village. He briefly looked at his right forearm, which was currently covered by a long dress shirt sleeve. The Hard Master had made sure that he would be wearing a shirt that covered the Arashikage clan marking in order to prevent a Kumo ninja from identifying him as Snake-Eyes. When he was sure that everything was in their proper place, he took a step back and looked himself over in greater detail.
He was wearing a white long sleeved dress shirt that had the top two buttons undone to reveal the black T-shirt that he was wearing underneath it. The two shirts were tucked into a pair of black dress slacks with a black leather belt that had a silver belt buckle. Finally, his feet were covered by a pair of black silk socks and a pair of black Oxfords shoes. For the first time in his life, Naruto Uzumaki didn't appear to be the village pariah or ninja known as Snake-Eyes. Instead, he now looked like a regular thirteen year old who was about to go out on a date with a girl that he barely knew.
While Snake-Eyes understood why the Hard Master agreed to use him as breeding stock to Kumogakure as a means of preventing a Fourth Shinobi world war from breaking out, it didn't mean that he had to like it. In many ways, this action had dashed his dream of saving himself until he found the right woman. While he did find Yugito an extremely attractive woman and enjoyed spending time with her, he knew that they couldn't be together due to being from different villages.
"Now I just need to go downstairs and get this night over with so I continue on with my training as a ninja." The mute ninja thought as he walked out of his hotel room and locked the front door in order to prevent common thieves from breaking in and stealing his stuff.
While a common shinobi locking mechanism wouldn't really be much of a challenge to a skilled ninja, it would be able to stop even the most skilled lock picker from breaking into the room. In truth, the shinobi locks were nothing more than a common courtesy between the villages. It was well-known fact that during chūnin exams the hosting village would use the genin participation as an opportunity to collect Intel on the rival villages, not that they really gain anything useful from such actions.
"Now I just need to avoid upsetting the various Kumo ninja that had an eye on Yugito and this night will be perfect." The young thirteen year old mute thought as he walked down the stairs to meet up with the Hard Master and Yugito.
Every time he and Yugito went around town during his limited free time, he would notice that a lot of shinobi would shoot him an angry glare. At first, he had simply chalked it up to them being upset that one of their own kunoichi would spend so much time with Konoha ninja. He continued to believe this until he overheard several Kumo Jōnin complain about him stealing away Covergirl from them. Confused as to why these Jōnin would call Yugito by such name, he asked her about it. What he got as an answer was a ceramic lamp being thrown at his face and Yugito yelling various profanities to make a sailor blush out of shame
.After thirty minutes of dodge various objects that had been thrown at him by a very angry Yugito, she had calmed down enough to explain that she had gotten the nickname due to a particularly mission that she had undertaken a few years back. The mission had involved her going undercover at a modeling agency that was believed to be involved the trafficking of young women. Unfortunately for her, the only position that the agency had available at the time was that of a swimsuit model. However, due to her ninja training that made her body extremely athletic she ended up being on the cover of the magazine that the agency published every week. So by the time she had completed the mission two years later, her face had become one of the most recognizable within Kaminari no Kuni.
Needless to say, Snake-Eyes was mortified that a kunoichi of Yugito's caliber had to endure such a mission for such an extended period of time. A true ninja relied on being unnoticeable by their enemies, hence why he had removed the Arashikage clan's Mon from the shoulders of his ninja suit. Unlike the Uchiha and the Senju clan that took great pride in displaying their clan's Mon on their persons, he was smart enough to realize that symbols would mark him as a bigger target.
"So Yugito-chan, what's your opinion about the current status quo of the elemental nations?" Snake-Eyes heard the Hard Master ask Yugito.
Snake-Eyes couldn't help shake his head in amusement at what the Hard Master. During the time he had spent as the man's apprentice, he quickly learned that man had been one of the greatest critics of the current system that Hashirama Senju had created nearly a century ago.
"To be honest, I believe that the current system needs to be rebuilt from scratch. Many of the ruling Daimyō simply don't care for their subjects and allow corrupt Zaibatsu and Bugyō to do as they please to the people as long as the imperial courts get their cut of the profits." Yugito answered with much certainty in her voice.
Snake-Eyes could only nod his head in agreement at what she had said about the political climate of the elemental nations. He had personally seen just how cruel politicians could be towards somebody back when he had been four years old. He had just been released from the hospital after a vicious near lynching by a mob of villagers and shinobi when he had been summoned by the civilian council to explain how the main village market had all but destroyed the previous week. When he had told them that it was the angry mob that was responsible for destroying the market, they had immediately called him a liar and called for his execution. Needless to say, after that entire episode Snake-Eyes no longer trusted the civilians that lived within Konoha with an exception of a select few.
"I agree with you on that Ms. Nii. Many Daimyō do not care for their subjects unless it suits their needs to do so. The shinobi villages only help further this problem as they are used as brutal enforcers of the government officials that squeeze every last Ryō that they can get out of the villages." The Hard Master commented before he took a sip of tea out of a porcine cup.
At this Snake-Eyes decided that he needed to announce his presence before his sensei or Yugito said anything more that could land them into trouble if anybody else overheard them. He quickly walked down the flight of stairs that separated him from them. A few seconds later, he was standing at the base of the staircase with his arms across his chest and staring at his two fellow ninja waiting for them to notice him. It was of course the Hard Master who noticed him first.
"Ah, there you are Snake-Eyes. I was beginning to wonder if you had snuck out of your room's window to escape this date." The Hard Master jokingly commented as he finished off his cup of tea.
Meanwhile at the same time, Yugito was desperately fighting to control the blush that was adorning her face at the sight of Snake-Eyes wearing something other than his stealth suit. She had to admit that Snake-Eyes was indeed a handsome young man, which made it even harder for her to admit that she might have feelings for the Leaf ninja. The age difference was still a problem in her opinion as she was thirteen years his senior and that kinda of relationship was frowned upon by many people.
"You need to relax, kitten. In seven years the age difference between the two of you won't really matter." Yugito heard Nibi comment offhandedly from within its cage that was located within Yugito's mind.
This confused and puzzled the Kumo Kunoichi as to why the two-tailed cat would say such a thing.
"What do you mean that our ages won't matter in seven years, Nibi?" Yugito asked the cat demon wanting to know what Nibi had meant.
Nibi shook its head in amusement at the sight of Yugito's confusion.
"The seal that the village used to seal me into you was based off of an old seal that the Uzumaki clan used to slow down a person's age by several decades. This means by the time he hits twenty years of age, you'll still be looking like you're in mid-twenties, when in reality you'll be in your mid-thirties." Nibi explained like she was talking about the weather.
Yugito blinked owlishly at this sudden piece of news that she would eventually stop aging. Granted, she just learned that the rather infamous Uzumaki clan had figured out away to slow a person's age down to the point that they could live longer than was considered possible for non-Uzumaki.
It was at this moment that Team Guy with the exception of Neji Hyūga appeared in the lobby. The two shinobi had just been released from Kumogakure's prison earlier that day and Tenten was simply escorting them back to the hotel that they would be staying at. The two carbon copies of each other were being unusually quiet for once in their lives as they directed to sit down on a nearby couch. The several weeks that they had spent inside of the Kumo prison was weighing heavily on their minds. However, this silence allowed Tenten to focus on the younger ninja that had taught her more about Kenjutsu than anyone else in the hidden leaf village had before.
"I take it that Snake Eyes-sensei is going out on a date with Yugito-san, tonight?" The twin bun haired girl commented to the Hard Master after noticing that Snake-Eyes was dressed up in somewhat casual attire rather than his usual ninja suit.
The Hard Master simply nodded his head in confirmation as he looked at Might Guy. The Leaf village's premier taijutsu specialist was staring blankly off into space, and didn't notice that his other student had called somebody else sensei. Either he was still in shock that his Hyūga student had nearly caused a war between the Konohagakure and Kumogakure, or the rumors about the brutality of Kumo's prisons being spirit shattering were true.
Tenten let out an agitated sigh as she carefully contemplated what she was going to say next as she didn't want offend the Hard Master. After all, if even the so-called god of the shinobi didn't dare to disobey the shōgun of the shadows, then why should she?
"I'm assuming that this date is to keep a war from breaking out between the two villages?" Tenten asked in the hopes that Snake-Eyes was simply dating this woman in order to fulfill the Hokage's mission mandate of keeping the peace between the two villages.
Again, the Hard Master nodded his head in confirmation as he continued to observe the two other ninja in the room besides him, Yugito, Snake-Eyes, and Tenten. He knew that when they returned to Konoha, he would requesting that all of Team Guy be temporarily placed off of the mission roster and be scheduled for sessions with Inoichi Yamanaka for any lasting psychological damage.
Tenten simply let out a defeated sigh before heading up the stairs to her hotel room to get some sleep. As she walked past Snake-Eyes, she "accidently" bumped into him with her shoulder before continuing on her way to the eighth floor of the hotel. This action confused the mute ninja to no end as he wasn't very experienced in interacting with female gender of the human species other than his adopted mother and she was hardly around due to her status as an ANBU Ninja.
The Hard Master could only let out a chuckle of amusement as he remembered how his younger brother's wife did the same exact thing, when she found him dating another woman. It seemed like his niece had taken a great interest in her cousin. Perhaps there was some hope of the Uzumaki clan being reborn into the Arashikage clan.
Somewhere within Tsuchi no Kuni
The former Iwagakure Kunoichi known as Kurotsuchi grimaced in anger as she listened to a town's heralds openly denounced both Tsuchikage and the Earth Daimyō as traitors to the people of Tsuchi no Kuni. What angered her even more was that many of townspeople were openly agreeing with the Herald, who was no doubt a member of the Akai Hoshi movement. She didn't really care that much about the Earth Daimyō as she viewed him as nothing more than worthless puppet that was kept in power for the sake of appearance. However, she did care about what people said about the Sandaime Tsuchikage as the man had been her grandfather.
"My fellow workers and farmers, you must ask yourself this difficult question. Why should the Daimyō and his court reap the fruits of our hard labor?" The herald loudly asked from the small wooden podium that was in the center of the town.
Kurotsuchi could only clench her teeth in anger as she picked the faint whispers of the people that filled the town center that below the hayloft of the building that she was hiding in.
"The various government officials will tell you that the Daimyō had been appointed to his position as the ruler of our great nation by the Kami and that we should obey his every wish and decree like they had been issued by the gods themselves." The Herald spoke out to the crowd, while at the same time answering his own question.
At this comment, Kurotsuchi couldn't prevent herself from silently snorting in disbelief at the daimyō's attempt to legitimize his rule by proclaiming that he had been appointed by the gods as their proxy on Earth. That was nothing more than propaganda that the imperial court had whipped up to get the lower classes to obey the military general that had lead the military coup d'état against the previous daimyō. Unlike the previous daimyō that had ruled with a just and fair hand, the current daimyō ruled through brutality and fear. The only reason why Iwagakure didn't oppose the sudden régime change was because it didn't directly affect them in any shape or form.
Now it seemed like her grandfather's decision to not help put down the military coup d'état had come back to haunt them.
"This is simply not true, my comrades. The current daimyō that is ruling our land is nothing more than a military general that had brought ruin and chaos to our nation." The herald called out in attempt to incite the ever growing crowd of people.
Kurotsuchi could only mentally agree that the current daimyō's administration had failed to address dozens of problems that constantly plagued the entire country. The man ignored things such as maintaining roads and bridges, regulating the economy, and ensuring that granaries were filled with rice and other necessities in case of a drought. Instead, the fool had spent most of his time and energy on building up the military in the hopes of creating the most powerful military in the elemental nations.
"The time of the ninja and the daimyō has passed, my comrades! It is now the time for the lower classes to unite and overthrow our oppressors to establish a new government that represents the collective interests of the workers and the peasants. Join the growing Akai Hoshi movement's militia and help us establish the utopia that we all deserve! Hail the Akai Hoshi! Hail Shōgun Rennyo!" the Herald yelled out inciting the crowd into a roar of patriotic approval.
Kurotsuchi immediately let in a sharp inhale of air as she realized that she needed to get as far away from her homeland as possible. The only problem was that almost all of the other nations wanted nothing to do with an Iwagakure ninja, regardless of the situation. She knew that the only way she would be granted sanctuary was if she offered herself up as a bride to an upcoming ninja. However, due to the incredibly high standards that both her father and grandfather had instilled into her at an early age there was only one person that she would allow herself to be married off to.
That person was the child of the Yondaime Hokage.
Alright here is the harem and their future code names
Tenten= Jinx
Kin= Scarlett (I know that Scarlett is a red head and Kin was a black haired girl, I will deal with it.)
Yugito= Cover girl
Hana= Mutt
Samui= G.I. Jane
Kurotsuchi= Lady Jaye
Ino= Psyche-Out
Here are the members of the New Gi Joe.
Konohamaru= Kamakura
Neji= Long Range
B= Roadblock
Gaara= Dusty
Kiba and Akamaru = law and order
Shikamaru= Lt. Falcon
Kakashi= Flint
Darui=Duke
Might Guy= Sgt. Slaughter
Rock Lee= Beachhead
Chōjūrō=Shipwreck
Tsubaki= Chameleon
General Hawk=Mifune
Fu= (?)
The Neo-Cobra Roster
Orochimaru= Cobra commander
Kabuto= Dr. Mind Bender
Karin= Baroness
Sasuke= Fire Fly
Itachi=Storm Shadow
Dotō Kazahana (The main villain in the Clash in the land of Snow) = Destro
Sakon and Unkon= Tomax and Xamot
Madara Uchiha= Serpentor
Sakura= Zarana
Zetsu= Zartan
Kakazu= Major Bludd
Nadare Rōga = Wraith
Surprise character = Pythona
Congratulations to Sportsman, who guessed the surprise character correctly on his first try. So as agreed upon, I allowed him to choose the final girl for Naruto's Harem and he chose Ino. SO if any of you guys have a problem with that then take it up with him and not me.
Important information about the weapons lists below.
(*)= the weapon will be replaced by a more advance weapon later on in the story or in the sequel.
(**)= weapon didn't follow the weapon challenge guidelines, but will be replaced later on.
(***)= Not an actual weapon in real life
Now for the GI Joe Arsenal
Standard issue Sidearm(s):
Colt 1911A1 .45 pistol (All around usage)
Beretta M1951 (Special Forces Operators and Military Intelligence agents)
Standard issue Sniper rifle(s):
Kar98k with scope* (Regular Forces Snipers/Scouts)
Springfield 1903 bolt action rifle with scope* (Special Forces Snipers/scouts)
Standard Issue Battle rifle(s):
M1 Garand rifle* (Regular forces and Special Forces)
Standard issue Submachine gun(s):
Thompson submachine gun 1928A1 (the Regular Forces squad commanders, Special Forces Operators commandos, Military Intelligence agents)
M3 Grease Gun* (Special Forces Operators Commandos)
Standard Issue Shotgun(s):
Winchester Model 1897 "trench Gun" (Regular Forces and Special Forces pointman)
Standard Issue Squad Automatic Weapon(s):
M1918A2 Browning automatic rifle* (Regular Forces and Special Forces)
M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun* (Special Forces)
Other Standard Issue Weapon(s):
M79 Grenade Launcher** (Regular Forces and Special Forces)
M2 Machine Gun (Fortifications and Recon Vehicles)
Mk 2 defensive hand grenade (All around usage)
Neo-Cobra's Arsenal
Standard Issue Sidearm(s):
Browning Hi-power pistol (All round usage)
Walter P38 pistol (Crimson Guardsmen)
Standard Issue Sniper Rifle(s):
SMLE Mk IV bolt action rifle with scope* (Regular Forces and Special forces snipers/Scouts)
Gewehr 98 bolt action rifle with scope* (Crimson Guardsmen Snipers/ Scouts)
Standard Issue Battle rifle(s):
Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifle* (Regular Forces, and Crimson Guardsmen Infantrymen and Marines)
Standard Issue Submachine gun(s):
Sten Mark I Submachine gun* (Regular Forces squad commanders)
MP40 Submachine Gun (Crimson Guardsmen and Military Intelligence agents)
Beretta Model 38 Submachine gun* (Cobra Special Forces)
Standard Issue Shotgun(s):
Ithaca model 37 pump action shotgun (Regular forces and Special Forces pointman)
Standard Issue Squad Automatic Weapon(s):
Bren Light Machine Gun* (Regular Forces)
STG 44 (Special Forces)
Other Standard issued weapon(s):
MG42 (Fortifications and recon vehicles)
Model 24 stick grenade (all around usage)
Now for the Arsenal of the Akai Hoshi movement
Standard Issue Sidearm(s):
TT-30 (Special Forces, Elite units, Noncommissioned officers, Commissioned officers, and Commissars)
Makarov pistol (Regular Ground forces)
Standard Issue Sniper Rifle(s):
Mosin–Nagant 91/30 with a scope* (Regular ground Forces Snipers/ Scouts)
SVT-40 with scope* (Special Forces, and elite units Snipers/ Scouts)
Standard Issue Battle rifle(s):
AK-47 (all around usage)
Standard Issue Submachine Gun(s):
PPSh-41 (Noncommissioned officer Squad Leaders, elite units, Special Forces, and Commissars)
Standard Issue Squad Automatic Weapon(s):
RPD Light Machine (all around usage)
Other Standard Issue weapon(s):
DShK 1938 heavy machine gun (Fortifications and Recon vehicles)
RGD-33 stick grenade (all around usage)
Now for Weapons that will be used by only one character
XK-1 Power Crossbow *** (Kin/Scarlett only)
Uzi Submachine gun .45 caliber variant (Snake-Eyes only)
Now I don't want anyone to complain about how I overpowered the Akai Hoshi movement by giving them all these weapons, because I have a plan to deal with this problem. And for those wondering why I decided to add a third faction into the story. Well, I did it because it didn't make any sense for all the villages to join forces into one group as there's a lot of bad blood between them. So I figured that creating a third faction might make things more interesting .
Now with that being said, I hope that everybody will enjoy this newest chapter and leave a review.
So until Next time readers, YO JOE!