Aite, Operation Clean house, a shorter chapter here, there's a bit of interesting stuff for Naruto at the end though. Hope this works I don't have much experience with long fights also I forgot to mention there would be character death you'll see who
And a reminder to everyone Hiashi was the true winner of Naruto as a series, he played the long CK2 game and came out on top
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"Months of preparation for this day…" Tsunade thought to herself as she stood in a forest clearing, it was early morning and She knew Danzo would be going down this road soon. The Senju woman took a deep breath and looked up to see Jiraiya jump down from the treelines.
A wave of nostalgia overcame the Toad sage as he laid his eyes on Tsunade's old Shinobi battle armor and smiled.
"You really wanna make sure to go all out on this, huh?"
Tsunade ignored the passing comment and gave him a sharp look
"What are our numbers looking like?" Tsunade asked, Jiraiya composed himself
"We have fifty Shinobis in total...there's about ten on the roadside finishing setting up explosive tags and closing down the road from the north, Anko's squad is in position as is Hiashi's group, They're ready to split Danzo's personal Root unit, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya answered as Tsunade closed her eyes
"Divide and Destroy, Defeat in detail" Tsunade repeated in her head before sensing something and quickly whipped her head in its direction
A hooded figure suddenly landed next to Jiraiya and Tsunade gazed at him, the hooded figure slowly revealed himself to be Itachi Uchiha. Tsunade narrowed her eyes while Itachi only stared back at her with his cold onyx eyes
"So he was your contact this whole time?" Tsunade asked and Jiraiya tensed up
"Y-Yeah, you don't seem too surprised, I was expecting a fist to fly or something?" Jiraiya sheepishly replied, slowly relaxing
"I had a feeling there was something more to the Uchiha massacre before I became Hokage...but I got my hands on the black ops file when I took the hat." Tsunade waved off before glancing at Itachi
"Has Jiraiya filled you in on the plan?" she asked
"Yes, Hokage-sama" the Uchiha answered and closed his eyes
Ka-boom*
the Senju woman smiled as a distant explosion was heard and turned back to Jiraiya
"Well then let's get this started…"
And with that, the three S-rank Shinobis jumped through the trees to meet their target
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Danzo Shimura had been in a terrible mood the past few days as he leaned up against a tree, the Root detachment he had taken with him was scattered from well-placed Explosive tags, several of Tsunade's handpicked Anbu squads were already engaging them, and yet...
"Where the Bastard go!?" Anko shouted as a few Ninkens followed her, Tsume sniffed the area before motioning Anko to follow her
The Konoha elder sighed and bit his thumb, he still had tricks up his sleeve just for this occasion
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A large orange elephant creature appeared and blew its trunk to launch a wind Jutsu
A large gust of Wind was head straight towards Anko and Tsume, knocking down several trees with it
"Shit! Drop!" Anko shouted as Tsume threw herself to the ground along with her Ninken, Inuzuka Matron coughed up some dust.
The Baku let out a war cry and began sucking the air around the two Shinobi
"Hold on to something!"
Anko had her snakes hold on to a branch and Tsume's Ninkens managed to get away in time
Dozens of Snakes still slithered from the sleeves of her trench coat and slammed into the Baku filling it with their venom and beginning to restrain the beast.
The Snake woman went through several hand seals
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" She cried out and let out a huge fireball straight into the Baku's mouth, the Snakes then all disappeared in a poof of smoke as the Baku screeched.
Danzo stayed still, hiding behind a tree in the nearby woods as he heard the beast's screams of pain before disappearing in a poof of smoke.
The Old War hawk barely had time to avoid Hiashi's strikes and behind the Hyuga Clan leader, was Asuma finishing up several hand seals and exhaling a large cloud of ash engulfing Danzo.
"Hiashi-sama!" Asuma called out as he made several more hand seals,
Hiashi nodded and jumped back just as Asuma clenched the flint on his teeth.
Ka-boom*
The fiery explosion shook the ground as the Two Konoha Shinobi covered their eyes
"No way he could survive that...Right?" Asuma thought to himself as he was joined by Tsume and Anko
"Did we get the bastard?" the Feral clan-head of the Inuzuka clan spoke with hope in her voice, Hiashi kept his Bakugan activated and saw movement on the branches.
"Above!"
The four Shinobis barely had time to react, Danzo jumped down and nearly stabbed Asuma with his Cane sword, the Old one-eyed veteran frowned and watched the Shinobi scramble out of the way to surround him
"One eye down...It would seem Tsunade has finally decided to get rid of me and I've already made a costly mistake...no more restraints then" Danzo sighed as he removed his bandages, exposing his arm filled with Sharingan's, Asuma's eyes narrowed, Tsume growled at what she saw and Hiashi merely grinned for some odd reason.
"You're disgusting!" Anko hissed out, the fact her former Sensei had a hand in this monstrosity pissed her off to no end.
"Heavenly kick of pain!" Tsunade appeared slightly above Danzo's head and slammed her heel on him
"Two down…"
"Good timing as always, Hokage-sama" Hiashi greeted as Asuma nodded in agreement
Another explosion shook the ground as her four subordinates shielded their eyes from the dust, Tsunade could see Danzo's corpse under her heel and cursed as the unmoving body fazed out of existence
"Root!" Danzo yelled, standing on a tree branch glaring at his enemies, a squad of Root Anbu took his side, Tsunade growled at that
"I knew he had more men hidden from me…but this is ridiculous" Tsunade angrily thought she felt a bit foolish for at one point believing she had taken all of his Root Shinobi from him
"These men are the first squadron, I personally trained and gave everything to, the best of the best Konoha has to offer and...more..." Danzo grinned as Anko narrowed her eyes at the Anbu, their necks had a strange familiar marking
"Those are curse seals," she said, pointing her Kunai at him
"We have engaged the enemies forces and tied them down as ordered, Danzo-sama" One informed, Tsunade sighed, her Shinobi were either dead, very close to death, or scattered, Tsunade hoped it was the last one as she went through several hand seals
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu"
Tsunade slammed her palm to the ground, a poof of smoke appeared and several slugs dashed off to her Anbu's position
"Itachi Uchiha?!" Tsume shouted, seeing both Itachi and Jiraiya land next to Tsunade, the Hyuga leader raised an eyebrow while Anko looked nervous to see the Rogue Shinobi here, Asuma frowned.
"He's with us, we'll explain later!" Tsunade cut in before anyone made a move, Danzo repress the urge to grit his teeth seeing the Uchiha that had been a thorn on his side so long ago
"Working with Traitors now are we?" Danzo taunted with a grin.
Jiraiya held up a hand just as Tsunade was gonna lunge at the War hawk
"Like you're one to talk to, you old cripple!" Anko shot back, the Smirk on Danzo's face vanished
"Itachi and I have been planning this for a long time, you're the Hokage, Tsunade-hime, we'll take care of him, you deal with his curse mark lackeys, No matter what the Village and Naruto need you" the Toad Sage whispered to her., the Senju woman glared at her teammate before giving a small nod
"Deal with Tsunade's rats" Danzo ordered and the Anbu nodded, engaging Tsunade's Shinobi
"First," Danzo lifted his eye bandages, a Mangekyō Sharingan spun and glared at Tsunade
"Kotomatsukami…" Danzo thought the Slug princess froze and twitched several times before launching a fist at Jiraiya, the Toad Sage barely had time to dodge the attack.
"Tsunade-hime?!" he cried out as Tsunade growled at her teammate
Itachi silently cursed as he made a half-ram seal
poof*
A Crow landed on his shoulder, cawing, and squawking. Danzo looked shocked seeing Shushi's other eye and cursed.
He threw several Shurkiens at the Crow
"Hakkesho Kaiten!" Hiashi cried out as he jumped in front of Itachi and deflected the weapons.
The Uchiha had the bird glare at Tsunade in the same way Danzo had.
"Your will of fire is stronger than any Genjutsu, Tsunade-sama protect those you hold dear" muttered as the Crow squawked several more times and landed on Tsunade's shoulder
She twitched a few more times before glaring at Danzo, Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief, thanking Kami that he accepted Itachi's offer to join them.
Tsunade wanted to put Danzo in the ground herself but she calmed down, whatever that Genjutsu was, breaking out of it mentally drained her, both Tsunade and Hiashi quickly went over to help her Shinobis in dealing with Danzo's guards.
The Toad Sage watched the crow disappear once more and quickly went through several hand seals as Itachi lunged at the War hawk.
Danzo frowned and blocked a fist to the head, he quickly blocked more attacks as he engaged in a Taijutsu match with the Rouge Shinobi.
The Crippled man wheezed as he moved his head to avoid another kick, he wasn't at his prime anymore, engaging in a Taijutsu game with Itachi was suicide, he allowed himself to be stabbed in the chest with a Kunai instead.
He gasped as Itachi pulled out the weapon and stabbed his neck, Danzo's body once again collapsed and phased out of existence
"Three down…"
Itachi waited and listened, hearing several Kunai whizz through the air, the Uchiha jumped back to avoid them and took out a sword from his Akatsuki coat
Danzo with his own blade out, the War Hawk took a deep breath
"Fūton: Shinkūjin!" Danzo cried out and blew on the blade, Wind Chakra sharpened and increased the length of the weapon, Itachi grinned looking behind Danzo
"Senpo: Rasengan!" Jiraiya cried out slamming the Sage-powered Jutsu into the war-hawks back, the Toad Sage was already in his Sage mode with both Ma and Pa on his shoulders
Danzo spat out blood as the Rasengan drilled through him and Jiraiya's hand went through him, the corpse fell lifeless as Jiraiya pulled his bloodied hand out with a sickening noise and a smug grin
"The same trick worked twice!…but that's four…" Jiraiya thought
"Jiraiya-boy, he's trying to escape" Pa spoke before focusing back on gathering more Natural Chakra and feeling Danzo's position, Ma nodded with him.
Jiraiya glared in the direction Danzo went and cursed
"He's trying to head to Oto…" Jiraiya theorized and Itachi's eyes widened before bursting into a flock of crows
Jiraiya sighed before jumping through the treelines and after Danzo.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
In a small clearing not too far from Jiraiya and Itachi, Dozens of dead Konoha Jounin and Root Anbu littered the field.
Genma paled as he barely had time to dodge a sword swipe for his head, his squad had managed to take out Most Root Anbu before this Curse marked enhanced Anbu joined them and began to decimate his colleagues one by one.
"For Danzo-sama's glory," the Root Anbu muttered in a deep voice, continuously backing the Shinobi into a corner
"Four dead...and he's not even winded" Genma blocked another sword strike with a Kunai, pushing the Root Anbu back, Genma panted as he felt himself at his limit, all he could do now was defend and react.
A female Root Anbu with Curse mark tattoos jumped down and the Konoha Jounin cursed throwing himself behind the tree as four Kunais impaled the tree
"I'm not gonna make out of here, am I?... Kami, was this what it felt like, Hayate?" Genma solemnly thought to himself, thinking about his long-dead Comrade as the two Root Anbu closed in from both directions
Several wooden spears flew in the air and managed to Impale one Root Anbu on the leg as the two Curse Marked Anbu jumped away, the Root Anbu hit effortlessly removing the spear from its blooded leg without care.
Yamato frowned as he slammed his hands together and wooden pillars shot out of the ground and towards the Anbu.
Genma let out a sigh of relief
"Yamato-san" He greeted as Anko jumped down next to him with a small slug in her hand
"I will take care of your wounds, Shinobi-san" the Slug spoke and crawled onto Genma and began healing him.
"You just sit there and take it easy," Anko said before joining Yamato
Genma sat on the base of the tree truck letting the slug do its work, he played with the senbon in his mouth and remained alert still.
"Anko-san, do you have any idea how to deal with them?" Yamato questioned, hoping her own experience with her Curse mark could help, Anko only smirked
"Just don't hold back and always go for the kill, you know, the usual...they're not very smart" she replied
Behind both of them, Asuma jumped down with his trench knives in hand and Hana Inuzuka with two of her Ninkens, the Scene she laid her eyes on almost made her sick but she wasn't a Chunin for nothing.
"Kaa-san sent me to help..." She said in a somewhat shaky tone and Asuma frowned, looking at his dead comrade's body littering the place.
"Tou-san should've put Danzo down a long time ago, now we're paying for it" Asuma bitterly spoke
Anko barely had time to dodge a sword swipe
"Whoa! That almost hit me!" She playfully shouted with a grin the Second curse marked Anbu threw herself at Anko, however, She wasn't Orochimaru's former student for nothing and was able to block most hits
"Damn this bitch hits pretty good, fucking Curse mark," Anko thought. kicking the Anbu back and a large amount of Snakes dropped from Anko's sleeves as they rushed to wrap themselves around the Curse marked Anbu
A Trench knife whizzed past Anko's head and impaled itself in the Anbu's head, despite the fatal wound, the Anbu kept struggling against the Snakes
"Still alive?" Anko muttered, suddenly a second Trench knife sliced the Curse Mark Anbu's head and it rolled away.
"And then there was one," Anko grinned, looking at the last Curse mark Anbu going onto his Second Stage.
"Oh just my fucking luck" She grimly thought as the four Konoha Shinobi prepared for the fight of their lives
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Tsume sighed, worried about her daughter's safety but she had her orders and she'd follow them
She tilted her head to avoid a Kunai for her as Dozens of Root Anbu surrounded the Squad of Konoha Shinobi
"Do you have a plan, Tsunade-sama?" Hiashi asked in his Gentle fist fighting stance, the Senju woman grinned as a Slug reappeared on her shoulder
"Of course I do…"
Tsunade managed to blitz a Root Anbu and slammed her fist literally through his abdomen
The Anbu gasped as Tsunade pulled her arm back and allowed the dead man to hit the ground
"You really believe you can defeat your Hokage?" Tsunade's voice bellowed throughout the woods, the Root Anbu remained silent before one spoke up
"We're loyal to Danzo-sama first"
a tiger made of Ink roared through the treelines and lunged onto the Root Shinobi that said those words, tearing him into pieces.
Several Anbu with Root headbands jumped down their weapons drawn and with no masks on their face, a Dark-haired Pale skinned Shinobi jumped down in front of her with his Tanto drawn
Tsunade grinned at him, her habit of overplanning served her well this time, she had secretly handpicked the best Root Anbu that she had taken from Danzo to join her as a backup.
"T-Tsunade-sa-" Tsume couldn't get another word out
"They're on our side!" Tsunade interrupted and once again Tsume could only nod at her Hokage's words
"For Tsunade-sama!" Sai shouted with a stoic face, Danzo's men were stunned at seeing their former commander and comrades on the other side
"S-Sai-sama! You've betrayed us!"
Sai said nothing as he used the surprise to his advantage and plunged his blade into the Anbu's throat, Tsunade's Anbu began to engage their former Comrades.
Hiashi joined them and struck a few more with his Gentle fist
"Gatsūga!" Tsume shouted as she spun her attack towards an unlucky Root Anbu.
"Ah, how I love the smell of dead traitors in the morning" Tsunade grinned as she went to work herself, crushing many Anbu with just her Taijutsu, though she couldn't help but be worried about her perverted Teammate, glancing at Hiashi and avoiding a Kunai swipe
"I want you to go find Jiraiya and Itachi, provide whatever support you can!" Tsunade barked the clan head hesitated before giving a short bow and leaving the clearing
"Cover him!" Tsunade hissed and Tsume slammed into another Anbu that was going to intercept Hiashi.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Itachi reappeared in front of Danzo, he hadn't gone far enough and the War-hawk cursed and prepared his blade, the Uchiha narrowed his eyes his Sharingan blazing
"You have yet to use your Genjutsu…"
Itachi then did something hardly anyone had seen him do, he grinned before charging at the War-hawk
Sparks flew as the two men clashed with their blades, Itachi glanced at Danzo's arm and suddenly a large stone sword stabbed the man from behind
"Five," Itachi thought as he watched another Sharingan eye closed, Jiraiya shook his head seeing Danzo's corpse disappear again.
"This man just refuses to die…" Jiraiya spoke with annoyance
"….Jiraiya-sama! H-He's behind you!" Hiashi shouted as he finally caught up to them, out of breath but on time.
"I won't die until I become Hokage!" Danzo screamed, slammed his hands together and several wooden pillars shot out of the ground
"Jiraiya-boy! Go!" Ma shouted, the Toad Sage gracefully avoided every single Mokuton pillar Itachi took a deep breath, his Sharingan spun wildly turning into his Mangekyō stage
"Amaterasu" he whispered, blood formed on the corner of his eyes and dripped down as he grit his teeth in pain
Danzo had no time to react as the black flames burned him, the man screeched out and tried to put out the fires to no effect.
His corpse fell to the ground once again disappearing
"Six…"
Hiashi's Byakugan still glared at the War-hawk's disappearing body and scanned his surroundings
"Now where will yo-"
Hiashi coughed up blood as Danzo's blade appeared in front of him, the Hyuga clean head grits his teeth as the blood dripped down from the side of his mouth
"I...didn't even see him or sense him!?" Hiashi mentally yelled, before gasping in pain as Danzo twisted his blade
"I'm almost insulted that you think you could stand against me, Hyuga…even in my old age, I far surpass you." Danzo taunted as Jiraiya roared in anger and Itachi cursed himself for tiring himself out so soon.
"I...can't keep using my Mangekyō so recklessly or I'll go blind but...now it has cost us," Itachi thought as his eyes reverted back to their three tomoe state.
Hiashi grinned despite the pain as he held on to Danzo's arms and took out a Kunai from his Shinobi pouch, in a flash he stabbed the man's head.
Danzo's body once again collapse and faded away as Hiashi cringed, he grabbed the hilt of Danzo's blade and quickly pulled it out from his stomach, the Hyuga clan-head fell on the ground with the blade next to him
"...Seven…" another Sharingan eye closed
"Hiashi!" Jiraiya landed next to him as the Hyuga clan-head took out a purple pill, quickly biting into it and swallowing it as fast as he could, he was still bleeding out, and with a sigh, Hiashi felt his heart rate speed up, his body felt numb though he could move again.
"Let us j-just finish this" he spoke through pained ragged breaths and stood up, his bleeding wound still exposed, Hiashi began feeling a strange sensation on his muscles.
"Poison?" Hiashi's vision began to blur, it had seemed Danzo had an endless amount of tricks up his sleeve
"It was lucky that Tsunade managed to copy that morphine drug for us...but still he needs medical attention and fast" Jiraiya mused, he turned back to see once again Danzo was running from Itachi, the Uchiha still had his normal Sharingan blazing.
"You should get back to Tsunade-hime so she can treat you and once we'r-"
"Jiraiya-sama, this may be my end but I will serve Konoha and finish my mission first." Hiashi spoke in a stern tone as he stood up and picked up Danzo's sword, Jiraiya was still stunned before giving the man a slow and grim nod.
"The Mission comes first," Hiashi thought to himself solemnly before suddenly feeling the Morphine's effects intensifying in his body.
The Uchiha slammed his foot into Danzo's cheek sending the old war-hawk flying back
Managing to catch himself, Danzo was already getting frustrated and made a snake hand seal, seeing Itachi close in on him
"Mokuton: Daisōju.."
Several wooden spears shot out of the ground but the Uchiha managed to avoid all of them and leaped into the air, Danzo saw this and quickly began making several more hand seals
"Fūton: Shinkū Renpa!" Danzo took a deep breath and let out several gusts of wind, Itachi's body burst into a flock of crowds as he reappeared and managed to stab Danzo from behind.
"Eight…"
As Danzo manifested again a large Toad fell from above
"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!"
Danzo's body was crushed under a large angry toad that disappeared as soon as it came
"Sorry about that Gamahiro…" Jiraiya chuckled, he'd probably have to make it up to the toad later, Itachi, however, frowned...
Danzo had nowhere to run and as the saying went, an animal was most dangerous when backed into a corner
"Nine…"
The Old war-hawk cursed, he only had Shushi's eye left, to use Izanagi again or to use his teleportation techniques.
Itachi then once again engaged Danzo in Taijutsu, only for the man to teleport instantly
"Shushi's technique…though he must be very low on Chakra if he didn't get far," Itachi thought to himself
Hiashi began to breathe more heavily, though still his Dojutsu was active and he saw Danzo running away through the treelines
The Hyuga Clan head stumbled slightly, despite being an uptight stoic Hyuga, Hiashi actually growled in anger at his failing body and took off after Danzo himself
"He's moving north!" Hiashi informed both Jiraiya and Itachi went with him, feeling the purple-pill kick in better, Hiashi's Byakugan blazed as he sped ahead of the two
With Danzo's sword in his hands, focusing all of his Chakra into his muscles, Hiashi threw himself and managed to impale Danzo's stomach just as the man turned around, pinning him to a tree
The Root Commander spat out blood as Hiashi twisted the blade himself, he glared at the Hyuga Clan head who was wheezing
"Y-You're not getting out of this alive either, Hyuga...t-that poison is from the best Suna could offer…"
Hiashi grinned, blood trailing down his mouth, thinking about his two daughters, his firstborn Hinata and his second-born Hanabi.
"I..should've been easier on you...Hinata and spent more time with you b-but...protect your sister...remove the seal from our clan and reunite the house, I know you can do this...Hizashi...I will see you soon, brother and Hitomi, my love I'll be with you again."
"I served my clan and the village to the...end" were his last words, the life faded from Hiashi's eyes as he slumped over, unmoving.
Danzo grit his teeth, trying to remove the blade from himself but he could feel his body giving away due to the poison, he cursed once more, however, seeing both Itachi and Jiraiya land on the tree branches above him
"I don't...have...enough chakra for Ura Shishō Fūin...I can't even move a muscle…not even in my last moments...could I be anywhere close to your level, Hirzuen…" he tried several times to mold Chakra to release his final Suicide Seal but to no avail
"You were the leaves bathing in the sun. I…. am the roots that grow in the dark...my legacy will…" Danzo couldn't form another thought as he too slumped over...finally truly dead, Itachi and Jiraiya stole glances at each other before collecting the dead and heading back to Tsunade.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
A Week passed since Danzo's death and the Hyuga clan elders were up in arms, their Clan head was dead and the blame was solely at the feet of Tsunade, despite the mission being an overall success, it felt more like a pyrrhic victory than anything else.
The Senju princess stood in her office and frowned, watching the villagers peacefully go about business, it hadn't stopped raining since Hiashi's and the rest of the dead's funeral.
Despite the somber mood, Tsunade still had the censored report of the operation released to the general public, quite frankly, she had smeared Danzo's name into the ground, publishing his many crimes and making a rousing speech on how she had cleansed the great tree of its infected roots.
Even still, a Clan head was dead, an entire Jounin and Chunin platoon was slaughtered with only a handful of Survivors making it out, mangled, crippled, most would be retired for good.
Though Genma, Anko, Asuma, Yamato, and even Hana had thankfully survived long enough against the Curse seal Anbu for Jiraiya and Itachi to capture him, said S-rank Shinobis now stood in front of her desk.
"That could've gone better" Jiraiya sighed out, wincing as he had gotten a cut on his cheek, Itachi shifted slightly
"Danzo is dead, we still can move on to our Taki pet project and we're one step closer" Tsunade muttered the last part before looking over her shoulder, Jiraiya sighed
"So, what's our game plan?" The Toad sage questioned as the Senju woman hummed
"I had Sakura-chan fill in the Kazekage on our intentions with the Nanabi, he's still somewhat upset with us for losing Naruto...but he's agreed to support us if it comes down to it, Konoha's military alone would suffer a lot if we just outright invaded Ame...and that's if we're lucky and didn't trigger a war..." Tsunade started
"For now, all we'll do is be a thorn on their side, nibble at their feet until we can get the Nanabi and the rest of the Villages on board" Tsunade finished before she turned around to glare lightly at Itachi.
"Now what will you do?" Tsunade said in a stern voice, there was some attempt to intimidate the Uchiha but Itachi simply closed his eyes
"I've...made many mistakes with your permission, Hokage-sama, I would like to live the remainder of my life in Konoha, I know killing Danzo doesn't excuse me of my crim-"
Tsunade held up a finger as she took out a small black file.
"You stopped a coup and a potential civil war before it even began, the information you've given us on Akatsuki allowed Sakura-chan and Elder Chiyo to take out Sasori of the Red Sands and you've helped us take out Danzo without you I might have killed Jiraiya under that bastards Genjutsu, you're free to stay here once again but I can't have you being a proper Konoha Shinobi again, it would raise questions" Tsunade explained, the stoic Uchiha stiffened before giving a short bow
"Thank you, I understand Tsunade-sama...though I have a request." Itachi started as he glanced at both Jiraiya and Tsunade
"My little brother will come for me when he hears about this, my betrayal of Akatsuki…and Tsunade-sama, I wish to face him in Konoha when he does as well as tell him the truth" Itachi finished with a low voice
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him
"That could set him off on a path to destroy the village" Tsunade pointed out but the Uchiha shook his head
"I have faith in him, I've thought about this for a long time since I left the Village, I know he won't go down that path, I won't let him, there's things he and I must discuss" Itachi replied, though Tsunade only glared at him
Sasuke Uchiha, she started to loathe that name after Naruto had returned from the retrieval mission for as long as she had been back in Konoha, the Uchiha only caused trouble for her surrogate son, nearly killing him and running off to her rogue teammate.
"Tsunade-sama, this is all I request" Itachi's voice betrayed his stoic face, it was the voice of a tired man, not someone in their early twenties.
"Sasuke and the Village mean everything to me, I've already made many mistakes in my handling of him...I shouldn't have told him to follow his hatred...I aim to correct that mistake but I promise you, Tsunade-sama, I will not let him harm the village" Itachi began to plead, even Jiraiya looked a bit surprised to hear this from the usually stoic Shinobi
It was an odd situation Tsunade was in now, never in all of her life did she think she'd have Itachi Uchiha, the butcher of his own clan, pleading with her. she closed her eyes and threw the idea around in her head
"I think it's a good idea, Hime" Jiraiya suddenly spoke up as Tsunade glanced at him
"Sasuke's with Orochimaru right? We could use Itachi as a way to lure the two into an ambush somehow we'd get two birds with one stone, we can take out the Snake and grab the brooding avenger, Win-win" Jiraiya added, Tsunade blinked at that and she hummed, she grinned slightly coming to a decision
"I agree, but we'll work out the future plans for a little idea later, and Itachi…"
The Uchiha looked at his Hokage
"Try not to leave the Uchiha-clan compound so much, your presence here is an S-rank secret until I say otherwise, I will have my Shinobi looking out for you" Tsunade ordered and Itachi closed his eyes, trying to regain his stoic composure after a brief outburst like that.
"There's one more thing Tsunade-sama…"
The Senju woman repressed the urge to groan, Jiraiya looked a tad nervous for what was to come as he had already been informed about this before giving Tsunade their full report..
"Speak."
Itachi looked out the window, seeing the distant buildings of the village
"There was another man who assisted me in the Uchiha massacre…a masked man, I believe he's after Sasuke now that I've left Akatsuki."
As soon as Tsunade could process those words, she glared at him
"Explain."
"This masked man, he calls himself Madara Uchiha and claims responsibility for the Kyuubi attack Sixteen years ago…and he was the one who offered me a place in Akatsuki." Itachi continued with the same low voice
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and continued to look away while Tsunade felt a bit anxious herself now.
"You realize how crazy that sounds?" Tsunade muttered and Itach nodded
"I have my doubts he's the real Madara Uchiha but I can't really say what his true identity is or that he's definitely lying but I do know he's a dangerous man and he'll be after my little brother." Itachi finished, turning to face Tsunade.
"There's a good chance he'll come looking for Naruto Uzumaki at some point as well, in his words it's 'a little fox hunting', he wants the Kyuubi back in his possession."
The Senju woman was cursing in her head but managed to stay calm
"I see…we'll be keeping track of anything Sasuke Uchiha related and you'll be the first to know…" Tsunade mused before glaring at the two S-rank Shinobi
"Now get out of here"
The two Shinobi then both left through the windows as Tsunade rubbed her eyes, now came the hardest part of being Hokage.
"Anbu!" She cried out as several masked Shinobis jumped down and presented themselves, Tsunade took a deep breath
"Bring me Hinata Hyuga" She ordered and the Anbu dispersed to do just that
Half an hour went by, with the Senju woman drinking her Sake as fast as possible, it wasn't enough to get her plastered but it was enough to get through this
The Door to her office creaked open as the Hyuga heiress peaked her head in, Tsunade gave her a warm smile
"Take a seat…" Tsunade offered, motioning for the chair in front of her
Hinata hesitated, her lavender eyes looked strained from all the crying she had done but her expression was still blank.
"Have you been doing okay?" The blond Kage softly asked, the Hyuga girl looked away
"I-I-I've been f-fine, H-Hokage-sama b-but i-it's been t-tense in the compound, n-no one i-is sure what to do" Hinata stuttered out, Tsunade frowned and leaned back in her chair, the Hyuuga elders were still a thorn on any chance of uniting the two families, she...had been considering intervening though she'd be violating one of her grandfather's oldest laws.
Konoha could not and has never meddled in Clan affairs...and Tsunade herself believed that as a core value, though with this situation at hand, she wanted Konoha under her total control if she was going to go on the offensive against Akatsuki.
"You've read your father's will, haven't you?" Tsunade questioned, the pale-eyed Kunoichi nodded
"H-He named m-me his h-heir e-even though…"
"Hiashi was never one to so easily change his mind. He may have had a change of heart at some point or maybe he was just hard on you to prepare you for your clan's politics…" Tsunade trailed off as Hinata looked down, Hiashi's will was vague, with Hinata's heir position being the only thing in detail.
It put an immense amount of stress on Hinata as the revelation caused a rift between the Hyuga sisters, Hanabi under the impression that she was stronger and more worthy to lead, set in the old traditional ways...she had even used the seal a handful of times, only for Hinata to put a stop to it.
"T-The elders are discussing if I-I s-should have my p-position revoked…" Hinata spoke as tears threatened to fall from her eyes
"T-They w-want to g-give i-it to H-Hanabi!" Hinata suddenly shouted, her voice so full of emotions that Tsunade was taken aback to hear this from the usually meek girl.
"A-And I-I know it's because s-she's easier to control for them! Set in t-their own ways! A-and if I still b-become clan head…I-I'll be damning my own s-sister to the seal!" Hinata ranted as Tsunade's face softened for the girl, she thought about the situation as being very similar to Itachi's with Sasuke
The Senju woman sighed, looking at Hinata wiping her tears away with her sleeves, she hummed as an idea crossed her mind.
"We could risk losing everything if word of this gets out…but this will be one step closer...Grandfather, you shouldn't have let this go on for so long…" Tsunade closed her eyes, if she got the last major and most prestigious clan's total support, her political power would allow her to do as she pleased, no Danzo to stop her anymore and no vetoes on her power from any of the clans, total control and then she'd make her moves.
"Hinata, I need you to be strong, right now" Tsunade started, the Hyuga girl sniffed and watched the Hokage place a silencing seal on the front door and motioned for her Anbu to leave them to which they did.
Hinata was confused and silently concerned now at her Hokage's actions
"T-Tsunade-sama?"
The Senju woman sat back down
"I'm offering my support to intervene in your clan affairs, by means of force or any other way, I...can also get your sister, somewhere out of the elder's reach completely, she'll be safe and sound, you'll even get to visit…" Tsunade continued, Hinata couldn't meet her Kage's gaze, she couldn't even believe she was considering Tsunade's offer.
"Y-You lost Naruto-kun...How can I be sure you w-won't lose m-my sister?" Hinata muttered as Tsunade's eyes fell.
"I didn't…if fact she'll actually be close to Naruto" Tsunade replied, she opened her desk to take out a small scroll, Hinata looked up at her with some hope
"Y-You?"
Tsunade unsealed the scroll to reveal a photocopy of Naruto's city trip with the Newspaper Club, Hinata blinked and furrowed her eyebrows
"S-So, h-he didn't leave us? and he's been s-safe…" Hinata stared at the photo for a few seconds, feeling a weight off her shoulders and she began glancing between each member in the Photo, from Tsukune to Kurumu to Moka to Naruto and Mizore. all of their uniforms looked a bit strange to Hinata but she couldn't deny that she liked the look on Naruto.
"I sent Naruto to be kept safe somewhere far, far away from the village should the worst come and Konoha falls, I will still deny Akatsuki getting to Naruto...I know how much you care about him, I know how much you cried when I told you he was missing but I love Naruto too much to put him in danger like that, this way, both the Village and Naruto are safe" Tsunade explained in a formal tone.
Hinata ran her fingers over the photo, she wasn't angry with Tsunade far from it, if anything she was just relieved to hear Naruto was safe.
"H-He's made new friends?" Hinata's smile dropped slightly, she stared at Mizore for some reason, something about the Yuki-onna's glance at Naruto seemed too familiar to her as it was the same glance she would give him. Tsunade slowly took back the photo and sealed it back in the scroll.
"I could send Hanabi to stay under the care of an Anbu that's been keeping an eye on Naruto, the two of them could even watch her while you can focus your full attention on the Clan" Tsunade offered, Hinata's pupil-less eyes flickered
"And you said I'd be able to visit?"
Tsunade hid her surprise at the fact Hinata didn't stutter this time, she blinked recalling a certain festival coming up next semester, in which she'd have to personally visit her surrogate son herself at the Academy along with a protection detail.
"Yes, it won't be for a few months as she'd need to get settled in but you could visit both her and Naruto after that" Tsunade elaborated, the Hyuga's breath hitched
"I-I'll do it!" Hinata exclaimed, Tsunade grinned and took out a blank scroll
"She graduated early from the Academy and is still waiting for a Genin team to be placed in, give this to her, tell her I've made an exception and I need a Hyuga for this mission as fast as possible and that she's the only one who can do this, don't let the elders find out about this" Tsunade spoke as she wrote down orders on the scroll, wrapping it up and handing it to the Hyuga
"S-She's appealing to Hanabi-chan's pride…" Hinata cringed internally at the low blow to her little sister though she understood and took the scroll.
"Now...Hinata, I need something from you" Tsunade spoke, taking a deep breath
"Train...train as hard as you can, the worst-case scenario with your clan could end very badly, I need you to be strong, physically and mentally, can you do that for me?" Tsunade asked, in a sincere tone, Hinata nodded slowly
The Hyuga girl knew what the worst-case was and she refused to let her clan go down that path, she'd die before the Clan would even take a step in that direction
"H-Hokage-sama, for the sake of Hanabi-chan and Naruto-kun, I-I will become strong" Hinata answered
Tsunade could only smile and leaned back on her chair, she'd have to write another letter soon to Mikogami and...bring in extra hands for Naruto.
"Dismissed"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
A Bell chime could be heard in the distance signifying that another class was about to start, though Naruto Uzumaki wasn't even on campus, no he was in his familiar training location instead.
He thought back to the past few days, the Experience with the Fox and...his other self a few days ago seemed to be a one-time thing.
At least he had hoped there had been no problems from him since, so Naruto wrote it off as just a bad dream, part of him really didn't want to find out if that was the case or not.
With the Newspaper Club, things were basically going so well for him but Naruto couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong, though with Mizore and his friends he kept up a smile for their sake and still did enjoy himself with them.
Naruto glared at dragonflies floating over the pond as he leaned against a tree, he sent a clone to sit in his classes and go through the day just so he could do this.
Something else began to bother him since he had that experience with the Fox too, Shizune flat out refused to tell him anything about Konoha, often giving vague answers such as 'everyone is fine, Naruto-kun' or 'I haven't heard from them, maybe send a letter to Tsunade-sama?'
Even when Naruto did send a letter via toads, a few days would go by without a single reply from Tsunade or Jiraiya, he even called Yūgao about it, though only got the same responses and it was starting to worry him.
A poof of smoke snapped him out of his thoughts as Gamakichi appeared in front of him
"Sup, bro!" the Toad greeted as a box of newspapers was on his head, Naruto grinned and waved at his summons
"Here's your treats, man" Naruto handed over a large plastic bag full of Candy he had gotten from the Academy's store.
The Toad grabbed the bag.
"Always a pleasure to do business with you, man!" Gamakichi said and began to enjoy himself while Naruto looked at the state paper from Konoha, the first thing that caught his eye were the huge bold letters on the front.
"Crisis averted in Suna!…several days ago a battle between two S-rank rogue Shinobi and the Kazekage led to a great clash resulting in the capture of the Ichibi! However, our brave Shinobi came to the rescue, Sakura Haruno distinguished herself by managing to kill Sasori of the red sands, an S-rank Rogue Shinobi, word around the Village is that she will soon be promoted to Jonin! The future Shinobi career looks bright for the student of our lady Hokage!"
Naruto blinked re-reading the passage several times then looking at the photo of Sakura taken in Suna, her pose screamed pure confidence now, she was clearly more muscular than before and more…battle-hardened, it was surprising…She had clearly already been in a few dangerous fights and become a seasoned Kunoichi
"Sakura beat an Akatsuki member?" His breath hitched, truth be told, deep down the Uzumaki knew Sakura was always the weakest member of the team, to see her improve so much...it made Naruto frown.
He should be happy that Sakura had become so strong but instead, he was only angry, angry at the fact his friends were fighting his battles while he slacked off in Yokai.
"Kazekage?" Naruto then realized, reading over the paper again, he flipped through several pages before his eyes widened
"Gaara is the Kazekage?!" he mentally yelled, his old friend the former Ichibi holder had achieved Naruto's dream, the Shinobi blinked, re-reading the text, now that was completely too surreal to Naruto, hell, he couldn't help but feel jealous even.
Sakura had taken out an Akatsuki member and Gaara was Kazekage.
"I really missed a lot," Naruto thought, slumping his shoulders as gloomy thoughts began to plague his mind.
"Am I falling behind on my training too?" Naruto mused, so far Medical Ninjutsu just didn't seem so practical to him, he barely got an E-rank medical Jutsu down, something that would have taken most Shinobis thirty minutes to figure out, took him a few hours just simply due to his poor chakra control.
All this time wasted he could be learning how to finally learn Sage training and finishing the Rasengan.
"I need to do my own training then too...away from Shizune-neechan...maybe I'll send another message to Geezer toad" Naruto frowned as he sat down by the shade of the dead tree and wrote away as soon as he was done, Gamakichi hopped over
"Hey, bro, I don't wanna alarm you, but there's this smoking hot girl looking at you from the trees over there and she looks scary" The Horse-sized Toad spoke, Naruto stiffened, he didn't notice clone dispelled in the middle of lunch and just now tried to go through the memories.
"R-Right..here, take this to Fukasaku" Naruto ordered, handing his friend the scroll, the Toad gave him a mock salute and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto sighed looking at the grass, he cursed seeing there was frost on it as the area became colder and colder
"Y-You're not really mad that I didn't go to class today, right?" Naruto nervously asked, seeing Mizore approach him from the edge of the clearing
"Just let me know next time that it's a clone, I don't like my pillow suddenly disappearing from existence and hitting my head on a bench" Mizore huffed, looking at the Newspaper, she no longer had her bandages from the fight with the Committee, her arms long since healed.
"I didn't know you had your own delivery toad service…though one of them couldn't get my last name right" Mizore casually commented, the Shinobi laughed at the last part
"Haha, N-no Some Shinobis can summon animals to help him, I just have the toad contract and they're good friends, you remember I also summoned a battle toad!" Naruto pointed out as Mizore frowned slightly, remembering meeting Ruby for the first time and ensuring a fight against that monster.
"You looked like you were gonna collapse after that" Mizore recalled, seeing her blond boyfriend hunched over and holding his jacket.
"Yeah, that usually doesn't happen" Naruto's face turned serious as he thought back to that night, he had his own theories about the subject but he would wait on it.
"Anyway, they help me deliver letters back home, They're really cool!" Naruto exclaimed, Mizore went through the paper as soon as she saw Sakura's name and narrowed her eyes.
"So this is Sakura Haruno?" Mizore said to herself, looking over the paper herself, a part of Naruto wanted to stop her but it was already too late for that.
"S-rank Rogue Shinobi...she must be really strong then," Mizore thought to herself, before tearing the page with Sakura's picture out
"I'm keeping this page" Mizore briefly stated as Naruto looked at her with a bit of concern
"A-Alright"
Ever since they had gotten together, Naruto had noticed Mizore being a bit more…more assertive with him occasionally glaring at girls who were eyeing up Naruto.
At first, it wasn't much of a problem until she actually threatened to freeze a third-year student who asked out Naruto on a whim, though Naruto didn't really know how to get her to tone it down, he felt he was barely keeping his head above the water with Mizore.
"Naruto-kun…" Mizore spoke up, the Shinobi perked up at the sound of her voice
"Hm?"
"Who are the people chasing you exactly?" Mizore let the question hang as Naruto face turned grim
"They're...called Akatsuki, it's made up of some S-rank Rogue Shinobis, major criminals, Psychopaths...Sensei told me about one being some weird immortal cultist guy..." Naruto trailed off, Mizore grabbed his hand
"They want the Fox inside you"
everything Naruto had given her, the bits and pieces of the situation in the Elemental nations finally clicked for Mizore while Naruto sighed hearing this.
"Yeah…"
The Yuki-onna went through the paper a few more times, it detailed Gaara's fight with Deidara, the loss of the Ichibi, Sakura's triumph over Sasori, and Lady Chiyo's sacrifice.
"Can they find you?" Mizore suddenly asked, her pale blue eyes flickered.
Naruto half-heartedly wanted to dismiss the idea but he felt a bit paranoid now that he had learned about the attack on Suna, he knew close to nothing about the seal that brought him here. Only Mikogami and Jiraiya knew how it worked.
Naruto simply had to trust Jiraiya that no one knew of this world, he didn't have much of a choice but another part of the Shinobi knew just how dangerous and ambitious Akatsuki really was.
"I...doubt it, only a few people know about this place and only two people know the actual seal..." Naruto answered with some hesitation, that tone didn't ease Mizore's worries.
Mizore slowly looked back at the paper on a certain page, it was still a bit gruesome, there was one photo of a dead Suna Shinobi that looked a bit like her blond boyfriend.
The Dead Shinobi's face was one of pure terror, for a brief second she could see Naruto's face there and she lightly clenched her teeth.
"Are you completely sure they won't find you?" Mizore questioned in a more stern and desperate tone as Naruto looked towards the pond.
"I really don't know…" Naruto reluctantly admitted, the Yuki-onna closed her eyes and took a deep breath
"Alright…"
Naruto awkwardly scratched his cheek, Mizore's blank expression was getting him worried while the Yuki-onna looked to be lost in her thoughts
"I don't care if they're S-rank Shinobis, no one is taking him from me...but I'll need to call Kaa-chan first" Mizore sighed to herself and grabbed Naruto's hand
"Are you gonna tell everyone else about this and the Fox?" She once more asked, Naruto looked into her eyes, he had been thinking about it for a while but Naruto just wanted to know how to go about it, if Mizore accepted him, he could trust everyone else.
"I feel like I have to…give me some time...I'll tell them" Naruto replied, Mizore nodded and quickly kissed his cheek
"Whatever you do, I'll support you, Naruto-kun, now come on, we still need to go to the Club for today, everyone's been wondering where you've been," Mizore spoke as she led the blond back to Campus
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Tsunade huffed as she moved through the long tunnels under the Hokage tower, created by Hiruzen at one point when Konoha genuinely believed they were under threat from an Iwa Invasion.
These days however it was just another place for Anbu to patrol, though today was different for Tsunade, she had managed to capture a great prize for her in their last mission
The curse-marked Anbu that had served Danzo so well... several of her own Anbu already had subdued him and left him strapped into an operating table and Jiraiya had already begun studying the curse mark from whatever notes they managed to get on it from Orochimaru's old bases.
This was unethical, if anyone leaked this information there would be a revolt, Orochimaru's crimes were still too fresh in the populace's mind but if Tsunade could just crack the code to this seal...she'd have a greater trump card and be able to finally field more Shinobis out there.
The Senju woman closed her eyes
"I guess I'm already in the same boat as the Snake bastard and even...Danzo but as long as it's for Konoha and the Brat..." Tsunade huffed as she opened the door to the operating table.
Looking at her prize, she grinned and looked over the notes on a nearby table
"So a bastardized version of Natural Chakra was powering the thing? ah, that makes sense but how to remove the piece of his soul..." Tsunade stood there looking at the Notes of Fuinjutsu and new Medical textbooks from Mikogami
"Ideally I can use this thing to forcibly flood and open up the Chakra networks of Civilians who decided not to become Shinobis..."
Tsunade sighed wondering if it was even a good idea to be messing around with such a seal but the truth was Konoha's manpower already was strained, the Kyuubi attack and the Surprise attack during the Chunin exams still affected the village in many different ways and on top with her modernization plans... those would have to wait for the most part solely due to the aforementioned Manpower crisis.
Still, the Medicine from that other world was already providing miracles for Tsunade, births were being delivered at an extremely safer rate compared to the other villages, food production was at an all-time high, and new live-saving battlefield medicine were just some of the things already being experienced in Konoha.
frankly, if this growth keeps up, Konoha could be ready militarily and economically to take on both Iwa and Kumo in about a generation.
Tsunade ignored the groans from the strapped man behind her and rolled her eyes at the mental prospects of fighting another war like that, no...her plans were to deal with Akatsuki right now.
The Ichibi's capture and the attack on Suna finally tipped over the other Shinobi Villages still on the fence and they had finally begun to take the threat far more seriously, sending envoys to Konoha about potentially sharing intel on combating Akatsuki.
the Senju woman still sighed again despite all of this, Akatsuki was only going to get stronger, reports of Ame Shinobi entering and leaving several Minor Villages including Oto put her on edge
Tsunade grabbed a rubber glove and a grim look set on her face as she turned around.
Some would call her cruel and a tyrant for all of these future plans she had in her head but Tsunade had to reign in on the Villagers by force if she had to now
A storm was coming for Konoha and she would do anything to make sure the Village came out of the other side intact
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Shibuki looked out the windows as the Villagers of Taki began to gather, he had called for a village-wide announcement, Shinobis all over now followed protocol and herded the Villagers into a large crowd outside The Kage's office.
Taki had the second largest population of the Minor Villages just behind Ame so a sizable crowd all laid their eyes upon their young Kage as he stood in his office.
A man with an Orange-swirling mask sat in the Kage's chair.
"So….you'll sign the agreement?~" he asked with a childish hand gesture as a red Sharingan blazed from the single hole on his mask.
Shibuki's right eye flashed with a faint red glow if one could see really closely, some small black tomoes spinning around his ordinary coal-black eyes
"I won't make the same mistake as my forefathers...now Taki needs its place in the sun, Taki will honor its word, we only expect the same from Ame" Shibuki muttered, spinning around and slowly making his way to the roof
Tobi closed his eye
"And the Jinchuriki?"
Shibuki's eye flashed back
"I-I sent Fū on a mission to establish a trade treaty in N-Nami no Kuni as Taki cut relations after Gato's takeover, she will be returning to the village in a month" the Taki Kage forced out as Tobi suddenly dropped the persona and sat up
"Order her back when you're done out there" He whispered, his eye blazed at Shibuki's form
Shibuki felt his head throb in pain before giving a slow nod and paused to catch his breath, going over his speech one more time, he made his final preparations before walking out to make his speech
"Taki! Hear me!" He spoke as the crowd quieted down, it wasn't every day the Kage called for a Village-wide meeting like this.
"For too long we've lived under the boot of Konoha and Iwa, thousands of our fathers, brothers, mothers, sons, and sisters have died defending our home from both of them, we've been forced to be a battlefield for the people who've kept us down, forced us into poverty and starvation!... However today...Ame has offered us an alternative" Shibuki started, starting down his countrymen, though he was very young still, this didn't discourage him anymore even if he had to betray those that had helped him get to this position.
His people would suffer no more that was enough for him. the muttering and murmuring of the crowd had shaken Shibuki slightly
"Ame has offered us an alliance...along with Kusa and Shimo, to defend each other from Konoha's and Iwa's constant aggression, Taki is our land and my father died for it and I know I will too...but I ask of you all one thing!" He cried out as the crowd began to roar in approval, Shibuki felt his next words almost die in his throat as he dreaded this part
"I need all of you...to be prepared to give yourself for Taki!" Shibuki shouted, cheers began to rise as he continued
"When the enemies come at our gates! we will show them the power of the Hero's water and cleave through them!" The Crowd's cheers were deafening as Shibuki smiled, the popular support always felt nice.
Tobi watched the speech go down from the distance on the Village walls as a Plantlike black and white creature began to surface from the ground
"You managed to actually get another Village under your thumb? Impressive…" it spoke as Tobi glanced at it
"Did you get the remnants of Yagura's men out of Kiri?" He demanded, the creature grinned
"Yes...Yes… the ones still hiding in the countryside after Mei managed to finally take Kiri…, They're being sheltered in Ame" it spoke, Tobi looked at the setting sun
The Kiri Civil war had been over for three years now with a sudden and quick surprise attack on Kiri itself by the rebels, Mei's forces fell on the enemy from all directions and it mostly came down to numbers and the speed of the attack in the end that decided victory.
It startled most of Yagura's forces with them trying to cobble up a defense and allowing Mei's Shinobis to quickly cut them down. The Rebels managed to overrun government buildings and positions, within a few hours The Mizukage's tower fell and the Sanabi thankfully wasn't released in time to cause even more damage to Kiri and died with Yagura.
But that was only just the conventional side of the war, the part most people in the elemental nations know, what was less known was the second phase of the war turning into an insurgency against the new Rebel Government
...Other people who had collaborated with Yagura's regime that wasn't so extreme were still ordered to be killed by the Rebels with Mei's full support, though this order would come back to haunt her as it now extended the war far longer.
The situation had reversed with many of the collaborating Merchants, average Shinobis, or Civilians fearing reprisals fleeing to the countryside. on top of all of that Yagura had spread out his forces to cover the rural areas in the first place to flush out Mei's rebels, meaning they were already in a position to start fighting the war this way
Guerilla warfare on the part of Yagura's remnants became the norm for the next three years, bloodline users in rural areas still being targeted by the more extreme Kiri Shinobi and this phase of the war forced the new Mizukage to divert her attention from rebuilding Kiri to dealing with this threat, severely slowing down the former and even causing a famine.
All of this finally ended as Tobi managed to strike deals with Nagato and the handful of Guerilla leaders. Merchants, Shinobis, and Civilians would be able to relocate to Ame completely so long as they swore allegiance to Ame and condemned the Anti-bloodline sentiment in their more extreme factions, the confusing mess of the Kiri Civil war had finally ended and Akatsuki had benefited from the affair.
"Thank you Zetsu...their experience from the Civil war will be useful later and tell Nagato to start preparing a team to take the Sanabi from Kiri as fast as possible, Mei's faction has won...but they'll be far too weak to stop us" he replied, Zetsu chuckled
"We've already informed Deidara and Kisame to meet in Shimogakure to await further instructions" the Darker half spoke before its other half glanced at it
"Ah, and how is Kisame taking Itachi's betrayal?" the Lighter half asked
"Too well for my liking, he was already cracking jokes about it when I met up with him" Zetsu grinned, Tobi suddenly stood up, now completely knowing what topic Zetsu was trying to bait him with
"I will personally deal with Itachi when the time comes, until then, keep an eye on Kisame first, everyone else second" Tobi ordered. Both Zetsu chuckled before they disappeared back into the ground
The Orange masked man could hear fireworks in the distance and one more time he looked up at the sky.
The Kyuubi seemingly had disappeared from the face of the elemental nations, every supposed lead was nothing more than a dead end and it was beginning to annoy Tobi, he kept tabs on every Jinchuriki for one as loyal as Uzumaki Naruto to suddenly get up and leave Konoha...
Tobi sighed before disappearing into a vortex.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
End
I fucking the fact my formatting fucks up during edits. That's why I dread them so much anyway I'll working on this thing till it's good