New AN!

What's up, people!? TM11 here, back with some Tides of Peace!

Now, I know I haven't updated this in a long time, but, I had some problems with the plot that I had thought up for this and had to fix them. Thus why I'm reploading this chapter. This is a new version of chapter 2 and I hope that you like more than the previous one.

At any rate, I won't keep you from reading anymore. Go and have a good read!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does; though, seriously, sometimes I think I could've done a better job than he did with the manga and anime. Then again, that probably is my ego talking.

"Word" – Talking

'Italic' – Thoughts

"Bijuu" – Bijuu or Summons talking

'Jinchūriki' – Bijuu or Summons thoughts

"Jutsu" – Jutsus

Arc 1 – Winds of Change

Chapter 2 – Shall We Go to War?

04:22 AM, December 28, Year 103, Hokage Residence, Konohagakure

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.

He was said to be the strongest Hokage to date, right after Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage.

Minato did many things in his life, graduating from the academy at the age of 10, becoming a Chūnin at the age of 14, Jōnin at 18 and finally Hokage at 21.

But, if asked, Minato would say that, the best thing he did in life, was to marry his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, and become the father of his son, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto was the most precious thing that Minato had in life, along with his wife. He would do anything to keep them safe, as any parent and husband would.

And he had the strength to do so, for he was not the Hokage for nothing.

As the Hokage before him, Minato was considered the strongest shinobi in the village at the time. He was known for his two most famous Jutsu, the Rasengan and the Hirashin, the latter giving him the nickname of Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash). It was with that Jutsu that he managed to kill 300 Iwa shinobi and thus how he earned the nickname.

However, for all of his power and strength, Minato is a kind man that only wants to bring peace to the Elemental Nations. Thus, he had accepted the treaty with the Head Ninja of Kumo. So that they could bury the hatched and let bygones be bygones.

However, it seem as though that his old rival from Kumo, and now the Yondaime Raikage, Ē, didn't think the same way.

Worst even, he used Minato's ideals as a way to distract him from his true objectives. And, if there was something that Minato did not take lightly, it was treason.

Minato walked through the halls of the Hokage Mansion, clad in his usual attire of a standard Konoha uniform with two bands on both of his sleeves, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals. A short-sleeved long white haori over his normal attire, closed in the front by a thin, orange rope. The haori, made by Kushina and given to him as a present for becoming Hokage, was decorated by red flame-like motifs on the edges, with the kanji for "Yondaime Hokage" written vertically down the back. His blonde hair was spiky as ever, no matter what he or Kushina tried to make it settle down. And his blue eyes, instead of transmitting his kind and understanding nature, where narrowed in anger.

Minato Namikaze was not a man prone to hate or getting angered easily, but, Kumo had trespassed his line of understanding and kindness.

As Minato entered inside the council room, he took notice of all of the council members already seated on the oval table. The Shinobi Council seated on the right of his seat, the seats on the left of his seat empty of the presence of the Civilian Council, since this was a shinobi problem, and his counselors seated on either side of his seat.

The Civilian Council was formed by the ones that owned certain sectors of the village, such as Educational, Financial and others.

The Shinobi Council was formed by the clan heads of the shinobi clans of Konoha. Aburame Shibi, Akimichi Chouza, Hatake Eiyu, Hyūga Hizashi, Inuzuka Tsume, Kurama Murakumo, Nara Shikaku, Sarutobi Asuma, Senju Tsunade, Shimura Danzō, Uchiha Ichigo and Yamanaka Inoichi.

As his counselors Minato had Hyūga Hiashi, who was at his clan compound solving clan problems, and Uchiha Fugaku.

Seeing Asuma in the seat of the Sarutobi Clan made Minato remember the sacrifice that Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, did three years ago.

On October 10th, the night that his son came to the world, was also the night that a masked man freed the Kyūbi no Yoko (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) from inside Kushina and had it attack Konoha, who had been recuperating from the Third Great Shinobi War at the time.

Minato had been ready to sacrifice his life to seal the beast inside his son, whom he believed to be the Child of Prophecy that his sensei, Jiraiya of the Sannin, had talked about. However, Hiruzen, who had lost his wife a few hours earlier that night, had been quicker and knocked out Minato before he could use the Shiki Fūjin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) and used it himself to seal the Yang Chakra of the Kyūbi inside Naruto and the Yin part inside of himself.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, the Yondaime took his seat and started the meeting, "Welcome and thank you for coming in such short notice, members of the council. But, we have matters of great importance to discuss right away."

"Today, as you know, we signed a peace treaty with Kumo, so that we could let the occurrences of the Third War behind and walk the path to peace," he said, "However, it seems that Kumo saw our kindness as a way to take advantage of us. Three hours ago, Hyūga Hiashi-dono stopped an attempt of kidnapping of his heiress, Hyūga Hinata, by none other than the Head Ninja of Kumo."

"What!? Those bastards dare spit in our faces in such a way!?" angrily snapped Tsume, the feral looking brunette clan head of the Inuzuka Clan.

Not caring about the interruption, the Yondaime continued, "Lady Hinata is alright, thankfully; though, it seems that she was not the only target. Half an hour after Lord Hyūga stopped the Head Ninja of Kumo, the dead bodies of the Hyūga Council were found inside their chambers, missing their Byakugan."

The whole council room was silent, and for good reason. Getting inside a compound where all of the habitants could see through walls and whose grounds were equipped with the best security seals was not an easy feat, not to say impossible even. However, to be able to kill six people, even if they were sleeping – which, if the target is a shinobi, does not always means an easy kill – without activating a single alarm or guard? You had to be a very good, and lucky, infiltrator.

"Good thing that the kidnapper was stopped then, no?" commentated the clan head of the Kurama Clan, Murakumo.

At his comment, the only Hyūga present, Hyūga Hizashi, twin, and younger, brother of Hiashi, frowned, his eyes betraying the fury inside him. Those that noticed rarely showing of emotion coming from a Hyūga and did not know all of the details, namely the Uchiha in the room, Danzō and Shikaku, were taken aback, albeit their faces did not show it.

Everyone knows that the Hyūga Clan members are known for their stoicism, rarely, if ever, showing emotion in public. Few were the things that could make them show emotion. So, the fact that Hizashi's eyes, even for just a second, showed such hatred and fury, meant bad news.

In a cold and hard tone, Minato said, "While the Head Ninja was captured, he did not have the stolen Byakuganin his possession, which leads me to believe that the assassination was done by another party."

'This is bad,' Danzō thought, 'Now Kumo has access to the Byakugan and may create their own techniques with it. Our forces are still too depleted to go to war once more. The Kyūbi Jinchūriki is still too young and, even if he wasn't, Minato is too naïve to let me train him as the weapon that he's meant to be. Even my Root wouldn't tip the balance to our favor, should we go to war at this period of time.'

"There is more," that idiot of a Hokage continued with the bad news, "Half an hour before coming to this meeting, I was notified that all war prisoners, held in the high security hall of our prison, have vanished."

Shock. That was the feeling and expression wore on every face inside the council room, except for Fugaku's and Danzō's, whose reaction was only a very slight raise of his eyebrow.

Konoha's Maximum Security Hall, located deep underground, below the Konoha Special Ninja Felony Prison. Only the most dangerous and important criminals gained a stay there. It was said to be inescapable, and for good reason. Every prisoner there had a suicide seal that would activate the moment they put a step out of the perimeter of the imprisonment facility. That, however, was the last measure of security.

First, the cells had motion and heat sensor seals in their walls, ceiling and floor that were monitored by guards and would sound the alarm should the prisoner leave the cell without them authorizing it.

Then, the doors, not only made of six inches of reinforced steel, also had locking and shocking seals on them that would prevent anyone from opening them, from the inside or outside, without the key seal, which was different for every cell door, but, would also give anyone that tried a shock of one thousand volts of electricity.

After that, the corridors were filled with barrier seals, which were connected to the motion and heat sensors inside the cells and would activate the moment the prisoner took a step out of the cell, should they not use the key seal to open the door.

The door leading to the corridor of the Maximum Security Hall also had the same seals that the cell doors had and had a key seal of its own.

Now, for a shinobi, escaping from such a facility would be very difficult, even if they had a vast knowledge of sealing. However, along with the suicide seal, the prisoners had the Katon: Tenrō (Fire Release: Heavenly Prison) performed on them prior to being taken down to their cell for the first time. The ones who are subjected to this technique have a formula applied to them, which will prevent them from molding chakra and from using techniques. It will also drain them of their chakra at a slow but steady rate.

Without the ability to mold chakra, the prisoners are little more than civilians, making escaping the Maximum Security Hall impossible.

So, for all twelve war prisoners that stood there to vanish, showed that Kumo – who else could have done it? – was much more powerful that Danzō had thought.

"That's…that is impossible, Hokage-sama! Even Jiraiya-sama would have difficulty escaping that hall!" denied Chouza, the big boned of a man and clan head of the Akimichi Clan.

Namikaze looked at Chouza and replied, "Nothing in life is impossible. We, as people that possess and control such great a power as chakra, should know that better than anyone."

'Wise words those may be, but,' thought the crippled old shinobi, 'one needs more than wise words to be Hokage.'

"What leads do we have on how the prisoners escaped and who helped them do so?" inquired the ever logical Shibi, clan head of the Aburame Clan.

This time, it was Fugaku, the clan head of the Uchiha Clan and Head of the Military Police Force that answered, "Only some foot marks and other marks left by who we think were the prisoners, ten miles away from the prison. They headed east, but, the tracks disappear at the next five miles mark."

"Right now we have members of the tracking squad of the Police Force looking after the prisoners," Namikaze said and then ordered, "Until they find anything and report it to Uchiha-dono, I want the whole village on lockdown. No one goes in or out without my word. I want every security measure that we have triple checked and the ANBU on the streets, patrolling alongside the Police Force."

"Hokage-sama," for the first time since the beginning of the council meeting, Hyūga Hizashi spoke, "What will be of the kidnapper that my brother caught?"

At this question, Namikaze's eyes narrowed and their bright blue color seemed to change to a cobalt blue. It was at that moment that Danzō remembered why Namikaze Minato had been chosen to be the Yondaime Hokage; not that he liked the choice, but, he did understand why it was made.

06:00 AM, December 28, Year 103, Elemental Sky

The sun was rising as Menma approached the proximities of Sora no Kuni's Ancor Vantian. From where the black haired Uzumaki was coming from, he could see a group of fifteen men and women leaving the hanger in their Swan Aircraft, a flying transport crafted with a chakra laser beam cannon capable of destroying a house and stocked with first aid medical equipment on board. There were better, and more weaponized, flying vehicles in Ancor Vantian, but, the passengers on board were of the type that wouldn't need any more weapons on their transport and could use the space.

'One of the squads must have got hurt in a mission,' thought the Uzumaki.

Indeed, for the Swan Aircrafts were the official aircrafts under the use of the 4th Division of Sora no Kuni's Gotei 13.

The Gotei 13 (Thirteen Division Imperial Guards) is the primary military branch of Sora no Kuni and the main military organization most shinobi join after leaving the academy. They're made up of thirteen divisions, with several divisions having certain specializations.

In case of the 4th Division, they're the medical and supply division. They are responsible for both treating the injured and doing most of the manual labor, such as cleaning the Ancor Vantian. The 4th Division is further divided into teams that have specific assigned jobs. While other division members use their chakra only for fighting, members of the 4th Division learn how to use chakra to tend to wounds and provide relief. They use these methods and the benefits of their daily training to act with precision and speed to aid injured comrades. 4th Division administers emergency first aid to injured division members and transports them to the General Emergency Relief Station.

After landing inside the hangar, Menma made way to Shinnō's Lab, only stopping to ask a seated officer to inform Toneri to meet him there.

06:25 AM, December 28, Year 103, Shinnō's Lab, 12th Division's Facilities, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni

If there was something that would define Shinnō, it was his love for science. He thought, ate and breathed science.

He loved how he created new things from it, using it to understand the mysteries of the world. It was why he had taught Orochimaru some of the things he knew. Both of them had a love for science, though, Orochimaru used science to discover the secret of immortality and how to gain it, while he used it to discover the secrets of the world, how they worked, why they worked how they did and what he could use them for.

Until eight years ago, Shinnō had had to limit his science to cures and vaccines, things that would help cure people of diseases, all because of his kind-hearted doctor, whose purpose in life was to save the lives of others, facade.

He really hated that facade, not because he was lying and manipulating people for his motives, gathering power for the rebuilt of Sora no Kuni, but because he couldn't use his knowledge of science how he wanted to. Because he was limited with what he could do with his science and Shinnō hated being limited by anything.

But then, he met Toneri and Menma, two young men of fifteen years at the time, though Toneri looked like that age because of his puppet's body's young appearance.

He had been surprised that they knew of him and about his true nature, apparently Toneri had kept a few puppets on the lookout for survivors of the fallen country and had found him. They had asked him to join them and, in return, they would rebuilt Sora no Kuni to its former glory and, after Toneri had managed to make the Ancor Vantian fly once more, without using the power of the Zero-Tails, Shinnō agreed wholeheartedly, even taking Menma as his disciple, teaching him about science and medicine.

And now, eight years later, he and his people had the resources to maintain and increase the power of Sora no Kuni. Most importantly, at least for him, he now could contribute to the change that they would bring to the Elemental Nations by doing what he loved to do, using science to create something useful!

Thus why he could be found in his lab, in 12th Division's facilities, as the sun rose in the sky, observing his newest invention.

The 12th Division is responsible for developing new technology and chakra tools for the use of Sora no Kuni's shinobi. Technological and scientific research has become the full measure of what the division involves itself in primarily. Members are tasked with research and collection of data and samples. As the Captain of the 12th Division, it's Shinnō's responsability to oversee every new experiment can think of.

Now, about his newest invention. It was a new type of poison, specifically designed to mess with one's nerve system and making them more sensible to pain. For example, if one were to have it injected on their blood stream, or drank it, and another person touched them, the one poisoned would feel as if they were being stabbed. That effect would be only thirty seconds after the poison entered the blood stream, by drinking; should they inject it, it would be half that.

By the one minute mark after drinking it and half that if injected, every movement of the target, as miniscule as it may be, would bring them the same pain as being shocked or being pierced by needles.

After the two minute mark and half that if injected, that pain would feel like being cut all over their body, repetitively, while their breathing would feel like being burned from the inside out. The target would either go insane or die from the pain more or less at the three minutes mark, if it is drank, or at the one and an half minutes mark, if it is injected.

…Yeah…the man was a genius. A sadist? Yes, that too. But, a genius, nonetheless.

06:30 AM, December 28, Year 103, Shinnō's Lab, 12th Division's Facilities, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni

As Menma, with his mask off, went inside Shinnō's lab, the twenty-three years old young man heard the older man cackle like a mad man, "Do I even want to know what you created this time? It must be something good for you to cackle like that," he said.

"Oh, and it is! I just created a poison that will kill someone from one and half to three minutes. The best thing? It acts so fast that one would be hard pressed to even administer the antidote. Plus, by the time the victim is dead or dying, there is no trace of it in the bloodstream!" he then went into another series of mad chuckles and cackles.

"Hm, that could be quite useful. Mostly to members of the 2nd Division, though, they are the ones that use poisons the most," he mused. "Anyway, I got something for you," he summoned a scroll from his storage seal on his left shoulder and gave it to the now calmed, but excited, doctor. "In that scroll there are two other scrolls with blood samples, from Konoha's hospital, sealed inside them. One for the blood samples from those that are dead and the other for the blood samples of those that are alive. I want you take a look at every single one of them and see if you can make it possible so that any Bloodline you find can be replicated. However, you must leave a bit left of each sample. They will come in use for something that I'm planning."

The old doctor rose an eyebrow at his disciple while he accepted the scroll, "I don't remember you stealing blood from a hospital being part of the plan," he commented as he started releasing the sample from the scrolls and organizing them, thankful that they were all labeled with the owner's name.

Menma just shrugged, "It was a spur of the moment decision. I'll explain when Toneri-sensei gets here."

The door of the lad opened just then and Toneri entered the room, "I'm here now. No need to wait."

"Very well then. When I reached Konoha," he started, "I was quite surprised by how weak their barrier is. It's level seven fuinjutsu! With an Uzumaki and two seal masters, I was expecting something more on level ten. But, I digress. Anyway, I went inside the village and made my way to the Hyūga Estate, which's security is not that difficult, for someone with level 6 and above in fuinjutsu, to get through. While inspecting its defenses, I noticed someone infiltrating the grounds. It was the Head Ninja of Kumo, who I remembered was on the village to sign a peace treaty with the Yondaime Hokage."

Hearing that, Shinnō snarled, "As if Kumo would ever settle for peace! The Yondaime Raikage is just like his father; too stubborn and paranoid to believe the other nations wouldn't start another war."

"Yes, well, it seems that the Raikage does have a brain, unlike what some rumors say. The Head Ninja was there to kidnap the heiress of the Hyūga Clan. Hinata, I believe her name is. She's only three and, thankfully, Hiashi managed to immobilize the kidnapper before he could get too far. I have to say, that guy is quite fast, not as fast as me, but fast nonetheless."

"Use a peace treaty as a decoy to get a way inside the village and a reason to stay for a few days to study the defenses of the Hyūga Estate. Then, on the last night before leaving, kidnap a young, unmarked, Hyūga female that they could educate to love Kumo instead of Konoha and use as breed stock to create their own clan with the Byakugan," Toneri guessed what he thought was the Raikage's plan. "Konoha would not be able to prove that it had been Kumo the one doing the kidnapping, had the Head Ninja been successful. Even if they believed that it had been Kumo the responsible, they would not go to war for they are too low on man power to do so."

"Do not forget about Danzō," advised Shinnō as he analyzed some of the blood samples. "That old war hawk would not allow Kumo to get possession of a Bloodline from Konoha lying down. He would most likely send a team of his best Root members to retrieve the girl and incriminate another village, most likely Iwa."

"Yeah, but, anyway, back to my story, when I saw the Head Ninja and understood what he was most likely there to do, I got an idea. I created some clones and sent one to the hospital, one to the prison and the other to kill the Hyūga Elders and steal their Byakugan," Menma explained.

"That's one of the things that I find quite stupid with the Hyūgas," the old man stated. "Why only seal the Byakugan of the Branch members? Are those of the Main House that sure of themselves that they think they won't die in battle? Or that stupid to believe that no one would desecrate their bodies and steal their eyes?"

"Their pride and beliefs in tradition blind them to common sense. They believe that their bodies will be safe inside the village. As for dying in battle, well, most members of the Hyūga clan grow to be trackers, so they don't go on missions alone. Those that are more for direct combat also go with others on missions. Because of this, they believe that their bodies would be brought to the village or destroyed should they die in a mission. And, before you ask, the only ones that grow to become ANBU members are those from the Branch House, those from the Main house more often than not become either politicians or stop at Jōnin," explained the last Ōtsutsuki.

Menma coughed to get their attention back at him, "As I was saying, I sent a clone to kill the Hyūga Elders and steal their Byakugan. No one noticed the clone or the murders and all six elders died in their sleep with their throats cut and their eyes yanked from their eye sockets."

"The clone that went to the hospital got no trouble getting in unnoticed, which is quite sad, if I say so myself. The seals there were only level 7, the same as the barrier," he sighed. "Anyway, he got the blood samples of every active, and deceased, shinobi Konoha has samples of. With the samples from members of their clans, I'm sure that you can make something, being it a weapon or a gene, which could be useful for us in battle. Right, Shinnō-sensei?"

The man in question nodded at his pupil with a grin on his face, "Leave it to me, kid! I'll make something out of this alright!" he proclaimed.

Menma nodded at his sensei and then continued with his report, "As for the clone that went to the prison; well, at least they have some good security there. Nothing that I couldn't get through, but, impressive nonetheless. My clone went to the Maximum Security Hall, which has some very tight security. However, they were more worried on break outs than break ins, so, the clone only needed to create his own key seal to unlock the door that leads to the hall and create another twelve for each cell door. All in all, it took him fifteen minutes to free the inmates. He knocked them all out and sealed them in this scroll," he then gave said scroll to Toneri.

"I see, you plan to use them as sacrifices for that kinjutsu that I taught you, don't you?" asked Shinnō as he looked at his pupil with an evil smirk. Menma's lips turned to one too as he nodded.

"Hm, you did all of this to make Konoha and Kumo go to war, didn't you? They would not do so, if the kidnapping of the heiress were to fail. So, you gave Konoha a greater incentive by also killing the Hyūga Elders, making the whole clan hate Kumo as much as Iwa hates the Yondaime Hokage. You also released their war prisoners from one of their most protected locations, thus installing fear of Kumo's power," explained the albino man what he deduced were Menma's intentions.

The black-haired man gave his other sensei a grin, "Got it right at first try, Sensei."

"However," the oldest man there began, "did you take into account that both countries are still recuperating from the Third Shinobi World War? To make matters even worse, for Konoha that is, they still are recuperating from the Kyūbi Attack. The Yondaime will not go to war."

"Ah, they may not start a war, but, tension will be built between them. More than it already was. Then, taking Danzō into account, I would not be surprised if a cold war started because of this at least," the youngest man said.

"Hm, that is true," Toneri conceded before turning around to leave. Though, not before ordering his pupil to follow, "Come, Menma, I have someone for you to meet and then we can start the kinjutsu to bring me back to my prime."

Menma nodded and followed after his sensei after saying a quick good bye to Shinnō.

06:40 AM, December 28, Year 103, Toneri's Training Grounds, 1st Division Barracks, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni

After leaving the lab, student and teacher made way to one of their personal training grounds inside the Ancor Vantian, where they saw a woman standing there, in the middle of the chamber. She turned to them as they entered and Menma took a good look at her, analyzing every aspect and made deductions about her person and skill level, just as he had been taught to by Toneri.

She had fair skin, waist-length white hair that was covered by a green bandana that had a long curved white stripe and grey eyes with multiple circular patterns. She wore a sleeveless kimono over a green top that only had a long green sleeve covering her left arm along with the green bandana. Both her arms were bandaged up to her elbows. She also wore black trousers with shinobi sandals. From the way that she was standing, Menma could deduce that she was a high level shinobi, Jōnin or up.

"Good to see you, Ryūzetsu. Allow me to introduce you to my pupil, Uzumaki Menma. Menma, this is one of our spies in Kusagakure, Ryūzetsu," Toneri introduced them to each other.

Menma bowed his head to the woman in acknowledgement, "A pleasure to meet you, Ryūzetsu-san."

The spy did the same, "Likewise, Uzumaki-san."

Toneri nodded at them and then started explaining what they were about to do, "Good, now, I'm going to explain to the both of you what we will be doing here.

You, Menma, will use the Edo Tensei to bring me back to my prime. Then you, Ryūzetsu, will use your Ryūmei Tensei(Dragon Life Reincarnation) to reincarnate my undead body to a living and breathing one. Menma will then use the Edo Tenseito bring you back, though, until we acquire the Rinnegan, we won't be able to reincarnate you. Are you still willing to go through this?"

The albino kunoichi nodded, "Yes, Muku's dream was to bring peace to the shinobi world and he still was sacrificed for the greed of some old vultures. You were the one that helped bring me closure and you are also the one with the best plan to bring peace to this broken world, Toneri-sama. I'll gladly give my life for that goal."

Menma could hear the emotion in her voice, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, and gained that much more respect for Ryūzetsu's willingness to give her life for a goal.

"Good, let us start then," with that said, the resurrection of Ōtsutsuki Toneri, the last member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, began.

Well, what do ya think? Hope you liked this version more than the other.

Now, somethings to explain. As I'm sure you noted, I'm using Bleach's Gotei 13 for Sora no Kuni's military system, instead of the normal shinobi system: Genin, Chūnin, Jōnin and Kage. Well, I wanted to use a different system for this country and I believe that the Gotei 13's system will work well for what Menma and Toneri have planed.

About the "Year 103" thing. Well, I've decided to call the year of the Kyūbi Attack as Year 100. Since the Hyūga Affair happened on Hinata's third birthday and she was born on December 27th, it would make the current date as: December 28th, Year 103.

I hope that I explained things well enough. Oh, and by the time you're done reading this chapter, chapter 3 will be waiting for you.

Ja ne!