Chapter 3: Hidden Unity
-Away from civilization, away from the eyes of the world, a new enemy gathers-
-Undisclosed location, time: 1125-
Kai walked in earnest to the meeting room, files tucked under her arm, updates from compatriots in the Hidden Cloud Village, one of few villages that Unity still had a grasp on. Their master plan had been well on its way to fruition, they had established themselves right under the noses of every major village in the Elemental Nations. Everything was going according to plan. Now all of that had changed. Now they were on the run with every nation out for their blood. The few bases that had been secured by Unity, were now rallying points for all operatives that had managed to escape, all who still had their covers intact were advised to suspend all contact until further notice.
'These meetings are a waste of time, all that we're going to be talking about is bad news all around.'
But Kai shook off all thoughts as she approached the door. Walking through she was met by a long table with ninja from the Mist, Sand, Leaf, and Stone. Though each of them wore the marks of one the "Great Five Shinobi Villages", herself included, they all were Unity agents. Along with the five agents, there were also one other; who wore a dark hood, hiding his face, his presence went almost unnoticed by everyone in the room but since he was there, it was for a reason.
"Welcome Kai, now we can begin" the hooded figure stated.
The Stone emissary spoke up immediately afterwards, getting start to business "Situation reports first; most of our agents in the Hidden Stone are still secured but our lead operative, along with our Strategic Command Center, were lost."
The Stone operative handed off to the Hidden Leaf agent, "Our insurrection was halted by a timely Hidden Leaf recon squad. Some information about our agents was possibly compromised. Most our low-level operatives have relocated to safe houses throughout the land of Fire"
And finally it was Kai's turn, she was not the lead operative for the Cloud sect but she was the highest ranking one that wasn't under suspicion, and could join this summit.
"At least half of our main agents and operatives have been captured or force to flee from the cloud, as to minimize loss but our operations were secured before the Cloud could uncover them."
Handing off to the Sand, but everyone present was expecting only bad news and worse news; As the Sands representative wasn't even an agent but an associate operative, a mercenary.
"Hmm, from the files and reports, all members, operatives, and agents were captured or killed during the assassination attempt on the Kazekage."
And lastly was the Mist. Kai looked towards the agent-in-charge of all Mist operations, with a bit of spite, Hideaki Taka, the former Mizukage, stood in silence saying nothing as all turned towards him.
"Total loss of all agents and operation centers."
Was all that floated from his lips, almost immediately afterwards he turned towards the door and walked out of the room. Another voice rang out as he left "That will be all, dismissed!" Kai gathered her papers and left through another door opposite of one the Hideaki went through.
'Man I am I glad I'm not in his shoes…now then.'
Kai shared a look with the other Unity members as they walked down the hall, all nodding in approval. Walking up behind the mercenary sent from the Land of Wind, throwing her arm over his shoulder. "What is it?" he spoke gruffly.
Drawing a kunai from her pouch, she thrust it into his lower torso, twisting it to perforate both lungs. Gasping, he reached for Kai's arm, trying desperately to free the weapon from his body.
"Sorry but you know too much, we can't allow to leave here with all you've learned. Don't worry the pain won't last for long, it will be over quickly."
With that Kai, grabbed a second a kunai and inserted it into his chest, straight through his heart. Letting his body slump to the floor, she left it for the others to dispose of.
Hideaki walked away from the meeting room with a scowl on his face, as more news had come in from their spy's in all of the Hidden Villages, and all of it was bad news, the dimly lit halls and plain wooden doors seemed to flow on endlessly, as he ran through the summary of the meeting:
'Our agents in the Leaf have all come under investigation and are relocating to safes houses throughout the land of Fire, the Cloud is reporting a fifty percent loss but most operations are still secured, the Stone had to allow the capture of their lead operative and loss of strategic command center, and the Sand is reporting a total loss of all field agents; Same in the Mist.'
However devastating all those losses were the last one was by far the worse one because he had been directly responsible for the failure of acquiring power throughout the Land of Water and as such, was most infuriating of events to date. He alone had established a foothold in the Mist; extending their influence in almost every corner of the Mist, setting the stage for a massive coup and set in motion the Uprising in all major nations…and he was blamed for that great failure. Hideaki continued through the underground tunnels that severed as a base for Unity, once owned by the infamous criminal Orochimaru, now abandoned, severing well as clandestine rendezvous points for their agents but now they were their only safe havens.
Before we stood in plain sight, only a rumor, completely capable of passing under the radar, but with this betrayal we must hide like rats all because of him.
Hideaki always had a way of corrupting even the most loyal of ninjas to the ideals of Unity; he slowly worked his way to his position of Mizukage, turning those who once proclaimed steadfast loyalty to the Mist and appointing his associates to areas of power throughout. All that remained was the leader of ANBU; a young shinobi of great power his abilities were undoubtedly suited of the role, Hideaki had long supported him strengthening his resolve and appointing him to Head of ANBU. Perhaps he had become complacent in the years, maybe he underestimated him, whatever the reason when he presented the offer, Zikito was unsure of it but from his words.
Hideaki had believed he had another willing pawn for Unity…..It wasn't until Zikito walked into his office flanked by ANBU, whom were all Mist members, that he realized he had made a grave error. Hideaki, barely making his escape, left behind critical and damning evidence of Unity actives and worse, full names and rank of many of Unity agents in the five shinobi villages. That is when everything changed dramatically for Unity, as agents were hunted down or removed from power. In seven months they had gone from nearly unstoppable to on the run, all because of one man.
'Zikito…you will pay for this.'
"Hideaki."
Someone called to him, as he turned to face who had called to him, he found himself facing the distinguished Leader of Unity.
"My Lord" Hideaki immediately bowed before him.
"Rise my friend" and he did so.
"My Lord, I wish to apologize and take full responsibility-"
"Calm yourself Hideaki, a reasonable setback but not unforeseen, even now, all is proceeding as planned". Hideaki was shocked, though of two different mindsets surely, their leader must share some of Hideaki's apprehension.
"My lord, surely you must realize the gravity of recent events!" The hooded figured simply walked down the corridor, beckoning Hideaki to follow. "I have but even so with gracious setbacks, one must keep one's ultimate goal clear, there is a way to recoup our losses and recapture our hold on every village. We will merely do something to divide the attention of the 'Great' powers and allow our grip to silently tighten the noose around their necks."
"How?"
"You will see very shortly, my plan is already in effect."
With a grin, Hideaki could easily make out, the leader of Unity continued down the hallway "Our glorious venture shall Unite the world."
XxX
-Hot Springs Country, Hidden Hot Springs Village, time: 1355 hours-
Xevhiroth was lucky to have run across a caravan, sporting gear for the upcoming 'rainy' season: Cloaks, boots, and other things. It was a simple matter to acquire a cloak and hat; knowing he was a wanted man he decided to "silently" buy, leaving behind a modest amount for the two items. The entrance to the village wasn't too crowded but enough so that walking in was a simple measure of skill and luck since it was a very cloudy day, no one would give his garb a second look. Unlike all the other ninja villages, it wasn't very big nor very populated and the Shinobi were easy to spot in a crowd.
'All I have to do is avoid looking people in the eye.' However, so long as he stayed in the mass of people coming and going, he foresaw no issues with obtaining the supplies he needed. Taking a breath, Xevhiroth started to wander the city for supplies he required.
XxX
-Water Country, Hidden Mist Village, time: 0900-
As he left the Mizukage office, Zikito thought about returning to his station, to resume the work he left unfinished; so much needed to be addressed: Supply requests, operations needed to be reviewed and approved, teams needed to be reformed, the entire chain of command needed immediate change. However, something kept his feet from turning towards the ANBU HQ, what his sister had said before he left:
"Zikito you've been cooped up in that office of yours since the removal of the Mizukage. Why don't you take a minute to walk around the Mist enjoy it for a moment and listen to the world. Many do not share the same view as the other high-rankers."
'Mao…You worry too much.'
Mask at his side, Zikito decided to follow his sister's advice, and walked towards the center of the village. The street was fairly wide, allowing many people to travel and many shops to sell more merchandise. So many used it to quickly navigate the Village, so Zikito found himself passing by countless villagers, all deeply engaged in conversations or actives. Yet some became quieter as he passed by them. A few people that looked at him were a mix bag of emotions, ranging from slight fear, to suspicion to anger, but most went on with their daily lives, unaware of the head of ANBU walking by them. Absorbed in the world around him, Zikito continued on the path before him, his feet guiding his body through the crowds in front of him.
THUD!
Zikito felt someone glance off his shoulder, but the figure said nothing, just continued on the road. Zikito stopped and looked back at the figure, whoever it was wearing a cloak and a hat to conceal their entire body.
'Hot enough for ya?...Or are you looking to hide something?' Ignoring it, Zikito turned back around and continued on his way.
The figure took a step to the side after bumping into Zikito, and looked back to see that he had already continued on his way. Slowly the figure raised his hand, holding onto the ANBU mask that had been hanging on Zikito's hip, a minute earlier. Concealing it under the cloak the figure disappeared, seemingly swallowed by the mass of people, into the light of day.