A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Well, I didn't really expect such a reaction concerning the party crasher from the previous chapter. Some answers were quite funny, by their contents but mostly by the fact that their authors were one hundred percent sure they were right and that it was a too easy question. Anyway, the correct answer was Zetsu of course. He is after all the spy master from the Akatsuki, and more importantly, I specifically had Sasuke assign him that particular mission some chapters ago.
Congratulations to 'erokitsune1', who was the first to give a definite and correct answer to that question. A special mention to 'Uraharaisgod' for accurately describing how Zetsu does possess the Mokuton affinity. I guess it is not common knowledge that Zetsu, or at least his white half, was created using cells from Hashirama Senju and plants as a medium. You can verify the validity of that information from (re)reading the manga chapter 545. I'll concede that the answer "The Shodaime Hokage's evil clone" wasn't that far from the truth, technically speaking :)
I'm pleased the unsealing results for Yugito were well received. When I asked your opinion about the unsealing, most of you wanted Bee to remain the same while the answers about Yugito were more nuanced. I came up with this hoping to please all, I thought the concept is original. I'm sure it could be used in a new story as a key point of a starting plot.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 57 : Countermeasure
Konohagakure – Council Chamber
Without letting the audience digest the fact that bijuu, or whatever they now represent, can freely roam again amongst the living, Natsuki and Matatabi both jumped in front of their respective Kage and started to scan the room to detect the intruder's presence.
The red haired vixen had recovered a small portion of what used to be her limitless reserves of youki. However, the human body she had received from the unsealing prevented her from getting more than one tail worth of her former power. As such, she only had enough power to activate the opening state of the Wind bloodline she gave to Naruto. This was no small feat though, as the Muga no Kyouchi gave her enough power to easily rival any Kage currently seated inside that room.
Matatabi used her enhanced physical senses to scan the room, having the body of a fully matured jinchuriki had its advantages in this sort of situation. Channeling youki to her eyes and nose, the blue eyed version of Yugito didn't take too long to locate the spy. It seems the intruder didn't really care about exposure as Natsuki also found him quite easily.
"There / Here !" They both yelled as they leaped toward the center of the room and punched the surface of the ground. The destruction caused Zetsu to appear from underneath the meeting room, right in front of the most powerful shinobi and kunoichi in the entire Elemental Nations.
"You again, I should have know it was you the moment they spoke about my grandfather's kekkei genkai." Tsunade roared from her position, ready to jump in and snap his neck.
She was too late though, as a white flash suddenly irrupted in the room and Naruto disappeared form his original spot, only to instantly reappear on the other side of the room with his katana unsheathed. All the occupants of the room could only blink, as Zetsu's body in the middle of the room slowly fell to the ground, headless.
"Don't bother, it's just a clone of his. I was careless, I should have known they would have spies in every major villages from the Alliance … Damn it !" Naruto snapped as he put his sword away and went through hand signs then threw four pieces of paper to the corners of the room. The four seals glowed for a short moment and then faded away.
"I'm sorry everyone, I should have verify the room myself before revealing those sensitive information. Now our enemy knows about Natsuki and we lost an important edge over them. I've sealed the room again but I fear there is no much more to hide anymore ..." Naruto reported, bowing his head down.
"You're too hard on yourself, Gaki. There are five Kage in this room, none of us thought about that." A said, getting nods of approval from all the other leaders in the room.
"Raikage-dono is right, Naruto. We were already discussing some pretty important stuff in here with him and Mizukage-dono before you arrived so I should be the one held responsible for this room's security system. Anyway, what's done is done, we don't have time to lose over this issue, let's just move on." Tsunade added and Naruto accepted her terms.
Everyone returned to their respective seats and Naruto was invited to sit down with the Kage as the Alliance's leader. Natsuki chose to stay behind him with Konan while Kurenai decided to go stand behind Tsunade. Once everyone was ready to continue, Gaara was the first one to speak.
"Our first priority is to restore stability to every area in the Elemental Nations. To achieve this, we must eliminate the threat that Otogakure represents. With the recent conquest of River Country, we have an opportunity to organize a large scale joint attack against them." The Kazekage said.
"Before such an assault can be considered, there are some new developments that need to be known to this council." Naruto said. The blond then told them about Sasuke's new hypnotic doujutsu and how he enhanced his army's power with the Hero's Water.
Tsunade was highly disappointed when she learned of Sakura's involvement in the creation of the modified Hero's Water. The blonde Hokage would have never imagined her teachings would be used in such a way, for the ambitions of a mad Uchiha boy.
"Hokage-dono, is there anything you can tell us about that jutsu of his, since not all of us have the ability to fight with our eyes closed like Naruto. We foreigners have diverse levels of understanding about Konoha's Sharingan, so it would be great if you could provide us with everything you can on how to counter it." Kurotsuchi said, still remembering she owed it to her grandfather to kill the bastard who used that jutsu against him.
"I am a master in the knowledge of how to treat physical wounds, however, for the mental attacks I will have to consult with our expert, the Yamanaka clan head. The Hyuga clan head could also help us in finding ways to fight against the Sharingan. Shizune, can you go summon them both." Tsunade replied, to which her assistant immediately reacted and went to do as ordered.
Amegakure – Kage Office
Uchiha Sasuke was currently going through the bane of all Kage, paperwork. Every damn action in the shinobi world seemed to generate more paperwork for him to fill out. The reports he received from the front lines were not good, not good at all.
The loss of River Country was a huge setback in his plans, it was a loss Oto really didn't need at the moment. Amegakure was supposed to be the ideal place for his capitol, as he could strike three of the five great villages from here. The only problem was that he needed River Country to be under his command to separate the westerners from Konoha. He knew it was his mistake to have placed Karin at the top of that region, that woman was more of a support type, not really suited for the front line.
Of course, failure was not an option in his army. He had to make an example out of her, in order to dissuade the others from failing him in the future. He couldn't exactly order her death, the bloodline she had was a really useful one and saved his life once in the past. All he could do was to demote her from any commanding duties, she remained a soldier for him, barely above civilian level. The fierce red head didn't take the news really well, but chose to remain silent for the moment as she knew the Otokage was in a really foul mood lately.
The young leader was pulled out of his thoughts by the arrival of his second in command in his office. Kabuto came in with his usual smirk on his face and waited for Sasuke to acknowledge his presence.
"What is it, Kabuto ? This better be good news, because I'm sick of reading reports on how the enemies are pushing us back further inside our lands." The raven haired Kage said, not even looking at him.
"I believe that what I have to report will please you, in regards to those news from the front lines." Kabuto replied, still grinning.
"Do not test my patience, not now." Sasuke snapped, not in the mood for Kabuto's cryptic words.
"Very well, the package Tobi delivered to us has been successfully integrated in the Omega Project we were working on. Production is in progress and you can expect the first batch to come out in the next few days." Kabuto reported.
"Excellent, at least we will finally have enough firepower to hold them back and even push forward again with this. How many of those will be ready by the end of the next week ?" Sasuke said, satisfied with Kabuto's report so far.
"By that time, at least 50,000 will be ready for you to use them. Shall I proceed with the chakra enhancement phase as well ?" Kabuto asked.
"Yes, I want them to be the strongest they can, before sending them out on the field. We can't allow the enemy to react before it is already to late for them to. Do what you have to do but I want them all ready for the end of next week." Sasuke said, leaving no room for a negotiation.
"It shall be done, Uchiha-sama." Kabuto replied.
"What of the other project I've assigned to you, Kabuto ? Is it operational yet ?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, the device is ready to be tested. I can't believe you thought of that while going through the stuff Hanzo the Salamander left behind. It wasn't really a hard task to adapt it to match our needs, however, we will need a live test to make sure that it's definitely operational." Kabuto answered.
"I don't care for the details, send out an entire battalion with it if you need to but I want results." Sasuke snapped, visibly really wanting this project to work out.
"As you command, I shall dispatch a small unit equipped with the device towards Konoha to verify its efficiency. I know the perfect person to lead that mission, it will be her chance to gain back the respect she lost or simply disappear for good." Kabuto replied, bowing to his leader before leaving the room to do as ordered. He made it back to the building's hall and then he called out a random jonin on his way out.
"Summon Karin to my office. Oh and tell her that I need her to gather a team and then report back to me as soon as possible." The silver haired scientist said. The jonin nodded and then disappeared in a puff of smoke as he left.
"I'm pretty sure Karin will fail again, we just need someone to watch them from a safe distance and confirm the device's efficiency. Now, who should I pick to follow them ..." Kabuto thought as he returned to his office, located in the research center of the city.
Konohagakure – Namikaze Compound
It had been a day since Naruto made it back to the village with Konan and Kurenai. The blond was currently resting in his bed, completely naked with his red haired mate laying right on top of him. They had celebrated their reunion and Naruto's return through the night, with the appropriate silencing seals placed all around the room, in order to not bother Konan and the numerous other guests that were currently staying with them at the Namikaze Compound.
The meeting was stopped yesterday since it was getting late and was to resume today in the morning. Naruto offered hospitality to all the Kage and their followers since he had loads of empty space in his family home. He remembered teasing Gaara and Kurotsuchi again, when he asked them if they wanted to share a room. He had to dodge a mix of lava and sand projectiles aimed at him, but it was worth it seeing Gaara's embarrassed face.
It was still six o'clock in the morning, but Naruto had taken the habit of getting up early and train everyday ever since his training days with Jiraiya. He slowly got out of bed and went through his morning ritual. Once done, he flashed out of the manor.
Training Ground 8
Naruto instantly reappeared in the center of his old team's training ground. He could have used his own training ground, but didn't want to wake up his guests. He wondered if Tsunade had reassigned a new squad for team 8, since he was now a jonin while Kiba and Hinata were both chunin. Leaving those thoughts aside, the blond started to warm up.
Two hours went by before Naruto decided to take a break. He was currently seated under a tree, his ultimate wind form activated and his sword by his side. All his senses were amplified by his bloodline, that's what allowed him to evade a series of kunai that went to impale themselves just were his head was, only a second ago.
The blond stood up instantly and scanned his surroundings in order to locate the aggressor. Naruto closed his eyes and focused chakra through his ears and nose, trying to pinpoint the exact location of his enemy inside the forest area of training ground eight.
"One, two, three … No wait there's another one barely emitting any chakra a little further away from the other three. Now to get all of them at once ..." Naruto processed the information before going through hand signs.
"Futon : Hakuryu !" He said as he launched his latest creation towards his enemies. The white dragon traveled at great speed towards the four targets that had yet to move from their spot. Once it reached its first target, the enemy shinobi moved away at the last moment in order to avoid being sliced apart by Naruto's jutsu.
Naruto waited a moment, letting his two-step jutsu take effect, before he tried to reverse the pull and forcibly kill those four targets by manipulating the wind within their lungs. Hearing no signs of explosion, he wondered how or why his jutsu failed. This was a first, he couldn't let this go without reacting. He immediately jumped high in the air and took out two Hiraishin kunai in each hand before throwing them towards his opponents.
It was over before they could even register the strange kunai that fell near them. In a white flash, their target was already behind them with his sword drawn out, dripping with their blood. Karin felt the wind passing over her body as well as Naruto appeared right behind her with his katana ready to cut her head off, as he did with the three other jonin she had under her command for this mission.
"What the hell, those kunai Kabuto gave us were supposed to cancel his wind abilities if we managed to throw them near him. Why is this not working damn it, damn that white haired freak." Karin thought as she used her sensor ability, only to see that Naruto wasn't incapacitated in any way.
The sound of the three headless bodies falling to the ground was heard all around them as Naruto pressed his blade against Karin's neck.
"Interesting, so that's how you guys managed to repel my powers. I have to admit that it's quite ingenious of whoever thought of this." Naruto said as he took a better look at his enemies, noticing that they all wore some kind of a mask that prevented them from breathing in his wind chakra. He forcibly removed Karin's mask and went to stand before her, still holding his blade against her jugular. He somehow knew she was a woman before taking off her mask, but her long red hair surprised him, making him remember a photo of his mother he saw back at the compound.
"Who are you ?" Naruto asked.
"I'm not saying anything to you, Konoha monster !" Karin yelled back. Before she could continue, Naruto slowly moved his sword and drew blood from her neck, making her understand how serious he was.
"Why did Sasuke sent you here on a suicide mission ?" He said in a very serious tone.
"W-What are you talking about ? We were sent here to eliminate you with the special wind suppressor kunai Kabuto developed." The red haired kunoichi answered.
"Now that's weird, no one except for me knows how my wind powers really work. However, those masks of yours, those are what he really wanted to test and to do that you needed to come close to me. I guess you weren't aware of the true parameters of your mission, so you're unfortunately not really of any use to me ..." Naruto said before he knocked her out, using the back of his sword.
Naruto deactivated his bloodline and went to seal the bodies of the three dead jonin he just killed before making his way to the Hokage tower with his unconscious captive.
Once Naruto was gone, a shadow slowly appeared from a tall tree near the place where the fight just took place. Zetsu rose from the tree and looked at the aftermath of the battle. He had once again witnessed everything and no one except for those bijuu could detect him. His task done, he slowly disappeared again, having loads of info to report to his allies.
A/N : What do you think ?
Naruto's side lost the advantage of surprise about Natsuki being freed from the seal and Yugito transforming into a hybrid with Matatabi.
Each side is trying to counter the other side's strongest moves and apparently Oto found a way to counter Naruto's new move with a derivative from the mask Hanzo used to wear in battle.
Let's see how the Alliance plan to fight against the Kotoamatsukami and those who are already under its effect.
What will happen to Karin ?
What are those things Oto is producing in large quantities ?
Read the next issue to find out. Next time is all out war.
As usual please read and review.