Yo...
Last chapter the little talk between Rangiku and Itachi represented how she sees Naruto. Mikasa sees Naruto as a good friend and great leader, Kushina sees him as a true hero who desires peace, and last chapter explained Rangiku's point of view. It doesn't mean a batman crossover or elements from that series will be included in the story.
Enjoy the chapter...
Chapter 82
Operation Exodus
(Few Weeks Later)
Many people could be seen standing around the main gate of Konoha. Their eyes were currently fixed on the 3 people that were about to embark on a long and important journey on which the fate of the world depended.
Everyone seemed happy and had smiles on their face, except for Naruto who was not in favor of this trip.
"Tou-san, please reconsider it..." requested Naruto, as Itachi and Mikoto sighed tiredly. This had to be the 10th time Naruto had demanded such a request...
Minato who was currently standing beside Hashirama and Tobirama just gave his elder son a small smile,
"Naruto this summit is crucial for all the ninja villages. Every major hidden village has agreed to attend this summit in order to decide the future course of this world. It may just help us in our fight against Akatsuki..." explained Minato patiently,
"With just the 3 of you out there, you can get ambushed..." argued Naruto in protest,
"We can watch each other's back. Every Kage has agreed to come to this summit with only 2 personal bodyguards in order to avoid any situations of ambush. None of the villages wants to start another foolish war..." said Tobirama confidently,
"In case if there is any trouble, we can quickly teleport back to Konoha within a few hours. Tobirama and Minato are skilled in Hirashin, after all" replied Hashirama happily,
Hiruzen and Jiraiya came forward and were now standing beside Naruto,
"Minato, Hashirama-sama, Tobirama-sama...I will take care of the village in your absence" promised Hiruzen, and Tobirama also spotted his other students like Kagami, Homura, Koharu giving affirmative nods.
"So, will we..." assured Jirayia seriously, and Tsunade who was standing beside him also gave a small smile.
"Besides, with Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sama with your father- Konoha would be able to influence the other villages even more and send a clear message to not even lift a single finger on our village. A strong peace treaty can be formed in our favor..." stated Mikoto logically,
Naruto felt outnumbered against so many veteran ninjas, he was the only one who was not in favor of this but it didn't seem his opinion was going to get any support from the others.
Even if the secret settlement was ready, and Konoha's barrier had been strengthened in such a way that no other shinobi who was not a part of Konoha could enter their border. Even someone with teleportation abilities could not get through.
He had to hand it Iwashi, it was after all the boy's knowledge that led to creation of such a jutsu.
"The Iron Dome''
It was the name given to the new barrier, the formation process was long and tedious as every ninja had to register their chakra inside the network, but after a few weeks it was completed.
Although they did have to make some adjustments for the Edo Tensei Hokage and Toka...
"Maybe I'm over thinking it...even Madara won't be able to enter into Konoha with this new barrier. Only those ninja who have registered their chakra can enter this barrier, and with so many powerful ninja in Konoha along with the backup of the settlement, the village is safe. But why am I having this feeling-" thought Naruto worriedly,
"And we also have you Nii-san, with you being in the village there is no reason to worry..." encouraged Itachi,
Naruto sighed in defeat when even his own students along with Mikasa, Rangiku and Kushina agreed with the statement.
"Very well, I get your point. Good luck for the summit...we will manage things here" said Naruto reluctantly, as Minato gave him a small smile.
"Let's go" said Tobirama finally
Everyone was surprised when the 3 Hokages disappeared in a bright yellow flash with Minato placing one of his hands on Hashirama's shoulder, with Tobirama also repeating the same action with the other shoulder.
Naruto signaled his students to get going, and as everyone started going back he could just stare at long road leading out of Konoha.
"Oi, Naruto"
The Namikaze turned around and saw his friend Izumo waving at him, he couldn't stop his chuckle when he saw his friend dressed in a chunin uniform and was sitting in the guard tower along with Hana. In all the commotion that had happened in the past few weeks, he hardly got any time to visit his former Blacklight friends.
Channeling chakra to his feet, he easily jumped towards the guard tower and was now standing beside his friends.
"Seems like you were outnumbered there..." commented Izumo jokingly,
"For what it's worth, we agree with you. The Hokage's should have avoided this summit..." said Hana disappointedly
"It's good to see you, both of you..." said Naruto honestly, and gave a small hug to the couple.
"So, A Sensei, huh?" asked Izumo teasingly, while Naruto just scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Something like that, it's been...entertaining" said Naruto too happily, and Hana understood the meaning behind those words.
"Not for the poor genin..." taunted Hana, making Naruto laugh. And for the first time, Izumo saw the happiness on Naruto's face.
"Who would have thought that we would be laughing together in such peaceful times?" asked Izumo a little sadly, but Naruto just put a firm hand on his shoulder.
"The past is behind us, Izumo. The only thing we can do is build a future for the next generation and for ourselves too" encouraged Naruto, gaining small smiles from the couple.
"You've changed..." said Hana calmly, but Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.
"Although I didn't imagine you two as gate guards in my future...and you seem to be enjoying it. If you want, we can even request you to be made permanent in this duty" teased Naruto, and was surprised when a terrified look appeared on Izumo's face.
"No, anything but this..." said Izumo pleadingly, and Naruto quickly raised his hands.
"Just kidding..." said Naruto, getting a relieved sigh from Izumo.
"You know, Iwashi has been promoted to Captain Rank in the Barrier Division..." revealed Hana, surprising the boys.
"That's something..." said Izumo
"He deserves it, this new barrier might just protect us against any attack..." said Naruto seriously,
But Izumo and Hana saw the boy was not sure of his own words...
(Amegakure- Akatsuki Base)
Pein's eyes keenly observed the entire Akatsuki unit standing in front of him. He also sensed Madara's presence at the roof, and even if the Uchiha was not in the room he was sure the man was listening regardless.
"The time has finally come...when we make the corrupt ninja villages feel true pain" declared Pein,
"Finally some action..." said Hidan in a excited voice, as a small grin came on his face.
"Whatever, I just hope we can get something valuable from this mission. It has costed us a lot of money and resources..." said Kakuzu warily,
"Fuck you, Kakuzu. Nobody cares about your money problems, the only thing that matters is Art!'' announced Deidara proudly,
"Deidara, you're right for once. It is time to display art..." said Sasori in a very calm voice,
"ENOUGH!"
Every ninja stopped their conversations when Konan's loud voice echoed across the vast room, followed by giving all the men a cold, deadly glare...
"Sasori, Deidara...go to Suna. Cause as much havoc as you can" ordered Pein, and was satisfied when Sasori just gave a nod but Deidara seemed to ignore the order but one glance from Pein terrified him.
"Alright, alright...we'll try not to blast the entire village" said Deidara reluctantly, but it did not stop Pein from giving the man a warning glare.
"Hidan, Kakuzu...you will go to Kumo. Your objective is clear, I suppose?" asked Pein seriously,
"Yes, get the Rikudo tools..." said Kakuzu without any doubt,
"And kill some kumo bastards for Jashin-sama!" yelled Hidan murderously, and only Pein's presence prevented the others from smacking the religious idiot.
Pein's gaze then shifted towards Zetsu who was patiently standing in a small corner, and it seemed he was enjoying the banter between the others.
"Zetsu, we have arranged a small army of mercenaries. Take them to Kiri, and spill some blood. And when you're done-" suggested Pein,
"We will eat them all..." said Black Zetsu darkly,
"So, that there is no proof left..." countered White Zetsu hesitantly, as he did not want to anger 'leader-sama'
"I will go to Iwa and accomplish my objective. The village is already weak..." said Konan confidently, and for a moment she saw some concern in Pein's eyes.
"Don't be reckless, Konan...'' said Pein in a strict voice, but only she understood the hidden meaning behind those words and it made her happy.
She watched her long time friend and comrade stepping forward as 4 other people with similar eyes stepped beside him.
"So, he's taking 5 paths, while keeping 1 with him..." thought Konan smartly,
"I will hit the Kage summit, make the selfish Kages realize the gravity of their foolish actions on the ninja world..." announced Pein,
"That's all fine, but what about Konoha?" asked Black Zetsu seriously,
And the small smirk on Pein's face gave him the answer...
(Rooftop)
Madara was keenly observing the small platoon standing before him. These soldiers were currently dressed in white color metallic armor, and light white colored pants. Each of them had a sword strapped on their back, along with many other weapons that were hidden beneath their uniform. Their faces were covered by white T-shaped visor masks, that looked similar to Anbu squads but without any animal faces.
"Arc Squad"
This was the name Zetsu had given to these clones, the best and one of the strongest soldiers in the entire ninja world. They were the first blood clones that had been formed with the help of the Gedo Mazou in the past few weeks, with more clones in the process of development.
With some surgeries and genjutsu, these clones had been made obedient only to Madara's command. The only drawback was none of them could use the Mangekyo Sharingan due to lack of chakra capacity.
But it could be ignored, as these were the perfect shock troops.
Each of them had the same height, strength, intelligence and chakra capacities. Fighting was in their genes, and even if they could get destroyed when their chakra reserves got exhausted, these soldiers were the only thing that could help the Akatsuki face the entire might of the ninja world.
Madara knew what he was about to do would scare all the ninja villages, but that was what he wanted. Many of the small nations would tremble with such a worldwide terror attack, and just a little display of his new army in Kusa would be sufficient enough to make the smaller villages surrender to the Akatsuki.
Fear was a powerful emotion and a strong weapon.
And that was the goal of Operation Exodus...
"Total Domination..." thought Madara proudly,
And his eyes shifted in Konoha's direction, with his Mangekyo activating instantly.
"So, it begins..."
Author's Notes: End of chapter.
There are concrete reasons behind these events that are totally important for the future plot of this story. My aim is to do something different here, if you want the standard plot of Naruto stories (Like Team 7, then wave, then chunin arc, etc) then this is not the story for you. This is an AU fic with minor similarities to Cannon, and the event which is happening right now had its foundations laid during the civil war arc, so it's not too sudden either.
Go back and check if you want.
And if you observe closely, both sides (Akatsuki and ninja villages) are equal in terms of power. I dare say, Konoha is much stronger than Akatsuki right now...with the Edo Kages, and so many veterans like Hiruzen, Kagami, Sannin, Kakashi, Shisui, not to forget Naruto, Kushina, Mikasa, Rangiku and all the former Blacklight along with 1st company.
The theme of this story is "Empire", which is a conflict between the light and dark sides. So, it's up to you whether you want to read something new (The next few chapters are quite interesting and will show some big developments), or you can easily hit the 'back' button and read traditional Naruto stories, if it suits your tastes.
I've also posted picture of these new 'modified' blood clones. They are similar in appearance to Star Wars Troopers, but for those who haven't watched that series then see the picture that I have posted on my profile, those who do know can also check to see how they look. The weapon which the clones have in the picture is the 'Kunai Launcher' for this story. But they don't possess it in reality.
The picture will be in the Namikaze Legend section of my profile,
Sorry for the long AN, but I had to do it. I'm just saying that if you are not comfortable with the new concept that I am developing, then we can part ways on a happy note. No need to be rude to each other.
Next few chapters will be longer...
And if you decide that you like this new concept and are going to continue reading the story, then let me know your thoughts through reviews or Pm. Because I fucking hate it when a person does not say his thoughts when I'm developing concepts and when the story takes a turn, then he leaves a flame. Some support would be appreciated...
Blackwolf501