Chapter 50: What Now?

"Hmm . . . for a medical clinic, it doesn't sound that busy right now . . ." mumbled Kankuro as he, his siblings, and Ryu walked down the hallway to a meeting room that was set up for the Kages and their guards.

"It's so quiet . . . like everyone conveniently went on break," mumbled Ryu as she continued to float in the air. "I wonder why?"

"I'm not surprised, to tell you the truth," said Temari as she crossed her arms. "The quiet all around us just reflects the current situation we're in. With the Sage of the Sixth Paths in Amegakure's clutches, you wouldn't be acting very lively right now would ya?"

"Hmm . . . you make a good point sis." said Kankuro in reluctant agreement. Gaara remained silent as the four neared the room, which already had a few notable voices echoing out from within its' confines . . . well, one notable voice, to be exact.

"Oh man . . . it sounds like the Raikage isn't too happy in there . . ." said Ryu as the group reached the door.

"When is he ever happy . . ." grumbled Kankuro as he let a disbelieving look come across face.

"Not now Kankuro, not now," said Temari as she shook her head at her brother. "Save the snarky comments for later."

"Stay focused everyone," said Gaara as he turned to the others. "We may be hearing the voices now, but this is only the beginning."

"Yeah . . . who knows if we'll even have all our hearing when the meeting's over." grumbled Kankuro as Gaara opened the door. The four stepped into the room to see Mifune and the other Kages sitting around a round table. The bodyguards, most of them managing to stay up and about despite their injuries, stood behind their respective Kages. Some of their faces showing anger, while other showed silent remorse.

"Aw . . . . Kazekage-san, I see you've come finally come to join us," said Onoki, who looked the worse, injury wise, among the Kage. "Now we can finally get this meeting started."

"With all of Lord A's shouting I heard from outside the room, I thought you had all started without me." said Gaara as he took the last remaining seat at the table, which was in between Mifune and Tsunade.

"Ha ha, very funny . . ." grumbled A as he looked away with a scowl on his face.

"As you can probably guess from A's sour mood, him, Mifune, and Mei were unable to find any trace of the Rain nin during their search through the area." said Tsunade as she shook her head. "It's like they've disappeared from the face of the Earth."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they had made it out of the country by now," muttered Lady Mei as she crossed her arms. "These people . . . they're totally different than the crop of ninja that Amegakure usually produces . . . A lot different."

"Before the Kazekage-san here arrived, you mentioned something about that Sakuya person you encountered in the area, Lady Hokage," said Mifune as he turned to Tsunade. "Something about his speed . . . Care to explain that?"

"His speed, we can all agree on, was inhuman," said Tsunade as she weaved her fingers together. "But it's definitely not unheard of . . ."

"What do you mean by that Slug Princess?" asked Onoki as he raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"His speed . . . I've only seen that kind of speed from one other person in all my life," answered Tsunade as she turned to him. "His speed . . . it's eerily similar to Izuka's own."

"Similar to the Lady Sage's own?" asked A as he raised an eyebrow. "I've seen her run Tsunade. She's very fast when she wants to be, I'll give her that . . . Wait, you're talking about the 'other' her, aren't you?"

"That's exactly who I'm talking about A," said Tsunade as she narrowed her eyes at no one in particular. "Sakuya's speed and the 'other' Izuka's speed are very similar when you compare them. . . It's like they're the same thing."

"The speed of the 10-tailed beast is unmatched. As the fastest of the tailed beasts, Ryuna's jinchurikis easily gain the status as being some of the fastest in shinobi history, easily on-par with the speed of Konoha's Yellow Flash and past Raikages," mumbled Mei as she brought a hand underneath her chin. "And that kind of speed is distinct in its' own right. . . It makes the shinobi so fast . . . it's like they were never even there to begin with. Their chakra disappears just like that, making it appear as if the jinchuriki is totally invisible to the naked eye. . . It's even rumored that not even the Byakugan can trace the jinchuriki's movements."

"No one really knows how that kind of speed is capable . . ." muttered Onoki as he closed his eyes. "Which makes the jinchuriki that much of a problem when he or she uses it."

"Before Izuka, there was only one other person who was Ryuna's jinchuriki," mumbles Tsunade as she turned to Mifune. "She lived many years ago, but she was reportedly one of the fastest of her time . . . Probably the fastest ever."

"That is correct," said Mifune as he shook his head. "The Lady Sage is still fairly young, so she has a long way to go before she fully gets a bearing on her powers, many of which could still be untapped."

"Which only makes the situation that much more problematic. . ." grumbled A as he gritted his teeth.

"Amegakure has been a problem in the past, but now that they have the Lady Sage, they've become that much more dangerous." said Onoki as he tapped his fingers along the table.

"And now the question is this: What do we do now to deal with this situation?" asked Tsunade as she looked around the table.

"Well . . . a full on frontal assault on Amegakure is off the table . . . for now," muttered A as he looked out a nearby window. "All of our villages are still recovering from the Fourth Shinobi World War . . . none of us have enough ninjas to use for a frontal attack."

"When did you become so sensible A?" asked Tsunade as she raised an eyebrow at the dark skinned man. "You are the last person I expect to refuse the idea of a frontal assault."

"Oh really . . ." A said sarcastically as he refused the urge to grit his teeth. "I may be known for brute force and strength, but I know how to think through ideas and suggestions, Tsunade."

"Hmm . . . I guess it's safe to say that a frontal assault is out of the question," said Mei as she closed her eyes. "I guess we just have to go with a more covert option."

"I agree with Lady Mei . . ." said Onoki as he looked around the table. "We should send two teams of ninja into Amegakure. At least two ninja from each of our villages will go; therefore five in each group. One team will be the lead team and the other serving as backup. For now, they'll do surveillance and reconnaissance and send any info that they can back to us. Once we gain enough Intel on what the Rain nin are planning, then we can come up with a strategy in order to deal with them, and to get the Lady Sage back . . . Any objections?"

Everyone around the table stayed silent as they thought the plan over, but soon enough, they all figured that it was the best option for now, considering the Rain nin they recently fought against were on an entirely different level than the Rain nin of the past.

"I see . . . since there are no objections, then we shall proceed with the Tsuchikage's idea." said Mifune as he weaved his fingers together.

"After this meeting, we should all head back to our villages and decide which two of our ninja should go on the reconnaissance mission," said the Tsuchikage as he got out of his seat. "After that . . . we'll just have to wait."

The other Kages nodded their heads before getting up from their seats themselves. They all left the room group by group, Gaara's group being the last ones to leave.

"Are you okay Gaara?" asked Temari as she turned to her brother with an eyebrow raised. "You were . . . quieter than usual during that meeting."

"I'm fine Temari . . ." said Gaara as he let out a deep breath, one he felt like he had held in for throughout the entire meeting. "Unfortunately, I know that all of the five great villages are still pretty weak thanks to the war months ago . . . I guess I'm just on edge, that's all."

"It's okay . . . we all know how you feel little brother," said Kankuro as he placed his hands on his hips. "We all want to get Izuka back, but for now . . . like Lord Onoki said, we just have to wait."

"Yeah . . . we'll have to wait," muttered Gaara as he continued moving forward. "But it's not going to be a very restful wait . . . not by a long shot."

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