Chapter Ten: Gathering Clouds
Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto, Naruto shippuden or any other world i decide to include in this worlds and character are the product of the imagination of their respective creators and i am simply playing with the characters and i am not making any profit.
AN: This chapter is the start of the war. I really hope that anyone has guessed what happens next chapter since I've already hinted at it at the chapter Broken
Konoha Council Chambers, two weeks after Moryo's defeat
Tsunade was furious and the whole council knew it and it had nothing to do with the suffocating Killer Intent she was radiating or the fact that the table was splintering under her light, by her standards,- grip, no they knew it because they had summoned the Daimyo to Konoha without her consent or even bothering to notify her. She should have know, no matter how big the festivities of the new season, the luxury of this one was pretty excessive but she was too distracted trying to locate Naruto to focus on the piranhas that sat in the chambers. She wouldn't give them the pleasure of seeing her slip especially not in front of the Daimyo, who currently on his way there to sit in the council meeting,- but there would be hell to pay later.
Danzo was pretty upset, the little worms had gone forward to call the Daimyo to Konoha without notifying him of it and he had been far too busy searching for the Jinchuriki so he could recruit him into ROOT,- to notice it and by the Hokage's looks so had she. For all his dislike of the Hokage's softness she had proven to be a cunning person following the Daimyo's orders and then immediately searching for him so that he could remain a valuable asset of Konoha even though officially not part of it. The civilians would pay for such transgression and he wouldn't even need to move a finger butt what truly pleased him was that they would rally behind him, complaining about the Hokage's "cruelty"
Kakashi had just returned from Uzu and he was absolutely furious at the civilian part of the council for pulling this little stunt, oh there would be hell to pay for this but he feared the consequences of Tsunade's revenge. Most people called the Uchiha "emotional shinobi" but they totally forgot about the Senju who were equally as emotional if more benign but if there was one thing you did not do to a Senju and that was mess with family and he had no doubt that the civilians had summoned the Daimyo to put a stop to Tsunade's plan to revoke Naruto's banishment from the village on account of his help during the Moryo crisis. Another factor was the fact that Tsunade had finally been pushed at the edge of her patience by two years of the council doing everything in their, considerable economical, - power to stop her attempts at getting Naruto back.
The Daimyo entered the council chamber accompanied by an entourage of Samurai and advisors though Kakashi noticed at least three of them were ninja, the Daimyo's little open secret after the dissolving of the Fire Guardians. As one all the people present rose to their feet and bowed at the smiling Daimyo, his circular dark eyes roaming over the room and resting upon Kakashi with an approving nod. The Daimyo gestured for all the people present to relax and he seated himself in the head of the table right across where Tsunade was seated herself, his eyes filled with reproach as he locked eyes with her.
"Daimyo-sama, I welcome you in the name of Konohagakure and wish you a pleasant stay" said Tsunade, her voice betraying no emotion.
"Thank you all for your sincere wishes but please do not let my presence interrupt your normal proceedings" said the Daimyo with a well-practiced, polite smile.
"Of course Daimyo-sama" said Tsunade "as all present members of the council know, this meeting was called to discuss the pardon for Uzumaki Naruto for the services offered during the Moryo crisis"
"Wasn't he the unstable Jinchuriki we banished two years ago?" asked the Daimyo.
"Yes but his services proved to be detrimental to our defense efforts as he liberated one of our best ninja, Kakashi-san here to bolster our defenses while escorting the priestess to seal the demon away" explained Tsunade "furthermore from Kakashi-san's meeting with him he seemed perfectly stable"
"His return would also be a great addition to the military of Konohagakure as his power as a Jinchuriki would make it so that the other nations think twice before taking any action against us" added Danzo.
"He is very unstable, though" added Omura Takesi, clan head of the Takesi clan "we found traces of the Nine-Tails chakra in a forest or more exactly what used to be a forest in the Land of Claws"
"He could have been fighting monsters sent by the demon to kill the priestess" interjected Kakashi.
"As if" scoffed one of the civilians "the demon doesn't need any reason to destroy things"
"Let's be reasonable" interjected Danzo "the Nine Tail was many things but stupid was not one of them or it would have taken something less than the First Hokage to defeat him or the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal it, so why would it unleash its power uselessly and warn us of its supposed control of the boy with no reason?"
"Shimura-san has a good point there" commented the daimyo.
"Perhaps but the fact that its power was unleashed on that level means that the demon has a hold on the boy" said Omura.
"Or the kid has gained a degree of control over the Tailed-Beast" said Tsunade in blank face that only five people in the room recognized as barely restrained anger "we must not forget that the Fourth never did anything, no matter how small, without a reason let alone create a jinchuriki that would have no control over his tenant"
"I keep hearing nothing but praise for this Namikaze Minato and yet he did nothing worthy of praise but win a single battle against Iwa and seal away the Nine-Tails at the cost of his life mind you" commented the Daimyo.
"Of course you didn't hear anything else about him, in fact I would be surprised if you did, he was always efficient like that" said Danzo with a small smirk.
"What Danzo-sama means that his other exploits are not as well known because the other Great Nations don't want to accept that their Kages were defeated in their own home turf by one as young and inexperienced as Minato-taicho was then" said Kakashi.
"He defeated three Kages?" asked one of the "advisors" of the Daimyo flabbergasted.
"No at the same time mind you but yes he did" Tsunade "the kid was always joking how no one of them could lay a finger on him even if he didn't use his Flying Thunder God jutsu and the thing is I believe he wasn't joking"
"To top it off he did what took Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama their Bloodline Limits which were uniquely specialized against Tailed Beasts to do" added Kakashi with an eye smile "he defeated a seriously pissed off Nine-Tails with nothing more than overwhelming skill"
"So he was our strongest and competent ninja ever?" asked the Daimyo.
"I wouldn't go that far but he was indeed very skilled and the foremost expert in seals in the whole world" said Danzo, clearly not liking the comparison between the Fourth and his part-time mentors.
"So his work is the best seal that the demon could have been sealed in?" asked the Daimyo with a thoughtful expression.
"Yes, not even my teammate Jiraya could ever do better and he is the greatest seal master alive" answered Tsunade.
"Of course you would say so, the body that the demon has taken over is your blood relative" accused one the civilians.
"A twice removed cousin that I have only known for a month at most" countered Tsunade, her KI spiking for a moment but still enough to remind the civilians that he was playing a dangerous game against an Kage-level ninja.
"Still that is enough especially for a member of a clan pushed to the brink of extinction with only one legal heir remaining" said one of the actual advisors of the Daimyo.
"As if" scoffed Tsunade "the Senju clan lives on for while we have even spread among other clans, our unique life force and chakra will never fade but will only grow stronger with every generation"
"A biased opinion don't you think?" smirked one of the "advisors"
"My Chakra levels have barely tripled from when I was fourteen and their strength has only marginally increased" said Tsunade, surprising a great deal of people "Kakashi here while not inheriting the Senju large chakra supply from his mother due to his White Chakra there is no denying that his chakra is among the strongest in sheer potency and I mean one of the strongest as in the whole world-strongest"
"Indeed so let's say could the boy rebuild the Senju clan away from the village?" asked the Daimyo.
"Yes, even if he married a civilian his progeny would have the same or larger amounts of chakra and chakra potency" answered Danzo, hoping to sway the Daimyo to allow Naruto's return.
"Food for thought, that is for sure" said the Daimyo "but one thing is sure, the Senju clan must never leave Konoha"
"You mean that you'll allow the demon back?" asked Morinaga Nishina, the wealthiest merchant in the whole Fire Land.
"No need to go that far my dear" answered the Daimyo "the best option would be to capture the boy and use him as a breeding stock before extracting the Tailed Beast from him and transferring it to another loyal ninja"
"Why this decision, if I may ask?" asked Homura, politely.
"The boy has been away too long from the village and from what I gathered his departure did leave two ANBU agents in the hospital for weeks" said the Daimyo calmly.
"I also reckon you must have heard that the ANBU operatives started the fight themselves and have been officially reprimanded" said Tsunade.
"Be that as it may be, it's just too risky to just reinstate him as a Konoha ninja and I forbid you from seeking revenge from the councilors for this, the boy has only himself to blame" said the Daimyo in a tone that didn't tolerate any discussion.
"Oh really or is just because the councilors have put way too much gold in your and your advisors pockets for you to allow the kid to return" asked Tsunade her control slipping and the meeting table cracking in two.
"Careful Tsunade you are treading into dangerous territory" warned the Daimyo.
"No, I have had enough of this bullshit" exploded Tsunade "I have put up with your intricate plots for some time now but no longer, take your entourage and leave, you're no longer welcome within this walls"
"My decree is final any attempt to deviate from it will have Konoha facing the wrath of all the armies in my disposition" threatened the Daimyo, inwardly worrying that Tsunade might just kill him there and there, he had no illusions that the ninja disguised as his protectors would buy him at most a full minute before his body was broken by Tsunade's legendary fists.
"Bring it on, Konoha has weathered Tailed Beast and shinobi armies, your samurai and whatever renegade ninja you'll hire will be nothing more than a fun pastime for my shinobi" answered Tsunade, barely restraining from killing him there and there because that would cause a bad reputation for the village while an open war wouldn't cause as much damage to their credibility.
"Tsunade isn't that a bit too rushed?" interjected Homura trying to diffuse the situation.
"Choose your side now, Homura" said Tsunade her fingers curling into a familiar seal that every high-ranking ninja knew but only the Hokage could use and caused every Konoha ninja present to go pale white.
"You know what side we have and will always choose" answered Koharu and Homura said at the same time, not bothered in the least by Tsunade's familiar hand seal.
"Good, now Daimyo-sama please take your entourage and leave this village while I am still feeling generous" said Tsunade.
"I will not forget this" threatened the Daimyo.
"Nor I expect you to" said Tsunade as the Daimyo and his entourage scurried outside of the chambers.
"A tad bit rushed but still the look on the Daimyo's face, just priceless" said Kakashi causing the chamber to roar with uproarious laughter, from the shinobi side at least.
"From now on the civilian side of the council is dissolved and only shinobi are allowed to sit in the council from now" said Tsunade "as for your help with economical matters the village will hire auditors for such a job, which reminds me the finances of the last sixteen years will be revised"
"You can't do that" bellowed out Morinaga.
"Of course I can and while the Daimyo's decree forbids me from arresting you onto grounds of treason and undermining the power of the Hokage, I can still disband the council whenever I feel my authority has been challenged by it" said Tsunade with an evil smirk "my great-uncle, Tobirama, was quite insistent on it when the charter of Konoha was firstly drawn"
The civilian side, not willing to aggravate their Hokage further decided to leave quietly from the room and even their allies from the lesser clans didn't do anything more than smile through the whole proceeding further consolidating their belief that the Shinobi were backstabbing beings not to be trusted. As they left their thoughts boiled down to one thing, the shinobi would pay for this affront. Tsunade on the other hand was very pleased at the way things turned, not only had she found a way to finally get rid of the authority of the Daimyo which was stunting their military growth but also she had found a good reason to disband the civilian side of the council while the shinobi side would have to wait for some time until her power was fully consolidated from her latest power play.
Of course now she would have to post some Yamanka to watch over them to make sure that they wouldn't betray the village and if necessary mess with their minds to ensure their continued loyalty, after all they were all psychologists as a clan and even without their jutsu they could read civilians and most ninja like an open book and could decide for themselves if messing with their minds was necessary not to mention that they were fanatically loyal to the village and the Hokage. Danzo had been very helpful so his life expectancy had been greatly increased but he would die and not even his precious Sharingan's would save him "The fool thinking that a medic nin of my caliber wouldn't notice them" Even as the room emptied her mind was in overdrive mapping out a plan for her next move, now if only she could getting contact with Jiraya and get him to bring Naruto back.
The same day in, somewhere in Kumogakure
The Fourth Raikage was calmer now and he hadn't had to cause massive property damage to be calmed, no just the thought that another jinchuriki would be soon added to Kumo's military might and the fact that the jinchuriki seemed to have a measure of control over his Tailed Beast was a big bonus. In the poorly lighted room, a small group of people stood, the only people he trusted to accomplish this mission and propel Kumogakure to its rightful place as the greatest of the Hidden Villages.
"You have been called here to be given a mission" said A pacing around the dark room "the future of Kumogakure depends on it"
"Don't tell me we are going after the Konoha Jinchuriki" asked Darui, alarmed at the prospect of fighting a jinchuriki.
"He is no longer Konoha's jinchuriki technically speaking" said Dodai "though Konoha will not take this laying down, the boy is a weapon of mass destruction after all"
"No to mention the other villages won't like that we will now have more than two jinchuriki" added the Head of Kumokagure's ANBU "which will eventually lead to war and it takes time to train jinchuriki"
"You're forgetting that we are going against the Nine-Tails and while the Gyuki will never accept it, he is terrified of what the fox can do, ya fools" said B.
"It won't matter anyway, our R&D has just finished preparing a special seal that will nullify Tailed Beasts chakra for fifteen minutes" explained A "more than enough time for you to neutralize the boy and block his chakra with regular chakra suppressing seals"
"Still we have no guaranty that the boy will cooperate and I don't need to remind anyone that extracting a tailed beast is dangerous even without the boys naturally powerful Uzumaki chakra making things worse" said Darui.
"We'll be just transferring the beast from one host to anther" said A with a smirk. "the boys powerful chakra will be no problem as there will be over twelve ninja giving their chakra to this process, including me and B"
"Ironic isn't it? The technique that will kill the boy will be am Uzumaki jutsu" said Dodai laughing "still war is unavoidable if we go forward with this plan"
"With three jinchuriki will crush any and all opposition" said A.
"Well his worry is not unfounded, Konoha has won three world wars without once employing a jinchuriki not factoring that they have the best seal master in the world" said the head of ANBU.
"And they tend to produce monsters, ya fool" said B "do I need to remind you of our last meeting with their latest monster during the war, ya fool"
"Enough of this nonsense" shouted A, standing up "I will not tolerate your whining anymore, this was me letting you know of your assignment not asking your opinion"
"This will still cause World War four, kid" said a figure seated in the shadows, Kumo's very own version of Danzo "but we will be invincible with the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails on our side"
"Finally someone with some sense" said A.
"Saitou , really" said Darui face palming "last time he agreed on something was on the kidnapping of the Hyuga and that ended well, didn't it?"
"A minor inconvenience" said Saitou.
"Of course" scoffed Dodai "if you are so assured it will work why don't you go with the team that is assigned to this mission"
"I think I will" said Saitou stepping out of the shadows revealing an old bald man with a long beard leaning on a cane.
"You're too old for this" said A.
"That's not what the fifth platoon of ANBU though when I decimated them last week" said the old man with a chuckle "this old weary bones still can live up to their old S-rank classification"
"I don't trust him, ya fool" said B.
"Good, you'll live longer that way but this is for the glory of Kumogakure so you can at least trust me on this mission" said the old man.
"If you think you can do it, I'll place you on the team but at the first sign of not being up to it you'll be come back" said A.
"Of course, Lord Raikage" said Saitou bowing slightly.
"Good you're dismissed" said the Raikage massaging is temples and the participants wisely chose to leave quickly and quietly from the room.
"You know that beardy has a plan if he agreed to leave the village so easily" said Mabui.
"You think I don't know" said A "but my hands are tied where his participation is involved"
"Your father was a fool" said Mabui.
"He had no choice, we needed him back then" said A "his skill with Fire release is what kept Sand from penetrating our defenses these last two wars"
"Still he allowed to gather too much influence"
"Unfortunately we can't do a thing now besides he is an old man who will die anytime soon" said A.
"Hopefully" said Mabui putting a stack of papers in front of A "these are the paperwork you need to fill for this mission"
The Raikage's anguished "No" could be heard all over the village.
In Suna, Gaara gazed from the windows of one of the Kazekage's "special" manor. This manor being located in the middle of the desert which made it his favorite place in the whole country. The wind ruffled his hair as he gazed at the endless sea of sand wondering about the newest challenge to the stability of his reign. Of course he could just kill the faction that opposed him but he didn't want to rule by fear alone as his predecessor had done, no he wanted to rule by the love of the people much like the Hokage's of Konoha had done. In his humble opinion love is better than fear, after all fear can get you so far but love well suffices to say there was a reason why Konoha had never deployed a Jinchuriki or why they hadn't gathered all of them.
This new faction wanted to capture Naruto for their own uses even though he had explained to them the foolishness of such endeavor. It was simply impossible to capture Naruto or the Nine Tails without a Seal Master of the same caliber of Jiraya or some of the other best seal masters in the world, which Suna didn't posses. Even if they did, Naruto was his friend and anyone that tried to harm him was going to have to go through him and quite frankly he had gained enough skill to make most S-rank shinobi think twice about fighting him and that was without using the One-Tails power to enhance his own.
Hopefully Kankuro would convince them that Naruto would side with them and thus calm down the situation before he had to deal with them personally which would be really bad for Suna seeing as some of the most powerful shinobi of Suna were among that faction. His Sand informed him of the intruders before they stepped inside the manor. A sad look replaced the serene look on his face as the fragile peace within Suna had finally been broken. He didn't move from his position as three people touched down on the wooden floor.
"Gaara, we're sorry about this but it's all about the good of Suna" Baki claimed preparing for a fight.
"No, it's about appeasing your lust for power" rebuffed Gaara.
"It's about fixing the damage you and your father did to this once proud village" shouted one of the other two masked ninja.
"Fools, even if you somehow succeed in subduing me you'll never get past Temari" chuckled Gaara "or Kankuro for that matter"
"Neither will be a problem" said Baki unsealing a scroll revealing the corpse of Kankuro "Temari will join him as we speak"
"You utter cretins" hissed Gaara turning to face them.
"What will you do?" taunted one of the masked shinobi "this mansion is sealed within a barrier bubble that makes your demon's power useless and without your sand you are useless"
"Naruse is right, surrender there is no need for further bloodshed" spoke Baki softly.
"A fool like always, sensei" laughed bitterly Gaara "you killed my blood and expect me to just accept this and join you"
Sand rose like a giant tidal wave blocking the sunlight and plunging the entire mansion in complete darkness. "The sand was never for the One-Tail, it was always mine and you're about to find out how much better I've grown in the past two years" whispered Gaara, just adding to the fear his would-be assassins were feeling in that moment.
"Seriously?" asked Temari in disbelief, looking at her sensei in the art of Fan jutsu.
"You are an obstacle in the way of Suna's growth as the ultimate power" spat out Kiso, a middle aged man with short brown hair, grey eyes and a brown beard with flecks of white mixed in it. He stood wearing the standart Suna jonnin uniform except for the giant war fan he held in fully opened.
"Gaara will kill you for this" she threatened.
"He is being dealt with right now" replied Kiso with a cruel grin.
"So, this is how it is going to be" mused Temari opening her war fan.
Instead of answering Kiso, blurred forward with the all the speed of an A-rank ninja fully intent of striking Temari down. Temari disappeared like a mirage right before Kiso's attack connected. "Wind Release: Bladed Hurricane" came from Kiso's right side and he acting on reflex jumped on the left only to crash onto the mini-hurricane that Temari had summoned. He survived out of sheer luck as the technique wasn't as powerful as it should have been and his control over his Wind chakra saved him from being turned into a mangled mess of flesh. He wasn't allowed a respite as Temari blurred right in front of him and hit him with all her might.
The blow had him dripping blood from his mouth as he bit his tongue from the shock of such a powerful blow. With a single swing of his fan he unleashed his own "Wind Release: Bladed Hurricane" which manifested as a massive twenty meters tall funnel wind that would turn anyone caught into it in confetti. The technique was too damn flashy to actually connect with Temari but it would give him a chance to recover from the shock of the newfound skill of his student. He didn't have a chance as hand shot out from the sand and dragged him within the sand dunes.
A simple downward swipe of his war fan caused a massive explosion that created a large crater with is sitting in the center unaffected. He didn't have a moment of respite as a massive gust of wind threw him of his feet and slammed him into the sand dunes. Temari smiled as she approached Kiso with a light step and hit him at the back of his head, knocking him out. Kneeling besides him she sealed him in a scroll and immediately headed for Gaara's favorite retreat, she was sure that Kankuro would enjoy trying his new shinobi Truth Serum on the poor chap as she enjoyed using her new "Genjutsu: Perfect Siege" making him dream a whole battle while she knocked him out without him noticing a thing.
The new Mizukage was pacing nervously around her office, weighting her options. Her village was weak, clinging to their status of one of the Great Powers by the skin of their teeth. They had no Jinchuriki and the only Jinchuriki out there that they had a chance to get, were the Six Tails and Nine-tails Jinchuriki. The problem was that they had practically no leads on the Six-Tails Jinchuriki and the only fresh lead was the one of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Still going after the Jinchuriki of the most powerful Tailed Beast was very, very dangerous especially since they had no powerful shinobi they could spare to hunt the Jinchuriki.
However having no Jinchuriki would announce to the world their weakness and Kumo would certainly jump at the chance to further expand their influence, in their century old struggle to topple Konohagakure from their place as the top dog. Her hands were tied either send a group of shinobi to their certain death using the Five Pillar of Heaven Seal to bring back the Nine-tails to their village or risk an all out war with Kumo which they would certainly lose in their current state. With a glare she fixed an alliance proposal from Iwa which was practically them accepting to become annexed from Iwa, which the proud people of Kiri would never accept.
With a resigned sigh she released a miniscule chakra ripple that notified her most loyal shinobi, Ao,- that he was required. A few second later a silent thump notified her that Ao had entered the room and she turned around from gazing at the village preparing for the incoming morning storm,- to face her trusted comrade.
"You came to a decision?" asked Ao, still bowed before his Kage.
"You know that we have no other choice" replied Mei. "prepare a team and bring us back the Nine-Tails"
"It's goodbye then" nodded Ao perfectly calm.
"Hopefully no but in this line of work we can't afford wishful thinking" smiled bitterly, Mei.
"Just don't forget your paperwork" Ao reminded her moving to leave the room "It wouldn't do for the village to fall because you didn't have me to remind you to do your paperwork"
"Only you" Mei spoke softly "Only you would think of such a thing right now"
"You know why" Ao replied before disappearing in a lightning fast Body-Flicker.
"I'm sorry" Mei whispered to the empty room as a single tear slid down her cheek.
Naruto Uzumaki
Class: Gamer
Lvl. 118
Points to next level [102.350/ 169.000]
Age: 16
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 58.3 kg
Hp: 24.630 (+2620)
Chakra points: 132.250 (+22.500)
Mp: 245.800
Kurama's cp:
Hp regeneration: 236 hp/sec. (+14)
Kurama's hp regen.: 700 hp/sec
Chakra points regeneration: 22.605 cp/sec. (+703 cp/sec.)
Kurama's cp regen. : cp/sec.
Mp regen. : 62.911 mp/sec.
Energy: 201 (+50) = 251
Control: 201 (+50) = 251
Strength: 133
Speed: 185 (+40) = 225
Vitality: 181 (+20) = 201
Dexterity: 150
Intelligence: 221
Wisdom: 253 (+3) = 256
Luck: 120 (+30) = 150
Special status: Uzumaki and Namikaze Heir (+ 10 Intelligence, +15 Vitality, +10 Speed, + 30% exp in fuinjutsu and technique creation), Jinchuriki (+100 hp, +100 cp for every new lvl.), Trap master (+10% to [traps] and + 10% to [stealth]), Perfect Control (Your Control is always equal to your energy due to the Wood Release Chakra in your Chakra coils)
Stat Points to allocate: 0
Money: 1.356.352 Ryo