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'Clan report - The Uzumaki. General summary:
The Uzumaki are a clan which, according to rumours and the historical documents recovered from the clan itself, can trace its lineage back to the times that predate the clan wars era - possibly right into the chakra-less era and to the Sage of the Six Paths if some are to be believed. This puts them in line with the Uchiha, Hyuuga and Senju, in terms of nobility, history and location - all four clans originate from the centre of the continent.
However, unlike the previous three clans, the Uzumaki digress in their specialisations and attitudes. Whilst the other clans all joined what became the Land of Fire and the Leaf Village, the Uzumaki followed more isolated tendencies in establishing a hidden village of their own (Uzugakure) on the Land of Swirling tides - a semi-large island sixty kilometres northwest of the Land of Waves. Their village was created only six months after Konohagakure was established, in which an alliance quickly bloomed between the two villages. Together, they lasted two world wars.
However, it was in the Third Ninja World War that they received the first direct, hostile contact on their island. In short, the villages of Kiri, Iwa and Kumo invaded and overwhelmed them - though the specialisations of the Uzumaki, said to be unmatched within the realms of sealing and swords, allowed them to maintain a kill ratio of average 4:1, it was still a slaughter. Forcing their way through the major port and only part of the island not covered in the seal-driven whirlpools ringing the island, the three villages conquered the island.
The spoils they got are reputed to be less than satisfactory. Hopes of getting complicated sealing techniques and artefacts of the clan are mostly confirmed to have been destroyed by the scorched earth policy the Uzumaki enacted on their own island - with only thirty of their number fleeing to Konohagakure, their ally who arrived too late to do anything. There are reports of other survivors having fled elsewhere, but this is still unconfirmed...'
KIRI WILDERNESS.
"The Land of Water, huh?" A musing, deep voice contemplated, before a short, humour-filled chuckle rang out. "It's been some time."
"Silence, Kisame." A commanding tone silenced all murmurs that had sprung up, a wave of pressure rolling out over them all which spawned instant quiet in the clearing the meeting had been situated in. It was not much in the slightest to ninja of the calibre, but they could tell that - which was what shut them up. The fact that it was being sent through a projection in a quantity still felt by them, with sufficiency to it that they could tell there was much more that could come through, meant Pain got the silence he sought.
The Akatsuki had indeed gathered within the Land of Water, country containing the Hidden Village of the Mist - or at least their projections were, their consciousness transported into the wilderness in a projected state. The mist was at unusually low levels in the section of woods that the Leader of the criminal group had brought them to, as instead of the usual fog-like conditions that obscured the vision of even the sky at most points, the cloud substance of the mist just curled around their feet. Sasori wondered in a fleeting thought if it was some sort of chakra technique Pain had come up with.
"I have called you all here for a specific reason." Deva began, inwardly pleased that he didn't have to start the proceedings with a threat or rebuke of some kind. "There has been a change in plans."
"There's been a lot of them." Kakuzu commented, drawing the attention of a few around him. "The world's changed a lot."
"As has our little group." Hidan spoke, before a grin appeared on his face. "Those two pu-"
The mute option of the communication jutsu they were using to speak to one another as projections quickly came into force, as Pain didn't bother to interrupt the conversation going. He had time to spare, and the effort required to interrupt them was noticeably less if they expended some of their child-like antics first.
Kisame looked grateful at the halt to the swearing before it even begun, before speaking his own mind. "He is right, though. There used to be ten of us, but that quickly went back down to eight."
"Some mission in the Land of Rain gone wrong, from what I heard." Kakuzu spoke with a begrudging tone as he folded his arms. "Cost me an awful lot of money when they didn't return with the bounty I set them."
Deidara added his own comment to the mix then in a rare addition, as the youngest member he often didn't join in. "Shows Hanzo is still at the top of his game though, huh."
A sideways glance from his puppet partner drew Deidara's brief interest, as a couple of the others nodded. The Land of Rain was notorious for its isolation from the elemental continent, accepting only trade from other countries and even the bare minimum of military cooperation from its supposed ally, Suna. Yet, it had managed to play off two of the great five powers in managing to not draw down a retaliation when they had angered them.
The gathering was just waiting for the next person to speak, as it seemed half of the criminal organisation was willing to speak as somewhat comrades, and not criminals who'd tear each other throats out for the bounty had it not been for Pain. The other half - noticeably Pain, Konan, Zabuza and to a lesser extent Sasori, could not be bothered for joining in. Indeed, Sasori looked like he wanted the meeting over with.
"Can we please get back on track?" His gruff voice sounded out then to interrupt the flow of the conversation. "I do not want to waste anymore time."
Before any of the others from the more talkative half could comment on perhaps his impatience, Pain spoke up. "Very well." His voice rung out, rinnegan eyes drifting over the others to remind them to stay silent. "The change in plans is simple - we are now ceasing our operations to expand our resource and money intake, as well as freelance missions provided by other nations. From now on, you take all your directives and missions, from me." There was a brief pause before he delivered the main change in plans. "Henceforth, we are now going to commence hunting for the jinchuuriki."
"Lord Pain." Sasori's voice called out then, making Deva's purple eyes flick to see him. "I thought we still have two more years before we made a move on the Jinchuuriki."
Purple eyes looked to Sasori, a scrutinising look being sent his way. "Circumstances change." Was all Deva said in response, with the specific meaning of the words to Sasori a thing to ponder upon.
Kakuzu had already begun plotting it seemed, with even Hidan in the muted state he was in looking to him knowingly. It would be easy to place a bet that Kakuzu was already plotting out what bounties he could go for in what Land he would be assigned to, if it wasn't for the fact that the criminal hated to lose money. "Where are we going?" He snapped off a short question.
"We shall destabilise the Mist." Pain simply announced, his shimmering projection being the only thing that moved in his otherwise impassive and serious persona, before continuing. "By targeting the two jinchuuriki of the Mist, one of which is the ruling Kage, then we shall plunge the nation into a temporary chaos without leadership. This will, without certainty, make them withdraw from all interference in international affairs as they cannot afford to when they lose their two best assets, and their leader."
A moment of silence reigned over the gathered criminals, before Kisame gave a chuckle. "Both at once? Good. I like a challenge."
Zabuza spoke up. "If I may." He spoke, merely feigning the respect as Pain's purple eyes drifted to settle on him. "I can understand targeting both jinchuuriki in one go, that's smart in terms of not letting them get wind and putting more guards on another jinchuuriki. But why is it so crucial to keep them from being so involved in international affairs?"
Deva watched Zabuza as he spoke, before shocking all of the Akatsuki gathered as the corpse's lips lifted into a slight smirk - something they'd never seen before from their normally impassive leader. Not even his few instances of power against the group to keep them in line had had him change so much as his expression. "That is simple." His voice, though sounding neutral, also was noticeably firm and contained a hint of malice. "By disabling one of the great nations from partaking in any international activity and keeping another absolutely neutral, world war is much more achievable."
"War...?" Sasori muttered out, the others also slightly taken aback at the announcement. Nobody gathered there disbelieved that Pain wasn't capable of igniting world war, given that they were planning to antagonise all of the major nations by targeting their jinchuuriki, but actually going through with world war was still shocking. Even to them, S-rank criminals.
"Yes. World war, between the nations of Iwa and Kumo and whatever allies they have between them." Pain stated dismissively. He didn't particularly care about letting them know a few parts of his plans, given how most of them were not loyal to any nation and his power kept them in line anyway, and it wouldn't take them too long to figure out given who they'd been targeting themselves with their mercenary missions. "Perhaps even Konohagakure. The point is, the jinchuuriki will be more easily drawn out in combat settings."
"As for what you shall be doing... all seven of you shall go for the three tails." Pain stated simply. "No matter if they are one of the most powerful jinchuuriki, they will not be able to withstand almost the entire organisation coming for them."
Kisame gave a guffaw at that, finding the premise of their orders highly amusing. "Bit of an overkill, is it not?" He voiced.
Pain's eyes drifted to him, but on this occasion did not rebuke him. But rather spelt out what he had missed. "As a Kage, he is almost always in his village. Given how I want these strikes to be conducted at the same time, then you will go for the three tails when I go for the six tails." He informed the entire group, his tone apathetic but somehow still sounding like he was unimpressed. "Some of you will have to hold off whatever reinforcements rush in to join the fighting."
A rise in the pitch of noise sounded out then, as they begun scheming and arguing for who took what roles, as Deva just listened in with half interest - enough to know what they were settling upon, but not interested enough to listen for who got to claim what bounty. When the noise began to signal that they were beginning to seriously argue between one another, however, he stepped in.
"Enough." His command rung out then as all the other projections were forcibly muted. "I will not have you killing one another before you can complete what I have set out. Organise yourselves later, when you all arrive in the Land of Water."
They were all preparing somewhat to leave from that statement, when Deva stopped them with a mere raise of his hand to gesture towards one specific member. "And Zabuza." He spoke softly, seeing no need to raise his voice. "I know you still feel some loyalty towards Kirigakure." It was a statement, not a question as the rinnegan eyes bore right into Zabuza's own. "I trust there will be no problem on this mission I've sent you on?"
A second's confusion passed for Zabuza, before slowly shaking his head. He'd had no contact from his home nation ever since he'd defected from it in terms of seeking help for his ideals, and he knew Pain knew this. The mere fact was, the leader of the criminal group obviously also knew that his reasons for defecting were a lot more noble than any other S-rank there. "No, Leader." He gruffly responded.
"Good." Pain replied with a pleased edge to his tone, causing the vestiges of confusion in the wielder of Kubikiribocho, a legendary sword crafted from the Land of Water. "Then I shall return your apprentice to you."
Kisame's eyebrow rose at that to compliment Zabuza's own open shock now displayed on the swordsman's face. They would never have expected their Leader to do anything approaching kindness for them, especially given how he was privy to the knowledge that the reason Zabuza was particularly press-ganged into the Akatsuki was because Pain kept his apprentice locked up in an unknown prison. Given how his most precious person was locked up and held as hostage, the bandage-wrapped man often just grit his teeth when he received orders and got on with them. Given how he'd only joined a month ago, that was a relatively short time span to be handed back the leverage over his head - especially as there was still two years on the clock still before Pain wanted to get the majority of the tailed beasts.
Thus, he was fully waiting for something else to be said.
"Just be warned, Zabuza Momochi." Was all Pain said as another transmission to the communication jutsu they were using joined them, the flickering rainbow-spectrum projection of another person this time being shown in the middle of the ring of criminals. A teenager was shown amongst them, one that the Kiri swordsman recognised instantly.
"Haku!" He shouted out, temporarily abandoning all pretence and hard-line act in front of the Akatsuki as he saw his apprentice displayed right before him. In the same way his consciousness was being projected in the Kiri wilderness, he knew it to be the real deal as he saw the sixteen year old before him. Dressed in plain overalls with his normally long black hair shaved short, Haku Yuki looked to be every bit the prisoner he was.
There was no time for pleasantries, or for his apprentice to respond to him as Pain chose not to say anything either as the hands of the Deva Path merely formed a hand seal - and the caged bird seal lit up on Haku's forehead. A seal emblazoned on an unwilling person's forehead and connected to the very nerves of the brain, it was a seal which cause agonising death with a mere hand sign - or just enormous amounts of pain. Which is exactly what Deva did, as he pulsed chakra into the hand sign he'd formed.
Screaming immediately filled the clearing, Haku dropped to his knees as his hands instantly flew to his skull and clenched it hard, agonised yells and screams forcefully drawn from his mouth as white-hot agony slammed into his head. Nerve endings were forcibly electrified and agonised with searing heat, the brain itself being targeted as wave after wave of agony assaulted it and made it feel like the vital organ was being compressed and electrified at once. Zabuza joined in on the yelling, abandoning all dignity that the criminals could see as his face contorted with worry and pain from merely seeing Haku like this, stepping forth and yelling his name but being ultimately unable to do a thing.
The reactions of the criminals were varied. Sasori and Kakuzu, both men of analytical and more careful planning, just watched on with neutral gazes - not ones to deliberately inflict pain when it was unnecessary to their operations, but certainly apathetic to the sight before them. Deidara watched it with only a frown, not actually caring about the agony but seeing it as a far cry from his own inflictions of violence, given how he was a bomber and not a close combatant. Kisame viewed it with what seemed to be a sample of amusement, as Deva watched on with with a masked visage to cover up what he felt whilst he performed the action.
Konan schooled her own features for the most part, a slight grimace being the only give away of her thought processes - as Zabuza seemed to be frothing at the mouth at the ringing screams that continued unabated for a minute.
It ended as suddenly as it began, as the screaming was silenced and the projection of one Haku Yuki wiped from existence in the clearing before them all. "You will find him at the Guven prison on the Northern most island of the Land of Water. Take him from there however you see fit." Deva's voice cracked out to stop anyone else from speaking. His rinnegan eyes flared as he spoke just one last statement before bringing the meeting to an abrupt close. "I want the assault on the Kiri jinchuuriki to commence exactly thirty days from now. Organise yourselves to meet that objective."
The mist surrounding even the tops of the trees in the clearing suddenly broke forth into the empty space as the projections frazzled out - as if a dam had burst, and the waterfall of cloud-like substance rushed to fill the space.
KONOHA - HOKAGE TOWER.
Minato Namikaze grimaced as he read the latest intelligence reports. Iwa and Kumo were closer than ever to war.
It had been very surprising to the leaders of most nations outside of those two. The alliance between the two northern neighbours had been very strong, having been through three world wars on the same side. It had certainly been much more steadfast than even the Suna-Konoha alliance, despite those two having been through two such world wars on the same side. Trade flowed freely through each other's borders, as they both even shared much economic and scientific knowledge. Troop drills and training had been interwoven as a large amount of military policy had been cooperative with one another to a great extent in both friendly comradery and to counteract the dominance of Konoha as the strongest village.
It was this great trust and alliance they held for both sides that had made the tension so thick.
The sting of betrayal each side felt about the other had inflamed tension and suspicion, turning former comrades against each other. Great cooperative abilities and protocol only made the mess even more confusing and worse, as there was no clear idea on what to do - hastily drawing up new training drills, protocol and plans for what to do with now not their best ally, but rather another enemy.
Worldwide military strength was ironic in this regard - it both pushed nations closer to war, and kept the peace. Major nations had historic tensions between one another, even the so-called 'Northern Alliance' as was now proving obvious in the still-ongoing scramble to sperate each other's politics.
A distasteful frown settled onto his expression. Th peace he sought was still far off, and literally in this case as he could tell from a glance that negotiation wouldn't work in this case. His best, and perhaps only option, was to prepare his nation for war - and hope A and Onoki weren't bloodthirsty enough to take military reinforcement as provocation, but rather a warning.
THE LAND OF SWIRLING TIDES, UZUGAKURE. FORMER HOME OF THE UZUMAKI.
Team Foxtrot stood at the forefront of the wooden boat they were sailing upon, watching the blue water of the ocean slice by the keel of the ship as it neared its destination. Gaara took a step forth to properly grip the side of the boat and lean forth to get a closer look at what was going on ahead - as the roar of the ocean phenomenon drew ever louder, even through the padding and material of their helmets. Naruto also stepped forward to join him, now at the very front centre of the ship as they neared the first obstacle, Shino finding it unnecessary to do so too as he could see it just fine from where he stood; merely applying a layer of chakra to the underside of the boots he wore.
"...And do you know how exactly we're going to get past that?" Gaara intoned as he looked to the frothing waters before them.
Indeed, the boat they stood upon was fast approaching the legendary island that had been the previous home of the notorious Uzumaki clan, the famous clan having lived upon it for at least three centuries before the invasion of the island. What had made the island partly so notorious was the literal application of its name - the giant whirlpools of water that ringed the island named after them.
They were but perhaps half a mile from the beginning of one such whirlpool, the giant, frothing force of nature turning in on itself with such power that it would undoubtedly drag the ship into it; despite its advanced technological state for the elemental nations. There was a known way for anyone to perhaps 'switch off' the whirlpools that were powered by the Uzumaki sealing arts, but that required the correct application of chakra. Given its nature as a defence, only the Uzumaki who had fled to Konoha stood a chance in knowing what that was - and Naruto's uncle had been too young when he'd fled the island to know what it was.
Fortunately, there was an alternative.
Looking round to the captain who was stood on the bridge of the ship, gripping the handrail and looking almost desperately back at him for orders, it seemed the captain would shortly issue a command to change direction. "Head east." Naruto ordered. "There lies a port in front of a deactivated whirlpool that Konoha uses. We shall go in the same way."
"Yes, sir." The captain affirmed, before initiating the course correction.
TEN MINUTES LATER.
Shino scoured the wooden port built upon the Uzumaki island, obviously meant to replace the destroyed main port. Seeing minimal signs of life in just two lookouts, and only the normal proceedings of a small port with a couple of tied up wooden transport ships and reinforced huts, he lowered the binoculars. It was to be predicted there would be minimal guards, given the island had been picked clean of valuables in the invasion decades ago, and that there were troops all over the island as its main purpose of ANBU training grounds. Just as the captain of the vessel he was stood upon was shouting to prepare to make way and turn to the port, he raised a hand which he then held into a fist. he had a better idea than storming it and dealing with the guards.
"Halt." He clearly ordered in calm, but loud voice command that could be heard by everyone on the front of the ship.
The captain of the vessel was forced to obey - with Shino being more than twice his senior in rank, he actually almost panicked to snap out counter orders to his previous commands. "Full stop!" The captain shouted aloud, which was fortunately carried out in a few split seconds as they'd only managed a few feet ahead in the very slow speed they'd just started out on.
The metal warship they were travelling upon slowed to a dead stop shortly after, Naruto leaning onto the rail of the bridge of the ship as he merely watched on in curiosity as to what Shino was doing. After a couple of seconds more thought, the second in command of Team Fox pointed to the gun positions at the aft of the ship.
"Gun teams one and two, prepare to fire on my mark." He simply ordered.
Konoha had by now seen them, with men undoubtedly in the huts gathered round and being informed of the approaching, unidentified vessel. A scout had already been sent out, amusingly enough, showing that they were on the ball at least. Whether they could withstand what he had planned was another matter.
The scout was fast approaching the ship from where they were dashing across the surface of the water, waving their right arm in a motion to obviously keep the ship at a dead standstill. Undoubtedly having been sent to question them and provide some mandate of orders to a foreign vessel in Konoha claimed waters, Shino watched as he put his hand in an outstretched motion. He was doing a steady amount of thinking as the Konoha scout approached the vessel, like the fact that since only one scout had been sent instead of the full platoon, their vessel had obviously been posed too much of a hazard to surround and swarm with its size - so they were minimising potential losses.
He was also applying the mathematics to the distance between them as the seal on the wrist pulsed, delivering an explosive-etched kunai into his hand with the primer already ignited. Giving the three second fuse on the seal one second to burn through, he then merely flicked his wrist to send the metal weapon skimming along the surface of the water in an accurate throw.
Predictably, the scout had been watching the vessel with keen eyes, and so dodged the kunai that had been sent their way. Shino watched as their face hardened, observing the obvious intent to turn back to port from a hostile intruder - and seeing as the kunai detonated only a metre behind them. What had also been predictable was an enemy's anticipation to watch out for known threats, and since the kunai lacked an explosive note, it was thus an unknown. The scout could not dodge the explosive fireball, and especially the scythe of blown up fragmented metal of the kunai that ended their life.
"Fire." He ordered as he pointed to the chakra cannons set on the stern of the ship.
It was predictable of an enemy to set up specialist squads at points like ports where an enemy would come from at range on the water, in which the specialisation would of course be at range to fight with long-range ninjutsu. Ninjas liked to fight at shorter ranges - more accurate, and many ninja liked close combat as a specialisation - and so defensive squads at ports often specialised in long-range techniques.
Unfortunately, technology had moved on - a button could be pushed far quicker than completing a fifty-long hand seal sequence with comrades.
The Konoha squad on the shore near the port had been organising themselves, with one of them even having fired off a lightning jutsu that arced across the water. Whilst it would undoubtedly have worked much better against a flammable wooden ship, the metal of the Ame ship deflected much of the jutsu as the rest of the electrical energy was absorbed to just be transferred uselessly across the hull. Before any other jutsu could be lobbed at them, gun team one had lined up their sights right - the gunner having thrown forth the firing lever.
The high-intensity of ionised chakra was instantly discharged from the barrel of the cannon, cackling and rushing forth in but the briefest appearance of surging white light, before the shoreline upon which the Konoha squads were stood exploded. Over twelve metres of the beach was consumed in the resulting fireball and cackling discharge of energy, with the survivors of the explosion being thrown around like ragdolls.
They were given no time to recover as the second gun team had aligned their gun sights, and discharged their weapon. Four of the Konoha defenders died instantly in the second enveloping explosion that now reached the beginnings of the wooden port, setting fire to where it connected with the beach.
"Second gun team, take care of the survivors." Shino ordered during the pause in firings. "First gun team, destroy the enemy radio hut, then the boats."
The huts to the side of the port moorings were obviously the garrison area for whatever other troops were on the island. At least eight normal-looking huts stood behind one large hut acting as a command post, and the antenna posts on top of another signalled its usage as a communication post. Which was soon disintegrated in a powerful explosion which not only blew it apart, but also carved out half of the command post next to it - it was obvious that the port had not been designed for siege.
The second gun team discharged another shot, taking care of half the remaining survivors which had no idea of where the next shot would land - ionised streams of energy were next to impossible to predict in the heat of combat for a singular soldier.
Team Foxtrot watched as the port was reduced to wreckage within the span of only two minutes, an one of the two wooden pier posts collapsing in on itself as the foundation supports were blown in. There were no further signs of life from the port, and given the size of the island, it would likely take a while for anybody who had heard that to arrive.
"Cease fire!" Naruto shouted aloud then, which was reacted to instantly as the second gun team paused just before firing, flipping on the safety and looking to him. The first simply put down the munition scroll they were carrying, showing the chakra cannon hadn't even been reloaded. "That's enough. Get this ship into the port."
"Yes, sir!" The captain responded, the jinchuuriki detecting a note of slight relief in their voice as they began to order commands to move once again. Whether that was from a dislike of Shino having taken over their ship, or from the fact they were technically within Konoha claimed waters with such actions perhaps alerting others on the island.
Shino touched down upon the beach as he was the first one off of the boat, shortly followed by Gaara and then Naruto making up the last as leader of the squad. The differences between them all were noticeable despite the simultaneous, reflective obsidian armour all three wore - for one thing, the height differences were clear. Naruto was clearly taller than Shino by a head, breaching past the six foot mark as the other two were shorter than the average Ame adult male, whilst Gaara always had been the shortest. Body language was a clear indicator, as the stances they each held showed their differing combat styles - Naruto's more rigid posture suggesting a slower, more defensive approach, as Gaara looked to be more lithe and paying attention to his surroundings. It wasn't that Naruto didn't, it was just that as the best chakra sensor ninja of the nation, he put more of his effort into other holdings.
Shino was clearly the most odd one out though. His posture was always that of something analytical, curious of his surroundings, his combat style shown as he came to a standstill and looking like it was directed to just surge ahead at a moments notice - as befitting his bloodline. His armour was also the most heavily modified, even from the noticeable kanji covering part of Naruto's armour. Two pouches were attached to the frontal plate to act as storage for what looked to be grenade devices, despite the unpopularity of the devices throughout the Elemental Nations in favour of the more practical explosive note. Small, heavily armoured gas tanks also were strapped securely to the outside of his upper legs and the forearms, metal wires criss-crossing the expanse of his armour between each one to culminate in release points at mechanisms in the wrists. Other additions to the armour included that of the sheaths containing two swords set horizontally in the small of his back.
Surveying the few craters along the beach where the sand was scorched either black or into glass, the red lens of Naruto's helmet turned back to the boat as he gave further orders. "Remain in the port, captain." He commanded, getting the Ame national salute in response, before he turned to the elite jonin, part of the elite divisions of Ame, and their platoon who was supposed to have accompanied them on the mission. "Elite Jonin, stay here. Defend the ship instead. We'll be fine."
"But sir, my orders were to-" The elite jonin began, before Naruto cut him off with a cutting arm motion.
"I will personally inform our leader of the change in directive, jonin. Do not worry about orders." He simply stated in a finalised tone, before turning off and beginning to walk up the beach, the rest of Team Foxtrot forming up beside him.
ONE HOUR LATER
"Hey, Naruto." Gaara spoke up as he folded his arms, at a loss of what to do as he just stood in front of the metal vault door - merely drawing a gesturing hand to urge him to continue as Naruto continued to study the door. "Now that we're deep in what many would consider enemy territory, can I please ask what we're doing here now?"
"One second, brother..." Naruto trailed off as his hand lit up in a shroud of visible chakra and waved it near the door to expose a central sealing matrix on the vault door to act as the lock.
They had walked for a while on the large island, following a map given to them from what Uzumaki possessions Ame had hoarded to find. They had ended up in a cave system that would at first appear unremarkable, but after delving through the tunnels, it was proven false from the amount of traps and intruder seals that lined the walls and floor. It had been more than even they had anticipated, with even Shino having been taken partly surprise - and finding it fortunate he sent insects ahead to scout for traps as one blew up on an insect that triggered it. Thus, it had taken them an hour to just reach the vault they were after.
"It looks simpler than I imagined for an Uzumaki seal." Shino commented as he looked to the matrix as well, having some knowledge of seals himself - and the matrix itself was only perhaps thirty centimetres wide.
"Two reasons for that." Naruto simply responded back, the cyan glow being traced over the matrix to better highlight and expose its workings for study. "The Uzumaki as the best, can pack more punch into a smaller seal so it looks simpler per se, as well as the fact it's literally just a locking and signalling mechanism. The more complex arrays must be on the other areas of the door, ready to activate if the locking mechanism is activated wrong."
"So." Shino spoke, obviously curious to know how to proceed. "How long will that all take to deactivate?"
A chuckle came from Naruto as he merely reached forth, Shino watching as the expected retaliating force to an intruder failed to materialise. "But a second." He replied as he twisted the physical mechanism on the door to open it normally, the sealing mechanism completely fading away as it didn't react at all. "It's programmed to let Uzumaki blood into the vault, which is obviously of no problem for me."
The heavy metal door gave a brief flash of blue as all the sealing mechanisms upon it glowed before deactivating, before Shino merely pushed open the door on hinges that squeaked somewhat. For a heavily built door meant to withstand heavy use and punishment, it seemed to now be showing the lack of maintenance upon it.
"This... this is what we came for." Naruto stated as he looked upon the vault they stood before.
The vault seemed very strange to two-thirds of the Ame entourage, as it was empty to the extreme for a place that had been so well protected. All that was contained was a large table-like counter, that had five sections within it that each contained a large sealing scroll. Naruto knew better in the fact that it was both to deter intruders, as well as to keep what was within locked away.
"So, what do we gain from busting in here?" Gaara asked as he fiddled with the helmet latches, before then taking it off entirely and putting it in the crook of his arm. Having looked round, he merely walked up to join Naruto who stood before the sealing scroll counter.
"The Uzumaki took all the valuables with them when the vast majority of the survivors fled to the Land of Fire. Of that there is no doubt." Naruto merely answered as he leaned onto the sealing counter containing the five large scrolls, staring intently to the middle one. "There will be no... new sealing techniques, no worthy possessions, weapons or jutsus to take. Nothing that would help our own forces here. The Uzumaki were not that stupid as to leave the island with techniques they could still use themselves."
Shino kept his helmet on as he just held out a hand to send out more insects to scout the vault with. "Then why on Earth are we here, Naruto?" He asked in what was unmistakeably an unamused tone of voice.
"Because they did leave something behind - something valuable only to those that know how to use it." Naruto's modulated-scrambled voice changing to come out sharp and clear as he withdrew the facial plates himself. "It was better left off locked away to the Uzumaki, on an island ringed with defences the likes of which no nation dreamed of matching fifty years or so ago. Something they knew no one would come for, and even if they did, wouldn't hope to understand or be able to utilise anyway. But still something dangerous nonetheless, and thus better locked away on an island many still consider impregnable if you're not an Uzumaki."
Naruto's hands drew closer to the scroll in the very centre storage compartment, stopping just short. "I can sense it, as foul a taint as I've come to get used to. The chakra of the nine tailed beast." He voiced out.
"Drawn out forcibly from me during the time of Mito Uzumaki." Kurama's voice growled in his mind, both informing Naruto and making his displeasure clear. Naruto said nothing in response, not needing to say anything - the process had been undertaken decades ago, and it was useful to them now.
They were particularly after the version of tailed beast chakra the Uzumaki had held since more than eight decades prior. As like most stored versions of such chakra, it had been processed - each tailed beast chakra, when raw and untainted, held semblances of the tailed beast it had been extracted from - the emotions and minute knowledge of it. It was what made controlling the tailed beast cloaks so hard until the body adapted fully to it and could control it. So, it was processed and distilled to remove most of such features, making it be able to be stored and utilised without heavy-handed consequence - but less powerful as a result.
Ame and nearly every nation with good sealing skill could perform such feats. The Uzumaki version was just better in that their sealing still was the best - and so their processed and stored chakra would have the most power. That was the entire reason they were here - to discover the secret behind what made it much better. Getting their hands on the stored chakra was as good a place to start as any, unless they went to the Uzumaki to demand the secret. Given how all the survivors had moved to Konohagakure, a nation at odds with them, it seemed to be more prudent to try other methods first.
That, and both aforementioned methods were better than just experimenting. The most powerful of the tailed beasts may have been cooperative thus far, but not even Shino would have gone with just using the Fox as a chakra battery as the first method.
"Keep an eye out, Gaara." Naruto ordered as he didn't even look to his brother as he said that, instead gesturing to Shino as he stepped to the table. "Shino, act as a second lookout on the sealing matrix."
It wasn't that Naruto doubted he could unlock the locking and trapping seals built into the table containing the storage scrolls. But it was just protocol that years of training had instilled in them - Kurama was undoubtedly watching, but Shino, whilst much more limited in his knowledge, could act as a still knowledgeable enough observer in the main matrixes of the seals.
The right hand of the squad leader to Team Foxtrot reached out to hover above the middle of the table, a massive sealing matrix exposed to them as it reacted to be visible in the presence of the energised, cyan blue chakra shroud coating Naruto's hand. A second passed as he scoured the formations with his eyes, before deviating to a weaker looking matrix further down from the dominant kanji and pressing his hand against it. Several things happened at once - thousands of volts of crackling and surging lightning chakra erupted from the dominant kanji at the detected attempt to breach the seal, as it coloured itself a light red in the hacking attempt against it. However, its initial defences were rendered for nought as the matrix Naruto had targeted had been overlapped with one of his own.
Inscribing seals with one's own bare chakra was a skill few could acclaim to. Minato Namikaze was certainly famous for it with the ability to deposit the small, yet heavily intricate teleportation sealing matrix onto an enemy with his bare hand. He, and only seven other Uzumaki including his wife were the only ones confirmed to do so. It involved the utilisation of yang chakra with its connection to the more physical properties of chakra to will into existence a singular matrix at a time, before spreading out connecting kanji as directed by chakra-shrouded fingers.
Naruto's left hand joined as he worked out from the initially inscribed matrix he'd laid down, twisting his fingers out to direct and impose differing kanji onto that of the seal beneath the digits to counteract the locking and trapping mechanisms inscribed within them. It was a heavily laborious and intensive thing to do with especially an Uzumaki seal as Naruto's eyes equally darted and flicked to each hands' efforts, as one could not just lay down a seal of their own making onto someone else's, especially one which had defensive mechanisms within it. But to name a few factors, the new kanji laid on top of existing ones had to be compatible as well consistently guarded and circled around to prevent the seal's defensive mechanisms from re-writing them in turn again. It was why speed was also crucial, as one path of connecting kanji left unguarded would allow the thousands of crackling volts of electrical chakra to conduct down it and fry the invader to the seal.
Ten minutes later Naruto pulled away, cutting the chakra flow to his hands as the dominant, metre-long singular kanji in the centre of the entire array pulsed an angry, crimson red in the moment where it could go either way, before literally fizzling out. The crackling and whipping electricity it had been emitting spluttered out from the centre where Naruto had contained it to, as the seal wiped itself from existence with the differing and confusing arrays Naruto had laid down to guard against the defence attempts but ultimately counteract each other worked to finally just fizzle into a mess of ink. Thus, five large scrolls now laid free for the taking.
"There we are." Naruto announced at the revelation of the vault's final defence undone.
"And there they are." Shino responded with a bored tone, referring to the three Konoha ninja standing in the vault door with weapons drawn. The same ninja that had been trailing them, delayed by the traps they'd reactivated behind themselves.
"In the name of the Leaf Village, I hereby order you to cease what your doing at once, and explain your actions." The voice from the person in the middle rung out, which was met by the stares of two pairs of red lens in the helmets that had been put back on the armoured trio.
Kato Uzumaki was an average jonin-level ninja, precisely why he was selected for a patrol mission in the Land of Swirling Tides. Ever since the island had been declared free of any enemy that had long-since left after combing it for prizes to take, the Leaf Village had decided to establish a recon outpost on it. Something that should've only been delegated to a few chunin squads to patrol the island, as long as it took, ever since it was declared free and the only port on the island having now been guarded by a whirlpool - of which an Uzumaki had to be present to regulate its presence. Reinforcement concerns on such an isolated location was negated by the fact that it had been selected to be one of the major ANBU training locations ever since the island had been claimed by the Land of Fire.
And right now, Kato was utilising his sensing abilities to detect a fellow Uzumaki before him, flanked by two others.
The red lens of the helmet of the Uzumaki in Ame uniform and obvious leader of the squad turned ever so slightly to look at Kato out the corner of them, a mechanical sounding chuckle emitting from what were obviously speakers built into the armour. A second passed as the the Konoha patrol remained on guard in front of an enemy that didn't even turn to face them properly, before Naruto spoke up. "You know, the claim Konoha has to this island is disputed, with both the Land of Waves and Water having claims to it too. Therefore, technically, its not Konoha territory despite however many ninja you put on it."
Kato's expression didn't waver as he regarded the situation. A person who didn't immediately comply with a patrolling squad and instead went out their way to dispute what they said, wasn't a person likely to comply with them at all.
"You will comply, and be held for interrogation subject to expulsion from the island and possible release to your homeland, but stand down now." Kato ordered of the Ame trio before him, settling into a more rigid combat stance as his two comrades followed suit. Funnily enough, none of the armoured men before him entered a stance, the smallest even crossing their arms and only shifting their posture to better stand between the Konoha ninjas and the leader of the trio. "This will be your only warning."
The red lens of the Uzumaki before them withdrew from sight as he didn't grace them with any more of his attention, instead directing some of it to the armoured figure on his right. "Shino." He simply spoke, hand reaching forth to pick out the middle scroll from the now unsecured vault table.
The Konoha ninja reacted, unwilling to allow their adversaries to gain anything from the Uzumaki vault.
The one on the left tried to charge forth, trusting in their close combat skills as wind chakra covered their blade, as the one on the right threw forth two kunai with explosive notes wrapped around them before taking a step forth to move themselves. Nothing more could be done as the two Rinkaichu insects on their necks had then injected poison into the bloodstream leading to their brains, the time surpassed allowing it to reach the areas of the brain controlling conscious motion. The result was the two Konoha ninja flopping to the floor, their motor functions paralysed as the poison travelled further through the brain to enable total shutdown of the organ.
Kato, however, had been an Uzumaki - registering the insect with a conscious chakra signature on his neck with his sensing abilities as he leapt back. He found no time to warn his comrades as he crushed the insect.
Sand, meanwhile, had spilled out from storage seals all over Gaara's armour as the cloud of swirling sand reacted with quick measure - forming the usual sand defence barrier and catching the two explosive-note laden kunai mid-flight. Swallowing the kunai whole, the explosions were confined to the thickly walled sand that spilled around it, enough force still within them to send the sand spewing outwards once more and to lose its shape completely. This worked in Gaara's favour, as he simply pushed forth his arm, and sent a wall of shimmering and riveting sand surging forth towards the lone Konoha ninja.
"Wind release: cutting strike!" He loudly exclaimed as he seemed to put his all into the jutsu to hold back the tidal wave of sand - and achieved it. The wind natured chakra burst from the tip of the sword he swung down, releasing and rushing forth to slam forth into the oncoming sand; succeeding in splitting it apart and pushing it aside.
It was for naught, however, for as soon as he'd done that, his head was cut off. Shino activated his speed bloodline to blur forth to reach the target in a streak of after-image blurs, as faster than Kato could react, Shino had decapitated him with his own sword as he sped past. Merely watching as the body collapsed, he sheathed his sword.
"They aren't the only ones." Naruto softly spoke as the brief fight came to an end, turning around from having sealed the five larger scrolls into a smaller storage scroll.
"Where?" Gaara simply asked, as he folded his arms again, but the sand swirling at his feet showing his readiness for combat.
"Three platoons - one from the North, and two from the East. Undoubtedly at least one ANBU captain among them." Naruto responded, having closed his eyes for a moment just to better utilise his sensing abilities.
"What do you say?" Shino asked the question Gaara had wanted to follow up with.
"Whilst I do not doubt your abilities to deal with three platoons of enemies, Shino, it would be a timely endeavour given the majority of them are ANBU and I do not have all day." Naruto stated before pointing to the door. "We see if we can beat them to the ship."
"Then let's go." Gaara finished the conversation, followed by a crack sound in the air as the sand violently contorted around him in a swift movement before an excess of sand fell down to reveal he disappeared in a body flicker. He was joined a moment after.
TEN MINUTES LATER.
"We're almost there." Shino spoke up as he was on point from where they were moving fast through the tree canopy of the forest portion of the island, from where it began to go downhill and he saw the beginning of the open ocean and the destroyed port. He soon held up a closed fist as he stopped on a tree branch, not even being rocked in his movements as his two brothers thudded down onto the branch beside him from where they'd leapt. "But the enemy already is."
They could see from where they stood that the Ame ninja aboard the ship had been engaged. The elite platoon from the ship was fighting a platoon of Konoha ANBU, and seemed to be winning if the fact that the fighting had been pushed from the port and onto the beach was any indication. If it wasn't for the ANBU captain who had just killed an elite trooper in full armour, they'd likely have already lost.
"I recognise them from the Bingo Book." Shino muttered, drawing Naruto's attention as he saw Shino lower his binoculars. "Sasuke Uchiha is mine." He announced to the two other members of Team Foxtrot before leaping off.
Giving a grunt, Naruto spoke before they leaped off to join him. "Let Shino take the lead on this one, Gaara." The red head only nodded.
ON THE BEACH.
It was chaos for the Konoha ANBU. In standard procedure they had swarmed the ship, from below and above in water walking and from the port as they rushed to defeat their enemies in a surprise tactic, only for it to fall apart at the supremacy afforded to the Ame ninjas in equipment and the ship. The metal armour of the ship had proven resilient to the jutsus hurled at it by the ANBU, and the already established defenders of the ship had thrown them off of it as the elite platoon with its technological edge over the ANBUs in things such as armour gave them the upper hand.
Even the decision to fall back to the beach, away from the ship, proved to be bad for them - despite their enemies having followed them onto their own known territory, it allowed for the chakra cannons on the ship to open fire upon them. Sasuke Uchiha, the ANBU captain amongst the already half-decimated platoon, was rapidly trying to organise a tactical retreat when three black armoured figures jumped down into the foray of fighting - directly facing him.
There was no time for any orders to be snapped off or comments to be made as Sasuke felt the sand wrap around his legs, and reacted instantly in one of the most basic protocol actions of the Konoha ANBU - he substituted with a nearby piece of wood. His actions honed to great skill through his training in the elite portion of the Leaf's forces, all he had to do was put his hands together into the tiger hand seal and send forth the flame-natured chakra from his throat. Thus, the dragon flame jutsu was initiated.
Balls of fire, with silhouettes of mouths and leering eyes split apart from the rush of fire he spat out, arcing out and looking to slam into the three black armoured figures. Or they would've done, had a dome of thickly walled sand not covered them - locking them from view just as the flame balls slammed into it and exploded upwards in gouts of rolling flame that spread across the whole dome.
The heat of the fire jutsu had turned a bit of the sand to glass, but the flames had yet to die down when a figure smashed right through the flaming glass and sand before him, sending the cascade of debris metres before them both. The red lens of the helmeted figure before him, armour thick with wired modifications and a sword in each hand, locked with his own eyes before they literally blurred out of view.
The sheer speed of the obvious bloodline before him would've decapitated him even if he'd used the normal body flicker, let alone the hand seal required for the replacement technique; if it hadn't been for the fact that his body flicker wasn't normal. Instead, a deep gash was driven into his real shoulder which spurted blood as an after-image was left behind in the upgraded body flicker he'd utilised.
"That was the body flicker notorious to Shisui Uchiha." The modulated voice of his enemy stated, head cocking slightly to the side in curiosity.
Sasuke said nothing, instead flipping through two hand signs to spit out more fire - this time in a widespread arc. Several bursts of flame forced his enemy to speed back with their bloodline once more to avoid it, despite the fact that it looked like their armour could take it head on - as that was exactly what the leader of the armoured trio did. The bout of flame he'd sent in their direction was taken directly into contact with their armour, but they continued walking forth as if even the physical heat of the jutsu didn't affect them in a metal suit of armour.
The earth clones he'd mingled in with the bouts of fire he'd sent towards his enemy launched out from the ground where they'd hidden using the hiding in the earth technique, looking to strike down their enemy with lightning-charged sword blades less than a metre from their opponent. It would've taken down any enemy in the skillset below the Uchiha.
Unfortunately for him, Naruto was not. Four golden chakra chains were launched out from the black armour, penetrating through the torsos of each clone that had thrown themselves at him - which crumbled back to the soil they were made from as if he'd just sensed where they were.
"An impressive technique, Uchiha. I'm sure you've struck many a-foe down with that combination." The nine tails jinchuuriki commented, before then shaking his head. "Unfortunately, even an ANBU captain cannot defeat three S-ranks."
Sasuke's sharingan eyes widened at that statement, before he blazed away in another upgraded body flicker as sand crashed down onto his position again. After-images didn't deter the obvious third armoured figure controlling the sand with outstretched arms, as they instead manipulated the sand to form a blocking wall on either side of the confrontation to stop escape, and to strike down another intruding ANBU as he had been doing from the start.
A metal-armoured fist crashed into his sternum, drawing a shout of pain from him as the enemy with the speed bloodline appeared instantly before him. Making up his mind to go immediately on the offensive, he utilised the upgraded body flicker in a manoeuvre it was never designed for - offense. Utilising his great chakra control that he had displayed throughout the entire fight thus far, he dashed forth in the boosted speed of the body flicker to thrust forth his blade crackling with lightning chakra.
Shino was not caught unawares, however, as although his bloodline only afforded greater speed than any known technique and not enhanced perception, he had another such tool that enabled such. Thus, he merely caught the sword that had been going forth in a stab for his heart, utilising his own bloodline to do so to catch the action that would've carved through his chest in less than half a second. The surprise on Sasuke's face was obvious, dawning horror on his face as he truly realised he was facing S-rank ninja before Shino snapped the portion of blade in his hand and threw it away from him.
Another upgraded body flicker carried Sasuke out of there, but as he had learned, his enemy was able to perceive at least the end result of such actions, even upgraded as it was. Another burst of speed from his enemy, and he had only just enough warning from his sharingan as they materialised before him and the sword began to descend, did he lift his with just enough summoned strength to block. A sword fight began at close range, of which Sasuke could instantly tell he was at a disadvantage in.
If it hadn't been for the sharingan, he wouldn't have been able to have perceived the fast strikes of his enemy - they were perhaps equal in strength of blows, but the speed and skills of swordsmanship favoured his armoured opponent. Cuts and lacerations began to emerge on the vital areas of his joints, sand lashing out at his legs to further divide his concentration to force him to continuously move and not mould chakra - preventing further replacements or body flickers. It began to build up to a crescendo as his enemy began to move faster - before he realised with shock that his enemy was toying with him.
Shino began to put more strength into the blows, before landing a solid strike on the torso with the serrated edge of his blade, guaranteed to draw blood as the crimson liquid burst from the wound. Another application of his bloodline had the sword swinging faster than even his opponent's sharingan could follow at such close range as Sasuke's arm holding his sword was cut off at the shoulder.
Another scream of pain followed as two chakra chains punctured straight through his torso and instantly applied their chakra-suppressive properties - and Sasuke slumped forward, unconscious as it was finally too much. Without chakra to energise him and supplement his movements as well as holding the pain back, he'd reached his tolerable limit as Naruto pressed a plated palm to the back of the Konoha ninja's head - withdrawing it to reveal he'd left a chakra suppression and paralysis seal on the man.
Tossing him aside, he merely pointed to the defeated ninja. "Keep him alive, Gaara." Naruto ordered, before looking to Shino, red lens flaring slightly to look into matching ones. "Shino, on me. We defeat the remainder of our enemies."
AME, PAIN'S OFFICE, ONE WEEK LATER.
"Ah, there it is. Another successful mission I see." Nagato commented as the three members of Team Foxtrot walked in, rinnegan eyes noting the storage scroll held in Naruto's hand where the objective of the mission obviously resided. Putting down the paperwork he was scanning through, the man himself this time walked up to Team Foxtrot. "Any complications?"
Taking the already written report from Shino, Nagato continued to look to Naruto who just shook his head. "As far as we can tell from just the two hours we were on the island, we left no discernible traces that Ame was responsible. One platoon and a squad of guards killed, with a further platoon of ANBU engaged and eliminated with the exception of one ANBU captain captured alive for interrogation."
A brief nod from Nagato showed his pleased feelings on the matter for a smooth mission. "Anyone noteworthy?" He asked cordially as he leant back onto the desk.
"Shino has identified him as Sasuke Uchiha, son of the current clan head of the Uchiha, Fugaku." Naruto responded, drawing Nagato's eyes to Shino. "He currently resides in the holding cells of the military headquarters."
"Good. One may never know when they need leverage over the Uchiha clan." Nagato stated, before then folding his arms. "You are dismissed, Gaara, Shino."
A brief, synchronised stomp in the metal armour sounded out as the two gave off the national salute, before they turned and walked out of the door - to stay there and await their brother. Naruto looked back to his uncle from watching the door close as he saw the man sipping on a drink, a considerate expression on his face.
"Well done, nephew. Very well done. The acquisition of those scrolls will have a helping impact on what is to come." Nagato spoke softly in praise then, purple eyes flicking to look into his own.
"Thank you, uncle." Naruto simply responded, drawing a smile from the man.
"The question remains of course, as to how much of an impact they will have." Nagato spoke aloud his curiosity as he set the drink back down on the desk. "So... can it be done?"
A second's thought passed, before Naruto took off the helmet that enclosed his skull rather than just having the facial plates open - and slowly nodded. "I correlated it with Kurama." He replied, a serious expression on his face as he told of the results of a project long planned in the making, coming to fruition. "The sealing needs work... but it can be done."
Nagato's own face was deathly serious then, almost as if he wanted to tilt his body back to hide it in the gloom of his office out of the light. "How long?" He simply asked.
"Either give me two months to create a working array that can contain the most malevolent and dense energies on record, or grant me permission to go to the Land of Clouds where they hold the extensive knowledge of the tailed beasts and jinchuuriki I need. Otherwise, I have to experiment. That would take only three weeks if I took a ship." Naruto summarised his requirements, hands folding down behind his back as he awaited his uncle's verdict.
There was just a moments pause, before Nagato nodded once more. "Take Gaara with you, and go quietly and officially. I have need of a prisoner transfer, and a new treaty signed by the Raikage for a new trade route between our countries. It should give you enough time and cover if you handle the diplomacy for Gaara to grab what you need." He instructed with folded arms.
Naruto's eyes narrowed in thought, before he voiced his suspicions. "What's the catch?"
"The place Gaara will find the knowledge and expertise you seek is undoubtedly contained within the secure vaults underneath the Raikage's residence. When he has what is needed, I want him to enact scorched earth upon the vaults." Nagato informed him, unblinking.
Naruto's eyebrow raised at that. "That's going to be difficult for even him, trained by the elite commander." Naruto commented.
"The elite commander has informed me that Gaara is very capable of conducting such a task." Nagato responded, telling Naruto of how he'd always intended to send them on the mission.
"Who are we blaming for that now?" Naruto asked for the familiar set-up of mission.
"You should know by now, nephew." Nagato countered.
A nod showed that Naruto did indeed know. "The Land of Earth it is."
"Yes." Nagato grunted out. "But enough on that. What you need to worry about is how it gets worse for you."
A sigh came from the jinchuuriki upon reflecting how politics and diplomacy could get worse. "How?" He simply asked with a resolute tone.
"Well, first of all, the Raikage is known to be an impatient and ill-tempered man, so you will find negotiating with him to be blunt and straightforward. Not in a refreshing way." Nagato informed him.
"Do you actually care for this treaty?" Naruto gaze drifted upward in annoyed thinking as he posed the question.
"The treaty? No. The prisoner would be nice though, sources indicate they have useful intel." Nagato summarised the objectives.
"And the second thing...?" Naruto trailed off as he looked back to the man before him.
"The Raikage, in his hurry to get international politics over with it seems, has scheduled a number of different village representatives to join him to make it a day of negotiating." Nagato stated, before a small smirk came over his face. "Including, one that he is particularly fond of."
Naruto's face hardened, a hint of knowing complexion showing. "You mean Konoha, don't you?"
"Indeed, you know I do, nephew." Nagato affirmed his question. "The Fourth Hokage himself will be there as another shot at negotiating peace in the North of the continent, and I want you yourself to be there."
Naruto's head titled back a bit as he wiped his brow, sighing. "And coincidentally, I don't think you want me there to introduce myself as his long-lost son?" He voiced out sarcastically.
The Ame leader ignored the sarcasm as he just pushed ahead with the briefing. "No, funnily enough. I want you to go as Ame's jinchuuriki, the supposed seven-tails, and gauge his reaction to the relationship between his nation and ours. How he proceeds will be a cornerstone to what defences I have to construct for when war breaks out."
A second more passed. "I understand." Naruto eventually stated with an even tone.
"Good." Nagato responded with a final nod. "Just two more months then." He summarised in thoughts he spoke aloud.
"Until what?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.
"War."