Five person radiating intense aura sat at round table, mulling over the recent report they recently received. They even personally went to verify the news, unable to believe absurdity that was written in it, yet there was no mistake nor exaggeration whatsoever.

The castle was gone, reduced to ruins. Gone were prisoners as well, along with guards. There was not a single witness nor survivor to at least say something. Soldiers could only stare at ground as they listened to various questions their superiors asked, unable to deliver satisfactory answer to any of them.

It's been a while, yet shock still hasn't disappeared among the group of elders that assembled for the meeting. It seemed like a terrible joke for something like this to occur at this crucial period, but alas, it was all very real. All of the elders shared the same though.

How was village ever going to recover from this?

This question was what occupied and nagged at the minds of the elders.

However, the silence was soon broken by the sound of impact. A fist slammed the table with fury.

"Who the hell dared to so brazenly go against Kusagakure?!"

As expected of most impatient elder, old man was first to loose the composure.

Not that the reaction was strange. Anger was boiling inside all of their hearts. This turn of events was completely unexpected. And just when they were about to restore prestige of the Village Hidden in the Grass as well. It was the worst case scenario, as even the box had disappeared.

"We need to investigate this immediately! This is just humiliating! This sort of disgrace can not be left unanswered by our village!" Old man raised his voice.

"We need to mobilize shinobi and dispatch squads to properly lead the search for this heinous criminal," another elder joined in. "Current force stationed at the castle is insufficient to accomplish anything in this situation. We need to send elite squad to handle this. Anyone who dares to trample our honor will pay!"

Enraged voice of two lesser tempered elders echoed through the room. As the old men went about pride and honor of the village, others could only inwardly sigh. What a joke, they didn't even try to act subtle. At least it took rest of them out of state of haze. Though they didn't comment on such an obvious attempt to bolster military influence.

"Control your temper." This time, it was an middle aged mad who addressed others. "I share your pain, but it's clear that enemy is no ordinary one. We need to carefully plan our actions if we want to salvage this. Not to act hastily."

"We have no leisure nor time for temper tantrums. We aren't children." Old lady sneered at the two older members of the council.

Anger rose in the eyes of two elders, but they were smarter to act on it. Contrary to what it seemed, their anger was just an act to keep pressure on the others.

"My apologies. It's just… seeing place we put our blood and sweat to flourish destroyed like this." Both elders shook their head in regret.

"I appreciate your concern and dedication for the village." Middle aged man said with a straight face. "But as much it pains to say this, we simply do not possess manpower to chase down the infiltrators that managed to wreak havoc of this caliber without us noticing until it was too late."

"What do you suggest, lord?" The fifth seat of the council, a woman who seemed to be in her late thirties, asked in understanding.

"Since our situation is already quite complicated as it is, we ourselves don't have manpower to spare. Therefore, we will hire ones suitable for such mission." First seat of the council declared.

"I share the same opinion." Old lady, occupying the fourth seat, chimed in. "We need to deal with as swiftly as possible. Slower our response, more it will tarnish our reputation. We may loose status otherwise, if we haven't already."

"It seems we can't spare expenses then. We need to find right people for the job." The second seat, the one who used the table as a punching bag, said while the third nodded in agreement.

"What do you think about Akatsuki, then? I don't think any mercenary group will be cut out for the job. We need to hire experts that will not only track down the criminals, but will also possess sufficient strength to capture them. Akatsuki boast enough reputation to be able to deal with such mission. Although they appear to be rather expensive, I believe we will hardly find anyone better." Middle aged man proposed.

"Not a bad choice. As long as we conceal the trails and keep the matter a secret, we can announce that it was our elite force that dealt with the situation." The second seat nodded.

"However I'm not certain about them. They seem to be less active recently. I hear Konoha shinobi slew some of their members not too long ago. I'm afraid they aren't as reliable as they make it out to be." The third seat said.

"But they are still better than most groups consisting of bunch of ragtag shinobi. Who if not them?" Old lady asked.

"We should still contact them. But just in case, we need some alternatives." The second replied. "And I think I know of someone who could be useful. It's a newly founded mercenary group. And while I'm not impressed by most of their members, if we can make it so that the leader will personally take on this job, I'm fairly confident she will succeed."

"Oh, you mean that group created by that ferocious girl? I have heard of some interesting things about her. Maybe she is a better choice for us." The fourth seat said in interest.

The meeting went for a while longer, as there was much to discuss for their future plan of actions then just chasing down the criminals. Only the fifth seat didn't say much and only wryly smiled at the turn of events. Thinking about conversation she had with one of her flowers.

Leader of Grass Flower group of Kusogakure had lot on her plate, as the future awaiting for her would be full even more uncertainly at worry. But, at least for now, she could sit back and watch futile ramblings of other members, without exhausting herself in the political drama for once. There was no point to do so, after all.

A month later, when it seemed that situation in the village seemed to have calmed down somewhat, four of the five elders were found assassinated on the same day in their homes, while the remaining one seemed to have barely survived the attempt at her life.

• • •

Kakuzu sat cross-legged in the desolate cave. He had mostly spent his time for past few days like this in the mountains. Meditating and training while he concentrated on the energy deep inside on of his hearts. He circulated chakra throughout his body and then directed it towards the newly acquired heart.

After infusing the heart with chakra, he observed for changes that could arise. But the response was blank. Nothing. The heart had massive capacity for storing the chakra, but apart from that, there seemed to be nothing abnormal.

Then, Kakuzu wondered, where did Kyubi's chakra came from?

Kakuzu was uncertain. He wasn't even sure what happened to heart's former owner. He clearly hadn't jumped into the fox's mouth and had a field day like two mad brothers once had. Then again, tailed beasts were basically monstrous amount of chakra that took form of a beast, maybe consuming their flesh and chakra had similar effect, considering suitable vessel was found.

Individuals like Sora were incredibly rare. It wouldn't be surprising if Kakuzu never found another person with similar constitution. Meaning, it was an opportunity that he may never come across. It was also something only possible because his technique had a mysterious upgrade after arriving in this world. He was certain the jutsu originally couldn't do something like this.

Kakuzu once again concentrated on the heart. This time, he stopped the external influence and stimulated the heart from inside.

Ba-dump.

The heart skipped a beat.

Ba-dump Ba-dump

The heart skipped another beat. It tensed. And then, something started expanding.

The chakra begun to rise up. It intensified, condensed, and then it burst out. Suddenly, Kakuzu's entire body was enveloped by a red hue.

This was a result of his training for past few days. He could summon the cloak at will, although his control was somewhat limited.

Feeling of chakra cloak enveloping his body was quite strange. It felt like some sort of steam surrounded him.

The power it granted was another thing entirely. It enhanced every part of his being. There was nothing there to be said about defense. Although not as durable as Diamond Morph, it provided constant armor that didn't limit his movement. But that was only part of it. The strength and speed increase were where the effect of the cloak trully shined. If he could make full use of this in his battle with Satori, battle wouldn't even have taken half as much as time as it did.

He did notice that his mind was affected when he was engulfed by the cloak, though. Anger would seep into his mind and would try to get hold of it, pushing him to attack everyone in his surroundings. Fortunately, unless he kept the red chakra active for too long, he didn't have trouble with reining that desire. It also somewhat lessened compared to first time he activated it, making Kakuzu conclude that issue could be solved after gaining more control over it.

While this strength was far from making him invincible, he was steadily growing. And not only his physical attributes increased, when he infused Kyubi's chakra into the jutsu's, their output also multiplied.

He was still far from fully mastering it though. He tried entering second stage of chakra cloak, and while he had some success with it, he couldn't make much use of it in the battle yet. He could enter the mode, but not maintain it. He guessed it would take from few weeks to moth before he could start to incorporate it in his arsenal. And mastering it could take even more. However, that wasn't bad news at all. It simply showed potential of the power. It would push him one step further to contend with truly strong opponents.

Kakuzu concentrated on one of his arms and red chakra begun to rise. His body sprouted another limb, one completely made of chakra. He could manipulate it with thought and change it's shape. But likewise, it wasn't effortless to do so. So far, he could only use it to perform straightforward attacks. Still, it was more than he planned to prepare for upcoming fight.

Which brought another question, why was he able to access it?

Earth Grudge Fear had few limitations. And one of them was that it couldn't absorb others Kekkei Genkai. That was restriction that hadn't changed even now. However, why was this one different?

He was awakened from his thoughts by the signal from the spirit.

He was so engrossed in them that he barely noticed it. It was one that he attached to his henchmen. He concentrated on the connection and looked through the eyes of the spirit. He could see his subordinates waiting for the reaction. And after noticing the change, Kakuzu heard him say words he has been waiting for a while.

"Boss, the movement was detected near the island."

It was time pay a visit to the necromancer.