Chapter 70 Calling all Kage.

Kumogakure…

Mabui's heel clicked on the ground as she made her way to the Raikage's office, making sure to take her time. Moments ago the office received a message from the Leaf village of all places. Though they had a truce of sorts, they weren't on friendly terms with the "tree huggers."

"Those bastards!"

The yell of outrage was the only warning she needed. Mabui wisely leaped back and away from the Raikage door, in time to doge the chair that crashed through the door, taking down both the door and pieces of the wall. She peeked through the space to see the two Jinchuriki standing to the side as A crumpled a scroll in his hand.

"You're telling me those bastards already knew about those Akatsuki bastards!? " his body erupted into lightning sparks as he threw the scroll as well. With the strength behind it, the normally fragile roll of paper made a dent in the already crumbling hall wall. Mabui, the secretary of the ball of lightning, made her way over and plucked the scroll from the wall.

Reading through the surprising still visible words she found why A was so angry.

The Hokage was requesting a private Kage summit to discuss a rising problem that may be an issue for the other Kages as well. "The Akatsuki."

Mabui frowned at the paper, though not as upset as the Raikage, had they been warned earlier..

It happened not too long ago, all the citizens that had a Kekkei Genkai suddenly disappeared, along with the uzumakis that the village sheltered. Long ago they captured many Uzumaki with the intention of passing their blood onto the Cloud shinobi. Karui was one such child, an upland coming Genin that was waiting on the chunin exams. An exam the cloud village would not participate in this year. Even with their truce, the Raikage couldn't trust the leaf with his future shinobi. After the Hyuga incident, things were tense between them. Yet…

The Hokage had invited them to an unofficial Kage summit, using the Chunin exams as a cover. She looked back to the Raikage who was huffing after throwing his desk through the window.

"Those bastards took many of my people away," he said, his voice unevenly calm for a man that was glowing with lighting. "If I find out the Leaf had anything to do with this!"

"The Uzumaki clan will rise again."

"They looked toward the voice that spoke, the two-tailed Jinchuuriki Yugito Nii, met their eyes unapologetic. "That's what that woman said when she tried to recruit me. She didn't try to take me by force but rather offered me a place by her side, a hand in bringing peace to the world. She gave me chills."

"That woman with a silver tongue is dangerous, she made it known she was after us," Killer B, host to the eight tail rapped. "When she approached me I couldn't believe it, she didn't seem surprised when I said I wouldn't leave."

"She tried to convince us we could have a better life with her, a place where we were not treated as monsters," Yugito flipped her blond hair, a look of hurt flashing across her face. "It was uncomfortable how much she knew about us."

"Rid us of your tail beast, she claimed she can, but I didn't agree with that plan!" Killer B was the first person to hold the Eight tail in check for so long while being able to use his power. It was debatable but Mabui guessed their Jinicuriki had the most control over their tail beast.

"'It's odd," Mabui spoke up. "They took the citizens but they didn't take the Jinchuriki, I doubt it's because of their reluctance." They could easily take the Jinchuriki by force, seeing as they had numerous Uzumaki with them. There was a reason the nations had to band together to defeat them.

"I bet those tree huggers know what their true motive is," A scowled.

"It's odd that the Leaf would have a problem with this," Yugito said what they were all thinking. "The Uzumaki clan were allied with the leaf, weren't they? Shouldn't the leaf have no issue with the Uzumaki clan rising again?

"The Leaf are a bunch of cowards that stood by and what their "Family" perish and scattered to the wind. While they wouldn't say it themselves they wanted the Uzumaki clan gone, because they couldn't control them. Those Uzumaki bastards were prideful and even formed their own village instead of joining the leaf. My guess is that the Uzumaki pointed their blade towards the Leaf as well."

"If that is the case, this might truly be everyone's problem. The Nine tail Jinchuriki is an Uzumaki after all," Mabui said, already thinking of the worst-case scenario. "If they join hands with the Akatsuki…"

Killer bee and Yagito flinched. Before signing in resignation.

"Matatabi says she can't beat the Nine tails," Yagito informed them.

"Same here but I don't see how that's fair!" Killer B whined.

"The nine tails have the most tails so I assume they would be stronger, since B is stronger than Yugito."

"Hey!"

"I wasn't planning on participating in the Chunin exams but if it really is just a cover for a Kage summit I have to attend," RaiKage signed walking over to where he tossed his chair and pried it from the wall and debris. He dragged it back into the room and sat on it. Mabui was surprised the chair was still in one piece. "Gather the genin with great potential. Cover or not, I won't lose to those tree huggers."

"Yes sir," Mabui said with a salute.

"You two will be coming as my guards," he said to his Jinchurikis. I don't want to leave the village undefined but it would have been this way had I gone to the chunin exams anyway."

"Yes Sir," they said.

Raikage looked out the broken window and sighed. "Have someone repair this as well…"

"Yes sir"

Iwagakure

Onoki stared down at the scroll as though he could burn it to ash with only a thought. The small old man with the title Tsuchikage was never fond of the leaf village. In a way he envied their geographical advantage, being built on fertile land with perfect climate. While he had to import a majority of his food the Leaf never had such a problem. He sighed, brushing the thought aside.

He thought it was only his village but he was somewhat relieved to know that the Leaf also had a run-in with the "Akatsuki."

He had heard from his jinchurikis that the Akatsuki tried to get them to switch sides. Though he wasn't a fan of the beast host, he didn't want an enemy with them either. It didn't help matters that all a large number of kekkei Genkai users and Uzumaki setters were spirited away. He swirled deeper, ignoring the concerned looks his granddaughter gave him. He hadn't planned on sending anyone to the Chunin exams hosted by the leaf but if they were going to double as a Kage summit, he didn't really have a choice.

"Gather the genins up for promotion," he said at last.

"Does that mean?"

"Yeah, looks like we'll be attending the chunin exams.

He frowned out the window as his assistant ran off.

"Is everything going to be okay?" his granddaughter asked. His mind ran back to a memory of the Rogue ninja Madara glaring down at him, with all the pride of a god. He shook the thought away when it was replaced by a blond-haired youngster covered in the blood of the stone shinobi. All his shinobis were wiped out in an instant.

He wasn't looking forward to this.

Sunagakure

Rasa Was rather confused by the sudden Kage summit. It wasn't long ago that he told the Third Hokage his plans to enter his children in the Chunin exams. He could only have himself or an ally host like the Leaf host it for fear of Gaara going on a rampage. In the leaf, he would be assured the Hokage wouldn't hold it against him at least. They would understand his struggles seeing as their own Jinchuriki went while not 12 years ago and killed their Fourth Hokage. He was still confused about that.

Rasa threw down the scroll with a sigh, his eyes glancing at the world Akatsuki again. Sasori, one of his greatest Shinobis, went rogue, taking his grandparents and two elders with him. It was already a lot to their military without considering that Chio was one of their greatest medics. The subtle decrease in redheads didn't go unnoticed and even his youngest reported having been approached by a red-haired woman, no doubt the same as Hiruzen's report.

He thought back to his encounter with the woman who held his youngest as though he were her own child.

"It's okay Gaara, I'm here for you," She whispered into his ear. Rasa ran faster to get to them. "If you can't love yourself, I'll love you until you learn how to."

Golden sand separated them and he held his child protectively. He held his youngest tucked under his arm as he put space between them and the woman. Had he been in his right mind he would know that Gaara didn't need protecting but at that moment, he wasn't sure why, he thought she would take his "Son" from him. Just then, Garra wasn't a weapon, but his last connection to his wife.

"My my, you do know how to shelter your child," her smile dropped. "I recommend theory in all honesty, you need to learn to communicate and look past your loss, before you lose more of what should be precious to you."

His golden sand shot towards her wrapping around and squeezing, but she didn't react to the act of hostility.

"Gaara," She called sweetly, getting the boy's attention. "Don't forget what I said, okay? I'll be sure to show you what love looks like~" Gaara was silent as the genjutsu faded and a puppet was all that was left trapped in the sand.

"Sasori!" Rasa cursed.

"Family," Gaara muttered and Rasa looked down at his son. "She said we were family."

…

"I want to know what love looks like."

After that the boy was uncomfortably quiet, not even glaring at anyone, just sitting down in a daze. Perhaps this was for the best, hopefully, he wouldn't have a valent outrage during the exams.

Rasa had a bad feeling.

Kirigakure

Yagura stared down at the scroll with an indifferent face. He wasn't sure if he should feel pleased or not that the leaf trusted him enough to send him an invitation. He was the bloodthirsty Tyrant of the Bloody mist after all.

Kisame burst into laughter after Yagura explained the content of the letter.

"To think they would have a Kage summit this soon," he said with a toothy grin. "That woman is gonna love this."

"She already predicted that they would gather to rebel against her," Yagura reminded him, rolling up the paper.

A few years ago, Yagura was approached by a devil who offered him, Salvation. After a long lecture about morals and peace and the right way to rule a country, she turned him into a puppet Kage. to the outside he was a merciless tyrant that hunted those with Kekkei Genkai. In truth, he was sending those with special abilities to the Akatsuki and steadily getting rid of the bastards at the top.

He had to laugh at their pathetic attempt at a coup d'etat, but It did give him just cause to get rid of those nobles who didn't know their place. Nowadays he worked on reforming the system so the younger generation could be more tame but strong.

The rumors about his bloody deeds had just become a joke among him and his council members for all the killing that he did.

"That woman can see the future, I'm calling it now," Kisame said relaxing further into his sofa, dressed in an Akatsuki robe. It was ironic that he was friends with the enemy that was planning to kill him, according to Hiruzen's letter.

"Mei and Ao will accompany me," Yakura said, already writing up a summons. "I'll have to find Genins with potential

Chojuro, Suigetsu and…Hotaru." he paused. "How is she by the way?

"She's fine," Kisame assured him. "Kid keeps crashing after that Utakata like a lost puppy. It's honestly embarrassing to watch."

"After what Ina did to her village, I don't want the hair on that kid's head touched."

Kisame shivered. "Using the technique they craved to destroy them, Kisame frowned. "Brutal."

Yagura reflected on the long years he spent with the mad woman and grimaced. Had he not cooperated, she really would turn him to a puppet she alone controlled. She might have even been cruel enough to make him aware of his actions without being able to do anything.

"I was really surprised to learn you had a family," she once said to him. "Maybe it was your childish face that threw me off." She looked down at the park where his family were gathered. He gritted his teeth. "They are so cute, you should be proud, no doubt they will grow to be great people. I'm sure you'll live to see that day." she smiled at him. "You'll be that one grandfather that could pass for his grandson's twin and make everyone uncomfortable, hahaha!" she held her stomach in laughter. Though she made it sound like casual talk, he wasn't dumb enough not to see it as a threat. "Work with me or you won't live long enough to see your grandkids." he had no choice.

"It's a shame you can't bring me," Kisame muttered. "I really wanted to see that girl again."

"She's too young for you," Yagura sighed.

"She's also too young for Orochimaru but that didn't stop him."

There was silence at that.

"What?"

Yagura regretted asking

"We'll see you the other day…"

Ina's heel clicked on the floor and echoed down the empty hall. She walked through the caverns beneath the village hidden in Leafs unnoticed by the sensory ninjas above. Accompanying her heels was the rhythmic sound of a cane on the hard floor. Danzo walked alongside her, leading her deeper into the shadows.

The walk was long and silent but eventually, they made it to their destination. The hallway opened up to a large chamber decorated with flowers and red ribbons. Konoha symbols littered the smooth walls illuminated by lanterns. In the center of the room and lined against the wall were coffins with images of their occupants atop them.

This was the "burial site" of the Hokages and those closest to them.

Ina smiled as she walked over to the centerpieces, the past Hokage. The First, Second, and Fourth Hokage had their images displayed atop their closed coffins. Not far from the First was a coffin housing Mito Uzumaki and a few others who had to be their children. Close by The Fourth was Kushina Uzumaki.

"Well at least the Hokages had nice taste," Ina scoffed at the fact that two Hokage married Uzumaki. She peeked inside the First coffin and was surprised to see him in one piece. With all this talk about Hashirama cells, she was sure they had used every bit of his body. His corpse wasn't rotting either, if anything it looked about ready to fuse to the wooden coffin. Returning to nature.

Opening the Fourth's coffin had her frowning. Though they had clothed Minato in a different undamaged outfit, it didn't hide the gaping hole in his stomach.

"Couldn't even patch him up huh?"

"I think it's fine, it's not like we're going to use the bodies anyway."

Turning to the newcomer, Ina glanced at Orochimaru who leaned over her shoulder.

"Sasori wants to make puppets out of them," she deadpanned.

"That isn't very nice," he muttered.

"Pot calling the kettle black," Fugaku appeared then, carrying the shinigami mask. Ina smiled, brushing Minato's hair which was the same shade as Naruto's.

"This is going to be a way better story," Ina muttered as she left a seal on Minato's body.

"How's your boy," she asked Fugaku, who also placed a seal tag on the selected bodies.

"He's gotten stronger," he said simply. "...and bigger," he said in a quieter voice.

"Good, they need to be strong for what's coming," She said, pretending not to hear the rest.

Everything in order, Snake Sage?"

Orochimaru grinds, showing fangs.

The curse marks were new and improved without the mental degrading aspect as Orochimaru no longer needed a body.

"It's a real shame, I love this new body but I'm so used to switching it's hard to watch such good bodies go by," he confessed.

"You're an addict," Miroku commented as she appeared in a glow of light. "Everything is ready on our end."

"Very good. Then let's be off."

A seal appeared underfoot and illuminated the entire room. They stepped onto the circle and were engulfed in that light.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Ina said, tossing a bottle at Danzo who caught it with his good hand. "Don't die before you stop being useful." with that she disappeared in a flash of light along with the bodies of the Hokage and their spouse.

Danzo glared at the spot they disappeared from. He looked down at the bottle, filled with pills meant to keep him alive. After poisoning him, she gave him an antidote that did not cure the illness and only slowed it. Even with his Hashirama cells, he couldn't cure himself of the disease and had to rely on that woman to keep him alive.

It was pathetic.

To think someone would use him like this. He was always afraid of death clinging to life, and she took advantage of that. She opened the bottle and took two as she prescribed. He tried to rebel and take more once and she left him to suffer until it was time to restock. That Oni.

Danzo huffed and walked back the way he came. Leaving the empty graves behind.

The chunin exams are about to begin. Look forward to longer chapters and explosive action (hopefully) I have a plan, I just gotta make it work.

Next Chapter

November 9