Chapter 58: The Misty Isles
Leaning against an earthen wall of the underground bunker, Itachi closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, taking a brief moment to rest his weary body.
Sneaking into the Land of Earth hadn't been that difficult, avoiding the Iwa Shinobi, however, had been far more tedious. Due to the alliance between Konoha and Kumo having been solidified and with Suna looking to join after the attempted Coup, Iwa had tightened its security which meant more frequent patrols.
The Tsuchikage's paranoia was at an all time high. Capturing the Yonbi and Gobi Jinchuriki would be a fairly difficult task. Capturing one would only lead to Iwa ramping up its defense and ensuring that their remaining Jinchuriki was secured. No… They were going to have to abduct both at the same time.
Confronting two Jinchuriki on their own, however, would be all but a death sentence for them… If it was only the two of them. With their recent failures and loss of members, their leader decided that it would be better if they sent in more than the usual two man team.
Thus Deidara and Kakuzu had joined them, although, as a separate team, which was a pity. Deidara and Kisame didn't get on very well while Kakuzu had a habit of killing his partners. If the three of them had been forced together, the Akatsuki would have been short a member before they even found the Jinchuriki.
As it stood, the four of them had enough firepower to fight an entire hidden village. Capturing Iwa's Jinchuriki became a far more accomplishable task.
That didn't however mean that they would be able to just charge in and attack. They still needed to find where exactly the Jinchuriki were staying and, if possible, capture them without drawing attention from Iwa. The safest route right now was to spend some time observing the Iwa Shinobi to learn their patterns.
Feeling himself slowly beginning to drift off to sleep, Itachi opened his eyes. Although he was a member of the Akatsuki, it wouldn't be a good idea for him to lower his guard. Madara was technically an ally, but Itachi wouldn't make the mistake of leaving himself open to him.
He'd always known that Madara wasn't someone to be trusted. He had his own agendas and would throw his allies away the moment they were no longer useful to him… Those that actively worked against him, however, would find themselves in for the fight of their life.
Closing his eyes, Itachi slowed his breath and began the process all over again. Gaining just enough rest to keep going… Not enough to actually fall asleep. That would be foolish. He needed to be alert at all times in case someone tried to kill him in his sleep.
Just a little longer… He just needed to keep this up for a little bit longer, until the Akatsuki was destroyed and Madara dead. To be a Shinobi was to endure and Itachi still had a goal to endure for. He needed to protect Konoha and, more importantly, keep his brother safe.
Once this was all over, he would have his ill fated battle with his brother and put the ugliness of the Uchiha clan massacre to rest, opening a new chapter where the Uchiha clan could choose their own destiny.
Sasuke deserved closure for all the things he'd been put through. After it was all over, Sasuke would be able to move forward and live the life he wanted, not the one that was necessary for his survival.
The village had grown strong in his absence. A small smile formed on his face. Perhaps after he captured Iwa's Jinchuriki, he should visit and see how much it had grown with his own eyes. Sneaking into the village would be difficult, but there were plenty of hidden paths that were open to him now that Danzo was dead.
Feeling sleep begin to encroach on him once more, Itachi opened his eyes.
Standing in Ay's office, I silently waited for him to finish reading over the Mizukage's request. Beyond strength, Kumo valued directness. Keeping secrets, especially something of this nature, would only create unneeded stress between Konoha and Kumo.
"So, the civil war in Kiri has officially come to an end," Ay noted, placing the scroll on his desk. "And they've come to Konoha for aid in retrieving their Biju."
"That's pretty much it," I nodded. "Travel to Kiri will take a few weeks at minimum. If the Akatsuki find out that Kiri has lost the Sanbi and Rokubi, they'll jump at the chance to capture them."
Frowning, Ay stared down at the scroll in front of him. Kumo was so used to doing things on their own that coming to the aid of another nation was a foreign concept to them. The alliance with Konoha had done a lot to open them to the idea of working with other nations, but this was a little different.
Unlike Konoha, Kiri wasn't allied with anyone. From the viewpoint of a Kage, helping them recover their Biju was a bad idea. All it would do is strengthen a potential enemy… But, there were other threats out there… Bigger than any single hidden village.
"You're planning on using Mabui's Heavenly Transfer to place one of your Kunai in Kiri," Ay said. "The Land of Water is a dangerous nation, possibly the birthplace of the Akatsuki. I doubt your Hokage plans on sending you alone. I want to meet your team before I make a decision."
That didn't seem like too difficult of a request. "Alright." Forming a shadow clone, I sent it back to Tsunade's office where both Anko and Shizune were waiting. A few moments passed, before my clone returned with the duo in question.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Anko muttered, familiarizing herself with her new surroundings.
Spotting the Raikage, Shizune turned to formally greet him. Seeing a small spark of electricity flicker around his form, I caught on to what Ay was planning a second before he darted around his table, his form becoming a hazy blur.
Anchoring myself to the ground with Chakra, I caught Ay's fist before he managed to strike me, keeping him from being able to move while Anko, who was in the process of entering Sage Mode, brought her Kusanagi down on him.
Shizune, who wasn't quite fast enough to keep up with the high speed fight, instead took up a support role and had exhaled a small cloud of paralytic poison which quickly filled the office.
Smirking, Ay pulled himself free and darted around the room at a higher speed, opening the windows, his speed caused a draft that helped dissipate Shizune's poison.
"You're getting a little weak there, Naruto. It barely took me any effort to free myself," He said, stopping by the entrance of his office.
"Well, I thought that letting you go was probably for the best," I shrugged. "I doubt the rest of Kumo would have been happy if Anko ended up cutting your arm off." Between Anko's enhanced strength and the Kusanagi, that was a very real possibility.
"Um… What's going on?" Anko asked, still gripping her Kusanagi, not quite sure if she should continue attacking.
"My guess… This was a test to see how the two of you would react to a sudden attack," I explained. Ay did have a habit of testing how strong others were, but that was generally limited to Bee and myself with people like Yugito and Darui occasionally being dragged in. "He did the same with me before I returned for the Suna Chunin exams."
"That seems highly irregular," Shizune commented, not looking the least bit impressed.
"We are living in irregular times," Ay replied. "Therefore, we need to be ready for anything, even an attack from an ally. Especially since the Akatsuki has proven to be able to disguise themselves almost perfectly."
The soft sound of rapidly approaching footsteps echoed through the outside hallway, before the door was shoved open.
"Is everything alright in here, Raikage-sama," Mabui called out, stepping into his office. Looking around the office, her gaze landed on Anko and Shizune, both still tense from the Raikage's impromptu test. "Not again… Please tell me that you didn't attack anyone."
"It was a simple test," Ay answered. "No one was injured, therefore, there is no reason to be alarmed."
Sighing, Mabui palmed her face. "It doesn't work that way, Raikage-sama," She muttered tiredly before she swiftly recomposed herself. "I'll retrieve the necessary paperwork for this minor incident, the two of you will have to complete a form and write a detailed description of what happened."
"Whoa now," Anko began, stepping forward. "We came to Kumo to speed things up, not get weighed down with paperwork… And why is it only the two of us that need to do all that work? Naruto was the one the Raikage was targeting!"
Seeing Mabui turn my way, I smiled and shrugged, knowing that it would annoy Anko. "I'm good, thanks."
Nodding, Mabui turned back towards the duo in question. "The form is entirely optional. It's simply a way for you to lodge an official complaint against Kumo."
"…Right. So can we all just do that, then?" Anko asked.
"If you insist," Mabui smiled before turning towards Shizune. "And you?"
"Let's just skip over the paperwork," Shizune sighed tiredly. "This has already become far more trouble than it's worth."
"Excellent."
Transporting Anko and Shizune using the Hiraishin, we were greeted to the dimly lit sea shore… At least that's what it appeared to be. The mist was so thick that it was difficult to see further than a few feet ahead and even though it was supposed to be midday here, the clouds blocking out the sky made it feel more like it was later in the afternoon.
The only reason why I was able to tell that it was near the ocean was by the sandy ground and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Spotting something shifting within the mist, I exhaled a small stream of wind that briefly revealed the empty beach before the mist engulfed the land once more.
I could hear Kurama muttering something in the back of my head concerning the mist, but didn't press it. If it was something important, he'd outright tell me.
"So, that was Kumo, huh?" Anko hummed. "Is the Raikage always like that, or did we just come on a bad day?"
Bad day?
"No, he's really mellowed out since I started staying in Kumo." Starting from when I helped find one of Zetsu's infiltrators in the Daimyo's court. Since then, they'd been a lot more cooperative and hadn't been fighting him on matters of how the village should be run. "He used to be far angrier and would have a scowl on his face the majority of the time."
"Yeah, I think I'll have to take your word for it. He still seemed pretty pissed to me," Anko replied. "What do you think, Shizune?"
"I think it's exhausting knowing that we're allied with a village that's just as crazy as Konoha," Shizune muttered under her breath. "We should get moving if we want to reach Kiri before it turns to night."
She had a point there. Following Shizune's example, we made our way off the beach at a pace where we would still be able to react if we were ambushed or came across anything that required our attention.
"Couldn't they have sent your Kunai closer to Kiri," Anko complained. "And why'd they even need to send your Kunai in the first place? Couldn't they have just sent us instead?"
"The last person to survive being transported by the Heavenly Transfer technique was the third Raikage who was known to have superhuman durability," I explained. "It's not actually a Space Time technique, it's a high speed transfer technique that really doesn't agree with the human body."
"Well… I'm glad that I ignored the compulsive thoughts that were telling me to jump up on that platform then," Anko laughed.
That didn't mean that there weren't any Shinobi alive that couldn't withstand it. I knew for a fact that both Ay and Tsunade could survive the technique with some damage.
Others with insane durability and a healing factor should be able to survive the technique as well. Jinchuriki and Sage's being at the top of the list, meaning that Anko did stand a chance of surviving the transportation… Assuming she was in Sage Mode first.
It was still a little crazy that the third Raikage managed to not only survive the technique, but also sustained no damage. His insane durability was truly something unique. It was almost up there with Hashirama's ability to passively regenerate.
The further we traveled inland, the thinner the mist grew, allowing us to move far faster than we had been before. It didn't, however, fully dissipate. A thin veil of mist remained on the edge of our vision.
Heading up one of the nearby mountains, we came to a stop at its peak, giving us a view of the valley below where we could see various pockets of mist that obscured much of the land below. Mabui had sent my Kunai as close to Kiri as she possibly could, so we couldn't be too far off from the village.
"Man, this could take a while," Anko muttered lazily. Kicking a stone, she watched as it tumbled down the mountain side. "Well, we better get started. We're not going to find Kiri by standing around all day. That thickest pocket of mist looks promising."
Finding Kiri shouldn't be too hard. I could always just send a hoard of clones down to search for me, or we could simply sense where the largest concentration of Chakra signatures were. In fact…
Stretching my senses, I blinked when I felt several Chakra signatures belonging to a small group of Shinobi that were hidden a little further down the mountain. Oh… I got it now. Why search for Kiri ourselves when others would take us to the village themselves.
"Let's go," I said, heading back down the mountain. "We shouldn't keep the Mizukage waiting after all."
A wave of mist immediately rolled forward, engulfing the mountain side while obscuring our vision.
"Halt!" A male voice ordered. "Surrender your weapons and state your intentions or we will assume you to be hostile!"
That didn't take long at all.
"Don't attack!" Shizune called out. "We're here on the request of the Mizukage. We have a scroll to prove it."
Grabbing said scroll, I slowly brought it out, holding it up for the Shinobi to see.
"Open it," The man commanded.
Rolling my eyes, I did as he said and rolled the scroll open, revealing the Mizukage's written request. Holding it out for them to see, I watched as a lone Hunter-nin appeared in front of me and grabbed the scroll before disappearing.
A few moments passed before the mist began to dissipate, revealing the Hunter-nin spread out around us while a man with a scar running across one eye stood in front of us.
"We will escort you to the village in order to confirm the authenticity of the scroll," The man said, winding the scroll back up. "Please note that we won't hesitate to strike you down if you try anything."
"That's fine by us," Anko shrugged nonchalantly.
Leading us down the mountain and several valleys over, we finally came to a stop just on the outskirts of what I assumed was the hidden village in question. "You will remain here while I inform the Mizukage of your arrival," The unmasked Hunter-nin announced. "If you don't…"
"You'll kill us, yeah, we get it," Anko interrupted. "Look, can you just hurry up and tell your Mizukage we're here?"
Staring blankly at Anko, the man turned and left, leaving us alone with his team.
Spending a non-insignificant amount of time waiting for the Hunter-nin, he finally returned alongside another Shinobi that I recognized. Ao, the Mizukage's right hand man.
Silently following the duo through the quieter streets of the village, we were met with a few suspicious glances from both Shinobi and civilians alike.
While it did appear that they were still in the process of repairing some infrastructure, the village didn't appear to be in too bad of a state. The people still had homes to return to which I assumed had access to fresh water and the market seemed to be running smoothly… We even passed by a few small restaurants.
Reaching the center of the village where a multistory building sat, Ao led us in, revealing that the building was mostly empty with the exception of a spiral staircase that wrapped along the interior. Following Ao up the stairs, the unmasked Hunter-nin and his team remained at the base of the building.
"Mizukage-sama," Ao announced his presence as he climbed the last step. "I've returned with the Shinobi in question."
Stopping a few feet behind him, I briefly glanced around the room, noting how empty it was. Unlike the Raikage's office which also served as an exercise room, the Mizukage's office only contained the bare necessities.
From what I could recall, Mei was one of the more level headed Kage, being open to negotiation and far more reasonable than Ay had been during the meeting with Konoha in the Land of Iron. She shouldn't try anything… She had far too much to lose and nothing to gain.
"Good work, Ao," Mei hummed, observing us as she stood. "You'll have to forgive the current state of my office, I'm still in the process of redecorating."
"It's no issue at all, Mizukage-sama," Shizune said respectfully.
"I must admit that you've caught me entirely off guard. I wasn't expecting Konoha to send a team so soon," Mei admitted, tapping a finger to her lips. "By my best estimate, my scroll couldn't have arrived too long ago and yet not only has it arrived, you've had enough time to make the journey yourselves."
"Our Hokage only just received your scroll," I replied, much to Mei's interest. There was no real point to lying about how we managed to arrive... Although, it might be for the best if I don't mention Kumo's involvement for now. "I used a technique that transported the three of us to Kiri instantly"
Ao let out a derisive snort. "How old are you, nineteen, twenty? Do you really think that we would believe that someone of your age would know a technique similar to that of your Fourth Hokage? You should just give up while you're ahead."
Mei's face momentarily morphed into a scowl as she shot a dark look towards Ao, before she hid it behind a sweet smile.
"A little younger than that actually and the Fourth Hokage was my dad by the way," I said, watching as Ao twitched in disbelief. "But if you'd like a demonstration…" Flicking one of my Kunai at a slow enough speed for even a civilian to dodge, I teleported to, catching the Kunai before it managed to damage the wall.
"An impressive display," Mei hummed appreciatively. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," I replied, sheathing my Kunai. "The Kyuubi Jinchuriki."
Ao choked on his spit while Mei masked her reaction with a blink.
"I see that Konoha doesn't do half measures," She noted softly. "I never would have expected your Hokage to send a Jinchuriki to aid us, but I am happy to have someone that has firsthand experience with Biju."
"You can't be serious, Mizukage-sama," Ao started, having finally regained the ability to breathe. "Having another nation's Jinchuriki stay in Kiri is a major security risk!"
"Ao," Mei snapped, her smile tightened as the temperature in the room spiked. "Shut up."
Looking as if he had more to say, Ao relented when Mei shot him a look promising pain.
"I believe that I should inform you of why I requested Konoha's aid in the first place," Mei noted. "Kiri has been experiencing a problem that appears to be related to the Sanbi. Recently, there has been a thick mist that's been covering this island."
"Uh… This might be a stupid question, but isn't this place supposed to be misty?" Anko said, asking the question that we were all thinking. "I mean, it is called Kirigakure after all."
"You would be correct, if this was an ordinary mist," Mei replied. "Everyone that's entered it has been caught in a Genjutsu that causes the one affected by it to relive some of their worst past memories."
"Oh," Anko muttered softly.
"This has happened once before when the Sanbi's previous Jinchuriki was killed, although, back then, it wasn't as major an issue because the Sanbi's host died outside of Kiri," Mei continued, choosing her words carefully. "If the mist is allowed to build up, it will inevitably blanket Kiri."
"That would explain the movement you saw in the mist when we first arrived," Kurama noted. "Isobu has always liked to keep to himself and that mist serves as a perfect defense mechanism to keep unwanted outsiders away… Especially after he just reformed. Finding him might actually be a challenge. He's fairly well versed at avoiding people, even sensors."
Avoiding sensors? If that was the case, I had to wonder how the Akatsuki managed to find him to begin with… Unless they just had Deidara blow up the landscape until he managed to piss Isobu off.
'Do you think we could convince him to tone it down?'
"I don't know," Kurama hummed. "I've never died and had to reform before, but I can't imagine that it's a pleasant process. At best, he might be willing to hold a conversation, assuming that he doesn't decide to hide when he sees you. At worst, however, he might decide to attack. It all depends on how he's feeling after losing his last host."
That did complicate things a little, but at the same time, it could make things easier. Obito was the main reason for Yagura's descent and eventual death. If Isobu truly liked Yagura, he might be willing to help bring Obito down. Failing that, I could always bring up Madara's plan to revive the Jubi.
"Maybe lead with that," Kurama said. "Revenge is great and all, but preventing the world from ending and not dying permanently is better."
'Yeah, that would probably work better.' Turning my attention back towards Mei, I noted that no one had noticed my brief lapse in concentration.
Kiri was definitely stuck in a difficult position. They'd just recently come out of a civil war and hadn't fully recovered while also having to deal with one of their Biju which was negatively impacting their village.
Then there was also the alliance between Konoha and Kumo to look at. From an outsider's perspective, it could appear as if the two villages were preparing for the Fourth Shinobi World War, something Kiri was completely unprepared to deal with.
The only real hope they had to survive such a conflict was to either make friends with the stronger nations or somehow avoid it entirely, which would be impossible if a war did occur. Even if the major villages didn't target them, there were still the opportunistic minor villages to worry about.
"The Sanbi's likely already reformed near the spot where his last Jinchuriki died, do you know where that is?" I asked.
Mei glanced towards Ao. "We have a general idea of that location. I can have it marked down on a map for your team a little later."
"If he's already reformed, then he'll likely be hiding out in a lake somewhere. One large enough for him to grow into his full form and have enough water to generate his mist" Kurama added. "Unfortunately, this is the Land of Water, there's plenty of places for Isobu to hide."
'Then I'll just have to search the bodies of water nearest to where Yagura died,' I thought back. 'If I can't sense Isobu, then I'll just make a few thousand clones and have them search everywhere.'
Kurama chuckled at that. "When in doubt, just overwhelm everything with clones."
I shrugged. It had worked fairly well in the past and it would work again now.
And that's chapter 58.
One thing I've noticed about this site is that it has a tendency to delete random words or remove spaces... Especially when Kurama's talking. I think it might have something to do with the bold text... Just thought I'd let you all know about that.
The Akatsuki get in position and Itachi makes a brief appearance. Anko, Naruto and Shizune arrive in kiri and meet with the Mizukage and find out that the Sanbi's been causing more than a few issues with its mist.
Anyways, I'm up to chapter 65 on the spooky P word website.
P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.
Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.
The next chapter will be posted on the 7th of February.
See you all then dudes and dudettes.