Chapter 68: Iron Redoubled

The trip to the Land of Iron had been a little longer than I was used to, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, we still had plenty of time to get there. I'd gotten so used to being able to instantly travel to my destination that I ended up missing the journey. I was able to see the scenery gradually change from forests and rivers to a more frozen landscape.

Brushing my hand up against my Kunai pouch, I briefly touched my Truth Seeking Orb, making sure that it hadn't made a hole in my pants. Keeping it hidden was for the best right now, I didn't want to have to explain what it was to the other Kage.

The trip in itself had been peaceful... Not that we were expecting anything major. The likelihood of anyone trying to ambush us on our way was fairly low. The Akatsuki would likely try something at the Summit, but not before. The Kage were too spread out and the Akatsuki's numbers too low to successfully ambush the envoys.

Unlike the previous meeting between the Konoha and Kumo which was only between two nations, a Kage summit called for further restrictions. Missions in the Five Great Nations were slowed to a halt with the only exception being those that were around the immediate vicinity of the main villages.

Technically speaking, Team 7 shouldn't be looking for Itachi and Rōshi until after the meeting, but there was no helping it. The longer they delayed, the greater the risk of Obito finding Itachi.

It wasn't as risky, what with Konoha being allied with three other villages, but it could cause a few issues, especially if Ōnoki decided to be a dick about it... But he'd have to find them first. A village couldn't exactly be held liable if there was no evidence of wrongdoing after all.

"It's starting to get a little cold," Anko noted, leaping off a snow covered branch. "I wonder why it's called the Land of Iron and not the Land of Ice when the entire country is pretty much frozen over."

"The majority of the worlds chakra metal is mined in the Land of Iron, hence the name," Tsunade explained, following shortly behind Anko. "We must be getting close." Glancing back at me, our eyes met. "You've been fairly quite. You doing alright back there, Naruto?"

"I'm fine, just... Thinking about the coming meeting," I replied.

I wasn't worried per se. I knew that, at the very least four of the Five Great Nations would be reasonable. Iwa on the other hand... They'd just faced an invasion at what they believed to be at the hands of Kiri, so I wasn't expecting this to go off without a hitch.

The trick to pulling this off was convincing Ōnoki that Kiri had nothing to do with the attack. If we could do that then we'd be able to get the Five Nations to unite and put an end to all of the petty wars that were waged pointlessly.

"I wouldn't give it too much thought," Tsunade hummed, slowing her speed on her next jump so that she was travelling alongside me. "Ōnoki might insist on having getting his pound of flesh from Kiri, but he'll realize that it's a fruitless endeavor... Especially if it means four major villages banding together against him."

She was right. Ōnoki might not be interested in permanently joining an alliance, but he'd be an idiot to pit Iwa against the rest of the world. While the aim of today was to unite the five villages, it wasn't the end all be all. There would always be other opportunities. Once Rōshi was recovered, the Akatsuki's involvement in the attack on Iwa wouldn't be denied.

"You really do put too much on your shoulders," Kurama idly commented. "Idiot."

"Heh... Thanks for the pep talk," I muttered softly. "I needed it."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Kurama?"

"Kurama." I chuckled.

Picking up the pace, we blurred through the snowy tree tops. Barely an hour passed, before we finally arrived at the Land of Iron's border. A large stone bridge stood with a small platoon of Samurai waiting to greet us. Landing, we slowly approached the group.

"You're the lady Hokage-dono, Senju Tsunade," One of the men noted. Removing his helmet, he revealed a dragon tattoo on his head along with a scarred face. "My name is Okisuke. I was sent to escort you and your guards to the meeting place in order to ensure nothing untoward happens while you remain in the Land of Iron."

"We appreciate the extra precaution," Tsunade said diplomatically. "Please lead the way."

"We will leave in a few moments," Okisuke replied, eyeing me. "Mountain Peak."

I stared at him for a few moments, before realizing what he was asking of me. "Frozen river."

Okisuke gave a short nod. "You're Uzumaki-dono. Mifune-dono made mention of you potentially attending this Summit," Okisuke said. "He stated that I was to request your assistance in sensing for unwanted guests."

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out," I replied.

I wasn't exactly going to let my guard down here. The Akatsuki had almost sparked the Fourth Shinobi World War last time I was here. That couldn't be allowed to happen again. The moment they tried something, I'd step in and stop it.

"Any assistance is greatly appreciated," Okisuke exclaimed. "Unfortunately, the only aid we can return in kind is that which is afforded to everyone. The Land of Iron will remain neutral on all Shinobi matters."

In other words, this wouldn't influence the outcome of the meeting. It was understandable. Although the Samurai were a powerhouse in their own right, a war against one or more of the hidden villages wasn't something that was desired. Hosting the Summit was a courtesy on their behalf. They needed to look out for their own best interests.

"Now if you'll please follow me. I will lead you to the Summits location," Okisuke announced, gesturing for us to follow him.

The meeting place had changed since we'd last been here... Although that was to be expected as it had been demolished last time. In place of the original building that was more militaristic in nature, favoring function over appearance, a large complex had been built surrounding what appeared to be a tree covered in white petals.

"Well damn, that's a fancy looking tree right there," Anko whistled. "How do you think they grow something like that in a place like this? You think it's some kind of Samurai secret?"

"The tree is not one of our creation," Okisuke answered, leading us down a snow covered path. "If you wish to know its origin, then perhaps you should ask your teammate."

Me?

Shooting a second glance towards the tree, Tsunade smirked. "I knew it looked familiar... The leaves change its appearance, but it still has the same general shape."

"...I don't get it," Anko muttered, looking lost.

Taking a closer look at the tree, I recognized it. It wasn't a tree at all... At least not a living one. It was a statue... One that I had a hand in creating when I was last here... When I helped fight Sasori alongside Bee, C and Tsunade.

The majority of the tree was made of metal while the leaves were formed out of naturally falling snow and ice crystals that simply coated it over time.

Seeing it like this, I couldn't help but shake my head in amusement. While I hadn't been able to have a proper conversation with Sasori, I did know a little bit about him... Specifically his views on art.

He believed that art was something that was eternal and in a way, he'd been immortalized in his art, leaving behind something beautiful that would last for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The Samurai would see to that, especially since they saw fit to build their new compound around it.

"It's something left over from when the Akatsuki ambushed our first meeting," I said, shooting a glance Anko's way. "It's... A long story, but one of the Akatsuki members was able to use Iron Sand that I helped fuse together. That was his last creation before dying."

"Huh... Neat," Anko hummed, looking up as we passed under one of its branches. "It must have been some technique... It's almost a pity that I didn't get the chance to fight that guy."

Yeah, I was going to have to disagree with Anko on that. Sasori wasn't exactly the strongest Akatsuki member out there, but he was tricky... Using poisons and puppeting allies in order to put you at an advantage.

Part of the reason for why he gave us so much trouble last time was him using Bee as one of his puppets, knowing that we wouldn't hurt him. The more people you fought him with, the greater the risk of accidentally wounding your allies.

Entering the main building, we were stopped at several different points where Okisuke needed to give several different responses, before we were allowed in the main meeting area where Ay and Gaara sat.

"You'll both need to go wait with the other guards for now," Tsunade commented, glancing upward. "If the time comes for when you're needed, I'll call for you, but as for now... I'll handle this."

"That's fine by me," Anko shrugged, heading towards the stairs.

Locking eyes with Tsunade, I smiled. Following Anko, I gave a short nod towards Ay and Gaara, before heading up the stairs.

Reaching the top, I was greeted to the sight of several familiar faces. Gaara's guards... Kankuro and Temari stood on the one end of the balcony, directly above Gaara. It seemed that Ay had chosen to bring the exact same guards as last time as both Darui and C stood to the side, casually watching the meeting room below.

Catching my gaze, Darui sighed tiredly. "Naruto... It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has," I hummed. "It's good to see you again, Darui... C."

Giving his own nod, C turned his attention back towards the meeting.

While I hadn't exactly gotten to know them all too well, I did occasionally bump into the duo during my stay in Kumo.

Spotting Temari and Kankuro looking my way, I gave a short wave, one that wasn't returned.

"Heh, well aren't you mister popular," Anko said, elbowing me. "Greeting people from two different villages as if they're your friends."

I wouldn't exactly say that. I only knew Darui and C in passing, much like how Anko knew Konoha's Jonin Sensei's. As for Suna... Yeah, outside of Gaara, there wasn't anyone else that I could personally claim to know.

I suppose there was Kankuro and Temari, but I didn't really interact with them... Ever really. Come to think of it, the last time we actually spoke was during the Chunin exams when I all but threatened them into treating Gaara better. Yeah, that probably didn't leave the greatest impression.

Glancing at the various Shinobi that were watching us, I shrugged. "I get around."

"Hah," Anko laughed at my phrasing. "You might want to reword that. We wouldn't want anyone getting jealous now, would we?"

Hearing the sound of footsteps echo down the stone halls, I glanced down into the meeting room below to see Mei arrive with Ao and Chojuro following behind her.

"Oh, look. More people that you know," Anko hummed softly. "But I suppose it doesn't count this time. I know them too."

Greeting her fellow Kage, Mei took a seat between Gaara and Tsunade while her Ao and Chojuro headed up the stairs, taking a position directly above their Kage. Ao gave a short nod while his partner muttered a soft greeting before putting some distance between us. Neither of them seemed keen on talking.

"Well aren't they the talkative bunch," Anko said sarcastically.

It wasn't exactly unexpected. Ao was highly professional and Chōjūrō was more than a little jumpy... It didn't help that the outcome of this meeting would decide if Iwa and Kiri went to war or not.

Speaking of, the final delegation arrived. Ōnoki, radiating an air of annoyance floated down the hallway with his arms crossed while Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi trailed after him. Akatsuchi seemed jovial enough, Kurotsuchi on the other hand... Her face was twisted into a scowl which rivaled that of Sasuke prior to Danzo's death.

Heading up to the balcony, the Iwa duo stopped right by the stairs, opting to stay as far away from the other guards as possible. Staring down at the various Kage, Kurotsuchi shot a harsh glare towards Mei, before turning away.

Taking a seat at the table, Ōnoki let out a huff of air. "I've got a thousand other things I could be doing today than this. Let's get it over with already."

Silently observing the Tsuchikage, Mifune nodded. "Since you're all here, we may begin. Please put your hats on the table in front of you." Waiting for the gathered Kage to follow his instructions, Mifune continued. "You are all here today because the Hokage has called this meeting. I am Mifune and I will be your moderator."

"Then, if I may be the first to ask," Gaara began. "For what reasons have you called us here today, Hokage?"

Tsunade sat a little straighter now that she had the attention of the room. "I called you all here for one simple reason... To discuss what we will do about the Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki? Bah, you're wasting my time over that small group of mercenaries?" Ōnoki asked in a disgruntled tone. "If that's all we're here to discuss, then you truly have wasted my time."

"Tsuchikage, please try and control yourself. I for one am interested in hearing what the Hokage has to say," Mei said diplomatically.

"You..." Ōnoki's eyes narrowed as he stared at Mei. "I don't want to hear anything from you on this. This meeting benefits you immensely... Giving you time to prepare your forces for a war you initiated."

"I had no hand in the attack on Iwa," Mei replied. "Nor do I have any reason to want to wage war on you. Kiri has just come out of a civil war and I have no intention of throwing my Shinobi into another war."

Ōnoki smirked. "No reason you say? It was my understanding that Kiri has lost both of its Jinchuriki. Abducting another nations Jinchuriki to use as your own seems like a good enough reason to me." He gestured towards Tsunade. "Konoha has done the same thing by taking the Nanabi Jinchuriki after they suffered through an invasion. No reason isn't a good enough excuse for Kiri."

Clenching her hand closed, Mei smiled stiffly. "It would seem that your information is outdated. Kiri is still in possession of the Sanbi and has plans to reclaim the Rokubi Jinchuriki. We have no need for your Jinchuriki."

"Baseless claims!" Ōnoki snapped, all but jumping over the table.

Clapping his hands together, Mifune waited for Ōnoki to settle down, before continuing. "Please keep this meeting civil. There is no need to attack one another... Physically or verbally."

Grumbling, Ōnoki leaned back in his chair. "Fine. Let's just get this meeting over with. My patience is waning." Ōnoki's gaze panned to Ay. "I'm sure others share my sentiment."

Seeing the look Ōnoki was giving him, Ay smirked. "I for one am glad that the Hokage called for this meeting. If she didn't, I would have. The Akatsuki have been allowed to roam free for too long. It's about time that we put an end to them... Permanently."

Scowling, Ōnoki resigned himself to his chair.

The council chamber was silent for a moment, before Tsunade coughed lightly. "Perhaps the Tsuchikage will understand why dealing with the Akatsuki is so important once he becomes aware of what they've done and what they're planning to do."

"There's not a Shinobi alive that hasn't heard about how they attacked the meeting between you and the Raikage," Ōnoki replied.

"I was referring to their attack on Iwa," Tsunade said evenly. "The intention of the attack was never to win, but rather to keep you busy while they abducted your Jinchuriki."

Ōnoki sat up, looking flustered once more. "Kiri was–"

"They have a member by the name of Zetsu that is able to perfectly mimic others, clone himself and even hide his Chakra signature. Even Sensors weren't able to differentiate him from others," Tsunade said, cutting Ōnoki off. "I have reason to believe that the Akatsuki's been amassing an army using his abilities."

"The Hokage speaks the truth," Mifune added. "I myself have been fooled by Zetsu's ability... So have my Samurai. To date, only one Shinobi has been able to sense him and he's here today."

Ōnoki appeared skeptical. "The amount of Chakra it would take in order to create an army would be comparable to that of a Biju and my Jinchuriki were only abducted after the army invaded."

Watching as the meeting progressed at a snail's pace, I couldn't help but feel glad that I wasn't the one that had to deal with the Tsuchikage.

I understood why he was so angry, his village was just attacked by Kiri and he'd seemingly lost both of his Jinchuriki, but that didn't make his outbursts and stubborn refusal to accept the truth any less annoying.

I wasn't the only one that was annoyed either. Pretty much everyone other than Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi had been pissed off to one degree or another. Some like Darui might do a good job at hiding it, but that didn't change how they felt about Ōnoki's abrasive personality while others like Anko were gnashing their teeth.

"Hm?"

Feeling the faint ripple of Chakra, I traced it back to its origin at the center of the room between the Kage and Mifune. From the looks of it, the only other person in the room that managed to pick up on it had been Ao.

Tapping Anko on the shoulder, I hopped over the railing and landed in front of Tsunade, drawing the meeting to an immediate halt. A single moment later, the other guards followed suit. Catching Mifune's eye, I nodded, confirming his suspicion.

Not even a second later, the air began to ripple and spiral, before Obito's body appeared, crouched over... Only it wasn't him. It had the same Chakra signature as he did, but lacked the same malice that emanated from him.

He knew that I was aware of how to get around Kamui. It would have been stupid for him to come here... Unless it only appeared as if he was here. Seeing the Rinnegan in his left eye, my theory was looking a lot more likely. This wasn't him, it was just a body he was controlling... Most likely one of the Zetsu clones.

Oddly enough, there was another Chakra signature that was coming from his body, one that I wasn't familiar with.

Jumping back, the place the copy of Obito was standing shattered as Ay's lightning coated fist smashed into the ground. "Now, now," Obito called out, landing on the wall. "I came here to talk, not fight."

"I'm not interest in what you have to say," Ay growled, his lightning cloak sparking angrily.

"Doubtful," Obito droned. "But if you wish to try killing me, I suppose I could humor you."

"Don't," I said, grabbing Ay's shoulder. "He's not really here. That's just a body he's talking through. Killing it won't do anything."

The moment someone neared him, he'd likely cut his losses and flee. No, it was better to hear what he had to say before making a move.

Giving an appreciative hum, Obito dropped down from the wall, landing a short distance away from the Samurai that guarded the room. "Always so quick to figure everything out. You've inherited Minato's intellect no doubt." Pausing he glanced over the rest of the room. "Initially, I'd considered assaulting the Summit in order to weaken the villages, but that isn't a viable option."

Ōnoki's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Madara," Mei answered. "That's what you call yourself, right? When you plunged my nation into a bloody civil war."

"Madara?" Ōnoki whispered, looking visibly unsettled.

"It is," Obito hummed. "It seems that the majority of you are well informed... That makes this easier. You see, I've come to make an offer. Surrender your remaining Jinchuriki to me and no harm will befall your villages."

"And if we don't?" Gaara asked.

"Then," Obito chuckled deeply. "It'll be war."

Something was off here. Obito couldn't really believe that he stood a chance, did he? He was having enough problems with Konoha alone and he wanted to start a war with all five nations.

At best, he had a few tens of thousands of Zetsu's and while the number in itself was impressive, they didn't really amount to much when they were so weak. I was missing something.

Obito barely had a leg to stand on, so why was he so confident? If Madara had actually been resurrected, I'd understand, but he wasn't. He couldn't think that the Rinnegan would give him that much of an advantage, right?

Unless the war was just a distraction for what he really wanted. Even with an army of Edo Tensei zombies and Zetsu's that were improved by Kabuto, he wouldn't be able to beat all five nations. There was zero chance that he'd be able to beat the Shinobi alliance with what he had right now.

"Obito's ultimate goal is becoming the Jubi Jinchuriki and using the Infinite Tsukuyomi," Kurama began. "We should assume that everything he does contributes to that goal. Four of the five Kage knew about his existence with Ōnoki learning about him today. Since a war between Iwa and Kiri is off the table, he'd need to come up with something else."

A war between him and the five nations. It doesn't matter that he'd lose because he doesn't need to win it in order to get what he wants... The Jinchuriki. It was a fairly basic plan, one that could go disastrously wrong for him. This was likely his final attempt. It was all or nothing.

Disappearing in a bolt of lightning, Ay reappeared in front of Obito, his hand firmly wrapped around his neck. "If you think you could just go on and threaten our villages like that, then you've got another thing coming!"

Choosing not to fight back, Obito opted to simply stare at Ay. "I have a plan... One that will bring peace to this world. The Infinite Tsukuyomi. All will become one with me and there will be no more hate... No more pain... No more confli–"

Squeezing his hand, Ay broke Obito's neck, cutting him off. "None of us are interested in what you have to say so keep your mouth shut and die quietly."

"Well that happened," Anko muttered, sitting on the desk in front of Tsunade. "So, what do we do next?"

Creating a clone, I sent it to look for the real Obito while I approached the Zetsu body that had been dropped to the ground. He had to be near if he was actively using the Zetsu as one of his Paths.

Coating my hand in lightning, I plunged it into the body's stomach, before pulling back, revealing a clump of white clay.

"That kind of looks like one of Deidara sculptures," Kurotsuchi muttered softly.

Pulling the black receiver from the body, I flooded it with my Chakra found that his real body was nowhere to be seen.

It looks like he tried to do the exact same thing that he did last time we were here, only... It didn't work out nearly as well this time.

"Tsunade," Ōnoki began. "What information do you have on that man... Madara?"

"Why the sudden interest?" Tsunade asked, smirking. "I thought you didn't care about the Akatsuki." The shoe was on the other foot.

"Now that the threat has become apparent, perhaps it would be better if we started over," Mifune suggested.

That wasn't exactly a bad idea, but it did mean that we were going to be stuck here for a few more hours than expected. By the looks of everyone here, I could already tell what one of the outcomes would be. Obito had come here with the intentions of starting a war and he was going to get it.

This wasn't going to go as well for Obito as he'd hoped, I'd make sure of that.

And that's chapter 68 done.

Team 7 is sent on their mission... The Kage's assemble and Obito makes his intentions of starting a war known with the intention of using it as a distraction, only this time he won't have Kabuto to back him up.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 75 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 18th of April.
See you all then, dudes and dudettes.