Chapter 69: Shadows in the Snow

After Obito's five minutes in the light, Tsunade and I had ended up telling the gathered Kage most of everything we knew about the Akatsuki and 'Madara,' leaving out a few key points. Namely, the true source of my knowledge and Obito's identity.

He wasn't the only one that benefited from using Madara's name.

While Kiri, Kumo and Suna were willing to join a united effort to put an end to the Akatsuki, Iwa, however, needed a bit of an extra push. Obito masquerading as Madara helped with that… Especially since Ōnoki had history with the legendary Uchiha.

Obito and Zetsu's attempts at starting wars and spreading conflict had been revealed to the various Kage, calling into question the past three Shinobi World Wars and just how far back the manipulation went. It did, however, end up creating a little disorder.

"Heh, so not even the Yondaime Hokage was able to beat Madara," Ōnoki commented.

"Watch yourself, Tsuchikage," Ay growled. "We may be on the same side now, but that doesn't mean that can be disrespectful."

Floating up until he was eye level with Ay, Ōnoki shrugged. "I'm simply speaking the truth, that's all. The Yondaime Hokage didn't survive his encounter with Madara. It goes to show how much of a threat the man truly is if he can fight the Yondaime who was in his prime while Madara himself should be long past his."

Ōnoki wasn't entirely wrong. Obito's ability to become intangible was extremely useful and did render him invulnerable for several minutes… Unless you know how to get around it and have the means to do it, then he becomes one of the easiest Shinobi to kill… Assuming you go for the killing blow immediately.

Seeing Ay grow angrier, I stepped in. "He died sealing the Kyuubi in me, not to Madara. If he'd survived that night, he might have… No, he definitely would have ended up killing him."

Ay nodded in agreement.

Having Minato's Hiraishin Marker on his body meant death for Obito if Minato had survived. Unfortunately, he'd been out of options and had been forced to make a hard choice… One that ended up with him being consumed by the Shinigami.

"If we could please stay on topic," Mifune began. "With the Fourth Shinobi War looming over our heads, our time here is better spent coming up with a plan to deal with Madara than arguing with each other."

"I concur," Gaara spoke. "If we're to prevent Madara from gaining what he wants, then we must act swiftly. He needs the Jinchuriki in order to enact his plan, therefore that is what we must prevent him from gaining. Do we know how many Biju he has in his possession?"

"...Iwa has lost both of its Jinchuriki," Ōnoki admitted, not looking the least bit pleased. "It would be safe to assume that Madara has them both."

"And the Rokubi Jinchuriki, Utakata is still missing," Mei added.

"Actually," Tsunade began, shooting a glance my way. "We do have some news on that front. I'll spare you all the details, but, during a mission, Utakata was discovered being attacked by the Akatsuki and rescued before they were able to abduct him. He's currently in Konoha, guarded by some of my strongest Shinobi."

Mei gave Tsunade a grateful look. "That's good news."

Tsunade nodded. "That's not all. Some... Additional information was found during the confrontation. I'm not certain how true it is, but, during the attack on Iwa, one of the Akatsuki members went rogue and took one of Iwa's Jinchuriki with them."

"Not good news, but not terrible either," Ōnoki noted. "At the very least, that is one more Jinchuriki kept away from Madara's hands, but this does introduce a potential rogue element to be on the lookout for... They likely intend to become a Jinchuriki themselves in order to harness the Yonbi's power. Do we know who it is?"

"At this point, we can only guess," Tsunade said evenly.

Blinking, I consciously suppressed my reaction. That was strange. She was lying to them. I already knew that she wasn't under the influence of a Genjutsu, so she must have a reason for keeping quiet about Itachi... I was going to have to ask her about it when we returned to Konoha.

"Is it really that strange?" Kurama asked. "Tsunade's already keeping Konan's involvement in all of this quiet. Why wouldn't she keep Itachi's involvement quiet too?"

I suppose that was true. I was doing the same by not revealing Obito's identity to them... There was also Team 7 to consider. They were technically out on a mission during a time when it was prohibited.

If it got out that they were actively searching for Itachi, Konoha could lose face with the other villages. Not exactly a massive problem especially since the Fourth Shinobi World War was primed to begin, but it was something that was completely avoidable.

"That is unfortunate," Ōnoki commented, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose we'll have to move on to a different topic... Specifically, what to do with the Jinchuriki now that we know Madara's after them."

"Forgive me for the assumption, but it almost sounds like you want to lock them away or kill them," Mei noted. "But that can't be right, especially since there are two Jinchuriki here, one of which being the Kazekage."

"Those are two such options," Ōnoki replied. "Killing them, however, won't do us much good. The Biju will just reform. Hiding them away would yield greater results."

"Ōnoki..." Ay growled.

"I have a proposition," Gaara calmly interrupted, bringing Ay's outburst to a halt. "This will only come to an end once Madara is dead and we know that he needs the Biju in order to enact his plan."

"Are you suggesting that the Jinchuriki are used as bait, Kazekage-dono?" Mifune asked.

"I am," Gaara replied. "With seven Jinchuriki accounted for, we have the upper hand. If we were to all come together, we'd be able to lure Madara out from hiding."

Listening as the various Kage began debating on the viability of Gaara's suggestion, I sighed. This meeting was going to take far longer than I would have liked. Glancing back at Tsunade who was forced to pay attention, I smiled. I doubt I would have gotten half as far without having her here, helping to unite the villages.

Looking up to the balcony where the Kage's guards stood, I caught sight of Anko's bored form and smirked. All but drooping over the guard rail, she looked like she would rather be anywhere else but here.

The meeting had been going on for less than an hour after Obito's arrival, but it felt like it had been days at this point.

Having done my part in informing the Kage about Obito and Zetsu's machinations, I'd returned back to my spot in the balcony that overlooked the meeting room. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long before the meeting was concluded.

It did seem like it was coming to an end. The discussion downstairs was beginning to die down and it seemed like a few, last minute details were being discussed before the Summit officially came to an end.

The meeting itself had been fairly informative for the various Kage. Mei had a basic understanding of what 'Madara' had been up to and had the gaps in her knowledge filled while Ōnoki heard the full story, ranging from Zetsu's actions in starting wars all the way to the resurrecting the Jubi.

"So, any reason for why you're staring at the tapestry?" Anko asked. "I'll admit, they do look kind of nice, but I don't exactly want to stare at it for hours on end. This whole thing isn't getting to you, is it?"

Glancing at her, I raised an eyebrow. I suppose that hearing the Kage discuss what they plan to do about the Jinchuriki should bother me, but it didn't. Ōnoki was the only one that was advocating for the villages to do something about the Jinchuriki, so it wouldn't really come to anything anyway.

Gaara was a Jinchuriki himself, Mei felt indebted for our actions in stopping Isobu's mist and Ay... He'd even been against Gaara's idea of using the Jinchuriki as bait, arguing that such a plan should only be used if the war dragged on longer than was anticipated.

Knowing how strong a regular White Zetsu was, once the war started, it likely wouldn't last longer than a week and that was me being generous.

"Nah, I'm just thinking," I hummed. "Last time I was here, Kumo and Konoha had just entered into an alliance and now... The five nations are united."

"Heh, I get it. It's a little crazy when you actually think about it," Anko chuckled. "I mean, I've killed a few Shinobi from the other four and now we're suddenly going to be working together in order to save the world from some endless nightmare. Yeah, this is definitely going to be the strangest war I'll ever fight in. It almost doesn't feel real."

It could have been far worse. Obito could have had his army bolstered by an army of immortal zombie Shinobi that fought tirelessly and could only be sealed away. Killing Orochimaru and Kabuto first had definitely been the right choice. It might have sparked off the conflict with the Akatsuki early, but it also deprived them of a massive advantage.

That being said, I couldn't exactly afford to slack off just because I knew it would be easier. Obito was still a threat to most Shinobi, especially with the Rinnegan and the remaining Akatsuki members weren't exactly pushovers either.

Deidara was more than capable of causing massive amounts of damage with his explosives while being able to evade most Shinobi by taking to the skies. There was also his problematic ability to create microscopic bombs that have to kill hundreds, if not thousands of Shinobi.

Kisame was a monster in his own right, being one of the few that could go head to head with a fully realized Jinchuriki and come out with little to no damage, but separating him from Samehada would go a long way to weakening him... It'd at least prevent him from being able to absorb a Jinchuriki's Chakra.

Kakuzu was technically the least problematic, but he was still strong enough to give most Jonin a problem. It'd take someone stronger than that to take him down. Kakashi and Gai being two who would be able to handle him. Asuma... He'd probably be able to hold him off for a time, but I doubt he'd be able to take Kakuzu on by himself, even with the extra training he'd been doing lately.

Once they were dealt with, all that would remain would be dealing with Obito, Black Zetsu and the army they'd been amassing... However many that was.

"Hey, are you still with me?" Anko asked, waving a hand in front of my face. "Your eyes glazed over for a second. You talking to the fox again?"

"...No," I replied. "As I said, I'm just thinking."

"Well you might want to stop. It looks like they're wrapping this whole thing up," Anko said, pointing to the gathered Kage.

Looking down at the meeting, I saw that Anko was right. The various Kage stood from the table, each of them holding their own hats.

"It's about time," I muttered softly, stretching lightly.

Seeing Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi begin to descend the stairs, I shuffled after them, followed by the other Kage's guards. Meeting up with Tsunade in the room below, I moved to stand at her side while the rest of the guards reunited with their Kage.

"So, what happens now?" Anko whispered.

"The meeting's over. We wait for our moderator to call a close to the Summit and head back to our respective village in order to prepare for the war," Tsunade explained

Stepping to the front of the room, Mifune waited for everyone to settle down before addressing the room. "With this meeting coming up with a viable solution to the Akatsuki, I hereby call this meeting to a close." He briefly bowed. "Thank you for your time."

"And thank you for agreeing to host us once more," Tsunade replied.

With a nod, Mifune stepped back, giving more room as the gathered Kage began to leave. Glancing at Anko, I saw that she looked halfway between annoyed at having to put up with the meeting and relieved that it was finally over.

Feeling Tsunade's shoulder bump against me, she caught my eye and glanced towards Mifune who stood at the end of the room.

"General Mifune," I said, stepping forward. "Since our nations are going to be working together, I'd like to give you this." Slipping my hand into my pouch, I was extra careful to avoid grabbing my disguised Truth Seeking Orb. Grabbing one of my Kunai, I held the handle out towards him.

"One of your Kunai?" Mifune noted, taking the blade in hand.

I nodded. "The Yondaime and Nidaime Hokage had a technique that allowed them to teleport to anything that they'd marked."

"I've heard of it before, the Hiraishin," Mifune said, looking down at my Kunai. "I take it this will enable you to instantly travel to the Land of Iron."

"It will," I replied. "I've been using it as a way to instantly travel between nations. I thought that it could come in handy with the coming war."

"I see. Then I will keep it on my person at all times. To ensure that no one tampers with it," Mifune murmured, placing the Kunai on his belt. "War is an ugly thing, but perhaps when it is over something beautiful can emerge from it... Much like how the iron tree outside was formed in a desperate battle."

"Maybe it will," I hummed.

With that said, I made my way back to Tsunade's side. Heading out of the building we were hit by a cold, snowy breeze as we stepped outside.

"So, are we taking the scenic route back or the instant one?" Anko asked, looking around at all of the snow. "I mean, I'm fine with either, but if we take the instant one, we won't have to hike through all of this snow."

Glancing at Anko, Tsunade sighed. "Since Konoha is going to need to get ready for war, we'll be taking the instant one back."

"You don't seem pleased about that," Anko noted.

"It's going to be a lot of work," Tsunade replied, slumping forward. "The Daimyo will need to be informed and more than a few missions are going to need to be put on hold until all this is over."

"Oh... I guess I never thought about how much work the Hokage has to do," Anko muttered. "I've always been focused on giving my mission reports that it never really occurred to me that you're stuck listening to dozens of those daily."

Tsunade hummed her agreement.

She didn't admit it, but I could see that wasn't the only thing that was bothering her. This had been the first time in a long while since she'd been able to get out of the village. She probably wanted to take it a bit slower, but wasn't able to due to her responsibilities as the Hokage.

Shifting a little closer to her, I was about to wrap my arm around her waist, only to stop when I felt three Chakra signatures approaching us.

"Tsunade," Ōnoki called out as he floated down in front of us alongside his guards.

I looked between the two guards and found something odd. Akatsuchi, while jovial, stood a little straighter while Kurotsuchi looked like she was stuck between wanting to attack or bursting into tears?

"You're not wrong," Kurama commented. "There's a lot of misery and hatred coming from the girl... Some of it is even coming from the other two."

Ah, so her mood was likely related to why they were confronting us here.

"Ōnoki," Tsunade nodded. "Is there a reason why you stopped us?"

"Quick to the point, I see," Ōnoki noted. "I've come to you with an offer... One that we'll both benefit from."

Well that was a little ominous. The way he said that kind of implied that we had no choice in the matter.

"Oh, and what is it that you're after?" Tsunade asked calmly.

"I've lived a long life as a Shinobi and spent more than a few decades as a Kage," Ōnoki continued. "The others might not have picked up on it, but it's clear to me when someone omits a few things in order to appear in a better light. You know more than you're letting on. You know the identity of the one who abducted my Jinchuriki and for some reason, you want to keep it quiet."

So that's what this was about, blackmail. I'd like to say that it was unexpected, but this was Ōnoki we were dealing with. He was infamous for doing things like this.

"Hold on, you can't just..."

"It's okay, Anko," Tsunade said, stopping her. Smiling sweetly at Ōnoki, she clenched her fist, popping her knuckles. "Tell me, Ōnoki, what is it that you want?"

"I have a Shinobi that's in critical condition and an expert medic to heal him. The fact that he's still alive is a testament to his sheer will," Ōnoki explained. "Do this for me and I'll forget what I saw in the meeting today."

Slapping a palm to my face, I let out a soft groan. It all made sense now. Kurotsuchi's misery and anger, Ōnoki's ultimatum... Someone important to them had been severely injured in Zetsu's attack.

"Why the hell are you acting like that, you blonde bastard?" Kurotsuchi snapped.

"Because you made this whole thing needlessly complicated," Tsunade sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We're allies now. If you'd have just asked, I would have helped."

"We both know that this world of ours isn't that simple, Tsunade," Ōnoki replied.

"Don't get so stuck in the past that you fail to see the future," Tsunade shot back. "More than a few Shinobi have died because they assumed that things would stay the same way forever."

"...Does that mean you'll help us?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"I will," Tsunade nodded before turning to me. "Naruto, do you think that you could..."

Already knowing where this was heading, I offered the trio one of my Kunai. "This is–"

"I'm aware of what it is," Ōnoki interrupted, cautiously eyeing the Kunai before taking it. "Iwa has had encounters with Konoha's Yellow Flash in the past."

Well that made things a little easier.

"Then you should know that I'll need a time and date for when you're expecting us," I said, crossing my arms. "Unless you want me to periodically check in to see if you're ready for us."

I could understand why he'd attempted to blackmail us... He was trying to save someone's life. Judging by Kurotsuchi's reaction, it was someone related to him and his granddaughter, but that didn't mean that it pissed me off.

"Hm... Two days from now at noon," Ōnoki answered after a few moments of thought. "That should give you more than enough time to prepare everything on your end."

"I'll make a note of it," Tsunade replied.

"I'll see you then," Ōnoki said.

Floating upward along with his guards, the trio took off at high speed, disappearing behind the clouds.

"Man, what a grumpy dick," Anko muttered.

Yep, that perfectly described Ōnoki. He wasn't as bad as Danzo, but he was still extremely protective of his village to the point that he could go a little overboard. Hopefully, he'd lighten up a little.

Seeing that we were alone now, I wrapped my arm around Tsunade's waist and grabbed Anko's shoulder.

Arriving back in Tsunade's office, I was greeted to the sight of Jiraiya who, upon noticing that we were there, jumped, kicking up dozens of sheets of paper that spread across the room.

Grabbing a few sheets, I scanned the first page, before blinking and rubbing my eyes. There was no doubt about it, this was porn and by the looks of it he'd written a lot. It was actually a little impressive... The sheer bulk he was able to write in a single day.

"Hm," Tsunade hummed, reading one of the pages I held in my hand. Marching towards her desk, she pushed the paper that littered it off, before grabbing the crystal ball that had been hidden underneath. "Jiraiya..."

"Before you say anything, please remember that you left me in charge of Konoha during your absence," Jiraiya interrupted, holding his hands out in front of his face in a defensive manner. "As for sensei's old crystal ball... I couldn't help myself."

"Just..." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Just clean this mess up."

Cringing, Jiraiya waited for a few moments, lowering his arms. "You're not going to punch me through your window? How bad did the Summit go?" He asked, looking between the three of us.

"It actually went pretty well," I said. "Although there were a few issues with the Tsuchikage in the end."

"Yeah, we're going to war," Anko added, smirking. "The Samurai are even getting involved in this one."

Jiraiya chuckled at that, stopping once he saw that we weren't joking. "Wait, seriously? Iwa's going to go to war with us?"

"Not Iwa," Tsunade sighed tiredly. "The Akatsuki. During the meeting, 'Madara' decided to show up and threaten war against any nation that refused to hand over their Jinchuriki. Naturally, every nation refused, triggering the Fourth Shinobi World War."

Eyes narrowing in concentration, Jiraiya sat down at Tsunade's desk and locked his fingers together. A few moments passed, before he looked up once more. "The war is a ploy to draw the Jinchuriki out. He knows he can't win it, but winning was never his goal."

I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one that came to that conclusion. Technically speaking, Obito had already gotten what he wanted. Now all he had to do was wait for the villages to begin moving their forces before making his own move.

Unfortunately for him, it wasn't going to go as well as he hoped. The moment he made his appearance, I was going to be there, putting an end to him once and for all.

Zetsu would be a little more tricky... I wasn't exactly sure if I could kill him in the conventional sense, but that wasn't going to stop me from giving it my best attempt.

I was getting a little ahead of myself. There were still a number of things to do before that. I wasn't picking up on Team 7's Chakra signatures so they were probably still out there looking for Itachi. They hadn't used my Kunai, so they were likely still looking for him. Hopefully they'd find him soon.

Following Fu through the treetops, Kakashi took a brief moment to ensure that no one was around before following after her with Sasuke and Sakura trailing a short distance behind him. Progress had been slow, but necessary in order to keep from drawing attention to themselves.

Seeing Fu come to a stop, he landed on the branch next to her.

"What is it? Do we need to change directions?" Kakashi asked, looking around for anything that looked out of the ordinary.

"Nope," Fu grinned and pointed towards the clearing below. "We're here."

Seeing a decrepit shack of a building that rivaled that of the Uzumaki mask temple, Kakashi nodded. Uncovering his Sharingan, he motioned for his team to follow him as he jumped down.

They didn't have much time, so it was better if they got this over with as quickly as possible. The longer they stalled, the better the chances of their target realizing they were there.

Entering the building, Kakashi took extra care to not step on any loose planks. Stepping into a hallway with a collapsed staircase to the side, Kakashi froze as a wave of light washed over him. Looking around cautiously, he found that he found that the hallway had changed, looking as if it had only just been built.

Fortunately, that was where the differences ended as his former students still stood behind him.

"Sasuke... I see that you've finally arrived," Itachi's voice echoed through the hallways. "And you've brought your team. Make your way to the center of this building if you wish to see me, oh, and mind your step."

Hearing a creek, Kakashi jumped back as several metallic spikes shot out of the floor. Okay, this was going to be a bit more difficult then he initially thought it would be.

And that's chapter 69.

Not gonna lie, this one's a bit of a slower one that's mostly setting things up, but it is necessary. Mifune gets one of Naruto's Kunai, Onoki's a dick, but a dick who's doing the best he can, Jiraiya learns about the war and Team Kakashi finally find Itachi... Only, he's in an old, run down Uchiha hideout.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 76 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 25th of April.
See you all then dudes and dudettes.