[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.]
Third Person POV
Iwagakure, 43.
...
...
In the Land of Earth, a discussion was taking place, just as it had in Sunagakure. Iwagakure was gathered with its elders/advisors, discussing the great problem they had in their hands at that moment.
Konoha had grown stronger. It was more powerful than ever, far more powerful than in the Second War.
Ōnoki was silent. His back pain did not even seem to bother him anymore in the face of the great problem he was dealing with. Normally, he would complain, but at that moment he seemed very thoughtful, ignoring the pain of advancing age.
"Father, the situation is not good," murmured his son, Kitsuchi, who was also among the village's advisors.
"I know... that I know very well. The problem is exactly the one we are having here." Onoki said in a low tone.
How could he forget Minato in that fight between them in Uzushiogakure? Fight, in truth, it felt like Minato was merely playing with him. He could have killed him, as he had done with the Mizukage and the Raikage.
Ōnoki remembered clearly: Minato had managed to defeat him in an aerial battle. While he launched his Dust Release trying to hit the boy, Minato always escaped with ease. He flew through the air by kicking the air, teleporting, or even transforming himself into light to travel at a speed that not even the Third Tsuchikage could follow.
Minato was far more flexible. His kicks were incredibly powerful, making Ōnoki feel a pain in his back he had never felt before, even with all the problems of old age.
In the end, Minato simply sent him to the middle of the sea.
When he realized it, he was in a completely different place. Frustrated, Ōnoki immediately left the water. When he looked around, there was nothing but the horizon. He was lost somewhere in the world. He cursed Minato with all his strength while trying to return, without knowing where he was or which direction he should follow.
Only when he finally discovered his location did he realize that he was even farther away than he had imagined. He arrived at a continent scarcely inhabited by humans, which left him even more frustrated. He had to rest for a day before finally returning, traveling for days at sea until he reached the elemental nations and discovered the failure that he and the other three nations had carried out in the attack against Uzushiogakure.
Only Ōnoki knew the anger and frustration of being the leader of a great village, coordinating a joint attack and discovering that he had been removed from the battlefield, incapable of doing anything other than waiting for his men to survive. The anxiety nearly led him to a heart attack.
It was an experience he never wanted to have again.
A memory that had been appearing to Onoki ever since was of being in the presence of Uchiha Madara, of how he was brought to his knees with ease when he and his master were going to Konoha.
Ōnoki never imagined he would feel so powerless again, but Minato Namikaze had awakened those feelings in him.
And deep down, the old man knew, Minato Namikaze did not kill him for some reason, even though he would have preferred to die on the battlefield rather than be sent far away, leaving his companions at the mercy of their enemies...
He had lost more than four thousand men. His divisions were defeated. Even with semi-perfect jinchuurikis, they lost in the end. Iwa had to retreat because they were facing the Senju girl, the jinchūriki transformed into the Nine-Tailed Fox, the Hyuuga clan girl with her bow massacring the ninjas, and the entire crowd of Uzumaki shinobi.
Even the Uchiha, with special eyes summoning that skeleton, pushed Iwa into a corner, turning the fight into a true massacre. The only reason they did not face Minato as well was because he went alone to the southern field to confront Suna, according to the reports that Ōnoki read.
The Third Tsuchikage was frustrated. Besides losing a great part of their forces to the enemies, the Land of Whirlpools had also disappeared from the map — at least until then.
Now, Konoha had simply brought it back.
How could they not do that? Any village that received such a proposal would have accepted, even those that had been harmed.
The balance between the nations had changed. The Namikaze clan and the Uzumaki clan added to Konoha an even greater strength than the village already possessed.
How could they proceed with plans of a possible Third World War against Konoha in search of revenge and compensation for resources?
"Greedy bastards. Konoha wasted no time," growled one of the advisors.
Ōnoki held back the urge to mock him, knowing that they themselves would do exactly the same thing if they had the opportunity to have them in Iwagakure.
"In any case, we must be careful with our next actions. Perhaps it is not wise to start a third war," said another elder.
"Third Tsuchikage, I believe we should analyze what the other nations intend to do," added another advisor carefully.
Ōnoki looked at him and nodded. "I see no reason not to do that. We are in a very complicated situation. We have already lost once to them. There were only five, with the addition of the Uzumaki clan, and they brought all four nations to their knees. Konoha has not lost any strength since the Second War. Just because of that, its strength is greater than ours. Now with the recent addition to that village, it is obvious that we will not win a war the way we are, even if all united. And the worst of all is that we still do not know all the abilities of that Minato Namikaze."
Ōnoki had already seen the reports. Obviously, all the nations quickly exchanged information among themselves. They needed, somehow, to find a way to counter Minato. Minato had strange abilities, in addition to those they saw in the war, it was reported the use of a black layer over his body that made him extremely powerful, he also had a type of jutsu that seemed like a genjutsu, capable of incapacitating dozens of elite shinobi without moving a finger, it was terrifying and that was without him even properly using that ability.
He ended up being classified as a wanted Ninja rank EX — an acronym recently invented, since they could not simply leave him at the SS classification. So they created a new category to classify him: the first in the ninja world, since the formulation of the Bingo Book, to possess such a level.
The SS levels were linked to the perfect jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the Uchiha with colossal skeletons and eyes similar to those of Uchiha Madara in the past, classified with the same potential to become a new Madara, and the Senju girl who mastered Sage Mode and had subdued the bijuus with her fists.
"There are also rumors reaching the borders through our spies, some of them are worrying." A counselor said.
They did not use only ninjas, it was also smart to use even civilians as informants, whether for rewards or through threats, using their own families to force them to travel to other villages as ordinary citizens, without drawing the attention of the shinobi. As they possessed little chakra, they would hardly be classified as ninjas... They could not hear truly secret or protected messages, but conversations among local residents, even during everyday business, were picked up.
And rumors always arise from some point of truth.
Some merchants had been to Konoha, hearing the people comment about public events in the village, and certainly brought back information.
"Yes, quite strange information, by the way," said one of the counselors upon hearing his colleague.
The rumors summarized that Minato Namikaze was giving classes at the Academy for the new generation about to graduate. There were also reports that he was spending time with Sakumo Hatake's son. Indicating that he would take the boy as his disciple.
"I believe these rumors may have some basis, my lord," said Ōnoki's son, turning to his father. "I see nothing unusual in him doing these things. It seems normal. But what worries me are the rumors about the Hyuuga girl who changed her eyes, something that not even the clan itself can explain. They obtained no information either and were trying so much that there were rumors among the village civilians. The village itself comments on this, and also about his two children — one with Senju blood, the other with Uchiha blood."
"Yes, certainly this is quite worrying," Ōnoki replied to his son.
Finding such powerful people in the ninja world was already rare. And there was no guarantee that a powerful clan could produce geniuses all the time, but in this case... the Namikaze bloodline was an even greater threat. That left him uneasy. If the parents of these children were already monsters, what could they become in the future?
All the villages worried about this. Iwa would be no different.
Ōnoki could not help but sigh. His bloodline was not powerful, looking at his own son, he knew that he had not even come close to being born with his father's potential. Even having tried to teach him everything, he was still far behind in level of strength — at most an elite jōnin, nothing beyond that.
Perhaps his future grandson, now that his son had married, his bloodline might reach his level. That was what he hoped, because the future of the ninja world was becoming increasingly uncertain for Iwa.
Meanwhile in Kiri, the atmosphere of the village was not calm at all. On the contrary, it seemed to be plunged into enormous tension.
Kisame, who had just returned from a mission, entered a bar. He ordered a sake, showing his shark-like teeth in a smile as he stared at the bartender, who nodded upon recognizing him well as a member of the Hoshigaki clan.
"So we still don't have a Mizukage decided?"
Kisame did not stop glancing sideways, ignoring the bartender who began pouring his drink, while observing two jōnin talking.
It was true. After a year and a half since the War of Uzushiogakure, Kiri, even having the greatest advantage among the four villages for being a battle between sea and coast, had received a heavy blow against its proud strength. This greatly weakened its position in the ninja world, just like the other three nations, leaving Konoha with a wide advantage of power without any loss.
They could not find any suitable candidate after all the chaos to take the place of Mizukage. Not only that, the village had not even recovered what had been taken. They wanted to take revenge on the Uzumakis, but they no longer had the strength for that, especially with the news that kept arriving.
"I can't believe that after everything, they went back to Konoha. Those bastards!" said another person in another corner of the bar. It was a gennin, with tears of hatred in his eyes.
"I know your father died in the war. They say it was Minato Namikaze himself who cut him in half, but we can't do anything about it," replied his colleague. They were just two young men, beginning their lives as shinobi.
"How can I stand still? I should avenge my father! I swore I would do it!"
"As if you could face that monster, Ryu. Don't be foolish and reckless. If you want to go to Konoha to kill yourself, go. The village hasn't even managed to choose the Mizukage yet. They won't care about a suicidal gennin. In the end you will die in vain without avenging anyone.", the comrade replied, tired of his nonsense.
"What did you say? Say that to my face!"
The two were about to start a fight when a chūnin appeared, acting as police force within Kiri, and threatened them.
"If you leave the bar fighting, you will be punished."
Kiri did not tolerate punishments well at that time, and the two shuddered upon hearing that.
"So it seems they have already chosen a candidate for the Three-Tails. He is a boy and the bijuu will be transferred soon."
Kisame turned his attention to the conversation of the other two ninjas and frowned. That was information that should be private, not even commented on. It was a village secret. Even though he had not been aware of it until hearing it there, he knew it was something highly confidential.
"It seems so. My wife is the granddaughter of one of the advisors. I heard that maybe they will wait for the boy to grow up to evaluate his potential. According to the rumors, he is a prodigy child and may even become a candidate for the new Mizukage."
"Well, I just hope they don't start those Bloody Mist tests again."
Kisame listened to that attentively. He himself had participated in one of the tests that the former Mizukage implemented in the village. He had to kill his own comrades. Not that he cared much about it, as he had no affinity with any of them.
Now, the method had been abolished due to the lack of Kiri ninjas. The village urgently needed any available strength, even shields of flesh to protect it.
"Damn it... the situation is horrible, and Konoha is now so powerful. How can we take revenge?", someone murmured.
Kisame drank his beverage. Despite being only fifteen years old, he already consumed alcohol. His appearance made him seem older, so no one cared much about selling him drinks. The habit began after the conflict in Uzushiogakure.
He still had nightmares every night, remembering how he saw his village comrades being dismembered as if they were cheese. How the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, once imposing, seemed insignificant before that blond who moved at high speed. Minato had cut one of the legendary swords as if it were nothing and killed the one who wielded it in front of Kisame.
Kisame wanted to become one of the Swordsmen of the Mist. He specifically desired Samehada. The sword had always attracted him; he felt that it had been made for him. But now it was in the hands of the enemy.
Since its wielder went to investigate Uzushiogakure before the war began, he had been captured by Minato Namikaze and kept imprisoned. He was probably already dead. The swords they had lost were now under the possession of the Uzumaki.
Kisame knew he would not remain still forever. But what could they do in the face of what he had seen that day? He felt weak. He felt that his village was weak. There was no way to fight those monsters.
Without a concrete answer, thinking about an uncertain future, Kisame left the bar and walked down the street, returning to his clan to rest before the next mission.
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