The Land of Iron, a neutral nation bordering the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields, is the last bastion ruled by Samurai.
As a perpetually neutral state in the Shinobi world, the Land of Iron was fortunate enough to avoid the fires of several Great Ninja Wars. Its current leader, Mifune, is a formidable master of the blade who once traded blows with Hanzo of the Salamander, proving to the world that he possessed the strength to protect his borders.
For a long time, the Land of Iron was synonymous with stability and safety. However, with the powerful rise of the Resistance, even this nation of the last Samurai began to face turbulence.
To ensure the Land of Iron wouldn't suffer the same fate as other nations, where violent conflicts erupted between the commoners and the ruling class, Mifune decisively implemented a series of sweeping reforms. He went as far as recruiting large numbers of commoners who had learned Nen, granting them the status and rank of Samurai.
Though this move drew the ire of traditionalist Samurai factions and even incited frantic rebellions, every uprising was suppressed without exception.
Yet, while Mifune spent his days busy mediating the increasingly sharp and intense conflicts between the two factions, he had no idea that a massive battle was about to erupt on his own soil.
To be precise, Kabuto had taken advantage of the internal unrest within the Land of Iron to establish a secret base, sneaking in the colossal Gedo Statue. As a perpetually neutral country, the Samurai of the Land of Iron almost never actively participated in wars between Ninjas; consequently, the major Hidden Villages had the fewest spies stationed here. Fewer spies meant a lower risk of exposure.
Standing before the massive Gedo Statue, Kabuto, now sporting the Rinnegan, curled the corner of his mouth in a smirk and marveled, "Is this the legendary husk of the Ten-Tails? Truly magnificent beyond belief! Just feeling a fraction of its residual power makes me tremble. If I can fully resurrect it and become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, I will become a walking god among men, just like the Sage of the Six Paths once was."
"The Rinnegan! The Ten-Tails! You've obtained the things you dreamed of. Don't forget what you promised me," Kisame reminded him, intentionally feigning a sense of impatient urgency.
"Of course! If the plan succeeds, I certainly won't forget the ally who provided the crucial intel," Kabuto replied, turning back with a meaningful look.
In the beginning, Kabuto had suspected that this shark-like man was a spy sent by someone to monitor him. But after the success of the ambush on Nagato, those suspicions finally dissolved.
The reason was simple: the attack had been too easy, too smooth. He hadn't even needed to use his prepared trump cards to seize the Rinnegan from the leader of the Akatsuki. This implied that Kisame did not hold true loyalty to Nagato, Black Zetsu, or Madara Uchiha.
Now, Kabuto's only concern was how to persuade Allen, who held the final Tailed Beasts, to join his side.
Knowing the script for what was to come, Kisame casually reassured him, "Don't worry, our plan will work. Allen doesn't give a damn about who actually becomes the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki; what he wants doesn't conflict with our goals at all. Also, I suggest you pay close attention to Karin and Neji. They are Allen's most trusted companions. If he appears, they'll be the first ones he contacts."
"I hope so. I've already sent people to keep an eye on Neji and Karin," Kabuto said, lightly pushing his glasses up his nose. He resembled a venomous snake lurking in the dark.
Whether it was due to mastering the Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode or the excessive transplantation of Orochimaru's cells, he had become much like a cold-blooded reptile. Every gesture and look he gave made people feel profoundly uneasy.
"Then I'm relieved," Kisame nodded performatively before turning to leave.
Before he could take more than a few steps, Kabuto couldn't help but ask, "Where are you going at a time like this?"
"To watch Itachi-san and his little brother settle their final score, of course," Kisame answered without hesitation.
"Oh? Those brothers are finally going to try and kill each other?" A strange glint flashed in Kabuto's eyes.
Kisame nodded slightly. "Yes. Perhaps when this duel is over, the Shinobi world will have another pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. The mere thought is enough to make one look forward to it."
"Hmph! Whether it's the Mangekyo or the Eternal Mangekyo, they are nothing to fear in the face of these Rinnegan," Kabuto said, a confident smile spreading across his face.
Undoubtedly, he had become arrogant, the classic "boldness born of ignorance." He had no idea that the Rinnegan was actually the final evolutionary form of the Sharingan.
"Heh, maybe so. But I've been Itachi-san's partner for a long time. Now that he's going to die, a comrade like me should at least see him off."
With that, Kisame ignored Kabuto and walked straight out of the dark, sunless underground space.
…
Meanwhile, in a valley on the outskirts of the Hidden Sound Village in the Land of Rice Fields...
Sasuke Uchiha had arrived two days early at the agreed-upon location. He sat idly on the ground, staring up at the sky, his thoughts unreadable.
Karin, who was responsible for ensuring this fratricidal war wouldn't be interrupted by outsiders, asked curiously, "Hey, Sasuke! Do you really still hate your brother?"
"Of course! But what I hate isn't that he did those insane things," Sasuke replied with a voice full of resentment. "I hate his stupidity. He convinced himself he stood on a higher vantage point, seeing further than the rest of the clan, possessing a 'capacity' that transcended the Uchiha. Then, without consulting a single person, he took it upon himself to decide everyone's fate. But once the puzzle was solved, he turned out to be nothing more than a fool kept in the dark and used by others."
"So... you actually hate him for not telling you the truth?" Karin's face was full of gossip-hungry interest. Honestly, she often wanted to know what kind of feelings this ultimate tsundere actually harbored for his brother. From the looks of it, it was a classic case of love turned to hatred.
"No! I hate his self-righteousness! I hate that he didn't choose the clan back then, but chose the dark, decaying Konoha instead, even making deals with the Third and those old bastards like Danzo. If it were me, I'd rather have used the Mangekyo Sharingan to release the Nine-Tails directly and make the entire village pay as a burial offering for the Uchiha clan."
Sasuke's extreme personality bled through his tone, which was thick with unwilling fury. If Konoha had been a home worth protecting at any cost, that would be one thing. But in reality? It wasn't worth guarding at all.
Whether it was the events surrounding the Uchiha massacre, the hiding of Naruto Uzumaki's true parentage, or the forcing of the Hyuga clan to sacrifice a life as compensation to the Hidden Cloud, the decisions of the Konoha elders were consistently disappointing, disgusting, even. Especially Danzo, who never intended to honor any agreements from the start, only wanting to sever the Uchiha bloodline once and for all.