In Kirigakure, both of the factions were having similar discussions about what had happened on one of the remote islands of the country.
There were reports of tremors from nearby islands, and the island also had big drag marks, something that shouldn't be possible in nature. And the timing weirdly coincided with the stay of Konoha ninja in their country.
There may be no relation between both of the events, but there was also a non-zero chance of them having something to do with this whole natural disaster thing.
Alas, there were no traces left behind for either of the fighters to follow them, but there was one trace which was not completely hidden.
"So a single Kaguya ninja is or was alive till that event, and now his location is unknown... why do I feel like this really has something to do with Konoha? With how unhinged they have been recently, it is not completely out of the question for them to shelter that boy at all," Mei Terumī, the leader of the rebel faction of Kirigakure, said.
Sitting in an underground cavern, she was surrounded by various ninja—some old, some young, some already bearing scars of their long fight for freedom while others ready to get one or die trying.
"Good point, but what can we do with this? Even if we assume that Konoha actually took that boy, there is nothing in there for us," Ao asked.
"Simple. Konoha took one of Mizukage's prey. If he finds out about that, he will jump at them in anger, giving us an opportunity to strike a decisive blow to him," Chōjūrō, the person who will go on to become the sixth Mizukage—or would have—was still just a child, experienced, more matured, but a child.
"Do you really think that Mizukage is an idiot? He will not even talk about that boy unless he deals with us, and this may very well give him a perfect opportunity to go all out, and that would be our worst nightmare," Ao said.
"No, there is some chance," a small smile formed on Mei's face as she continued. "Konoha has not only offended us but Kumo and Iwa as well. The news of their attack on the key outposts of both villages is not actually a surprise anymore. If given a chance, they may try to join with Mizukage to attack Konoha."
"No, they wouldn't. They will support Mizukage for sure, but not to attack Konoha—but to eliminate us, so that there will be no loopholes when they attack Konoha.
This will result in Konoha supporting us, effectively making our country the war zone for four out of five major ninja villages. God forbid, we will be in a worse state than the Land of Rain," Ao said, looking really tense.
"I know, but we are not much better even now, and considering Mizukage not even trying to go all out and just slowly eliminating clan ninjas around the country, it is almost certain that we will lose the war in the long term. Unless we defeat that monster sitting on the Kage seat, I don't see a way to win this war."
When a soldier makes such a statement, it is easy to increase the morale for the higher-ups by asking them to believe in their leader, that they will be able to pull something impossible, and their only duty is to follow the orders.
But in this case, the person who was complaining was the leader herself. Though it was a boon that all of the people present in the room were mentally mature and experienced persons who knew how the situation around the country was and were not hiding away from the truth either.
But they had already come a long way into the war. Now there was no other option—it is either winning or death in the war, and facing someone like the third Mizukage who was able to go toe-to-toe against both Itachi and Kisame, two of the strongest ninja at that time.
Mizukage had achieved many such feats in his life, which was the reason for the depressing situation in the room.
"Well, there is nothing we can do about it. If—and a very big IF—Konoha had really taken that boy and is stupid enough to show him to all of the world, we will face a situation where we will face Mizukage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage, but we will have a behemoth of a village, Konoha, on our side.
And if they didn't, then things will continue like they were for the past few years. Now there is nothing to talk about anymore, so everyone, let's go back to our old tasks," Ao said, sending everyone back to their tasks.
No matter how understanding, seeing their leader like this was bad for morale even for the higher-ups. She should always be the tough and proud leader in their hearts, always.
"Yeah, what's there to worry about? If Mizukage is a monster, we just have to become hunters who hunt that monster," Mei said, getting some of her usual demeanor back, also because she got what Ao was trying to do. With a smile which would charm a dead man, she looked toward the members who were about to leave and said, "I want all of the reports of the movement of all three of the ninja villages."
"As you wish, leader," Chōjūrō said and went away with other heads of the rebel factions.
...
"You know we have one more older brother and an older sister too. Both of them are really cool. Big brother Shisui is very cool... he plays with me every time whenever he—"
"Naruto, first finish your food, then speak," Hae said, cleaning the tiny bits of food stuck on Naruto's face. Kimimaro was listening to everything Naruto was saying like it was some life-saving ninja technique, and he couldn't miss a word about that.
"When will I meet them?" he asked, trying the soup made by aunt Hae while also eating the bread smeared with a little too much butter, all thanks to aunt Hae.
"Soon. Yomi will be back tomorrow and Shisui in less than a month. Till then, eat a lot and grow healthier. They will be a lot more happy to see you fit and fine," Hae said, stuffing the boy's already full plate with some more.
While all of this was happening, Kaida was looking toward Kimimaro, having a particular thought in his mind that he wouldn't even have dreamed of when he first appeared in this world.