Kumogakure was shrouded in dark clouds, with thunder as thick as buckets exploding across the sky. A fierce wind howled, scattering and reforming the black, scaly clouds in an instant.
The village grew darker, visibility severely impaired. White Zetsu weaved through the streets, reaping the lives of one Shinobi after another.
"Haven't they been cleared out yet?" Yondaime Raikage slammed his fist onto the table, reducing it to splinters with a thunderous crash.
Beside him, his secretary Mabui held a stack of documents and calmly reported, "Over four hundred casualties so far. The village has lost nearly one-seventh of its Shinobi. Team leaders have already mobilized to suppress the chaos, and the situation is now under control."
As she finished speaking, she couldn't shake the feeling that a turning point had arrived.
Yugito struck down a White Zetsu and was sheathing her blade when she spotted a familiar figure leaping down from the Raikage Building, 'Was that… Uzumaki Naruto?'
She instinctively frowned, dismissing the absurd thought in an instant, 'Uzumaki Naruto was simply wicked, not stupid… why would he blatantly attack Kumogakure in broad daylight?'
Moreover, based on her brief understanding of him, it wasn't hard to see that Naruto was someone who preferred to play it safe. For that very reason, it was even less likely to be him.
With a bang, the glass on the exterior of the Raikage's Office shattered.
In that split second, Yugito, standing below the building, instantly transformed into her Biju Mode. Blue flames erupted as Nibi, Matatabi, manifested in its spectral cat form.
With a thud, Matatabi, wreathed in blazing flames, cracked the ground beneath its feet before launching itself toward the fifth floor of the Raikage Building.
Just as the 'Fake Naruto' landed, Yugito closed in right behind him.
On the fifth floor of the Raikage Building, the Raikage was speaking with Darui while Mabui stood nearby. Outside the door, Samui, accompanied by her two subordinates, had just knocked and pushed open the door.
They intended to confirm the authenticity of the Box of Ultimate Bliss with the Raikage to avoid wasting time.
The Box of Ultimate Bliss was said to be a treasure of the Sage of Six Paths, with legends claiming that whoever obtained and opened it could have any wish granted. The artifact had ended up in Kusagakure, along with rumors that the village had once nearly used it to conquer the Shinobi World.
It could very well be a fabrication by Kusagakure, after all, that would be very on-brand for them. A village with no original Ninjutsu culture of its own, notorious for stealing others' techniques, yet still boasting about being the cultural center of the Shinobi World.
The nobility within the Land of Grass wallowed in extravagance, controlling the vast majority of the nation's economy. Internal governance was chaotic, and despite posturing as a great nation, they couldn't even handle Rogue Shinobi within their own borders.
It's worth noting was that this intelligence was shared between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. Yamato's mission had been to investigate the Box of Ultimate Bliss that had appeared in Kusagakure.
The team Kumogakure dispatched was led by Samui. However, when they arrived in Kusagakure, they found the village practically gone… crumbling under internal and external pressures, existing in name only.
The two groups had missed each other by a hair's breadth. Just as Yamato had been knocked out by a needle from Black Zetsu and dragged away, Samui arrived in Kusagakure with her two unreliable subordinates.
After a quick glance at the dilapidated village and some inquiries, they learned about a prison called Hozuki Castle before promptly leaving. No way were they sticking around… overtime was out of the question.
They had just returned when Samui, her face as cold as ever, strode down the dimly lit corridor with her two bickering subordinates trailing behind. The sound of scattered footsteps echoed faintly.
She knocked and pushed the door open in one smooth motion, but before she could speak, she saw the Raikage's window shatter as a figure crashed through, 'The silhouette looked familiar… Holy shit, isn't that Uzumaki Naruto, that bastard?'
Yondaime Raikage reacted even faster. With a roar, he turned and charged at the shadowy figure without hesitation. A flash of lightning streaked across the room as Yondaime Raikage got a clear look at the intruder's face.
Blond hair, a smug smirk… the fake Naruto dodged to the right, his long blade flashing out with lightning speed.
As he evaded, he struck again. Yondaime Raikage, unable to alter his momentum mid-charge, left his abdomen wide open.
The fake Naruto bent his knees and aimed a decisive blow at the Raikage's exposed stomach. The moment their bodies crossed paths, the struck Yondaime Raikage exploded into a cloud of white smoke… revealing itself to be nothing more than a shadow clone.
"Who are you?!" Yondaime Raikage descended from above, his golden wrist guards slamming down toward the Fake Naruto. The imposter had no choice but to raise his sword to block.
With a boom, the office floor was left in shambles.
"Uzumaki Naruto?" Yondaime Raikage steadied himself, recognizing the blond before him. It had only been a few years since the Five Kage Summit.
He wasn't so old that he'd forget, after all, back then, every Kage had brought at least two bodyguards. Only Tsunade had attended with a single companion, leaving a particularly strong impression on him.
Though some time had passed, and Naruto's appearance seemed slightly different, it wasn't enough to make him unrecognizable.
The Fake Naruto didn't answer Yondaime Raikage's question. Instead, he smirked at the group, slowly backing toward the window before leaning back and vanishing into the night.
A flash of lightning crackled as Yondaime Raikage's face darkened like a storm cloud. With the village still unstable, no one gave chase to the imposter.
Yugito's expression was complicated. She was certain the person who had just appeared wasn't Naruto. No one in Kumogakure knew Naruto better than she did, after all, she had already pledged her loyalty.
They were insiders who knew each other's lengths and depths, so a single glance was enough to tell truth from deception.
It wasn't just Yugito. Samui and Mabui also wore strange expressions. Though they didn't know Naruto as well, they had both signed the Jashin's Contract.
The moment the Fake Naruto appeared, a single thought flashed through their minds, 'Who the hell is this guy?'
"Those Konoha bastards!" Yondaime Raikage roared, his rough voice thunderous, "How dare Uzumaki Naruto barge into our village like this?! He doesn't take us seriously at all!"
Today's events had been too sudden. Kumogakure had lost hundreds of Shinobi in an instant… what kind of blow was that? The fact that Yondaime Raikage was still sitting in his office was a testament to his self-restraint.
He wanted nothing more than to drag out the mastermind behind this and grind them into the dirt. In his fury, the hot-tempered Yondaime Raikage couldn't possibly stay calm.
"Damn it! Konoha is full of damn animals!" Yondaime Raikage bellowed, turning and smashing his fist through a wall.