(In the Forest of Death)
Opening his eyes a moment later Naruto's sharp eyes glanced around the clearing, checking to see if anyone had snuck up on him whilst his body was on autopilot.
Confirming to himself that they hadn't, he then sealed his axe back into the storage seal tattooed on his wrist and leapt into a nearby tree, easily landing on the branch as he surveyed the area.
Now he had hunted down Kabuto he might as well get on with his latest task being the proctor for the second Stage of the Chunin Exam, at least until You had gone through Kabuto's memories and discovered if he had any information on the upcoming invasion, or any information at all really that might benefit Kiri.
Shifting his head Naruto cast out his senses, easily locking in on the souls of the genin closest to him, this was likely going to be troublesome.
...
(In Konoha)
"Minato what are we going to do, now that we know Grimm is in Konoha how do you want to approach it?" Kushina asked in concern as she looked over at her husband, who had a frown on his face as he sat behind his desk, his hands clasped in front of him as he surveyed the room.
Currently both Minato and Kushina along with Shikaku Naru, Inoichi Yamanaka, Jiraiya, Ibiki Morino Choza Akimichi, Hiashi Hyuuga, Tsume Inuzuka and a number of other Shinobi.
including his main advisors and the Heads of some of the most prominent Shinobi Clans.
At the moment they were all crammed in the Hokage's office large office in the centre of Konoha, discussing the revelation that Pain of Kiri was in fact the Hunter-nin, Grimm.
But more importantly discussing the fact that Grimm, a dangerous Shinobi that had been labeled S-Class and had been given a tremendously high bounty by Konoha, was now in Konoha itself.
And if that was not bad enough that same dangerous Shinobi was also currently in the Forest of Death acting as a proctor for the second stage of the Chunin Exam.
This put him in very close proximity to where the heirs and children of a number of Konoha's most influential Shinobi Clans were, including the Hokage's own daughters and the last Uchiha.
Suffice to say tensions were running high and everyone had something they wanted to say, currently the meeting had been going on for a while now and the assembled group was no closer to coming to a conclusion on what actions should be taken.
"There is not much we can really do." Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin and Minato's old Sensei spoke up. A scowl prominent on his broad features as he idly scratching his chin in thought.
"We can't kill him, he is too prominent a Shinobi to just make disappear. More than that though, things between Kiri are tense enough as it is, and with Iwa and Kumo still being as militarized and hostile to Konoha as they are, the last thing we need is to make an enemy of another one of the Great Villages.
The last thing we want is for the Fourth Shinobi Wat to begin, not when we have been enjoying nearly two decades of relative peace."
"So you would just let such a dangerous Shinobi walk through the Village?" Ibiki asked gruffly as he turned to look at Jiraiya, any deference he might have held for the esteemed Toad Sage was currently forgotten as he got down to the crux of the issue.
"He is a dangerous and potentially hostile Shinobi that we just allowed to waltz in through our gates."
"He didn't say that we should do nothing." Shikaku, Shikamaru's father and Minato's closet advisor said as he gave Ibiki a bored look, showing the head of the Torture and Interrogation Department just what he thought of his jumping to conclusions.
"All he said is that we can't kill him or get rid of him. What we can do is put some ANBU tails on him and make sure to keep an eye on him 24/7 whilst he is Konoha."
"The boy's a Hunter-nin though, he can most likely slip all but the best ANBU operatives, and with the Chunin Exams going on do we really have our best operatives to spare?" Inoichi said thoughtfully, looking around the room for a response.
"It is better safe than sorry when dealing with Shinobi like this kid. I say we make sure to keep an eye on him for now, whilst we are doing that though we should send a message to the Mizukage and ask her to withdraw him." Jiraiya said loudly, getting the attention of the rest of the room on him as he did so.
The last thing Jiraiya wanted was for someone to rush into things and make a stupid move, it could cause a lot of trouble for Konoha.
Kushina snorted loudly at that. "As if she would do it just because we asked her too! I think you overestimate the influence Konoha has, especially now Kiri has become so powerful, already it is rivalling Kumo and probably stronger than Iwa."
"Is there any possibility that we can legally arrest and detain him until he Chunin Exams are over, or until the Mizukage takes him back?" Inoichi asked as he looked over to his friend Shikaku for an answer.
"Well we could arrest him but we would need a reason to do so, and so far he has not committed a crime in Konoha that we know of.
We could arrest him for killing Kakashi but that wouldn't work either, the two of them met in a neutral country, it could have been different if they had fought in Fire Country, there could have been more room for us to claim he was illegally operating in our territory."
Shikaku said with a shrug, his eyes closed as he though on the issues Pain's presence brought. "It's troublesome but I agree with Jiraiya.
The best we can do is keep an eye on him. Besides I don't think he will cause any trouble, I am not sure why he is here in Konoha but I don't think it is necessarily to cause trouble.
Kiri themselves have just come out of a Civil War a couple of years ago, I very much doubt they are hankering for an even big war."
"Could we not just frame him for a crime and use that as justification to arrest or kill him?" Ibiki asked bluntly, pondering about maybe killing off a Shinobi from another Village and pinning the death on Pain.
It was not an honourable thing to do, but fuck honour, honour was for samurais and chumps.
"No." Shikaku said as he gave Ibiki another bored look. "All it would take is for Kiri to prove he was innocent and it could backfire on Konoha badly."
Ibiki grunted irritably at that.
"What do you think Minato?" Kushina asked again, as she ignored the rest of the Shinobi in the room, all of whom continued to discuss possible ways to deal with the S-Class Shinobi in their Village.
Some of the ideas becoming more and more ludicrous than the next as they bounced around ideas and just generally argued with each other.
"For now…" Minato began, the rest of the room becoming quiet as they turned to hear what their Hokage had to say.
"For now we will place Grimm under surveillance and try and work out why he is here. We will also increase security around Konoha, I want every active Shinobi ready to act at a moment's notice.
I am not sure what the Mizukage is up to and I want Konoha prepared for any eventuality. If or when the Mizukage comes to Konoha, depending on whether her team advances, then I will have a face to face discussion with her.
Like what Jiraiya said I don't want things to escalate, the loss of Kakashi although devastating should not be used as an excuse to start a meaningless war, to do so would be to dishonor his memory and the memory of all the other Shinobi who have died so Konoha could remain safe and prosperous.".
"What happens if it is a ploy by Kiri and they attack Konoha during the Chunin Exams, or use Grimm's presence here as an opportunity to steal one of our bloodlines or assassinate you?"
Kushina asked in concern a sshe thought back on the issues with Kumo a few years back, when several Kumo Shinobi had attempted to make off with the Hyuuga Heiress, and many years before when the Kumo Shinobi had attempted to kidnap her when she was still a child.
In the world they live in attempted abductions of bloodlines were not rare.
Also she still had mixed feelings regarding Pain. A part of her felt drawn to him as a person, just as that same part of her found to be both him funny and likeable.
Yet at the same time another part of her was angry at him for endangering her daughters and wanted to punish him for killing Kakashi.
"Then we kill him." Minato said bluntly as he looked around the room at the gathered Shinobi. "If he poses a genuine threat then we end him. Konoha cannot be seen to be weak, if it is our clients will lose confidence in us and the other Villages will being to circle us like vultures.
If Pain attempts something we kill make an example of him, and then the Mizukage will be the one put on the spot."
"As you say Lord Hokage." Jiraiya said with a nod of his head. "I will do It myself if I have too."