Yakushi Kabuto was able to dig up the graves of the Gold and Silver Brothers, while Orochimaru had the remains of the Second Hokage. This proved that after the three of them had fought to their mutual demise, their bodies had been recovered by their respective villages.
That meant that Kinkaku and Ginkaku were still buried somewhere in the Hidden Cloud's cemetery.
Hiss...
A Third Raikage, a jinchuriki, and the Gold and Silver Brothers, whose bodies and chakra were comparable to a Tailed Beast's (at least a One-Tail, surely)—to say he wasn't tempted by the prospect of acquiring four Kage-level Edo Tensei puppets in one trip would be a lie.
He could get these four back, use cloned White Zetsu as sacrifices to ensure they retained their full chakra from when they were alive—of course, their consciousness would have to remain suppressed. Even though they wouldn't know how to break the Edo Tensei on their own, he wasn't taking any chances.
Then, he could use them as food for the Zero-Tails and the ultimate summoning beast, supplying them with energy. Once those two nuclear batteries were fully charged, they could power the Sky Fortress. It was a perfect plan.
If only the reanimated bodies could supply power to the Sky Fortress directly, Nagi wouldn't have to go through all this trouble. He could just stick Kinkaku and Ginkaku in the sealing chamber of the power core and be done with it.
He had no idea what was wrong with this world that something as absurd as "infinite chakra" could even exist. The gods of the ninja world didn't seem to care about this bug. And since they didn't care, Nagi wasn't about to feel guilty for exploiting it.
"What the hell is there to be afraid of? Let's do it. I'll go again tomorrow."
The temptation of acquiring four Kage-level reanimated bodies at once was simply too great. A single Shinno and Asuma, dying hundreds of times, weren't enough to satisfy even one of his two beasts. But the chakra of four Kage-level shinobi? Surely that would be enough. For the sake of his Sky Fortress, Nagi was willing to risk it.
Once it was fully charged, the Sky Fortress could activate its barrier. As for how powerful a Tailed Beast Bomb that barrier could withstand, he didn't know. But Nagi was confident it could handle a small one, at the very least. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worthy of the name "Sky Fortress," nor the efforts of several generations of the Sky Ninja.
Meanwhile, in the Hidden Cloud Village, a meeting was underway between Raikage A and several elders. The two perfect jinchuriki had also been summoned.
"Yo yo, Big Bro called for a throwdown, check it! Brothers together, can't nothin' break it, yeah!" Killer B, wearing his sunglasses, struck a hip-hop pose and broke into a dance that would make his ancestors turn in their graves.
"Dammit, get serious! And stop doing that weird, ugly dance!" A slammed his fist on Killer B's head, raising a large lump.
"That is the gist of what happened," A said, turning to the elders with a grave expression. "I believe that only by using those items will we have a chance of killing him."
"Those items... while they are powerful, they are extremely troublesome to use. Are you certain we can even catch him?" one of the old men asked, shaking his head as he leaned on his cane.
"A, I understand how you feel. But the Hidden Cloud has suffered no real losses, and he has already fled. This proves he is still wary and doesn't want a direct confrontation. I think we should just let it go."
The reason this elder spoke this way was that Uchiha Nagi had only taken a small tissue sample from the Third Raikage's body. The corpse had appeared largely intact. And since A, in his filial piety, had smashed it into two pieces, scattering fragments everywhere, no one had even considered the Edo Tensei. They all assumed the intruder was there to steal intelligence from the shinobi's remains.
"Hmph. The Anbu conducted a detailed examination. They found that the previous Eight-Tails jinchuriki was also disturbed, and a part of his body was taken. Out of the entire cemetery, why would he only choose the Eight-Tails'?" A grew furious, his hair and beard standing on end, a truly frightening sight.
Another elder quickly tried to smooth things over. "Alright, we're in a meeting now. Let's discuss this calmly. Using the Six Paths Sage Tools isn't out of the question, but we must ensure they are not lost. The enemy uses an unpredictable space-time ninjutsu. If he were to steal them from us in the chaos..."
The Six Paths Sage Tools were incredibly powerful, but also incredibly cumbersome to use. Take the Benihisago, the Crimson Gourd, for example. It could seal anyone inside, no matter how powerful, from which there was no escape. But how troublesome was it to use?
First, you had to use the Kokinjo to strike the target and draw out their "word soul." Then, you had to use the Shichiseiken to sever that word soul, which would then be cursed by the gourd. After that, a contract of sorts was formed. If the person whose word soul was taken spoke their most-used word, or remained silent for too long, or even said a word that sounded similar, they would be sucked into the gourd.
It was such a complicated process. The three tools had to be used in conjunction, and it would only work on someone who had no intelligence on them. While the power was immense, the application was a massive pain. What kind of ninja would be foolish enough to get tricked by the same three tools in succession?
The only one that was somewhat useful was the Kohaku no Johei, the Amber Purifying Pot. As long as the target responded to the user, they could be sealed.
Then there was the rather useless Bashosen. What did this fan do? It could unleash attacks of all five nature transformations: fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth. But it consumed a massive amount of chakra.
Wasn't that just redundant? Any ninja with that much chakra could perform the jutsu themselves. Did they lack a hand to form the seals? So, for those with enough chakra, the fan was useless. For those without, it was unusable. Of course, for someone like Naruto, who had tons of chakra but couldn't use all five nature transformations, it would be a perfect fit. In a fight, besides his shadow clones, he could just use his massive chakra reserves to launch a barrage of elemental jutsu and wear down his opponent.
Besides these, there was one more of the Sage's tools, not currently in the Hidden Cloud: the Box of Paradise. It could grant a person's wish after absorbing enough chakra, but it had a massive side effect. Once the wish was granted, a monster would be released from within.
Of course, the Fourth Raikage, A, didn't know that Uchiha Nagi already had intelligence on the Six Paths Sage Tools. Their concern wasn't about the tools' power, but the fear that the enemy would snatch them before they could even be used for a sealing. The Flying Thunder God's space-time ninjutsu was just too tricky to deal with.
Ultimately, after some deliberation, they agreed. After all, their Turtle Island had been stolen first. A grudge had been formed. If they had a chance to kill him, they wouldn't let it pass.
And so, the entire strategy division of the Hidden Cloud's Anbu began to devise various plans—A, B, and C—for how to capture the intruder if he were to appear again.
The next night, Uchiha Nagi was surprised to find that security around the Hidden Cloud Village seemed just as lax as the day before.
"That can't be right. A isn't that stupid. When things are this abnormal, there must be a trap. Heh..."
Nagi sneered. After such a major incident in the village just last night, tightening security would have been the normal response. For things to be the same as always, with no extra precautions, was what was truly abnormal.
"Damn it. If you're going to set a trap, you don't have to be this obvious. What kind of half-baked idea did their strategy team come up with?"
Nagi shook his head. You have your schemes, and I have my ways around them. I'll just walk right into your little trap.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
An identical Uchiha Nagi appeared on the spot, nodded to the original, and then vanished with a flicker of the Flying Thunder God, reappearing in the cemetery from the night before.
The Second Hokage's Shadow Clone Jutsu was truly a godsend. In the Great Ninja Wars, it had provided ninja with incredible convenience. In unfamiliar places like caves, forests, underwater, or swamps, when you weren't sure if there were traps, a shadow clone was the best way to scout ahead. And when the clone dispersed, its memories were transferred back to the original. That was its most game-breaking feature.
If you suspected danger, why not just send in a shadow clone?
Nagi's clone once again passed through the Hidden Cloud's barrier and entered the village. The barrier, which had cost the Hidden Mist so much manpower and resources to create, was practically useless. When had it ever stopped anyone from entering a village? Obito, Itachi, Orochimaru—they all came and went from the great villages as if strolling through their own backyards. Only a blockhead like Nagato would charge straight through it. But then, he had the strength and capital to be that kind of blockhead.
"Hm?! No one here?" Nagi's clone looked around. The coast was clear. What was he waiting for? Time to start digging.
The shadow clone began to search the entire cemetery for the two powerhouses with chakra comparable to a jinchuriki: Kinkaku and Ginkaku.