Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, marched into Kumogakure, flanked by two young children Mu and Deidara... whose eyes darted around the foreign village with awe. Behind them followed a convoy of twenty diplomats and a small cadre of elite jounin as most of them were in active skirmishes against Konoha.
Onoki swallowed the rage that had festered in his chest ever since Kumo obliterated ten thousand of his shinobi. It was a staggering and a humiliating loss, but he forced the anger down. "I have to get Roshi back," he reminded himself, pulling back his focus.
He had bided his time, waiting until he could successfully capture the Seven-Tails before making his perilous personal trek to Kumo as he knew his leverage was thin.
Waiting to receive the Iwa envoy was a formidable welcoming committee: Benihime, Aya, Killer Bee, and Kushina Uzumaki.
The moment they locked eyes, Benihime let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Still as short as ever, Onoki," she drawled with amusement. "Is it wrong of me to assume that time might have treated you a bit better and granted you an inch or two in height?"
Spurning the insult, Onoki drifted upward, hovering directly over Benihime. He glared down at her, forcing her to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact. "And who exactly are you supposed to be?" Onoki retorted, his voice laced with disdain. "It is almost as if the world has completely forgotten your face." As one of the few survivors who remembered Benihime from the old days... largely because she had failed to kill him during their past encounters... Onoki knew exactly how dangerous she used to be.
Benihime's smirk only widened. "I am sure your back hurts all day long, having to hover like that just to look people in the eye. Tell you what, let Kumo give you some specialized herbs for that chronic back pain."
"Let's get down to business," Onoki snapped, cutting her off. His eyes drifted past her, locking onto Killer Bee and Kushina... two of the most powerful Tailed Beast hosts.
Stepping forward, Benihime gestured toward Kushina with a sweeping, formal motion. "By the way, let me properly introduce you to leader, one of the Six Great Nations: Kushina, the Uzushiokage."
With the introductions out of the way, the grueling negotiations began with veiled threats, and bitter banter about reigniting a full-scale war. Onoki pushed hard, but Kumo held all the cards. Ultimately, a steep price for peace was decided.
Onoki begrudgingly agreed to terms that would heavily drain Iwa's arsenal: five billion ryo, three S-rank and ten A-rank Earth Style jutsu scrolls, alongside the highly coveted, closely guarded manuals for Steel Release and Lava Release.
Killer Bee controlled the reanimated Roshi to follow Onoki. Thanks to En Oyashiro, he looked astonishingly alive, his chest rising and falling. Satisfied but grim, Onoki took custody of his lost comrade and began the long journey back to Iwa.
~~
While the negotiations were going on, Kaien was in a secluded training ground, locked in a quiet battle with his own limitations. He was pouring every ounce of his focus into chakra control, desperately attempting to forge a new Kekkei Genkai.
He had already achieved a minor breakthrough by blending a precise ratio of water and Yin chakra, but it was incomplete, and could not truly be classified as a Kekkei Genkai trait. Now, he set his sights on a legendary power: Wood Release. In theory, it was a flawless amalgamation of water, earth and yang chakra natures.
Recalling Kushina's earlier advice, Kaien molded his chakra, attempting to fuse earth and water simultaneously. He pushed, and willed the chakra to bind. Yet, no matter how hard he concentrated, the result was always the same: muddy water and crumbling earth manifesting separately, side-by-side. They were coexisting, not fusing. He sighed, rubbing his temples as he realized... he wasn't actually mixing the water and earth chakra; he was merely using them at the exact same time.
His frustrating loop of trial and error was abruptly broken by the sound of approaching footsteps. Hidan and Chino walked into the training ground. Kaien dispelled his chakra, his expression blank as he turned his gaze toward the newcomers.
"You haven't been coming to the academy lately," Chino began, her voice tinged with genuine concern. She nudged Hidan sharply with her elbow, prompting him to speak. "We were worried about where you might have gone."
Hidan rolled his eyes, crossing his arms aggressively. "Chino, why are we wasting our breath talking to a mute kid?" He scoffed, for which he got a painful smack to the back of his head from Chino.
Rubbing his skull, Hidan glared at Kaien. "I only acknowledge the strong. This guy has never even shown up to the academy for any of the sparring matches. How am I supposed to respect someone who runs away?"
In response, Kaien calmly raised his hand, he formed floating Kanji text in the air before them: "So, you want to fight?"
Hidan, whose focus had never been heavily directed toward literary studies, squinted at the Kanji in frustration. "I don't have a clue what you're trying to say. Chino, what is he writing? Is he scolding me? Tell me! I've been training under Yushiro-sensei."
Desperate to prevent a fight from breaking out, Chino offered a blatant lie. "He... he says he's sorry!"
Kaien raised an eyebrow. He did not appreciate being misrepresented. Without a word, he flicked his wrist, sending a tanto blade whistling through the air right by Chino's side, missing her by a mere fraction of an inch as the weapon embedded itself deeply into the tree behind her.
~~
Hidan didn't need to read any Kanji to understand a flying blade. He instantly coated his hands in dense blood gauntlets and charged headlong straight toward Kaien.
Kaien remained perfectly still. With a subtle flick of his fingers, he activated the seal on the embedded tanto blade behind Chino, recalling it to his hand. The trajectory of the returning blade cut directly across Hidan's path.
Before Hidan could react, the heavy blunt handle of the flying tanto smashed squarely into the back of his head. Hidan lost his footing, tumbling forward and sliding face-first through the dirt, coming to a dead stop right at Kaien's feet.
Seeing an opening at close range, Hidan scrambled to his knees, throwing a desperate uppercut aimed directly at Kaien's chin.
Predicting this counterattack, In the split second the tanto blade had struck Hidan previously, Kaien had seamlessly transferred the seal onto Hidan. Extending his palm towards Hidan, Kaien unleashed a powerful repelling force. The invisible kinetic wave slammed into Hidan, sending him crashing face-flat into the dirt for a second time.
Before Hidan could recover, Kaien extended his other palm, reversing the polarity to attract. Simultaneously, he manipulated the seal on Hidan, shifting it smoothly up to his neck. A powerful pull jerked Hidan forward, his neck flying directly into Kaien's waiting grip.
The struggle was over in seconds. Kaien held Hidan firmly in place, entirely neutralizing his movements.
~~
A/N: Didn't bother extending peace treaty between Iwa and Kumo. And Kaien is not involved he is not useful and he should be training.
I will slowly sideline him from the higher ranks individuals and involve him with similar aged kids.
And how did you like Kaien's seal use in fights?
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