Uchiha Sasuke stood on the training ground, methodically driving strikes into the practice dummies, lost in thought.
He'd gotten a lot stronger lately. But... it didn't bring him much satisfaction. Because it was far too little!
That last thought turned his next strike from clean and technical into something filled with bestial power, and his fist knocked the dummy's head clean off.
He exhaled heavily, recalling Kakashi's lectures. "You need to control your anger." "Rage only leads to self-destruction." "After revenge, you'll be left in an empty world. Think about what you'll do after."
The racing thoughts only made Sasuke clench his teeth harder.
What made that blondie start getting on his case anyway? He never used to give a damn about anything...
No, of course Sasuke still acknowledged the training was useful. But it'd be better if Kakashi didn't stick his nose where it didn't belong! Excessive cruelty... Killed a few people... That was nothing on the path to HIS GOAL!!!
After breathing angrily for about twenty seconds, the Uchiha began to calm down. Control over hatred... Maybe there was something to it after all, he found.
His thoughts shifted to more pressing matters. Pressing matters that made the muscles of his face involuntarily tense with irritation.
Recently the village had learned that two S-rank shinobi had infiltrated Konoha. Someone named Kisame and... Itachi. They'd come for his classmate, Naruto, who also happened to be the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki.
But instead of achieving their goal, the moment Naruto appeared, the swordsman was neutralized on the spot, while Itachi was forced to run!!!
Sasuke frowned again. Just knowing about these events made him feel genuinely like shit. But in those moments when his mind was cold, he arrived at the only correct path.
The Uchiha deeply envied the Uzumaki... But he bore the Cursed Seal. It was what had made him much stronger, and it could make him stronger still!
Now that Orochimaru was in prison, the only one who could advance it to the next stage was Naruto. So Sasuke... would have to shove his pride deep down inside so that when his body reached the right level, that very Naruto could walk him through the second stage of the Juin.
These thoughts brought tears of bitterness to Sasuke's eyes, as if he were eating a cactus. But it was necessary! And beyond that... if even that wasn't enough, he'd have to try to wheedle more ways to get stronger out of Naruto... Even with trampled pride, he would reach his goal.
Unfortunately for the Uchiha, this world wasn't so simple. It demanded sacrifices.
"How far will the gap between us grow?" Having reached the end of his reasoning, he sighed with melancholy.
He didn't expect an answer to his question. Instead, he went back to training.
Interlude: Ōnoki
The oldest active Kage, ruler of the Hidden Stone and one of the very few who had fought Madara himself back before Konoha even existed, sat behind his desk in his office, eyes darting rapidly across the document in his hands.
He was a very small old man with a grey triangular beard and matching mustache. He had a large red nose and thick eyebrows. He had almost no hair left on his head, just tufts on the sides and the crown, tied back with a yellow band into a stubby topknot. He wore a green-and-yellow robe split into four sections with a large red collar. Underneath he had a protective vest and plain trousers.
From the news, his hands were seized by a fine tremor.
"Hashirama... So they can bring him back..."
When he finished reading, he scrambled nervously up onto his tall stool. Given the old man's height, it was the only way he could work at a normal-height desk. But the important thing was what the Tsuchikage started shouting next:
"Everyone, to me!"
From various nooks of his office, several on-duty Stone operatives materialized before Ōnoki.
"Call an emergency jonin council! Summon the advisors! Everyone is to be present by this evening! This is a matter of life and death for the Hidden Stone!!!"
Before long, the Tsuchikage sat at the head of a long table, listening to the proposals of a pair of jonin. They were suggesting a large-scale reconnaissance operation, but the Kage himself, judging by his face, was not pleased.
"You two greenhorns don't understand a damn thing about who we're dealing with!" Ōnoki snapped. "When I was still a genin... I remember it like it was yesterday... He was a living legend. A one-man army. The God of Shinobi! That was his era! And now... it's not just Hashirama. Hiruzen is still alive, and that bastard, on top of everything, managed to raise another monster... I clearly remember the report saying that this new jinchuriki's chakra was even stronger than Hashirama's! Do you understand what that means?!"
"Grandfather... you're losing your head," a thin girl with short black hair seemingly tried to calm the Tsuchikage. She stood right beside the old man. But really, she was just needling him: "Isn't it time you stepped down from your post? A Tsuchikage should be level-headed."
Ōnoki sharply turned to her.
"I am the calmest one here!" he shouted, breathing rapidly. "I am the great and terrible Tsuchikage! Don't you dare question me! I'll outlive at least three more generations!"
Finally, having let off steam, he really did calm down. Then he got to business:
"We must act with maximum caution... And also prepare for the possibility that major changes could happen in the world!"
"But—" one of the two tried to interject, but the Tsuchikage cut him off with a wave.
"Yes, we still need to know what exactly we're preparing for. We'll conduct reconnaissance. But only officially! Through diplomats! And additionally, through proxies." The face of the now calm Ōnoki became very cunning. "I have certain contacts within a particular organization..."
The two exchanged a glance and dropped their shoulders, more or less agreeing. They knew their ruler was a ve-ery stubborn old man. And if he'd gotten it into his head that Konoha was that dangerous, then so be it; better this than not conducting any reconnaissance at all.
"What about Suna? Now's a great opportunity to finish off our neighbor..." suggested the jonin who hadn't spoken before.
"Hmm," Ōnoki chewed his lip. "We should hold off on that... Besides, unlikely as it is, we might be able to pull them toward an alliance. Because of the tragedy at Yosuga Pass, we're hostile with the Mist. A has been scheming for a while, steadily building up the Cloud's power. Making nothing but enemies all around could prove fatal for the Stone. We'll send diplomats to them too."
With that, the main portion of the Stone's council was concluded. They discussed these and other, less important topics for several more hours afterward, but the overall intensity had begun to subside.
Interlude: A
The Raikage, ruler of the Hidden Cloud, read the report and carefully set it aside. Folding his hands in front of his face, he hid the expression of doubt that had surfaced. Some very big doubt.
He was a massive, muscular, dark-skinned man. He had white hair swept back from his face and a short mustache and beard. He wore his frequently donned Raikage robe, currently open over a bare chest, while his hat sat nearby.
But a second later he snorted, deciding to take what he'd just read seriously after all.
"Need to find out whether they really can bring back Hashirama and Tobirama. I'll order espionage on Konoha increased from one to two, no, four lines of infiltration," the man began outlining a plan in his head.
This meant the Cloud would send spies it would deliberately allow to be seen, but in such a way that Konoha's people understood the Cloud had let them be seen. Next, the Cloud would send spies that Konoha's shinobi would detect on their own, but only with considerable effort. These spies would be understood as ones the Raikage hadn't wanted exposed. Then would come two more lines of the Cloud's real agents: one civilian, one shinobi, to view the picture from two angles.
"Also need to increase funding on those experiments."
The Cloud had an ideal jinchuriki. Two of them, actually. Meaning those who could control their tailed beast. They'd been running analysis on their vulnerabilities...
A, having carefully analyzed the situation in Konoha, arrived at one fairly obvious conclusion. The power that Konoha's Uzumaki had demonstrated might not be solely his own merit, but also his tailed beast's, he thought. And if so, they needed to find that weakness as soon as possible. And they had just the right people to look for it on.
Of course, these experiments posed no danger to their jinchuriki. One was a kunoichi respected by the Raikage himself, the other was his sworn brother. He had a sense of honor and couldn't throw away his own people. Quite the opposite: he'd sooner die for them himself, like his father, who had held back a ten-thousand-man army while the Cloud's shinobi retreated from that very same ten-thousand-man army.
"And then there's the other project."
But it wasn't enough for A. Now, surprisingly cold even for himself, he continued building plans.
He also understood that every person was mortal. And so he was also developing, together with his secretary, a technique capable of instantly killing any shinobi. Even though it seemed hard to realize due to the preparation requirements and complex portable seals.
All thanks to her unique genome, which allowed instantaneous transfer of objects using the speed of light. This skill, the Heavenly Transfer technique, needed to be developed so that it could, for example, transport a troublesome shinobi somewhere to the Moon or simply eject them into space.
"Hashirama was the God of Shinobi. But even he died. And so our power cannot be questioned either. No one will be able to stand against the Cloud if we're sufficiently prepared."
Just like that, simply, the Raikage decided the course of his village's direction. He wasn't even thinking about building any "dirty schemes" to capture that Uzumaki's relatives. Why? A didn't see in him any truly overwhelming power, since he himself possessed quite considerable strength. So he was confident that the obstacle could be captured or destroyed directly, should it ever stand in the Hidden Cloud's way.
Interlude: Karatachi Yagura
On a cliffside he'd grown fond of, far from the Hidden Mist village, its Kage sat in thought.
He was a young man who, frankly, looked far more like an ordinary teenager. He had messy grey hair that fell to the right side of his face, and beneath the left of his pink, pupilless eyes ran a downward scar, a cut. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt, mesh armor with short sleeves, over which he'd pulled a green poncho, and on his legs he wore a green apron. On his back was a staff with hooks of different sizes on each end, with a green flower on the larger end.
"The world is stirring again... But we can't get involved because of those damn rats..." Yagura thought with frustration about the revolutionaries who'd seized the western part of the country. That is, the very part where the Land of Water's gateway into the "wider world" with the other Great Villages was located. "Though the preparation has largely been done. And we'll be able to end the lives of that vermin..."
Thoughts of the revolution made Karatachi grimace.
He... didn't remember, didn't realize that someone, someone to whom the Mist had caused immense pain long ago... was pulling the strings of his, the Mizukage's, mind. This someone had spent years destroying the entire Land of Water, carrying out their revenge. Forcing its people to suffer in agony!
But based on his own reflections, torn by contradictory actions, as the Kage of his village, he had to make a decision.
"We start faster. Three months instead of a year. By mobilizing all forces, we can destroy them all. Cut them out at the root," the Mizukage declared. He hated traitors and was even glad to shorten this period of endurance. "As for Konoha... A resurrected God of Shinobi... The country needs to be unified before we try to engage with them. We'll play it by ear."
In truth, however fearsome and brutal Yagura was described as being, he was also very diplomatic... Not toward the revolutionaries, and because of... the puppeteer, not toward the citizens of his own country. But in general? Yes, diplomatic.
So, considering that after the expected civil war he wouldn't act rashly, as he thought, he'd be able to steer his Village out of any situation. No need to shed blood if you could negotiate... However hypocritical that sounded in Yagura's own thoughts.
Akatsuki HQ
Deep inside a cavern of rock, in darkness, in suffering, in suffering, a humanoid creature raised its hands. Its wooden body was gnarled and mangled, and on its head was a binding covering many eyes. It was so enormous that a person could stand on each of its fingers.
And that's exactly how it was. On each of eight fingers stood phantom figures in black cloaks with crimson clouds. Or rather, their color-shimmering projections. Only two fingers were empty. And only one creature, standing on one finger, stood out: it was clearly of non-human nature.
However, the floor was taken by a shinobi with spiky hair, in whose eyes the concentric rings of a special dojutsu were visible. This was their leader, Pain.
"We've gathered here on an urgent summons. And before I begin, I need to clarify: did everyone listen carefully to Zetsu's report on the events of the Chunin Exams in Konoha?"
All present, for some reason, glanced at the shinobi with slicked-back hair and a scythe on his back. Hidan.
"Huh?! I listened! I listened! I'm not a fucking moron!" he protested indignantly.
The leader gave a meaningful nod, after which his gaze went cold. He slowly turned his eyes to Itachi.
"We decided to capture the threat... before it grew too strong. According to our data, he hadn't entered into harmony with the Nine-Tails. Which meant he shouldn't have had any particular resistance to genjutsu. Your team was sent accordingly. So why did you come back without Kisame?"
Despite the gaze being quite intimidating and seemingly piercing right through, the Uchiha showed no reaction.
"My genjutsu turned out to be useless."
In response to this laconic report, the members of the organization began exchanging glances.
For genjutsu, and Itachi's own genjutsu at that, to not work? That was... something beyond anything.
The leader's eyelids narrowed, barely perceptibly, but having seen what he wanted to see, Pain gave a measured nod.
"I see. Well then, that changes things," he said, then fell silent in thought.
In truth, Itachi hadn't used his Tsukuyomi, but thanks to the fact that no one had asked for specifics, and thanks to his acting ability, that fact remained hidden. This was the Uchiha's own decision; he himself had some grounds to believe that even his Mangekyō technique might have failed. After all, he had still tried to place Uzumaki under Sharingan genjutsu, which, given Itachi's capabilities, was already the highest level.
"I'll deal with the threat myself... once we've captured several bijū. The Gedō Mazō won't leave the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki a chance."
"Sound reasoning," noted the deep voice of the previously silent Black Zetsu. It was a humanoid figure consisting of a white and a black half, divided vertically, covered above the torso by a growth resembling a Venus flytrap. "I doubt the Uzumaki was even able to hide a fraction of his trump cards. Everyone has a limit. He's unlikely to become many times stronger over time. No need to risk our plans..."
The black half of Zetsu, though trying not to show it, was very nervous. At the previous meeting, as the organization's chief spy, he had reported not only on the summoning of the dead Hokage, but also on the fact that the anticipated Uzumaki... had turned out to be far stronger than expected. He had also noted the disappearance of the One-Tail.
Zetsu was a special creature: he could sense bijū from the other end of the planet. The disappearance of one of the tailed souls came down to two possible explanations: either the bijū had been killed and would be reborn within a few years, or the people of Konoha had managed to conceal the tailed beast so skillfully that even Kuro could no longer sense it. The second option seemed extremely unlikely; it would have required extensive fuinjutsu knowledge and mastery comparable only to the achievements of the Rikudō.
Nevertheless, the organization had sent people after Uzumaki, since he was clearly involved in the One-Tail's disappearance. But since the search yielded nothing, there was no longer any point in continuing covert attempts. Most likely the One-Tail had been sent into rebirth, which pushed Akatsuki's final plans back by several years.
Their goal was to gather all the tailed beasts and use their combined power. But there was another problem: the vessel for the Nine-Tails was too powerful a component; it needed to be sealed last so that the statue they stood upon could withstand it. These two factors, the delayed rebirth and the necessity of postponing the work with the Nine-Tails, additionally explained why the encounter with the monster from Konoha could be put off. Everyone present understood that.
So it was no surprise that Pain received no objections. He soon moved on to the next question. What they had on contracts...
The floor was taken by a man swathed in wrappings, only his eyes visible, displaying green sclera without pupils set against red irises. But of course he, like everyone, wore the organization's cloak. His name was Kakuzu.
"The Tsuchikage wants us to conduct reconnaissance in Konoha... He's paying two hundred million ryō."
Pain's face became impenetrable.
"Decline. Inform the Tsuchikage that Akatsuki no longer conducts operations on Konoha's territory... or in the Land of Fire."
"Understood," Kakuzu sadly dropped his shoulders. It pained him to lose such a sum. But sometimes life was more important.
A few more minor matters were discussed, after which the meeting concluded. Akatsuki had tried to take their target by storm, but it hadn't worked.
Well, for them this wasn't terribly important. They knew they were moving toward a great goal. And reaching a great goal was never supposed to be easy. Or fast.
Suna
Inside a canyon walled by cliffs lay the village hidden in Sand.
The village had been left leaderless. Their shinobi were still in Konoha, but it was looking like they'd manage to get them back.
Because of this decline, the elders, as a certain transmigrator might've put it, "the old geezer and granny," had returned to their posts.
They had watched their shinobi leave for the attack on Konoha. Then they heard the news of how that ended. Now they couldn't let the younger generation finish off the Village...
For the old woman, whose name was Chiyo, the Village was also the only thing that reminded her of her grandson... The old man, Ebizō, who was Chiyo's brother, pitched in both for company and because he didn't want everything to fall apart either.
The Sand had been disgraced.
Earlier, long ago, their Daimyō had started giving contracts to Konoha, so to stabilize the situation, the Kazekage, Gaara's father, had to sell gold sand... But recently his body had been delivered to Suna.
There was no longer anyone who could gather gold sand from the desert for sale. Only he had previously had the special genome for that. And the reserves of sand wouldn't last long. They needed to very carefully and wisely spend these reserves to give the Hidden Sand new sources that would keep the Village alive. And also... hope for the mercy of Konoha and the Stone, that they wouldn't interfere.
Soon their shinobi arrived from Konoha... and yet another deeply unpleasant piece of news became known.
Gaara was no longer a jinchuriki... but had become stronger.
His updated status had already become widely known. After some clarifications, during which the Konoha delegation for some reason couldn't immediately give an answer, stepping away to check with their Uzumaki, it turned out the tailed beast hadn't been killed; they'd simply taken it! And because of this, Suna's shinobi tried to kick up a whole scandal!!! Saying that Konoha was the one who'd established the distribution of bijū, the global balance, and now it was Konoha itself violating it!
But to this, the Hokage simply assured them that Suna was a bit too weak right now, and that if anything, the One-Tail would be returned to them later. Maybe. Someday. When a shinobi strong enough to contain it was born in the Sand... Unlike Gaara.
To this, the Sand's envoys and shinobi could complain long and loudly, but since, at the end of the day, their country had nothing to offer in response, they quieted down pretty fast. And furthermore, once Suna's shinobi calmed down, they weighed it this way and that and ultimately accepted it. Not only because they'd lost in military strength, either.
Konoha was, in practice, the only village that could actually return a bijū to them. They were the ones who'd given it to them in the first place, after all. As for another reason, it was the fact that Gaara had become stronger.
Today, Gaara was the strongest shinobi in the Sand. Somehow Konoha's shinobi had done something to him that made his reserves grow so much that he became significantly stronger than his father. The absence of the bijū's pressure gave him not only a leap in chakra control. He himself became considerably more sane, gained the ability to sleep peacefully, and therefore became capable of being guided. Reaching this conclusion, the Sand's elders, that is Chiyo and Ebizō, took the red-haired boy under their command and supervision.
Then, fairly soon afterward, due to the Village's weakness and the chances of Gaara being a functional person, the faction that had opposed the previous Kazekage caved. And so it happened that the entire Village began to build itself around their new leader and hope: Gaara.
They, the elders and the future Kazekage, would have to work extremely hard to keep the Village from falling apart, to say nothing of bringing it back to a level that mattered on the world stage. But with this new figure and symbol, they had a real chance.
Only about a week later, when everyone had finally figured it out, the top of the Sand was genuinely awed by Hiruzen's foresight and cunning. Because even though their bijū had been taken, it wasn't just promised to be returned; they'd also been given the critically needed minimum strength for the Sand to survive on the world stage. In doing so, the Hokage had lost nothing and averted a potential world war by preserving the balance!
Hiruzen himself, back in Konoha, seeing how Sand's affairs had developed, was no less surprised... People were praising him, sure, but that political move hadn't been made by him.
Meanwhile, a certain genius of politics, who in reality hadn't anticipated things would develop this way either, was already finishing his training in the caves of Ryūchi. But it all began like this...
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