[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
Third Person POV
Uzushiogakure, Year 42.
...
...
In the middle of the sea, someone advanced at high speed toward the group of ships east of Uzushiogakure. He headed for the first ship among them, the largest of all, and as soon as he landed on it, he immediately knelt before the person in front of him.
"Mizukage-sama!" began the ninja with the Kiri headband, keeping himself kneeling before the figure who was analyzing the darkness and the sea ahead of them.
"What is the situation? Proceed," asked the man with a blue hat, marked with the water kanji symbol, while keeping his arms crossed, now staring at the newcomer.
"We have no news about what happened to our men that we sent as scouts... They simply disappeared, my lord, struck down, and no trace was left behind..." replied the ninja, while the Mizukage seemed thoughtful.
"I see... I think the Uzumaki are resisting well. It's a shame we lost someone valuable in this, but losses are expected. We only need to recover the sword. Still, I worry about some things... Any movement from Konoha?" the Mizukage asked carefully.
"I don't think so, sir. I circled the island to see the coast, and there was nothing in sight. I didn't get too close..." said the scout ninja.
"I believe it's all right. Hadn't the Hokage assured us that he would not interfere? It doesn't seem advantageous for them to try to protect the Uzumaki at this point, outside the Land of Fire. Our intelligence also hasn't seen any military movement coming from Konoha," said the Kazekage.
He grew thoughtful, scratching his chin before continuing, with no one around him speaking and all just waiting for his orders.
"We will meet with the other Kage before anything else. I want you to send a message to the north and to the south, to find the fleet of each nation. Try to avoid approaching Uzushio. We don't know exactly what is happening there, but there is something strong enough to bring down one of our Seven Swordsmen without leaving a trace..." he said, a bit frustrated.
By sending one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist as a scout, he believed the man could handle any problem coming from the Uzumaki. Especially since he was the wielder of the Samehada sword, who could transform into a shark and advance easily through the depths of the sea, a terrain difficult to reach even for the Uzumaki or anyone else.
Even though the mission was only to observe what was happening, all the scouts sent against the Uzumaki were being struck down one after another. No one returned... Even this powerful ninja also disappeared. He simply vanished. There was no sign of battle — no traces, no signals anywhere across the sea. He and his entire team had vanished.
Three ninjas were assigned to quickly carry the message to the other Kage, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
"You know... it's strange. There's also no glow on the horizon," thought the Mizukage aloud, as if something was bothering him deep in his subconscious with this extermination attack... while he stared into the darkness. After all, Uzushiogakure should be there on the horizon, yet there was no sign of any light. Everything was in complete blackout, as if no lamp or torch had been lit. At the very least, they should see some glow on the horizon.
Things seemed quite strange. To begin with, it was obvious that the Uzumaki already knew of their arrival now, already knew of the attack. That changed everything. They had planned to launch a surprise offensive, but the Uzumaki already seemed aware that the enemies were approaching.
The question was: how?
They had at their disposal all the ships watching for any approach, in addition to spies and ninjas analyzing the seabed. But nothing, absolutely nothing, seemed abnormal. There was no way the Uzumaki, no matter how skilled they were in water jutsu, could spy on them without leaving traces and still inform the entire clan of their approach. And the range of sensors could never be that long.
In any case, the leader of the Village of Water stood there, waiting for the response of his allies.
The night went on until the messengers he had sent began to appear, one after the other.
"Mizukage-sama, the Raikage accepts the meeting."
"Mizukage-sama, the Tsuchikage accepts a meeting with you and the other Kage."
"Mizukage-sama, the Kazekage also wishes to be present at this meeting."
As soon as he was informed, he nodded with satisfaction while looking at his ninjas.
"I only want two bodyguards with me. Let's head to the meeting point," said the Mizukage.
Two ninjas chosen among the others placed themselves at his side as protectors. They did not really trust even allies from other nations, after all, they would always be betraying one another. Soon they advanced across the sea, running quickly and leaving the fleet behind.
The ninjas of Kiri and other nations could walk on water without issue, but the ships were used precisely so they would not need to waste unnecessary chakra to keep themselves afloat on the sea for hours. After all, they still needed energy to plan and execute the battle and to rest. Even if using only their feet was one of the simplest ways of spending chakra, remaining for many hours like that was exhausting for most ninjas.
They continued circling the Land of the Uzumaki from the south, heading toward another territory, running at high speed until they reached the Land of Waves — the meeting point that had been suggested to the other Kage by message before they had accepted.
The Mizukage could not help but feel pride. After all, Kiri was the most powerful nation after Konoha, and it was certainly they who had caused the most trouble for the Land of Fire in the Second War. He was informed of all the reports from the different borders in the war against Konoha, and from all sides, it was Kiri who fared the best, even having to face the Uzumaki, the Hokage himself, his companion Danzō, and thousands of Konoha ninjas. Even so, it had always been difficult to deal with them, to the point of constantly requesting reinforcements to hold that border.
It was no wonder: they possessed two Jinchūriki, the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and he himself, the Mizukage. He felt like the true leader of this scheme against the Uzumaki, believing that Kiri was the most powerful among the four nations gathered, and that he would have the final word even before the other Kage.
Thus, they arrived at the meeting point on a part of the coast of the Land of Waves. There no one would bother them. The Land of Waves had no military force nor hidden village; it was merely an independent territory, without great resources, used more as a battlefield in the Second Great War than anything else. The location was strategic, mainly because it was close to Uzushiogakure, with all able to meet there.
It did not take long for other ninjas to arrive. The Mizukage observed the first ones approaching: they were Sand shinobi. He stared at them for a while. Certainly, that was not the Kazekage he remembered.
"What is going on here? I invited your Kage! What kind of joke is this?" — the Mizukage grew irritated upon seeing someone who was not the leader he recalled.
"The Kazekage you knew is dead," replied another man, catching the leader of the Land of Water by surprise.
"Dead? What do you mean, dead? What happened?" — he had no idea of the news, since Suna had not sent any messages in recent days, nor did he have information about what was happening in Konoha.
"If you want to know, the answer... was Konoha. More specifically, one of their ninjas assassinated the former Kazekage over a week ago, in the Land of Wind itself," said the man, while he and his bodyguards, one on each side, growled as they spoke. The Mizukage and his own guards raised their eyebrows at what they had just heard.
"Well, this is unexpected... I'd like to hear more, since you're saying that a ninja from Konoha killed your most powerful shinobi. This makes me think the balance has shifted sooner than expected. I bet you want revenge against Konoha," he said, analyzing the situation, foreseeing the possibility of a new war.
"Yes, we will never forget this. But, in any case, we were already planning the downfall of the ninja world's peace after the end of the Uzumaki, weren't we? We're just bringing some things forward," said the man firmly, while the Mizukage slowly assimilated his words.
"Your name is Rasa, isn't it? You made a name for yourself in the Second War. They say you can manipulate golden sand, unlike your predecessor who manipulated iron powder. That hat looks good on you, interesting..." — said the Mizukage, with a gleam of recognition in his eyes. "Can you tell me exactly who killed your leader?" — he asked with a faint smile on his face, finding it amusing, while Rasa stared at him with a decidedly unfriendly look, not liking that smile.
"I'll say that with the other Kage, I don't want to keep repeating myself. But, in any case, it's not hard to understand. After all, Konoha doesn't have many ninjas capable of fighting and killing a Kazekage, do they?" he said.
The Mizukage seemed thoughtful. There was something more hidden in that statement. Certainly that man was withholding more information that he would reveal, waiting for the new Kazekage to disclose it before the other Kage, so he did not press. However, it seemed to be quite interesting... It was not every day that a Kage died, and this was the first time, in the generation of the Thirds, that such a thing had happened.
"Anyway, I believe you are the new Kazekage with that hat, correct?" he asked.
"Yes," Rasa replied. "I was appointed two days ago. By the way, are there any reports coming from the west?"
"Are you asking about the Land of Fire? Are you worried they might interfere?" the Mizukage asked in surprise.
"I don't know," Rasa said. "After the attack we suffered, I know nothing more. It could be a problem. Certainly I and the others do not know what is happening in the Land of Fire." he said.
After everything, Minato disappeared leaving the corpse of the former leader behind along with Orochimaru, whom they tried to kill immediately after the loss. Even though Minato himself tried to kill Orochimaru several times. The ninjas of the Land of Wind wanted retaliation. Orochimaru was the closest to that, but he escaped. When Rasa woke two days later with multiple internal injuries caused by Minato; he had almost lost organs that were damaged and nearly died.
Rasa shuddered just thinking about it; he had seen how Minato seemed to toy with him this time, being much more powerful than he had shown in their encounter during the Second War.
The Land of Wind went crazy after the loss of the former leader. Even so, he was called to the elders' meeting, they quickly began to act, and he was named leader. Now he was here leading the attack, not missing the opportunity. After all, if they really want to deal with Konoha, they must weaken it — therefore they need to exterminate Konoha's ally and obtain its secrets to use in the next war. Peace was never an option, not now.
Soon another group of ninjas arrived. The Raikage and the Tsuchikage, along with their bodyguards, arrived together. The Mizukage stared at them with a piercing look at the new Kazekage floating in the air; he even expected to see him there, but not wearing the hat of the leader of the Hidden Village of the Land of Wind without the former Kazekage present.
Even the Raikage had an eyebrow raised. He still bore a scar on his chest, a mark from the Second War, a wound caused by a boy from Konoha — someone the Raikage still wanted to find for revenge.
"Well, anyway, now that we are here, we can begin the meeting, Third Raikage, Third Tsuchikage and Fourth Kazekage," the Third Mizukage completed, while the three leaders nodded. The meeting for the destruction of the Uzumaki clan would begin there.
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