After a while, they were back in the building that served as their base.
"By the way, why do we need Son Goku in our plans?" Kushina suddenly asked.
"Shouldn't you have asked that before stealing him?" Kaito joked.
"I trust you!" Kushina said proudly.
"Fine," Kaito simply let it go, "we actually don't need him."
"Eh?" Kushina's smile froze.
"We just need to weaken Iwa, and stealing one of their most powerful weapons helps with that goal," Kaito explained.
In reality, Tasogare's short term objective was to end the war and weaken Iwa and Kumo, the ones responsible for the conflict, so that they would lose completely without causing losses to Konoha, thus making it easier for Konoha to unify the ninja world later on.
So, even though from Iwa's point of view Tasogare's objective had simply been to steal Son Goku, in reality Kaito had done much more than that. It was not an exaggeration to say that Iwa had practically already lost the war, and that Kushina's reputation would increase even more in a short time.
---
A few hours later, in Iwa.
In a temporary hall, Onoki and the village's high ranking officials were gathered, including jōnin and leaders of powerful families.
"Lord Tsuchikage, what should we do now?" one of them asked.
"We must demand answers from Konoha," another said.
"And for what? The Nine Tails doesn't belong to Konoha, everyone knows about the incident when it was stolen."
"Then what do we do? We've lost one of our most powerful weapons."
"..."
Onoki listened to them argue for a while before making a decision.
"We will go to the front against Konoha. Gather all qualified ninjas, all of them," he said, emphasizing the last words.
"L-Lord Tsuchikage, is that really okay? I don't understand why we would do something like that."
Onoki narrowed his eyes at the one who had spoken. In the past, no one would have dared to question his decisions. However, after losing both arms, being defeated by an unknown enemy in less than ten exchanges in front of the entire village, and losing an important resource due to his own incompetence, his position as Tsuchikage had been severely weakened in just one day. Many already doubted him.
Aware of this, Onoki was forced to swallow his anger and explain his reasoning.
"Because of Uzumaki Kushina, we were forced to send a large number of ninjas as soon as the war began, and even so, we remained in a weak position. After that, we had to send even more reinforcements, and to sustain them, we doubled the number again. In short, the resources used at the front, whether ninjas, equipment, or food, are not profitable in the long run.
The building that Son Goku destroyed when he fell was the warehouse. If the front was already unsustainable before, now it is even less so.
On top of that, we have lost Son Goku and several ninjas in the clash against Hatake Sakumo. Our forces are weakening more and more.
The simplest solution would be to withdraw all ninjas from the front and give up on the war. However, the moment we begin to retreat, Konoha will not let that opportunity pass. I know Hiruzen well enough to be sure of that. Moreover, if we simply withdraw, we will become the laughingstock of the entire ninja world.
That is why the only option is to gather all our forces and settle the front before retreating. With the few resources we have left, our only chance is a single, lethal strike, not a prolonged battle. To achieve that, we must gather all our ninjas and act before Konoha can send reinforcements.
Not only that, Han has been sent to the front. If Tasogare is really capturing all the tailed beasts, they may go after him. If we do not want to lose the only tailed beast we have left, we must defend him.
If we fail to do so, all that will remain of us as a great ninja village will be the title. We will become even weaker than Sunagakure."
With this explanation, Onoki convinced most of the ninjas. As elite ninjas, they already had a general understanding of the current situation and its consequences, but they needed someone like Onoki to state it clearly.
---
At the same time, in Konoha.
While Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe in the Hokage's seat, there was a knock on the door.
"Orochimaru, come in," Hiruzen said, recognizing him even before he entered.
Orochimaru walked in with a calm expression and sat down in front of him.
"Sensei, I have some urgent news," he said with amusement in his voice, contradicting his words.
But Hiruzen knew that what Orochimaru found amusing was usually serious situations, so he stopped smoking and became serious.
Orochimaru smiled at his reaction, and his snake like tongue licked his lips before he began to speak.
"Sensei, Iwa had some unexpected visitors."
"Unexpected visitors?" Hiruzen asked, confused.
"Tasogare."
"Tell me in detail what happened," Hiruzen said, narrowing his eyes at the mention of the mysterious organization.
"I don't have too many details, but I know the basics. The mysterious man from last time, presumably the leader of Tasogare, suddenly appeared, broke into the Tsuchikage's office, and demanded both jinchūriki.
"So, indeed, their target is the tailed beasts," Hiruzen said. "Onoki would never give in to threats. Tell me the outcome of the fight."
"Han was outside the village at the time, but Roshi was not. Onoki was defeated by Tasogare's leader in less than ten moves, and Roshi was defeated by a red haired woman wearing a mask. The Four Tails was taken after she broke the seal. The Nine Tails..." Orochimaru continued recounting the events slowly, enjoying the changes in Hiruzen's expression.
Hiruzen processed the words carefully while analyzing everything in his mind.
The strength required to defeat Onoki was already monstrous, and even more so to do it so easily. But someone that strong, and with the Nine Tails on his side, why had he not attacked the other great ninja villages and placed himself at the top?
After thinking about it, he arrived at two possible answers.
The first possibility was that, somehow, they had some kind of external limitation and that they were not always that strong.
However, that idea was quickly discarded. Even if such a limitation existed, the Nine Tails clearly did not have it, and since it appeared this time, that meant it was on their side and that, without any restriction on its power, it had only acted now because Tasogare had decided so.
After all, no matter how many rumors circulated about the Nine Tails, an uncontrollable and powerful beast, being on Tasogare's side from the beginning, trying to downplay Tasogare's strength, Hiruzen and all the ninjas present during the Nine Tails incident knew that it had not been taken by its own will, but had been completely dominated by the organization's leader and had no choice but to obey.
But if there was nothing holding them back, then why did they act now?
After thinking about it, Hiruzen could only reach one conclusion, one that made him angrier than ever before.
They decided to act now simply because they wanted to.
That was right, from Hiruzen's perspective, that alone was reason enough for anger.
He concluded that Tasogare had an objective for which he needed all the tailed beasts, an objective that did not directly involve the five great villages. Tasogare had only interfered with them because that was where the tailed beasts were, but to them, the great villages were nothing more than small obstacles in their path, places they could enter and leave whenever they wanted without giving them a second glance.
Why had they taken so long to act? It was simply the pride of someone who knew he could do it at any time and did not care about delaying it.
That was the answer Hiruzen reached after reflecting on it.
Of course, Hiruzen had no idea how wrong he was. He could not imagine that, in reality, they had attacked one village to allow the previously attacked village to defeat it.
And even less could he imagine that the tailed beasts were only a cover and that in neither case had they been the real objective.
The Nine Tails? Obtained as a bonus while recruiting Kushina.
The Four Tails? Just a scapegoat so no one would realize that the true objective was weakening Iwa.
"Tasogare doesn't even take us into account," Hiruzen said angrily.
At that moment, Orochimaru spoke again.
"Sensei, about the red-haired woman."
"I know!" Hiruzen interrupted. "A red-haired woman who uses a strange energy linked to the elements, capable of undoing a seal with ease and probably related to the tailed beasts. Not suspecting her would be even stranger," he sighed.
"You have permission to investigate Kushina, but make sure Danzō does not interfere."
"Don't worry, Sensei. All this information was obtained through snakes I placed in Iwa, Danzō knows nothing," Orochimaru replied.
"Speaking of that, I have more interesting information," Orochimaru said with a sinister smile.
Hiruzen saw that smile and knew something worse was coming, but he still had to ask.
Orochimaru spoke, and at his words, Hiruzen stood up abruptly and immediately summoned all of Konoha's high command.
---
After some time, on the battlefield front, Raizen, Kushina, Mei, and Kazuma, the four original jōnin assigned to that camp, along with more than twenty additional jōnin sent by Hiruzen's order months earlier, were gathered in the central tent where all command decisions were made, with pale faces.
"Repeat what you said," Raizen said tensely to the reconnaissance ninja.
Although everyone had gathered after hearing the news vaguely, receiving details was crucial.
The ninja stammered in fear, unable to believe his own words.
"L-last night, Han, the Four Tails' jinchūriki, was seen heading this way. However, s-suddenly he turned around and returned to Iwa for no reason, so I stayed to observe before coming to report, but... this morning I saw it... t-they were..."
"Speak!" Raizen roared, annoyed.
"Thousands!" the ninja shouted. "There were thousands, around ten thousand ninjas. Not just genin, chūnin, and jōnin, the Four Tails and Five Tails jinchūriki were there too, even... even the Tsuchikage was there."
At the nervous scout's words, everyone present fell into chaos.
"The Tsuchikage!"
"Both jinchūriki!"
"Impossible!"
"What's going on? Is Iwa using all its forces?"
"Silence!" Raizen ordered, silencing everyone before thinking for a few seconds.
"I don't know why this is happening, but with such force, the five hundred ninjas we have here will not last more than a few minutes before being defeated.
However, running away is not an option either. If Iwa is willing to send all its forces, then it's not just for us, they plan to break through this front and go straight to Konoha, where thousands of innocents are, where our families are.
The good news is that a situation like this must have already been reported to the Hokage, and he is surely sending reinforcements, he might even come himself."
In truth, Raizen did not believe that last part. He did not think Hiruzen would leave the village, but he still said it to raise morale.
And as he expected, it worked immediately.
"That's right, something like this won't go unnoticed, reinforcements must already be on the way."
"With the Third Hokage here, it's impossible for us to lose."
"He's the strongest Hokage in history, after all."
"However," Raizen raised his voice, drawing everyone's attention, "holding out until the reinforcements arrive will be difficult, very difficult. For now, the best we can do is set many traps and defend ourselves, preventing the enemy from advancing, and also notify the other camps, since this is an emergency."
For a while longer, Raizen explained the strategy, which basically consisted of forming a defensive shell, filling the area with traps, and holding out inside the camp without letting the enemy enter.
Although not many trusted it, especially knowing the techniques of the current Tsuchikage, Onoki, they still agreed to follow the plan, since it was the only real option besides fleeing.
"Anything to add?" Raizen asked, looking at everyone in the tent, who remained silent with determined gazes.
Finally, a female voice broke the silence.
"I want to go there."
"Kushina, this is not the time for jokes, we already have a strategy," Raizen said, looking at her.
Kushina shook her head. "I'm not joking. I think having me there will be more productive, I can fight for at least a while before retreating."
"Kushina, there are ten thousand ninjas, at least hundreds of jōnin, two jinchūriki, and even the Tsuchikage. This isn't about fighting a little and then running away, there's no way they'll let you do that."
"I can escape," Kushina replied, and before Raizen could answer, she suddenly appeared beside him.
"Space-time ninjutsu," Raizen widened his eyes in surprise.
"With that, Onoki's most powerful techniques are manageable, and you can retreat while still causing casualties. How far can you move?" he asked, seeing an opportunity.
"As long as it's within my line of sight," Kushina replied.
Raizen watched her silently for a few seconds before speaking reluctantly. "Do it. However, do not get close to the jinchūriki or the Tsuchikage. The moment you get tired, retreat immediately, and even if you only sense danger, retreat first and think later. It's better to be safe than sorry."
"I understand," Kushina said, turning around to leave.
But before she exited, someone called out to her.
It was a young woman with dark violet hair in a bob cut.
"Kushina, a few weeks ago you saved me when I was about to die, and I never had the chance to thank you. Take this," she said, handing her a stack of rectangular yellow papers.
"When I was little, I didn't have a teacher and I wasn't good at ninjutsu, so I used explosive tags. Later I got the chance and finally learned proper ninjutsu, so I stopped using them, but I kept the habit of buying them whenever I can. These are all the ones I've gathered, I hope they help you at least a little," she said before leaving.
"Thank you," Kushina smiled.
"Wait, young lady," another voice called out, this time an older man's.
"My family runs a ninja tools shop. We're not very famous, but our kunai are at least ten percent sharper than normal. I hope they help you."
"Tha..."
"Miss Kushina."
"During a battle, I almost died when one of your swords pierced my opponent's leg and allowed my comrades to save me. It's not much, but I have this amulet that has always brought me luck."
"Th..."
"Miss Kushina!"
"Kushina!"
"Young lady!"
...
After ten minutes, Kushina finally stopped receiving gifts and walked away with a smile.
"Hehe, I'm popular," she murmured to herself.
However, when she stepped outside, she saw that there were hundreds of ninjas outside the tent. They had clearly sensed the gravity of the situation and wanted to know what was happening.
With the sensitivity of ninjas, they had most likely heard everything that was said inside.
Now, they were all looking at her with bright, hopeful eyes, with traces of sadness in them.
Finally, one of them approached, and Kushina could not help but sigh and repeat:
"...I'm popular."
______________________________________
Hey, I just published the first chapters of a new fic: To Love Ru: Chaos.
If you're interested or want to support me, go read it and leave some Power Stones.
But it's literally the complete opposite of this series, so I recommend reading the 'Before You Read' section to see if you'll like it.
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)