Cloud Shinobi Village.
A nest of muscleheads, lightning freaks, and future problems waiting to happen.
Raizen exhaled, gaze sharpening. Yeah… if these guys get Eight Tails, Konoha's future is going to look like a bad speedrun.
Throughout the entire shinobi timeline, the Land of Lightning had always been one of the strongest factions. Not weaker than Konoha by much—sometimes stronger, depending on the era. If they managed to secure Eight Tails now, decades before canon…
It wouldn't just be a threat.
It would be a catastrophe.
Raizen's eyes narrowed, killing intent flickering.
"Looks like I'm heading to Cloud Shinobi Village… and I'm taking Eight Tails with me."
As long as the beast wasn't sealed yet, nothing would stop him. Even if Cloud Shinobi was breathing down its neck, Raizen wasn't about to care. It wouldn't be the first time he robbed a nation blind.
Madara raised an eyebrow when Raizen mentioned Sand's interference.
"Oh? Sounds like the desert rats are after tailed beasts too."
Not surprising. In this era, the great clans were finally powerful enough to hunt bijū. The whole world was waking up to the same idea: whoever controlled the beasts controlled the future.
Raizen folded his arms.
"The moment that idiot Masayori spreads the news about One Tail, everyone is going to scramble for the rest. We need to move fast."
And they would.
Konoha already had One Tail, Two Tails, Three Tails, and Seven Tails.
Only Four, Five, Six, Eight, and Nine remained.
Madara nodded.
"So, what's the plan?"
Raizen spoke without hesitation.
"You go find Four Tails and Nine Tails. If you get the chance, grab Six Tails too. I'll send Hashirama after Five Tails… and I'm going to the Land of Thunder for Eight Tails."
"Got it."
Madara didn't waste time. He left immediately.
Raizen watched him disappear into the trees, satisfied.
Madara never hesitated when it came to missions like this.
Hashirama, on the other hand…
The man had the attention span of a golden retriever.
He'd probably see a starving village, cry, rebuild their farms, build an orphanage, then forget he was supposed to catch a tailed beast.
Still, Raizen couldn't waste time. He sent a messenger pigeon to Hashirama with updated orders, then rested for a single night before departing.
The Land of Thunder
Raizen didn't bring anyone.
Eight Tails wasn't a beast he could treat like a field trip.
Cloud Shinobi was guarding it, and any Konoha escort squad would be dead weight.
He activated Kamui, stepping through warped space.
A blink later, he appeared on the plateau of the Land of Thunder.
Steep cliffs.
Jagged stone.
Air thick with static electricity.
Unlike the Wind Country, Thunder Country wasn't barren. Their land was fertile, their productivity high, and their people fierce. As the years marched on, they would become one of Konoha's biggest rivals.
Raizen's lip curled.
"Yeah… a place like this needs to be put down early. Otherwise they'll bite back hard."
Jumping across the rocks, he left afterimages behind him. He'd never been here personally, but he knew roughly where to go.
Thunder Valley.
Later generations would call it Yunlei Gorge.
If it was "Cloud–Thunder Gorge," then logically…
It must be close to Cloud Shinobi Village.
Half an hour of leaping through steep, storm-battered terrain brought him to a canyon wreathed in dark clouds.
Raizen activated Byakugan.
Thunder split the sky like dragons and serpents, slamming into the mountaintops. The echo alone rattled his bones.
He grinned.
"Looks right."
He slipped into the gorge.
Cloud Shinobi Village
Not far from Thunder Valley stood a cluster of mountains, sheer cliffs wrapped in mist. Snow-white buildings perched on the ridges like ancient fortresses carved into the clouds.
And in the center—
A massive oval structure.
Floating, towering, unmistakable.
The kanji for "Thunder" was etched across its crown, facing the winds with unshaken arrogance.
Raizen exhaled.
"So this is Cloud Shinobi Village… arrogant as hell even in this era."
He stepped toward Thunder Valley, cloak flickering in the electric glow.
Eight Tails was somewhere inside.
And Raizen had come to take it.