The Operation on the Kumogakure
Kumogakure is the hidden village of the Land of Lightning and was founded by the First Raikage.
As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Kumogakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Raikage, of which there have been three in its history.
The village is located in a range of tall mountains and is literally hidden in the clouds. The Raikage works in a large blue structure built into the tallest mountain.
The standard attire for Kumo shinobi consists of a long, grey top that gathers just at the waist to give a sash-like appearance, with a matching colored bottom.
Over this, they wear white, one-strapped flak jackets and arm as well as shin-guards.
Many Kumogakure ninjas use Lightning Release techniques.
Kumogakure was founded after the Warring States Period by the First Raikage.
Shortly after the formation of their villages, Konoha's First Hokage sold tailed beasts to Kumo as a sign of friendship and to ensure a balance of power amongst their new villages.
The Second Raikage and Second Hokage later tried to formally agree to peace between their villages, but the ceremony was interrupted by the Gold and Silver Brothers and the Hokage was nearly killed.
Konoha and Kumo ended up on opposing sides during the First Shinobi World War, with Kumo's Kinkaku Force killing the Second Hokage.
Despite becoming one of the Five Great villages Kumo has gained a rather shameless reputation.
While a peace treaty was formed between all the villages to cut back on the military budget and reduce the sizes of their forces during times of peace, Kumo secretly does not honor to the agreement, seeing this as a chance to ensure that no other village can ever have an upper hand should hostilities later resume.
Kumo's efforts to amass power often entail stealing secrets and kidnapping shinobi from other villages.
Several years before the Third Shinobi World War, Kumo shinobi kidnapped Kushina Uzumaki from Konoha in order to study her unique chakra but were foiled by Minato Namikaze.
The Raikage's Office is located in the tallest tower of the village and has the kanji for "Lightning" on the front. It also has a boxing bag and a painting with the kanji for "muscle" across the chair that the Raikage sits.
A was the name of the Third Raikage of Kumogakure, renowned to be the greatest Raikage the village has ever had. He was currently sitting in the mentioned office, it was midday now.
A was a tall, dark-skinned man with a large muscular and well-defined build. He had a full head of golden hair that flowed into his back along with a long beard.
His face has pronounced cheekbones and tear troughs under his eyes, and a prominent crease across his forehead with a mole above his right eyebrow.
His top lip also had a darker pigmentation than the bottom one. His canine teeth were also slightly elongated, "Any noteworthy developments from the Shimogakure?"
All of a sudden, he asked the other man in his office seriously.
The other man in question had long bicolor, half green and half white, hair, with matching eyebrows along with heavy-lidded eyes that give him the appearance of being very tired.
He had a purple mark in the shape of a diamond down the right side of his face.
He wore the standard attire of the Kumogakure shinobi including a flak jacket, over a long-sleeved v-neck outfit with bandages underneath, and carried a fairly long sword strapped to his back.
His name was Blue B, and he is a high-ranking Kumogakure shinobi, as well as the current Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, Kumo's strongest tailed-beast.
While an excellent shinobi, Blue B, however, didn't have complete control over the Eight-Tails. He believed that he couldn't subjugate the beast due to the "incompatibility" of his personality.
"Cough, It's still the same, Lord Raikage, I don't believe that we will manage to win this war soon..."
Blue B replied equally seriously after coughing up a little sickly.
The whole situation on this front changed six months ago, when Konoha's reinforcements from the previous Kiri battlefront came here, evening the situation out a bit.
There was also that guy, Kakashi Hatake, the White Demon, often destroying their whole shinobi squadrons alone. As well as frequently battling with the Third Raikage's own son, his fame and reputation now shooting through the sky.
"Sigh, If this situation continues on like this, I'll have to personally enter the battlefield..."
Raikage thought so seriously, also glancing at Blue B a little, thinking that even this Jinchuriki will have to personally enter the fray later as well.
"You're free to go now, B. You should go and see a doctor!" Raikage said suddenly after hearing all of the reports for the day from his most trusted jonin subordinate.
"Yes, Lord Raikage, thank you for your concerns," Blue B exclaimed and promptly left the large office.
- - -
"You have a case of a really bad cold. These are the medicine you should take, one in the morning and one in the evening, but please, remember to not miss any doses!"
Somewhere in the Kumogakure, one person in a medical white robe said to the man beside him after seemingly checking on his health.
This was Blue B's home, and he called his doctor as the Raikage advised him to do earlier today.
"Thanks, doctor, I'll heed your advice carefully, cough!" Blue B weakly replied and coughed a bit.
"Wait, it's already the evening now, you should take one immediately, so I don't worry later!"
"Okay, doctor," Blue B nodded and took one of the pills from the bottle he got just now.
But, once he finally swallowed it, doctors face suddenly changed.
From his previous serious and somehow gentle face, his face now suddenly changed into a twisted grin now, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
What the 'doctor' gave him just now wasn't ordinary medicine, no, those were the special genjutsu-inducing pills he developed himself just recently, instead!
And, of course, this person wasn't a doctor at all!
It was Orochimaru of Konoha himself, who infiltrated this village just recently!
Blue B looked at the man's weird grin, as he promptly entered the dreamscape of a genjutsu.
These pills were invented and developed by Orochimaru. Once ingested, the pills will cast a genjutsu on the target that paralyzes the body. The drugs also affect the target's mind to some degree.
Orochimaru's whole form suddenly changed, revealing his usual one. He infiltrated this village successfully, thanks to his amazing arsenal of techniques perfect for infiltration.
'Alright, let's begin the unsealing process, now!'
Orochimaru quickly came closer to Blue B's sleeping body, undressing his abdomen promptly.
He suddenly gathered chakra on his fingertips and hit the fingers against the seal that is present on his stomach, hard, causing the tailed-beast seal to slowly unravel and finally disappear.
This technique's purpose is to remove seals that are of similar power to itself.
'Five Elements Unseal!'
Orochimaru grinned in satisfaction and sneakily left that house promptly, afterward.
Looking at this prosperous, mountainous hidden village, Orochimaru suddenly thought maliciously.
"You will probably remember this night for the rest of your life, Kumogakure, fufu..."
After deciding on the details of this plan before on that day, Yoshi and Orochimaru started working on it, expeditiously, for the last six months.
The preparations for this night currently weren't easy ones.
First, they had to secure a boat fitting for their operation, carrying them from Yugakure to Kumogakare secretly by the sea, bypassing the only current way to there, the already occupied Shimogakure.
One part of Orochimaru's work was to develop those special genjutsu-inducing pills and to master an adequate sealing technique for releasing tailed-beasts.
And Yoshi's part of work was simply to develop a sufficient seal for himself which will allow him to infiltrate into this village successfully, as well, on Orochimaru's suggestion.
As to what else will they try and do tonight, that still remains to be seen.
- - -
At the same time, somewhere inside one of the Kumogakure's forming towering mountains, was hidden, Yoshi.
He managed to remain hidden in this village, mainly thanks to his newly-developed fuinjutsu.
It works on the principle of sealing (hiding-covering) all of the Tenketsu chakra points in his body, independently, at the same time.
This seal was so complicated and high-level, that probably only fuinjutsu grandmasters like himself could successfully understand and use it in actuality.
'Orochimaru's idea this time was truly genius, he's probably near the level of the Second Hokage in inventiveness, to be honest, truly a great mind,' Yoshi suddenly thought, feeling a little grateful for his new technique.
And just while he thought about that, a large bang followed by a similar rumble suddenly resounded in the distance, unexpectedly.
'So, it finally started!' Yoshi thought seriously, closely following the situation.
His task on this operation was to come and help Orochimaru if some unexpected situation occurs while he's performing his own task.
- - -
The Third Raikage, who was still in his office doing work, heard the same loud noise and noticed the peculiar situation, as well.
He opened his eyes wide in shock while looking at the scene through his large office window.
'H-How could have this happened!?' Even though he is usually a very stoic man, this time he was truly stupified. The Eight-Tails, Gyuki, their own long-lived tailed beast, was right there currently wreaking havoc in his village!
As a tailed beast, it is extremely massive, dwarfing entire forests and towers over large rock formations and buildings and matching the Giant Squid in size.
Gyuki also has a muscular upper-body structure, with a hunched back similar to an American bison, arms with spiked protrusions on the elbows, and hands with opposable thumbs like that of a human.
Instead of hind-legs, its lower half consists of its eight tails, which resemble the cephalopod arms of an octopus.
'But, he was pretty fine, just this morning...'
'Is this the enemy's attack?' Raikage was still thinking worriedly.
At this time, both his son who was also called just A and his disciple Darui were outside, currently guarding their main Shimogakure base, and serving as its commanders.
'Eight-Tails, and whoever is responsible for this, you'll pay now!' He thought for the last time fiercely, before completely disappearing from his office, in a flash of lightning, his eyes resolute.
- - -
At the same time, in one of the village's other homes, a sixteen-year-old girl was looking at the same situation gravely, after waking up from the noise.
Her name is Yugito Nii, and she was already a full-fledged Kumo's jonin despite her young age.
But, what made her even more special, was the beast sealed inside of her, the same kind of beast as the one currently wreaking havoc in her village. Sealed inside of her was the Two-Tails, Matabi.
'I must help, now! I'm probably the strongest shinobi in this village, at this time, excluding the Lord Raikage...' Yugito thought seriously for a moment and her face instantly turned very resolute.
She quickly put her shinobi uniform on and promptly left her building in the direction of the current chaos.
'It seems like the Lord Raikage already started fighting it!' As she got closer to the rampaging tailed-beast, she thought observantly.
But, all of a sudden, a bunch of large and long yellow chains suddenly shot from the ground up, directly at her, dangerously.
'What on earth...?' She thought dangerously as she somehow critically dodged them on time.
Suddenly, a red-haired teen of her own age popped up right from the ground in front of her, looking at her slightly curiously while smiling a little. Those weird chains coming straight from his back.
"Who are you, what are you doing in my village!?" Yugito entered the fighting pose quickly while holding her kunai in one hand, threateningly. But, inwardly she was quite shaken.
'I didn't sense him at all!'
'And what are those strange chains on his back?'
'Wait, chains?'
'Also, red hair?'
"Are you Yoshi Uzumaki, the Crimson Blast?" She suddenly yelled loudly and asked inquiringly.
"So my humble name was heard even in the distant Kumo...?"
"I'm really happy!" Yoshi suddenly exclaimed slightly playful.
"What are you doing here? No, what are you even doing on this front?" Yugito asked in the same tone of voice again.
"That's nothing that you need to know..."
"I'm just informing you now that I won't allow you to go any further!"
He said seriously all of a sudden while periodically checking on the situation there.
"Since you won't talk, I'll make you!" Yugito said fiercely before jumping, her body now starting to get coated in a dense dark blue chakra aura.
"Just my chains will be enough to deal with you," Yoshi casually commented after perceiving her chakra aura with his Mind's Eye.
And just after his statement, his chains suddenly sprung up into action too, closely following her steps, gradually encircling her from all sides, on Yoshi's intent.
He just stood there coolly, while doing some kind of finger weird movements with his hands.
He found it easier to control all of those chains in that way, before.
'Damn, how are they so quick?' Yugito thought indignantly, she couldn't even get close to Yoshi.
Yoshi still stood there casually, now even yawning a bit, sensing the direction of the battle there.
'Orochimaru, just when will you act?'
After a few more minutes of this farce, Yugito was finally caught by Yoshi's sneaky way of using chains. As soon as those caught her, she felt like she was getting weaker and weaker by the second.
'Why am I getting weaker?' She thought desperately all of sudden.
She was in a really embarrassing position right now, she was held upside-down by Yoshi, and her chakra aura was rapidly melting away.
"In fact, not many people know of this, but these Uzumaki chains can even act as true chakra transistors or conductors, once you truly master them!" Yoshi commented casually again as if schooling her.
"Wait, why am even I telling you this? Not like you know what those things are..." Yoshi sighed a little indifferently.
"L-Let me go!" She attempted to yell, albeit weakly.
"Why should I?" Yoshi said seriously while chuckling a little.
Sensing that her aura is nearly exhausted now, and perceiving the changes in the battle in the distance, Yoshi suddenly said again. "Alright, you should sleep now! But, when you wake tomorrow, your whole village will probably feel very different from today, I'm afraid..."
He didn't bother to release her tailed-beast as well, because he simply doesn't need to. Their purpose this time wasn't to completely destroy Kumo. That could bring its own set of problems.
Their purpose this time was simply to end the war between them already and to build sufficient merits for Orochimaru, helping him get elected as the new Hokage, later.
As for killing her? Why should he bother to kill some ants?
His pride won't allow him to do so. By killing her, it would confirm that he is afraid of her future self. But, he really wasn't afraid of that weak woman, now and forever.
Looking at his back, while he was casually strolling away with one eye, the other one already closed from exhaustion, her whole face on the cold ground, Yugito thought somehow getting a new-found resolve in this situation.
"I will never! Never! Allow myself, and my village, to be this humiliated, ever again!"
- - -
"Die already, you damn beast!"
Raikage yelled as he suddenly kicked a large octopus-like creature in the head freely.
"You will die, foolish ant!"
The large beast responded while encircling him with its 'tails'.
Raikage and the Eight-Tails were currently engaged in a very fierce battle, outside the village center now, mainly thanks to Raikage's considerations for his village's safety.
The Eight-Tails using his superior physical size and chakra reserves, and Raikage using his special technique called the "Lightning Release: Chakra Mode".
Now that he successfully brought this beast outside his village, Raikage started increasing his ability output further.
The user of this special technique wraps their body in a layer of lightning chakra to increase their physical parameters, with more lightning causing greater increases. As users coat more lightning chakra around themselves, the more their hair sticks up.
The lightning augments the strength of the user's taijutsu, creating what is called nintaijutsu. It also defends the user from most attacks, deflecting them away on contact. The lightning chakra also stimulates the user's nervous system, enhancing their speed and their reaction time as well.
For now, they were pretty evenly matched, but Raikage felt like he will manage to temporarily seal this beast inside the magical pot, he brought with him this time, preparing for this situation.
The pot is called the "Kohaku no Johei" and it has the ability to seal anyone within it if the target responds when called by the wielder of the pot. If the person responds, the pot records their voice and then seals them in.
And just as he expected, the beast finally fell for his tricks, half an hour later it was successfully sealed.
'Sigh, maybe B will be a great successor of it later, like Blue himself envisioned...' Raikage sighed hard, already understanding Blue B's fate, and thinking of the next probable successor for their village's ultimate weapon.
But suddenly, he noticed something that he will remember for the rest of his life. A large cloud of purple-colored gas suddenly flew towards his position, coming straight from his village.
'Not good!' He thought alarmingly and immediately disappeared from his previous position, going straight towards his village, again.
Once he got even closer, he already clearly realized the whole situation!
'Konoha, you'll pay for this!!' Raikage thought fiercely, his face distorted from the hate and anger.
- - -
Orochimaru suddenly laughed badly while looking at the now wholly covered Kumogakure village, from the nearby towering mountain.
And by what was it currently covered?
It was poison! It was covered in purple poison mist, to be exact!
By using his "Power of the White Snake" technique, alongside the "Hiding in Surface Technique," he managed to successfully plant a lot of poison smoke bombs inside that village, in a really short period of time.
He worked really hard to build and design those poison bombs during the last six months, managing to bring them from being just a prototype to a successful creation.
Every single one of those bombs was a real bi*ch to create. That's why it took him so long.
He had an idea for something like this ever since the Second Ninja World War when he successfully managed to obtain some of the Hanzo's famous poisonous mist for research.
"It seems that we were really successful, this time?" Yoshi came beside him suddenly, asking somewhat pleased.
"Haha, of course!" Orochimaru replied and grinned really happily, like he won a lottery, and not killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians, just now.
Those civilians were nothing to him! They were just ants, that could be used to pressure Kumo to stop the war to recuperate, to him, and nothing more.
This war already ceased to be normal, a long time ago.
Normal shinobi ruled and conventions don't apply anymore!
Now, it's only the biggest fist that has the biggest say!
This world entered the period like the Warring States before was, everything became about the hegemony and power now. All cards are on the table!
"I'll give you that technique, you desire, later."
"You can also bring Kakashi to me tomorrow, I'll transplant him Shin's left arm!"
"But, remember! Those were all my doings, those were all my ideas!!" Orochimaru suddenly said seriously, wanting to get all the 'merits' for himself later.
'Father, mother, soon...' Yoshi thought ecstatically after hearing Orochimaru's first sentence.
He also learned about Shin recently, after simply sensing him near the Yugakura base, often spending time together with Orochimaru on research. Later as their relationship somewhat progressed, Orochimaru told him everything about him.
And the rest is history, Yoshi added his left arm too in their previous agreement.
Orochimaru reluctantly had to agree but added another condition on his own, which was to simply convince uncle Sakumo to support him as the next Hokage, later.
Konoha's old hero's words still carried some weight in the village. And it wasn't too much of a favor to ask, considering that he will provide his son with a new arm.
"Orochimaru, I consider you as a somewhat of an ally, so I'll ask you this, do you really think that this will help you to become the next Hokage?" Yoshi asked, all of sudden, feeling quite generous after Orochimaru promised to give him the mentioned technique.
"In fact, this will make it only worse for you!" Yoshi finally said after some deliberation. This will make Konoha's naive and simplistic populace probably hate him even more. Making Hiruzen even more dissatisfied with him as the next Hokage.
"That old fool isn't the only one who gets a say in this matter..." But, apparently, Orochimaru already knew about that too.
- - -
Tomorrow, two young men were standing on the edge of a large mountain, looking at the distance.
"Kakashi, do you think that what I did yesterday with Orochimaru was right?" Yoshi suddenly asked seriously his best friend, who was currently standing beside him, now with a new left arm as well.
"Of course, I would've done the same, a hundred percent, if I was at your place!" Kakashi replied firmly, without a second of waiting.
'You're truly different than you were in that universe my friend...' Yoshi thought and smiled satisfied, previously just wanting to test him a bit.
- - -
If you truly appreciate my efforts in writing chapters this long, and my really thoughtful writing style, then support me on the Patreo-n, right now!
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