Chapter 19 The Emperor, a massacre and an Invasion

Naruto was sitting on a large boulder, observing the movements of shinobi from Kumogakure. They were moving in similar fashion to Iwa's forces. There were 2000 of them in front of him, traveling in a clear terrain. Because the numbers were too big, they were moving at an open area or perhaps He was standing a good distance from the force. Perhaps they were avoiding a place with threes because they didn't want to face an ambush or set off traps. He would have set some up if their movement had been clear from the beginning. Still, there was still many of them. This was just one unit, there were still four more units. Well, the one in the ocean would be easy to pick apart.

He was not here to observe them. There was a war happening. This was war. He had no time for mercy here. He had come here to slaughter some men. If he said he come for a battle, he would have been lying. There would be no real battle. He was just going to release his weapons. The enemy was too big to fight. Even if the Raikage was killed, they would not stop. Wars did not stop because a Kage died. It stopped because those in charge moved to end things or because the other party could no longer move.

Naruto's eyes flashed behind him for a moment. "Naori," he said. "You are late."

"Something occurred on my way back and I was forced to observe," Naori responded. "But I came as quickly as I could."

"What happened?" Naruto asked. "If it isn't important, we can forget it. There is much to be done here." He had two thousand enemy forces to get rid of.

Naori pondered for a moment before responding. "Iwagakure took Temari. Kurotsuchi was leading the charge. Although her chakra is sealed, she is still capable with Taijutsu."

Naruto didn't express any emotion. It was a move he was not expecting from the Stone. It was a dirty move meant to spur Suna into action. Gaara was probably going to declare war on Suna but because they have his sister, his movements would be restricted. Damn that Onoki. Naruto would not have thought Kurotsuchi would end up taking such a mission. Then again, she probably ran towards the Wind to complete the job over her past failure. She was also willing to do anything to save Iwagakure. It was a pity that she had decided to make such a move. And he had thought that she could live a long life. Maybe she could still do so, albeit miserably.

What was he to do about this? He could just storm into Iwa and lay siege on the village. It was not part of the plan. But so was Iwa's action. They were probably trying to guard against Suna entering the fray. Konoha was already moving. If something happened, Suna would be the first to attack Iwa's rear. Still, the village had done nothing to threaten this move. Then again, when did you need to do anything for Onoki to make a move against you?

"You just watched?" Naruto asked silently.

Naori considered his options carefully before responding. "Yes…" He said. "At that point, I didn't want to risk anything. I would have gotten involved if there was a chance that they would kill her. But it is highly unlikely. They probably won't even do any harm to her."

Naruto nodded and fell silent for more than a minute. "What do they hope to achieve?"

"I do not know your Majesty…"

"We will move to secure her. I won't mind leveling the village if it is what it takes to get her." Naruto said in a calm tone.

Naruto was way too calm for Naori's liking. He knew the Emperor cared for Temari. He should have reacted in anger. No, he was most pissed off. The shinobi he was going to face would be at the receiving end of that anger or maybe not. He was not going to step closer to the battlefield. He would observe from a good distance. He did not want to get hit by friendly fire.

"I did take measures to ensure that the Kazekage knows about this. He most probably will be head to Konoha," Naori said.

Naruto nodded before standing up. "We will discuss this and our cause of action when we return to Uzu. For now, I must deal with this situation." He said. "Which strategy should we use here? Recklessness or play it safe?" He shook his head. "I don't feel like playing it safe. Watch my back."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

And then the blond Emperor was gone.

He appeared above the moving army from Kumogakure. He was floating above the sky, seemingly standing stop of a small tornado that was spinning quietly in the air.

"Hey, the air just got a little heavy."

"It feels strange!"

"There is something up there!" A shinobi shouted as the army came to a halt, seeing the form of the Emperor.

"It's the Emperor!"

The moment those words were said, the small tornado started to turn into a violent rotation of wind. Within minute, surrounded Naruto and spinning furiously in the air. The tornado then started falling downwards in speed.

Boom!

The furious winds crashed at the heart of the army in speed. When it crashed into the ground, it picked up massive amounts of debris. The spinning winds pulled in a number of shinobi before hurling them around. Some were unfortunate as the winds tore then apart before dying down after a few minutes.

When it cleared, Naruto was standing still inside a large crater, a number of shinobi lying dead around him.

"Come," Naruto said to the shinobi closest to him.

And they did come. He bent backwards slightly to avoid a lightning encased sword that flashed just above his face. While still in that motion, Naruto gathered chakra around his finger tip. "Wind Bullet," he released a powerful bullet that slammed into the chest of the man above him. The man yelped painfully when the jutsu connected with his chest. There was so much force that there was the sound of bones breaking before the man was sent flying upwards.

"Lightning Style: Thunder Serpent!"

It was not just a serpent in name. Lightning took the shape of a large snake running through the ground towards him. Naruto didn't stay still; he jumped into the air to avoiding the jutsu. But when I took the air, the jutsu raised its head, following him. He twisted in midair along with gusts of wind and then he was gone.

He flashed just above the shinobi who had released the lightning jutsu, his body was upside down. He slapped two explosive tags on the man's shoulders before grabbing hold of them as balance. "Wind Tornado!" Naruto twisted around while still in that position. A small tornado started to pick up as he twisted around. The shinobi around them cleared the way to avoid getting caught. When an explosion occurred within the rising tornado, it suddenly disappeared, but there was no sign of Naruto.

"Where he go?"

"Behind you!"

Before the shinobi could react, Naruto slapped an explosive tag on the man's back while pushing him forward slightly to get him off balance. He then jumped up slightly while twisted around before slamming his foot through the man's back. When the kick connected, the man rocked off like bullet, being sent flying towards a group of shinobi. They managed to catch him but the moment they did so, the explosive tag on the man's back went off. It turned into resounding explosion of flames formed a large mushroom.

"These elemental explosive tags are quite effective," Naruto said in a calm tone, watching the flames.

Five shinobi lunged towards him from all directions all holding lightning encased swords. If he got stabbed, I would certainly be more than pain. One of those would actually manage to pierce through his heart. He glanced towards his target and closed his eyes. He performed a replacement jutsu with another shinobi. The five couldn't stop their movements and all five stabbed their comrade and suddenly, a lightning tag went off, hitting all six with lightning currents that left them with severe burns.

Meanwhile, Naruto held his hands together while being shinobi lunged towards him. "Futon: Decapitating Wind!" In a flash, Naruto released hundreds of wind twisting wind blades. The speeds of the blades made it difficult for the shinobi to catch avoid them – they couldn't even see them. When the blades hit their targets, they didn't just leave them with cuts; they cut through them.

"Lightning Style: Thunder Flash!" a flash of lightning from the sky rushed towards Naruto from above. The blond didn't even look up. He just closed his eyes before disappearing along gusts of winds. The lightning jutsu hit where he stood, causing the ground to explode.

"Did you get him?"

"No, he escaped before the j-"

The shinobi was cut off from finishing speaking Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him. The blond grabbed the man his throat and picked him up. "That was your jutsu?" He asked.

Before the man could respond, four shinobi charged towards Naruto's back with their swords stabbing forward. They intended to stab him through his back. Naruto responded by twisting around, using the man he held as a shield. The four swords stabbed through the man he held, piercing through his body.

Naruto's right hand moved in speed as he removed his wind sword his back. He held it just behind him. Two shinobi flashed just behind him, crashing their swords towards his back. The swords clashed with his sword.

"Too crowded," Naruto said to himself before wind started gathering around him. The shinobi jumped away from him.

Naruto grabbed his sword firmly and bent down slightly. "Emperor's Cutter." He twisted around in speed while holding out his sword. The invisible wind sword stretched out in length as he twisted around. His spin was only in the blink of an eye. When he stopped, the shinobi didn't know what happened, but seconds later, their guts burst open before the upper part of the body started being separated from the lower half.

It was chaos. Around 70 men started shouting in fear as they tried to get in grips of what just occurred.

Naruto became surrounded by a tornado once more. It rose high up in the sky. At the heart of it, Naruto stood still, holding out his sword. Once more he twisted around. The tornado started moving around in speed, heading towards the groups of shinobi. Naruto's extended sword was stretched out. As the tornado moved, he cut through anything in the path.

"Stay away from the tornado! There is some kind of invisible wind sword!" One adept sensor shouted after seeing some of his fellow shinobi being cut in half without even noticing it.

When the shinobi decided to run away from him, Naruto stopped moving around. He came to an abrupt halt and held a single hand seal. He put away his wind sword and took out the lightning one. He waited for a moment until he was once more surrounded but they did not want to get close to him because of what happened last time. Naruto did not mind it. He didn't need them to get close.

He released a burst of his chakra. The chakra was clearly visible as it washed over a large area. The man could clearly see chakra floating in the atmosphere. It formed like small clouds. He stabbed the lightning sword on the ground. "Lightning Burst!"

Nothing happened at first. But static started to form around the air. "Everyone, get out of here!"

Too late

Another wave of Naruto's chakra released a huge amount of lightning. The entire around surrounding became an electrical field. Everyone caught within the vicinity of the field screamed in pain as electricity coursed through their bodies. One by one, they started falling down the ground. It took about two minutes for the electricity to completely disappear.

When it did, Naruto pulled out his sword from the ground and put it back on its sheath once more. He pulled out his wind sword.

"You bastard!"

He ducked under a swing from a huge sword that came from behind. As he was going down, another shinobi flashed just below him, a kunai pointed towards his chest. Naruto blocked the kunai by putting his sword just in front of him. He then disappeared in a blur.

When he landed down the ground, five men jumped from behind him. He only did a single twist, and they all fell down the ground, in halves.

Naruto was forced to jump into the air when lightning burst from the ground below him. A man flashed above him as he was still airborne. The man slammed a punch towards his chest, but Naruto blocked it with his sword. He was however, sent crashing into the ground because he had no balance.

Naruto crashed on both feet and was quick to stand up. A Kunoichi flashed in front of him, stabbing a kunai with an explosive tag towards his chest. Naruto's feet moved graciously as he took a single step backwards before twisting around anti-clockwise. He avoided the kunai while also stabbing the woman through her chest. He grabbed the kunai with his free hand and threw it into sky.

The woman grabbed his sword with both hands. The moment she did so, Naruto felt multiple projectiles flying his way. "How noble. To sacrifice yourself for the greater good of everyone," Naruto said calmly.

Gusts if wind just picked up around him and repelled the projectiles. Naruto turned around to face the Kunoichi. Without even saying anything, he slammed his right foot into her gut so brutally she was sent flying upwards like a bullet.

He swiped his sword, removing the blood on it before Sheathing it.

Naruto jumped up to the ground, legs folded as someone burst from below. Simultaneously, two shinobi jumped with him as if they had been expecting him to make the movement. Both flanked his sides, flashing kicks towards his upper body. Naruto avoided the kicks falling back, his body falling into a horizontal position while he stretched out both his legs. His eyes watched the two kicks collided in just above his face.

"Water Style: Water Gun!" a shinobi below him, released a stream of water from his mouth. The water jutsu blasted towards Naruto's back. The moment it collided with the Emperor, the two flanking his sides, with the jutsu pushing him into the air, the two held out their hands and grabbed him by the shoulders, both releasing lightning that shocked Naruto with so much power that the water on his body produced steam.

They then tried to push him down in speed. But the moment they let him go, Naruto flipped before he could hit the ground. He was not able to fully regain his balance had literally crashed down, on his knees.

He was forced to once more go on the defensive by folding his hands across his face when someone landed in front of him with just their left foot, the right picking up wind as it sped toward his face. The kick slammed into his defense, and forced him to slide backwards while still on his knees due to the power behind the kick.

When the momentum stopped, small amount of debris still floating around the sides, Naruto fell back once more while stretching out both his hands. A second later, two shinobi appeared on sides, twisting around, they tried to kick him on the sides of his chest. But Naruto's outstretched hands caught both kicks. Before they could try to do anything, Naruto quickly stood up, taking the man along with him. He spun around clockwise before hurling both shinobi towards their friends.

Six shinobi jumped in to catch the two men, and the moment they did, two massive explosions of flames tore through the ground, enveloping the eight men while others jumped to safety. The flames that were formed by the explosion created a large ball of flames that continued to burn for a couple of moments. When it finally died down, there were no remains of the shinobi caught within it.

The Kumo shinobi charged towards the Emperor once more.

Naruto handled both his swords: the wind with his right hand and the lightning with his left. When it came to being sharp, wind was much sharper and then darted towards the incoming enemy.

Two moved ahead of the group, holding lightning encased swords, they flanked his sides. Naruto tried to speed past them, but a wall of rock burst forth in front of him, stopping his movements. He twisted around swiftly as an incoming downward swing moved towards his right shoulder. He held his right sword just above him, blocking the swing. There was spark of electricity when the swords collided.

The other man flashed on Naruto's left and swung his sword in a horizontal swing aimed just above his waist. Naruto bent his knees slightly and took a step forward while pushing the other man away from him. He then positioned his other sword in a vertical position on his left sword. Within a second, there was a small explosion of lightning as the sword was hit by another lightning sword. With his right free, Naruto took a step forward, moving away from the opponent before he spun anti-clockwise, bringing up his wind sword as he did.

"Emperor's Cutter!"

The sword cut through the man cleanly across his chest before cutting through the rock wall that had been erected to stop his march. A shinobi jumped up from the wall as Naruto felt a massive spike of chakra from multiple shinobi. He blocked a downward swing with just his left sword and held firmly when another shinobi appeared from behind. The Emperor pointed his wind sword towards the man, holding it in a reverse grip. The sword extended, and pierced through the man's throat, halting his movements before he dropped down.

Naruto pushed the man just above him away and leapt backwards quickly. His eyes snapped up into the sky as he saw clouds gathering. "Thunder God's Strike!" an immense lightning strike flashed down towards the emperor in lightning speed. When it seemingly hit him, there was a loud boom on the ground that caused large amount of debris to pick up in the surrounding.

"Did we get him?"

"I can't feel anything!"

"Be ready for a second right just in case!"

When the dust cleared, Naruto was standing still in a large crater with Naori kneeling in front of him. There was a chakra chain barrier surrounding them. "That nearly got me," Naruto said while looking up in the sky. "They are preparing another one… will you manage?"

"I erected a chakra barrier. The seals absorb the chakra and transfer to the ground," Naori said. "But I don't think I can handle repeated attempts."

"The jutsu consumes too much chakra, they can't afford too many uses," Naruto responded calmly. "Here I-" The jutsu hit Naori's barrier before Naruto could even finish speaking. Once more, the barrier withstood the powerful lightning attack but the ground beside them did not. It was turned into dust the moment the jutsu struck.

"Thank you, Naori, you may hold your position, I will go wild," Naruto stated before handing Naori both his swords. The man canceled his barrier and then took the swords. A second later, he was gone in a flash.

Crimson chakra started surrounding him like bubbles before he dropped into all fours as the chakra surrounded him. The chakra then formed five tails behind him. His form completely disappeared as he turned into a five tailed miniature beast. A small grow was accompanied by a small shockwave that had the shinobi scrambling backwards in fear. The five tails pierced through the ground.

Multiple chakra tails burst from the ground in front of the retreating shinobi, stopping them from going anywhere.

He opened his mouth and faced up as he began to gather chakra just above him. After a few moments, the chakra formed into a small orb of condensed chakra. He then swallowed it whole. The moment he did, his stomach enlarged and the ground below him shattered.

Once more, he opened his mouth and released a powerful blast of energy that spread out wide towards the Kumo shinobi in lightning speed. The jutsu turned everything it touched into ashes, and chunks of earth into dust. Multiple shinobi were caught within the beam before it set off an alarming explosion. The explosion caused chunks of earth to pick up from the ground, while creating a large mushroom of debris.

The five tailed miniature beast watched for a moment as the explosion died down. But before it completely died down, it started darting towards enemy forces in speed.

The claws swiped across a man's chest, leaving gashes that drew blood. When seven shinobi jumped in from behind, the five tails extended, piercing five through their chest. They were hurled away by the tails before the remaining two tried stabbing the beast from behind, but their swords could not break through its skin. They were stunned for a moment but never got the chance to make an escape as they were caught by two chakra hands that burst from the ground. The chakra hands held them firmly before an audible sound of bones snapping hit the men closer. The two being crushed spat out blood from their mouths before being dropped to the ground.

"Let us retreat! We can't fight this thing!"

"It is just going to chase us if we all run!"

Naruto would not allow them to escape like that. Not when he had bothered transforming. A massive explosion of chakra occurred before a large cloud of smoke filled the area. The Kumo shinobi halted in their movements. No one moved or said anything as they were gripped by fear.

When the smoke cleared, the fearsome form of the Kyubi stood still, its tails swinging menacingly behind. "Ah, it feels good to breathe some fresh air," the Bijuu said.

Inside the mindscape, Naruto was sitting in a meditative position, holding his hands together. He was not within the familiar cell in a clear surrounding that seemed like an empty space. "I have only permitted this because it is the only way your form can get out. If you do anything I don't approve, I will suppress you and then separate you from your chakra before getting a more cruel seal to hold you."

Kurama didn't respond to this. It took a giant step forward before lunging towards the many shinobi who by now were trying to escape. The Bijuu swatted its right paw, slamming into the ground. Multiple shinobi screamed as the Bijuu's paw peeled chunks of earth from the ground, hitting many shinobi. Those who flew into the air took an unfortunate turn as the Bijuu raised its right paw and slammed them away.

The Bijuu then took more steps forward and then waved its tails in one powerful swing that caused violent winds to pick up. It was like a crushing storm that hit behind it, moving in speed before slamming into hundreds of Kumo shinobi.

Despite its massive size, it leapt into the air, jumping backwards before beginning to charge a Bijuudama.

"Scatter!" one shinobi shouted knowing if they moved in one group, they would only get killed.

Kurama did not mind that they scattered. He only condensed his Bijuudama and then swallowed it as Naruto had done earlier. His paws burrowed into the ground and he released a powerful beam of destructive energy. But unlike Naruto's, his was not just once off. He did a 180 degree spin while releasing the jutsu, targeting the scattered shinobi. All around the Bijuu, there was just chaos, debris flying over into the air.

It did not get to enjoy the view as Naruto forced it back. The blond landed down and looked around for a moment. "Not attractive but it will do," he said before disappearing.

He appeared a distance away from the battle ground that had left nature needing some reorganization due to the Kyubi's power. Naori appeared beside him as they walked within the trees of the Land of Hot Waters. "That was quite the battle, Your Majesty," he said.

"Not quite," Naruto said with a slight frown. "Because the enemy overwhelms us, we are forced to play this cruel game. I don't enjoy it but we must crush as many as we can before we face the leaders."

"With many losses behind and the loss of leaders, the remaining would be most likely to surrender," Naori said in thought.

Naruto nodded. "If we tried to face them head on as they are, we would get crushed. But we must work this method and ensure that we make things slightly even…" he explained lightly. "Do you have everything?"

"Yes," Naori said. "The country is big though. We will still need to cover the Fire Nation as well. That means we will probably spend the whole day on this. We would not be able to move quickly to help Temari…"

"I did not come this far by making irrational decisions. I care for her but what we are about to do is an important part for our survival. We cannot deviate from this plan." Naruto stated in a hardened tone. "We may still not use this if they end up surrendering but we must be ready for anything."

Iwagakure

Temari was defiant. She was not going to say anything she didn't have to say. She was not going to betray Suna or Uzushio. Even if they asked Konoha, there would be nothing coming out of her mouth that would please them. This was a stupid decision to make though. Naruto could do such things. But then again, when Naruto took Kurotsuchi prisoner, she had been trying to kill him. He was well within his rights to do so. But this, they had ambushed her and then took her by force when Suna had done nothing against them. Her brother was not going to be pleased, much less the Emperor.

Temari wondered what he would do when he does find out about this. She shook her head. She was could make a guess. But ultimately, she would not stay in this village for too long. She was going to be freed. Konoha was also going to join the cause. Perhaps those two alone wouldn't successfully invade Iwa as it already has Kumo has an ally but they would have earned two enemies. Her brother was specifically not going to forgive this transgression.

"If you still release me now, there shouldn't be any problems," Temari tried to reason with Kurotsuchi. It would be a pity if all the Great Nations were taken to war because she was caught.

Kurotsuchi just grinned. She was pleased that she at least managed this job. She had failed the last one. This just gave her the confidence she had lost. "You are not going anywhere until my grandfather says otherwise," she said.

"Do you even understand what you have done?"

"Yes; your brother will be very angry. But his anger doesn't frighten us. We just want Suna to stop the movement of its forces across the borders. There is the thought that we might end up fighting Kumo once Uzushio falls, we don't want any of you taking advantage of the situation," Kurotsuchi explained lightly. "As I said, we have no intentions to harm you."

Temari shook her head. It didn't matter if they had no intentions to harm her. The fact was that they had made this reckless move. Perhaps it would lessen the pain, but there would be pain. "Have you considered that Konoha might have more reasons than ever to get involved in the war?"

"If we told the Leaf that we will kill you should Konoha get involved, do you think your brother will allow Konoha to fight?" Kurotsuchi asked.

Temari almost spat out. It was a dirty move. Her beloved brother wouldn't do anything to risk her life. He would certainly plead with Konoha to stop. But what if Konoha does not and they end up killing her? Suna would not only end up at war with Iwa but its relationship with Konoha would be ruined. Whoever came up with this plan was a corrupted piece of trash. They wanted to put fire between allies just to ensure that they did not get together against them. The fact that they even believed that Suna could launch an attack just proved these people were paranoid to some extent.

"So that is your goal," she smiled bitterly. "I have to admit, it's a brilliant strategy. Your grandfather might be most infamous for his stubbornness but he certainly is wise at plotting things."

"Well he has been alive for long." Kurotsuchi said proudly. "Since you understand things, will you quiet down while I prepare a message to both Konoha and Suna? You are not going anywhere, and they are not going to come here and risk your life. Besides, if they charge, both Kumo and Iwa forces might as well invade the Hidden Leaf."

Kurotsuchi would not wouldn't mind to see that happen. Konoha has always been seen as the top village. The Fire Nation has always been the most powerful. But if Konoha was destroyed, Iwa would no doubt become the strongest and it would make things easy for them. They would not have to worry and business would flock here. They would grow this village and maybe that old man would decide to throw in the towel and let her become the Tsuchikage.

"Perhaps they might not," Temari said. Her relationship with Naruto has always been something of a secret. People didn't know she was involved with the Emperor. The fact that Uzushio was not allied to Suna made it even hard to conclude. "But what about Uzushiogakure?"

"What about them? Don't they have a bigger problem to worry about? As we speak, an overwhelming force is marching towards them. They are outnumbered. Do you think they will spare one to save you? What would one shinobi even do?"

"If I remember correctly two shinobi dealt you a major blow in just a handful of minutes," Temari said.

"But they are not going to come here. If it is those in Amegakure, we have people watching. The moment they move towards this village, one unit is rushing over to Ame to lay waste to it." Kurotsuchi said with a smile. "See, we have thought about this."

"But you are not closer to Uzushio and I seem to recall that the Emperor covers a big distance in the blink of an eye. What if he comes here?"

Kurotsuchi looked thoughtful for a moment. "It has been rumored that you have some connection with him… what are you? His lover? No, that cold hearted bastard is incapable of loving," she stood up and walked towards Temari. "But if he does come here, I'll just hold a kunai on your throat and tell him to go back home."

Temari laughed. It was a bitter laugh. "You just called him a cold hearted bastard… do you think a cold hearted bastard who is incapable of loving will bow to that demand? He'll probably tell you to hurry it up and kill me."

Kurotsuchi frowned for a second. "Well, since you may end up dying, I might as well help myself in making you suffer as I was made to suffer when I was held up in Uzushio. And then when your brother asks why, we blame the Emperor. We might even add that he let you be captured so that you can get involved."

"You'd have to be alive to say that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

With Ai

"Raikage-sama," a messenger shinobi said to the Raikage in a fearful tone.

"What?" Ai demanded with a look at clearly said, 'It better not be bad news.'

The shinobi swallowed hard before giving his report. "The second unit was attacked by the Emperor. He was alone and it was almost annihilated…" he said.

"What?!" The Raikage grabbed the shinobi by his shirt, glaring into his eyes. "Are you surd this information is accurate? How can he fight 2000 men and nearly cripple them all?" That was the feat of past Kages. But then again, shinobi from the Hidden Leaf have always been ridiculously strong.

"I watched everything, Raikage-sama," the shinobi said.

Ai dropped the man to the ground and glared at the empty space ahead. Why did it look like things were just getting difficult with each passing moment? Never mind that, he had lost men and he was laughing and Iwa's shinobi for being weak after they had faced their own challenge. They were dealing with truly powerful people and it would not end well for them if they were not careful. He just hoped that there would not be any attack like this again because it would surely impact his shinobi negatively. Whenever Naruto appears, they were likely to just give up. There was nothing more useless than a shinobi without the will to fight.

But what was he to do about this? If this was Naruto's strategy, he was going to lose many men before he even arrives in the Wave country. "Tell the other units to inform me as soon as Naruto appears before them. They must stall. Bee and I will face him."

"Hai, Raikage-sama." The man disappeared after responding to the Raikage.

"Nine is as strong as you feared, brother," Bee said. "But with our combo, Nine will be stung by our double lariat, yoh!"

Yeah, with Bee, who could defeat them?

Konoha

Gaara took giant steps towards the office of the Hokage. He was not a happy person: far from it. If the Tsuchikage could stand in front of him, he would turn the old man into a shower of blood. Perhaps he was thinking those bloody thoughts that once made him infamous with Suna's people. He did have that record. It was threatening to come out once more because of his anger over what Iwagakure did. His beloved sister. She had nothing to do with their war and yet they had touched her. He was not going to blame Uzushio for not dropping her off at the village. Sure if such a thing had been done, this would not have happened. But this was not a time of ifs.

He had only come here because there was no other ally he could speak with other than Konoha. He could try with Uzushio, but the village had a much bigger problem. Konoha was more or less in the same boat and whatever was going to happen because of Iwa have just done would include both villages.

When Gaara walked into the Hokage's office, he found the Godaime sitting with Shikaku and her assistant.

"I'm so glad you could make it so quickly, Gaara," Tsunade said with a small smile.

Gaara walked towards the window and looked down at the quiet streets of Konoha. Suna was not quiet. The village was busy with activities. His sister needed to be returned home as soon as possible. "I travelled without much rest. I don't know what those people are even doing to my sister." His voice was just dead of any emotion as he spoke.

"I doubt they will harm her," Shikaku said in thought. "There is much to lose for Iwagakure if they do something like that."

"I figured as much," Gaara said silently. He glanced at the Godaime for a moment before speaking once more. "What do you suppose is the reason for this move? Suna is not at war with Iwagakure and we have not threatened the village in any way."

"Sometimes I don't know why Onoki does what he does. But if you look back, Iwa has a history of invading other nations if they think it will help them in some way. They also have no qualms destroying others if they perceive them as a threat," Tsunade said with a slight shake of her head. "But the reason for this move is nothing but sinister."

She was at least glad that the Kazekage was calm. For as long as she has known him, he has always been calm, never losing his calmness even in tough situations. But she could feel the anger from him. He was rightfully angry. Tsunade would not be pleased either. And Temari was his only sister. He was sure as hell not going to let Onoki get away with this one.

"It is possible that this action was taken because they heard that we were mobilizing our forces. The Uzumaki appear to be much of a threat than first thought. So they want to focus solely on destroying it. However, if Konoha stands at the borders of the Fire Nation, there is likely going to be a confrontation with the forces. Konoha does not have a good history with both the Cloud and Rock. Should a confrontation occur, you would most likely try to come to our aid if we asked.

"What is the best solution to keep this from happening? I asked myself but when Iwagakure made that move, I thought it was a good move. If they hold her hostage and threaten to kill her if we do something, we will be put in a difficult position. Temari is not our Kunoichi, we may be tempted to fight if we are forced. If they kill Temari because of that, Sun and Konoha will likely fight. When that happens, Onoki can request aid from the Raikage in fighting us," Shikaku explained with caution.

Gaara was silent for a couple of moments before responding. "But?"

"There is a massive miscalculation that will prove costly to Iwagakure," Shikaku said.

"Naruto's relationship with Temari is something that they did not account for. If we are correct, Naruto has more reasons to invade Iwagakure," Tsunade said.

Gaara nodded his head in agreement. This was a tricky situation. "She was actually coming from Uzushio when she was ambushed. I had sent her to deal with certain issues with the Emperor. If things worked out well, then we will hear from him," he said. "I cannot let this slide however. I will not the Tsuchikage get away with this."

"Neither will Konoha," Tsunade said in a hardened tone. "We know the agenda here is to make a rift between our two villages. We simply cannot allow Onoki to do as he pleases. There will have to be consequences for this transgression. Konoha will use every bit of its power to make things happen.

"The Fire Lord is also not happy that both Cloud and Rock plan to 'invade' the Fire country on their path towards Uzushio. He will also help apply pressure on the two nations. For now, I am calling an emergency summit with all the Kages here in the Fire Nation before things become chaotic in the war. We will sort out this issue and apply the means we must apply to make him pay."

"Will he agree to it?"

"We have to make him agree to it," Tsunade said in a hardened tone. "We will have to use Naruto to make it happen. What do you think he will do anyway? If he does something, it will convince Onoki to attend the summit. And we won't have to do anything."

"I will know what he will do when I hear from him. He has not said anything. But I am certain he already knows," Gaara said.

"Are we certain that he will do something?" Shikaku asked cautiously. "Will he even come here? Cloud and Rock are already marching and any lapse in his part, both the Wave and Uzushio will fall."

"We don't know. We don't know if he will even come to me," Gaara said calmly. "That is why I came here. I wanted to let you know my thoughts and see if we agree on a course of action."

Uzushiogakure

Naruto settled on his throne silently with Naori standing beside him. He wanted to deal with the Iwagakure issue. There was no telling what Kurotsuchi was doing to Temari. Either way, this was not going to be the end of the road for Temari. There was no doubt about that. Naruto would handle the situation without the assistance of Suna or the Leaf. It was perhaps his fault that Temari had been taken. He should have ensured that she was home. No, it did not matter anymore. He just had to retrieve her from those people, even if it meant laying waste to the Stone. It was unfortunate though. If there had been a plan from the start to do this, Naruto would have just had Nagato do it. He would have done it better.

It could not be helped. They needed a quick fix to the situation. He could send someone to deal with it but this was Temari, he would handle it himself. Besides, he had a bone to pick with Kurotsuchi. To think that he had bothered letting her live. But this was just the case about things in this world. Nothing ever went according to plan. Surprises did try to blindside you every now and then.

Naoki appeared in the room along with Haku and Mei. The man left the two and walked towards him. "The Kazekage is at Konoha. It would be good to make an impression on him by going there to talk to him."

Naruto's eyes shifted towards Naoki before responding. "Since when do I care about impressions? Especially to Gaara?"

Naoki smiled. "You usually don't." He said with a nod of his head. "But Gaara is Temari's brother and he cares much about his sister. It would be best to have in good terms with him as your relationship with him may affect your relationship with her."

"We are also not trusted," Naori added in thought. "In this situation, some people would even suggest that we planned for this to happen."

"That would not be out of the question. But you cannot do anything about peoples suspicions," Naruto said with a slight shrug. "I was planning on seeing him, but not in Konoha. It can't be helped. I guess I will use the opportunity to talk to someone…" he said in thought. "I will return once I finish speaking to him. We will talk about how my actions will affect our overall strategy and future plans. We simply cannot act without thinking clearly. It would ruin everything I have been working hard to create."

"Of course," Naori said with a nod. "I will ensure that Noroi and Guren are here by the time you return from Konoha."

Naruto nodded and turned his attention towards Haku and Mei. He stood up from his throne and walked towards the two before offering a smile to the latter. "I must apologize for keeping you waiting, but we have a bit of a situation here and it demands my full attention."

Mei waved her right hand. "It is fine," she said. They were at war and she had already over stayed her visit anyway.

"I am told that you are leaving…"

"Yes, but I wanted to have a word with you before I do so. I can see there is a lot to deal with but I just need a couple of moments," Mei said. "We can speak as I go to my ship."

Naruto nodded. He needed to rush to Konoha. But the teleportation marks were already placed. He would be there soon enough. He could take a couple of minutes and hopefully, Kurotsuchi isn't torturing Temari. "Haku, follow us. You will guard her as she returns home. I see she did not bring any guards."

"My duties to guard Uzushio?"

"You are not going there forever. Naoki will come to fetch you later." Naruto said calmly. "Shall we?"

Mei turned around and started walking alongside Naruto with Haku just behind them. "Although Haku has been talking to the Water Daimyo, I have received word that he has gone on to contact Lightning and Earth Daimyos."

"How unfortunate," Naruto said calmly. "Then he is after the Wave country. That is a scenario I did not consider. Feudal Lords are truly problematic." He said with a slight shake of his head. "Then you have no problem with us handling things in any way we see fit, no?"

"Not now," Mei said. "I will immediately head out to see him after landing in Kiri. No doubt he will try to force Kiri to join the war. If that happens, I will handle him. You don't have to get involved."

Naruto glanced at the woman for a moment as they exited his compound. The streets were as peaceful as ever. It was truly hard to see that these people were aware that an overwhelming force was marching towards them. "Haku will be with you. Not physically of course. He has other duties that require his abilities. But I will trust you will handle this issue."

"Thank you," Mei said. "What is happening?"

"Iwagakure decided to kidnap to Temari for some sinister motive that has the possibility of seeing the Sand clashing with Leaf," Naruto said in a measured tone.

"The same woman who came here?"

Naruto nodded.

"What is she to you?"

Naruto could feel Mei's eyes on him without blinking. "Love, you could say." He said but did not add anything to it and was not planning to add to it. "It has changed the dynamics of things because now those villages are involved. I have to go see them before retrieving Temari from Iwa's clutches. It complicates things because it does not look like I will do it cleanly."

Mei was silent for a couple of moments while studying Naruto. "You don't look really angry, but you are, aren't you?"

Naruto smiled. "You can tell?"

"I don't feel any intent from you. Then again, you seem to think logically at most times. Thinking like that helps you control your emotions." Mei said in thought. "What would happen if you let your emotions show?"

"Anger? Hatred?" Naruto smiled, it was a flat smile. "Nothing but chaos. I just got back from a battle. But I managed to control my anger then. I am afraid I am losing grip of it though."

"Wait, you were fighting?"

Naruto nodded. "I had my second encounter with Cloud forces. Buried a bunch of them before retreating. There are many of them, we must reduce their numbers," he shook his head. "You have my word that Uzushio will not interfere when you handle your Daimyo. However, should you fail to contain it; we will handle it with force."

"Of course," Mei said. She had confidence that she would deal with it. "Good luck and trying to retrieve Temari."

"You should wish luck to Iwagakure," Naruto said before disappearing along gusts of winds.

Mei turned to Haku and spoke. "He is not a happy camper, is he? Does he really care that much for that woman?"

"He does care for her but I think he is most incensed with Kurotsuchi. She was held captive here. But he released her. And now this." Haku said with a shake of his head. "He is likely going to kill her even though he had planned on having her as Tsuchikage after the war."

Mei narrowed her eyes. "What are you suggesting by that?"

Haku smiled innocently. "I said too much," he said.

Hidden Leaf

The Kazekage was sitting at Icharaku Ramen along with Jiraiya. He had come here because he had been told that Naruto frequented this place when he had been a shinobi of this village. The blond Emperor was not the person occupying his thoughts nevertheless. Gaara was more concerned about the safety of his sister more than anything. Just sitting here made him feel like he was failing her. The fact that he didn't know the exact condition she was in is what worried him. He was not going to wait for the Kage Summit before making if nothing was happening. He was going to send people into Iwagakure to see if they can retrieve her. It didn't matter if they had to kill someone to get it done. It didn't matter if Iwa would cry foul and seek war with him afterwards. The fact was that the village had crossed a line that should never be crossed.

He glanced at Jiraiya for a moment before staring at the bowl before him. "How long until Kakashi arrives at the border?"

"Two or three days," Jiraiya said in thought. "They are not moving that quickly on account of the enemy's movements. Besides, it would be best to preserve energy as we don't know what will happen when they encounter them."

"No doubt they will first sit and discuss how to move and what needs to be done and about Onoki's plan," Gaara said tonelessly. "You are not going to join?"

"If something happens, I will be rushing there," Jiraiya said. "I want to be closer to Konoha to protect it from any threats," he added in a bitter tone.

There have been things that occurred while he wasn't around the village. When Naruto was to be born, he should have been around knowing the risks that were calculated but he had not been around. Minato had ended up sacrificing his life. He should have been the one to do it. Minato should have lived. If he was alive, they probably would not have been having this war. Part of the reason Naruto left was because of how he was treated in this village. If Minato and Kushina had lived, Naruto would have stayed in this village. He would have been a fine shinobi of the Leaf.

This time around, Jiraiya was not going to leave the Leaf in the time of need. He had bad luck though. Even though he had been here when Orochimaru invaded, he had still allowed the snake to face his sensei. Had he moved quicker, had he known what was going to happen, he would have been closer to his sensei and he would have stopped Orochimaru.

Gaara sensed the bitterness in Jiraiya's tone but did not comment on it. "Konoha is fortunate to have many skilled shinobi. In case something happens, you should be able to hold on."

Jiraiya nodded. "But in war, you never know how things work out. Overwhelming power does not always win. Strategy does matter. Even if Naruto has overwhelming power, if Kumo and Stone plays this well, they could use their numbers to make Uzu suffer."

"If it is about holding Naruto back while their forces attack, would it matter? Naruto can teleport, can't he?"

"He can but his jutsu doesn't work like Minato's. However it seems it was not made for battle. It was made to remove barriers in distance. I believe that is what he used to travel between Konoha and Uzushio without anyone noticing," Jiraiya said. "In war, he would still need to travel. But we don't know how things will work out."

Gaara nodded. Nobody knew. Anything could happen. Onoki had just proved that you really needed to watch your back or something unexpected was going to catch you off-guard.

"Ayame," Naruto suddenly said, already sitting down beside Jiraiya. "You know my order, keep them coming."

Ayame nearly jumped off her feet when Naruto suddenly spoke. She hadn't seen him sit down. It was just his voice that suddenly shook her. She placed her hand on her heart and then smiled. "Naruto, don't scare me like that!" she exclaimed. She blinked once as something clicked. "Oh, sorry… I forget you are now his Majesty…" she said.

Naruto smiled. "Who would have thought that the lonely kid who walked around this village with a dark cloud over his head would one day become the Emperor?"

"Well, I had always known you'd be someone great," Ayame said with a large smile on her lips. "And you did mention it once or twice."

"I did? It must have been a rare slip of the tongue," Naruto said with a thoughtful look on his face.

Ayame laughed. "You know you never do that," she said. "No matter what, I you could never get you to say anything you did not want…" she said. "But I now I know why you once said those 'other' words," she said.

"I hadn't made an offer then, but let me make you an offer. If you want to expand your business, I would be willing to help you open ramen stands in my empire. As long as you make the same quality ramen as here." Naruto said.

"I'll think about that," Ayame said before telling him she was going to get his order ready.

"You are still a master of stealth, I see," Jiraiya said. "I only sensed a change of the breeze," he said. "But still entering here freely it seems?"

Naruto shrugged. "I did not leave Konoha as an enemy or having done something wrong to it. I just played dead for a while. Konoha has never been my enemy either. I just don't care for it and don't want it in my war," he explained. "Besides, I have not come here willingly. The situation forces me to be here."

"Predictably," Jiraiya said.

Naruto glanced at Gaara for a moment before speaking to him. "Kazekage," he said.

"Emperor," Gaara acknowledged with a nod of his head. "Tell me what happened? My sister was in your village before this happened. You didn't know this was going to happen?"

Naruto didn't look at Gaara when he responded. His response didn't come immediately either. "You have not heard, it seems," he said.

"Heard what?" Jiraiya asked with narrowed eyes. He didn't think this was one of Naruto's ploys to control the conversation and divert them away from what Gaara was asking. He didn't think the blond would do that though.

"Just yesterday, I attacked two thousand men from the Cloud and buried them. Not all of them of course but I disabled about 90% of them before retreating," Naruto said in thought. "It was before this battle that I was told of what happened. But we could not return home immediately. I had to prepare the field for battle before going back home. The land was vast and I could not just send an army if clones to do it as it would alert the enemy. This activity ended up taking too much time I only returned to Uzu today."

"I didn't think you of all people would actually think of laying traps," Jiraiya said. "You may hide it but you really do enjoy fighting."

"Against strong opponents," Naruto corrected. "But this is not about my pleasure. The survival of the Uzumaki clan is at stake here and I honestly cannot risk anything. I know the enemy is large, that is why strategy is important. Didn't you always say that even a stronger shinobi can be defeated by someone weaker? It isn't the number of jutsu but the use and effectiveness thereof that determines victory. I have power, but that alone is not enough. Strategy is also important."

"At least you learned something from me…"

Naruto shrugged. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I learned this from the Sandaime Hokage…" he said.

"You could have just allowed me to have the victory," Jiraiya said.

"I'm not that kind," Naruto said before responding to Gaara. "I did not know anything about it. If I had even known that there was such a plan, I would have had Naori accompany Temari through the desert. But doing so would have meant that he would have not been able to join me in battle."

Gaara nodded, accepting Naruto's words. "Then where do you stand with my sister?" Part of the reason he had even sent her to Uzu was because he really wanted her to solve her issues with Naruto. If they had solved their issues, then expected Naruto to do something.

Naruto smiled as Ayame brought his order. He said his silent thanks and dug in. Ah, this is still good, he mused before responding to Gaara. "I'm on her side," Naruto said. "I was very disturbed when I was informed of her situation."

It was really difficult to tell if Naruto was really angry. There was nothing in his tone that suggested otherwise. There was nothing in Gaara's face that said he was angry but his tone gave away the anger. Yet with the Emperor, there was nothing. "It is really hard to tell…"

Naruto turned his eyes to face Gaara but he did not say anything, not until a couple of minutes passed anyway. He first enjoyed his ramen before responding. "You will know that I am displeased soon enough. Temari, I will retrieve but I thought I should just give you a warning to what I will do and I also wanted to know what you have decided to do. Of course, I would still need to discuss things to see where it leads us."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "What are you planning to do Naruto?"

"I know Temari is currently being held at Iwagakure. They have secured the village and put on one of their Jinchuriki as a guard but I am still going to go there and ask for her to be returned."

"Are you planning to send your airship? No doubt it was created as a weapon…"

Naruto shook his head. "In a case where there is a Jinchuriki, I cannot take it unless forced. It would just become a shooting target," he said. "There are means. But Temari will be retrieved at the end of the day. What have you planned? A Kage Summit?"

"Yes," Gaara said. "But I also wanted to see shinobi to Iwagakure to try to retrieve her," he added.

"Both Ai and Onoki are most likely to reject a call for a summit at this stage. They are at war and would not want to leave their men when we have already attacked them," Naruto said in thought. "That is fine though… the idea of a summit. I will give Onoki reasons to attend it and I will be honorable by not attacking them. The safest thing of course would be to have me attend the summit," he added.

"I smell something fishy," Jiraiya said.

Gaara ignored this. "You promise me that you will bring back my sister?"

"Of course," Naruto said with a nod of his head. "As Emperor, my word should mean much more, especially a promise. If I just went around saying things, my words would not have value."

"Then I will hear from you," Gaara said. "The place and time for the summit has already been selected. By tomorrow, the summons should reach all Kages. I think both Ai and Onoki will object to your presence since you are not a Kage and they both hate you."

Naruto shrugged. "I could care less about their petty feelings," he said indifferently. He took out money and placed it down before taking his bowl. "Next time you see me, I will be returning your sister…" he disappeared after saying those words.

A couple of minutes later

"I was beginning to think I had made a mistake," Yugao said as Naruto walked towards her, carrying a ramen bowl. She was sitting a tree branch, within the forest of death, in her Anbu uniform.

Naruto jumped up and sat beside her. He did not glance toward her as he responded. "I was still talking to the Kazekage and Jiraiya about what to do about this situation we find ourselves in…" he said.

"Why did you call me? I am not your spy, you know," she said in a hardened tone.

"There is not a point I came to suggest that," Naruto said with a shrug. He took out a scroll and handed it to Yugao. "After the war, you can give that to Shikamaru. My arrangement with the Sandaime was that he would allow me to leave Konoha for Uzu as long at the end, Uzu and Konoha become allies. Terms also included a political marriage," he frowned upon saying that.

"Ah, even you can frown," Yugao said with a smile.

"It was a tricky situation I found myself in," Naruto said. "The Sandaime did not buy my threat to release the Kyubi because he knew I really wanted to live. And he was certain he would be able to handle things even if the Kyubi were to be released. I had to improvise. Good thing he cared for me and thought deeply about what was best for Konoha."

"But you don't."

"Not even a little," Naruto said. "But I made the arrangement with the Sandaime Hokage. I cannot break away from that. Besides, he had measures put to ensure I don't break from the arrangement."

"That he did," Yugao said. "I'll still continue to oversee things until everything is in place."

"My people will speak to you from now on," Naruto said. "Oh, please do tell Kurenai that I will come for my genjutsu lessons. I did ask for the lessons before."

"Is that whom you are targeting?"

"Of course not," Naruto said. "But she would not be a bad choice. I always figured if the Sandaime selected someone, it would be you."

"I wouldn't have agreed to it."

Naruto glanced at the Anbu with a raised eye brow. "Do you find ne that unattractive?" Her response had come too quickly.

"I am not going to fall for it by answering that question. You obviously have something lined up in case I answer any other way," Yugao said calmly. "I will give Kurenai your message. I am not sure she will be too thrilled though."

"It doesn't matter…" Naruto said.

Yugao stared at his form for a moment before speaking. "You chose to die not only because it provided you cover. I mean if you are dead, Konoha had no reasons to look for you. If you had just left, and gone to Uzu, you would have been forced to reveal your agreement with the Sandaime before you were close to reaching your goal. Dying made sure you did not reveal anything and you never became an enemy of Konoha. Technically, you are still a Konoha shinobi. Your return from the dead changed that status. Konoha never declared you a rogue shinobi."

"Now that is a wild thought, don't you think?"

"Keep telling yourself that," Yugao said. "What was it that the Sandaime had on you that forced you to agree on terms you obviously don't like?"

Naruto was silent for a couple of moments before responding. "He didn't buy my threats but also made a threat to me. A threat he could carry out and one that would destroy everything. He just had to open his mouth." He said. "And you're not the only one who knew about this. He told me this in case I decided to have you killed upon his death."

"No doubt you would have done so," Yugao said. "And you think I'd agree to marry you when I know you wouldn't blink trying to kill me?"

"I thought you were not entertaining that thought, Yugao," Naruto said. "Did the Sandaime perhaps try to get you to agree to it before he died?"

"Who knows?" Yugao said. "Then who is the other person?"

"Don't know. I have tirelessly looked but I did not find anyone. I once thought it was Itachi given that he did speak to the old man but that turned out to be false. And I bothered quickening his death," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "Keep the scroll safe and only Shikamaru must know its contents."

"Why Shikamaru?"

"A Nara was chosen to oversee things," Naruto said. "Perhaps the Sandaime also let slip of some things to Shikaku which is why he decided to send Shikamaru to Uzushiogakure without Tsunade knowing…."

Amegakure

Naruto looked through the village Hidden in Rain from the tallest tower. He always found it fascinating whenever he came to this village. Amegakure was indeed a unique village. There was no village that was like it. Today, was also a good day as the god of this village was allowing the villagers to have a bit of the sun. But the moment he went out, the rain would return. It was pleasant now that it was not always raining. Nagato didn't have to always feel like someone was out there. He had Uzushio to watch his back. This village was still on lockout though – just as Uzushio was. But once the war was done and dusted, it would be open for all.

Amegakure was overall a very peaceful village. It was a pity that people often used the Rain as a battlefield. Then again, the bigger nations never allowed battles to occur close to their villages in fears of things spilling into their gates. Civilians would be caught. But when it came to civilians of other villages, they did not care. The Great Nations were truly careless. The Land of Hot Waters would be turned into another battlefield now. But what would they do about it? They just had to keep their gates locked and hope that things don't last long.

Naruto was sitting at his favored location with his back pressed against the wall. Naori and Noroi were already in the village, just looking around. They were not needed with him here.

"Are going for another battle?" Nagato asked as he walked towards the blond with Konan slowly behind him.

Naruto glanced at the man for a moment before looking at the peaceful streets. "But it's not against the numbers we are facing in battle. I am going to invade Iwagakure," he said.

Nagato raised an eye brow. Something had to have happened because they had decided against an invasion on these villages. They would defeat them in battle rather than invading them. It would have been much simpler to just invade but that would not have helped their cause. "Has something happened?"

Naruto nodded but did not immediately respond. He looked at Konan for a second before speaking. "Iwagakure has the Kazekage's sister. I have to retrieve her. It won't be a full blown invasion. But I will face a Jinchuriki."

"If you are going to invade, won't they decide to move out while you are fighting?" Konan asked calmly. They would not wait for him to finish fighting. They would even have the chance to kill her while he was busy fighting.

"Diversion," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "It will affect our situation in Iwagakure but it cannot be helped."

Nagato did not like this but they must have thought this through before deciding to make a move. Naruto wasn't the one to make decisions without thinking first. "Why have they done this? What is the end goal? And why are you doing it? She has nothing to do with the Empire's goals. We don't have to act because of that."

Naruto smiled. "That is a good argument. Temari indeed has no value to our goals. We could let her be and it would not affect us in any way. Suna would blame Iwa," he said calmly. "But aside from it being personal with me, there was a calculated move behind this. Iwagakure wants to make Suna and Konoha fight while keeping them out of the battle. It would be bad for us if those two fought.

"For now, things work well when they are a civil. It is even better now since my attack in Iwa has both Konoha and Suna agreeing. I will not be putting the civilians in danger. If we can take advantage of the situation we can get those two to support any consequence Iwa has to face for its actions."

Nagato nodded. As expected, Naruto had thought about things. He wasn't just acting recklessly. "Both Cloud and Stone should be meeting soon. We should make a move once more before they do."

"That is part of the reason I stopped by here. Their numbers are still too large. Both you and I will attack. We will reduce their numbers before they meet." Naruto said. "Konan will stay behind to watch over Amegakure in case there is any movement. If it is too much, with my mobility, I will move to intercept. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes," Nagato said with a nod of his head.

"Konoha is planning to force both Onoki and Ai into a Kage Summit. Our actions will convince them to go to the summit to take a breather and think through things over their losses," Naruto said.

"You plan to use the summit to lay the seed for what is about to come after the war?" Konan asked. "It won't make difference with both Onoki and Ai as they are surely going to die in this war."

"But their guards will be alive and will witness everything. Even if the guards die, it does not matter because this will be to contain the other three," Naruto said in a measured tone. He then stood up. "Be ready for when I return. I assured Konoha that we would not attack during the summit."

"So want to make an attack before…"

Naruto smiled. "We have to. Their numbers are honestly frightening to us. We must use our power effectively to stop things from becoming dangerous for us. If they enter the Fire Nation and get close to the Wave in their current numbers, the Wave will fall. We will not be able to defend it. For this reason, we must use this means."

"And you are also excited about the idea of fighting alongside Nagato," Konan said with a stare.

"Guilty," Naruto said. "I won't be long." He said before jumping from the balcony. He did need to fetch Naori and Noroi before leaving the village. It would not end well for Temari if he did not take those two.

About two hours later

The Hidden Stone nearly came to standstill when something flashed from the sky and crashed into the Tsuchikage building. The large building was hit and exploded into debris. Every part of the building crashed, creating a large mushroom of debris. Powerful gusts of wind blasted debris through the streets. When everything cleared, Naruto was standing still amongst the small bits of debris that lay around.

It took just seconds for him to be surrounded by shinobi, some masked and many without. Kurotsuchi stepped up with a smile on her lips. Naruto could recognize the Jinchuriki behind her. "Welcome to Iwagakure, your Majesty," she said in a mocking tone. "If you had said you would be coming, I would have prepared a feast for you. But I suppose this will do."

Naruto just looked at the black haired with indifference. Then then turned away from the woman. "I would rather not have civilians involved. Let us take this outside," he said in an indifferent tone.

"How kind of you," Kurotsuchi said.

"I don't have time for your sarcasm, but if you still want to fight here, I have no problem in stepping on your throats now," Naruto with his eyes narrowed behind him.

"We will take your offer," Kurotsuchi said. "But I thought you came here for Temari. Don't you want to know what happened to her? I quite enjoyed her pained screams when I gave her the same treatment you had given to me when I was your guest. I thought you would-"

Nobody saw him move, but Naruto was standing in front of Kurotsuchi. His face inches away from hers. Before anyone could move, there was a sudden burst of potent chakra that caused the very ground Naruto stood on to crack. Kurotsuchi fell down when the chakra hit her.

"I let you live before but my grace does not extend further than this. You will die before I live this village. Don't worry though, I will release your chakra and then crush you." Naruto then took a step back. "But I am still a merciful person: You have 1 minute to say your goodbyes. And I will begin laughtering these people while you watch helplessly."