262. Troubles

----

The leader of Takigakure, Shibuki, stared at the intelligence report in his hands, a deep frown etched onto his face.

For years, Takigakure had relied on its unique geographical advantages to maintain a stance of isolation choosing to remain detached from the shinobi world's conflicts.

The Great Ninja Wars? Those were other villages' problems.

But this time, things were different.

Their enemies had set their sights on the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki.

Yes, Takigakure's location was indeed well-hidden so much so that ordinary shinobi couldn't even find the village's entrance, let alone invade.

The problem was… this enemy wasn't ordinary. They didn't need an entrance.

And on top of that, there was Fū's reckless personality, which only made Shibuki's headache worse.

With a loud bang, the door swung open, and Fū bounced into the room, eyes filled with anticipation.

"Shibuki! Can I go outside now?"

Trailing behind her, her assigned guards, Hōen and Yōrō, followed with helpless expressions.

"Shibuki-sama, we—"

Shibuki waved a hand, signalling that he wasn't blaming them. Then he turned to Fū and sighed.

"Fū, I told you already you're not allowed outside for the time being. You just asked me the same thing yesterday."

"But I'm so bored!" Fū whined, throwing herself onto the floor and flailing her arms and legs. "Naruto and the others promised they'd come visit me, but they never did! So mean!"

Shibuki pinched the bridge of his nose. "You mean Uzumaki Naruto? He's a jonin now, of course; he's busy. Unlike you, he's not running around causing trouble for his village leader."

And he's a jinchūriki too, Shibuki thought to himself. Konoha must be keeping a tight watch over him. There's no way they'd let him freely visit another village.

"I don't care, I don't care! I'm so bored! I need to go outside!"

Fū flipped onto her stomach, pounded the floor with her fists, and then rolled from one end of the room to the other and back again like a sulking hamster throwing a tantrum.

Shibuki massaged his temples. "Enough, Fū!"

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as if she had an idea. She sprang to her feet.

"Oh, I know! If Naruto and the others won't come visit me, I'll just go visit them in Konoha!"

"Absolutely not!" Shibuki quickly grabbed her by the shoulders, letting out a weary sigh. "…Fine, fine. There might be an opportunity for you to go outside in a few days. I'll take you with me."

"Really?!" Fū's eyes sparkled with excitement. "You promise, right? No take-backs!"

"Yes, yes. Just be patient and wait quietly. No more complaining."

"Mm-hmm!" Satisfied, Fū skipped out of the office, humming to herself.

Shibuki gestured toward Hōen and Yōrō. "Keep an eye on her."

"Yes, sir." They nodded in unison, though they both knew it was easier said than done.

---

Meanwhile, in Iwagakure, Ōnoki was feeling very conflicted.

On one hand, he was quite pleased to see the Raikage take a beating. Serves him right for stalling on the Five Kage Summit.

On the other hand… he couldn't afford to underestimate an enemy who could humiliate the Raikage like this.

Just then, the door slammed open, and Kurotsuchi barged in.

"Hey, Gramps! Is it true what they're saying about Kumogakure?"

Ōnoki scowled. "How many times do I have to tell you to knock before entering?"

But then he sighed and nodded. "It's true. This time, we're dealing with a truly troublesome enemy."

Kurotsuchi ignored the scolding and instead smirked.

"So Deidara-nii ended up joining such a powerful group, huh? Think he was the one who did it?"

"Don't bring up that brat!" Ōnoki huffed, his moustache quivering in irritation. "That fool wishes he could do something like this! Besides, Kumogakure is full of Lightning Release users—he wouldn't last five minutes before they fried him."

Kurotsuchi tapped her chin in thought. "So it must've been someone else… But what if they come for us next?"

Ōnoki wasn't completely confident about facing this unknown enemy, but as the Tsuchikage, he couldn't afford to show weakness.

"Hmph. If they come here, I'll obliterate them with a single Jinton attack!"

"Sure, sure," Kurotsuchi responded half-heartedly.

Ōnoki's eyebrow twitched. "What kind of reaction is that?!"

Floating upward to meet her eye level, he was just about to give her a proper lecture—

When suddenly, his expression twisted in pain.

"Ah! My back!"

Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes. "I told you to stop overexerting yourself."

She pulled out a letter and handed it to him. "Here, this came from Mifune in the Land of Iron."

The Land of Iron was a rare neutral territory with no hidden village, instead relying on samurai warriors. Many samurai prided themselves on their ability to draw their swords faster than shinobi could form hand seals, making them formidable opponents in certain matchups.

Some samurai even looked down on shinobi for their underhanded tactics.

Mifune, however, was different. As the leader of the Land of Iron, his status was roughly equivalent to that of a Kage. He had personally fought legendary figures and knew the true strength of shinobi firsthand.

His most notable battle had been against Hanzo the Salamander a feat that, while impressive, ranked slightly below someone like Kakuzu in notoriety.

The upcoming Five Kage Summit was set to take place in the Land of Iron, so Ōnoki assumed Mifune's letter was related to that.

Grimacing as he straightened up, he took the letter and read it.

"What's it say?" Kurotsuchi asked, peering over his shoulder.

Ōnoki frowned. "It's a request. The leader of Takigakure wants to observe the Five Kage Summit, and Mifune wants to know if we approve."

Kurotsuchi tilted her head. "Takigakure? That secluded little village?"

"That's right. Small as they are, they do have the Seven-Tails." Ōnoki smirked knowingly. "Looks like they finally realized they can't protect it from Akatsuki and want to ask for help."

"Are we agreeing to it?"

"Of course. The Seven-Tails is one of Akatsuki's targets. Any extra advantage we can get is worth considering."

Besides… Ōnoki had another idea.

If they needed bait to lure out Akatsuki, they'd never get away with using Konoha's, Kirigakure's, or Sunagakure's jinchūriki. But Takigakure's? No one would object to that.

Takigakure's opinion? Hah—who cares what a minor village thinks?

---

The same request was sent to the other villages, and unsurprisingly, there was little opposition. Since it involved Tailed Beasts, Takigakure had a legitimate stake in the matter.

The Raikage, in particular, had no objections.

He had one goal: destroying Akatsuki.

If using the Seven-Tails could draw them out, he'd personally stand guard at Takigakure's gate if he had to.

---

Meanwhile, Akatsuki was busier than ever.

With fewer members, extracting Tailed Beasts was taking longer than expected.

Once they finished sealing the Eight-Tails, Nagato would have to repair the damaged Pains, as well as create a new Animal Path to replace the one they lost.

And on top of that, their outsourced work with the mercenaries hadn't progressed at all.

They'd have to send someone to check-in.

They wouldn't have just taken the money and run… right?

----

Don't forget to drop some Power Stones!

For early access to advanced chapters on p@treon.

P@treon/iamxeno

Thank you so much for your support and for reading!