Chapter 34: Interlude

POV:RANDOM JOUNIN OF SUNAGAKURE

Jinpa and I raced through the trees as we did our best to escape with our quarry. The monster, ever since it became Kazekage, was extremely useful. Somehow, it had known ahead of time that the forests of Konoha were going to basically become free land during the Chunin exams and had authorised the lot of us to hunt to our heart's content within the Land of Fire. And it was right. No ANBU to be watchful about, and very little in terms of border patrol. It was like strolling into land marshalled by one of the minor villages, and not one of the Great Five. We'd made good use of the opportunity along with at least half a dozen other two man Jounin teams.

All the missions that we'd normally have been forced to turn down because of Konoha's strict rules about operating in their territory suddenly became possible again. Not just missions though as we'd quickly found out. Bounties. Konoha was very strict about bounty hunting within their territory. By that, I mean it was a hard 'no' on every request. When Jinpa and I first received the information that our target was within the Land of Fire, we'd given up and hung our heads as we abandoned weeks of work to find another quarry. But then, we'd been called into the Monster parading as a Kage's office and told that we could do as we wished as long as it all happened within a certain time frame.

Jinpa had been wary. Not me, though. I distrusted the monster, true. Everyone with a lick of common sense did. But I also knew one thing. The creature had the success of Suna as one of its priorities for the time being. All the policies, taking Suna from the edge of poverty to something resembling affluence within a year was nothing short of miraculous. Its hold on the Daimyo and its innovative policies meant we were all making boatloads more money than we used to.

Bounty hunting had turned Jinpa and I from Jounin struggling to make ends meet to the richest people from our families in nothing but a few months. Jinpa had even saved up enough to propose to Jinpei. Wouldn't that be a sight to see? The spoilsport getting married. I couldn't wait. This last mission probably meant he had enough money to buy one of those fancy diamond rings they started selling in the capital. I could just imagine the look on my sister's face when she saw the thing.

Jinpa's gasp drew me out of my thoughts and I turned to him, only for him to begin furiously signing at me in the Suna basic language. Fuck. A pursuer. Someone with a ton of chakra from the looks of things. Jinpa was never one to exaggerate needlessly so when he advised me to pick up the pace, I did just that. We ran like our lives depended on it. Jinpa was right not to trust the monster. I'd gambled that it wanted our success, but now it was clear that it just lured us into Konoha to sick one of those tree hugging monsters on us.

Running at full speed, jumping from tree to tree, I was barely able to find the spare second to check Jinpa's expression, but when I did it was like a lead weight had dropped into my stomach. Dread. Pure unadulterated dread.

"We've got this" I whispered to him to reassure him. "So what if we can't run. We'll just kill the tree hugging bastard and go back and do the same to that monster of a Kage that put us in this mess in the first place" I said with confidence I didn't really feel as I came to a sudden stop on the next tree branch and turned around to face whoever was chasing us.

"Oh is that so?" I heard the voice come from above me and I was barely able to throw myself backwards quickly enough to avoid the black blur to shot through the space I once occupied and tore through the thick branch I'd occupied before landing on the floor.

I got my first look at our assailant and cursed. Red clouds on a black cloak, black hair, and pupil less eyes framing a face half covered by a black mask. S-Rank number 12 in Suna's bingo book, Kakuzu of Takigakure, the immortal bounty hunter.

"You two worms seem to have something of mine. Hand it over and your deaths will be quick." He said, staring me right in the eyes like he knew I was the one carrying the scroll.

Jinpa was never known for his bravery. Neither of us had been. Even got called the cowards of the class when we both graduated all those years ago. Sure, we were the only ones who had made Jounin of the lot, but the insinuation still stuck. Both with them, and with us, That was why I was barely able to react n time when Jinpa suddenly dived into motion with a battlecry. His war fan was off his back in an instant before he swung the thing around, levelling most of the trees around us, but leaving our assailant standing right in the middle of a new clearing, completely unfazed.

I jumped in, throwing my lot with my brother in all but blood as I weaved seals as I covered the space between us. Something flew at me, and I wasn't able to react this time as it collided with my neck. It wasn;t until it began to choke me and I noticed the black threads connecting it to the man's still form that I realised it was his arm. His very strong arm. Cutting winds flew across the space between me and him, tearing the ground apart, but doing nothing for my situation. The bastard just reeled me in. Another monster, just like the one back home. But no. I wouldn't fall like this. Not like Papa did to the Ichibi. I'm a Jounin. The first in my family, ever. I'm strong.

I went limp, pretending to fall unconscious from the choking. It wasn't by much, but his grip slacked just a little bit, and I took the opportunity. My hand lashed out, kunai clutched in its grip and pum-ped with lightning chakra. The blade with my unique affinity cleaved through his hand instantly, freeing me from his grip and letting me instantly jump backwards to retreat.

I watched with a form of morbid fascination as his hand pieced itself together again, threads ripping through his body to reattach everything and keep it intact. "No blood" Jinpa whispered to me as he landed by my side and I scowled. I'd caught the realisation too. No blood, no muscle or tissue. Nothing within his body but threads, it seemed.

"Think he can survive getting his head cut?" He asked, and I almost chuckled at the reminder of one of the first things our Jounin-sensei had taught us all those years ago.

"You first" I said and we blurred into motion in unison. Jinpa had dropped his fan, as it was clear that it would do no damage. Instead, we held our matching chakra metal kunai tightly as we ran right at him. Jinpa got to him first, always that little bit faster, and slashed right at his eyes. When the monster leaned back, I was there with my own kunai poised to puncture its heart. It caught me with ease before heaving and tossing me over its head with one motion. What was that?

I landed and shunshined back in to help my brother but there was nothing I could do as his next attack was parried instantly and a kick slammed into his midsection with all the force in the world, sending him flying into the air. I switched positions and just barely managed to snatch him out of the air and land on the ground with him.

"Still alive, huh? I don't want to use any ninjutsu to avoid damaging my target, so I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." Its voice spoke out and then it just disappeared.

I could do nothing when a hand appeared around my head faster than I could afford to think or even avoid anything. "Jinpa" I whispered before I felt the pressure around my head build up as he began to squeeze. It began with pain. Intensive pain that got worse with every second, and then it stopped suddenly.

XXXXX- UNRULY AY

"And you are sure of all this?" Darui asked, looking very doubtful as we received the preliminary report of what had happened at the Hidden Leaf's chunin exams. From the moment the invitation for the exams came in with Onoki's request for a meeting, I'd known that something was off. From that point, it was child's play to figure out what the old man and the Snake from Konoha were up to. STORM had had a field day when they discovered the plot to take Konoha out of the running in one fell swoop.

"Yes I am" The agent replied almost instantly. Continuing his explanation of just what had become of Onoki's plot and the aftermath.

It was underhanded, tricky, risky, and definitely against human decency. It was just all the things the Cloud Council under my father would have approved of. Just like they sanctioned that nonsense with the Hyuga girl, they tried it again with this attack. Luckily, I'd been able to find out about their actions in time and my position was more than secure enough for me to dismiss the lot of them out of hand.

Since then, we'd kept an eye on the developing situation, but did nothing beyond moving to secure our own borders even more heavily. If Iwa and Oto succeeded in their plan, the chaos it was going to cause would have far-reaching consequences, and I had no desire to see that bleed into the Hidden Cloud. I wasn't a coward. Even those who whispered it behind my back knew it wasn't true. What I had was a healthy dose of caution and respect for Konoha. Only one man had ever managed to match my speed, and to destroy his village in such a dishonorable manner would eat at me for the rest of my life.

Not just that, though, there was also the need to have a healthy level of caution. Onoki was being led around by Orochimaru like a dog chasing a bone because of his hatred for the tree huggers. What was the guarantee that this wasn't a long plot from Sarutobi himself? No Kage as wily as Sarutobi would ever truly let their own student turn into a missing ninja. What if this was the plan all along. Have the snake start a deep cover mission posing as an enemy to the leaf's interests to draw in all the other enemies and eliminate them all in one fell swoop. I couldn't put it past the old man. One didn't live for so long as a shinobi without being a crafty bastard.

Besides, even beyond the possibility of a trap, there was also the chance that Konoha could discover their next army killer in the attack. The village had a long history of being fucked and then managing to get right out of it at the last moment. The so-called third great ninja war was one such example. They'd been on the losing end of a war on two fronts. Kumo on one side and Iwa on the other, they'd been running Konoha's forces ragged, and then Namikaze Minato came out from nowhere. Previously a Jounin of middling repute, he smashed his way into the world stage in one day by killing thousands and routing thousands more in the course of a few battles. He changed the shape of the war all on his lonesome. Neither Kumo nor Iwa would dare mobilize anything more than a few hundred ninja in the same area for fear that the army killer would get his hands on them. The monster knocked Iwa off the board with a one-two combo. First was killing off an entire generation of Shinobi at the Kanabi bridge. Second was beating Roshi of the Four tails and Han of the Five tails so badly that an entire squadron of Iwa's explosion corps had needed to be sacrificed to slow him down to let them escape with their broken and battered Jinchuriki. With Iwa knocked off, we had no choice but to end the war for peace, and that experience had taught me a valuable lesson.

Never get involved in battle when the odds of victory are too unsure. That was the truth of the attack on Konoha. Too many things were suspicious red flags, and it turned out that I was right. The young brat that had beaten Noel Yatsuki all those years ago had now become the world's next monster prodigy. S-class at the age of 12 was impressive enough, but being a perfect jinchuriki and managing to kill another S-rank ninja, the Tsuchikage himself and then somehow sealing away reanimated corpses of the first two Hokage. The fact that Orochimaru had a jutsu like that in his cabinet made me shiver at the thought. The dead were supposed to remain dead. It was just like the Hidden leaf to engage in things like that.

"Another perfect jinchuriki, huh?" Bee said, making alarm bells ring in my head. Those words hadn't rhymed. The only time that happened was when he was deep in thought. And while I loved my little brother more than anything else in this wretched world, his thoughts were not good things. He could come up with the most outlandish and foolish ideas.

"I have to meet him, big bro" He suddenly announced, making dread fill me as I blurred across the room and smashed my fist on his head. "Iron claw" I proudly pronounced. My fist sunk deeper as I applied more force and realized how much I'd missed the feeling. B and I hadn't gotten a true conversation in weeks.

"You wouldn't dare. The Kazekage brat is much more dangerous than I ever expected, and beyond that, we need you here as Kumo's guardian. The world just became a much stranger place. Iwa is bleeding, Suna and Konoha are closer than ever, and Mist is doing whatever Mist is doing." I said, pressing deeper on his head until he finally gave in. At that, I turned back to the agent giving the report and asked the question on my mind.

"What's happening next?" I asked.

"Heavy militarization on the borders of both Iwa and Suna. They seem about to break into full on war between themselves even with both their respective Kages away from their seats. Kurotsuchi of Iwa has returned home, slipping away from the grasp of her captors, but she is yet to be named Kage. Considering her age, lack of experience, strength, and the fact that her grandfather had died as a result of her being taken hostage, the elders of Iwa are heavily considering stepping in and declaring their own kage separate from Iwa's official line of succession. Kitsuchi of the Quaking Mountains is the frontrunner for the appointment."

"He's not even S-class" I cut in there. I knew the son of the Third Tsuchikage well. He was a powerful shinobi, but still a disappointment. His father had had full command over four of the elements, and he'd only managed to truly make one of them his own. Sure, he was famed for monstrous capability with the earth release and a command over his enormous chakra capacity that was unmatched by most ninja of his level. But all that was not enough to contest or compare with the present generation of Kage.

Gaara of the Sand Waterfall was the first of the new generation and he was already making his name known and whispered in the same breaths as the greats. Mei Terumi was another of the new generation but the fact that she was well on her way to managing a truly unified Kirigakure was impressive on its own. Sure, she probably didn't have the strength for the position but very few Kage had been Kage-level when they'd taken up the hats. The shoes just had a way of forcing the legs within them to swell to fill them up.

Still, thoughts of the new generation of Kage made me turn my own thoughts to my succession. Darui was the one most likely to take the position after me. A sparring injury as a child ensured that I would never birth a son of my own to take the throne after my inevitable retirement or death. Darui had enough of the blood for it though. He was my third cousin, and father had practically taken him as an apprentice. He knew the black lightning, and had the storm release, Kumo's only truly native kekkei genkai. But in terms of strength, he wasn't there yet. Not even close.

"Come with me, Darui, B. We're going to go train. My blood is pumping." I declared, walking off and dragging the two of them behind me. I could think about Konoha, Iwa, and Suna later. I needed the stress relief, and I wanted to spend time with my little brother while I could. Kage were dropping like flies, and I'd never be so arrogant as to consider myself immune from the disease that was taking them. Time would come for us all as the changing of the guard would always be inevitable. If even dad had been killed when his time came, then I'd be delusional to think of myself as any different. No, my time would come, but I would not leave my people unprepared for it.

XXXX- THE LAVA MISTRESS

I stared out from the top floor of the Kage tower at the quiet city beneath me. It was impressive just how much things could change in what was essentially just a couple of months. After losing an entire island to the actions of the power mad child from Suna, things had taken a sudden turn for the better.

The resistance suddenly saw an uptick in support from the populace. Yagura's decision to cover up what happened on the Island had done him no help as it had become accepted by many of the citizens of Mizu no Kuni that Yagura had done the deed himself. He'd weighed the effects of exposing that he'd negligently allowed a foreign S-ranker to operate within his territory with the effects of people thinking he'd done it and made the wrong choice. Yagura was mad, yes, but that particular decision went quite a bit beyond the pale. There was no reason with even an ounce of logic that I could find in it. Why not just blame the Resistance for everything and move on? Still, Yagura's madness had worked in my favour.

Eventually, even the nobles of Mizu had no choice but to call for him to resign. Bolstered by the support, the cowards had suddenly found their backbones and poured funding and support into the Resistance. We were suddenly more equipped than the Loyalists. We had better tools, funding, medical supplies, and then there were the trade sanctions from the Mizu nobles. They basically made it so not a single ship carrying goods ever made it to the major islands of Kirigakure. With all that happening, Yagura's own people slowly began to turn on him as hunger, disease, and thirst set it. We then began planning our final offensive. One last push to put paid to the reign of Yagura the Mad and the era of the Bloody mist.

That was the plan, at least. But then the reports came in. Yagura was dead. His body had given out on him and he died in his sleep, taking the Sanbi with him. I won't lie, I'd breathed a sigh of relief when the news got to me. As the resistance's only S-class combatant, it was more than expected that I'd be the one to take the helm in the fight against Yagura, and whatever confidence I had in my power didn't make me delusional enough to believe I had any chance fighting against a tailed beast.

All those who would name me a coward for reasonable caution were mad. The report I was reading lent even more credence to the thought. Gaara of the Desert. When I'd fought him, he'd been all over the place. Powerful, but also hesitant to use it. He'd had so many advantages, that the fight should never have even been close. The fact that he'd so casually annihilated the majority of that island with one jutsu was enough evidence of how dangerous the boy was. And now it seemed that the boy I'd fought was well and truly gone. He'd grown into himself. Killing the Tsuchikage was the ultimate way to say to the world, 'I am Here!'. The boy who'd been too unsure of whether to stand or fight or to retreat had suddenly been the one to kill one of the last Bastions of the Old Guard.

That's who I'd have to compare myself against. The five kage needed to be on the same level, or at least close to it for the world to know balance. When Hashirama of Konoha had still lived, that balance had been nonexistent and the world suffered for it. Sure, giving out the tailed beasts had helped, but it had also hindered his attempts for cooperation. He thought by handing superweapons to the other villages, they'd become less afraid of him and more willing to work together, but he'd had the opposite effect in his lifetime. What the villages had taken it as was a threat. I had no evidence that that wasn't his true intention beyond the words of my mother whose mother had known the man's wife, but it still made a great story and a lesson on how desiring to achieve one thing might oftentimes have the opposite effect. By giving out superweapons, he'd basically told the rest of the world that he had no fear of them. That he could so casually subdue Jinchuriki was one thing, and that he could then afford to give them out with no fear of them being used against him was another thing. The world had not truly made any progress until Hashirama was dead and buried.

Since then, all the Kage had been on roughly the same level. That was the balance of power. Now, we had another monster ascending, and if I didn't want to see the world sent into another period of stagnation like what we'd had in the immediate post-warring era period, then I had to ascend right along with him. But luckily the position of Mizukage came with just the tools I needed to do so. I put the report aside and pulled the treatise written by the second Mizukage on mist based genjutsu closer to me.

(End of Chapter)