28 KUMOGAKURE JOINS THE COALITION

Kumogakure or Hidden village by clouds is the hidden village of Land of Lightning and is one of the 5 great shinobi countries.The village is located in a range of tall mountains, and is literally hidden in the clouds. Many kumogakure ninja are famous for the Lightning Release techniques. The Raikage office is a blue shaped building built into the tallest mountain.

I was received at the entrance of the village by Raikage himself along with his assistant Mabui and his student Darui. There are a few more elders behind him.

Raikage A is a dark skinned man with a large build and white hair combed back, a small moustache and goatee. He is wearing a white haori without a shirt underneath along with the traditional Raikage hat. He wore large, golden vambraces on his wrists,also a gold belt around his waist with a boar's face engraved in the centre, black pants with torn ends, kumo-nin shin guards and shinobi sandals. My first impression of him was a professional wrestler.

"Its good to see you personally A san, you are more like a soldier than someone who can sit behind a desk. But for the last 11 years Kumogakure only became stronger under your leadership, so looks can be deceiving."- Ichika

Mabui, Darui along with all those who were present were surprised at my frankness. A was taken back for a while, but started laughing loudly after a while.

"Well tell that to my assistant, Mabui. she is the one who keeps increasing my paperwork. I don't get a breather to enjoy myself. Anyway Welcome to Kumogakure Ichika Hime. Come let's talk in the council room, the kumo council members are eager to meet the rumored Fire Princess."- Raikage A

We started moving at a leisure pace, while checking the surroundings, civilians and ninjas. The streets are wide. Unlike Konoha, the civilians and ninjas residential areas clearly divided, so are the merchant shops. Seems like agricultural goods are a bit expensive here, compared to other villages. The council room is just behind the raikage office. We arrived there in 20 minutes. The council room is a huge circular room, divided into 2 half. First half is shinobi family heads, elders and Raikage and the second half is for civilian council members. As soon as we entered the council room, we were greeted politely and Raikage pointed me to a seat beside him. I quickly took my seat beside him. I noticed few of the Kumo envoys that are present during the University opening. The council room is silent for a while, waiting for someone to start the proceedings.

"A san and the council members of Kumogakure, today i have come here as the 5th Hokage of Konohagakure and also as a representative of Coalition to formally invite Kumogakure to join the Coalition as one of the five great hidden villages. The challenges we Shinobi are going to face in the next decade will determine the very future of shinobi continent. Despite our Coalition forces strength we are still not sure whether we will survive the ordeal we are going to face and i am sure as well Kumogakure too doesn't have the chance. We all can improve our chances, only if we stand together as one."- Ichika

Some of the council and shinobi family heads showed acceptance to my words, where as most of them showed contempt to my words.

"Hime Sama, if this is about Akatsuki, then aren't you exaggerating things a bit too much. They are not that strong. Our Raikage already repelled 2 members of Akatsuki easily."- Random council member 1

"What do you all know about this Akatsuki? What they have shown is just a tip of the iceberg. Do you think, they are fools to go head on with our Shinobi nations, without any proper strength backing them. A san, i thought you will have an idea about Akatsuki strength to some extent by now. As for repelling Sasori and Deidara, they are the weakest members of the Akatsuki, even then, they escaped with minor injuries only. It takes a Kage level ninja to fight them. Then i ask this council, how many Kage level ninjas does this village have?"-Ichika

Few of them thought of rebuking my words, but they cant find proper words to counter me.

"Hime Sama, we may don't have many Kage level ninjas, but we have many elite shinobi, if they are formed as a team, then they can easily take down a Kage level Ninja. We can also strengthen our village defences and set traps around it. They won't be foolish enough to attack a Hidden village right?"- Random Council Member 2

"Yes, you are right. This plan will work, if this is against a living person. How about dead soldiers then? You must have already received a report about my battle with Orochimaru and Danzo right? He summoned the first 2 hokages to fight against me. Even though the summoned Hokage's are only at 30% strength, You don't need me to tell you guys about their strength right."- Ichika

"Ichika san, But this Orochimaru was killed by you right? If he is dead, then there is no one who can use this forbidden jutsu?"- Raikage A

"I am sorry to shatter your hope A san, but there is another summoner apart from Orochimaru. His name is Kabuto Yakushi, a genius doctor and a stealth ninja. He has been collecting DNA samples of every notable ninja there is. He is assistant and trusted aide of Orochimaru and his version of Edo Tensei, is much stronger than even Orochimaru's. Some of the Famous Kumo ninja samples he collected so far are Third Raikage and the Kinkaku Forces."-Ichika

Who among Kumo citizens or Ninja doesn't know the strength of Third Raikage and the Kinkaku Forces. If what i said is true and Kabuto can really summon them, then it will be an absolute blow to Kumogakure. A san directly smashed the table in front of him.

"Ichika san, you are not joking about this are you?"-Raikage A

"A san, if they can dare to desecrate the first 2 Hokages of their own village, what do you think will stop them from doing the same to other villages ninjas?"- Ichika

Silence reigned for a while in the council room. It was Mabui who broke the silence.

"Hime sama, can you tell us the names of the identified members of the Akatsuki?"- Mabui

"Sure. You guys already know about Sasori and Deidara. Then there are the two Monsters Kiragi and Chihiro who ambushed our Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze. Kabuto Yakushi the Summoner as mentioned before, Kisame Hoshigaki of Samehada, Tobi of space time Ninjutsu, Unknown sealing master who reached grand master level in sealing arts. Kakuzu of Takigakure, Hidan of Yugakure.Zetsu the hundred year old monster and another 2 unidentified main leaders of Akatsuki. The leader is confirmed to possess the legendary dojutsu Rinnegan, just like the Sage of the Six paths. They also have a lot of mercenary groups working for them."- Ichika

I can't tell them about Konan or Nagato, if Jiraiya sama comes to know of this, then it will endanger his life.

Kumogakure Ninja are very famous with the Sage of the Six paths, afterall they possess his many treasures and how hard it is to use them. Civilian don't know about the names i listed, but the names i listed are all kage level or above ninja.

" Raikage A sama, can't we defeat these Akatsuki members, if we collect enough information about them. They are like 10 members at most."- Random council member 3

"Darui, explain to these Civilian ignorants about the listed Akatsuki members."- Raikage A

"Yes Raikage sama. You all may think, they are just few in numbers. But all these Akatsuki are world renowned famous criminals.

Deidara the "Bomber" of Iwagakure is a pain with his Aerial attacks. He can easily destroy a medium scale village on his own.

Sasori of the Red sands from Sunagakure, is once in a century genius of puppetry, known to control over 100 puppets. Has the ability to destroy a medium scale village on his own.

"Blood Demon" Kiragi of Kirigakure, former head of their ANBU corps possess a unique Kekkai Genkai, that allows him to remain alive as long as there is a single drop of blood in his body. No one who faced him remained alive. So we don't know the full extent of his abilities. But as someone who was able to hurt Minato Namikaze, he can easily challenge a medium to high level village on his own.

"Thousand Monster" Chihiro of Tanigakure, possess a unique trait that allows him to Mimic any mythical beast. Has the strength to destroy a medium to high level village on his own.

Kakuzu of Takigakure. Said to be the only person who escaped alive from his failed assassination attempt on First Hokage Hashirama Senju. When his village elders tried to punish him, he killed all of them and escaped the village. Can easily destroy a high level village.

Hidan of Yugakure. Nothing much is known of him. Except he never failed in any missions he was sent to. He is rumoured to be Immortal. Can destroy a medium level village on his own.

Kisame Hoshigaki of Kirigakure is the strongest of the seven swordsman of the Mist. Possess so much chakra that he is dubbed as Tailless beast. Combine Him with his sword Samehada, he can easily destroy a medium to high level village.

Zetsu, nothing much is known of him. But Ichika Sama told us he is a hundred year old monster. Just the proof he was able to live for so long shows us how high his chakra reserves are. Will rate him as a threat to medium level village.

Tobi, nothing much is known about him too. But as Ichika sama told us, if he can use space-time ninjutsu, he is as much dangerous as Minato Namikaze. Can destroy a high level village on his own.

Kabuto Yakushi, if he can summon the warriors from the dead as Orochimaru, then he alone is a threat to even great hidden village like us.

As for their leaders, we don't know much about them. But if they are able to bring these all S rank criminals under one roof, that alone speaks volumes about their strength. Add Rinnegan to it, we have a major threat who can destroy a great hidden village on their own.

Sad thing is these bastards move in a groups of two, so their threat level rises by a level easily."- Darui

After Darui san explanation, even a baby can understand the threat Akatsuki poses, not to mention all these high ranking members of Kumogakure.

"I know most of them still think, that they can defeat Akatsuki, but the cost to be paid will be equally enough. After your fight with Akatsuki, there won't be 5 great hidden villages anymore. You will be the first of the Akatsuki targets as you are all isolated from the remaining hidden villages and countries. Our coalition forces will suffer, but at least we can survive to some extent. So what will be your answer A san?- Ichika

"What will be our status if we join the coalition Ichika san?"- Raikage

"As one of the 5 great hidden villages, you will also be treated the same us. You will get a chance and vote during the coalition meetings and decision makings. We can exchange various trade, economical and military agreements that is beneficial to us all. If you can join us A san, then there won't be anymore wars among shinobi villages. We don't need to send childrens to their deaths."- Ichika

"Our children are not afraid of wars Hime sama"- Random Foolish Councilor number 4

I was thoroughly angered by these ignorant fools, who are still trying to cling to their isolation and bringing ruin to their village.

"SHUT UP YOU IGNORANT FOOOOOOOOL. What do you know about wars? Look around you. Observe the world you are living in. Can you feel the beating of a thousand desperate hearts? Can you see the fear for tomorrow in the looks of people? Can you hear the cries of thousands of mothers who are losing their children each day?Now ask yourself, is this the place where you always wanted to live? Is this the place where each child expects to grow up when they open their innocent eyes and see the world for the first time? Are you able to look in the eyes of those children without the feeling of shame for this reality full of evil, which they have to face? Is this what we have prepared for them throughout centuries and years?

We cannot deny the simple truth that we were the ones who have been constantly shaping this reality. But another simple truth is that it is not too late to change something. We can make this world a better place if we try. So why not to create good instead of evil? Why not to make peace instead of war? Why not to spread love and compassion instead of hate and arrogance?

No one is born with evil within. We are born, filled with love towards everyone and everything around us. But instead of just following our hearts full of light, we keep feeding ourselves with darkness over and over again. When did we stop to judge people by their personality and started to consider the color of their skin? What urged us to acknowledge someone as an enemy just because of the place they were born in? Are the borders that someone has drawn on the map powerful enough to build in our souls the borders of prejudice, alienating us from each other? Yes, they are! As long as we let them be. As long as we teach our children to let them be powerful enough.

When the world and this life are nearly destroyed by the evil and hate we spread, we would hardly care about the power we have towards others. So why won't we stop caring about it right now, at this very moment? Why won't we start making this world a better place by creating peace and compassion? And finally, why won't we earn the right to look at our children's eyes with the feeling of pride for the world we have built for them?

Think about these questions and, no doubt, you will find the answers. Because the answers to those questions are buried deep inside each one of us. And we will discover those answers as soon as we dispel the dust of evil and hate from our hearts and trust each other."- Ichika

I just settled in my seat after that, ignoring whatever is happening around me. Didn't they learn anything during the 3 previous shinobi world war.

"Ichika san, how long does this coalition last? Is it until we defeat Akatsuki?"- Raikage A

"No, the coalition will last even after our fight with Akatsuki. Akatsuki is only the primary reason for my insistence towards a coalition. But the major reason is, there are another 2 continents out there in the Mighty ocean. One of the continents, Barbarian continent is leading a exploration of Mighty ocean and they have already conquered half of the islands. With the pace they are moving, they will reach our continent in 4 to 5 years. The first place to be hit by them will be eastern Kumogakure and Kirigakure. The quality and quantity of their soldiers vastly outnumber us. Every island, they have crossed so far is only left with complete destruction and ruins."- Ichika

Apart from Raikage and a few other Shinobi Family heads, most of them are surprised at the news i disclosed.

"A san, why are you not questioning me about the existence of other continents on the mighty ocean?"- Ichika

"Ichika san, the truth is there are a few records of other continent by our ancestor. You see Mabui san, she has a unique gift of sending any object at the speed of light to any part of the continent. It was one of her ancestors, who accidentally want to test his limits of gift and teleported himself to an unknown continent. It took him 12 years to make it back here. Let's say his experiences are not good, he came back a broken man. Before dying he stressed repeatedly for us to not venture out into the ocean."- Raikage A

Now it was my turn to be surprised, no wonder the barbarians are moving as if they are searching for something. Could this ancestor of theirs revealed the existence of our continent.

"A san, now you know the problems we are going to face, do you still refuse to join the coalition?"- Ichika

"No Ichika san, i may be a brute but not an idiot. I know the limits of our strength. We will join the coalition. Hope we will look in our children's eyes proudly as we will be fighting for their future from now."- Raikage A

"Good A san, we will finalise the details at the Gokage meeting. I will say this for sure, None of you will ever regret making this decision today."- Ichika

We still have close to 3 weeks before Gokage meeting, so decided to spend a week here in Kumo before heading to Land of Iron.