Ch217. Reactions to the battle.

Author Note:

Yeah, sorry, guys.

I didn't notice the chapters set on the timer for release ran out so yesterday there was no chapter.

Good for you too, that I actually went to check comments on a spur of a moment otherwise I probably wouldn't notice so soon :D.

Anyway, have fun.

---

"Did you see that, B?" The Raikage quietly asked as the screen in front of him showed the devastation caused by the slash of the massive Lightning Susanoo.

"Which bit do you mean? There was quite a lot to be seen!" B rapped, causing Raikage's eyebrows to twitch in mild annoyance and completely breaking the dreary mood.

"The lightning armor, you idiot! It is obvious that bitch based it on my Jutsu and yet it was manyfold better than my Lightning Chakra Mode!" Raikage yelled.

"Yeah... wicked." B stated, no longer in his usual cheerful manner. His tone was serious and grim, showing he totally understood the threat Ringo could pose to them.

Raikage collapsed into his seat with a difficult expression as a pensive silence filled the room, both B and A pondering about what they just saw.

It took a few minutes before Raikage slowly started speaking in a very tired tone, "I can't believe it." He rubbed his forehead, "Just a few years ago, I could have killed the woman with one punch. ONE PUNCH!" He raised his fist, to emphasize the point while B nodded. Raikage huffed, "And now... the bitch responsible for the death of my fiancee is... that? The world is cruel B. So very cruel." Raikage slumped in defeat.

B had no idea how to console his brother and even Hachibi was unnaturally quiet. They understood... A might have already given up on revenge but that didn't mean his hatred for the perpetrators diminished. But now...

Now Ringo Ameyuri, the woman leading the army that killed his fiance and shamed them into retreating showed she plagiarized A's famed Lightning Chakra Cloak, made it into something much better, much powerful, and on top of all that, she went blow for blow against Sanbi, something only A's father did. That last bit, probably stung A's pride the most as B knew A always secretly admired the sheer power of his father.

Worse yet, when she was a simple rogue ninja, A could always hope somebody would one day drag her dead or still-kicking-but-immobilized body in order to collect the massive reward Kumogakure was offering for her head. Sure, the hope was fleeting but it was still there. Now, however, Ringo would become the Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure and that meant she was untouchable. Nothing short of war against Kirigakure would provide a chance to get at her.

There was a problem with that train of thought, though...

"She is a damn bijuu level threat." Raikage morosely muttered as B sat rooted in his place, looking at him in sadness. "We will have to... have to, ugh, start negotiating an alliance with Kirigakure." A barely managed to let that sentence out. It was one thing to ignore them, and it was completely another thing to try and befriend them when all he wanted was to destroy them. But... Kirigakure now had Ringo Ameyuri who could go head-on against a bijuu. They also had one jinchuuriki and will have another after Sanbi reforms while the civil war everybody expected to weaken them didn't really cause all that much damage to their ranks. The number of their ninjas didn't drop by much.

In fact, Kirigakure came out of the civil war even stronger than it was before and that was what really infuriated A to no end.

"B... go and call Mabui. I need to start preparations." A grunted, making B nod and stand up.

'Well, I don't think I can comfort him much. Nope... this needs a woman's touch. Tell Mabui I shall, kono yaro, baka yaro!' B walked through the door, stopping in the middle and half-turning his head to look at A. His expression was so serious.

A stiffened in anticipation for what B was going to say. "Brozza... Don't forget to activate the silencing seals this time." He quickly ducked and ran out of the office as a paperweight flew through the place where his head was just a second ago while a loud roar shook Kumogakure.

"B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

...

Almost catatonic Obito watched the battle from afar, not really believing what he just saw.

'Did that woman just disintegrate the three-tails?' He thought in shock, his body stiff and unresponsive. 'I... this requires more thought. But still...' He suddenly grew regretful.

Obito, knowing it was fifty-fifty, still believed Yagura could win. Then again, he could also lose. But never even in his wildest dreams would he think Yagura would lose in such a manner!

'That girl is dangerous. Maybe I should invite her to Akatsuki? Then again... maybe not. She is now a Kage and if she was not agreeable to the offer.' Obito shuddered. It would take only one competent Kage and Akatsuki would have an incredibly hard time surviving. Fortunately for him, he steered far away from the at the very least semi-competent ones. That's why he mostly worked with Tsuchikage and controlled Mizukage. 'No... we are not yet strong enough to face that kind of... bullshit.' Obito relented. He thought Nagato extremely powerful. Then again... maybe he thought wrong.

"Yozora, huh? Maybe I should start paying more attention to them. Ignoring them just because they disappeared from the spotlight for a few years was clearly a mistake." He spoke in a totally serious voice, abandoning his childish act, tightly clenching his fists in anger, "They foiled my plan to avenge Rin... Years of preparations and manipulations. Do they not understand how hard it was to catch a damned Kage-level jinchuuriki off-guard with my genjutsu?" Suddenly, Obito screamed in rage and started rubbing his hair in frustration as he realized... "I will have to start again from scratch!"

If only the Biri-Biri company didn't hire a member of Yozora to fight for them. His life would be so easy! But no! It just had to be the two most insufferable organizations in existence to band together and completely ruin his plans! He tried to infiltrate or spy on the Biri-Biri company for years and he somewhat succeeded, finding out they were not really a threat. They focused on money and business, hence, they were not direct competition for Akatsuki.

No... Yozora was the problem. Organization much like Akatsuki. An organization capable of acting in the shadows, directing the flow of history according to their wishes. It only now became apparent to Obito they probably manipulated the Biri-Biri company to do their bidding, causing them to insert one of their own into a position of Mizukage. No... Yozora was shaping up to be a big headache for him and his plans.

With a huff, Obito disappeared in a swirl, thinking how he should use his pawns in the Land of Water to set another anti-clan civil war into motion.

Unfortunately for him, he was underestimating the newfound caution of the clan heads who will for all intents and purposes be ruling Kirigakure whenever Ringo couldn't be bothered. Which meant, all the time.

...

Anko leisurely laid on a sofa in the main house of the Senju clan compound in Konoha, her legs on the table and a half-empty bowl of chips on her bare belly. She and the brat decided to watch this 'event of the century' as the fight between Ringo and Yagura was advertised by the Biri-Biri company.

She brought the viewing gem, which was according to the brat who had all that fuinjutsu information stuffed in his head, a very nifty seal matrix that connected the viewing seal with the recording seal and then simply caused the viewing seal to produce a genjutsu of the events recorded by the recording seal, and they decided to have a nice afternoon watching the brawl.

She was still not comfortable with the thought of the brat calling her 'mum' and the first time he did that, she showed him why exactly that was a bad idea. Nobody can say Anko Mitarashi was a bad mentor! The kid quickly learned that the only acceptable way to call her is 'sis' or better yet, 'Sensei'. And it took only a few broken bones and a shitload of bruises too!

Then again... the brat was now scared of snakes. Oh, well... Anko decided the best cure for that was to throw even more snakes at him.

They watched as Ringo Ameyuri fought against Yagura, and later Yagura in bijuu chakra cloak, and then a fully transformed Sanbi. The entire time, Naruto had a weird expression on his face and Anko was starting to worry. It was one thing to tell the kid he is a jinchuuriki and he will have a lot of power at his command in the future if he trains it right. It was completely different for him to see exactly what it means to be a competent jinchuuriki. Yagura might have lost the battle but that wasn't because he was weak.

"Will I really be that strong one day?" Naruto quietly asked with his hand on his stomach.

Anko raised an eyebrow at him, still with well-hidden jealousy half-processing how it was possible for a kunoichi to beat Sanbi. "If you are a good boy." She replied teasingly.

What!? Nobody said she had this 'taking care of a kid' down the pat!

Naruto gave Anko a weak smile. He knew she liked him and he loved how... normal his life became since she entered it. She was the first person who actually showed him she cared... even if it was only by making sure he trained a lot and ate well. It wasn't always smooth sailing with Anko but in her own rough way, she showed Naruto she cared about him. It probably didn't help that she was as scarred and clueless as him in that department. Neither really had somebody extremely close to them before they started to live with each other.

"Thank you... Anko-nee." Whispering, Naruto turned around and left the living room, determination swirling behind his eyes. He will get stronger! If only to protect the only person who cared about him!

Anko watched the small back of the child Lady Tsunade dumped into her care and sighed as her expression softened. "Well... so much for motivating the brat." She shrugged, her sight returning towards the destroyed Kuronoami plains on the screen, her eyes hardening. "Maybe... It's time to start training more seriously."

'After all... I don't want to fall behind Naruto too much. That would simply be embarrassing!'