Chapter 71-And the World Gathers!

Chapter 71

JIRAIYA-The Toad Sage

There was a time when the world seemed to be going in a circle. The times of war and peace followed each other like seasons and seemed to be becoming the new norm. Peace, the very purpose of creating the Hidden Villages, became a pipe dream as conflicts of clans turned into conflict of villages, and though this time there was no ever-present conflict like during the warring state era, the Great Ninja Wars were just as deadly.

And yet, that era was about to change once more. And Jiraiya was set to witness that change with his own eyes, as the whole continent was set to be carved into a single shogunate, a feat thought impossible but one that was becoming a reality with every passing day.

And yet before they could do this, they had to overcome one major challenge. A relic of the by gone era, trying to reshape the very world. Madara Uchiha. When he had first been told about the true enemy hiding in the shadows, he had dismissed it all, considering it nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

But with Tsunade herself supporting their Daimyo's word, he had no choice but to investigate, and in the end, the truth was even more shocking than he had thought. Madara Uchiha was alive and seeking to return to his prime, a very dangerous prospect that they had failed to stop.

Now, their only hope lay in defeating the Uchiha legend, a feat not easily accomplished.

"So, are you ready, Kushina," he asked the kyubi jinchuriki, the first one who had managed to tame the nine-tailed beast. That one thing had transformed Kushina Uzumaki from an S-ranked nin to an SS-ranked nin, making her one of the strongest people alive today.

"I am," the redhead answered, and they found themselves standing on of the Hoage faces, ready to carry out the task they had been entrusted with.

"Still, do you really think it will work," she asked him, and he shrugged.

"We will have to find out," he replied. The truth was he had been trying to find Orochimaru for years now, trying to locate his old teammate so that he could bring him to justice for the crimes he had committed against the village.

Yet to this day, all his efforts had failed him, and if he was to trust their daimyo's words, then it might have been because of Madara Uchiha. And now, with the council set to happen, he believed that Madara might be distracted, allowing his old teammate to give out a signal.

"I am still quite bummed, though," Kushina added, and he raised a brow.

"At what?" he asked.

"At being excluded from the whole Council thing," she baled out as she turned towards him.

"I cannot believe they left me here with you and took that Green Spandex wearing weird Genin," she balked out, and he laughed.

"Yeah, that was a surprise," he replied. Akihito Shirahoshi had four shinobi accompanying him. Three were the obvious choices: Tsunade, Fugaku, and Minato. But the problem came with the third.

It was a shinobi named Might Dai. An older shinobi who had the rank of genin, because he could not use any genjutsu or ninjutsu. All of them had argued against the decision to include this rather unique but powerless shinobi in the lineup, believing it to be a waste of space, especially when there was a high chance that they would be attacked by Madara during the summit.

But the young lord had persisted, going so far as to comment that the green spandex-wearing shinobi was his true trump card.

"Well, yeah, that was a surprise. No one can tell what goes on in the mind of our little daimyo," he replied. Wasn't that the truth?

"Yeah, he could have taken Lord Third. Or anyone else for that matter, yet for some reason, he chose that genin. Gods, I just hope it all works out," she sighed out and he nodded.

"Yeah, me too," and with that, he stretched his arms before he unbuckled the straps and unfurled the massive scroll tied to his back.

"Come, let us begin," he said as he unfurled the giant sealing formula. Kushina walked forward and settled down in one of the sealing arrays while he did the same in the other.

"Given that I alone was unable to find out the bastard's location using senjutsu, the daimyo-sama believed that combining that sensory technique with Kyuubi's specialized sensing may help us locate Orochimaru.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get on with it," and with that, she plopped down, and he saw her chakra shift. In an instant, the red in her hair was gone, and so was her regular shinobi outfit. Only to be replaced by an orange chakra hue that covered her from head to toe as her eye transformed into slits.

And even as she sat beside him, the presence and chakra radiating off of her was something he had never seen. He doubted that even in his sage mode he could defeat her, and to think that Madara's clone had toyed with her in this state told him just how powerful of an enemy they were dealing with.

"Damn these youngsters," he cursed as he plopped down and closed his eyes, and began to absorb the natural chakra in the air, and soon enough, he felt his senses shift as he entered the sage mode. The two years of the war had given him time enough to master the technique, with the daimyo putting special emphasis on senjutsu, believing it to be their best weapon against a Madara Uchiha armed with the legendary Rinnegan.

As soon as he entered the sage mode, he felt his senses expand; they merged with Kushina's sensing abilities, and he began to feel more of the world than he ever had. The sheer volume of information coming to him was maddening, and only the tranquillity provided by the sage mode helped him siphon through all of it as he scanned the world for a sign.

And they sat there, for how long he did not know, until he felt it. A small blip, yet that was all he needed to recognize that chakra and presence, and in an instant, he opened his eyes and stood up.

"That's him," he said. He watched as Kushina rose from her position as well. He looked to the skies and saw that they had turned black and that night had fallen.

"You have his coordinates," he asked, and she nodded as she put her hand on his back.

"Let me give you a little push."

0000

FUSHIO SUZUKI

Fushio and his retinue were running a bit late, given that they were waiting for someone rather special. On Akihito's instructions, he had called out the elite of the elite from the Kiri nin, or more specifically, the more hinged of the elites in their ranks, for even after two years of relative peace, Kiri nice, especially the elite, ended up being rather unhinged.

However, that did not matter much given that he had their Mizukage ready to whip them into line whenever they got a bit rowdy, and according to her, the stability in the last years aided by the relative peace had allowed their nin to get settled, and ease into life. Now, even as he looked at the whole spiraling village infront of him, he found it rather lively and joyful rather than the gloomy and desolate place he had overtaken nearly three years ago.

"Will he really be here?" he asked Terumi Mei as he stood there on the roof of the Kage building.

"He will be. A letter came from him earlier showing his willingness to come to the summit," she told him.

"Is it really wise to take a jinchuriki with you, knowing that you are probably springing a trap?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Akihito is doing the same thing, and so will Kumo and Iwa. It is good that Utakata has volunteered. Kiri cannot lose its prestige by not bringing a jinchuriki to play their role in this great battle," he added, and at that, the other kage guard stepped forward.

"Why cannot we just get on with it?" he spoke as he joined them from the side, his white hair falling down on his face, hiding his eyes, and his sharp teeth speaking of just who he was.

"You promised me that I would get to fight an opponent unlike any I have ever seen. I just want to get on with it," the young shinobi continued.

"Behave yourself, Mangetsu. Do you know just who you are speaking to," Terumi mei raged, but he had gotten used to the young nin's attitude. He had been one of the Third Mizukage's vanguards, a shinobi believed to rival even Mei in his prowess.

A prodigy unlike any seen by Kiri. The true Seven-Headed Deamon of the Mist, with mastery over all of Kiri's seven Ninja Swords. Kiri's penultimate devil, Mangetsu Hozuki.

And then suddenly, the boy perked up and turned to the side, his expression loosing the nonchalance.

"I think he is here," and at that, he suddenly found a few bubbles falling out of the skies, and frowned before suddenly he saw a rather large bubble flying towards them, inside which was a shinobi dressed in a blue kimono with a flute-like an object in his hand.

"It's him," Mei told him as the bubble landed and exploded, and the shinobi walked towards them.

"I apologise for the delay, Mizukage-sama, Daimyo-sama. I had to find a chaperone for my student in my absence," he gave a small bow and nodded.

"Let us waste no more time." With that, Kiri's retinue began its journey to the summit.

0000

Back in, Ame Hanzo watched the three nin gathered infront of him and marveled at the progress the three had made in the two years as the orange-haired kid wore the white haori of a kage with that signature kage hat.

The boy gave him a nod and stepped forward as he walked out of the main building and through the large crowd of gathered Ame nin as they left for the summit.

The shinobi saluted them as they walked through them until they reached the edge of the city, and at that, Yahiko turned towards his friends.

"Let's go."

0000

In Suna, the Third Kazekage found himself staring at the two of his most elite shinobi, ready to escort him and their daimyo to the summit. Suna's jinchuriki's age made him unsuitable for the journey, and so he stayed back, but that did not mean Suna would let the other villages overshadow them.

"Are you sure you are up for this, Chiyo?" he asked the old puppet master, and she smiled and nodded.

"Maa, Maa. I don't know what you are talking about. I am still quite young, you know," and as his eye twitched at her answer, he shook his head, taking it at face value.

"Let's go."

0000

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