Chapter 99: Interlude

-----Somewhere in Land of Rain-----

"What have you got for me today, Zetsu?"

"Tobi, My clones were following the Kiri shinobi that were going to ambush Pakura but I found something even more interesting during that. So the clones abandoned that task. But they have found something even better. Something that might even help us in our plans later." White Zetsu said excitedly.

"Oh, Tell me about it," Tobi asked his sharingan gleaming red.

"Orochimaru of the Sanin was in the Land of Water. He was taking advantage of the chaos in the Land of Water and visited one of his research bases there. I saw him practicing and researching about a forbidden jutsu." White Zetsu waved his hands excitedly.

Obito's curiosity started to rise as he asked a simple question "Which jutsu?"

"The Reanimation Jutsu"

Obito's eyes widened "You mean the jutsu that was created by the second Hokage that resurrects the dead?"

"It's not quite resurrection like the rinnegan but controlling them like puppets that have infinite chakra and the only way to kill them is to seal them. The Second Hokage though did not perfect the jutsu and left it incomplete. Orochimaru seems to have made a lot of progress in this jutsu since I have seen him killing a person and reanimating the same person a while later."

"Quite fascinating. Something that can help us if our main plan goes awry." Obito said before continuing.

"Send a letter anonymously to the Hokage with some proof of Orochimaru's ill deeds. He has been doing human experimentation as per your previous reports. Surely something like that would have the Hokage hunt him down." Obito instructed White Zetsu

"But would not the Third Hokage kill Orochimaru for all his crimes?" Black Zetsu asked unwilling to let such a person who could help him in his plans die just like that.

"You underestimate that snake. He is a slippery one and could escape from most situations easily. Besides the third Hokage is old, Orochimaru might even kill him before escaping the Leaf further weakening the Leaf Village."

"And when he is being hunted, we would help him and he would have to come join us in our plans. Still, finding out more about his research, and his motives would help us in how we approach him. Now tell me have you confirmed about Pakura's fate? Is she dead?"

"My clones found signs of a great battle with signs of scotch release being used. I suspect that the Mist took a lot of casualties but eventually, they managed to kill her." White Zetsu told Tobi unaware that Pakura had survived and he had made a false assumption.

"Suna has released the statement that Pakura has been killed by Iwa shinobi." White Zetsu added

"We can use this as a bargaining chip against Suna when the time comes. But the intel is not of much use for now except for the fact that Suna has lost one of its active S-rank shinobi. Continue to observe how other villages would react to this." Tobi said before disappearing in a swirl.

If Ken knew about their conversation, he would thank his fate for what happened and would wonder whether he had some anti-protagonist aura that takes the trouble away from him. After all, mostly protagonists are supposed to be in troublesome situations and Ken somehow always avoids them but for how long will he ride on his luck?

-----Land of Water-----

------Mizukage's office---

Jūzō Biwa bowed in front of the fourth Mizukage, Yagura who was the three tails jinchuriki.

Yagura looked at Juzo with a serious look

"No reports yet? No survivors?"

Juzo always had a hard time when he was dealing with Yagura. His childlike look made it pretty much impossible to take Yagura seriously. But Juzo knew the power that Yagura could wield and thus had no choice but to take him seriously.

"We have sent an Anbu squad and they have reported seeing signs of a battle. There are signs of dead bodies that have been burned to ashes by scotch release chakra. No signs of Pakura or her dead body. No survivors either. Suna has released the statement that Pakura has died by Iwa shinobi." Juzo reported

Internally, he wanted to leave this shithole of a bloodthirsty village. He had enough of being in this bloodthirsty village where everyone was ready to stab each other. At least after leaving the village, he would not be seeing his fellow shinobi try to kill each other.

Yagura looked at Juzo without a change in his expression even after hearing that the entire battalion of shinobi was dead. Juzo did not have much expectation from him since the man was responsible for the new graduation ritual for their academy: death matches.

"Inform our spies in Suna. Tell them to keep an eye on any news of Pakura. If she is spotted in Suna that means they have double-crossed us." Yagura said

"Understood Mizukage-sama" Juzo bowed

---Land of Wind----

----Kazekage's office---

Rasa looked at the sunset from his office contemplating his future decisions.

'Should I have waited to release the statement about Pakura's death? No there is no way the Kiri shinobi would have left her alive.' Rasa thought

'Now that my seat is safe, I can look at other issues. Putting the blame on Iwa might have repercussions. We have to strengthen our borders. Other villages might also try to take advantage of us seeing that one of our powerhouses our dead.' Rasa sighed seeing that he would have to put more shinobis on borders and on guard duty.

This would mean fewer shinobi could undertake missions which would hamper their economy and funds.

"The problems continue to come," Rasa mumbled as he went back to work.

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