Cap 268: What happens elsewhere

"They are... interesting..." - said Zabuza while he looked at the new carriers of the other Kiri's Demon Swords.

"Better tell it like it is, these bearers are just children" - said Kisame with disdain as he observed how each of the men in front of him seemed to have left the Academy not long ago - "I'm sure they haven't even seen blood"

"It's Hoshigaki Kisame and Zabuza Momochi!" - exclaimed the young lads in terror.

"Oh, come on, they don't even have the balls to look us in the eye," said Kisame with disdain. " I guess we'll have a lot of work to do"

"Do you plan to train these shrimp?" - asked Zabuza as he frowned, "I didn't expect that from you, especially with the bad relationship you had with the other members of the 7"

"You are right, my hatred for them is great, but their swords are not to blame" - answered Kisame while shrugging his shoulders - "Either way, I want you here tomorrow morning, or I swear you will be regretting having wasted my time".

"H-Hai!" - exclaimed the young men as they ran away.

"You didn't even tell them what time," said Zabuza as he rolled his eyes at his fellow traveler.

"I know, they will arrive early, or they will suffer," replied Kisame as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Won't they suffer from the training?" - asked Zabuza.

"They will suffer twice as much if they don't come to train" - answered Kisame while he looked wildly at his fellow traveler - "Anyway, since we saw how these rookies are, we'd better go see the last one of the group, let's just hope he's not as useless as these shrimps".

"You're right, let's hope for the best," answered Zabuza as he shrugged his shoulders. "'Though something tells me we're in for a big surprise"

* * * * *

"I'm done! I finally got my paperwork done!" - Mei exclaimed with emotion as she felt she could barely resist the urge to start dancing.

"Good for you, but thanks to your 'efforts,' I now have all this work," responded Ao as he gave her a blank stare.

"Oh, come on, don't be such a crybaby" - said Mei as she rolled her eyes, only to be silent when she noticed all the documents she had written - "Oh..."

"Right, Oh..." - replied Ao with a neutral look, only to see the documents spread out - ". . ."

"You'd better call your assistant, I'm sure you'll need all the help you can get..." - said Mei as an embarrassed smile appeared on her face - "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things to prepare"

Mei was about to leave the office, but noticed how two Anbu appeared to block the entrance - "Etto... Hello?"

". . ." - the two Anbu just kept silent at the greeting of their former leader.

"I regret to tell you that your stay in my office will be extended indefinitely..." - Ao said with neutrality - "Now. . . Would you be so kind as to sit down and help me with all this paperwork?"

". . ." - Mei looked at Ao, then at the Anbu, and then finally looked out the window - "Do you think I will survive if I jump out the window?"

"Possibly, although you will end up in such a bad state that you won't be able to go to your date, Mei-sama" - answered Ao with honesty.

"Oh..." - Mei only sighed with regret as she walked to her seat.

"Thank you very much for your help, Mei-sama" - said Ao with a small smile on his face because it was the first time he could return all the 'favors' Mei had done for him.

"I only do it because I know that if I attack the Anbu, I would be practically making a declaration of war because I am now a member of the Uzumaki clan" - answered Mei while grunting irritably - "Now we better finish this, and it slipped my mind, don't expect me to help you with future negotiations"

Ao's smile disappeared when he heard the words of the reddish-brown-haired woman, only to be reminded of how spiteful women can be - "Ugh...".

The two Anbu only shook their heads as they made a mental note not to get on the wrong side of any other woman in the future.

* * * * *

"It was a pleasure doing business with you" - said Kurama with a smile.

"The pleasure was only yours, because you left me practically no benefits" - said the Daimio of Mizu no Kuni while he sighed with regret - "But leaving that 'small' detail, it was a good experience to talk with you, I hope you continue doing business with Kirigakure no Sato".

"As long as things don't change, I plan to continue doing so in the future," answered Kurama as he said goodbye to the Daimio and left.

The reason for the meeting was simple, Kurama had come to talk about the possibility of increasing trade between the two nations.

"Well, I'm done with my democratic business, I guess I'll go visit some places I haven't been able to see before" - murmured Kurama as he began to think - "Or better yet, I'll go see how Mei is doing..."

"Somebody help me!" - exclaimed Mei in the distance.

"Better not," replied Kurama as he shook his head. Just hearing the woman's scream made him understand that it was better to keep his distance, at least for now.

* * * * *

"I think it's a good time to start the harvest," said one man as he wiped the sweat from his face.

Life was difficult for ordinary people living in the Elemental Nations, but eventually one got used to it.

"I think the same," replied another man while he laughed because the weather was perfect.

"What is that?" - asked a third man as he pointed to the horizon.

"Huh?" - The first two men frowned when they heard their partner, only to open their eyes when they noticed a huge smokescreen heading in their direction.

"I don't know" - replied the first man only to shout in surprise when he felt something take him by the hand - "What the fuck?!

"What's wrong with you?!" - exclaimed the second man, only to have the third man shout in surprise as he saw his friend disappear into the ground, as if swallowed by the earth.

"Kenichi!" - exclaimed the third man, only to see the first man disappear like the second - "Junichi! What the fuck is going on?!"

The third man could only scream in surprise and terror, but his expression changed as he heard the cries for help echo through the village a little further back.

"!" - the third man could only open his eyes in terror as he decided not to think about his friends. He quickly ran in the direction of his village, only to see people being devoured by the ground - "What the fuck is going on?!"

"Strange... Why haven't you been eliminated?" - asked a voice that seemed to come from all sides.

"Who's there?!" - exclaimed the man as he looked around in terror. He took his trusty shovel and stood on guard.

"Could you answer my question?" - asked the voice again, only to have the ground in front of the man open, showing what appeared to be a completely white man with green eyes - "Answer..."

". . ." - The man could only tremble in terror as he stepped back because he had never heard of an entity or clan that looked like the man in front of him.

"Answer" - said a second voice, only for a second 'man' similar to the first to appear.

"Answer.

"Answer"

"Answer"

"Answer"

"!" - the man could only tremble in terror as another entity similar to the first two appeared one after the other in front of his eyes.

"I guess we won't find an answer in the traditional way," said White Zetsu as he looked at the man who seemed to be paralyzed by terror. "The cognitive abilities of this human seem to be paralyzed, I guess we'll have to investigate a little more to reach a conclusion"

"I propose to take him alive and experiment with the transformation process" - said one of the white Zetsu army clones.

"I suppose it's possible," replied White Zetsu as he began to think, "It's possible that this human has something that will benefit us"

"Help!" - exclaimed one woman.

"Honey!" - The man seemed to react when he heard the woman's voice, only to see her being dragged under the earth by huge green vines - "No!"

"Interesting... he managed to react despite the terror when he heard his mate..." - said Zetsu Blanco while nodding - "He has the same behavior as 5 other humans, it is even possible that with him, we can improve even more our mental capacities..."

"Affirmative" - replied the other Zetsu as they watched neutrally as the man seemed to do the impossible to approach the hole through which the woman had been swallowed.

"Dear!" - exclaimed the man, only to notice how he was tied by green vines - "Let go of me! I have to find her!"

". . ." - White Zetsu only gave him an analytical look before making the man disappear - "I guess this makes 10 villages, more than enough to recover the lost numbers we suffered during the invasion of Kumo"