Strained Atmosphere, Meeting and Culprit

_________ POV Narration _________

The meeting of the Kage was set up immediately.

It was clear that everyone had something they wanted to say. The situation had taken a turn for the worst in the most unexpected way possible.

Ōnoki had taken extra precautions so that the Kage of the Smaller Villages would not feel threatened and refuse to join.

He went as far as to dismiss his own guards after setting up the meeting on his ship.

The Raikage, as a show of good faith, also decided to come alone.

It was still a bit disingenuous on both of their parts, as the two of them were more than strong enough to fight all the other Kage present...

But the situation had not yet devolved to the point where the Smaller Kage felt as if they were all in the crosshairs of the Great Villages...

Some alliance had already formed between the smaller Kage. And all of them had brought their strongest to accompany them, just to be sure...

Ōnoki was ok with that. He would accept anything as long as the meeting itself happened.

He knew that addressing the recent events was of utmost importance. All of their plans were already on the verge of falling apart...

They all gathered in Ōnoki quarters, which were arranged accordingly.

All of the Kage sat down at that table. There were originally 13 of them in total, from the 13 Lands that had decided to take part in the operation...

But now only 11 of them were left.

"... First off, I want to thank all of you for coming here, despite the recent disaster."

The atmosphere was tense, and Ōnoki knew that he had to start the meeting right away. He would have to juggle all of their worries, and he had to plan out his words as much as possible in order to calm them down.

"Hah, 'Disaster'..." A raspy voice broke out in the room, as one of the Kage chuckled a bit, his face hidden by a shadow that was cast over his face thanks to his Kage hat.

His name was Yadaya Tomichi, and not much was known about him...

He was the Kage of the village from the Land of Keys, he wore an all-white coat that covered most of his body, much like all of the other Kage present.

They all appeared as inconspicuous as possible...

"It was an assassination through and through... Calling it a disaster might be appropriate. But hearing you speak about it feels a bit strange, Lord Tsuchikage..."

One of the other Kage also spoke out, his voice etched with a bit of spite, especially by the end of it.

Immediately as he spoke out those words, the room broke out into hushed murmurs and voices...

Many had already made reached their own conclusions about the recent events. And none of the recent events painted the Great Villages present in a good way...

Ōnoki couldn't help but sigh deeply when hearing the words of his temporary allies...

'I already expected the worst, but I can't help but be disappointed with their short-sightedness...'

The Raikage also huffed a bit, knowing very well that the smaller villages didn't see his Cloud Village in a better light.

"I don't see any reason or need to skirt around the issue... Someone is clearly aiming to separate us..."

Ōnoki decided to ignore the offhanded comment of the other Kage, their mission was of utmost importance, and there was no place for petty squabbles and misunderstandings.

"..."

An eerie silence immediately descended upon the room, as Ōnoki managed to capture the attention of everyone present once more.

"... I also think the same."

A gruff voice spoke out this time, not Ōnoki nor the Raikage, it was surprisingly the Jinchuriki of the 7 Tails, the Kage of the Takigakure(Waterfall Hidden Village).

He simply went by Yusuzo, he wore clothes similar to the other Kage, but his frame was just as large as that of the Raikage, he was a man with an intimidating presence.

Ever since the meeting began, he hadn't raised his head once, always staring at the table. As if, and actually in, contemplation.

Ōnoki smiled when hearing Yusuzo.

If the Raikage had been the one to agree with him, then it wouldn't have been a good look. Someone that was uninvolved and siding with him was much better...

"And why do you think that, Lord Yusuzo?" One of the other Kage asked with narrowed eyes. He clearly had his reservations but respected the opinion of his peers...

"... It's all too convenient..." The same gruff voice was heard as Yusuzo responded without looking up.

"... Ever since we started, accidents have been occurring left and right... Boats sinking, whirlpools which shouldn't be happening in these parts, Assassinations blamed on the two parties everyone was already anxious about... It's too convenient..."

Yusuzo was normally a man of few words, but this time he saw the need to explain his suspicion to his peers. He knew the importance of him doing so.

He knew that the fall of their Shinobi Alliance was already happening. He was smart enough to see through the strange assassinations that had happened as well...

"Yep, convenient... But who's to say one of us couldn't have been responsible for that either?...

We already have evidence pointing towards two culprits! And we all know what villages they belonged to! " Yadaya decided to weigh in once more, not holding back with the speculation at all.

Although he said 'one of us' he was clearly only referring to the Cloud and Rock villages... Especially by the end of his small speech.

"... Both of the people that got accused of the crimes were at Chunin level, at best. One could argue that they were hiding their strength, but that's unlikely, their Chakra Reserves said otherwise...

I don't think they would've been capable enough to pull off something like that... Even I am not confident enough I could pull that off..."

Yusuzo didn't seem very perturbed as he spoke, despite bringing many horrifying images to mind.

Instead, he was challenging even the validity of the accusations waged against the Two Great Villages.

Even better for Ōnoki, the rest of the Kage seemed to somewhat agree with Yusuzo.

"Tsk, I still think the Cloud and the Rock are the most likely suspects! They would have enough reasons to kill us!"

Yadaya seemed to be determined to cause more problems. Much to Ōnoki's displeasure. It seemed that the Land of Keys really had it out for the 2 Great Villages present...

He was making a point, both the Raikage and the Tsuchikage wanted to avoid the smaller Kage from forming an alliance, a war between them would still happen after the raid on the Uzumaki clan...

But he was mostly sounding ignorant to the people with a better understanding of the situation... People like Yusuzo.

"... Well, if that was truly the case..." The Jinchuriki didn't even take a second to think about his reply before opening his mouth again. "... All of you would already be dead..."

His voice seemed to somehow make the atmosphere in the room even tenser.

"Hoh? Is that so?" Yadaya's tone sounded malicious, he clearly felt insulted.

"... Yes. Although we are all Kage in this room, the Raikage and the Tsuchikage wouldn't need to resort to any tricks if they truly wanted to get rid of us so soon..." Yusuzo's gruff voice didn't falter for one second.

And he spoke the truth...

Among the people at that table, he was the only one that individually had the chance to keep up with the two strongest Kage... And that was just because he was a Jinchuriki.

"We would still survive if a fight were to break out..." One of the other Kage scoffed a bit, unable to help himself.

All Kage had their pride after all... They were all confident in their own abilities, they all specialized in different things, and some refused to believe that they were THAT far behind the 5 Kage...

But the reality was very different. The Raikage could only scoff when hearing them argue with each other.

"Whether or not we could kill you is not relevant!" The Raikage punched the table in front of him 'lightly', causing cracks to spread out all around it and capturing the attention of everyone present.

"The important part is that we have no reason to even try and kill each other now! Our main mission and objective is to get our hands on the techniques of the Uzumaki! That's why we even mobilised so many of our troops in the first place!"

The Raikage was clearly frustrated with the whole situation, he immediately started admonishing the people in the room for being led on so easily by the group or person sabotaging their expedition.

"... Althoguh a bit rude, the Raikage speaks the truth in this matter." Ōnoki coughed a bit in his fist as he tried to dampen the impact of the Raikage's frustrated voice with his own calm one.

"We all have a common goal, which is the very reason that this alliance came into existence. The fact that we're in this situation, means someone doesn't want us to get to that common goal.

It goes against both the intentions of the Rock and Cloud villages. I would go as far as to say that it goes against all of our interests combined..."

Ōnoki smiled internally as he noticed many of the Kage nodding their heads in agreement.

It seemed like the meeting was proceeding just as he wanted it... But not without detractors.

"Hmph..." Yadaya still seemed unconvinced, but he didn't seem to speak out anymore, which was at least an improvement.

"... Well, then. Now that we've gone through that, I think we can safely assume that the reports of our shinobi were correct..." Ōnoki scratched his chin as he remembered the description of the culprit that was given by his men.

"The man with the Fox Mask... It's not exactly a detailed description though..." One of the Kage muttered as more of them finally started accommodating the theory that all their misfortune up to that point was at the hands of a third party.

"It reportedly happened very quickly, to the point where my Shinobi barely had any chance to react..." Ōnoki scoffed internally as he remembered the reports.

In the first place, the one that had gotten blamed was only a Chunin, while around him were only Genin, so they barely had any chance of capturing the culprit.

They were dealing with someone that was capable enough to assassinate Kage in a rather brutal and swift manner...

"Do we even have any indication as to who might've been responsible for this situation?"

Everyone was curious as they looked towards Ōnoki. They assumed that he had some evidence regarding the identity of the party responsible...

After all, there were few people in the world capable enough in order to pull off something like that...

"... We don't really have any way of knowing the identity of the person spotted, but we can safely assume they are helping the Uzumaki Clan with their involvement." Ōnoki didn't have much to give them, unfortunately.

They were dealing with a careful opponent. Devious, cunning. Ōnoki couldn't even know how the culprit was hiding among their people...

He seemed to have the habit of jumping in water... That was likely how he always escaped the scene of the crime. So he could swim fast enough to keep up with their boats at the very least.

"I remember when the ships were getting destroyed... I remember seeing a strange silhouette in the waters... I didn't think much of it back then, but it was likely the culprit... Or one of the culprits." The Raikage seemed to have calmed down now that the Smaller Villages were no longer as hostile to him.

"... It's likely a group. That could explain how they were able to kill everyone on the ship of Kemurigakure... Otherwise, it would've taken someone on the level of the 5 Kage to pull such a thing off silently." Yusuzo spoke out again, trying to remember the detail of that scene a bit more.

The way everyone had died there was a bit too systematic. It was either the work of a good assassin squad or a figure powerful enough to not be unknown...

"I also agree with that... Although only one person has been spotted, we can safely assume that this is the work of a group." The Raikage nodded in agreement.

Ōnoki also nodded, but he didn't say anything yet.

Silence spread out throughout the room as everyone tried to understand how the Uzumaki Clan would be able of such a thing.

"Did the Uzumaki infiltrate us during our departure?..."

"No no, our shinobi should've noticed something like that! We searched all of the boats thoroughly, there were no stowaways..."

"It's also unlikely for there to be someone using the Transformation Jutsu. Again, our more experienced shinobi would've picked up on it immediately..."

"Does that mean the culprits are just swimming alongside us? Or maybe clinging onto our ships from the outside?"

"Even then, our sensors haven't felt a thing! It's unreal..."

Conversations quickly broke out as the Kage present all started brainstorming.

They needed to find the most likely situation, the most likely culprit. They knew that they were helping the Uzumaki Clan, but they didn't know if they WERE the Uzumaki clan...

"Even then, there are few groups that can match this description in the world..."

"Yes... We already know the strength of the Uzumaki Clan... Even their Elite Shinobi shouldn't be able to pull off such an operation..."

Silence spread throughout the room once more, as the Kage struggled to think of a possible culprit.

"... There is one person that I've heard of... Capable enough to avoid all of our sensors, and reportedly powerful enough to pull off such assassinations." Yusuzo was the one to speak up next, immediately capturing the attention of everyone present.

"..." The Raikage also scowled a bit, as an image was painted in his mind... A very familiar image.

"The Red Dot... He needs no introduction really. He is the founder and current Leader of the Dark Brotherhood, a bounty hunter association situated in the Land of Iron."

Yusuzo immediately brought up the one person he thought capable of such a thing... the Red Dot. Everyone knew that moniker, everyone knew of his capabilities.

He was capable enough to stroll through whatever land he wanted undetected. He was strong enough to take out an entire hidden village...

But did he even have the motive to help the Uzumaki Clan? He had shown no indication that he was interested in them in the past...

Regardless, he did become the main suspect in the minds of many.

"... I don't think he's responsible for this incident." Surprisingly, the Raikage was the one to speak out in favour of Ken.

Everyone looked at him with a bit of confusion. Not quite understanding why the Raikage would bother sticking up for the infamous bounty hunter.

"I've worked with him in the past... He's a strange person, certainly capable enough to pull something like this off, but he is not interested in our conflicts, at least not enough to interfere."

Everyone seemed surprised by the Raikage's words, it was a lesser-known fact that the two of them had worked together on a mission, no one knew the actual contents of that mission though...

'If even the Raikage is willing to stick up for him... Then the Red Dot must've left quite the impression on him...'

The Tsuchikage narrowed his eyes as he looked at the situation with some scepticism.

"How can you be so sure that he wouldn't get involved? We're talking about the techniques of the Uzumaki Clan here..."

Yusuzo was also not exactly convinced. Fuinjutsu was important to all shinobi, and anyone running an organization. He wasn't willing to just take the Raikage's word for it.

The Raikage scowled a bit when seeing that not anyone was willing to believe him.

Therefore, he was forced to show some of his cards...

"... Even if he's interested in Fuinjutsu, I can at least confirm that he's not here... I have some of my most capable men monitoring his actions... He's been recently spotted collecting some bounties in the Land of Iron..."

He had been one of the forces monitoring Ken closely, especially after their mission together...

It simply wouldn't have made sense for Ken to be near the Land of Whirlpools. Not only did they have absolutely no evidence of it being him, he was also publically spotted.

"... How recent are we talking here?" Ōnoki asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Things were looking rather bad for them, they had absolutely no suspects if they also ruled out the Red Dot.

"The last report was yesterday before we set sail. He even appeared in public... It's not exactly unusual for him to do so either, at least in the Land of Iron, where he is reportedly in the good graces of the Daimyō."

"... It could've just been a transformation, right?" Ōnoki asked as he still hoped for them to have already found the culprit.

Uncertainty was a far greater concern than blaming the wrong person to him, so he wanted to keep the blame on the Red Dot if possible, that would at least provide everyone with a known common enemy...

But the Raikage couldn't afford the villages going after Ken and the Dark Brotherhood, especially since he still wanted to have Ken as a subordinate... Or at least an ally in the future.

"That's why I sent two Elite Jonin to keep tabs on him... I wanted to take no chances. They would've been able to tell if the person that had appeared publically was using transformation.

He also still looks exactly like in the reports, same height, hair, mask, and everything. We have no reason to believe he's a different person."

Both Ōnoki and Yusuzo could only nod at that point, accepting the Raikage's explanation. Their lack of hard evidence somewhat stopped them from throwing any more baseless accusations... Especially since the Raikage seemed adamant about protecting the Red Dot.

Unfortunately... That also meant that they were back to square one.

They had found nothing, they only knew that a person or group was sabotaging their expedition.

And just as they were about to start brainstorming again...

---- BOOOM ----

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Hope you liked the chapter! It's pretty fucking long.

Wasn't able to write much yesterday. Went to the gym, then had to clean some graves. Easter's coming up, religious traditions an all that. Anyway, Imma go sleep now

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