Chapter 75 - War?

Chapter 75 - War?

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2 months ANL…

The peace has been stabilizing but a news came to Konoha that made Tsunade sigh

"Hah… Although it was in my expectation, hearing it still worries me… Iwa and Kumo alliance huh…"

Tobirama who is sitting on the couch in the Hokage's room commented hearing Tsunade's worry "In any case, they won't be able to start an all out war even if they prepare for the next few months. But prepare for a few minor ones. They'll likely attack to slow down the rise of the 3 allied villages. And also… test out our strength…"

Tsunade nodded and replied "I know, Great Uncle."

"Hah! Royal Flush! I won!" Tobirama said as he banged the cards on the table. Hashirama and Hiruzen were slowly turning him into a part of their happy go lucky group.

"Kuh! I lost again! When will I win!" Hashirama complained because of his bad luck meanwhile Hiruzen said calmly as he smoked his pipe. "Well… you win some… you lose some…"

Tsunade's face twitched at his transformation and said "Even you? Great Uncle? Really?"

"Haha… Couldn't help it, I remembered that I'm also retired plus… Konoha's doing well in your administration so my worry becomes less and less." Tobirama replied.

Tsunade sighed and replied "If it's just about the alliance between Iwa and Kumo that would be true if it's not for the organization 'Akatsuki.'"

"Hm? Akatsuki?" Hiruzen asked the question, aware of what Tsunade was talking about.

"Hm? What about this organization?" Hashirama asked in confusion.

Tobirama simply glanced at Tsunade to hear her explanation.

Scratching the top of her head in annoyance, she replied "Akatsuki has been moving strangely recently. The gathering of more S-Rank missing nins… random assassination requests… and random attacks on villages… I don't get what they're up to. Iwa and Kumo are villages, I expect them to attack and easily intercept it with the ninja world watching over them but…"

Tobirama scratched his chin as he thought, and Tsunade continued, "We don't know much about Akatsuki, their bases, how big they are, and etc. That's why it's an unstable variable in the peace plan we've been working on. Iwa and Kumo's stance will soften as time passes or we do an all out war against them and use dominance but Akatsuki… hah…"

Tobirama then inquired "So what do you plan on doing about it?"

"Plan? If I don't know their intentions, what kind of plans can I make besides strengthening the defenses of Konoha? Hah… How troublesome… Why did I even take the 5th Hokage's position?"

The 3 kages in the room simply stayed quiet, relating to Tsunade's worry as a Hokage.

…

Akatsuki base 1

Under the dark of the cave, faint shadows of akatsuki members gathered.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Who wants to see my art?!" Deidara said in excitement.

"Hah… No one wants to see your bad art… Deidara…" Sasori sighed.

"What'd you say?! You bastard?!" Deidara retorted in anger at Sasori belittling his art of explosion.

"Me! Me! Me! I wanna see your art! Deidara-chan!" Tobi said in excitement.

"Hehe~ At least one is a fan of my explosion! Come to base 2 I'll show you a good one!"

"Hah… he's just humouring you…"

"You've been messing with me all this time! Wanna fight!"

"I will watch too if you join my cult!" Hidan said in excitement, seeing a possibility of a scam… I mean join his cult!

Kakuzu stopped their fights "Enough with you 4 brats. In any case, this meeting that hasn't happened since forever is because of the current affairs in the ninja world right? Time to make some more money?"

Konan, Itachi, Kisame and Zetsu simply listened on the side.

Pain stopped their banters and said "Everyone quiet down. I'll explain our organization's next course of action."

All the members that gathered silently listened, they were subdued by Pain's prowess meaning they acknowledged him as their leader. They only followed strength.

"As you already know, the world is going through a drastic change, we will not move for now with capturing the tailed beasts but if we have the opportunity go ahead and you'll be rewarded. We will continue building our wealth. We'll continue in 2-3 years when they have their guards down thinking that they could relax. The alliance between 3 villages, and 2 opposing villages has tensed their relationship meaning a war could erupt anytime. If it did, it'd be fortunate for us to move when they're at their weakest. But if not we'll attack when they're enjoying peace."

"Eh?~ Is that all?~ Pain-sama?~" Tobi joked with a poor attempt to lighten the tense mood.

Kakuzu snorted "Shut up brat! In any case if that's all for the meeting I'll be going now. My money is flying away as time passes by."

Pain merely stared at them and replied "I will call you again and at that time, it's time for us to move at full force catching every village off guard. I will assign you to your designated tailed beast to catch. Dismissed."

Krik! And the faint shadows of each member disappeared.

"Is that alright? Nagato? Wouldn't it risk villages getting stronger." Konan asked in worry.

Nagato coughed and replied "It's fine. I can still survive for a few more years. As long as we gather all the tailed beasts, I can destroy all the villages and let them experience pain! Only then can we achieve true peace!"

Konan nodded and supported any actions that Nagato wanted…

…

Konoha Training Grounds…

Cchicihcihi! 

Splash!

Sasuke and Haku could be seen sparing, Sasuke with his [Lightning Chakra Armor] that flashed from time to time as well as his [Sharingan].

After moving at the speed of lightning to retreat, he said solemnly towards Haku. "Take me seriously. Activate your [Sage Mode]."

Haku, a bit surprised at Sasuke's improvement, nodded and agreed. The [Sage Seal] on her neck, specially crafted for her from Naruto contains two rooms of [Natural Energy] that gathers automatically albeit weakly, gathers enough Natural Energy after a few hours to fill each room with Wind and Water [Sage Mode.]

She has yet to learn how to fuse both but he can use each one. [Water Sage Mode.]

The marking of a sage appeared on her eyelids, without the 'Water' kanji in her forehead. This was [Perfect Sage Mode] not [Ascended Sage Mode].

With a wave of her hand, numerous amounts of water needles formed in the surrounding attempting to rush in Sasuke's direction.

Siwshishgisihishi!

Sasuke with his [Sharingan] looked at each and every detail in the jutsu. And saw a route to get to Haku. Like a flash of light, Sasuke moved at the speed of lightning in between the needles, and was about to kick Haku.

Haku with her [Sage Sense], sensed Sasuke's movements even if her eyes couldn't keep up. Rotating her body, she gathered a huge amount of water in front of her which for into a dragon.

Roar!

The dragon roared intending to swallow Sasuke and try to drown him in the process.

"Tsk!" Sasuke clicked his tongue and decided on the next course of action.

He dodged to the left without really thinking about it only to see Haku's water needles all around him surrounding each and every direction he could go.

He could only hear Haku's triumphant voice "I win, Sasuke."

"Tsk! I'll win next time."

Haku nodded and proceeded to go to the side, training her chakra control. She wants to achieve 'Ice Sage Mode' even if it consumes more chakra. She raised one of her fingers and concentrated to condense chakra like how Naruto taught her. This was indeed the best way to get used to chakra control.

Sakura, who was watching on the side, approached and proceeded to give Sasuke a towel to wipe his sweat away, with a smile she said "Good work, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded as he received the towel. Looking at Haku who was training, he also got an idea. That was Naruto's [Rasengan] but in an extremely condensed form.

Sasuke thought that he might be able to do something similar with his Chidori. If the [Rasengan] is a huge explosion. He'll make a chidori with extreme sharpness into it that can cut anything? Right now, his [Chidori] was only at the point that it could make things crumble but not cut in a swift motion. If he learned it he could use it in battle efficiently.

He gave back the towel to Sakura and said "Thanks, Sakura. But train yourself too."

"Okay!" She nodded in reply as she also tried to do something similar. Her [Chakra Gauntlet] that increases her power. It was merely a chakra that covered her hand but already strong enough to penetrate a few inches deep. What if she does anything more? As she observed Naruto's [Rasengan] required shape manipulation, when condensed it's even as powerful as that one now in Haku's finger. Just looking at it, one can tell that it's extremely unstable and filled with power in that little [Rasengan].

She then came to a conclusion of a different path! 'What if my seals are made out of chakra instead of ink, blood or anything liquid?! Could I write on the air and apply seals as I go on to battle?!'

Just the theory of it, excites her! Miniscule chakra to apply seals as she fights along the way, traps set up, [Chakra Gauntlet] for close combat… Her long and close combat skill set would finally be complete if this succeeds!

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(A/N: Um… Leave a power stone… Thanks…)