Chapter 54
ZOSUI-The Leader of Kusagakure
Kusagakure was a fairly strong and independent village. They drove much of their power from their diplomacy, as the village refused to alienate other enemy nations, and made stable alliances that kept them at peace.
They walked a tight rope, yet they did so successfully, and it was why they had managed to not only survive but thrive even as villages of the same size and were decimated as they put themselves between a conflict.
Zosui was the head of the village and led them through the continuously shifting political tides, and until now they had been able to stay ahead of any massive conflict, but that was until now.
"Konoha will not stand by and wait for our answer," began, Katsuo and all three of them knew that well, as they sat in his solar, in his office. Unlike the Five Great Villages, Kusa did not have a Kage, rather it was ruled by a council of three, which was led by the strongest shinobi of the village.
In these times, Zosui led the council, along with Shiranui Gokuen and Katsui Shintaro, who sat in the highest tower, looking down at the entire village around them.
"But we cannot capitulate to their demands. Iwa has promised us aid in case of a conflict, and I believe we must trust them to back their words," and in this half a decade, while Konoha was busy fighting in another, Iwa had rebuilt their forces along with Kumo and was rearing to have their revenge.
It was why Kusagakure had slowly phased out their alliances with Konoha and joined Iwa, for they believed that, unlike Konoha, Iwagakure had an advantage when it came to preparedness for battle.
"One must never underestimate Konoha," added Katsuo-sama from the side, and the aged shinobi had lived through the era of the Second and Third Hokage, and knew better than anyone the resilience and stubbornness of Konoha's might.
"We cannot forget that just half a decade ago, they defeated not just Iwa but Kumo as well," and that was worried him as well. Shiranui scoffed at that, and he had always looked down on Konoha and believed in Iwa's strength.
"They got lucky five years ago. And unlike Iwa they have been fighting a war for the last five years against Kirigakure," and that maybe true, but he was forgetting something rather important.
"A war they won," Zosui finally cut in, as Shiranui clicked his tongue, and having three people leading the village was just for this purpose. So that the biases and leanings of one person did not ruin the entire village.
"Maybe. But capitulating to Konoha's demands will be the worst decision. It will not only ruin our alliance with Iwa, but will be ruinous for our pride," and while weak Kusagakure was still a powerful and well-respected village, and so such capitulation would be a massive blow to their reputation.
So, they were at a crossroads, one which should be navigated with due care lest it bring absolute ruin to their villages.
"That woman and the girl, where are they?" Shiranui asked.
"At the hospital," he answered, and they were one of their biggest and most important resources. Unlike Konoha and the rest of the Major villages, Kusa lacked the knowledge and skills to train a proper Iryo. So, the Uzumaki woman and her daughter had been a blessing to them, allowing them to have an equivalent of a highly skilled Iryo-nin that they could use and abuse as per their desires and needs.
"We must hide them, and make it so that if a negotiating committee from Konoha arrives, they do not get a chance to meet with the two of them," and despite their power, Konoha was a soft village, often pushing to resolve matters with words even when force was a necessity.
It was why they were called tree huggers.
"There has been no communication from Konoha in that regard," Zosui cut in, but according to their estimates, that would be their next step.
"Make both of them sign a declaration that they are happy here, and do not wish to leave Kusagakure," the older Katsuo-san recommended, and though he knew that such a declaration would do little to sway the mind of Konoha's negotiating committee, it was still a solid step.
"I will get them to sign it today," and he would not even need to do anything for that, given how he had conditioned both of them using fear and intimidation.
"Good, with that we buy time and keep Konoha engaged while we wait on Iwagakure to send us reinforcements, so that we can dissuade Konoha from any harsh action," and that seemed to be a sound decision.
"Well, then it seems like our decision is mad...." yet before he could finish, suddenly alarms began to ring and Zosui sprang from his seat, as he shouted at the men guarding the gates.
"What is going on! Are we under attack?" and he felt his heart race as one of his Hunter nin rushed into the room.
"We do not yet know, Lord Zosui. The borders all seem to be secure, and we have no reported breach anywhere along the borders. " Yet Zosui was not convinced and could instinctively sense that this was not a simple malfunction.
"Have them scout the entire vi..." Yet once more, before he could finish his words, the roof of the room exploded, and Zosui raised his hand to cover his face.
BOOOM! BOOM!
BOOOM! BOOM!
The explosion rocked the entire building, and he heard Katsuo-san bring up a mud wall to shield them all.
"What was that!" Shiranui screamed, as the dust settled down, and still they remained oblivious to the cause of this major disturbance until Katsuo-san brought down his ninjutsu.
And then they saw it, a shadow stepping out of the shadows. It was a shinobi whose sight made them all still, both with rage and fear as they recognised him in an instant.
Given his fame and notoriety, no one on this continent would take more than a few seconds to recognise that face, which was now feared all across the continent, and for good reason.
"Hello there," the young Konoha shinobi looked at them, his eyes turned scarlet right infront of his gaze as Zosui saw the infamous Uchiha clan doujutsu for himself—the Sharingan was a sight to behold. The boy's gaze felt as if it pierced through his entire being.
"From what I can recall, you have some people of ours in your village," he began softly, not caring at all that he was now surrounded by around a dozen Shinobi.
"Could you hand them over so I can be on my way...."
0000
IZUNA UCHIHA
As smart as Kusagakure and its leadership may think themselves to be, it had taken Minato-san two seconds to perceive their intentions as they refused to respond to Konoha's request.
Kusagakure simply wanted to buy time, so that it could either get support from Iwa and Kumo, or simply gather enough strength to make any attack on it absolutely inviable for Konoha.
It was one reason he had been selected for this mission, and as he stood right at the centre of Kusagakure, making all their plots and tactics unusable.
"Do you have any idea what you have done?" snarled the brown-haired shinobi standing before him, as half a dozen Kusa nins began to surround him.
"To walk into our village and threaten us like this, you have some nerve," he threatened, as the other two simply eyed him with fear and apprehension, and Izuna raised a brow as he looked him in the eye.
"I am not here to threaten you. I am simply asking you to hand over the two Uzuamkis that you have kept in your village," and his words seemed to anger him, as the bald-bulky man stepped forward.
"The two you speak of are part of this village. Konoha has no right to demand them of us," and he knew this one, Zosui. He was the leader of the village, and though Kusa did not have a kage, he was the closest thing to a kage in this place.
"Then let me talk to them and inform them of the injustice you have done to them. For when Uzushio fell, I believe Konoha made it quite clear that if any Uzumaki were to appear in your lands, you were to inform them of Konoha's amnesty and refugee status for them," and at the time, Kusa was an ally of Konoha so it made their actions even more distressing than they had seemed earlier.
"I have a letter here from the Great Granddaughter of Ashin Uzumaki, the last Uzumaki clan head, for the two Uzumaki held hostage in your village. You will allow me to meet them with no interference, or otherwise you will learn why they call me the Seven-Headed Demon."
He let his threat linger as he let go of his chakra, as the Hunter nin all took out their blades, and began to close in on him.
"You may be strong, Uchiha, but you made a big mistake coming here all by yourself!" Zosui announced as he suddenly jumped back, and the Hunter nin all closed in on him, and it took a single handseal from him, as a sealing formula erupted from under his feet and began to spread all over the room, covering the bodies of the Hunter nin and stopping them in their place.
"Ninpo: Time Prison," and all the hunter nin stopped in their places as Izuna reached into his back pocket and took out his tanto, and simply walked towards them, with no urgency at all.
He spun his blade in his hand, as he slowly cut through the necks of the dozen hunter ninjas as he stared at three leaders of Kusa and tilted his head.
"Was this supposed to scare me?" and the twelve hunter nin all died, with him not using a single jutsu, as the three of them paled.
"NOW!" the older white haired ninja screamed, and Izuna found himself impressed as he broke his seal, and it was rare to see a fuinjutsu master, even though his work seemed shoddy at best, as the three of them jumped back, making him frown.
"Why...." he did not need to voice the question, as suddenly he felt chakra gather around him. Four large reddish barriers appeared around him, trapping him as the three leaders of Kusa smirked at him.
"Now you are trapped," they announced as Izuna approached the barrier, and touched it, and found it rather impressive.
"It is based on one of Konoha's own techniques, the Phoenix Flame Barrier," and indeed, it was based on one of Konoha's jutsus. Apart from their diplomacy, there was another thing that made Kusagakure a headache to deal with.
Their penchant for copying and replicating techniques.
"Impressive," and he really was impressed, but not so much as suddenly a figure descended from the skies, making them all gasp and step back.
Konan faced him from outside the barrier with a smirk on her face.
"Do you need my help?" and he scoffed.
"Like ever," he mocked the thought as she nodded and again took to the skies as the three Kusa nin eyed her warily.
"It seems even your comrades have abandoned you," and Izuna took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and began to unleash all the natural energy he had gathered earlier.
Izuna was a Uchiha, and despite his best efforts, his reserves made it impossible for him to master sage jutsu, because the technique simply needed one to have an astronomical amount of chakra. And thigh there was hope that his reserves would grow to that level in the time to come, they were not at that stage yet.
But despite that, Izuna had refused to give up and, in his search, had found a rather neat workaround to his problem.
A technique that allowed him to store his chakra and then release it temporarily boosted his reserves to the levels required to use senjutsu.
"Know this," Izuna began, as the seal appeared on his forehead, filled with a ratio of natural energy and chakra, as he formed a tiger hand seal.
"You brought this on yourself," he said, rousing it up. He felt the seal expand as his perception of the world shifted. While before he sensed chakra, now he felt nature itself—life itself.
His face shifted, as his canines elongated slightly, and the markings around his eyes expanded, as he entered sage mode.
"What the!" they all gasped, as Izuna felt himself calm like he had no worry in the world, and as he simply walked towards them, not caring about the barrier at all, as the Kusa shinobi all simply watched in awe.
"It couldn't be.." "Those markings...."
"But there were rumors...."
And he put his hand on the barrier.
"This may be based on one of Konoha's techniques. But as it is, it is nothing but a cheap copy..."
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
And the entire barrier fell, as the eyes of the Kusa leaders all widened, as his sage chakra began to rile up, gathering and coiling around him in the form of snakes as Izuna looked them all in the eye.
"Ok. I am going to be done with all of you in two minutes," and with that he vanished as a storm of carnage spread all over Kusa. They tried to surround him, tried to use ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu and yet in the end they died.
Dozens upon dozens of men, all died. Some died screaming, others died trying to run away, while others simply died where they stood.
.
.
.
"Stop!" he heard someone scream, and his hand halted just as he was about to end the life of the old white-haired man.
Katsuo Shintaro was his name, and he was one of the oldest advisors of Kusa. The man had already lost his arm and was bleeding heavily, as hundreds lay dead around him.
"We yield," he gasped out as Izuna pulled back his arm and looked the man in the eye.
"Take them. Take whatever you want, but spare us," he pleaded, falling to his knees as Izuna stood tall, and watched all of the Kusa nin backing off of him, in fear.
"They are..."
"I know where they are," and with that, he turned away, and just as he was about to jump towards the location of the two Uzumaki he was sensing, the old ninja called back.
"I never thought I would live to see another shinobi attaining sage hood," and Izuna found himself a bit surprised that the man had been able to recognise his powers so quickly.
"Another?" he gasped, for from what he could remember, Jiraiya-sama had never been to Kusa in his life, nor had he ever fought beside them.
"It was years ago, when I was even younger than you, when I first saw him," and his eyes had that glint of reminiscence as he continued.
"One man, all alone, fighting against a bijuu. No. Not fighting, but dominating a beast considered by many to be the epitome of destruction," and he shook his head as he looked at him once more.
"To think I would live long enough to witness another like the Great Hashirama Senju," and that name made him still.
"Take them, and leave us in peace. Kusa will not retaliate for this transgression today. For as strong as we are, I know that we are no match against a Sage," and it was a bit of a surprise seeing someone old enough to remember Hashirama Senju in these days.
Such people still existed, but only for a short while, as most of them would soon die, and all people would have to remember Hashirama Senju by shall be only texts and tales.
"Go," he gasped as Izuna jumped, his body tearing through the air as he slowly landed on the rooftop of the Hospital, and as he walked through the building he saw Kusa nin all eyeing him warily as he slowly made his way to a massive room littered with injured shinobi, where one woman stood besides a bed as a shinobi snarled in rage.
"What do you think you are doing you whore!" he snarled, as the red haired woman backed off in fear.
"Just give me your arm and let me heal you," and the woman flinched at his words, recoiling, yet the man did not relent, as he made to grab the woman, yet his hand never reached her, as Izuna appeared between them, and held the man's tongue.
"What!" the man snarled, yet before he could say anything, a blow to the head silenced him as Izuna turned towards the red-haired woman, who had paled at his sight and power.
"Are you Kirin Uzumaki?" and even without an answer, he could tell that she was an Uzumaki from her massive chakra. She flinched, yet she nodded nonetheless.
"Yes," she replied in a small voice, as Izuna reached into his pocket and took out the scroll given to him by Minato-san.
"My name is Izuna Uchiha, and I am a member of the Uchiha clan of Konohagakure," he began, making her eyes widen.
"You may not know it, but Uzushio and Konoha were allies. And though years have passed and we others may have forgotten about the plight of the Uzumakis, Konoha still remembers," and he put the scroll infront of her, and the years had turned it yellow but the seal and writing on it remained legible to this day.
"This is a declaration from Mito Uzumaki, the daughter of Lord Ashin Uzumaki and the wife of the First Hokage of Konoha, declaring Konoha as a safe haven for any and all Uzumakis," and her eyes widened as she gasped, covering her mouth.
"Mito-sama," she gasped, as she saw the writing on the scroll.
"She is dead now, yet a descendant of your clan still lives in our village. Lady Kushina Uzumaki, a niece of the late Lord Ashin," and she was sobbing now, unable to control her tears.
"It took us some time to track you, but now that we have, I am here to tell you that both you and your daughter have a home and a clan waiting for you in Konoha."
.
.
.
And soon enough, instead of one bird. Two paper birds were flying through the skies, one for him and Konan, and another one for Kirin and Karin Uzumaki.
"So, I win," Izuna Uchiha began, as the purple-haired girl stood there silently.
"I will tell Mother to expect you at our home next Tuesday... " That seemed to surprise her, as her head whipped towards him as she gasped.
"You only mentioned friends," she asked with thin eyes as Izuna plopped down and shrugged.
"My mother is my best friend...."
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