Onoki had always been sharp, his ambition burning bright. But meeting the Sage of the Six Paths humbled him fast.
If the Sage was real, what about the other gods from myth? Were they out there too?
A flicker of fear for the unknown stirred in Onoki, mingled with a spark of longing. Being a pawn in the Sage's game didn't bother him—it meant he was valuable enough to play.
Onoki sat with the other three Kage, their positions equal on paper. He played the part, respecting his allies. They'd be cannon fodder later, so it made sense to keep them sweet now. You can't expect a horse to run without feeding it.
The Raikage, a hothead, clenched his fists, knuckles cracking with faint sparks of lightning. He ground his teeth, glaring at Onoki's latest report.
"Sitting here waiting to die? No way! I'd rather strike first and fall on the battlefield than cower in the rear like a coward!"
The Raikage was fed up. Kumogakure had been grappling with a bug plague for years, the insects escaping from their labs. Someone leaked the story, and now they faced public outrage while scrambling to clean up the mess.
The bugs were relentless, and eradicating them was a tedious, brain-draining slog. Kumogakure shinobi were built for action, not puzzles, but this pest problem demanded cunning over brawn.
"We're not completely outmatched," Onoki said, rubbing his lower back before catching himself. His eyes glinted with shrewd calculation. "Those things are just converted grunts. The real issue is their leaders. Take out the head, and the body falls."
Terumi Mei sat silent. As Mizukage, she led a Kirigakure that barely existed anymore. The Land of Water was uninhabitable, her village a hollow name.
Kirigakure had stirred trouble, funneling Land of Water refugees to other nations to sow chaos—a petty jab to ensure no one else thrived while they suffered.
Clinging to dwindling supplies, Kirigakure's shinobi eked out a grim existence. When Onoki proposed an alliance, they jumped at the chance, hoping to milk it for resources. But the Land of Earth was a revelation: no eerie red ice, just stability and peace—the life Kirigakure craved.
The idea of defecting to the Land of Earth, to Onoki, took root. Sure, they might be used as fodder, but it beat rotting in a hopeless wasteland.
Hadn't Sasori of the Red Sand thrived in the Land of Earth, climbing high in their ranks?
Mei barely hesitated before endorsing the idea. From then on, she deferred to Onoki, their agreement unspoken but clear.
Konoha, reduced to a ragtag band, still clung to dreams of revival. The Land of Fire's foundation remained, unlike the Land of Water, swallowed whole by red ice.
"What do you know about the legion leaders?" Onoki asked, his gaze sweeping the room.
Tsunade's face darkened. The refugee legions were camped across the Lands of Wind and Fire—Kumogakure's bug plague and Kirigakure's red ice made those regions unfit for large groups. With no Sunagakure representative present, Onoki's question was aimed squarely at her.
...
Tsunade had crossed paths with the legions briefly. En route to the Land of Earth for this summit, her Konoha team stumbled across one of their armies. They avoided conflict, slipping away early. Every surviving Konoha shinobi was too precious to risk.
Gathering intel on the legion leaders was tough, the data scarce. But what little they had was chilling.
Tsunade's voice was low, deliberate.
"I met one of their leaders—an elderly woman. Her abilities are… unique. She wears bizarre clothing, topped with an odd, flat headpiece adorned with a massive pink flower. She wields a slender needle, and her body seems to sprout needles at will. She can manipulate them to stab wildly. It's not any known kekkei genkai, and there's no trace of chakra in her attacks.
"She's immune to most physical and ninjutsu attacks. If her needles pierce you, your body mutates, transforming into a semi-immortal monster soldier under her control."
Tsunade paused, her expression grim. "That's all I've got. The intel was a fluke."
The Raikage and Mizukage nodded, staying quiet. They hadn't faced the legion leaders directly and had little to add. Onoki, noting their silence, pressed on.
"Then let me share what I know. The leader Tsunade described is called Matron, a master of needle-based attacks.
"The second leader is Beelzebub, who controls rice paddies and wields bizarre abilities tied to them—Forced Excretion, Fecal Fortitude, Crimson Dung Glamour, Lone Fecal Struggle, Eternal Hammered Waste…
"These effects can strike anyone on the battlefield, instantly crippling their ability to fight, leaving them easy prey for Beelzebub. With limited intel, I can't speculate further."
The room grew heavy with tension, a lethal edge to the silence. Even without facing the legion leaders, Tsunade and Onoki's accounts painted a grim picture of their power.
Beelzebub, in particular, sounded like a nightmare—less about killing and more about humiliating foes into submission.
The Raikage's face was a storm cloud, his frustration boiling over. Kumogakure was drowning in internal and external crises. He forced a slow breath, brows knit tight.
"Is that all we know about these leaders? Any other analysis or guesses?"
Onoki shook his head. These figures had appeared out of nowhere, their names unknown before now. The shinobi world still hadn't cracked their motive for sparking a global war.
Tsunade spoke up again, her tone cautious.
"I suspect Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Neji are tied to these legion leaders.
"Their abilities show no chakra signature—a completely foreign system, distinct from chakra, and highly refined.
"If Sasuke and Neji have been replaced, it means these invaders have been lurking in the shinobi world for years, biding their time."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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