"Huh?! Mission for me?" Naruto points a finger toward himself.
"Why me, when there are several other shinobis in the village?" Naruto asks him.
"Naruto!" Yamato places his hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"This is very important top-secret information crucial for war. Only someone with your skill can accomplish this task." Yamato's eyes shine with such brightness that they almost blind Naruto.
"Really?!"
"Yes, of course! You are the only one." Guy nods with Yamato.
"This is a top-secret S-rank mission. I can't disclose the information about it yet." Guy whispers in Naruto's ear.
"Then count me in!" Naruto raises a thumb toward the group.
"Let's go! I am hyped for my first S-rank mission. I will definitely become a jounin after this mission." Naruto takes the lead and walks towards the port.
Fufu…
"So easy!"
The rest of the group silently chuckles at Naruto's simple-mindedness.
"Everyone, I will see you later during the war!"
Naruto waves his hand at the rest of the Konoha 12 group. He leaves the island on a ship with Guy, Yamato, Aoba, and Maroi on board.
After Naruto leaves, everyone sighs behind his back.
"It's the least we could do to isolate him from the war. It would be troublesome if Akatsuki used some unforetold means to capture him to extract Nine-tails." Shikamaru shakes his head.
"Everyone, let's return to the village. The issue with Kusagakure's participation in war is over and the elders of the flower faction already agreed to ally with the rest of the nations."
"Let's go, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura and Ino pull Sasuke's arm.
Sasuke turns around and glances at Ryūzetsu's melancholic face for a few seconds.
"I hope I will see her around the next time I visit this place." Sasuke shakes his head and boards the ship with the rest of the people.
--------------------------
In some highly secure place in the Land of Fire,
A tall dome-shaped building stands erect with multiple restrictions and barriers around the place.
A, Onoki, Mifune, Gaara, Rasa, Minato, Tsunade, and Mei survey the area.
"The fuinjutsu skills of the Uzumaki clan are as outstanding as always." Onoki praises the several barrier formations put in place.
"They are outstanding enough for the four shinobi nations to join forces to wipe out Uzushiogakure during the second shinobi war." Tsunade mocks him in an indifferent tone.
"It was the circumstances that forced us to take such action. Everything is fair in war as long as it gives us an advantage." Onoki acknowledges the blame without any hint of emotions.
"I will still choose to do the same if given another opportunity." He adds.
Hmph…
Tsunade snorts and continues to survey the area.
After Izuna's thorough investigation, it was revealed that the four shinobi nations orchestrated the attack on the Uzumaki clan during the second shinobi war to weaken Konoha's forces during the war. Danzo was also in consent as he betrayed the Uzumaki clan by withholding reinforcement to aid the Uzumaki clan members.
"Both the Intelligence Division and the Sensor Division have stationed their core shinobis at this place. The elites of the combat division are also guarding the perimeter of this area." One of the Kumogakure Jounin reports to the group.
Mm…
The Kages nod at him and walk towards the interior of the headquarter.
"Summon Alliance's chief strategist Shikaku Nara, Sensor division head Ao, Intelligence division head Inoichi Yamanaka, combat division head Sakumo Hatake, Scout division head Ringo Kumano and…"
Minato issues a series of orders to the guards to summon the respective heads of every division for an emergency meeting.
Half an hour later,
Every Kage and division head gathers around a round table in a giant hall.
"Let's commence the meeting!" Minato signals the start of the meeting.
The Scout division head Ringo Kumano takes the lead and presents a report to the group.
"These past few weeks our scouts have been repeatedly searching for the traces of Akatsuki and their forces, but we have yet to spot any Akatsuki member or their army for that matter. Even Kabuto Yakushi has escaped our radar."
He presents a series of the report and intel of every secret Akatsuki hideout in other nations and even the intel of Pain's main headquarter in Amegakure.
Hmm…
The Kages frown at this revelation.
"This is too much of a disadvantage for us. The enemy is secretly monitoring our every move while we aren't even aware of their forces." A slams his palm on the table.
"The enemy is quite formidable, especially the mastermind, Madara Uchiha. We must search for every clue no matter how much small it is." Onoki clutches his fist.
"The intelligence department is in the process of filtering and organizing the intel gathered by the scout division. So far, the most notable information among them is the incident of grave robbery in multiple shinobi nations."
Inoichi projects the shinobi world map in front of the group.
"Hmm… grave robbery?! What does Akatsuki aim to achieve by pilfering the graves of shinobis?" Onoki frowns.
"It's the forbidden jutsu Edo Tensei." Shikaku calmly remarks.
"Edo Tensei, that forbidden jutsu of the Second Hokage!" Everyone's expression turns ugly at his remark. The horror and threat of an immortal army that doesn't feel any pain and fatigue is nightmarish to shinobis made of flesh and blood.
"Hmm… Kabuto inherited this technique from Orochimaru, who almost perfected this technique." Tsunade recalls the recent encounter of the Konoha shinobis with Kabuto.
"If Kabuto raises an army of Edo Tensei, then we won't stand a chance in this war." Gaara presents his concern as he recalls Kabuto's characteristics from his memory of the chunnin exam.
"Even if he has perfected the technique, it would be impossible for him to control an army. This technique puts an immense burden on the user's mind. Also, there is a risk of the summons losing control and gain free will if the summoner fails to control them." Minato states the weakness of the Edo Tensei.
"However, it shouldn't be to be a problem for him to control tens of powerful shinobis." He adds.
"Even tens of powerful shinobis can create havoc among our rank. What if Kabuto reincarnated the First Hokage as an Edo Tensei?" Mei raises a question.
Everyone's expression turns ugly at the mention of First Hokage's name. The combat prowess of the First Hokage even exceeds Madara Uchiha. If such a shinobi makes a move against the allied forces, then the amount of damage will be catastrophic.
"The first Hokage, the second Hokage, and the third Hokage can't be reincarnated." Minato shakes his head, much to everyone's relief.
"The second and third Hokage's souls are sealed within the stomach of the Shinigami, whereas Izuna placed restrictions on the first Hokage's soul, thus preventing someone else from summoning his soul as an Edo. However, there are still plenty of fearsome shinobis we have to be wary of."
A member of the intelligence division walks inside the meeting halls and hands over a scroll to Inoichi.
Hmm…
Inoichi reads the contents of the scroll, and the frown on his face lightens.
"What's the matter, Inoichi?" Shikaku notices his expression.
Sigh…
Inoichi sighs and passes the scroll to Shikaku.
"The intelligence division has finished compiling the intel and, fortunately, has inferred the likely location of Akatsuki's main headquarter. Even Kabuto's trials are revealed after his recent activities.
Shikaku hands the map to Inoichi, who then marks multiple locations on the world map with a circle.
"With this, we have a lead on our enemy."
Everyone's expression returns to normal.
"Still, it is better than shooting an arrow in the dark. At least we have a direction to work in." Mifune nods at Inoichi and acknowledges his effort.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's form a team and send it to scurry away every piece of information about Akatsuki and that rat Kabuto. It will be a significant achievement if we can capture that Kabuto and force him to summon Edo Tensei to aid us in the battle." A clenches his fists.
"Hmm… Edo Tensei is an inhuman technique that requires human sacrifice. Are you sure you can beat the cost Raikage?" Onoki snides at him.
"Of course, I can! We can use the heinous criminals who are sentenced to death as a sacrifice for the technique. Also, didn't you say it earlier? Everything is fair in war as long as we can accomplish our objective." A gaze into Onoki's eyes.
The atmosphere of the meeting hall turns solemn at Raikage's words.
-------------------------
A/N:- My new Naruto fan-fic, 'The Rogue Demon of the Shinobi World' is out.
Also, check out my pat reon www.pa treon.com/ForgottenLife to support my work and get a sneak peak at the latest chapters of both series in advance. Read upto 80+ chapters from both series combined in advance.