________ POV Narration ________
The Raikage huffed as he observed his Shinobi as they set up the tents for the impromptu military camp that their meeting was going to take place in.
'This isn't going to be a pretty affair... But I need to get to the bottom of this...'
The Raikage had calmed down slightly, all that anger turned into calm. His eyes gained a coldness that they hadn't had in years.
Ever since his own brother had died, the previous B. Also the previous Jinchuriki of the 8th Tails. The man had died because the 8th Tails had managed to break the seal placed on him.
At that time, the Raikage had almost murdered the Tailed Beast in a fit of rage. Leaving it unconscious in the middle of a lake surrounded by collapsed hills and mountains.
That battle had lasted 3 days and nights, against a being that knew no fatigue... But he won regardless.
He won only because his rage settled in the middle of the fight, his mind clearing in time for him to salvage things and fight with calculated efficiency, befitting his status.
It was also that moment he had gained the scar on his chest too... Falling on his own 'Hell Spear' as he passed out from fatigue...
Nothing of that sort would have happened had he fought conservatively the entire time.
Therefore, The Raikage now had a perfect reminder of what letting your anger control you could lead to.
Even if the matter now concerned his son, his own blood, he still couldn't allow his anger to control him...
That was why he wasn't going in alone this time around...
"Raikage-yo~" B was by his side.
"... B, I am glad you decided to join..." The Raikage nodded to the Jinchuriki.
The death of A had affected him heavily. To the point where he was a lot less upbeat.
His passion for music was still the same, but he seemed to be pulling out his notebook and writing down lyrics less and less...
The Jinchuriki was simply not in the right space to write his lyrics... Not while his brother, A, was dead and his killers roamed free.
The Raikage didn't force him to join the operation, he wanted the village to at least have a last defence in case he found his end on the very field they stood in.
But B wanted to come regardless... He wanted to be there to help put his brother's killers to rest...
Even so, the two of them understood that their opponents were powerful... They would have to get very creative if they wanted to be able to kill them.
Simply blitzing them wasn't going to cut it. So they needed to prepare the field, and hope that they didn't bring all that many guards with them...
On their side, they had brought quite a few people, but also left a lot of them in the village. Making sure that it was going to be protected regardless of their absence.
They were forced to pull back from all foreign nations that they were invading. It was certainly going to rouse a bit of suspicion, but the Raikage couldn't afford to spread his forces out too thin.
The fact that he and B were both there was bad enough on its own. They needed to make sure that the Cloud Village was defended well.
Failure was simply not an option for them.
"How much do you think it's going to take them to arrive?" The Jinchuriki lost his musical intonation as he looked at the already set up tents in the military camp.
The Raikage looked at the sky and raised his hand, making it into a clenched fist.
B could feel a bit of wind on his face as some dust rose up around them.
The Jinchuriki simply looked at the Raikage's fist, where a rather large bird had landed.
The Raikage held onto its claw and took the message that was tied to its leg, before simply letting go of it and allowing it to fly away.
Almost mechanically, he looked at the message and studied it with those same cold eyes, narrowing them slightly when he got halfway through it.
"Probably another day or two... More than that and they'd be showing disrespect... A complication has occurred, however..."
B raised an eyebrow at the Raikage's words, his mouth twisted into a scowl.
"Complication?"
"The Mist is also joining this meeting... Rather displeased that they weren't invited to begin with..." The Raikage seemed to mimic B's scowl.
"... Shit..." B cussed out loud as he looked around their camp once more.
'Can we deal with 3 Kage and their guards just by ourselves?'
The short answer was... Maybe.
Even with the element of surprise, they had no way of killing all three of them.
There was also the possibility of the Mist retreating when finding out that they had no finger in the pie that was the unfolding situation... But that was also unlikely...
"What do we do, Lord Raikage?" B bit into his fingernail for a few seconds, trying to think of ways the situation could improve.
The fear that his brother wouldn't see justice in that meeting was the worst part...
"... Tell the others to send a message to the Mist. Tell them to back off, but don't give them any details. If they continue regardless, then they had their minds set from the start..." The Raikage's scowl deepened as he thought of the situation more and more.
Immediately, the possibility that the Mist was seeking revenge for the death of its swordsmen became a huge possibility.
In light of more recent events, he hadn't bothered to hide the Cloud's involvement in that whole matter all that well. At least not well enough for the Mist, apparently...
'In this case, it might be better to just kill the Mizukage as well...'
The Raikage stroked his white beard as the paper in his other hand burned, scorched by lightning in a split second.
"I will relay your orders further..." B bowed slightly and ran off to do as he said.
The Raikage knew that the Jinchuriki was still worried, but his mind was becoming calmer and calmer by the minute...
'The Third Mizukage is coming in person, alongside whatever other guards he can bring..'
While he was not as strong as the Second Mizukage, the Third was still very powerful.
A user of Lava Release and also Soot Release, he was an extremely troublesome opponent. And could put cogs in the wheels of their plans.
The Raikage knew he was stronger than the Mist Kage, but he knew that defeating him alongside the Tsuchikage and the Kage of the Waterfall was going to be almost impossible...
The Tsuchikage alone was going to need the Raikage's full attention, his dust release was the most dangerous out of all the people that were going to be present there...
'... We might need outside help...'
The Raikage didn't like the idea of asking for help regarding his son's murder. It felt like he simply wasn't strong enough to take it on his own...
But if he missed the chance he had created right now, he would lose the element of surprise...
The Tsuchikage wasn't stupid, he and the Jinchuriki of the Waterfall both knew their guilt, and it was highly likely that they suspected something bad was happening...
The Raikage himself knew that he wouldn't be able to find it in himself to act all friendly with the killer of his son, so he knew that the friendly facade would fall flat rather quickly.
'Things are bound to get colder within our alliance if I don't act tonight... Another opportunity like this will not show up again... We need to grasp it.'
So, he now had to choose...
Try their luck as they are right now. With a high possibility of losing the fight and being forced to retreat.
Or call for help from any allies...
But who could he even call?
Immediately, his mind went to the nearby Lands, those that could hopefully make it in time for the meeting...
For a second, he considered reaching out to the Leaf but decided against it... They couldn't be trusted not to take advantage of the situation if the Raikage or B were left weakened after their fights.
There were also some smaller lands nearby, but they were all enemies of the Cloud, so they also couldn't be relied upon...
So that left him with only one reliable party to call for aid... One that could still be nearby...
'The Dark Brotherhood...'
They had delivered a message to him rather quickly. It was fair to say they would be able to make it in time as well.
He knew the Red Dot was extremely fast, so if anyone in the world would make it in time, then it was him...
'I need to contact him, now...'
"Contact the agents in the Land of Iron! Send a message to the Dark Brotherhood! Urgently!"
The Raikage's shout reverberated throughout the camp. A masked figure nodded and turned into a blur, vanishing into the distance to contact the others and relay the orders.
Meanwhile, the Raikage went and personally started writing up the message, while his men prepared the means of transportation.
'Let's hope for the best...'
--------- Around a Day Later ---------
"..." Ken sat on his chair, listening to the wind outside his tent while his legs were crossed and rested on the table in front of him.
Breaking up the alliance of the Cloud, Rock, Waterfall and Mist was a rather simple task in his lack of eyes.
It was something he wanted to do regardless of his deal with the Hokage. The reason was rather simple as well. He had the means to do it, and it was something he felt was the right thing to do...
He hoped that it would put a stop to the Third Shinobi War, or at least reduce its scale in a meaningful enough way.
The fact that he could also use this to not have to pay the Leaf anything for their help in reaching Mt. Myōboku
"So... You're telling me the Raikage wants to pay me in order to help avenge his son... Who I killed?"
The Unmasked Assassin scratched his chin as he listened to Tosho read out the message.
"Well, essentially... At least this is what one of Saburo's clones intercepted from a carrier hawk...
He sent it to us immediately, the turtles are still a reliable mode of transporting information, thankfully..."
Tosho responded with a slight nod, the Samehada on his back seemed to wriggle in amusement for a few seconds before settling down when the First Blade slapped its hilt.
"Well... I can't refuse an offer that good... Being there in person might also help against their attempts to reject the Raikage's accusations."
The Blind Monster slowly stood up, putting his mask on, covering the large smile that was currently spreading on his lips.
"I suggest you wait another day to make your way there, wouldn't want to arouse suspicion by getting there too soon..."
Ken hummed a bit when hearing Tosho's suggestion, considering it for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and laughing a bit.
"Oh, I say we just head there now... Just claim we were hunting down some random rogue in a nearby Land. You're coming with, by the way." Ken patted the First Blade on the shoulder and started slowly walking out of the tent.
Tosho blinked a few times and turned around to watch Ken's back as he left the tent.
The living blade on his back wriggled a bit, Tosho assumed it did its equivalent of a shrug.
'I will never be able to fully guess what is on Lord Ken's mind...'
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Hope you enjoyed today's chapter!
As I've said, this arc gon be fun ;))
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