In the courtyard of the building, Akeno sat calmly in a seated position, surrounded by the young ninjas.
"Do you understand? When I return, you'll need to hurry and separate them according to their clans while they're still groggy."
"Yes, don't worry, big brother. The rooms are already prepared to welcome them," Kaede replied with a bright smile.
Before long, Akeno would return with other members of their clans, and at the same time, bring back information about the latest events in their world.
With these new members, each of them would have to take on responsibility and become the new leader of their respective clan.
Chikara Uchiha, Renji Senju, Izaya Hyuga, Maiko Kaguya, Kaede Uzumaki, and Fubuki Yuki! Each of them would bear the task of governing their clan and leading its members to the summit of this world.
Perhaps one day, a single order from them would make this world tremble.
But for now, they gathered around Akeno, preparing for his return. Some were serious, like Izaya, while others barely concealed their excitement, like Kaede.
With a final smile and farewell, Akeno plunged his consciousness toward the system."System, transport me to the Naruto world!"
[Warning, the host is about to be transported to the Naruto world]
…
Naruto World
"…Ino… Ino."
Like a muffled sound, Ino Uchiha seemed to hear a faint voice calling her.
"INO!"
BOOOM
Forcibly pulled out of her thoughts by the distant explosion, Ino tore her gaze away from the body of the young Senju she had just killed.
"INO, FOCUS!" shouted an adult Uchiha who stood at least three heads taller than her.
Refocusing on the battlefield ahead, Ino did not bother wiping the blood from her hands and pulled her sword out of the corpse's chest."Sorry, I was lost in thought."
All around them, smoke, flames, and screams raged through the hot night.
Her Sharingan scanned every tree, every possible opening for an enemy's appearance.
For several months now, the war between the Senju and the Uchiha had escalated to a new level.
With the full support of the Uzumaki clan, the Uchiha clan was feeling the pressure and had begun to lose ground.
"We must retreat," the man said. "We'll have to reconsider Elder Takeru's proposal."
"Yes, Master," Ino replied.
Ever since the clan had recognized her potential, they had made sure to assign her a capable ninja to properly train her.
Running away from the battlefield, the Uchiha clan was forced to withdraw under the increasingly violent attacks of the Senju and Uzumaki clans.
If this continued, they might even have to send even younger members onto the battlefield.
"With this battle, the clan should accept Elder Takeru's proposal and form an alliance with other clans."
"Why would they accept our request?" Ino asked coldly. To her, the clan itself did not matter that much—only her ability to fight and avenge her friend did.
It did not matter whether she or the clan died.
"Don't worry about that," the man replied. "The nobles of the country have grown somewhat irritated by the actions of the Senju and Uzumaki clans. If the Uchiha clan were to suffer, it would affect the business interests of several nobles."
He tried to instill a few notions into his student's closed-off mind.
"We won't even have to spend a single coin. The nobles will handle everything. We'll only need to send a few of our members to escort their delegations to the various clans."
"With that, we'll have a chance to drive the Uzumaki and Senju back to where they came from," Ino said.
"Yes. But for now, you and I will accompany the teams. You need to clear your mind and stay away from the battlefield for a while."
…
On the lands of the Senju clan, Takeshi Senju and Masato Senju—two of the strongest men within the Senju clan—were holding a meeting with several high-ranking members of the Uzumaki clan.
"At this point, the Uchiha clan has very few options left," Takeshi said thoughtfully. "Either they retreat and flee farther away, abandoning their territory, or they seek help elsewhere."
"They could also gather all their forces and launch an all-out assault, don't you think?" asked one of the Uzumaki.
"No. They're not ready for that," Takeshi explained. "That would force them to gather all their forces and abandon every mission they've accepted. They would lose their favorable standing with the nobles and their funding."
"Moreover, if the war reached that level, there would be no turning back for our clans. Our villages would be left defenseless against other clans."
"So they'll look for alliances…" the Uzumaki murmured. "If that's the case, the Uzumaki clan can also seek other clans to fight alongside us. We must not lose the numerical advantage we currently hold."
"Which clans are you thinking of?" Masato asked curiously.
"Some time ago, we happened to cooperate with a particularly interesting clan during a certain mission," the Uzumaki said. "The Yuki clan lacks money, but they certainly do not lack manpower."
"Perfect. On our side, I believe we can propose cooperation to the Hyuga clan as well," Takeshi added. "As a famous dōjutsu clan, I'm sure they would be interested in landing a few blows on the Uchiha."
…
A few days later, on the lands of the Kaguya clan, Ino Uchiha walked alongside her master and several other Uchiha, escorting and protecting a delegation of nobles who hoped to take action against the Senju and Uzumaki.
Their little war had become so violent that certain regions had been devastated, forcing some of their goods to be transported through other trade routes—longer and far more expensive.
Moreover, some of their commercial ventures, which the Uchiha had been hired to protect, had been targeted and destroyed.
It was too much. Their patience had run out. It was time to feed this war with money.
Let's see who would have the last smile.
Ino curiously observed the lands of the Kaguya clan. She had been warned about their violent, even psychopathic nature, and had expected to see ravaged territory.
Surprisingly, the lands of the Kaguya clan looked just like any other clan's territory.
Clean.
It seemed that their temperament had not affected their way of life.
While the noble representatives and the Uchiha elites spoke with important members of the Kaguya clan, Ino preferred to focus her attention on the training grounds she could see in the distance.
On those grounds, she could see several young Kaguya fighting, refining their mastery of taijutsu.
Their art was brutal. Violent.
Yet despite their fighting style, heavily based on physical strikes, she could not find a reason for the description her master had given her of this clan.
Where were the violent beasts, the blood-crazed maniacs?
"Master?" Ino called.
Her master, who had remained at her side, was also watching the young ninjas fight."Yes?"
Looking at the clean lands, the adult Kaguya speaking with the delegation, and the young Kaguya training in the distance, Ino spoke thoughtfully.
"You described them differently. From what you told me, I thought we would be meeting real demons. Yet they don't look like the maniacs you presented to me."
Taking a slow breath, her master looked at Ino, who continued to watch the duel.
"It seems that despite the impressive ability of your eyes, you still have much to learn. You lack observation," he said in a very serious tone.
"How so—" Ino began, before seeing the duel end as one of the young boys managed to unbalance his opponent and beat him mercilessly until he completely lost consciousness.
Standing up from the unconscious body of his "friend," a grin stretching from ear to ear was visible on his face, his hands covered in blood.
As he left the training ground to the applause of the other Kaguya clan members watching the duel, no one paid any attention to the bloodied, unconscious boy lying in the middle of the field.
"They only care about strength," Ino's master said once more. "You only need to see the smiles on their faces when we propose fighting the Senju clan."
Turning her gaze toward the delegation, Ino could see the almost ecstatic smiles of the Kaguya.
It seemed that the proposal for an alliance would be successfully carried through.
-----------------------------------
A/N: Happy New Year !