With the fragile "Anti-Raimon Alliance" formally established, Shimura Danzo wasted no time mobilizing. Orders flew from his newly claimed Hokage Office in Takigakure, recalling every Root agent and sleeper cell he had scattered across the nations. The grandiose construction projects in 'New Konoha' were abruptly halted.
Why build a new village from scratch when you could simply take the original, fully functional one? He was confident that the combined might of five Kage-level forces would crush the Leaf.
He stood at his window, his lone right hand gripping the sill as he stared in the direction of the real Konoha, a mix of triumph and bitter resentment swirling in his heart. "Hiruzen… you will live to regret passing the hat to that woman. If I cannot reform Konoha from within, then I will force it to change from the outside!"
****
Far from the gathering storm, two figures had landed in an ungainly heap near the border of the Land of Fire. Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki had finally crash-landed after their involuntary, spinning flight courtesy of Namikaze Raimon's "Send You A Thousand Miles" technique.
Kisame's monstrous vitality was already at work, the pulverized flesh of his backside slowly knitting itself back together. Uchiha Itachi's situation, however, was more delicate. The internal trauma from passing that… foreign object… had become inflamed. Without prompt treatment, amputation was a very real, horrifying possibility.
"If I ever see you again…" Itachi thought, his face pale with pain and fury. He had learned a brutal lesson: against an enemy like that, there was no room for posturing or testing the waters. Next time, he would go straight for the kill—unleash the full Susano'o and seal Raimon with the Totsuka Blade the moment he appeared. He'd even use Shisui's Kotoamatsukami if he had to, forcing the man to turn his own drill on himself.
Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes, hardened his resolve, and applied the strong anti-inflammatory ointment directly to the wounded area.
"Kuso…!" (Damn it…!) A sharp hiss escaped his lips, his teeth grinding audibly.
After half a day, the unconscious Kisame finally stirred. "Ugh… where… are we?" He tried to sit up, but a wave of nauseating vertigo slammed into him, worse than any hangover from counterfeit sake. The world was still spinning. He collapsed back to the ground with a groan.
"It is unlikely they will pursue us this far," Itachi stated, his voice tight but controlled. He let out a slow breath of relief. In his current state, another battle was out of the question.
"Mr. Itachi… thank you," Kisame mumbled from the ground, enduring his dizziness. This was the first time since they'd become partners that a mission had ended in such utter, humiliating failure. Previously, his brute force combined with Itachi's support was enough to handle anything. Today, they had both gone all out and been effortlessly swatted aside.
"Konoha… truly has a deep reservoir of hidden strength," Kisame muttered, before suddenly rolling over and vomiting a stream of yellow bile. "...That's better."
Itachi, meanwhile, was taking slow, measured breaths, a technique that helped marginally with the relentless, throbbing agony.
"Mr. Itachi… just what was that man?" Kisame finally asked, once his stomach had settled.
"The Steel-Handed Ripper. Some call him the Eunuch Maker," Itachi explained slowly, each word measured against the pain. He relayed the scant, terrifying intelligence he knew about Namikaze Raimon to his partner.
"Mr. Itachi, are you… alright?" Kisame asked, his gaze inadvertently drifting downward.
"I am fine," Itachi replied instantly, his face smoothing into its usual impenetrable mask of calm.
Kisame looked at him with newfound admiration. 'Incredible… my backside is hamburger, but Mr. Itachi appears unscathed. Truly, besides Leader-sama, he is the strongest in Akatsuki!'
"Once you have recovered, we return to Amegakure," Itachi stated, wanting nothing more than to lie down in a dark room for two days. He could feel his illness worsening; every use of the Mangekyō was another step toward his own grave.
****
Back in Konoha, Team Seven gathered at the gates at dawn for another day of their peculiar "training journey." Namikaze Raimon used the Flying Thunder God to return them to the exact spot they'd left the previous evening.
"Uncle! That jutsu is so awesome! I wanna learn it too!" Naruto yelled, immediately latching onto Raimon's leg like a barnacle.
Nearby, Sasuke watched with poorly concealed envy. He wanted to learn it as well. With the Hiraishin, he could appear behind Uchiha Itachi in an instant and land a Chidori right where it counted!
"Naruto, you need to master chakra nature transformation first," Raimon said, ruffling the boy's blond hair. He'd begun their foundational training in precise chakra control—tree-walking and water-walking were now part of their daily routine. Without the Nine-Tails' constant interference, Naruto was progressing quickly. Sakura, however, was demonstrating a natural, meticulous talent for control, outpacing both boys.
Typical, Raimon thought, girls are often more detail-oriented.
As the third day of travel drew to a close, the group had reached the border between the Land of Fire and the mysterious, neutral Land of Rice Paddies. The moment they crossed the threshold, the atmosphere changed. The forest grew still and heavy, permeated by a chilling, eerie aura that raised the hairs on the back of their necks.
"It's getting dark. We'll head back to Konoha for the night," Raimon decided. Searching for Orochimaru's hidden Sound Village in a snake-infested forest after sunset was a fool's errand. With a flash, they were gone.
But the Konoha they returned to was not the peaceful village they'd left. An air of palpable tension gripped the streets. Anbu agents in their animal masks were everywhere, urgently directing civilians toward fortified underground shelters. The village was on high alert.
Raimon's expression turned serious. "You three, follow the evacuation orders. Get to the shelters."
"Uncle! I want to protect Konoha too! I'm strong now!" Naruto protested, flexing a still-developing bicep.
"The Uchiha do not hide from battle," Sasuke declared coldly. How could he ever hope to catch up to Itachi if he cowered in a hole? True strength was forged in conflict.
Seeing both her teammates brimming with fighting spirit, Sakura swallowed her fear and nodded shakily. "I-I'll fight too! We're a team!"
Raimon considered it. He had placed discreet Flying Thunder God seals on each of them for emergencies. And Konoha still had Tsunade and Jiraiya holding the line. It would be a controlled risk. "Alright. You three will operate as a squad. Stick together and be careful. Your mission is defensive support only."
After giving them brief instructions, Raimon vanished in a flicker of yellow light, reappearing instantly in the Hokage's Office.
The scene there was one of heated conflict. Tsunade and Jiraiya stood on one side of the shattered remains of a desk, facing down Konoha's two remaining elders, Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu.
"Tsunade-hime, be reasonable!" Koharu pleaded, her voice strained. "Just hand Namikaze Raimon over! The alliance of four Great Nations, led by Danzo who knows all our defenses… we cannot withstand that siege!"
"That's right! One man's life for the safety of the entire village! It is the logical choice!" Homura added, though he couldn't help taking a subtle step back, his hand instinctively moving to cover his lower back.
Tsunade, however, was a volcano of righteous fury. She was not Hiruzen Sarutobi, the compromiser who let foreign powers walk all over Konoha. She remembered the Hyuga incident all too well—a foreign shinobi trying to steal the Byakugan, getting killed, and Hiruzen forcing the Hyuga clan head to apologize. That weakness ended with her.
"ENOUGH!" Tsunade roared, slamming her fist down on what was left of the desk. The impact was like a small earthquake, shaking the room. "All you two ever did was whisper cowardice in Hiruzen's ear! 'Give a little here, concede a little there!' Why didn't you just hand Konoha over on a silver platter and be done with it?!"
She pointed a trembling, accusatory finger at the two elders, showing them none of the deference they were used to.
"Oh? So the plan is to hand me over and hope that solves everything?" Namikaze Raimon's voice cut through the tension as he materialized in the room.
Homura and Koharu flinched violently, both hands flying to protect their posteriors as they shook their heads in frantic unison. "N-No! Of course not! Hehe… how could we suggest such a thing?"
Their faces twitched. Faced with a choice between the village being attacked and their own backsides being in mortal danger, they suddenly found immense value in Konoha's fighting spirit.
"What's the situation?" Raimon asked, turning to Tsunade.
After a quick briefing, Raimon understood. Old grudges had finally come home to roost. A coalition had been formed with one primary goal: his head.
A slow, dangerous smile spread across his Edo Tensei features. "Heh heh… I wasn't afraid when the Four Great Shinobi Nations surrounded me in life. Did they really think a second-rate alliance led by that one-armed fool would scare me now that I'm immortal?"