In an unnamed valley...
Suddenly, a portion of space began to distort, and a masked man clad in a black cloak with red clouds appeared.
The masked man wasn't feeling great. This operation had initially just been an experiment to test the power of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. If he had to name this version of the technique, he would call it the Limited Tsukuyomi.
In truth, the failure to capture the Nine-Tails alone wasn't what frustrated him.
After all, with that person present in Konoha, he'd never really expected to successfully snatch the Nine-Tails right from under their nose.
So this whole plan was meant to be a win-win, if he managed to catch the Nine-Tails, great; if not, it wasn't a loss.
However…
The masked man recalled everything that had happened in the Tsukuyomi world, Naruto's strength had been beyond his expectations. Not even Nagato had shocked him this much in the past.
So, someone explain this to him, how was Naruto already able to fully use the Nine-Tails' power? More importantly, why was he so overwhelmingly powerful after doing so?
That level of strength wasn't even comparable to the Eight-Tails' perfect jinchūriki.
Still, the masked man took a deep breath. It was now clear that their next moves couldn't be taken lightly. Konoha's strength didn't stop at just the Nine-Tails, they also had Natsuro.
He needed to prepare for the worst and assume that Natsuro was even stronger than Naruto.
So now the question was, why was Konoha hiding such deep power? What were they really planning?
The masked man pondered. As for the fact that Natsuro in the Tsukuyomi world had already unified the ninja world, that didn't concern him much. Most people in that world had opposite personalities, after all.
So, if that Natsuro had that kind of disposition, then the Natsuro of this world was probably the opposite.
Even so, the masked man wasn't disheartened.
If a perfect Nine-Tails jinchūriki was already that strong, how powerful would he become once he became the Ten-Tails jinchūriki?
The masked man was confident, when that time came, not even Natsuro would be able to stop him.
As he was lost in thought, a figure with black and white coloration emerged from the ground beside him, it was Zetsu.
"We've got company," Zetsu said in his eerie double voice.
"Hm?" The masked man raised an eyebrow, and then saw someone calmly sipping tea… Orochimaru?
"What are you doing here?" The masked man's eyes narrowed as he saw Orochimaru.
"Heh heh, no need for such hostility. I'm here to talk about a potential collaboration," Orochimaru replied with a relaxed smile, completely unafraid of the masked man.
"I don't see anything we could possibly cooperate on," the masked man said, frowning. Orochimaru might not be that strong, but he was certainly no easy opponent, definitely not someone to trust without knowing what scheme he was running.
"The Fourth Great Ninja War is upon us. I think you might need my help," Orochimaru said with a smirk. "Let me guess, you just got back from trying to capture the Nine-Tails in Konoha, didn't you? So, how did it feel to witness Konoha's strength?"
The masked man fell silent and glanced at Orochimaru with a cold stare.
Seeing his silence, Orochimaru's smile deepened. That silence confirmed that cooperation was all but inevitable.
However, there was a misunderstanding between them. Orochimaru thought the masked man had been overwhelmed by Natsuro's power, while the masked man assumed Orochimaru knew about the Nine-Tails' terrifying strength.
"So, what exactly can you offer? I don't think you qualify to work with me," the masked man eventually said, though he decided to hear Orochimaru out.
Orochimaru didn't hesitate. He formed a few hand signs, and several coffins rose up before them. When the lids fell open, the figures of former Akatsuki members were revealed inside.
Unfortunately, a few were missing, like Nagato, who was now living peacefully in Konoha, and Uchiha Itachi, whose body had been taken away by Sasuke. Orochimaru still regretted that one.
He had yearned for Itachi's power when he was alive, but never got the chance to claim it…
"The forbidden jutsu of the Second Hokage… Edo Tensei?" the masked man asked in a serious tone.
"Of course," Orochimaru replied, licking his lips as he stared at him.
"If that's all, then it's not enough to qualify," the masked man said. Most of the revived Akatsuki members were around Kage level, but wouldn't significantly shift the tides of war.
"Heh heh… Is that so?" Orochimaru suddenly gave a sinister smile. Another coffin rose from the ground, and its lid opened.
"What if… I include him?" Orochimaru's eyes sparkled with wicked delight as he looked at the stunned expressions of the masked man and Zetsu.
Now this, this was the kind of reaction he wanted.
When he'd shown it to Natsuro, the boy had been surprised, sure, but not shocked—almost as if he had expected it. But now, this, this was the kind of awe Orochimaru had hoped to provoke.
.....
While Orochimaru was now negotiating with the masked man, Natsuro knew nothing of it.
All he knew was that the Five Kage Summit had been holding meeting after meeting lately, constantly discussing what to do next. As the Supreme Commander, Natsuro couldn't afford to be absent.
In fact, aside from initially setting the overall direction, the meetings hadn't been all that productive—mostly because they hadn't even figured out the enemy's base of operations yet.
Of course, he already knew it, but he didn't plan to reveal it just yet.
Right now, the allied forces were dispatching scouting ninja from all five villages to search various regions for the masked man's hideout.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they found Akatsuki's base.
That said, even if the meetings weren't particularly useful, they did accomplish a few things.
For one, they confirmed the total number of ninja in the Allied Shinobi Forces. Including samurai from the Land of Iron, the force would number around 80,000 in total.
But as Natsuro looked at the roster, he could tell this number was inflated.
There simply weren't that many ninja. For example, his own ninja ID number was just a little over 10,000, so how many ninjas could Konoha possibly contribute?
Especially since Natsuro was only seventeen, most ninjas younger than him were considered the future of the village and couldn't be sent to the battlefield.
And most of the ninja with early ID numbers were long dead. Even if each clan mustered what they could, it was unlikely Konoha alone could field more than ten thousand ninja.
Given that Konoha was the most geographically advantageous village, the other four villages likely had even fewer.
So, in reality, the majority of the 80,000 Allied Forces were samurai.
And while there were certainly some powerful samurai, most were little more than foot soldiers. In real combat, everything would hinge on the ninja.
Another matter was the headbands of the Allied Shinobi Forces. As a symbol of this unprecedented alliance of the great villages, they decided to stop wearing their individual village insignias.
Instead, everyone would wear a unified headband bearing the character "Nin" (忍), representing the Allied Shinobi Forces.
The production of these headbands was assigned to the Sand Village. While Kirigakure was best at crafting weapons, Sunagakure was more suited to mass-producing these small, simple items—after all, they had experience making tons of puppets.
But perhaps the most important part was confirming the structure of the Allied Forces. That part had caused the Five Kage to argue fiercely at the summit.
In the end, it was Natsuro who finalized the organizational plan, because if he hadn't, the others might have actually come to blows.
First came the leadership roles, this was unquestionable. Naturally, the Five Kage would lead the alliance, with him as the Supreme Commander. The other four Kage would serve as the heads of the alliance.
Since he was Supreme Commander, the role of Chief Strategist had to go to someone else. Even though he would've liked to give it to Shikaku Nara, that simply wasn't possible politically. So in the end, the position was given to the Fourth Raikage.
After all, aside from Konoha, the strongest village was Kumogakure. Though the Fourth Raikage wasn't exactly suited to be a strategist, everyone understood that he was just the figurehead in the role.
The real planning would be done by the advisors beneath him, and any plans they proposed would still need Natsuro's approval before being implemented. So, ultimately, the role was symbolic more than functional.
The other three Kage didn't argue much over it.
As for the strategist roles themselves, there were no surprises, Shikaku and Mabui of Kumogakure took them. Both were highly respected by all the Kage as intellectual leaders.
Shikaku, as the "Deer" of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, was already well-known for his battlefield brilliance. Mabui's ability to help the Fourth Raikage run Kumogakure so efficiently spoke volumes about her own competence.
Next was the Intelligence Division. The captains were Inoichi Yamanaka and Ao of Kirigakure. No one objected, Inoichi was respected for the same reasons as Shikaku.
The Medical Division was led by none other than Tsunade. This decision was unquestioned—everyone knew that Tsunade, the Legendary Sannin, was the strongest medical ninja in the world. Given that the medical corps would likely be treating many wounded from various villages, having the best medical skills on the field gave everyone peace of mind. No one opposed her leadership.
Divisions like the Reconnaissance Unit, Ambush Unit, Sensory Unit, and the Daimyō Protection Unit were each divided up among the five great villages.
But the most important segment was the main combat units.
Originally, Natsuro had planned to form six main battle units. After all, each village needed representation, and since the Land of Iron had contributed so much manpower, it would only be fair to give them a captain's seat as well.
However, the final decision was to form five combat units. This was because Mei Terumi voluntarily gave up the sixth slot. She reasoned that with Ao already commanding the Intelligence Division and Chōjūrō joining the Daimyō Protection Unit, Kirigakure no longer had anyone suitable to serve as a main battle captain.
It wasn't that Kiri had no capable ninja, but to be a unit captain, one needed to be both renowned and personally powerful. Having been isolated for so long, Kiri simply couldn't produce a strong enough candidate at the moment.
So in the end, the Allied Shinobi Forces were divided into five combat units:
First Division – Captain: Kakashi Hatake (Konoha).
Specializing in mid-to-close-range combat; tasked with holding prolonged battle lines.
Second Division – Captain: Darui (Kumogakure).
Specializing in mid-range combat using weapons and projectile tools.
Third Division – Captain: Kitsuchi (Iwagakure).
Specializing in close-range combat; their role was to eliminate large numbers of enemies at the front lines.
Fourth Division – Captain: Gaara (Sunagakure).
Specializing in long-range combat; focused on supporting both front-line and rear units.
Fifth Division – Captain: Mifune (Land of Iron).
Made up of samurai and ninja with specialized jutsu or unique combat styles.
The overall commander of the five divisions was Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage. This role was extremely prestigious, and the one the Fourth Raikage had really wanted. Unfortunately for him, having already accepted the Chief Strategist position, he couldn't very well take the commander's seat as well.
Ōnoki, being as old as he was, had no intention of taking on that role either.
Natsuro himself had also been tempted, he hadn't been on the battlefield in a while. But as Supreme Commander, he definitely couldn't take it.
As he reflected on things, he realized that Kirigakure had gotten the short end of the stick. But there was no helping it, Kiri simply lacked the manpower at this time, and it had also been one of the places Akatsuki had secretly been operating in. So this loss was inevitable.
Thankfully, Mei didn't seem too bothered. She ended up as the nominal head of the Daimyō Protection Unit, but as the Fifth Mizukage and a key fighting force of the alliance, this position was just symbolic. The real captain was Chōjūrō of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Likewise, while Gaara was the official captain of the Fourth Division, he was also the overall commander. So the actual day-to-day leadership of the Fourth Division fell to, Shikamaru Nara.
That's right, no other Sand ninja stepped up. They all knew Shikamaru's abilities far surpassed their own for that role.
Putting the right people in the right positions could save countless lives. And with Konoha and Suna currently having close relations, no one opposed the idea. More importantly, anyone with eyes could see that Suna's princess, Temari, and Shikamaru had a not-so-subtle relationship—so naturally, no one dared to object~
With everything finally settled, Natsuro let out a sigh of relief. At last, the meetings could quiet down for a bit.
Just then, Shikaku rushed in.
"What is it now? Something else happened?" Natsuro frowned. The meeting had just ended, were they really about to start another one?
"Lord Hokage, we've located the Akatsuki's base!" Shikaku reported.
"Hm?" Natsuro was momentarily stunned, then his expression turned serious. Without another word, he followed Shikaku toward the meeting room.
At last… they had reached this step.
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Currently on Chapter 393 - A Conversation with The Sage of Six Paths