Part 2
Onimaro Himitsu walked into the room, leading Taiga Himitsu, who was in handcuffs. In Taiga's hand was a sheet of paper, which he proceeded to place on the large table in the center of the room. He took a deep breath and looked up.
"My name is Taiga Himitsu and I am the leader of the organisation Heathen. On that sheet of paper is the identity of each and every Heathen member, as well as their village and fighting abilities. I am here to prove our innocence. I have strongly interrogated each and every one of my members and not a single one was involved in the attack on the Ocean Village. Neither do they know anything about the attack. If you so wish, you can interrogate them yourselves. I do not know why our organisation was framed but I do hope that with the information I have provided, I have gained your trust. I would like to take this opportunity to request that you kindly withdraw the bounty on our heads, as well as recall Chokara and Jyuunshin. We are a neutral organisation with a sole goal of improving each others abilities, we have no intention in seeing the downfall of the Hidden Villages."
The room was silent as the 11 Kages absorbed what just happened. The list of names was passed around and various grunts of surprise rose as some of the Kage discovered that some of their most trusted members were part of this organisation. The Kage of the Hidden Metal spoke up first;
"This seems a little too perfect...are you trying to say that you simply gave up the identity of every one of your members just to prove their innocence? Isn't secrecy utmost priority in your organisation???"
"Well of course," Taiga responded, "secrecy is vital to the operating of our organisation, however, not if it puts the lives of my members at risk. We're currently being hunted down by each and every Hidden Village and you honestly expect me to risk death of the entire organisation because of what? Tradition? You're a Kage, and tell me, would you do the same?"
Taiga had intended to quickly and abruptly shoot down any suspicions, however he didn't mean to create such tension while doing so.
"That is no manner at which to speak to a Kage, where is your respect?" sneered the elderly Kage of the Hidden Snow.
"It's fine mother, the youth these days know no bounds" replied the Hidden Metal's Kage.
"Mother?" Taiga was taken aback, he had no idea that 2 of the Kage were related.
"Oh didn't you know?" smiled another elderly woman, "6 of us are related, I, Kage of the Hidden Volcano am the sister of Nanami Kirishima, Kage of the Hidden Snow and between us our children are the Kage of the Hidden Metal, Dust, Forest and Ash."
Taiga was shocked by this news, he then remembered that the Hidden Metal, Hidden Dust, Hidden Forest and Hidden Ash had all their Kage assassinated in the past 6 years. At the mention of the Kirishima, Onimaro had appeared to stiffen, his eyes were narrowed as the reality of the situation sunk in.
"But I digress, so has anyone got anything else to add?"
Onimaro took a step forward, "Jyuunshin and Chokara have put all their efforts into finding Heathen. If truly guilty, he wouldn't have given himself up. As far as he would have been aware, he had gotten away with his crimes, that is, if he were guilty."
"That is true, he has put himself and organisation in an incredibly compromising position" voiced the Kage of the Hidden Hill.
"Ahh maybe so but how do we know if any of these names are legitimate? This could be a fake list used to gain the trust of the Kage. In fact, for all we know, Onimaro could be a member himself" said the Kage of the Hidden Dust. The Kage of the Hidden Ash nodded, adding;
"We should kill him, just to be sure. And if the attacks stop we'll know he was guilty"
The Kage of the Hidden Hill frowned, "Your plan is to kill without evidence? Even if you don't believe him, you could imprison him to see if the attacks continue...murder....just seems... quite harsh."
The Kage of the Hidden Dust and Hidden Ash exchanged a look.
"How about we take a vote on this?" Suggested Nanami Kirishima.
"All in favour of execution on the grounds of the murder and annhilation of the Hidden Ocean Village; raise your hand"
7 hands were raised.
"Bear in mind that it would be suspicious if you were not to. After all, we have no idea as to who truly is a member" added Nanami.
2 more hands were raised.
Onimaro couldn't bear the blatant injustice, "This is ridiculous! You call yourself Kage and you're sentencing this man to an unfair death! You're letting the Kirishima fool you!!"
The Kage of the Hidden Thunder stood up and walked out while the Hidden Hill's shook his head in disgust. They were the only 2 not to vote.
"Now now Onimaro, our respective clan's have come to an agreement to end this animosity" smiled Nanami, "maybe it's your continued distaste of the Kirishima clan that is making you disagree with us. You're the clan leader now and maybe it's about time you start acting like one"
Onimaro took a deep breath and turned to Taiga. "I can't let my emotions for the clan get in the way of my decision-making." Taiga's eyebrows raised in shock as Onimaro plunged a kunai into his chest.
"O..ni.." gasped Taiga as he fell to his knees. As his eyes closed he noticed a solid look of determination on Onimaro's face.
The Kage of the Hidden Thunder stormed into his office.
"Those idiots! I bet those Kirishima have something to do with the recent attacks..."
"Sir, you have a visitor" interrupted one of his guards.
"You know not to barge in unless it's important"
"I know Sir, but she claims to know the location of the organisation responsible for the attacks" At this information, the Kage's interest was piqued.
"Send her in", shortly after a young, dark haired woman walked in. She appeared to be slightly pregnant.
The woman was ecstatic, she hadn't thought that her plan would truly work but here she was, face to face with the legendary Kage of the Village Hidden in Thunder.
Vuregu.
With a conscious effort to not smile, she gave false information as to the location of a false organisation, while keeping the details vague enough to match everything that Vuregu should know. As she began to run out of lies to tell, she spotted the signal from outside his window and dropped her guard.
"I..I have to go now" she took a step backward to leave but by the time she had turned around, Vreg had a kunai to her neck.
"Now, now, using a pregnant woman as a decoy, that's new."
2 figures crashed through the window and 3 more walked in from the door. Vuregu could see the doors outside his office splattered with the blood of his guards. His ANBU level security had been dispatched with complete silence and in an unbelievably short amount of time. He knew this was no ordinary attack and these must be the shinobi that destroyed the Hidden Ocean.
"Let me guess, you're not here to talk" smirked Vreg. It had been a while since he had used his Eyes of a Thunder God.
He closed his eyes, drawing chakra into them, as the 5 figures all took a cautious step back. As he opened his eyes, they each dropped a smoke bomb, obscuring his vision.
"Pahaha, you think that's enough to stop me??" laughed Vuregu as he charged with a chidori in each hand. The pregnant woman seized the opportunity and dashed out of Vuregu's grasp as the 5 cloaked figures all attacked in unison.
As she recovered her breath in the safety of the blood-drenched hallways, the smoke began to clear. The fighting was gaining in intensity and the clash of a storm release jutsu and fire release caused the roof to be blown off. Now that there was no smoke, the pregnant woman activated her dojutsu - the stolen kekkai genkai of the late Kage of the Hidden Forest.
"Hey! Vuregu!" she called, as he turned around she attempted to place him under a genjutsu, but ended up being repelled against the opposite wall. Vuregu appeared at her side.
"I don't want to kill you, so leave, before you leave me no choice."
The woman smiled and pointed at the sky, Vuregu looked up, shocked by what he saw.
"You bastards..."
Falling, at a tremendous rate, was a meteorite over half a kilometer wide. Vuregu flew upwards, thinking of the quickest way to destroy the meteorite without harming any of his villagers.
"If I survive this, I am sooo stepping down as Kage" said Vuregu, as his Thunder God Eyes glistened in the sunlight, summoning rain.
Part 3
Taiga gasped as he awoke, as the memories of his last moments rushed back. He sat up and looked around at his ram-shackle surroundings. Mika Himitsu, the wife of Onimaro Himitsu walked in.
"Oh you're up" she said with a warm welcoming smile. Confused by the developments, he wondered if what he remembered were all part of some sort of nightmare.
"Where...am I?" he breathed, he noticed that he was in what appeared to be a tent, laying on a mattress with the bare ground mere inches from his face. Mika took a seat beside him and gently lay him back down.
"I've got a lot of explaining to do" she said, as a serious look came upon her face "and it's best that you calm down first." Taiga tilted his head to the side, intrigued as to what could make such a normally sweet woman, so serious.
"After Onimaro...killed you, he requested that he give you a traditional Himitsu burial. He rushed over immediately and brought you to my care, where you were immediately resuscitated. I've got to give it to you, most ninja wouldn't have survived that. You were dead for a solid 2 hours."
Taiga tried to interrupt but Mika shut him down, continuing;
"He told me to give you his deepest apologies. Onimaro had to appear to trust the Kage, he has suspicions - and rightly so - that the Kirishima are behind the attacks. However if his suspicions are correct, that would mean that 6 of the 10 remaining Kage are corrupt."
Taiga was confused, "10...aren't there 11?"
Mika, realizing her mistake, took a deep breath.
"I'm sure you've noticed our surroundings by now. The Hidden Thunder was evacuated..." Taiga sat back up at this news.
"Vuregu...what happened to Vuregu? He's the strongest Kage of them all, surely??" But Mika didn't need to respond. She looked away, avoiding eye contact. Taiga was distraught.
"Bullshit, I refuse to believe it. He's far tougher than that." Mika nodded, hopeful as well. But the bad news wasn't over.
"Taiga..." He turned his head as her eyes filled with tears, Taiga tried to console her;
"It's OK, I'm sure Vuregu is alive, he's our Kage for a reason.".
Mika shook her head, "It's not that...Hea...Heathen"
Taiga's eyes narrowed, "What about Heathen?"
Mika, still avoiding eye contact said the words that Taiga had hoped he'd never have to hear.
"All of Heathen has been assassinated, you're the only one left. We...we don't know who did it, but several eye witnesses claim to have spotted distinct clothing of the Hidden Ash ANBU."
Taiga went silent...he got out of bed and walked to the door. It was almost as if he wasn't injured...
"Taiga..what are you going to do?" asked Mika.
"First I'm framed. And when I make an effort to redeem my name, I get killed for it. Only for both my home village and organisation to be brought to the ground.
Mika... thank you.
But I'm getting my revenge."
Mika had heard of Taiga's dissociative personality but had never witnessed it first hand. This was his first personality, a reflection of the harsh childhood he endured. He was rumoured to have ruthlessly murdered 10 jonin in this state, however Mika had never been one to put much emphasis on rumours. What she knew for sure though, was that the atmosphere in the room had dropped. She sighed as she thought of her second-born child.
"Kazuki...I hope you're all right."
Vuregu frowned, he was lying on his back in what appeared to be a prison cell. He stood up and looked around...
"Oh don't worry, this isn't a normal prison" said a voice. Vuregu spotted a figure in a black cloak. Identical to the figures he fought last. As he squinted he could make out the name "Greed" on the right shoulder.
"Greed huh? So you take to naming yourselves after the 7 deadly sins? Interesting concept, kudos." joked Vuregu as he leaned against the bars.
"I don't think you're taking your situation seriously enough" said Greed, the figure raised their head, showing the face of a well-toned 20-something year old man. He was grinning as his left eye changed colour. Vuregu gasped as he realised that it was none other than his dojutsu, Eye of a Thunder God. Vuregu tried activating his eyes and realized that he still had his right one.
"We tried giving both to Konohuro but he nearly died. It looks like you've got to have Storm Release to even use one of your eyes. It's a miracle he survived, though of course without any God-like eyes. We're currently on the hunt for another powerful shinobi with Storm Release, though they aren't that many of us, are they Greggy" smiled the man, he appeared to be enjoying himself, relishing in his new found power.
Vuregu was annoyed to say the least. No ordinary human should have been able to use his eyes, even with Storm Release, yet here sat an ordinary human...using them with no trouble. As for this Konohuro fella, he must have been either incredibly lucky or powerful to survive the attempted implantation.
Vuregu punched the wall, wincing as his own dojutsu worked against him.
"You should be familiar with this jutsu. It absorbs all forms of energy from inside the cage to power the barrier. Punching it, well only makes it stronger. I believe you call it..."
"I know my own jutsu" Vuregu said, crossing his legs and sitting down in the center of the cell.
"This jutsu is immune to Nin and Taijutsu. I'm sorry sensei, I know you said I shouldn't use it until I can control it, but desperate times call for desperate measures" thought Vuregu. His eyebrows furrowed for a while before a calm, docile look appeared on his face. He smiled and looked Greed straight in the eyes.
"Any last words?"
"It looks like it's going to rain boss" said a young farm hand.
"Oh bug off with that nonsense, it's the middle of July! It hasn't rained in weeks!" replied Ryu, a farmer in his late 60's.
"Hey, boss, I think your wife is on her way, and it looks like she's baked something too." added another young farmhand.
"And it's about time. You lot take a 5 minute break, I'll be back with the goodies" Ryu said, rubbing his hands at the thought of freshly baked cookies.
"If there's any left" smirked the first young farmhand, lowering his voice as of not to be heard by his boss.
"I heard that!" laughed Ryu, jokingly throwing a handful of weeds at him. He turned to face the kilometer high cliff before cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting;
"Oi! Hinata! Over here!"
Hinata was a 63 year old farmer's wife. She had married into an incredibly wealthy farming family with an extensive and successful history stretching back over 8 centuries. Hinata and her husband currently lived in a small cottage at the top of a cliff where they could easily oversee their land of 40 hectares. Hinata walked out with a fresh batch of home-made cookies, smiling as she took in the brisk summer air.
"Ahh" she inhaled the smell of cookies, thinking that her quiet life couldn't possible get any better. As she took a step towards the winding trail that led to the base of the cliff and the beginning of her lands, she was blown 3 metres back by incredibly harsh winds as a thunderbolt crashed down from above.
The lightning bolt alone was nothing like she'd ever seen before, it was over 50 meters wide and stayed in her sight for a good 10 seconds. The thunderclap that followed could be heard halfway across the globe.
Hinata stumbled to her feet, her inner ears obliterated by the thunder. She was now completely deaf and her balance seemed to have a strong bias to her left. As she attempted to stand up she fell right back down to her knees.
The 4 hectacres of land that had taken 12 generations almost a millenium to acquire was gone, eradicated from the earth. In place of the luscious farmland that would stretch out as far as her eyes could see, was a pitch black pit of untold depth. In places she could see steam rising as water was boiled from the impact. The cookies she had baked were completely burnt, and the piece of ground directly in front of her crumbled, dropping the cookie-ashes into the pit below.
She watched them fall, until they hit what appeared to be a red lake. Realising that it was lava, she swiftly moved back, distancing herself from the edge of what appeared to be hell. More lava bubbled up as rock and stone were melted.
From the centre of the pit flew a single figure, holding what appeared to be a head. The figure flew up until they had a good view of their surroundings before spotting the dazed woman. As the figure flew closer, she recognised it to be a male in his early-mid 30's. The mysterious male seemed to be removing the left eye from the decapitated head before replacing his own with it. Hinata realised that it was none other than Vuregu flying towards her. After the attack on the Hidden Thunder, he was pronounced dead, no one had seen him for over 2 days now.
Vuregu flew to what appeared to be a farmer's wife. She was visibly dazed and her hands were badly burnt, there was also a trail of blood flowing from each of her ears, particularly her left. He doubted that she had yet spotted any of her injuries. He tossed the head to her, apologising for the great inconvenience. The woman just stared and nodded, holding the dripping head as if it were a baby.
If she hadn't just witnessed the obliteration of everything she knew and loved, she would have probably asked for an autograph.
"That's the head of a rogue ninja worth millions, Nibui Kirishima, it should be enough to buy some new land" Vuregu said, looking back at the destruction he had caused. He shook his head, trying not to think about how many people he had killed. He had a village to rebuild, this was not the time to dwell on lost souls.
"I guess I still can't use my Sage Mode safely" Vuregu muttered to himself as he flew into the upper atmosphere. He reached the edge of space before looking down to the Land of Thunder. Out of the corner of his eye he could still see the black pit he had created. It was most likely never going to disappear.
A small smile creeped upon his face as he dropped straight into Mach 2.
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