[Land of Waterfalls, Takigakure]
What used to be a bountiful land, was now stricken with famines, craters and ghost towns. Although it stayed neutral, Iwagakure and Konohagakure often fought onto their lands, causing the civilians and villagers to suffer greatly. The glass industry, once radiant, had become a burden on their economy.
Entire cities relied on the jobs the smitheries offered. Families once dreamed of sending their sons to the smitheries, yet now, all their human and financial investments into this sector seemed meaningless. Every day, large contractors would cancel large orders, preferring the products of Oto no Kami. Despite begging for help to Takigakure, the plight continued, worsening day by day.
The poorest attempted to migrate, but were stopped by Takigakure's totalitarian measures, employing their shinobi to deter such behaviours. They knew, after all, that the Daimyo would not tolerate demographic losses.
There was a status quo. Villagers attempted to find food in the mountains and forests, but to no avail.
Tansen looked at the reports with a heavy expression. His hands were tied, bound to the Waterfall Daimyo's caprices, the survival of his village depending on his mood and money stipends. However, his heart, benevolent, was hurting when seeing people die from hunger.
His eyes showed extreme fatigue, his pupils soul-less.
"Father", a young shinobi called Hisen shouted with a radiant smile, "Look! I have mastered the water shuriken jutsu"
Seeing his son happy, Tansen revealed a wry smile.
'How long will it last?'
"Good job, Hisen. Continue like that, and soon you will be taking my place, ohohoho", Tansen said, the veil of the Takikage's role too heavy for him to bear, "Check on your mother, would you?"
"Yes, father!", Hisen said in a joyful manner.
However, a loud scream tensed Tansen.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"
Shinobi arts.
The shinobi knew no mercy. Whether it be killing, capturing or even extracting information, the shinobi were tools for the wealthy to employ. At least, this is what this profession entailed. To provide service to the highest bidder.
Danzo and Harumi were no stranger to this motto. As powerful as they were, they had sold their services to Takeshi, who happened to possess enough influence to convince them to attack a kage-level figure.
Yet, neither Danzo nor Harumi were afraid.
They could have captured Hisen, or killed Tansen's wife to bring the Takikage's emotions to its lowest point, but they did not see the need for that. Their faces were not even hidden.
Tansen looked at his family members, who fainted. Then his eyes wandered to the jonins who were supposed to guard the entrance of his compound. Fainted, too.
"Danzo Shimura, Harumi Hebikaze...Does Otogakure plan to wage war after bringing peace to the continent? Or are you here to mock us after stealing our source of income?", Tansen spat, "Please, spare my family. Let's talk outside"
Harumi smiled: "Harumi Shimura. A wife has to bear the name of her husband after all...We have three sons, so do not worry about your family. We won't hurt them, if you don't resist, that is"
Tansen frowned, as Harumi started to use hand seals at huge speed. A minute later, Tansen gasped as he witnessed a massive gate releasing purple waves of chakra.
Hebikaze Arena Gate [S]
"It's not a genjutsu...Is it...Space teleportation?", Tansen muttered in awe.
Summoning jutsu was one of the most extraordinary hidden arts of the shinobi world. Creating a gate capable of teleporting shinobi, even with such conditions, was quite unheard of. Tobirama did possess such a jutsu, but he had spent decades working on this. Harumi, however, had used something else. Rather than a seal, she was connecting two spatial points together, using a massive seal array in a desolate cave in Oto no Kami, a ghost compound which used to be the Hebikaze's training ground before they migrated to Otogakure.
Danzo smiled: "Think of it as a summoning jutsu to travel faster to...a safer place to discuss and negotiate. Otherwise, we could talk here, but I would hate to have to kill your underlings because they woke up too early. Genjutsu was never my strong suit, you see?"
Tansen gulped as he saw the bells in Danzo's hands, releasing an inaudible sound and subtle waves of chakra. Despite having kage-level chakra reserves, the bells were making his eyes tired and his eyelids heavy. As a neighbour of Oto no Kami, he had faced Kinzoku elites quite a few times already, but never once did he face an opponent wielding the Kinzoku Sound Bell Hidden Arts so proficiently.
Tansen immediately understood what it meant. They were not here to discuss. They were here to attack him, but were so confident in suceeding that they aimed at doing it quietly, leaving no trace whatsoever.
"Who was it? Oto no Kami nobles? I did put a bounty on their heads, after all, but that was only after the Daimyo forced my hands. The bounties were not even that high, either. It was a gesture of peace. Actually, Otogakure should have benefitted from these. It would mean more escort missions and samurai training for your shinobi"
Harumi hissed: "Time is ticking...If the gates close, we will fight here"
Tansen gulped, and looked at his son one last time.
"Fine, I will follow you", he muttered
As Tansen crossed the gates first, he was shocked to see a complex array of seals. Thousands of seals were deeply inter-connected with one another. Each seal was similar to teleportation jutsu, except the number was just terrifying. The chakra reserves to activate them all at once needed to exceed that of regular kage. This was just terrifying.
Harumi and Danzo soon followed, closing the gate as they arrived. The snake den was lit in torches burning in blue flames, Matatabi, the two-tailed, flames.
"So the rumours of Otogakure stealing the tailed beasts of Iwagakure and Kumogakure were true...", Tansen muttered, "Madness...This is just madness..."