[Takigakure, Lands of Waterfall]
Takigakure Council Chambers
Three years passed in a flash. Takigakure was but a ruin of what it used to be. Civilians in the hidden village of the waterfall seemed famined. The shinobi did survive, but the lack of ressource seemed evident. Their gear was rusty, their scrolls barely taken care of.
In the council chambers, elder Hoshi was biting so hard that her zygomatic muscles showed.
"So be it, Kakuzu. At this rate, we have to choose the lesser evil", she shouted
Rin, under the disguise of Kakuzu, smiled. In spite of Danzo's warning, she had learned a forbidden jutsu of a founding clan of a hidden village: the Earth Grudge Fear [S]. It was not this complex to find. There were only two individuals who possessed it: the Takikage, and Kakuzu, the renegade, both of which were now dead. As an expert infiltrator, Rin Kaonashi found it in weeks. Although she nearly died in the process, she had successfully turned her whole body into a myriad of thick black threads.
Pain...For days, she had withstood the pain of her body being remodeled, her veins replaced by black chakra threads, her organs replaced by poor imitations of them, her flesh destroyed, becoming fuel for the technique.
Yet, she regretted nothing.
Her body hosted five hearts, elders from Takigakure she had ambushed over the past three years in silence, some from opposition, others out of pure greed for their chakra affinity. Besides giving access to near-immortality, as she was now able to sew back any injury, her body devoid of blood or fluid, she could also detach limbs or body parts underground to attack enemies.
Her skin was now a thick layer of minuscule black threads, giving the sense of touch of regular skin, yet unbelievably durable, making her immune to most jonin-level taijutsu.
Coupled with the Kaonashi hidden arts, allowing her to slip unnoticed accross the Takigakure village, she fairly easily took the Takigakure elders by surprise, eliminating political opponents one after another, making their hearts hers. In her body, she held one semi-kage-level heart, her own, as well as four elite-jonin-level hearts, complementing her main element affinity.
Rin, alone, had become the equivalent of five Otogakure elders. She could wield lightning, earth, wind, and water jutsu almost as proficiently as the old elders. Coupled with her transformation skills, the Earth Grudge Fear was the technique that fit her clan best, truly.
This strength and power, which she trained to master over the past two years, allowed the Bloody Waterfall to grow extremely fast. She used her experience as a founding Otogakure clan leader, who witnessed the rise of a major hidden village under five years, to grow and manage the bloody waterfall. Her goal was Takigakure whole, so she slowly but surely capitalized on the Land of Waterfall Daimyo's lack of trust in Takigakure to gain influence.
Hisen, the second Takikage's son who had been assassinated by Danzo and Harumi, rose to become the third Takikage. Unfortunately, his chunin-level strength raised controversy within the village, causing internal strife on top of the externalities created by Otogakure. Defects became the bloody waterfall's strength, Rin's own strength.
Everything had been calculated, manipulated for this one day, the day where the elders would summon her. In the room, she quickly recognized enemies she had met on the battlefields, poor attempts at suppressing the bloody waterfall, which only ended up giving more credit to her organization. She also recognized Hisen, a young teenager, the weight of Takigakure evident on his health, as his eyes were empty, void of joy.
Such was the price of weakness. In this world, weakness would always breed unhappiness. Unhapiness in others, as well as in one's own heart.
"Kakuzu...we acknowledge your proposition", Hisen spoke, each word biting his pride as the Takikage, "If you can truly amend things on your end with Otogakure, then this is the best option for the village. Your bounty will be withdrawn, you will earn the title of Fourth Takikage, and more importantly, we will become your most loyal subordinates. Only by allying with the bloody waterfall we will be able to face those Shimura bastards"
Rin did not even have to spread rumours. Tansen was no weakling, and besides Otogakure who had motive to do so, few would attack a fellow kage-level powerhouse, much less succeed in assassinating one, unscathed.
Additionally, Otogakure's extreme pressure on the lands of Waterfall served them very well, gaining up to 70% of the country's shinobi market. It was not just about getting the monetary rewards. Shinobi missions were the fuel to train forces. For Otogakure, whose outer clans could only rely on missions external to Oto no Kami to grow, this allowed them to grow by leaps and bounds, unbelievably more than in their history.
Rin handled the Takikage's hat with care, putting the attire on herself, smiling.
"Let the bloody waterfall celebrate in the village. Most have not seen their families for months, if not years. This celebration should mark the end of the internal struggles of Takigakure", Rin said, marking her words, "I just managed to retrieve a cargo of expensive wines from Otogakure's borders. I assume this will be good for the village's morale, too"
An elder exclaimed: "Subarashi...What better than festivities in times of struggle! A wise decision, Takikage-sama"
Rin's charisma, demeanour and decision-making seemed evidently superior to a teenager who lacked experience, training and talent. Adding to that the fact that political opponents were long dead, turned into Rin's own hearts, it was only natural for her proposition to be accepted so fast.
But...
Inwardly, Rin was smiling like a devil.
The mission had lasted for years already.
'The bloody waterfall, huh...It will stay true to its name...'
By dawn's first light, the tale was already ash on the wind. Travelers traded whispers in hushed taverns; bards strummed mournful ballads of a village unmade.
The Fourth Takikage? A ghost. No corpse, no final stand—only a bloodstained hat trampled in the mud. Otogakure did not conquer. It unmade. A single sun had risen and fallen, and in its arc, a nation dissolved into the marsh's hungry embrace. By moonrise, all that remained of Takigakure's legacy was the bitter punchline on the wind: blissful silence.