The hawk arrived as it did every morning carrying the reports from the Raikage's office, its talons gripping Kaien's shoulder with practiced ease. He barely flinched by now, the presence of messenger birds had become a routine. He untied the slip of paper, smoothed it out, and read.
"Grandma, can we postpone the morning training session. I got a call from mother from Kumo."
He exhaled slowly. That alone told him the day would not be simple.
The rest of the message confirmed it.
"Konoha staying silent...says something big is going on. They have not bothered to send any envoys for peace treaty. It seems they have not conceded from the war and might be preparing for something. And Iwa is pushing us to return the Four-Tails jinchūriki and compensate for their loss of ten thousand shinobi."
Benihime read over his shoulder, her expression unreadable. For a long moment she said nothing.
"Well," she said at last, tone almost casual, "regarding the Four-Tails jinchūriki… I am planning on letting Genbu eat him."
Kaien blinked. "Eat him?"
"And I will seal the tailed beast here until *he* recovers," she clarified calmly. "Genbu gains the strength of what it consumes. Even temporarily, this will make it stronger. For a while it has been consuming the Nine-tails Chakra from Kushina whenever she enters her cloak form... though she stopped her recent outbursts."
Kaien absorbed that in silence. He had learned long ago that when his grandmother spoke in that tone, the decision was already made.
"…I didn't know that," he admitted. "Strengthening Genbu adds another layer of defense to Kumo."
Benihime nodded once. "Exactly."
He hesitated, then asked the question that had been gnawing at him. "By the way… how is Grandpa? According to the timelines you gave earlier, he should have woken up a year ago."
Her composure cracked... just slightly. "I underestimated the vitality of a true Uzumaki," she said. "My prior data was based on lesser Uzumaki samples we got from the destruction of Uzumaki. This one… is different, her life force is stubborn... excessively so. She should be someone of the purest blood even among other Uzumaki."
She turned away, gaze drifting toward the deeper reaches of Genbu's stomach pocket where the Raikage is in a suspended state. "He will wake. It is only a matter of time. I will go attend to him."
Kaien watched her leave, as he also disappeared toward the massive tail-end of Genbu, where the giant squid rested. Once feared across the seas and protecting the Genbu, now tamed, it moved only when commanded.
As she vanished into Genbu's stomach pocket, a stray thought crossed her mind, sharp and cold.
While I am at it… I might as well chop off a few limbs of the Third Hokage and feed them to Genbu.
The thought did not trouble her. The Torso alone should be enough to exchange something invaluable from Konoha. Maybe Reanimation Jutsu or they might not even want his old bones.
—
Kaien, meanwhile, had other problems. He sat cross-legged atop the giant squid as it carried him across the endless water, the rhythmic sway threatening to lull him into a false sense of calm. He stared down at the surface below, focusing his chakra, trying once again to maintain water-walking without external aid.
Five minutes. That was still his limit. The chakra destabilized, his footing slipped, and the squid caught him instinctively, tentacle curling just enough to keep him from falling.
He clenched his jaw. At least two hours to reach shore like this, I better have the squid carry me to the shore.
By the time he returned to Kumo, the sun was burning bright. He made his way through the Raikage building with familiar ease as no one stopped him.
Inside the Raikage's office, the atmosphere was tense.
Uncle Ay sat in the Raikage's chair, posture rigid but respectful. Renga stood to his right, scrolls stacked in his arms. His mother Aya was on the couch, surrounded by papers, her irritation barely contained.
The moment she saw Kaien, everything else vanished.
She surged forward and wrapped him in a crushing embrace. "My little boy! I missed you! Did my monster of a mother do a number on you?"
Kaien sighed, resigned. "Mother… I'm fine."
She ignored that entirely, dragging him to the couch and forcing him to sit beside her, one arm still looped possessively around his shoulders. "You look thinner."
"I'm six," he deadpanned. "I'm supposed to be thin."
"You are always a little boy to me."
He sighed again, then glanced toward Uncle Ay. "So. What now?"
Ay straightened. "We received an unusual report from the chakra ore mine."
That got kaien's attention. "Our shinobi discovered a valley nearby... called the Valley of Hell, it has high mineral concentration as they were looking to mine. But more importantly… they encountered members of the Chinoike clan."
Kaien frowned faintly. The name stirred something in the back of his mind as he half-remembered from scattered fragments.
"They didn't attack?" he asked.
"No," Renga answered. "They requested integration into Kumo after the war. Apparently, they overheard our miners discussing Kumo's recruitment of Kekkei genkai clans."
Kaien leaned forward, accepting the report Renga handed him.
As he read, his memory became clear.
During the Warring States Period, the Chinoike were one of the many mercenary ninja clans active in the Land of Lightning. At some point, a woman of the Chinoike clan married the Land of Lightning's daimyō. The daimyō's first wife became jealous of her, and when the daimyō died soon after their marriage the first wife blamed the woman and her clan for the daimyō's death. Many believed the first wife's lies, causing the entire Chinoike clan to be banished from the country. The Uchiha clan were hired to carry out this task, and they forced the Chinoike clan to settle in the Valley of Hell in the Land of Hot Water.
He looked up. "So the Daimyō is the real problem."
Renga nodded. "Yes. He approved an annual budget increase to cover our losses... four thousand shinobi and our influx of new clans as he was pretty happy that more missions are coming from Land of fire's Daimyo... but sheltering the Chinoike would offend him. We still rely heavily on his authority and budget."
Aya scowled. "Even with chakra-conducting weapons turning profit, we're not independent yet."
Kaien leaned back as his mind raced. "Did they specify terms?" he asked quietly.
"They want protection," Renga said. "And a future."
Silence settled over the room. Kaien stared at the report, then folded it carefully.
"If we reject them," he said slowly, "they remain vulnerable. If we accept them openly, we risk the Daimyō's favor. If we accept them quietly…"
Ay met his gaze. "When it comes to the light, it would be desparious situation."
Kaien shook his head. "First, we need to buy time. We still have to strengthen Kumo after losing four thousand shinobi."
They all looked at him now.
"The Valley of Hell is already a place of exile," Kaien continued. "Recognized by no one. If they remain there under Kumo's indirect protection... resources, trade, training... then officially, nothing changes. Unofficially, we gain allies."
Aya frowned. "That's… dangerously close to insubordination."
Kaien nodded. "Yes. But calculated."
He placed the report down. "We don't integrate them as Kumo citizens, not yet. We integrate them as dependents. Trade partners and as the workers for ore refinement. We will bring the talented young ones as the civilians and make them a part of kumo. That keeps the Daimyō appeased while binding the Chinoike to us."
Renga exhaled slowly. "That would require secrecy and money."
Kaien's expression hardened. "Everything worthwhile does. The training and the support money for Chinoike Clan will be added to the expenses of the chakra ore mine and will be compensated by Daimyo, since we have already found a mineral ore valley of hell that should not raise any suspicion for now."
Uncle Ay hummed as he scratched his beard, "Once we have grown strong enough and with enough time. The Daimyo will have no choice but to bend to us."
~~
A/N: Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0
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Well known character from Chinoike clan is Chino... who fought against Adult Sasuke. And they possess ketsuryugan.