The Chinoike spoke of their betrayal, starvation and watching children die and caught between the mighty nations. Renga and Kaien just listened, he didn't interrupt or justify. He knew either would only frustrate them and denying someone who is venting will make it worse. So, They were silent for most of the part.
Finally, he spoke. "Kumo doesn't ask you to forget or forgive," he said. "If you don't change now, it will only be same as before... No, even worse." "The future wars could completely remove the face of minor nations."
By dawn, the framework was in order. The Chinoike clan would remain in the Valley of Hell... for now. Kumo would provide support with money, trade routes, protection from further persecution. And they shall take the talented young ones and take them in as civilians and train them, few elders follow to support them. While the remaining clan members will be taken back to kumo after convincing Daimyo until then they can coordinate with chief manager of the chakra ore mine. If the clan faces any danger... the shinobi guarding ore mine will be of timely assistance and support.
En Oyashiro, The leader of Chinoike clan, asked a simple question, "Why should we trust words from a kid? What is the guarantee that you would follow everything you have just said?"
Kaien stayed silent, he had no answer. "I am the Gran-" Renga placed his hand on kaien's shoulder.
Renga said in his place, "I am the Chief Advisor of Kumo. All the words this boy said are true." And he took out a decree stamped by the Actin-- Hmm the Raikage himself.
En Oyashiro stared at the decree, and made a decision which would change the shape of their clan in the future, "I am sending my own daughter Chino and that brat... Pardon me... Hidan."
Just like that the first deal was successful and convincing the Daimyo is the next step.
As they departed, Renga glanced down at Kaien. "You did well."
Kaien exhaled, tension finally leaving his shoulders.
"Well, that was surprisingly easy. I feel something odd like everything went smoothly. It feels like something bad is about to happen." He started questioning himself for everything after his previous plan against Iwa lead to a demise of 4000 of kumo shinobi.
--
Kaien had been riding the aftertaste of success when a thought resurfaced. Hidan.
He frowned, walking a few steps behind Renga as the team began their withdrawal route from the Valley of Hell.
Hidan's origin was recorded as the shinobi of Land of Hot Water. That much was known beyond that, everything was speculation. And yet his signature technique... Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood... was built entirely around blood as a medium.
The Chinoike clan manipulated blood externally, dominating and bending it. Hidan's technique of blood ritual, weaponized the act of shared injury. The way the clan head spoke putting him alongside his own daughter meant he was a part of Chinoike clan.
But Hidan did not possess the Ketsuryūgan from his knowledge of previous world. Kaien did not voice these thoughts yet, speculation without proof was useless, and the mission parameters were already satisfied. The Chinoike alliance was tentative but real... that alone altered the strength of Kumo.
He pushed the thought aside for now.
—
Five hundred meters away, partially concealed by uneven terrain and mineral-rich stone outcroppings, a fourteen-year-old boy watched the retreating Team Crow through narrow eye slits carved into a white kitsune mask.
His mission as a member of root was not just reconnaissance but also disrupt any clans from joining kumo.
The order had been simple: observe, identify, and if possible, eliminate the negotiating party. Prevent the alliance and sow discord.
But reality did not match expectation.
One elite jōnin. Two special jōnin. One chūnin whose posture and chakra suggested far more than his rank implied. And a child.
The child was an anomaly. Children did not belong in missions like this and he didn't have any forehead protector representing kumo like others. That meant the child was either bait, royalty, or something else.
He adjusted his position, chakra dampened to near nothing. His left eye, hidden beneath a strip of black cloth under the mask, throbbed faintly. He ignored it.
Regrouping is the correct decision. He slipped away without disturbing a single pebble.
—
He landed in a shallow ravine where sunlight barely reached, boots touching down soundlessly beside another figure already waiting.
The second boy wore a green bodysuit that stood out absurdly, yet his posture was relaxed, confident, almost eager. A monkey mask covered his face, the eyeholes cut wide.
"Kakas—" the boy started, then caught himself sharply. "I mean, Kitsune. What's the status? How many enemies are there?"
"Saru," he said flatly, "calm yourself. We are outnumbered. If we engage directly, we will be defeated."
Saru scoffed and thumped his chest with a closed fist, the sound dull but confident. "That's why you worry too much. I was given a contingency."
Kitsune's shoulders stiffened slightly. "What contingency."
Saru grinned beneath his mask. "A reanimation pill. Crush it, and a mighty legend answers the call."
Kitsune turned sharply now. "You weren't ordered to—"
Too late. Saru had already crushed the pill between his fingers.
The earth trembled.
Chakra surged unnaturally as a coffin forced its way up through solid ground. The lid slid free and struck the earth with a heavy thud.
A man stepped out.
He wore a green jumpsuit, identical in cut to Saru's, though older, weathered. His body was lean, powerful, and marked by the dull pallor of reanimation. His eyes opened slowly, sharp and focused.
Saru froze.
"F-father?" His voice cracked despite himself. "Is that… is that you?"
The man looked down at him, expression unreadable. Then his gaze shifted, scanning the surroundings with instinctive precision.
"So," the man said slowly, voice steady, "Where am I? Why am I alive? Did my Eight gate of death fail? Did those swordsmen escape? Is that you my son?"
Kitsune felt a chill run through him seeing the person before him who was supposed to be dead.
—
Back with Team Crow, Kaien had just finished convincing himself that his earlier unease was nothing more than overanalysis just the air around them shifted.
Renga felt it too. He raised a clenched fist, the universal signal to halt.
"Halt," he commanded quietly.
--
A/N: I am making Hidan a part of Chinoike clan. and Mabui & Samui are 14 years old. Darui is 11 years old. Kaien is 6 years old.
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