In the shinobi world, all great villages had sheathed their blades, watching the civil war in Kirigakure; however, in the dark, these villages weren't staying their hand as they funded each faction to stoke the flames of war while they abducted talented kekkei genkai children of the various clans in the hidden mist village.
The hidden cloud village was making waves as they actively hunted for hidden jutsu or rare kekkei genkai bloodlines. The Akatsuki had retreated into the darkness as the Uchiha homed in on them like starving wolves. With at most 10 elite jonins, the Uchiha weren't afraid of anyone, as their pride was laid bare for all to see.
Hidden rain village;
"I told you that this would happen. We haven't even started hunting for the tail beasts yet, and the Uchiha have their eyes on us. Your attack on the Uchiha was rash. Why can't you just admit it?" Pain spoke, addressing the supposed Madara Uchiha.
"You also left residues of your blood in the fight, how careless." Pain calmly intoned. "Don't be an alarmist, you and I could have annihilated the Uchiha back then, we just didn't; the Uchiha proved their right of existence. Even if they grow stronger, they cannot defeat you or me; the plan remains unaffected regardless." Madara spoke. "The fourth Kazekage has reached out to us. He aims to dethrone the Hidden Leaf Village as the central power of the shinobi world. Should we show our hand? The hidden sand village is relatively weak, so there isn't much of an advantage to allying with them, and even then, their jinchuriki is easy to capture; he is still a child after all." Pain walked outside the tower, letting the rain wash over him.
"Patience, I imagine that we will need at least 10 members to proceed on schedule and to strike simultaneously, gather the tail beats in one fell swoop," Madara said, vanishing.
The Akatsuki had about 7 members; however, it was hard to find capable S-rank shinobi and at least excellent elite jonins. In the hidden leaf village; it was currently August, and Kudo had recently moved on to phase two of his training to be a sensor; it had taken him a month to complete phase one after the vacation. He was taking it easy to manage, as he started learning genjutsu from Ito Uchiha, he would stop teaching him at the end of the year. Kudo planned to consolidate all his ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu in his 6th year by himself. He had learned a lot in over 4 years, and now it was just a matter of sharpening his skills. With the Hokage having recently postponed early graduation, most student would be graduating in their 6th year in the academy.Kudo spent more time recently at training ground 7. For his genjutsu to be extremely effective, he had to have first-hand experience with drowning in the dark depths of water, how waves sound for his genjutsu to be effective. With Ito Uchiha as his genjutsu mentor, his familiarity and understanding rapidly increased.
4 months later,
Kudo had recently passed his 5th year exams and would enter his final year at the academy. He could now form a chakra field with a radius of 5 meters and was on his last training phase, which involved masking his chakra and suppressing it. After having to actively and passively defend against attacks, it was hard to dull that sensitivity. However, his training had advanced his taijutsu skills such that unless he willingly admitted defeat, no one would best him, and to Iruka's frustration, Kudo would admit defeat even if his opponent was on the ground, heaving. Naruto, with his physique, could now consistently rank in the top 10 within the class. Naruto's taijutsu skills were poor until their 3rd year when Kudo started to frequently spar with him, and it was a beat down with Naruto bedridden after their spars. Kudo did not hold back, amazed by Naruto's ability to rapidly recover, and with Naruto's stamina, well, it was torture for Naruto. Only in their 5th year could Naruto start becoming a worthy opponent; however, with Kudo's heightened senses, it was back to their spars being a beat down.
Training ground 7;
"Kudo today is the last day I will be your mentor. I can't proclaim you my student because I'm not your sensei. Now, come at me with everything you have got. From here on, your path is yours to walk alone. Begin!" Ito said. Immediately, shuriken flew his way as he flickered out of range; however, the shuriken collided, redirecting to him, and with a kunai, he easily dispatched them.Kudo flickered, closing in, but unlike Ito, he could only do so for short distances, about 3 meters. In the past 4 months, he had learned the Body flicker jutsu, a D-rank jutsu. Body flicker jutsu allowed instantaneous acceleration to max speed even if stationary. Paired with absolute mastery like Uchiha Shusui, it was a dangerous jutsu. Shusui's speed, even if he did not have spatial ninjutsu, looked like he teleported. Few in the world could prevent Uchiha Shusui from escaping. Kunai cloaked in lighting sparks, Kudo closed in, "Clang!" Ito responded in kind, Kudo, with his ability to stream chakra into his Kunai; his Electric shock jutsu had gotten stronger, making it efficient for close combat. Stepping back, Kudo twisted, drawing another Kunai. His back had swiped met Ito's glove guard, Kudo backflipped, mid-air, and he fired dozens of moon blades. Facing the torrent of blades, Ito let out a fireball, "Pshhht." Smoke filled the scene as Kudo moved through the smoke. Upon reaching Ito, he fired water bullets. Ito's shadow clone got nicked and went out in a puff of smoke, but his job was done.
A hand latched onto Kudo's leg, dragging him underground. With another puff of smoke, a log was buried in the ground. Kudo, standing on a tree branch, then he fell backwards, his hand throwing a set of electrified shuriken. "Cling -Clank." The forest was filled with the sounds of metal scraping against metal as the fight got even more intense.