[Field Log – Thermobaric Test No. 1]
Observation: Fourth Raikage A appears to have survived. Standard thermobaric payload cannot fully punch through a village-scale barrier.
Note to self: consider adding an armor-piercing nose cone to the next model…
Amamiya Kenichi scribbled calmly in his notebook, legs dangling over the edge of the drifting balloon basket.
"Kenichi, are we really just… leaving like this?"
Sasori watched him, still half turned toward the distant column of fire and smoke where Kumogakure used to be whole.
He remembered very clearly what Kenichi had said before they came:
Make money.
Find the burial site of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
So far?
No grave, no money, just one very angry Hidden Cloud.
"Yeah. That part's all secondary," Kenichi waved lazily. "The real goal this time was to test my new weapon's power."
He had zero intention of dropping down there to "make a name" for himself.
After that blast, Kumogakure would be looking for blood. Four generations of Raikage temper funneled into one muscle freak — why would he volunteer to be a crash test dummy?
The live field test data was priceless.
Just imagining it set his heart racing.
If he ever dropped one of these into Kamui space…
Tsk, tsk.
Hopefully Obito didn't manage to blow himself up before then. That kind of self-destruct would wreck the whole "plot."
Then again, in a confined space, the kill radius went from terrifying to downright obscene. In a sealed environment, the blast wave and overpressure could increase by fifty percent — or more.
"Still, what a waste," Sasori muttered, glancing back at the shrinking silhouette of Kumogakure before looking at the patched-together balloon under them. "This was the perfect chance to become famous across the ninja world."
"Don't worry," Kenichi chuckled. "The other villages' spies will broadcast today's show for free."
He wasn't worried about copycats in the slightest.
The oxidizer ratios, fuel blend, container design, fuze delay — all of that lived in his head.
Even if someone saw the mushroom cloud, recreating this from scratch in this era's tech level was basically impossible.
And if someone did manage it…
Well. Then they were probably from his previous world. Definitely worth a long, serious chat.
[Field Log – Thermobaric Test No. 1]
Total cost: astronomically high. For my current finances, at least.
Action item: For Bomb No. 2, experiment with a chakra-based fuze to amplify the explosion and efficiency.
Kenichi finished the line, tore his eyes away from the notebook, and lazily steered the balloon toward the direction of the Hidden Rain.
He knew very well that what he'd done today was going to send a tidal wave through the entire ninja world.
Whether that wave turned into profit or disaster…
Well, that was Future Kenichi's problem.
For now, he had more practical concerns.
Like erasing evidence.
When they drifted over Uzushio's waters, Kenichi didn't hesitate. He and Sasori jumped, parachutes blooming open above them as the hot-air balloon dropped behind them.
A moment later, the balloon went up in flames and tatters, swallowed by the clouds.
"A bit of a shame," Sasori said, watching the fabric burn away. "The construction was elegant."
"Relax," Kenichi snorted. "Hot-air balloons are cheap and stupid simple to build. We can make more any time."
He wasn't about to let Kumogakure, or any other village, get a free blueprint for high-altitude delivery platforms.
And honestly, he'd already had wilder ideas.
If he ever had the spare cash, he could build an entire paratrooper unit—
Mass-produced gliders, chakra-reinforced parachutes, mass drops behind enemy lines…
He shook the thought away.
"Ninja are way too expensive to feed," he muttered. "Only the Five Great Nations can afford that kind of nonsense."
Akatsuki's "small, elite cell" model wasn't just about secrecy.
It was about budget.
Throwing dozens of chunin and jonin at a problem? Very impressive.
Paying their salaries, equipment, medical, and death benefits?
Less impressive.
Kenichi tugged his parachute straps, feeling the wind roar past his ears.
The chutes opened cleanly.
No tangled ropes.
No torn silk.
No screaming plummets.
Just two dark figures drifting down over the ruins of Uzushiogakure — the first proper high-altitude jump in the history of the ninja world.
If this were a game, they'd have just unlocked an achievement.
[Achievement Unlocked: First Drop – "Two Idiots and a Piece of Cloth"]
Kenichi grinned at the thought as they descended.
While he and Sasori were dropping back toward the sea, the shock of Kumogakure's bombardment was racing across the nations even faster than they were falling.
A massive burning cloud visible from miles away.
A village that had screamed defiance at Konoha yesterday now wreathed in fire and dust.
Cries, rumors, fragments of truth — all of it carried by spies, merchants, and wandering shinobi.
There was no hiding something like that.
In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, pipe in hand, reading a fresh intelligence scroll.
"The Hidden Cloud… struck by an unknown ninja force?" he murmured, smoke curling from his lips. "A single blow destroyed a quarter of the village?"
He couldn't stop the slow, pleased smile spreading across his face.
The ongoing war with Kumogakure had been a thorn in his side.
He'd expected heavy losses, drawn-out fighting, political fallout — the usual mess.
And now?
If this report was accurate, Kumogakure's home base had been gutted.
Short-term, they might still bark.
But launching a full-scale offensive? Maintaining a drawn-out war?
Very unlikely.
Soon enough, the Fourth Raikage would have to come to the negotiating table.
"Hmph. Sarutobi," came a dry voice beside him, "did it occur to you this could be one of their smokescreens?"
Shimura Danzō sat with his arms folded, his one visible eye half-lidded.
"Fake a crippling injury, lull us into complacency, then strike when we let down our guard."
His gaze flicked briefly to Hiruzen's left arm — the one that, not long ago, had needed… specialized treatment.
Now, it looked perfectly healthy.
Danzō's expression soured further.
Orochimaru's efficiency was becoming troublesome.
"This," Hiruzen replied, tapping the scroll with one finger, "came from an agent who's spent years embedded in the Hidden Cloud. We burned a deep-cover asset for this, Danzō."
He narrowed his eyes.
"His life was not the kind that should be wagered on a bluff."
"Tch." Danzō clicked his tongue softly, but said nothing more.
Annoyance at Orochimaru aside, he wasn't about to waste that on Hiruzen's face.
He had other amusements.
He was, for instance, very curious how Yakushi Kabuto would react when he eventually learned who he'd really killed.
It was nearly time to clean up some of Root's… obsolete pieces.
"Leak this information," Hiruzen decided suddenly, rolling the scroll closed. "Exaggerate the losses. Say at least half of Kumogakure was destroyed, their forces severely crippled."
He smiled, eyes taking on a sharp, calculating glint.
Danzō didn't object.
Konoha had paid dearly in this war, but the Hidden Cloud had just taken a far worse hit.
If other villages believed the Cloud was wounded and vulnerable…
Well.
When sharks smelled blood in the water, they tended not to ask who made the first cut.
"And," Hiruzen added, "if we move first, we can present ourselves as well-informed and far-seeing. Let everyone 'marvel' at Konoha's intelligence network."
"Humph. Show them the leaves are still deep-rooted," Danzō murmured.
Of course, Konoha wasn't the only one with that idea.
Every shadow network in every great village was suddenly scrambling to verify and amplify the same story.
By the time the tale finished its first lap around the continent, it had already mutated:
From "a quarter of Kumogakure destroyed"
To "half the village ruined"
To "the Cloud Village devastated"
To—
"Have you heard? The Hidden Cloud was obliterated by Uchiha Madara himself! The village is practically gone!"
Sitting in his battered office, Fourth Raikage A slammed his fist into yet another desk, the wood exploding into splinters under the blow.
He had no clue who'd attacked them.
His scouts and sensory units had found nothing but blast residue and melted stone.
And now the world had decided it was Madara, of all people?
In the rubble of his own home, with the dead still being dragged from ruins, A's temper was a storm.
In an already half-collapsed furniture shop down the street, the owner stared at the new purchase order scroll with complicated feelings.
His shop was damaged.
His stocks were ruined.
But the Raikage's office had just ordered a whole new batch of desks.
Again.
He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
Truly, Lord Fourth was his most loyal, irreplaceable customer.
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