Iwagakure - Tsuchikage's Office
"Lord Tsuchikage, breaking news!" An Anbu Ninja knelt on one knee, presenting a scroll with both hands.
Ōnoki sat in the high-backed chair in the Tsuchikage's Office, took the scroll, and slowly unfurled it. His weathered eyes swept over the words, and a meaningful smile gradually appeared on his wrinkled face.
"Haha!" Ōnoki suddenly burst into laughter, his voice echoing in the stone office. "Kakashi and Might Guy from Konoha led their troops to the border exercise between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning? Interesting, very interesting!"
Kitsuchi stood beside his father, his brow slightly furrowed. "Father, how do you think the Raikage will deal with this? The power of Gate of Death Might Guy that was shown on the Heavenly Screen that day..."
"That barbarian?" Ōnoki scoffed, casually placing the scroll on the table. "The Fourth Raikage may have a volatile temper, but he's not brainless. He's just trying to use this opportunity to put pressure on Konoha and get some benefits. A real fight? Hmph, he's not that stupid."
Kitsuchi nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed, the Heavenly Screen broadcasts of the future Akatsuki and Orochimaru's threats should make it clear to all the major ninja villages that now is not the time for internal strife."
Ōnoki stood up, his short stature exuding an undeniable air of authority. He walked to the window, overlooking the panoramic view of Iwagakure. The afterglow of the setting sun gilded the stone buildings, and in the distance, ninjas were conducting their daily drills on the Training Grounds.
"The Akatsuki..." Ōnoki muttered to himself, his eyes sharpening. "Kitsuchi, do you have any new intelligence about those monitoring the Land of Rain?"
Kitsuchi opened his notebook. "The Land of Rain remains as usual; Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, shows no signs of venturing out. According to information provided by Heavenly Screen, he possesses the legendary Rinnegan, capable of controlling six corpses simultaneously..."
"Rinnegan..." Ōnoki tapped his fingers lightly on the windowsill. He still couldn't believe that this legendary Dōjutsu actually existed. Even more terrifying was that they were secretly collecting Tailed Beasts. Thankfully, the Heavenly Screen had exposed their plan beforehand, otherwise...
A silence fell over the office. Ōnoki turned to face his son, the wrinkles on his face appearing even more pronounced in the setting sun. "Where's Deidara? Where did they go after leaving the Land of Crafts?"
"They've temporarily lost track of us." Kitsuchi closed the notebook. "However, based on their previous movements, they're likely heading towards the Land of Fire."
Ōnoki's eyes narrowed slightly. "Notify the border patrol to increase vigilance, especially in the area near the Land of Rain. Also..." He paused, his tone becoming serious, "Send someone to find Roshi and tell him to return to the village immediately. Now is not the time for him to act recklessly."
Kitsuchi looked troubled. "Father, you know, Roshi... ever since he became the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, his relationship with the village has been tense. The messenger we sent last time was even driven back by him using Lava Release."
"I don't care how he expresses his dissatisfaction!" Ōnoki suddenly raised his voice, and the air in the office seemed to freeze for a moment. "The Akatsuki's target, as shown on the Heavenly Screen, is the Jinchūriki. If Roshi is captured by them, not only will he die, but the Four-Tails will also fall into enemy hands!"
Kitsuchi lowered his head. "Yes, I understand. I will personally organize a team of elites to find him."
Ōnoki took a deep breath to calm himself. "Let Kurotsuchi lead the team. That girl is clever; maybe she can persuade that stubborn old man." His gaze shifted to the map of Iwagakure hanging on the wall, his finger pointing to a certain spot. "According to the last intelligence, Roshi should still be active in the hot spring area on the border of the Land of Grass."
"I'll go arrange it right away." Kitsuchi turned to leave, but was stopped by his father.
"Wait," Ōnoki's voice lowered, "Tell Kurotsuchi that if Roshi refuses to return... use force. These are extraordinary times; personal whims cannot be tolerated."
A flicker of surprise crossed Kitsuchi's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. "Yes, sir, Lord Tsuchikage."
After Kitsuchi left, Ōnoki stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the Tsuchikage's Office, his hands behind his back, his knuckles trembling slightly involuntarily. The setting sun cast a long shadow of him, making his silhouette on the stone floor appear exceptionally aged.
Rinnegan... Tailed Beast Weapons... Infinite Tsukuyomi...
The old man muttered the words he had learned from the Heavenly Screen, each one like a heavy boulder pressing down on his heart. Outside the window, a new batch of Genin from Iwagakure were practicing hand seals on the Training Ground, and their youthful faces made him feel as if he were seeing himself decades ago.
Why... why do such extraordinary beings always appear in the Shinobi World?
Ōnoki's thoughts drifted back to the late Sengoku period.
He still remembered the first time he saw that man— Madara Uchiha stood on a cliff, his Sharingan looking down on all living beings. Just one look from him was enough to immobilize him. There was also Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi who could create forests with Wood Release.
"Finally, those two monsters are dead..." Ōnoki smiled bitterly and touched his old back. The old wounds from the Third Shinobi World Wars always ached on rainy days, as if reminding him of the price Iwagakure had paid over the decades.
He turned to look at the strategic map hanging on the wall, the symbol representing Konoha particularly glaring.
He had originally planned to join forces with the Raikage to divide up the Land of Fire should the Fourth Shinobi World War break out. Those ingenious tactical deployments, those ambushes hidden along the border... could have allowed Iwagakure to acquire the fertile land it so desperately desired.
"And now..." Ōnoki shook his head and picked up the teacup on the table. The tea had gone cold, just like his current mood.
The images displayed on the Heavenly Screen kept flashing through my mind: Akatsuki, the leader of Nagato, controlling the Six Paths of Pain, and the Super Shinra Tensei that destroyed Konoha; the earth-shattering battle between Naruto Uzumaki, the future Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Sasuke Uchiha; and the blood-red steam that amazed the entire Shinobi World when Might Guy opened the Gate of Death...
"Cough cough..." Ōnoki suddenly coughed violently and quickly took out a pill from the drawer and swallowed it. He looked down at the back of his hand, which was covered with age spots, and the veins bulged like writhing earthworms.
"Lord Tsuchikage!" came the tense voice of a guard from outside the door.
"I'm fine." Ōnoki waved his hand, but his voice was even hoarseer than expected. After the guards withdrew, he slowly walked to the portraits of the past Tsuchikage. The Second Tsuchikage Mu eyes seemed to be staring at him.
"Teacher..." Ōnoki murmured softly, "If it were you, what would you do?"
The portrait, of course, did not answer. The shouts of young ninjas training drifted in from outside the window, their vibrant voices a stark contrast to the stagnant air in his office.
Ōnoki suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with relief, "So be it... the future ultimately belongs to the young." He walked back to his desk and took out a long-forgotten document from the bottom drawer—"The Plan for Cultivating a Successor to the Tsuchikage."
"That girl, Kurotsuchi... she should be able to do better than me, right?"
The old man stroked the document cover, recalling his granddaughter's eyes that always gleamed with a mischievous light. Unlike the stubborn Kitsuchi, and unlike the extreme Roshi, the new generation of Iwagakure Ninjas seemed to be born with a certain open-mindedness.
"Even if the sky falls in the future..." Ōnoki looked towards the Land of Fire, a meaningful smile playing on his lips, "There are those monsters from Konoha to hold them off."
He picked up the pen and signed his name on the document. The scratching sound of the pen tip on the paper was particularly clear in the quiet office, like the final curtain call of an era.
"But before that..." Ōnoki's eyes suddenly sharpened, and the aura of the Tsuchikage returned to his hunched figure. "We need to clean up these Akatsuki rats first."
He pressed the communicator on the table, his voice regaining its usual authority. "Notify the council of elders to convene an emergency meeting in one hour. Also, have the Explosion Corps captain come to see me immediately."
As the office door closed again, Ōnoki stood by the window for one last look at the sunset. Smoke curled from the Iwagakure in the twilight, and the young ninjas on the Training Ground continued their tireless practice. The wrinkles on the old man's face appeared particularly deep in the interplay of light and shadow.
"Let this old man... pave the final stretch of the road for you."