On a towering mountain peak in the Land of Lightning stood the Hidden Cloud Village.
"How is B?" the Third Raikage asked as he stepped out of the infirmary, inquiring about the current condition of the present Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.
"The situation looks grim. Lord B may only last another year or two."
Upon hearing this, the Third Raikage fell silent.
The current B happened to be his own younger brother. Becoming a Jinchuriki meant constantly struggling against the tailed beast within.
And the previous Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had also been his own flesh and blood.
"Raikage-sama, it's time we started considering the next Jinchuriki," said the chief physician, leaving the Third Raikage deep in thought. "Burubi is only eight years old, yet he's the only living descendant of my late brother."
Suddenly, the arrival of a figure interrupted his thoughts.
"Raikage-sama, all the elders have arrived."
Shoving those thoughts aside, the Third Raikage turned and strode out of the infirmary.
Several minutes later, leaping upward, he arrived at the Raikage Tower perched atop a mountain peak, its exterior entirely covered with light blue glass.
"Raikage-sama!" All the elders bowed deeply before him at the conference table.
Taking his seat, the Third Raikage went straight to the point: "Everyone already knows about B's condition. Speak up if you have any reliable suggestions."
One person immediately stood up on his left: "Raikage-sama, what about Burubi—"
"Boom!!!" Before this person could finish speaking, he flew backward and crashed into the wall.
"Burubi is the son of the former Eight-Tails Jinchuriki—my late younger brother's only heir," the Third Raikage rejected the suggestion still embedded into the wall, coming from the first elder who spoke.
Since Kumogakure's founding, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had always been the Raikage's own blood brother. This tradition drastically minimized the risk of a Jinchuriki ever turning against Kumogakure.
The attending elders began whispering amongst themselves.
"We cannot abandon Kumogakure's traditions."
"But the candidate's age is way too young. At just eight years old, how can he keep the Eight-Tails under control?"
"Yes, previous holders didn't become Jinchuriki until adulthood, yet they still often lost control."
"Tradition, gentlemen—this is Kumogakure's tradition."
"Damn it! If only the Uzumaki hadn't relocated to Konoha!"
The Third Raikage, pretending to meditate with eyes closed, shot them open sharply upon hearing this remark.
The Uzumaki clan possesses a unique physical constitution capable of effectively suppressing Tailed beasts—a truth widely acknowledged across the shinobi world.
Five years ago, under his leadership as Raikage, an operation aimed at eliminating the Uzumaki clan failed, causing them to relocate entirely to Konoha instead.
"Fortunately that plan failed back then; otherwise things would've gotten even worse," the Third Raikage thought, forming a new idea inside his mind.
That idea was secretly infiltrating Konoha and discreetly abducting several members of the Uzumaki clan. With their presence, future Jinchuriki of Kumogakure wouldn't perish prematurely due to uncontrollable tailed beast outbreaks.
And they must be female—future Jinchuriki would take them as wives. That way, the tradition of Kumogakure wouldn't truly be violated.
"What are our chances of successfully carrying out this plan?" the Third Raikage voiced aloud, turning to ask the gathered elders.
"There's likely less than a thirty percent chance. Konoha's protection over the Uzumaki clan is too tight. Intelligence shows they haven't stepped beyond Konoha's borders in recent years."
"You're right, Lord Raikage. Given their sealing techniques and barriers, even thirty percent might be optimistic."
The Third Raikage fell into deep thought again: "With such strong protection measures, even if we successfully infiltrate, we won't be able to get very far."
Today's Konoha wasn't like the original version of Konoha – which repeatedly got infiltrated and had people kidnapped. With Shen's "help," overall monitoring and protective measures had improved by more than just one or two levels.
"What about creating a diversion elsewhere, Lord Raikage?" an elder stood up to propose.
"Hmm..." The Third Raikage remained silent for several seconds before counter-questioning the speaker, "Which clan in Konoha carries enough weight for this?"
"The Uchiha Clan." This elder didn't even hesitate before giving his answer.
"The Uchiha? Don't forget about their genjutsu. It was precisely because of that our captain died last time we sent someone out!"
"Exactly why we should retaliate! Kumogakure has always believed in repaying every debt – especially our grudges!"
"But our objective is the Uzumaki clan. What if something goes wrong?"
Hearing the elders arguing, the Third Raikage closed his eyes again.
Konoha's most powerful clan had always been the Senju and Uchiha families. But over these past few years, with the Senju declining while the Uchiha grew stronger, choosing them seemed reasonable enough.
But precisely because of their fearsome Sharingan, the Third Raikage felt hesitation.
Even a seven-year-old boy used genjutsu to kill one of their own clansmen five years ago. That man could use Lightning Release to activate his cellular activity. So how powerful must the Uchiha now be – universally acknowledged as Konoha's strongest clan?
Although the Third Raikage was confident, he certainly wasn't a fool.
Infiltration, after all, meant fewer numbers were better. Sending just a small team probably wouldn't last long before getting caught and subjected to another genjutsu.
It was true Kumogakure always retaliated, but this plan wasn't about taking revenge on the Uchiha – its purpose was to successfully bring a member of the Uzumaki clan back here.
"The risk posed by the Sharingan would make creating a diversion potentially insufficient to complete our mission," the Third Raikage decided after consideration and rejected the idea.
"Then we only have the Senju and Hyuga Clans to choose from."
"The Senju are gradually declining, and the Hyuga Clan possesses the Byakugan. How much attention could either really draw away?"
"Draw away attention..." Suddenly inspired, the Third Raikage's eyes lit up as he came up with a perfect solution.
"The Senju's superhuman strength doesn't benefit Kumogakure particularly, but the Byakugan's wide-range sensory capabilities are exactly what we lack."
Kumogakure Village changed its plan targets: besides the original Uzumaki clan objective, the Hyuga Clan was added as well.
At Konoha Theme Park that evening, after spending the entire day accompanying Nayou at play, Shen discreetly passed the fireworks he'd prepared earlier to one of the staff members.
"Remember, they need to be set off before midnight." With a cryptic warning, he walked toward the Ferris wheel.
Half an hour later, both Shen and Nayou had entered the gondola of the Ferris wheel.
"Why did you take so long?"
"Guess I overate a bit."
"Alright." Nayou had no doubts about Shen's reasoning at all.
She'd seen him stuff his face at both lunch and dinner today—almost as much as she usually eats.
Was it really that suspicious to spend a little longer in the bathroom?
Shen let out a sigh of relief when he realized he had passed the scrutiny. He'd gorged himself until he felt like he might pop—all just to make his alibi believable for what came next.
"Hic." Shen, who had gone to the restroom multiple times, let out a loud hiccup.
"Hic."
Nayou gave him a rather disdainful look, but he didn't even flinch as he hiccupped again.
"Nayou hic... After midnight, today's birthday party hic… it'll all be over," Shen couldn't stop the hiccups from coming one after another.
Nayou turned her head away, showing no intention of acknowledging him.
This guy couldn't even form a clear sentence right now. She decided to add this "unforgivable offense" to her secret grudge journal when she got home.
"Hic… Nayou… I've got a big surprise… hic… for you…"
"Shut up!"
"Gulp." The sharpness in her voice made Shen instinctively swallow hard.
He noticed that his uncontrollable hiccups seemed to have finally stopped.
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