The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, sat behind a heavy desk that had seen better days. His small hands rested on the wood, but his eyes burned with anger.
*Crack!*
His palm slammed down. The desk had a crack. The ANBU in front of him didn't move, but his mask hid a flinch.
"What did you say?" Ōnoki's voice was low, dangerous.
The ANBU spoke without emotion. "Jōnin Itsu of the Explosion Corps has returned. Everyone else that was him with the explosion corps on the mission are dead. Kurogiri Tetsu's fate is unknown, but Itsu believes he didn't survive."
*Crack!*
The desk broke again. This time, Kitsuchi, Ōnoki's son and bodyguard stepped forward. He pressed his hands together. Earth chakra flowed. A new desk rose from the floor.
"If Itsu can walk and talk, bring him here," Ōnoki said. "I want to hear it from him."
The ANBU bowed. "Yes, Tsuchikage-sama." He vanished in a flicker of black.
Kitsuchi looked at his father. "If this is true, we've lost too much."
Ōnoki only grunted.
---
Minutes later, the door opened. Jōnin Itsu walked in. His uniform was torn and dirty. His eyes were wide, like a man who had seen ghosts. He felt the Tsuchikage's anger hit him like a wall.
"Speak," Ōnoki said.
Itsu swallowed. "After our last mission, we were heading to an Iwa base in the Land of Fangs. We needed rest before the next attack on Konoha. Then… Suna nin ambushed us."
Ōnoki's eyebrow rose. "Suna? They dare attack the Explosion Corps? How many did they send? A hundred string force?"
"No, sir," Itsu said. "Twelve."
The room went silent.
Ōnoki leaned forward. "Twelve shinobi took down Kurogiri and his team? Did Pakura of the scotch release come? Or one of the Honoured Siblings? Chiyo, maybe?"
Onoki then shook his hand, "No, Pakura is keeping Roshi in check so that's unlikely. Rasa could not be there since he should be in the village. So it must be Chiyo, The puppet hag of the sand."
Itsu shook his head. "It was Sōshi Kuromiri. He was with eleven others. But…"
Before he could complete, Onoki interuppted him, "What?!! 12 shinobi beat Kurogiri? And Sõshi who the hell is he even? Did a nameless guy kill Kurogiri?!"
Kitsuchi spoke knowing that his father forgot somethings, " Sõshi Kuromiri is the
the vice commander of Suna puppeteer corps, Lord Tsuchikage. But he still is not capable enough to defeat Kurogiri."
Itsu said, "Yes sir while Sõshi was strong but.."
"But what?" Ōnoki snapped.
"He did not have the strength to fight Commander. It was a boy, a boy no older than ten." Itsu whispered.
Ōnoki stared. Then he laughed, short and sharp. "A child who still wets his bed? You're telling me a kid beat the Explosion Corps and Kurogiri?"
"Sir, He had… some kind of dōjutsu. Or kekkei genkai. I don't know. But he looked at a man, and that man's chakra… gone. Just gone."
"He looked at the commander. One second, Kurogiri was ready to blow the whole valley. The next… nothing. No chakra. No explosion. Just a man staring at his own fingers like they betrayed him when he tried to do a jutsu."
Kitsuchi stepped forward. "Father, let me check him for genjutsu."
Õnoki gave him the permission. What Itsu just said was quite unbelievable and he also believed that the man might be in a genjutsu too.
He placed a large hand on Itsu's shoulder. "Kai."
Nothing happened.
Itsu's voice cracked. "I know it sounds insane. But the rumours are true. Suna has someone who can erase chakra with a look."
Ōnoki sat back. His fingers drummed on the new desk. Kitsuchi stood still, waiting.
Finally, Ōnoki spoke. "The spies said Suna was hiding a weapon. We thought it was a lie. Or exaggerated. But this…"
He turned to Itsu. "Tell me everything. Every detail. What did the boy look like? What did he say? And tell me every detail about the mission."
Itsu closed his eyes as he gave his report.
Ōnoki nodded after hearing the report, "Someone knew Kurogiri's route. Someone leaked it."
He then looked at his son "Kitsuchi. Send ANBU to the base in the Land of Fangs. If no reinforcements had came to help the explosion corps, it's gone. It is a possibility considering the scroll with our base locations was stolen weeks ago. We never moved the ones far away from Iwa.
Kitsuchi bowed. "Yes, sir."
Ōnoki continued. "Screen everyone in the Explosion Corps. Trainees. Staff. Clerks. Someone talked. Find the spy. Itsu you can leave and I want a written report by tomorrow."
Itsu bowed and left.
---
When the door closed, Ōnoki sat again. He rubbed his temples.
Kitsuchi watched him. "We can't fight three great villages like this. Not without the Corps."
Ōnoki's voice was tired. "We have no choice. Kiri will smell blood. If we keep pushing Suna, they'll push back. And now they have this new Kekkei genkai."
He stood and walked to the window. Outside, Iwa's stone towers stood silent under the sky.
"Put a bounty on the boy," he said. "Not to hunt him ourselves, we don't have the men. But Kumo won't sit quiet. Neither will Kiri. Let the hunter-nin do the work."
Kitsuchi nodded.
Ōnoki walked back to the desk. He picked up a scroll and wrote quickly.
"Send this to the Kazekage. Tell him we want to talk. We would have to back out from the the Suna front. We need Roshi on the Kiri front since we no longer have the explosion corps to take care of them."
Kitsuchi bowed and left.
-------Author Notes---------
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