The Changing Winds

Chapter 4 A Snake's Game

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In the Land of Rice, the Iburi clan found themselves with the honour of hosting their leader one early morning. Members of Iburi clan observed the meeting discreetly from inside the mansion, curious to know if their fortunes had finally turned after the successful attack on one of the great villages. The Iburi clan's mansion was located deep in the forest near the capital of the Land of Rice.

"Do you think the clan will go to war again?" Dressed in black garb, nine-year-old Hazuki asked her twin with a frown. She peeked from the window of her room curiously, trying to identify the people sitting in their garden.

"I don't think so," Hibachi shook his head negatively. "Mother said that we are not ready for a prolonged war yet."

"Why?" She scowled and rubbed her cheeks with the back of her hand furiously when she felt her eyes water. A shinobi must never show any weakness. She remembered her teaching vividly at that moment. "Uncle Aōi is very strong, isn't he? Can't he do anything? He said he would."

"Maybe he is," Her brother shrugged and tried to get a clear a look at the pale lady with red hair. "But we don't have enough man-power to directly face the might of a great village. Who do you think she is, the one in red?"

"I don't like this," She sniffed, ignoring her brother's question with well-practised ease, and closed her eyes. "Father is gone and we can't do anything to bring him back."

"I miss him too," He turned his away attention from the fascinating woman and squeezed her shoulder softly. "I promise, we will get him back."

"And I will hurt everyone who took him away from us," Hazuki declared after regaining her composure, "This, I swear. I refuse to allow the Leaf to do as they please all the time."

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"I am afraid we will have to change many of our plans drastically," Power simmered beneath his skin, but he felt there was something amiss. Dressed in a simple grey kimono, Orochimaru placed his cup gently on the table and observed his subordinates calmly.

Gathered before him were the heads of what used to be the three most prominent clans in the Land of Rice. He had asked for his Jonin commander and the last surviving member of his bodyguard squad, along with a few chunin ninjas to be present that day. His guard detail was observing the meeting from some distance.

"The next few years will be vital for our survival," He said calmly and flexed his fingers. Contrary to his initial assumption, changing his vessel was not enough to circumvent the accursed technique his late teacher had used on him. Without the ability to mould chakra with his hands, Orochimaru felt weak, and he despised every minute of this existence.

Even on the verge of death, Hiruzen Sarutobi had got the last laugh. He had lost a significant part of him that day. He could say for certain that any remorse he felt for killing his teacher was well and truly gone.

"Double-crossing our allies is bound to make things difficult eventually," Genji Shiin, a balding old man with a hunched back, said gravely. He had a grey bushy beard, small beady eyes, and had to use a walking stick to support his bad leg. Despite his seemingly weak appearance, Orochimaru was certain the man could kill a dozen trained men by himself.

"Sand village didn't have enough strength to match us when we went to them with the offer of an alliance," Aōi Iburi, twenty-three, pointed out with a smirk. He moved his long, green hair sideways and glared at the old man, silently daring him to say otherwise.

Iburi and Shiin clan used to be rivals who clashed against each other regularly in the past for the favour of the resident daimyo. "Perhaps you have forgotten how to fight if you are worried about the so-called great villages. Where is the famed legend of the Shiin clan these days?"