Naruto The Warlord

Chapter 25

Far away from Wave, all the way over in the Land of Earth, Naruto's clone, sent a long time ago after Kurotsuchi's capture, had finally arrived at the Hidden Stone Village's border.

A patrol had come over the clone who had made it's best efforts to be seen. Wary, the patrolling shinobi had tried to apprehend the clone, but faltered when the clone informed them of it's state of being. Tempted with further knowledge of the whereabouts of the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, the patrol agreed to take it into the city to meet their Kage.

As he was led through the enormous granite gates of Stone, Naruto's clone took note of the stark beauty of the village. Everything was made out of gray rock and few things were colored otherwise. The village laid at the bottom of a canyon, a mountain range enveloping the sides of the village which hid it from the surrounding world. The buildings were tall and looked as if it had been cut out from the mountains that were there before them, towering above the city like spires in the image of their brethren around them.

Naruto's clone was clad in full armor, his weapon discarded as demanded by the patrol, as he was being led through the wide, bricked streets of the village. The people seemed to be living mostly in communal structures, as there was very little minor housing or buildings, just the large spires that littered the village. The people of Stone parted for the patrol which led Naruto, pointing and whispering as they took note of him.

Naruto also noted certain ruined, abandoned parts of the city where the spires laid in crumbled heaps of debris, but he didn't dare to question it. He assumed the village had suffered in their recent war against the Akatsuki, but the truth was that there was just so much about the war that Naruto knew nothing about. For now, it would be best to not reveal anything of which he knew or not. As far as he could see, the village was struggling with some amount of poverty.

After a short while, they eventually came upon an inconspicuous spot in the city where he was blindfolded. It was the first smart thing the patrol had done thus far.

They jostled him around for a bit and then led him about. They eventually entered a building of sorts where Naruto suspected they would eventually lead him to a cell. He was proven right a few moments later when he was pushed into a flat, barren cell of granite, his blindfold finally removed.

After a long while of waiting, the clone began to meditate to pass the time and it was only after 2 hours or so that his cell finally reopened.

Opening his eyes to look at his visitor, an old and very small man entered his cell. He barely reached Naruto to his hip, but his gaze was as hard as his face was weathered. His nose was pigmented and swollen in a way that Naruto assumed was permanent, perhaps a result of taking a couple of punches too many to his face. His white hair was kept in a traditional bun at the back of his head, the upper part of his scalp bald. He had a mustache that fell down past his lip with a similar protrusion of hair at his chin.

The man wore a red, gold and green ceremonial cape over a traditional set of black and steel shinobi gear. His small stature aside, the man was obviously feeling his age as his posture was hunched like you'd only see among your elders, his hands clasped at his back to aid himself.

Eyeing one another for a tense moment, Naruto decided to break the silence as he rose.

"The Tsuchikage, I assume?"

The older man merely continued to scowl at him for a second more before nodding, stepping fully into the cell without his escort. The door closed behind him, leaving them both alone with one another. Naruto doubted the Tsuchikage left his escort behind because he was stupid; he merely did not see Naruto as a threat.

"I hear you've brought news regarding my granddaughter.", the old man grumbled with a hard and cold expression on his face. His tone held a dangerous edge to it. "I am Ōnoki, Tsuchikage. I can only assume that the construct before me is a clone of the damnable Warlord I sent my granddaughter to remove?"