Naruto: Path of Uchiha

Chapter 26: The Alliance

Naruto's POV

War has begun.

News that the cloud village has been attacked has spread out throughout the villages.

Chaos has erupted.

Currently I stand in the Hokage office, having been called by Obito Nii-san.

We are accompanied by Kakashi Nii-san and Shikaku-san.

'Naruto. Last time you proposed that we should form an alliance. What did you mean by that?', Obito Nii-san asks, his face tense from all that's going on.

I think for a moment, then reply, 'I recommended an alliance. What I meant by that is that the five great Shinobi villages should work together in defeating Orochimaru', I explain.

'And how do you plan it to work?', Kakashi Nii-san asks.

I haven't thought about that, still I answer whatever comes to mind, 'I suppose we could call for a kage summit and convince the other kages to defeat Orochimaru. I doubt Orochimaru has an army that big, especially as he's working alone. We can gather the few strongest from every village; I am sure that will suffice'.

'Ororchimaru's army isn't that big. Why do you reckon we ally with all the other villages rather than working on our own?', Shikaku-san questions.

'We have many strong shinobi, but the reanimations will have a wider range. We need ninjas of all types to counter the enemy effectively', I reply with a shrug.

'That's a solid plan', Shikaku-san praises, leaving me shook.

There's no way they will be going forward with my plan.

'It is a good plan. Even I am surprised',
'Really?'.

'I agree. It is a good plan. From Itachi's intel, we have discovered that Orochimaru will be able to produce at most 50 reanimations at best. If we proceed with Naruto's plan, we can defeat Orochimaru's  variety of an army using the strongest ninjas the villages have', Obito Nii-san states.

Obito Nii-san mentioning Itachi Nii-san in front of Shikaku-san catches me off guard. But then I realize that most probably Shikaku-san knows the truth about Itachi Nii-san's staged death as well.

'Mhm, it's awesome. When did you think about that Naruto?', Kakashi Nii-san looks towards me.

'Uhh... just now?', I say.

'Unbelievable. I learn every day not to underestimate you, Naruto Uzumaki', Shikaku-san says, crossing his arms.

                                       ***

I leave the office, leaving the other three to decide on the kage summit.

'Naruto!', I hear Sasuke call out.

Noticing the sweat on his face, I assume he's been here waiting for me.

'What happened? Why did they call you?', he asks, hands on his knees.

'They asked for a plan. I gave them one. To my utmost shock, they decided to go along with it', I reply, summarizing the encounter.

'You surprise me every day, Naruto. Well, I was here to tell you something', he says, it coincidentally being similar to what Shikaku-san said to me moments ago.

'You are full of surprises'
'I guess I am',

'What is it?', I question.

'I decided to take the jounin exams', he answers.

'That's amazing, good luck!', I say, a smile immediately appearing on my face. 'You know-', I begin to say, but get interrupted.

'Naruto. I am going to catch up to you, just wait and see', he says, his eyes gleaming like I've never seen before.

'I'm sure you will, Sasuke', was what I would have said if he asked me the question a few years ago.

But now, I am driven to be the best. Determined to defeat Orochimaru and strive forward.

So I say, 'You better hurry then; I am giving it my all as well, and I will not wait for you', I reply.

I expected Sasuke to be surprised at my newfound spirit.

But instead he smiles like he expected it, and I smile right back at him.

——————————————————————————

The kage summit was arranged. In five days time, all the kages will gather to prepare for war.

Currently, Naruto is at Training Ground 3, and by his side is Shikamaru.

'You're going to the kage summit?', Shikamaru asks Naruto, a skeptical look on his face.

'Mhm. Obito Nii-san has asked me to tag along. Kakashi Nii-san is also coming. We also planned to take Sasuke, but he has to take the jounin exams', Naruto explains. 'Aren't you going to take the exams?' he asks.

'That's great, and no, I am not taking the exams right now. Ino and Choji have just recently been promoted to chunin. I will take them later on', Shikamaru says.

'Hinata told me she is planning to take the exams as well. You better catch up', Naruto says, a feint smirk on his face.

'I will try my best. It's just that you're improving at godspeed', Shikamaru sighs.

Naruto laughs, 'Godspeed. It's in my blood', he says, his gaze going towards the Hokage monument of Minato Namikaze.

'You are referring to me, right?'
'Of course Kurama' (lies)

——————————————————————————

The Kage Summit has officially begun.

At the large table sat the five kage.

Obito Uchiha, the Hokage of the hidden leaf village. Mei Terumi, the Mizukage of the hidden mist village.
Onoki, the Tsuchikage of the hidden stone village.
A, the Raikage of the hidden cloud village.
And lastly, Gaara, the temporary Kazekage, is here in place of his father, who's severely ill.

Behind each of the Kage stood two companies. For Obito being Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki.

'My village took the blow! We were attacked by reanimations of several powerful shinobi. I demand the Hokage take responsibility!', A, the Raikage, expresses his anger.

'Orochimaru was the cause of it. We no longer take responsibility for a traitor', Obito says, as calmly as he could.

'Still. Orochimaru belonged to the leaf village. The least you could do is take responsibility!', this time, Onoki, the Tsuchikage states.

'I disagree. What Orochimaru is doing is nothing related to the leaf', Mei, being the cool-headed one, says.

'I also disagree. If we are blaming only the leaf for this war, then we should also thank only them for the previous war, as they were the ones to initiate the treaty', Gaara says, a frown on his face.

'That's stupid. What could a sixteen-year-old know? You weren't even there when the last war took place!', Onoki snarks.

'I accept that I am young. But that doesn't mean you can underestimate me', Gaara fires back.

Naruto, who is keenly observing the whole conversation, smirks. It seems Gaara didn't go back on his words. Just like Gaara promised, he had gotten more mature and stronger.

'If we are talking about age. I suppose you shouldn't even be here, Tsuchikage', Obito says with a straight face.

Everyone tries their best to hide their laughs.

'What?! You damn Hokage!!', Onoki flares up at the accusation.

'That's enough! Form a plan quickly! I've got a village to take care of', A shouts.

'Yes, please get on with it', Mei agrees.

'The leaf has a plan', Obito answers, causing a silence to loom over the room. 'Naruto Uzumaki has recommended a plan that will commence if you all agree with it', he adds, looking towards Naruto, giving him the indication to begin.

'Alright. So we have intel that Orochimaru's army isn't that big. He went for quality over quantity, reanimating the strongest shinobi there ever has been. So I suggest we go by his play. Rather than ambushing a large army, we send the few strongest of every village to take down the army', Naruto explains.

'And how do you know that the army isn't that big?', A questions, breaking the silence.

Naruto looks over to Obito for confirmation, then continues, 'Itachi Uchiha', he says.

'Didn't he die of a chronic illness?', Mei suspects.

'He didn't. We staged his death. The reason for it being to act as a spy for Orochimaru', this time, Kakashi answers.

'And you hid that from us?!', Onoki snides.

'It was a private village matter', Obito answers.

'The leaf is always one step ahead', Gaara remarks.

'Nevertheless, it enrages me to agree, but that was a good plan. Good job, Naruto Uzumaki. The cloud village will go forward with it', A says.

Getting attacked has caused A to come to his senses. He gets that now is not the time for play.

'This mist village will too', Mei says.

'The sand village will support you as well', Gaara states.

Everyone's eyes go towards Onoki.

'Ugh fine. The stone village agrees too', he says.

'Perfect', Obito says, relief glinting in his eyes.

'What will the formation be though?' A questions.

'Oh, we haven't thought ab-', before Kakashi could answer, Naruto chimes in.

'Five villages, so five battalions. Each village will have their own. There will be five ninjas in each battalion, the strongest ones. That makes a total army of 25. We have suspected that there are 50 reanimations at most. So each battalion will be assigned to defeat 10 of them', Naruto states, leaving everyone shook.

'Well, that's settled. Let's get prepared in one month at most', Obito says covering his face with a hand to conceal his surprise.

'A month? How will we be able to do that in only a month?' Mei questions.

'Time is running. You doubt your Shinobi?', A answers for Obito.

This shut Mei up.

'Alright. Now what's left is nominating the ninjas, right? Then all that's left is to prepare for war', Onoki asks, a usual frown on his face.

'That's right. Let's take our time to think and meet back in an hour', A says, indicating the dismissal.

All the kages went back to their private chambers.

——————————————————————————

Naruto's POV

'That was awesome, Naruto', Kakashi Nii-san praises as we enter the room.

'Yeah, well done, Naruto', Obito Nii-san agrees.

'Aha, thanks; it just came to me', I reply.

I still don't know how I came up with that.

'Just one of your many talents. You got this trait from me obviously',