Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 67

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor The Gamer. I own nothing, really.

Chapter 67

[Hiruzen Sarutobi]

This was bad, very bad.

He sat behind his desk, facing both Mei and Onoki who sat on the other side on an armchair each. Danzo, meanwhile, stood next to the desk on his left, with a scowl on his face. The Hokage didn't blame him though, the situation certainly deserved the expression and much more.

The Mist's Jinchuriki of the Six-Tails had been attacked and lost.

The Stone's Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails had been attacked and lost.

Both of them roughly at the same time as the Invasion in the Leaf was taking place. 'That's no coincidence,' Hiruzen thought, disturbed. If this didn't prove that A's claims about someone controlling him were true, then the Hokage didn't know what could.

After all, Orochimaru was dangerous, yes, and he could take on a Jinchuriki if he tried hard enough, but he had been in Konoha at the time. Hiruzen also rather doubted that his former student had anyone under his control to pull off such a feat, let alone in two different Nations at the same time. No, there was something else at play here.

"Rather convenient, that the Cloud still has both of their Jinchuriki," Danzo pointed out and Hiruzen had to stop himself from reacting to that. His old friend was right, of course, but he could have pointed that out at a less inconvenient time.

The Hokage could almost see another war breaking out if any more tension was put on them. He also saw the same struggle behind Onoki's eyes, which brought Hiruzen a measure of relief. He had his suspicions, but this pretty much confirmed that the current Tsuchikage would very much like to avoid another war breaking out.

He guessed it made sense, the both of them had seen much in their long lives. The last thing they wanted to experience was the bloodshed that came from one. Especially in Onoki's case, he supposed, after what Iwa had suffered during the last one.

The same could not be said about Mei, however, who looked positively murderous.

He guessed that made sense too, the woman had barely gotten her country back. Her efforts had been focused on bringing a semblance of normality to it after so many years of being the Bloody Mist and now this happened. Mei's very position was in danger now.

After all, what kind of Kage lost a Jinchuriki?

It also didn't help that her village was weak enough after so many years of Civil War. They couldn't afford to lose an asset like that. Now there would be people judging her every move if she hadn't earned enough loyalty from the people under her. Hiruzen hoped she had, Mei certainly seemed to be a reasonable enough person to work with, if their previous interactions were anything to go by.

On the other hand, from the Hokage's side though, this development wasn't entirely bad. It only increased the value of Eiji's trade regarding Nuibari. If the Mist had lost so much power now, they would be even more happy with earning some back, even if there were some that would say a Legendary Sword wasn't on par with Jinchuriki.

With some luck, that would assuage some of Danzo's attitude or this meeting would be even worse than he was anticipating.

"I'm rather surprised that you shared this information with us, Onoki," Hiruzen mused, meaning every word. He wasn't sure how to take this token of... trust? coming from the Tsuchikage. After all, it revealed weakness on their side.

"I find myself wondering about that too," Mei voiced, letting go of her anger for a moment, even if the frown was still present as she regarded Onoki.

"This is greater than my pride," The diminutive man replied, sounding like it pained him to say as much. "Whoever is behind this is a threat, even more so if they are the same... "Madara" that A speaks of. That and... the last thing I want is another World Shinobi War," The man admitted, albeing with extreme reluctance, by the looks of it. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to add something else to that, but ultimately remained silent.