Otogakure (The Village Hidden in Sound)
This is a ninja village that has been established for less than five years. It is also the only new ninja village to erge in the past fifty years.
In the early years after the "One Country, One Village" system was established and the new power balance among the Five Great Nations began to take shape, ninja villages sprang up like mushrooms after rain. Almost every nation created its own village, but the good tis did not last.
The outbreak of the First Great Ninja War beca the ultimate test.
Many small villages were wiped out by the shockwaves of the conflict, disappearing entirely. Only a few smaller villages survived, such as Takigakure (The Village Hidden in Waterfalls), Agakure (The Village Hidden in Rain), Yukigakure (The Village Hidden in Frost), and Yugakure (The Village Hidden in Hot Water). Among them, only Takigakure, which had inherited the Seven-Tails, managed to thrive. The others struggled to survive, dependent on the whims of the Five Great Villages, leading very difficult lives.
The most stubborn of them, Agakure, endured the harshest wars. Even the ambitious and formidable "Demi-God" was eventually worn down to diocrity.
After the First Great Ninja War, the brutality of this new world—so different from the Warring States Period—caused many to abandon the idea of forming new villages. Instead, ninja clans settled for smaller communities of allied families, and many clans chose to preserve their own traditions rather than joining any village at all.
Their goal was not prosperity, but survival.
Therefore, the founding of Otogakure seed like a miracle to many.
In the center of Otogakure, inside a relatively new and luxurious residence, a person nad Haku sat gracefully on a tatami mat, watching the others in the room with a gentle yet distant gaze.
"Lord Haku, please have so tea!"
A middle-aged man wearing the Otogakure forehead protector offered an exaggeratedly enthusiastic smile.
He was the nominal leader of Otogakure.
Besides this leader, there were several elders in the room who represented the village's visible power structure.
The reason for this gathering was simple: Haku's arrival.
"Forget the tea," Haku said calmly. "If you have ti to spare, you'd be better off submitting your intelligence reports. I have no personal grudge against you, but Lord Orochimaru's orders are absolute. You can waste ti trying to flatter , but that won't save you from Lord Orochimaru's wrath."
Haku's words sent a chill down the spine of everyone present.
"Lord Haku, it's not that we were neglecting our duties. Our intelligence division is simply not as capable as those of the larger villages. We couldn't initially connect these recent attacks," the leader of Otogakure pleaded, his distressed expression almost bringing him to tears.
"Oh, really?"
Haku chuckled lightly. "Let remind you once again: I'm here on behalf of Lord Orochimaru, and he does not care about your excuses. He didn't establish Otogakure to hear about how hard or unfair things are. If you can't et his demands, then... there is no need for Otogakure to exist."
Although Haku's smile was warm and charming, his words were as cold as the bitterest winter wind.
The leader's face turned pale, as if he were frozen in place, the tears that had been threatening to fall quickly retreating. Fear gripped his throat like a noose, and he struggled to breathe. If they angered Lord Orochimaru, death might be a rcy.
However, not everyone was intimidated.
As a village that had existed for less than five years, Otogakure's power structure was still unstable, and its leaders were not all seasoned veterans. The power struggle continued, and although the leader remained, the faces of the elders had changed significantly.
"Lord Haku, while it's true that Lord Orochimaru founded Otogakure, it's not rely his plaything. We haven't shirked our duties; we've just encountered so difficulties. To say that the village has no reason to exist because of a minor error is a bit harsh, don't you think?"
The speaker was a young elder in his twenties, a talented and ambitious individual.
"Are you questioning Lord Orochimaru's orders?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI~Fire
Haku's voice remained gentle.
"It's not that—I just hope that Lord Orochimaru could understand the challenges we face. Otogakure has only been around for a few years, and we—" The young man's words were abruptly cut off as ice spread from the tatami, forming a spear that pierced his chest. The tip of the spear erged blood-stained.
The sound of dripping blood echoed in the room, and the scent of it filled the air.
The leader of Otogakure grew even paler. He hadn't even seen Haku move. In an instant, one of the village's top ten strongest ninjas was dead. If it had been him... his fate would have been the sa.
Fear tightened its grip.
"How many tis must I repeat myself?" Haku said. "Lord Orochimaru does not care about your reasons or difficulties. Your only task is to carry out his orders with everything you've got, not waste ti on petty scheming."
"Does anyone else have any objections?" Haku scanned the room.
"No, no, we will do our utmost to fulfill Lord Orochimaru's commands," the people of Otogakure hurriedly bowed, pressing their foreheads to the tatami in utmost respect. The sight of the still-warm corpse reminded them of who truly controlled Otogakure.
They were rely puppets under Orochimaru's control.
"In one week, I want to see accurate intelligence," Haku said softly. "Otherwise... next ti, I won't be so lenient."
"Thank you, Lord Haku. Thank you."
A week was indeed a generous reprieve.
Haku paid no further attention to these hypocrites. In truth, the intelligence didn't matter anymore. His main purpose in coming to Otogakure was to warn these restless individuals not to waste their limited energy on trivial matters.
Still, even if the intelligence no longer held much importance...
But he also sensed a feeling of unease from that eting between the Hokage's advisor and Lord Orochimaru. It felt as if the five years of peace the Shinobi world had enjoyed were about to co to an end.
"Sigh! Are we really headed for conflict again?"
The room, now with only Haku left in it, echoed with sighs of helplessness.
"Back again, huh?"
Standing at the gate of the Leaf Village, Tsunade looked at the familiar landscape that hadn't changed much over the decades. Emotions swirled inside her. She'd been here four years ago, but four years—a thousand days—wasn't exactly a short ti.
And her heart had yet to fully untangle itself. Returning to this village, full of mories, wasn't easy for her to stay calm. Just standing at the gate brought a flood of past images into her mind.
"So annoying!"
Tsunade shook her head vigorously, trying to rid herself of the troubling mories.
"Lady Tsunade, should we go…?" Kakashi asked from beside her. Since Tsunade hadn't allowed them to alert the village ahead of ti, no one ca to welco them. Likely, soone only now went to report their arrival at the gate! Not a bad thing—it kept things simple.
"Let's go see that old guy Torifu Akimichi first!"
Tsunade, one generation younger than Torifu, was known for her sharp tongue but soft heart. She never held back verbally, even with her elders. But despite her harsh words, she cared deeply. As a dical ninja, her compassion was second nature.
Besides, there was another reason: Torifu was, after all, the Fifth Hokage.
It wouldn't be proper to co back and not see the Hokage before anyone else. She had no interest in the village's disputes and preferred not to get involved, so it was best to follow protocol. Once her business was done, she could leave easily without being tied down.
Without Tsunade having to ask, Itachi Uchiha quickly found out that the Hokage was still at the Akimichi residence and hadn't gone to the hospital for treatnt.
With the Fifth Hokage's location clear, Tsunade and the others headed toward the Akimichi clan's estate.
By the ti they reached the entrance, Choza Akimichi was already there waiting. It seed soone had gone ahead to notify him of their arrival. The village gate wasn't just guarded by a few sentries; there were likely many hidden Anbu around, and each clan probably had people keeping an eye on things to catch any changes in the village right away.
"Didn't I tell you, Torifu, you need rest for that condition? If you keep working, it's bound to flare up again—and worse each ti!" Tsunade walked into the room, seeing Torifu Akimichi seated behind a low table on the tatami. She didn't hesitate to sit across from him.
"You're back, huh, Tsunade?"
Hearing the familiar voice unchanged by ti, Torifu smiled and greeted her.
"I had to co back. The Anbu running all over the place is such a hassle. And… I didn't just co to treat you. There are other things I need to handle, too."
"Seems like I'm causing you trouble again!"
"Enough with the excuses. I told you your treatnt's just a side thing; I'm here because I have other business to take care of."
"Oh? What's that?"
"…Have you ever heard of the na Hiruko?" Tsunade paused for a couple of seconds before asking.
"Hiruko? Hmm! That's the na of a rogue ninja, right?" Torifu thought for a mont. "I rember seeing it on the rogue list. If I'm not mistaken, it said he'd been missing for years, even presud dead. Did you…?"
"Tsunade-senpai, are you saying Hiruko is behind what happened at Mount Shumiru?"
A voice ca from outside the room.
"So you ca too, Sougen?" Though Torifu could no longer see, his hearing had only grown sharper.
"Forgive the intrusion," Sougen said, sliding the door open and entering the room with only Tsunade and Torifu inside.
As soon as Sougen heard that Tsunade was back and had gone to see the Hokage, he set aside his work and headed straight for the Akimichi residence. Just as he reached the door, he overheard the na "Hiruko," sparking a mory that connected with the monsters Kakashi had reported.
And also with the kidnapped ninja who possessed Kekkei Genkai.
"No need to apologize. Have a seat." Torifu pointed to an empty spot nearby. Though he could no longer see, he knew the room's layout perfectly.
"So, what happened at Mount Shumiru? What's the issue?" Torifu asked.
"It's related to the attacks on the Cloud, Stone, and Mist shinobi," Sougen replied after sitting. "Thanks to Lady Tsunade's insight, otherwise I wouldn't have considered that it might be linked to the Chira Technique."
"So you figured it out?"
Tsunade looked at him.
"More or less. I think Homma and Hiruko might have tead up. Homma's attacks on the Cloud, Stone, and Mist might not be for himself but part of Hiruko's plan—maybe to use the Chira Technique to absorb their Kekkei Genkai?"
"Seems you know a lot about Hiruko."
"I did so research in the past."
Sougen spoke frankly.
It wasn't even cheating with mories from a past life. He had once considered working with several people, including Hiruko, while studying White Zetsu's body. But before he could pursue Hiruko, Sasori had conveniently fallen into his hands, and he'd forced the puppet master to cooperate instead.
But before that, he'd thoroughly investigated Hiruko, combing through old, sealed archives.
"Wait a mont, you two. I know about the Chira Technique—Lord Tobirama created it as a forbidden jutsu to rge with summoned beasts. But it was sealed by the First Hokage because it violated ethical boundaries. How… how could it fuse with Kekkei Genkai? That's impossible!"
Although Torifu could not see, he instinctively widened his eyes, his cloudy, vacant gaze fixed on the two before him.
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