Naruto: Ren the Sealmaster

Chapter 321: Ch321. Kirigakure 1

It had been a month since the last big upheaval in the war, when Sunagakure was attacked, and Amegakure was leveled to the ground, and since then, things had been eerily quiet.

This state of things really bothered Mei Terumi. Standing behind the glass window in her office, she watched her mist-covered village with an underlying sense of worry. Any ninja worth their salt knew that complete silence from your enemies was never a good thing, and she couldn't help but wonder what would be Iwa and Kumo's next move.

A month ago, she hoped they would be wise. That they would capitulate, give up, and pay reparations. That the war would come to a quick end.

But as days passed and nobody received any word from either the Raikage or the Tsuchikage, the grim reality started setting in, and Mei was more and more assured that these bastards wanted to continue the bloodshed due to their stupid, stubborn pride.

Two weeks ago, she ordered intensified raids against Kumogakure and the Land of Lightning. It was a probe. She wanted to see how Kumo would react.

Yet, they stayed silent. Their defense stayed unchanged.

Mei's fists involuntarily clenched. That... wasn't good. Kumo was planning something major. There was no other reason for disregarding their primary duty of protecting the Land of Lightning in such a blatant way.

Mei quickly sent a missive to Suna and Konoha, and now, she could only wait for the inevitable clash to happen. She had no idea where Kumo would strike, but Konoha seemed like the likely goal.

They could not reach Suna, and her own Kirigakure would be impossible to reach without Kumo forces being noticed. She had already prepared to push harder against the coastal cities of the Land of Lightning the moment the Kumo started pushing Konoha's forces on the land.

That was going to anger the Lightning Daimyo even more than her prolonged trade blockade, but... Mei ruefully sighed, looking at the clouds hanging in the sky. If the civil war had taught her something, it was that you win some and you lose some. You can not please everybody.

Let the Daimyo be angry. He was not her Daimyo.

"Hm?" Mei's eyes suddenly scrunched up as she noticed something in the sky. Her eyes narrowed, and her back tensed as a bad premonition entered her mind.

The space swirled, and slowly, two men emerged from whatever that technique was. One clad in red armor as if coming from the Warring States Period, and the other...

The blood in Mei's veins chilled as she saw the Akatsuki attire of the second man. She had been warned about them. The group of S-rank lunatics who wanted to gather the bijuu for their own purposes. There was only one reason why somebody like that would come to her village.

With zero hesitation, Mei opened the window and jumped out, her hands instantly flying through several hand seals while the chakra in her lungs bubbled.

Before the two men could properly orient themselves, a flood of lava was upon them, nearly instantly drowning them while the alarms across the entire village blared.

Ninjas and civilians alike rushed into action, but Mei didn't pay it much attention. Instead, her gaze was locked in the direction where the enemies first arrived. Something in her gut was telling her that her lava attack was not enough to deal with them, and her gut feelings had saved her more times than she could count over the years.

With a new sense of trepidation, she watched as her lava started hardening into rock that quickly started crumbling into dust. It was a deliberate part of her technique. After all, she couldn't have tons of searing hot rocks fall on the village below.

As the rocks proceeded to be turned into dust, Mei's hopes crumbled alongside them when a blue ribcage made of chakra appeared, surrounding the two unharmed intruders.

"Of course, it couldn't be that easy." Mei quietly whispered, noting how more and more Kirigakure Jonin gathered a bit further away. Everybody knew that her techniques were quite destructive, and standing near her in a fight was not a smart thing to do.

She put a hand behind her back, flashing through several hand gestures, and hoping that Ao or somebody would catch her silent orders.

A moment later, the Kiri Jonin started moving again, and Mei sighed before refocusing on her opponents. This time, her eyes, however, strayed more to the handso-, er, she meant the menacing man in the red armor who was clearly the source of the blue chakra ribcage thing that blocked her technique.

Their eyes briefly met... and Mei quickly looked down as cold sweat washed over her. 'Fucking dojutsu!?' She inwardly complained with a groan.

It wasn't one she recognized, and that meant she had to be very careful. Not looking the man in the eyes was really just the basics. Instead, she focused her gaze on his chin.

"Who are you and what do you want in my village?" Mei sternly shouted at the men.

Yes, yes, she knew how stupid talking during a fight was. But there was a reason why everybody asked that question in these kinds of situations.

It not only gave her village a bit more time for evacuation before the battle started in earnest, but it also gave her a few more seconds to analyze her opponents while her ninjas could... well, do something?

They better not slack off because she got some really bad vibes from these men. It made her hair stand.

The armored man looked at her with a condescending gaze and chuckled, "Me?" He crossed his arms on his chest with amusement written on his face. "I came to destroy your village, girl. It's nothing personal. You are just in the way."

Mei was almost speechless at the audacity of this bastard. But then again, she was inwardly happy he decided to uphold the sacred tradition of pre-battle banter.

"You want to destroy my village?" Her eyes became cold at his admission. She snorted, "You may find it won't be as easy as you think!"

Mei's chakra spiked in warning as she readied herself to unleash a burning hell on these two. No matter, they were clearly enemies and invaded her village. The second they appeared with hostile intentions, there was only one way this situation could end.

Thankfully, the village center underneath them had already been evacuated, so she could fight somewhat freely without having to worry about burning or melting her fellow villagers to death.

That wouldn't have been a good image for the Mizukage. Her reputation would have been ruined. And if her reputation was ruined, who would have married her then?

Mei's bad mood worsened as her boiling chakra condensed. She was rea-

"I disagree." The man suddenly smirked at her and uncrossed his arms before he casually pointed his finger up. "After all, I have already done it."

Mei's eyebrows furrowed. Without letting the man leave her gaze, she raised her head a bit to see where he was pointing, only to frown as she could only see the clouds.

She lowered her head and gave the man a deadpan look, "Am I supposed to see some-?" She mockingly started, only to stop when a chill went up her spine as her peripheral vision registered the clouds above breaking apart, revealing a...

Various exclamations, surprised or worried shouts, and even despairing wails erupted from the nearby ninjas, but Mei ignored them. She flared her chakra in an attempt to break the genjutsu, only for her stomach to drop in dread as she realized the thing in front of her was no illusion.

"You've gotta be kidding me." She dazedly mumbled in a helpless tone, watching the village-sized meteor falling from the sky, right onto her village.

What the hell was she supposed to do against that!?