Chapter 169 - 167: Goodbye Rain, Hello Damp

"Since it's decided, once I'm back in the village, I'll send my representatives with the full details of my proposal so we can discuss this further. In the meantime, I hope no one tries to stall things under various pretexts."

Her words essentially hammered the final nail into the summit's coffin, a short meeting that had somehow managed to change the entire ninja world in less time than it took to brew a decent pot of tea.

Hanzo looked at the Kage one by one, ready to announce the end.

He was still the host, even if his grand schemes had all burned to ash about halfway through the meeting, and he clung to that role like a drowning man to driftwood.

Seeing no objection, he cleared his throat. "Ame is honored to have hosted this summit that resolved the rising tensions of the ninja world. Now that an agreement between the villages has been reached, this summit is finally coming to an end, unless of course the esteemed Kage have something to add."

No one did. Ōnoki looked like he had swallowed a rock. A was already halfway out of his chair. Satō had the serene expression of a man who had made the right bet and knew it. Akiko was perfectly still, as always.

Although the agreement was concluded, it wasn't signed because finalizing the details could take days, maybe even months, and none of the Kage could afford to park themselves in Ame for that long.

They had villages to run, crises to manage, and in some cases, dignity to salvage.

Just as Hanzo had hoped, no one proposed extending the summit. The silence did the job for him.

But the end of the summit didn't mean the end of things. Far from it. The real work was just beginning, and everyone in that room knew it.

"Azula-sama," Akiko called out as they exited the Kage tower, her voice cutting through the damp air.

Ōnoki, A, and Satō all glanced back at the sound of her voice, but they had their own problems to deal with.

Urgent discussions with advisors, damage control and figuring out how to explain to their respective councils that they had just agreed to let a fifteen-year-old Uchiha reorganize the entire political structure of the shinobi world.

None of them envied each other's evenings.

Akiko waited until they were out of immediate earshot, though she knew perfectly well that spies were already cataloging every word. "I have something to discuss with you, in a safe place, of course."

The request landed perfectly for Azula, who had her own agenda involving Akiko's tailed beasts. "Okay, wait a minute. I'll be right back."

She turned to Tsunade and Tobirama, who had been standing behind her like the world's most mismatched bodyguard duo. "You two we are going back to Konoha."

Tsunade opened her mouth, probably to complain about missing the Hanzo spar again, but Azula was already moving. A hand on Tsunade's shoulder, a nod to Tobirama, and then the three of them vanished, leaving a single kunai behind.

Akiko stared at the empty space. Kishi and Hikuto, her two escorts, stared at the empty space.

Kishi, who had once been personally introduced to the business end of Azula's abilities and had the scars to prove it, let out a long breath. "She still moves like a ghost. I hate it."

Hikuto patted him on the shoulder. "Look at it this way. At least now she's our ghost protector."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

Akiko allowed herself the tiniest of smiles, which for her was practically a full emotional outburst. "We wait. She said she'd be right back, and she will be."

•••

•••

The familiar walls of the Hokage residence materialized around them, and Tsunade immediately let out a groan that came from somewhere deep in her soul.

"What a shame. I really wanted to fight Hanzo." She flopped onto a nearby chair with the kind of theatrical despair usually reserved for tragic theater.

If she had fought him, Tsunade figured, Azula wouldn't be able to tease her about this subject anymore.

Even if she lost, at least it would be something that actually happened instead of being unfairly taunted about a hypothetical humiliation she never even got the chance to experience.

Azula's smile was knowing and entirely too satisfied. "Do you seriously think you can beat Hanzo? Aren't you afraid of messing up, and in the end, he only spares you because your identity is special?"

She was alluding, with the subtlety of a brick through a window, to what had happened in that other timeline.

Tsunade understood she was doing it on purpose and her mood immediately soured. "You are so annoying, I swear. The most annoying person I have ever met, and I grew up with Jiraya."

Tobirama, who was being completely ignored by the two of them, stood in the corner of the room like a statue that someone had carved specifically to look uncomfortable.

Watching the intimacy between his grandniece and an Uchiha, of the same sex no less, he silently wished he could erase the image from his head with the same efficiency he had once used to erase enemy encampments, but he could not.

The Edo Tensei had many limitations, and this was apparently one of them.

"Speaking of fighting," Azula said, smoothly pivoting before Tsunade could work up a proper head of steam, "I imagine that during our absence, Danzō has probably already acted. Being the disciple of your granduncle, his strength isn't bad. Maybe you can fight him later?"

She said it casually, but she was already certain Danzō had done something. The man was pathologically incapable of sitting still when there was an opportunity to scheme despite being as meticulous as a kindgarden student.

Tsunade's eyes lit up immediately: Danzō.

The possible future culprit who may orchestrated her brother's death and studied her grandfather's body like a lab specimen, she had been waiting for this.

Tobirama, who was not aware of the full scope of Danzō's crimes but could read a room well enough to know something ugly was under discussion, straightened slightly.

Danzō had been extreme even as a young man, but Tobirama had believed his heart was in the right place. Extreme devotion to the village, extreme methods to protect it. That was the Danzō he remembered.

But the way these two were talking, something had changed. Something bad.

'After all, it's been over a decade,' he thought, pragmatic as ever. 'People change. Intentions rot. It's not strange for someone to lose their way in a day, let alone a decade. Especially if no one was watching.'

He didn't say any of this out loud. Tobirama wasn't the type to defend someone without evidence, even if that someone had once been his student. If Danzō had crossed lines that couldn't be uncrossed, then Danzō would face the consequences, apart himself of course.

"But wait for my return," Azula added, already preparing to head back to Ame. "I'd love to see what kind of trick he pulled. I just hope it exceeds my expectations."

She sounded almost hopeful, like a child hoping for a particularly good present. "If his grand plan is just trying to control the ANBU or something equally predictable, I'll be disappointed."

Tobirama filed that statement away. An Uchiha being disappointed in his student's scheming abilities. What a world he had woken up into.

•••

•••

Azula reappeared in Ame as quietly as she left. Akiko, Kishi, and Hikuto had taken shelter under the overhang of a nearby building, looking about as thrilled as anyone forced to stand around in a raining waiting for a teleport.

"Hokage-sama," Hikuto and Kishi greeted her immediately, pushing aside whatever complicated feelings they had about her.

Fear, respect, grudging admiration, it all blended together into a polite greeting and a slight bow.

Azula nodded at them before settling her eyes on Akiko. "Gather your group. We're heading to Kiri. Once we're there, we can discuss things properly."

Akiko deduced quickly that Azula had probably sent her guard and Tsunade ahead to Konoha. The Flying Raijin was truly an unfair technique, able to hop across the continent like it was stepping between rooms.

Akiko felt very envious, though her face showed nothing.

"Of course," she said.

Unlike Azula, who had come to Ame with only two escorts, Kiri had brought a full delegation.

Their previous Kage was dead, and with him had died a significant chunk of the village's elite, plus another elite dying after the village was attached.

If Akiko were attacked and killed, Kiri might never recover. The escorts were not a luxury; they were a necessity.

They retrieved their rain gear, already accustomed to Ame's eternal precipitation. Kishi stepped forward with an umbrella, offering it to Azula.

She waved him off.

Having the best chakra control in the entire shinobi world had its perks. Azula had long ago figured out how to surround herself with a thin shell of chakra that repelled water, dust, and anything else she didn't feel like dealing with.

It was simple, elegant, and, apart from Jinchuriki or those who had mastered a Chakra Mode, she was the only person alive who could pull it off.

She stepped out into the rain, and the drops never touched her. They slid around her, diverted by the invisible barrier, like the world itself was politely refusing to inconvenience her.

Hikuto's eyes went wide. "No way! That's... she's walking through the rain without getting wet! Like some kind of..."

"Finish that sentence carefully," Kishi muttered, though he was equally stunned.

Akiko watched with the quiet intensity of someone taking mental notes for later. She was the Mizukage, her Ice Release also meant mastery of water and wind release but she had never seen anyone handle rain with such casual, almost arrogant grace.

"Hmm?" Azula glanced back at them, one eyebrow raised. "What are you waiting for? An invitation?"

She said it like it was nothing, but deep down, she was satisfied. The technique was inspired by a certain blindfolded idiot from another world, and she had to admit, the aesthetic was impeccable. 'Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks this is cool.'

The Kiri shinobi snapped out of their daze, exchanging glances before the corners of their mouths twitched upward.

'Yup,' they all thought, more or less in unison. 'Azula is the most terrifying talent in the ninja world. Being on her bad side guarantees a very bad ending. Being on her good side, though might just guarantee a future.'

(END OF THE CHAPTER)