Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

Early September, Konoha Year 47.

Kinoshita Genichi and Uzumaki Ina finally returned to Konoha. In the Hokage's office, Genichi reported all the intelligence he had gathered on the Tailed Beasts and their jinchuriki. Of course, this information would also be documented in writing, becoming top-secret intel that only a select few could access.

"You've both worked hard," Hiruzen Sarutobi said after the debriefing. He then changed the subject. "Just two days ago, Iwagakure was completely driven out of the Land of Wind by Sunagakure. The two sides are now in a standoff in the Land of Birds. And according to Root's intelligence, there are signs that they may be holding peace talks. Genichi, do you think Suna and Iwa will make peace and form an alliance?"

Genichi understood instantly. The alliance was the key. Or rather, would Sunagakure, as they did with Kirigakure, ally with Iwagakure to attack Konoha?

He thought for a moment and said, "Lord Hokage, I believe that possibility is quite high. However, given the current situation, if Iwagakure wants to launch a large-scale attack on us, they will have to deal with Kumogakure first. According to the intelligence I gathered in the Cloud Village, Iwagakure has mobilized a large number of troops to besiege the Cloud-nin in the Land of Earth."

Hiruzen nodded. Root had also sent back this information. Danzō's judgment was that Iwa would most likely not attack Konoha in the short term. Even if they did attack through the Land of Rain, Hanzō could hold them off for a while, buying Konoha time to redeploy its forces. But they couldn't place any hope in Iwa's restraint. If Iwa wanted to go to war, they wouldn't just attack from the Land of Rain. After all, Konoha and Amegakure were still allies. Therefore, necessary precautions were needed on the Land of Grass border, even a small-scale early-warning border defense force was essential. As for the Hidden Grass Village, that neutral village could not serve as a shield for Konoha.

Hiruzen already had an idea in mind: he would have Mokume Kuno lead a border defense unit to guard against a surprise attack from Iwa through the Land of Grass. But if things continued like this, Konoha would be in great danger.

And so, Hiruzen asked, "Genichi, if you were to make a move on the Fourth Kazekage, how confident are you?" Assassinate the Fourth Kazekage, then have Pakura of the Scorch Release return to Sunagakure and become the Fifth. Genichi had hinted at this before. Clearly, Hiruzen now wanted to implement this plan to quickly resolve the threat from Sunagakure, and perhaps even gain an ally to share the pressure.

Genichi didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "When does Lord Hokage plan to act?"

"We need to wait until after Sunagakure attacks, and find a critical moment," Hiruzen said. He knew very well that supporting a Kage in another great village required perfect timing.

Genichi was relieved to hear this. Good, not right now. It seemed Hiruzen was still calm and understood the importance of timing and opportunity. In that case…

Genichi thought for a moment and said, "During my intelligence gathering in Sunagakure this time, I witnessed the Fourth Kazekage's methods. He is indeed formidable, able to suppress the rampaging One-Tail Shukaku on his own. But an assassination is different from a head-on confrontation. With enough patience and the right conditions, I have a seventy percent chance of taking him out."

A seventy percent chance was a rather conservative estimate.

Hiruzen nodded, very satisfied with that number. "Then, Genichi, you should make your preparations."

"Understood," Genichi nodded.

"Go back and rest for now," Hiruzen added. "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to go to the Land of Earth and the Land of Birds to gather intelligence on Suna and Iwa next."

"Yes, sir." Genichi turned and left.

Back home, the first thing Genichi did was soak himself in the bathtub. Being on the road for over two months was not pleasant. Of course, his gains had also been enormous. He now possessed the chakra of five of the Tailed Beasts: the One, Two, Six, Seven, and Eight-Tails. Although the amount of each was small, it was enough for him to research.

And over the past two months, some of his training had inevitably been put on hold. Instead, he had spent most of his time studying the Tailed Beast chakra within him.

For example, the Six-Tails' chakra. Genichi had previously thought this beast had the same Explosion Release as him. But he was surprised to find that the explosive bubbles Utakata used in the original timeline were not formed from Wind + Water, but from Lava Release. Explosions, corrosive acid, and corrosive gas were all abilities of Lava Release.

The One-Tail had Wind and Magnet Release abilities, with the Magnet Release being mainly used for sealing. The Two-Tails' ability was Scorch Release, and it excelled at speed. As for the Seven-Tails, he had not yet figured out its specific Kekkei Genkai and abilities. For now, he only had the little information he knew from his past life.

And the Eight-Tails, whose chakra he had possessed the longest, he had not studied much. He still hadn't figured out its tail-severing substitution or its ink-sealing ability. This was mainly because he hadn't previously included researching Tailed Beast abilities in his plan, only seeing them as a power bank and a means to change his constitution. And one person's energy was always limited.

"Good thing I have a cheat."

"Once I've completed the few plans I'm working on now, I can start researching and analyzing the Tailed Beast chakra. With so many Kekkei Genkai, mastering all of them would be a huge boost for me," Genichi planned, closing his eyes. "Kekkei Genkai, Kekkei Tōta, Truth-Seeking Orbs, Kekkei Mōra… sooner or later, I'll have to grind them all out, step by step. I already have Ice Release, Heaven's Eye, and Explosion Release. Add the Sharingan, and that's four. As for Kekkei Tōta, the most likely path right now is to further upgrade Heaven's Eye. Then there's Ice Release…"

Splash!

Opening his eyes, Genichi stood up, dried himself off, got dressed, and left the bathroom. It was only a little past four in the afternoon.

After a meal with Ina, the two of them went out. Ina went to see Kushina, while Genichi bought some flowers and went to the cemetery to visit Uchiha Namiichi, then bought some fruit and visited his mother. However, he only stayed for a cup of tea and a short chat, declining her invitation for dinner.

After leaving the Uchiha compound, he used a Body Flicker to return home and began to create numerous shadow clones to get busy. A vacation? What vacation? He was young. Time to grind!

On the border of the Land of Birds. The moon was bright and the stars were few.

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, appeared here secretly with a squad of bodyguards. After waiting for a moment, he suddenly looked up at the sky. Under the moonlight, three figures could be seen flying toward them.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Only then did the Kazekage's guards react, quickly forming a line in front of him, on high alert.

But the Kazekage's face was calm. "It is the Third Tsuchikage."

"Kazekage!" Onoki did not cross the border, but descended from the sky, hovering about two feet above the ground.

And so, the two Kage stood facing each other across the border.

"Kazekage, you wish to talk peace?" Onoki said, his hands behind his back.

"Not peace talks, but cooperation," Rasa said, his arms crossed. "Iwagakure has already lost. There is no need for peace talks."

Onoki's face was a little grim. "The outcome of the battle has not yet been decided."

"Does the Tsuchikage intend to continue fighting?" Rasa said forcefully. "The situation within the Land of Earth is not very good, is it?"

"That is no concern of yours, Kazekage," Onoki snorted.

After a few verbal jabs, Rasa brought the conversation back on topic. "Tsuchikage, how about we join forces and attack the Land of Rain? Hanzō and Konoha have allied. This is not a good thing."

Onoki was a little suspicious. "If Sunagakure wants to attack Konoha, the Land of Rivers would be more suitable, would it not? Attacking from the Land of Rain? Isn't that just doing us a favor?" He didn't believe Rasa was being so kind.

"The main Suna army is currently in the north," Rasa said. "The Land of Rain is the closest route. Attacking Konoha is an agreement between our village and Kirigakure." He proactively revealed this information.

Onoki's eyes narrowed slightly. He instinctively felt that Rasa was hiding a conspiracy. However, this plan was indeed beneficial to Iwa. The problem was that his main target right now was the Cloud-nin within his own country. Otherwise, Suna would not have won so easily.

But Rasa had come prepared. "The Cloud is a problem, but they don't necessarily require all of your forces, do they? The troops in the Land of Birds can be fully committed to the Land of Rain. Does the Tsuchikage still intend to continue attacking the Land of Wind? Don't forget Hanzō from the last Great Ninja War. And now, with Konoha's help, isn't Hanzō on the verge of regaining control of the entire Land of Rain? Does the Tsuchikage intend to just watch Konoha and Hanzō join forces?"

Onoki fell silent. During the last war, Hanzō's Amegakure was indeed formidable. They had fought against almost all five great villages and had even beaten up the samurai of the Land of Iron. Hanzō's reputation as a demigod had spread throughout the ninja world. The title of the Sannin of Konoha had also come from his mouth. To be given such a title by anyone else would have been an insult. But coming from the demigod Hanzō, whose fame shook the entire ninja world at the time, it was an honor for Jiraiya and the others.

Onoki acknowledged Hanzō's strength, and therefore, was also wary of him. The strength of the Hidden Rain Village was not to be underestimated. For Iwagakure, a crippled Rain Village was a good neighbor. In fact, this had been a tacit understanding between Konoha, Iwa, and Suna before. The chaos in the Land of Rain was a major factor caused by these three villages. However, the outbreak of the war had changed this understanding.

After a moment of deliberation, Onoki slowly nodded. "No problem. We can join forces and attack. But, if we invade the Land of Fire…"

"We'll split our forces," Rasa said immediately. "We will push southeast."

The Land of Rivers? Onoki immediately saw through Sunagakure's true objective. It was impossible to destroy Konoha. Invading the Land of Fire was about taking a bite out of Konoha and the country itself.

"No problem." Onoki completely agreed.

At the same time, in the Land of Rain, within Amegakure, Danzō came to see Hanzō with several corpses. Some were Iwa-nin, others were Rain-nin. The former were prisoners he had captured before, now being put to good use. The latter were ninja he and his Root forces had hunted down.

"Lord Hanzō, Iwagakure has not truly given up. They are still stirring up trouble and have already colluded with that Akatsuki organization. These bodies are the proof!"

Danzō directly threw a massive allegation onto the Akatsuki and Iwagakure, making them the scapegoats.

(End of Chapter)

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