Chapter 203 - Cap 189: Onoki

It took 3 hours for Kurotsuchi to capture the 3 little Uzumaki children and she was lying on the floor breathing heavily along with 3 children who were asleep at the time.

"They are monsters..." - Kurotsuchi muttered in terror. She thought her training was difficult but none of that compared to chasing these three elusive little kids.

"I am offended that you call them that but I understand the context," said Kurama as he shrugged. He quickly created two clones so that he could take the children while he carefully carried Naruto so as not to wake him.

"Training?! Not even when my grandfather made me fight him, I suffered as much as I did today!" - roared the girl from Iwa. She still couldn't believe how fast those three brats were.

"I wish you a good rest," Kurama smiled as he ignored the girl's words and disappeared in a red flash, only to have her begin to weep over the injustice. Right now, she just wanted her grandfather to reach Konoha quickly and give her deserved punishment, so at least she could return to Iwa and leave all this suffering behind.

"I'm not crying... sob... I'm definitely not crying..." - whispered the girl as she shook her head to leave all her current thoughts behind.

* * * * *

Kurama appeared at home after a few seconds with the children, only to be surprised by Jiraiya - ". . ."

"You are finally back!" - Jiraiya exclaimed with excitement - "Thank goodness..."

"What did you do this time?" - Kurama asked as he frowned.

"Nothing... it's just that 'she' came to Konoha" - answered the white-haired Sannin.

"She?" - asked Kurama in confusion but quickly understood who it was - "I see, and where is she?"

"According to the information Kakashi gave us, she is at the Hoshimitsu Hotel" - answered the Sannin - "Ok, let me take the children to their rooms and I will accompany you to see her..."

"See who?" - asked Kushina who had appeared at the entrance when she felt her husband's chakra.

"The girl who Jiraiya sold me" - answered Kurama while looking at his wife - "We'd better finish this as soon as possible"

"Hmm..." - Kushina just gave the Sannin an annoying look but didn't say anything this time, after all, they had already solved this - "Ok, go immediately, I'll take care of the kids"

Kushina quickly created 2 clones while taking her son from the hands of the older redhead - "Go... then tell us how it went"

"Ok" - the redheaded man nodded as he gave the white-haired man a look - "Shall we?"

"Whenever you want," Jiraiya nodded.

Kurama handed over the children to his wife's clones and then left with the Sannin.

"I just hope that everything is resolved quickly..." - Kushina sighed as she shook her head, only to release a smile as she saw how happy her little Naru-chan looked in his sleep.

* * * * *

"Anything I need to know?" - Kurama asked seriously as he looked at the Sannin.

"Nothing that I know of," Jiraiya answered, "Nadeshiko's rules don't change that easily, so I don't think there's a problem..."

"If you say so..." - sighed the redheaded man as the two continued on their way - "Now that I think about it... what do you plan to do with your wife?"

"Nothing" - replied Jiraiya with regret - "Nadeshiko's laws are rigid... I was lucky that the leader of that place did not do anything to her for betraying their customs..."

"Do you think we can agree?" - asked Kurama calmly.

"Are you going to help me?" - Jiraiya asked in surprise.

"You are Naruto's godfather... I will help my family" - answered Kurama as he turned his eyes - "Remember that we Uzumaki do not leave the family behind, nor do we turn our backs on them when they need our help"

". . ." - Jiraiya was silent for a few seconds while a small smile appeared on his face - "Thank you. . ."

Jiraiya wouldn't lie, his words were more than enough, after all, it's not every day that he could feel part of a family. He wished for one from a very young age as he never knew his parents because they died when he was a baby, although he never knew how they died.

"We'd better leave that for another time... We' re here..." - said Kurama as he looked at the sign outside the hotel that said 'Hoshimitsu Hotel'.

"I hope it's not the same as the last experience I had with those women..." - mumbled Jiraiya as he shook his head.

* * * * *

A carriage was moving at great speed through the lands of Hi no Kuni on its way to Konoha and from the ostentatious appearance, one could tell that it was a nobleman or someone of great authority who owned the carriage.

"How much more will we need to get to Konoha?" - Onoki asked as he frowned. He felt like his a.s.s was falling asleep from sitting around doing nothing, not to mention that the movement of the transport did not help with his lower back pain.

"About eight hours, Onoki-sama," said the secretary, who was still frightened by his leader's reaction when he discovered that he had concealed the whereabouts of his granddaughter.

"8 hours... by that time it will be night and the gates of that village of pacifists may be closed..." - murmured the Tsuchikage as he frowned - "I want you to tell our escorts that when the sun goes down, stop the carriage We'll be camping on the road today and I want you to be on the lookout for a hostile attack"

"I don't think Konoha will try anything, Onoki-sama" - said the secretary.

"I know, I'm not stupid," said old Tsuchikage. "But we can't say the same about Kumo..."

"Kumo?" - asked the secretary in surprise.

"That's right..." - Onoki nodded - "Apart from Iwa, Kumo is the only Great Village that has maintained its military power after the disaster that was the Third Shinobi World War... not to mention that they still have their two Jinchurikis... that gives them a superior power in case of a hypothetical Fourth War that could result in the catalyst of my death".

". . ." - the secretary was silent when he heard this because the words of the old Iwa shinobi made sense to him.

"Konoha and Kiri are regaining their power after suffering their coups d'état, Suna still maintains its power but at the same time it was always the weakest village, so its level of military power is at best equal to that of Kiri and Konoha" - continued the Tsuchikage while demonstrating its military wisdom, after all, he had survived so many battles and wars that it would be stupid that he knew how to use his brain for something so basic - "That leaves only Kumo. .. although after the current Raikage took over, things became much more ... "relaxed' in that place."

". . ." - the secretary was silent for a few seconds, then looked at his leader - "There's something else in the middle of all this, isn't there?"

"Exactly. . . we haven't counted a sixth military force yet" - answered Onoki as a small smile appeared on his face. He had to admit that his secretary wasn't as stupid as he first thought - "And that's the same military power that stole our Jinchurikis..."

"Akatsuki!" - exclaimed the secretary in terror.

"Exactly" - the Tsuchikage nodded - "Akatsuki has the military power to defeat the Jinchurikis, that leaves them at a higher level than a normal Kage, which already creates a great imbalance on the battlefield because we are the greatest military power in our villages"

". . ." - the secretary was silent as he sweated uncontrollably. If what their leader said was true, then they could be in grave danger.

"Don't worry, Akatsuki won't move yet... although the possibility remains" - said Onoki as he looked at his subordinate - "With the capture of the Bijuu, Akatsuki has his hands full, not to mention that I heard that that annoying redhead, Uzumaki Kurama, managed to kill two of them, Akasuna no Sasori and Deidara... that leaves them with less military power..."

"I see..." - murmured the secretary as he sighed with regret at the mention of Deidara's death because, despite all the chaos, destruction, and death he caused, he was still his son.

"I am sorry for your loss but his fate was sealed the moment he decided not only to betray Iwa but also to steal the secret scrolls of our village's forbidden ritual," Onoki said without a hint of pity.

"I know, I'm not upset or anything," said the secretary. "I'm just disappointed... I expected great things from my son..."

"And he did do great things... too bad those great things only brought dishonor and trouble to Iwa..." - sighed old Tsuchikage as he sighed with regret. He loved Deidara, to the point that he was thinking of training him so he could become his successor... a pity that one proposes and God disposes of.