Chapter 23

While Naruto was playing with the children, inside Kumo and Iwa things were heating up. These two shinobi villages were filled with ambitions and desired nothing but conquest.

Kumo and Iwa had been allies for centuries, and sometimes enemies. However, they were always enemies of Konoha and the Land of Fire. The seeds of hatred were deep, too deep to just forget.

Kumo blowing up the training facility for young children in the Land of fire or Iwa causing an earthquake to strike Land of fire that killed thousands, such were the actions of enemies.

Konoha didn't back down either, as it also retaliated. Hiruzen was a kind man, but he had to follow the desire of the masses for some issues.

Many times Konoha had rightfully retaliated, but there were times when Root led by Danzo had done evil deeds in the name of Konoha. For example, killing important officials and even talented children from Kumo and Iwa.

It was the norm between all Shinobi villages and it wasn't some past history.

Iwa even held personal enmity with Minato because of his actions in the Third Shinobi War, especially Onoki. The Tsuchikage had lost his eldest son to Minato and lost his chance to conquer the Land of Fire.

Unlike the Land of Fire where the Hokage worked with the Daimyo, the other Shinobi villages had already taken command of their nations. The Daimyo only handled the nation under the leadership of the Kage.

Ay and Onoki agreed on one thing, they couldn't allow Konoha to rule the world. The world history revolved around Uchiha, Hyuga, Senju and Uzumaki for too long.

Three of the clans had too much power and now none of them were actually left, but Konoha now had Uzumaki Naruto. The power difference between them was too much and realistically, they could never defy his commands.

The two Kage agreed that Naruto was a kind child, but that didn't mean it was permanent. Regardless, he belonged to Konoha and it was easy for the Hokage to manipulate him into forcing them.

It wouldn't have been an issue if the power balance wasn't so skewed, and they would have worked together because all of them would have an equal voice. However, it was not the case now.

They didn't want to destroy the world or kill its only guardian, but they needed to quickly break the disparity in power.

For this goal, the Raikage and Tsuchikage had gathered for a secret mission in a research facility that sealed off all sensing abilities.

"Let's stop with the pleasantries, what have you got?" Ay sat in a relaxed position after being stressed by Naruto's presence.

"I would love to brag about my achievements, young man. But, I would like to see your hand before I do so." Onoki deflected his request calmly, following his policy of not revealing his trump cards and sitting out on battles unless victory was guaranteed.

Looking at the stubborn old man, Ay knew it was impossible to go forward without revealing his secrets.

Smashing his palm on the table causing it to vibrate, Ay stood up from the chair, "Fine, I will show you what we got and why Kumo is superior to all."

Ay spoke with complete confidence and pride as he snapped his finger and the walls opened up to reveal countless weapons.

"Douman, Explain to our guest?" Ay commanded to the researcher standing on the side.

The man known as Douman wore a black dress and he could be described as having eyes like polished obsidians, face constantly wearing a smile cruel to the point of perfection and a body so fierce that it could tear his enemies apart barehanded, if needed. He was like a youkai Beast in human shape, who managed to leave an impression of beauty on others.

"Thank you sir, I will take it from here." Douman spoke respectfully with a smile as he looked towards his lord before turning to Onoki.

"Lord Tsuchikage, these are the results of our research from the beginning of Kumo's history. It is the accumulated result of 100 years of research.

This here is the prototype chakra armor. It is made from the highest quality chakra metal and its durability his further enhanced through fuinjutsu seals.

This armor allows the user an increase their stats through the chakra accumulated and concentrated in the core. It protects the user through a passive barrier and enhancement. The prototype has demonstrated the ability to boost a normal user to the level of the Raikage.

However, that is not the main point of this armor. The core is the actual focus, as it can be increased and more than one core can be added to the armor itself according to the limits of the user. The core can replenish chakra from the backup cores in the storage seal or from the chakra storage seals added to it." Douman walked to the armor and explained its qualities with pride.

"Tell me, can it allow your master to defeat Killer Bee at full power?" Onoki wasn't interested in listening to the details, he just needed to know if it was useful at the moment or not. He found the idea appealing, but what was the current progress. How far was it from the ideal?

"We haven't tested it yet, but theoretically it can allow Lord Raikage to defeat Lord Bee. Please be patient sir, you will understand why.

Moving on from the armor, there are other weapons that work alongside it. This is the shield that has its own chakra core, which allows it to create powerful barriers to stop any attack. This can be further enhanced by combining it with the armor.

This is the Lightning blade that can transform into any weapon and it is the strongest weapon created by us. It has lightning seals drawn on it on the microscopic level, and it is charged with a core using the eight tails chakra. This blade can combine with the shield and armor to further enhance the combat prowess.

Finally, we have the unavoidable flying light blasters. These blasters are also using the chakra cores as power and have the Laser Circus jutsu as their base. The power of these blasters can kill any shinobi with a single attack except people like our Lord. However, these blasters can be combined together to form a stronger attack that could even erase our lord.

All these weapons work together and enhance each other. Once all of them are together, the user can also user the Over The Limit Mode that can boost the capability of the equipment by 10 times for a short moment of time.

With all of this, it would be easy for our Lord to defeat any Jinchuuriki not named Uzumaki Naruto." Douman finished his presentation happily and bowed to Onoki.

"And that is the problem. Can this help with bridge the gap with him? What if Killer Bee used it, will he become strong as Naruto?" Onoki floated from his seat and looked at the powerful equipment that Kumo had made. It was truly a game changer if the war hadn't happened.

"In theory it is possible, and it is the reason we requested for his chakra."

"How confident are you, Douman?" Ay was happy with the results as well, but he knew that the challenge put forward was beyond the legends of Hashirama and Madara.

"100 percent confident that I can achieve the results, if Lord Bee cooperates. Without his help, it is unknown." Douman considered it for a moment and answered confidently as he looked at them both, showing that he wasn't some simple research head.

"Good, I am happy with your results. You can take your leave now and I will have Bee work with you."

"Thank you my lord, I will not disappoint you." With a bow and a smile, the man left the room.

"Do you have something of equal value, Onoki?" Ay challenged with a smile as he looked down on the floating dwarf.

"I do. We have managed to clone the first generation Tsuchikage and Raikage. It was supposed to lead us to victory, but it feels meaningless now."

"Give me one reason to allow you leave with your life, old man?" Hearing the cold tone of the old man, Ay was extremely angered by the disrespect to his founder.

"You shouldn't let feelings overwhelm your mind, Raikage. And, I do have another thing. It is called the Heart of Earth. It is a core that we have been filling with earth chakra for decades. The research started many decades ago but we only recently managed to succeed and now we can make concentrated powerful chakra hearts for our Golems.

This should work with your chakra armor very well, don't you think. You also shouldn't look down on the cloning, as we managed to completely clone them at full power." Onoki wasn't worried about the threat and responded calmly. It was a great progress, but even then it seemed impossible to reach Naruto's range.

"You mean we could clone Sage Madara?"

"I am not sure, but it could be possible. Did you collect his remains?"

"Of course, it is a basic skill in Kumo."

"What do you think? Do we have a chance to bring balance to this world?" Onoki asked in a tired tone, for the first time in a long time he was willing to work for world peace but it was marred by the power disparity and fear for the unknown.

"We can only try and with us all working together to improve, a path should reveal itself."

"I hope so."

Both parties aimed for the same thing, but Ay cared for his daughter while Onoki was not very attached to emotional bonds. Onoki was the type of Shinobi that cut away all emotions to succeed in life while Ay was the type to use all kinds of methods for success even if they were evil, but he cared for his people.

"Lord Raikage, we have observed an unknown creature enter the exosphere." Just then a sudden announcement was heard and the two Kage saw a screen showing a meteor heading to the Land of Snow.