Chapter 57.6- Gamer of the Desert

When he showed himself finally, he came out of a rift in space. A very familiar vortex like movement. He stood on top of a clay bird with two men on either side of him. Obito and Deidara, I recognised quickly. Kabuto looked….well, he looked like Kabuto. White hair, tall wiry frame, glasses, and cocky smirk. His skin remained a pale shade, but not white. Not snake like (or Dragon-like as he would boast himself as in the anime). He was human for all that meant. But the people by his sides. Diedara and Obito? They were reanimated. They bore the classic markings on their bodies that marked them as reanimated shinobi. Edo tensei. The gift that never stopped giving. If I ever got the chance to meet Tobirama on the other side, I’d tear him a new one for inventing the jutsu in the first place. There were just some lines that should never have been crossed. Or if they had to be, then they’d best die with you and leave it at that.

“Oh yes, Orochimaru. Pardon the absence of honorific, but I have come to quite enjoy my recent emancipation” He said, looking at his master. I guess former master would be more fitting for the present situation. The situation began to make some sense to me. For some reason, Kabuto had joined the Akatsuki and was using the edo tensei to further their aims. The only part I could not understand was how Obito was still alive. I didn’t consider him much of a threat in light of the countermeasures I’d designed specifically for him, but that did not mean that he wasn’t one hell of a shinobi. Who else out there could have killed him. Maybe the Sannin? But I’d had two-thirds of them with me for a while and they’d have mentioned killing a man posing as Madara.

Gai definitely hadn’t done it. I couldn’t see a world where he succeeded in that without opening the Eight Gate, and in that case, I didn’t see any reason why Obito would not just have kamui’d away and allowed his clock to run itself out. No. Only two people could have killed him. I didn’t do it. That meant Nagato had. I could see it happening. There wasn’t any chance that Nagato had ever trusted Obito much, and he probably took the chance to kill him once he was healed.

Lost in my thoughts, I did not hear the words that Orochimaru returned to his former student in their entirety, but I did get the vibe. It was more of a ‘what do you mean, how dare you, what are you doing here’ kind of thing.

“What do you want?” I asked, cutting off the Snake Sannin. I situation remained just as perilous as it had been before. But there was a distant glimmer of hope. The hope that came with opportunity. Kabuto had a ton of shinobi here with him. Each of them was functionally immortal. Even if he was committed to taking me on the Akatsuki’s behalf, he’d have to fight the Sannin and Gai as well. That meant that there would be a lot of chaos. Chaos could be useful. There was room in chaos.

“The same thing every two-bit idiot in this cursed world wants, of course. Peace. Well, not just peace, more than that. But you’ll have to come to the Summit to find that out for yourself.” He said.

“What are you talking about?” Jiriaya cut in.

“I am Kabuto Yakushi, leader of the Akatsuki. Well, technically I’m the only living member but that isn’t really much of a problem form me, as you can see” He punctuated his last sentence by gesturing around himself to the multitude of edo tensei shinobi that surrounded us.

“And I am here to invite both the Hokage and Kazekage to the Seven Party Summit I have called at the Land of Iron.” He said.

“Seven party summit?”

“Well, there are five great shinobi villages. More like 1 and a half at this point, but that’s besides the point” the pointed look he gave to our surroundings made it clear that he didn’t consider Konoha as one of the great nations anymore. A fact that made Tsunade visibly flush.

“I have the tailed beasts. All but two. The summit will take place in two months at the Land of Iron. All Kage must attend, and abide by my terms or else I will turn the power of seven tailed beasts against their village. No village will stand against that might. Especially not as diminished as you all are. Yes, all. Kazekage, that includes you” My heartbeat went still. My breath froze with it. Kabuto continued, heedless of the feeling his words had woken in me. Heedless of the clone that formed itself outside of the barrier and began to fly eastward. Homebound.

“What terms do you speak of?” Orochimaru hissed. His rage was audible.

“Beyond attending the summit, I require that every village agrees to honour and protect a ceasefire. You are not to attack each other in the time until the summit. You are also not to get any foolish ideas of attacking me at the land of Rain. Trust me, I am well fortified.” The last word seemed to be some sort of cue for the Edo Obito at his back. Out of his eyes came a horde of shinobi. Previous Kage, legends, powerful shinobi one and all. But the one that got my attention was the man at their forefront in his customary red armour. Madara Uchiha. He had his eyes closed, but when he finally opened them, I felt my stomach drop to see the ringed purple of the Rinnegan.

“Assuming that I am understood, you may leave now, kazekage. Your people need you”

All thoughts of Madara flowed from my mind almost instantly as visions of Suna in ruins flashed in my head. My sand rose to my will as I discarded sage mode for a more efficient mode of travel. My body broke into a flood of sand grains and I took a hold of the winds with my chakra and forced them to carry me home at extreme speeds.

A/N; Final bit of the chapter. Considered making this the start of the next one, but it fits more as an ending. Gives you something to look forward to, methinks.