Life is... fragile.

Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade looked at the men and women they just killed. In the wide rocky clearing, the trio stood silently as the rainwater pooled under their feet was saturated with the blood of almost 29 dead shinobi around them. The trio had the same thought at the same time and they didn't let their feet submerge into the bloodied pool of water. No.

Jiraiya's lips parted and closed as his fists were clenched tightly. Blood of his enemies dripped down the veiny fists of his as his nails began to dig into his palm.

Orochimaru... recalled his adventure to overcome this fragility. The mark on his forearm ached as he felt his already 'feeble' strength get sapped away ever so slowly.

Tsunade sighed softly. These three weeks were exhausting, more so than the three months of their deployment before as Jiraiya whispered softly, "231..."

"I didn't think you'd still be keeping the count," Orochimaru blinked and let the past memories submerge before adding, "Half of the ones you should have delivered the final strikes were dealt by me, too... you're going soft, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya's jaws gritted in as his stomach churned and he growled, "I'm getting tired... this is fucked up. Hunting Chunin of Ame... it was no battle but a slaughter."

"Well, it would be quite hypocritical of me to chide you on your conflicting morals. That's life for you..." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes as he continued in a whisper, "If only killing didn't mean death... if only death promised a new life... would it always be such nerve-wracking wars?" He looked down, his yellow eyes shrinking as he felt his hands briefly quiver at the thought of... constant loss of life. And the idea that he may never achieve his dream because of something like death.

"We need to keep on continuing," Tsunade interjected, most muted of the three as she was neither as ambitious as Orochimaru of as idealistic as Jiraiya. And in times like these, she felt fortunate she didn't share the duo's trait that made Orochimaru Sensei's favorite and Jiraiya a hidden gem in the man's eyes.

"Hanzo..." Tsunade's remark made Jiraiya's and Orochimaru's expressions even more somber as they looked at one another and released exhausted sighs in tandem.

"It's reported that your boy is working with Hatake-san himself to secure our retreat. Makes me relieved," Orochimaru shifted the subject as Tsunade frowned.

"What is it?" Jiraiya questioned.

"I wish Hatake wasn't that close to Kai... after all, it's suspected that Chiyo herself is present here right now to keep Hanzo in check, too..." Tsunade's gaze flickered, "More than Hanzo, I'm fearing the battle during our retreat. And Hanzo alone has the strength to stretch the negotiations for days."

"We'll pass that trouble, too," Jiraiya scoffed.

"I don't share that confidence. Tsunade... what about the Antidotes?" Orochimaru inquired as Tsunade's scowl grew deeper and she shook her head, "His poison is organic. Fucker eats a new plant every day, digests, and gets resistant to the new poison as if it's nothing. Oye, I may not be able to heal it so be careful, both of you... I don't want to resort to the last option."

"How about you, Jiraiya? If you use that—" Orochimaru was cut short by Jiraiya, "Never... not that. It doesn't give any resistance to poison. Besides, I can only last five minutes and I'll be drained completely. Five minutes in that technique wouldn't be enough on Hanzo..."

Orochimaru scoffed and Tsunade eyed him.

"What?"

"Did you get that Jutsu?" Tsunade inquired bluntly as Orochimaru's shoulder slumped before he groaned raspily and let out an annoyed smirk, "Damn... I will be the punching bag then..."

But the trio didn't move just yet. They waited in the same spot, close to a town surrounded by large cubes of rocks along the large lake surrounding Amegakure Village. The blood began to flow away as the corpses were drained of everything while the rain itself began to get harsher.

---

"Oh? What's wrong with you? Ah, and where's Uncle?" Yahiko arrived at the familiar plastic and rubber shag in some corner of the alley from that little cave of his. Kai had followed the trio long before and found where they lived but it didn't matter. He was indeed in somewhat of a sour mood.

Today, was the appointed day of negotiations and their objective was to secure a safe path of retreat alongside regaining the control of the town filtered with Jonins of Iwa and Suna... the usual S-ranked War Mission, of course. Yet, while Kai fantasized about naturally viewing the man's skills and later grinding it for himself, most probably increasing the grind of his physique, too, Sakumo understandably left Kai with the... smaller half of the mission— Securing the path of retreat for the trio.

And that's where the kiddie trio, in front of him, came into the picture. He'd have to bank the opportunity to learn from Sakumo later. Nobody would really raise any brows if he decided to just ask for Sakumo's teaching later... of course, the man had to agree to it.

"He's out hunting for himself today," Kai smiled. That's right. His 'dad' would make a prey of the enemies with his dad jokes... and maybe his sword in tandem, too.

"It's unsafe... I don't want uncle to get hurt..." Konan grew worried, her dark amber eyes revealing her fears as she didn't dare say anything else.

'Ah, Blueberry Munchkin, if only he was to be worried for... I pray for the enemies if the rumors of his skills are to be believed.'

Kai smiled comfortingly as he stood up and let the rain impact him.

These last two weeks hadn't been a complete waste. He had studied Nagato a great deal and while he still wasn't sure what kind of dojutsu he had... Kai did manage to form a seal that could replicate the effect he desired.

Kai's arms tingled for a second as he felt his work condensed over the underside of his forearms in a great number and felt... quite a great.

"He won't be hurt," Kai grinned and he remarked, "Say... I have a big job planned tonight. The kind that will get us some fresh bread, clothes, and meat. Not that fruity junk we've been on for weeks. You guys in?"

Yahiko's eyes instantly glowed while Konan nodded slightly and looked down over her rags with a hint of dismay as she did envy the girls who had family and slightly better clothes. Since she can't have the former then the latter it is.

"Where are we going?" Nagato inquired as Kai recalled the basic plan Sakumo wanted to achieve. Sure, it was dangerous to get the three involved but what of it. This entire town was basically a mine waiting to be blown when individuals like Hanzo who even intimidated Sakumo are supposed to fight near it. It can't get any more dangerous than that, right?

"We'll start with that coot of a tailor that slapped you, Blueberry," Kai looked at Konan, "Want some cold hard revenge?"

"It's Konan," puffing her cheeks she muttered, "And... I can't wear revenge. I want clothes."

'Ah, it's always the dumb ones,' Kai rolled his eyes internally and looked at Yahiko, "Then, we will hit the puffy merchant who arrived a few days back, selling those freshly baked stock of his with an enormous price. I say we give him some justice!"

And being a boy who loved some convenient, self-proclaimed justice, Yahiko grinned.

"Finally, some meat for poor little Chibi, hmm? What do you say, Nagato?" Kai crouched down and petted the drenched pup as Konan voiced her worries, "What about you... don't you want anything?"

Giving the trio a hearty grin, the boy lied through his teeth, "Well, seeing you three smile is all I need!"

Even the pale-faced Nagato flushed, much less the boisterous Yahiko, and Konan who lowered their heads in embarrassment. After all, while Kai was their age, he still looked older. Not that they needed to know.

As Kai promised, their first stop was the tailor but he didn't just start yet.

"What are we waiting for?" Yahiko questioned as they hid behind the nearest alley.

"The right time," Kai replied dryly. The act of recovering a safe retreat would come when the enemies cannot focus on Team Hiruzen should they need to retreat. But Sakumo liked his enemies only one way— six feet under. So, their plan itself was supposed to start before the negotiations with Hanzo. Sakumo needed a distraction to start things off as the man was probably already hidden and Kai needed to wait for the right time.

This street was special because every few hours...

"Kai... the shinobi from Ame will soon start collecting fees from the street," Nagato whispered as the boy was the only one who mastered how to keep track of the time.

"Still not the right time. Believe me, have I ever made a bad jump? Didn't you enjoy the platter of porridge three days ago because you followed me?" Kai muttered, his sleeves slightly rolled up as no one was able to even see the discreet, circular black dot amongst many, many, others over his arm that now began to ooze a good amount of chakra that had been previously sealed into this specific storage seal.

[Basic Chakra Storage Seal (20/20): Stores a total of 10000 points of chakra that, in itself, is used to run the seal. Once formed, the seal can only store chakra upto 10000 points once and release it once before undoing itself. Decrease chakra consumption by 2.5℅ at every level. Current Consumption: 800/seal.]

This happened to be a C-rank seal based on the Chakra Seal Matrix of the Uzumaki Clan taught to him. Heck, he wouldn't have managed to even start this skill had it not been for him studying Nagato's eyes and having a good 'visual' imagination of how he wanted his chakra to act.

But now that he had it, the weakness from Chakra Suppression all but disappeared as he had spent the last month discreetly storing over 19 of these seals... just enough to spam one jutsu of his liking.

Noting that the time was ripe, Kai whispered, "Now!"

The trio and the dog were stunned before they followed Kai who just slammed the door open.

"Hey— Oi! Fuck off—"

Not caring about the drunk cunt who would even go as far as smacking the Munchkin, Kai grabbed several dresses with others quickly rushing in with a worried expression. But... Kai had solidified his trust enough over these two weeks and to be honest, war or not, kids are impressionable once you are close to them.

They ran out the next second with excitement and rush from committing the first robbery of their life heavy on their faces.

Kai noted this with a smirk before exclaiming, "Ah, damn, those dresses are slippery!"

His hands only clutched one dress in particular as others almost stopped when the bundle of clothes now drenched fell into the puddle right in front of the store of the kind aunty that gave them a potato once.

What a whore?!

Kai smirked internally as the old woman only shook her head and paid the clothes no attention.

A mistake.

Kai could feel the Ame Nin getting close with his chakra now somewhat available despite being strained, and his invisible chakra thread manipulated the number of senbon needles to remain in the puddle of water that he threw under the cover of clothes when he passed by the Suna Kunoichi's store even if the tailor took away the clothes with a scoff. How was he sure that she was a member of Sunagakure? Well, it was Sakumo's insight as he noted her accent in one of his begging tours.

The time was almost ripe. The Senbon Needles were prepared, the target was unaware and a group of Ame shinobi should pass in...

5...

4...

*Boom*

After all... it can't be seen as an attack from a spy but Ame to cause maximum chaos. The Suna Kunoichi would surely survive this and her gaze would fall on...

'Hehe, I should maybe consider joining Anbu after all. It's fun causing this much trouble~!'

While the trio behind him was shocked by the distant explosion, Kai shouted in a panic, "Damn it! It's those Amegakure Shinobi! We should quickly grab a few more things and leave!"

"Shit!" Yahiko cursed, "We'll do as you say... since Uncle isn't back and you should come with us later."

'Well, don't mind me then. Thanks for providing an even better location to retreat, too... since others would naturally look within the city.'

***

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