Konoha fox

Chapter 15

Kumogakure no Sato was one of the five great hidden ninja villages, and probably the best to live in too.

Its economy was doing well enough as they, unlike the still weakened Iwa, had already recovered from the losses in the last war. In addition, their daimyo had enough sense to not turn his requests to other villages like Suna's own was.

The Raikage wasn't a bloodthirsty, racist, paranoid who promoted civil war like the Mizukage basically did with the bloodlines' purge, and finally, Kumo wasn't considered the strongest of the hidden villages like Konoha.

As much as the last point could have seemed strange for a civilian, a ninja instinctively knew that being seen and recognized as the best in something was never good news; because the higher you stand the harder the impact with the ground is when you fall. And that was inevitable since against such a power, the reaction of the other villages has always been the same: ally together to bring it down before it gained any more strength.

In the eyes of the Raikage, all of this was very clear. A hidden village was much like its ninja, it needed to be known for completing the assigned missions, but at the same time keep a low enough profile as to not attract unwanted attention from enemies. The exception to this rule was one and only one:

When a ninja, or a village, was so powerful as to have the absolute certainty that they could kill any and all opposition. Only then they could rise to the top without fear of the rest of the world.

The damned Yondaime Hokage of Konoha was a good example of that; everyone considered him to be one of, if not the most powerful ninja alive. Before he became one of the Kage, with all the political implications of the title, such fame would have meant that shinobi of other nations, who sought glory and recognition, would try to beat or kill him in any way. But after his show of strength in the war against Iwa, those cowards from Stone put a "flee on sight" order in their bingo book for his entry.

His overwhelming power guaranteed that no one in their right mind would challenge him one on one.

But what the young Hokage probably didn't realize was that the same couldn't be said about his village as a whole.

Sure, the Leaf produced some of the strongest ninja alive, and even when fighters like Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru of the Sannin defected, their remaining firepower was nothing to sneeze at, but the world was vast, and if more villages allied together they could be brought down.

All that was needed was a chance to undermine their strength a little, and the upcoming chunin exams would be the perfect occasion. After all it wouldn't be the first time some genin disappeared during the tests, so it was just a matter of making it looking like a normal 'exam causality'.

It's not like the Hokage could accuse him without proof, and the Raikage really wanted to get his hands on a little Hyuuga. He was sure at least one, if not more, would participate; showing off was the whole point of the exam in any case, so it was very likely.

Then with Konoha's fall Kumo would become the greatest of the five great Hidden Villages, and he won't have anything to fear because Cloud had the power of not one, but two tailed beasts under their control which was something no other village could claim. Soon his village would rise to the top of the world.

Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai had just finished their report on the mission after sending their teams to the hospital for the routine post-mission check-up. The Yondaime was glad to know that everything went well and that they had gained a strategic ally in the Wave Country. There was, however, one thing that left him perplexed.

"I still can't understand why you took an extra day to travel back to the village. What did you do, get lost on the road of life?" the blond Hokage asked looking at his one-time student.