~ Training Field - The Village Hidden In The Leaves ~
The wind carried the leaf through the air and gracefully lowered it onto the surface of the pond, creating rings of distortion in the previously still water. Akio Senju had been silent as he stood next to the pond, watching the leaf as it made it's elegant descent. Once it had finally landed delicately on the surface of the pond, Akio turned around and faced the team of teenagers that stood in front of him. This amount wasn't just any team, it was his team--well, except for one of them. First, the three that were apart of his team, named Team 2, were Hayashi Uchiha, Arashi Uchiha and Seth Chikyu. Team 2 was one of the rare teams that had more than one Uchiha on it, and ironically a Senju--the Uchiha's rival clan--was chosen out of all the other people in the village. Akio didn't have anything against his two Uchiha students, in fact, he had just the opposite feeling for them; he thought those two students would become extraordinary powerful and influential unlike anybody else. His former master and current Hokage, Itachi Uchiha, taught him the philosophy that just because two clans have a feud, doesn't mean it's individuals have to feel the same way about another individual from the opposite clan.
The non-Uchiha on the team, Seth Chikyu, on the other hand... was a bit of a punch-first-ask-questions-later type of kid. Akio always scolded him that this would one day prove to be his downfall, but deep down he thought that Seth would change the Shinobi world one day. During the Pain Invasion, the Asura path was pursuing Seth and Akio sacrificed his life for him to let him get away for that very reason. Seth, due to the fact Akio forced him to get out of sight, did not witness his mentor's death. Thus Seth does not know that Akio actually died and had to be revived. He believed in Seth as if he were his own child--of course he would never tell him he thought that highly of him, because then Seth would get even more arrogant than he already was. Lastly was the Rin Hyuga, who wasn't a member of Team 2 but her sensei was out of the village so Akio figured that she could use some training as well. She was apart of the Hyuga's primary branch, which Akio heard had bred some pretty impressive shinobi. While he didn't know much about Rin besides that, he could tell right off the bat that she could kick ass and take some names without her Byakugan even active.
"Alright. You all can pretty much guess why I led you all here to the training field." Akio began to speak, his voice dripping with complete and utter boredom. "But just in case you all lost a few IQ points over the past few weeks, I'll enlighten you all." He said sarcastically with a slight smile, "We're here to preform a teamwork exercise, one that we should have done when we were first put together--but, I totally forgot to actually do with you guys. So we're doing it now, after what was probably the most dangerous moment in Konoha history: The Pain Invasion." The young man reached into his pocket and pulled out four small bells and held them outwards towards the four shinobi standing in front of him. "You all will work together to acquire these bells from my possession. The key to this exercise is teamwork, I cannot stress that enough. I will allow you all to use all the skills in your arsenal to take these bells from me. Genjutsu, Sharingan, Byakugan, whatever. There is only one catch..."
Akio closed his eyes and smirked--the reason he was standing so still was because he gathering natural energy in order to use Sage Mode. Red markings and an encircled dot of the same color materialized under his eyes and on his forehead respectively as his eyes turned yellow with black pupils. "I will be using Senjutsu." He attached the four small bells on his waist and slammed his right fist into his opposite palm in a taunting manner and--instead of his signature monotone voice--shouted arrogantly at the four teenagers in front of him.
"Alright! Bring it on kids!!"
~ The Five Kage Summit - The Land of Iron ~
The five Kage sat in a meeting hall, each of them with their respective Kage hats on the desk in front of them. The five Kage were: Itachi Uchiha, the fifth Hokage. A, the fourth Raikage. Gaara of the Sand, the fifth Kazekage. Mei Terumi, the fifth Mizukage. And lastly, Onoki, the third Tsuchikage. This was the first Kage Summit in decades, which meant there was a massive threat that needed serious addressing. They had been meeting for hours, discussing the Akatsuki and how they had taken interest in the tailed beast--including Gaara as well. Gaara shared with the others that the Akatsuki were extracting the tailed beast from the Jinchurki, effectively killing the Jinchurki. A brought up that the masked man going by the name Hashirama had attacked his village in an attempt to capture his adoptive brother and Eight Tails Jinchurki B. It was at this moment Itachi told the other Kage that Nagato said that the true leader of the Akatsuki was in fact the masked man.
The five Kage sat in silence for a few moments, attempting to wrap their heads around what exactly was going on. They were all looking at their hats in front of them as if the familiar color of the hat would give them an idea, Itachi was the first to look away from his hat--and that's when he saw him first. The masked man suddenly appeared out of thin air using some sort of space-time jutsu with his arms folded, almost as if he had confidence that nobody would attack him. Almost by instinct, Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan--which was first activated from the death of his mother from an illness years ago--and used Amatersu on the masked man. He knew this was pure arrogance, but if there was a chance to stop this terrorist organization once and for all right here right now, he had to take the oppurninity. But the flames hadn't hit their target--but instead a thick piece of wood that spruted from the ground instead... wood was a signature use of ninjutsu from Hashirama Senju, which meant one thing: Whoever this man was, he had Hashirama's jutsu. The masked man stood next to the thick piece of wood as Itachi deactivated the flames, bringing relief to his eyes. Now, everybody in the room was aware of the masked man's precense and was watching him cautiously, careful not to take their eyes off of him. The Kage, their advisors, and their bodyguards all glared at him with their full attention and ready to fight.
"Do I have your attention now, Kage?" The masked man asked, his voice hoarse and threatening at the same time. Silence fell over the room, nobody saying a word. "I'll take that as a yes... you all have been cautious of the Akatsuki for a very long time but have done nothing until now. It only took the extraction of seven of the nine tailed beast for you all to convene a summit." He continued, his uncovered left eye darting over to the Kazekage, Gaara, reminding him that he had extracted the One-Tailed beast from him. "Allow me to get this through all of your thick skulls, I personally assure you all that I will extract the eighth and ninth tail from B and Naruto. And yes, I know the Jinchurki well. I have studied those two very well. Such childish Shinobi-"
"Enough!" The Raikage shouted as he smashed the desk in front of him in anger, "Who the hell are you?" The masked man let out a chuckle and looked at the wood next to him, "I thought it was obvious by now, Raikage. Perhaps you should ask the Hokage, after all--based on the way he's looking at me right now, he knows exactly who I am. Isn't that right, Itachi?" Itachi's fists clenched tightly as he glared at the masked man, only two people could use wood-style jutsu: An ANBU named Yamato--who was standing right next to Itachi right this very second as his bodyguard--and the rival of First Hokage Madara Uchiha. "Hashirama Senju." Itachi spoke, coming to the cold realization of how it all fits. Senju DNA gives one a strong lifeforce, hence the reason he's still alive which proves his a Senju, and he's using wood release which is a kekkai genkai only usable by Hashirama and Yamato. "That name means nothing to me. Call me whatever you like, Tobi, Hashirama, whatever pleases you."
After a brief pause, Itachi spoke up again--this time with a question: "Why are you extracting the tailed beast?" Tobi smiled under his mask, "For the Eye of the Moon plan of course. I will create a world in which everybody is in that of a Tsukuyomi for eternity. Trapped in an endless dream--there will be no more wars, no more bloodshed, only peace and happiness. All I need is for you all to hand over the Eight and Nine tails jinchurki in order to-"
As if the Kage all shared one mind, they all spoke simultaneously spoke: "No."
Tobi then clenched his fists in anger, "Fine--then you all give me no choice! I hereby declare war on you all! The Fourth Great Ninja War!"