Chakra Thirst

"Can someone tell me what the hell those things are?!" yelled the Raikage, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at the extensive damage to the village's infrastructure and the number of his ninjas' lives lost.

So many good men and women!

So much money needed to repair everything!

It had been a quiet morning, with him preparing to take his fourth protein shake of the day, when suddenly, someone burst into his office, saying there were two enemies attacking the village from opposite ends.

Knowing there was only one enemy on each side, he dispatched an Anbu team to deal with the duo of lunatics who dared to attack his village out of nowhere.

He didn't even take it seriously until he felt the ground trembling and saw from his window purple explosions happening one after another. Shortly after, he learned that the squad he sent had been vaporized before they could even engage the machines.

Why didn't they tell him they were some kind of machines?

The worst part was that they kept launching purple energy spheres that exploded with more force than explosive tags! They didn't need to perform hand signs, nor did they seem to worry about exhaustion at all!

Not even the chakra cannon they were secretly building could have this rate of fire!

"Have we at least identified where they're from?!" the Raikage shouted, not lowering the decibels of his voice. "Someone had to build them!"

He was furious and couldn't blame his people, but someone would be the target of his wrath!

And that someone was going to pay dearly for this!

"Raikage-sama, there's a significant difference, but, they look somewhat like the puppets from Sunagakure…" Mabui commented, somewhat unsure.

The Raikage was stunned.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked incredulously, questioning if he had heard wrong. "Those idiots are still playing with sand castles and wooden dolls, struggling for scraps of food. When did they get something of this level?"

Could they even afford it in their conditions?

Mabui shifted uncomfortably under the Raikage's gaze, understanding his skepticism.

If Sunagakure were capable of producing something like this, they wouldn't have been tricked by Orochimaru and could have inflicted lasting damage on Konoha.

While they were discussing how to delay and deal with the invading machines, a jonin approached them, sweating and shouting:

"Raikage-sama!" He took a breath to recover a bit and continued speaking. "One of the machines has fallen!"

"Well done!" The Raikage immediately raised his fist. "How did you deal with it? Never mind, replicate the method on the other one and then bring its remains so the village can study them!"

If they could replicate these things, Kumogakure would soar!

The jonin raised his finger but didn't know what to say.

"What exactly happened?" Mabui once again proved to be the cool-headed one and asked for details before giving any orders.

"The machine blew itself up," the jonin explained, his shoulders dropping as he gave more details. "In the western area, near the intersection of Kori Street and Kasewana. The industries there… are completely gone, even-"

"The protein powder factory?!" The Raikage nearly had an aneurysm right there.

His beloved protein powder!

They were so young and innocent…

They didn't have time to be consumed and become part of his glorious muscles!

"At least three hundred ninjas from the village also died, maybe more," added the jonin with a dark expression.

His sister was in that squad, and her status was unknown!

"Someone bring me Yugito!" the Raikage ordered, his forehead and neck filled with throbbing veins. "I want her to go and destroy that thing! Right now! Also, send a message for everyone to retreat if that thing shows signs of self-destruction."

If it weren't for the suspicion that someone was lurking in the shadows, ready to cause more problems, he would have intervened himself already!

"Yes!" The jonin saluted and ran off to fulfill the new orders.

The Raikage let masculine tears fall as he covered his face with his large hand.

My protein powder…

Naturally, most of his anguish came from the number of casualties the hateful machine took with it to the grave.

"Raikage-sama, this is not the time for that," Mabui looked at her boss helplessly.

Why do they always choose the most brute for the village's Kage?

There was a time when she thought she might become the first female Raikage in history, but when it came down to it, the lack of testosterone seemed to work against her, and in the end, she had to settle for being the Raikage's secretary.

A fancy way of saying she was his nanny.

The only consolation was that this Raikage wasn't as short-sighted as he seemed and still had some leadership sense, with a mind always focused on improving the village without sacrificing his people like pawns.

"Raikage-sama!" A jonin kunoichi entered, holding something wrapped in her arms. "A major problem!"

"What is it this time?"

He had a very bad feeling.

"Miss Yugito… has been kidnapped!" The kunoichi unwrapped the fabric and revealed its contents.

It was the arm of a young woman!

Raikage: !!!

He would recognize that white skin… ahem, those sharp nails anywhere.

Without a doubt, that was Yugito Nii's arm!

A tiny lightning bolt connected two neurons in his brain, and the Raikage had a revelation.

"Was this whole commotion to deal with…?" His expression changed, and entering lightning armor mode, he ran out of the office while shouting, "Beeeeeeeeee!"

Mabui also managed to put two and two together, giving immediate orders to locate and protect the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.

She could only cross her fingers and pray to the Sage that Yugito could escape from whoever was attacking the village. Leaving her arm behind might have been a decoy to confuse the attacker into thinking she was dead, but it also served to warn her people.

"Mabui-sama?" The jonin stood there, holding the arm uncomfortably. "Should I… put the arm on ice or something?"

Mabui: ( ╯°□°)╯ ┻━━┻