War of Unification part 5: state of the world

                                    

                                          
                  -Elemental Nations-
''Still nothing yet?'' Minato asked his student, Kakashi Hatake. 
''No word on Danzo yet, Minato sensei. The latest information we have is that he recruited a few nuke nin to his cause. Problem is... the info is three weeks old now.'' Kakashi answered. 
''I see. Damn that Danzo. Because of him, the Fire Daimyo is cutting 20% of our annual budget.'' Minato cursed the old warhawk under his breath. ''And Naruto stole the gold reserves and kidnapped all the Harunos. The Leaf just lost it's richest civilian clan and our best merchants.''
''So our economy is still far from recovering.'' Kakashi commented in a low voice. 
''Far is an understatement. By our best estimates, it'll take a decade to recover in the least. For the Leaf, our current best scenario is stagnation. Worst is a continual fall till we're not worthy of being even called a backwater village.'' Minato sighed heavily. He was extremely stressed out by all of this. He turned to look at a portrait of the late Hiruzen Sarutobi on the wall. ''I wish you were still around, old man. I could really use your advice.''
''How is lady Kushina doing, sensei?'' Kakashi asked. 
''Recovering steadily but it'll be another three and a half years till she can be a functioning ninja again. Naruto's attack disrupted her chakra network severely but she's an Uzumaki and you know how they are.'' Minato said and gave Kakashi his next mission orders. In these troubling times, ninjas were currently doing multiple jobs with little time for rest. 
Now that Danzo was a wanted criminal on the run and both Koharu and Homura were crushed to death, Minato appointed Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka as his advisors. In these troubling times, they were the best people he could rely on. ''Anything master Jiraiya could tell us?'' Shikaku Nara asked. 
''He sent word that both Menma and Mito's training is going well.''
''Good to hear but I was talking about whether or not the other villages were planning to move.'' Shikaku said. 
''Cloud is becoming the dominant player. Economically, militarily and politically. Stone is still trying to strengthen itself after losing more than two thousand of it's best ninjas. Mist is a mystery. It remains neutral and isolated while the Sand isn't too much of a concern for now.'' Minato replied. ''As for the minor villages... Rain is still in it's neutral position, Waterfall is weak and Grass remains a mystery. The entire country is closed off.''
''Still thinking that Naruto may be in the Grass, Minato?'' Inoichi asked. 
''Master Jiraiya has sent back word saying that Naruto is not in Grass. This after more than a month of constantly trying to get information on the Grass. They're not too much of a concern but I would still keep an eye on them.'' Minato said to the two. ''I still don't trust them. Not even a bit. What about the envoys we sent to Mist?''
''Failed. The Mist wants to remain neutral.'' Shikaku answered. ''The Inuzuka and Kurama clans are gone. The Haruno females are kidnapped while the males were killed. The entire side branch Hyuga are gone and they also kidnapped all the main branch young and females. Hiashi is still bitter at the loss of Hanabi. Then, Tsunade, her apprentice, Kurenai Yuhi, Anko Mitarashi, Yugao and her squad, the academy students... all gone. How was Naruto capable of doing such things in so little time?''
''Kotoamutsukami.'' Minato answered.
''Are you certain?'' 
''Yes. 100% sure, Shikaku. I should've known better than to simply trust Naruto with a jutsu as powerful as that.'' Minato cursed himself for not taking this possibility into account. ''For his control to have extended this far only means that Naruto has been planning this in some form or way for a long time.''