Battle of Nagasaki
Short Chapter.
I wanted to write this chapter and focus on just the battle. As I was writing it, however, I felt a need to world build a little more. So, I decided to sprinkle a little hints here and there on the past and future of the story.
Here we go!
Three hundred and twenty-five. That was how many seals I needed to create. It wasn't that the seals for my solution didn't exist. I just wanted to get better energy efficiency. So, I decided to use Nenryo. It was one of the first sealing languages ever derived from Kibo. It was designed to maximize energy efficiency. In all honesty, it wasn't much good at anything else. For it to do anything complex, one would have to build the sealing structures by hand, but it was kind of fun to go back to the basics.
My plan was fairly simple. Make the mountain disappear.
I placed a hand on my throat. "progress?"
I felt multiple pings back. I had sent almost everyone out to the caves. They were small caves that were under the mountain, created from erosion over time. My shinobi could barely squeeze through them, but I needed to place seals within them. I have easily expanded my seal to start from the outside and run into the mountain, but I would have to write the seal backwards. I needed the seal's center to erupt from the very center, or at least close to it. Then it would create enough vibra-
"Returning." I felt a pulse from my seals as my men summoned themselves to me. Kimiko coughed as she brushed off some dirt and stray rubble.
"Dammit Boss" She stretched her back and arms. I heard distinct pops, as she waved her arms back and forth. "It was tight in there. Should've just sent Ink's Snakes."
I gave her a small smile and shrugged. "I would like to have eyes on the placement of the seals." I paused as several more pops filled the air. I nodded to the returning shinobi.
"Any problems?"
"None" Ryuzaki answered.
I turned to Ink and Blade. Ink stepped forward, holding out the scroll I had given him. I took it. "Go get cleaned up." I told them. "The main army is almost here. We'll need to greet them properly and all that jazz."
Everyone grunted, nodded, and gave acknowledgements. They split off in different directions. I stowed away the scroll Ink had given me. I had worked for hours on it. And as soon as it was done, I woke up my men and had them sneak to the base of the mountain. I didn't know if Mei would even approve of this solution, but I wanted the option anyways.
And if she didn't approve it… well I was at the end of my rope anyways.
I rubbed my neck. It was really stiff.
Kuro walked next to me.
"Any word?" He asked quietly.
I shook my head. It had been only a day and a half. But, like Kuro, I wanted a bit of news from Konoha. I was tempted to contact Jiraiya, but there were plenty of reasons not to. The first major reason was visibility. My association with Konoha was hidden. Only a few people knew about it. The people I worked with, like Mei, Zabuza, and my squad. That was it. Konoha was not ready to openly accept Mizu as an ally. If another Major Hidden village joined Konoha's list of allies, then Iwa would rear its head. And this would of course cause ripples in Suna who were still sore after losing to Konoha. Suna, in my estimation, were just looking for a chance to back stab Konoha.
Allying with Mizu openly would force their hand and make them decide. And we didn't have the pieces in place to diffuse a situation like that peacefully. So Jiraiya showing up in the Mizu Rebellion would raise a lot of heads. The second reason was simple certainty. Mei had not won yet. There was still a chance that Yagura could make some kind of push back or at least draw a stalemate. Konoha would have to dedicate forces to Mei, to ensure victory. Which would weaken Konoha to foes.
Still… I sighed as I looked back at the mountain. That problem had been solved. The other one had not.
"Boss"
I turned and saw Asuka standing before me. Her hands were clasped behind her back. Her posture was strong, that meant confident. But, she also was waiting for me to acknowledge her. That meant she ahd something to say and it wasn't something trivial. My men were open with me. They were honest, at least as much as shinobi could be. I asked for their honest opinions of my plan and they gave it to me. So for Asuka to be waiting for me, something was wrong.
"Asuka" I said.
She started to speak but hesitated. It was like someone had a hand around her throat. She looked around nervously. The matter must be private then. She tried to speak again, but I held up a hand. With the same hand, I motioned her to follow me and started to walk to my tent. I held the flap open for her to enter and sealed the entrance behind me.
My table was littered with open scrolls, empty cans of ink, and paintbrushes. I had an empty canteen on the side, dangerously tilted on its side. The scrolls had several of my scrawling on them. I had decided to take a crack at the seal Jiraiya and I had been working on. Suffice to say, I kept going back to the drawing board.
Asuka stood near the edge of the table and waited. I walked past her and grabbed a seat. I sagged into it, keeping my eyes on her.
"So?" I asked, clasping my arms.
Asuka took a breath. "Boss, I was wondering if." She shook her head. "if you could tell me a little bit more about what it's like outside Mizu."
"Outside Mizu?" I asked. This was not what I was expecting.
Asuka brushed a stray lock back. She bit her lip and hunched lightly forward.
Uncomfortable. Her usual demeanor was stoic at best. She was carefully, never really nervous. Unless it was situation that she hadn't handled before. Or a situation like Gozu. I waited for her to continue, but she remained silent.
I didn't want to leave her hanging. This felt significant. "Well," I started. "Like I said during our dinners. It's a lot warmer. Air is a lot cleaner. Some places are drier, the closer you get to the desert. And there's a lot taller trees if you head down south. A lot more mountains if you head north." I watched Asuka carefully. She had hung onto my words carefully. Her eyes were slightly out of focus, as if she was trying to picture it. I felt genuine interest coming from her.
She nodded again. "W-well" She stopped herself. Her shoulders straightened and she stood tall. "I was wondering if you could take me there. To visit or something." She ran a hand through her hair.
Ah. So that was it. No wonder. I closed my eyes. This was a girl who had lived in Mizu all her life. A bloody, damp, dark, place that was filled with violence and almost nothing else. She had been born in war and bred for it. She had fought it and done nothing else. Then there was me. An outsider talking about the outside world. About something different, something she had never heard of.
Of course, she would jump on this chance.
I opened my eyes and looked up at her. If I said yes, it would cause a lot of headaches and a lot of red tape. I would have to talk to Mei. Talk about her suddenly 'disappearing' and me getting a new recruit. And I wouldn't even know if Konoha would accept her. I could always just pass her off as my guard. Put her papers through my back channels in the trading guild and try and get her a trading visa. From there I could wiggle my way to getting her citizenship. But…
Ah dammit. I already knew what I was going to say.
"We'll work something out after we take down Yagura."
Her face brightened and for the first time I saw a flutter of emotions rush out of her.
"Thank you, Boss" She bowed and walked out of the room. I unsealed the room and sighed. The logistics in bringing her to Konoha would be headache. I could probably pass her off as a traveler or a business acquaintance. She was only two years younger than me, so it wouldn't be a problem.
I rolled my shoulders and looked at the seals on my desk idly. I traced the patterns with my fingers and smiled. Light. It felt lighter looking at these seals. Creating stuff was fun. A simple statement that I thought I would never say. But it really was fun to tackle a problem and make the perfect solution.
I still would need to finish up the seal and sync up with the main army. I paused as I felt a pulse on my arm.
Kuro spoke over the seal. "Main army is here. Proceeding to greet."
I sent a pulse back in acknowledgement, but didn't get up. My arms felt like jelly and my legs weren't even there. I was about to present my plan for a massacre. Something no Shinobi could ever imagine. It's funny how it just hit me. I used to hate Shinobi for the destruction they caused. The things tragedy, pain, and suffering they would leave in their wake. Now here I was, about to do something that would be at least ten times as destructive than anything I've witnessed.
I let out a sigh. My gut twisted in my stomach. I tried to keep my hands still.
Count to three.
One
Two
Three…
I stood up and took in a long breath. I walked out of the tent, sealing it behind me. My men were waiting for me. Their masks were on. Equipment secure. I could feel their confidence. In themselves. In each other. In me.
I nodded. "Let's move. Fan out, get to your positions."
Without a word they all disappeared. Silent as ghosts. Only a ripple of wind betrayed evidence to their presence. Ink stood next to me.
I started walking towards the main army. I could already see Mei out in front. She walked in front, head held high. With a wave of her hand, the army spread out. The divided themselves into smaller and smaller groups. Each group would scurry into the trees, to get into position, quickly and efficiently. I saw Zabuza and Haku scurry towards the right. I gave them a small nod as they passed by. Zabuza gave me a curt nod, while Haku gave me a small wave. Ink waved back. I turned back to the approaching force.
Mei kept walking forward towards me. I allowed myself, for the briefest of moments, to smile. She was in for a surprise. Ink touched my forearm.
"Everyone is in position."
"Good" I said. "Is Kuro directing the main army"
"Yes, they are listening to him without problems. They will be in position within the hour."
I turned back and saw Mei almost upon me. Her walk was confident, eyes cautious, but she was smiling.
"T-"She paused. We shared a small, amused smile. "Boss. How goes the front?"
I smiled. "Well. You're in for a surprise. I am having your men set up in certain positions around the mountain."
Mei nodded. "Are we going to scale it?"
I shrugged. "In a sense." I turned and walked towards the forward position that Blade had set up. For my plan to work, we needed a centralized node for control. It also required fine tuning. While I couldn't be the one to set off the seal, I could direct the flow. Or at least, tell someone how to direct it.
Mei walked up next to me, so that we were shoulder to shoulder. As she did so, she tied her hair up into a tight pony tail.
"So," Her jovial tone faded as she spoke. "I assume you found a different approach to a frontal assault."
"Yes." I said. We arrived at the forward location. It was in a small clearing. Blade stood to the side, guarding the area. On the ground was a large scroll, about my size in height, and several meters long. This seal required one of my 'larger' scrolls. It could be said that every seal could be optimized so that you could use as little katakana as possible. This seal was not optimized. Hell, I was kind of disgusted at how I finished it. A complete and utter brute force method of going through each seal. Slow as hell, extremely energy consuming, but it got the job done.
And that's all I really could ask for at a time like this.
"We're going to bring down the mountain," I said.
Mei stared at me. She spoke slowly. "Bring down?"
I smiled. "Did I stutter?"
Mei rolled her eyes and turned back to the mountain. "A number of explosive tags I assume?" She rubbed her chin. "Wouldn't the debris falling down cause damage to the army as well?"
I shook my head. "No, because I'm not using explosive tags. And You're thinking about destroying the base. I'm doing something a bit different." I reached and pushed my lower back. My joints popped loudly. "I'm going to give us the high ground advantage."
I turned and looked at me, holding out my hand. "I need your hand for a moment."
Mei placed her hand on mine. I paused for a moment. There was no hesitation from her. I mentally shook myself out of it. That was a matter for another time.
I focused on my seals. The seals on my hand drew chakra from the main storage seals I kept on my body. They converted the energy and condensed the air around me. Within a few milliseconds, lines of ink ran onto her hand. I focused on the newly formed ink and pictured the seals in my mind. This method of creating seals required an extreme amount of focus. I was essentially drawing seals with my mind and chakra.
I had invented this method while working with Jiraiya. Ever since he told me how to create seal stamps with my chakra, I wanted to expand upon that method. My solution was to create chakra charged ink outside my bod and manipulate it to my liking. It was faster, allowed me more control, and, more importantly, allow me to create more complex seals.
I let my hand go and closed off the chakra. I watched as the new seal on Mei's arm infurl into itself and form a small spiral. Mei lifted her arm and inspected it as if were a new jewel.
"This will allow you to coordinate with my men. And you squad leaders within your groups. My men are applying the seals as we speak." I flicked my hand behind me to Ink. I wanted him to check to make sure all that was set up.
Mei nodded. "A secure method."
"Just channel chakra into it and then speak normally," I said. "It will read your vocal chords." I turned back to the mountain and sighed. "Well, I guess it's time to start."
I walked to the center of the scroll and sat down.
"Boss," Mei called out to me.
"Yes?" I asked, looking back.
Mei walked around the scroll, eyeing the ink lines on it. "This plan of yours. How did you come up with it?"
It was my turn to smile. "I just looked at Nagasaki differently." I turned to Ink and nodded. Ink lowered his hands on the scroll and ink spread from his hands. The chakra, my chakra, on the scroll immediately picked up the ink and leashed it to my control. I moved the ink, with Ink's help, to me. From there, I took over and created the seals around me.
Feeling the connections between the seals was kind of like having a string connect you. You could feel something pulling you or just 'there'. I could feel the seals connecting me to my men. Connecting me to the squad leaders. Connecting to Mei. Connecting me to the many seals inside the mountain.
It was time.
"Activating." I channeled chakra into the seal and started drawing on my 'chakra pack'. While I had many storage seals on my body, solely for chakra, I had decided to create a chakra pack. A chakra pack was essentially a very focused storage seal, specialized for containing chakra. My squad, periodically, inputted chakra into the seal, adding to the quantity. I was planning on using it for a big, 'field' seal. And now was the time. Because, I didn't think you could get any bigger than bringing down a mountain.
Chakra flowed into seals. Slowly filling up like a cup being filled with hot tea.
It reached very top and then it triggered.
The chakra in the seal cracked like an explosive tag. It rushed to the open parts of the seal. Chakra, like most things, followed the laws of nature. Chakra followed diffusion. So, the bottled up chakra rushed to the most open area, the mountain. This made the initial entry very easy, now I needed Ink to keep the chakra flowing from the chakra pack to the mountain.
I focused my attention to the seals on the mountain. I grasped the chakra in my seals. It was like grasping long lengths of rope. I pulled them together and drove them forward into my sealing structures.
The plan was simple. I would follow another principle of nature.
Focused Explosions.
I had initially thought about blowing up the mountain. A simple use of a thousand explosive tags. I could probably crumble the base of the mountain and collapse it. However, I had reached the same conclusion as Mei. It would cause too much damage to the surrounding areas. I would have absolutely no control on how the mountain would fall. So, I needed to create a way to narrow the focus of my explosion upwards. It would create a hollow entire, collapsing the inside of the mountain and leaving the base somewhat intact. With that, Mei's Shinobi could scale the area and use Jutsu's with high ground advantage.
I had taken the idea of explosive tags and done a reinvention. An explosive tag didn't direct its explosion. It just exploded. By concentrating the explosion, I was effectively creating a drill that would pierce the mountain's interior.
The five thousand seals my men placed inside the mountain should be enough to destabilize it.
The chakra streamed into the seals and started crashing into the awaiting seals. The Shaped Explosive tags hungrily ate the chakra and filled their cores. Soon I felt the other lines of chakra rush into the seals. The other squads must have finally added their chakra to the mix. I opened up the seal, allowing the new flood of chakra in. I directed the accumulated chakra carefully, any missteps would cause more than a small explosion. The explosions needed to be done a sequence. All at once, and I might as well have gone back to regular explosive tags.
"Get ready." I called out to Mei. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"Now!" I called out in my seal.
The first charges were lit. I felt the explosive tag light and release.
I heard nothing.
I triggered the second set of seals.
I could hear apprehensive breathing around me.
I triggered the last few sequences and started going through each of the explosive seals rapidly. One right after another, I went down the many seals. A simple seal structure would activate and explode. When it was finished, within milliseconds the next one would activate. I could feel the chakra popping like firecrackers and then fading away as the charka was used.
I heard a rumble and the ground start to shake.
I opened my eyes and saw the mountain start to crack. It was as if someone was drawing a line upwards and to the sides. A large, jagged line started to crawl upwards towards the fortress. While the side started to crack like an egg shell. I could see the waterfalls start to sputter as the caves underneath collapse.
Time for the finale.
Blowing up a mountain was the obvious solution to the problem. It would certainly give Mei the advantage but I didn't want just the advantage. I wanted to ensure victory.
I pooled all the remaining chakra to the remaining seals on the sides and on the bottom of the mountain. The chakra was gathered and pushed into the rocks rapidly. This trick was something I had learned from a fellow seals master. The old man was a denizen of Iwa, and liked to sculpt more than practice seals. But, he did have a wealth of knowledge. He would create the strangest sculptures using only rocks and seals.
He would magnetize rocks with chakra.
I felt my veins start to sting I continued to direct the chakra. The seal on the ground was glowing with excess chakra. The large seals activated.
The large crack grew and split. The middle of the mountain became hollow and the rocks were pulled downwards. Starting from the top the mountain imploded. The Mountain became a sinkhole. The once solid ground becoming debris, rushing down into itself. The fortress fell into the gaping maw of rock, smoke and dirt. I could hear the screams of the enemy and the cheers of the rebellion. But the cracks, rumbles and explosions could be heard everywhere.
"Mei!" I called out.
She didn't hesitate. She placed her hand on new seal and activated it.
"All shinobi, this is Mei. Engage!"
I felt a plethora of acknowledgements run through my own seals and I watched as shinobi started scaling the sides of the non-existent mountain. The once tall mountain was now hollow and collapsed. It stood at only one third its original height, which was still impressive.
Smoke rose from the center of newly formed crater. The fall had been steep. I knew that some shinobi survived, but not many. If it had just been the explosion and the instability of the mountain, the Mizu Shinobi could have adapted. But the fall included, I think they would be hard pressed to come up with a solution in the few seconds they had.
I wiped my brow. Sweat covered it. The adrenaline evaporated from my veins. My arms felt shaky and I really felt like taking a nap. I placed my hands on the ground and slowly pushed myself up. I stumbled; my legs almost gave out.
Mei walked up to me. "Pretty impressive."
I laughed. "Well don't be expecting another one of this any time soon." I wiped my face again. "That used all of the chakra my squad had collected for the past few months."
Mei whistled in appreciation. We stared at our army charging up. They were now setting up on the 'high ground.' She took a long breath and slowly let it out. "Alright." Mei said. "I'll see you later."
"See you later Mei." I said.
A gust of wind ripped through the air as she dashed forward. It almost topped me over, because I didn't have the strength to balance myself. I felt strong arms hold me up. I gripped Ink's shoulder in thanks.
"Not bad huh?"
"Not bad." Ink agreed. "Do you want us to engage?"
I thought about it. I reached up and placed my hand on my neck. "All units. Act as support. That is an order. No direct engagement, unless absolutely necessary. Take a rest. You did good."
I waited for a few seconds as the trickle of acknowledgement started to pull through. A man walked up to me. I recognized him as one of Mei's personal guard. He bowed to me quickly. "Mei-sama has asked me to escort you to the forward camp. One of our squads have set up a base in anticipation of capturing Nagasaki."
I blinked. She already assumed we would capture Nagasaki? I shook my head and laughed. I looked back the man and nodded. "Well, we really can't capture Nagasaki anymore. But" I shrugged. "Lead the way."
We walked slowly towards the ruins of Nagasaki.
I leaned back in my chair. My left hand took in the warmth of the tea, while my right scribbled some notes on a spare scroll. Mei sat across from me, with Zabuza and Haku behind her. She was idly looking at a map of the final frontier, Kirigakure.
We had set up camp a few miles away from the ruins of Nagasaki. We had won handedly. The enemy forces had been decimated by the fall. They were unprepared for a mountain to be falling on top of them. When the rest of the rebellion had charged downwards, they made short work of the Shinobi inside. The shinobi that had surrendered were being held prisoner in the back lines. We were currently waiting for that situation to get sorted before moving towards Kirikagure.
It had taken a full day to fully beat down the opposition. Another day to pick up the pieces and move on. And finally, another two days to move past and set up a more forward base. I had decided to take the time to talk to the locals and reactivate my contacts. They were very helpful in providing supplies to our cause. Now we could focus our attention to the big and final problem.
"With Jiro-sama's ships we can easily bypass their ground defenses." I commented, looking at the map.
Mei nodded. "they'll be expecting it. Naomi probably informed them of that."
I shrugged. "We can rig the front ships as bait. Fill them to the brim of explosives and create smoke screen."
Mei reached over and plucked a couple ships. She marked them with a red 'x' and placed them in front of the other ships. She pointed towards the walls. "those will be a problem. Scaling them is impossible. And we can't do what we did at Nagasaki."
I nodded. Kirikagure was the prize. It would be idiotic and hypocritical to kill the people you were supposed to be liberating.
"We could starve them out." Zabuza chimed in.
Mei shook her head. "Same problem as blowing Kiri up. It's the exact opposite of what we want." Mei ran a hand through her hair. "As non-shinobi as this sounds, we'll have to fight fair and square for the people to rally behind us. They won't just accept someone who uses dirty tactics. We have to show we mean it."
I held in a smile as I watched her stare at the map. "Well, we could always transport ourselves within the walls."
Mei nodded. "Your seals would be helpful for that. If we could get pockets of Shinobi inside the walls we could stop their defense, or at least hinder it."
"It would come down to the quality of their Shinobi and ours." Zabuza said. He rolled his shoulders. "Shouldn't be too much of a problem."
I chuckled at his enthusiasm.
I felt a pulse on my neck. "Aka has returned." A flash of anxiety and fear hit my stomach. I pushed my gut down and straightened my face.
"Excuse me." I said quietly.
Mei tilted her head slightly. "Is everything alright?"
I gave a small wave and a shrug. "Just some news. Nothing major. I just need to be there personally." I put down my notes and slid them towards Mei. I had been making notes for sieging Kiri. I marked point of entry and ways to abuse the terrain. If we couldn't go over the walls, then we could go under them.
I stood up and started towards the tent door. "I'll come back when I'm finished with my business. But, send a runner for me if Yuudai returns from his scouting mission." Mei nodded and I left.
Mei's rebellion was bustling. Many of them were running back and forth with supplies, boxes, and weapons. They talked avidly and I saw the enthusiasm on their faces. Morale was good. A few of them noticed me and nodded politely. They gave me a wide berth.
I felt someone land next to me. "Ink?"
"Boss." Ink said. "He just arrived a few minutes ago. Kuro is with him. They are in your tent. No one else has been informed."
"Let's keep our story up. Did he seem in good condition?"
Ink shook his head. "No."
Dammit all. Of course, that idiot would. I blinked. I gave a small chuckle. That was a bit hypocritical. The wind tussled through the air, whipping my clothes against my skin. Strange, I didn't know the winds could be that strong out here. I shrugged and moved on.
The walk to my tent wasn't that bad. I entered through the flap and saw Kuro and Aka talking quietly at my table. They had helped themselves to my tea, and had spare cups out for us. I was a bit annoyed they were drinking on my map. I had hand drawn the map of the surrounding areas based on Ink's and Osamu's descriptions. Aka had his mask off. Itachi was pale, sickly and looked like he had been near death. His hair was in a ponytail and his eyes had bags under them. I saw the bandages on his chest. He sagged in his chair as he saw me.
"Ah, Boss." His voice was hoarse and weak. It was like he was ragged with the flu.
I sealed the tent behind me. "Itachi." The inflection in my voice conveyed my disappointment.
"I am fine." He tried to ease my worries.
He would have been better off trying to raise the First Hokage from the grave. "Sure you are." I said. I sat down at the chair and grab a cup of tea. "Now," I looked carefully at the bandages. They were tightly bound. It had been only a week since I had sent him away. "report?"
Itachi nodded and pulled out a small scroll. "A gift from Jiraiya." He rolled it towards me. I opened it up and looked at the contents. It was a seal, a very beautiful seal. And familiar penmanship. "This is…" I held in a breath. There was no way. How did Jiraiya even find him? That rat bastard was more stuck up than Danzo on a bad day. I had to fight every inch for getting him to do something.
Itachi cleared his throat. "Jiraiya said that the Kuroi Karasu sends his regards."
I closed my eyes. So, Jiraiya did actually find him in Grass. I don't what he did, but Jiraiya must have pulled out a lot of stops for him to help on the seal. Most seals masters were stubborn, secretive and suspicious by nature. We hoarded our knowledge because we knew the power it held. I didn't know what Jiraiya did, but I owed him a metric ton of Sake.
I looked down at the seal. It was a missing piece to my little puzzle. A converter for natural chakra. It was why the Natural energy and Biju Chakra were so hard to control. Most seals practitioner only knew how to contain it, never manipulate it. Jiraiya and I had been working on creating a restraining seal for years. We had started it ever since we had gotten Tsunade to Konoha. It was back when we had decided to go after Mizu and take on Yagura. We knew we needed Anti-jinchuuriki measures. The missing portion was converting Biju chakra into usable form. The Entry method.
I looked at the seal again, trying to digest its contents.
The Black Raven was an old, stuck up bastard who was too grumpy for his own good. He lived in a damn fortress in Grass. He owned several acres of land and rented it out to Monks, in exchange for food. When I tried to learn from him, the man had kicked me out of his land. I had to stay outside for weeks, just to gain another 'audience' with him. And when I did, I laid down the biggest field seal I could make and tried to force him to teach me. He handed me my ass through, and undid my seal in seconds.
I guess he was still taking me to school.
"Good." I said. "This is good. I can adapt this to my current seals on the way to Kiri. It will probably take a day or two, but I can get this done. Now" I turned back to Itachi, who was in the middle of pouring another drink.
"What about you?"
Itachi winced. "I just came out of surgery."
I heard glass break as Kuro cursed and started to clean up the mess he had made.
I let out a long sigh. "NO active combat. That is an order. I don't give a damn if someone is dying right in front of you. No active combat." I felt a pulse on my back, someone was at the front of the tent.
Itachi opened his mouth to argue. But, I raised my hand. "I still have my seal on you. I can send you back to Konoha right now and close the damn door. So, don't argue with me."
Itachi's mouth closed with a click and I swear he was sulking. I couldn't be bothered and turned attention back to the front of the tent. Itachi put his mask back on.
I turned and walked towards the door, opening the flap and undoing my seals. A man was standing outside, half out of breath and half dead. There was blood leaking out of his head and his arm looked broken. Adrenaline surged in my veins. I looked the man in the eyes They were wiled and panicked.
"What is going on?" I asked.
The man swallowed. "Yagura is charging us with his full army. He will be here within two hours."
Numb.
Cold.
Fear.
"Yuudai?"
"He is with Mei. He is injured, but alive. Our scouting party barely made it out."
Words came out.
My mind started to whir to life.
Images flashed in my head.
Mei's army was still split. They weren't consolidated to take a full fight. They would need at least five hours to gather a proper formation. There were still parts of the armies that were hundreds of miles out. Hell, we didn't even have the Daimyo's forces with us.
"Get to a medic."
I pulsed my seal. Pops all around me as my men were summoned to me. I turned and looked at them all. Their faces were grim. They knew about the situation we were in. They knew. We weren't ready. We weren't prepared. We didn't have time.
But either way, we would need to buy time.
"Get ready. Our squad is going to go meet Yagura's army head on. We move in ten minutes." I said.
They blurred into action without question.
I turned to Aka. "Stay with Mei. We'll need a point to escape to. Coordinate with her."
Aka stared at me. I could see it in his eyes. His body was trying to go, but there was too much weight.
"Go." I said. "I do not plan on dying."
Aka disappeared, leaving only a gust of wind.
I walked forward to the scroll on the table. I grasped it and rolled it in my hands. It would have been nice to really dig in to the seal. I would have enjoyed digging in to all the details, the hidden workings of an obvious masterpiece.
I put the scroll on my arm and sealed it away. There was no time. I didn't have time to adapt it into a workable solution. I looked at the map of the area.
I would just have to make my own miracle.
Hope you guys enjoyed it!