Ch. 24: On the Battlefront
Eight Months Later
Arashi stood before a Jounin who didn't appear to belong to any known clans, as he wasn't a pineapple haired, a blonde, or a fatso, nor was he a feral man, or had any known clan traits. When he introduced himself, Arashi saw a drop in the ocean, one of the innumerable average Jounins who were sent to the front.
For the past eight months after the call for arms, Arashi was transferred to learn under Medical Corps, where he perfected his Iryojutsu for his experimentations, while learning and absorbing all the skills needed for a battlefield medic.
He was trained for the first six months, and then for the next two months he was sent to a forward outpost where the injured shinobi were sent from the three nearby frontlines.
The war was still going slow and glacial, as the villages were still throwing the cannon fodders at each other, while the aces and army-killers of both the villages were sent for sudden surprise attacks and then retreat just as swiftly.
On other fronts, Kumogakure declared war on Sunagakure, Kirigakure declared war on Iwagakure due to Mizukage's hatred and deep animosity with Mu the Nidaime Tsuchikage.
They had yet to escalate the wars on all fronts, but Arashi knew it was only a matter of time. After treating severely injured and critical patients to be safely transported to the village, or in cases of minor injuries, heal the shinobi till he is battle-ready.
He had met his Teammates from Team Seven a few times, as they were shuffled all over the different Frontlines after they were field promoted to Jounin a few months back.
Arashi saw that the Team Seven was still nearing their twenties, which meant that the battle with Hanzo the Salamander was still a few years away.
Arashi was aware, that the Second Shinobi World War spanned a few years, as it was mostly a battle of attrition fought on the minor and smaller villages' territories while the five great villages kept flinging men and resources to gain a strategic advantage to justify their war effort.
This meant that the war was not coming to an end any time soon, and as heroes and villains in so many stories often reluctantly or readily recognise: War is a great place to hone your skills, perfect your abilities, steal and rob your enemies to their detriment and your personal advantage and lastly, carve your name in the history as a legend.
Therefore, Arashi was preparing for a Marathon not a sprint, and was in no hurry to rush to the frontline. In the forward outpost, he practised his Iryojutsu and used his Sharingan to heal and observe injuries.
And as time passed, within two months, Arashi was famous among the injured men who were sent to the outpost, where the mortality rate was quite low compared to other outposts for critically injured patients.
Given his expertise and his martial abilities, Arashi was now send to the frontlines, where the Puppet Corps were causing a havoc with their fast acting poison.
Arashi had taken time to learn from Tsunade, who in the early days of the war had secretly developed a few techniques and jutsu to excise the affected tissue where the poison has penetrated, and used medical chakra to heal the body. She had along with Arashi even managed to extract the poison from the body, by dragging it with extreme chakra control and isolating it in a chakra bubble, thus expelling it from the body.
Since Arashi had excellent chakra control, he had sent a request to experiment with Tsunade, and he managed to learn and extrapolate on her findings and research.
With that, he had managed to even use the cellular regeneration which Kabuto could do, and added this tool in his treatment of the victims of the puppet corps.
He had therefore transferred to the frontline to see how effective his technique was, as it was another decisive advantage over Sunagakure.
When he reported to the cannon fodder Jounin, who didn't look so important or capable, Arashi didn't bother with the pleasantries.
"You are to report to Second Company Leader, since he said you are here on a confidential mission." grunted the Jounin, as he found it unacceptable to have a kid work on a confidential mission on the frontlines, which he as a jounin was not allowed to know.
He was discontent with this, but he had to agree to his orders, since despite whatever rumours surrounded the orphan boy, he was a student of the Hokage. 'Bah! What child who just graduated from Academy can use three Chakra Natures? Even Rumours should have a limit to their exaggeration!'
Timeskip
Within days of arrival, Arashi was seen blurring around the thick lush bushes, trees and caves. He was unstoppable before, and using Ashura DNA for so long acted as a catalyst, which pushed his body's vitality to the fullest.
He had an increased stamina, which bolstered his combat prowess. He was a sensor and a powerful versatile combat medic.
Within the first month, he had pushed for aggressively healing all the troops to their physical best.
He suggested a Yamanaka to act as a psychologist and help the army combat with better mental fortitude. He had also unwittingly lead a small force of three squads of Stealth and Tracking Teams.
And today, he stood near the village of Bear, and had to push Iwagakure Shinobi, who were hidden and mingled with the villagers. He always thought Sasuke's claim of Sharingan seeing everything was a myth.
But he quickly found out the vast range of information that filled his brain.
His modern mind, an avid star-gazer and outdoor personality recognised the clear marks and tracks of Shinobi using underground structure, and a giant boulder as an entry to the hideout.
"Leader, is there anything wrong?" After safely leading the three squads of Tracking Team through the thick canopy surrounding the village, the team was offered Arashi as a leader to their relatively safe mission, while the war at the front lines was heating up.
"Not yet. We have found the hideout, but the enemy don't seem to have reacted to our presence. Keep a watch on the boulder, look out for traps. We are facing Iwagakure."
His team was a experienced tracking team who were paired with Aburame and Inuzuka clan members, before the Aburame clan member, who was their division leader, was targeted by their rival clan from Iwagakure and killed in a surprise attack.
"Shouldn't we enter and land an ambush?" The second in command, a Kunoichi, asked in doubt.
Arashi shook his head. "No, they not know we are here, but they are expecting retaliation. And Iwa is famous for their underground traps and ambush tactics. Stay clear. Only I can use Doton Jutsu sufficient enough to escape. Set up a perimeter and kill any outliers who escape above ground."
They looked at each other. Their leader was always one to take an initiative during combat. Many who worked with their team in the past had now come to realise that the Uchiha trait was strong in the orphan boy.
Like many stories about the legendary founder alongside Shodaime Hokage, Madara Uchiha was known as the Dark Side of the Konoha's gentle side. While Hashirama Senju looked forward to peace and alliances, those who thwarted such notions were swiftly put down by Madara Uchiha.
His name was synonymous with the boogeyman who came for those who wished to harm Konoha. And even if outside Konoha, everyone called Madara Uchiha a fearsome man, Konoha knew him as a fearsome general who got tired of peace and wanted a world with everlasting war.
His defeat at the Valley of End was still fresh in the older shinobi's minds, who told stories about the clash of the titans of this world.
Seeing the old style traditional plated armour clad over blue loose trousers and top, Arashi was often compared amongst the older and senior Shinobi in the village to the coming of a second Madara. His long hair, good looks, angled jaw, firm and muscular build and his piercing eyes made him a reassurance for the men who worked with him during the war.
But they quickly found out that the boy was too taken with battle and fights. Even at such a young age, his kill count had exceeded seventy. He had also taken out a squad of Chunin without using any attacking Jutsu. Merely his cunning, his ninja wires, his long blade connected to a thick chakra metal chain and his dangerous Sharingan.
So when they heard him ask the team to stay put, they could only smile wryly and hope for the best, as the Uchiha boy held his hand in a seal, and disappeared into the ground.
"Should we prepare some food? I am tired of eating MRE. We could hunt for some rabbits here."
"Shouldn't we set up a perimeter like leader asked us to?" A new addition, a quiet young man who was recently promoted to chunin asked the team.
"Nah! If leader went inside, he would either kill all but one, and send him to TI, or if they are lowly grunts, he would get rid of them." Seeing the puzzled look, the experienced Kunoichi who had worked closely with Arashi told the new recruit. "If he finds a dangerous foe, he simply uses his weird Medical Ninjutsu and cuts off their limbs and cauterises any bleed. You could do with some break. Come let's go hunt for some rabbits."
Inside the Cavern
On Arashi's side, he had kept a sense of his targets' location and used Iwagakure no Jutsu to travel underground and below their feet.
Using his chained blade in one hand, he kept a Kunai with an exploding tag in his other hand.
Ordinarily people kept exploding tag tied to the Kunai.
Arashi used Kunai blades with hollowed base and with no ring at the end. The hollowed base was stuck with a rolled exploding tag, which he activated with his chakra as soon as he neared his targets.
He sensed three people sitting nearby, one of them was stronger than the two. There were eight others, two sitting near the third, while the other five were a few places away. The eight people were further into the cavern structure, and Arashi came near the first three.
He used his Headhunter Jutsu, pulled one of them down and pierced his brain stem with a senbon.
The spine and the skull were difficult to avoid but accuracy was but a child's game with Sharingan in play.
The first target went limp, and the other two were about to turn around, when the first found a hollowed Kunai into his spleen. The stronger of the two dodged a Kunai aimed at his waist, which grazed his thigh, earning a wince from him.
But the Kunai was a distraction as the moment he jumped to avoid it, he found a chained blade stab into his guts. Before he could gurgle out blood, he heard a, "Come here!"
His bleeding body was dragged towards the enemy who looked smaller than should be possible, as he just dragged a adult more than twice his size.
The stronger Chunin found his eyes coming into contact with a red haze, and he fell to the ground.
The thud of the chains and the squelching sound of the pierced flesh alerted the three closer to Arashi, and that brought all eight to a boy holding a chakra chain bleeding from which laid cold their comrade.
They were shocked to see such a deadly attack within such a short span of time, and with a growl, their leader began to attack the boy who killed their friends and brothers in arms.
"Kill that little cunt. Don't let him get away!"
The three threw an attack and shot attacks at him, be it a potshot of long range Jutsu or shuriken and Kunai launched with deadly precision.
Inside the cavern, attacks of such scale should have been impossible to dodge or evade.
Arashi therefore, weaved hand signs at blinding pace and erected a Mud Wall before him. The wall stopped the attack and when it collapsed, the enemies saw that the little man was not in front of them.
"Quick look around! He is hiding underneath. Show the boy how superior our Doton Jutsu is compared to his."
This made the angry Iwa ninja resolute and determined to kill their enemy.
They weaved hand signs rapidly, and all at once a few things happened. The first three stomped their feet as the Earth Jutsu they used sent a tremor across the ground. They had stabilised themselves using chakra at the soles of their sandals.
The tremors were a known effective counter that prevented Shinobi from hiding underground. A single use of the Jutsu usually leveled the land and severely injured or outright killed an enemy when they get crushed underground.
Two others used a Earth Jutsu and raised Earth Pillars that supported the cavern and prevented a Roof Collapse, due to tremors from the earlier Jutsu.
The other two used Earth Jutsu and raised where they stood on a platform and stabilised their footing, and immediately used a Rock Hardening Technique to prevent attack from below, if he somehow impossibly survived the tremors and the Earth Jutsu.
The last one of them used the Earth Spikes Jutsu and surrounded the eight with these sharp spikes to prevent a surprise attack on their front. They stood in a circle and waited for either the enemy to show up or to find signs of his demise.
This was an effective counter and showed the years spent together as a team, that they were able to perform so seamlessly without a pause or a direction or order required. This was a sufficiently competent force to deal with any enemy ninja or squad. Unfortunately for them, Arashi was beyond the Bell Curve!
Arashi had known about counters to every Jutsu he personally used. If he used a great fireball technique, he knew it could be countered with a Water Wall, a sufficiently large Water Jutsu or a strong cascading sequence of Earth Wall hardened quickly.
He knew how every Jutsu he used was going to either be evaded or defended. That knowledge helped him make a counter to his counter. If the enemy used a Water Wall, he would immediately use a Wind Jutsu to increase the destructive ability of his fire. If Earth Jutsu is used, he would use the fire Jutsu as a distraction, as Earth Jutsu takes a lot of chakra, if used by Shinobi with poor chakra control.
This meant that Arashi expected the counter to his Iwagakure Jutsu to be used by Iwa nin.
But that was the kink! Since Arashi did not use Iwagakure no Jutsu, he was neither affected with the Jutsu that sent tremors through the ground. Nor was he affected by the Earth Spikes which would have been a greater danger to him.
He had a harness in his plated armour, which he fastens with cords, ropes and ninja wire weaves. He had his ninja wire connected to a few lugging nuts, and using simple clone Jutsu to colour himself and camouflage with the roof he had escaped their sight, and the nuts fastened into the roof using a ingenious application of Earth Jutsu kept him in position as if he was sticking to the roof.
He saw the Pillars come close to his location, and for a moment he expected to be seen through, but unsurprisingly the ninja never looked up, or expected someone to hide on the roof like that.
For once when he saw the Clone Jutsu, he saw it was utterly useless and was of no use whatsoever, besides it's use against weaker enemies or civilians. But after a well trained ninja begins to spot differences and disguises, the clone Jutsu peters out its use or purpose.
Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of possible uses to the Clone Jutsu, as it layered a thin film of chakra on its user, and allowed the film to change colour to suit what the user desired.
He could choose to be an elephant for all intents and purposes, and look like one, if you consider the fact that it is merely a film of chakra above the user which looks like the gigantic mammal, and would collapse with a touch.
Furthermore, the more distinct the image is from the user's body and stature, the more flimsy the illusion was. This was especially dangerous during combat and any novice sensor can spot the illusion rendering it useless against Sensors or teams with sensors.
And if not sensors, sufficiently strong ninja could see the light flicking of the edges or the sheen of chakra that layers the illusion.
Surprisingly, not many use the Jutsu as a camouflage, as it is a specific use with a specific intention, and it needs a lot more chakra to make the layers and film more illusive. Furthermore, Arashi saw that using another seal and one half Ram seal at the end allowed the chakra to spread evenly and make the clone Jutsu more useful.
This was what he used to escape sight and scrutiny, and once the barrage of attacks stopped, Arashi waited with even breaths to keep the targets on an off-footing.
Usually after such an expansive offence, the team take a cautious pause to see the effects of the battle, and either the battle continues, with one side having an advantage over the other, or the battle ends abruptly in the death or incapacitation of their opponents.
This has always been the case for average Shinobi fights. Fighting with zero visibility and expending more chakra and stamina to take potshots is a surefire way to get killed by either surprise attacks or sudden enemy reinforcements.
The Iwa Nin stood cautiously and waited for a retaliation. When after a few moments, they saw none, they sighed a breath of relief.
"Got that fucker! I thought we were fighting a named Shinobi if his skills with Earth Jutsu was any sign."
One of them, the one with a Kunai held in a reverse grip, nodded. "Yeah, he was comparable with some of the Iwa Tokubetsu Jounin who came to teach once a month. We should send his corpse to Intelligence Department to see if he has any useful secrets. Skills like that usually have clan secrets or Kinjutsu as the underlying reason."
The one who stood at the forefront nodded, but kept an eye around. "We haven't seen his body yet. He could have simply escaped the range of our offensive. He must have been silent and fast, if he killed Koru, Sada and Gemu. Tachi, Wataru look for his corpse, or failing that signs of his escape and direction. He clearly knew we had an outpost here. We are exposed."
He saw the two people he called out salute at his order and swiftly began to look for signs of a corpse.
He now looked at four others. "Squad 13 should pick up our fallen comrades and seal them to take them home. Also take away their ninja tools and replenish our stock. We don't have time to visit the forward outpost." The four ninja nodded and immediately began to pick the bodies and the scattered tools while keeping a cautious eye.
He looked at the last person, who appeared to be his deputy or second in command.
"Eagle, plot a course with minimum deviations for our next infiltration. We need to recuperate our losses. We are without a sensor. Send a message to forward command to send a Chunin tracking team and an experienced sensor. We cannot have a repeat of this setback."
"I understand Wasp. Do we burn records or seal them and take them away?"
The now addressed Wasp replied without a delay. "Look for discrepancies and burn them. If the enemy escaped and sends for reinforcements, we cannot let our intel and map fall into enemy hands. Use Termination Protocol and set Tags on Critical Structural Elements."
The experienced team got into action, as Arashi watched curiously as the individuals performed their tasks.
He saw that the ones looking for a body are not higher up on the food chain, and recent addition to this well oiled team.
The ones arranging the bodies of their comrades were the yes man team who followed orders to the letter.
The second in command seemed to have a deep friendship with their leader, and given that he was called a wasp and a eagle, meant they were either from elite units like Explosion Corps, where names were not given but earned, or they were from Anbu or Covert Units of Iwa team.
Luckily, he saw that the eight men were skilled but not good at sensing chakra, because when he saw the deputy pull out files and documents from a hidden stash created inside the wall of the deeper cavern, he sent a senbon with quick acting paralytic agent into the neck of this Eagle.
He saw the body fall with a thud, but he was inside the deeper parts and far away from anyone to notice.
He quickly climbed down, took the documents and stored them in his own scroll.
Using Henge, he used the voice of the now unconscious Eagle and called out. "Beetle, Emergency."
The urgency in his voice made the leader forget about the change in modulation and voice of his old friend, as he rushed to the deeper parts.
As soon as he came to the entrance, he saw utter darkness save for two red glowing orbs peering at him, and he collapsed immediately.
Arashi injected a strong paralytic agent into the two senior Shinobi, and bound two quick seal to suppress chakra. With that done, he used his Shadow Clones and in one fell swoop killed off the rest.
The bodies were stored in a separate scroll, the two unconscious Shinobi handed to his team who would dispatch them to the nearby Intelligence Department Outpost, and reported to his Company Leader about the mission.
A few days later
The intel he handed to the Outpost proved to be troublesome, as Arashi found out that the Kiri Iwa war has been on a ceasefire and now both nations want a different enemy to sate their appetite.
Kiri had a ongoing bout of skirmish with Sunagakure, and this meant that the Suna War front was going to relapse into a lull of inactivity.
Iwa on the other hand had decided to push their war on two fronts, one major side towards Kumo, and a battle of grunts and cannon fodder with Konoha.
The war with Konoha seemed to be on the horizon, as the latest intel was unearthed.
The teams that Arashi dealt with, were reporting to a outpost on the border of Land of Rice and Land of Whirlpool. The War seemed to shift further south, and Arashi predicted the war would be fought on multiple fronts before the Cannon Land Of Rain fight with Hanzo occurs.
The Intelligence Department had updated the intel based on Arashi's findings, and the forward outpost was assaulted with a company the next day. The intel gathered from that outpost allowed Konoha to halt any encroachment from Iwa Shinobi.
Arashi had a break for the next few days, as he had to visit his mother as per Hokage's orders.
A few days of break from the rhythm of battle was a good way to charge up and hone his new skills.
Arashi had kept his Mangekyo Sharingan a secret from even his mother. He had no logical excuse to justify to his mother his desecration of her late husband's body. Orochimaru had yet to venture into genetics and was satisfied with TI Department and his covert operations along with the official mission assignments for Team Seven.
But, not wanting to delay it any further, he approached his mother who was humming a tune while setting the table for lunch.