"Talking"
'Thinking'
Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons
Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting
I don't own Naruto
Chapter 34: The Bloodline Rebellion Part 5
On Yagura's Ship
"Yagura-sama!" Jinpachi shouted out in terror as he ran into the room that Yagura was in.
Yagura turned from the window facing the basalt column that Jinpachi was supposed to signal him from, and towards the door where Jinpachi just entered.
"Jinpachi? What are you doing here? How about the ambush? Is it time for me to go and sweep up the survivors?" Yagura questioned, before he took in Jinpachi's shaken look.
"What's with you? You look like hell." Yagura asked.
"Yagura-sama… There's something you should know." Jinpachi began.
Yagura got an ominous feeling crawling up his spine. He had a feel he knew what this was about.
"The ambush didn't go as planned, huh." Yagura guessed.
Jinpachi simply nodded.
"Did the rebels bring more than we expected? Did Ao discover the ambush? Did Mei pull out something big at the last second that killed some of our men? What is it? Spit it out!" Yagura demanded.
"It… I…" Jinpachi struggled to put his thoughts together. "It was the Uzumaki mercenary…"
"Him? What did he do? Did he create a barrier strong enough to hold back our jutsu or something?" Yagura asked, wondering if the Uzumaki survivor knew his clan's powerful barrier techniques.
"Well, the ambush was set up perfectly, and all of our men did exactly as they were supposed to." Jinpachi began.
"Then? What's the problem?" Yagura asked impatiently.
"Everything was going fine, and it looked like the rebellion would end tonight. Then… he came along." Jinpachi shivered as he continued.
"He used some fire jutsu that was stronger than any I've ever seen. He… he evaporated the whole wave… the combined jutsu of over 100 of our strongest Suiton users."
Yagura couldn't believe what he was hearing. Something like that shouldn't be possible. "No… there's no way. That's impossible. You must have seen things wrong." He was in denial.
"No, Yagura-sama. I'm sure of what I saw. Even worse, is the fact that the fire jutsu not only stopped their combined jutsu, but also proceeded to kill all of the Suiton users."
Yagura leapt out of his seat. "ALL OF THEM?! But those were our strongest! How is that possible? How about the swordsmen that were sent with them? Did they counter attack?"
Jinpachi shook his head.
"I… I couldn't really see well because of the steam that resulted from the evaporated water, but when the mist settled down… He had killed them all…"
"What the hell are you talking about? Who killed who? You're telling me that mercenary killed all of our men? Alone?" Yagura was in disbelief.
Jinpachi nodded.
"One man killed 500, and you didn't even see how he did it?" Yagura chastised Jinpachi.
"I'm sorry sir, but there was too much mist and smoke everywhere. I think he might have had help from a summon, but I couldn't see what it was or what it did." Jinpachi replied.
"How could he have so much chakra to pull off feats like this, and then be able to summon?" Yagura thought out loud. "Is he a Jinchuuriki or something?"
"I didn't see him using any of the known Jinchuuriki powers, or sense any Bijuu chakra. Besides, the other Bijuu are in the other villages, other than the Rokubi, and Utakata is not with the rebels right now." Jinpachi reported
Yagura sat back down in his seat, and began to think. After a few minutes of silence, Yagura grinned.
"Jinpachi, gather all of our men. Load as many men we can in my ship, and gather the ships from nearby outposts and bases. We're hitting their HQ tonight."
Jinpachi paled. "But Mizukage-sama! Didn't just hear what I said? The Uzumaki mercenary is capable of killing hundreds by himself! He used 3 S-rank jutsus, shadow clones, and a summon, all in 1 battle!"
Yagura gave Jinpachi a smirk. "Exactly. Those are all chakra intensive feats. And as far as we know, he's not even a Jinchuuriki. That's gotta take a toll on your chakra reserves, even if you are an Uzumaki. We won't give him a chance to replenish his reserves. We'll hit him tonight. He can get the rest he wants in the afterlife."
Jinpachi thought about what Yagura just said. He had been so caught up with the fact that someone was so powerful, that he never really thought about the chakra costs of such powerful jutsus.
"Understood, Yagura-sama. I'll send out the message to our surrounding forces immediately. We'll converge on the Gates of Uzushio by 3 in the morning."
Yagura nodded. "Good. Tell the men here to get some rest until then. We'll hit them when they least expect it."
At the Rebel HQ
The base resembled a festival, following the massive victory at the Black Cliffs, where they destroyed 500 elite Loyalist shinobi, all without a single loss. Their victory was cemented with Yagura's ship seeming fleeing the scene, fearing the Rebels' power.
The center of attention and the main figure of the celebration was the Uzumaki survivor. Of the 4000 shinobi and civilians present on the island, only 500 shinobi were reluctantly absent from the celebrations, as Mei forced them to stay armed and sober as an emergency response force.
She would have had everyone stay sober and vigilant, as she wouldn't celebrate unless Yagura was dead, but she understood the purpose of morale boosters. After losing hundreds to Yagura's raids, the morale of the Rebels had been at an all-time low. She reluctantly allowed the Rebels to celebrate giving Yagura's forces a black-eye of their own. However, she herself kept herself in the commander's tent after starting off the celebration with a small speech.
She was alone in the tent with Ao, who hadn't drunk any alcohol since he joined the rebellion. The man could say stupid things to anger Mei at times, but she respected his professionalism.
"You'd think we won the war, with the way they're celebrating." Ao commented, as the sound of singing and cheering entered the tent.
"They don't know any better. This war has dragged on for so long, it's almost become a regular part of life for them. Let them celebrate when they can. They need something to keep up their spirits, or else life just isn't worth living. Although I'd prefer if people stayed vigilant, at least this way, we can keep up morale." Mei replied with a stern face.
Ao noticed Mei looking grim, despite the massive victory. He couldn't help but be curious. "Mei-sama?"
"Yes? What is it Ao?" Mei responded.
"I understand why you won't celebrate with the men, since you want to stay vigilant until we have achieved our final victory, but why do you look so miserable? It's as if we lost the battle instead." Ao asked.
Mei sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Ao, do you think I'm a good leader? Am I fit to lead these men and women, who trust me to lead them and protect them?"
Ao was surprised by the sudden question. "What? Of course! Why else would I follow you? Why would we all put our faith in you in the first place? Why would you even ask that?"
"There's so many powerful people out there, Ao. Maybe even more powerful than Yagura. Even if we're able to overthrow Yagura, what will we do if we face an even bigger threat? What can I do to protect our people? What if I'm just not enough?" Mei asked solemnly and full of self-doubt, quite unlike her normal self.
That was when Naruto made his mistimed entrance into the tent.
"So, this where you two were. I couldn't find you guys anywhere in the celebration." Naruto announced with a mischievous smile as he held up a bottle of sake and a couple bowls to drink it from.
"Ah yes. Here comes the big hero of the rebels. Sorry we weren't able to sing your praises with the others, hero-sama." Mei said sarcastically.
Naruto and Ao were both somewhat thrown off by Mei's cold reception of Naruto, who had just saved them from a watery death.
"Umm… right. I mean, I wasn't really looking for all that. That's not why I did what I did." Naruto said awkwardly, not knowing what was up with Mei right now.
"Oh really? Was it just for fun then? Or maybe you were hoping I would reward you with my body if you could save me like some damsel in distress?" Mei replied with an attitude that seemed to indicate she was running out of patience.
"What? No! Of course not! Why the hell would you say that? What is wrong with you?" Naruto replied defensively.
"What is wrong with me? What's wrong with you!" Mei shouted out as she stood up from her seat, slamming the table with her hands. "You had all of this power this whole time! You had the power to take the fight against Yagura directly! You had the power to save the lives of hundreds of my men! And what did you do instead? You just do the bare minimum. Just enough to keep yourself from being dead weight. Is this just a game to you? Are the lives of my men just a joke to you? Do they mean nothing since they're not from Konoha?"
Naruto's face changed into a serious one that Mei hadn't seen before. "A joke? The bare minimum? You've got to be shitting me. Tell me, who's been more useful than me? I've been busting my ass for you since I came here! How dare you say I'm treating this as a joke!"
Mei was furious. "Then why did you wait until now to take it seriously! How many people did you see die, while you were hiding your true strength? How many families torn apart? How many made orphans?"
"What did you expect when you hired me? Did you expect me to be your savior and win the war for you? Let me set things straight. I'm not here to win the war FOR you. I'm here to help YOU win the war. Do you understand the difference?" Naruto rebutted.
"Oh please, why don't you enlighten me, Naruto-sama?" Mei replied sarcastically.
Naruto scowled at Mei's response. "What would your victory mean if Konoha won it for you? Just swooped right in, and solved all of your problems for you, as if you weren't able to do it yourself. Like how a mother might open a lid on a tight jar for her 5-year-old child. Is that what you wanted? To be babied? If that's what you wanted, all you needed to do was ask. We'd love to show the whole world that Konoha is superior to Kiri, and have you in our debt. Hell, why not just make you our vassal? You can't even protect yourself, right? We could just station our shinobi in your village to make sure it stays safe. You know what? Why not just hang Konoha's banners in your village? I'm sure there are many in Konoha who'd love that."
Mei glared angrily at Naruto's tirade, but remained silent.
"I was helping the way I helped, because it would mean so much more if Kiri rid itself of its tyrant on its own strength. What is a victory if you're just a bystander? A victory won through blood, sweat, tears. A victory won by its own people. A message to the world that Kiri will not be idle in its fight for its own liberty. A message to the world, that Kiri doesn't need a foreign savior. Wouldn't that mean more?" Naruto questioned the rebel leader.
"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it does need a savior. Maybe an easy victory off of someone else's back to save your own skin is more important. After all, you have to make sure nobody gets hurt, right? Silly me." Naruto remarked as he turned around to leave without waiting for Mei's response. He was tired of the bullshit.
"How dare you talk to our leader so disrespectfully! The insolence!" Ao yelled towards the back of a Naruto that was leaving the tent.
Naruto ignored Ao. He turned around one last time, at the entrance of the tent. "How dare you accuse me of not caring about the lives of the people here. How dare you." He growled out. The faces of Haku, Kimimaro, Suigetsu, Zabuza, Ao, and even Mangetsu flashed through his mind, Mei's smiling face appearing at the end, before he cleared his mind.
"You guys can have this sake. I've lost my appetite for it." He dropped the sake and the bowls on the floor, where it rolled after a loud clang.
Mei watched Naruto leave in silence, her head chaotic with all sorts of thoughts.
"Why, the nerve on that boy! Hmph! Back in my day, we actually treated our leaders with respect!" Ao harumphed.
"Ao." Mei called out.
"Yes, Mei-sama?" Ao replied, expecting her to lash out at him.
"I'd like to be alone. You may retire to your tent for the night." Mei told Ao.
"But, Mei-sama!" Ao tried to respond, before Mei cut him off.
"Ao. Please. I want to be alone. Please." Mei replied in a tired voice.
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Ao reluctantly agreed.
At the mouth of the tent, Ao stopped, before he turned around to speak. "Mei-sama? Your question about if you're good enough to be our leader? We don't follow you just because you're the strongest. We follow you because you can see the big picture. You can see the things that others can't. But most importantly, we follow you because we believe in your ideals. You don't treat us as disposable pawns, the way Yagura treats his men. You actually care for our lives. But we don't need you to protect us. Just let us fight by your side, as we have so far. I don't know what the others might say, but if you ask me, you're more than fit to be our leader. I'd follow you to the very gates of hell." He then turned around and left, leaving Mei speechless.
Once Ao left, Mei collapsed into her seat. She was so confused. She didn't know what to think anymore. What was supposed to come first? The lives of the people following her? Or the ideal they were dying for?
These last few days had been one tough revelation after another. She had too much on her plate. She barely had any time to process her rollercoaster ride of emotions, with wave after wave of tragedies, huge events, and revelations coming at her at once. She slumped over, placing her head over her crossed arms. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop the tears from wetting her cheeks.
At a Rebel Watch Tower
"Man, do you smell that? Looks like they're enjoying some good ass food. I'd sure like to get some better food than some stupid ration bar. These things taste like shit." One squad member told his teammates.
"Right, and I'm sure you know what shit tastes like." His kunoichi teammate responded with a teasing smirk.
The first shinobi scowled. "No. But they probably taste like this ration bar. I'm sure of it." He replied as he threw the ration bar into the ocean.
"Way to lose rock, paper, scissors, captain." The third teammate said sarcastically to the team leader.
"Oh hush. It could have been anyone. If anything, it was probably your shitty luck which spread to me." The squad leader brushed off the complaints. "Now shut the hell up, and just keep an eye out for Yagura's men."
The first team member snorted. "As if they'll turn up any time soon, after that thrashing they got today."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't act like it was you who gave them the thrashing." The kunoichi of the group reminded him.
"Who cares who kicked ass? The important thing is that we won. As such, we should be down there with the rest of the people, celebrating." The first shinobi spoke.
His team all agreed with him internally, but all they could do was chuckle. The third teammate punched him in the shoulder. "Just keep an eye out, idiot. We better not catch you sleeping, like last time.
Later at night, around 3 in the morning
The celebrations had ended by then, and everyone had gone to sleep. Everyone but the unlucky emergency response teams that were stationed around the island, keeping watch.
"Hey, wake those 2 idiots up. It's our turn to sleep." The captain told the kunoichi of the squad, who had stayed awake with him, keeping watch.
"Oi, wake up. It's your shift now." The kunoichi told her sleeping squad mates as she kicked their sleeping forms.
"Mmmm… just 5 more minutes." The sleepy rebel replied, as he tried to get comfortable again.
As the team prepared to change shifts, a thick mist was rolling in from the ocean. However, they were too busy to notice.
"Every minute you spend not standing guard, is another minute we'll spend sleeping when it's our turn. Hurry up!" The kunoichi shouted before she begun to open up her canister of water.
She splashed the water on the two sleepy shinobi's faces, waking them up immediately.
"HEY! What the hell!?" They shouted in unison.
"Hehe that should teach you to take your sweet time getting up." The kunoichi chuckled.
The two wiped the water from their faces, and were getting up as they grumbled.
*Sigh* "Here, gimme your hands." The kunoichi held her hands out to help her teammates get up.
They both grabbed her hands, and tried to stand up.
They had almost stood up, when the girl suddenly fell forward, causing them to both fall on their rears.
"NO! SACHIKO!" The captain cried out in horror.
"Hey! What the hell! That hurts!" The first shinobi yelled out, as he wiped what he thought was water off of his face.
The two shinobi looked at their kunoichi teammate, wondering what caused her to fall, and what the captain of their squad was freaking out over, until they saw the kunai that had entered her brain from the back of her skull
The first shinobi looked at his palm, and saw that the water he wiped off of his face was actually Sachiko's blood.
He wasn't even able to process what had happened, when a blast of water put a hole through his chest. He crumpled to the floor, lifeless. The captain and the last remaining squad member turned to see the direction the attack came from.
3 Loyalist shinobi jumped into the guard tower, with wicked grins on their faces.
The captain of the Rebel guard squad drew his sword and charged at them. "Go and ring the alarm! I'll hold them off!"
The 3rd squad member didn't want to leave his captain to hold off 3 shinobi, but he knew he had to ring the alarm to let the others know, or the whole camp would be in danger of being caught asleep. After a second of hesitation, he began to run towards the bell.
He was about to ring the bell, when his hand was knocked off course by a round projectile. He instinctively looked towards the floor to see what had hit him. It was his captain's decapitated head.
He knew he was in trouble now. He reached for the bell, only to find gleaming steel of a strange looking sword blocking his path.
"Reaching for something?" A cruel voice asked with a sharp, wicked grin to match.
"J-j-j-Jinpachi!" The Rebel stuttered as he began to stumble backwards when he recognized who was in front of him.
Jinpachi roughly grabbed the Rebel by the collar, and threw him at his men. "Throw him off the cliff."
The 3 men grinned as they seized the terrified Rebel.
The Rebel shinobi screamed as he was tossed off of the guard tower, and towards the jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliff.
'It's over! This is where I die!' The man thought to himself. 'We let our guards down, and now we're all dead.' He suddenly realized, that the others were counting on them to warn them if an attack was coming, but they had failed to do that. There would be hundreds, if not thousands of more deaths due to their failure.
'The least I can do now is let the others know they're here!'
As his dying act, he drew a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it, and threw it high in the air, hoping the explosion will catch the attention of the other guard towers.
He held up his hands in the seal to detonate the tag when it reached the apex of its skyward journey. He was about to detonate the seal, when Jinpachi engulfed the tag and the kunai with a whip of water, drenching and deactivating the tag.
"Nice try. But no luck this time. Go and meet your friends in hell." Jinpachi sneered.
"No… I failed…" the falling man whispered to himself, right before he was dashed against the sharp rocks, and died instantly.
Jinpachi and the 3 shinobi with him smiled when they saw his body ragdoll when it smashed against the sharp rocks.
"Well, that was fun." Jinpachi said with a smirk.
He looked to his right and left, and saw the fires in the other guard towers go off, as the others were also ambushed. "Let's get the rest of the party started."
The men with him grinned.
With Mei
It had been hours since she had her argument with Naruto, but she couldn't motivate herself to leave her seat in the commander's tent. She had sat there for hours, just thinking. She had been thinking over how she had been performing as a leader, what she should be prioritizing, and also about how she had acted in front of Naruto.
'Naruto-kun was right… All of our sacrifices will mean nothing if we depend on another village to solve our problems for us. We can't let another village defeat Yagura. This war is as much a war for our right to live, but also a war to send a message to the world. If we fail here, we'll never be respected by the other villages, and we won't be able to respect ourselves either. Naruto-kun… you held yourself back to give us the chance to handle our own problems, while still helping us with major issues…' Mei concluded.
'I was too caught up with my own self-doubt and emotional issues to see the big picture. I have to find Naruto-kun, and apologize for my behavior earlier.' Mei realized, when she suddenly heard screams coming from outside the tent. Warning bells began to go off.
"What in the world?" Mei whispered to herself.
"MEI-SAMA!" Chojuro shouted out as he ran into the tent, breathless.
"Chojuro! What the hell is going on outside?" Mei asked.
"Mei-sama! The Loyalists! They found our base! We're under attack!"
Mei's heart sank. The moment she had been fearing all along was finally upon her.
"No… I knew it… we should never have let our guard down…" Mei mumbled under her breath.
"Chojuro. Wake up Ao, Zabuza, and Mangetsu. Get yourself armed, and guide the civilians towards the ships. Escort them to safety with Ao and Mangetsu." Mei ordered.
"How about you, Mei-sama?" Chojuro asked.
Mei's eyes burned with anger. "I'm going to show these bastards you can come here freely, but they don't get to leave without my permission."
Chojuro shivered a little at Mei's cold fury. He saluted Mei and left to carry out his orders.
"So, you want to play rough, huh? I'll show you rough." Mei said as a cruel smile formed on her face.
The Rebel Camp
The camp was in utter chaos, as the emergency response team had been caught unprepared, and lost almost half their men before they were able to form any organized resistance against the ambushing Loyalists. This resistance was quickly falling apart at the brutal advance of the Loyalists, who had both the element of surprise, and the advantage of numbers on their side.
The civilians were in utter disarray as they tried to gather what belongings they could, before they were dragged off by a few sober shinobi towards the ships. The rest of the shinobi were unable to recover from their night of drinking effectively, and stumbled along as they tried their best to sober up and get armed.
"Come on men! Break through this crumbling line, and we'll get to their soft, drunken underbelly!" One Loyalist officer yelled to his men, who were making rapid progress on their section.
The last remaining 50 Rebels on that section hopelessly braced themselves for a surge of over 500 Loyalists.
One Rebel ninja grabbed the hand of the kunoichi next to him.
"I-I never got to tell you, but I love you. I wish I was able to tell you earlier. I was hoping I could tell you this when we won the war and re-entered Kiri, but it looks like this is the end."
The kunoichi gave him a sad smile, and squeezed his hand tighter. "I love you too. At least we could be together at the end."
The two of them braced for a hopeless fight to the death, similar to their comrades around them, as the Loyalists charged at them.
"Yoton: Lava Truffle Jutsu!" a female voice yelled out, as several large boulders landed on the mass of charging Loyalists, crushing several of them to death. As destructive as the massive boulders were, the real damage came when they exploded, spraying lava all around.
Dozens of Loyalists screamed in pain before they were killed by the hot lava that burned through their flesh.
"Lava release? But that means…" One loyalist officer thought out loud, before his face paled.
"Mei-sama!" The Rebels shouted out in relief, when they saw Mei running to aid them, flanked by dozens of shinobi on either side.
"Kill them all!" Mei shouted out to her Rebels, and they began their counter attack on the Loyalists.
Mei stopped behind her line of charging Rebels, and began to form hand seals for another jutsu.
"Suiton: Suiryu Sanrendan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Triple Step Technique)" Mei yelled out, as 3 massive dragons of water formed around her, and flew towards the Loyalists, whose momentum had completely died with Mei's arrival.
2 of the water dragons circled around to either flank, and smashed into it with such force, that men were thrown towards the middle with enough force to break bones. The dragon in the middle flew towards the middle, and punched a hole right through the middle of the formation, where the Rebels penetrated.
"Shit! It's her! Fall back!" The leader of Loyalists on that section commanded. However, Mei was not feeling particularly merciful tonight.
"You'd abandon a lady all by herself? That's not very manly of you." Mei teased seductively, as she began to form hand seals for her next attack. "Why don't we spend a steamy night together? Futton: Sutekigiri no Jutsu! (Boil Release: Lovely Mist Technique)"
A heart composed of condensed pink steam shot out from Mei's lips when she blew a kiss towards the leader of the fleeing Loyalists, and headed straight towards the back of the formation of the Loyalists, putting the fleeing shinobi in the middle of the pink heart attack and the rebel charge.
The condensed heart hit the leader in the back, and instantly released all of the compressed acidic fog, cutting off the escape of the Loyalists and melting dozens of them to death.
The Loyalists looked on fear, as their comrades writhed in pain as their flesh melted to their bones, before their bones melted as well.
"Sh-She's a demon!" some of them gasped out.
Mei heard the murmurs, despite the sounds of the battle raging around her.
"Now that's not something you call a lady." She said with a smile, before she formed a dragon of water that began to spin rapidly into a waterspout. "I guess I'll have to teach you some manners in dealing with a lady."
The Loyalists paled. With a flesh melting mist at their back, angry Rebels at their front, and a tornado made up of a water dragon tearing up their formation, it looked like they were in for a journey to the afterlife.
With Kimimaro, Haku, and Suigetsu
Naruto's team had their tents nearby each other and were underage, and were not allowed to drink. So when the battle broke out, the three of them emerged nearly at the same time, and quickly organized themselves into their squad.
"Shit! Where's Naruto-taichou!" Suigetsu yelled, as he parried a sword strike with his own, before shooting the man in the chest with the water pistol technique.
"I don't know! I haven't seen him since the celebration!" Haku answered back, as she skewered several Loyalists with the Nuibari.
"It doesn't matter. We'll look for him after we kill all of these insects." Kimimaro replied calmly, as sharp bones began to extrude from his wrists, shoulders, knees, and the back of his elbows, which he used in his elegant dance of death, which sent numerous souls around him to the Shinigami.
"Wha-what the hell is up with these kids? They're monsters!" one Loyalist shinobi commented, seeing how easily these teens were carving up the platoons that were present.
"Haku! Formation D!" Suigetsu called out, before he released a bunch of water from his seal, which began to pool around the ankles of every shinobi around.
"Got it!" Haku yelled back, before she channeled her Hyoton chakra into the water, freezing everyone in place.
"What the fuck!? I can't move!" Several Loyalists shouted towards each other.
"Teshi Sendan. (Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets)" Kimimaro called out calmly, firing the hardened bones at the tip of his fingers like bullets, dropping 10 shinobi dead.
Haku followed up with a barrage of icicles, which skewered another 12 shinobi to death in a hail of icy projectiles.
Suigetsu didn't have multi-target jutsu like the other two, but enjoyed himself as she shot the stuck Loyalists in with his water pistol technique.
Once the numbers were thinned out, they drew their swords (or bones) and began to dismantle the remaining terrified Loyalists, in a storm of steel, ice, water, and bones.
Soon, over 8 squads of Loyalists lay dead at their feet.
"We need to find the others, and organize a counter attack." Kimimaro told the other 2, who nodded and followed him.
With the Civilians
"Hurry up! We don't have much time! Get your asses on the ships!" Mangetsu called out, as he and the other shinobi with him helped the fleeing civilians board the ships.
About a third of the civilians were on board, when screams started breaking out from further in the back.
When Rebel shinobi rushed over to see what happened, they saw a man with a braided beard leading hundreds of men towards the ships.
"Going somewhere?" The man asked with a smirk, before he began swinging his strange looking sword at the Rebels.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Mangetsu watched explosions going off a short distance away. Every time the man swung the sword, an explosion occurred, sending civilians and shinobi alike flying away.
Mangetsu gritted his teeth. "Jinpachi…"
Jinpachi smashed his legendary sword, Shibuki the exploding sword, into another Rebel shinobi who dared to get in his way, in an attempt to stop him from harming the civilians. He was rewarded for his efforts by being blown to bits.
Jinpachi looked up to see Mangetsu glaring him down. He responded with a toothy smile.
"Well, hello, my old friend." Jinpachi sarcastically greeted Mangetsu.
"Don't you dare call me that, you damn traitor!" Mangetsu bellowed back.
"Now, now. No need to get our panties in a bunch. We all do things we have to do." Jinpachi replied cheekily. The eye not covered by his eyepatch glared at Mangetsu. "Besides, in my eyes, or should I say eye, you lot are the traitors. I'm the only who stayed loyal to Kiri, while you threw your lot in with the bloodline freaks, since you're one yourself."
"Kiri is more than Yagura, you stupid piece of shit! Can't you see he's destroying Kiri? He destroyed our village's advantage with bloodline users, he destroyed our population and our economy with this stupid war, and he destroyed the 7 swordsmen of the mist, by turning us against each other!" Mangetsu spat out.
"You would say that, wouldn't you? You got to enjoy all of the benefits of being a bloodline aristocrat, while us regular people were treated as second class citizens! Our population will rebound, as will our economy, when this war ends! We'll rebuild Kiri without you freaks as our overlords! And as for the 7 swordsmen? We'll just kill you all, and reclaim the swords. We'll recreate the order, with me as the new leader." Jinpachi replied.
"You? The leader? Please, you can't even wield the Shibuki as well as I can, and its YOUR sword! You think you're fit to be the leader?" Mangetsu taunted.
Jinpachi scowled. "You always did think you were better than everyone else. I'll teach you your place today, you traitorous scum!"
With that, the two swordsmen rushed at each other, flanked by their men on either side. The two lines of swordsmen clashed, with the sound of ringing metal echoing through the night.
*Author's Note*
And that's the latest chapter of the Jinchuuriki's Brother!
Sorry for the long wait everyone! I wanted to write, but I was busy the whole week. I don't always have access to the computer I write on, so sometimes, even when I'm free, I'm unable to write.
I know you guys have gotten used to me releasing a chapter every 3 days, but I can only do that when I have time to write every day. I enjoy writing, so I try to release often, but sometimes, I'll be busy and unable to stick to that schedule. I wish I could write full time, but unfortunately, I have a job, and this is just a hobby. A hobby that doesn't pay.
So this is going to be the big battle of the Kiri Bloodline Rebellion. I thought about finishing the whole battle in this chapter, but there's a lot more I want to write in the battle, so I'm gonna end the chapter here, and continue in the next chapter. Sorry if you guys didn't get the epic scene you were waiting for. This is just the start, so I wanted to explore how the mindset people were in, going into the battle.
Thanks for all of the suggestions for what Naruto's moniker should be! I realized everyone who could have called him the Mirage, died at the battle of the Black Cliffs, since the rebels didn't see anything other than the fire jutsu and the summoning technique. I'll have the rebels call him the Blue Dragon, and the loyalists will call him something else, after the battle in the next chapter. I've heard some good suggestions, so I might go with something other than the Mirage. Maybe the Phantom of the Mist, or something along that line? Or do you think some variation on the Mirage will be better?
One of my readers has very generously created a discord for this story, and added me. It'll be a place you can discuss ideas regarding this story, and where I can communicate with you guys quicker. Right now, my main method of communication was on the Author's Note, which means I could only address you guys once every 3 days, or even longer. Reactions to the chapter would still be preferred as reviews on this site, but things like suggestions or ideas could be done on the discord channel, and I can make quick announcements or polls for the story on the discord channel as well (like letting you guys know that I'm busy). I'm sort of new to discord, so this will be a sort of experiment for me. If you guys are interested in taking part, here is the code: YeWD6wqvYU. You guys could make suggestions like which characters need to get more screentime, and if I can fit them into the plot, I can keep them in mind, and if not, I can make an Omake, like I did with Izumi observing Kakashi for Anko.
Anyway, sorry for the wait, and thanks for waiting! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Hope you guys have a great day, and hope you all stay safe! Especially those of you who live in Ukraine!
Until next time!